 So we have come to our final session and just a reminder when we get finished we'll have a break before the Q&A time. There's quite a few questions and at that time that's when Debbie will take the last books if you want any and then she'll be packing it up so just to keep that in mind. So anyway we have come to our final session now that we've learned how to walk in wisdom in our home and in the church and in our singleness and in the world we're going to look at how to walk in wisdom in our calling. What I mean by that is those of us who have been called by God are to walk in a certain manner and so hopefully hopefully this will give us aid in really knowing whether we're redeemed or not. It's a good examination passage but also to make sure that we're walking in godly wisdom and not in the wisdom of the world which is foolishness. So if you would open your Bibles to James chapter 3, James chapter 3, and we will be considering walking in wisdom from James 3, 13 to 18. Age has nothing to do with wisdom said simple. I know a man who's 52 years old who never goes home except to take a bath and change his underwear and you know that is indeed a true statement about wisdom. I have met women who are older than I am who seem to have very little wisdom yet I have met women who are far younger than I am who seem to be possessed with a lot of wisdom. And so that leads us to a question. Wisdom, what is wisdom? What does the Bible say about wisdom? For those of us who have been called by God out of darkness into light, what does the Bible say as we think about walking in wisdom and being holy and blameless in love? We're told in Colossians 4 or 5 that we are to walk in wisdom towards those that are outside and indeed we saw how to do that last night in our first session walking in wisdom in the world. Proverbs 31, 26 and talking about the virtuous woman it says she opens her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness and we saw how we as women are to walk in the church and in our home how we walk in wisdom. We also were told in Proverbs 1, 7 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom but fools despise instruction. In our last session we just had Paul told Timothy how to walk. He gave him instruction and how he should conduct himself in wisdom and we especially looked at singling out the singles. And so we have come to our final session walking in wisdom in our calling. Those of us who have been called by God should be walking in wisdom in all avenues of life whether it's our home, whether it's the church or whether it's in the world. So the question is how can you know for sure you're walking in wisdom? How can you know for sure that you are a genuine believer? What things do we need to look for in our lives to make sure that we are walking worthy of our calling? Well tucked away in this portion of James 3 are some great nuggets of truth regarding wisdom. You know often you know when I was told what I was going to speak on this year walking in wisdom you know my mind goes to Proverbs because Proverbs is wisdom literature but did you know that James is the Proverbs of the New Testament? James is a piece of wisdom literature and I would encourage you if you've never memorized scripture I would start with James. Great epistle. Five chapters pretty short and it flows very well and it's a great counseling book and a great book for wisdom. So James is going to answer a very vital question for us. How do I know if I possess wisdom that comes from God or from the world? So let's look at this portion James 3 13 to 18. Notice what James writes. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom but if you have bitter envy and strife in your heart don't boast don't lie against the truth. This wisdom descends not from above but is earthly sensual and demonical for where envy and strife is there is confusion in every evil work but the wisdom that is from above is first pure then peaceable gentle easy to be untreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy and the fruit of righteousness is sown in them in peace by those who make peace. So we're going to see the characteristics of the wise. What does a wise woman look like? We're going to look at that in verse 13 and then we're going to look at the characteristics of demonic wisdom. These would be people that are walking according to the world they do not have godly wisdom and more than likely if you find yourself in this category I would challenge you to examine yourself to see if you're in the faith because this is demonic wisdom and then lastly we're going to look at the characteristics of divine wisdom. So now the context here again we're jumping into the middle of a book of the Bible but it's pretty interesting as most of you know James 3 is that chapter when you read you put duct tape over your mouth when you get done because he's talking about the tongue right he starts out my brother and be not many teachers knowing you receive a stricter judgment which should put fear in the all all of us right especially those of us who teach the word of God every time I look at that book table or I think wow there's a lot of accountability and I'm going to be held to a stricter judgment and so that should put soberness into all of us who are teachers but then he says you know in many things we all stumble in other words with the with the mouth the teacher speaks right and so she or he is very accountable but then he goes on to say that you're not off the hook because we all stumble with our speech right all of us in here have stumbled from one time or another with our tongue and you know even though our tongue is contained in our mouth and it's surrounded by our lips and our teeth it escapes you know it gets out so what causes it to escape is it lack of intelligence no it's lack of wisdom right and so that's why he goes in to this subject about wisdom so he says who is wise and understanding among you who are those in other words in this passage who are those who should be chosen to have public speaking who should be teachers who is this wise and understanding person now ladies just because you're not a public speaker you are not off the hook the reason for that is every one of us in this room uses our mouths to give instruction right I imagine most of you that are wives you gave some instructions to your husband before you left home this morning right in fact yesterday when I talked to my husband I said did you get the mail because that's one thing I I asked him to do and I'm gone because I'm the one that gets the mail every day and so I have to remind me did you get the mail so we all use our tongues right for giving instruction might be a friend might be a co-worker might be a a Christian woman here at the church your children even parents sometimes we give instruction to our parents especially as they're aging we influence people with our speech therefore we need wisdom right wisdom that comes from God so the word wise man here who is wise and understanding describes a person who possesses wisdom that can be a resource for instructing others ladies not only should those who are called by God possess wisdom but James says they should be in dude with knowledge or your under or your translation might say understanding understanding in fact this is the only time these words are used in the New Testament but this is someone who's able to apply the knowledge that she or he has to practical situations ladies knowledge are facts right we can know knowledge about the bible but not have wisdom so we take that knowledge that we know and we apply it we can apply those knowledgeable things that we know and that is wisdom it puts wisdom into practice into practical situations now notice the kind of person who possesses this kind of wisdom and knowledge must also notice what James says have a good and upright life they must have good conduct ladies this is the first characteristic of a wise person who has been called by God and is walking in wisdom and we've talked a lot about it this week right your your character your example your pattern you must have an upright life James says let him show out of his life his good life his works with meekness of wisdom you know what James says time for show and tell okay you say you're a Christian you say you know the bible you say you have understanding let me see it let me see it let me see it by your good conduct your upright life ladies wisdom is not measured by degrees but by deeds remember before this James says you say you have faith without works you show me your faith without your works and i'll show you my faith by my works not that we're saved by works but faith produces what works right an upright godly life ladies if you're called by god and i hope everyone in you in in here is has been called by god if not i hope before you put your head on your pillow tonight that you'll repent and give your life over to the lordship of christ but a woman who has been called by god should be holy she should have a life that has been changed by the transforming power of the holy spirit and it changes how she lives right she lives in good conduct and her life will not manifest good deeds once in a while but her whole life will be characteristic of good works because why that's what's happened to her heart ladies that's the promise of the new covenant did you know that god says in Ezekiel i will put my law within your heart and my spirit within you i will change that heart of stone to pliable and i will cause you to walk in my ways he gives us a new heart ladies there are many today who profess to be wise and knowledgeable but they do not possess an upright life they don't i mean i had a friend one time and the pastor was coming to candidate you know the questions she asked him i thought it was pretty bold she said when's the last time you looked at pornography i was like wow that's a that's a bold question to ask a pastoral candidate but maybe he needs to be asked right what is your personal life look like upright life you know we've lost our zeal for holiness haven't we we've lost our zeal for sanctification and to be set apart ladies to be to say that we are called by god and that we possess some kind of wisdom and knowledge and not live a life that is holy is hypocrisy right it's hypocrisy i've told women often to get off the fence either decide to live for the lord or or go live for the world but to stay in the middle like that it's a blaspheme to the word of god right and to the power of the gospel that we say that we have been saved by ladies be careful about hypocrisy it's very serious in fact jesus pronounces a series of woes on those who are hypocrites a very scary warning in matthew chapter six well notice what james says these works that we perform should be performed how with harshness you know we've already looked at this right this weekend meekness meekness that same thing we saw last night when we walk in wisdom before the world we are to what be meek we are to be meek meekness of wisdom this is the second characteristic of a wise woman who has been called by god she is meek she is gentle and she performs her good works in a spirit of meekness ladies we who are called by god should act like god's daughters right and what does it say about our lord he shall feed his flock like a shepherd he gathers the lambs with his arms and he carries them in his bosom and what harshly leads those that are young no gently gently leads those who are with young or even the call to the gospel come on to me all you that are heavy burdened and laden and i will give you rest take my yoke upon you for i am what meek or gentle meek and lowly of heart and you will find what rest to your soul ladies gentleness or meekness is a characteristic of a woman who's been called by god and is walking in wisdom now one of the questions on the questions here in a little bit is this question right here what is meekness could you explain it so i explained it last night but i'll explain it again today and then if or right now and if it's not explained enough i'll explain it some more here in a minute in our q and a time meekness or gentleness is not passivity it's not weakness gentleness is not weakness it is strength under control that is meekness it's a fruit of the spirit right now the fruit of spirits love joy peace long suffering gentleness goodness meekness self control a person who is meek is not arrogant a person who is meek does not fight for his or her rights a person who is meek does not demand that his personal views be accepted he's characterized or she's characterized by modesty and meekness paul says in titus three two we are to show meekness to all men all men we are to be meek paul says in second timothy 224 the servant of the lord must not strive but be meek we must be meek we must be gentle and even when we're confronting someone speaking the truth in love we are to what paul says in glacial six one you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of what meekness gentleness strength under control so if i come to you and i say you know i've been watching your life and i'm really concerned because i've seen this pattern of sin and and i really want to talk to you about this and here's what the scripture says and you know i love you enough i i love you enough i want to tell you this and you know next week you may be coming to talk to me about a situation in my life and i welcome that i welcome for you to come to me and confront me if you think i'm out of line ladies that's somebody who walks in meekness not thinking that you have all the answers and that you're above the person that you're talking to we're meek we consider ourselves but we're strong right and it's the same way in a marriage and i think that's what the question is uh asking me here in a little bit but in a marriage when you know it's strength under control even when you have to lovingly go confront your husband honey i'm really concerned this pattern in your life is not good and and i you know god's word says this and i don't see this and i'm really concerned about you and it's strength under control it's not weakness it's not passivity it's not silence but it doesn't mean that we are out of control and disrespectful even when we are talking to our husbands ladies this should give us food for thought especially when we consider our calling by god so what are the characteristics of a wise woman called by god her conduct is upright and her works are done in meekness does this describe you do you endeavor to live a life that is one of integrity and are all of your works done in meekness with the meekness of christ well what happens if i don't walk in meekness what happens if my life is not conducted in holiness well we turn to what a wise woman looks like to someone who is not walking in wisdom but walking in the characteristics of demonic wisdom and ladies listen very carefully if you find yourself in this category you might want to check your calling to see if it's genuine peter says make sure of your calling make sure your election is sure and this would be a good time to be serious with yourself and ask yourself which category you fall in so he says but in contrast to those who are wise but if you have bitter envy and strife or self seeking in your hearts don't boast about this don't lie against the truth apparently some in james day or just like some in our day they're using their knowledge for an opportunity to puff themselves up self glorification i may have told you this story before but there's new people here so i'll tell it again many years ago as i wasn't speaking at a conference but at a book table at a conference and i was sitting at lunch ladies were here men were over here and this was speaker table and this man and i heard one of the men say to another person at the table i i'm can i am uh what's that word when you can do several things at one time yes i can do that and uh so i was listening to this but i was listening to this and i heard this man say you don't know me you don't know who i am well my name is so-and-so and i travel with so-and-so and i've written all these books these christian books and i looked at debbie and i said did you hear what that man said and and i looked to see what his name was and i go i'm not going to any of his sessions i can tell you right now that is an arrogant man self glorification you know what a year later it was discovered he's had to step down from ministry he committed adultery with several women he's one of those 30 of pastors that's committing adultery with someone i guess in his church ladies james says that is boasting against the truth and some were doing this in james say oh i have knowledge and it's a time for me to puff up myself and james says if you have bitter envy or you have harsh zeal and selfish ambition don't boast about this don't lie don't kid yourself you're not a christian they were promoting themselves in fact this speaks to the envious attitude of the heart and mind that causes us to feel sorrow sorrow when someone excels in cell excels us in some ministry or manner it's an evil jealousy ladies demonic wisdom produces bitter envy so if you have envy and selfish ambition in your heart you want to get ahead of others beware that is not meekness that is not wisdom from god if you think you're superior to everybody then beware this is not from the one who's called you right he himself was lowly and meek and gentle he came to what not to be served but to serve right and to give his life a ransom for many so demonic wisdom is also self seeking james says it produces strife your translation might say this word depicts somebody who goes out to work just for the money they can get out of it that's all they want to do just money money money not just to work because they're called to work but they want money it's a selfish and a self-willed attitude along with a feuding and contentious spirit ladies devilish wisdom produces strife produces strife so if you have bitter envy and strife james says don't boast don't lie against the truth stop glorying in this stop kidding yourself don't think you've arrived in your spiritual walk if this describes you right what did paul say in another place god forbid that i should glory except what in the cross of the lord jesus christ that's what we glory in right not in ourselves james says don't lie against the truth don't be boastful thinking you're wise well all the while you're lying against the truth in other words ladies bitter envy and strife is contrary to the true wisdom of god and when you think about it you've ever been around someone that boasts all the time i besides that person i was mentioning boast boast boast they're also usually liars aren't they have you ever noticed that they're liars they lie against truth my friend you can claim to be wise but if you're acting in these ways it's against the truth it's against jesus christ and the wisdom he possesses if you are dominated by jealousy and selfish ambition james who is writing by the power of the holy spirit says stop it stop being boastful stop lying against the truth ladies you negate the gospel if these are your attitudes you negate the gospel by these ungodly attitudes regardless of how wise you claim to be don't kid yourself james says attitudes speech and works that are accompanied by bitterness and jealousy are not indications of wisdom that comes from the fact he goes on to say he's very clear verse 15 this wisdom does not descend from above that type of wisdom does not come from god from those who are called by him but what here's what it is it's earthly sensual demonical ladies these three things are interesting because they are also the three believers enemies right the world the flesh and the devil right he says this wisdom does not descend from above it has three characteristics which are earthly sensual and demonical so what is the first one ungodly wisdom is earthly in other words this wisdom has its origin in the world and it's exhibited by men who are governed by worldly principles it's temporal it's mundane it's concerned with the physical world and not the spiritual world paul says in flippians 3 that the enemies of the cross of christ set their mind on earthly things earthly things paul says in first chrithians 120 there is a wisdom that is of this world you know it's shocking to me at times the advice i hear from christians that is based on nothing more than worldly philosophies it has nothing to do with god and his word and the sufficiency of scripture ladies be careful what you listen to and who you get advice from very scary the second chakras of devilish wisdom at its sensual it's from the flesh this wisdom is natural it's unspiritual it's a wisdom that springs from mental and emotional impulses in fact we get our english word psychology from this word ladies people that are steeped in psychology are emotional they're unstable that is not godly wisdom if you desire to walk in wisdom in your calling i would beg you to flee from the psychology of our day it's very dangerous very very dangerous it denies the sufficiency of scripture the authority of scripture and what paul or peter tells us that he's given us everything we need for life and godliness you don't need a psychiatrist you don't need a psychologist you need a good christian friend that'll speak truth to you right ladies it will not help you but it will harm you and it will only make your problems worse in fact i had a woman one time she came in for counseling and she said i've been to i don't know how many christian counselors she said i've been to she said you're the first counselor that's told me i'm in sin i'm like really and i was like that's why i don't say i'm a christian counselor i say i'm a biblical counselor because the bible has the answers right christian is such an ambiguous term anymore but ladies people that are steeped in psychology mark my word they're very very steeped in emotional unstable problems why why is why is that so wrong for us as christians because ladies you've got to deal with the root causes that start in the issue of your heart right you have to deal with man's heart which we know is depraved and desperately wicked that's where all problems start right out of the bend is the heart the mouth speaks what a man thinks in his heart so is he right and so we have to deal with the issue of the heart the third characteristic of demonic wisdom it's of the devil it's of the devil evil spirits rather than god spirits promote this type of wisdom it's the it's the wisdom satanic wisdom that we saw last night with eve in the garden remember oh yeah just take this bite this fruit it will make you wise right go ahead come on do it first Timothy 4 1 talks about doctrines of demons in the last days that are energized by satan and you know what they are forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from certain food which god has created to be received with thanksgiving so there's doctrines of demons that john talks about paul talks about also john writes in his letter that other spirits behind besides the holy spirit can energize preachers and teachers did you know that first john 4 1 to 6 talks about it below do not believe every spirit but test the spirits ladies there's many preachers and teachers today that are not energized by the holy spirit i don't know how many of you have seen Kenneth Copeland casting out COVID-19 but right at the end of that video i mean if there was the devil's looks in the eyes it's there it is downright frightening that man must be possessed by the devil there are preachers and teachers out there today that are energized by the devil dear one if someone gives you advice that does not measure up to god's word beware beware it's earthly it's sensual it's demonical get away from it don't listen to it James goes on to describe this ungodly wisdom in verse 16 he says for where envy and self-seeking is confusion and every evil work is there ladies where there's envy and strife they are there are disastrous results confusion every evil work in fact the disaster is just that confusion which is disorder turmoil that's what we're seeing right now in our world isn't it that's energized by the evil one confusion disorder turmoil these people are unstable i've been around people whose lives are filled with confusion because they have bought into the world's wisdom their thinking is bizarre it's bizarre and ladies we've seen this recently with the riots and the plundering of business and tearing down of statues and you know now they want to burn the jesuses and they you know can feel like they can intrude into people's homes and start shooting people people are irrational right now people are irrational they're acting like fools and it comes from no other place but the devil it's of the devil it's devilish instead of promoting harmony this wisdom produces disruption and unruliness and ladies all sorts of confusions from arguments in your home to tension in the church all this can be a result if you're not walking in god's wisdom the wisdom that is meek gentle full of good conduct remember god is not the author of confusion right he's not the author of confusion but of peace so it's clear wisdom that is from him does not bring confusion so demonic wisdom not only produces envy strife and confusion but notice what james says every evil work every evil work ladies every evil practice takes place where ungodly wisdom is present in fact the greek language means it's good for nothing good for nothing every evil action you can think of exists alongside of false wisdom and james says it's worthless it's worthless it's worldly you know it may seem right now to the world that you know all these things that are going on in our world oh this is so wise and let's just defund the please and let's do all oh how wise we are no it's it's foolishness it's foolishness human wisdom that is unnated by the spirit of god is not a safe guide to any truth but especially to spiritual truth ladies if left to ourselves human wisdom very quickly can become tainted with jealousy personal ambition and eventually your life will be filled with evil deeds that's what's happening in our world today and the fact that it's happening in the church too is very alarming i don't know if you've you know taken note of that the fact that it's happening in the church is alarming i want to encourage you ladies i love you girls i've been here i don't know how many years but i want to encourage you measure everything you hear by the word of god everything when you seek counsel from others make sure they back it up with scripture i remember one time a young girl came to me at one of my conferences i was sitting there and she sat next to me she goes i have a question for you and i said yes i just got married and i said yes she said the ladies in this church they tell me i got to date my husband every week and she goes what do you think about that and i said well i'd go back to him and ask him where that is in the bible she goes oh i said respectfully but ask him where that is in the bible i don't think abraham and sarah had a date but you know maybe so but i said you know be gracious but and then i went on to tell her how i wasn't a big fan of christian marriage books because they put pressure on christian couples that's not even in the scriptures and let's go see what the bible has to say about marriage right and so when someone gives you counsel just graciously say well could you show me that in the scriptures where is that in the scriptures what you're telling me make sure another concern i have is even when you do give counsel that's from the bible make sure it's in its context you know i've heard scripture ripped completely out of its context to prove something that my friend just ain't there that's an oklahoma saying it's just ain't there and so make sure that it is backed up with scripture be careful about what you read be careful about the books you read even the christian books be careful and make sure that they are biblical you know once you get these 66 books master then you can go on to other stuff right i don't know anyone that has these 66 books master but he god left you 66 letters they're full of wisdom do you know him have you read him have you studied him memorized him this is where you find wisdom right so the characteristics of demonic wisdom it's earthly it's sensual it's demonical what does it produce disastrous things like envy strife confusion selfishness arrogance and all kinds of evil works my friend if this describes you i would highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly encourage you to examine your calling make sure it's real so you might say well susan how can i know if i am walking in divine wisdom how can i know well thankfully we can know because the bible tells us right here in verse 17 of chapter three of james but in contrast to demonic wisdom we have godly wisdom what does it look like look what james says it's pure it's peaceable it's gentle willing to yield full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy ladies these are the fruits of divine wisdom very different from what comes from here right envy strife jealousy confusion and evil and by the way you don't need a college education to get this wisdom you don't need to go off to school there are seven characteristics of wisdom the first one is it's pure it's pure and ladies pure listen up is the heading to the rest it's like the fruit of the spirit is love and out of love flows what joy peace long suffering gentleman's goodness meekness faith self control well here's a heading anytime in the greek that you have a list like this the first is a heading because think about it from purity comes what peace gentle willing to yield full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy the first effect of godly wisdom on the mind is to make it pure pure purity reflects our heart it reflects the heart of a wise person who has been regenerated because they have a new heart right again that's the promise of the new covenant in fact the word pure here means innocent and free from blame ladies wisdom from above purifies the heart and the life christ himself is pure right there is no evil in him he cannot even look at evil so obviously those of us who have been called by him will reflect a life of purity if someone gives you advice and it's not pure i would flee from it i don't know how many times a christian has come to me and said oh have you seen this tv show oh have you seen this movie or something and i go no because i'm not a big tv watch i'm not a big movie watcher either and but at times you know i'll find out or look it up or something and i'm like are you kidding me there's no way i would watch that thing and so it makes me wonder about their purity why would they why would they ask me or encourage me to watch it or you know why don't you just live together before you get married you know i know churches at least where i live where there's people fornicating uh and they're attending church and nothing's being done about and everybody knows they're living together that's not godly wisdom right that's foolishness or you know why don't you just cheat on your taxes this year you know i know we've had all we're all having financial problems so just cheat on your taxes what kind of wisdom is that that's not pure right that's ungodly that's unholy the second characteristic of divine wisdom it's peaceable this means it causes others to live in peace with others this wisdom does not cause strife this person would rather settle disputes rather than provoke them listen i know homes i think i told you in one of the last sessions where someone just told me recently my husband i argue every day this is a professing christian i know homes where arguing and yelling is the norm of the day and they profess to be called of god that's not peaceable my friend this is not of god but let me be clear that peace cannot be pursued at the expense of purity right so that's very important john mccarthur says godly wisdom purity and peace go hand in hand peace is wisdom in action and is never established at the expense of righteousness some people equate peace with evading issues but true peace can be very confrontational remember what jesus says i didn't come to send peace but a sword a man's enemies will be they of his own household ladies sometimes we need to confront people with truth before we can have peace okay that's why we need to speak the truth in love but the person who has wisdom from above will not go around stirring up discord i know women that they just seem to like to stir up trouble i don't know what it is and if there's not any trouble going on well they'll get on the phone and make some and i don't know why they like to stir up discord ladies that's one of the things the lord seven things the lord hates the most right those who stir up discord among the brother and he hates it he absolutely hates it it's an abomination the third way we can know we're walking in wisdom is by being gentle we've had this already it means to be mild reasonable considerate of others making allowances for their feelings their weaknesses in fact we get our english word gentleman from the what happened to gentleman i don't think there are any more do you guys ever see men opening the car door for people i think they won i i think that's gone when i was dating that was a big thing you know that's how you knew this was the guy because he opened the car door but i don't know what happened to gentleman but that's what the greek word means in the english gentleman those who are called by god will also manifest wisdom by being pa james says easy to be entreated or willing to yield this is the fourth characteristic of divine wisdom the word's easy to be entreated actually doesn't incur anywhere else in the new testament and it means to be easily persuaded or submissive or obedient it's someone who's not stubborn now it doesn't mean to be persuaded in the wrong things but it does mean if you're convinced by somebody that what you believed is wrong you're willing to change your views you're not stiff you're not unyielding this is the person that will listen to the ideas of others and be willing to change you know people that say it's my way or no way right and you've probably been around people like that they're not going to listen to any ideas ladies this is not of god this is not of god i've heard my husband often say from the podium i have strong convictions i have very strong doctrinal convictions but as a pastor if i study the word of god and become convinced that something i've believed all my life through study of god's word is i need to change my conviction or change he said i'll do it i'm not stuck so stuck to that and ladies we should be willing to change as we grow in the grace of christ the fifth characteristic of divine wisdom and it's full of mercy and good fruits showing mercy has the idea of showing compassion it would be like the example of the good samaritan who you know was out and about and this man was robbed of everything and stripped and left hat dead and the leave i went by and a priest went by i buy on the other side so they didn't have to take care of him but this good samaritan he stopped and he poured in oil and wine into the wounds and then he talked to the the manager of the hotel so to speak and he said you know i've got to keep going but i'll leave you some denaria here and when i come back if that's not enough i'll give you more take care of this man ladies that is full that's someone who's full of mercy good fruits the good samaritan got nothing out of taking care of that man nothing that man couldn't even pay him back for what he did but he did it because he was full of mercy and good fruits that's just doing what is right doing the right thing right whether we get paid back or not we just do it the sixth manifestation of godly wisdom is without partiality this means this is a woman who's unwavering she's not indecisive about her commitment to god she's confident of that she's confident of what god's word says such a person has clear discernment of god's will and confident regarding her action she's not double-minded she walks in a straight path she doesn't waver back and forth she's not unstable like that man in james one who you know is unstable in all of his ways and when he's asking for wisdom when going through a trial he can't make up his mind one day trust god the next day he doesn't and kind of makes you sick like james says it's just like the seed back and forth and back and forth and then he says that man doesn't receive anything of the lord the greater context that man's not a believer this person is without wavering the last and seventh fruit of godly wisdom and they're without hypocrisy without hypocrisy there's no mask there's no disguise with this person i'm not talking about the covid-19 mask so all of you that are wearing masks i'm not saying that you're a hypocrite uh there's no mask there's no disguise with this person in fact you know in the greek world and even in our world an actor is what an actor right they're pretending to be somebody they really aren't in fact i thought it was funny when we went through tsa and we had to wear our masks this has not in my notes but the tsa guy said pull your mask down you know because they want to see your face that's because with the mask on it's not really who i am right and so it has come to mean a person who acts differently from what they really are right so this is a person who is at home a person who is without hypocrisy is a person at who is at home is what he is at church to what he is in private he is in public they don't attempt to pretend or make good impression before others so ladies these seven characteristics of divine wisdom pure peaceable gentle easy to be entreated full of mercy good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy are from god why are they from god they are consistent with his character he's pure he's peaceable he's gentle he's easy to be entreated he's full of mercy and good fruits he's without partiality without hypocrisy and ladies you who are called by god you should be walking in these seven ways in this world this is your calling if you are not there should be some serious self-examination in fact james closes his thought with the results of exercising divine wisdom in verse 18 by saying this now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace what's he saying the person who possesses this godly wisdom will sow all these fruits in an atmosphere of peace this is the goal of peacemakers they go around they plant seeds for a crop that will give them what an atmosphere of peace in fact it says sown in peace by those who make peace and james is using a an imagery here of a farmer that when they go out and sow seeds in a in their land they don't sow it in the midst of turmoil or tornadoes or storms right at least i've never seen a farmer do that but they go out and sow the seeds in what in peace in calmness and what are the effects of that righteousness a crop ladies righteousness cannot effectively be sown where their strife and turbulence right nothing good comes out of that in other words these men and women they're engaged everywhere in scattering blessed seeds of peace and the result is a glorious harvest what does isaas say in isaas 32 17 the work of righteousness will be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever my friend we all reap what we sow some of us are reaping havoc by the ungodly wisdom we are sowing some of us are reaping a righteous harvest by the ungodly wisdom we sow what about you now let's be honest with ourselves okay as we think about the following questions does your life manifest divine wisdom or demonic wisdom divine wisdom is pure demonic wisdom is polluted divine wisdom produces peace demonic wisdom produces strife divine wisdom is gentle demonic wisdom is harsh divine wisdom is willing to yield demonic wisdom demands to have its own way divine wisdom is full of mercy and good fruits demonic wisdom is full of indifference and produces no fruit divine wisdom produces decisiveness based on god's word demonic wisdom produces confusion based on man's ideas divine wisdom comes from a holy life demonic wisdom comes from a life of hypocrisy now what about you which category are you in maybe some more questions do the words you communicate to others come from above do they exhibit godly wisdom when you give advice to other people can it be backed up by the word of god is your advice backed up by a holy upright life or is it earthly sensual demonical when you give advice to other people does it cause envy strife confusion and every evil work do you leave paths of confusion and strife everywhere you go and with every life you touch or do you leave paths of peace and wisdom everywhere you go and with every life you touch as we conclude are you walking in wisdom in the world in your church in your singleness or marriedness in your home and your calling i want to do something a little different as we close i would like for you to turn to proverbs chapter three i didn't plan to do this but this was in my bible reading this morning and i thought it was so good and i want to close by reading this portion of scripture before we take a little break and then we come back for the q and a but proverbs three thirteen starting with verse thirteen happy is the man that finds wisdom and the man that gets understanding for the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold wisdom is more precious than rubies and all the things that can desire not to be compared unto her length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honor her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace wisdom is a tree of life to those who lay hold upon her and happy is everyone that retains her the lord by wisdom has founded the earth by understanding he established the heavens by his knowledge the depths are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew my son my son let not them depart from your eyes keep sound wisdom and discretion so shall they be your life and to your soul and grace to your neck when you walk in your way safely and when your foot will not stumble when you lie down you will not be afraid yay you will lie down in your sleep will be sweet don't be afraid of sudden fear neither of the destruction of the wicked when it comes for the lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being taken father i thank you for your word i thank you that you have given us wisdom and we know the beginning of wisdom or the beginning of the fear of lord is wisdom and that's where we gain our wisdom by fearing you by knowing you by loving you by serving you and i pray father as we think about these things that we've talked about this weekend walking in wisdom in our home and in the church and in the calling and in the world father and in our singleness or our marriedness whichever place we are the lord we can take these trues home and meditate on them chew on them ponder them and then father do something about them and i pray that if any here in this room this morning are walking in foolishness lord that they will repent and they will walk in wisdom with the god of all wisdom father i pray for any also who are not redeemed who have oh they might understand the gospel that you died for their sins that you were buried and you rose again but lord they haven't they're like the demons they believe it but they don't even tremble and i pray oh god that you would arrest their heart that you would call them by your name that you would cause them to repent to turn their life over to your lordship so that they too can walk in wisdom walk in peace father we would we would be so pleased if you would save any in this room that are not saved who do not know you so lord help us as we take our break and then come back for the time brief time of questions and answers and i pray god you would help me not to lead anyone astray by any words i would speak but may they be from your word and i pray this in christ's name amen