Who "I AM" - He is Wise!
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 9 viewsNotes
Transcript
What we have learned so far...
What we have learned so far...
I think today everyone looks to a diety. That “godlike” entity becomes the source and guide in one’s life. We get easily confused for a number of reasons. The media distracts and redirects us towards worldly “gods.” Our stuff, our hobbies, our habits can all become “gods” in our lives. It’s easy.
Are your passionate about baseball, golf, football,
Are you passionate about video games, music, the latest fads, You Tube, Anime
Do we begin to follow those “stars” in those “stars” we find our advice, our direction and our actions.
Those other “gods” begin to crowd out the Capital “G” God the one who should be our lives.
Okay, I’m not picking just on the young folks and the internet savy… Do you read scripture and take the advice of and talk about scripture as much as you talk about your favorite news channel, your political affilation, your favorite author, your favorite politician. This is not a young persons distration whatsoever.
None of those things that I just talked about, are in themselves bad.
When they are out of balance with a relationship with God that’s when it is a problem.
For the last 40 years I have been a reader. If I want to find something out. I read about it. After I got saved at 25, I threw myself into scripture reading and study. I’d spend 15+ hours a week studying. I had a lifetime to stuff to make up for that you all learned along the way.
I know now I was seeking after wisdom. I wanted to leave the chaos of my early life behind and begin living a different life
Wisdom can’t be acquired simply through reading books; knowledge is one thing, wisdom quite another.
I became an “expert”
The only thing that I got out of it was my many years as a Pharisee. I had all the rules, I had all of the directives and none of the Grace!
Fortuneatly for my family… They had Jill! She made sure that I was cut down to size on a regular basis!
Churches and minstries can become blind to those things happening in their midst. A favorite right now is to mask or not to mask, to get the shot or not to get the shot, To think it is a conspriacy or not.
It is also about people. In this day and age, Men and women in ministry roles, whether on purpose or not, become “god-like” to their followers. We look at those and shake our heads and try to understand how things get out of balance.
People, all of us, get lost in something that sounds good, is good, to the detriment of our relationship with God Almighty.
In the ancient world. The people followers and pagans all looked to a diety of some kind. Even the “Father’s of the Faith” strayed away.
2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods.
Their gods included: the air, the earth, a diety called Anu, Enlil, Enki, the sun, the moon, the planet Venus as the “morning star.” All where god’s that Terah, father of Abraham would have worshipped in the time and his space.
He was distracted as much as we are prone to be...
What is our solution… What drives us back to place where we are in communion with, on the same page as God. The one and only God.
For me and I hope with you it is the depth and width of His wisdom. We know and can read His wisdom in scripture...
Job
Song of Songs
Psalms & Proverbs
Ecclesiastes, all in the Old Testament.
The Book of James in the New Testament, yes the Book of James is considered a book of wisdom.
Yes, It is “difficult” to read. Yes, you may need a guide, a mentor. Someone who has been down this old dusty road, 15 or 150 times to help you. But that’s the Christian life.
Here is my BIG IDEA FOR TODAY: THE WISDOM OF GOD IS INFINITE AND AVAILABLE.
The wisdom of God is deeply embedded, deeply a part of God’s work in creation.
The wisdom of God is evident in all of His divine purposes, decrees, covenants, and laws.
The wisdom of God is perfectly expressed in the person and work of His son, Jesus
2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Fortuneatly for us, God’s attribute of wisdom is available to us for the asking. The prerequsite for it is a relationship with Jesus...
Because of Jesus we have the capacities for reason, logic, perception, creativity and many more.
Listen up alert… Wisdom is right reason, right logic, right perception, and God focoused creativity.
Scripture teaches that the “fear” of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
God’s wisdom is available to his image-bearers through His word. Notice the intentional use of Image-bearers.
That’s EVERYONE! We are all, followers of Christ and God and not followers, called image bearers! EVERY alive and breathing human has access to God’s wisdom. In the same fashion that yielded Solomon’s wisdom.
9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,
12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
God gave wisdom or discernment to Solomon when he asked. Did God know that Solomon was going to go off the deep end and marry Pharoah’s daughter, directly contraying to ? - An emphatic YES!!!
4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
God gives His wisdom, willingly. But with the gift of wisdom comes the responsibility to use it righteously.
If you are a follower of Christ:
You have access to the wisdom of God,
You have access to eternal Life,
You have access to unspeakable riches,
You have access to Peace with God
The Book of James talks about two kinds of wisdom
Open your Bibles to the Book of James 3.13-17
V.13
“Live a good life..”
“deeds in humility”
V.14-15-16
Check your motives… envy and selfish ambition has no place in same space as wisdom.
That kind of wisdom is not from God, but from the devil.
Envy and selfish ambition, breeds disorder and evil practices
V.17
Pure, pure motives allow the wisdom to invite and invest in anothers soul as well as well being.
It is also:
peace-loving, it does not cause discension
It is also considerate. You get to be called “wise” just because you have a loud, unrulely mouth, that is rude.
It is submissive. We are all submissive to someone. Or you should be. Everyone is accountable to someone. Don’t run from accountability, embrace accountability around you. If you do that well and you don’t buck against it… your ability to offer wisdom to others is magnified by 1000.
Full of mercy… I’ll just let that one hang...
Good Fruit
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
This is our command in this instance for wisdom… it’s also the common language that we are suppose to treat others.
Impartial… Wisdom is NOT used to gain an advantage of any kind. If you have something wise to say… Say it. God will make available those who really need to hear it.
Sincere… I cannot emphasize this enough. Wisdom is NOT:
haughty,
It’s not sassy,
It’s not meant to put others down or
cause division with another person,
It is meant to bring God’s directions, God’s insight, God’s intention to a situation.
CHECK YOURSELF WITH JAMES 3.13-17 BEFORE OPENING YOUR MOUTH!
What’s in it for you… you’ve went through all of these steps and have checked yourself over and over again
That is found in verse 18.
18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
Okay… I just spent the better part of 5 minutes talking about the use of wisdom. About the proper use of wisdom, About warnings about using wisdom
Is there any HOPE for us?
Can I meet the qualification to offer wisdom?
The simplest answer is an emphatic “NO!”
If you think that you have something to say to a situation or to a someone. Try this...
When you have something to say… say it first to God. Ask for God to provide the extra bit of wisdom you need right then.
Test it, test it, test it. Open your Bible to James 3.17 and ask yourself those questions.
Pray for the right audience and the right opportunity to use your wisdom.
Ready? Aim and Fire!
Make sure that your intended target knows that you have done the steps and prayed considerably about what is about to be said.
Remember… You are NOT the Holy Spirit, you are the advisor!
How can you know that you have completed your task and you can GIVE THE GLORY TO GOD!
There is will be a harvest of “righteousness.”
I want to see if we have met the “Big Idea” from earlier and fleshed it out… Here it is again
BIG IDEA FOR TODAY: THE WISDOM OF GOD IS INFINITE AND AVAILABLE.
The well is NEVER dry.
You and I both know wise people, those who speak with authority while at the same time a gentleness and perspective that we do not expect. — When you find them.. Hold them tightly! and Listen carefully!
God’s wisdom is yours for the asking it is available for use anytime by anyone… diligently ask, wait, test and use.
When all is said and done here is something that you can put away in your pocket, pull out when you need it...
Use it well, make it count when you use it.
And say when all is said and done...
#ToGodBeTheGlory
For the great things he has done...