Wisdom from Above (2)

James 3:13-18 “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

You have earthly wisdom and then You have heavenly wisdom

E: “Live and let live”

H: “Broad is the path the leads to destruction”

E: “Follow you heart”

H: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

E: “Do what makes you happy”

H: “ ...Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

The world does not offer up wisdom that leads to a God honoring life. The world offers up guidelines to be selfish, cold, ruthless, cutthroat, hateful and mean, desensitized, numb; the world gives wisdom that draws you away from God with the false promise of success and prosperity (glory and riches) but the world cannot offer these things to you with assurance.

Who ultimately controls the world? God does. Who can take away things in an instant? God can. Then what was your life for? You see, we all die. Who ultimately controls the world? God does. Who can take away things in an instant? God can. Then what was your life for? You see, we all die. Hebrews 9:27 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” What happens to your house? Your Job? Your kids? Your spouse? Everything will be left behind, and you will enter eternity alone. What will you be standing on when you get there? Will it be the worlds wisdom which has only brought death, or will it be the Lord’s wisdom which brings us eternal life?

Jesus said “what does it profit a man to gain the entire world (money, fame, possessions) but lose his soul? You can have it all, but you will lose it all in a moments notice. Jesus can give you everything and He promises that no one will take away what He has given us.

Bitter jealousy and Selfish ambition: Let me tell you a story of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition that hurt untold numbers of people. There was once a being who was placed in a very powerful position. The boss had many other workers, but this guy was near the very top. It was almost like he was created for this job. Being that far up the chain he began to think so highly of himself that he thought he deserved to be the one who ran the show, and not his boss. Because of his jealousy and selfishness, he went around to all the people lower than him and gained a following that would be tempted to think the way he did. Once he gathered what he thought was enough people to over throw the establishment, he made his attempt. But his blindness to reality caused him to lose the struggle, and lose his job as well. Not only did he lose his job, but those who foolishly followed him lost their jobs as well.

The man’s name is Lucifer, you and I refer to him as the devil and satan.

Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition started with the devil, and it has been the downfall of billions of people since.

Let me show you what heavenly wisdom looks like: It is pure: God is pure. His motives are pure. His wisdom is pure, and following His wisdom leads to a pure life.

It is peaceable: Leading a pure life pours out peace on everyone around you. There is a lot of anger, bitterness, hate, greed, it is all an evil byproduct of sin. But peace is a product of purity.

It is gentle: In this world they will tell you to be a dog. Be mean. Go after what you want, and attack whatever gets in your way. God’s wisdom leads us to be gentle. It calls us to a pure life the brings about peace, and causes us to be meek and gentle. (( Notice it does not say that we are to lay down and be abused or a mistreated pushover, but we are gentle. You can and will be both gentle and strong if you follow God’s wisdom))

Open to reason: This does not mean we reason to understand and accept the world. This means that our lives are open to yield to God’s guidance in His wisdom.

Full of mercy and good fruits: As we walk in the Lord’s wisdom we will produce the fruits of our Lord. Mercy is one of those fruits. God first reached out in mercy to us, and through His guidance we will reach out in mercy to the world. (Helping, not being a part of)

Impartial: Here is something that we in the flesh are not very good at, but if you are going to walk in the Lord’s wisdom then you will be blind to those who are in front of you. By blind I mean that you do not see color, you do not see status, you do not see specific sins, you only see a broken person in need of a Savior.

This leads to the last point

Sincere: Wisdom from above is sincere. It causes a person to be genuine. The hypocrite says one thing, but does another. Someone who is not following the wisdom claims to be a follower, but when it comes to take the walk their actions prove them otherwise. Wisdom from above creates sincere Christians who have a pulling desire to follow the Lord’s guidance whatever it may look like or take.

Someone who is sincere will follow God’s words and will take on the fruits mentioned here. They will be pure, peaceful, gentle, submissive to the Lord, merciful, and impartial.

We all have to grow, guys. Me included. Until the day we leave this earth we should be continually growing. When acorns are planted and take root, they grow to become mighty trees. It does not happen over night, but eventually they become massive. Grow day by day. Trust in the Lord, and lean on His word. Do not listen to this world. It will try to offer you many things, but it cannot give a single thing that would be better for you than what is within God’s will.

As always, if you need anything I am here for you.

Walk for the World on Oct 22nd (PM) food will be served

Youth Sunday on Oct 29th (PM service is Trunk or Treat)

Halloween party on Oct. 30th