SPECIAL PRÉCIS ON THE BINARY GOSPEL: IT’S NOT THAT COMPLICATED!

SCRIPTURE. “Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather. But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].

Not so the wicked [those disobedient and living without God are not so]. But they are like the chaff [worthless, dead, without substance] which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked [those disobedient and living without God] shall not stand [justified] in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God]. For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly [those living outside God’s will] shall perish (end in ruin and come to nought).” – PSALM 1:1-6, AMPC

KEY TERMS:

• “LIKE A TREE.” ‘Ets’ [כְּעֵץ֮]: “From a primitive root meaning, ‘To fasten or make firm; to shut; as with timber’s firmness.’” NOTE: “The word עֵץ is used extensively throughout the Hebrew Bible to denote trees in a literal sense, as well as wood as a material. It appears in various contexts, including descriptions of the natural world, construction materials … ץ is used metaphorically in various passages. For instance, in Psalm 1:3, the righteous man is compared to a tree: ‘He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does’ (BSB).”

• “LIKE THE CHAFF.” ‘Mots’ [כַּ֝מֹּ֗ץ]: “From a root word meaning, ‘To oppress or extort; therefore, pressed out or winnowed, threshed or loosed.’” NOTE: “The word מֹץ (‘mots’) is used in the Hebrew Bible to describe the Chaff that is separated from the Grain during Threshing. It often serves as a metaphor for the wicked or unrighteous, who are considered insubstantial and easily scattered by the wind … The imagery of Chaff is powerful in its depiction of Judgment and the transient nature of those who oppose God’s Will.”

QUOTATION. “That weekend, I preached my first sermon on Heaven and Hell to a sold-out crowd of siblings and cousins in our tiny bedroom, standing on a cardboard box. My cousins were so horrified that some cried, some were sitting in terrified silence, and someone threw my favorite stuffed green turtle into the bedroom window and shattered it. My five-year-old self was indignant, angry and hurt. Hey, I loved that turtle. But that’s beside the point. No one should want to go to Hell. Even a child can understand this. It’s hot, it’s stinky, it’s lonely, it’s painful – and it’s Eternal.” ― MARION GREEN, The Apple Of His Eye Mentality: Encouraging the Olive Trees and Fruitful Vines, 2014; edited

COMMENTARY.  (1-3). To Meditate in God’s Word, is to Discourse with ourselves concerning the great things contained in it, with close application of mind and fixedness of thought. We must have constant regard to the Word of God, as the Rule of our actions, and the Spring of our comforts; and have it in our thoughts night and day. For this purpose, no time is amiss.

(4-6).  ‘The Ungodly are the reverse of the Righteous, both in character and condition.’ The Ungodly are not so, ver. 4; they are led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the Law of God; they bring forth no fruit but what is evil. The Righteous are like useful, fruitful Trees: The Ungodly are like the Chaff which the wind drives away: the dust which the owner of the floor desires to have driven away, as not being of any use. They are of no worth in God’s account, how highly soever they may value themselves. They are easily driven to and fro by every wind of temptation.

‘The Chaff may be, for a while, among the Wheat, but He is Coming, whose Fan is in His hand, and Who will thoroughly purge His Floor.’ Those that, by their own sin and folly, make themselves as Chaff, will be found so before the whirlwind and fire of Divine Wrath. The Doom of the Ungodly is fixed, but whenever the sinner becomes sensible of this guilt and misery, he may be admitted into the company of the Righteous by Christ, the Living Way, and become in Christ a New Creature. He has new desires, new pleasures, hopes, fears, sorrows, companions, and employments. His thoughts, words, and actions are changed. He enters on a New State and bears a New Character. Behold, all things are become new by Divine Grace, which changes his soul into the Image of the Redeemer. How different the character and end of the Ungodly!” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

DK’S TAKE. During the earlier years of my matriculation as a follower of Christ and a teacher of His Word, TWO MEN impacted me powerfully with the very same Lesson of God’s Kingdom.

• JIM SEPULVEDA. As memory serves, was by trade a truck driver and by calling an international evangelist who worked closely on behalf of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International founded by Demos Shakarian in 1951. As I was about to speak to a large gathering in Stockton, California around 1981, he noticed I was shaking like a leaf. He gently put his hand my shoulder and said: “Cliff, always keep it simple.”

• REINHARD BONNKE. In a larger Full Gospel Conference gathering perhaps a year later, I was on the same program with the German-American Pentecostal evangelist principally known for his Gospel missions throughout Africa. As I listened to the great preacher explain the Words of Christ to the throngs that came to hear him, he invariably said, more than once in a single sermon: “I come to you to preach The Simple Gospel of Jesus Christ!”

CODA. Beloved, as we continue to witness the intensification and acceleration of Christ’s Winnowing Fan separate the Wheat from the Chaff, I am reminded again and again that the Word of God is at its foundation, BINARY. Which is to say, one is either: ‘All-In for Jesus, or All-Out against Him. There is no ‘In-Between’– There never has been!’

Our King made it so simple, so plain:

“He who is not with Me [once and for all on My side] is against Me; and he who does not [unequivocally] gather with Me scatters.” – MATTHEW 12:30, AMP

The Times are tight and thin, my friends. Not a day to waste in leaving behind all that would hinder you, ‘While it is still Day; for Night is coming when no man can work.’