["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Come to Verity Baptist Church. Let's go ahead and find our seeds this evening.
Find a seed, find a hand. We'll close the eternity page. Number 164.
Song number 164.
And we will open the service with praise him.
Praise him. Song number 164. Let's go ahead and sing it out.
On the first.
Praise him. Praise him. Jesus our blessed redeemer.
Sing, O earth, his wonderful love proclaim.
Hail him. Hail him. High as archangels of glory.
Strength and honor give to his holy name.
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard his children in his arms.
He carries them all day long.
Praise him. Praise him. Tell of his excellent greatness.
Praise him. Praise him. Ever in joyful songs.
Song number 164. Sing it out on the second.
Praise him. Praise him. Jesus our blessed redeemer.
Since he suffered and died, he our rock.
Our hope of eternal salvation.
Hail him. Hail him. Jesus our crucified.
Sound his praises. Jesus who bore our sorrow.
Love unbounded. Wonderful, deep, and strong.
Praise him. Praise him. Tell of his excellent greatness.
Praise him. Praise him. Ever in joyful songs.
Song number 164. I'm going to ask you guys to sing out for this last one.
We're here to praise the Lord, so let's just do that.
Song number 164. Sing it out on the last.
Praise him. Praise him. Jesus our blessed redeemer.
Heavenly portals. Jesus, savior, reigneth forever and ever.
Crown him. Crown him. Prophet and priest and king.
Christ is coming over the world victorious.
His power and glory unto the Lord belong.
Praise him. Praise him. Tell of his excellent greatness.
Praise him. Praise him. Ever in joyful songs.
Amen. Great singing. Welcome to the Wednesday evening service here at Verity Baptist Church.
We are so glad to have everyone here this evening. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Dear heavenly Father, we love you and we thank you for a great day you've given us.
And we thank you for these dear people who would come and sing praises to your name.
And we thank you for the opportunity to be in your house, Lord.
And we thank you for everything that you do for us.
We ask now, Lord, that you would bless the service.
We pray for the singing, the preaching, the praying time and the fellowship.
We just ask, Lord, that everything that will be said and done this evening would only bring glory and honor to your name.
We love you in Jesus' name. I pray. Amen.
All right. Turns to page number 349.
Song number 349.
Comforter Husk of song number 349. Sing it out on the first.
Oh, spread the tidings round Wherever man is found
Wherever human hearts And human roles abound
Let every Christian tongue Proclaim the joyful sound
The Comforter has come
The Comforter has come The Comforter has come
The Holy Ghost from heaven The Father's promised kin
Oh, spread the tidings round Wherever man is found
The Comforter has come Sing it out on the second.
The long, long night is past The morning breaks at last
And hushed the dreadful will And fury of the blast
As o'er the golden hills The day advances fast
The Comforter has come The Comforter has come
The Comforter has come The Holy Ghost from heaven
The Father's promised kin Oh, spread the tidings round
Wherever man is found The Comforter
Song number 349. Sing it out on the third.
Lo, the king of kings With healing in his wings
To every captive soul A full deliverance rings
And through the vacant cells The song of triumphs ring
The Comforter has come Sing it out.
The Comforter has come The Comforter has come
The Holy Ghost from heaven The Father's promised kin
Oh, spread the tidings round Wherever man is found
The Comforter has come
Let's finish strong on the last
Oh, boundless love divine How shall this tongue of mine
Two wondering mortals tell The Master's grace divine
That I, a child of hell Should in his image shine
The Comforter has come Sing it out.
The Comforter has come The Comforter has come
The Holy Ghost from heaven The Father's promised kin
Oh, spread the tidings round Wherever man is found
The Comforter has come. Amen.
Amen. We want to welcome you to the midweek service here at Verde Baptist Church.
We call it the most encouraging service of the week.
And we're so glad that you are with us.
Let's go and take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly.
If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you.
If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you.
The verse this week, Psalm 118, 24,
This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
And that's a good verse there. We like that.
If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service times.
Sunday morning service, 10 30 a.m.
We're glad that you were, excuse me, I should say,
we want to encourage you to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord Save for Church.
And of course, we have our Sunday evening service and our Wednesday evening Bible study.
We look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m.
And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and on Sundays at 2 p.m.
So if you'd like to go soul winning, there'll be an opportunity for you to be able to do that.
If you look at the announcements and upcoming events,
of course, we want you to just be aware that we have our cleaning crew appreciation dinner
and training coming up on Friday, August 2nd at 6 p.m.
So that's not this Friday, but next Friday.
And if you're part of our cleaning crew, then we want to appreciate you.
We'd like to have a meal with you and fellowship.
So please sign up and plan to attend.
We also have some training to go over.
Of course, since we moved into this new building,
we've been systematically going through every ministry and doing some retraining due to the building.
So I want to encourage you to be here, of course, for that.
And if you'd like to sign up to be part of the cleaning crew,
if you call Verity Baptist Church your home and you're not currently serving anywhere,
we think that every Christian should find a place to serve in the house of God.
And I want to encourage you to sign up for the cleaning crew if you don't have anything you're doing.
And you can sign up to come to the dinner, and we'll get you trained and situated with that.
Also, another announcement there, all the ladies are invited to a baby shower for Miss Riselle Lee-Wilson
on Saturday, August 10th at 3 p.m.
Miss Riselle is having a boy, and she is registered on Amazon.
It is a potluck, so if you can, please bring a dish to share.
And if you'd like to send, please sign up on your communication card.
Also, we've got choir and orchestra practice starting up this Sunday, July 28th at 5 p.m. here in the auditorium,
an hour before the evening service.
And they're going to start practicing for Family and Friend Day, which is our church's 14-year anniversary.
And the choir is open to new members, so obviously if you're part of the choir already, you're welcome to come.
But if you aren't part of the choir and you'd like to be, this is the time where you can participate and be a part of that.
It is open to ages 13 and up, 13 years old and up.
And then, of course, there's the Ladies' Weight Loss and Accountability Group that they meet every Wednesday at 6.15
in my wife's office, Miss Joanne's office, and she leads that group.
So if you're interested in being a part of that group, you're welcome to participate.
Upcoming cleaning crew, you can check for your name there, and of course we appreciate your faithfulness.
If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of July,
this week we had Miss Kimmy Gessler's birthday on July 21st.
And also Brother Anthony and Miss Sarah Coffney had their anniversary on July 22nd.
And on July 23rd, we had Miss Sandra Gibbs, Miss Gina Academia, and Miss Laura Beth Pompa's birthday.
And then today is Brother Joseph Chesick's birthday, July 24th.
And Brother Edgar and Miss Alina de Dios have an anniversary letter later this week on July 27th.
And you'll see there the praise report, money matters, all of those things are there for you to look at.
If you are a first-time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church,
we're glad you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you.
As you walk out of the church building this evening, as you go out our main foyer,
you'll see a little table set up, and on that table you'll see these little gift bags.
Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight.
There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have.
The one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made.
It's called Being Baptist. It's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it.
And we want to give this to you as a gift, so please make sure you don't leave here tonight
without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out.
And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment to fill out the communication card,
which is inserted in your bulletin.
And if you need a pen, you can just raise your hand and one of our ushers will bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen.
You're welcome to keep the pen as a gift, of course, from us as well.
And we would love to have a record of your attendance.
We actually would like to send you a little gift, but we need your information to do that.
So please take a moment to fill the card out.
When we're done with the announcements here in a moment, we're going to sing a song.
When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering.
And as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate.
And I think that's it for all of the announcements.
So let's go ahead and take our song books and let's go to page number 288.
Page number 288.
And we're going to sing I Am Resolved No Longer to Linger.
Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
288 on the first.
I am resolved no longer to linger,
Tarred by the world's delight.
Things that are higher, things that are nobler,
These have alert my sight.
I will hasten to Him,
Hasten so glad and free.
Jesus, greatest, highest,
I will come to you.
288, let's go ahead and sing it out on the second.
I am resolved, who go to the Savior,
Leaving my sin and strife.
He is the true one, He is the just one,
He hath the words of life.
I will hasten to Him,
Hasten so glad and free.
Jesus, greatest, highest,
I will come to thee.
Good singing out on the last.
I am resolved to follow the Savior,
Faithful and true each day.
Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth,
He is the living way.
I will hasten to Him,
Hasten so glad and free.
Jesus, greatest, highest,
I will come to thee.
Amen. Good singing.
Before we have the guys come up,
I do want to remind you that we, of course,
are a family integrated church.
What that means is that children and infants
are always welcomed in the service.
We do not separate children from their parents
for any reason.
And we do have mother-baby rooms
and daddy rooms available for your convenience.
So if you have a child that's been distracted
during the service, if you need some privacy,
we want to encourage you to use those rooms.
If you need to be baptized, please let us know.
You can let us know on your communication card
and we'll follow up with you.
Also, please make sure to check your phones
and make sure they're on silent or vibrate
so that they don't go off in the middle of the preaching.
And we'll go ahead and have the guys come up
and help us with the offering at this time.
And let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you.
We thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight.
Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering,
the gift and the giver.
We ask that you'd meet with us
as we open up your word
and as we study the Bible together.
Also, as we take time to pray
through the prayer requests of our church family.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Thank you, I'm nana.
Amen.
I just wanna say my thanks toUKZ lead.
Good luck.
I didn't learn that slope's is the first one.
All right.
I knew it.
Yeah.
You all right?
Good.
political.
You all right?
You are great, Dan.
You're good.
You guys TCAs.
've really been a opposite and opposite stimulus movement.
Oh yeah.
I'll tell you the difference.
for the Dios family, for little Uretzi to continue
to be healthy and strong, and we pray for Jonathan,
and we're thankful that he's out of the hospital now,
but Lord, we pray that you continue to strengthen him
and keep him healthy.
We also pray for Miss Angel Cabantala,
our missionary, Dave Cabantala's wife,
who's dealing with breast cancer,
praying that you would heal her
and that you would help her.
And Lord, we ask for all these individuals,
we pray that you put your healing hand over them
and help them to recover, give wisdom to the doctors
and nurses dealing with them.
We also pray, Lord, for the ladies in our church
that are expecting Miss Esther, Miss Ariel, Miss Rizel,
Miss Rebecca, Miss Angel, Miss Laura Beth, Miss Laurel,
praying that you'd give them all healthy pregnancies
with no issues and no complications.
We also pray, Lord, for these that have requests
regarding salvations, Brother Vlady and Miss Antonina,
praying for their family's salvation, Brother Brandon,
praying for his family and relatives' salvation as well,
Miss Natalie, praying for her husband's salvation,
and Brother Ron, praying for his mom
and his family's salvation, Miss Maria,
praying for Roma and Skylar's salvation,
Miss Christine for her family's salvation,
Miss Docma for her daughter
and her family's salvation as well.
Lord, we ask for these individuals,
we pray, Lord, that you would move in their hearts.
Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit would minister to them.
We ask, Lord, that his soul winner
would communicate the gospel clearly to them.
We pray that you'd help them come to the place
where they would be willing and receptive
to hear the gospel and that they would hear
a clear presentation of the gospel,
that they might be saved.
We also pray, Lord, for these that have requests
regarding financial and physical needs.
We pray for the Coker family,
who's making retirement plans
and considering future moving plans
and asking for just clarity and financial clarity
with regards to those things,
and pray for Brother Brandon,
praying for strength at his current job,
and also finances to save up for a vehicle.
And Miss Midori, we're praying that she'll be selected
to receive a senior apartment,
and that you would open the doors there
and help her, Lord, to be able to get that selection.
We pray for Brother Rene,
and praying as he starts a new career,
applying for different jobs,
and asking that you'd open the right doors for him
with regards to that.
We pray for Miss Christine and Brother Salvador
for their finances, Brother Salvador for his work.
Lord, we ask that you would bless these individuals
in these areas and help them and be with them.
We also pray for these that have requests
regarding spiritual needs.
And again, the Coker family,
just praying that the Lord would guide them.
And Brother Brandon, praying for his personal walk.
And also Miss Christine, Brother Salvador,
praying for their faith, their walk with you.
Brother Edgar and Miss Lena,
just praying for strength for their family.
And Lord, we ask that you would strengthen
these individuals, that your Holy Spirit
would comfort them and guide them and be with them.
And then Lord, we pray for these that have requests,
just in general, for their families.
Miss Nicole Perez, praying for her mom and her family.
And Brother Salvador, praying for his family as well.
And then Lord, we ask that you would also hear
these requests for these that have unspoken requests.
Brother Montel and Brother George and my dad,
Brother Felix and Brother Nate and Miss Natalie,
all having unspoken requests.
Also, Brother Salvador and Miss Docma
having unspoken requests.
Lord, you know what their petitions are,
you know what they're asking for.
And we ask that you would please answer
according to your will.
And then Lord, we pray, of course, for our church,
that you continue to help our church
and bless our church.
We pray for the prison ministry
and we pray for the Philippines work
going on in Manila and Pampanga and Bicol.
We pray for Pastor Stuckey and for his family,
that you strengthen them and help them.
And I know Pastor Stuckey right now
is dealing with his dad's health
and his dad probably will be passing away soon.
And Lord, we just pray that you strengthen their family
and give them comfort and help at this time.
We also pray, Lord, for our upcoming events,
family and friend day, that you would bless this event
and help it to be a day that would bring honor
and glory to your name.
Lord, we just pray for our church here,
that you'd help us, that you'd strengthen us,
that you would meet with us tonight
as we open up your word
and as we study the Bible together.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Please open most of the book of Psalms,
Psalm chapter one, Psalm one.
If you need a Bible, please raise your hand
and I know she could bring you a Bible.
Psalm one, just keep your hand up and she will come by.
Psalm chapter one, Psalm one, beginning verse number one.
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.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And 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,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so,
but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous,
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening.
God, I thank you for your word
and for this new Bible study.
I see you be with us through this time,
and I see you be with our pastor tonight.
Please strengthen him and fill him with his spirit.
We love you.
In Jesus' name, pray.
Amen.
All right, we're there in Psalm one.
And of course, tonight we're starting
a brand new Wednesday night Bible study
in the book of Psalms.
And we are going to begin here, of course, in Psalm one.
And before we get into Psalm one,
I'd like to just give a little bit
of a quick introduction to the book of Psalms.
Of course, I always say that the best time
to be in church, and I think every time
is a good time to be in church,
but the best time to be in church
is right at the beginning of a new Bible study
or a new sermon series,
because then you can commit
to just be with us the entire time
and to be here for every sermon in this Bible study.
And the book of Psalms, of course,
is one of the biggest books in the entire Bible.
And it is a collection of 150 ancient Hebrew poems
and songs and prayers.
And they come from all different periods
in Israel's history.
So the book of Psalms does not deal
with just one specific time chronologically,
but the 150 Psalms, they just,
somebody can help me with that.
I don't know, Brother Oliver,
there's a noise or something.
It sounds like a rattlesnake's about to bite someone.
So if you guys could help me with that, I'd appreciate it.
150 Psalms, and what we are gonna be studying here
in the book of Psalms is these Psalms.
Let me just give you one thought
about the book of Psalms.
And this is not a big deal,
but I think it's worth mentioning,
and maybe it's just a little bit of a pet peeve,
but the book is called the book of Psalms.
And the word Psalm is in reference to music.
And what this is is a book of sacred music.
The book of Psalms would be,
for the Old Testament Hebrew nation,
the equivalent of a hymn book for us.
It was the Psalms that they sang to music
in worship and in praise of the Lord.
And just for your own knowledge,
this is a book that is not divided into chapters,
but it is divided into Psalms.
Each Psalm is its own song.
And again, this is maybe just a little bit
of my pet peeve, but you should be aware
that the book is called the book of Psalms,
and every Psalm is an individual Psalm.
So don't say things like Psalms 23.
It's not Psalms 23, it's Psalm 23.
It's Psalm 119.
It's Psalm 1.
The book of Psalms, plural,
is made up of 150 different Psalms.
Now, most of the Psalms were written by King David
or attributed to King David.
There's 150 Psalms.
And about 73 to 75 are attributed to King David,
depending on how you look at it.
And there are some there that people debate upon.
And of course, David, if you remember,
in 2 Samuel 23, one is referred to
as the sweet psalmist of Israel.
So he wrote, as far as being an author,
he wrote the book of Psalms,
but there's other authors, and it's not just David.
In fact, just some notable authors of the book of Psalms
are Moses and Solomon and the Asaph and the sons of Korah.
And there's others, of course, that are less well known.
There's some Psalms that are anonymous.
In fact, Psalm 1, which we'll be looking at tonight,
and Psalm 2 are anonymous.
And then I just want to, by way of deduction,
explain kind of the types of Psalms.
There's different types of Psalms that we'll encounter.
And one type that you will see is a psalm of lament.
And it is a psalm in which the writer
is lamenting and mourning about maybe things
that are happening in the nation
or things that are happening to the congregation.
And then one thing that we'll see a lot of
in the book of Psalms as well are psalms of praise.
And we'll see a lot of psalms
where they're praising the Lord
or they're thanking the Lord,
they're being grateful to the Lord.
And then also there is a certain type of psalm
that doesn't get a lot of attention
because the book of Psalms is a very famous book,
obviously, and there's very famous psalms
in the book of Psalms,
but there is a certain type of psalm
that is ignored oftentimes.
And these are imprecatory prayers
that are found in the book of Psalms.
And these are not the types of Psalms
that you'll see on a card
with a Thomas Kincaid painting on it
that says happy anniversary or something like that
because the imprecatory prayers of Psalms
are when God's people are praying for the death
and judgment of evil and wicked people.
So when we get to those Psalms,
I'll make you aware of that
and we'll study them out as well
because the Bible says all scriptures
are given by inspiration of God
and it's all profitable and it's all good.
And the imprecatory prayers in Psalms
are just as much the word of God
as Psalm 23 and Psalm 1 and Psalm 119
and Psalm 19 and all the other famous Psalms.
Now just one more thing just by way of introduction
is that the book of Psalms is a big book, 150 Psalms.
And this big book is divided
into five different sections
and it's been organized into five different sections.
And I'll just give this to you.
You don't have to write this down or anything
but if you'd like it for your information,
there's five different books
that the book of Psalms is divided into.
Book 1 covers Psalms 1 through 41.
Book 2 covers Psalms 42 through 72.
Book 3 covers Psalms 73 through 89.
Book 4 covers Psalms 90 through 106.
And Book 5 covers Psalms 107 through 150.
So we are probably not going to preach
through the entire book of Psalms all in one shot
because that would be 150 Wednesday nights
and that would be like a three-year Bible study.
And we're not gonna do that
but I think what we'll probably do
is at least make it through Book 1 up to Psalm 41.
And then maybe we might take a break,
study something else for a while
and we'll come back to Book 2 and Book 3.
We will of course eventually preach
through the entire book of Psalms
because one of our goals here at Radio Baptist Church
is to preach through every book of the Bible
verse by verse, chapter by chapter.
And we're tracking that
and we're like 45% through the entire Bible already.
So we'll definitely cover the book of Psalms
but we'll probably won't do all of it
all in one shot.
We'll for sure do, Lord willing,
Book 1, maybe even Book 2.
We'll see how tired you are of the book of Psalms
in 41 weeks from now.
Now we're there in Psalm 1.
And Psalm 1 is one of the most famous Psalms, of course,
not simply because it is the first Psalm
but because of what it says.
And some have even said that it is the most important Psalm
which is why it is placed
as the first Psalm in the book.
And it begins in a very positive way.
I'd like you to notice there's Psalm 1
in verse number one.
The Psalmist says this, blessed is the man.
Blessed is the man.
And here in Psalm 1, what we see in these six verses
is a promise that is given right at the beginning
of the book of Psalms.
And it is a promise and it is a process
for which how to obtain the blessing of the Lord.
Now, sometimes it's difficult for people to understand
this word blessed, but the word blessed
has to do with having the favor of God upon your life,
with having God help you, God favor you,
having God's blessing and God's help along the way.
And here the Psalmist says, blessed is the man.
I wanna just begin, we're gonna go through
and we're gonna go through each one of these verses.
We're gonna dissect it and get into it.
But before that, I just wanna begin by showing you
the Psalm because I wanna explain to you
why it is you should care about Psalm 1
and why you should care to study Psalm 1.
Here the Psalmist says, blessed is the man.
Now he begins with this very positive phrase,
blessed is the man.
And then he immediately goes into something negative.
He gives three negative statements.
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,
but his delight, now verse two begins again a positive,
but his delight is in the law of the Lord
and in his law does he meditate day and night.
And here's verse three, and here's why you should care
about the book of Psalms.
I think you should care about the entire Bible
just because it's the Bible.
But let me just try to apply this
to maybe a little bit of your flesh
and a little bit of your selfishness.
Why is it that we should even care about Psalm 1?
And it is because in Psalm 1,
we have this promise in verse number three,
and it is this, and he,
now the he here is referring to that blessed man.
And by the way, in the Bible,
the word man is just used generically.
This is talking about any human being, any individual.
We could say blessed is the person.
This applies to women, of course.
But the he here is referring to that individual
that is blessed, and it says,
and he shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water.
This illustration is used of a tree
that is planted by the rivers of water.
Notice what it says about this tree,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not wither.
I just want you to notice this little phrase
at the end of verse three,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Whatsoever he doeth, the Bible says, shall prosper.
And I want you to notice that here in Psalm 1,
what we have is a plan from God,
a process from God,
where God literally does not hide it.
He doesn't make it obscure.
He doesn't make it cryptic or difficult to understand.
He says, let me give you the secret to success in life.
I think we can all identify that word prosper.
And I think that's probably something
that we'd all like to have in our life.
Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Now I'd like you to keep your place there in Psalm 1.
That's our text for tonight.
Let me just show you how this is taught
throughout the Bible,
and it's not just in this one place.
You're there in Psalm 1, keep your place there,
and go with me if you would to the book of Joshua.
Joshua chapter number one.
And you probably, if you are familiar with these passages,
know what verse I'm going to,
but I'd like you to look down at verse number eight.
Joshua chapter number one and verse number eight.
If you open up your Bible just right at the beginning,
you'll have the book of Genesis,
then Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua.
I want you to keep in mind Psalm 1.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the rivers of water
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not wither.
Here's the promise.
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
I think we all like that verse.
We all want that verse to be applied to our lives.
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Whatsoever he puts his hand to, it's going to prosper.
What are everything that he intends to do,
that he attempts to do, that he tries to do?
It has the blessing of God upon it.
It has the favor of God upon it.
It succeeds, and it has the prosperity of the Lord.
Are you there in Joshua chapter one?
Look down at verse number eight.
Joshua chapter one and verse eight.
Notice what Joshua wrote.
He said, this book of the law.
I want you to notice,
and we're gonna compare these verses here in a minute,
but just notice right off the bat.
Psalm one said, his delight is in the law of the Lord.
And in his law does he meditate day and night.
Joshua one eight says, this book of the law
shall not depart out of thy mouth,
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night,
that thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written therein.
Look at these words, for then, look at it.
This is a promise of God.
The word then here is giving us the idea
that if you do something, then God will do something.
If you and I have this book of the law,
and do not allow it to depart out of our mouths,
but meditate therein day and night,
and observe to do according to all
that is written therein.
That's our part, then here's God's part.
For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, look at it,
and then thou shalt have good success.
And here the Bible, God again gives this promise
that says, you want to prosper?
You want success?
I'm telling you the secret to success.
For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous,
and then thou shalt have good success.
Of course, when you read Psalm one,
you have to, your mind has to go,
if you're familiar with it, to Joshua one eight,
because of the similarities.
But yet there's another passage that again,
is very similar to Psalm one, I'd like you to see it.
Keep your place there in Joshua chapter one,
we're gonna come back to it.
Go with me if you would to the book of Jeremiah
towards the end of the Old Testament, Jeremiah 17.
If you have your place in Psalms,
after Psalms, you have the book of Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah.
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 17.
Now remember how Psalm one began.
Blessed is the man.
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,
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and his law is that he meditate day and night,
and 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,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Notice Jeremiah 17, and look at the similarities
in verse number seven, Jeremiah 17, verse seven.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord,
and whose hope the Lord is.
Now notice verse eight.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters,
and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,
and shall not see when heat cometh,
but her leaves shall be green,
and shall not be careful in the year of drought,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
I want you to notice that this concept,
this is not just one Psalm
where we find this concept, this idea,
and look, I'm showing you just verses
that are very similar,
but this concept is found all throughout the Bible.
Now we see it in Psalm 1, Joshua 1, Jeremiah 17,
as a promise, but let me give it to you in practice.
Go to Genesis 39.
I'm gonna show you other passages later on.
This is just by way of introduction,
but let me just give you some examples.
Genesis 39, and here's what I want you to understand.
God promises, God promises that he can prosper you,
that he can prosper you,
and God promises that he can help you succeed.
In fact, God promises that he can make it
so that whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Now I don't know about you, but I want that promise.
I wanna claim the promise that says
anything I put my hand to, anything I put energy into,
anything I put effort into, it's going to prosper.
It's going to succeed.
God is going to bless it.
The favor of God is going to be upon it.
We've seen it in the form of a promise,
but let me show it to you in the form of practice.
Genesis 39, are you there?
Look down at verse number three.
Now just for context, remember this is about Joseph.
Remember Joseph in the Bible?
Joseph, the Bible says in Genesis 39 and verse three,
look at what it says.
By the way, this is a 17-year-old kid.
And the Bible says in Genesis 39, three,
and his master saw that the Lord was with him.
By the way, you should know that when the Lord is with you,
it's evident to others.
His master saw that the Lord was with him.
And, look at it, don't miss it,
and that the Lord made all that he did
to prosper in his hand.
Look down at verse number 23.
In Genesis 39, verse 23, the keeper of the prison
looked not to anything that was under his hand
because, again, talking about Joseph, look what it says.
And the Lord was hit with him,
and that which he did, look at the words,
the Lord made it to prosper.
And don't you know what's true about Joseph?
As we see Joseph, everywhere he goes, he excels.
Everywhere he goes, he succeeds.
Everywhere he goes, God is with him.
The favor of God is on him, and he prospers.
Now let me just be clear about this,
and I'm gonna give the disclaimer once,
and I'll probably give it again
at some point in the sermon, and let me just say this.
I am not teaching, and I'm not preaching here,
a prosperity gospel.
Okay, I'm not up here like Benny Hinn or Joe Lowstein
telling you that you're gonna have your best life now,
and if you sow a seed of $1,000,
God's gonna give you 100,000.
That's not how it works.
But the Bible does say that God
can bestow his favor upon your life,
and that God can make it so that he's with you,
and everything you do, he favors, he blesses,
he makes it to prosper, he gives you good success.
Now understand this, though.
That does not mean that you will not have trials.
That does not mean that you will not have troubles.
In fact, Joseph is a perfect example of that.
His brothers sold him into slavery.
He gets sold into slavery, into Potiphar's house,
but because the Lord was with him,
and everything he did, the Lord made it to prosper,
he succeeded in Potiphar's house,
and he became the second most powerful individual
in Potiphar's house.
Then Potiphar's wife lies about him,
gets him thrown in prison.
That's a trial, not the tribulation,
but because the Lord was with him,
and because the Lord made everything in his hand
to prosper, even in prison,
they put him in charge of the entire prison.
And then the butler and the baker forget about him,
but eventually God orchestrates it
so that Pharaoh brings him out of prison,
and he is given the position
of the second most powerful man in Egypt,
the most powerful nation of the world at that time.
How did that happen?
It happened because he was a tree
planted by the rivers of water
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
This is what Psalm 1 is about.
Now, I've done my best to try to help interest you
in why you should care about Psalm 1,
because I don't know about you,
but look, if you're sitting here tonight
and you're saying,
Pastor, I've got a business
that I'd sure like God to prosper in favor,
then you might wanna listen tonight.
Pastor, I've got a marriage that
I sure want God's blessing upon my marriage,
then you should listen tonight.
Pastor, I've got some children
that we're trying to raise for the glory of God,
and I sure like God's favor and God's help
and God's blessing upon me as I raise these children.
Then you might wanna listen tonight
if there's anything in your life
that you would like the blessing of God upon,
you may wanna listen tonight,
because God tells us in Psalm 1
how it is to get the secret of success in your life.
Again, that doesn't mean you won't go through trials,
that doesn't mean you won't go through troubles,
that doesn't mean you won't go through heartaches,
but it means that you won't go through it
without the Lord, and that the Lord will be with you,
and that the Lord will make everything
that you put your hand to to prosper.
So how does this happen?
We'll go back to Psalm 1.
Keep your place in Joshua 1,
keep your place in Jeremiah 17.
We're gonna come back to these passages,
but go back to Psalm 1,
and let's begin to break down this portion of scripture.
Psalm 1, and look at verse number 1.
The first thing we see,
and for those of you taking notes,
and if you're here tonight,
I always encourage you to take notes
on the back of your course of the week.
There's a place you can write down some notes,
especially as we begin the book of Psalms,
or maybe you brought a new notebook with you.
You can take notes all throughout the book of Psalms together.
I'd like to give you three thoughts
that we see from these six verses,
and the first is this.
I want you to notice the advice given to the blessed man,
the advice to the blessed man,
and Psalm 1 is telling us how to be that blessed man,
how to have the favor of God
and the prosperity of God upon our lives,
and it begins with advice, the advice to the blessed man,
and it begins, we've already talked about this a little bit,
with what he denies.
Look at it again, Psalm 1 and verse 1.
There are three things that we are told.
This blessed man,
and we know that this applied to Joseph
because everything that Joseph did, God prospered it,
and other individuals in the Bible
that have lived prosperous lives by the will of God.
Blessed is the man, notice there are three things
that if you want the blessing of God,
the favor of God, the power of God upon your life,
there are three things that you must learn to deny.
The Bible says there in verse 1,
blessed is the man, look at it,
that, number one,
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.
Walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.
The first thing we see that this blessed man does
is that he does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
The word counsel there means advice,
but it's more than just advice.
The idea here is that the blessed man does not walk,
the word walk is referring to his way of life,
his lifestyle, the way he's walking through life.
He does not walk under the advice or the guidance
or the counsel of the ungodly.
Now you might think, well, I don't know
that I've got a lot of people that are counseling me,
but here's a word that you should understand
that applies to this word counsel,
and it is this word influence.
In fact, today we live in a society full of influencers
because social media has made it
so that everybody with a phone and a camera
wants to and is attempting to influence you.
And the Bible says here, the first step,
because the reverse is true,
and maybe you're here tonight, you're saying,
why is my business not succeeding
and why is my marriage failing
and why are my relationships not going well
and why are things, why does it seem like
not everything I touch serves the goal,
but everything I touch dies,
why is it that it seems like I don't have
the blessing of God upon my life?
Well, here's what the Bible says,
the blessed man walketh not in the counsel
of the ungodly, he is not influenced by the ungodly.
We live in a world of influencers,
and you must guard who influences you.
You say, who are the ungodly?
The ungodly are people who live in such a way
that they do not please or honor God.
You say, who are the ungodly
that most people allow them to influence them?
Who are the ungodly that most people walk
under the influence or under the counsel of the ungodly?
Who are the ungodly that you might be walking
in their steps and hindering the blessing
of God upon your life?
Well, it could be an ungodly actor,
could be an ungodly musician,
could be an ungodly politician,
which that's like synonymous, you know,
it's like if they're a politician,
just mark it down, they're ungodly.
It could be a best-selling author,
it could be a news anchor,
it could be a TV host or radio host,
it could be a YouTuber, it could be a podcaster,
it could be worldly friends,
it could be worldly co-workers.
But the Bible says that if you want the blessing of God
upon your life, you must learn and you must decide
and you must deny to walk
under the counsel of the ungodly.
To not allow the ungodly people of this world
to influence you and to get you
to begin to think the way they think
and to begin to walk in the way
that they want you to walk.
And listen, obviously we live in a world
filled with ungodly people.
But if you want the blessing of God,
you must learn to not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
And here's what I'm saying to you,
is that the world is filled with ungodly people
and you and I must decide that we are going to guard
the influence in our life.
I don't think there's anything wrong,
I don't think there's anything wrong in the world
with you going out to some baseball game
and watching some guy hit a ball 472 feet.
Nothing wrong with that.
Nothing wrong with that at all.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
There's some things that I think people shouldn't do
but I don't think there's anything wrong
with going out, watching an athlete,
like a baseball player, hit the ball
or catch the ball or throw the ball.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that at all.
But I don't think that you should let him
influence you on how to dress.
You understand what I'm saying to you?
Maybe there's some TV host or some news anchor
that you think gives you good news
and good things and whatever you like to listen
because they inform you and whatever.
That's fine.
But you shouldn't let them begin to influence
how you ought to think, how to live your life.
Do you understand what I'm saying to you?
Well, I'm just trying to give you the keys
for success in life and maybe the keys
why you're not succeeding in life
because you're being counseled by ungodly podcasters
and ungodly news anchors and ungodly TV stars.
And we all say we want the life of Joseph
and we want to be like Joseph
and anywhere I go I want to prosper.
Well, wait a minute.
Blessed is the man that walketh not
in the counsel of the ungodly.
And again, maybe there's some actor
in some movie you like.
Okay, fine.
But don't let him teach you how to live your life.
Don't let him influence how to have a marriage.
Don't let them influence what music you should listen to.
And don't let them influence the way
you think you ought to live your life
because that is going to withhold
the favor of God upon your life.
So what does the blessed man deny?
First, the Bible says he walks not
in the counsel of the ungodly.
And here's all I'm telling you is if you walk with them,
if you walk with them, if you walk with the ungodly,
you will soon agree with them.
You know what the Bible says?
You don't have to turn here,
but the Bible says in Amos 3, three,
can two walk together except they be agreed?
If you walk with the ungodly,
it'll just be a matter of time
before you begin to agree with the ungodly.
And you'll start saying things like,
well, I don't think that that's that bad.
Well, the way they dress isn't that bad.
Well, the things they do, they're not that bad.
Well, the things they drink, that's not that bad.
And when you begin to walk with the ungodly,
you will soon begin to agree with the ungodly.
I want you to notice there's a second thing.
He says, blessed is the man
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.
Then he says, nor standeth in the way of sinners.
The blessed man, not only does he not walk
in the counsel of the ungodly,
but he does not stand in the way of sinners.
What does this mean?
When he's standing in the way of sinners,
it means to spend time or associate with a sinner.
And think about the wording.
He begins by saying, blessed is the man.
First he's walking, that walketh not in the counsel.
He's walking under the counsel.
He's listening as he's walking and he's being influenced.
And the way he walks and the way he lives
is being influenced by that counsel.
And the Bible says, blessed is the man
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.
But you know what's even worse than walking
in the counsel of the ungodly is when you stop walking
and now you're just standing and you're absorbing
and you're spending time with and you're living with.
And look, the Bible says,
the Bible says that he does not walk.
He does not stand, nor standeth in the way of sinners.
Go to Proverbs, if you would, Proverbs chapter 13.
You're there in Psalms, just flip over to Proverbs.
What does this mean?
It means that you should not allow
ungodly people to influence you.
And look again, I realize we live
in a world filled with ungodly people.
And you gotta work with ungodly people.
You can even like ungodly people in the sense that,
again, they hit a baseball or they're a politician
that seems to align with the things you think
or whatever, hey, all those things are fine.
But the minute you start trying to be like that person
and allowing them to influence the way you think
and the way you live and the decisions you make,
now you have a problem.
He says, does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
He says, does not stand in the way of sinners.
This has to do with spending time
in associating with sinners.
And you say, well, I don't understand that.
That doesn't make any sense.
Aren't we all sinners?
Yes, we are all sinners.
But here's what the Bible says.
You should not feel comfortable standing
or being with someone as they sin.
You understand that?
You say, well, my coworker's sitting there,
I'm not smoking pot, but they're smoking pot.
Well, don't stand with them as they do it.
Maybe that's why you don't have the blessing
of God upon your life.
Nor standeth in the way of sinners.
And look, here's what I'm telling you.
The people you spend time with
are going to influence and affect your life.
You will be the sum total of the people
you spend the most time with.
You understand that?
Proverbs 13, here's a verse.
Look at verse 20.
Proverbs 13, verse 20.
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.
Look at it, though.
But a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Look, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings.
I'm trying to help you out.
You say, I'm broke.
Probably everybody you spend time with is broke.
I'm fat.
Probably all your friends are fat.
I'm not trying to hurt your feelings.
I'm just telling you, I'm just telling you
that you will be the sum total of the people
you spend the most time with.
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.
You say, I want to be wise
and find some wise men to walk with.
But when you decide to be a companion of fools,
then don't be surprised when you're destroyed like a fool.
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise,
but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
You are or you soon will be what your friends are.
You show me who your friends are
and I'll show you which direction you're headed.
You will be the sum total of people
you spend the most time with.
Listen to me very carefully.
Your friends will determine the quality
and direction of your life.
So if you walk with them, you will soon agree with them.
And if you stand with them, you will soon be like them.
And I want you to notice a third thing.
Look at Psalm, go back to Psalm one and verse one.
You say, I like the whole prosperity thing.
I like the whole success thing.
But now you're saying, I got to do all this other stuff.
Well, there's a price to be paid
for the power of God upon your life.
And he says that he walketh not in the counsel
of the ungodly because if you walk with them,
you will soon agree with them.
And he says, nor standeth in the way of sinners
because if you stand with them,
you will soon be like them.
And then he says this,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
The scornful or to scorn is defined
as expressing extreme contempt or disdain
or disrespect or derision for the things of God.
You know, the Bible says that you should not sit
with people who disdain, disrespect,
deride the word of God.
Your friends make fun of Jesus,
they ought not be your friends.
Your friends make fun of church,
they should not be your friends.
Your friends make fun of the things of God,
the word of God, they ought not be your friends.
And maybe, just maybe,
that's why the power of God is not upon your life.
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Go back to Proverbs if you would,
Proverbs chapter four, you're there in Psalms,
just turn over to Proverbs chapter four.
Proverbs chapter four, and I want you to see this.
He says, if you walk with them,
you will soon agree with them.
He says, walk not in the counsel of the ungodly.
He says, if you stand with them,
you will soon be like them,
nor standeth in the way of sinners.
And then he says this, if you sit with them,
you will soon be one of them.
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
This is why Proverbs four and 14 says this,
look at it, don't miss it.
Proverbs four, 14,
and turn not into the path of the wicked,
and go not in the way of evil men.
Avoid it, pass not by it,
turn from it and pass away.
Why?
Because if you walk with them,
you will soon agree with them.
Can two walk together except they be great?
If you stand with them, you will soon be like them.
If you sit with them, you will soon be one of them.
And I want you to see the divine progression here.
He says, you will go from walking to standing
to now sitting.
Walking under the counsel of the ungodly,
standing in the way of sinners,
and then soon one day we'll find you sitting
in the seat of the scornful.
I can't help but think of Lot.
I won't have you turn there,
but remember Lot in the Old Testament?
Lot, the Bible says that he pitched
his tent towards Sodom.
He subscribed to Sodom's YouTube channel.
He began to watch Sodom's TV shows.
He pitched his tent towards Sodom.
He was watching Sodom, the sights and sounds of Sodom,
and he allowed the counsel of the ungodly,
the influence of the ungodly to begin to influence him.
And for that reason, it's not so long after,
the next time we find Lot,
he's not pitched his tent towards Sodom.
The Bible says that he's dwelling in Sodom.
And remember, a war breaks out,
and as a result of him being there in Sodom,
he's taken captive, why?
Because your friends will influence,
your friends will determine the quality
and the direction of your life.
And Abraham has to go save him out of that captivity.
But if you remember later on,
when God sends two angels to destroy Sodom,
we find Lot doing what?
Sitting, sitting at the gate, the Bible says.
He began by watching, then by standing, then by sitting.
Look, you do whatever you want,
I'm just trying to tell you.
God says, I can make everything you touch prosper.
But it cannot happen while you're being counseled
by the ungodly, standing with the sinners,
and sitting with the scornful.
So we see what the blessed man denies,
but then I want you to notice
what the blessed man delights in.
Go back to Psalm one, if you would.
We've only made it to verse two,
and we're gonna try to hit all six verses up,
because it's gonna pick up here in a minute.
You see, at this rate,
we're never gonna finish the book of Psalms.
Well, even if we only get to verse one,
that's a good verse.
In verse one, we see what the blessed man denies.
Then in verse two, we see what the blessed man delights.
Look, verse one says, blessed is the man that walketh not.
We got the negatives,
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor siteth in the seat of the scornful.
Then we get verse two, here's the positive.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in his law does he meditate day and night.
What is the difference?
What is the difference
between the blessed man and everyone else?
And we're talking about Christians here,
we're talking about believers.
Not ungodly people, we'll get to that in verse four.
What is the difference between the man
that has the blessing and the favor of God,
and every other believer?
What is the difference between the Josephs and the Daniels?
And everybody else that you don't hear about
in the Bible, that we don't know their names,
what's the difference?
And his law, they meditate, the Bible says.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and his law does he meditate day and night.
Go to Psalm 119, if you would.
You're there in Psalm one.
There's lots that we could look at in Psalm 119.
I'll just show you one verse, Psalm 119, verse 97.
Psalm 119, verse 97, the Bible says,
Oh, how I, notice these words.
Oh, how love I thy law.
It is my meditation all the day.
I want you to understand this,
because these verses are not, look,
Psalm one is a catchy psalm.
It's a psalm that's well written,
and it's eloquent and articulate.
But these words are not being put in this order
simply for poetic purposes,
although it's a very poetic passage.
What he is saying is this.
The blessed man does not walk under the counsel
or the advice or the influence of the ungodly.
He's not spending time and standing in the way of sinners.
He's not sitting and identifying
in the seat of the scornful.
That's what he doesn't do, but here's what he does do.
Where does he then get his counsel from?
Where does he get his influence from?
Who does he spend time with?
Who does he sit with?
He sits with the word of God.
He opens up the word of God,
and his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in his love he meditates day and night.
And I'm here to tell you,
I'm here, it's not just enough to know the Bible,
but that's where we need to begin.
And here's what I'm telling you.
The more you read the Bible,
the more you memorize the Bible,
the more you study the Bible,
the more you think about the Bible,
the more you allow the Bible
to get synced into your brain.
The Bible says that God will begin to renew your mind.
You'll begin to understand and think differently.
This book will make you smarter.
It'll make you wiser.
It'll make you better.
So how, how?
Stop spending so much time with Sean Hannity
and start spending time with the word of God.
Stop spending time with some podcasters.
Stop spending time with some radio host.
Stop spending time with some TV shows.
Stop spending time with the world.
Stop spending time with God and his word.
Why don't you walk with God and stand with God
and sit with God and learn God
and meditate upon his word?
Because I promise you,
if you begin to dig into the Bible
and you really begin to read it
and develop a daily habit of reading the Bible every day
and dissecting it and memorizing and thinking about it
and meditating upon it,
light bulbs will begin to go off.
And you'll begin to realize,
oh, well, that's why my marriage isn't working.
Oh, well, that's what I'm supposed to do at work.
Oh, well, that's what God wants me to do
with my finances.
See, his delight is in the law of the Lord.
You got to know what the Bible says.
By the way, that's why,
that's why being in church on a Sunday morning
and a Sunday night and a Wednesday night
will produce more value
than any TED talk you could listen to,
any conference you can go to.
You have a man of God open the word of God
and preach the word of God to you.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord
and his law that he meditate day and night.
Did you keep your place in Joshua?
Joshua chapter one and verse eight, look at it.
This book of the law
shall not depart out of thy mouth.
The Bible, the Bible should be something,
and I think this is in reference to memorizing scripture,
and I think we ought to memorize scripture,
should constantly be in our mind and our mouth.
But the point is this,
the Bible should be something
we're constantly thinking about.
The Bible should be something
that we're constantly talking about.
It should be in our mind,
in his law that he meditate day and night.
It should be in our mouth.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth,
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.
Here's the key though, it's not just enough to know it.
That thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written therein.
I promise you, if you do what the Bible tells you to do,
you'll succeed.
You'll have favor.
You'll have the blessing of God,
the power of God upon your life.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth,
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.
Thou mayest observe to do according
to all that is written therein.
For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous,
and then thou shalt have good success.
We see what he denies, and we see in what he delights,
and what you have to delight is in the word of God.
And look, none of us are perfect.
None of us are without sin.
We all fail, and none of us are gonna do this perfectly.
But to the best of your ability,
you need to dig into the Bible.
Know what God wants you to do, and then do it.
And God promises, God promises,
I'll bless you, I'll help you, I'll be with you.
So we see what he denies,
and then we see what he delights.
Go back, if you would, to Psalm 1.
Look at verse three.
We began by looking at the advice to the blessed man,
and we saw that in verses one and two,
what he denies and what he delights.
Then I want you to notice,
and we've already talked about it a little bit,
but I just want you to see it again,
the advantage of the blessed man.
What is the advantage?
The advantage is this.
He is planted.
Look at verse three.
And he shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit and his season.
We'll talk about that here in a minute.
His leaf also shall not wither.
God says, I can plant you like a tree by a source of water
that will make it so that your leaf will not wither.
While other trees around you
that are not planted by the source of water are dying,
heat is drying them up,
there's no blessing upon their lives,
God says, I can give you a source
that they know not of.
Like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
his leaf also shall not wither, the Bible says.
Go to Jeremiah 17, if you would.
You've got your place there in Jeremiah 17.
Look at verse eight.
Jeremiah 17 and verse eight.
Look at these verses.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters,
and it spreadeth out her roots by the river.
And shall not see when heat cometh,
but her leaf shall be green,
and shall not be careful in the year of drought.
Neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Look, isn't that who you want to be?
I want to live my life in such a way
where when everybody else is saying,
inflation is killing us.
We're saying, I'm planted by the waters
that spread out her roots by the river,
and shall not see when he cometh,
but her leaf shall be green.
So how are you surviving with a family of eight,
working at a church with all this inflation
in the economy?
And you see, one of the reasons that I'm not,
don't care as much about politics as some of you,
is because I'm not putting my hopes in a man
to fix the economy.
I just believe that God will take care of us.
God will take care of me.
You say, how does God take care of me?
I don't know.
Sometimes, honestly, I look at the account
and I'm thinking to myself,
I tell my wife sometimes,
I don't even want to try to do the math
to figure it out.
I don't know how it's all getting paid.
I don't know how it's all getting done.
It's just getting done.
It must be the blessing of God.
His leaf also shall not wither.
He shall not see when heat cometh,
but her leaf shall be green.
2 Corinthians chapter four, you don't have to turn here.
The Bible says, for which cause we faint not,
but though the outward man perish,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
So we see that he is planted to a source
that keeps him nourished, to a source
while everyone else, the heat comes,
and everyone else, their leaf is withering
and they're not producing.
For some reason, this individual can go on.
This individual can continue.
This individual can succeed.
This individual, it's like the, look,
it's like the children of Israel,
while God was bringing the plagues upon Egypt,
the children of Israel living in Goshen were being blessed.
And while everything else was in chaos and falling apart,
there was this little land in Egypt
and where God was blessing and God was protecting,
and people didn't understand it,
but it was the people of God.
And you can be a Goshen in this Egypt that we live in.
So I want you to notice that he's planted, he's fixed,
but not only that, also he's producing.
Look at verse three.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.
We see that he's planted.
Also, we see that he's producing,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
He's fruitful.
Jeremiah said, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Not only do we see that he is planted
and not only do we see that he is producing,
but I want you to notice,
and we've already been talking about it,
we see that he is prospering.
He's fixed and he's fruitful and he's favored.
Look at the last part of verse three.
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Joshua 1.8, for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous
and then thou shalt have good success.
Go to 2 Chronicles, if you would, chapter 14.
If you're there in Joshua,
if you kept your place in Joshua,
you have Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles.
Honestly, I did not intend
to have you turn to these passages.
The passages I'm having you turn to right now
literally were just part of my daily Bible reading
this morning, just my Bible reading chart
just had me read these chapters.
And as I'm reading these chapters,
I'm thinking to myself,
this is exactly what Psalm 1 is about.
Look at 2 Chronicles 14 and verse number two.
2 Chronicles chapter 14 and verse number two.
Look at what the Bible says.
And Asa did that which was good and right
in the eyes of the Lord.
He is God.
Now notice the negatives.
And he took away the altars of the strange gods
and the high places and break down the images
and cut down the grows and commanded Judah,
commanded Judah, commanded Judah to seek the Lord God
of their fathers and to do the law and the commandments.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth,
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night
that thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written therein.
He commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers
and to do the law and commanded.
Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah,
the high places and the images
and the kingdom was quiet before him
and he built friend cities in Judah
for the land had rest and he had no war in those days.
Look at last part of verse six,
because the Lord had given him rest.
Therefore he said unto Judah,
let us build these cities and make about them walls
and towers, gates and bars
while the land is yet before us.
Look at last part of verse seven, just look at it,
because we have sought the Lord our God,
we have sought him and he had given us rest on every side
so they built and prospered.
Look, you do what you want.
I'm just telling you,
when you walk down in the counsel of the ungodly,
you stand out in the way of sinners,
you don't sit in the seat of the scornful.
Your YouTube addiction might be causing you
the blessings of God upon your life.
You actually begin to do right, to walk with God,
God can help you build and make you prosper.
But look, the problem that we have is pride.
But God begins to prosper us a little bit
and we start thinking like, look at me,
look at how amazing I am, I must be so smart.
We talked about that on Sunday night.
But look at what the Bible says though, go to verse 15.
This is just my Bible reading this morning.
This is all free, I didn't even study this,
this is just in my Bible reading this morning.
You might wanna start reading the Bible,
you'd be shocked when you're fine.
Second Chronicles 15, look at verse one.
And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Odin,
and he went out to meet Asa and he said unto him,
hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin,
the Lord is with you, doesn't that sound like Joseph?
The Lord is with you, is that what you want?
The Lord is with you, realize that phrase,
the Lord is with you, remember we saw it in Genesis 39,
it's synonymous with, and everything he did,
he made to prosper.
When the Lord is with you, he gives you favor.
When the Lord is with you, he gives you blessings.
When the Lord is with you, he gives you success.
Here's what the man of God says to Asa,
the Lord is with you, while ye be with him.
It's not about you, it's not about your talent,
it's not about your intelligence,
it's not about your ability, it's not about your strength,
it's about God, and the Lord will be with you,
while you be with him.
And if you seek him, he will be found of you.
But if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
I mean, it's amazing.
Flip over to 2 Chronicles 16, excuse me, chapter 17,
look at verse one, 2 Chronicles 17 and verse one.
It's all through the Bible,
let me just give you some examples.
2 Chronicles 17, verse one,
And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead,
this is now Asa's son,
and strengthened himself against Israel,
and he placed forces on all the fenced cities of Judah,
and sent garrisons into the land of Judah,
and in the cities of Ephraim,
which Asa his father had taken,
and the Lord was with Jehoshaphat,
because he walked in the first ways of his father David,
and sought not unto Balaam,
but sought to the Lord God of his father,
and walked in his commandments,
and not after the doings of Israel.
I mean, doesn't that all sound the same
as what we've been seeing?
Look at verse five,
Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand,
and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presence,
and he had riches and honor in abundance.
And the Bible says that he lifted his heart not in pride,
the Bible says there in verse six,
and his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord.
Well, you do what you want, I'm just telling you.
I'm just telling you,
I'm not giving you a prosperity gospel,
I'm not telling you that if you go to church,
you're gonna be healthy and wealthy, and whatever.
You'll have trials, and you'll have tribulation.
These men, they had battles, they had to fight,
they had wars, they had enemies.
But there is something about walking with God,
where he favors you, and he blesses you,
and he helps you along the way.
So we see the advice given to the blessed man,
what he denies and what he delights in.
Then we see the advantage of the blessed man,
he's planted, and he's produced, and he's prospering.
He's fixed, and he's fruitful, and he's favored.
And I want you to notice quickly,
tonight, the antithesis of the blessed man.
Go back to Psalm one.
The opposite.
What's the opposite of the blessed man?
Well, we saw verses one, two, three,
talking about the blessed man.
Now let's look at his antithesis.
Let's look at the opposite.
Verse four, the ungodly are not so.
I love that.
It's just this little phrase, the ungodly are not so.
In fact, there's so little that it would be easy
for us to just skip right over it.
The ungodly are not so.
But if you stop and think about the ungodly are not what?
The ungodly are not so.
What's the so?
The so is verses one, two, and three.
Blessed is the man that walketh not
in the countenance of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in his law does he meditate day and night.
And 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,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Here's the thing though, the ungodly, they're not that.
The ungodly are not so.
You say, well, what are the ungodly then?
They're not a tree planted by the rivers of water.
Think about a huge oak tree planted by a stream, a river.
It's got its roots down in the ground,
getting nourishment from that river.
So even when it's hot, the water is feeding it.
Even when everything else is dying in the water,
that's the godly.
And then you've got the ungodly.
What's the ungodly?
Not that.
The ungodly is not so.
And then he gives us an example,
because he says, the godly man that walks with God
is like a tree planted by the rivers of water.
Okay, so then what's the ungodly?
Look at verse four.
The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff
which the wind driveth away.
So what's a chaff?
Chaff is a debris separated
from the seed and threshing grain.
When they would thresh grain and separate grain,
there would be particles and things, junk,
nothing useful around the seed,
and they would have to separate.
They would have a mechanism where they would use winds,
either allowing natural wind,
or they add some sort of a fan or something,
and they would throw the seed up into the air,
and they would hit it and separate the chaff.
And they were able to separate the chaff from the seed
when they threw it up in the air,
and they blew wind because the seed was of value,
and it was strong, and it would drop,
but the chaff would flow away with the air.
That's how they separated the chaff from the seed.
God says, look, get this image in your head.
God says, you can be like a tree planted
by the ridges of water.
Think about how hard it would be for you to go out
to one of these big trees out there and blow it down.
He says the ungodly, they're like chaff.
You could just throw a seed, blow in it.
Sometimes in ancient times,
when they were hiding from the enemies,
they would literally blow with their mouth
to separate the chaff from the seed.
That's how weak the chaff was.
Here's what God is saying.
You can be like a tree planted by water,
or you can be like the chaff,
which the wind drive of the way.
Whatever you decide, just know this.
Here's what the ungodly are.
They are like a chaff, which the wind drive of the way.
What does that mean?
They are unstable.
They are not strong.
They are the opposite of being planted.
They are the opposite of being fixed.
So listen to me.
How does it make any sense
that a mighty oak tree planted by the waters
is getting his counsel from the chaff?
It's listening to the podcast of the chaff.
It's getting the advice of the chaff.
Why?
They're unstable.
They're not strong.
They're like the wind that driveth away.
Not only are the ungodly unstable,
but the ungodly are, this will shock you,
they're unsaved.
Look at verse five.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Why are you walking with people
that are gonna die and go to hell?
Why are you standing with people
that are gonna die and go to hell?
Why are you sitting with people
that are gonna die and go to hell?
Now look, I'm not saying that we can't learn
from the unregenerated world.
I think we can learn.
In fact, there's a whole parable
about an unjust steward in the Bible.
I think that we can learn from unsaved people.
I read books written by unsaved people
on things like administration and organization
and things of that nature.
And look, we can learn from them.
If they're good, if there's some business leader
out there that's really good about organizing
and really good about delegating
and really good about these skills,
I think we can learn from those individuals.
If you're listening to them for that
or you're reading some article or some book for that,
that's fine.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
But don't let them start telling you
how to have a marriage.
You understand what I'm saying to you?
Don't let them start influencing your morality.
Don't let them start influencing you how you dress
and how you talk and what you think about.
Don't let them start influencing things
that they should not be influencing
because blessed is the man that walketh not
in the counsel of the ungodly.
The ungodly are unassailable
and the ungodly are unsaved
and because they're unstable and they're unsafe,
sometimes we can learn good things
and tidbits about them,
but we should not be walking,
standing or sitting with them.
Go to Proverbs, Proverbs chapter number three.
Again, I'm just telling you,
I'm trying to encourage you to read the Bible.
This is just a verse
in my daily Bible reading this morning.
I was just this morning, I was in 2 Chronicles.
This morning, I was in Proverbs.
And these verses just jumped out at me
as, yeah, this is what the Bible says.
Look at verse 31, Proverbs chapter three, verse 31.
Envy thou not the oppressor and choose none of his ways.
Listen to me, young people, stop envying the world.
They don't have anything, don't have anything of value.
They're like chaff that the wind driveth away.
You listen to their advice,
you'll regret it.
Please listen to me.
You start allowing some rock musician,
some movie star to influence you,
you're gonna regret it.
Say, how do you know it?
Because why do they all end up killing themselves?
Why are they all killing themselves?
These musicians and these actors and these celebrities,
they get all the wealth and the fame
and the influence that they can have,
and what do they do?
They get on drugs and they commit suicide,
they kill themselves.
I mean, we can name just celebrity after celebrity
after celebrity, I'm not gonna take the time to do it,
that has killed themselves.
So why are you listening to them?
Why like how they do this one thing?
This, they got this athletic feat.
Well, enjoy the athletic feat, go watch them do that.
And then meditate upon God's word
and let that be your counsel.
And then meditate upon God's word
and let that be your advice.
And then meditate upon that word.
Well, I'm listening to this guy
because he's really good on administration,
hey, so am I.
But that's where his influence is gonna stop
and then I'm gonna meditate on God's word
and let that teach me how to live my life.
Envy thou not the oppressor, choose none of his ways.
Look at verse 32,
for the floor is his abomination to the Lord,
but his secret is with the righteous.
I learned this this morning in my own Bible reading,
because I read that verse and I thought,
his secret is with the righteous,
what is that referring to?
And then I reference it back to another passage
where it says that God has this secret relationship
with us and the idea is this,
that we have a secret weapon and it's gone.
His secret is with the righteous.
Look at verse 33.
This is the verse I wanted you to see.
This is what goes with Psalm 1.
The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked,
but he blesseth the habitation of the just.
You know that God actively blesses the just
and he actively curses the wicked.
So don't try to be like the ungodly.
Don't listen to the ungodly.
Don't imitate the ungodly.
Don't be influenced by the ungodly.
The ungodly are not so.
They are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Go back to Psalm 1.
We gotta finish this up.
There are two ways to live your life.
Like the righteous or like the wicked.
Like the righteous or like the ungodly.
I'm not talking about salvation.
You're saved.
If you're saved, you're saved.
One saved, always saved.
We'll talk about that on Sunday.
Psalm 1 says, for the Lord knoweth the way
of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Which way are you on?
My wife and I just recently were talking about this lady.
There's this lady who recently passed away.
She went to an independent fundamental Baptist church,
big church.
And I've heard of this lady my whole life.
And she just recently passed away.
Obviously, she's not a pastor.
She's not a preacher.
She's not even a pastor.
She's just a lady.
And she'd been part of this church for decades.
And she just recently passed away.
And her name was Christina Martinez.
Here's what's really interesting about Christina Martinez.
She went to this church
that had thousands of people in it.
And she was a multimillionaire.
She was a Filipino lady that came here as an immigrant,
immigrated here on her own, I think,
and brought a lot of her family over,
got into real estate, and became a multimillionaire.
You go down to the church that she's at.
They've got the whole campus.
They've got buildings named after her
because she literally donated money
to build these buildings for this church.
And she's a very, she was, she's passed now.
She's a super successful real estate agent.
In fact, we've got all sorts of real estate agents
running around here.
And sometimes when somebody tells me
they're going into real estate,
I'll buy them a little book on real estate
and give it to them as a gift.
And they read it, maybe it'll help them or whatever.
One time I was giving somebody a gift on real estate
and I was flipping, it was this real estate book
about the most successful real estate agents in America.
It was like the top 10 real estate agents.
And she was one of them.
Her name was on there.
Christina Martinez, and they talked all about her,
gave her a bow.
And I was telling my wife, like, look, this is this lady.
We've known this lady our whole lives.
We've known of this lady.
This lady was a soul winner.
Not only was she a soul winner, she was a bus captain.
This is not something the old IFB does.
It's not something we do.
It's a ministry they do on Saturdays.
But she went out soul winning every Saturday morning.
And she also spent her Saturdays
doing this children's bus ministry thing.
Here's what I think is interesting.
Never held an open house on a Saturday.
Never.
Now I'm not, look, we got some real estate agents here.
I'm not saying you shouldn't hold
an open house on Saturday.
I'm not saying that.
I'm just telling you what this lady did.
She just said, you know what?
I'm gonna give my Saturdays to soul winning.
I'm gonna give my Sundays to God.
Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
She was a hard working lady.
She worked hard.
Worked hard Monday.
Worked hard Tuesday.
She wasn't married.
She didn't have children.
She had to work and provide for herself.
Worked hard all day Monday.
Worked hard all day Tuesday.
Worked hard Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
Saturday was her day for serving the Lord.
Sunday was her day for the Lord.
Wednesday night, never skipped church, never did anything.
And look, in real estate, Saturday's like the day.
That's the day.
That's the day everybody's like open houses
and this and that or whatever.
And again, I'm not saying if you're a real estate agent,
I'm not picking on you.
Do whatever you want.
I just think it's funny.
Here you have this little Filipino lady who says,
you know what?
I'm just gonna honor the Lord with my life.
Literally drove a Rolls Royce to church
and brought children in it to church.
You say, how can you, how can you explain,
how can you explain that a little lady who's not married,
doesn't have children, has to provide for herself,
goes into real estate, decides I'm not gonna do anything
for real estate on Saturday.
I'm not gonna do anything for real estate on Sunday.
I'm not gonna do anything for real estate
on Wednesday night.
I'm gonna honor the Lord
and then I'm just gonna see what happens
because one of the most successful real estate agents
in this country, you say, how do you explain that?
I don't know.
But I think, I think the answer is this.
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,
but his delight is in the law of the Lord
and in his law doth he meditate day and night
and he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit
and his season.
His leaf also shall not wither
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so,
but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment
or sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Which way are you on?
The way of the righteous or the way of the ungodly?
Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, I have done my best
to try to communicate to these dear people
that the secret to our success
is not found in talent or intellect.
It's not found in getting up earlier and working later.
And I believe in hard work.
I believe in all those things, Lord, you know that.
But how it would change our lives if we realize
that the secret to success is found
in the blessing and favor of the Lord.
It'd make us quit skipping church to work.
It'd make us quit skipping soul winning
to pursue other things.
It'd make us stop putting our faith and politicians
and movie stars and podcasters
and letting them influence us.
We realized that the blessing of the Lord
was connected to how we walk with God.
Heavenly Father, if there's no one in this room
that does anything with what we've heard tonight,
I pray you'd help me to apply it to my life.
Thank you for these promises.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
We're gonna have brother RJ come up
and lead us in a final song.
Just want to remind you a couple of things.
Of course, we've got soul winning tomorrow
at 2 p.m. on Thursday and soul winning on Saturday.
We'd love for you to be a part of that.
And we wanna encourage you to be here on Sunday morning.
Sunday morning we're gonna continue
our Rooted and Grounded sermon series.
I want you to be here.
Make the word of God, make the house of God,
make the things of God a priority in your life
and you won't regret it.
If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know.
We'll have brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song.
Amen, let's start with a song
we can turn to page number 304.
Song number 304.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior.
Song number 304.
It matches the message this evening
so let's sing this one out.
All right, song number 304 on the first.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior.
Not of this world's elusive dream.
I have renounced all sinful pleasure.
Jesus is mine, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior.
So that his blessed face may be seen.
Nothing preventing the least of his fever.
Keep the way clear, let nothing between.
Nothing between like worldly pleasure.
Things of life, though harmless they seem,
must not my heart from him ever sever.
He is my all, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior.
So that his blessed face may be seen.
Nothing preventing the least of his favor.
Keep the way clear, let nothing between.
Nothing between like pride or like station.
Self or friends shall not intervene.
Though it may cost me much tribulation,
I am resolved, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior.
So that his blessed face may be seen.
Preventing the least of his favor.
Keep the way clear, let nothing between.
Spin a shawm on the last.
Nothing between in many hard trials.
Though the whole world against me can't be.
Watching with prayer and much self-denial.
I'll drive at last with nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior.
So that his blessed face may be seen.
Nothing preventing the least of his favor.
Keep the way clear, let nothing between.
Amen, great singing.
If anyone here has questions about salvation,
baptism, or church membership,
pastor would be at the door
and we'd love to talk to you,
direct you to someone who's trained to do that.
As well, Brother George,
would you dismiss us with a word of prayer?
Amen.