LIFE THAT IS TRUE LIFE

LIFE THAT IS TRUE LIFE Psalm 1 June 06, 2010 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction I understand that in “Internese” the abbreviation IRL stands for “in real life” which refers to life as it is actually lived as opposed to the internet. Often the term real life is used by Christians to reference the time beginning with one’s conversion to Christ and continuing into eternity, as in being born again. That’s a valid notion, but I am not using the term real life in that way. I’m using it in the sense of John 10:10 where Jesus said, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. This full life to which Jesus referred (abundant life in the KJV) means life that is meaningful, fulfilling, hope-filled and joyous because the one who is living the full life has been restored to fellowship with God. That reconciliation comes through Jesus, as a person is saved and becomes a Christian, and leads into a life full of healing and growth because of the health that is being restored to the Christian. Unfortunately, not all Christians experience the abundant, or real, life or live to the full potential of Christ’s intention for believers. The reasons they don’t are varied, but this morning’s text in Psalm 1 deals with a couple of the most common issues that keep God-followers living beneath their potential, and keep them from the fullness, abundance, realness of the spiritual life God wants them to experience. As we begin I want to encourage you to ask yourself, Am I living—really living—life as God intended, and in keeping with the purpose of Christ who died to make it possible for me? Am I, in fact, living abundantly? Would you ask God’s Spirit to reveal to you personally what He wants for you and what He is asking you to do, or not do, to live the real life? If you’ll open your heart to Him and seek Him, this teaching could be a major turning point for you. That’s just the way it is with God’s Word. Scripture Reading Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. The Source of True Life (verses 1-2) Get ready, because the answer to the question, Where does real life come from, comes right at us in the first two verses of the Psalm. The first word is blessed. Those who spend their energies interpreting such words have concluded that this word means a variety of things: happy, fortunate, fulfilled, etc. I think the meaning that comes closest to its use here in Psalm 1 is the idea of a sense of worth. God’s will certainly includes the idea of our feeling happy, fortunate and fulfilled, but there is something about our being included in God’s plans for His creation that lends His people value beyond these good feelings. There is a deep sense of finding one’s purpose and identity when he is reconnected with his God. Blaise Pascal was one of the greatest minds in human history, so I borrow from this deeply committed Christian, physicist, mathematician, inventor and philosopher his famous quote: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” Look at the whole idea in the first two verses, contrasting the godly man with the likes of the wicked, sinners and mockers. The godly man does not walk, stand or sit with them. God-related people are different. Contrast of Wisdom and Worldly Thought I think we are to make much of this contrast. The fourth and fifth verses tell us the fate of these who behave in rebellion against God. They won’t stand in the judgment—won’t survive—and they will not be permitted to sit in the assembly of the righteous. Now, if you were going to the doctor, this would be the moment of diagnosis. This group is described for us in uncomplimentary terms so that we readers can consider whether we are like them or not. If we are not like them—if we contrast with them—we are among the godly and the righteous. If, however, we find ourselves in self-examination, to be like them, we can be sure that strict judgment is awaiting us, and it is time to repent and turn to the Lord to get our God-shaped vacuum filled. Pressing a little further, though, we should ask about the Christian, the already saved person. We know he has passed from judgment to eternal life. Where does he fit into this picture? Perceptive question! The Psalmist is not trying to pass judgment on the wicked, the sinners and the mockers. They will be judged soon enough by God. Look closely at the text and see that the blessed man is the one who doesn’t walk in the counsel of these others; he doesn’t stand around with them or engage in daily dialogue with them, sitting at the local Starbucks. The point is this: the blessed man doesn’t hang with such a crowd. If a Christian, a saved person, finds himself spending inordinate time and fellowship among such groups, he is a renegade, a rebel, an anomaly. Those who hang with such crowds do so because they like it and so they keep coming back—meanwhile they are being negatively affected by that exposure (but more about that soon). Nur Malena Hassan decided a couple years ago it was time to become famous, so she decided to set a world’s record. The 24-year-old Malaysian woman set out to break the existing world record of 32 days in a glass box, held by a woman from Thailand. The catch? Her glass home included 6,000 scorpions. On August 21, she bravely stepped into the box. It didn’t take long for her 6,069 hosts to cover her body. She was allowed just a few minutes each day outside the box, which was prominently displayed in a local mall. She emerged 36 days later with the new world record, and seventeen painful burning stings on various sections of her body. That's what happens when you lie down with scorpions. Bad company corrupts good morals. By contrast, the godly person’s affections are not toward the untoward, they are toward the law of God. He’d much rather hang out at the Temple courts or even go fishing and meditate on God’s Word than to sit around with bums and talk smack. His delight is in the law of the Lord. He loves truth—he’s delighted by truth. So wherever God’s truths are being disseminated, explicated or ruminated on, he’s there! Counsel that is Spiritual and Continual When we speak about the godly person’s source of real life we have to consider that he, first, refuses to identify with or be influenced by the godless people around him. He is in stark contrast to them and all they stand for. They and their brand of un-real life do not interest him. Secondly, he not only avoids bad counsel (and bad company), but he intentionally and continually looks for the good counsel of God’s Word. Why? Because his delight is in the law of the Lord, and so he is always pre-occupied with it. You might say he is obsessive about it. He meditates on it day and night. Do you know anyone who is addicted to video games? They give hours to it, trying to perfect their play, learn new tricks and techniques to win, to outscore, to outwit the game and its designers. “Day and night” well-describes some of them as they obsess with playing. It’s sad, isn’t it? To give so much time and energy to something so trivial! But that’s the way obsessive addictions are: good or bad, if you’re hooked, you’re hooked. Now, I’m impressed in this passage with the idea that, if you’re going to give that amount of attention, time and energy to something, why not make it something good, and good for you? I remind you, brothers and sisters, that there is nothing more appropriate and helpful for your real life than to be in God’s Word. Company that Inspires Godly Thought, Behavior We’ve already considered the negative effect you invite into your life when you associate regularly with the ungodly. I would challenge you to read the book of Proverbs and write out all the references to avoiding bad company and keeping good company. You’ll fill a notebook. I want you to consider the positive side of this issue: how would it benefit your life—your real life—if you were to cultivate a couple of deeply spiritual relationships with some other believers who are committed to help you grow? I’ve shared this countless times before, but you cannot do better than to develop a relationship of mutual edification and accountability with a trusted friend in Christ. I’ve met with pastor Rick Hufton of Faith Family Church regularly for just under fifteen years now—every week, faithfully at 8:00 on Wednesday mornings. That investment of time and commitment has grown into a valuable and rewarding friendship and mutual encouragement. We don’t agree on everything, but our minor differences are nothing compared to the blessing we receive from our times of prayer and dialogue together. In fact, our differences have served to sharpen us both. Get a couple of good, godly relationships going. Start with one, just one. Yes, you DO have time . . . if you desire to build up your real life! Well, that was no surprise, really. The things we need to cultivate our abundant life in Christ are to avoid bad influences, study God’s Word and find and develop deep, rich fellowship with other believers. The second issue has to do with what the real life is made up of and how it can benefit us. Let’s consider the Substance of Real Life. The Substance of Real Life (verse 3) What is the real life all about? What is it like, and how do I know I will like it? God’s long-term goal for human beings is that they would be blessed. That includes the happiness, fulfillment and joy we touched on earlier, but it is much more. God wants the VERY BEST for you! Perhaps the most succinct summary of God’s best for us is at Jeremiah 29:11 – I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen… If that short statement sounds like the very opposite of what you are now experiencing in life, then you are not yet experiencing real life. But you can. Positive Real life is, first of all, positive. God wants you to live out a life of pure optimism. You know what an optimist is – it’s the guy that believes the pesky housefly is actually looking for a way out of the house. Albert Schweitzer said, An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere. Listen, anyone in this room who is trapped in a gloom and doom attitude, who is hopeless and depressed all the time. Your attitude need have nothing to do with your circumstances. It has everything to do with whether you are in fellowship with to the God who made you, and who will one day meet you at the brink of eternity. Christians are the only people who have access to genuine positivism, to this real life. Why? Because they uniquely know the good news and have responded to it. They know that Jesus Christ died as a sacrifice to make everything wrong in their lives right again. In Him alone there is forgiveness before the one who most matters; in Him there is deliverance from the weighty emotional trouble and turmoil the rest of this sinful old world struggles with; in Him there is hope—the certainty that there is much more after this life for those who trust Him; and because of these things, and His great promise to give us His Spirit, there is also lots of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, patience, goodness, quiet strength, self-control and faith. There is a way to live a genuinely optimistic life, in spite of the worst situations we could ever face. You need a trustworthy anchor. And you can find it in God, through faith in His only-begotten Son, Jesus. Trust Him. He is the true light who gives light to every man (John 1:9). Powerful Look at verse 3. It is a description of the power of the real life. God says His desire is that you be like a tree planted by streams of water, growing ever stronger with well-watered and well-fed roots. This tree will bear much fruit. Jesus promised His followers they would bear fruit—much fruit—fruit that would last. If you feel your life is going nowhere, it is unproductive and useless, don’t give up. Give God the opportunity to make you into a strong and fruitful tree. Prolific Through faith in Him through Jesus Christ He will make you impervious to the erosive problems around you. He says of those enjoying real life their leaves won’t wither. God can change you into the kind of person who deep inside you know He wants you to be, and you want to be. It is His will, His preference, His desire that you would be saved and ushered into life that is real life! Prosperous Will God make all my dreams come true? No! But He can make all His dreams for you come true! And those dreams are far superior to yours. Listen to last sentence in verse 3: Whatever he does will prosper. In Christ you have the promise that even your worst mistakes can be transformed into something beautiful and holy for God (Romans 8:28). Listen to this awesome quote from John Piper, from his book, A Sweet and Bitter Providence: Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after switchback. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He’s plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ. The Standard of Real Life God is Not Mocked – the Law of Sowing and Reaping The final three verses make it clear that the truth of God includes not only some very good news, but some very bad news as well. These dramatic words about blowing chaff, exclusion, judgment and perishing remind us of the real problem we all have: we are sinners before God, the only Judge, and He is obligated by divine justice to judge us guilty and worthy of nothing but eternal death. As Galatians 6 reminds us, God is not mocked – whatever a man sows that will he also reap. If we sow to the flesh nothing but sin and God-renouncing rebellion, what can we expect to reap but judgment? God’s Ever-Attentive Gaze We cannot get away from God’s omniscience. Every one of our attempts to either cover up our wickedness or present ourselves as better than we know we are is foolishness. There is nothing opaque enough to hide ourselves from God—it’s all clear glass to Him. He knows everything about us, and about everything we’ve ever done or even thought. We simply cannot get away from our guilt and culpability before our ever-attentive God. God Cares for the Righteous Verse six, then, seems to introduce a contradictory picture. Suddenly, we see the God of justice and judgment caring tenderly for some people. They are called the righteous. The wicked, it says, are still bound for perishing, but these people are suddenly in a wonderfully restored and joyous relationship with the almighty, omniscient God. What happened? How are we suddenly back talking about the positive, powerful, prolific and prosperous people. Did the scripture not just consign everyone to judgment as guilty sinners? I thought they were all doomed! Conclusion: True Life Begins as an Obedient Choice I want to tell you what happened, as I close this teaching. The New Testament teaches this wonderful good news: God’s mercy triumphs over His judgment. God is perfectly just and must judge sin; but He is perfectly loving and must do what is best for us. So He solved the dilemma in this way: He sent His Son, Jesus, as a tragic sacrifice for our sins, on our behalf. He thus became our punishment for us, and in this way He remained just by being the justifier. Here’s the good news: Here's the gospel: you're more sinful than you ever dared believe; you're more loved than you ever dared hope. Jesus has become your only saving option. Trust Him and know God’s forgiveness and salvation, or reject Him and seal your fate for the second death—eternal remorse and suffering, being separated from God forever. It is your choice.       [ Back to Top]