Blessedness out of Righteousness

For this holiday, we are going through Psalm 1 to 3.

I'll be doing Psalm 1 and 2.

So Psalm 1 and 2 are the two foundational Psalms.

If you understand Psalm 1 and 2,

we will be able to help us understand the rest of the Psalms

and also the whole Bible story, the storyline of the Bible.

So this week, I will speak on Psalm 1.

Psalm 1 tells us about blessedness and righteousness.

Men seek blessedness.

God seeks righteousness.

So the title of this sermon is therefore,

Blessedness Out of Righteousness.

It's out of righteousness, not outside of righteousness.

So next week, we will come to Psalm 2.

Psalm 2 tells us about freedom and God's kingdom.

Men want to establish their own freedom.

God wants to establish his kingdom.

So the title of this second sermon will be

Freedom Out of Kingdom.

Before we start, let's pray first.

Almighty God, we are so thankful that we could have your words,

that we are not living in darkness,

and that we have hope that we could look forward to as well.

May you guide us as we consider and meditate on your word this morning,

that we, or that we think about,

and all that we are going to do will be acceptable in your sight.

For we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Because there's no children's talk today,

there are not many children anyway.

So for the school children,

I suppose you are enjoying your school holiday.

I think for children,

I mean, why is it so enjoyable about holiday?

It would be because if you have parents who are caring for you,

and you like to spend time at home,

and that is the part that is enjoyable.

And I would like to tell you about a little boy,

whose name was Sihata.

Sihata was born as a prince in Nepal.

He was born about 500 years before Jesus came.

Because he lived as a prince,

he lived quite a comfortable life.

He didn't know anything about suffering.

He just thought that that's all about life.

Until one day he grew old enough,

and his parents allowed him to go outside of the palace.

He went out and visited his people.

And during that visit, it gave him a shock.

Because he saw people hungry,

people begging,

people sick,

and even people dying.

And that upset him very much.

And I suppose he's a special person.

I mean, most people said this is life.

But for him,

he didn't think that life should be like this.

He think that life should be like his time,

like in his family.

There's no suffering.

So he was trying to figure out what's going on.

I mean, what is life?

Why was there suffering?

And how could people live without suffering?

So it upset him so much that he couldn't let this go.

And one night,

by that time he had already married,

and he got even a small boy.

But one night he just couldn't take it anymore.

He left the palace.

He went out.

And he gave up all his comfort.

He went out and lived with the people.

And he traveled around,

thinking about life.

After many years,

he came to a conclusion that,

oh, why people suffer so much?

It's because of cravings.

Because people crave for things.

He said,

because you crave for things,

you suffer.

If you don't crave for anything,

then you don't suffer.

Like if we crave for love,

then we can be cheated by someone

who appears to offer you love,

but actually trying to take advantage of you.

You crave for money,

and then we can lose all our wealth by gambling.

So you crave for respect,

why people,

if people don't respect you,

you get very angry,

and sometimes you even kill somebody.

And so we suffer for all those consequences.

But what about people who are born in poverty,

or born with effect?

Then he said,

that's because in your previous life,

you did something bad.

You crave for something,

and you did something bad.

And you didn't get the consequence that time,

but you will get it in your next life.

And so,

Sihata has come to this conclusion,

which is not too bad, actually,

in terms of how to explain life.

But he wants to end suffering, basically.

He wants to,

he sees people suffer.

So he said that if you don't want to suffer,

eventually you need to have no craving.

And unless you,

and this is,

he called that this is a state of blessedness,

when you can get there.

But before you can,

until you get there,

you will keep reincarnating.

So you die,

you get birth.

And so,

you go through the pain of death,

even if your life is not that,

you don't suffer so much,

but on the deathbed,

you still suffer.

Nobody likes to die.

And so you keep dying,

and dying,

and dying,

and dying,

until,

at some stage,

you can get to the state,

when you don't have any craving,

then you don't die anymore.

And during each reincarnation,

you may either be demoted

to an existence of more suffering,

or promoted to an existence of less suffering.

And to be promoted to a better state of existence,

you need to accumulate

or save sufficient good karma for your next life.

So if you work hard enough,

after thousands of reincarnations,

you may be able to get to the state of blessedness,

when you will be free from suffering.

So Sihata started Buddhism,

and his name became Gautama Buddha.

So while Gautama Buddha's explanation of life

makes some sense,

his understanding is not complete,

because he left God out of the picture.

So before God is a reference point,

Gautama Buddha thought that boys and girls,

men and women,

can be righteous if they try hard enough.

Like all men make religions,

the assumption is that

man's outward performance of righteousness

is sufficient to be considered

making the passing mark for righteousness.

And Jesus gave us a surprising answer about this.

In Matthew 5.20,

Jesus said,

For I tell you,

unless your righteousness exceeds

that of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

The scribes and Pharisees

were the most righteous men ever lived.

They were zealous for the law.

They only wanted to do what God wanted them to do.

But Jesus said,

that is not enough.

Why is that not enough?

Just because they were doing it for themselves,

and not for God.

And those righteousness are outward righteousness.

We will come back to that.

And secondly,

without God as the source point,

Gautama Buddha thought that

blessedness is the absence of suffering.

He did not know God,

so he didn't have the concept of God.

He could only see things through his woe-ly eyes.

He had no idea what God has prepared

for those who loved him.

So he left out an important part of life

because he left God out of the picture.

If Gautama Buddha had read Psalms 1 and 2

and understood them,

he would not have needed to waste his time

trying to invent the will.

In these two Psalms,

God has revealed the reasons

for our suffering

and the way to blessedness and freedom.

So Psalm 1 starts with,

blessed is the man.

Gautama Buddha was correct

in thinking that the state of blessedness

is the longing of humans.

So even though he said

that we shouldn't crave for anything,

but he actually craved for blessedness.

That is a paradox in itself.

If a Buddhist somehow managed

to achieve Buddhahood,

then at least that

he will not reincarnate again.

He has achieved the enlightenment

enlightenment

to the state of having no more cravings

and no more conscious of self.

To a Buddhist,

the state of blessedness

is when he becomes nothing.

Someone tells us that

blessedness is about

our relationship with God.

It's not becoming nothing,

but being filled with the greatness

and goodness of God.

Because of the blessed man's

relationship with God,

his cravings have also become holy.

It does not crave for things

like sinners do.

Sinners are people

who disregard God

and live for themselves

and do whatever is right

in their eyes.

Verse 1 tells us that

the blessed man

does not associate

with the way of the sinners.

Verse 1 tells us

in what ways

the blessed man

does not associate

with the sinners.

So,

there are

the three ways

I would like to think about.

First,

in his deeds,

in his actions.

Wicked men

are those who walk

according to their own will.

They disregard God's will.

They do what?

Pleases them.

And the most

wicked action

in the world

would be

for the Jews

to put

Jesus Christ

on the cross,

to put

a righteous man

on the cross.

So,

in his actions,

in his thoughts,

sinners

naturally

put themselves

as their own kings.

They think

that they are

entitled

to admiration

and comfort.

They think

that they deserve

a better life,

a comfort in life,

and they think

they can stand tall

in any occasion.

So,

when

Jesus challenged

the Pharisees,

they could not stand

Jesus

because

they want to be

in charge.

And they,

and so they have

this thought

of killing Jesus

and Jesus has been

challenging them.

Why do you want

to kill me?

They just didn't

think about

these sinful thoughts

in their minds.

And so that is

in actions

and in thoughts

and thirdly

in his words.

scoffers

sit there.

So,

sitting there,

a righteous man

does not sit

with the scoffers

because the scoffers

are those

who sit there

doing nothing

and just

give all the

complaints,

criticisms,

comments

about things.

So,

it's easy

to scoff

just like

people

who scoff

at Jesus

that you

can save,

you said

you are the

son of God,

why don't you

save yourself?

come down

from the cross

and this is

the scoffer.

And so,

the scoffer

has the ability

to tear down

but they don't

know how to

build people

up.

So,

I put a

table there.

So,

Psalm 11

is the way

of the

sinners

that

the righteous

person

will not

associate with

them

in the way

they think,

they speak

and they

do things

but

the blessed

man delights

in the

law of

the Lord.

In what

way does

he meditate

on the

law,

God's

law,

all the

time?

And in

what way

does he

meditate

on the

law of

God?

So,

in

column 2

in the

table,

Psalm 1-2,

the law,

so,

the righteous

person is

delight and

meditate on

the law.

So,

in his

thoughts,

thoughts is

the

commandment

1-2,

that there's

only

one God,

there's the

only God,

and also

he would

make no

image

about this

God.

He

understands

that God

is above

all creatures

and he

does not

displace

God with

other

things.

And in

his words,

he speaks

to honour

God in

all his

words,

that's

commandment

3,

he does

not take

God's

name in

vain,

and his

deeds,

he sets

aside time

in regular

interval to

enjoy God's

presence,

that is

commandment

number 4.

And also,

in his

relationship

with people,

in his

thoughts,

he honour

his parents

and respect

other people,

he does

not cover

their

properties,

that's

commandment

5 and

10,

and in

his

words,

he does

not

deceive,

depreciate,

or despise

others in

his words,

commandment

number 9,

and in

his actions,

his deeds,

he does

not damage,

seduce,

or defraud

other people,

that is

commandment

6,

7,

8.

So,

just a summary

for the

Ten Commandments,

but obviously

there's more

detailed

explanation of

the Ten

Commandments

in the

Old Testament,

but come to

the New

Testament,

Jesus sums

this up,

he says

that the

righteous

person

loves the

Lord,

his God,

before his

heart,

his being,

and loves

his labour

as himself,

and so the

blessed man

delights in

loving God

and loving

his

neighbours.

others.

So that's

verse 1

and 2.

In verse 3,

it says that

the blessed

man is like

a tree

planted by

the streams

of water

and yields

its fruit

in its season.

The sinner

can only

grab

everything

for their

own comfort

and survival.

The blessed

man produces

fruit of life

for the

blessing of

other people.

Adam and

Eve could

have eaten

the fruit

from the

tree of

life.

If they

have done

so,

they will

become

trees of

life to

give life

to their

descendants.

They choose

to disobey

God and

eat from

the tree

of knowledge,

the tree

with the

fruit of

the knowledge

of good

and evil.

Their

disobedience

did help

them to

know what

is good

and evil.

So after

they disobey

God,

they know

that to

obey God

is good.

to

disobey

God

is evil.

So

disobedience

led to

God's

judgment.

They were

cast out

of God's

garden.

Their

life became

difficult as

the land

was cursed.

Men

suffer to

find a

living.

Women

suffer to

produce

offspring.

Men and

women suffer

more in

trying to

fulfill their

cravings.

They know

that they

do,

they need

to put

in a lot

of effort

to get

very little

return.

But even

in his

judgment,

God was

merciful to

us.

The

hardship in

life is

there to

help us

to seek

God.

The

blessed man

is already

seeking God

all the

time.

He does

not need

hardship to

help him

to seek

God.

In all

that he

does,

he

prospers.

Prosperity

here does

not mean

an easy

life,

but a

fulfilling

life.

Jesus

Christ

came to

do God's

will.

In all

that he

did,

he

prospered

until he

fulfilled his

mission.

verse 4,

the wicked

are not

so.

Despite all

their efforts,

they cannot

achieve anything

of substance.

When they

look back

the years

they have

lived,

they cannot

find anything

to cling

on to.

Their life

is like

calf,

that the

wind drives

away.

It's quite

scary,

isn't it?

We can

spend our

whole life

doing

something,

many things,

and then

at the

end,

it actually

meant

nothing.

I hope

that

these words

would

strike us

that we

need to

really

be wise

in terms

of how

we live

and why

we live

for.

So that

in verse

5,

in the

day of

judgment,

we can

stand

before the

judgment

seats.

In the

day of

judgment,

those who

stand in

the way

of sinners

will not

be able

to stand

before the

judgment seat.

They have

nothing of

glory and

honor.

Everything

they have

lived for

has been

borne away.

Sinners

cannot stand

in the

congregation

of the

righteous.

They

will not

lie.

Even if

God opens

the door

and says,

come in,

but if

you are

not a

righteous

person,

you

won't

find

yourself

at home

in the

congregation

the

righteous.

You

are just

totally

out of

place.

You

don't

know

what

they

were

talking

about.

But for

those

righteous

who

find

themselves

out of

place

among

sinners

in the

world,

they

will

find

themselves

at

home

at

last.

Verse

6,

God

knows

the

way

of

the

righteous.

He

will

make

sure

that

these

righteous

would

come

home.

So

he

knows

their

way

like

he

knows

the

way

to

his

children.

He

watches

over

them

and

leads

them

home.

The

way

of

the

wicked

is

not

so.

The

wicked

runs

away

from

God

and

runs

towards

destruction.

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Buddha

thought he

could get

to a

state of

blessedness

by his

own

righteousness.

We

can

define

righteousness

in

whatever

way

you like.

You

can

see

that

if

different

religions

define

righteousness

in their

own

way.

We

can

define

righteousness

in their

own

way.

But

if

everybody

defines

righteousness

in their

own

way,

there's

no

righteousness.

Just like

if I

define

the length

of one

meter this

way,

the other

one is

that way,

the other

one is

that way,

then there's

no standard

and there's

no righteousness.

So

there's only

one real

righteousness

that would

need to be

defined by

the creator.

And

also

there's only

one real

blessing and

that's only

coming from

God as

well.

So we

need to

be right

with God

to know

what

blessedness

is.

Righteousness

is being

right with

God

primarily.

Being

right with

people is

only the

full-on

effect of

being right

with God.

The

Ten

Commandments

start with

the requirements

to be right

with God

the first

four.

So in

Luke,

Luke 18:18

chapter 18

verse 18,

a rich

young ruler

asked Jesus

how he

could get

to the

state of

blessedness.

Jesus

asked if

he had

obeyed the

last six

commandments.

Yet he

was right

with man

in all

that he

did.

The ruler

said he

had.

Then Jesus

asked if

he would

give up

his wealth

and follow

him.

The ruler

went away

sad because

he loved

his wealth

more than

he loved

God.

He

actually

covered

his wealth

as well.

He

believed

that Jesus

came from

God and

that was

why he

asked Jesus

this question

and he

kneeled

before him.

Jesus

revealed to

him that

all his

good works

were done

for his

own glory.

He was

not living

for God,

he was

living for

himself.

Buddhism

is the

way to

become

Buddha.

All the

genuine

Buddhists

worked very

hard to

accumulate

enough

karma to

achieve the

state of

blessedness

through

Buddhahood.

It is

like a

game of

slates and

ladders.

There is

no certainty

that you

can get

there.

More

importantly,

even if

you get

to

Buddhahood,

would the

absence of

craving

himself

really be

the same

as a

state of

blessedness?

Christianity

is not

the way

to become

Christ.

There is

only one

Christ,

Jesus Christ.

there is

only one

righteous

man,

that is

Jesus

Christ.

Jesus

Christ is

the only

man who

gains

favor from

God

because of

his

righteousness.

The rest

of us

can only

gain favor

from God

because of

God's

mercy

through the

righteousness

of Jesus

Christ.

Someone

gives us

a picture

of the

blessed

man.

He loves

God and

delights in

God's

words.

Because his

delight is

in God,

the world

cannot tempt

him away

from God.

Woe

pleasure,

fame,

and comfort

have no

effect on

him.

God

watches over

his way.

The Holy

Spirit,

like streams

of water,

sustains

him.

He

produces

fruit of

life so

that others

may be

blessed as

well.

A blessed

man is

not one

who has

no cravings

or feelings.

He is

one whose

cravings

have been

filled to

overflow by

God's

greatness.

And he

is one

whose

feelings

have been

overwhelmed

by God's

goodness.

Psalm 14

tells us

that all

men have

turned away

from God.

There was

none who

does good,

not even

one.

The

descendants

of Adam

were hopeless

until Jesus

Christ

appeared.

From

childhood,

Jesus grew

in favor

with God

and man,

as in

Luke 2,

Luke 2:52

verse 52.

Why did

Jesus need

to grow

in favor

with God?

Isn't

he the

son of

God?

Yes,

he's the

son of

God,

but he's

also came

as the

son of

man.

He lived

out a

life of

obedience

to God

as a

righteous

man

supposed

to.

In

Hebrews 5,

Hebrews 5:8

verses 8 and

10,

it says

that although

he was

a son,

he learned

obedience

through what

he suffered

and being

made perfect,

he became

the source

of eternal

salvation to

all who

obey him,

being

designated

by God

a high

priest after

the order

of Melchizedek.

We thank

God that

Jesus lived

out a

righteous

life in

his suffering.

Because he's

the righteous

man, we

can now

also become

righteous

men and

women in

Jesus.

Because he

had gained

God's favor,

we become

acceptable to

God through

Jesus Christ.

He became

the source

of eternal

blessedness to

all who

obey him.

How do we

obey him?

He said,

I am the

bread of

life.

Whoever

comes to

me shall

not hunger.

Whoever

believes in

me shall

never thirst.

In

John 6,

36.

If anyone

thirsts,

let him

come to

me and

drink.

Whoever

believes in

me, as

the scripture

has said,

out of his

heart will

flow rivers

of living

water.

John 7,

37,

38.

I am the

light of the

world.

whoever

follows me

will not

walk in

darkness,

but will

have the

light,

the light

of life.

John 8,

12.

To come to

Jesus,

we must

first know

that we

are deficient,

defective,

and deceitful.

We must

admit that

we live in

darkness.

We must be

hungry and

thirsty for

righteousness

and light.

when we

can let

go of

our

self-importance,

then we

can hear

his call

and come

to him.

Guatemala

Buddha was

correct in

thinking that

becoming

nothing was

the way to

blessedness.

He was

halfway there,

but he

could not

see beyond

nothingness.

Being

nothing is

not the

end of

our

incarnation of

earthly life,

but being

nothing is the

beginning of

a new

life.

When God

blesses us,

he will

first empty

us.

He will

empty us

of our

boasting

and pride.

He will

empty us

of ourselves.

But he

does not

leave us

there.

He will

fill us

with himself.

God's

blessing

satisfies

our deepest

longings.

We do

not need

to follow

the ways

of the

sinners

to try

to gain

satisfaction.

In fact,

we can

be so

filled by

God's

blessing

that we

want to

be a

blessing

to others.

Matthew

5,

11.

Blessed

are you

when others

revile you

and persecute

you and

utter all

kinds of

evil against

you falsely

on my

account.

The change

brought about

by Jesus'

redemptive

work on

the cross

is so

drastic

that our

own comfort

is no

longer the

focus of

our life.

The love

of God

constrains us

not to

avoid the

wicked,

the sinner,

the scoffers,

but to live

among them

and serve

them.

The grace

of God

sustenance

that we

do not

fear

suffering

anymore,

but we

become

willing to

suffer for

righteousness'

sake.

God

seeks

righteousness

and we

seek

blessedness.

There is

no

blessedness

without

righteousness.

We do

not have

righteousness.

All we

have is

rebellious

nature that

deserves

God's

judgment.

God

has

placed

the cross

in between

what he

seeks and

what we

seek.

On the

cross,

Jesus has

become our

righteousness.

In Christ,

we can now

become the

righteous man

who enjoys

God's blessing

freely and

joyfully.

And this

is the only

beginning.

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Buddha had

no idea

what God

has prepared

for those

who loved

him because

Guatemala

Buddha did

not know

God.

If you

know God,

you will

also have

no idea

what God

has prepared

for those

who love

him because

God's

grace and

glory is

so rich

that every

day of our

life,

only in the

beginning,

we can never

know the

extent of

blessedness

that we

have in

Christ.

And I

hope that

the love

of Christ

will

constrain

us to

love God

more each

day.

And enjoy

his presence

and his

work in

our life.

Okay,

let us

pray.

Father,

we used

to think

that being

righteous is

such a

painful

life

that we

need to

sacrifice

many things.

We need

to avoid

all the

joy in

life.

And we

thank you

for your

mercy that

you have

called us

and showed

us the

glory of

the Lord

Jesus Christ

that we

might now

know

that

what a

joy that

we have

not

experienced

because

we

were

afraid to

be

righteous.

Lord,

we

want to

get

closer to

you

and to

enjoy

your

presence

with us

and to

see life

as you

see

and to

even

more so

to wait

for the

day

when we

shall see

you face

to face.

Thank you,

Lord.

We pray in

Jesus' name.

Amen.