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I rejoice greatly, as I'm sure you do as well, at the sweet blessing we've been party to. What beautiful showcase Elder Cleveland, you've been blessed with to bring forth the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ our Lord, that Elder Barry and Elder Chris brought forward this morning. The Lord truly has shown himself in the preaching of his word. It's a miracle when we get to experience that. So we never take that for granted or think that it's by man's works or their intellect, but it's truly by God moving his spirit through man. And it comes to us that we're able to hear it with that new creature that God has put within us. And those doctrinal things that we rejoice in, the reason why it's so, so sweet is because the words that we're hearing resonate with the soul and the spirit that's within us. It would not have the effect that it does have. So when we do experience that, when it does uh happen and the Lord's Spirit comes and he touches us by him moving through the congregation, come visiting with us, and it resonates with our soul that within us we we cry aloud within ourselves. That is the truth that I'm hearing. It just sparks us. It just lifts us up as we we've heard it illustrated. It lifts us up above the things of this world. It's an escape from the heaviness and the darkness and all the things that we feel so oftentimes. That's why this is the right place to be. This is good. It's hearing doctrinal things. You know, in those the three sermons we've heard today, they didn't get together and have a conference and say, hey, what are you going to go over? What are you going to talk about? What um verses you plan on going to? The Lord arranged all of that. He moves those things and how they so perfectly harmonize. Dad, we've we've talked about this sometimes how uh different messages will come and they'll dovetail together. That means those pieces, and as oddly their shape, they just mesh perfectly together. How does that happen in the preaching of the gospel? It's because God is perfect and his word is perfect, and it's true, his truth is consistent. That's the experience that we have. And Elder Cleveland, as you where you started, is kind of where I want to kind of latch on to. Lord, please help us with these thoughts. Is that we know. Is that the things that we know, we are so blessed to know these truths. And whether you've just recently come to some of these truths or you've known them for years, uh, Brother Jimmy, for decades, you've known these things and you've you held on to them, you've defended those things. Knowing them is so good. But knowing them isn't the only thing that we're we're in, is that we believe them. Knowing them is different than believing them. Believing is going further past just knowing these things that they're true, but truly believing them. And he's not not saying that. He's saying we we know, but he's saying we know them deep within us. We know them with every fiber of our being. We know that these things are true, and you know that these things are so. It's a wonderful blessing to know the things of God, to know them. Like deep within yourselves. I debate whether I should um bring this up, but I feel like I'm being led to say it. This week uh I had a conversation with a coworker of mine. Um, and I've known him for close to four years now since I've been um in this the district and the department, and he's been among kind of the team that whole time. I've known him, and he was actually, I ran around with him the very first day I was hired on with Tom Ball, and he drove me around and he was kind of training me on some stuff, and and on the outside, you think like this guy's kind of a gruff guy, kind of a kind of a rough character. Um kind of he's tatted up, he's a motorcycle rider, and he actually rides with like a motorcycle pack, and he like and he's kind of gruff and the way he talks, and he kind of just bumbles around, and he's kind of a rough character on the outset. But what I found over time, as I've had more conversations with him, is like he's just a softie in a Harley jacket. Like he's I'm finding this guy is a good guy, and he will give you the shirt off his back. He is a good guy, and he loves people, and he is self-sacrificing, and he will bend over backwards to help people, and he's truly watching out for what's good. I'm like, this is a good character, and we we've developed quite a bond. Again, this it's been like like four years that I've had a lot of conversations with this guy, but he walks into my office and I don't know how the conversation led to this point, but you know what, Brother Josh? We started talking about the Bible, and I came to realize that this guy that I've kind of friends with, that somebody might look at at and draw a conclusion, they would not know what I just found out. This guy knows the Bible. I was like, You really know the Bible? And we started talking about things and and it was weird, but I was so thankful to be party to it because he started telling me some things that he knew about. And I was so thankful about what he knows. Because from the moment I showed up and I met him four years ago, I knew that he had cancer. And he's been fighting cancer, and he's gone once a week to go do chemo, and he comes back a half day the day after because he has he's so exhausted from recovering from that. And I told him I've been praying for him for years. I tell him I've been praying for you. This is the first time we've ever talked about the Lord. And he started telling me these things that he knew. I'm so thankful that you know this. I'm so thankful that you know this. And not just that he knew them, like he knew the verses, I was I was really kind of taken back how much he knew, but that he believed them. He believed that Jesus Christ died for his sins and heaven was his home. All this time I've been like, how do you have the strength to do this, to go on to carry on? You know how we go on and carry on? You know how we we show up with a with a smile on our face, even though it looks like our lives are a mess? It's because of what we know. It's because of what we know in Jesus Christ. What we, not because we're so smart and we know how to go and get it, it's because the Lord has revealed it to us. He's been gracious and he's been merciful and he has shown himself. He's revealed these truths, and he has allowed us to know them and believe them and stand on them as true. Okay, I'm turning my text. If you would, uh, look within the third chapter of James with me. James chapter 3. Last several verses here. Verse 13. James will bring up this, he'll hit on this subject of wisdom, of what wisdom is not. What is not considered good, godly wisdom, and what, and then he, by contrast with good teaching, that's how you do it. Kind of give that non-example, Sister Steve, you give that example of what it is, what it isn't, what it is, to truly get a picture of what he's like bringing forward. And what we find is that wisdom is a good thing and we ought to seek after it with everything we have. Right? Wisdom is good. Okay. Verse 13, it says, Who is a man, or who is a wise man endued with knowledge among you? Let him show or shoe out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. First off, when we certainly, this picture of wisdom, of being wise, it's it's gonna start to develop, and we're gonna kind of uh shun and pull some things off that that's not what wisdom is, that's not where it comes from. And then we're really gonna hone in on what wisdom is and how we ought to view it, right? And then ultimately how we're gonna seek it. Um, who is a wise man? That's not just a man. I will I will submit that to you. This is not saying who is a wise grown male person. This is talking about a a per like a person, whether it is a wife, a mother, a husband, a father, a teenager boy, a child, an old, experienced brother in the church, a mother in Israel. This is talking about who is a wise child of God in whatever age of your life that you're in, because maybe I'll maybe I'm still on thunder. Um every single one of them can truly be in a deep state of wisdom. It can be a full picture of being a wise individual. Okay, a wise man, person, child of God, and endued with knowledge among you. Okay, what does it look like? Let him show out a good conversation, out of a good conversation, his works with meekness and wisdom. There's meekness to the picture of a wise individual. And as you've heard many times preached, meekness, although the world, uh the worldly definition of meekness, if they were gonna, if the world was gonna stand up and preach the sermon on meek meekness, you know what it would tell the people is that it's weak. And that it's it's coming, it's limping in. And that's not biblical meekness. Meekness is Jesus Christ's example of how he came boldly, yet humbly. That he came knowing his strength and his is um what he who he was, yet he humbled himself in a meek way. You know what it's like? It's like I think about a horse. Like a horse in its absolute peak of life. That is a strong, strong animal that can do a lot of work, but yet it's tamed and it's under control. It's got a bridle, a saddle, so on and so forth. But that is a powerful animal. And that's what meekness is power, but under control and purposeful, right? First off, there's meekness of wisdom. So that tells me that with wisdom, that's not something that you realize that you are, and then you just do it how you go about however you want to go about it. That there's control and there's purpose with being a wise individual, right? It's looking for the will and the purpose of God and how he would lead us, how he would direct the meek um meekness and the and the strength that God has put within us, that we haven't gone and um gathered ourselves, but the strength that God has put within us that's under control and purposeful and so on and so forth. Okay. And now we look at verse 14 and 15 at that non-example. Like this is not true wisdom. This is not true wisdom, but it masquerades as wisdom. It is a counterfeit wisdom. It's one that the world would prop up and say, this is what wisdom is, this is where it comes from, here's how you get it, but it's not real wisdom. Okay. Verse 14, it says, but if ye have bitter envying and strife in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth. The wisdom, this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. This is a different kind of wisdom. And I would have us look at this and say, where does this come from? It tells us that it's earthly, is that it's sensual, and that it's devilish. First, worldly means it's of this world. If you were to say, where does it stem from? It stems from everything that's here on this plane. It doesn't come from above, it comes from kind of here, what we've devised. And second, it's sensual. And what that means, it's how you feel. Now I will ask you a question. And be honest with yourself. Is the wisdom that comes from this world, what what you see, news, social media, conversations, so on and so forth, the things that the world would say, this is this is how we find somebody who's a wise and kind of gets it, gets the world as a wise individual. You find that it's coming from a place of that's how we feel. We feel that such and such should should be this way because that feels right. That's a sensual thing, right? When people talk about like fairness and and and maybe modern day and how we've evolved as a people. That's all coming from a wisdom of this world, of this plane, and that's coming from a feeling and not from truth. It does not harmonize with the word of God. It goes, it clashes against the things that we find in God's word. But but the argument that would come from that wisdom that they would stand and say is because, well, that didn't, that doesn't that didn't feel right. That doesn't feel fair. When I look at that, it just doesn't look right. That's a sensual wisdom. Right? And the last way it's described is devilish or like demonic. This is not the kind of wisdom that I I want to subscribe to. This is not, if we want to be wise, if one desires to be wise, this is not the picture of wisdom that I want to sign up for. It's one that's earthly and sensual and devilish. Right? It's from here, it's from this plane. We should eschew that. Of bitter envy and strife and heart's glory, not have nothing to do with that wisdom. I will say this. This world has done a very, it's very it's very proficient. I'll say it that way. It's very proficient in convincing the minds of people that that is the way that we should be. That's the way we should go. That's the way we ought to think and move and evaluate things, is because um just just look around you. Look at society, look how far we've come in the 100, 200 years. Um, times are just different now. Those are all the arguments of this kind of wisdom, is something that you need to subscribe to. And what James is telling us here in his letter, and what God is telling us here, not just in this chapter or this uh book, but throughout all of his word, is that's not the wisdom that comes from God. Then what does? Well, he's gonna tell us. He's gonna tell us, he's gonna describe um true godly wisdom. That kind where you just know within yourself that that's the way um we should go and walk and be. That's who God is. Um it's a timely uh blessing for us uh here while we live, for sure. Well, first we can start by wisdom, because I want it. I want more of it. Whatever level I've um attained to and enjoyed, I want more of it, and I know you do too. You want to have more wisdom in your life. Proverbs in the ninth chapter, uh, I think it's the tenth verse, it says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That's a very that's such an important thing for us to understand. Let's let's get to the very beginning of wisdom. Like, if you want more of it, it's good for us to understand that the fear of the Lord or the reverential understanding of who God is, where God is, who we are in relation to that, that is the beginning. That is the very best, healthy place to start growing in wisdom, is to understand that God is, that he is in the heavens and he does whatsoever he pleases, that he is the sovereign God, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I think about King Solomon. We we read in the Bible that Solomon was the wisest of all people to ever live in this world. He prayed to the Lord, and what he prayed for was wisdom. And the Lord blessed him. Right? The Lord blessed him with great wisdom. Great wisdom. He was the wisest to live in this world except Jesus Christ. He is the preeminence in all things. But of all sinful men, Solomon was the wisest. And he tells us a lot of things in Ecclesiastes, and he goes through his whole experience and the things that he acquired and things that he accomplished. And um, you know what we find is that at the end of Ecclesiastes, he kind of boils it all down. He's like, man, I've said maybe he's like in my mind, he's like, I've been talking for a long time, going over a lot of stuff. This whole world is just a vain, empty world. Um, let me just get down to the very crux of the matter. What is the whole duty of man? What does it kind of all get summed up into? What where do we how should we view this? He says the whole sum of the whole matter. To fear God and to keep his commandments. What a wise statement. What a great way to sum up a wise understanding of who God was and who he was in him. That he belonged to God, that he was his servant, that God had the authority, and God was sovereign above all, and his role in the whole thing was not to be equal with God, but rather be subservient to God and then hear his commandments, be able to follow his commandments, and dedicate his life to follow his commandments because that's the whole duty of man. That's what brings about uh joy and happiness and fulfillment in this life. You know what that was? That was true wisdom. That was not the wisdom of this world. You know what the wisdom of this world would say? Solomon, you were on the right track when you were gathering a bunch of stuff, when you're when your storehouses were being filled, when health was the most important thing, career was the most important thing, and it's all about how many vacations you can go on to, what your social media looks like. I'm telling you, those are not the things that will bring fulfillment and joy and happiness and most certainly going to be the thing that points glory to God. Those things are when we submit at the very feet of our Lord and we say, Lord, what would you have me to do? What would you have me to do? That's wisdom. That's wisdom. That's what God has for us, as what wisdom looks like. That is vastly different than the wisdom of this world. This wisdom of the wisdom of this world says, acquire, accomplish, um, mound up. That's a lot different than the wisdom that he's telling us about. Okay, so then we get down here to verse 17. He says, but the wisdom that is from above, that tells me, that's a big contrast, Brother Josh, that there's wisdom of this world that's um, that what does it say? Earthly, sensual, devilish, that's coming from like here. There's a wisdom that comes from above. And James, in the first chapter, I think it's verse 17 as well, is that he tells us that every good gift and every perfect gift. Elder Christian, do you think that's talking about wisdom as well? Absolutely. Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from the Father of life, in whom is no variableness, nor neither shadow of turning. That's a gift. Wisdom is a gift that Solomon enjoyed. Wisdom is a gift that we should seek after. Wisdom is something that his child can go to him and ask for wisdom, and wisdom comes down and is a blessing unto them. Also in the first chapter, it talks about us asking for wisdom. Hey, Mary, in verse 5, 1 and 5, James writes, If any of you lack wisdom, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and abraid not, and it shall be given him. Again, let any man, any among you ask of all men, is it talking about just grown men? Absolutely not. Little children, you should be seeking wisdom from your father in heaven, that wisdom would come down and that you would. Be a partaker of his wisdom, and that it would be a benefit and blessing to you in this life, and that it would return glory, honor, and praise to your Father in heaven from which it came. Wisdom comes down from the Father of life, in whom is no variable shadow of turning. That wisdom comes down from heaven, that when we go to him and ask for it, that he gives it not just in part, but he gives it liberally. That tells us that it comes from heaven and it comes from heaven in spades, as it were. Because he is the giver of wisdom. We can seek wisdom, and he who is willing and faithful to pour it out upon us. He knows that it's a benefit to us, and he knows it's a glory to him. Ask for wisdom. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man, child, woman, all those things availeth much. And that includes wisdom. That includes wisdom. Seek wisdom, seek it in prayer, and he gives it liberally and it abraideth not. Like he doesn't throw it back in your face, as it were, or hold it over your head. He is happy to do so. Happy to give you the wisdom that we need. Okay. But wisdom, back here in the third chapter, verse 17. But the wisdom that is from above is. Okay. Here I would like to look at, because I'm very visual in this sense. I might have been from the few years that I tried to teach. But I feel like James does exactly the way that I kind of view it here. Is he would have turned to the whiteboard, as it were, and in verse 17, in verse 17, he would have written on the board, wisdom is cola. Right? Wisdom is. And then below that, Aunt Mary, as a good teacher would do, this is straight bullet point. This is a bullet, and sometimes that works in scripture, is that he lay, they they write in a way that is so clearly like good teaching, like bullet point, bullet point, bullet point, because we're going to hear these things, we're going to learn these things. He does that exactly here. That wisdom is these things. Wisdom is these things, including these things. And again, let's keep it in that framework of where does wisdom come from? Comes from above. From our the heaven in God in heaven who's given it liberally. Okay. But wisdom that is from above is first pure. Wisdom is pure. By contrast, the wisdom of this world, is it pure in its nature? When we look at the wisdom of this world that's earthly, sensual, and devilish, is it pure? Absolutely not. See, what we're going to find is this great contrast of the wisdom that this world would offer up to say this is how you should see things, do things, subscribe to and live by. We're talking about oil and water. We're talking about a binary black and white, yes, no, that this is how this works. Right? So wisdom that is from above is pure. Then peaceable. Peaceable. The wisdom of this world is not peaceable. The wisdom of this world says if somebody reviles you, revile them back. Right? Not peaceable. It's actually seeking conflict. If somebody does you wrong, get them back, right? That's not the wisdom of God. That is the wisdom of this world. Right? That's not the wisdom of this nature, no, the inward nature that God put within us. It's absolutely the wisdom of the outward man. That's what we seek after. That's why it feels like a default. If somebody wrongs you, wrong them back. That's what your flesh is telling you to do. That's the wisdom of this world, not the wisdom of God. It's such a stark contrast. It's first pure and then it's peaceable. Wisdom is gentle. Wisdom gentle. Wisdom is easy to be entreated. Another way to say that, Brother Ronnie, is easy to be obeyed. Or submit to. His wisdom, the wisdom that comes down from the Father of lights on whom there's no variableness nor shadow of turning. His wisdom is one that we can look at and we can see it by its nature and say, that is absolutely the way we ought to live. That would be good for me. That would be good for us. That would be good for us as a community. That would actually help us out as a family. That would really help us out as a church family, is if we obeyed that, we followed that kind of wisdom. It's easy to submit to. When I read that newsletter, that's the one I subscribe to. It's his kind of wisdom. It's easy to be entreated. Wisdom is full of mercy and good fruits. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. It's not just something that makes just makes one wise. It actually yields good fruits. It's something that brings forth a yield, something a benefit to us and our families, in our church, in our communities. The wisdom of God is something that brings forth good fruits. It's a blessing to us. It's a blessing to others. Wisdom is without partiality. Without partiality. Yes and no. With God. Trying to figure out what to say this. There's a lot of conflict in this world. There's a lot of opinions in this world of how things should be. There's a lot of liberal people see it this way, conservative people see it this way. Republicans see it this way. Democrats see it that way. This country sees it this way, but this country's policy sees it this way. Males think about it this way, and females on and on. With God, and that's their and there's opinions. And then when there's conflict and they fight and they fight and they fight and they compare what they do and they debate and they debate, at the end of it, you know what they sometimes say? Well, let's just agree to disagree. You can be right. I'll let you be right and you live in your right, you live in your truth, and I'll be right, and I'll just live in my truth. With God, there is no agree to disagree. You know how and why? It's because he is the truth. He is not a truth, he is the truth. And what he says is the truth. And anything else that comes in and saddles up next to him and says, let's go, you know what's going to find is that's false. That's a lie. They want nothing to do with that. We cannot agree to disagree. It's not within his character to just agree to disagree. He is truth. He is right. Anything else that opposes that, by definition, is wrong. Um the wisdom, well, I'm gonna say this. Let's say that we personify the wisdom of this world. Let's just personify it. Wisdom of this world collectively, if wisdom of this world just heard me say that, how would wisdom of this world respond? Like, maybe like we being in nation of teeth's kind of mad. Like nation of teeth's kind of mad. Like they would, that wisdom of this world would not appreciate me saying God is right, any other thing is absolutely wrong. Right? They would it would not accept that. Right? What we find is God's right and everything else is wrong. And it's a benefit to us when we submit ourselves to that. It's good for us. It's a benefit to us, it's a blessing for us when we pray to God, and He gives us that wisdom to understand that, to understand that He is right, He is true, and everything else is a lie. Let God, what does it say? Let God be true and every man a liar. You know, of all the scriptures to memorize and commit to memory, there's a lot of good ones. Romans 8.28, that's a good one, and be able to defend it appropriately, rightly divide it, like we like we were so blessed to hear. Let God be true and every man a liar is one that we ought to keep in our back pocket at all times. Right? Because anything that comes forward and challenges us, and we can we struggle maybe, maybe we don't know exactly where to go to defend. Let's just it's okay to just be like, let God be true and every man a liar. I've run out of arguments. I don't know what else to use to defend where I'm at, but let God be true and every man a liar. And if the other man is not agreeing with God, he's a liar. It's just it is black and white. It's black and white. Let God be true and every man a liar. Okay. Without partiality. Wisdom is without hypocrisy. Wisdom is without hypocrisy. God is, oh, by the way, every single one of these descriptors of what wisdom looks like as we look at it, every single one of these descriptors, you know what they are? The characteristics of God that you serve. Go back and look at them. All of these things are who God is. Right? He is pure, peaceable, gentle. Is he not? He's easy to be entreated, full of mercy. Amen. Full of mercy. He is all mercy. He is good fruits without partiality, without hypocrisy. Wisdom is the very character of God. God is wisdom. Wisdom is these things, and God is wisdom. So when he tells us to pray for wisdom, and that he will dispense wisdom, and he'll do so abundantly, and he'll do so liberally, and he'll do so without abrading. You know what he's giving unto Solomon himself? You know what he's giving when a little child kneels down in prayer and says, Lord, give this five-year-old some wisdom. Please pour it out on me. You know what he's gonna give? Himself, his understanding, his way to view things. What we um what we're bringing in, what we're soaking up, as it were, when we pray to God for wisdom and he uh dispenses wisdom, we're taking in an understanding and a revelation of who he is. Now I will say this, you're not going, well, say this, where didn't someone say, if you're gonna like poll the audience, as it were, like a mixture of like everybody from all different backgrounds and experiences, and people that are in the church, people that are not, people that are Christian, people that are not, so on and so forth. And you were to ask, um, what would you consider to be wisdom and where does it come from? You know what answers you're gonna get? All kinds. You pull the audience, survey says, and you're gonna get a lot of different answers, right? That to truly be wise, you're gonna seek it in like education, like higher education, going for a degree, going for master's, doctorate. Ooh, how wise are they, right? Or somebody that is in a career and understands how to climb that corporate ladder, or somebody who like is just gonna read as much literature and understand the culture, and on and on and on. Someone that knows the ways of this world, or I don't think anybody here would ever subscribe to any of those uh ways of thinking, but what about this? I think this would be a common answer on the answer on the survey is age. Just give it give it time, and in your old age, automatically, by default, you know, you'll be you'll be wise. No. By no means is that a guarantee that because your your age, like you, you've you've just gone through all the experiences of this world, and you get to the end, and oh, all of a sudden you're that like good, pure uh kind of wisdom we're talking about. By no means is that the case. I have known of uh stories and maybe even experienced, I'll say this, 100% have experienced people that were much older than me, people that would be like, they've seen a lot of things, not wise. Like lacking wisdom, lacking the kind of wisdom we're talking about right now, like true wisdom, not counterfeit wisdom of this world, not the like sensual, earthly, devilish time, but we're talking about real wisdom, lacking it, missing it. And you know who it's hurting? Them. Hurting them. Now, going back for just for a second to talk about a friend who was at work. I'm so thankful to enter into that conversation with him. First time we've talked about the Lord really in four years, and I know what he's going through, and the things that he expressed that he knew, and the scripture that he knew, he had some good knowledge and some good understanding that the Lord revealed to him. And then we got down, we're comparing notes, and we were rejoicing together. We were talking about grace. We were talking about grace from God, we're talking about the finished work of Jesus Christ, and I mean we were just running together with these things and we were rejoicing, and then you get down to that one piece of the conversation where you're like, oh, I thought we were together. And I just was sad when it got to that point because his understanding, his wisdom was we got to that point of election. Brother Chris, we we got to the maybe the hardest part of the conversation where I was hoping it wouldn't like it wouldn't detour off and we'd lose each other and run into fellowship in that conversation. We talked about election. And the answer that he says, I saw it in his face. He was like, ooh, I mean, that sounds good and all, but he's just thinking about God and his character that just didn't seem fair. I just don't think I can I I you lost me basically because that's just not fair that that some would just enter into this world and they had no shots. They they they have no chance to be in heaven because they just did he remember he said this because they didn't win some sort of like heavenly lottery, as it were. Now, I mean that's his real understanding. We're talking about somebody who's been dealing with cancer for I don't know how many years. And he, I know he wants to, I know he loves the Lord, and I know he's heaven looking, but there's this like doubt in his mind. Like maybe I did what I needed to do, did I do it? Did I not? Like this one piece, and I I hope I was like, if that's true, you see the conflict? Because he was lacking wisdom, like some of the most honest and purest wisdom that one could have is to understanding that we are saved to heaven because everything of what Christ has done, and nothing because of what we have done, because Brother Cleveland, because of all those all five things that are reserved and preserved to God's authority and his work, and none of which he's invited us to, or he's given us the ability to jump in and help them along the way, and all the things were done by Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, and he has chosen his people before the foundation of the world. That's wisdom, and I'm telling you that wisdom can be one, it can be something that's a little child who has heard these things all their life. Somebody who's a little baby can be a wise individual and can have a peace that passeth all understanding. That's a wise individual. I'm thankful to be among a wise people who know these things, who believe these things like deep within them. They don't just know the scripture and what they say, but they know what God was telling them for real. Like they know these things. Wisdom is knowing those things. Now, do you think that those things, though that that kind of wisdom is reserved to grown male faith? Absolutely not. These sisters at all ages, little children, I've had conversations with little children who can, in their vocabulary, in their vernacular, their understanding, can appropriately and rightly describe the doctrines of predestination, the doctrines of election. And they don't have to do vocabulary and mental gymnastics to make a square peg and a round uh hole fit. It fits perfectly. A little child can do that because God gave them that wisdom. That wisdom. Not the wisdom of this world, which would say, um, like a burden that neither we nor fathers could bear. Um, that's not fair. That that can't be how it works. You have to do something. People that sin that much, there's no way that they deserve to be in heaven, all of those things, that is not wisdom from God. That there's there is an opposite to wisdom. There's an oppositeness to wisdom. There's not like wisdom is not a spectrum, really. Like, when you're talking about things that are wise, the opposite of that is foolishness. Right? If you lack wisdom in a subject, you are a fool in that subject. You're either wise in it or you're a fool. You either know it, know it, and believe it and stand in it, and you're like thankful for it, or you don't, and you're a fool. And it describes that in scripture time and time again. So, here James describes wisdom and what it is, what it looks like, what he he bullet pointed there on the whiteboard, as it were. And then he says, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. I'm gonna try to draw this to a close and encourage us to think about these things as I trust we continue to go to our Lord in prayer and beg that he'll pour out wisdom to us and understand and appreciate where, how far, how far our Heavenly Father has brought us to a wise place in what we understand. Okay. Wisdom is something we should be seeking. Wisdom is that which is of the very character and nature of God that He reveals and dispenses to us. Wisdom, true wisdom, is understanding that God is sovereign above all things. That He created me. God created you. That He is the potter and you are the clay. Not that you just read that in Scripture, is that deep within your very bones you understand that He is sovereign and we are but dust, and He created us. Wisdom is understanding is that we truly did fall in trespasses and sins in our father Adam. That he was given a command, he broke that command, and there was an immediate and forever consequence without any um intervention, and that we were very much uh from that broken source, we are totally depraved in and of our nature. David says that, behold, I was shaped in iniquity and sinned, and my mother conceived me. We came into this world as utter darkness inside and out. That wisdom is understanding our total depraved nature before the intervention of Jesus Christ our Lord. All but wisdom. Truly wisdom is understanding and knowing, subscribing to the fact that Jesus Christ was the answer to that sin curse. And that he truly did come, that he was made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that he came and he was born of uh uh Mary, and she was a virgin there and. Bethany Judas like truly 2,000 years ago, roughly, that there was that was entered into this world that was God made manifest in the flesh. He was the expressed image of his person, and that in him the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily. That's wisdom is to understand that that man truly did come, and he came with a purpose, with his eyes fixed upon Jerusalem, that he came to do a work that only he could do. That's wisdom is to understand that. It's to know and to stand on that truth that Jesus Christ came into this world and that he pulled us out of the depths of a pit that we were not able to redeem ourselves from, that we were not able to restore ourselves from, is that we weren't just a sin sick, is that we were sin dead. And Jesus Christ came and he spoke life where there was no life. Is that he passed by one who was polluted in his own sins? And it was a time of love, and he cast a skirt upon me and he said, Live. And we were brought forth in his very life. His very character was placed within. That's what wisdom is. That's the wisdom that much of this world does not possess. They do not enjoy. I pray that they would enjoy that sweet wisdom. That wisdom is available to those children of God who were currently in a state of ignorance. I'm sad that they are. But see, that's the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Is that that sweet message comes and they hear it. And the Lord in that work, in that miracle, shows them those things. Wisdom is understanding, is that we weren't just restored from a state of dead and trespassing sins to a life in Christ Jesus where you currently sit and dwell and enjoy. But we were also made the workmanship of the workmen unto good works. Is that he's called us into a life of discipleship to follow after Christ and His ways. Wisdom is understanding that, that we weren't just redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. That's a blessing. But that we were redeemed and now we walk in liberty, freely, but in the confines of being servants unto Jesus Christ our Lord. That's a sweet wisdom to possess. There's a work there, but oh, it's a one that we come unto him, all ye that labor and heavy laden, and he'll give us work? No. And he'll give us rest. For his yoke is easy and his burden is light. There's work to do. But it's a sweet, sweet work. And it's a sweet work in a sweet place that he's allowed us to be in. Wisdom is understanding that. Wisdom at all ages, all genders, all nations, everywhere for all of God's people, wisdom is understanding that no matter what you're going through, no matter how hard the trouble is, no matter how enticing the temptation is, no matter how dark the storm, scary the storm, that you have one who will stand with you, stand by you, hold you up, guide you through. You have your Savior, Jesus Christ, and Lord who has promised with everything in him that he will never leave us, he'll never forsake us. That's what wisdom is, that you're not left alone to just fend for yourself. We're not left orphans in this world. He said, I must go that I may send another comforter, and he has done just that. And he didn't just send the comforter to come and visit you time by time, because did send his very presence to be with us throughout all of our pilgrimage, and that he has promised to come and gather us up again one sweet day. Wisdom is understanding. Wisdom is looking forward, not backward, looking forward to a day that he will come and he will part the sky. Do you believe, brothers and sisters, that there is an actual day on a calendar somewhere, that there is a circle date that not I, nor you, nor any angel, nor any entity, not even Christ Himself, but God has that day circled, and there is a day where he will come and he will part the sky. I believe it. I believe it. I believe my Lord will come again as he has promised, and he will part the sky, and he will gather up this body if it lays in the grave, and your body, and all his people, and he will raise it up again with his very life-giving voice that we've heard about this morning, and he will gather up our bodies. That makes sense by natural wisdom. You can't. Natural wisdom says natural, remember personification of the worldly wisdom. You know what it just entered, it raised its hand and it said, That's foolishness. That God will come and part the sky and raise bodies that have been dead in the grave for thousands of years. Worldly wisdom raises its hand and says, I'm sorry, I've heard enough. Okay, I've got to intervene here. That's foolishness. And you know what God will say definitively? No, that's wisdom. That's what wisdom looks like. Wisdom is understanding that God is true, God's promises are true, that in him is yea, and in him is amen. That's what wisdom is. And God will have the final word on the matter because one sweet day he'll do just that, and every knee will bow, and he will show himself. Wisdom is us being in a place, brothers and sisters, to where we can sing the song. There is coming a day. When no heartache shall come. No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye. All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore. What a day, what a day that will be. That's wisdom. And if we live our lives from here on throughout until God comes again or He takes us home to be with Him in glory, if we live our lives with that is the very mantra, is the very tone of our hearts that there is coming a day, and that's what I'm looking forward to. And I'm not concerned about what's here, what the wisdom of this world would kind of like throw at me and maybe um threaten me with. The wisdom of this world is not a like, it's all he's all bark and no bite. But he has a lot of bark. And he will threaten. The wisdom of this world will come at you hard, and it'll it'll threaten to ostracize you, um, make you lose your job, to cause division in your family, to cause political strife. The wisdom of this world will just try to do damage, right? The wisdom of God is forward-looking to where we stand on the very promises of God, knowing, trusting, and leaning on him because he is faithful to his promise. God is wisdom. God is wisdom. He has given us his wisdom, and he will continue to give it to us. So let's pray for it. I pray for wisdom in this church. I pray for wisdom in this broken man, in your family, in this country. Pray for wisdom. I love you very dearly.