WEBVTT 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:11.199 I'd like to ask you to turn to James chapter 3. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:30.000 Before we get started, I just want to mention that next Sunday we've invited a special guest speaker to be here on Sunday. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:31.760 His name is Dr. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:32.719 Greg Haig. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:44.560 Happens to be a close personal friend of mine, but far more significantly, he's really given his life with a passion for reaching Jewish people, Jewish people for Christ. 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:48.159 He currently works with Chosen People Ministries. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:50.320 He's been with REL Ministries. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:59.200 His particular calling is training Jewish believers to pastor messianic fellowships. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:01.359 Fascinating, important work. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:03.039 He's part of a seminary. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:07.680 In fact, he's responsible for a seminary that's associated with Talbot Seminary. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:20.879 And they are located in the middle of Brooklyn in New York, in the middle of the strongly Jewish community, and it's the Jewish Center for Messianic Studies. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:27.359 And he has a lot to say, has a heart, and it's a ministry and a focus. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:28.879 He's going to be opening the word. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:40.319 What he's really coming for is just because Jane and I love Greg and Linda, and we just want to be with them, and they're going to be here, and I worked it out that they could speak next week. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:41.439 I think you'll enjoy it. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:43.519 So good friend of mine. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:48.480 But turn with me, please, to James chapter 3. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:56.239 We're going to be completing a two-part message on the subject of wisdom. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:57.519 Wisdom. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:04.719 And what I tried to do last week, and will continue to try to do this week, is very simple. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:12.319 What James is saying to us is that wisdom is not knowledge. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:19.759 Wisdom is skill in living life God's way. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:30.879 And the life of God within, which begins when we come to faith in Christ and continues through this life and takes its final form in the life to come. 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:33.360 And this life is just a prelude. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:35.520 This is not what life is all about. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:38.240 This is like the foreword in the book. 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:41.439 It's just a foretaste of what is to come. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:55.759 But what happens in this life is that the characteristics and the character traits and qualities of God become manifest in our lives imperfectly, but truly. 00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:06.479 And when the Bible is talking about wisdom, it's talking about the life of God lived out in our lives, and it's talking about what God does to develop godly character. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:09.280 And I want to focus on the fact that that counts. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:10.479 Character counts. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:11.520 It really does. 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:18.080 It always has and it always will, whether it's reinforced in our society or not. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:34.000 So what we're talking about in this passage is really the character traits expressed in our lives as we begin to live out what God has for us. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:36.800 And character really does count. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:49.280 When our twin boys were in college, and that's goodness, a long time ago now, and they went off to school, I carried on a private campaign. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:54.159 I don't think they ever really knew about it, but they knew what the effect was. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:02.240 Every time I would email them, and then every day as they would email back, and of course your kids always emailed you every day in college, right? 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:03.599 Forget it. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:16.160 But every time I had contact with them, especially with email, I slipped in the phrase, character counts, time after time, email after email. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:29.199 Because I wanted, as they were moving out of our household, to have something to grab a hold of on that would take and develop what we've been trying to put into their lives. 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:33.279 And so every time they heard from me, they heard character counts. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:36.000 Now I never debriefed them afterwards. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:50.079 I don't know if they got as tired of hearing from their dad character counts as some of you may get tired of hearing today is Sunday, the 15th of May 2016, and God is still on the throne. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:54.480 He was last week, he is today, and he is in the week to come, and he's faithful and good. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:56.720 We say that every week. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.079 And if you get tired of hearing it, just wait. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:01.519 A time will come that I'm gone. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:03.199 But as long as I'm here. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:07.519 Because there's some things that are just so important. 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:09.839 God is on the throne. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:11.439 He's involved. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:14.560 And he's good and he's trustworthy. 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:20.160 Well, one of the themes of Scripture is character counts. 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:24.319 It's not said quite that way, but that's what it boils down to. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:52.560 We have to reaffirm, and that's what James is doing, reaffirm that the way we live really matters, not in a legalistic kind of a way, but that we're drawn to, as we've come to know Christ, there is a desire that the Holy Spirit implants in our heart that begins with a personal, internal change, but there's a desire to be a certain kind of a person because that's what we desire. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:58.480 And if we if you don't desire that, then then something is not working right. 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:07.040 But throughout scripture, examples and models are set forth for us that we need to focus on in our society. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:14.160 It used to be that we had American idols that were worthy of that position. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:18.879 They were examples of men and women with character. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:27.519 And, you know, I think, for example, about George Washington, and I don't know if he ever really chopped down a cherry tree or not. 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:37.519 It almost doesn't matter, but you know what was told and retold and retold about him that he fessed up and he said, it was me. 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:47.439 And it was, he he admitted to it not because he had gotten caught, but because he didn't want to be a liar. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:50.079 Isn't that interesting? 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:53.040 That story was told over and over and over again. 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:57.040 It used to be a he was a role model or honest Abe. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:11.759 And I know for a fact from the biographies of Abraham Lincoln that uh that I've read that he was a man who knew how to work hard, he was a man of integrity, he was a man of character, he really did split logs by day and study law at night. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:20.079 And there developed in Abraham Lincoln a character trait, a series of character traits that were praiseworthy. 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:27.040 And we used to have, we used to have leaders, political leaders, who we could admire for their character. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:30.560 I think of someone like Clara Barton. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:53.519 Clara was a shy, uh a shy woman from Massachusetts who during the Civil War selflessly, self-sacrificially served and healed wounded soldiers in that which was America's bloodiest war, in part because of the uh the poor state of medicine at the time. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:58.480 And she just gave herself and gave herself and gave herself to these wounded soldiers. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:09.839 And then when the war was over, Clara Barton not only established the Red Cross, but became an early, early advocate of black civil rights. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:11.360 Go, Clara Barton. 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:15.439 And her story has been told and told and told again, and it should be told. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:17.279 She was a woman of character. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:19.120 Or I think of Audie Murphy. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:31.199 Audie Murphy in 1942 was a young, scrawny five-foot, five-foot-five baby-faced boy who wanted to go and fight in World War II. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:41.440 And he tried to get into the Marines and he tried to get into the paratroopers, and they wouldn't have him because they wanted real men, not a scrawny little baby-faced uh boy. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:45.759 So he kind of sneaked into the infantry. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:51.759 And for the next years, he fought battle after battle with valor. 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:53.519 He saved lives. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:09:00.159 He was a hero time and time and time and time and battlefield after battlefield. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:15.360 And eventually, and to this day, Audie Murphy is the single most decorated veteran in the history of America because of his valor and because of his character, because character counts. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:25.840 He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and his grave is the second most visited grave site in Arlington National Cemetery next to John F. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.480 Kennedy, because he was a man of character. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:31.759 And these were the models in our society. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:41.200 And when we look at the scripture, it's character all over the place, it's godliness, it's character traits that are what is important. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:52.960 Would that we had presidents and politicians and leaders around us who exemplified character. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:10:03.039 And if we don't start understanding not that as a political end, but that's what God wants to develop in your life and in mine. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:05.840 It's not just about changing our behavior. 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:10.399 It's not just about filling our minds even with truth and good theology. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:16.799 It's about life transformation that gets expressed in our daily lives. 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:24.639 James chapter 3, verses 13 and following. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:29.679 Who is wise and understanding among you? 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:31.759 We saw last week that's a rhetorical question. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:32.960 It's to get us to think. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:34.559 And he gives an answer. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:41.200 Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:44.080 If you're reading the ESV, it says a little bit differently. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:54.480 By his good conduct, let him show his works, his life, in the meekness that flows from wisdom. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:57.519 He's talking about character. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:05.200 But if you have other character traits, bitter jealousy, selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:08.399 This is not the wisdom that comes from above. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:15.279 Now it's the wisdom from above that he's going to look at and we're going to be, or we're going to look at this morning. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:19.279 But what we were seeing last week, that's not wisdom that comes from above. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:20.639 It's earthly. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:23.840 It's just focused on the here and now. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:27.840 It doesn't have a vertical or an eternal dimension to it. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:29.840 It's just earthly. 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:31.919 It is unspiritual. 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:34.320 It's disconnected from God. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:42.720 Worldly wisdom is disconnected from God who made the world and understands how it works and how we're to live. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:46.240 It is ultimately, the end of verse 15, demonic. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:53.759 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 00:11:54.480 --> 00:12:17.759 But wisdom from above, God's kind of wisdom, is first pure, then peaceable, then gentle, then open to reason, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:26.480 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:33.919 Heavenly Father, what we're talking about today is dear to your heart. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:39.600 It describes how you want us to be. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:21.200 Not by self-effort, but by the power and the reality of your life in us. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:28.960 Lord, help us to be sensitized to what you want from us in terms of character. 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:34.320 And if that happens this morning, then that's because you are present and you're at work. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:41.600 Lord, give us ears to hear, eyes to see, a heart that's open to hear what you're saying to us, I pray. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:43.120 In Christ's name. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:44.000 Amen. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:49.440 Well, let's just walk through these two verses. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:51.679 The first part of verse 17. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:57.120 Um wisdom from above. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:00.639 Now you might say, well, just get on with it. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:01.200 No. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:04.960 Let's pause and think, what is he talking about here? 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:06.720 Wisdom from above. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:18.399 Well, we know that this is contrasted with the wrong kind of wisdom, the kind of wisdom that is worldly wisdom, and he's just been describing that. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:23.600 And in contrast to that, he talks about wisdom from above. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:37.759 We know that biblical wisdom is not knowledge, it is knowledge about how life works that is skillfully put into practice in our lives. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:41.679 If you want knowledge, graduate from college. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:50.559 If you want wisdom, we go to God because it's truths about how life really works, how the designer designed it. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:55.600 And we learn to adjust our life in accordance. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:59.360 And God builds into us a different kind of life. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:09.519 It's what Jesus talked about, life that's abundant and free and rich and glorious and satisfying. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:15.679 And it has an influence among other people that is good and rich and satisfying. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:20.480 And we get to be more and more who God has made us to be. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:22.159 That's the Christian life. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:29.279 And it's not just coming up with some strategies for living in a socially acceptable way. 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:34.320 No, it's the very life of Christ that grows out of it. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:37.840 And as we saw, it's not what is earthly and carnal and demonic. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:41.679 Those were the things that's wisdom from below. 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:53.919 Now, we saw last week and in the verses that go before, we saw some examples of what it's like when people are very advanced in their worldly wisdom. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:16:04.799 When they get so sophisticated or so involved with the world the way it is around them, that it begins to affect things. 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:18.480 And I'd like to just read a portion of the book of Romans, where it describes people who are well advanced, who are very mature in worldly wisdom. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:20.320 And this is the way they are described. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:23.519 Romans chapter 1, verse 21 and following. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:31.360 For although they knew God, they didn't honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:33.440 Their thinking got all screwed up. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.200 Thinking in their future futile in their thinking. 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:39.919 Their foolish hearts became darkened. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:43.840 Instead of becoming wise, it gets darker and darker within. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:56.799 Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:05.279 And therefore, God gave them over to the lusts of their heart, to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:15.599 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever, advancing in human wisdom, worldly wisdom. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:19.440 For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:24.240 For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:36.000 And men likewise gave up natural relationships with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:43.680 And since they didn't see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:50.160 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:56.000 They're full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:08.079 They are gossipers, slanders, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:25.359 Now, that is a horrible, horrible description of where we end up when we reject godly wisdom and the life of God within. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:38.319 The question that we have to ask ourselves is: would we rather be characterized by the things that James is talking about? 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:49.200 Pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere, a harvest of righteousness. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:51.759 What do you want to be like? 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.160 It's a choice ultimately. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:57.359 Do you want to be like the world? 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:04.400 Whereas God has made us for so much more than that. 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:09.359 And God wants to give us something more than that. 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:12.880 And which kind of a person do you want to be? 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:17.839 And if God is at work in your life at all, you don't want it to be that. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:27.119 And you do, at a deep level, want it to be what James is talking about here. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:32.640 And what it really is, is the godly qualities of life from above. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:43.680 Life from above, life from God, wisdom from God, character traits that He builds into us that come from above, lived out in our daily lives. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:53.599 That's James' way of describing what the Christian life ought to be and where we ought to be heading personally in our lives. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:20:02.799 Wisdom is the presence and influence of God lived out in our lives. 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:12.880 The presence and the characteristics and the quality traits and the personal characteristics of godliness lived out in our lives. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:16.079 If you want knowledge, you have to go to college. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:18.960 If you want wisdom, you have to go to God. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:23.279 And the question is, do we really want to go to God for that? 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:33.359 And as a believer, I guarantee you that the Holy Spirit is working within to have you long to be more like that than like that. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:52.480 So the way James describes it here is like a series of fruit, uh, characteristics, luscious, luscious, delicious fruits, characteristics of living the way God intends us to live. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:57.440 Living in a way that satisfies, that really satisfies your own heart. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:00.799 The way we get satisfaction. 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:08.400 Was it the Beatles? 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:10.799 Rolling Stones. 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:11.759 I thought of it. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:15.599 That's a bunny trail, folks. 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:23.039 What satisfies is the life that God intends for us. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:25.279 That's what satisfies. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:29.759 And this is described for us with a series of fruits. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:39.599 And what I want you to do is I want you to just kick back and listen to what how God describes the life you've always wanted. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:42.000 And let it just kind of wash over you. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:44.240 Just pretend like you're standing in a shower. 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:44.640 All right? 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:45.599 Just you. 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:47.119 You're just standing in the shower. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:50.000 And you let this stream over you. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:54.400 And it is so cleansing, it is so satisfying. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:56.079 And it's what we want. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:57.759 It really is. 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:05.200 So The first of these is a simple word, pure. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:10.960 And he says wisdom from above is first, pure. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:19.440 And probably what he's saying is this idea of purity is kind of an overarching description of what is to come. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:34.559 Now, the word pure, the particular word that is used in this section, is used very rarely in the New Testament, but a similar word that it's closely related to is used very, very frequently. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:37.359 And it's the term holy. 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:40.400 What he's talking about is personal holiness. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:43.920 We don't really talk much about personal holiness. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:45.839 Shame on us. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:51.440 Because that's a life that truly satisfies. 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:54.880 And that's a life that is the way we're meant to be. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:57.920 Pure means to be free from fault. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:01.680 Now, we are not fully pure. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:06.480 I don't know if you've noticed that or not, but you are not fully pure. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:17.359 But by the grace of God, you are no longer what you once were, and by the grace of God we will someday become all that God intends for us. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:19.839 So this is not an all or nothing. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:20.880 This is a growing. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:23.440 The fruits grow in our lives. 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:32.240 We didn't read the Galatians 5 passage of the fruit of the Spirit, which is Paul's way of saying very much of the same thing, but we could have. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:37.119 And so the picture here is the real thing. 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:42.240 100% the real thing, unadulterated, undiluted, and true. 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:46.000 It's kind of like the best Florida orange juice. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:53.759 I don't care if we spend a few bucks more for pure orange juice, pure refreshing. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:57.759 I love cold, fresh, pure orange juice. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:05.759 Where you don't pick out the orange leaves and parts of the stems that are there, and it's not been supplemented with all kinds of other things. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:07.359 It's the real thing. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:08.559 The real thing. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:10.079 That's what pure is. 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:15.599 The real thing, the real life of God within. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:22.400 Undefiled and undiluted devotion to God. 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:27.440 This is in accordance with God's design for us. 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:35.440 You see, what James is talking about, what Paul is talking about, what Proverbs is talking about, is a life that works. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:40.400 And it works because the designer designed us to function in a certain way. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:42.799 It's not trying to beat us over the head. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:48.079 It's not trying to simply conform our social behavior or to make us feel guilty. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:50.480 He's saying, this is life and this is abundance. 00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:51.920 This is what I meant for you. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:53.039 I'm the designer. 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:54.319 Here's the design. 00:24:54.559 --> 00:25:00.720 Live in accordance with the design and be the real thing in your life. 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:12.480 I got thinking about the idea of a designer and what a designer designs, and my strange mind got moving into designer genes. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:16.559 Now, I have to admit, I don't know much about designer genes. 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:19.759 I know it's a big concept, and some of you probably know all about it. 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:21.279 So I just kind of looked it up. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:24.960 Sorry, when I don't know something, my first thing to do is to turn to the Word of God. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:27.680 Actually, one of my first things to do is to turn to Google. 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:28.880 Isn't that sad? 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:37.680 Well, it's very clear famous designers have set forth an idea of what really looks good on you. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:39.599 And you pay through the nose for it. 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:45.119 I checked on Amazon because I wasn't sure if there was such a thing as designer jeans for men. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:55.039 So I did a quick search, and the first thing that popped up was a pair of designer jeans for men that cost$1,590. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:04.880 Now, my friends, I can guarantee you I could wear a pair of jeans that cost$1,590 and it wouldn't make me look good. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:11.839 So why do we spend all of our time trying to look good? 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:15.359 I don't have anything against designer jeans. 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:18.400 I'm just not going to waste the money on it, but that's me. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:22.960 And I'm not against trying to look good. 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:28.240 But let me be real gentle here, ladies. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:33.359 Just because you squeeze into designer jeans doesn't mean you look good. 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:39.039 And I say that just, I'm not on anybody's case. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:41.680 I'm just saying, is that what makes us look good? 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:47.200 How about slipping into a designer life? 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:56.960 There's a designer who has a pattern for us and he knows what looks good and what feels good and what is good. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:02.799 A designer life, my friends, always makes you look good. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:11.759 A designer life, following the design of the designer, always makes you look good. 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:14.640 Pure. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:20.000 The real thing, in accordance with the designer's design. 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:26.319 That's kind of the overarching description, and then there's uh uh several more. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:32.720 Um and what follows is a very carefully put together list. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:36.160 This isn't James just kind of shooting from the hip. 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:42.000 If you could study it in the original, you would find that it is it is almost poetic. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:53.920 The the next four uh character traits have a, they're alliterated, not just with the first letter, but the sound, the first sound in each word is parallel. 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:55.680 You're drawn into it. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:57.839 This is there's a cadence to this. 00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:06.400 This is skillfully and wisely done to grab our attention and to let us just stand in the shower and let it just come over us. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:11.279 Just just enjoy what God wants for us. 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:17.039 Um the next one is peaceable. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:18.960 Peaceable. 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:22.880 What an interesting characteristic. 00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:27.759 It has the idea of being at rest. 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:34.319 You know, there's some people that just somehow or another they exude a sense of calm. 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:38.400 And it's not because they're idiotic or their life works perfectly. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:50.240 They've just learned that though everything can be going on around me and there can be terrible trials and painful times in my life, there's there's a sense of rest. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:59.039 And it comes ultimately from knowing that today is the 16th of May, 2016, that God is on the throne. 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:01.759 It has to do with our understanding of who God is. 00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:10.559 With God, a God who cares, a God who is sovereign, and God who's involved in my life, then I can have peace in the midst of chaos. 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:15.039 Then I can have tranquility in the midst of pain. 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:20.240 And that is not just theory, that's the reality of a life with God. 00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:21.359 Perfect? 00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:22.880 Absolutely not. 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:27.759 But real and true, you better believe it. 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:34.799 A sense of freedom from strife and disorder. 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:40.319 Inclined or predisposed towards peace. 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:46.880 Now, we we don't always succeed, and sometimes we're in seasons of life where it's not real peaceful. 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:48.480 I get that totally. 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:54.480 Um, Ephesians uh, I don't remember if I put these verses there, yeah. 00:29:54.640 --> 00:30:00.160 Ephesians 4, verse 3, make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:07.519 That we're on the lookout and we're intentional about cultivating peace around us. 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:09.599 Peace with God, peace with man. 00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:11.279 That's a predisposition. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:16.799 Romans 14, 19, make every effort to do what leads to peace. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:20.880 And sometimes to get to peace we have to go through difficult times. 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:36.559 But make every effort to do what's necessary, that peace, a calm, a tranquility that is connected with God, because God is here and he cares and he gives us a new kind of life. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:41.920 Romans 12, 18, as far as it depends upon you, live at peace with everyone. 00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:46.079 As far as it depends upon you, it doesn't always depend upon you that you're at peace with people. 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:49.759 It takes two to tango, it also takes two to be at peace. 00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:56.000 But do everything, if far as it depends upon you, live at peace. 00:30:56.240 --> 00:31:06.480 There is a certain calmness and a serenity and a peaceability, the ability, the aptness to live this way. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:19.680 And it's the opposite of being contentious, pugnacious, where you're constantly creating chaos and struggle and strife. 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:21.680 It's quite the opposite of that. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:32.480 We may be in struggle and strife, but there's a sense of a sense of God being with us, and it's okay, even if what's happening is not okay. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:40.079 Um another one of the attributes, gentle gentle. 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:42.799 That's the word that's translated here, gentle. 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:45.440 What in the world does he mean by that? 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:46.880 Gentle. 00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:56.400 Well, this is um actually one of the most difficult words in the Greek language to translate adequately into English. 00:31:56.640 --> 00:31:58.480 It's just really tricky. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:13.440 Um it is talking about uh someone who is gentle in the way we think of it, someone who is equitable, someone who is fair, treats people in appropriate ways. 00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:25.279 And perhaps the best description, a paraphrase that I read, of a nuance that fits in our vocabulary is the idea of being kindly considerate. 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:28.240 There's just some people who are just kind. 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:32.720 There's people in this congregation who are just kind. 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:38.720 Do you know what a refreshment that is to be around a kind and considerate person? 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:40.480 I want to be like that. 00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:42.480 This is not my strength. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:52.079 But boy, when I'm around that, that just feeds my soul and it bathes me in what God wants, and it helps me to be more like that. 00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:55.920 Kind and considerate. 00:32:57.200 --> 00:33:16.240 Um it's a person who knows how to make allowances appropriately, knows how and when and when not to make allowances for people, and to accept people's weaknesses, and to accept the fact that people aren't necessarily where they need to be. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:24.559 There's a time, there's a time and a place to just, okay, that's that's the way things are. 00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:27.599 That's the way this person is, that's the way I am. 00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:29.359 By God's grace, I want to be different. 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:35.680 But there's this sense of considerate and considering others. 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:40.240 Um Timothy, I think I put it on here. 00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:46.880 Yeah, 2 Timothy chapter 2 is a very significant reference in this case. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:51.279 2 Timothy chapter 2, verses 23 and following. 00:33:51.359 --> 00:34:00.640 And Paul, speaking to Timothy, said, have nothing to do with foolishness, with foolish, ignorant controversies. 00:34:01.039 --> 00:34:18.559 You know that they breed quarrels, and the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents, but with gentleness. 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:28.639 There is a time to correct, but to be able to do it with gentleness, even though you may need to say some hard and even harsh things. 00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:31.199 Jesus said a lot of harsh things. 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:41.199 The interesting thing to me is that Jesus, his harshness came out to religious people who weren't living the way God intended them to live. 00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:51.679 It was religious leaders who on the inside were far cry from what their words said, and there was a confrontation, and he had no patience. 00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:57.760 There is a time and a place to not accept certain things with people. 00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:06.239 But most of us need to work on the time and the place to simply accept. 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:16.159 And so he says, correcting his opponents with gentleness, that God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to the truth. 00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:21.280 That they might come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil. 00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:30.239 And so there's this character trait that godly wisdom produces that within us. 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:36.719 Um there is a place for both tough love and tender love. 00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:41.039 We talk a lot about tough love, and rightly so. 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:46.079 But not everything is appropriately dealt with with tough love. 00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:47.920 There's a time for tender love. 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:50.559 But not everything is dealt with appropriately. 00:35:50.719 --> 00:35:53.519 With tender love, there's also a time for tough love. 00:35:54.880 --> 00:36:10.079 And wise is the parent with godly wisdom, who by God's grace, not because we get it all straight and understand it, but by God's grace, knows the times with her kids for tough love and for tender love. 00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:17.599 Blessed is the child whose parents understand the difference between tough and tender love. 00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:22.320 Blessed is the teenager who has been treated with both tough and tender love. 00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:32.320 Blessed is the adult child whose parent wisely understands the time for toughness and the time for tenderness. 00:36:32.800 --> 00:36:34.800 So this is all part of it. 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:37.519 This is this balances it out. 00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:40.480 Wise is the one who knows the difference. 00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:44.079 Oh, may we be wise in our relationships with people. 00:36:44.480 --> 00:37:02.559 In this case, the focus is on knowing when and how and how not, but knowing when and how to make allowances and to accept the weaknesses and the faults and the shortcomings of one another just as you want to be accepted and given grace and space. 00:37:03.199 --> 00:37:05.920 To be imperfect, but to be in process. 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:17.199 The next character trait is translated in the ESV in verse 17 as open to reason. 00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:19.599 That's an interesting translation. 00:37:20.559 --> 00:37:29.920 It's actually an attempt to put into our world the literal word of submissive. 00:37:31.679 --> 00:37:35.840 The NIV uses literally the word submissive. 00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:41.920 The problem with the word submissive is it doesn't mean in the scriptures what it means to us. 00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:52.480 Submissive, if we're not careful, has taken on a connotation of weakness of character and being walked over by other people. 00:37:52.639 --> 00:37:54.880 That's not what submission is all about. 00:37:55.039 --> 00:38:05.599 It's not just laying down and let yourself being walked over, but it's being open for really something else. 00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:19.760 The world of thought behind this term in this passage, we could paraphrase with correctable, able to be corrected, open to reason. 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:25.519 You can sit down with somebody and you can talk things through and they can be corrected. 00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:29.039 Godly wise people are correctable. 00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:35.360 Godly wise people welcome correction because we need it. 00:38:35.760 --> 00:38:37.039 And we're open. 00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:41.679 We're open and we allow things to come into our lives. 00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:44.000 We're submissive and compliant in that sense. 00:38:44.159 --> 00:38:52.639 We don't rail against it automatically just because it doesn't make us feel good and doesn't put us in a good light, but we're open and we're correctable. 00:38:53.039 --> 00:38:55.679 Another way of looking at this is coachable. 00:38:57.119 --> 00:39:01.599 I'm glad our kids are grown and gone because they don't have to listen to me use them as illustrations. 00:39:01.679 --> 00:39:07.360 But one of the kids in high school made the varsity basketball team. 00:39:07.679 --> 00:39:09.599 This was a small school. 00:39:10.079 --> 00:39:13.519 He never even would have dared try out if it was a large school. 00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:16.639 It was a small school, he tried out and he got on the team. 00:39:16.800 --> 00:39:20.559 I think there were 11 guys on the squad, and he was definitely number 11. 00:39:20.719 --> 00:39:21.599 That's all there was to it. 00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:24.639 He just wasn't a gifted athlete. 00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:26.239 But he played. 00:39:26.480 --> 00:39:28.639 I think he played that season. 00:39:28.880 --> 00:39:31.440 Maybe five, ten minutes in the whole season. 00:39:31.599 --> 00:39:34.000 I may be exaggerating, but not much. 00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:36.159 But he was there, he tried. 00:39:36.400 --> 00:39:44.800 Now, the reason I bring this up is his coach was a very, very wise and good coach. 00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:50.960 He came to our son one day and he said, you know what I value about you? 00:39:51.440 --> 00:39:56.800 You are the most coachable athlete I've ever had on any of my teams. 00:39:57.280 --> 00:40:03.599