Perhaps we could turn again to psalm number one, the psalm that we were looking at this morning, and we want to read through these six short verses together. Psalm number one, if you have your Bible with you. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 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 do shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away, Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor a sinner in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Amen. Perhaps we could just turn to the Lord for His help, before we look at the few thoughts that we have on this passage tonight. Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, We would just ask, O God, for that settling influence. We would just pray, O Lord, that we would be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. We realize, O Lord, that we, in and of ourselves, can do nothing or nothing and never will be anything. And we ask, O God, tonight that Thou would enable us, O Lord, to present the truths of the Gospel and that hearts would be touched by Thy Spirit. and that our work will be done for all eternity. For we ask it in our Saviour's wonderful name. Amen. For those perhaps that weren't here this morning, we took a look at this short psalm and we noticed that within its verses there are two, simply two groups of people. There are the godly and there are the ungodly. And this is exactly how we are divided up here tonight. We spent a little time and we looked at three characteristics of the godly man this morning. And from the very outset, from the very first word of this psalm, we noticed that the godly man was blessed. The godly man was blessed because he lived in obedience to God. This obedience was carried through into every aspect of his life. We see there in verse 1, it was found in his walk. It was found in the stance, and it was found with those whom he was at ease to sit with. I must stress to each one here tonight, who knows and loves the Lord, that partial obedience is not sufficient. Indeed, partial obedience to the things of God is really disobedience to the things of God. And if you claim to love the Lord tonight as your own, and you ought to be living in full obedience, full conformity to the things of God. Did not the Lord say, if ye love me, keep my commandments? But then this morning, secondly, not only did we notice a godly man that was blessed, but we noticed the godly man was characterized with a book, the book that was given for him to delight in, the book that he would meditate in both day and night, A book that we looked at this morning and discovered it condemned him. It condemned him at the start, because he was totally unable to satisfy God's command to keep the law that was written within his pages. But then we discovered that that same book had the remedy for that man. That book then became his delight, because as he went on to read, he read of a Saviour who came born of a virgin, lived a perfect, sinless life, and he could be invested with the righteousness of Christ. He read of one that not only kept the law perfectly for him, but he read of one that took the punishment for his sin. He read of one that was the Messiah that would bear away his sins, one that shed his own precious blood, one that took the full penalty of disobedience to the law, The penalty is death. God's word makes that clear. And Christ Jesus bore the death of the cross, shed his blood, all for the godly man. Little wonder he delights in this book. Not only that, this morning we also discovered that the godly man was characterized by the fact that he was seen as a tree planted by the rivers of water. He was that God landed by the very hand of God in the very best possible place. He was seen both as fruitful and leafy. He was seen fruitful to be desired of by others, and he was seen as leafy. We were reminded of the fact that it would never wither. That was his eternal state. We were reminded, too, that that leaf was for healing. And my dear, we have the remedy for those that are dying in their sins, full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, racked with sin. These were the things we noticed this morning. But tonight we want to move on a little, and rather we would want to draw your attention to the other side of this coin and to the other man in this verse, this chapter. Because the other man in this chapter is the ungodly man. He's referred to, and he's described. The chapter is pretty much evenly divided, but we come to a watershed. We come to a turning point, and that turning point, from all the things that we have read off beforehand and rejoiced this morning, that turning point is found in the opening words of verse 4. You look there and you will see the opening words of verse 4. You will see a place where things are suddenly different. It says there, thee ungodly are not so. These are very chilling words. Listen, this is the black and white of the issue. There's no grey area here. There's no gentle merging of one state of being to another. The ungodly are not so. And tonight, highlighted by the awfulness of this opening line in verse 4, I want to look for a few moments at three characteristics found here. Some of them are concerning the ungodly man. They're simple. The very first characteristic we see here of the ungodly man is this. They are like the child. Look at verses. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. the very thinking of all men. Men are full of pride. Men are full of self. Men and women like to think of themselves of being of some worth and of some value. No one, no one likes to think of themselves of being worthless. So what is the price tag on this child? Well, the dictionary definition of this word, chop, declares it simply to be worthless and irrelevant thing. The dictionary goes on to look at that well-known phrase, this separating of the wheat from the chop, and do you know what it says? I quote, it distinguishes valuable people, valuable things, from things that are worthless. In the farming community, the chaff is something without substance. It is something that the farmer wants rid of. It is of no good to him, no value to him. Herein is the price of the chaff. As the chaff is, so are the ungodly. If you, in your ungodly state, are found here tonight thinking that you are of some value God's Word makes it clear plain, like you're not. You owe a debt that you cannot pay. And that debt, as you sin day by day, is only but increasing. You are impoverished before God tonight. You have nothing to offer Him, nothing to give. My, I think of those verses in Isaiah 64. What do they say? I think of the filthy rags that are spoken of there. And those filthy rags are man's very best efforts. Those filthy rags are man's self-imposed holiness. Those filthy rags are the righteousnesses of man. And if God sees all that effort as filthy rags. What does he see when he looks upon our sin? What an awful picture that must be. Not only do we have the price of the chaff, we want to move on quickly and look at the position of the chaff. You see, for a time, God's Word tells us that the wheat and the chaff will be found together. Dear friends, the evidence is found before us in this meeting tonight. And it is at this point that it can be difficult to make clear distinctions between the wheat and the chaff. I don't know who are the wheat and the chaff of this meeting. You know, because of the close proximity with the wheat, the chaff, even for a time, seems to enjoy God's blessing. But can I tell you, this will be short-lived. This will not last forever. The benefits under God's favour pursued from being mixed up and being in close proximity to the weak will soon be over for the chaff. You see, there's a day coming when everything will change forever. Today across our land, tonight across our own denomination, right across this province, the weak and the chaff are found mixed together on what's known as His floor. Read this in Matthew 3. This in simple terms means tonight, this Lord's evening across our province, in churches the ungodly and the godly, the chaff and the wheat sit side by side, they stand together to sing, they close their eyes in prayer, they open their bibles as God's word is read. They sit together in the blaze of worship. But very soon this privileged position under the sound of the godly, that the ungodly have been given will come to an end. Hosea 13 tells us that the ungodly shall be as a chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor. That's the position. Not only do we have the place and the position, but then thirdly, looking at this chaff, we have the predicament. The child, according to God's word, will one day find themselves in a terrible predicament, because the Bible says that they will be driven away. They'll be burned up with unquenchable fire. Why? Why would such an awful thing happen? You see, all the time that they have been sitting under the sign of God's word, amongst God's people, they have within themselves God's word says, cast away the law of the Lord, and they despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. And all to appease their own notions, their own way of salvation. Furthermore, Hosea 13, 2 declares that in doing so, they sin more and more, making idols according to their own understanding. Let me tell you tonight that all men everywhere are worshippers. They will either worship the Lord God of heaven, the true and living God, or they will worship something else. That's why grown men stand and weep into football scarves whenever their team doesn't do too well. That's why young people's heads are filled with certain music Their walls are covered with certain posters. Their money is spent chasing after the latest CD. Because they're worshipping, they're at the idols, the broken cisterns. And all men are worshippers. But often, rather than obey God, they will turn to their own notions, and they will set them up as beliefs. And they'll brashly declare, well, this is what I believe. It's good enough for me. But let me add something to this predicament. There is a swiftness by which it will come. Job 21 verse 18 speaks of the ungodly. Do you know what it says? They are stubble, and as it shall, that the storm carryeth away. Do you know those two words, carryeth away? They give the added meaning in the original of something that is stolen away. What a reminder this is of how Christ will come in the end time, on the judgment day, as a thief in the night. The whole quotation is this in 2 Peter, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt away with fervid heat, and the earth also, and the works Every work of man, every endeavour, everything they do to appease God in their own way, shall be burned up forever. Speaking again of the child that passes away, Isaiah tells us, Yea, it shall be in an instant, suddenly, Let me tell you, not only will this predicament happen swiftly, in an instant, suddenly, but it will also be done thoroughly. Because it will be done by the fierce hand of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. John the Baptist, my King, is seen there at the bank of the River Jordan, and as the people came to hear him, he painted a special picture. And as he preached, he showed the people of the coming judgment. And he spoke of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 3 and 12 as the one whose fire is in his hand. And he will truly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner. But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. This wind that is coming, dear friend, is the wind of your doom. It will be no natural gust. It will be no pleasant summer breeze upon your face. My, listen to me! Rather, it will be fanned by the fierce fan of our Saviour. God's only begotten Son. The very one that you have rejected up until this moment in time. As you go on in your sin, let me tell you, coming a day when you'll be swept away, that worthless child. And dear unsaved person in the meeting tonight, we don't tell you these things to mock you, but this is what the future holds for you. We tell you these things tonight because here and now you're still in a very privileged position. God, as yet, has not cut you off. God, in His mercy, has allowed you to come here tonight. News tonight, I hear of four families plunged into sorrow. Could have been you. But God, in His mercy, finds you here in this place. Not by accident. God had willed it so. Dear friend, you're not cut off. And I want to be very careful with my words here. I don't want to take you down a path and give you a list of all the things that you must do to be saved tonight. How can a preacher on one hand tell you that you can do absolutely nothing to be saved? Convince you to grasp the fact that you cannot free yourself from the sin that entraps you? How often have you tried to turn over that new leaf? Give up that old sinful habit? Can't do it. How can I in one hand tell you that you can do nothing to be saved, and then in the other hand revert back to telling you to start giving your heart to the Lord Jesus, to start committing your life to the Saviour, to start giving up your sin, to start to decide to live for Christ, to open your heart's door, and then you'll be saved. How can I do such things? Surely these things purely focus on math. If your salvation tonight is dependent on some commitment that you have made, then there's still a chance that you'll break that commitment. If you at some point in your life have decided to follow Jesus, maybe when the hard days come, you'll decide not to follow Jesus. We don't want to look and focus on man when it comes to salvation tonight. Such things are not real salvation. We need to get away from presenting a salvation that is not found in God's Word, an easy believism, a trust that is based on what you are to do. To be saved only focuses on self and your actions. You know, such professions leave many poor people thinking to themselves, what I have done, have I done it correctly? Have I been sincere enough? Have I really accepted the Lord Jesus? Dear friends, we need to get away from man when it comes to salvation. We need to look only at what God has done. through the Lord Jesus Christ His Son. It's not what you do, it's what has been done already. It's not whether you have done something correctly, it's all about the fact that the Lord Jesus has done what was necessary on our behalf in the place called Salvation. You're not to trust in what you have done, but you're to trust and what Christ has already done. Your commitments will change. Time will cause that to happen. Your decisions may falter, but what Christ has done has been completely cut and sealed by those words, IT IS FINISHED! Or it can be also landed, IT IS PERFECTED. We need to get away from ourselves about this issue of salvation. The gospel is not man merely accepting the Lord Jesus. Rather it is understanding that God has already accepted the Lord Jesus and what he has done on our behalf. The gospel is not about us giving our lives to the Lord Jesus, but it is about Christ who has already given his life for us. Dear sinner, you are only to trust in what Christ has already done for you. There's no doing for you in that. You just need to trust in what's done. He has died to Christ. He was accepted because God raised him from the dead. He has done all that is necessary. And my, in saying this tonight, are we not giving God the glory? I trust we are. But time is against us and we need to move on. We need to look at the second characteristic of this ungodly man. You see, in the second place we are told in verse 5 that they are unable to stand in the judgment. Verse 5 says, The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. What a contrast there is here compared to all the standing that we see in verse 1. Look at all the standing done back there. You'll notice the openness, the arrogance of such a stance, the defiance. That's the way man is. It was done even in such a manner as to even entrap the godly man. And you know every sinner has his own sinful status. Every sinner has his own particular way of transgressing God's love. Some in a greater manner, some in a lesser manner. Some is given to drink, others are given over to dishonesty, others are given over to foul language, others are given over to covetousness. Few are given to every vice, and many justify their own actions. And you know there are liars in this country who hate drunkenness. There are drunkards who hate those that are filled with pride and religiosity. And it goes on and goes on. And let me tell you tonight, everyone has their besetting sin. I don't know what it is that you love tonight by way of sin. But all I know is this, that the Bible says, let the wicked forsake his way. And listen, the only way that you can do this, the only way this can be done, is to trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary. And in doing so, you will be made a new creature in Christ Jesus. Your sins will be washed away. You will be enabled, by the grace of God, to walk in the path of righteousness, and that old sinful stamp will be broken forever. Dear friend, it needs to be done tonight, or it will be too late. But we need to deal tonight with what this verse actually says. So far we have only touched on the ungodly man's stance on this word, but this verse deals with a particular day. If you look at it, it speaks of Judgment Day. That set point in eternity When all men shall be brought before the great judgment throne of God and it is there that the sinner will be unable to stand. God's word tells us this. You know as a little boy I used to wonder how could it all work out? How could the millions of millions of millions stand on that day? It wouldn't be enough time to hear all that would be said. That's what I thought as a wee boy. But isn't there a line in the hymn that says, when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, there'll be an eternity there, and each one will be dealt with individually. But we're told in this verse that the ungodly will not stand in judgment. This does not mean that somehow they'll be absent. Somehow they will miss out on being there. No, rather it means that the sinner will be unable to stand in the face of God's holy judgment upon them. You know, it was mentioned tonight in the prayer meeting and it encouraged my heart. Because it's a hard thing to say. But do you know what God's Word says tonight about you? And we say this in great humility and love for your heart. It says in John chapter 3 and verse 17, that right here and now in this seat, if you're not sealed, God's Word says, you're condemned already. What an awful indictment to leave this service with. You're condemned already. Don't let it be sued tonight. It doesn't need to be sued. Oh, put your trust in what Christ has done for you, Calvary. Is it not better to receive the well done to a good and faithful servant, then depart from me, I never knew you." Dear friend, these are serious issues. These are not light things. You know there have been people in the prayer meeting tonight, and they've been praying for you, that you might be saved. Oh, that you've come. But listen, although there will be countless millions standing on that great judgment day before the throne of God, There'll be no hiding place for the sinner. There'll be no slipping into that crowd. Wait, mixed with the chaff, they'll be all done forever. The ungodly shall not judge, stand in the judgment, nor sinner in the congregation of the righteous. You know the old pickpockets years ago? One of the reasons why their crimes seemed to go unsolved, even though they were carried out in broad daylight and witnesses were all over the place, was that they were able to mingle very quickly amongst those whom they had robbed. The guilty were able to hide amongst the innocent, but not so in that day. None will slip the net, and very soon the mixing of the sinners and the saint will be all over forever. The gold will be harmed, and the silk will be fired to the side, and God's diamonds will sparkle, while the old cheap dirt of paste will crumble into dust. Where will you be in that day? Will you enter into God's heaven? Or will you be exposed for your sin, and then ejected to face an eternity in that awful place called hell? We need to move on, and not only is there the inability to stand in the judgment for the ungodly, not only is there exposure from amongst the congregation of the righteous, not only is there no hiding place, but lastly tonight, the way of the ungodly shall perish. This is the final characteristic that we have. The way of the ungodly shall perish. Do you know this chapter? It begins with the word blessed. And it ends with the word perish. We could say it begins where we all hope to be, in blessing. And it ends where we would never want to be, among the perishing. But the thing is this tonight, every one of us here will either go to a place of blessing or will go to that place of perishing. You know many souls end up in hell. And yet they never intended to go there. You see, they've been deluded by their own heart. Convinced that they were going the right way. The road that they were travelling seemed to be a most suitable road. It was broad, it was easy, and there were many good people upon it. And all seemed to be right in their own eyes. But Matthew 7 says, broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in their act. because straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth on to life and few there be that find it. You see those words, those words are all summed up in this psalm. They're summed up when God's word says this, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Dear friend, as you listen tonight, and if you have any concern for your soul at all, What are you going to do? Knowing the truth of God's Word that says that the way you're travelling is going to take you out into the blackness of eternity without Christ and without hope. What option do you have? Well, the Bible has the answer. John 14 and verse 6, the Lord Jesus said of himself, I am the way. There is no other way. I am the truth. There is no lie on the sweet lips of our Saviour. And I am the life, abundant on earth and eternal in heaven. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Do you know there is a little children's chorus? And it repeats this sentiment beautifully. There it says, One way God said to get to heaven Jesus is the only way. One way to reach those pearly mansions. Jesus is the only way. No other way. No other way. No other way to go. One way, God said, to get to heaven. Listen. Jesus is the only way. Note the words there at the beginning of verse 6. For there it says that the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous. How does God know the way of the righteous? Simply this, He provided it. And although tonight we have talked much about the coming judgment of God, can I tell you tonight that the God we have in this book is a God of mercy. Way back before the foundation of this world, a plan was set in place with you in mind. A plan that was set in place to rescue the perishing. And not only was it planned, but it was fully implemented in the fullness of time when the Lord Jesus Christ came onto this scene of time, born and bred to him. Crew lived a perfect life. and died in Calvary's central tree. And let me tell you, not only was it implemented, but it was fully accepted by God. Fully accepted by God because He, being pleased with that sacrifice, the blood that was shed, He went and He raised Christ the third day from the tomb. And what did He do? He exalted Him on high. because he was pleased, satisfied with what Christ had done. And you know, the Bible gives a reason for all this. The Bible gives a reason for this plan. And it's simply this. Love. God's love. God's love to you. God commanded His love towards us. And while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The Lord Jesus bore the suffering of the cross that we might escape the wrath of God. He became poor that we would become rich. He died that we might live. Can I, in closing tonight, turn you to the words penned by J. B. Townes about a hundred years ago? And there we read these words, I must ne'er go home By the way of the cross, there's no other way but this. I shall never get sight of the gates of life if the way of the cross I miss. The man here was simply saying that if you don't come by Calvary, you'll not go through the gates of heaven. The way of the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home. It is sweet to know as I onward go, the way of the cross needs going. Verse 2 says I must needs go on in the blood-sprinkled way. You know I foolishly heard a man say one day that the Lord Jesus could have chosen to come into this scene of panic in the 20th century and he could have been put to death on an electric chair but he decided to go to the cross because it was a much more inconvenient way of dying. Nonsense! Christ went to the cross because he had to shed his blood. Blood had to be shed for your sins and for mine. I must need to go on in the blood-sprinkled way, because that's the path of the Savior. Look at verse 3, then I bid farewell to the way of the world. Dear friend, that's a big one. You're holding on perhaps to some relationship. You're holding on to perhaps some hobby as something that you find is just so enticing to you. And you're not bidding farewell to the way of the world. And you know you should put it behind you. Dear friend, if you're ever to enter God's heaven, That idol, that thing that is more important to Christ than Christ to you, must need be put away, and you must need never walk in it ever more. And here is a wonderful word to the Lord. He says, come. And we can seek our home where He waits at the open door. I wonder will you come to me? I wonder will you put your trust in the Saviour? Will you be with the Godly? Will you be with the untrodden? Oh, we trust tonight that the Lord will speak to your heart, and that He will show you the error of your way, and you will see that without Christ you are on a road to destruction. And we trust tonight that by God's grace you will come and put your trust in the Savior. Amen.