Scripture referenced 6 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Ephesians (specific verse unclear) read aloud before offering: 'I also pray that you understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.'
Read Ephesians (specific verse unclear)
Keep this verse
James 3:1
referenced as the source of 'not many of you should be teachers'
1 Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
James 3:13-18
the main preaching text on true wisdom from God versus worldly wisdom
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Proverbs 4:7
quoted twice: 'getting wisdom is the wisest thing that you can do. And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.'
7 Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
1 Corinthians (specific verse unclear)
quoted to illustrate willingness to yield: 'love doesn't insist on its own way'
Keep this verseMatthew 9:13
Jesus quoted: 'I desire mercy not sacrifice,' used to illustrate mercy over judgment
13 But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Ray preached from James 3:13-18 on the difference between the world's wisdom and the wisdom that comes from God. The central call was simple: if you need wisdom, don't look inward, look to God, because He is the source of wisdom that actually produces good fruit. James puts it plainly, and Pastor Ray walked the congregation through what that wisdom looks like in practice.
What was said
The message opened with a working definition of wisdom. Wisdom is not the same as intelligence. You can be smart and lack wisdom entirely. Wisdom is applied knowledge, knowing when and how to use what you know. The example from Yellowstone country made the point well: somebody might know that baby buffalo belong outside, and still put one in the car. Knowing better and doing better are two different things.
James frames the whole passage around a challenge: if you claim to be wise, prove it. That word "prove it" came from a running joke around the church, but James means it seriously. Wisdom is not something you declare about yourself. It shows up in how you live, specifically in honorable conduct done with humility. Humility was the keyword Pastor Ray kept returning to, defined here as gentle strength, power held in reserve.
The contrast James draws is between God's wisdom and the world's wisdom. The world's wisdom, rooted in jealousy and selfish ambition, produces disorder and evil. That harvest is not hard to find. God's wisdom produces something entirely different: a harvest of righteousness. The two could not look more unlike each other.
Pastor Ray then walked through the qualities James lists for wisdom from above: pure, peace loving, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good deeds, showing no favoritism, and always sincere. He slowed down at each one. Being willing to yield, for instance, means deciding ahead of time that you are coming unarmed. Showing no favoritism means honoring the people God describes as rich in faith, even when they have nothing in their pockets. Sincerity means no hidden agenda, and people can tell the difference.
The humility piece kept coming back around, because it runs against everything human nature reaches for by default. Pastor Ray used Jesus' arrest as the clearest example. Jesus could have called thousands of angels at any moment. He did not. He walked toward the cross on purpose, not because He had no power, but because He chose not to use it that way. That is what reserved, gentle strength actually looks like when it is fully lived out.
The closing argument was that all of those qualities James lists are ultimately found in Christ. Jesus came as God in the flesh and modeled every one of them. The rich young man who walked away sad still received this: Jesus looked at him and loved him. If a person wants pure, peaceable, merciful, sincere wisdom, what they are really seeking is Jesus. And the promise at the end of the passage is that peacemakers who plant seeds of peace will reap a harvest of righteousness. That, Pastor Ray said, is worth seeking.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Pastor Ray described wisdom as 'applied knowledge' rather than just what you know in your head. What is an example from your own life where you knew the right thing but struggled to actually do it?
- Pastor Ray said humility is 'a work of the Lord' and that our human nature fights against it with all its might. Where do you feel that fight most in your daily life, and what does it look like when you lose it?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 5,856 words
0:00
Good morning, everybody. How we doing? It's a gorgeous morning. Hey, what do you say we, we begin by by worshiping and song and, would you stand up with me? We'll sing of the holiness of God and start singing people on into the sanctuary here.
0:28
Alright. It's falling from. It's falling from the clouds, a strange and lonely sun. Can hear it in thunder and rain.
3:20
Alright. You can have a seat for just a
3:22
couple minutes. Good morning, everybody and welcome to First Baptist Church. We're so glad to have you here. It's nice to kinda be past all the Christmas stuff but still enjoy the decorations. Right?
3:32
Kinda nice. My name is Nick Stern. I'm the assistant secretary here at First Baptist Church. And on behalf of the entire staff, I just wanna thank you for your warmth and your kindness and your generosity this year. The the cookies, the the hugs, the prayers, everything that came in to help kinda bolster the staff through Christmas has been fantastic.
3:50
I just wanna thank you all for that very much. I got a couple announcements here today. Monday nights at First Baptist Church, they're happening tomorrow, 06:15. Meal, music, message. If you wanna come on by, just get to connect with everybody, hear a great message from Mike Dees preaching tomorrow.
4:06
Dees preaching tomorrow, and Felix in Guadalupe are cooking. Always a big hit. That usually brings in a big crowd.
4:12
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty fantastic.
4:14
The door is open if you'd like to come.
4:16
Yeah. I recommend coming early, so you get a a good portion of food there. Awana is awesome, dude. Awana happens here in this room. It's 05:45 to 07:30.
4:26
It's a great time for people to sow into the lives of kids, and they get to run around and have a great time and meet some new friends too. So bring them by for that. The congregational meeting is Sunday, January 13 at 10:15. For all the members, you get to vote. We also have budgets.
4:43
If you wanna look over those in advance, they're in the back right behind Blake there on that little shelf. Feel free to look that over. We'd love to have you all stop by for that. The men's winter retreat. If you are a dude and you, wanna connect with folks, this is really the best way to do it.
4:59
I was hesitant for a while, but, man, it's so fun. Everybody connects together. You you play foosball. You play ping pong. You go snow machining.
5:06
You go cross whatever you wanna do, and there's no pressure for, like, three days. You just get to do whatever you want to or nothing. It's great. So, make sure you sign up today if you can. Kyle Knudson is right there in the back.
5:18
He's got some little brochures for you. Talk to him. He's a great guy. He'll get you plugged in, and you you need to come. There's no excuse.
5:24
So alright. Community Bible study prayer group. Anne's gonna come up and talk for a minute, for us about that.
5:36
Good morning, you all. I see the snow is keeping some of the folks here away. But anyway, so glory to God in the highest. Glory to his son and the Holy Spirit. So my name is Anne Stalker, and, welcome to 2019.
5:52
It's hard to even write that on our checks. Right? So it's twelve days after Christmas, and it's we are ten days away from restarting community Bible study prayer group. And, I wanna take just one minute to inspire you to sign up and join us. We it's all in your bulletin.
6:11
We're gonna start the sixteenth, and I'm really hoping that you can come. So you know what? This Bible study is the perfect counterpart to our crazy, confusing, turbulent culture. That's really it's post Christian, but it's worse than that. It's anti Christian, anti more our morals.
6:33
But a daily dose of Hebrews helps us stand strong, to stay grounded, and not shrink back, gives us hope and encouragement while spurring us on toward love and good deeds. God's word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path in our crazy world. So, the CBS vision, let me take a moment, is transformed lies through the word of God. The Psalmist says, I will not neglect your word. It lasts forever.
7:07
It's sweeter than honey without the calories. So, this Bible study helps you think critically, develop a biblical worldview, and learn to contend for our faith right here and right now. So we're gonna ponder. We're gonna think. We're gonna study.
7:25
We're gonna go verse by verse. We're gonna take little chunks of scripture and ingest them. We will collectively discuss them in a small group. We will personally apply God's truth with the help of a study guide, a commentary, a trio of live teachers, and memory verses to hide his word in our heart. All of this is done in a loving, supportive community.
7:48
Our desire is to get you all involved and you young moms, if you are can come during the day, we'll be offering Bible study. I mean, babysitting, excuse me. So, ladies and gentlemen, we are a prayer group. All good, godly, glorifying, godly movements start with prayer. So, we prioritize time to seek God with all of our heart and lord knows our country needs our prayers.
8:14
Our families need our prayers and Jackson Hole needs revival and stronger disciples of Jesus Christ. So we're actually praying to launch this international interdenominational program. We are praying that Jackson becomes an official class. We are not there so that we can join 13,000 other classes around the globe with more than half a million participants in 113 countries. So, listen to me.
8:46
If you're not already in a Bible study that you really love and it does some excellent teaching, come check this one out. I will be at the back. I have a bunch of study guide. I have registration forms, and I'd be happy to help you.
9:04
Thank you, Anne. Love to see you all there. The men's fraternity starts up this Wednesday, 6AM. Connect with the guys here right here in this room, and there's free breakfast. What more could you want?
9:15
Are they gonna be doing the fight club series? I don't know if it's like the movie. Come find out. We'll see. It'll be great.
9:21
Yeah. They would have have to pay a little more to clean up the carpet. Preset Bible study starts up on Thursdays, nine to 11:30. It's really in-depth study of the Bible. If you wanna go through word by word, verse by verse, and really highlight everything, that's the Bible study for you.
9:36
So glad to see that starting back up again. And the connect hour, you can go down the hallway between services. We have little snacks for you. Good chance to meet some friends and and be able to kinda start off your week in the right pace there. Alright.
9:50
That's our our oh, wait. We got one more from Sam Compton. I'm sorry. I forgot. This one's really important, though.
9:57
I just wanted to say that we're starting up Refit again this week. It takes place in this room on Tuesdays at 05:15 and Thursdays at 05:30. It's a ton of fun, and it's donation only, so there's no financial obligation. And we'd love to have you. If you have any questions, please come find me, I'd love to visit about it.
10:15
Thank you.
10:16
And they've got lights and all kinds of other fun stuff. It's legit. So you really wanna come by and check that out. Why don't you guys stand up and greet one another and say hello to somebody you've never met before? We'll get back together in about a minute.
13:24
Let's pray on that. Lord, thank you for for being present. We don't have to ask for your presence. It is here. You are here.
13:33
You are in this place. But, would you would you drop? Lord, would our our will want to meet with your will today? And, true, Lord, we're prone to wander, but I thank you, God, for beating us right where we're at. I thank you, God, for pursuing us, for calling us sons and daughters as we put our faith and our trust in you.
13:58
It's in Jesus' name. Amen. From Ephesians, it says, I also pray that you understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.
19:19
I can see. Waters raging at my feet, I can feel. The breath of those surrounding me, I cannot hear. The sound of nations rising up. We will not be overtaken.
19:53
We will not be overcome. And I can't walk. And now it's dark
24:05
Amen. You can all be seated, and the frontline team is coming forward as to participate here in the worship through giving. And I'd love to to just pray and and give thanks for who God is and what God is doing. And so let's take a minute and pray. Lord, indeed, just that.
24:23
We wanna praise you for who you are, almighty, infinite God, all powerful. As we sang, this is the same power that rose Jesus from the grave, the same power that commands the dead to wake. You did that. That same power lives in us. That same power that can calm the rage and see the storm, but also the storms in us.
24:48
You live in us. God, may we be reminded of that daily. Your power, your presence, your provision, all that you are. You are so generous. You are so kind.
25:03
You so love the world that you gave your only son. The greatest sacrifice that that you could possibly give, that's what you gave us. So when we give, God, we're we're just modeling ourselves after you. God, would you create and and continue, Lord, to inspire a heart of generosity in this church? Lord, you have made this place a generous place, a generous people.
25:29
But that is from you. That comes from you. As you stir our hearts to love and good works, and, God, for the name of your kingdom, to expand your kingdom, to grow your kingdom, that all may know that you are our one true living God. In Jesus' name, amen. Good morning everybody.
28:07
How are you? It feels a little quiet in here, but I trust it's kind of a reflective quiet. So this little picture right here oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, before I forget, children's church, and they've already know where to go. But let me say this. Some of you might be wondering, who is children's church for?
28:26
Why are these kids going downstairs? K and one, grades two and three, and four and five, three different classrooms downstairs. So that's what happens every every week. Dancy was there one more that I missed? Okay.
28:39
Alright. You you look like you were trying to tell me something here. But yes, and the babies. So anyway, I just wanna let you know that in case you're ever going, what is this? It's this pounding of feet here.
28:51
So anyway, this little picture right here, was painted by Alyssa Massey before she moved to California. So there's a picture of Alyssa. How many remember her? Alright. Yes.
29:05
Hi, Alyssa, if you're watching this this morning. We miss you. And, we also miss this guy. This is, your brother Renzi Rina. He was our youth director here for for a while.
29:18
So he commissioned these paintings as a gift to our staff before he moved to Sheridan. And one of his sayings was prove it. Meaning, show me the evidence. But he'd say it in kind of a snarky way like prove it. And and it just he kept he would always say this.
29:43
He whispered from the sound board while Ray was preaching. Prove it. And he would keep saying this over and over, but it it it just became a saying around here. And it's actually biblical. It's from James three one to 13.
29:58
If anyone would say that they're wise and they understand God's ways, James says prove it. Prove it by living an honorable life. Prove it. Apply it. Show it.
30:14
Because that's what wisdom is. It is applied knowledge. It shows that it knows. Like you can know there is a red light up ahead, right? In the wintertime in Jackson.
30:25
Right? You can know it in your mind. But wisdom says, well, it's wintertime Jackson. It's probably a little icy and I should give myself plenty of slot time to slow down. That that's wisdom.
30:42
It's knowing when and how to apply that knowledge that I've got to stop.
30:48
Or
30:51
if your wife should ever say, I look terrible today. Listen, take notes right here. Wisdom never agrees with that statement. Ever. Ever.
31:08
Alright. That might be the wisest thing for today. But really the wisdom is mindful about what to say and when to say it. Like there is intelligence. Right?
31:21
You watch Jeff. I when I watch Jeopardy, I'm like, man, how would these people know this stuff? They're so smart. But being smart does not always equal being wise. Would you agree?
31:35
You can be smart and lack wisdom. We live near Yellowstone. Crazy stuff happens. I had like three or four examples. You remember the buffalo in the back of the car because somebody thought it was too cold for the baby buffalo to be outside, so they brought it into the car.
32:02
And this guy, what? I I want to believe that he knew better. But if he did, he didn't apply it. Not there. It's not just knowing better, it's doing better.
32:21
It's applying that knowledge that makes us why. You know, I often think of like wisdom as a well timed word. Knowing when to talk and when to listen. I think of wisdom as holding your tongue when you know you're right, but you don't have to be right. You don't have to have the last word.
32:47
I think that's wise. It knows when and how to apply knowledge. And it's not something that that that we always learn in a classroom. It doesn't come from something just an Internet search here or there. I think a lot of times it comes with experience and walking with the Lord and living life and and putting it all into practice.
33:13
Today, James says this, true wisdom comes from God. True wisdom comes from God. And he makes this very, very clear distinction between the world's wisdom and God's wisdom. And we'll see they're very different. They look different.
33:32
They feel different. They sound different. They are different. They produce different results. Specifically, he's gonna say, the world's wisdom produce produces disorder and evil.
33:46
We all know disorder and evil are very easy to come by. Right? Just turn on the news in the morning. I feel sometimes it's discouraging when I just turn on the news in in the morning to see what's going on in the world. There's there's always some form of disorder and evil.
34:03
It's it's not hard to come by. Whereas check this out in James, he says, God's wisdom produces a harvest of righteousness. A harvest of righteousness, of rightness. That's a big difference. But the idea here is this, to seek the wisdom that comes from God.
34:30
If you walk away with anything, would you please be at that? To seek wisdom that comes from God. Not our own wisdom. It's not just about digging deep and finding what's inside of us. It's looking to him, the source of absolute truth, of absolute wisdom.
34:50
That's that's the idea here. Proverbs four seven, getting wisdom is the wisest thing that you can do. And whatever else you do, develop good judgment. King king Solomon started off well as a king. God says, what do you want?
35:12
And instead of going, well, I I want a long life. I want wealth. I want power. I want this. I want that.
35:17
He said, would you give me a wise and discerning heart and administering justice? My friends, that's like the best Sunday school answer anybody could ever give. Give me a wise and discerning heart and administering justice. And you think about what is God about? Administering justice.
35:43
It was a good answer. And God was pleased to give it so much so that he said, Solomon, there'll never be a king like you. So that being said, let's go James three thirteen through 18 on true wisdom that comes from God. The words will be on the screen. I use the n l t, and I'll read it through, and then we'll just go back and break it down some more.
36:07
Here's what James says. If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life. Doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there's selfish ambition in your heart, don't cover up that truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom.
36:39
Such things are earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. Catch this. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, willing to yield to others.
37:14
It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers here's the promise. Those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. I wanna pray on that before we go any further.
37:40
Okay? Lord, you say if anyone lack lacks wisdom, that all we should do is ask, and you give generously without finding fault. And so we do. We ask for the wisdom that comes from you. Wisdom that is pure and peaceable and gentle, willing to yield to others, partial, full of mercy, and sincere.
38:09
That's the kind of wisdom that produces a harvest of righteousness. We're seeking your wisdom, God. In your name we pray, amen. Wisdom. I I feel like this is a a word that we don't hear a lot.
38:24
Like more often I I I think we value intelligence, IQ, that kind of a thing. But as I was saying, wisdom is so much more than intelligence. It has insight. It has skill. It has clarity.
38:45
Earlier on in James, he says, not many of you should be teachers. Number one, that is a humbling statement. It's terrifying to come up here in front and and and talk to you because I wanna get it right. I wanna get it right. I want to communicate what God is communicating.
39:03
I not my not my own agenda. You know what I'm saying? And it says that we'll be judged more strictly teaching from the front. Well, apparently, in James Day, and he he addresses this in his letter, he said not many of you should be teachers. And then in verse 13, it's like he's circling back around.
39:24
He's saying, okay, if you're wise and you understand God's ways, in other words, if if you wanna be a teacher, he says prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with humility that comes from wisdom. In other words, he's going, it's not just about what you know up here. You can know a lot of things, but put those into practice. Do good works with humility. Humility really being the keyword here, I think.
39:59
It's defined as meekness, Gentle strength. Gentle strength. It expresses power with reserve and gentleness. It begins with God's inspiration and finishes by his direction and empowerment. So I wanna say that last part right there.
40:21
I think it's worth repeating. It begins with God's inspiration and it finishes with his direction and empowerment. Bottom line is this, humility is a work of the Lord. It truly is. It it begins and ends with him.
40:40
You say, well, I wanna be humble. Great. That's something that comes from God. It begins with him. It ends with him.
40:48
That's how it works. Humility is a work of the Lord and our human nature fights against this with all its might. Anyone testify? I really I I feel that. I feel that the the war that that just our our human nature fights against humility.
41:11
If I hit you, you know, if you hit me, I hit you back. You curse me, I curse you back. That that's how the world works. Humility from God is strong but it's gentle. It's strong but it's reserved.
41:28
Where you could, but you don't. You know what I'm saying? Where you could, let the other person really have it. It's in you, but you don't. I think of Jesus.
41:46
So he's betrayed and he's arrested. He spit on. They pulled his beard. He's done nothing wrong. Like you and I, we can say, well, you know, we probably deserve what we get.
42:00
Jesus did not deserve what he got. And yet, he says this, don't you realize that I could ask my father for thousands of angels to protect us and he would send them instantly? Is that reserved strength or what? The God of the universe meets us, humanity, right here, can absolutely wipe us all out. And yet, he entrusted himself to the will of the father.
42:37
And you know what? He kept walking toward that cross. Although he had done nothing wrong, he kept walking toward that cross to bear my sins and yours so that we could have life. That's what our savior's done. He wasn't thinking of himself or how he could get revenge.
42:56
He could have at any moment, any moment gotten revenge given what we deserve. That's our example. That's a lofty example. Was he strong enough to oppose his accusers? Absolutely.
43:18
Could he have wiped out opposition at any time? Yes, he could have. But instead, he chose to walk in humility. That's what humility is. Here's a question to ask ourselves as you look at this, as we look at this, does this describe us?
43:38
Does this describe us strong but gentle? Strong but reserved. Where that power that you've been given, right, it's exercised with reserve and gentleness. Where you don't let people have it. Where you don't give people what they deserve.
44:10
Humility begins with God's inspiration and finishes by his direction and empowerment. If you're going, yeah, yeah, I really ought to be more humble. Yeah, that that should describe me. Well, let's just tap the brakes a little bit and and and remember again where it starts and where it ends, and that is with the Lord. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that lived in us.
44:37
That's the power that gives us. The humility that we want. Okay. Now contrast what we've just said with verse fourteen and fifteen. But if you are bitterly jealous and there's selfish ambition in your heart, don't cover up that truth with boasting and lying for jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom.
45:05
He's going, okay, there's God's wisdom and there's the world's wisdom. And we don't even have to try to gain the world's wisdom. That comes naturally. Thank you very much. And from those, it comes more boasting and lying to cover it up.
45:22
It's just this kind of perpetual, you know, goes darker and darker and deeper and deeper and worse and worse and we know that. We know that. God's wisdom is different. Seventeen eighteen, it shows us what these look like. The wisdom from God is first of all pure.
45:44
I wanna just pause. I want to sort of rest on each one of these. Alright? Pure. Holy.
45:55
Sacred. Down to the center of our being. You go, excuse me, that does not describe me. No. Not just you, but God through you, you are holy.
46:13
You are righteous. Why? Because of him, not you. And if he's living in you, then you are. That's how that works.
46:26
As we remain in him, he in us, we're holy because he is holy. Does that make sense? Not wholly apart from God. It's also peace loving. That means peaceable, disposed to peace.
46:45
It results from knowing God's will and obeying it. That that's what it means to be peaceable. Knowing God's will and carrying it out. That makes us peace loving people. Again, this all comes from the Lord.
47:03
This all comes from the Lord. This isn't just behavior modification. This is something that God does. This is the work of the Lord. Okay.
47:09
Here's another. Gentle at all times. That means mild, forbearing, fair, reasonable. I love the word reasonable. I like reason.
47:23
I really do. I want to reason. I like reasonable people. It's hard to reason with unreasonable people. Where we relax on overly strict standards in order to keep the spirit of the law.
47:41
Right? It's not beating people over the head with the letter of the law. It's keeping the spirit of law. What is the spirit of the law? God says, I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
47:57
That's the spirit of the law. I desire mercy, not sacrifice. That's gentleness. It's fair. It's reasonable.
48:08
It doesn't hit people over the head with the Bible. It demonstrates what the Bible actually means. I really like that. One. Gentle at all times.
48:18
Here's another, willing to yield to others. Meaning, it's easy to come to terms with others because you have been willing ahead of time. Ahead of time. Like it's not coming armed and ready for battle, but you've be you've come unarmed and ready for peace. You know, you think about conflicts that we have, day to day life and it's like when do we when do we wanna talk?
48:51
It's it's it's it's often at the last minute. We haven't prepared, we haven't unarmed, it's like we wanna come armed and ready for battle. It's not that. It's just the opposite. It's deciding ahead of time I'm I'm unarmed.
49:08
I'm I'm unarmed. I didn't come for war. I've actually come for for peace. Willing to yield to others. I think of this definition from first Corinthians and and it says, love doesn't insist on its own way.
49:29
Love doesn't insist on its own way. There's that willingness to yield to one another. Here's another. It's full of mercy and good deeds. That means pity, compassion.
49:49
As God has shown us mercy, we show mercy to others. That's what God did. That's the that's the story of the gospel right there. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. His perfect life for our imperfect ones.
50:06
He gave us mercy, not judgment. What do we deserve? We deserve judgment. Like I said, at any time Jesus could have said, forget it. No way.
50:17
You are not nailing me to that cross. I'm an innocent man. I hadn't done anything. But he followed through with it. Why?
50:24
Out of love for you. Out of love for me. That's the story of the gospel. That's mercy. Not giving what we do deserve.
50:35
In Matthew nine thirteen, Jesus says, I desire mercy not sacrifice. I desire mercy not sacrifice. It's a heart of love and compassion rather than judgment. It's when someone is down that we are not kicking them, but rather we are helping them up. It's not driving the knife even deeper.
51:04
It's healing those wounds. That's mercy. Here's another. Oh man, aren't these good? And there I I could best I I believe that these are a a bit overwhelming.
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You know I look at these and go, oh, I got a long way to go. But again, is. It is a work of the Lord. It is a work of the Lord. It shows no favoritism.
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James talked about that in chapter two. He says, why would you show favoritism for the rich over the poor? It's discrimination. It shows dishonor to the very people that God chose to be rich in faith. That's how James describes it.
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The very people that God chose to be rich in faith. Yeah. The man not have much money, but they are rich in faith. Doesn't that just seem like a kingdom minded phrase right there? Rich in faith.
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God's wisdom doesn't show favoritism. And last, God's wisdom is always sincere. Meaning, it's not phony. It's the real deal. It doesn't have like a hidden agenda.
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It's good because it's good. We all have a baloney detector. We do, don't we? You know when someone's faking it. We do.
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Sincere. Where's that sincerity come from? It comes from honest, relationship with Jesus. Ending with verse 18. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
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That's something I really appreciate about James. He talks about the rewards of our obedience. He says, hey, when you persevere under trial, you're gonna receive the crown of life. That's an that's an amazing promise. He says, hey, if you listen to the word and you do what it says, you'll be blessed in what you do.
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That's another promise from James. Here's another. If you plant seeds of peace, you're gonna reap a harvest of righteousness. That's a great promise. He's going, this wisdom thing really pays off church.
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It is worth it to seek wisdom. Well, let's go back to the beginning. Let's understand that true wisdom comes from God. If you're seeking wisdom right now, it's not looking within, it's looking up. It's looking toward him because he is the source of wisdom.
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If we truly want to be pure, peace loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, good deeds, impartial, sincere, all of those are found in God. Specifically, all of those are found in Christ. Because Christ came as God in the flesh to show us what these things look like, to model these things for us. If we want those, what we're really seeking is Jesus. And just go to the gospels.
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Go to the gospels and look at his interactions with people. And for whatever reason this week, it was with the rich man who thought he had everything. He's like, okay, I've got this. I better I I better see what Jesus has too that I I I should probably have that too. And and it says he went away sad.
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But it says Jesus looked at him and he loved him. He looked at him and he loved him. These are all found in Christ. And as we yield to him, remain in him, surrender to him, however you wanna say it, that's what produces that harvest of righteousness. And so my simple encouragement is this.
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Uh-oh. I'm losing my voice. To seek the wisdom that comes from God. To seek the wisdom that comes from God. James says, the world's wisdom, it really isn't wisdom at all.
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It produces disorder and chaos and that's not hard to come by. We know that. God's wisdom produces a harvest of righteousness. That's for our good. That's for the the good of others.
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That's also for the glory of God. This wisdom thing is really worth it for our good, for the good of others, for the glory of God. Wisdom is worth seeking. It makes sense. And Lord knows, life requires wisdom.
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Some of you are making huge decisions right now. Life altering decisions. You need wisdom. You need it in your family. Big decisions with your family.
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Big decisions in work. Big decisions with relationships. This is so applicable, and this is so timely. We need wisdom. And I wanna say this, all of those big decisions that you're making, you can approach those in a way that's pure and peace loving and gentle and reasonable and full of mercy and good deeds That's not it shows in that is impartial.
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It is full of sincerity. God promises that if anyone is lacking wisdom, all we need to do is ask. I think we often have not because we have not asked. Who are we consulting? I wanna say that.
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Who have you been consulting for your wisdom? Because my default mold is I consult me. I look to me for my for for for wisdom. And God is saying, no. No.
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No. No. Don't start there. Start here in a relationship with him because he is the one who gives us the wisdom that we And he gives generously without finding fault. Proverbs four seven, getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do.
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And whatever else you do, develop good judgment. Two simple simple points this morning. True wisdom comes from God. Seek that wisdom that comes from God. Let me say that again.
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True wisdom that comes from God. Seek that wisdom that comes from God. That's what I got from from James for us today. What do you think? He's he it's good.
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It's a good book. It's been so so deeply practical and it is it is I can say it is working on me in in ways that that it hasn't before and this is one of them. So I'll invite the band back up while they're coming up. Let's pray on it. I'm gonna switch over to this mic.
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A good word from James for the kind of wisdom that produces a harvest of righteousness. That is it's just so much better than producing a harvest of jealousy or selfishness. There truly is the world's wisdom, and there's yours wisdom. We wanna seek your wisdom. Because in that, it is pure, it's peace loving, gentle, reasonable, full mercy, good deeds, impartial, and it's sincere.
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That's from you and you alone. So if we're seeking it, we're really looking for is you. So, Lord, as we yield our will to you, may you do good work in us. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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Let's stand up. Let's sing one more. Here. All the people said amen.
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Or none to start. This is the kingdom, the kingdom of God and all. And all our people say, wonder the people
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I wanna leave you with this before you part. But the wisdom from above is pure, peace loving, gentle at all times, willing to yield to others, full of mercy, and the fruit of good deeds, shows no favoritism, and is always sincere. Lord, may it be so in us because of you. Amen.
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