Get Wisdom: Godly Ambition | Ps Miles Paludan

All right. Who's ready to get some

wisdom today? Get wisdom. Who wants a

bit of wisdom? We all need a bit of

wisdom. Let Let's get some wisdom today.

I love this series and this topic. More

teaching, but it's needed because we

need wisdom. Proverbs 3:13. Blessed are

Proverbs 3:13

those who find what? Find wisdom. She's

more profitable than silver. Yields

better returns than gold. Father, I pray

today supernaturally

that we would receive wisdom. It comes

from you, knowledge of you, relationship

with you through your word and

understanding you. Bring wisdom. We

desperately need it in our lives in

Jesus' name. Everyone said, "Amen.

Blessed are those who what? Who find

wisdom." Proverbs says who find wisdom.

So to find something, you need to be

looking for it.

And I I learned in my life, man, I I I

could have found so much more if I

wasn't so self-absorbed.

If I spent more time looking and

listening, how much more wisdom would I

have gained? The good news, it's never

too late uh to seek and to find wisdom.

Wisdom is not just knowledge. It's

actually knowing more about God. It's a

relationship with God because wisdom

comes from God who's the creator of the

universe. It's about living rightly

before the Lord in a relationship with

him. Now, this question is really been a

challenge for me pretty much my whole

life following the Lord, living rightly

before the Lord because I I look, I'll

just be honest. This is real personal to

me. Hello

My name is Miles. I'm a recovering

workaholic trying to find significance

in what I do rather than who I am. Did

you know that Jesus loves me? Whether

I'm sleeping, sinning, or worshiping, he

loves me the same. And this concept of

knowing God and identity in Christ that

I'm not a human doing, I'm actually a

human being. And this can be confusing

because with Christianity, we are saved

by grace, not our works. We cannot earn

our salvation. We'll never be good

enough. It's only what Jesus did on the

cross, right? So, we're saved by grace.

But guess what? Once we're saved, we're

not saved by works, but we are saved for

good works. So, suddenly we got a job to

do, build the kingdom of God. And this

get confusing. Is it grace or is it

works? Which one? which one is it? And

on one hand, I want to give everything I

have to the Lord. I I want to maximize

my gifts, give my time, give my talent,

go hard for the kingdom, give everything

I've got. But on the other hand, I know

that striving

apart from God's presence and power.

It's not just not just exhausting, it's

dangerous.

Leads to pride,

burnout,

and identity tied to what I do. rather

than who I am in Christ. And we see this

in the Bible when we talk about selfish

ambition.

James 3:16.

James 3:16

For wherever there is jealousy and what?

And selfish ambition. There you'll find

disorder and evil of every kind. So in

the Greek, selfish ambition is the name

of the word, the English word ambition.

And it refers to those who snatch what

they want by unfair means. Cutting in

line, steamrolling, gaslighting, letting

jealousy in comparison fuel one's

actions. So selfish ambition is about

me. It's winning at any cost. It's

pushing people down so I can lift myself

up. It's this insatiable need for more.

It's fueled by the need to prove

ourselves and build our own kingdom and

and and be selfish. The problem with

selfish ambition is it always leaves you

empty.

It'll never fulfill. Doesn't matter how

much money you acquire, how famous you

are, how many good works, it'll leave

you empty. In fact, one of the Bible

versions say, "Where there is selfish

ambition lies every evil thing." So,

what does that mean? We're not to have

any drive or or work. And and this

selfish ambition, it just doesn't end

when you get saved. And we see the

disciples on the night before the

crucifixion at the Passover. Jesus is

pouring out his heart. I'm going to the

cross. Here's my body. I'm going to, you

know, be beaten up for you. And here's

my blood that's going to be shed for

you. And and and they're arguing while

he's having this talk. Like this is the

big moment, right? I'm going to the

cross and and they're just bickering.

What are they arguing about? Luke 22:4,

Luke 22:4

they're arguing about who's the

greatest.

They just missed it. Who is the

greatest? And so this most important,

you know, event in human history,

there's this selfish ambition going on

amongst the disciples. So that's selfish

ambition. The Bible also teaches about

godly ambition. Godly ambition. Godly

ambition is different. It's anchored in

something greater. It's when our motive

is to glorify God. So selfish ambition

is about self. Godly ambition is about

God and others. Romans 15:20. My

Romans 15:20

ambition, it's the word ambition.

Ambition is not evil. It's just what

it's built on, Paul says, was to preach

the good news. I've kind of got that

ambition at the moment. When I went to

the Solomon Islands, no power, no phone.

Like the shower's in the creek. It's

it's it's like raw. iPad's out. I I got

nothing. All I had was Finn's paper

Bible and the gospel. And that's all

that was needed. The gospel was

powerful. The gospel. We didn't have

lights and technology. It was so hard

for me uh to flow into island life.

Don't fight island life because it will

win. Just just let it win. Just go with

the flow. Nothing's on time. Nothing's

when it says but the gospel. I just had

this burning sense. I'm going to preach

the gospel. And to see the churches

planted, the people getting saved like

revival, the gospel. That's my ambition.

Paul says, I kind of have that same

ambition. 2 Corinthians 5:9. Uh so

2 Corinthians 5:9

whether we are in this body or away our

goal or ambition in another version is

to please him. So the heart of the

gospel is to be ambitious but the

ambition is to please God

not ourself. Okay. So now here's the

tension. How much do I do

and how much does God do? How much do I

strive? How much do I surrender? How

much do I hustle? How much do I let go

and let God? This is a real tension that

we need to understand. The best picture

for me as a pastor to sort of wrestle

and rec reconcile this tension in my

life is the picture of a gardener. And a

gardener tends to the soil, plants the

seed, removes the weeds, protects the

plants from pests. And while the

gardener works, it's ultimately God

who brings the increase.

I love the picture of a gardener. I

think that's what I am. I'm a gardener.

I thought I was a builder. I'm not a

builder. I'm a gardener. I'm about

preparing the soil, doing what I can,

and trusting God to bring the growth and

the increase. Well, what about you?

Well, you're a gardener. You pray, read

your Bible, you you you know, you play

the worship music at home. You you lead

your family as as best you can

righteously. You pray. You bring them to

church. You're a gardener. You you you

create a healthy environment at home. Me

and Bonnie, we're praying for our four

boys every day. We don't need to pray

for Abby. She's perfect. She's she's a

saint. So, she's already going to

heaven. Big biggest mansion. But those

boys, man, they need some prayer. And

you know, we get the hanky and we put

the hanky under the pillow. You ever do

that? You know, play of that hanky. gets

gets stiff to anoint the hanky and then

take it home bit of oil and put it under

his pillow and got the worship music

going and you know we you know that

message that's really good my son needs

to hear that preach you know that one

you hear it got that playing in the

kitchen you know they're not listening

but it's playing and you know praying

over the we we work hard we're gardeners

that's our job but God brings the change

we trust God to bring the increase 1

1 Corinthians 3:6

Corinthians 3:6 I planted a seed in your

heart this is Paul and what Apollos

watered

But it was God who made it.

The one who plants and the one who

waters work together. We're not

competitive. We're building the kingdom

together with the same purpose. And both

will be rewarded. Did you know that?

You'll be rewarded for your hard work. I

just thought I got saved and God did all

the work. Yes, he saved you. He did all

the work. But we've been saved for the

kingdom of God, for his glory, for his

purpose. I I like the picture of a

gardener. I I just it resonates in my

simple brain that God does what we

can't. That we're faithful. We do what

we can. We work hard and then God brings

the increase. It takes away all the

comparison. It takes away me having to

be the best. I just have to bring my

best. Doesn't have to have FOMO and beat

myself up. I I I can just trust God.

Now, that sounds great. It's a good

preach, right? So far, good preach. But

what happens when there's no growth?

What happens when nothing's happening?

Put that seed in the ground, there's no

there's no evidence for weeks, there's

nothing. How do we wrestle as believers

when we know our God can, yet we don't

see the evidence that he has? Well,

there's something greater than growth,

and that's trusting him,

and that's our relationship with him.

because it's not just we're just not

like a paid hired employee, you know, to

take care of the garden. We're actually

in this loving relationship with the

King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And our

job is to learn the ultimate gardener,

his ways, his seasons, his timing, to

build our trust and our relationship

with him, not based on the harvest, but

based on a pure motive of loving and

serving and giving our best for him. So,

I got some three practical ways we can

apply this on Monday and put this to

work in our life because wisdom, we got

to get it. We got to get it. We got to

get it. A God at the heart of it has

always been after our hearts, not our

sacrifice. So, look, if you're a good

gardener, that's great. But God wants

your heart more than your gifts. Number

one, there's a difference between

stewardship and ownership.

So, worldly ambition is about ownership.

It's mine. I'm going to build my

kingdom. I'm going to build my toys, my

net worth. Stewardship is it's God's and

I'm managing it for him. My money, my

house, my kids are not mine. I don't own

them. When I get saved, I've been bought

with a price. Everything I have is God.

So, let's unpack this. Proverbs 16:4,

Proverbs 16:4

the Lord has made everything for his own

purposes. Worldly ambition, ownership

leads to entitlement and pride. It's

mine. Godly ambition is stewardship that

leads to everything is God's for his

kingdom, for his glory. Psalms 24:1,

Psalms 24:1

"The earth is the Lord's and everything

in it. The world and all who live in

it," David prays in 1 Chronicles 29:14,

1 Chronicles 29:14

"Everything comes from who?" Everything

comes from you. Everything I have is

yours. That's why it's really easy to

say thank you to the Lord because it's

all his. We be grateful. Everything we

have is his. and we have given you only

what comes from your hand. Everything is

the Lord. If a friend asks you to take

care of their mansion, they would expect

you to sort of pro protect it, take care

of it, right? Uh you feed the dog, water

the plants, take the trash out. You

can't take care of it. In the same way,

God has given us so much and we're to

take care of it. We're to be stewards of

it. 1 Corinthians 7:31, "Those who use

1 Corinthians 7:31

the things of this world should not

become attached to them." Here's the big

difference with worldly ambition and

godly ambition. For this world as we

know it will soon pass away. We don't

live for this world. We're visitors.

We're just temporary. It's just by a

blink of our eye, this world will end.

We're actually eternal beings. We live

for heaven. And our eyes must be on

eternity. Souls saved for the kingdom,

building the kingdom of God. That's

where we're going to end up. So, let's

put our effort and our time into godly

ambition, living for the kingdom of God,

the things of God, rather than living

for this world which moths will destroy

anything we have over time anyway. And

we can't take it with us. So, with us,

so the first wisdom

about living this life with godly

ambition verse selfish ambition is

stewardship verse ownership. What about

you? Are you living with that

understanding that what you have is not

yours? Or are you kind of like that

ownership and control? It's mine. It's

my money. It's my house.

It's it's it's my marriage. It's mine.

It's mine. It's freeing when we

understand everything is God's and we're

stewards of it. Number one, are you

being a steward or an owner? Number two,

are you serving or being served? So,

Proverbs, here we go. to the book of

wisdom 29. Pride ends in humiliation

while humility brings honor. Man,

there's some truth in that statement.

Philippians 23, don't be selfish. Don't

try to impress others. Be humble.

Thinking of others as better than

yourselves.

Jesus modeled this concept of serving so

countercultural when he showed up on

earth. In verse 25 of Luke 22, he said,

"In this world, kings and great men

lorded over their people. They are

called friends of the people, but among

you, it will be different." How will it

be different? God, those who are the

greatest among you should take the

lowest rank. What? And the leader should

be a servant.

Who is more important? the one who sits

at the table or the one who serves or

the one that sits at the table of course

right that's what we're taught serve me

serve me serve me but not here not in

the kingdom of God for I am among you as

one who this is Jesus led the way who

who served this this blew the Roman

Empire away it also blew the religious

leaders away so the Sadducees and

Pharisees had built this system of

control and power uh through sacrificing

and sharing scripture that elevated

them. Jesus said, "We're not doing

that." He doesn't actually rebuke their

desire for greatness. He redefes

greatness and redirects it to serving

others. Two greatest commandments, love

God, love others. So Jesus contrasts the

worldly model of leadership, which often

involves exerting power over others. Yet

God's kingdom is rooted in serving and

humility.

Jesus positioned himself as the prime

example of a servant leader. He washed

the disciples feet. He died on the

cross. You know, he served and

underscored that true greatness, it's

okay to have ambition to be great. We

should have ambition to be great. But we

got to understand what is greatness.

True greatness in the kingdom is not

about being elevated or having authority

over others. It's about being a servant

to all. That's who Jesus is as he

modeled this serving verse being served.

So worldly ambition, serving self, godly

ambition, serving others. You got this

energy, this desire, young men and women

to be great, to do things. Fantastic. Go

for it. Just channel that into serving

others. Let that be the motive and God

will lift you up. That's why in church,

serving is kind of one of the fabrics of

what we do as the body. It's not an

elevation thing. It's a God thing. You

should all serve somewhere in the

church. Right now, we have the

opportunity to train young men and women

of God to learn the gospel, learn the

scriptures, be saved in our kids

ministry. It's powerful. We need people

in there. There's a need there. We

should be at church. How can I help? How

can I serve? We look for those sparks in

our place that set us on fire. I want to

serve in the worship team. Great. Go

talk to one of our pastors. I want to

serve in the cafe or wherever in church.

But that's where it begins. It's

actually a life of serving others that

godly ambition

is all about. So stewardship verse

ownership, serving verse being served,

and finally faithful verse lazy.

Proverbs

Proverbs 13:4

13:4, lazy people want much but get

little, but those who work hard will

prosper. It's not not not wrong to work

hard. We're created to work. We should

work hard. Be faithful with what God has

given us. Proverbs 24:30, I walked by a

Proverbs 24:30

field of a lazy person. It was overgrown

with thorns. And when I looked and

thought about it, I learned a lesson. A

little extra sleep, a little extra

slumber, then poverty will pounce upon

you like a bandit. So worldly ambition

says your comfort is priority. It's all

about you. You need me time, you know.

You you you need to man have that stress

leave, that day at home leave, that

working that 4hour day, that you know,

it's it's it's life balance. And it it's

absolutely essential we be healthy,

but it's not because we're

self-absorbed.

It's we can be healthy to function at

our best for the kingdom. And there's

kind of a shift in today's day and age

where it's all about us. And I think we

can heir on the side of not doing hard

things.

But actually, there's nothing harder

than going to the cross. There's nothing

harder than fasting 40 days. There's

nothing harder than what Jesus did as

our great example. Do hard things. Be

disciplined.

Be faithful. Be faithful. Be faithful.

Godly ambition is to work hard for the

kingdom of God. Be reliable. Have

integrity. Show up on time. Let your yes

be yes. Ephesians 6:7, "Work with

Ephesians 6:7

enthusiasm as though you are working for

the Lord rather than for people."

Colossians 3:23, "Work willingly at

Colossians 3:23

whatever you do, as though you are

working for the Lord rather than for

people." the Thessalonians,

they kind of adopted these lives of of

idleness and depending on and they were

depending on handouts and they thought

that the gospel and Christianity was a

you know it was like a a cruise ship. It

was just this way to have this easy fun

life. And Paul kind of corrects them. He

says, "Hang on, I got to talk to you

guys. You guys need to work. You need to

get get back to work and be faithful."

And he says in 1 Thessalonians 4:11,

1 Thessalonians 4:11

"Make it your goal to live a quiet life,

minding your own business, and working

with your hands,

just as we instructed you." In a world

built on others, clicks and likes, you

can lose yourself by pleasing others,

living for yourself, self- ambition.

But Jesus invites us into a peaceful and

productive existence

rather than a life of hurried

distraction. A life free from the guilt

of unkempt promises. A life that's full

but still leaves margin to enjoy God.

Pursue hobbies, take walks, care for

your family, and love your neighbor.

Man, I want to be the best gardener in

my marriage. That I can serve my wife.

That I can work diligently daily. I want

to be the best gardener for my kids.

They're my priority. to serve them, to

pray for them, to focus on them. And I

want to be the best gardener for

elevation. How can I serve this place?

Not it serve me. How can I build it up?

How can I release and empower? How can I

share vision to to help others

become great gardeners and become all

that God has for them?

The best gardener works hard with what

God has given him. And

he trusts the power of the Holy Spirit,

the power of God to bring increase,

revival, lives changed by his spirit. We

work hard at work. We're faithful. We're

on time. We do our role. And we trust

God to give us dreams and ideas and

witty inventions and marketing schemes

and intercession and knowledge and, you

know, intuition and situ. We partner.

We're gardeners. We're working hard. Our

identity isn't in our work. We build a

trust that God can do more than we can

ask, think, or imagine. That we serve

the living God who's powerful and

mighty. And we release faith and trust.

So, it's a combination

of working hard and trusting God.

Don't quit.

Don't quit. Just because you don't see

the evidence, don't give up. Don't stop

running hard for the Lord. 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 9:24

9:24. As we close, don't you realize

that in a race, everyone runs. Only one

person gets a prize. So run to win. Run

to win. All athletes are disciplined in

their training. They do it to win a

prize that will fade away. But we we do

it for an eternal prize. Souls for the

kingdom. So run with purpose in every

step. I'm not just shadow boxing. I'm

not playing around. I'm just not

talking. I discipline my body like an

athlete, training it to do what it

should, otherwise I fear

that after preaching to others, I myself

might be disqualified. Father, we pray

today we would embrace godly wisdom like

a gardener. We would do what you've

called us to do by being faithful, by

serving, by being a steward. We'd give

it our best. We we would do hard things.

We'd be disciplined. we'd have ambition

for the Lord. And here's what I'm

believing and I'm praying God. Your

supernatural power to move, move in

families, move in marriages, move in

children, move in our work

supernaturally. Your your growth,

supernatural power, God, the Holy Spirit

to move mightily.

Come on, God. We we we're partnering

with you. We're faithful to you. Have

your way. Still praying this morning

with eyes closed and heads bowed.

Some of you are here to accept Jesus

Christ as your Lord and your Savior to

move from selfish ambition to godly

ambition. And here's how it works. We're

born with this thing called sin. And we

cannot fix it. So God the Father sent

his son Jesus Christ to die on the

cross, forgive our sins so that we could

live for him. It's not just to be

forgiven. That's the starting place. So

that we can live for him, for his

kingdom, for his glory. And maybe

tonight you've been doing your own

thing. You're caught up in self-

ambition. You've been trying to get

money, fame, drugs, addiction, sex,

whatever to try to satisfy you. It will

leave you empty and void. Why? Because

you were created by God

to work for him with a greater purpose,

not of yourself, but of the Lord.

With eyes closed and heads bowed, that's

why you're here. And I'm going to ask

you to respond on the count of three

that you would raise your hand. that you

would say, "I I I get it.

Thank you for that wisdom, God. He's

moving on your heart.

He can present a table and this

beautiful food, but unless you receive

it, it'll go to waste. Don't let his

crucifixion go to waste. Receive it

today. A free gift of eternal life by

grace. All you need is faith just to

say, "Yeah, I'm in." Heads bowed, eyes

closed. It's you. You know it. You can

sense it. God's brought you here. There

are people here and this is your moment.

This is why we're here for you. On the

count of three. One, two, three. Raise

your hand up wherever you are. Just lift

it up high. Yeah, I see your hand over

there, up the back, in the middle, over

there. Others raise your hand boldly.

Praise the Lord. We had a two or three

hands at the last service. Couple hands

at this. Anyone else? These hands

represent a life that God has been

working on, that he's been moving on,

that he's been drawing and directing.

Don't miss this opportunity

to find your existence and purpose

through godly ambition. Raise your hand

boldly. Surrender your life to Jesus

Christ. Just raise your hand with these

others.

Just me and some of the team were

actually watching. and those who raise

their hands, we've got a a free gift we

want to give you and we'll catch up with

you after the service because it's so

important this decision that you made.

Praise the Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus.

I'm just believing for souls every

service at every location. I believe

we're moving into a season of people

coming to Christ, just radical

salvations, maybe people never been in

church before. that the power of God as

we garden the soil, make people welcome,

go hard in worship, hunger for his

presence. What we're doing, we're

creating this soil so people can come

and hear the gospel and be saved. God,

continue to help us to build this soil

to receive these seeds of your word

being sown in our hearts to be saved.

Let's all pray. Jesus, I'm a sinner. I

need a savior. Save me.