James 2:14-3:18 - The Evidence of Faith - Pastor Jarrod - Morning Service 10:30AM

Good morning, everyone. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you so much for this beautiful morning that you've given us. Thank you that we get to gather together as your followers and just praise you this morning and give you all the glory that you deserve and turn our attention back where it should be, which is on you. I pray that as we sing these songs, that you move in us and that you help clear our minds

from everything happening throughout the week and help us to refocus our attention where it needs to be on you. You are so wonderful and amazing and wonderful to us, and we don't deserve you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. If you guys will stand for this first song. Come together today to praise you and thank you for all you've done for us. As we go forth, understand what it can or can do.

Only boast in what you have done for us and given us. And how you have blessed us. We are your treasure and you are our pride.

Pray that we will understand that deeply and that we will use what you've done in our lives to be a testimony to the people around us and to share it. You will have the victory by us speaking our testimony. We have victory over evil and it says in Revelation that that is, through the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony that people's lives can be changed, Lord. Let us share it boldly as we go forth into the holidays with our families and our friends and our co-workers.

Let us not hide this truth. Let it be real and let us be bold, Lord, for your glory, amen. How absolutely blessed we are to have a living God that we can say your will be done and know that, Amen. we can leave everything we're stressed about everything we're worried about everything that scares us in your hands and we can say your will be done and we know that it truly is what's best for us and we are so so thankful to you for taking care of us the way that you do and for sending your son to die for us to give everything for us even though there's no way we could ever deserve it thank you so much for letting us gather here today and to give you back all the praise and the glory you deserve.

Amen. and I pray that as Jared comes up and gives his message that we clear our minds of everything we've been worried about this week and that we truly focus on you and we strive to learn more about you and to get closer to you and to really focus on what you have to teach us through your word in Jesus name I pray amen. All right. Yes, you can greet each other.

Yes. All right. We could go ahead and start making our way to our seats. We'll get started. Good morning church family. It's good to see everybody. I'm glad you're all here just a couple of things before we get started here. If you got your bulletin go ahead and open those up. If you're looking for a place to get plugged in on the very left side of your bulletin.

There's a list of all the things that are going on throughout the week and so just find something there that fits your schedule and go ahead and get plugged in. We'd love to have you for the Bible reading plan. Strangely enough. We are in Hebrews. And James this week, which is where we're studying today. So directory photos if you if you were not able to be here for any of the days that we were doing directory photos and you still want to have your photo taken for the new directory.

I believe Lauren will be back there on Sunday, November 23rd for both first and second services in the South Lobby here to be able to finish that out. So this is your last chance if you want to if you want to get in on that. So November 23rd. December 6th Grace Calvary in Wellington is actually having a women's conference. So it's completely free. It's from 8 30 a.m.

To 4 30 p.m. So if you have any questions, you can speak to Diane Nichols. And then lastly, did you want to do this or okay? Joe Palmer is going to give us a few details about the live Nativity.

Good morning. So it's that time of the year again. The live Nativity. Is coming around. This is going to be December 12th and 13th hosted at the Bible Christian Church. And this year our church is going to be handling the Shepherds scene. So we need some Mary's some Joseph's and some Shepherds. This is a great opportunity just to point our community back to the true meaning of Christmas and that's Jesus.

So there are some sign-up sheets out in the hallway. There's going to. We set up two shifts. So there's one shift from 6 30 in the evening to 7 30 and then one from 7 30 to 8 30 on both December 12th and 13th. So there's sign-ups out in the hallway. If you have any questions about it, feel free to reach out to me or just put your name and phone number down on the sheet and I'll reach out to you.

Appreciate it.

So with that last announcement shoeboxes. I believe Phil.

Here you go, Phil. Thank you. Yes. I'm Phil today. This is the last day for. This well, maybe till December. I still may be known as Phil this morning is our delivery day where we're going to take all the shoeboxes from here and put them in the truck. So after service, if you would like to participate, I need to have a we're going to have a couple of two lines here where we'll form two lines to going out to the truck.

So if you're if you'd like to get your children involved, we'll wait till after the children come in and the kids can help carry these boxes out. So the boxes will go. I'm going to need somebody to help count at the door so we can get a count of the of the boxes. And then I'm going to need some stackers to help me stack inside the truck that's outside. So anybody who wants to participate, please just stick around right after church and we'll plan on loading up.

So thank you. And just so you know, you're forever going to be known as Phil to me. So so that is all the announcements that I have today for our responsive reading today. We're going to be in Psalm 46. Psalm 46. If you need a Bible, there should be one in your row.

What are we reading out of the new American standards so that we all sound the same? If you guys will go ahead and stand with me. As we read God's word, I'll read the odd verses. And if you'll follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses Psalm 46 for the choir director, a song of the sons of Korah set to Alamoth a song. God is our refuge and strength.

A very present help. In trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though. The earth should change and though the mountains slip in to the heart of the sea, though. It's waters roar and foam, though. The mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the most high. God is in the midst of her.

She will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. The nations made an uproar. The kingdoms tottered. He raised his voice. The earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah. Come behold the works of the Lord who wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two.

He burns the chariots with fire. See striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted on the earth. And read verse 11 with me. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah. And Lord, let that be our prayer this morning, God. Let us be still and know that you are God. You are the God of armies.

You're the Lord of hosts. Lord God, you cause wars to cease. You break. You bend the bow and break the spear, Lord God. And so whatever it is that we are battling against. Today, help us to find our rest and our peace in you to cease our striving today. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated.

Well, you hit me this morning. Sorry about your luck. Pastor Ryan's at a conference this weekend. So be praying for him and his family as they come home today. Just for safe travels. If you have your Bibles with you, open them up to James chapter two. James chapter two. And we're going to be in verse 14 this morning. To kind of recap the last time that I taught, which I think was in June, we were in the

book of James and we talked about not just being a hearer of the word, but a doer. You know, James told us that if we were a hearer only, we were like someone who looks at his own face in the mirror. Then we walk away and we immediately forget what we look like. We immediately forget who we are. Okay. And God calls us to have a heart that, that not only shows up to hear an awesome message

on a Sunday morning and then lose that fire, the 30 feet to the front door, but instead not just to hear the word, but to be a doer of the word, to act upon the word, you know, and this morning in James is actually going to continue to expound on this principle. So James chapter two, verse 14 says this. What good is it? My brothers and sisters. If someone claims to have faith, but does not have works, can such faith save him?

And if a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, stay warm and be well fed, but you don't give them what the body needs. What good is it? And in the same way, faith, if it does not have works is dead by itself. So in this first section of scripture here, James asks a question of believers. Keep in mind, these believers that he is writing to in this particular day and time

are Jewish converts who are scattered outside Israel and even within the kingdom of Israel. And it's possible that these folks are even being persecuted because if you're familiar with church history, you'd know that during that particular time, Rome ruled that particular area of the world and they persecuted Christians. But then not only that, the Jews also persecuted Christians. So if you're a believer, if you were a follower of Jesus during that particular day and time, it was especially a dangerous and difficult time to be a believer.

And so that's who these, that's who James is writing this to. That's who he's asking these questions of. And he's asking those believers, what good is it if someone claims to have faith, but does not have works, can such faith save him? And I think it's the question that if you call yourself a believer, if you call yourself a follower of Jesus. That we should be asking ourselves.

You know, to simplify, if you claim to have faith in Jesus, where's your evidence? You know, I briefly mentioned this last time, but there's a book by Kyle Eidelman. It's called Not a Fan. And in that book, he says that what we believe is often reflected in reality. What you believe should be reflected in reality. When you walked in this morning and you saw that chair, you believed you had enough faith

that that chair was going to hold you up. So therefore, you're all sitting down in it today. You acted upon that belief. Otherwise, we'd all be standing right now. He's saying that if we truly believe and have faith in Jesus, have faith that Jesus is the son of God, and we are claiming Jesus. Sorry, Siri's trying to pop up. I lost my place. Thanks a lot, Siri.

He's saying that if we truly believe and have faith that Jesus is the son of God, and we are claiming Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Our belief should be reflected in that reality. It should be reflected in how we live. It should be reflected in how we act, how we talk, how we speak. When we talk to people, they should be able to tell that there's something different about us.

That we're not like the rest of the world. Believer is what you believe reflected in your life. Is what you believe reflected in your life. Are you controlling what comes out of your mouth? Are you controlling your attitude? I'll be honest with you. I struggle with that one a little bit. Okay, just full transparency. I struggle with that one. Are you controlling what you allow into your head?

When you go home and you turn on the TV or you're cruising the internet, are you controlling what you allow in your head? Is what you believe reflected in what you're watching and what you're listening to? And I ask that because what you put into is what is going to come out. The Bible says in Matthew, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. How about this?

Is what you believe reflected in how you run your day-to-day business? You know, for some of us in here, we're fortunate enough and blessed enough to be able to actually own and operate our own business. Is what you believe reflected in how you run that business? Do you have honest weights and measures? Are you honest with your employees? Do you pay them honestly?

How about this? Is what you believe reflected in how you run that business? Is what you believe reflected in how you raise your family? Moms and dads, if we claim to be a follower of Jesus, are we teaching them? Are we teaching our kids about Jesus? This is something that I've had to learn how to do through the years because it wasn't model for me growing up, but it's something that I've had to learn to do and it's a conviction

that I have. I need to be teaching my kids. I need to be teaching them about Jesus. I need to be teaching them what the word says about Jesus. Moms and dads, are you raising your kids in the Lord? Are you teaching them God's word? How about this? Are you living out what you're teaching them? What about this? Are you helping your brothers and sisters? Are you helping your brothers and sisters in need?

Jesus himself said, "'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.'" Believer, is what you believe reflected in your life? If you are claiming to believe and follow Jesus, it needs to be reflected in your life. Otherwise, it's an empty belief and it's an empty claim. It's what Kyle Adelman describes as a delusion. It's a delusion we bought into. James himself said in James 1.22,

"'Do not be just a hearer of the word, but be a doer. Otherwise, you're deceiving yourself.'" Faith without evidence isn't faith. It's a dead faith and there's no life in it. Okay? Verse 18, "'But someone will say, "'You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works.'" You believe that God is one? Good. Even the demons believe and they shudder.

Senseless person, are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac, his son, and Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active together with his works and by his works, faith was made complete. And the scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

And he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." James goes on here in verses 18 and 19.

And he calls out and he challenges those who actually operate in pure belief but no works. He's saying if you have faith, then where's your evidence? Okay? Where's your works? If you show me your faith, I'll show you mine. Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith. And I will show you faith by my works. Now, I do want to take a moment here and address something that needs to be addressed here.

And it's not the works that save. There is nothing I can do apart from Jesus that can save me. There's no amount of work. There's no amount of good deeds that I can do that will save me. My righteousness alone before God is nothing but filthy rags. It's not the works that save. That's not what James is saying. Works can never save you. Only faith in Jesus Christ will do that.

And a lot of folks will say that James is actually contradicting Paul in Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9. If you just want to write that in the margin of your Bibles there. But he contradicts it. A lot of people say that James contradicts Paul there. Where it says, For it is by grace you are saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves. It is God's gift.

Not from works. So that no one can boast. This actually does not contradict what Paul is saying. James isn't saying that it's by works that you are saved. He is saying that works are the byproduct. Works are the evidence of that. Of your salvation through faith. If your heart is truly changed through that saving relationship with Jesus Christ. There's going to be some evidence of it.

You can't earn your salvation by working your butt off. And also at the same time. You can't just believe you are saved. Just because you believe that God exists. So many people hang their hat on John 3.16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. That whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And yes that is absolutely true.

But it doesn't stop there. Because what you believe has to be reflected in reality. If you believe. If you believe that God exists. And let that be it. I'm sorry. You need to reassess your salvation here. Okay. James even addresses that here in verse 19. He says that you believe that God is one. Good. But guess what? Even the demons believe. And even they shudder.

And I've known too many people who are in one camp or the other. Folks who believe that they can work to earn their salvation. And folks that believe they're going to go to heaven. Just because they believe that God exists. Friends. James said it better than I ever could. He says the demons believe and even Satan himself believes that God exists. It's not enough to just believe that he exists.

You have to believe that he is your Lord and Savior. There has to be some evidence of that. It has to be lived out. Otherwise you will stand before God at the end of this life. And he's going to look at you and he's going to say. Away from me. Depart from me. For I never knew you. Those are some pretty terrifying words. That I would never want to hear standing before the God of all creation.

Rather I would rather stand before him and hear. Well done good and faithful servant. James goes on to use two examples from the Old Testament. Abraham and Rahab. Abraham being the father of the Jews. And Rahab being a prostitute. Who housed Israelite spies in Jericho. When Israel was getting ready to enter the promised land. And he says in verse 21. Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works.

In offering Isaac his son on the altar. Now wait a minute. I thought Paul said in Ephesians 2. That we were justified by faith. Not by works. Lest any man should boast. And you would be correct. So that doesn't contradict each other. No. It sure doesn't. The word justified here in the Greek. And I'm going to butcher this. So forgive me. It's dikaiou. It's a fun word to say.

Dikaiou. There's essentially two definitions for this word. And the first one is to render or demonstrate. One to be righteous. And the other definition. And the other definition is to declare one righteous. And the usage here suggests. That the correct definition to apply here. Is to demonstrate. To demonstrate one to be righteous. Abraham wasn't made or declared righteous.

Because of his obedience in sacrificing his son Isaac. If you remember. Abraham was declared righteous. Way back in Genesis 15. Some 20 plus years before this event. With his son Isaac. He was declared righteous. Way back in Genesis 15. Six. Abraham was declared righteous. Because of the belief. And the promise. That God made to him. That he was going to make him.

Into a prosperous nation. But then if you fast forward. To the account of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham. Excuse me. Abraham demonstrated. He wasn't declared. He demonstrated. His faith. Through obedience. In sacrificing Isaac. To be righteous. Abraham. Excuse me. Abraham demonstrated. He wasn't declared. He demonstrated. His faith. Through obedience. In sacrificing Isaac.

On the altar. Abraham fully believed. God's promise. Therefore. He fully obeyed. He fully demonstrated. His faith. And he would have gone through. With sacrificing Isaac. Had God not stopped him. And in the same way. Rahab wasn't justified. By her works alone. Okay. Remember. She was considered. A lady of the evening. She had. She had no works. To boast about.

Up to that point. She had no works. To boast about. Up to that point. She had no works. To boast about. Up to that point. She had no works. To boast about. Up to that point. She had nothing. Nothing. That would have declared. Her righteous. Yet she. She had heard. Of God's amazing works. In bringing Israel. Out of captivity. Kibbity. Captivity. She had heard.

Of how God parted. An entire ocean. And delivered. A nation. From slavery. She had heard. How God led. An entire nation. Through the desert. With a pillar. Of cloud. And a pillar. Of fire. She had heard. How God. Led. She had heard. How God provided. Food. Manna. And quail. For his people. In the desert. She had also heard. How God provided. Water. From nothing more.

Than a rock. She had heard. Of God's amazing. Works. In bringing Israel. Out of captivity. And she believed them. She believed them. So much. That it drove her. To actually. Do something. To actually. Demonstrate. Her faith. Her belief. It drove her. To hide these. Israelite spies. That. That essentially. Made her. A traitor. And it. Essentially. Signed her.

Death warrant. Had Israel. Not been successful. She would have been. Executed. So you see. It wasn't. It's not. Works alone. And it isn't. Faith alone. Yes. True. Faith alone. Will be. Evidenced. By a changed. Heart. That demonstrates. That demonstrates. That's an action word. That demonstrates. Faith. One. True. Living. God. Faith. Without. Evidence. Isn't.

Faith. Faith. Without. Fruit. Is. Not. Faith. And I've. Met. A lot. Of. Christians. Christians. That. I. Genuinely. Question. Their. Faith. Because. They. Have. Every. Word. That. They. Do. Is. For. Themselves. And so. If. You're. Here. This. Morning. You're. Calling. Yourself. A. Believer. A. Christian. May. I. Strongly. Urge. You. To. Take. Faith. Present.

In. Your. Life. And. If. Not. Then. It's. Time. To. Come. To. True. Faith. In. Jesus. Christ. Amen. Chapter. Three. Verse. One. Not. Many. Should. Become. Teachers. Ships. Though. Very. Large. And. Driven. By. Fierce. Winds. They're. Guided. By. Very. Small. Rudder. Wherever. The. Will. Of. The. Pilot. Directs. So. To. The. Though. The. Tongue. Is. A. World.

Of. Unrighteousness. Is. Placed. Among. Our. Members. And. It. Stains. The. Whole. Body. Sets. The. Course. Of. Life. On. Fire. And. Is. Itself. Set. On. Fire. By. Out. Of. The. Same. Mouth. My. Brothers. And. Sisters. These. Things. Should. Not. Be. This. Way. Does. A. Spring. Pour. Out. Sweet. And. Bitter. Water. From. The. Same. Opening. And. That's. The.

Just. The. Importance. Of. Words. You. See. Words. Have. Great. Power. They. Can. Change. The. Course. Of. A. Single. Person's. Entire. Life. They. Can. Change. The. Words. Will. Never. Hurt. Me. There's. Some. Of. The. Most. Untrue. Words. Ever. Spoken. To. Mankind. Words. Can. Hurt. And. They. Do. Hurt. Sometimes. For. Good. And. Sometimes. For. This. Time.

There. Were. These. People. Called. Judaizers. Who. Will. Go. Out. Among. Among. The. Body. Of. Believers. And. They. Would. Say. All. Right. If. You. Want. To. Follow. The. Way. From. Jesus. And. Fast. Forward. Today. We. Don't. Have. Judaizers. But. We. Have. A. Lot. Of. False. Teachers. Out. There. Who. Are. Pulling. People. Away. From. Jesus. And. To. Try.

To. Justify. Sin. Guys. If. You. Want. To. Start. A. Bible. Study. Great. I. Think. That's. Wonderful. You. Need. To. Pray. About. It. A. Lot. Okay. I. Pray. Why. Because. You. Know. That. We. Will. Receive. A. Stricter. Judgment. What. Does. That. Mean. It. Means. That. We. As. Teachers. Are. Going. To. Stand. Before. God. And. We're. Going. To. Jesus. And.

Point. People. To. Jesus. Did. I. Teach. The. Whole. Council. Of. God. Or. Did. I. Use. The. Platform. That. God. Has. Given. Me. To. Twist. The. Way. Shape. Or. Form. This. Is. Your. Warning. You. Need. To. Absolutely. Bathe. That. Decision. In. Lots. And. Lots. And. Lots. Of. Prayer. Amen. Absolutely. Bay. That. Decision. To. Make. A. Horse. Go. Where. You.

Wanted. To. Go. You. Can't. Just. Walk. Up. To. And. Say. Go. Hook. Yourself. Up. To. The. Plow. And. Go. Plow. That. Without. That. Bit. You. Can't. Pull. On. The. Rains. It. Won't. Go. Either. Way. It. Won't. Stop. It. Won't. Go. It's. A. Very. Small. Piece. But. It. Allows. You. To. Go. To. Go. To. The. Way. Is. The. The. Emma. Maersk. I. Hope. I. Pronounced.

That. Right. At. Least. According. To. An. Article. I. Found. Online. In. Terms. Is. With. One. Relatively. Small. Rudder. Without. That. Rudder. The. Ship. Does. Not. Does. Not. Go. Anywhere. It. Doesn't. Reach. Its. Destination. Much. Less. That. Even. Leave. Port. It's. You. Can. Bless. God. Or. You. Can. Curse. His. People. You. Can. Bless. Somebody. In.

The. Same. Breath. And. The. Next. Breath. You. Can. Tear. Him. Turn. Around. And. Sink. You. Don't. Do. This. Last. Time. I. Don't. Dress. Up. Like. Wizard. Outfits. And. I. Go. To. These. Conventions. And. Stuff. Okay. I. Don't. Do. That. That's. Weird. bad advice disguised as good advice. He gives this king bad advice so that the enemy can kind of sneak in and slowly take over the kingdom from within. And at some point, the king's niece and

this guy, Wormtongue, they have this conversation. And in the conversation, she goes, she tells Wormtongue that your words are poison. She realizes that it's him, that he's the problem, that his words are causing this kingdom to completely fall. And it was true. His words were so poisonous, but yet at the same time, seemed so right and so delightful to the ear.

It allowed the enemy to essentially control the kingdom and take it over completely from within. And so you have to be careful because there's a lot of false teachers out there. There's a lot of false teachers out there today. They're very similar. They speak evil words, but they dress it up. They make it sound nice and pretty. But yet they're doing nothing for the kingdom. They're not pointing people to Jesus.

They're doing nothing for the kingdom. They're actually fighting against God and his kingdom. And they're trying to build up their own kingdom and justify sin. Their words may seem wise and powerful, but they are in fact poison. So their tongue is used to great effect against the kingdom of God. They're drawing all these people in, yet they're not no closer to Jesus now than they were before they walked through the front door. Their words seem

great, but yet when you boil it down and strip away all the so-called wisdom, the message behind it is nothing but pure evil. It's poison. So therefore, therefore not many should become teachers because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment. So to close out this section and to kind of bring it all back together, the question becomes, how do we control the tongue?

And the answer is, you fill yourself with the things of heaven. You fill yourself with God's word. Jesus in Matthew 12, he's talking to the Pharisees. Pharisees up to this point have just been spewing nothing but hate and discontent and strife. And they're trying to speak out against Jesus, spewing nothing but evil things. And he says to them, out of the overflow of the

heart, the mouth speaks. In other words, what you put into you, is what's going to come out of you. If you're putting nothing but God's word into you, guess what? That's what's going to come out of you. Okay. But if you're filling yourself with the things of the world, guess what? That's what's going to come out of you. Verse 13, who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct, he should show that his works

are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition, you should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom. If you have bitter ambition in your heart, don't boast and deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For where there is envy and selfish

ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace loving. It's gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering and without pretense. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate it. In this last section of scripture here, James starts off by asking a question. Who among you

is wise and understanding? Who among you thinks he is wise? You know, and I suspect there was probably, there were probably those in the early church, perhaps the Judaizers, who were handing out worldly wisdom disguised as godly wisdom. But either way, James, he gives us a way to be able to tell the difference between godly wisdom and worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom seeks, seeks only to benefit you and is rooted in jealousy and envy. He says such

wisdom does not come from, come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, worldly wisdom seeks only to benefit you and is rooted in jealousy and envy. Worldly wisdom will say that you need a brand new car that you can't afford because you know what? You deserve it. You deserve it. You work hard. You sacrifice so much. And guess what? You need a

brand new Mercedes. You need a brand new Mercedes sitting in your driveway. You know what? And let's face it, you know, that old beater that I drive, you know, it's, it's, it's not looking very good anymore. You know, my neighbors probably think I'm broke, but that's okay. But you know what? I've got a 17-year-old Honda CRV that's been through two, two deer in a hailstorm that I affectionately call dimples. It's, it's actually short for

dimples, the deer slayer. And it doesn't look good at all. It does not look good at all. There's hail dents all over that thing. The hood doesn't match. It's starting to rust. It's got 260,000 miles on it, you know, but guess what? It runs great and it's paid for. Worldly wisdom would say that I need that brand new Mercedes sitting in my driveway, that I need to keep it.

Keep up with the times or keep up with the Joneses and buy that brand new car. Godly wisdom, however, is rooted in Jesus Christ. It's pure. It's peace-loving. It's gentle. It's compliant. It's full of mercy and it's unwavering and it's without pretense. Godly wisdom would say that I need to deny myself. I need to deny, deny myself and follow after him and he will provide all that I need.

Worldly wisdom would say follow your heart. If you can't trust anybody else, you just follow your heart, dear. And to that, I say, well, bless your heart. I can't tell you how many times, you know, I've, I've been faced with a, a life decision and I've sought counsel from, from different people. And, and that some people will give me great godly counsel and wisdom. And

then I, I, some other people will say, well, Jared, you just need to follow your heart. Just follow your heart. You can't go wrong. Guess what? Jeremiah 17, nine tells me otherwise. It says that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can understand it? You telling me to follow my heart, which is, which is desperately wicked and deceitful.

No, thank you. No, thank you. Never follow your heart. Follow God. Okay. Worldly wisdom says, live your best life now. It's time. Live your best life now. Godly wisdom, however, says something different. Matthew 16, 24 says, take up your cross, deny yourself and follow me. You know, and those are, those are just a few examples of worldly wisdom versus godly wisdom. I see again, worldly wisdom is rooted in jealousy,

envy. And selfish ambition. And it seeks to benefit only one person. You, it seeks to benefit one person. You, it benefits nobody else. And as I mentioned earlier about these false teachers out there using their tongue for evil, you know, I looked up, I looked at these, uh, the messages for this particular famous or infamous pastor, um, out there and I didn't really watch any of them

because I didn't really want to fill my mind with that garbage. But, um, these were the titles of just a few of these videos that this pastor puts out. These are some of the messages that he puts out. Number one, let God take care of you. Let God take care of you. Number two, if you need something to believe in, believe in yourself. Number three, 10 signs God is saying you are on the right path. Here's one for you. Focus on yourself

and your life will change. That's, that's a doozy right there. How about this one? God is doing a new thing in your life. Did you guys catch the common denominator in all those things? It's all, everything is about you. Everything is about ourselves. It's all about you. It's not about Jesus. It's not about others. It's about you. It's all about you. James goes on to say in verse 17,

that wisdom from above is, lastly, difference. It's first pure, then peace loving. It's gentle and compliant. In other words, some of your, some of your translations may say focused on others. It's full of mercy and good fruits. It's unwavering and it's without pretense. Doesn't seem like godly wisdom is really focused on me. It's rather on him. It's rather focused on him, focused on others. And I mentioned this

back in chapter one, but you know, to get, to get through this life, especially through the trials of this life, guys, we're going to need wisdom. It's just a matter of where, of where you're going to source your wisdom from. You're going to source it from, from God. Solomon did. He knew he was going to need wisdom to, to, to rule the kingdom. And so therefore he sought God's wisdom. He asked for it. So we can seek it from

God or we can seek it from the world. Solomon needed, and he knew where to get it. And he went to the, he went to the Lord. Godly wisdom is pure. It's undefiled and it's uncorrupted. And it's from God's word. It loves peace. It's gentle and it's willing to yield. It's merciful. It's unchanging. And it's without hypocrisy, hypocrisy. Jesus in Matthew five says the Beatitudes here, Matthew five

verses five through 10. Yes. Thank you. It says, blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the humble and the meek, those who are willing to yield. And blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. Those who are unwavering. Guys, blessed are those who are full of godly wisdom. You know, I, I love, I love you older folks. You guys are so full of godly wisdom.

You know, I, I seek, I seek you guys out all the time. Looking for godly wisdom. I love it. But we got to be careful where, where we are sourcing our wisdom from. Because like I said, there's a lot of false teachers out there today. They're spewing out a lot of false wisdom, especially in these last of the last days. Now, I'm not saying that all worldly wisdom is bad. Okay. There's, there's a lot of worldly

wisdom out there. That's, you know, there's some good nuggets of wisdom. I've got a few here for you. Number one, accept that some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Always keep your words soft and sweet because you never know when you're going to have to eat them. How about this one? Drive carefully because it's not only the cars that can be recalled by their maker. How about this one? Last, this is the last one. Statistically, 132% of all people exaggerate.

Guys, just to, to close this out this morning, may, may I just say, if I were to offer you one piece of godly wisdom this morning, one piece of godly wisdom, it would be this. It would be to repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Guys, I don't believe that we are long for this world. Jesus is coming soon. We need to be ready. Okay. We need to be living out our faith. We need to be seeking godly wisdom.

Amen. Amen. Would you stand with me? I'll go ahead and ask the worship team to come on up.

Father, we just... Just thank you. Thank you for your word this morning, God. Lord, it is sharp and powerful. And Lord, may it be used to great effect in our lives. Lord, may your words have the most impact on our lives, Lord. May we leave here different. May we leave here changed this morning. And God, we just also want to take a moment, Lord, I just want to give

you praise and give you thanks for who you are, Lord, God, in prayer. How much you love us, Lord. You love us so much that you love us. Lord, you love us so much that you love us so much that you willingly stepped down from your rightful place in heaven and came to earth. And you took our rightful place on the cross. And Lord, we just, I thank you. Nobody else could have done that.

And Lord, because you have done that, we give you all the honor. We give you all the glory. We give you all the praise because it is all due to you because you are worthy of it all, Lord Jesus. Lord, I ask a blessing on each and every one of us this morning as we leave here today. Continue to minister to us by the power of your Holy Spirit. We love you and we praise you in

your precious name. Amen. Be blessed.

I thank you once again and to talk about you freely and to just be able to revel in your presence and to give you the glory of God. I thank you all of the glory and the praise. I pray that as we go out this week that the world sees something different in us, that we stand out, that something's different about the way that we live our lives and that we're not part of the world, but yet we point to something else and that we point to you. And I pray that when people look at our lives, that they can tell that something has changed within us and that we don't live for ourselves anymore, but we live for something bigger and better, and that is you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.