to Psalm 1, the very first Psalm,
if you'd like to follow along in your Bibles. And the title
of the message is, The Great Division. Now, the Great Division
that I'm going to be speaking of is the dividing line that
God Himself, in His Word, draws between the saved and the lost. When you go through the Scriptures,
you'll find there are many descriptions many definitions of various words
that are used to describe those who are saved. And, on the same
token, many definitions and descriptions, words, to describe those who
are lost. Now, what is it to be saved?
Well, to be saved is to be saved from sin. To be saved is to be
saved from the wrath of God, the wrath to come. To be lost,
obviously, if someone's lost, it means they cannot find their
way. And so, to be lost is to be lost in sin. It's to be in
unbelief, the Scripture teaches. It's to not be able to find your
way. And therefore, when a person
is saved, they know the right way, the right destination, the
truth, the light, the Scripture says. For example, being lost
is being in darkness. Being saved is being in the light,
the scripture says. Well, many people claim to be
saved who are not saved. How do we know if we're truly
saved? Well, we have to go to God's
Word. We cannot take the opinion of
others. For example, we will always have a tendency to say
of ourselves that we're saved. We'll speak peace, as the scripture
says, to ourselves. And we'll have a tendency to
speak peace to others whom we love, family members, for example.
Natural man has a tendency to speak peace to anyone who is
dedicated in religion, who goes to church. For example, I've
heard people say, well, I know I'm saved because I was baptized
when I was 12 years old. Well, the scripture doesn't say
anything about the saved in that vein. And if you're looking back
to an experience that you had as a child or any experience
at all, that is not salvation. We'll look at others who don't
go to church, who are not dedicated, or who are immoral, and we'll
say they're lost. But what is God's dividing line? That's what the Great Division
is about. And this psalm here sets the tone for all the psalms. The Great Division. Now he starts
off in verse 1, he says, Blessed is the man that walketh not in
the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. He starts off with
a negative. He begins with the word blessed.
Now you need to understand that when we see the word blessed
in Scripture, it has to do in this context with a sinner saved
by the grace of God. This is truly a blessed person. When the Lord Jesus Christ stood
on that mount and preached the sermon on the mount, He began
his sermon by describing those who are blessed of God. He said,
blessed is the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
God. Blessed are they that mourn, blessed are the meek, and he
went on and he described them. The ones he was describing there
are those who are blessed by God, blessed of God, with God's
grace in salvation. Over in Psalm 1 and verse 4,
he says, the ungodly are not so. They are not blessed. They are not so. They are cursed
of God. Now, when we think of the word
blessed, many times we think of things that we possess. For
example, we'll say a person who is healthy, they're blessed with
good health. We'll say a person who is wealthy, they're blessed
with possessions, money, or whatever. And then we have a lot of things
that we'll look around that are good for people. The Bible teaches
that all good things are from God. But the point of this blessedness
here is a state of grace. Now a person can be healthy and
wealthy and still be lost. Now health and wealth in and
of themselves are not sinful and they're not curses. But a
person who possesses those may be cursed of God, may be lost. So whether a person is healthy
or whether he has a big bank account or whether he has a lot
of possessions and success in this world doesn't tell you anything
about whether or not he's blessed of God or he's ungodly, whether
he's saved or lost. The Lord taught that very plainly
in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. You remember the
rich man had all things that this world has to offer by way
of homes and money and all of that. And poor old Lazarus was
a beggar who sat outside his gate, who was sick and even unto
death. And even the dogs licked his
sores, the scripture says. And he was just begging for food. But yet when they died, the rich
man went to hell. He was an ungodly man. But Lazarus,
who was a poor man in terrible health here on this earth, He
went to heaven. He was a saved sinner. He was
blessed of God. So when we think of this term
blessed here, think of it as a person who has experienced
and been a recipient of the grace of God in salvation through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed here is a person who
rests in Christ, who looks to Christ. He's been washed in the
blood of Christ. He's being clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. He has a right standing before
God, not based on his works, but he has a right standing before
God in Christ, who is his standing. So he says here, blessed is the
man. Now here's what the blessed man will not do. This is what
the saved sinner will not do. Here's the negative. It says,
blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful." Now the picture here is of a person first who's walking,
that's almost like he's seeking some things, he's trying to understand
things, he's seeking truth, and then he's standing. It's almost
like he stops and listens now. He hears someone speaking, he's
seeking now, but now he's heard someone and he stops to listen,
and then he sits down. This would be like sitting in
the seat of judgment. It would be like he sits down
because he's comfortable. He's found what he was looking
for. And this blessed man, it says, he will not walk in the
counsel of the ungodly. Now, the ungodly here are the
wicked. Who are the ungodly? Anyone who's
not blessed of God. Now, the ungodly can be religious.
They can be rich. They can be healthy. They can
be zealous. Paul the Apostle, as an ungodly
man, whose name was Saul of Tarsus, was very zealous in morality,
in religion. He was trying to keep the law,
but he was ungodly because he didn't know Christ. He didn't
know God's way of salvation by grace through Christ. He was
listening to the counsel of the ungodly. How will the ungodly
counsel people? Well, when it comes to salvation,
The ungodly will counsel people to seek salvation from God based
on their works, based on their efforts, at some stage and to
some degree in some way. The ungodly can be deceptive.
For example, they can talk about salvation by grace, but in reality
theirs is a way of works. The ungodly stands upon their
free will. You hear people talk about the
free will of man. And what they do is they say
salvation by grace, they make Christ merely a pedestal upon
which they can stand and boast of their free will. But my friend,
God doesn't save sinners based on their free will choice. Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is by a sovereign God. And so the blessed man doesn't
walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Nor does he stand in the way
of sinners. The way of sinners is an ungodly way. The way of
sinners here is the way of unbelief. It can be a way of immorality.
It could be a way of materialism. But it can also be a way of false
religion. But the blessed person, the one
who sees the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and
who looks to Christ as the author and finisher of his faith, he
doesn't sit or he doesn't stand in the way of sinners. Nor does
he sit in the seat of the scornful. Now to scorn something, means
not to give it the appropriate value that it has. For example,
when we see the glory of God in Christ, the person of Christ,
who He is, He's God and man in one person. He's the Son of God
incarnate. He's the Word made flesh. He's
the perfect, sinless God-man. And then when we look at the
glorious work that He accomplished in His obedience unto death on
the cross, to redeem His people from their sins. He didn't try
to redeem sinners. He didn't make a stab at it.
He redeemed them. He paid the price of the salvation
and the redemption of His people. And they shall be saved. His
name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sin. His name is Immanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. And when we hear that glorious
message of God's grace and how He saves sinners, who cannot
save themselves, who will not come to Him for eternal life.
Listen, if left to ourselves, we would not come to God. We
would not come to Christ. We would not bow. And yet God
saves His people from their sins in a glorious, in a gracious
way, sovereignly, miraculously. And so when they hear that message,
they scorn it. It really means nothing to them. They have no affinity for it.
They either stand in opposition to it because by nature the natural
man hates the things of the Spirit of God and cannot know them,
cannot understand them, or he ignores them. He walks away unaffected.
And that's what the blessed man will not do. He will not sit
in that seat comfortably, that seat of the scornful. He knows
Christ. The second thing it says here
in verse 2, it says, now here's the positive. In the blessed
man it says, his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in his
law, in God's law, does he meditate day and night. Now the law of
the Lord could be said to be the whole Word of God. And when
we think of the law, now first of all, we've got to understand
what the purpose of the giving of the law is. And the purpose
of the giving of the law to a sinner, to sinful men, is first and foremost
to show us our sinfulness, show us our depravity. show us the
impossibility of salvation by our best efforts to keep the
law. When we think about the law of God as it covers the whole
realm of men, of humanity, the law of God pronounces a curse
where it finds the least sin on the best of men. Where sin
is charged, the law must condemn, because God's law is an extension
of himself, his nature, his holiness, his justice, and God must punish
sin. The Bible teaches us very plainly
that the law was given to stop our mouths and bring the whole
world in guilty before God, Romans 3 and verse 19. And it goes on
in verse 20 and says that, Therefore by deeds of law shall no flesh
be justified in God's sight, for by the law is the knowledge
of sin. So the law exposes our sinfulness. The law exposes the fact that
there is none righteous, no not one, to be found among men. It
says there's none that doeth good, no not one, according to
the standard of God's law. You may look at men, and you
may look at yourself, and you say, well, I'm a good person.
According to your standard, you may be. But your standard is
not the right standard. Your standard is not the standard
of judgment. The Bible says there's coming
a day in which the Lord will judge the world in righteousness.
And the righteousness by which he will judge the world by is
found in Christ. He says, by that man whom he
hath ordained, and that he hath given assurance unto all men,
and that he hath raised him from the dead. You see, the standard
of righteousness is not found in you, or in me, or in any other
man. It's found in Christ. He's the
only one who kept the Law of God perfectly. So then how can
it be said that we who are sinners, that we delight in the Law of
God? Well, the Law's purpose is to
expose our sin, but in the hands of the Holy Spirit, it's also
to drive us to Christ for salvation. The Bible teaches that Christ
is the end, the fulfillment, the finishing of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believeth. You see, Christ is
my righteousness. I don't have any righteousness
within me. My best works, even as a saved
sinner, even as a blessed person, fall short of the standard of
perfection. But in Christ, I have perfect
righteousness. The law cannot condemn me because
my sins have been put away. by the blood of Christ. I am
washed in His blood. The law cannot condemn me or
curse me because I have a righteousness that answers its demands. And
that righteousness is Christ, the Lord my righteousness. And
that's why we sing that song, My Hope is Built, on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. There's no other way that a sinner
can be made righteous. And that's what the scripture
teaches. That when Christ went to the cross, he went there for
the sins of his people charged, accounted, reckoned, and imputed
to him. He took the responsibility of
all the debt of His sheep, God's elect, and He paid that debt
in full by His death, His bloody death, for without the shedding
of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. And in exchange for
our sins, He gave us His righteousness, and it was legally accounted,
reckoned, charged, imputed to His people, so that the law of
God can only demand our justification through Christ. Now that's how
the blessed man, even though he's still a sinner, a sinner
saved by grace, can delight in the law of the Lord. The Bible
says, by faith we establish the law. What does that mean? Does
that mean that our faith is a lesser requirement of the law? That
because we cannot keep the law, God lowers his standard and receives
and accepts our faith in its place? Absolutely not. When it
says in Romans chapter 3 verse 31 that by faith we establish
the law, it means we establish the law as we rest in Christ
who by himself kept the law for us. Christ honored the law. Christ kept the law. He fulfilled
all righteousness. He said I didn't come to destroy
the law or to break the law. I came to fulfill the law and
he did so. So that if I plead Him and I
rest in Him, if He's my Redeemer, if He's my Substitute, if He's
my Savior and my Advocate, I have nothing to fear from the Word
of God, from the Law of God, because Christ is my hope. And
therefore I can delight in the Law of God. I don't have to fear
the Law of God. The only ones who need to fear
the Law are those who are trying to be saved by their law-keeping.
Those who are trying to be saved by their works, you should fear
the law. If you believe that God will
save you, or keep you, or bless you, or reward you based upon
your keeping the law, you should fear it. Because my friend, you're
in a position that you don't want to be in. You may not realize
it. But to be blessed of God is to have Christ, the Lord,
my righteousness. Now here's the third thing. He
says here in verse 3, Here's the whole result and effect of
God's grace upon the blessed person. He says, "...he shall
be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither
or fade, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." That's the result,
you see. When God blesses His people,
when He puts them in Christ. And when they're born again by
the Spirit, there's fruit. They will bear fruit. They don't
produce fruit. You know, people talk about producing
fruit in our life. We don't produce fruit. We bear
fruit. Just like the branch bears fruit
from the vine. Now, Christ taught that in John
chapter 15. He said, I'm the vine. You're the branches. And
the branches must bear fruit. If you're truly a branch who's
connected to the vine, Christ Jesus, you will bear fruit, not
because you produce it, but because He's the vine. And life comes
through the vine. The fruit comes from the vine,
who is Christ. The Bible teaches us that we
who are married to Christ will bring forth fruit unto God. We'll bear that fruit. Christ
is the producer of it. Salvation is by grace, the scripture
tells us. It is for by grace are you saved,
through faith. Faith is the fruit of grace.
And that not of yourselves. Faith is not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And
then it goes on to say in Ephesians 2 and verse 10, for we are his
workmanship. What I am as a blessed man is
not in the works of my own hands. It's not the works of my denomination
or my church family. It's the work of God. A saved
sinner is the work of God. A sinner saved by grace is the
product of God's power, God's goodness, God's mercy, God's
grace, and God's love in Christ. We're not our own man. We're
not a self-made man. We talk about self-made millionaires. Well, we who are in Christ are,
spiritually speaking, multi-billionaires, but we're certainly not self-made.
God is the one who makes his people. He makes the new creation,
not me, not you. So it says, we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, not because of good
works, but unto good works, which he hath before ordained that
we should walk in them. So he says he's going to bring
forth fruit in his season, and his leaf shall not wither. He
can't lose salvation. I hear these people talking about
you can be saved and then lost. Now the reason they believe that
is because they believe ultimately that salvation is by works. You
can lose it by sinning. I had a man told me one time,
he says, well you'd have to, it'd have to be a really bad
sin. in order to lose it. And I told
him, I said, my friend, you don't know how bad we really are. Salvation
is by grace at the beginning, in the middle, and in the end.
It's all of grace. And he says, his leaf also shall
not wither or fade. If God's grace has saved you,
God's grace will keep you. If the blood of Christ washed
you clean from all your sins, you will be forever washed clean. If Christ's righteousness has
been imputed to you, charged to you, which you've received
by faith as the Holy Spirit revealed it to you, if that's taken place,
you will be forever justified before God. You will be glorified. You cannot lose it because it's
by grace. Now, I know that some people
say, well, if that's the case, that means you can sin as much
as you want to. You don't understand grace if that's what you believe.
Because, you see, grace is also, it's not only something done
for us, that's the foundation, but it's also something done
in us. It's a dynamic. It's a powerful principle of
grace within the heart. And God gives us a desire to
follow Him. And that's what He says next,
"...whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." What is this blessed
man, what's he going to do? He's going to rest in Christ.
He's going to look to Christ. Now, here's the division, verse
4. He says, "...the ungodly are not so." The ungodly walks in
the counsel of the ungodly. He's one of them. He doesn't
know Christ. He doesn't believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He hasn't repented of his dead works and idolatry.
The ungodly man does stand in the way of sinners because it's
his way. It may seem right to him, but the book of Proverbs
tells us twice there is a way that seems right to men, but
it's a way of death. And then he does sit in the seat
of the scornful because he scorns the grace of God. He scorns the
blessed person. and work of Christ. So he's not
so. It says, but are like the chaff
which the wind driveth away. It's like that chaff that whenever
they went into the wheat field and they cut down the wheat and
they gathered up the good wheat, the chaff that was left was just
blown away by the wind. And that's what the ungodly are
like. There's no life there. There's
no health there. And he says in verse 5, therefore
the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. nor sinners, that's
unbelievers, in the congregation of the righteous. When the judgment
comes, the ungodly will not stand. Why? Because they have no mediator. The Bible says there's one God
and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
My friend, if you reject Christ, you have no mediator. The ungodly
will not stand at judgment because he has no righteousness to justify
him. All he has is his own works,
his own efforts, and that will not do it. You see, unless we
have Christ and his righteousness alone, we will not stand at the
judgment. The only hope that any sinner
has for standing at the judgment and passing that test is to plead
Christ and his blood and righteousness alone. And he will not stand
in the congregation of the righteous. Why? Because he's ungodly. That's
the case of every sinner without Christ, ungodly, no matter how
he appears outwardly. And then he concludes this first
Psalm this way, verse 6, For the Lord, I love this, he says,
For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way
of the ungodly shall perish. God knows the way of the righteous.
You know why? Because it's his way. And knowing
it just doesn't mean that God just is aware of it. It means
God is the provider of it. He's the source of it. He's the
originator of it. This is an intimate knowledge
that God has of His people. Paul wrote to Timothy, he said,
The foundation of God standeth sure. The Lord knoweth them that
are His. But now the ungodly, they'll
perish. You see, God loves His people
and His love provides for them everything that His holiness
requires in Christ. And He knows them intimately.
And His knowledge of them will never fade. It will never stop. Just like His love. God determined
to save a people by His grace. And He saved them by His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And He will not go back on that
promise. He knows the way of the righteous.
He's the one who made them righteous. If they're blessed, they're blessed
of God. It's a matter of His pure, sovereign grace. He didn't
bless them because they deserved it. He didn't bless them because
they earned it. He blessed them out of His sovereign
mercy, His sovereign grace, His sovereign love in Christ. And
those who are ungodly, they shall perish. Because without Christ,
there's nothing but eternal damnation. My friend, do you hear that?
Without Christ, there's nothing but eternal perishing. And I
hope you'll see that and turn to Christ for all of your salvation.
Hope you enjoyed this message. Hope it's been helpful to your
understanding. If you'd like to receive a copy of it, listen
to the announcer and he'll give you the details. The title of
the message is The Great Division. We're glad you could join us
for today's message. If you would like to receive
a copy of this message, or if you would like more information
about Eager Avenue Grace Church, remember we are located at 1102
Eager Drive in Albany, Georgia. You can call us at 229-833-7000.
432-6969, or visit our Reign of Grace website
at www.rofgrace.com. Thank you and may the Lord be
with you.