The Life of Wisdom

This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

For more information on our church, please visit Grandparkway.org.

We're preaching through the book of James, and we're in chapter three, starting in verse 13.

I want to talk to you today about godly wisdom.

About godly wisdom.

And before I start reading, let me just say this.

Right when I say godly wisdom, some of y'all are like, oops, that leaves me out.

I'm not very smart.

Wisdom is not about intellect, it's about willingness.

Let me give you my definition for wisdom.

Wisdom is the application and the integration of knowledge.

It's not what you know, it's what you do with what you know.

Wisdom, one more time, is the application and the implementation of knowledge.

Keep that in mind as we read this morning.

James chapter 3, verse 13.

James 3:13

James says, Who is wise in understanding among you?

By his good conduct, let him show his works by the meekness of wisdom.

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.

This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but it's earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vile practice.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

And a harvest of righteousness is produced in peace by those who make peace.

James is coming through chapter three.

He started off talking about, you know, let not many of you become preachers and teachers, because as such, you'll receive the stricter judgment.

And then he talked about the dangers of the tongue, and we talked about how the whole world is set on fire by your tongue if you're not careful.

And now he gets to this last part, and he says, Who's wise among you?

And there's some young people in the crowd, and there's some people that want positions of authority in the church, and they're like, Me, me.

And then he asks the question, Who's wise and understand it among you?

And then he says, Here's what it looks like.

And so I want to talk to you today about three things the life of wisdom, the source of wisdom, and then finally the consequence of wisdom.

The life of wisdom, number one, verses 13 and 14.

James says basically, if you want to see who is wise, don't listen to their words, just watch their lives.

And he says, there's two things you should look for.

Number one, good conduct.

And number two, meekness.

Now, when he says good conduct, he's getting down to this fundamental difference in the way Jews and Greeks viewed wisdom.

For the Jew, excuse me, we'll go with the Greeks first.

For the Greeks, wisdom was this, they thought of uh of wisdom in this philosophical, theoretical terms.

If you were a good debater, if you could win every argument, if you're a good public speaker and you knew you had a lot of intellect, that was great.

That's all that matters.

You are a wise person.

So what you could have in the Greek mindset, you could have great intellect and horrible immorality in the same person.

Well, the Jews come along and they look at wisdom a little bit differently.

Matter of fact, uh, the Jews viewed wisdom as a practical behavior based on the knowledge of God.

It involved simply actions that were rooted in knowledge.

And if you want to see the fundamental difference, if you're in James, turn to the left to the book of 1 Corinthians.

And Paul picks up on this difference in the way Greeks view wisdom and the way the Jewish people viewed wisdom.

1 Corinthians chapter 1, I'll start reading verse 18.

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

Verse 18, this is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

He says, For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing.

But to those of us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.

Verse 20 says, Who is the one who is wise?

Where is the scribe?

Where is the debater of this age?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

Don't miss the fact that God just said, Hey, I set it up to where you don't have to be a smart person.

It's not about the wisdom of the world.

That's not how you come to a relationship with me.

Verse 22, he says, For Jews demand signs, and Greeks seek wisdom.

But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles.

But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Paul is speaking to this kind of ingrained understanding that for them the life of wisdom was about intellect.

It was about the ability to win a debate or persuade an argument.

And he said, no, no, no.

From where we're coming from, when he talks about wisdom, it's about an integrated life.

It's not just knowing something, it's living it out.

And then secondly, James says in James 3 that it involves meekness.

This life of wisdom involves good conduct and meekness.

It refers to a mild disposition or a gentle spirit when you hear meekness.

Now, when you say that to a room where there are men in the room, you say the word meekness, that's when you kind of nudge your wife and go, he's talking to you there, honey.

Meekness.

That's kind of a woman thing.

Actually, it's a very strong masculine picture because let me give you a definition or a picture of meekness that applies to everybody.

Meekness is a fearless commitment to letting God have all the attention.

Meekness is a fearless commitment to letting God have all the attention.

It doesn't mean you're a doormat or you're mousy or you just kind of beat down and just kind of take it.

Hey, I'm just a Christian and I'm really wise, but you guys go ahead and rule the world.

Matter of fact, Jesus is speaking in the Sermon on the Mount, and he says, the meek will inherit the say it again.

See, God gives what God gives to people who know what to do with it.

And if you're wondering why God doesn't kind of give you more, it's probably because not because God's not able, it's probably because he knows that you're not, you don't really gonna know what to do.

That's why he gets into chapter 4, and he says, Yeah, you ask and you don't receive because you ask so you could consume it upon your lust.

Why would I give you something that you don't know what to do with it?

And so he kind of prepares us with this call to wisdom to say, hey, it's not about being a know-a-daw, it's about being a person who lives an integrated life.

Well, what does that look like?

If you're and you got your Bibles turned to the left to the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs chapter 3.

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

Proverbs.

If you don't have a Bible, it'll come up on the screen.

But I want, because you talk about wisdom and meekness, and people start thinking, oh, I don't know what this is going to be like.

Proverbs chapter 3, verse 13 to 18.

Proverbs 3:13–18

This is what the Bible says.

It's kind of a picture of what wisdom looks like.

He says, Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding.

For the gain from her is better than gain from silver, and her profit better than gold.

She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor.

He'd like to marry that woman.

Long life, the Bible says of wisdom, are in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

She's a tree of life to those who lay hold of her.

Those who hold her fast are called blessed.

See, the life of wisdom, the Bible describes it in multitude of places.

And don't just sing Solomon, think yourself, because you're going to find yourself in situations where you're going to need some wisdom that's beyond common sense, that's beyond what's available in the naturals.

We'll get to in a minute.

And you say, Well, what do you mean, Pastor?

I don't know what you mean.

Well, I had a friend of mine who married a gal.

He was in ministry, he married this lady, appeared to be a nice lady.

Sure she was.

I didn't know her.

But about eight months into the marriage, she left him.

Eight months.

And he called and said, Hey, we things are kind of going south here.

And I said, Well, did you have any indication?

And he said, Yeah.

About a month into the relationship, after we got back from our honeymoon, about a month into the marriage, I woke up one day and I realized, oh my gosh, this is not going well.

You know what I mean, Neil?

And I'm like, I have no idea what you mean.

I wake up every day and look over and think, hey, I gotta get up and go to work if this woman figures out.

Why did I marry this loser here and get something else to do?

I have no frame of reference for what you mean that a month in, 30 days in, you were like, rot roll.

And he said, But I just thought, hey, I'm on eight months into the relationship, she leaves him.

Here's why you and I need to understand wisdom.

Here's why you and I need to sit under the preaching and the teaching of God's words.

We bring something to the conversation besides our opinions and our attitudes.

She leaves him.

She's at another person's house, another guy's apartment watching movies, 24 years old, falls over dead.

They're in the process of getting divorced.

Divorce is not final.

The proceedings just got started.

He gets a phone call.

You are still on her life insurance as the benefactor of her policy.

So you have$100,000 coming to you.

Her parents find out and are like, oh, absolutely not.

We're gonna lower you up and we're gonna get that.

I get a phone call.

What do I do?

Well, uh, well, uh, here's why you should read the Bible.

Out of my mouth, when he said, What do I do?

I don't know what to do.

I had read Proverbs 22.1 about a I don't know, five or six months earlier, maybe a year.

And out of my mouth came Proverbs 22, 1.

I said, Well, all I'm gonna tell you is the Bible says that a good name is to be esteemed above silver and gold.

You don't want to be the guy in court fighting over his dead wife's death benefit with her family.

A good name.

All I can do, well, what do you think I should do?

A good name is to be esteemed above silver and gold.

I mean, but what?

I gotta make a decision.

A good name is to be esteemed above silver and gold.

What would give you a good name?

See, wisdom doesn't just wisdom isn't confined to the moment.

Wisdom is able to step out and stand outside of it and look back and say, how do I want my name to be remembered and represented in this situation, not just five weeks from now or five months from now, but five years from now.

See, James says this life of wisdom.

It's in it's it's it's good conduct, but it's also this thing called meekness.

Secondly, he talks about the source of wisdom.

The source of wisdom.

Look at verse 15.

You still with me?

Hello?

Look at verse 15 of James chapter 3.

James 3 · chapter mention

He says, this is not the wisdom that comes.

Oh, excuse me.

Let me back at verse 14.

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.

This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vile practice.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

See the source of wisdom, basically there's two sources.

He says, Well, I call it ungodly wisdom because James never says, he talks about this is not the wisdom from above.

So it's kind of awkward to say, well, you got wisdom from above, and you got that which is not wisdom from above.

So I call it ungodly wisdom versus godly wisdom.

Ungodly wisdom is evidenced by two things.

Number one, bitter jealousy, and number two, selfish ambition.

Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition.

You say, Well, I don't think I have that.

Well, there's a real easy way to know if you have that or not, okay?

And I'll give you the question.

This is free today if you're visiting, and afterwards you can see the pastor and you get a set of Gensu knives.

Uh here's how you can tell if you have bitter jealousy, not just jealousy, but bitter jealousy.

Go to jealousy and hang aright.

And then selfish ambition.

Here's the question.

Are you able to rejoice with those who rejoice?

Are you able?

Are you able when somebody gets what you want, when you've walked the path of infertility, and one of your friends calls and says, We're so excited, we're pregnant, and your first thought is, ah, thank you.

Now I really hate myself.

Do we have any ice cream in the freezer?

See, that's where you gotta, that's how you find out what's in your heart, because you don't you don't find out what's in your heart by sitting in church.

Good, good to see you.

Good, good, good, good.

I beat my kids all the way here, and my daughter was in the backseat texting her friends, saying, Lord knows what about me, and my wife can't stand me.

We don't really have meaningful dialogue, but I'm good.

Where's my bulletin?

Now, when you ask yourself to get down there below the surface and get down to, do I have selfish ambition, or excuse me, bitter jealousy and selfish ambition?

How do I know?

Are you able to rejoice with those that rejoice when somebody else gets the promotion that you wanted?

Are you able to go, congratulations and meaning?

When somebody says to your neighbor comes over and says, Hey, we've been saving and we've found a bigger house and we're gonna move.

Are you able to go?

That's awesome! Are you thinking, what about me?

We're killing ourselves.

Me and my husband are working our fingers to the bone, and we're stuck here in this starter house.

Are you kidding me?

And their kids go to private school, too.

They probably made a deal with the devil, don't you think?

See, that's bitter jealousy and selfish ambition.

And he says, here's why you gotta search your heart.

You say, Why?

Look at what he says, verse 16.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there will be disorder in every vile of practice.

See, that's what evidences this ungodly wisdom.

But it's described with three words I want to give you this morning.

Number one, he says it's earthly.

It's earthbound.

What does that mean?

It's earthly.

It's limited to what can only be produced by human nature.

You ever ask somebody's advice or you tell somebody a situation you're in and you kind of ask for some some wisdom and they give you advice?

Here's how you know if you're asking for wisdom and they're giving you advice, when you ask and they start talking, you immediately get angry and think, why did I ask this person this?

And they're just prattling on the whole time.

You're just thinking, not only am I now confused, but now I have rage issues.

Thank you for talking.

It's just, it's just it's just earthly.

Second word James uses, he says it's unspiritual.

It's unspiritual.

It's the same word in the Greek that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 2 when he talks about the natural man.

That's what it is, it's just natural.

It's just common sense.

It doesn't even have a cross on top, it's just common sense.

You got are you are are you kidding me?

The Quakers have a great tradition in their church.

And I say Quakers, not the oatmeal people, but the denomination.

Quakers, you with me?

Quaker, you're like, oh, I love their snack bars, not those guys.

The Quakers have a thing called the Council of Wisdom.

That's how I ended up with my buddy that his he was going through a divorce and his wife died.

Is he could he called for a council of wisdom in his church.

He said, Hey, you talked about this a long time ago.

And if you're in the Quaker church and you need you have a business decision or a relationship decision or a personal and you don't know what to do, you don't ask all your friends on Facebook.

You know some people you're friends with are just goofballs, don't you?

Hello?

Are you kidding me?

You get three to five people that are older and seasoned, and they sit down with you and you present your situation and they speak into your life.

That's what he did.

It was me and I think three other people, and we were speaking into his life from different perspectives and just kind of saying, hey, in as much as I've got any wisdom to give, this is what I know to be the truth.

Now, the Bible says, hey, ungodly wisdom is just earthly, it's unspiritual.

Curtis Vaughn, he taught at Southwestern Seminary when I was there.

He said this about this natural.

He said it's limited to the narrow domain of the human mind.

It's when you ask for wisdom and you get advice, and when they're done, they're like, and that's what I think.

And your first thought is, that's all you got.

I just bought you lunch for you to tell me that.

How about you tip?

And we'll just be done.

Third word he used to describe it.

He said, and this is the one that gets your attention.

He says, it's demonic.

Uh-oh.

What are you talking about?

Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of uh 1 Chronicles in the Old Testament.

Go past Psalms and keep going to the left.

1 Chronicles.

I'll start reading 1 Chronicles chapter 21.

1 Chronicles 21 · chapter mention

And while you're finding that, I got an email from somebody not long ago that said, Hey, how do your people feel about you reading so much of the Bible when you preach?

And I said, I've never asked them, so I'll ask you.

And then my favorite part was later on in the email, the person said, How do you expect to grow a church by reading that much of the Bible?

And so, hey, hey, we laugh, but we don't preach the Bible much in church anymore.

Have you noticed that?

We kind of just put a few things on the screen and then go, look at us, and we do the monkey dance.

And you leave and go, Man, that guy's good.

And you come back, and hey, look, we we we can swing from the ceiling while we're here.

Here's why we teach the Bible and preach the Bible a lot.

Look at me.

If you're visiting, you need to know this.

I'm not that smart.

I don't have that much to say.

This has a lot to say.

1 Chronicles chapter 21, verse 1.

1 Chronicles 21:1

When Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.

So David said to Joab, the commanders of the army, Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report that I may know their number.

But Joab said, May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are.

Are they not, my Lord the King, all of them, my Lord's servants?

Why then should my Lord require this?

Why should it be a cause for guilt for Israel, a cause of guilt for Israel?

But the king's word prevailed over Joab.

And so Joab departed and went throughout all Israel, and he came back to Jerusalem.

I don't know how up you are in the Old Testament, but this didn't go well for David.

Matter of fact, God killed thousands of people.

But I just wanted you to get the context of verse 1 and 2.

It says, Then Satan stood against Israel, and he incited David to number Israel.

Look at me, beloved.

We're just about done.

Believe it or not, look at me.

You can have good ideas and great ideas that are not from God.

You can get something in your head and it feels good and sounds good and feels right.

And oh my goodness, it's oh so.

And if you want to see it, just think about the realm of relationship.

Just for a second.

Just take yourself back.

If you're married, think about somebody you dated before you met your wife, and she was the greatest person ever and made all those other women obsolete, right, man?

Hello?

This is where you say yes.

Or let me talk to you students.

Some of you students get something in your head, and you're just kind of like, oh, oh my goodness.

And I love when I hear 14 and 15 and 16 and 17 and 20-year-olds throw around the word love.

It's like watching four-year-olds throw around manhole covers.

I'm just like, really?

What are you doing saying that word?

But we've all been in a relationship where we're just crazy about this person, and then six months later we look, we see them in Walmart, we're like, what was I thinking?

Hey, good.

Don't even don't even say hi to me.

Just walk away.

Let me say it like this.

Maybe relationship doesn't connect for you.

Maybe age.

How many in this room are over 50?

Can I see your hand?

Hold it real high.

I know it's hard.

Get up there.

You get out of bed in the morning.

You're like, is that hard?

No, just the first 20 steps after that.

It all loosens up.

Can you teach me how to dug it?

Anyway.

It's not hard.

I know you're like, oh man, what's the matter?

Just give me some time.

Let me walk this off right here.

How many of you that are over 50, look at me?

Remember yourself when you were 20.

Don't you want to go back and get that 20-year-old and set him down and say, listen to me.

That's wisdom.

Wisdom makes you wish you could go back and do it differently.

You're gonna meet a boy.

His name is Fill in the Blank.

Say no.

That's wisdom.

Wisdom always sees things clearly.

Just notice that it says in verse 20, uh verse 1 of 1 Chronicles 21 then Satan stood against Israel.

Satan has always been the enemy of God's people.

That's why Jesus said the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

That's why in 1 Peter 5 8 it says, Your adversary.

He is your adversary, he is your enemy.

Enemy, your adversary, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Now, if you got your Bible open, and hopefully you do, turn to the New Testament to 2 Corinthians chapter 2.

2 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

2 Corinthians chapter 2.

2 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

I don't want you to go, well, that's in the Old Testament, and that's, you know, that's me, no God, but sweet Jesus came and it's all better.

2 Corinthians chapter 2.

2 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

I'll start reading verse 5.

He says, Now if someone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely, to all of you.

For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough.

So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him.

Or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.

For this is why I wrote, that I might test you to know whether you're obedient in everything.

Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive.

What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.

See, the enemies always had designs against God's people.

You don't have to be outwitted by that.

You don't have to think, oh my goodness, what's going on here?

Because you're going to have good ideas.

They're not godly ideas, they're ungodly ideas.

If I have a bad idea, does that mean it's from the devil?

Not always, but sometimes.

If you've got your Bible open, we might as well look at one other one, don't you think?

Turn to the right to 1 Timothy chapter 4.

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

1 Timothy chapter 4.

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

I want you to see that it's just not some isolated incident.

1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1.

1 Timothy 4:1

It says, Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose conscience are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God in prayer.

Wanted you to hear verse one and two in context.

Look at them again.

Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith.

How?

By devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons, to the insincerity of liars who can't even feel what they do anymore.

And they have all these different rules set up.

And you say, well, what do you mean?

He says this ungodly wisdom is earthly, it's unspiritual, and it's demonic.

Now let me say this because in the first over sick, I can see just see people kind of going, wait a minute, what does that mean?

As a believer, as a Christian, I do not believe, nor do I understand the Bible to teach that you can be possessed by Satan.

You can be oppressed, but you cannot be possessed.

Do you hear the difference?

Hello.

Are you sleepy today?

Should I swap you with the first service people?

Now you need to hear this because what we do in the church is either we avoid this altogether or we give Satan too much credit and we act like, oh, please just don't get me.

I'm gonna leave you alone.

You leave me alone.

He's never gonna leave you alone.

You are his hated enemy.

If you're a child of God, if you're not a child of God, you're his son or daughter.

It's not good either way.

You might as well have in you the capacity to respond.

Remember, Jesus said this, the prince of this world is coming and he has no place in me.

Ephesians chapter 4, verse 30 says that we're sealed by the Spirit to the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:30

What fellowship does light have with darkness?

Jesus tells a story.

I mean, Matthew records a story of the demoniac that was delivered, and it said, when that spirit is cast out, unless that house was filled, that spirit will go get seven other spirits stronger than itself and come back and reoccupy that house.

Well, if someone's living there, if the spirit of God is living there, they ain't gonna reoccupy nothing.

It's not gonna happen.

It's impossible.

And people that tell you it can happen are hypocritical liars who've had their conscience seared because they can't seem to live the truth.

They've got to have some theological explanation.

Here's why I do what I do.

The devil made me do it.

Thank you, Flip Wilson.

Thank you, Geraldine.

That was her name, wasn't it?

See, if you're over 50, you get that.

If you're under 50, you're like, why is he yelling?

What?

Is there lunch today?

I mean, we went swimming.

Come on.

Just come on.

I'm saying the same thing.

Come on.

Wisdom is not about intellect, it's about willingness.

And then he says this.

He says, but godly wisdom, this wisdom from above, look at it.

James chapter 3, verse 17.

James 3:17

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason.

Open to reason.

I had a disagreement with a guy one time.

I know it's hard for y'all to believe.

And so we met at a Starbucks to talk about it.

I don't mind having disagreements.

I have a disagreement with some of y'all.

Some of y'all think I'm crazy.

Some of y'all have got it in your head that I believe certain things, and by golly, you're just gonna tell, I can tell you 50 times no.

But I know.

All right, good luck.

Enjoy the journey.

We go into a Starbucks.

I walk in, he's sitting there and we sit down and get coffee, and I said, Well, you know, and he reaches over and grabs my wrist.

And I'm like, And he says, Listen, I think that we've kind of this has gotten more energy than it than it needs.

And I just I want to just hold your hands while we talk.

You ain't holding my hands.

Imagine walking in Starbucks.

Hey, and anyway, oh, that's my pastor holding hands with some strange man.

Anyway, let's go.

But he held on to my wrist and he said, I just, I don't want you to misunderstand kind of where I'm coming from.

So I want to just I want to hold and I want to tell you, and I was that was the most awkward six minutes of my life.

I just consciously just felt myself pulling back, like and he would feel me pulling back and he would strengthen his grip.

And I'd like awkward, awkward.

And I tried to say, hey, let me get my coffee, and then I'd set the coffee down.

He'd reach out and grab my hand.

It's hard to be mean to somebody that's holding your hands.

I also had a disagreement with a guy one time and said, Listen, I wanted you to understand uh I'm not always right.

And so when he first sat down, he said, So I think I know what I believe, but I don't think I understand what you believe.

So tell me again, because I may need to repent of being wrong.

Ever blow up a balloon, and before you tie it off, you let it go, go.

That was me in about 30 seconds.

Because I had memorized my arguments and had all my theological points lined up, and this cat who was wise and I was just intellectual, just said, Hey, and let me just begin by saying, I may be the guy that needs to repent here.

I know what I believe, so I'm not here to raise my voice, say what I believe.

I want to understand better what you believe, Nil, because I don't think I understand it.

So we're not gonna need PowerPoint for this.

That's good.

I was just thinking the same thing out in the truck.

I'm glad you said that.

It's wisdom from above, it's peaceable, gentle, open to reason.

You can't be wise if you're not open to being wrong.

Full of mercy, good fruits, impartial and sincere.

What is the consequence of it?

And we'll be done.

It's just one thing, James says.

And a harvest, verse 18, a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

When you look back over your life up to this point, how much righteousness do you see behind you?

The Bible says a harvest of righteousness.

Get the picture of a big combine in a wheat field, like a big paddle wheel, or poop-poop, boop, boop, poop, poop, poop, poo.

Just cutting it down and blowing it out the back into that big hopper.

It's a harvest of righteousness.

And the Bible invites you and I to that.

Not to be the smartest cat in the room, not to be the Sunday school superstar who has all the answers.

And just to be a man that looks back.

You have a harvest of righteousness.

And your grandkids come to you and they say, Grandpa, can we go fishing?

I need to ask you some questions.

It's a harvest of righteousness.

Your kids get ready to buy their first house.

See, they're just free-loading beggars right now.

They don't have an idea.

They're like a president a presidential candidate.

Have you ever noticed?

Them guys got MBAs from Harvard and PhDs from Duke, and they ask them, they put a microphone in their face.

How much is a gallon of milk?

Oh, uh, six dollars?

Yeah, I'm gonna go with that, Alex, for$500.

Oh, how about a big cup of shut up?

Are you kidding me?

They have no idea how much life costs.

Your kids call and say, We're thinking about buying a house.

Tell me what we should do.

When you look back, and just take a few moments, because in just a minute we're gonna just look back and say, Is there a harvest of righteousness that I can look back on?

And if you're thinking, well, I don't have to look back, I can tell you no.

But I want more wisdom in my life.

How do I get it?

Two things that we're done.

Number one, and I don't say it's just because I'm a preacher, but pray.

James chapter 1, verse 5 says, if any of you likes wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously without finding fault.

James 1:5

You know what?

Look at me.

When the Bible says without finding fault, God does not look for an opportunity to tell you no.

That's my parenting style, by the way.

That's why my kids come to me.

They look and see where my wife is, and they come to me.

Dad, can I have some ice cream?

Absolutely.

We should be burning in hell right now, but we got ice cream.

Is God gonna what?

Come on.

Pretty soon we're in the kitchen.

We're all gonna ask if my wife walks in, what are y'all doing?

It's 1015 at night.

It's a school night.

You're eating ice cream at 1015.

Madison's idea.

I didn't.

Because I don't think.

Sometimes that's not good.

It's not like I'm the good parent and she's the bad parent.

No, she thinks I feel.

And here's why.

I felt like growing up.

My my dad, and especially my stepmoms, they love to say no.

I think they would say, come ask me a question so I can tell you no.

And I think my stepmom's nose would grow every time she said no.

Like, no.

Okay, glad I asked.

I love to say yes to you.

I'm the God that says, Come and be satisfied.

Come get a big load of me.

Come.

Ask.

If any likes wisdom, let me ask God.

Why?

Because God says, I give generously to everybody without finding fault.

I'm not looking to excuse to disqualify you.

I'm not looking down going, oh, you want wisdom.

How about 1986?

You didn't pay your tithe on that third Sunday of the month.

Got it right here.

Scoreboard loser.

Get out of here.

Wisdom my eye.

Next.

I'm good.

I'm good.

That's not God.

And then he says this.

Hey, you want wisdom?

I'll give you some application for the week.

I want every one of us to do this every day this week.

Psalm 119, verse 129.

Psalms 119:129

And we're done.

Shake the baby, just rock the baby one more time, we'll be out of here.

Psalm 119.

The 119th Psalm is all about the Bible.

They took the Hebrew language like a big acrostic, and every section of it starts with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Psalm 119, 129, your testimonies are wonderful.

Therefore, my soul keeps them.

The unfolding of your words gives light.

It imparts understanding to the simple.

I open my mouth and I pant because I long for your commandments.

Turn to me and be gracious to me, as it is your way with those who love your name.

It is God's way to be gracious to you, beloved.

Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

Redeem me from man's oppression that I may keep your precepts.

Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes.

My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.

Therefore, my soul keeps them.

The unfolding of your words gives light and imparts understanding to the simple.

That's why we value the Bible.

That's why we begin our service with it being read by one of our people.

That's why when whether it's myself or Justin Rocca or Lance or Wade or Tommy Hammer or whoever stands up here, we just unfold the Bible.

Why?

Because it makes you wise.

Because you're going to get a phone call.

Somebody's going to take you to coffee and say, hey, listen, our marriage is kind of a stuck point, and I'm kind of getting bored, and I'm kind of looking around, thinking, you know, I'm 41, and if I'm going to go, now's the time to go so I can start over and set myself up.

And if all you bring to that dialogue is natural intellect and earth-bound words, they can get that from Dr.

Phil.

They don't need you.

But when you sit down with a man or a woman of wisdom, eternity comes out.

And all of a sudden it's like, oh wow.

Thank you.

I just kind of forgotten there for a little bit.

I just kind of shrunk it down to me, and all of a sudden, boom! Okay.

And that's what God desires for every one of you in this room.

Whether you're 12 or 68.

Wisdom.

Who among you is wise?

Show it this way.

By your simple conduct and the meekness that comes from wisdom.

Don't be these people running around talking and giving advice all the time.

It's a vain substitute for wisdom.

That is what he calls you to.

Hold your hands out.

Because of the cross, you are now sighted people.

Therefore, stop stumbling over the bad choices and the unwise decisions you've made.

And begin to walk confidently.

Lengthen your stride because of wisdom.

Depart now.

Walk and think and live this way.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.