The Blessed (3)
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January 22, 2017 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish" (Psalm 1:4-6).
The righteous delight in the Law of God and meditate on it day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). They act only in the truth. So, in all respects they prosper and stay in good health, just as their souls prosper (3 John 1:2). After life on the earth ends, they will enter Heaven with only joy and happiness and enjoy eternal life there.
In this edition, let's delve into the end of the wicked who left God and let's understand why we should become blessed people.
1. Unlike the Wicked, the Blessed Can Overcome Trials and Hardship
Psalm 1:4 reads, "The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away." Chaff flies about when it is windy. The chaff is burnt with fire because it is of no use. Wind here symbolizes trials and hardship in a spiritual sense.
The righteous who stand firmly on the rock of faith can overcome any kind of hardship in God's protection even when the 'wind of trials and hardship' blows. But the wicked are blown about by all kinds of troubles or adversities. They cannot but go the way of destruction because they have no guard to protect them and cannot find the way-out from their many difficulties.
The 'wicked' doesn't refer to only unbelievers. Church-goers who disobey God's Word and do not cultivate their hearts into truth are also like chaff which the wind drives away although they say they believe God. For the righteous, it is easy and they are happy to lead a believing life with faith in God. For the wicked, however, it is too hard because they do not change their hearts into the truth.
If you believe in God the Creator and that Jesus Christ is our only Savior, it is never difficult to live according to God's Word. You will be able to enjoy your Christian life if you obey God's Word without committing sins and circumcise your heart in continual prayer. You will become filled with the Holy Spirit, experience God's grace, and feel the Lord's presence all the time. The happiness you will feel is not comparable to anything.
Moreover, you will diligently lead a Christian life to pile up more rewards in Heaven for you have hope for Heaven. Even if you meet with difficulties, if you pray in the Lord with faith and act in the truth, God will give you the way-out and change the hardship into blessing.
However, you cannot receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit unless you live by the Word and circumcise your heart. When you listen to the message telling you to cast off this and that, and not to commit sins, conflicts between the message and your lust for the world will arise and your heart will be troubled. And you will complain or be discouraged at difficulties or hardships if you have no hope for Heaven. In the end, you will fall down and leave God. You will return to the sinful world.
2. The Blessed Will Stand in the Assembly of the Righteous
If a person distances himself from God like the chaff driven way by the wind, he will be judged according to his evil deeds. As Psalm 1:5 says, "Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous," the wicked fall to all kinds of diseases, disasters, or other hardships. Furthermore, they will become slaves to Satan because they obey their sinful natures. God cannot save them though they cry, 'Lord, I believe You.' Even if they do not meet with any disaster, they will surely fall into the unquenchable fire of Hell in the end after death.
Mark 9:48-49 describes Hell as the place "where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire." People in the world may think when they have certain pain their pain will be gone after death. But in Hell, terrible torture and pains will be repeated again and again endlessly for all eternity. Those in Hell will never die forever and the fire will never be quenched. Thus they will have no hope or expectations once they are thrown into Hell. Thus, you should remember sinners will never be able to stand in the assembly of the righteous, that is, enter Heaven.
In fact, the wicked are separated from the righteous even in this world. In other words, people of a similar kind gather. Drunkards follow other drunkards. Gamblers like other gamblers. Those who like fishing join with others who enjoy fishing, and those who like hiking gather with other hikers.
Even in the church, those who love God's Word, those who enjoy evangelizing new members, and those who like to pray gather in respective groups. In the same manner, those who gossip gather and slander and make judgments and pass condemnations.
In this way, the wicked people are separated from the righteous or good-hearted people. That is why God separates Hell from Heaven and the wicked from the righteous, and throws the wicked into the fire of Hell (Matthew 13:49-50).
But you should remember just the knowledge of God's Word does not lead you to stand in the assembly of the righteous. You should believe the Word from the heart and live by it. Only when you become holy in the Lord can you become God's true children.
3. The Blessed Take the Way of the Righteous
Psalm 1: 6 says, "For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." None of your words and deeds, not even your thoughts and heart can be hidden from God's sight. There is an angel assigned to each and every man whether believers or unbelievers. They are in charge of recording whatever you say, do, and think. According to the report of each angel, God will judge you on the Great Day of Judgment.
Revelation 20:12 says, "And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds." The people who took the way of goodness will receive the judgment of reward and those who took the way of evilness cannot escape from eternal punishment concerning even a single one of their least of sins.
Those whose ways are recognized by God can be protected from difficulty on the earth as well as in the last judgment (Psalm 40:2). But those who walk the evil way go the way of destruction in the end. God will recognize the way of those who keep faith and act in righteousness in the sight of God and save them from critical moments and protect them until the end. Thus, I urge you not to compromise with the untruth in any kind of situation and to practice the way of righteousness in God's eyes.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to become a blessed person you should not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the path of sinners, and sit in the seat of scoffers. And, you should mediate on His law day and night with delight. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will prosper in all respects like a tree planted by streams of water and glorify God.
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