You Know True Wisdom When You See It

good morning oh thank you good morning welcome to the district church as we begin to worship this morning let us praise that god has made himself known to us through the person and work of jesus the author of hebrew writes therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking to jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who is for who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is

seated at the right hand of the throne of god we have joy because we have this promise that jesus created and will sustain our faith as we walk through this life let's rejoice in that this morning will you stand in worship with us [Music] there is no other so sure instead [Music] upon this rock i will stay [Music] upon this rock [Music] glory [Music] we have no other king but jesus lord of all we raise the anthem all out is praise his ring we crown him lord of all [Music] shattered and broken [Music] me glory glory we have no other king for jesus [Music] is

[Music] [Laughter] [Music] in all my sorrows jesus is better make my heart believe in every victory jesus is better make my heart believe than any comfort jesus is better make my heart believes more than all riches jesus is better make my heart believe are so declaring jesus is [Music] is [Music] glory we have no other king but jesus [Music] lord we raise the entire [Music] glory glory [Music] we raise the anthem our loudest praise [Music] of all [Music] [Music] [Music] what gift of grace is jesus my dear there is no more for heaven now to give he is [Music] my hope is only jesus for

my life is oh [Music] the night is [Music] [Music] my foreign will defend me through the deepest valley he will be [Music] me [Music] the future [Music] and he was [Music] jesus i can see [Music] with every breath i love to follow jesus for he has said that he will bring me home and day by day [Music] [Music] my hope is [Music] my hope is [Music] [Music] shall [Music] is [Music] me [Music] but through christ [Music] so do [Music] my hope is built on nothingness in jesus blood and righteousness i dare not trust the sweetest frame but only lean on jesus name on christ the

solid rock i stand all over the ground is is [Music] when darkness fails his lovely face i rest on his unchanging grace in every high and stormy my anchor holds within the veil on christ the solid rock i stand all over the ground is sinking [Music] sinking sink [Music] in [Music] is [Music] is [Music] when he shall come with trumpet sound oh may i think him be found [Music] stand [Music] is [Music] is [Music] on christ the solid rock i stand all other ground is sinking all the ground is [Music] you can be seated for a time of confession the world sees us as christ

followers as foolish foolish to submit ourselves to the will of god foolish to trust in christ alone for salvation foolish to hope and the eternal life to come but god says even though the world sees you as foolish i have made you wise you possess true wisdom listen to what paul says in ephesians 5. look carefully then how you walk not as unwise but as wise making the best use of the time because the days are evil therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the lord is god has made us wise in christ even though the world is not going to

see us that way and because of this truth we are called to walk in that wisdom paying careful attention to our lives as believers we're called to walk on our identity not as the world is calling us to walk the phrase that paul uses here is making the most of every opportunity for the gospel so not only being wise in our decisions but being wise in how we are walking in faith and trusting in the gospel to lead us to talk to others to lead us to just walk in our life so in this time of confession we just want to examine our lives where

are we not trusting on the true wisdom that we've been giving and when are we leaning on on what the world has to offer so i'm going to pray a prayer and it's going to be on the screen and please read aloud the underlying portions oh lord whose power is infinite and wisdom infallible order things that they may neither hinder nor discourage nor prove obstacles to the progress of your will stand between us and all strife and no evil or sin would corrupt our gifts our zeal and our longing to grow in our faith may we follow you faithfully and not any foolish plans of

our own help us not to labor at work that does bring eternal fruit that we may serve you with gratitude and without shame let us dwell in a place of rest under the shadow of your wing we are entirely dependent upon you for support counsel and peace uphold us by the power of the holy spirit may we always go forward abounding in the work you call us too go ahead and take a moment and pray to yourself and just ask god to help you in this [Music] heavenly father we come to you you are the author and creator of everything the holder of all wisdom

and as we're walking through our life god we pray that you would open our eyes to we're being led astray or we're trusting in something that that is gonna fall short god may we maybe lead our ourselves our families our friends as we go into our jobs as we go forth god may you just lead us that you would anchor us in your truth and in your wisdom that while the world is crumbling around us looking for a place of hope remind us that we have that true hope in you that we thank you for that hope and the wisdom that you provide us that

we love you we're so thankful in jesus name amen good morning um we are going to go ahead this time to dismiss all of our kids between three and five to the little district so if you are three to five you get to learn today about moses's call and being god's instrument in saving israel and as they are headed on out if you have your bibles go ahead and open to james chapter 3 we're going to be jumping back into our james series my name is josh for those of you who don't know me i'm one of the lead pastors here at the district church

and it is a joy to be back here be able to preach god's word this morning if you were unaware of what happened last week i was supposed to preach this sermon and then i got caught in a delay in south carolina i was out there for a wedding i was going to fly back uh be ready to preach and then the plane got delayed and i called dwayne at 6 pm on saturday night was like hey man um i'm not going to be an indie tomorrow so could you preach and so thankfully he was able to serve our body by opening up with psalm

23 and just talking about the good shepherd and what it means to rest in him and so i am thankful for him in being able to step into that but i am excited to take a look at what god is calling us in taking a look at what wisdom from above looks like and that's what we'll be uh really honing in on this morning from james chapter three and so while you're turning there what i want us to remember is where james has brought us from right if we remember all the way back to james chapter 1 verse 18 james tells us as believers we

have been called forth by the word of truth to be a kind of first fruits of god's creatures and what that means for us as believers is as first fruits we are also we are also to bear fruit and not just in word but also indeed and this is the thing that james keeps reiterating throughout these last couple of chapters is it's not just about what you know it's not just about what you say it's not just what about what you hear but it's also about your life it's also about you living out and being doers of god's word to show your faith through works

and as we have talked about this this idea from chapter one is that james is calling us to live out our faith in our works in the midst of trial if you remember james is writing to believers who are in the midst of trial and he's calling them to remain steadfast in the midst of this and so we took a look the last couple of weeks as james is talking to teachers right in james chapter three verse one he calls and calls out people who'd long and desire to be teachers he tells them hey be careful because there is a universal truth about us all

that when you teach you are revealing your heart and so it's not just important for people who want to be teachers to know that truth it's also important for us as believers to recognize that our speech reveals where our heart lies our speech reveals the wisdom in which we trust in and so james is going to continue this exhortation today when he talks about wisdom from above because he shows us a second tool in which we can see wisdom in our lives and that is our conduct and that shouldn't be a shock to us right because again this is the same theme that james keeps

hitting on it's not just about words it's not just about knowledge it is also about your works it's also about how you behave and how you live out the faith you claim to believe the test of true wisdom is a life patterned after truth and is portrayed in both word and deed and this is what james is going to get after this morning so let's hear from god's word and what james has to say about wisdom from above starting in verse 13. he says who is wise and understanding among you by his good conduct let him show his work in 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 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 and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace this is god's word let us go to him and ask him to give us wisdom and show us more of his mercy and

grace lord thank you for this morning thank you that we are able to come and hear your word preached to to sing with the people of god lord i pray that as we hear your word as we sit under your teaching lord i pray that we would see what true biblical wisdom looks like that we would long for it that we'd be able to spot it when we see it and we would trust in it and through it we would know you more that we would grow more mature in christ so that as we live in this world we then can share this biblical wisdom

that we have this true wisdom that you've given to us in jesus and there would be people who come to know you through this may you be glorified in that in jesus name i pray amen so i want to take a poll this morning i would like everyone to raise their hand if they would like more wisdom or if they believe that they could use more wisdom in life every one of us right well except bryce bryce has it all whether you are going through a season of uncertainty or whether you are trying to make the right decision you could use more wisdom right maybe

you've been in a season where you're searching out who to marry who to date whether it be a job or a city that you're looking to move to life decisions can require wisdom even if you're married right little decisions on how to discipline kids do you send them to public private home school the list can go on and on you can long for wisdom in a season of trial how to remain steadfast in the midst of that trial when it all seems like everything is against you or you're in the dark night of a soul the dark night of a soul i believe everyone wants

it or at least they believe they need more of it and this doesn't this isn't true just for the people of god i was actually uh working on my sermon this week and one of my friends at a coffee shop asked hey are you preaching and and if so what are you preaching on i was like hey we're walking through the book of james and i get to preach on wisdom from above and she responded i could use more of that wisdom and so it's not just within the church the people long or desire wisdom but what comes to mind when you think of wisdom

is important more often than not when we think about wisdom we can't really put a pin on what it is right we we sometimes think maybe it's a an old person who's walked through life has experienced life maybe you've had a grandparent a grandmother grandfather that you when you think about wisdom you you think of them maybe it's someone who you look at that seems to have their life together although if you were to ask them if they had their life together they probably felt like they don't maybe when you hear wisdom you think about solomon or you think about the proverbs or you think

about the wisdom literature found in scripture maybe even think about jesus the most wise man there ever was but the irony about wisdom is this more often than not it is harder to describe however you know it when you see it right you know it when you hear it the great theologian augustine of hippo when writing on the idea of time as he's commentating the book of genesis says this what then is time if no one asks me i know exactly what it is but if i wish to explain it then i know not i have no idea i think the same argument can be

made about wisdom right what then is wisdom if no one asks me i know exactly what it is but if i wish to explain it then i have no idea and so what i want us to see from james's writing this morning is that wisdom true wisdom is something that can be seen true wisdom you know it when you see it and i think james from this passage is trying to help us see the difference between earthly wisdom and godly wisdom because we know it when we see it we know it when we hear it and so james is trying to help us refine our

vision refined our hearing so that we can know and trust in and live out godly wisdom we see in verse 13 he asks this question who is wise and understanding among you so again he's talking to these teachers he's talking to people who believe that they can teach but he's also talking to us as believers you think you're wise you think that you have knowledge and understanding well let you then show this wisdom in your good conduct let you show this wisdom in your meekness you see james is presenting a truth that is found throughout scripture when it comes to biblical wisdom biblical wisdom doesn't

simply just refer to someone who has the most knowledge oftentimes we can think that experts or people who have all of this knowledge who who know seemingly everything they must be the most wise but in fact one of the biggest fools in the bible is the person who knows the most and doesn't show any evidence of that knowledge biblical wisdom the way that it is defined is godly practical wisdom it is knowing the right thing to do and then doing it solomon argues in the book of ecclesiastes that the wise choose what is the best option while the fool chooses the opposite biblical wisdom the

wise person knows in any situation what to do and most importantly follows through with doing it and so we know wisdom we know true wisdom because we can see it and we can hear it these are the tools that james gives to us it's not just about what someone says but it's also about their conduct and how they live and this wisdom that james talks about it begins first with the fear of the lord proverbs 9 10 says the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the one the holy one is insight to trust in the sovereignty of god

is the foundation for biblical wisdom but then it also leads into and should be shown in our very lives so it's not just about our knowledge it's not just about who we know or what we know about god if you remember james saying even the demons know who god is and shudders but the difference that james showed in how the demons responded to god was that they didn't worship him they weren't in all of him in fact they live against him so it's not just about knowledge of god it's also about how we live and portray this knowledge in our conduct and this phrase good

conduct is important for us to understand because it's not simply moral living it's not just simply being a good person who has good behavior but is void of heart transformation this void of trusting in the sovereign lord we see this around the world right we can see this in our everyday lives if we just look at good conduct devoid of the gospel there are plenty of people that we would consider good and they're good because they obey the law they don't cheat on their spouses they're a good parent they do their taxes they give money to charity but this is not the good conduct that

james is getting after all those things are good and right by the way you should pursue them as a believer in christ but without heart transformation it's just moral living it's just behavior modification and this is not the type of conduct that james means by good conduct you see this phrase here is where we actually get the word calligraphy attractive handwriting and this gives me a perfect opportunity to shout out kelsey because she does this thing so i have a card from her this is when she first started of this attractive handwriting right it is from one of my favorite passages in daniel now if

i were to write something like this it would not look attractive right but she did a great job in this and has continued to do a great job in it and that's what attractive handwriting does right it takes a truth or it takes what we have something like these words and it makes it beautiful and this is the type of conduct that james is talking about when he says good conduct it is a life that makes the gospel attractive the idea that james gives here isn't just a sense of being good by doing all the right things morally it's the idea of being good the

way jesus was good at showing the attractiveness of grace and the beauty of our lord this is the kind of beautiful portrayal that our lives should show both in our speech and in our conduct and it reveals our hearts right as dwayne talked about last two weeks ago our speech reveals our heart our speech reveals where our identity lies jesus reminds us in matthew 12 out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks but james is taking it further it's not just about what you say your heart is also revealed in how you live and we're to live a way in we are to

live in such a way that shows that our hearts have been transformed that our lives have been changed that we live in the meekness of wisdom showing the attractiveness of grace and the beautiful reality that we now have as sons and daughters of god almighty now this idea of meekness is something that can be counter-cultural to us especially as americans where we thrive in pride and arrogance and this idea of meekness in today's day and age goes in direct opposition to what we often see you see the word meek in our day and age does not bring a positive connotation right just doing some quick

researches this week i found a quote from a crossfitter that said i've been called many things but meek has never been and will never be one of them i also watched an interview this week where a man went around his neighborhood asking his neighbors to define meekness and one of the answers was this meek means weak even looking up some synonyms on the word meekness you find this docile timid gentle unassuming nothing which is weird spiritless weak knead and wishy-washy we can see that even in our own english language out of these synonyms only one of them has a positive quality when it comes to

the word meekness so in the eyes of the world meekness is not the way to success and it's definitely not the way to wisdom but the bible describes meek very differently meekness is self-control which manifests itself in a gentle spirit based on the unshakable confidence in god it is power under control joe thorne goes on to say meekness is humble restraint of ourselves and a submission of ourselves to god and others and so this is how the bible describes how the wise live they live in meekness and what james is trying to show us in this in this passage is how to know the difference

between these two wisdoms by living a meek and humble life and so i want to take a look at how he compares and contrasts these two wisdoms first earthly and then heavenly you see james describes this earthly wisdom in verse 14 like this but if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts do not boast and be false in the truth he highlights the heart of earthly wisdom is rooted in bitter jealousy and selfish ambition now i want us to understand that there can be a positive and negative idea of jealousy right jealousy for a while used to be considered a zeal or

a passion so we can have a passion or zeal for the lord that would be positive but this is negative we see this as james describes this jealousy as bitter it is a gnawing desire to have what others have that we do not it's the foundations for greed it's trying to obtain something for ourselves it is a heart that wants to have and has no desire to be generous to others with what we've been given or what we've been blessed with this this this wisdom is rooted in the longing for something for ourselves and not to be shared with others and this is the wisdom

that we hear from the world right only look out for yourself only rely on yourself only make decisions that are going to help you build yourself up no matter what it does no matter what destructive wave comes from it as long as you are happy as long as you are satisfied and fulfilled but this earthly wisdom is also rooted in selfish ambition this is a striving to accomplish something only for ourselves what's interesting about this word is that it is used to describe crooked politicians who want to create chaos over unnecessary issues and so this worldly wisdom has a desire to put oneself first and

not to worry about the consequences or damage that it may cost this is the earthly wisdom of self-preservation and it's all around us and it doesn't matter again who or what gets damaged as long as i can persevere as long as i can make it to the top doesn't matter what promises i'm going to give it doesn't have it doesn't matter who i can manipulate as long as i'm able to get to the top and james is saying that this worldly wisdom looks like an axe like this it's all about self-preservation and yes even in self-preservation there can be times in which people will help

out others but only to a certain extent and james is trying to show us that the way that you see earthly wisdom is by picking up on this self-preservation picking up on this bitter jealousy picking up on this selfish ambition that is being shown because that's not meekness that's not humility and so what i want to do this morning in regards to just this idea of self-preservation is i want us to reflect i want us to to think about it it are my motives are they rooted in or is my heart rooted in a type of selfish ambition or bitter jealousy especially when it comes

to the decisions or the conduct that i live by and maybe just maybe this passage is a check engine light for your heart right if we understand check engine lights it doesn't necessarily mean that your engine is about to explode or die you could just need something fixed or it really is that your engine is about to be destroyed and you need to do something in such a way that is going to fix that and it's severe enough for you to pursue that type of change this is why we need heart transformation james gets after that earthly wisdom has a heart full of bitter jealousy

and selfish ambition and the only way in which that change comes about is heart transformation not just behavioral change james is saying that if your heart is characterized by these two things then you do not in fact have the wisdom from above but you are living with earthly wisdom that does not produce the righteousness of god and your life reflects the heart of selfishness and jealousy and what you are doing in this thought process or in this life that you think you're living wisdom out you're actually lying to yourself and you're deceiving yourself so confess that sin confess where there's bitterness confess where there's selfish

ambition knowing that this is worldly wisdom it's not from the lord it is not something to boast in because you are lying to yourself that you are actually okay that you are actually wise when in fact the bible clearly shows you that you are not now one of the ways that you can do this maybe you don't do this this morning maybe you don't do this right now but one of the ways that you can do this is going back to your gospel-centered community going to men and women and asking hey what do my motives what does my conduct look like now of course you're

not going to be asking everybody around you these questions and i definitely do not encourage you to go to people that you know who are going to harm you with their words but go to people you know and trust and ask them hey what does my conduct look like in this situation or here when i talk about this or when i'm pursuing this does it reveal a heart of bitterness or selfish ambition this is why gospel community is so important right ephesians 4 15 tells us rather speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head

who is christ he is the head of our body we are we are to speak the truth in love when it comes to our brothers and sisters in christ so that we all can grow in maturity in him this type of wisdom this earthly wisdom that james shows us is also characterized by three distinct qualities and these three just qualities actually point to an evilness that we may not even recognize and what about what i mean by evilness is this is true evil this is not some horror film type of evil this is not some halloween or friday the 13th type of evil that we're

thinking about this is true evil that removes or seeks to remove god from everything that we do everything that we say everything that we think of that is the true reality of evil that god has been removed from all things and james says this is the evilness of earthly wisdom or worldly wisdom because it seeks to remove god and is not from above we see in verse 15 james says this is not the wisdom that comes down from above but is both but it is earthly and spiritual and demonic what he means by earthly is this isn't just some wisdom or knowledge that we have

accumulated as people or cultures in fact some of that stuff might actually be true there's proverbial wisdom when it comes to all kinds of cultures and nations throughout the world and some of it may be true some of it may be wise but it is not rooted in the gospel but what james means by earthly is that it seeks to remove god from its searching it seeks to remove god in how it processes decisions how it how it speaks how it lives this is the type of wisdom that solomon talks about in ecclesiastes when he says that they strive after wind that they don't search

for the things above it is wisdom that removes god his truth his people his life and seeks to live out everyday life decisions being made without pursuing the lord this is the type of earthly wisdom that is characterized we also see james characterize the unspiritual part of this earthly wisdom and what he means by this is that this type of wisdom appeals to the flesh this type of wisdom appeals to our sinful nature oftentimes it's in line with instant gratification whatever makes us feel good whatever makes us feel happy as long as it fulfills this void that i have it's okay this type of unspiritual

wisdom is fleshly and this is why we like it because it appeals to what makes us feel good sometimes the wisdom of the world leads us to do things that makes us feel good but ultimately if we don't pay attention to it it can lead to a wake of destruction in our lives and the lives of others and james is trying to show us this evilness about earthly wisdom that appeals to the flesh but he also calls it demonic he calls it demonic because he recognizes that the origin of this wisdom this earthly wisdom is from satan himself it is not a byproduct of broken

thinking in this world it's not a byproduct that can just be fixed by knowledge this demonic wisdom is rooted in a scheme that seeks to lead us believers specifically away from god away from his rest and away from his people and ultimately away from the abiding life that christ calls us to this demonic wisdom we need to do a better job of paying attention to this because this worldly wisdom can be wrapped up in things that we want to hear from our sinful natures as well as worldly wisdom that is devoid from god but it doesn't always sound like some demonic phrase right it doesn't

always sound like some demon speaking into the room that we should be afraid of what james is getting at is this type of wisdom is wisdom that we should be paying attention to when it pulls us away from the things of the lord the people of god his word his life and rest that he promises us because what happens when we pursue this type of wisdom is that we walk into chaos the result of worldly wisdom as james shows us is chaos you look at verse 16 he says for where jealousy and selfish ambition exists there will be disorder in every vile practice unbridled envy

selfish ambition it leads to disorder and to evilness and since everyone is out for themselves when we pursue this type of worldly wisdom what happens is that relationships break destruction happens there's no benefit of the doubt that is given to one another there's no meekness there's no humility there's only pride and arrogance and self-preservation and self-seeking it goes directly against what god calls us or how god calls us to live towards the one another's in the body of christ and it's so easy for us to fall into this right because this is what our sinful flesh and sinful nature desire it is so tempting for

us to fall into this type of worldly wisdom to appear wise and even to elevate ourselves and this is what satan is seeking to accomplish within the people of god as he seeks to kill and destroy us and so we must be vigilant of his schemes we must recognize or seek to discern what godly wisdom is versus what earthly wisdom is and the way that we do this is by actively abiding in christ by being immersed in his word by actively engaging with the people of god by confessing and repenting of sin pursuing wisdom from above this should not be something new to you guys

this should this should not sound new to anyone that has been here at our church for long enough to hear the way that we find or the way that we see the schemes of the devil when it comes to worldly wisdom are the spiritual disciplines of the christian life his word his people confessing repenting pursuing and abiding in him and james is going to go on to show us the contrast of what earthly wisdom looks like and she shows us what heavenly wisdom looks like and and the promise for us guys as believers in christ when it comes to wisdom you know i asked the

question who would like more wisdom and everyone raised their hand well james gives us that promise in chapter one what does he say he says if anyone lacks wisdom let him ask god who gives generously to all without reproach god's not questioning why you're not asking for more wisdom when you ask for more wisdom god wants to give it to us generously and this is what it is we see in verse 17 the wisdom from above is first pure then peaceable gentle open to reason full of mercy and good fruits impartial and sincere this idea of purity captures everything that follows from it it is

the overall character of the godly the righteous it is the wisdom of god that is good it is godliness that we must be pursuing it is the holiness of god that he calls us to and it's good because it's not law right it's not do this do that but it's a practical understanding and outworking of god's ways in our lives it's the righteousness that that lives and flows out through all that we do from our speech to our works this purity this character of righteousness overflows and james goes on to describe the qualities of this righteousness he says that it's peaceable what that means is

we just love peace those who have this character those who pursue the wisdom from above they love to make peace they don't seek to sow discord they don't seek to pursue division now i will say this they love peace enough that they know when to confront and when to rebuke because they know that the righteousness of god leads them to do that when they see areas in a brother and sister's lives that needs to be addressed as warren weirsbee says the peace of the church is not more important than the purity of the church and those who seek peace those who love peace they work

for it they strive for it and they seek to find ways to make peace in every area of their lives but they're also gentle they don't seek to put themselves first and they are considerate of others i mean this is the opposite of earthly wisdom right this is the opposite of selfish ambition they are gentle in seeking ways to find ways to serve one another ways to love one another ways to encourage one another they're even gentle in their rebuke with one another there's a gentleness about them they're open to reason what james means here is that they're not just open to any type of

worldly or earthly wisdom right that's that's not what he's getting after they are ready to listen they are quick to hear they're slow to speak they're slow to anger they seek to give deference to others when they can they don't have they don't have the attitude if it's me first and they seek to live out these qualities of showing deference to one another to show honor to one another to outdo one another in honor and then we see that they are full of mercy and full of good fruits james says that they are compassionate and forgiving that's what he means by full of mercy and

full of good fruits that they are compassionate they are forgiving because the wise person knows how to extend forgiveness and grace because they know how much forgiveness and grace they've been extended they've learned it from their master they are full of it and they are overflowing with it and they show it in their lives forgiveness and mercy and compassion is extended they are willing to overlook offenses because they know how much they've been forgiven they are impartial and sincere see real wisdom loves others and it seeks justice for all people it is not unfairly biased it is not showing partiality as james already talked about

but it's impartial it shows kindness to all it shows justice for all and sometimes when it comes to impartial insincerity that means that there needs to be correction there needs to be punishment there needs to even be arrests because the wise person pursues impartiality they pursue sincerity sincerity here when james is bringing this up he gives this idea of living without hypocrisy i know this is hard for us right i get that but it is it's through the wisdom of god it is through the pursuit of christ that we can live to try to be people that don't show or speak or live out a

way in which we are hypocrites and then recognize that when we have messed up or when we have shown to be a hypocrite we acknowledge it repent of it and say yes i have i have done exactly what i said i did not want to do because there is a humility and a meekness about my life and recognizing that my identity is not in myself but it is in christ so this is what heavenly wisdom produces sinclair ferguson says the hallmark of wisdom is this when you've discovered the grace the salvation and the rest in jesus christ you no longer have to wear a mask

of hypocrisy because he has accepted you in christ and pardoned all your sins and you are finally free at last this is the mark of heavenly wisdom and heavenly wisdom then produces fruit not only in our lives but in the lives around us we look at verse 18 james says this and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace the wise man the wise woman produces the fruit of righteousness as we walk in the way of wisdom from above living out the peace that has been shown to us we are growing and being grown in righteousness we are being transformed

from one degree of glory to another in our hearts and our minds how we speak how we live and this is how we grow and mature in faith it is the wisdom from above that then flows from our hearts that has transformed us by the grace of god that allows us to live in meekness that allows us to live in heavenly wisdom towards one another it is not jealous it's not prideful it's not self-seeking but it seeks to outdo one another in honor and it seeks to make peace and it seeks to produce this righteousness in its own life and in the life of those

around us so this is what james means when he talks about pursuing heavenly wisdom to live this way to show it in our conduct so i want to close this morning by asking a couple questions i hope these questions challenge you as they they challenged me this week but do you believe or i'll put it this way this would be better do people see you and see the wisdom from above do you live to make the grace of god attractive to the world around you both in your speech and in your actions does your wisdom produce peace or is it full of bitter jealousy and

selfish ambition is it categorized by earthly unspiritual demonic or do you produ or do you pursue peace see everyone wants wisdom i want it for myself i want it for this church and so i want to challenge this this morning is what if we were a church marked by godly wisdom marked by these things that james talks about marked by impartialness and sincerity marked by being full of mercy ready to forgive ready to overlook offenses ready to show grace we're ready to pursue peace we were gentle we were people who loved and forgave what if this marked us what if people when they heard about

the district church this is what they said about us what if people said this about you what would your life look like how would your homes look like in light of this heavenly wisdom how would your neighborhoods look how would your workplaces look how the coffee shops and the gyms and the mommy play dates and whatever else and wherever else that you have a sphere of influence what would it look like if we pursued this heavenly wisdom to me i i think it'd be a great vision i think it's something that would be great for us to strive for for the rest of our lives

is to be people who are marked by heavenly wisdom and not influenced by the world not influenced by earthly wisdom but to be people marked by peace and grace and forgiveness man what a great vision that would be so going to close with the same way we we close every single week in communion and so if you don't have the elements go ahead and gra go ahead and stand up and go grab them and then we can close in this understanding of what true wisdom and where true wisdom comes in communion we recognize our union with christ for those of us who are in him

if you're asking the question this morning where does true wisdom come from it comes from the wisdom of god which paul tells us in first corinthians 1 that is christ he says this and because of him god you are in christ jesus who became to us the wisdom from god righteousness and sanctification and redemption so that at as it is written let the one who boasts boast in the lord this is what we are celebrating each week this is what we are reminded of is that we now have the wisdom of god if we are in christ and if you're here this morning and you

are not in him if you have not placed your trust in him as your savior you will spend the rest of your life striving after the wind and you will never find that wisdom that comes from above and so i would encourage you i would implore you to trust in this wisdom of god this great savior that we have but if you are in christ if you have been united to him paul shows us that we now have this wisdom we now have this ability to live out heavenly wisdom because it has been given to us through righteousness sanctification and redemption christ life death and

resurrection has justified us has sanctified us and has redeemed us and we now have the ability to live a life that reflects this heavenly wisdom from above and so let this bread and let this juice be that reminder for you this morning that you are united to christ you are united to the wisdom of god and you are sons and daughters who are called to live in such a way that pursues this heavenly wisdom but i also want to challenge you even if you are a child of god this morning and there are things in your life or there are areas in your life where

you know that you have not been pursuing heavenly wisdom communion is a time where we reflect on what jesus has done for us on the cross by taking on our sins it's also a time to reflect on where we need to confess those sins and give them to the lord and so i would encourage you if you have been pursuing earthly wisdom to go to him to confess and repent these things to him but to not sit in that don't sit in that you have been disobedient but be encouraged this communion reminds you of your union with him this means of grace is something that

shows us that you no longer have to be controlled by this earthly wisdom but you have been set free to live out and live for the heavenly wisdom that god calls us to so let's take some time to pray and confess if we need to and then you guys can take communion as you see fit and then we will continue to worship the lord who has set us free who has given us the wisdom of god in christ let's pray lord thank you first and foremost lord thank you for the wisdom you have given to us in christ that our union with him lord it

is where we find our identity it is where we find our foundation is where we place our hope and trust as we sang this morning our hope is built on nothing less than jesus blood and righteousness it goes on i dare not trust a single frame but holy trust in jesus name help us to trust in him help us to look to him as we pursue heavenly wisdom as we pursue peace and purity and righteousness and forgiveness and grace and mercy lord and i pray that this word that you've given to us would transform our hearts and our minds that we would long to be

individuals as well as a church that is marked by heavenly wisdom for your glory and the growth of your kingdom pray this in jesus name amen [Music] not [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] my wisdom [Music] lord [Music] [Music] and i will be [Music] which is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] jesus [Music] i [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] may i reach [Music] whatever [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh jesus [Music] heavenly father you're so satisfied in you the privilege is that we get to abide in you our location is within you we have access to all the wisdom that you provide god maybe walk

in that wisdom and we seek that wisdom in all aspects of our life we can't ask too much god we pray that you just continue to reveal spaces where we are looking elsewhere besides you maybe look to you god we thank you for this morning and we love you in jesus name amen