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[00:00] So we are going to be in James 3, in James 3, um 313. So you can start turning there if you want.
[00:10] Now how many here or how many uh readers do we have in the room? Who likes to read?
[00:15] Okay okay um so if you're someone who reads consistently and I know who a few of you are
[00:28] because you're about you'll know why in a second then you're most likely familiar with the the app
[00:33] Goodreads. So for those of you who don't know what this is this is basically a social media app where
[00:43] you track what you've read what you're currently reading or what you want to read and you comment
[00:49] like and interact with other people's book choices and updates and all that stuff. So yes as what Ethan
[00:54] just said it's social media for nerds. And within this app, so I have a Goodreads.
[01:01] Just trying to find that. And within this app there's a thing called a reading challenge
[01:10] and it's new every year and in this reading challenge you set a goal for yourself to see
[01:15] of how many books in a year can you read. So mine for 2024 was 20 books never done before
[01:20] what we're gonna say. But you could also see your friends reading challenges and I have
[01:26] some friends on there that they have you know eight, ten, fifteen, thirty, eighty, a hundred,
[01:34] over a hundred. Now typically when I see someone who reads a lot I typically think wow this person
[01:41] is probably really smart and really wise. Well there is someone or a few people let's think of
[01:48] one person in particular who has a reading challenge and I think he did it last year too
[01:53] a hundred and fifty books in a year. Now I don't know how they do it and I have mad respect for
[02:00] them for honestly choosing to read rather than wasting time on TV, social media, all the other
[02:06] nonsense that we do. Watching the Braves, all that stuff. And as impressive as it is
[02:14] they are honestly it's gonna sound harsh but a fool. Now as I said I know it sounds harsh
[02:21] but and I still respect them but I have another friend who only reads about 15 books a year
[02:28] and they are probably one of the wisest men that I know and I have gone to them in the past for
[02:33] advice and will continue to and multiple people are going to this person. With a person 150 maybe
[02:38] they have people coming to them but from the outside looking in doesn't look that way.
[02:43] And the difference between the man who reads 150 books and the one who reads 15
[02:49] is that one is filled with worldly wisdom and the other is godly wisdom and that is what James
[02:56] talks about today. The difference between godly wisdom and worldly wisdom or as James even
[03:02] categorizes it as demonic. So we're gonna read James 3 13 through 18. 3 13 through 18.
[03:12] Who is wise and understanding who is wise and understanding among you by his good conduct let
[03:18] him show his works in the meekness of his wisdom but if you have bitter jealousy and selfish
[03:23] ambition in your hearts do not boast and be false to the truth this is not the wisdom that comes
[03:29] from above but is earthly unspiritual and demonic for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist
[03:36] there will be disorder in every vile practice but the wisdom from above is first pure then peaceable
[03:43] gentle open to reason full of mercy and good fruits impartial and sincere and the harvest
[03:48] of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. So what we see right out the gate
[03:54] is James being James he's a who here is wise um oh you think you're wise show me. Now I don't
[04:01] know if you've seen honestly when I read this it's probably just because I watched you tune
[04:04] at that long ago it makes me think has everyone here seen Dune 2 okay never mind I can't even use
[04:10] this example I didn't think that's a spoiler but basically the main character the main character
[04:16] goes out and says who can challenge me I dare you basically and James is basically doing this like
[04:22] oh you think you're wise who out here thinks you're wise show me and if that sounds familiar well I
[04:28] should because we will see now and we will see further on in James that everything that he talks
[04:33] about is essentially behind the backdrop of faith without works is dead he says oh you have wisdom
[04:38] don't just say you have wisdom show me your wisdom if you say you have wisdom you will
[04:43] show your works in the meekness of your wisdom in the meekness of your wisdom wisdom so already
[04:49] we are seeing that a wise person is a meek person a wise person is a meek person therefore
[04:56] question that now begs asking is what is meek person the definition there's a I don't know
[05:04] there's a few definitions and but the one that I saw that I liked is submissive humbleness
[05:11] submissive humbleness now if you're anything like me this kind of makes you squirm feel uncomfortable
[05:17] um and mainly because of the word submissive um so for a few months now Mike has been training
[05:25] Steven and I in jujitsu and basically the name of the game is don't tap aka don't submit um because
[05:33] if you submit it basically means the other person is better than you and you're a tiny puny little
[05:37] weakling um and I don't like that very much I don't like being thought of as weak or uncapable
[05:44] and all these other things and if I'm honest it makes my blood boil when I have to submit
[05:52] and jujitsu it makes me rage out a little bit um and if I'm honest my blood boils when I have to
[05:59] submit to anyone's will not just jujitsu when anyone anytime anyone tells me what to do or
[06:04] what to think and all this other stuff um but what we see in the greatest example of meekness
[06:11] which is Jesus Christ is that he lived his life in submission submissive humbleness
[06:18] it was his submissive humbleness that said not your will not my will but your will be done
[06:23] it is his submissive humbleness that brought him death on a cross not because he wanted it
[06:28] he asked for it to be removed from him but because it was the father's will he submitted to it
[06:33] Jesus Jesus is also the greatest example of meekness and showing submissive humbleness
[06:39] because there is nobody in scripture more approachable than Jesus Jesus who could make
[06:46] mountain shake lightning crash oceans rage did not demand everyone to kneel before him
[06:52] when he walked into a room but instead offered his hand in service to them submissive humbleness
[06:57] Jesus was all meekness the approachable man feasting with the wedding guests sitting down
[07:07] with sinners conversing with the unholy and the unclean touching the leper making himself at home
[07:11] with all men sinners he does not cast away he does not make you think you are intruding on him
[07:18] or bothering him when you come to him and that is why we see in Matthew 11 28 he says come to me
[07:24] all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest all of you take up my yoke and
[07:30] learn from me because I am gentle or la translators say meek and humble and hard and you will find rest
[07:37] for yourselves for my yoke is easy and my burden is light are you meek do you have submissive
[07:46] humbleness so people who are meek their mind and heart have submitted to the word of God
[07:52] just as Jesus submitted to the father we submit to the word of God and we want to submit to God's
[07:58] purposes people who are meek are approachable if true wisdom is meekness then true wisdom
[08:07] is approachable if true wisdom is meekness then true wisdom is approachable are you approachable
[08:14] do people feel at rest in your presence or do they have to worry about your anger and arrogance
[08:24] so after this beginning statement in verse 13 James then goes on to compare worldly vision
[08:28] worldly wisdom and godly wisdom so he just starts out right at the gate with a banger
[08:33] so James 3 14 through 16 but if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts do
[08:41] not boast and be false to the truth this is not wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly
[08:47] unspiritual demonic for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist there will be disorder in every
[08:53] vile practice so he starts with worldly wisdom showing you what this is and basically what
[08:59] James is saying in verse 14 is that it's not about you it's not about you because isn't that
[09:09] where bitter jealousy and selfish ambition come from we want it to be about us our heart wants to
[09:14] be the thing the moment the it factor and he's saying it is not about you because when we think
[09:21] it's about us it's us believing we are gods we think i deserve honor i deserve praise i deserve
[09:28] glory i deserve recognition and this jealous self-centered ambition is the root cause in pretty much
[09:36] every relationship problem and especially marriages now when i come home from work
[09:45] this is what my heart thinks i deserve when i walk through that door i think
[09:53] when i walk through the door i my heart thinks i deserve the house to look like the royal family
[10:07] cleaning crew came through and made that joint spotless it's ridley running up to me saying
[10:14] dad dad dad all excited and me picking her up when i pick her up i sense a sweet aroma
[10:21] and i turn to my left and there's a beautiful 18-ounce ribeye just waiting for me
[10:28] and not only is there a ribeye there's some jefferson reserve
[10:34] just waiting for me to enjoy and as i'm enjoying my beautiful 18-ounce steak probably from the oak
[10:43] okay my wife is rubbing my shoulders
[10:46] it says you work so hard what can i do for you i can't say without laughing
[10:58] but but i'm laughing because honestly i guess it's a joke but i kind of feel that way
[11:09] when i come home and i expect things to all this things to center around me
[11:13] and if i'm honest when i come home and the house is a mess and ribley didn't care that i came home
[11:19] and i have some four dollar pasta and all these sauce for dinner i'm kind of ticked
[11:24] and then my wife has the audacity to ask me to change a poopy diaper
[11:34] the last the match has been lit and abam is about to go off now the reason i feel like i'm about to
[11:41] go off or the reason this happens is because it's all about me i come through the door and it's about
[11:46] me and what i want it's about how my family could serve me how my wife can treat me like a king and
[11:52] how my children make me feel and meanwhile jesus jesus is saying deny yourself carry your cross
[12:00] and follow him so it's not about how i can lift myself up but how i can lift up others and in
[12:07] doing so lift up christ that's true wisdom true wisdom is walking through the door after a long
[12:14] day of work seeing the messy house the crappy pasta and the absolute chaos ensuing around me
[12:20] and saying i'm exhausted but my kids need to know that i love them and that there's always
[12:25] time for them so when i get down the floor i'm going to play with them i'm going to wrestle with
[12:29] them i want to read with them and i'm going to be rung out for my children and my wife i'm going to
[12:34] walk through the door and i'm going to my i'm going to think to myself no the house is a mess
[12:38] my wife probably had a long day dealing with the kids because really is a little demonic tornado
[12:45] sometimes let me start cleaning the kitchen let me start getting the kids ready for bed
[12:49] and yes that includes a poopy diaper now this can only happen when you realize it's not about you
[12:58] and the more it's about you the more miserable you will be because it is exhausting to rule and be
[13:04] angry all the time when you think yourself as a god you will be greatly disappointed because no
[13:09] one's going to meet your expectations james then goes on to tell us how to spot worldly wisdom
[13:16] verse 15 this is not the wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly unspiritual and demonic
[13:23] so he says first it's earthly in other words it considers not eternity but the here and now
[13:31] so it does not think about eternity it's like right now how does this satisfy me
[13:36] so it's how you treat people is based on how it affects you right now how you spend your money
[13:40] is how you is it's for the here and now how you make decisions how can i satisfy my lust
[13:48] of enjoyment right here right now that's earthly wisdom i think i was trying to think one example
[13:55] of this and it's probably because my with my dad being youth i think one of the an example of what
[14:00] this looks like and how the church has failed is we have all of our kids going to colleges and stuff
[14:08] like that and we think in earthly wisdom we think oh we want to send them to the best schools human
[14:14] seed ew and we think we want to get them to the best schools but we never ask where is there a good
[14:28] christ following community where can they grow in their faith where are we going to send them
[14:32] where they don't fall into absolute vile filth which is most college campuses we don't even ask
[14:37] those questions we're asking those questions would be godly wisdom as you said there's earthly not
[14:43] considering eternity thinking about the here and now what's under the sun and you have he says also
[14:48] unspiritual there's not essentially the same thing does not take seriously the things of heaven
[14:52] we will be we will give an account for everything we have done and don't we want to get to the end
[14:57] of our life see jesus face to face and him say well done my good and faithful servant yes our sin
[15:03] has been paid and we are free but don't you want more than that he then goes on to say it's demonic
[15:10] and i didn't mention this there's probably something to this and someone way smaller would
[15:13] know this but he starts with earthly unspiritual demonic he's just going on down of what selfish
[15:20] ambition and un and worldly wisdom is i said this is demonic based on which is essentially based on
[15:26] lies rooted in our flesh that we believe in other words my ways is better than god's i think a great
[15:34] example of this is uh genesis three in the garden the serpent coming up to eve and saying you bite
[15:42] this you take this fruit you can be like god you don't need him you'll know better and that's
[15:48] demonic and james then says in verse 16 for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist where worldly
[15:56] wisdom exists there will be disorder in every vile practice or some translations uh like mine says
[16:03] every kind of evil will exist i think the greatest example of this would be because it's so prevalent
[16:11] and it's getting worse is abortion it is the most selfish act in our existence and continues to be
[16:19] more and more supported and accepted there is not something that has more has more selfish ambition
[16:25] than abortion instead of i'll die for you if you die for me it's murder for the sake of convenience
[16:33] so after james's downer list of what worldly wisdom is um at least i know for myself i could
[16:41] definitely fall in line when he says earthly and spiritual and demonic i feel like i'd fit into all
[16:45] those categories he then goes on to describe what godly wisdom is so james 3 17 through 18
[16:55] but the wisdom from above is first pure then peaceable gentle open a reason full of mercy
[17:02] and good fruits impartial and sincere and harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make
[17:10] peace this is why i love james homeboy is just straight up says it how it is you want to know
[17:16] what true wisdom is i got you a list it's pure it's peaceable gentle open a reason full of mercy
[17:23] good fruits impartial sincere now a true preacher would probably break down each one one of these
[17:30] we ain't got time for that we ain't got time for that seven things will break down
[17:35] um and honestly they are self-explanatory so there's a few that stick out to me pure
[17:42] yes when i think of this it's not talking about sexual purity and yes that's part of it but this
[17:50] idea of chastisement and being committed to someone so being pure in your commitment to christ
[17:59] that stands out to me peaceable gentle meekness we kind of talk about that open a reason uh there's
[18:07] fine line here obviously you don't want to be i forget was it mark i think where it says being
[18:12] tossed to and fro um with worldly wisdom but there's open to i actually wrote this down because
[18:19] i didn't actually plan on talking about any of these but being open to reason of uh it just made
[18:24] me think there's uh what's his name navel navel is it in david's story navel and abigail and
[18:32] navel's a fool absolute fool and when uh he disrespects david and all this other stuff
[18:38] abigail abigail pleased with david to not destroy him and he basically says no one can talk to navel
[18:44] because his ears are closed and he's a fool he's worthless fool because his ears are closed um
[18:49] so it's not open to read it just makes me think of that of someone who just doesn't listen doesn't
[18:52] take advice and just brings destruction on himself and his family um full of mercy good fruits and
[19:00] partial sincere and one thing i've noticed about this and other things james has talked about
[19:04] is it is a lot of this ties to the fruit of the spirit when you're walking when you're in the
[19:08] word you're gonna have the fruit of the spirit which is going to be a lot of this list and it's
[19:13] going to be godly wisdom but what we are going to turn to now because you can't talk about wisdom
[19:20] without being in the book of wisdom which is proverbs so if uh you have your bibles or your
[19:27] phone if you want to turn here this one's a little bit longer it's uh proverbs 8 22 through 36
[19:35] and uh this is wisdom speaking so obviously it's uh i know what you would call this a metaphor
[19:45] i don't know um this is wisdom talking about where he came from and why he's important
[19:51] so 8 22 through 36 the lord made me at the beginning of his creation before his works
[19:58] of long ago i was formed before ancient times from the beginning before the earth began
[20:04] i was born when there was no watery depths and no springs filled with water i was delivered
[20:09] before the mountains and hills were established before he made the land the fields or the first
[20:14] soil on earth i was there when he established the heavens when he laid out the horizon on the surface
[20:19] of the ocean when he placed the skies above when the fountains of the ocean gushed out when he set
[20:24] a limit for the sea so that the waters would not violate his command when he laid out the foundation
[20:29] of the earth i was a skilled craftsman beside him i was his delight every day always rejoicing before
[20:36] him i was rejoicing in his inhabited world delighting in the human race and now my sons listen to me
[20:43] those who keep my ways are happy listen to instruction and be wise don't ignore it everyone
[20:50] who listens to me is happy watching at my doors every day waiting for the posts of my doorway
[20:57] for those who find me find life and obtain favor from the lord but those who miss me harm themselves
[21:04] all who hate me love death so clearly wisdom is important uh those who find wisdom find life and
[21:14] those who abandon wisdom love death doesn't say find death that's intuitive no you love death
[21:22] if you abandon wisdom so we also see that true wisdom is pure peaceable gentle open uh reason
[21:28] full of mercy good fruits impartial sincere and to not love wisdom is to love death so the question
[21:35] we need to ask if we're truly desiring this wisdom if we want to obtain it how do we grow
[21:41] in godly wisdom and not worldly wisdom this is great to lay it out what it is this is awesome
[21:46] no or the earth uh the worldly is earthly you know folks on the here and now demonic of all
[21:52] about me and godly wisdom is this well how do we grow in godly wisdom well first problems nine and
[22:01] ten says the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy one
[22:07] so the first thing we need to do to grow in godly wisdom is one have an ever growing understanding
[22:14] of the god of the bible first way we grow in godly wisdom is to have an ever growing understanding
[22:19] of the god of the bible and that doesn't just mean bible verses i want to nerds up in here
[22:25] there's a one i think in the south i don't even know if it's a thing it is i'm not bashing on the
[22:29] one i want is great but you could have a lot of people who know a lot of bible verses in the
[22:34] throw them out of context you need to know your bible verses in light of who god is that's
[22:39] important uh second timothy 316 through 17 says all scripture is inspired by god and profitable
[22:45] for teaching for rebuking for correcting for training and righteousness so that the man of
[22:49] god may be complete equipped for every work you need to spend time in the word you need to spend
[22:55] time in the word and understand who god is his character and what he has done so you know the
[23:00] word when you know the word you know god and when you know god no wisdom so you know the word no god
[23:06] no wisdom and one thing i'm realizing is i'm getting older because you know this is a typical
[23:11] sunday school answer read your bible one thing i'm realizing as i get older is that there are no
[23:19] shortcuts there's no shortcuts no shortcuts to wisdom there's no shortcuts to righteousness
[23:24] there's no shortcuts to walking on the path of life there is none it is spending time in the word
[23:30] is spending time with god there are no shortcuts and it is hard but it is worth it and true wisdom
[23:38] realizes that because they see it in eternity perspective the time that takes if you have
[23:43] earthly wisdom you think you know what getting up early arenas this isn't a waste of time that's
[23:48] earthly wisdom so first we have first way we grow in godly wisdom is have an ever-growing understanding
[23:54] of the god of the bible the second way we walk in wisdom in godly wisdom is to walk in community
[24:00] walk in community problems 11 14 says without guidance people fall but with many counselors
[24:05] there's deliverance the amount of people that have seen riding the struggle bus making poor
[24:13] decision after poor decision is because they have zero direction in their life now yes that can be a
[24:19] crutch for some people and actually it is a crutch for a lot of people but it is a huge portion i
[24:24] remember my dad was like that's pretty bad we're pretty impressive that okay i'm based up like
[24:31] and you sometimes you see these kids really struggling but you see their parent life or
[24:34] their home life and like they honestly don't have a chance you would honestly just think that um
[24:40] no that's false because there is a godly family a church family and that can be stronger than a
[24:49] family family um but having direction in your life is important being around people who live
[24:55] and strive for jesus is important because hopefully there are people in your life that make you want
[25:00] to deny yourself and follow him that is godly wisdom um you think of i guess relationships
[25:07] you think of friends who are marriages you know we all know people who complain about their spouse
[25:12] all the time you're like you know i don't want a marriage like that same here when you are with
[25:17] someone who loves being in the word you know who lives a godly life you want to be like that same
[25:22] as if you're have friends who have a great marriage you think wow i want a marriage like that it's
[25:27] the same way we want to surround ourselves with people who make us want to deny ourselves and
[25:32] follow christ so we have growing the understanding of the god of god of the bible walking community
[25:38] and the third way to grow in godly wisdom is to ask just to ask now we already talked about this
[25:44] in james 1 5 through 6 now if any of you lack wisdom you should ask god who gives to all
[25:51] generously and without criticizing and it will be given to him you have to ask just ask he is asking
[25:59] you to ask um and the kind of wisdom a godly wisdom sees things that sees things from eternal
[26:06] perspective can only come from god that kind of wisdom a godly wisdom can only come from god it's
[26:13] not going to come from like for me i love listening to different podcasts i love listening to guys
[26:17] like joco jordan peterson all these other guys are like high philosopher thinkers that's not
[26:24] yes they say good things that ultimately come probably from scripture they don't know it but
[26:29] true godly wisdom comes from god and we're going to close on this last verse uh that james ends on
[26:37] says verse 18 in a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace
[26:43] you sow and make peace when you have received peace
[26:47] you sow and make peace when you have received peace if what's in your heart is not peace
[26:55] but turmoil insecurity fear anxiety is going to be hard to be an approachable person who is
[27:02] concerned of the things of eternity and not of this world we have turmoil you know fear and anxiety
[27:08] naturally it's gonna be hard to be approachable person because naturally you're gonna be focused
[27:12] on the things of this world and before when we're talking about how it isn't about us and how it
[27:17] isn't about you at least for me i take that personally sometimes but ultimately this is a
[27:24] freeing truth it not being about you is a freeing truth it means there is nothing you could do to
[27:29] work into god's favor he has done it all all the shame fear the sin was cast on calvary
[27:36] it was it was cast on christ on calvary the price has been paid and you are free you are free from
[27:43] yourself you are free from your sin and you are free to love and you are free to give
[27:49] jesus says he has come to give life and life to the full and i think in other translations i like
[27:54] how it says he has come to give life abundantly do you believe that he has actually come to give
[27:59] life abundantly and in that abundant life is godly wisdom and to live alongside him in the abundant
[28:06] life is to live in the wisdom of god his life his abundant life is better than this earthly life
[28:16] his godly wisdom is better than earthly wisdom so um my dad has a song that i don't remember what
[28:28] it was called something about wisdom but we're going to use it to we're going to read over the
[28:35] passage or you're going to read over the passage yourselves and just meditate because we've been
[28:40] talking about meditation and meditating what is this wisdom what type of wisdom am i showing in
[28:45] my life am i showing earthly worldly wisdom or am i showing godly wisdom and maybe you do show
[28:53] some godly wisdom out of the seven what ones do you show what ones can you work on
[28:57] and then ultimately i hope this would be a time of repentance because when you repent that is where
[29:05] how peace hopefully is in your heart you cannot have peace without repentance so um we'll do that
[29:12] and then once this is done i'll pray and we will be done dearly father um even just as that song
[29:23] said your ways are so much higher than ours forgive us for thinking that we know better than you
[29:30] we might not say it out loud but our hearts believe it
[29:38] i pray that you would give us you give this church give our people godly wisdom
[29:43] that we would not chase the things of this earth but the things of eternity
[29:49] you are so much greater than this world has to offer
[29:53] thank you for being patient with us as we continue to go through james
[30:02] and we put the mirror up to ourselves lord as we just learned your word is not turn turn away
[30:12] it is good for all sorts of learning and wisdom and rebuke i pray that we would spend time in
[30:23] the word so that we would know you truly know you and know that you are worth it all
[30:30] Lord, we love you, and we pray all this in your name. Amen.