1. Choleric - easily irritated; inclined to anger; or angry; indicating anger; excited by anger.
2. Phlegmatic - hard to rouse to action; specifically sluggish; dull; apathetic; calm; cool.
3. Melancholic - one affected with a gloomy state of mind; one characterized by excessive gloom, mistrust and depression.
4. Sanguine - cheerful; optimistic; hopeful.
But while the world of psychology divides mankind’s personalities into one of these groups, God’s Word simply divides mankind into two groups.
• Godly
• Ungodly
Again, everyone here falls into one of these two categories. You are either one or the other in the sight of God.
When it comes to the ungodly, we know a great deal about them.
For example, every day:
• We read in the NEWSPAPERS about them doing all kinds of sinful things
• We hear through the TELEVISION news about all the ungodly things they are involved in
We know a great deal about the ungodly through these things.
But if you want to know about the godly, the newspapers and television will not tell you much about them. But the Word of God tells us a great deal about the GODLY and the UNGODLY.
For example, in Psalm 1, God’s Word gives us this comparison between the GODLY and the UNGODLY.
In this sermon let’s look at the life of the GODLY in FOUR ways. First, we need to consider:
I. THE PURPOSE OF THE SAINT
Look at Psa. 1:1 "Blessed is the man"
The word “Blessed” here is the Hebrew word, “Esher (Pronounced as “Eh'-sher”) which means happy.
This happiness comes from spiritual maturity. If a Christian is not spiritually mature, he does not know a thing about this kind of happiness.
We all know Christians that live their life and they are MAD AND SAD!!! They do not know a thing about the happiness that God wants us to have.
Illus: Let me ask you something suppose you were hungry and you wanted to find a restaurant to eat. But you drove up in the front of a nice looking restaurant and people were coming out of the front door puking up their meal. Would you go in there and tell the waitress give me what they had!
No, you probably would not even go inside!!!
The Christians who best represent the Lord to a lost world are Christians who have discovered God’s joy and everybody that knows them want what they have.
The only kind of happiness that some professing Christians know anything about, is when you talk about something of this world. That is, they are:
• Happy if you talk about eating at some restaurant
• Happy if they are talking about sports or entertainment
• Happy if they are talking about houses, cars, boats and campers
This is the only kind of happiness they know anything about.
If you want see the smiles wiped off their faces, start talking about the Word of God, or about the greatness of God. This is not what excites them!
WHY ARE THESE CHRISTIANS THIS WAY? It could be they are this way:
• Because the church they attend does not teach and preach the Word of God, and they are ignorant of this happiness that comes from serving the Lord
• Because they are backsliding
At one time they loved the Lord Jesus with all their hearts, but over the years, the devil has stolen their first love, and now the love of their life are the things of the world.
Because this is a problem, Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
The happiness that the Psalmist speaks of is a happiness we have in the Lord.
IT IS A BASIC FACT THAT WE CANNOT DELIGHT IN THAT WHICH IS GOOD, UNTIL WE FIRST DEPART FROM THAT WHICH IS EVIL.
Look at 1 Pet. 2:1-2, we read, “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”
• Notice, in verse 1 he talks about laying aside evil.
• In verse 2, we see that once we have laid aside evil, we can grow through the Word of God.
Again, I want to say, we Christians cannot delight in that which is good until we first depart from that which is evil.
We have too many professing Christians these days that are trying to hold on to the world with one hand, and the Kingdom of God with the other hand. Notice again, before we can CLEAVE TO THAT WHICH IS GOOD, we must first ABHOR THAT WHICH IS EVIL.
Look at Romans 12:9, we read, “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”
HOW DOES BACKSLIDING TAKE PLACE? It takes place over a period of time, very gradually.
Illus: Croft M. Pentz said, "Failure in the Christian life is rarely a blowout, but is usually a slow leak...”
Have you noticed that when a church ceases to be spiritual, they start gradually getting further and further from the Lord? Generally, they shut down the Mid-week service, then gradually over a period of time, they shut down the Sunday evening service. And then it won’t be long before the devil will completely shut all the services down.
The same thing happens when a person backslides, it is a gradual process:
• They start missing the mid-week service.
• Then they start missing the Sunday evening service.
• Then the devil will see to it that they are busy in the things of the world, and soon they do not have time for God at all.
We looked at THE PURPOSE OF THE SAINT, let’s also look at -
II. THE POSITION OF THE SAINT
Because the mature saint of God’s PURPOSE in life is to build his life around the Lord Jesus, we have a tremendous contrast between him and the ungodly.
Notice, in the scripture in verses 1-4, the psalmist describes the Godly person thoroughly, but when it comes to describing the ungodly, the Bible clearly says in verse 4, “The ungodly are not so…”
• We can see the difference in their SEATING.
Look at Eph. 2:6, "And hath raised us up together, and MADE US SIT TOGETHER IN HEAVENLY PLACES in Christ Jesus:"
• We can see the difference in their WALKING.
Look at 1 Thess. 2:12, "That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory."
• We can see the difference in their STANDING.
Look at 1 Cor. 16:13, “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."
It is obvious from the teachings of God’s Word, that we are not like the lost world. If we are like the lost world in which we live, we find ourselves either:
• Deceived about salvation
• Backslidden
We have looked at THE PURPOSE OF THE SAINT and THE POSITION OF THE SAINT, but let us look at -
III. THE PATH OF THE SAINT
Look at Ps. 1:2, "His delight"
WHAT IS THE DELIGHT OF THE GODLY? The delight and duty of a blessed man revolves around God’s Word.
• We can understand why a lost person does not want to attend church and hear the preaching of God’s Word, because he is living in sin.
• But there is something wrong when a person professes to be saved, and does not want to attend church and hear the preaching and the teaching of God’s Word.
The Bible says, “His delight” should be in the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.
Illus: Some will say, “But preacher, the Bible does not tell us that we should go to church three times a week.”
• But I want to ask you something. If you are a child of God, why wouldn’t you want to attend the house of God three times a week?
• I want to ask you, what is it in your life that is more important than hearing the preaching and teaching of God’s Word?
It is only when a person has set their affections on the things of this world, that their delight is no longer in hearing the teaching and preaching of God’s Word.
They have time to visit, eat at restaurants, and shop at malls during church time, but they do not have time to attend church and worship the God who has given them everything. Hmmm!
WHY DO THEY LIVE THEIR LIFE LIKE THIS? They live their life like this because they have set their affections on the things of this earth instead of on God.
The things that people who claim to love God place before God almighty, is an insult to God.
Illus: Suppose a man is married to a beautiful woman, and he leaves her for the ugliest woman on the face of the earth. Now if he left her for another beautiful woman it would be an insult to her, but to leave her for an ugly woman would be worse.
Suppose it is time to worship the Wonderful God of heaven who has so richly blessed us in so many ways. But a person chooses not to go to church. They use their car, and the energy that God gave them, and they go to a restaurant. Listen, I do not care what they order, whatever they order is nothing compared to the God they have insulted with that plate full of food.
This Bible is the Word of God and it is God’s love letter to us. It is hard to conceive of a young girl that could receive a love letter from a young man that she dearly loved, and say:
• I will read it later
• I will read it when it is convenient
• I will read it after I watch my favorite program on television
• I will read it when I am not so tired
Yes, it is hard to conceive of a young girl doing this, because we know if she loves that young man, and he sent her a love letter, if she did not have time to read it, SHE WOULD MAKE TIME. And once she read it one time, she probably would read it another half dozen times, making sure she did not miss anything he wanted to convey to her.
The Bible tells us when we come to know Christ, we do not live like the lost world lives, OUR DELIGHT IS IN THE LORD. Look at-
A. OUR DELIGHT
Look at Psalm 1:2, we read, "his delight is in the law"
There are two kinds of books that always sell well:
• Mysteries
• Love stories
The Bible is both. Is it any wonder that the Bible is the best seller almost every year?
Illus: There are thousands of books written every year, and they go on the top ten list for a few weeks and they disappear. But this Bible remains, decade after decade, the best seller because people who come to know the Lord know this is the only book that truly can tell us:
• About the Lord Jesus who loved us enough to die for our sins
• How to live our life in a way that is pleasing to the Lord
The reason so many are confused and do not know which way to go, is because they are not following the directions that God’s Word lays out for us to follow.
Illus: During the early days of World War II, when the Nazis invaded France, French citizens took down all signposts. As the Nazi armies advanced, they didn't know which way to turn.
We do not know which way to turn if we do not follow the map of God’s Word, so we DELIGHT ourselves in the Word of God. It is truly the only reliable signpost there is.
We have seen OUR DELIGHT, but also let’s look at -
B. OUR DUTY
Look at Psalm 1:2, we read, "meditate day and night"
The godly person knows that God speaks through His Word.
Illus: Too many Christians have heard this bunch of preachers get on television, and give the impression in their preaching that God comes down in the cool of the day, and with an audible voice speaks to them. They preach this stuff because they know there are people who will believe anything they spew out of their mouths. ANYTHING!
Illus: You can tell people that a 700 foot Jesus appeared to you, and there is a crowd out there that will believe anything you claim, if you tell them you are a preacher.
Listen, God can do anything He wants to do, but God’s method of communicating to us most of the time, if not all the time, is through His Word.
Do not follow preachers whose preaching is based on-
• Claims that can not be documented
• Visions that can not be documented
• Revelations they claim God gave them, that can not be documented
STAY WITH THE WORD OF GOD! Meditate on it day and night!
Every one of us needs to examine the things that we allow to influence our minds and hearts. The Bible says, in Proverbs 15:28, "The heart of the righteous studieth to answer..."
The word "studieth" is essentially the same as meditate.
Illus: Someone has wisely stated that "meditation is to the soul what digestion is to the body."
We have looked at THE PURPOSE OF THE SAINT, THE POSITION OF THE SAINT, and THE PATH OF THE SAINT, but let’s also look at-
IV. THE PLANTING OF THE SAINT
Look at Ps. 1:3 "planted by the rivers"
The blessed man experiences prosperity and nourishment from the rivers of waters. Look at verse 3 again, we read, "like a tree planted by the rivers"
In picturesque language, the psalmist describes the godly man as one who is like a tree planted by the rivers of waters.
Look at John 7:38 we read, "out of his belly"
The language of the psalmist reveals that the godly man is planted "by the rivers," whereas in the New Testament, our Savior reveals the river is within us (Jn. 7:38).
Conclusions:
Have you noticed that with many of the chain restaurants, (like Shoney’s, Cracker Barrel, or Waffle House) the buildings and the people all look alike?
We live in a world where:
• All the cars look alike
• Everyone dresses alike
• Everyone seems to think alike
• Everyone seems to talk alike
Christians need to be careful not to fall into this category. We are supposed to live a completely different lifestyle than those who are not saved.
While the ungodly feel comfortable around evil, we Christians do not!
When the GODLY do the things THEY SHOULD DO, and do not do the things THEY SHOULD NOT DO, look at the results in verse 3, we read, “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 reason we have so many weak and unfruitful Christians today, is because many of them are living their Christian life the same way the sinner lives his life.
I. THE PURPOSE OF THE SAINT
II. THE POSITION OF THE SAINT
III. THE PATH OF THE SAINT
IV. THE PLANTING OF THE SAINT
