1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,560 Good morning, Calvary Chapel. Amen. 2 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:09,040 It's a blessing to see everybody's smiling faces this 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:10,640 morning. Amen. 4 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,400 Please turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the second, third 5 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,120 chapter of James. And we're going to focus on 6 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:25,240 verses 13 to 18 this morning. I just want to welcome also 7 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:28,840 extend that same welcome that Kerry extended to those of you 8 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:30,840 who were here for the first time. 9 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:34,240 I want to thank you for coming and deciding to worship here at 10 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,680 Calvary Chapel this morning. And for those of you who have 11 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:40,960 come on a regular basis, we are so grateful for you. 12 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:47,040 We're grateful for you, the fact that you have decided to join us 13 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:52,280 in this Christian journey as we go through this life and we look 14 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:54,240 forward to the life to come. Amen. 15 00:00:54,880 --> 00:01:00,400 But while we're here, we want to be about the work of the Lord. 16 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:03,960 And we're just here to lift up the name of the Lord today, 17 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:05,800 right? We're just here to lift up Jesus 18 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,680 this morning. So everything that we do, may it 19 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,160 bring him glory. Also, those of you who are 20 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:17,680 listening by way of radio or YouTube, Facebook, whatever 21 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,080 medium you're on, we want to welcome you as well. 22 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,360 We thank you for joining us and of course, all of you that are 23 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,880 behind prison walls. We pray that this ministry is a 24 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:32,760 blessing to you and that you are being enriched and your life is 25 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:37,360 beginning to look more and more like Jesus. 26 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,200 I think what I'm going to do this morning, if it's OK with 27 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,200 everybody, I'd like to read through these verses first. 28 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,520 And after I read through these verses, then I will come back 29 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:52,080 and we'll pray. I promise we'll pray, and then 30 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,160 we'll get into the study. Would that be OK? 31 00:01:54,880 --> 00:02:04,280 OK, so we're looking at James chapter 3, verses 13 through 18. 32 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:09,960 Who is wise and understanding among you? 33 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:18,080 Let him show by good conduct that His works are done in the 34 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:23,240 meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and 35 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:28,160 self seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the 36 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,080 truth. This wisdom does not descend 37 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:36,280 from above, but it's earthly, sensual, demonic. 38 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:45,640 For where envy and self seeking exist, confusion and every evil 39 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:49,480 thing are there. But the wisdom that is from 40 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:54,040 above is first pure. First pure, that's very 41 00:02:54,040 --> 00:03:00,040 important. Then peaceable, gentle, willing 42 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:04,120 to yield, full of mercy and good fruits. 43 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,240 It's without partiality and without hypocrisy. 44 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:15,040 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who 45 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:17,320 make peace. Let's pray. 46 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:27,960 Father, you give us your word so that we can see your face, so 47 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:32,440 that we know who You are. We know your heart about the 48 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:37,800 things that you teach us. You give us your Word, Lord, to 49 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:46,080 help sanctify us, to purify us. You give us Your word to mold us 50 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,720 into the image of Your dear Son, Jesus Christ. 51 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,800 And we're so grateful. We are privileged that we are 52 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,560 those who desire to hear Your Word. 53 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,960 And Father, we are here only to hear Your word this morning. 54 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,720 We don't want to hear anything from me. 55 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:09,960 We want to hear my ideas. We don't want to hear my 56 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,760 thoughts Lord, we just want to hear Your word. 57 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:19,360 Help me to rightly divide this word this morning, Lord, I pray 58 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,480 that You would take scales off our eyes that we will see Your 59 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:28,600 truth in this word and see us in this word, Lord, and then give 60 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:33,320 us the power to help us through Your Holy Spirit to change 61 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,600 anything in US, Lord, that You are calling to be changed. 62 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:44,880 Lord, use me now, use me as an instrument of righteousness for 63 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:46,680 your purpose and your purpose only. 64 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:54,320 Speak through my mouth, think with my mind, love through your 65 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,600 heart. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 66 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,760 In order to really appreciate what it is James is doing here 67 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,880 this morning and there's been so much that he has shared with us 68 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:16,120 so far as we are now in the 3rd chapter of this amazing book. 69 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:24,280 He sets this up so amazingly because he begins in first in 70 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:27,120 the first chapter with asking a question. 71 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:33,000 He said does anyone lack wisdom? And if so, let him ask of God 72 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:37,240 who gives it liberally and without reproach. 73 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:43,000 Then he comes in the chapter later in chapter 1 and he begins 74 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:47,240 to talk to us about being doers of the Word and not hearers 75 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,640 only. Then in chapter 2, he says that 76 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:55,240 we should walk in Jesus Christ without any partiality, without 77 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,640 any favoritism. And then he gets into later in 78 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:05,080 the chapter of two, and he talks about living faith versus dead 79 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:10,720 faith. He teaches us about controlling 80 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,080 our tongues and allowing the Holy Spirit to be the one that's 81 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,800 in control of our speech. And it's even in our speech that 82 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,000 we come to understand and we come to know who is of God and 83 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:28,440 who is not even in our speech. And now we're here in Chapter 3, 84 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,800 later in Chapter 3, and he's now talking to us about wisdom. 85 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:40,440 And he asked this question. He says, who is wise among you? 86 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:43,960 Who is wise? And I don't know about you, but 87 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:46,840 you know, back in the day when I was in high school and college, 88 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,960 I thought if anyone had a depth of knowledge about anything, 89 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:55,120 there must be a wise person. I thought my professors in 90 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:59,560 college were really wise because they could speak with clarity 91 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,120 and articulation on some of the most intricate and some of the 92 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,720 most complex things. I thought their knowledge I 93 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,280 understood. I misunderstood their knowledge 94 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:14,280 for wisdom. And I believe when James asked 95 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,920 that question, he's really looking back to what he said in 96 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:21,880 the beginning of Chapter 1 when he said, my brother, let not 97 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,920 many of you become teachers. You see, the whole idea of being 98 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:32,560 a teacher, the idea of the thought that a teacher is wise. 99 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:35,640 Oh, sure, The teachers, they stand up and they stand up in 100 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:37,600 front of everybody and they teach these things. 101 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:42,040 And, and it's the authority that we attach to teachers, this 102 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,640 perception that we have of teachers that if they're 103 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:50,760 teaching, they must be wise. And James is saying here, not so 104 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:58,520 in Proverbs 13 and 14, the Bible says that the law of the wise is 105 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:06,200 a fountain of life to turn 1 away from the snares of death. 106 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:13,560 It's the mouth of the wise, it's a fountain of life. 107 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,800 So here in verse 13, he asked the question, who then is wise? 108 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:23,840 An understanding among you. And maybe that's a question that 109 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:28,280 we can ask ourselves. Who is it among us who's wise 110 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:33,120 and understanding not only in this church population, but also 111 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,600 in the church as whole? Who is wise and understanding? 112 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:41,840 James, you know, as he, as he refers to this, he's getting us 113 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:47,000 to look at not worldly wisdom, but godly wisdom. 114 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,960 So we must understand that all wisdom is not equal. 115 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,560 There is a worldly wisdom and there's a godly wisdom. 116 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:03,120 So he says here that you will know that someone is wise not by 117 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:09,480 their ability to communicate difficult things, not because of 118 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,920 anyone's depth of knowledge, and also, even more important, not 119 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:19,040 because of worldly success. We tend to think that someone is 120 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,360 wise because there are millionaires or because they are 121 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:27,320 billionaires, so they must be wise if they can accumulate all 122 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:33,680 these things. And again, James says not So 123 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,640 that's the way the world may see wisdom, but that's not godly 124 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,640 wisdom. True, Miss, true wisdom is not 125 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:49,480 measured by how 1 teaches. It's not measured by what one 126 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:53,400 has. But true and godly wisdom is 127 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:56,160 measured by how one lives their life. 128 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:02,720 It's measured by how we demonstrate godliness in our 129 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,640 lives. Look at what he says here. 130 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,200 Who is wise and understanding among you? 131 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:18,480 Let him show not, let him tell it, not let him possess it, but 132 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:27,160 let him show by good conduct or godly conduct that his works are 133 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:33,000 done in the meekness of wisdom. Let him show, let us show that 134 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,600 we are wise not by what we say, but by what we do. 135 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:40,680 How do we live our life? Do we live wisely? 136 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:48,120 You know, it was King Saul who said that David behaved himself 137 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:54,040 wisely, because when Saul was attacking him and doing all 138 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:59,640 these things, David continued to abide in the law of the Lord, 139 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,480 and saw himself who was an enemy to David, said that David 140 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:10,040 behaved himself wisely. James over in 218. 141 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:14,920 He says I will show you my faith by my works. 142 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:17,840 I'll show you my faith by what I do. 143 00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:25,760 So here he's saying that he who is wise is one who shows it by a 144 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:31,600 good conduct, shows that his works are done in meekness and 145 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:36,560 wisdom. Matthew 19 Now I'm sorry, 146 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:42,800 Matthew 1119, Jesus said this. He said wisdom is justified by 147 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:49,200 her children. So a person who was wise, they 148 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:53,600 are approved or they are shown to be wise by what their life 149 00:11:53,600 --> 00:12:00,760 produces. So what is this meekness or this 150 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:04,840 gentleness of wisdom? It's having strength under 151 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:09,640 control. It's humility, patience, and a 152 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:13,760 desire to help others rather than assert dominance. 153 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:18,320 A wise person doesn't have to walk around and exert his 154 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,600 authority. Jesus was a wise man and he had 155 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:23,680 didn't have to exert his authority. 156 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:31,920 He was meek and he was lonely. The meek and the the meek only 157 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:36,160 seeks to glorify God, not the praise of men. 158 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:41,240 Meekness is a fruit of the Spirit and not of self will. 159 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:46,960 One can conjure up the fruit of being meek or the fruit of being 160 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:49,840 humble. That comes through the power of 161 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,520 the Holy Spirit. Jesus demonstrated to the 162 00:12:54,520 --> 00:13:01,200 disciples when he said He who is greatest in the Kingdom is least 163 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,840 among all. He who is the greatest is a 164 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:07,240 servant of all. He demonstrated that by washing 165 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:12,600 the disciples feet and, and, and, and Peter didn't understand 166 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,080 that because Peter said, wait a minute, that's not the way it's 167 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,200 supposed to go. Peter was using worldly wisdom. 168 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,160 He was thinking and worldly wisdom. 169 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:22,040 He said that's not the way it's supposed to go. 170 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,520 Jesus, you got this thing wrong. You see you, you are the 171 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,640 Messiah, you're the one of all authority. 172 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,160 We are under you. We should be washing your feet, 173 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:37,600 we should be serving you. Jesus says if you don't 174 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:42,000 understand what I'm doing here, then you can't be a part of me 175 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,400 because that's not what the Kingdom of God is about. 176 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:54,040 If you came into this church and you only thing that you saw was 177 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:58,760 the leaders being served all the time and never serving anybody 178 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:03,160 or the leaders expecting to be served and never serving 179 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:08,640 anybody, that's not of God, that is not of God. 180 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,280 Jesus says that to teach that the the the servant is not 181 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:20,320 greater than the master. So if he serves, why shouldn't 182 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:26,280 we? That's worldly wisdom that says 183 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:30,040 that the the one that's on the in the position of authority 184 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,840 should be served. Jesus. 185 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,680 He disproved that by washing the disciples feet. 186 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,280 He was meek. You see, meekness is the right 187 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:45,280 use of power and wisdom is the right use of knowledge. 188 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:52,960 Not only was Jesus just walking in wisdom, not only was he meek, 189 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:57,160 but he the Bible says that He was gentle and lowly in heart. 190 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,760 This was in his heart to be lowly and to be meek. 191 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,240 Now we two were called to be meek and to be gentle before the 192 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,600 world. In Philippians four and five, 193 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:11,800 Paul said, let your gentleness be known to all men, for the 194 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:16,960 Lord is at hand. So walking in the spirit of the 195 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:21,880 Lord is, it can be shown, it can be observed, it can be 196 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:27,400 demonstrated to others that we're living a life of meekness 197 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:31,680 and humility. And please do not confuse 198 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:36,520 meekness and gentleness and humility with weakness. 199 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:41,960 It is not weak. It takes someone a lot more 200 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:49,120 strength to maintain meekness and humility under trying 201 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:55,720 situations then what it does to try to exert dominance and 202 00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:01,800 power. Jesus is our wisdom. 203 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:06,440 The Bible tells us that in First Corinthians one in 30. 204 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,920 Jesus Christ is our wisdom, and He is our righteousness, and 205 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:14,040 He's our sanctification, and He's our redemption. 206 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:24,560 Now then in verse 14 he now moves and he begins to talk 207 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,800 about what worldly wisdom is and what it produces. 208 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:34,200 So in verse 14 he says, But if you have bitter envy and self 209 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:39,000 seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 210 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:44,480 James warns his listeners here to be careful not to see this 211 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:48,280 worldly wisdom as something to boast about. 212 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:55,480 And if you have these issues of bitter envy and self seeking, 213 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:57,600 don't think that that's something that you should be 214 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,640 proud of or boast about it, because then you're just lying 215 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:03,880 against the truth. That is not godly wisdom. 216 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:10,960 That's wisdom of this world. Yeah, he says. 217 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,960 Don't deceive yourselves about this. 218 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:18,400 The world promotes envy. You know, it's, it's amazing, 219 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:22,480 but the world actually promotes envy and covetousness. 220 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:28,520 It promotes those who have material gain, the people who 221 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:32,000 have the most material gain, the people who have the most 222 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,680 possessions, the most toys, the most wealth. 223 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:38,320 Those are the people that the world promotes. 224 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,080 You never see me on the cover of Time magazine. 225 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:52,880 I ain't got no money, so nobody's going to buy that 226 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:58,720 edition of it anyway. But the world promotes that. 227 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,920 The more material gained, the higher and the more visible 228 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:07,080 people become the people with the most gain. 229 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:10,160 The world says that successful people decide. 230 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:13,440 They give you a pattern, they give you a prescription for this 231 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,680 thing. Successful people decide what 232 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,320 they want for themselves and they set a goal and make a plan 233 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:24,480 to achieve it. It's selfish ambition because 234 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,000 that plan is all about me. It's all about me. 235 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:30,920 And the thing that we have to understand is with this selfish 236 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,200 ambition, The selfish ambition means I'm going to achieve this 237 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:41,120 goal no matter what, no matter what I have to do, no matter who 238 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:46,080 I have to step on, no matter who I have to slander, no matter who 239 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:50,400 I have to displace, I'm going to achieve my goal. 240 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:57,520 I believe the the reason why we have layoffs in this country is 241 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,680 because of the selfish ambition of corporate leaders who don't 242 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:06,600 want to make less money. So they get rid of my position, 243 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,000 they can make more. They get rid of your position, 244 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:13,640 they can make more because that's selfish ambition. 245 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:19,560 Now the world says and corporate says that's wise, that's wise, 246 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,280 but not in the economy of the Kingdom. 247 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:31,360 This encourages people to be lovers of self and not lovers of 248 00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:34,480 God and others. So when the world promotes those 249 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:38,960 who who have bitter envy and selfish ambition in their hearts 250 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,880 and promotes those who achieve wealth and have a lot of money 251 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:48,400 and material gain, the message is that self ambition play pays 252 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,480 off. It pays off to be selfish. 253 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,120 It pays off to have this envy. Let's talk a little bit, just 254 00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:59,600 for a couple minutes, about this whole issue of bitter envy. 255 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:06,760 Bitter envy is a hostile or resentful and very selfish form 256 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:11,320 of jealousy. It's hostile. 257 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:16,280 It's a greedy and a prideful longing for something that 258 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:20,400 belongs to somebody else. Possession. 259 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,480 It could be a position, it could be a skill, or even someone's 260 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:29,240 favor or praise. They get jealous, they get 261 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,600 resentful of somebody who has these things and they become 262 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:39,680 envious. You know, I've told you several 263 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:43,360 times that I like skill. I'm attracted to skill. 264 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:46,800 When I see somebody that has skill, I just can't take my eyes 265 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,080 off of what they're doing and the way that they're doing it. 266 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:51,360 And it doesn't have to be one thing. 267 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:53,960 I mean, anybody who just have skill, you could be a plumber 268 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:55,600 with skill. I want to see what you're doing. 269 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,800 I want to watch you. You know, I'm amazed that, you 270 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:01,040 know, when I used to, you know, when I used to work at Schmel 271 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:04,560 Rich over here used to be like one of the master technicians 272 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:05,800 over there. He has skill. 273 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:08,160 He has skill. There were people who would go 274 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:13,120 and ask, find him to ask him how to do certain things, his skill, 275 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,560 knowledge of these things when I was younger. 276 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:19,200 And this may be something you didn't know about me. 277 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,000 So trivia question, what didn't you know about Louis? 278 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:23,280 You're going to find something out today. 279 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:26,880 I used to love the bass. Well, I still do. 280 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,160 I love the bass guitar. I love the bass guitar. 281 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:33,720 I actually tried to play that one time when I was younger. 282 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,600 Now, I wasn't good. I'm not saying I was good, but I 283 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:41,520 did try to play it. And when I listen to songs, my 284 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:46,360 ear goes right to the bass line. It goes straight to the bass 285 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:47,960 line. I'm going to hear what the bass 286 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,520 player is doing. So when I see Daniel up here 287 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:55,320 playing, I'm amazed and how gifted he is. 288 00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:01,760 I'm amazed and and I like singing. 289 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:06,160 I Can't Sing, but I love those who can. 290 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:09,720 My sisters used to always say, boy, if you could sing, you'd be 291 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:14,280 dangerous because I used to sing all the time when I was younger, 292 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,960 but I couldn't. But when I hear Gina and all the 293 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:21,240 other singers up here, Carolina and, and Jacob and all these 294 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:24,680 other singers that come up here and sing, Laura and all, and 295 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:29,840 just hear how their voices blend, how beautiful that is. 296 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:36,240 Now, if I was a resentful person, then I would feel like, 297 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,240 well, how come I can't be up there doing that? 298 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,320 Why can't I be on that base? Why can't I be over here in 299 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:47,240 front of that Mike singing? So if I get resentful, then I 300 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:51,400 start to do things to sabotage what they're doing because I 301 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:56,520 feel like I should be there. I get selfish ambition. 302 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,440 And and so I'm going to do whatever is going to promote me. 303 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:02,480 So I'm going to, you know, I'm going to request to sing a solo. 304 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:06,680 I'm going to request to take, you know, to, to play that bass 305 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:10,760 one Sunday. No one I can play but out of out 306 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:16,360 of envy, out of jealousy. If it gets in my heart, then I 307 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:21,440 begin to do things that would cause a problem for the body and 308 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,520 that would be a problem for the body because you don't want to 309 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:27,440 hear me up here singing. That would be a problem for the 310 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:31,880 body. So that, but that's what it 311 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,800 does. It's a greedy, prideful longing. 312 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:38,760 How can't I be in the line? How come I can't play like he 313 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,080 plays, sing like they sing. I can do it. 314 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:49,880 You know, it's that envy that throughout the Bible people 315 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:54,520 became victims of envy and give me because people were overtaken 316 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,280 by envy. And this, this, this bitter 317 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:00,120 envy. It started way back in Genesis. 318 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:07,160 What Cain he killed Abel because he was envious, because Cain 319 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:11,960 Abel's sacrifice was accepted and Abel and Cain's wasn't. 320 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,840 He became envious and he killed his brother. 321 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:20,520 Yes, envy can't even resort in murder. 322 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:26,760 Jacob's sons, they were envious and jealous of Joseph. 323 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,720 They wanted to kill him but ended up putting him in a a pit 324 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:35,400 and selling them into slavery. Now we look at that and we said, 325 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,480 boy, how terrible that was. I mean, I certainly wouldn't 326 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,600 want my brothers to be that. So brothers, if you guys get 327 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,560 upset with me, come and talk to me about it, OK? 328 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:46,120 Don't throw me in a pit somewhere. 329 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,520 But envy, that's what it did. And and then of course you had 330 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,560 Saul, who became envious of David. 331 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,960 And because he was so envious of David, he wanted to kill him. 332 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,240 Why? Because the people gave him 333 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:07,880 praise and they gave him accolades that Saul felt should 334 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:13,200 be his. So he almost upset. 335 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:19,640 He upset the whole nation because he wanted what David 336 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:24,360 had. That's envy, bitter envy, and 337 00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:27,440 selfish ambition. It's all about me. 338 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,080 Envy makes makes one critical of other people. 339 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,320 It breeds contention and destroys unity and brings 340 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:40,000 disorder to the church. I pray that we never have to 341 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,400 deal with envy. I pray that envy never enters my 342 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:48,280 heart and I begin to do things out of envy instead of do things 343 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:53,680 out of love because it will upset a church, it will destroy 344 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:55,600 a church, it will separate a church. 345 00:25:57,880 --> 00:25:59,520 It does the same thing in families. 346 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:02,760 It does the same thing in family. 347 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,360 It is Satan's, one of Satan's plans or one of the seeds that 348 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:09,920 he sows into the heart to cause chaos. 349 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,200 And we have to be mine for that. So now let's look at selfish 350 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,360 ambition for a couple minutes. Selfish ambition, another word 351 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:20,080 that was used for that is strife. 352 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:24,240 And that's like a party spirit. And actually it's like an old 353 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,760 Greek term that was used for politicians who was always 354 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,200 canvassing for, for votes. You know, the, the, the person 355 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:34,680 who was selfish, ambitious, he's the person that wanted 356 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:38,200 everything for themselves. So they would canvas from votes, 357 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,880 so they would go to people and they would try to get people on 358 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:44,120 their side to see their side and be against the other side. 359 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,120 It's a power move. It's a power move. 360 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,800 And it cause, of course, it causes division in the church. 361 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:55,880 It causes division and rivalry when people try to politic 362 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,040 almost to try to get people on their side. 363 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:00,320 They have a position that they want to take and they want 364 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,520 everybody else to be on that side. 365 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:08,120 This is not wisdom from above. This is worldly wisdom to do 366 00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:12,160 that. So it convinces people for their 367 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,160 support, to support, to support their position. 368 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,800 They see people As for themselves or either either for 369 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:24,560 them or against them, self seeking and self-serving, and it 370 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,080 creates this rival and division in the church as well. 371 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,960 Philippians 2 and three says, let nothing be done through 372 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:37,160 selfish ambition. Nothing, nothing, but in 373 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:41,880 lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than 374 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:44,520 themselves or more important than themselves. 375 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:47,480 In verse 15. Verse 15 says the wisdom. 376 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,560 This wisdom does not descend from above, but it is earthly, 377 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:55,000 it's sensual, and it's demonic. It's kind of important that we 378 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,680 kind of deal with that a little slower as well. 379 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:03,360 It is demonic wisdom that comes from the heart of envy and 380 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:07,800 selfish ambition is not of the Lord. 381 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:13,960 It's not of the Lord, but it's earthly meaning that it's only 382 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,560 concern with the things of this life. 383 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:19,760 It doesn't look at things beyond this life. 384 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,320 It doesn't doesn't even consider the things beyond this life. 385 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,560 It's just all about this thing. When you hear somebody say I'm 386 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:30,360 living my best life now, that's because they're only looking at 387 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:35,760 their life here. No real trust or faith in what's 388 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:43,160 the what's to come afterwards. We are to live here like this is 389 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:47,800 not our home. We're soul joiners. 390 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,520 We're pilgrims. We're just coming through. 391 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:57,640 Our home is heaven. Our home is with Jesus Christ. 392 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:02,920 Our home is in glory. That's our home. 393 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,920 But while we're here, we do the work of the Lord. 394 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:14,880 While we're here, the other one is sensual or unspiritual, which 395 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:16,240 means that's like being like an animal. 396 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:19,120 It's being animal like, and it's concerned only with the 397 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:21,480 gratifications and passions of the flesh. 398 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:27,840 This, this influence causes me to always look at what I can do 399 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:33,120 to please my flesh, whether physical, emotional, or whatever 400 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:38,040 it may be. Always looking to please me and 401 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:42,200 always says demonic. Demonic is means that it's 402 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,520 influenced by demonic activity or control. 403 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:50,160 It's not possession. Those who are saved cannot be 404 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,280 possessed by the devil. Let's clear that up. 405 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:59,440 If you are saved, you cannot be possessed by the devil, but you 406 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:03,400 can be influenced by demonic activity. 407 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:10,000 You cannot be possessed, but you can be oppressed by demonic 408 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,200 activity. If you allow your heart to be 409 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:15,880 open to that. He will come in. 410 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:22,480 He will try to come in and influence you to do demonic type 411 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:26,120 things. This the apostle John says this. 412 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:29,880 He says all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, 413 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:32,200 the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. 414 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:36,800 This is not of the Father, but it's of the world. 415 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:42,280 So this selfish ambition and this bitter envy is not of the 416 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:48,120 Lord, it's of the world. But the next verse, verse 1617 417 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:51,120 on that is probably even the most important. 418 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:55,960 He says the world is passing away in the lust of it the 419 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,240 world. That means the world and, and, 420 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:03,160 and the worldly ways, the worldly principles, the worldly 421 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,320 way of thinking, all that is passing away. 422 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:11,280 The Bible says, do not, you know, do not be envious of evil 423 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,800 doers because they will soon be cut off like the grass. 424 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,240 All that's passing away. Oh, it seems like it's so great 425 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,640 when we're here experiencing it, when somebody has so much 426 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:26,760 success or so much money and they have this way of thinking 427 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:28,880 that just looks like they're always having a good time, 428 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:30,960 they're always having pleasure. They look like they're just 429 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,880 having the time of their life. Young people, I specifically 430 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:38,960 want to talk to you about this. Kids your age will sound like 431 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:45,040 they're having the time of their life, living reckless lives, 432 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,600 sinful lives. And we'll talk about you and 433 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:53,000 we'll make you feel set apart, will make you feel isolated 434 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:58,120 because you're not like them. Young people, hold on, hold on, 435 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:03,360 Don't fall for that. That life is temporary. 436 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:07,440 The life you live of obedience to the word of God, that is 437 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:14,000 eternal, that is eternal. I wish somebody would have said 438 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:19,960 that to me. So he says in that that that 439 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:22,720 verse. He says that the world and the 440 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:28,280 worldly things are passing away. But he who does the will of God, 441 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:34,480 not the will, not his own will, or not the will of envy, not 442 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:37,560 those who you know, not the will of those who achieves his own 443 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:42,320 selfish ambition, but those who do the will of God abides 444 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:44,760 forever. Colossians 3. 445 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:48,760 One and two says, if, if then you are raised with Christ, seek 446 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,160 those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the 447 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:54,280 right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, 448 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,680 on heavenly wisdom, and not the things that are on the earth 449 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:04,600 which is earthly wisdom. Verse 16, Verse 16 says this. 450 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:13,120 For where envy and self seeking exists, confusion and every evil 451 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:17,480 thing are there. Now just to recap, previously 452 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,760 James taught us that there is a saving faith and a dead faith. 453 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:28,040 There is a pure and undefiled religion and there is a useless 454 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:31,200 religion. And now he's teaching us. 455 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:35,880 He's saying there is a heavenly wisdom in a worldly or false 456 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:40,280 wisdom, and that wisdom is earthly, essential and it's 457 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:44,800 demonic. And they are marked and rooted 458 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:54,560 in envy, in self ambition. It's rooted in that. 459 00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:59,320 So James, and we have to remember, James is writing to 460 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:00,960 believers. It's not like he's writing to a 461 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:03,560 bunch of unbelievers. He's writing to believers. 462 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,240 So these are people in the church that he's writing to it. 463 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,760 It can be, it's us. It's us. 464 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,239 Because to be honest with you, there's times that I know I have 465 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:16,560 been envious and there's times I've experienced selfish 466 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:19,719 ambition. I think we all have. 467 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:24,880 We were if, if we're honest, we could probably admit that we 468 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:28,920 were raised that way. We were raised with you. 469 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:30,920 Look, you got to take care of you. 470 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:36,280 So you go to school, you go to college and you get a good 471 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:42,440 education and you get you a good job that pays you a lot of money 472 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:48,960 so you can take care of you. No one ever said, look, when you 473 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,880 go to college, I want you to pray about what it is that the 474 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:56,600 Lord wants you to do. What is the Lord want you to be? 475 00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,280 No one ever said that to me ever. 476 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:03,200 It was all about, hey, go get yours, man. 477 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:04,800 If you do this, you'll get yours. 478 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:06,400 You'll get money. You have a fat bank account. 479 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:08,320 You better drive this kind of car, that kind of car. 480 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,080 It was all about selfish ambition, achieving my goals and 481 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:18,320 doing what I want, James said. That's the wisdom of the world. 482 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:23,240 That's the wisdom of the world. So he's writing to believers 483 00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:26,400 about that and he says so. He's warning us right here in 484 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:29,720 the Church, the operating under the influence of earthly, 485 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:34,920 central and demonic wisdom and not operating under the Holy 486 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:39,960 Spirit nor heavenly wisdom. Now, what is the results? 487 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,880 What are the results of operating under this worldly 488 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:46,360 wisdom, the results of this bitter envy? 489 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,040 What are the results of this self seeking and or self 490 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:53,080 ambition in our hearts? What's the result of that? 491 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,600 He tells us that here in verse 16. 492 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:01,480 He said it brings nothing but confusion in every evil thing. 493 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:05,560 Confusion, and that's exactly what it is, bought being 494 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:09,400 selfish. Selfish ambition and being 495 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:13,360 envious has done nothing in this world but brought confusion, 496 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:18,760 chaos, and it has brought every evil thing. 497 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:22,120 The world right now is a ball of confusion. 498 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:24,680 Am I remember that song by the Temptations? 499 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:30,760 The ball of confusion. Remember that song for us? 500 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:36,200 A brief minute last night when I was looking at this, I thought 501 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:42,560 about singing one verse, but that was my selfish ambition 502 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:47,760 that kicked in and the Lord said, boy, you know better than 503 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:53,760 that. That's worldly wisdom for you to 504 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:57,600 stand up there and try to sing. So I'm going to just read you a 505 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:06,480 section of the lyric now. You have no, no, no, no, no, no, 506 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:11,600 no, no. Now you have to remember the 507 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:13,880 temptations had steps when they did everything right. 508 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,720 I'm not doing that either. But I I just want you to think 509 00:37:18,720 --> 00:37:24,200 about that as we think, as we look through these verses, OK, 510 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,480 he says. Think about the song now. 511 00:37:27,240 --> 00:37:29,280 People moving out, people moving in. 512 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:31,280 Why? Because of the color of their 513 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:33,760 skin. Run, run, run. 514 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:37,880 But you sure can't hide an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. 515 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:40,360 Vote for me and I'll set you free. 516 00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:45,560 Rap on, brother, rap on. Well, the only person talking 517 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:47,800 about love thy brother is the preacher. 518 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:53,600 And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the teacher. 519 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,440 Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration, 520 00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:02,040 aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation. 521 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,400 Ball of confusion, You guys remember that? 522 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:08,840 And you know what? We still have a ball of 523 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:12,120 confusion today. Now that was written back in 524 00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:20,040 1970, believe it or not. I know it made me feel old. 1970 525 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:22,960 and we still have this ball of confusion. 526 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:26,880 Where are we confused? Well, we have confusion now with 527 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,360 sexual preferences. We have men who want to be with 528 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,800 men and we have women that want to be with women. 529 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:37,080 Confused. We have gender confusion. 530 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:40,760 We have boys that want to be girls and girls that now want to 531 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,280 be boys. We have identity confusion. 532 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:50,480 We have humans that want to be animals, and that's the truth. 533 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:54,080 And if you ever met my dog, you will see an animal that want to 534 00:38:54,080 --> 00:39:00,240 be human. It's moral confusion. 535 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:04,640 We're in the time now where the culture says that what's good 536 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:08,760 meaning the word of God and the morals of the Bible, those 537 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:13,080 things are bad. And the things that are bad, the 538 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:17,960 way of this world, you know, sexual immorality and and 539 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:22,680 liberalism and all these other things that are contrary to the 540 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:26,240 word of God, those things are considered good. 541 00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:34,400 Wow. And it doesn't even stop there. 542 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:36,040 I wish the list did, but it doesn't. 543 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:39,480 But we also have churches that are even confused about who 544 00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:46,880 Jesus is, confused about who He is and what he came to do. 545 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:51,520 We got churches that are confused about who should be 546 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:53,600 pastors and who shouldn't be pastors. 547 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,920 There's some churches you could probably go to and a person 548 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:03,760 stands up in the pulpit who you think is a woman and is actually 549 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:10,240 a man and vice versa. We're living in a ball of 550 00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:16,000 confusion. So it says also every evil 551 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:21,480 things you see, selfish ambition, bitter envy, all those 552 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,680 kind of things is about what satisfies me. 553 00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:27,880 And that's how we got here. That's how we got here. 554 00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:32,960 Somebody just wanted to do what satisfied them so. 555 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:36,000 And he says also every evil thing are there. 556 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:39,920 Eventually the sins of bitter envy and selfish ambition will 557 00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:43,680 begin to keep company with other sins like deceit, wrath, 558 00:40:43,720 --> 00:40:48,280 slander, lying, idolatry, hatred, adultery, even 559 00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:53,000 self-serving, self satisfying. Me. 560 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:57,240 I'm not just satisfied with my wife or with my husband. 561 00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:00,640 I want their husband or their wife. 562 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:03,600 And even murder, yes, even murder. 563 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:06,480 Not only just the physical killing of somebody, because 564 00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:12,480 people can be moved by envy to kill someone out of envy, but 565 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,720 also the killing of 1's reputation, the killing of 1's 566 00:41:15,720 --> 00:41:18,400 character, the killing of 1's integrity. 567 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:21,200 And I'm sad to say, but it's true. 568 00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:25,600 Also the killing of our children's innocence. 569 00:41:27,720 --> 00:41:30,760 When you have kids in elementary school that are going to school 570 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:35,320 and they're already being introduced to this gender ISM 571 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:38,800 this, this this. Girls that want to be boys and 572 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:41,920 boys that want to be girls, and girls saying that my girlfriend 573 00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:49,640 was over my house last night and boys are saying my boyfriend was 574 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:52,440 over my house. And teachers that are enforcing 575 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:55,680 this freedom of expressing yourself. 576 00:41:57,680 --> 00:41:59,840 And you don't have to let your parents know about it. 577 00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:05,400 Just do it. Yeah, we're in a ball of 578 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,440 confusion. That's every evil thing, and it 579 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,920 breeds those things. Envy and selfishness and self 580 00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:20,240 ambition breeds those things. So this worldly wisdom is only 581 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:24,160 for the here and now. It only serves to fulfill our 582 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:27,080 selfish ambitions and our appetites here on earth. 583 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:33,040 But this kind of wisdom is from the evil 1 and it does no good 584 00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:35,440 for those who are seeking eternal life. 585 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:38,880 Doesn't do any good for that at all. 586 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:41,960 But then in 17, he tells us and we're about to come in for a 587 00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:45,880 closing. In verse 17 it says, but the 588 00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:49,720 wisdom that is from above is first pure. 589 00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:52,680 And I just want to say that the contrast to this worldly wisdom 590 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:58,840 is godly or heavenly wisdom. And this wisdom is from above. 591 00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:03,640 It's living in obedience to God's will, to His Word and to 592 00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:08,760 His ways. This wisdom is about trusting 593 00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:12,600 God for our provision and not trying to manipulate things and 594 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:18,080 people to get what we want. Those with godly wisdom submit 595 00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:20,800 themselves to God and not their own selfish desires. 596 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:25,120 They're others oriented and not self oriented. 597 00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:30,120 Jesus is our example of one who was others oriented. 598 00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:35,000 If you look at Mark 10 and 45, Jesus said for even the Son of 599 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:39,280 man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his 600 00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:42,880 life a ransom for many. So we look quickly at the 601 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:50,800 characteristics of godly or the characteristics of, of, of, of 602 00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:54,880 heavenly wisdom, He said it's first pure. 603 00:43:55,320 --> 00:44:00,440 It's first pure. The pure heart is the foundation 604 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:02,960 of everything else that he's going to mention after this. 605 00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:06,000 But it starts with having a pure heart. 606 00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:09,800 And a pure heart is 1 of holiness. 607 00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:12,760 It's undivided. It's undefiled. 608 00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:18,040 It's a chaste heart. To be pure of heart means that 609 00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:23,000 my motives and attitude are free from sin. 610 00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:28,160 My motives are not to do something against somebody else, 611 00:44:30,240 --> 00:44:32,480 but it's pure. It's to glorify God. 612 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:36,200 It's to love that person. I'm doing it out of love for 613 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:39,320 this person. I'm not doing it out of anger or 614 00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:43,920 resentment. Now, man's wisdom leads to a 615 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:48,440 sinful life, while God's wisdom leads to a pure life. 616 00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:53,080 See, the closer our fellowship is with the Lord, the closer our 617 00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:56,920 fellowship is with the Holy Spirit, the more pure our lives 618 00:44:56,920 --> 00:45:00,920 become. The more pure our lives become. 619 00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:05,520 The voice of the Holy Spirit is so much louder to us. 620 00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:09,280 We feel so close to Him because we're walking in obedience to 621 00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:10,920 Him. So we feel a fellowship. 622 00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:16,160 That's wisdom that comes from above. 623 00:45:17,920 --> 00:45:20,600 Matthew 5 and eight said, Blessed are the pure in heart, 624 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:25,720 for they shall see God who sees God, those who have a pure 625 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:29,040 heart. And Psalms 24, three and four 626 00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:33,880 says, Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who may 627 00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:38,600 stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a 628 00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:43,960 pure heart, he has who has not lifted up his soul to an idol. 629 00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:49,320 The idols of money or the idols of, of, of, of self, or the 630 00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:54,720 idols of, of lust, have not lifted up his soul to those 631 00:45:54,720 --> 00:46:00,280 things. He is not sworn deceitfully. 632 00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:02,600 And then there's the peaceable, then peaceable. 633 00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:05,800 So first it has to be pure. We have to have that 634 00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:10,840 characteristic first and then peaceable or peace loving. 635 00:46:11,640 --> 00:46:17,640 And that's one. One cannot truly have peace or 636 00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:20,680 be peace loving with an impure heart. 637 00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:22,720 You got to do it with a pure heart. 638 00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:28,200 And that peace loving is one who has a desire to ease conflict, 639 00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:32,760 not create it. They seek peace and pursue it. 640 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:39,120 Man's wisdom leads to rivalry and division in the church, but 641 00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:42,560 godly wisdom leads to peace that passes all understanding. 642 00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:46,360 But this peace is not at any cost. 643 00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:52,280 This isn't saying peace you know for, you know at any cost or it 644 00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:54,960 for or by any means. That's not what this is about. 645 00:46:56,320 --> 00:47:00,760 Because if you have peace by covering up sin or you thinking 646 00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:04,360 you're keeping peace by overlooking sin, you don't 647 00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:07,280 really have peace just sitting on a on a powder keg that 648 00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:11,880 eventually will blow. But it's more important to have 649 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:14,360 purity and holiness in the church than it is to have this 650 00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:25,450 fake peace in the church. We can always go to the Prince 651 00:47:25,450 --> 00:47:28,730 of Peace to restore our peace. And when we walk in God's 652 00:47:29,530 --> 00:47:33,530 obedience, He will take care of our peace. 653 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:36,120 He will make sure that we have peace. 654 00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:42,000 We can't create it on our own. Isaiah 32 and 17 says the work 655 00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:45,640 of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness 656 00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:50,440 quietness and assurance forever. Praise and worship team, please 657 00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:54,880 come forth. The next one is gentle. 658 00:47:55,080 --> 00:48:01,240 That means meek but not weak, sweet, reasonableness considered 659 00:48:01,240 --> 00:48:06,800 of others, not looking to fight, but neither will he compromise 660 00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:10,640 truth to avoid 1. The gentle person is looking to 661 00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:13,640 serve and not looking to cause problems. 662 00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:17,040 Matthew 5 and five says blessed all the meek, for they shall 663 00:48:17,040 --> 00:48:26,320 inherit the earth. And I'm going to stop here 664 00:48:27,200 --> 00:48:32,120 because I know we have our agape meal today, so please put a a 665 00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:34,960 marker there and we'll pick that up and we come back next week, 666 00:48:35,120 --> 00:48:38,280 Amen. Y'all come back with me next 667 00:48:38,280 --> 00:48:42,000 week, OK? Thank you, Amen. 668 00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:44,200 God is so good. God is so good. 669 00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:48,080 You know, as I was going through this and I think about how Jesus 670 00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:53,360 Christ walked along the earth, I think about how he blessed so 671 00:48:53,360 --> 00:48:58,120 many, how he was, how everything he did was about somebody else. 672 00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:02,360 Even when he ran into people who were involved in sin, he wanted 673 00:49:02,360 --> 00:49:05,760 to make it clear that yes, you know, I'm not condemning you. 674 00:49:06,240 --> 00:49:08,400 I'm not putting you down. I'm not going to reject you, but 675 00:49:08,400 --> 00:49:12,120 I want you to be clear and you got to go and sin no more. 676 00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:16,080 It is yet a sin. I'm not overlooking this sin 677 00:49:16,080 --> 00:49:18,080 because I want I don't want you to just get along with me 678 00:49:18,080 --> 00:49:19,720 because you think I'm overlooking your sin. 679 00:49:19,720 --> 00:49:22,280 I am not. But I want your life to be even 680 00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:24,360 more enriched. I want your life to be fuller. 681 00:49:24,480 --> 00:49:28,680 I want your life to be more pure and you'll enjoy it more. 682 00:49:28,920 --> 00:49:31,960 So please go and send no more. But I'm not going to condemn 683 00:49:31,960 --> 00:49:35,440 you, and nor is this about condemning anybody. 684 00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:39,720 We all are growing in Christ Jesus, every one of us, and 685 00:49:39,720 --> 00:49:44,320 we're growing every day. As we go into His Word, He shows 686 00:49:44,320 --> 00:49:49,360 us areas of our lives which we need to grow and become more and 687 00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:53,320 more like His Son Jesus Christ. And that's the beauty of this 688 00:49:53,320 --> 00:49:56,440 walk, and that's why. And that's the beauty of having 689 00:49:56,440 --> 00:49:59,640 a church that you can join. If you're new and you're 690 00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:04,040 thinking about a church that you want to join, consider a church 691 00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:07,360 who understands that we have weaknesses. 692 00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:11,520 None of us are perfect. None of us can sit in a seat of 693 00:50:11,520 --> 00:50:15,240 judgment because we're too busy laying on the seat of mercy. 694 00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:20,560 We have to acknowledge that we all need God's mercy. 695 00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:22,920 And that's what we're doing here every week. 696 00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:28,280 We're not here judging anybody, but this purifies us, this 697 00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:33,560 thanks to this sanctifies us, and it causes us to be more like 698 00:50:33,560 --> 00:50:37,920 Jesus Christ. So as we go into a communion, 699 00:50:38,920 --> 00:50:44,840 let us consider that Jesus did sacrifice himself so that we 700 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:49,680 could have this eternal life and that we can live a life of godly 701 00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:54,320 wisdom. Godly wisdom, not wisdom that 702 00:50:54,320 --> 00:50:57,960 will cause confusion. Jesus never brought confusion 703 00:50:58,480 --> 00:51:00,920 everywhere. He when he brought peace. 704 00:51:02,120 --> 00:51:05,840 Now if there were those who were contrary to the word of God, 705 00:51:06,240 --> 00:51:12,440 they had their own confusion. But Jesus, he came with peace, 706 00:51:13,520 --> 00:51:19,880 he came lowly, he came meek even to the point when he went to the 707 00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:22,280 cross, the Bible says he said not a word. 708 00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:26,000 He was like a a sheep going to the slaughter, never said 709 00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:29,560 anything. He just went in obedience to his 710 00:51:29,560 --> 00:51:35,280 father. And I'm so grateful to him for 711 00:51:35,280 --> 00:51:39,920 that. When he hung on that cross, he 712 00:51:39,920 --> 00:51:44,080 could have come down, He could have freed himself from that 713 00:51:44,080 --> 00:51:45,880 cross and destroyed everybody around him. 714 00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:48,360 But he didn't. He stayed there and I'm so glad 715 00:51:48,360 --> 00:51:52,800 he did because my sins were covered under that blood, my 716 00:51:52,800 --> 00:51:56,080 sins were washed clean under that blood. 717 00:51:56,280 --> 00:52:03,760 His body was broken for my sins. So on the night in which Jesus 718 00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:09,600 was betrayed, he took the bread and after he gave thanks, he 719 00:52:09,600 --> 00:52:12,280 broken. And he said that he said, eat 720 00:52:14,360 --> 00:52:17,160 this is my body which is broken for you. 721 00:52:18,680 --> 00:52:21,600 So take it and eat it. And as often as you eat it, eat 722 00:52:21,600 --> 00:52:29,160 it in remembrance of me. And he also took the blood, the 723 00:52:29,160 --> 00:52:33,440 the cup, which is symbolic of his blood. 724 00:52:35,800 --> 00:52:41,640 And he said, this is a new covenant in my blood. 725 00:52:44,480 --> 00:52:50,680 And he shed a lot of blood, but his blood washed away the stain 726 00:52:50,720 --> 00:52:57,160 of our sins. So he said, drink this, and as 727 00:52:57,160 --> 00:53:00,240 often as you drink it, drinking and remembrance of me. 728 00:53:04,320 --> 00:53:07,480 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do 729 00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:09,040 show the Lord's death till he come. 730 00:53:11,160 --> 00:53:13,280 The Lord bless you. The author is open for anyone 731 00:53:13,280 --> 00:53:15,960 who would like to come up. God bless you. 732 00:53:20,320 --> 00:53:22,280 Let's stand together one more time, if you can.