Tree of Life

“Tree of Life”
(Psalm 1:1-3)
Series: Disciples Who Make Disciples (4 of 7)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

Take your Bibles and join me in the Book of Psalms, Psalm 1 (page 368; YV).

We are in a short series of messages on discipleship called, “Disciples Who Make Disciples.” If we are followers of Jesus then we are His disciples. We understand that discipleship involves both our learning and then our teaching others. Our making disciples of others is largely our saying, “Come follow me as I follow Him.”

Discipleship is not a program in a church. Discipleship is not about scheduling events and hosting weekend worship experiences where the “paid professionals” do all the ministry of the church. Rather, discipleship flows out of a commission that our Lord Jesus gave to every single one of His followers.

Jesus gave us this commission, called the Great Commission, where He says in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go into all the nations…teaching all things whatsoever I have commanded you…” And this teaching others “all things” our Lord commands takes a lifetime.

So discipleship is a process, a journey, a lifelong journey of becoming more and more like Jesus. “Go into all the nations…teaching all things I have commanded you.” These are Jesus’ final words to His disciples. And so, in the words of Robby Gallaty, “We want to make Jesus’ final words our first work (Recovering Discipleship).”

This first work is captured in our church’s vision statement. Let’s review it right now:
“We exist to develop generations of God-glorifying Disciples Who Make Disciples from the community to the continents.”

This morning, I want to talk about something very special to me and I trust very special to you. I want to talk from the Word of God about the Word of God. I want to talk about the Bible.

I love the Bible! I love to read the Bible, study the Bible, teach the Bible, preach the Bible! The Bible is incomparable, matchless, unequalled and unparalleled! It is the only book whose author is present every time we read it!

And the Bible is powerful in the work it does in and through us. Someone said, “I read a lot of books, but the Bible reads me.” I agree. The writer of Hebrews tells us that. The Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, and it pierces us, gets down deep into us and discerns our thoughts and intents (Hebrews 4:12). It works in us to bring about correction.

When we read the Bible we hear God’s voice. He speaks to us in His Word. I hear voices, you know! And so do you. There’s a lot of noise each and every day. We hear from all kinds of people and there is no shortage of words, opinions, and messages assaulting us at every turn. So I hear a lot of voices, but I want His to be the loudest. And I hear Him in His Word, the Bible.

How important it is that a disciple—a disciple who makes disciples—how important it is that a disciple delight in the Word of God and lead others to do the same. That’s my main point that runs throughout the message this morning: “A disciple delights in the Word and leads others to do the same.”

Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

I am going to focus on the first half of Psalm 1, but I’m going to read the second half, as well because the Psalmist wants us to hear not only about the blessed man, the godly man, but he also wants us to hear about the ungodly. Verses 1-3 are about the righteous, verses 4-6 about the unrighteous. Listen for that as I read:

1 Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Pray.

In our Wednesday gathering last week here in the sanctuary, one of the questions we addressed was this one: “If you really believe the Bible to be God’s Word, will the truth of that claim be demonstrated by how much you read from it each day?”

If we really believe the Bible to be the very Word of God to us, then we will read it! We’ll want to hear God speaking to us. Before we were saved, the Bible was for many of us, just some religious book. But if we are “in Christ” and we have a new nature, then we love the Lord and we love His Word. And we want to hear from Him.

Do you read the Bible regularly? Do you take-in the food of God’s Word every day?
Do you follow a plan of some kind? Or maybe do like I am doing this year. Just taking your time reading through it. Marking your place each day, some days reading a little more than other days, but reading every day?

A disciple delights in the Word and leads others to do the same. Let’s study this psalm together. First main thought in our study, number one, together let’s consider first:

I. Consider the Disciple’s Path (1)

Look again at verse 1 of Psalm 1. The path of the Lord’s disciple. How he walks. Verse one:

1 Blessed is the man
Who walks (where?) not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

Picture a disciple of the Lord walking. He is walking down a path. Where is he going? Well, where is he not going? He’s not walking, verse 1, “in the counsel of the ungodly. Nor does he stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful.”

Verse 1 is contrasted with verse 2, “But,” first word of verse 2, “But,” that is, in contrast with the path of verse 1, verse 2: “but his delight is in the law of the Lord,” the Word of God.

The blessed man, or some translations, the happy man, the man who senses the pleasure of God upon his life! The blessed man walks down a pathway that is not in the direction of the ungodly, the sinner, and the scornful.

It doesn’t mean that this man does not witness to the ungodly or share the gospel with the sinner and the scornful. Someone needs to tell them about Jesus! Jesus said we’re “in” the world, but not “of” the world. The idea, rather, is that the blessed man does not make his home with them, doesn’t think the way they think, doesn’t share their ungodly worldview. The blessed man gets his information from Scripture, delighting in the Word.

Think about this contrast as you think about the danger of receiving, verse 1, “the counsel of the ungodly.” If you don’t delight in the Word, you may be receiving counsel that is not embedded in Scripture. You may not even realize it. You may be receiving advice, teaching, and counsel that is unbiblical.

The Bible warns in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

We must be very careful that the counsel we are receiving is godly counsel from the Word. You’ve got questions about ethics, about what is right and wrong, questions about work, questions about moral behaviors, relationships, marriage, divorce, abortion?—Go to the Word of God! Make sure you are getting good, biblical, life-giving and life-saving counsel.

A disciple delights in the Word and leads others to do the same. Receiving the good counsel of the Word and passing along the good counsel of the Word to others. Consider the disciple’s path. Secondly:

II. Consider the Disciple’s Pleasure (2)

Again, note in verse 2 the contrast with verse 1. Rather than delighting in the counsel of the ungodly, or standing in the path of sinners, and sitting among the scornful:

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

The blessed man, the happy man, the blessed and happy disciple delights in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”

He spends time in the Word, delighting in it, reading it, meditating upon it. In the Psalmist’s day, “the law of the Lord” was pretty much the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, the first books of the Old Testament. The first five books of our modern Bible were probably all the psalmist had. That’s what he delighted in.

How much more delight may we have given that we have more than the first five books of the Bible?! We have 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament! What pleasure we may derive from feasting upon a grand total of 66 books of Holy Scripture!

His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he mediates day and night. The word “meditate” there does not connote modern notions of emptying the mind and repeating some mantra over and over again. Emptying the mind is a dangerous thing! Remember the man Jesus talked about who’s mind was empty? An evil spirit gathered up seven other spirits and filled that man’s mind up with all matter of sinister activity (cf Matthew 12:45; Luke 11:26).

Rather, mediate means “to ponder,” and in this context, “to ponder by speaking Scripture to oneself.” The Hebrew word occurs first in the Old Testament in Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Do you read regularly from the Word of God, pondering it? Reading it slowly, carefully, taking it in, savoring it the way you would savor good food? That’s the idea.

And again, noting the contrast with verse 1—saying “no” to ungodliness is a good thing, but just saying no is not enough. The saying no to the things of verse 1 is matched with the saying yes to the things of verse 2.

Specifically, we say no to ungodliness and sin by delighting in the Word. We move from defense to offense. We attack the promises of sin with the promises of the Word. We say no to “deceitful desires” as Paul calls them in Ephesians 4:22, by turning to the life-saving power of the Word of God.

When we delight in the Word we build up a holy arsenal of godly weaponry we use to fight off the temptation and snares of the devil. Remember what Jesus said when the devil tempted Him to turn stones to bread in order to feed His hunger? He said in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone (but how?), but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Do you read the Bible regularly?
What do you delight in? It’s so easy to delight in the wrong things—things that may not be bad, but we delight in them too much—physical food, for example, more than spiritual food, or our jobs, or a relationship. We get out of bed early in the morning to go to work, but we can’t get up early to read the Bible because, frankly, we don’t really delight in it.

Everywhere I go it seems people want to know how to have a meaningful walk with the Lord, a life-changing experience with God. I want to tell you in no uncertain terms: the key to a thriving relationship with the Lord is to read from His Word! To read the Word daily, regularly.

Dig into the Scriptures! Delight in the Word! Read it! Study it! I want to invite you to read through this bulletin insert we have provided you this morning.

[Bulletin Insert]

“How to Study Your Bible” There are three steps: Observation, Interpretation, and Application. You are asking three questions: 1 OBSERVATION (What does the passage say?) 2 INTERPRETATION (What does the passage mean?) 3 APPLICATION (How does it work in my life?)

The guide walks you through the steps involved in studying the Bible. Beginning with prayer and then asking those three questions, paying attention to context, consulting a Bible dictionary, cross-referencing other passages, and then—once the meaning is discerned—applying the meaning to daily life.

There is this very practical acronym: S.P.A.C.E.P.E.T.S. Each letter stands for some area of application to ask. S, “Is there a sin to confess?” P, “Is there a promise to claim?” and so on.

A disciple delights in the Word—AND—leads others to do the same. So on the back is a helpful section on “Teaching What You Have Learned.” So here is a helpful one-page summary to aid you as you lead a Sunday school lesson, small group study, or devotion of some kind.

It teaches you how to write out the lesson, how to ask open-ended questions, applying the lesson, the “So what?” as it is called. Reviewing, praying, it’s all here. And then, a helpful reminder of the importance of being a disciple who makes disciples there at the very end where it reads:

Model sound teaching! Remember your ultimate goal as a teacher is to cultivate a hunger for the word! Encourage your students to feed themselves through personal study of the word!

You don’t want merely to “spoon feed” people the Bible. You want to feed them, yes, but you really want them to begin taking the spoon out of your hands and begin feeding themselves.

A disciple delights in the Word and leads others to do the same.

The disciple’s path, the disciple’s pleasure, thirdly and finally:

III. Consider the Disciple’s Prosperity (3)

What is the disciple like who delights in the Word? What does he look like? Verse 3:

3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

The disciple who delights in the Word is like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

True or False: Trees planted by the rivers of water do better than trees planted in the middle of the desert? True!

The disciple who delights in the Word is an evergreen. Storms may come. Winds my blow. Job loss. Broken relationship. Money’s gone. The dark night of winter. Ahh, but the leaf is still green!

This is prosperity in its truest sense! Not prosperity as merely material things, shiny toys and new stuff. To restrict the meaning of the word “prosperity” to something as trifling as money would be to miss the point altogether. Like where Jesus said to the rich fool in Luke 12:15, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

True prosperity is true life whether we have much or little. The prophet Habakkuk spoke to this truth where he was talking about being prosperous even in the midst of famine. Remember this from Habakkuk 3?

Habakkuk 3:17-18:

17 Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.

The child of God knows true joy, and the Christian has an even greater joy in the God of his salvation because he has received the fullness of the Gospel! True life. True contentment.

A disciple delights in the Word and leads others to do the same. “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water…”

Every once in awhile some Christian will talk to me about being “dry” or “burned out.” I certainly understand that sentiment, but a fair rejoinder is: “Where are you planting yourself?” Are you drinking deeply from the well of the Word?

Maybe you are spiritually dry because you are drinking more from the faucet of social media than you are drinking from the faucet of Scripture. Maybe you’re dry because you are taking-in more from the well of Netflix and Hulu than you are from the well of the Word.

If you’re thirsty for meaning and purpose, read the Word. Don’t go to some false well, or look for some new or novel revelation of God. Read the old, old story in the Word!

In a sermon on the comforting work of the Holy Spirit, Charles Spurgeon says that the Spirit does not comfort us by any new revelation. Rather, says Spurgeon:

“He does so by telling us old things over again; He brings a fresh lamp to manifest the treasures hidden in Scripture; He unlocks the strong chests in which the truth had long lain, and He points to secret chambers filled with untold riches…”

A disciple delights in the Word and leads others to do the same. So read the Word. Read regularly, read daily. Don’t just talk about it. Do it! Start today! Read the Word.

I’d like to share a simple diagram that just about anyone can write out on a napkin. It’s a way to illustrate the first half of Psalm 1 and ask questions about our own growth—and the growth of someone else, someone we are discipling.

Say you are meeting with someone at lunch or maybe having a coffee somewhere. You just take out a napkin and you draw a simple tree and write “fruits” at the top and “roots” at the bottom. Like this:

Pretty simple, huh? This idea is found in the small book, Disciples Who Make Disciples, by Alex Absalom and Greg Nettle. They call this, “Napkin Discipleship.” It’s really easy. You just draw this simple diagram.

Then you read Psalm 1:1-3, reading about the man who is “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper (3).”

And also read from Revelation 22, the very last book and chapter of the Bible; Revelation 22:1-2:

“Then [the angel] showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding form the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

And you say something like, “in order for us to be disciples who produce fruit and [be those] who are used for the healing of the nations, our roots must go down deeply into the River of the Water of Life,” rooted in the written Word, ultimately rooted in the living Word, rooted in Jesus.

Then use this simple picture to ask a couple questions. First, “On a scale of 1-10, in the area of producing fruit, how are you doing?” And, “On a scale of 1-10, in the area of being rooted in Jesus, how are you doing?” And we ask our friend to write down a number in each area of the napkin. Really simple.

And this opens up a discussion about growing in the Lord. We may even wish to read from Galatians 5 and read some of the “fruit of the Spirit.” So we read together with our friend we are discipling Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit (that is, the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives)—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control…”

And we might ask questions about fruitfulness (I have modified these). We ask, in the area of producing fruit:

1. Which fruit of the Spirit is most evident in your life?

2. Which fruit of the Spirit is least evident in your life?

3. Are you investing your time in making disciples who make disciples?

4. Are you giving financially to the Lord and His church?

5. Are you serving in some way in and through the church?

In the area of being rooted in Jesus, maybe we’ll read from Colossians 2. Colossians 2:6-7 says, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”

Some good questions to ask here include:

1. Are you keeping the Sabbath weekly, worshiping in church?

2. Are you spending time daily talking with God in prayer?

3. Are you reading the Bible on a daily basis—Do you have a ‘DQ’ time?

4. Are you gathering with other disciples for encouragement, accountability and prayer at least on a weekly basis (as in Sunday school)?

5. Overall, are you in a time of pruning or of growth?

So you are creating an environment where folks feel comfortable sharing, talking, asking questions, and so on. Simple.

A disciple delights in the Word and leads others to do the same. Are you reading from the Word of God, regularly, daily? There is power in it!

DL Moody, “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.”

I want to encourage you as best I can to leave this room in just a moment with a greater commitment to the Word of God. I want to encourage you to be a life-long learner and follower of Jesus—and I am convinced that the best way to grow in our Christlikeness is by reading the Word of God and doing what it says.

In a moment we’re going to sing about following Jesus and I want to encourage you to spend time in the Word every day. And when you sing, “I have decided to follow Jesus” then, by your singing, you are saying, “I will make time to read Your Word, Lord, every day, firmly rooted in Christ Jesus, a life-long learner and follower of Jesus.”

Are you a disciple? Only a disciple can make a disciple. Every one of us in the room is either a present disciple or a future disciple. Like the division in Psalm 1, verses 1-3 and verses 4-6, every one of us can be divided into one of two categories. We’re either saved or lost, godly or ungodly, blessed or cursed, righteous or unrighteous.

Are you standing with the man of verses 1-3 or verses 4-6?

Where do you stand with the Lord? With the godly or with the ungodly?

The only way any of us can become godly is to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We must believe in Him, trust in Him for our righteousness. We must believe He died for our sins. Some of you need to trust Jesus this morning. Do that. Believe. Confess. Repent. Say to Him:

“Lord Jesus Christ, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but, through you, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you for paying my debt, bearing my punishment and offering forgiveness. I turn from my sin and receive you as Savior.”

We’re going to sing our hymn of invitation and response. God is inviting us—every single one of us in the room—God is inviting us to respond to His Word.

Some of you want to join the church, or be baptized, you come during this time and I’ll meet you up front here. Others of you want to come for prayer or you want to follow Jesus and you have questions. Right after we pray, I’m inviting you to come.

Let’s pray.

Now stand and, as we sing, you respond however the Lord is leading you to respond.

1
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.

2
O come go with me, and we will follow;
O come go with me, and we will follow;
O come go with me, and we will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.

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