The lord knows the path of the blessed

Date of Sermon Delivery: 30. June . 2024

Place of sermon Delivery:  Delhi, India

Sunday Worship Service 

Speaker: Brother Jatin  

The lord knows the path of the blessed

Bible : Psalm 1:1-6
1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

 

 

Today I want to take your attention to Psalm 1.

When we see this scripture, we get one picture about two lives or two people, and these two people takes two different choices, two different ways, and two different destinies with two different consequences.

This kind of choice always comes before us, like the garden of Eden, between good and evil.

One is the way of righteousness, and the other is the way of wickedness.

The righteous, according to the psalm, will lead into an evergreen tree, will flourish and prosper.

But the wicked are like chaff that can be blown away, and it is not going to endure.

Today we will look deeper into it.

A Bible scholar says to collect this 150 psalm, it is a work of about thousands of years of various authors, and Jewish scholars brought it all together.

When they brought the book of Psalm together, they wanted an introduction to the psalm.

They wanted to tell the people who read it that this is the gateway to the psalm, this is how you enter the psalm, and through it, you will understand the entire theme of the psalm that God has given to us.

As you will see in Psalm 1, verses 1–3 talk about the blessed man, verses 4–5 talk about the wicked man, and verse 6 talks about the consequence of that man’s action.

If he makes the righteous choice, he has the blessed consequence, and if he makes the wrong choice, he has the wrong consequence. 

Before moving on to the message,.

I want to understand with you the word blessed. Even this psalm starts with the word “blessed.”.

In Hebrew, it’s called eh-sher. Haiysh eh-sher means blessed is the one.

The meaning of blessedness, or ehsher, is a blessed destiny.

It is a future blessing for the one who takes a certain path.

It is not happiness in the present.

It is not joy in the circumstances.

But if a person takes a certain path of life, they will end up in eh-sher.

So that blessed future is based on our present relationship and our walk with God.

A blessed person will walk through difficulties in life, and he will walk through a narrow gate, as Jesus said, for the blessed future that is awaiting us.

In Job 5:17 Blessed is the one whom God corrects, so do not despise the discipline of the almighty.

If I am blessed according to the world, my circumstances should be happy, and everything should be fine for me.

But when God is pressing me to out my sins, it will be uncomfortable in the company of the wicked.

A blessed man is disciplined by God, and that discipline is not always a joyful experience. So when we go through pain and situations in life, that means the Lord is disciplining us in our lives so that we may have a blessed future.

In the New Testament, the beatitudes and the beatitudes of Jesus Christ. Who are the blessed people?

Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kind of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you(12).

Therefore, who is the blessed person?

A blessed person, according to Psalm 1, is not a person whose things are fine, finances are fine, and there are no problems in life.

But the blessed person is one who takes a certain path of life, and in that path of life, he may go through challenges and difficulties, but he is assured of God’s presence in that path because he shares the spirit of God, and that leads to prosperity and an evergreen experience in his life.

Therefore, the topic of today’s message is that “God knows the path of the blessed people.”

We will look at this from three points of view. 

 

The path of a blessed person is based on the word of God (1-3)

The path of a wicked person is worldly (4-5)

The end/destiny of the path of these two people is determined by God(6)

 

Let us look at the first point

The path of a blessed person is based on the word of God – A person is blessed because his life is based on the word of God, his life fully depends on God’s word. Therefore, he does not do something, which is so common in this world. 

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. (1)

 

This man does not walk in the counsel of the world, does not take advice from the world, and neither is he following the persuasive word and the policies of the world; he does not do what the world is doing.

When the world is moving towards carriers or success, this man is not just for  career;  his life is living according to the word of Christ.

When the world is talking about bribes, when the world is talking about moving up in position, when the world is talking about making identity then this person is not engaged in that.

So this man does not take or accept the advice of those who are ungodly. But sometimes we commit the error of looking at the ungodly/unrighteous and thinking that we should take advice from them because they look prosperous. But always remember that the ungodly have different values, different goals, different standards, and different concerns than what we are supposed to have.

 

Secondly, he is running away from sin.

The person who wants to commit sin stands and waits with the sinners on the road, but it has nothing to do with sin, he is denying sin and running away from sin. He will not stand on the path of sinners, that leads to destruction. If we are standing on that path, we need to quickly get ourselves off that road and turn around before it is too late.

 

The third thing is that he does not sit in the seat of mockers, to sit with them suggests that you are one with them. So this man is not showing his identity according to the worldly standard.

If you go to a government office but there is no officer, you are told to wait for a while.

 

Even if you have never seen that officer, you will recognise him because he comes and sits on that chair because that chair is his identity, and that sofa is his identity, but this blessed person is not identified with the mockers, he does not sit in the mocking chair.

Who makes fun of people? 
the one who wants to humiliate others (nicha dikhana chahta hai)

the one who is full of pride/dirt inside

The one who wants to put others down and himself up.

The one who makes fun of the weaknesses of others and does not want to help them.

This is the way the world works, but the blessed man does not do this at all, he is not identified with the world.

If he is not taking the advice of the world, he is running away from sin, and he is not identifying himself with the world, then what is he doing?

But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.(2)

He delights in the law of the Lord.

What is the law for him?

The law is Torah for the psalmist.

The Old Testament of the Law is the first five books of the Bible.

Torah means teaching, or instruction, on the way of life.

When God delivered the child of Israel from Egypt and brought them to the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, then God gave them law and said you have to take it in your life because you cannot live like the Canaanites, you cannot live like the Amalekites; they have different way of life but now I redeemed you out of Egypt, I have brought you to the promised land and you will have a special way of life, you have different way that leads to prosperity and the blessing.

So, the law of the Lord is not a burden to this man, he is not under anyone’s pressure to accomplish it.

As I said to you, when the psalmists wrote this psalm, they had the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

There are rules in it, and the ten commandments are not to steal, not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to be greedy, not to false witness, but those who are in the world want to do it, because they enjoy doing it.

But this man is not doing that, he is doing what the Lord is telling him. because he knows that the rules are for his benefit.

Many times we get worried, now we have to wear helmets and go. We have to follow traffic lights; we have to follow speed limits.

But think, if instead of considering them as a burden, we start enjoying them and start practicing them well, then the traffic in our city and the number of deaths due to accidents will reduce a lot.

Rules are not there to suppress us, but for our welfare and benefit.

God gave us his word, because he loves us, and this blessed man knows that God’s word is for our benefit and for a better future; therefore, he enjoys it.

He is not just aware of these things and is not just happy with the fact that the Lord has given him the 10 commandments.

But he keeps meditates on his law day and night (2b). 

 

What does it mean to meditate on God’s word day and night?

What does it not mean to meditate on God’s word day and night?

It does not mean that he reads the Bible for 3 hours and then lies down for 4 hours, closing his eyes and thinking how good it was? It is the wrong mediation.

To meditate means to apply it in our lives. This blessed man applies these words, which are in our hands.

 

 He is not just thinking; he is not closing his eyes and saying how good your words are, Lord. 

 

But he is applying the Word of God every day to his decisions, to his desires, and to his plans.

 

When he wants to grow his city, he will not look at the money; he will look at the word.

When he has to decide about the marriage of his children, he will not look at the people, but he will look at the Word to see what the Word is saying.

When he has to take a decision for his work, when the time comes in front of him that he can move ahead by lying, then he will not follow the advice of the world, but he will actually implement the words of God in his life.

Many times it happens that he suffers from a worldly perspective.

He did not lie, therefore he did not get the position.

He did not give a bribe; he could not enter the train.

He did not give a bribe; he could not get a degree from college.

But the word of God says this man is blessed. Hallelujah

 

This man is not living according to the world but is living his life according to the words of God; therefore, he remains stable in his life.

How?

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither whatever they do prospers.

 

This tree did not plant itself but was planted. It is planted by streams of water.

It has been planted for some purpose or for some reason.

Why do we plant a tree near a water source?

so that it gets energy, water, and nourishment.

This man is living a joyful life because God is allowing this to happen in his life.

The Lord brought Israel out and planted them in the land of promise, and along with him, he gave them living water.

 

 

God planted it, and God made it fruitful in His own time.

As it is written, it bears fruit in its own season.

If we see a mango tree, it bears fruit in the summer.

Similarly, the Lord planted this man, gave him the water of life, and also determined when he would bear fruit.

And the palmist further says that its leaves never wither.

When do the leaves of a tree wither? when there is too much sunlight or when water is not available.

But the leaf of this tree never withers, because God gave this man such a grace through his word that no matter what circumstances of this world he goes through, be it sorrow or trouble, he will not despair.

Therefore, whatever he does, he will prosper.

Do not take this the wrong way, that from tomorrow you will start making silver into gold, because here the psalmist is speaking according to God, not according to the world.

What is success for the world?

For the world, success is that thing or that time when they get the thing they desire the most.

If a man gets married to a woman, then they think that their life has been successful.

If a man gets an army job, then he thinks that his life has become successful.

If a man wins the lottery, then he thinks that his life has been successful.

The world views success very differently.

You are successful in the world when you achieve something in it.

When you get money, when you have a lot of wealth, when you have a great position, when you have a lot of property, back balance, Audi RS.

But the word of the Lord is not talking about such success. Because this person actually has a truly successful life, he has the joy that comes through the words of God.

This person is doing every work of his life on the basis of the words of God, hence, his life is successful in front of God because every work of his is according to God’s word.

 

This is all about the blessed man.

Then the psalmist took our attention into other man.

2. The path of a wicked person is worldly (4-5)

 

A wicked person walks in the ways of the world, and verse 4 says the wicked are not like that.

They do not follow the word of God, they do not walk on the word of God, and their lives are not based on the word of God.

So, what is their life based on? Their life is based on the world.

 

Verse says they are like chaff that the wind blows away.

When they live like the world, then their life is empty, nothing is stable and permanent in their life, and their life blows away like the wind.

They have been running after worldly things all their lives, and they will go wherever the wind blows.

Chaff has no use, it is used as fodder or for burning. There is no depth or weight in it; it is empty. 

1 John 2:16–17 for everything in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, comes not from the father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

A blessed man remains because he follows the word of God.

But for a wicked man, who follows the world, what will happen in this life? He will not be able to stand in the judgement.

 
Therefore, the wicked will not stand in judgement, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. (5)

 

In verse 1, a blessed man does not sit in the company of mockers, but in verse 5, a wicked man does not sit stable in the assembly of the righteous.

There is a separation here, and it is very clear that they cannot meet each other. 
just like a tree planted by streams of water completely different from a chaff, because that tree will not break no matter how strong the wind is blowing, but this chaff will blow through the wind.

 

First, we saw that the path of a blessed person is based on the word of God, and second, we saw that the path of a wicked person is worldly.

So what can we do? Why do we need to know this?

 

Let us see verse 6

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. (6)

 

third thing psalmist explained about these two people because the end/destiny of the path of these two people is determined by God. 

 

The Lord knows the path of the righteous.

What does it mean? We also know many things, we know how to go from Delhi to YMCA.

But God is not talking about a path, a road path.

 

In this verse, God says he knows the way.

It has a deeper meaning, because this way or path was made by God himself and is based on God’s word; therefore, he knows this way.

But the ways of the wicked led to destruction. Whatever the world, worldly things will perish.

 

 

Dear brothers and sisters

You might be thinking that we are Christians, so we are blessed, and others who are not Christians are wicked, which is a fast in itself.

But we need to know which path we are on, through which path our desires are fulfilled.

It is important that we live according to the gospel.

But if you find it a burden to live out the gospel, then something is wrong.

If you feel difficulty loving our brothers or sisters,

If you still have problems with fellowship with people, doing good to people, or living a life for the church, then there is something wrong, and then we are like the chaff who gets blown away by a little wind.

If you want to be a green tree, take joy in His words and live your life according to His words.

Dear brothers and sisters

We have to surrender to God daily. Every day we must arise and make the choice that we want to be the righteous ones who will be before God and have an intimate relationship with him. Every day, we are presented with choices as to who is number one in our lives. Will I choose to do the things I want to do or what God wants me to do? We must surrender our will to God so that He can plant us by the streams of living water.

We must spend time with God daily – The Bible says the ones who live the blessed life are those who meditate on God’s law day and night. We must focus our minds on God and spend time with Him every day. Relationships do not last when you do not spend time together. Spend time talking to Him, reading His words, and thinking about the goodness of God.

 

We must separate from defilement daily – The Bible says the ones who live a blessed life separate themselves from the ungodly. We can not walk in step with the wicked, stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the company of mockers; keeping ourselves separate from these things will enhance our lives and grow us closer and stronger to the Lord.

 

Only Jesus Christ perfectly did these things and showed us the way. Jesus has shown us how to enter through the narrow gate. There are two roads to choose from. One road is the easy path that many are travelling on, but its end is destruction. The other road is more difficult because of the difficulty, not many are travelling on it. But it is the right road to be on, and its end is prosperity and intimacy with God. Choose who you will serve today. Choose to follow Jesus, which leads to life, and that will make you a blessed man.

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Goodness of God

 Title: The goodness of God. 

Bible: Psalm 119:68

 

 

Good morning

I am very joyful that we all remain in the lord and the lord holds us all. 

I believe that somewhere deep down you know that the lord is good and he produce only goodness. That is why you are gathered in the lord house in such extreme heat and giving him glory. 

 

Today morning I want to take your attention on the goodness of God, and learn that God is so big that he can do all things for good.

Many times, we sing a song, and even I love this song very much. 

Can we sing together? 

God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, he is so good to me. 

Even many times we also proclaim God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

 

So, what does it mean to say that God is good when everything is good or God is good even when everything is not good? 

The song says God is good all the time 

And all the time means in which you may have good times or bad times but HE is good.

 

 

Today we are living in this 21^st century, where God’s goodness is questioned. 

How can a good God let people go to hell?

How can a good God allow sin and Satan?

How can a good God let natural disasters?

How can a good God allow Satan to plots cause so much pain, destruction?

How can a good God let bad things happen to innocent people?

 

Since the garden of Eden Satan has been trying to convey people the question God’s goodness. He tries to build doubt and raised confusion about God’s kindness/goodness.

To clear up the doubt and clear up some of the confusion, we have to learn more in details of God’s goodness and our response to it. 

 

 

When you say God is Good, what are we really about?

And when you say brother Sourav is Good, what are we really about it? 

In the case of our brother, when we say he is good, we are seeing his hard work, we are seeing his kindness, we are seeing the behavior that is bringing yes to us. But can he change that? Yes, because he is human being. 

But on the case of God, he will never change with his goodness, and when we say God is Good, we are really talking about Psalm 119:68 say You are good and do only Good (NLT). 

In other word, God is good in his character and action. 

When psalmist says you are good that is the character of God and when he says you do what is good that is God’s actions. 

 

So, when we say that God is Good, we are saying that everything about him is good. 

His love is good.

His power is good.

His wisdom is good

His mercy is good. 

His wrath is good. 

His discipline is good.

His justice is good.

His sovereignty is good.

His discipline is good.

His decision is good.

 

Whatever he does is Good and whatever he does not do that is good too. 

Whatever he allows or causes to be done is a good thing and he will do everything for the good of his glory and the good of his people. Why? 

Because God is good and whatever he does is good.

 

To understand more God’s goodness, I want to take you into four things. 

 

1.God’s goodness is not always consisting in pleasant things: God’s goodness is not just in pleasant things. God is not good because he does good things for us or God is not good because of something in you or me. 

God is good because he is good.

Both God and his choices remain good, even when they may not feel or look particularly good to you. 

 

He will be in the perfect time to answer your cry of distress, to deliver you and to display his greatness with his wisdom and sovereignty. 

 

 

For example: a good parent will make their child eat their vegetables, get in bed at right time, and ensure that they have done their homework, a good parent will also discipline or correct their child when it necessary. All those things that do not feel good that a good parent does but good parents know that it is for the good of the child. 

 

In the same way our good God will allow some good things to happen in our lives that do not feel good, we do not want and that we do not like. 

 

Why does he do that? Because he knows it is good for us and it will help conform us to the image of His son and bring him glory. 

 

If you will see in the Bible, is Joseph.

When Joseph was at the age of 17, his own brothers threw him into a pit in order to kill him, and then they sold him into slavery. 

When he was in Egypt, he used to work for Potiphar. 

Potiphar’s wife falsely accused that Joseph attempted rape therefore he placed in prison and while he was in jail, Pharaoh had a dream and Joseph was able to interpret the dream as a message from God about a famine that was coming. 

Then Pharaoh gave joseph charge of preparing for the famine, which gave joseph the second highest command in the land. 

One day Joseph’s brothers came asking for food from the storage of Joseph had prepared,

When they recognized that Joseph was their brother, they had betrayed many years earlier they became afraid. 

Joseph told them not to be afraid and then said this statement about God’s sovereignty and God’s goodness.

Joseph said You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. Genesis 50:20 NLT. 

What Joseph went through was not all pleasant but it resulted in good. God’s goodness is not always pleasant/enjoyable.

 

2. God’s goodness is for everyone : God is good to all in some things but God is good to some in all ways. 

God is good to all in some ways because he ordained that certain aspects of his goodness be available to all people. Through Matthew 5:45 we can understand more, Jesus says, “He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike”

You do not have to be believer to get God’s rain, or it does not rain just on Christians yards. The rain is for everyone, this goodness available to atheists as well as to the committed Christians. 

 

But God is good to some in all ways. Here some are the people of God who are untied with Christ. They are blessed with every spiritual thing. They will enjoy his goodness which comes from spirituality that the world can never get. 

He gives his revelation, he gives his holy spirit to guide, he gives his divine perspective to see and enjoy his goodness. 

 

Ephesians 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ” (NLT). 

If you are a child of God, then you have already been blessed with every spiritual and supernatural blessing there is in heaven because of your relationship with Christ

 

 

3. God’s goodness is based on him, not us:  God sets the standard for what is good. It does not matter how good something looks or how good it makes you feel.

 

God is the standard of what is good because by nature God is good and all good things come from Him. Jesus implied this when He said in Luke 18:10, “Only God is truly good” (NLT) and Psalmist said in Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (NLT). 

What is good or not is determined by God because He is the only one who is completely and purely good.

If God says something is good then that is good. We must be aware here, because we often replace God’s standard of goodness with our own. 

 

We often replace God’s standard of goodness with an our emotional standard of goodness. The cross can be emotional moment for us but the cross was a display of God’s goodness toward mankind. 

If we identify everything that causes us stress, worry or anxiety as not good, then we will miss many blessings, opportunities for growth and ministries. 

God’s goodness is not determine by our feelings or emotions but by what God says is good. 

And even it is not based on our ability, or to make sense of it but if God declares it good then it is good. 

 

 

 

 

4. God’s goodness blesses us through everything – in other words, there is nothing that God cannot use to bless you with. 

Romans 8:28 says and we know that God causes everything to work together  for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Everything works together for the blessing, benefit and good of Gods’ people who love him.

The bible is not saying that God stop his people from experiencing things that can harm them. 

But rather than this, the lord takes all that he allows to happen to his people, even the worst things and then turns those things into blessings.

Why? Because he is Goof and sovereign God.

 

Work together refers a combination of two or more elements and it produce greater effect than the elements acting separately. 

 

For example: if you only poured sodium on you food you would get sick and if you poured only chloride on your food it would make you sick. 

But when we mixed sodium and chloride together, then it will make salt which is essential for our body. 

That is mean working together for good, in the same way eggs, flour, baking soda, water, oil, and 400 degrees of heat. 

Mix together and put it in an oven and you get a cake, that is mean working together. 

So, God  is able to take everything, your sin, your failures, your successes, the sin in the world, the good in the world, your helpful experiences, your hurtful experiences, what you have gone through, going through and about to go through and have them work together”  that will result is good. Why? Because God is good God. 

 

 

 

Even though God is amazing and good God. But we have to learn, how should be our response to him.

What should be our reaction be knowing that God is good and works all things out for Good?

A. God’s goodness produces our repentance : Romans 2:4 Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? (NLT) /not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (NKJV)

the bible is asking, do you think that all the good that came in your life was because you are nice person? Or has God been doing good because you deserve it? the answer is no. 

 

but God wants you to know that he has been good, kind, loving, and generous with you for one specific purpose to lead you to repentance. 

When we see Gods’ goodness which produce in us repentance, and that leads to a changed life. 

 

For the unbeliever, this means that God’s blessing in your life, His patience with you and all the good things that have happened to you have all been for the purpose of you coming to a point where you repent of your sin and give your life to Jesus Christ. The greatest act of goodness that God ever did was sending His Son to die for you on the cross so that you would not have to go to hell, but could go to heaven. Repent of your sin and turn to Christ.

 

 

B. Secondly, God’s goodness produces goodness in us : we do good because God is good. God wants to do acts of goodness through us. 

In 3 John 3:11 Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.

When you are doing good and doing what God approves of, then you are showing and represent that you belong to God and are a follower of Jesus.

 

In 1 Peter 2:21 we are told, “For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in His steps” (NLT). Remember, God’s goodness is not always pleasant. But you are “called,” assigned, and drawn toward doing good.

 

In Galatians 6:10 we are told, “Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone – especially to those in the family of faith” (NLT). This is interesting because here God is putting the spotlight on doing good to other believers. We should be looking for ways to bless each other, encourage each other, and build each other up.

 

In 1 Thessalonians 5:15 we are told, “See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people” (NLT). This is in the context of when someone does something wrong to you like lie about you, slander your name, or steal from you or hurt you in some way. You will be tempted to pay back evil with evil in some way. God says “try to do good” toward them. He knows this will be tough for us but says attempt to be nice, strive to be forgiving, aim at acting good toward them. Try it!

God’s goodness produces goodness in us. 

 

C. God’s goodness produces peace : you know that life is hard, bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. But Bible says in psalm 31:19 How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you, and you pour it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.

As you obey God, he will pour on you his goodness. Sometime we might coming to God for protection or stressed about something, but God says at those time he will pour out his goodness on you, and when God’s goodness on you then you can experience peace in a stressful situation. When Jesus was facing cross, it was a bad situation, but he was calm because God’s goodness was driving him. 

 

D. God’s goodness produces thankfulness :  Psalm 107:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good” (NLT). God is a good gift giver. I want to become more and more the most thankful person on the planet. I want to give thanks in the morning (God thank you for giving me another day). I want to give thanks for all the big things and little things in life. God thank you for my health, thank you for my salvation, thank you for helping me grow spiritually, thank you for the ministry you have given me, thank you for my family, thank you for what you have brought me through, thank you for the flowers, thank you for this church, thank you for my friends, thank you for helping me get through the bad times. God, I just want to say thank you.

 

Someone may say, “I don’t have to come to church to be a Christian.” You sure don’t. coming to church doesn’t make you a Christian. But if you are a grateful Christian, you will come here to celebrate God’s goodness. You won’t mind singing to His glory. You will shout it out. Why? Because He’s been good to you. 

 

Conclusion 

God is so good to us that it would take eternity to count all the blessings he has given us . The best thing we can do until He returns is to live a life of grateful devotion, obedience, faith and praise to Him in response to His abundant goodness.

God has been good to you. If you are not a believer I want you to think about how God has been good to you. Maybe you are married to a Christian spouse, given you Christian parents, Christian friends, Christian kids. God is reaching out to you with His goodness. The job you have, that God’s goodness at work. All the blessings you have, that’s God’s goodness at work. Even the bad things that have happened either by your decision or someone else’s… God allowed to get your attention and that’s a good thing. Let God’s goodness lead you to Him. Give your life to Him today.

Believers, maybe you are going through a difficult time and you need to rest in God’s goodness knowing that what you are going through will work out for good. Maybe you need to pray and ask God, “Heavenly Father, I am going through a tough time right now. I don’t understand why you allowed it to happen but I do know that I love you and you promised to work all things out for good. I’m going to trust you through it and give you thanks for being a good God.”

 

 

Leaving the old for the new

Date of Sermon Delivery: 2. June . 2024

Place of sermon Delivery:  Delhi, India

Sunday Worship Service 

Speaker: Brother Jatin

 Title: leaving the old for the new

Bible: Isaiah 43:14-21

Key verse: Isaiah 43:18-19
18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

 

Praise the Lord

I welcome you all to the house of the Lord this morning.

I hope that you are continuously following the words of God in your life, and by following those words, you are also walking with Jesus Christ.

 

These days, it is very hot in India, and somewhere, we humans do not care about this environment for our own benefit, for our physical lives, or for our own comfort.

Yes, it is important that we pray to God that God makes this weather better, but we also need to take care of the environment, and we have to plant more and more trees in our homes.

You guys, don't be afraid of this heat, but pray more to God that God will change the mindset of the human race towards the environment.  

God will definitely bring a change in the weather, and we will become more aware of it.

 

I have been thinking for a long time that I should give a message from the book of Isaiah so that I can shed some light once again on what God has promised us and this church.

Believe it or not, God promises come so that they can be fulfilled in our lives, because his word has power.

 

Let’s open our Bible. Isaiah 43:18-19

Are you ready for God’s word? All are ready for God’s word; I am also ready.

 

18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

 

Let’s pray to God.

 

God said to forget the former things, which is not easy to do. But if God said it, that means it is possible. When God says something, it does not mean it is easy; it just means it is possible.

He said forgot the former things. It does not mean forget, like you block it out of your mind. But it means stop talking about it.

It does not mean that it is not a part of our story, but it does not need to be the theme of our story. Just because it was a chapter of your life, does not mean that it should come again after every chapter.

 

When God is saying forgot, it does not mean we protect it, or do not sugar-coat it. but God says if you are ever going to see a new thing, you are going to have to forget the old thing.

One weapon that the enemy has against you is your past.

He always tries to bring your past against you because you have memories, you have emotions, and you have feeling tied on the past.

He always uses your past because the devil does not know your future; he cannot talk about your future.

So, what does he do if the past was good for you? He will say that it was good.

Do you know? Good news, Satan does not know your future, or if he is telling your future, he is lying to you.

He talks about your past, and if it was good, he says it's the best ever, nothing can be better than that in your life.

If it was bad, he would say you're going to stay there forever; you can never get out of it.

Whatever it is, he uses your past against you.

Many times, Satan talks to you in flesh and through your senses, he tries to take your past.

You hear a song, and it takes you back to old memories.

Do you understand?

You smell something and it takes you back to old memories.

You see something or someone, and it takes you back.

Can you say it with me? I can learn from past, I can honour my past, but I will always refuse to be imprisoned by my past.

Because God wants this from you, you have to forget it, you have to stop it, you have to walk away from it, you have to stop your mouth from talking about it.

Because  if every time you talk about it, it means you're giving authority to it.

 

Forget the former/old things so that you can embrace the new things

Do you believe that God is the God of new things?  

Lamentations 3:22-23 The faithful love of the Lord never ends His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

 

I want to remind you that He is the God of new life, He is the God of new creation, He is the God of new covenant, He is the God of new tongues, He is the God of new songs, He is the God of new heaven and earth, and He is the God of new mercy.

Our God is the God of new things, and today morning he wants to tell you that he wants to do new things in your life—in your church, in your jobs, in your family, in your relationship, in your finances, in your study. but you have to forget the past and let go of everything that prevents or hinders the new one from coming.

 

In Isaiah 43:18-19 God instructs us to forget the former things and not dwell on the past. He declares that he is doing something new and asks if we perceive it.

To understand it deeper, we have to look at its background.

Prophet Isaiah lived during a time when God’s people were divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

Both kingdoms had turned away from God, engaging in immorality, political corruption, social injustice, and spiritual idolatry.

Isaiah warned the people of Judah about God's judgement due to their actions.

He prophesied that they would be defeated and taken captive by Babylon.

The people of Judah would endure another hundred years of hardships and seventy years of exile before their fall.

This will all happen in the future. Because of your idolatry, Babylon will come to you, and captive you.

And in verses 18–19, God is saying to them, Do not remember it because I will restore you and forgive you again.

God looks beyond their punishment in this story, and he highlights their restoration and forgiveness.

God looks beyond what they are doing wrong, he looks beyond the rise of Babylonians, he looks beyond the fall of Babylonians; he looks beyond bringing them back to their homeland, and he is going to forgive them, restore them, and do new things.

This is all God is saying to them before 150–200 years, in advance, he is saying to them to forget the former things and not dwell in the past because God is looking towards that wonderful time of forgiveness and restoration that our father hearts for us. He is looking ahead, he is looking to the future, he is looking to the promises, he is looking to our redemption, our restoration, and our forgiveness. But we are the ones who are always stuck in the past, not God.

God is way ahead of us, he has already seen the cross; he has already seen forgiveness, he has already seen redemption, he loves us; and he wants the best for us.

But we are the ones that deal with the past, we are the ones stuck in the past; God does not.

 

In bible we can see the example of Paul, Philippians 3:12-14. 

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

Paul also said in his testimony, Because I was a blasphemer, I was a persecutor, I was a murderer.

He says I had a previous life. But when I came to know Christ, now my whole ambition is just to run the race with perseverance and cross that finish line, and never look back because the past is past and I have just leave my past

I do not want my past to hurt me or interfere with the race that I am running.

When we see it on the race track, no athlete sees it left or right, or even back because if he sees it, he will lose the medal.

 

1. Forget the former things (verse 18a)—what does it mean to forget? How can we just forget something that is our minds because of what we have done, or maybe something that was done to us? Yes, God can do everything, he can remove all the memories. But in general, when the Bible says to forget it, it does not mean that somehow you are no longer going to remember. But it means you should no longer give it weight, otherwise, it can become a barrier to experiencing new blessings.

If we see verse 25, God says, I even I am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake and remembers your sins no more. It is a great verse that God remembers your sins no more.

Now, how is that possible? God is omniscient, he knows all things, therefore, he cannot forget things. But what does it mean when he says he will no longer remember your sins?

It can be said that he placed the weight of our sin on his son, when Jesus died on the cross, and therefore  he has made our sin powerless because he has removed the weight of it and it no longer has the same weight that it did.

In the same way we have to understand, when He says, Forget your past, it does not mean that you are not remembering it, but when you remember it do not give it weight, do not give power, do not give it value.

 

2. Do not dwell on the past(verse 18b) – we all have the problem of replaying something again and again in our minds, rehearsing it, and reliving it.

Thinking about it, if I just done this differently, maybe this would not have turned out this way. If I had not been at this particular place, at this particular time, maybe this would not have happened.

We start rehearsing, and then we start to dwell on it, therefore, God is telling us not to do that. Do not dwell in the past, do not keep rehearsing, and do not keep replaying it in your mind.

If something you did, ask forgiveness and then walk in that forgiveness. When he has forgiven us through his son, we have to learn to forgive ourselves.

Many people we say God has forgiven me, but I cannot forgive myself. God has chosen to forgive you, and yet you are saying that I am able to forgive, then you are keeping yourself above God, Even though it is not our intention but if it is happening that you are not able to forgive yourself or others, then we are keeping ourselves greater than God.

When God has forgiven your sin, then you need to walk in that forgiveness, otherwise, we are dwelling on it.

In the same way, when you replay the past of people and what they have done to you, the same words always apply to forgiveness. Colossians 3:13: The bible says, Forgive as Christ has forgiven you.  

Ask yourself: How has Christ forgiven me?

Because he is forgiving you, he calls us in a similar way to forgive others.

Did God ever say that I have forgiven you, but I will never forget what you have done?

God does not say that, but we do this always, we say that all the time, We need to stop saying those kinds of things.

Yes, it can be difficult, it can be hurtful for you, but God says I want you to forgive as I forgiven you, so that you will be free from dwelling on the past.

 

3. Look for the new thing God is doing (19)- See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

It reminds us that God is doing new things. But in it, God asks this question in verse 19. Do you not perceive it? It means it is possible to miss the new things, if you are still stuck on the old things.

Do you know Mrs. Lot? She did not have a name, but she is the lot's wife. When God rains down judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness,.

Before God brings judgement over the cities, he sends an angel to go down and take by the hand Lot and his family, You need to get out of here because God's judgement is going to fall here. As they were a way little further away, the Bible says Mrs. Lot turned and looked back. The Hebrews indicate that she looked longingly, and so she became a pillar of salt. He lost new things.

It is possible that you may miss something new because of looking back.

The Israelites, on their way from Egypt to the promised land, started complaining in the wilderness, murmuring against God, They got near the promised land. And they send 12 spies to get report of land.

10 come back with bad news. Man,  there are giants in the land, we cannot win them. But two of them—Joshua and Caleb no, we got this because God is our side.

But 10, spread the bad report to all people, and the and the bad report turned them. And they said, Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, We should choose a leader and go back. We should go back to Egypt.

They were 400-year-old slaves in Egypt, and they thought it would be better to go back to Egypt.

You know, some people get so stuck in the past, even the bad past, that they can not move on with God, and that entire generation died in the wilderness because they did not see, they could not perceive the new thing that God was doing.  They never entered the Promised Land; only their children could go, and they all died in the desert.

Yes, it is possible to miss the things that God is doing when we are still stuck in the old things.

So forget the former things, do not dwell in the past; and look for the new thing that God is doing.

God wants to do new things in your life, He wants to do new things in your work, He wants to do new things in your relationships, He wants to do new things in His church, but for that, it is important that we leave the old, do not remember the old, do not give weight the old. Don't speak about it but yearn for something new, hope for something, and believe right now he is doing something new.

God is the God of new beginnings. God is the God of second chances, and God is always more interested in looking way ahead to your forgiveness, redemption, and restoration.

May the Good God bless you. 

Amen