Speaker 1: All right if you guys would turn to James, chapter three, we're gonna continue our discussion on the book of James and if you're visiting today, visiting online, we wanna welcome you.
Speaker 1: Pray that you encounter the Holy Spirit and that his peace will impact you, but his presence will transform you.
Speaker 1: Amen, all right.
Speaker 1: So when I moved here in 1997 and began working here at the church in the spring of 1998, my brother had a daughter named Krista that was born in 98.
Speaker 1: That was born in 98.
Speaker 1: And he had an adopted daughter that was.
Speaker 1: Her name was Katie and she was about six, seven years old.
Speaker 1: Well, as time went on, one day I get this call from Valdosta Parks and Recreation and the phone call was Mr Wells, thank you for volunteering to coach our eight to 10 year old girls softball team.
Speaker 1: You have a first coaches meeting here.
Speaker 1: I was like run that by me again.
Speaker 1: Well, your name was given to us that you wanted to help us coach and we don't have any coaches, so you're going to coach an eight to ten year old girls softball team.
Speaker 1: So this 20-something bachelor was suddenly going to enter the unknown world of eight to ten year old girls.
Speaker 1: And thank you to my sister-in-law for that volunteering and so, the very first practice, I'm sitting here like I don't even know if these girls know how to throw.
Speaker 1: Lord, what do I do?
Speaker 1: And I actually just saw this.
Speaker 1: Hey, hillary, it's good to see you.
Speaker 1: I'm calling you out.
Speaker 1: This woman, who is now a mom, was on that team, so y'all got to give her grace.
Speaker 1: Okay, she deserves a gold medal.
Speaker 1: And so I'm sitting here.
Speaker 1: I'm like Lord, I don't even know if these girls know how to throw.
Speaker 1: So I said okay, got them all around, said take a knee A couple of them look like what that means.
Speaker 1: Bend down on one knee and listen to me.
Speaker 1: So they did.
Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, on one knee and listen to me.
Speaker 1: So they did.
Speaker 1: And all of a sudden I hear this crying.
Speaker 1: And I'm like there's no crying in baseball.
Speaker 1: And I'm like what's the matter?
Speaker 1: I got dirt on my white shorts and I'm like, oh God, what are you doing to me?
Speaker 1: So we managed to get them arranged and a couple of days later, at our first game, this girl gets up to bat and instead of running to first, she runs to third.
Speaker 1: And I'm like you know, I might've should have told them to run to first.
Speaker 1: I just thought they knew go to first base, ie first, okay, and I'm like no, no, no, no, don't do that, don't do that.
Speaker 1: And I'm trying to, to you know, get her to go.
Speaker 1: So she cuts right by the pitcher and starts running to first base.
Speaker 1: Obviously, they get her out and then it hits me.
Speaker 1: I think sometimes the Holy Spirit is like me and we're like the little girl running.
Speaker 1: We think we know what to do and we start running off in a direction that the coach didn't say go in.
Speaker 1: We think we know how this works and we rely on our wisdom instead of relying on the wisdom of the one who is to coach us.
Speaker 1: Can I get a witness?
Speaker 1: So this is where James is picking up, to a people who were persecuted, to a people who were living in one of the most chaotic times, having lost homes, businesses, friends.
Speaker 1: They were forced out.
Speaker 1: They were refugees in the most purest sense, and it was chaos all around.
Speaker 1: And what was to mark the church was that wherever they went, they had an opportunity to display God, no matter what the circumstances were, and so our theme, this whole series of James, has been reflecting the king, but it's every circumstance is an opportunity to show God's nature and to show what God wants us to do, not what we think is the right way to do something.
Speaker 1: And so I want you to hear this Our duty is to embrace every opportunity to reflect God's image.
Speaker 1: We're not reflecting our image, we're reflecting God's image.
Speaker 1: And so James begins chapter three, as we talked about a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1: He says my brethren, because he's part of the body and we're all one in the body of Christ, and this persecuted church that was had lost everything and was enduring tremendous turmoil and chaos.
Speaker 1: He said listen, don't let many of you become teachers, knowing that we'll receive a stricter judgment, for we all stumble in many ways, but if anyone doesn't stumble in word, he's a perfect man, and he begins to encourage the church in the words.
Speaker 1: They're speaking in the midst of the turmoil that they're encountering.
Speaker 1: So what comes out of our mouth when we go through turmoil?
Speaker 1: This last week I was forced into a situation late Monday night where I got squeezed because of something that we didn't expect to happen.
Speaker 1: That shook us, and I'm not gonna go into the details, but I don't remember everything that came out of my mouth.
Speaker 1: I gotta be honest with you.
Speaker 1: I hope it was good and I hadn't had anybody tell me it wasn't.
Speaker 1: But as we were walking through the hurdles, we had to walk through my Lord.
Speaker 1: What am I speaking?
Speaker 1: Am I speaking life?
Speaker 1: Am I speaking your wisdom?
Speaker 1: Or am I speaking my perspective?
Speaker 1: And I was speaking my limited knowledge.
Speaker 1: And so, as James is warning them, this is where we're going to pick up.
Speaker 1: Everybody started in verse 13.
Speaker 1: A couple of weeks ago, we went one through 12.
Speaker 1: And if you need to go back and listen to that and I encourage you to do so, because taming our tongue, ooh, that one hurt, so look at verse 13.
Speaker 1: He said who then is wise and understanding among you?
Speaker 1: Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom, wisdom.
Speaker 1: So, in the context of him exhorting people don't strive to just be a teacher who spews out words, but speak what the Holy Spirit is asking you to speak in every situation, because you're representing and reflecting God.
Speaker 1: And what set Jesus apart from all the other teachers?
Speaker 1: He spoke as one, with wisdom and with authority.
Speaker 1: So what was James reminding the church to do?
Speaker 1: Speak with wisdom and understanding and authority.
Speaker 1: So if I got your Facebook up, what would it tell me about you.
Speaker 1: If I got your social media accounts, what would it tell me that is coming out of your mouth?
Speaker 1: Would it line up with the wisdom of God?
Speaker 1: It's really quiet in here Because wisdom and knowledge.
Speaker 1: If you read scripture, throughout scripture, wisdom and knowledge are coupled together.
Speaker 1: So let's go technically.
Speaker 1: What is wisdom?
Speaker 1: It's the application of knowledge, it's knowing what to do and putting that to work in a situation in order to reflect God.
Speaker 1: That's why in James, chapter one, he says if any of you lack wisdom, let them ask, because we don't know what to do in every situation.
Speaker 1: And so I want you guys to see.
Speaker 1: Romans 11 says oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom of God and the knowledge of God, it is an unending well.
Speaker 1: There is never a lack, there is never a shortage of supply for us to operate in.
Speaker 1: Now I want everybody, if you would turn to Proverbs, chapter two.
Speaker 1: Proverbs is wisdom personified.
Speaker 1: Proverbs is wisdom as a person crying out for us to embrace it.
Speaker 1: So look at Proverbs, chapter two.
Speaker 1: I want to make sure I got my Bible marked here.
Speaker 1: We're going to pick up in verses 3 through 6.
Speaker 1: Proverbs, chapter 2, 3 through 6.
Speaker 1: Just for communication's sake, who wrote Proverbs?
Speaker 1: Solomon did.
Speaker 1: That wasn't a repeating the question, but I love that you guys think y'all are with me.
Speaker 1: Okay, I was like, did I ask them to repeat that?
Speaker 1: I love it, make me feel at home or family.
Speaker 1: Okay, so, once again, who wrote Proverbs?
Speaker 1: Solomon did.
Speaker 1: Okay, solomon was considered, apart from the incarnate Christ, the wisest man who've ever lived.
Speaker 1: The wisest man who's ever lived apart from Jesus.
Speaker 1: Solomon was, and he requested a spirit of wisdom when the Lord appeared to him.
Speaker 1: And so, as he's writing this, he personifies wisdom as a person.
Speaker 1: And he says he tells his child, says, in verse 20 of chapter one, wisdom shouts in the street.
Speaker 1: She lifts up her voice in the square.
Speaker 1: She lifts up her voice in the square, everybody get wisdom.
Speaker 1: And in chapter two, he tells his son he says my son, if you cry out for discernment, lift up your voice for understanding.
Speaker 1: There we go again wisdom and understanding.
Speaker 1: If you seek her as silver and search for her as hidden treasures, then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.
Speaker 1: Once again, wisdom and understanding, for the Lord gives wisdom, verse six and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Speaker 1: Why is this important?
Speaker 1: Because humans are incapable of creating the knowledge of God.
Speaker 1: Only the spirit of God, who is the spirit of wisdom coming upon us, can reveal the knowledge of God to us.
Speaker 1: We are incapable of it apart from Christ and his spirit.
Speaker 1: And so when James was saying to the church who is wise and understanding among you, it wasn't because there was a vacuum of it, because the church was full of the spirit.
Speaker 1: There was a vacuum of it because the church was full of the spirit.
Speaker 1: He was reminding them if you are wise and understanding, here are the attributes you should be displaying.
Speaker 1: And so let's now go back and let's look at this.
Speaker 1: Who is wise and understanding?
Speaker 1: Let him show it by good conducts that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
Speaker 1: Why did he attach meekness to wisdom?
Speaker 1: Because we don't get it ourself.
Speaker 1: Meekness knows it is a gift.
Speaker 1: I do not own this.
Speaker 1: I do not earn this myself.
Speaker 1: I am a recipient of it.
Speaker 1: Therefore, I cannot boast because it is a gift to me.
Speaker 1: But how is it evidenced for all to see?
Speaker 1: By my actions that are done.
Speaker 1: How many of you have heard somebody tell you they're wise and then you watch their life and saw they weren't?
Speaker 1: Don't raise your hands.
Speaker 1: You know what's the famous statement Is let somebody accuse you of being a fool, but just don't open your mouth and prove it.
Speaker 1: That's wisdom, okay.
Speaker 1: So look at the early church.
Speaker 1: I wanna give you two quick examples.
Speaker 1: Acts, chapter six, stephen If you guys would all please turn there.
Speaker 1: Stephen was chosen as a deacon, and the requirement for deacons were full of the spirit and wisdom.
Speaker 1: Full of the spirit and wisdom.
Speaker 1: So they had to have a pattern of their life of showing what God wanted to do in any given situation.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because the deacons were serving the church and they needed to know how to problem solve.
Speaker 1: They needed to know what God wanted to do in order to take care of his body, and so they had to have the Holy Spirit, which is the spirit of wisdom and the evidence of that spirit, flowing through their life, marking their life by wisdom.
Speaker 1: And so it says of Stephen that he was full of grace and power and was performing great signs and wonders among the people.
Speaker 1: And as they begin to accuse him and as they begin to persecute him, says they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke.
Speaker 1: What do I want you to hear in this statement the world cannot resist and defeat the wisdom of God, period.
Speaker 1: And that spirit of wisdom has been given to you and me.
Speaker 1: So either we walk in it or we hinder its flow out of us by relying on our own wit, by our own selfish ambitions.
Speaker 1: And the list can go on.
Speaker 1: But we have a chance every day to display the unrefutable wisdom of God that the world has no answer for.
Speaker 1: Well, that was the early church.
Speaker 1: No, it's the same Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: So look at the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians, chapter one.
Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians, chapter one, verse 18.
Speaker 1: The Apostle Paul says this, and it's such an incredible, beautiful passage.
Speaker 1: He says for the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.
Speaker 1: Verse 19, for it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.
Speaker 1: What's he saying is man's wisdom cannot compare to God's wisdom, and what man calls foolish, god uses to destroy men's attempts.
Speaker 1: Verse 20, where is the wise man?
Speaker 1: It sounds like what James is saying.
Speaker 1: Where is the scribe?
Speaker 1: Where is the debater of this age?
Speaker 1: Has God not made foolish the wisdom of this world.
Speaker 1: So much of what I hear now is people trying to speak like they're wise, but they're making fools of themselves all across the board.
Speaker 1: For since, in the wisdom of God, the world, through its wisdom, did not come to know God, what's that saying?
Speaker 1: The wisdom of man cannot know God, but God was well pleased, through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe.
Speaker 1: For indeed, jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block into Gentiles, foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, christ the power of God and Christ the wisdom of God.
Speaker 1: What am I called to speak in this culture?
Speaker 1: Christ, and him crucified.
Speaker 1: And the world cannot refute it.
Speaker 1: What do I want you to see Is?
Speaker 1: Paul preached a simple message in an unrefined, crude manner, and he rendered the wisdom of man useless and empty.
Speaker 1: What are we called to do?
Speaker 1: We're called to preach Christ, to display the wisdom of God in unrefined clay pots that we are, as the Bible says, and in doing so, god uses the simple to confound the wise, the crude to refute man's wisdom.
Speaker 1: And this is what we're called to, not in a way to tell them well, I told you so, or to arrogantly be better, but the purpose is to reveal God.
Speaker 1: He is revealed through our wisdom that we display every day, and if he's being hindered and not seen, then maybe that has something to do with what's coming out of our mouth and out of our lives.
Speaker 1: So let's go back to James.
Speaker 1: The point I want you to see is wisdom is meant to be demonstrated.
Speaker 1: The application of knowledge is meant to be seen.
Speaker 1: You might say well, man, there's so many confusing things going on in culture.
Speaker 1: Culture is confusing why?
Speaker 1: Because culture is demonic.
Speaker 1: But the kingdom of God sifts right through that and truth is there and it is simple and it is pure.
Speaker 1: And I'm getting ahead of myself in the sermon.
Speaker 1: So let's go back.
Speaker 1: Look at chapter three, verse 14.
Speaker 1: Remember, he's addressing the persecuted church and he says this but if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts do not boast and lie against the truth, for this wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual and demonic.
Speaker 1: So let's walk this out If I'm boasting that I have wisdom and that wisdom is not lining up with the character and the nature of God and the power of the kingdom of God, then I am boasting and lying against the truth.
Speaker 1: And the truth is I'm being influenced by the demonic.
Speaker 1: Amen, amen, I want you to hear it.
Speaker 1: It's a counterfeit wisdom and so many times we believe the counterfeit.
Speaker 1: But the counterfeit is rooted in the demonic, because it distorts the image of God and what is the goal of the demonic?
Speaker 1: But here's what I need you to see Just as the spirit of truth works through humans, so does the demonic spirits.
Speaker 1: It works through people.
Speaker 1: That's why Paul says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the powers, the principality, the rulers.
Speaker 1: We wrestle against the demonic that is influencing the people.
Speaker 1: When he used the word sensual, it's the worldly wisdom.
Speaker 1: That means what I can feel, what I can see, what I can hear, what I can taste.
Speaker 1: It's only limited to what experience tells us.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys are thankful we're not limited to our experiences?
Speaker 1: How do you tell the difference between God's wisdom and man's wisdom?
Speaker 1: Because when I look at Jesus, he wasn't envious, he wasn't self-seeking, he didn't boast, he didn't lie, he wasn't sensual and he wasn't demonic.
Speaker 1: And we just read in 1 Corinthians that Christ was the wisdom of God personified.
Speaker 1: People took notice of the wisdom with which he displayed his life.
Speaker 1: So look at verse 16.
Speaker 1: For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
Speaker 1: So here's what I want you to see remember the efforts of the demonic always require human participation, just like the efforts of the spirit God.
Speaker 1: He has chosen to work through us.
Speaker 1: But if there's confusion, which means disorder, chaos, commotion, instability, it is diabolically opposed to the peace that Jesus is, to the stability that Jesus is.
Speaker 1: And if anything that we're doing is causing confusion, chaos, instability, if it's causing disorder, we know it's not from God.
Speaker 1: Is the world shaking right now?
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and this is the moment God's saying to the church stand up and show me, stand up and display me, because where people are freaking out, they're looking for security, they're looking for stability, they're looking for wisdom that works, and we have the ultimate source of it.
Speaker 1: When I look at the world, I see all of this and it makes perfect sense what James described.
Speaker 1: But when I look at the church, do I see anything different?
Speaker 1: Church, do I see anything different?
Speaker 1: The church should never resemble the world.
Speaker 1: 1 Peter, chapter 2, verses 11 and 12, says I implore you or I beg you, brethren, as aliens and strangers here, live your life, conduct your life in such a way that, though they accuse you of doing evil, on the day of visitation they will see your good works and they will glorify God.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because wisdom proves itself and God's wisdom always stands.
Speaker 1: So what grieves me?
Speaker 1: If, according to Philippians, chapter three, verse 20, says our citizenship is in heaven, why do I live as though I'm a citizen of this earth?
Speaker 1: Earlier, the topic of the election was brought up and I heard some going on.
Speaker 1: Because it's a big elephant in the room and it's one of the most divisive things in our nation right now.
Speaker 1: Because we're squabbling for the scraps of our government instead of feasting in the kingdom.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 1: If the church is not to resemble the world, then why am I acting like the world?
Speaker 1: If the same memes that are vitriolic are coming out of Christian's mouth, are the same ones coming out of the world's mouth?
Speaker 1: Where's the difference?
Speaker 1: And if you can't say amen, say ouch.
Speaker 1: What are we doing?
Speaker 1: We're compromising our God-given moment to stand up and lead and to declare the truth of God, because we'd rather be aligned with a political party than we would.
Speaker 1: Our savior.
Speaker 1: Y'all are gonna make me start preaching, preaching.
Speaker 1: Look at James 3, 17.
Speaker 1: Look at James 3 17.
Speaker 1: But wisdom from above, heavenly wisdom, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
Speaker 1: If I were to use one word of what we see about politics, it's usually associated with hypocrisy.
Speaker 1: It's usually associated with hypocrisy.
Speaker 1: Now, here's what I want you to understand.
Speaker 1: I believe God raises up people to be in the sphere of politics and we need that happening.
Speaker 1: But I believe the church is never meant to partner with the system of politics.
Speaker 1: It's meant to transform politics and I hope you hear the difference.
Speaker 1: Wisdom that is just described in what I read sounds like Jesus.
Speaker 1: He was not hypocritical, he was unwavering and steadfast, he was full of mercy, he was gentle and told all of us to come unto him.
Speaker 1: But he spoke the truth, he demonstrated the wisdom and the world could not stop it, and that's why, 2,000 years later, he's still confronting the world and it is still raging against him.
Speaker 1: All of us are called to display this type of wisdom.
Speaker 1: So look what the apostle Paul wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in Ephesians, chapter three, verse 10.
Speaker 1: He said that I've been given the mystery to declare to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, so that the multifaceted wisdom of God might be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Speaker 1: Now, this verse is huge, if we can get a hold of it.
Speaker 1: The role of the church is to display the varieg are raging against our society and against the world.
Speaker 1: Get this those demonic forces are watching what the church is doing in displaying through wisdom, because if we present Christ, there's nothing they can do about it.
Speaker 1: So what do they do?
Speaker 1: They try to get us caught up with a counterfeit wisdom that is rooted in the demonic but manifested through pride, self-ambition, worldly lusts and desires, and we distort the picture of God that the world is trying to see.
Speaker 1: Do you understand?
Speaker 1: We are being watched.
Speaker 1: We are called to display God's wisdom and all these principalities.
Speaker 1: Remember, christ has already conquered them.
Speaker 1: Get that through your head.
Speaker 1: They don't have all authority and power.
Speaker 1: Christ does.
Speaker 1: They don't hold the keys.
Speaker 1: Christ does.
Speaker 1: He made a public spectacle of them.
Speaker 1: Why do we believe them?
Speaker 1: Because it fulfills what we want.
Speaker 1: It makes us feel better, it gives us power.
Speaker 1: What my prayer is for every person who is a member of the body of Christ that has been brought into the political arena is that they get a hold of this verse, that they are called to show the wisdom of God to every demonic agenda that this society is inventing and to show Jesus as the unwavering authority, lord of all.
Speaker 1: So look what Colossians 4 says.
Speaker 1: The apostle Paul once again tells us walk in wisdom toward those who are on the outside.
Speaker 1: Redeeming the time.
Speaker 1: Redeeming means to purchase.
Speaker 1: It's a financial term, as I'm paying a price to redeem something.
Speaker 1: And if we are called to redeem time, how much do we value the time we have?
Speaker 1: And if I'm put in a sphere, I can't waste that time.
Speaker 1: Every day.
Speaker 1: I've got to say, lord, help me, display what you want, because I've only got a certain amount of time in this sphere.
Speaker 1: And if I'm going to redeem the time and give it to him as an offering that brings glory to his name, then I have to display wisdom every moment, every day.
Speaker 1: And the only way I can do that is to take up my cross, die to myself and say Holy Spirit, live through me unhindered.
Speaker 1: That is the only way If out of our mouths come the same things that the world is saying and doing.
Speaker 1: We are not displaying the wisdom of God If the same division that's in the world is in the church.
Speaker 1: We are not displaying the wisdom of God.
Speaker 1: If the church is divided by a political party, it means we've been seduced by politics.
Speaker 1: Now do we have a responsibility?
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Please do not mistake what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: We've got an absolute responsibility to the nation that we've been a part of, because if the church quits voting, we lose our influence.
Speaker 1: I just saw a staggering stat that they're estimating over 30 million Christians will not vote.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: The most common thing I hear is well, it's the worst of two evils.
Speaker 1: What do you expect out of the world?
Speaker 1: We can't expect godliness out of the world.
Speaker 1: We can't expect godliness out of the demonic.
Speaker 1: Why should that surprise us?
Speaker 1: Look what Dr Martin Luther King said.
Speaker 1: I love this quote.
Speaker 1: The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the slave of the state.
Speaker 1: It must be the guide and the critic of the state and never its tool.
Speaker 1: If the church does not recover its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.
Speaker 1: If we're known more for who we vote for or what party we're for, we're compromised and we've lost our position of authority in this world.
Speaker 1: Now, last year, I had an agonizing conversation with somebody that I spent months praying for, and I called them and humbled myself and asked them to forgive me on behalf of Christians who've hurt them, and the only thing that came out of their mouth was well, who did you vote for?
Speaker 1: You know why he couldn't hear the message of the gospel through me.
Speaker 1: It's because he associated me with a political party.
Speaker 1: Church, hear what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: If you are more known for you, vote for the world will not listen to you.
Speaker 1: But if they know and see the wisdom of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, the unwavering nature of God's wisdom, then God will open their hearts to hear, because they see something different.
Speaker 1: What breaks my heart is how many we have lost to the kingdom of darkness because we've been preoccupied with this world system instead of the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1: Once again, please don't misunderstand me we're called to be influential, we're called to vote, we're called to serve in those spheres, but never at the expense of our identity in Christ and a member of the kingdom of God, because godly wisdom is meant to transform.
Speaker 1: We are meant to influence culture, not be influenced by it.
Speaker 1: We're a catalyst.
Speaker 1: One of the favors that God has blessed me with, both when I did the church plant and in leading this, is he's given me favor with the mayors.
Speaker 1: Now, do the mayors have any special powers?
Speaker 1: They are so limited, they can't do a whole lot of anything on their own.
Speaker 1: They can't do a whole lot of anything on their own, but they are extremely networked and they can influence and help lead and help begin changing things for the better.
Speaker 1: Every first Tuesday event or first Monday of every month, me and some of the other pastors from our city go and sit down with our mayor.
Speaker 1: Me and some of the other pastors from our city go and sit down with our mayor, not not to try to talk him into our opinions, but we simply say mr mayor, how can we pray for you and how can we hold your arms up so that you can do what god tells you to do, not what a party tells you to do?
Speaker 1: Our job is to influence.
Speaker 1: Our job is to help empower them to represent the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of man.
Speaker 1: I want you to see this.
Speaker 1: A catalyst changes the environment it's in without itself being changed.
Speaker 1: What is my prayer for those politicians who are solid believers is that they change the environment without themselves being polluted.
Speaker 1: So, whether it's a, I think Jason Deloach is here today.
Speaker 1: Where are you at, deloach?
Speaker 1: Hey, there's my man, okay, whether it's on a school board, whether it's somebody running for a state rep, whether it's local government, federal government, state government, what arena you're in church?
Speaker 1: We have to keep these people prayed up and covered so that they can be the catalyst God wants them to be, displaying the wisdom of God, so that the world will see and come to know him, not to be polluted by them.
Speaker 1: Amen, godly, wisdom is meant to transform.
Speaker 1: So let's look at how James ends this particular thought and ask the worship team to come back up Verse 18.
Speaker 1: Now, the fruit of righteousness and the seed whose fruit is righteousness is the way the NASB words.
Speaker 1: It is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Speaker 1: Has there ever been fruit apart from a seed?
Speaker 1: No, it starts with a seed, matures into fruit, producing more seed, and the cycle goes.
Speaker 1: Why did James attach the analogy of a seed to a topic of wisdom and why did he equate wisdom with righteousness.
Speaker 1: We gotta see the analogy and the purpose of it.
Speaker 1: It's because every display of godly wisdom we have, we plant a seed of righteousness in that arena and when the Holy Spirit waters that seed and grows that seed, the truth of God, his ways, his character, his principles will be made known to everybody who heard it and who had that seed planted in them.
Speaker 1: But how does it say we're to sow it With peace?
Speaker 1: I wanna ask you, are the conversations you're having about politics and peace, the conversations you're having about politics in peace?
Speaker 1: The conversations you're having on Facebook?
Speaker 1: Is it in peace?
Speaker 1: Remember, peace is not an emotion.
Speaker 1: Peace, biblically, means that the authority that causes chaos has been destroyed, means that the authority that causes chaos has been destroyed.
Speaker 1: What was the attributes of evil and demonic wisdom?
Speaker 1: Chaos.
Speaker 1: When I sow in peace and I bring the kingdom of God to that place, the authority that causes chaos has been defeated and Jesus gets enthroned and begins to be planted and growing and people are confronted with the wisdom of God and the nature of Christ church.
Speaker 1: Everywhere you walk, you can either display the wisdom of God or the wisdom of man, one's demonic and one's heavenly.
Speaker 1: One's gonna bear fruit and the other will bear fruit of destruction.
Speaker 1: Guys, we should not fear this election.
Speaker 1: If we're operating out of fear, we're not in peace.
Speaker 1: If we're operating out of fear, that means we don't trust that he has the authority over the chaos of this world.
Speaker 1: If we're voting out of fear, the Bible says what's not done in faith is sin.
Speaker 1: What's it gonna take for us to get back and to get unhooked from the lies and the constant bombardment of media to hear what the Spirit of God says in wisdom for us to do?
Speaker 1: Please hear my heart.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take a minute and go through this.
Speaker 1: I know it's a little after 12, but this is critically important.
Speaker 1: If we, as Christians, disengage, then we lose our ability to influence and we've abdicated our God-given role in this culture.
Speaker 1: So how should Christians vote?
Speaker 1: Number one with prayerful discernment.
Speaker 1: James 1.5 that we've quoted says if anyone lacks wisdom, let them ask God.
Speaker 1: Give me wisdom.
Speaker 1: How to vote for your standards, god in your wisdom, not in my understanding.
Speaker 1: Number two vote to seek God's justice and God's compassion in the world and God's compassion in the world.
Speaker 1: Number three vote to uphold the sanctity of life, because every human is an image bearer of God.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say something that I want you to hear.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are both image bearers of God.
Speaker 1: Did you hear me?
Speaker 1: Don't vilify what God stamped with his image.
Speaker 1: What we have to pray is what's influencing them.
Speaker 1: Is it godly wisdom or is it man's wisdom?
Speaker 1: We can't vilify what God has stamped and said is valuable and is his image, even if it's distorted in our view.
Speaker 1: Uphold truth and integrity, it says.
Speaker 1: Righteousness exalts a nation.
Speaker 1: If there's not truth and integrity, there's not righteousness.
Speaker 1: So what lines up with that?
Speaker 1: What supports family and marriage or what tears it down?
Speaker 1: I've got to discern what policies are going to be put in place.
Speaker 1: What brings order and godly government in culture, because Romans 13 tells me to pray for those and submit to government and submit to government.
Speaker 1: My job is to pray for them.
Speaker 1: My job is to bless them.
Speaker 1: Examine the character of the candidates.
Speaker 1: I'll be honest with you that one's a hard one on both sides, but it's examining the past decisions, not the words coming out of their mouth.
Speaker 1: What's their history?
Speaker 1: And God, give me wisdom.
Speaker 1: How to discern that.
Speaker 1: What's going to impact the community and promote unity?
Speaker 1: What's gonna steward this world that we've been given and what is our posture?
Speaker 1: We gotta embrace humility in the midst of our differences.
Speaker 1: What does that mean?
Speaker 1: That means we got to remember that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord is a citizen in heaven, and we are not called to be known by what we're divided against, but what we're united for.
Speaker 1: Against, but what we're united for, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: And though my brother and sister, I might see differently, I'm to bear with one another in love.
Speaker 1: Ephesians 4 says I'm to promote the unity of the faith.
Speaker 1: Ephesians says so what is my encouragement to you?
Speaker 1: If my job is to reflect the king, then I gotta do it even in the midst of difficult decisions and situations.
Speaker 1: We gotta pray for everybody that is put in a position of influence in a political arena, because they've got to show the glory of God and I got to uphold their arms.
Speaker 1: So, all of you who are public servants, thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you for being willing to go into those spheres and bring Jesus into that arena, whether it's local, state or federal.
Speaker 1: What my prayer is is that we shut our ear to fear.
Speaker 1: God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power of love and a sound mind.
Speaker 1: We can't give in to our emotions.
Speaker 1: The kingdom of God is going to go forward regardless of what America does, but I just pray America will get in line with the kingdom of God, because I love this land and we got to stand up and we got to take responsibility for it.
Speaker 1: Our job is to reflect the King and we do that by displaying godly wisdom.
Speaker 1: If you would please stand.