Two People, Two Paths, Two Destinies Series

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Rev 7:9)

There is no hope for the wicked.

If we go back to Psalm 73, Asaph gets a bigger perspective near the end of the song:

“When I tried to understand all this,  it troubled me deep until I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies…” (Psalm 73:16-20)

3. A Comparison

The writer ends the Psalm with a comparison between the rightness and the wicked:

“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.” (Psalm 1:6)

God shepherds, cares for, acknowledges the way of the righteous. But the way of the wicked leads to hell:

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth.(Psalm 34:15)

There are only two paths to take in life. One leads to the blessed life here and eternal life with God in heaven. The other leads to destruction and damnation.

We don’t like to talk about that but Jesus didn’t shy away from it at all:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matt 7:13-14)

C.S. Lewis wrote: “One road leads home and a thousand roads lead into the wilderness.”

And it’s right there in the most famous bible verse but we don’t usually notice it:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

There are only two paths. Which one are you on?

4. The True Blessed Man

I’m about to blow your mind with a little lesson on Hebrew verb tenses! You ready?

In verse one the verb tenses are in the imperfect. You may say, so what?

The verse reads

Blessed is the man who never, no never, not even once, walks in the counsel of the wicked. Well, I’m out!

Blessed is the man who never, no never, not even once, stands in way of sinners. Yep, I’ve done that too.

Blessed is the man who never, no never, not even once, sits in the seat of scoffers. To my shame, I’ve done that as well.

It’s easy to read this Psalm and become proud, “I’m not like the wicked. I don’t do those things.”

But here’s the truth, Scripture teaches we are all wicked.