Walk Not , Stand Not, Sit Not
Psalm 1:1-6
Introduction: O how great is the blessedness, the full sense of happiness, of the man who is devoted to being more than just a hearer but a doer of the Word! Psalm 1 gives to us three avoidances that we must heed in order for us to experience of the deep personal satisfaction that is available only to those who walk with God.
I. Walk not in the counsel of the ungodly
A. Walk – to go along with, proceed, live in the manner of
B. Counsel – advice, wisdom
C. To walk in the counsel of the wicked is to go alongside of the world and do as they do, lending an ear to their distorted wisdom.
D. Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but its end is the way of death.”
E. The world system is committed to at least four major objectives, which I can summarize in four words: fortune, fame, power, pleasure. First and foremost: Fortune, money. The world system is driven by money; it feeds on materialism. Second: Fame. That is another word for popularity. Fame is the longing to be known, to be somebody in someone else's eyes. Third: Power. This is having influence, maintaining control over individuals or groups or companies or whatever. It is the desire to manipulate and maneuver others to do something for one's own benefit. Fourth: Pleasure. At its basic level, pleasure has to do with fulfilling one's sensual desires. It's the same mindset that's behind the slogan: "If it feels good, do it." – Charles Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, p.219.
F. It has been sadly said that today’s church is imitating the world much more than the world is imitating the church.
G. 1Corinthians 3:19-20 “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
H. Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
I. We are either imitating the world or we are imitating the word
J. When you walk with Christ, you'll be out of step with the world. – copied
K. 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
II. Do not stand in the path of sinners.
A. Standing firm in the way of sinners
B. Stand – in the Hebrew has many shades of meaning all of which have application here. Definitions of the Hebrew word translated stand include: to tarry, delay, remain, continue, abide, endure, persist.
C. Proverbs 1:10, 15 “My son, if sinners entice you, DO NOT consent... My son, do not walk in the way with them; Keep your foot from their path”
D. Once we have begun to walk according to the path of this world it becomes easier and more comfortable for us to continue walking that path than to follow the path of holiness.
E. It is impossible to stand on two paths at the same time.
F. Christ said in Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
G. When an individual or a congregation has the attitude of compromise in regard to spiritual values and truths, dark days are ahead. All who strive to be Christians feel a certain amount of pressure from the world. It is only through the strength that Christ gives that we can overcome the world and its temptations. A man starting a fish business put out his sign that read, "Fresh Fish For Sale Today" and invited all to visit his place of business on opening day. Many came and congratulated him on his new business, but one suggested that he change his sign. "Why the 'Today'? It is today." So he removed the "Today". Someone else said, "Why, 'For Sale'? Everybody knows you have fish for sale-or else why the store?" The words "For Sale" came off the sign. Another said, "Why the word 'Fresh'? You’re a man of integrity; that guarantees your fish to be fresh." "Fresh" came off the sign. Only one word was left, "Fish" and one complained about it. "I smelled your fish two blocks away." The individual or congregation that tries to satisfy everybody ends up by pleasing nobody. If we start compromising, we will end up serving the devil. The man should have put up his sign and then stood by it. This is what we are to do in life. Accept God's will for our lives and stand on His promises.
H. 1 Kings 18:21a “Elijah challenged the people: "How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him”.
III. Don’t sit in the seat of the scornful.
A. In Jewish culture, sitting was a form of authority. When Jesus sat down before His disciples, it was always to teach a lesson or demonstrate true godly living. Those who sat with others also demonstrated that they wanted to have fellowship with them and participate in the same things that they did. – ltbp
B. Genesis 19:1 “Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.”
C. The elders of the city sat as judges at the gates of the city. Lot, over a period of time, had gained prominence and power in the city but in doing so he lost his influence.
D. Genesis 19:14 “So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.”Why? Why would they not take Lot seriously?
E. Notice that we are not told that they refused to believe Lot so much as they did not even take him seriously. There seems to be only one possible explanation: Lot had never mentioned his faith before. His words were not a repetition of his life-long warnings of sin and Judgment—they are something totally new and novel. What a rebuke to the witness of Lot. It is one thing to warn men and have them reject our message. It is far worse for them not even to consider our words as spoken seriously. - Bob Deffinbaugh , From City Councilman to Caveman
F. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote that famous book, "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde" and yet Stevenson, and all the others who had been writing about that subject, only borrowed it from the Old Testament and the seventh chapter of Romans. It was the problem of two factors in human life, the evil and the good; one fighting the other. The Apostle Paul wrote of it thus: "When I would do good, evil is present with me. Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Stevenson's man found a trick by which he could change himself into the person of another man, make an actual transformation of himself. He could change, not only his internal thoughts and feelings, but also his external looks and actions. Whenever he wanted to turn himself into Mr. Hyde, he took a drug and the miracle was accomplished. He changed his handwriting. He had a separate bank account for Mr. Hyde--everything in life was separate. When Mr. Hyde, (who went down into sin and constantly wallowed in those depths of iniquity) wanted to get away from being Mr. Hyde, he took the drug and went back to being Dr. Jekyl. When the officers were after him, he had simply to go into the laboratory and swallow a pill, and when they arrived the man they were looking for was not there. That process went on through the years, but this was the peculiar fact about it: Not only by his will could he change himself into another man, and so on back and forth, but he discovered at last, when it was too late that, every time he transformed himself from the good Dr. Jekyl into the evil Mr. Hyde, then Mr. Hyde became increasingly the stronger, until at last the climax was reached. It became harder and harder to make the transfer, and then, it could not be made at all. Dr. Jekyl was dead, and Mr. Hyde still lived, but he was damned to eternal darkness and death, helpless and hopeless. Here is the man who finished the sentence that the book, "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde," never finished--that Robert Louis Stevenson, and no other author ever finished. Here is the man who had the inspiration Divine. He said: "Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord." --Cortland Myers
G. Romans 8:5-6 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
