Are You Situated by the Waters?
To receive God's blessings and bear fruit for the Lord, we must be deeply rooted in His spiritual resources and draw upon His grace.
Warren Wiersbe emphasizes the importance of being rooted in God's grace to receive His blessings and bear fruit, likening the godly to trees planted by rivers of water, drawing upon spiritual resources. He warns against being like artificial plants with no roots, highlighting the need to separate from the world, saturate with the Word, and be situated by the waters to bear fruit. Wiersbe stresses the contrast between the godly, who bear fruit and are blessed, and the ungodly, who are like chaff without roots and will perish, urging Christians to reach out to them with God's help.
Text
Read Psalm 1:3-6
A tree is a blessing. It holds soil, provides shade and produces fruit. The godly are like trees, with root systems that go deep into the spiritual resources of God's grace (v. 3). But sadly, many professing Christians are not like trees but are like artificial plants or cut flowers with no roots. They may be beautiful for a while, but soon they die.
A tree needs light, water and roots to live. We all have resources upon which we draw life. The question we need to ask ourselves is, Where are our roots? The person God can bless is planted by the rivers of water. We must be careful not to be like Christians who are dry and withered and depend upon their own resources. They are like tumbleweeds, blown about by any wind of doctrine.
To have the blessings of verse 3, we need to meet the conditions of verses 1 and 2. That is, we must first be separated from the world and saturated with the Word to be situated by the waters.
God desires to bless us, but we need to meet certain conditions to receive His blessings. We bear fruit only when we have roots, and we must draw upon spiritual resources to bring forth fruit in due season. To bear the fruit of the Spirit, we must allow the Spirit to work in us and through us.
In contrast to the believer, the ungodly are not like trees but are like chaff. They have no roots, produce no fruit and are blown about. The ungodly reject the Word of God and will perish without hope (v. 6). As Christians we must not reject the ungodly but try to reach them. God blesses us so that we might be a blessing to others. His Spirit helps us bear fruit that can help win the lost.
Are you like a tree or like chaff?
We need God's resources to bear fruit. But where we place our roots is paramount. Only as we grow them deeply into the spiritual resources of God's grace will we produce fruit. Make the Bible your spiritual resource. Delight in it and feed your soul with its truth. God can use you to help win the lost.
Sermon Outline
- The Blessings of Being Situated by the Waters
- The Conditions for Receiving God's Blessings
- The Importance of Spiritual Resources
- Separation from the world
- Saturating ourselves with the Word
- We must draw upon spiritual resources to bear fruit
- The Spirit helps us bear fruit that can help win the lost
Key Quotes
“A tree is a blessing. It holds soil, provides shade and produces fruit.” — Warren Wiersbe
“We must be careful not to be like Christians who are dry and withered and depend upon their own resources.” — Warren Wiersbe
“God can use you to help win the lost.” — Warren Wiersbe
Application Points
- Make the Bible your spiritual resource and delight in its truth.
- Allow the Spirit to work in you and through you to bear fruit for the Lord.
- Be careful not to be like Christians who are dry and withered and depend upon their own resources.