"Meditation for Proclamation" - The Blessed Man's Bible

good morning y'all let's get after it okay let's open our Bibles to Psalm 1. psalm 1. it's a privilege to be together so encouraging we're grateful for the Timothy Trust the mighty work y'all are doing also I bring you greetings from Emanuel Church in Nashville if you're ever in Nashville on a Sunday morning we would love to have you join us for worship um translation tip the plural of y'all is all y'all I said that'll help when you're there with us all of us the ministry of expositional preaching teaching catechizing discipling and so forth can be either of two things that Ministry can be either the public outpouring of your own diligent and happy preoccupation with and saturation in the biblical gospel or it can be a Ministry strategy either the public outpouring of your own diligent and happy preoccupation with and saturation in the biblical gospel or a Ministry strategy which of those two is more pleasing to the Lord more satisfying to you and more convincing and real to people well the answer is obvious someone confirms the obvious answer and shows us even more a lot more it shows what the ministry of the word can accomplish when the minister of the word is also the recipient of the ministry of the word please follow as I read blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers 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 that yields its fruit in its season and its Leaf does not wither in all that he does he prospers the wicked are not so but are like chaff that the wind drives away therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the Way of the Wicked will perish this is God's word the point of someone is basically simple Delight determines destiny the blessed man Delights in scripture in verses one and two then verse 3 and 4 paint the picture of his flourishing here in this life then verses five through six fast forward to the final judgment awaiting us all in eternity the whole Psalm pivots on the word therefore at the beginning of verse 5. the blessed man Delights in the biblical gospel and flourishes even now therefore he will stand in the congregation of the righteous and be known by the Lord forever the wicked Delight in their own councils and their own ways they will not stand in the Judgment so this message is clear Delight determines destiny what matters more for us and for everyone then getting planted in the right place what matters more than that getting planted in the rape and loving life there the Lord is there offering himself Simone Vey the French thinker understood the profundity of being planted like this fruitful human Tree in verse three she said to be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul we live in an uprooted world today it's a big part of why so many people are feeling empty and fearful and angry and exhausted someone is offering us an alternative that is human and happy and life-giving and Lasting and deserves the persuasion of social Authority someone is offering us wisdom for the present and hope for the future but someone is not simplistic on the first reading it might seem so but the biblical authors were honest and realistic thinkers Psalms 37 and 73 qualify someone by acknowledging the prosperity of the wicked in this present evil age but Psalm 1 comes first setting the tone for the entire psalter because someone declares a deeper truth down beneath the appearance of things that an honest walk with God rich in his word is where we flourish now and forever Come What May someone is well blunt it's not okay with every lifestyle option every Reckless roll of the dice with human dignity someone bristles with sharply defined contrast I mean look at the literary Artistry of Psalm 1. in verses one through three the blessed man is in the foreground with the wicked in the background in verses four through five it reverses the wicked or in the foreground the righteous and the background in verse 1 the psalmist tells us what the blessed man does not do verse 2 tells us what the blessed man does do in verse 3 we find the blessed man acting in verse 4 the wicked are acted upon as the wind drives them away in verses 1 and 4 the wicked are busy active in motion well in verse three the blessed man is planted the only verb in the Hebrew text to verse 2 is one of quiet contemplation he meditates he mulls over he chews on the blessed man is calm he sits down and stays still and sets his mind on things above while the wicked Rush about and futile round of misplaced impulses below it's a picture of impotent restlessness versus fruitful quietness the art of sitting still in the right place and finding life in a place so improbable it actually takes a religious conversion to discover that it's real that life versus nervous desperation to find life anywhere else finally God is not the subject of any verb until verse 6. only then do we finally see why human existence is so clearly defined the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way the wicked leads nowhere clearly defined opposites the whole outlook of Psalm 1 is not that but this now we all will know that many personal and social dilemmas are truly perplexing but at the deepest level Our Lives come to one clear focal point is the way of Jesus a fraudulent lie or is the way of Jesus the key to everything we most deeply desire for ourselves and for everyone so someone calls us back to Clarity and back to quietness before God and not because his ways are simply obligatory they are delightful now and forever verse 1. blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of Sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers now that word blessed sets the tone for the psalm and the psalm sets the tone for the psalter and that word blessed is a congratulatory formula it's like our English Bravo way to go this is a high five this is a fist bump now we're talking that's the vibe for example proverbs 31 they rise up and call her blessed way to go mom and God is the one Speaking God is enthusing he's saying I am so pleased with you way to go what kind of commitment draws from God that ready affirmation this man is set apart from the world verse one and gladly given over to the Lord verse 2. this man makes some courageous decisions isn't it telling that the wicked Sinners and scoffers are all plurals while the blessed man is singular why this courageous solitary figure thinks he thinks for himself he charts his own course with a thoughtful rejection of the morally casual Outlook and the cynical posture of the world and God says to this man now we're talking way to go but this man's commitment is not merely negative he's not just rejecting the world he's turning away from one thing toward another verse 2. but his Delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night so if we could somehow I mean this man is an ideal human figure he's not an actual particular individual if we if he would materialize and we could interview him he would affirm the inspiration and authority and inerrancy and sufficiency and perspicuity of scripture and so on and so forth but more to the point here he just loves the Bible foreign I love the way Archbishop Thomas cranmer put it in the scriptures be the fat pastures of the Soul therein is no venomous meat no unwholesome thing they be the very dainty and pure feeding it's like when you you know these uh I don't in the states we have these television commercials about medications half the commercial is this speeded up voice warning people about all the downsides it might kill you but it'll be good for you no that's not happening here the word of God is where we can feed in those fat and dainty Green Pastures and walk beside those Still Waters so no no wonder this man turns he doesn't reject those people he doesn't despise those people he just knows what he wants and he knows where to go get it and he turns from Death to life with relief he opens up his Bible and Savers its vision of God it's honesty of thought the Bible is an honest and realistic book the Bible is not lying to us in a fraudulent world that's worth a lot he he he absorbs its purity of emotion with gratitude the word of God the word of Christ dwells in him richly and what makes this man so admirable within the categories of Psalm one is not simply his moral obedience important as that is but what stands out here is his emotional aliveness toward God in his grace and Glory as revealed in the Bible his sensitivity his relishing and savoring of who Christ is portrayed in Scripture and the words and on his law he meditates means that he doesn't just read the Bible in a perfunctory manner but he mows over it he chews on it he gets lost in thought over it he forgets the time he's late for appointments because he was in you know John chapter 4 and he just couldn't pull himself out mentally and for me that means like I'm guessing for so many of us I get up early enough for strong coffee an unhurried Bible reading with a conscientious choice not to have my smartphone nearby unless I need to look something up a word I don't know or something like that I need a quick reference my smartphone is not my friend but my Bible is I think it was Oz Guinness who said the most precious commodity in the modern world is focused attention and we are here today because we believe that the holy scriptures deserve and reward our focused attention and realistically we all have some decisions to make maybe to fight our way back to focused attention so we all know there are no shortcuts to becoming men and women of depth profound men and women of wisdom of saintliness called to be Saints nothing less men and women God can use in this generation of cheaply mass-produced and brilliantly packaged nothingness and we are indignant and grieved that such things are being pushed upon human beings created in the image of God and this man and someone knows what he wants he knows where God has put it and it makes a difference that shows he's like C.S Lewis about whom one of his friends said he was the most thoroughly converted man I ever knew foreign he is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season and whose Leaf does not wither whatever he does prospers that verse is there to remind us that there is nothing in Christ that is second rate and cheap and tawdry and disappointing there is nothing in Christ we need to worry about or filter out or brace ourselves against this blessed man is planted in the right place and he's not feeling sorry for himself he's not feeling heroic and sacrificial and oh this is so hard but I'm going to do it anyway the thread running through his his whole existence is is just god-given happiness but then we look at this verse we say is this realistic and all that he does he he prospers him come on really if by Prosper of course we all know if if that means smooth sailing then no it's not realistic but if by prosper it means understanding life receiving insights into who God really is who we really are how life really works and so forth the presence of God in real life then yes sign us up for that Prosperity right so there is a kind of Prosperity Gospel in the Bible not health and wealth but the Saving Grace and The Guiding wisdom of God as we live real life as we sin and as we suffer and we find Jesus to be our faithful Redeemer not in the ideal lives we thought we were going to live but in the actual lives we are living excuse me I'm allergic to preaching verse 4 shows us the alternative the wicked are not so but are like chaff that the wind drives away what a horrible tragic honest verse that image chaff says two things one instability loss of future and inconsequentiality loss of relevance so the question that now emerges for every one of us is what are we becoming every one of us is moving in One Direction or the other either more fruitful and full and amazed and delighted or more brittle and tense and empty and angry and disappointed God put someone here in scripture to say to every one of us come to me all who labor and are heavy latent come to me in my appointed way be refreshed through my word I will meet you there I will care for you there you will become the man or woman I Rejoice over there you will become the man or woman you can finally be okay with there everyone not drawing Upon Jesus everyone deprived of his life however much they may appear to flourish in this world tragically have nothing that will last nothing finally to look forward to verses five and six therefore the wicked will not stand in the Judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the Way of the Wicked Will perish so there's that weighty word therefore on that great and final day God will deal with us then as he is speaking to us now right now everyone who's broken the heart Longs for something better everyone who longs to live above this present evil age everyone whose heart cracks open to the love of God in Jesus Christ as revealed in the gospel every single one will find as their breathtaking and eternal Delight that they have been known by God cared for by God watched over by God Guided by God redeemed by God he has chosen for himself broken-hearted sinners who are okay with being losers in the eyes of the world because they'd rather have Jesus they'd rather linger in his word and walk in his ways they may be the outcasts of this world and not be invited to the parties with all the cool kids but that's okay they they just wish the cool kids would come join them in Christ but they are and forever will be the congregation of the righteous and the Lord will get them all the way home to their glorious consummation where the first will be last and the last will be first we just want more people to come join us in that destiny so no matter what the world may do and no matter what some Christians may do let's just keep our Bibles open till our dying day and keep on delighting ourselves always in what pleases the Lord and let's help as many others as we can go with us and walk with us Jesus looked at the masses the uncomprehending masses the clueless oblivious masses and he did not despise them he had compassion on them so we want to be two things at once conscientious men and women of the word who think theologically think deeply and are alive in Christ and we too join our Lord in perceiving all those people out there with longings for their happiness that they would come and enlarge the congregation of the righteous no elitism no aloofness we want them to experience the life that is truly life in Christ so let's lead in our churches into the Bible preaching the Bible singing the Bible praying the Bible memorizing the Bible enjoying the Bible obeying the Bible let's teach our children as much of the Bible as we possibly can long after they can't even remember our names you know they're Sunday school teachers and their preachers and so forth they will be strengthened 20 30 40 50 years from now by what we do today our time will soon be over let's resolve Here and Now by God's grace that we will live out our days to the end planted by these dreams of water for his glory help as many other people as we can share this crazy happiness that Jesus gives for example this is the first Bible I ever owned it's uh in fact there's a there's a toothpaste stripe here in the inside the front cover I'd I don't remember how I did that my dad and mom gave this to me at Christmas Day 1958. they wrote In Here second Timothy 2 15. it's King James authorized version of course into my own amazement I I looked through it and there are verses underlined here you know love not sleep lest Thou come I don't have my glasses to poverty why did I underline that didn't do me any harm it wasn't just the Bible but this Bible moved the Bible from the periphery of my Consciousness to the center of my consciousness as I grew up in a home and went to a church where the Bible was Central and I had one too and at the time of course I had zero awareness of the significance of what my dad and mom in this precious Church were investing in me I wasn't grateful they didn't care they did this because they loved the Lord and they loved me and now I can't think about them and this without emotion and 50 years from now they're going to be kids well they won't be kids then but they will remember you they might not remember your name but they'll remember your commitment they will not be able to think about it without emotion and the time to give them Christ through and according to his word is now here's the second Bible I ever owned that was a King James this is the RSV so I was finally driving in the fast lane my dad mom gave this to me my senior year in high school on my birthday and Dad wrote here is very wonderful bud wow I hate weepy preachers laughs nothing could be greater than to have a son a son who loves the Lord and walks with him and at the time I wasn't very good at that but Dad loved me in Hope your mother and I have found this book our dearest treasure when I read those words the thought did not enter my mind now he does he doesn't mean that this is this is just piety exaggeration fluff no I knew he meant it I grew up hearing my dad sing in the shower down the hallway every morning my dad would sing in the shower when morning guilds the skies my heart awaken Christ may Jesus Christ be praised and so forth he sang that every morning in the shower I heard it down the hallway he wasn't performing in front of the church it was just my dad being real at home every morning your mother and I have found this book our dearest treasure we give it to you and doing so can give nothing greater be a student of the Bible and your life will be full of blessing we love you Dad Philippians 1 6. so first verse I returned to in this Bible was Philippians 1 6. here it is underlined and I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ so Philippians 1 6 is my dad verse to this day I can't read it without thinking of my dad the whole tone of that he set in our home a tone of encouragement this is the Bible that got me through college so grateful this is my Greek New Testament that I bought at Wheaton College in the fall of 1969 I paid 2.25 cents for this what an incredible bargain and um this is this is the Greek I mean this has been my companion now for all these years always on my desk always Within Reach I haven't changed as much as I thought I would I'm not as Sanctified as I expected to be guys I basically stink at this I mean only Jesus could love me where where would I be without the patience of God where would we all be but what little changing I've done has happened largely through this just pouring over it pressing into it figuring out what is this saying my dad used to pray when he studied the Bible Lord give me light simple prayer profound prayer everybody can pray that prayer we all do Lord give me light no I was minding my own business actually I was I'd always avoided Romans chapter 9 I was afraid of it didn't know what to do with it it is scary but this time I had to read it in the Greek text because when it was an assignment at Dallas Seminary with S Lewis Johnson so I'm reading Romans 9 minding my own business I didn't see it coming I didn't have time to duck I came to verse 18 therefore he hardens whom he wills and he has Mercy on whom he wills and I became a calvinist I didn't want to become a calvinist it wasn't an issue I was even struggling that was not my aspiration in life but reading this word by word slowly because I had to because it was hard and that verse detonated in my Consciousness and I'd always perceived reality as I was Central God was over here he was helpful all of a sudden suddenly God is Central God is Big I'm small and I just want her to get down before him and worship laughs Holy Ground here's a this is a fun way I'm doing it these days this is this was last summer second Timothy in the Greek text in two versions The Jerome's Latin translation from around 400 and the English Standard Version from 2000. and I just swiped them from websites and formatted them the way you know the the size of the font that works for my eyes and the spacing so I can write on the page and and I printed them out at home on 24 pound paper which is a little more robust then I took it to FedEx Office and had them bind it in this really cool way so thank you this is not a Ministry strategy this is pure pleasure when God in Mercy and Grace pulls me into his word and I go deep and I find delightful ways to go about it that really make sense just to me you find your own way right I I just find myself dignified I feel privileged what am I doing here I'm a knucklehead and I get to read II Timothy with John stott's commentary in the Greek text and here's Jerome in Latin and here's This brilliant ESV and I get to underline words and highlight words in yellow and write comments and prayers and if you ask me why did you do that Ray you might as well ask me why do I look forward to deer season every Autumn I mean it's just I love it you feel the same way the Bible is not a Ministry strategy the Bible is Green Pastures and still waters for starving people in a wretched world we just love it Let's help other people more people lots of people love it if the needle is going to move in the western world from Death toward life this will be at the center of that movement amen all right guys that's the end of my sermon hope you liked it [Applause]

Channel: The Timothy Trust

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Id: _zliDe0rQ6E

Length: 38min 1sec (2281 seconds)

Published: Mon May 29 2023