Sermon Text: James 3:13 – 4: 3, 7-8a
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Morning Message:
In order to realize and fully understand God’s wisdom we must stay spiritually connected. We talked about this several weeks ago, and I told you that there is a difference between experiencing the Spirit occasionally and living in constant fellowship with God. This is very important if we want to live out our faith. When things happen in our lives we, as Christians, need to see how God can use them for the greater good. It’s easy to look back and say, “ I see now how God used that to better my life.” If we are living fully connected to the Holy Spirit at all times we will see God’s hand in every circumstance, good and bad. I’m sure that you have examples in your life where God used adverse circumstances to change the direction of your life. Let me give you one from the Bible that I was reminded of in my devotions this week. The scripture reference is Genesis 42: 1-2, “When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.” Now I would encourage you to go to Genesis in your Bible and read the whole story because this verse is right in the middle. A severe famine comes upon the land. There is no food anywhere except in Egypt. Why is there food in Egypt? Because God took something that was meant for evil and turned it into salvation. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in the hope of getting rid of him permanently. Joseph ends up in Egypt, gains favor with Pharaoh, and because he never lost his connection with God, Joseph warned Pharaoh that a great famine was coming. Pharaoh put Joseph in charge and he prepared Egypt for the famine. God saved his chosen people and sustained them in Egypt for four hundred years, they grew into a great nation and then God returned them to Canaan. My devotional makes this point. God often uses events—even a famine—to accomplish great spiritual purposes. Be sensitive to the circumstances in your life; be on the lookout for spiritual connections.
The supply of God’s wisdom never runs dry. If comes continually from heaven to meet the demands of each hour. There are seven characteristics of wisdom from heaven that James gives us.
1. It is pure. Purity is first in James’ list because heavenly wisdom is based upon God’s holiness. He is morally blameless and therefore incapable of producing evil. Here is a fact that we have to wrap our minds around and accept. God is incapable of evil. When things happen to us the first reaction that we have is that evil is at work. We see every negative thing in our lives as bad while God looks to the end result of the circumstance. Many times, as I said last week, God is trying to get our attention and bring us back into fellowship with him. I told you, and it needs to be said over and over again, if you belong to God and think that you are going to live a life that is not pleasing to him, you have another thought coming. Sometimes God is changing the direction of our lives for the good of who we are supposed to be in him.
2. It is peace-loving. True peace is always an outgrowth of purity. This is a blessing conferred by God and available from God alone. When the peace of God follows the purity of God’s wisdom into our hearts and lives, it will affect those around us. People will be attracted to you and your faith when your motives are pure and peacefulness is your intention, and they can tell.
3. God’s wisdom should make us considerate. Strife comes from the world’s wisdom, but being considerate (or gentle) is a characteristic of God’s servants. Are we considerate of others and gentle in our interactions with people?
4. Submissive: This word could also be translated “willing to yield or take instructions.” God’s wisdom has a conciliatory spirit and listens to reason. Once again, we talked about this before. Listening to others is necessary if you want them to hear you. We must remember that God’s will must be done, not ours. Be willing to submit your will for the sake of God’s plan.
5. Full of mercy and good fruit: Godly wisdom, like our love, must be demonstrated in word and truth. If we are to be like Jesus we must always be wise enough to show God’s mercy in our speech as well as our treatment of others.
6. Impartial: Those who possess heavenly wisdom do not discriminate against others, nor are they uncertain within themselves. They do not take a position in one circumstance and then change their position when the circumstances change. To be wise is to understand that right and wrong has no middle ground. You can’t stand on the truth of the Bible only when it is convenient or doesn’t go against someone that you care about.
7. Sincere: The hypocrite says one thing but does another. Wisdom from above is sincere and real; no game playing, mask wearing, no acting. If you don’t truly believe in your heart it will show. Sincerity shines through and insincerity falls flat.
God see’s your heart and knows your motives. How strong is your spiritual connection? Is it strong enough to comprehend the wisdom of heaven? Will you spend your life in step with God or only see him move in your past?
In Christ’s Love and Peace
Pastor Bob
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