DATE: 4-26-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

And we’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend. We’re learning from the younger brother of Jesus, who believed that his older brother was God. So — if you’re here today and you’re not sure about the validity of the Christian faith — take what I just said into account. Jesus’ younger brother — someone who grew up with Jesus — believed he was God. That’s quite an argument in favor of the truthfulness of Christianity. 

Now — in his letter — James has taken some teachings from his older brother and is showing us how to apply what Jesus taught to everyday life. Thus — when we listen to James — we’re learning what it means to be wise — for wisdom is taking God at his Word and applying it to our lives. And wisdom is actually the topic James has for us today. And if you caught the title for this sermon — Godly Wisdom, Demonic Wisdom — you can probably tell that this is not only going to be a sermon about wisdom — but we’re going to discover a truth that doesn’t just lend itself to writing provocative sermon titles — but is a truth that’s going to open our eyes and minds to seeing the world in a whole new light.

So — if you have your Bible — please turn with me to James chapter three. We’ll be in James chapter three, looking at verses thirteen through eighteen today. We’re in James chapter three — beginning in verse thirteen. There we read…

James 3:13–18 ESV

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵ This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Godly wisdom and demonic wisdom. These are the two categories — or types — of wisdom that James puts before us. Before we get to them, I want us to remember something we saw months ago in one of our first sermons from this book. In the fifth verse of the first chapter, James writes…

James 1:5 ESV

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

In that sermon, one of the first things I did was give us a definition of wisdom because — if wisdom is what we lack — then we need to know what wisdom is. And in that sermon, I mentioned that there are two definitions of wisdom commonly used today. The first definition is something like “applying knowledge to a situation,” which doesn’t sound all that bad. And — it’s not — except for one significant aspect. Often — with this definition — morality and theology are not taken into consideration. For this view of wisdom is human-centric — it puts the power and responsibility for determining what is wise in our hands.

Then I pointed us to a second definition of wisdom, which is nearly identical to the first — but with one significant change. If definition one is “applying knowledge to a situation,” the second definition of wisdom is “applying biblical and theological knowledge to a situation.” And this tells us that wisdom — foundationally — is theological. And theology has to do with God. Thus, wisdom is understanding our proper place in relationship to God and — here’s the application part — responding to that relationship accordingly.

Another way of thinking of these two definitions is this: Wisdom — under definition number one — asks, “What works?” Wisdom — under definition number two — asks, “What honors God and reflects his character?” In that sermon from months ago, I went on to say, “Even in the church, the wisdom of ‘what works’ continues to dominate — at least in the church in the US. We’re such pragmatic people that the wisdom of ‘what works’ — and the success it often brings — in relationships, in business, in politics, even in the church — really excites us. But the wisdom of what works will not produce righteousness, which is the goal of biblical wisdom.  And — righteousness — as you may know — means to be right with God. And there are many people who call themselves Christians today — and many organizations that call themselves churches — who are very successful and yet are not right with God. 

Many have discovered what works — again, in relationships, in business, in politics, even in the church — and they think this makes them right with God. But our works — what we do — have never made us right with God — even works that bring about great success — and those who are biblically wise understand this. For it’s not our works — but the works of the One who’s called the Wisdom of God — that make us righteous. Which is why, according to God, wisdom means not just understanding what works, because what works and what pleases God are not always the same thing. And we who claim to follow Jesus need to be very careful of which definition of wisdom we allow to influence the decisions we make, because God will not bless the wisdom of ‘what works’ when it does not bring him honor and glory.”

And — now — two chapters later — James returns to the topic of wisdom. And he’s going to show us another reason why the wisdom we choose — ‘what works’ or ‘what glorifies God’ matters. For James tells us that one is a wisdom that is godly — or from God — while the other is demonic — or from the devil.

DEMONIC WISDOM

We’ll begin with demonic wisdom and end with godly wisdom. We’re in verse fourteen. There, James writes…

James 3:14–16 ESV

¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵ This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

James begins by describing the evidence of demonic wisdom: Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. But he warns — by way of a command — the only command in our verses, by the way — when he writes, “Don’t boast and be false to the truth.” Another Bible translation says, “Don’t cover up the truth — that you’re bitterly jealous and have selfish ambition — with boasting and lying.” Another says, “Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom.”

So, there’s evidence of demonically inspired wisdom. And one piece of evidence is bitter jealousy. A harsh, cruel, hostile rivalry towards others. Where you’re greedy and longing for something that others have, which causes you to be harsh and cruel towards them. This is bitter jealousy.

James used the word bitter earlier in this chapter, when he wrote…

James 3:11 ESV

¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?

Salt water is bitter water. Fresh water has no bitterness to it. Godly wisdom — which we’ll get to in a moment — has no bitterness to it. But demonic wisdom — well — it produces bitter jealousy in those who follow its lead. Just like it produces…

Romans 13:13 ESV

¹³ orgies and drunkenness…sexual immorality and sensuality…quarreling and jealousy.

This kind of wisdom entices our flesh — our sinful desires — to give into all kinds of bitter and ungodly behaviors. As Paul writes to the Christians in Corinth…

1 Corinthians 3:2–3 ESV

² And even now you are not yet ready, ³ for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

And to the Galatians he writes…

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Fruit of the flesh, which are in opposition to the fruit of the Spirit that Paul goes on to list, is evidence as to which wisdom a person is following.

Unfortunately, bitter jealousy is just one piece of evidence of demonic wisdom. The second is selfish ambition. Selfish ambition means to be self-seeking. It’s a strong drive for personal success without any moral guardrails. This is the person who will do whatever it takes to be successful — as they define success — and rarely is God glorified in our lives when personal success is our ultimate goal. In fact, God can’t be glorified in a person’s life when personal success is their ultimate goal. Because either personal success or God’s glory will be ultimate in your life and — whichever is ultimate — will lead to the wisdom you follow.

In contrast to selfish ambition, we’re told to…

Philippians 2:3 ESV

³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Why? Because we’re to…

Philippians 2:5–11 NLT

⁵ …have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. ⁶ Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. ⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, ⁸ he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ — in being your Savior, if you believe in him — is also your example. And the reason why he’s your Savior is because — instead of acting out of selfish ambition — he selflessly gave his life on the cross for you. And in being loved this way — when you taste and see the love Jesus has for you — you follow his example of what it means to be wise by living selflessly instead of selfishly.

So that’s the positive reason not to practice selfish ambition. The negative reason — the warning — is this.

Romans 2:6–8 NLT

⁶ He (God) will judge everyone according to what they have done. ⁷ He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. ⁸ But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.

Those who live for themselves are those who live with selfish ambition — it’s the same phrase in the original language. And those who listen to the demonic wisdom of our enemy will display a selfish ambition in their life. Which — Paul warns — will result in them experiencing God’s anger and wrath for all eternity.

And what does this bitter jealousy and selfish ambition produce? In verse sixteen, James writes…

James 3:16 ESV

¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

Disorder and every vile practice are the outcome of demonic wisdom in one’s life. Disorder’s an interesting word. It has the sense of an insurrection — think of a violent group causing a disturbance. It’s a word often used to describe what life will be like in the end times. For example, Jesus said…

Luke 21:9 NLT

⁹ And when you hear of wars and insurrections, don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place first, but the end won’t follow immediately.”

But James is saying that this is an insurrection — not out there — but that jealousy and selfish ambition cause an insurrection within you. Sure, this will have consequences to your relationships, your health, potentially your finances — those may be a result of the vile or evil practices you end up doing — but all of this is self-inflicted because of the wisdom you’re following. An inner war — an internal insurrection — a disorder in one’s life.

Let’s return to how James describes this demonic wisdom. In verse fifteen, we read…

James 3:15 ESV

¹⁵ This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

So he describes this wisdom not solely as demonic — he also calls it earthly and unspiritual. It’s a wisdom — not characterized as coming down from heaven — but as coming from here on earth. It’s unspiritual — as opposed to spiritual. And all of this is James’s way of saying that this is wisdom that comes from our fallen world.

Earthly versus heavenly are contrasted in a variety of places. For example, Paul says…

1 Corinthians 15:40 ESV

⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.

Our earthly bodies — these bodies subject to disease, decay, and death are different than the heavenly bodies God’s people will experience for all eternity.

But earthly versus heavenly isn’t just a contrast of physical material. It also includes philosophies, thoughts, and motivations that drive us. For example, Paul also writes…

Philippians 3:18–19 NLT

¹⁸ For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.

The desires of those who oppose Christ are earthly, not heavenly. Resulting in them only thinking about their life now — here on earth — and not the life that is to come.

Paul also writes…

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

¹⁴ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

The opposition of earthly and heavenly — of the natural versus the spiritual — goes so far that those who are “natural” — meaning those who don’t have spiritual life — can’t accept the things of the Spirit of God. They need spiritual life given to them first — in order to discern and accept spiritual — or heavenly — truths.

There’s much more that God’s Word says about the earthly versus the heavenly — the natural versus the spiritual — but I think you get the point. This wisdom — wisdom that is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic is not from God and doesn’t please him. Instead, it leads to ruin and destruction. It leads to evil thoughts and actions. It leads to misery and — ultimately — to one’s eternal death.

So — don’t lie to yourself. That’s James warning to all of us. Do an honest evaluation of the wisdom you’re following.

GODLY WISDOM

Which leads us to godly wisdom. This is wisdom from above — wisdom from our Father in Heaven. And — I’ll remind us of this later — but keep in mind that James is trying to help us apply what his older brother — Jesus — taught. So see if you can think of what Jesus said that James may have been thinking of with these words. I’ll get us all there — but see if anything comes to mind. We’re in verse thirteen. There, James writes…

James 3:13 ESV

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

And skipping to verse seventeen, we read…

James 3:17–18 ESV

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James begins by telling us that the wisdom from above — that is, wisdom from God — displays itself in one’s life as good conduct. Meaning — being wise leads to good works — a topic James has already touched on in his letter. 

So if you think you’re wise, what good works do you have to show for it? And — to be wise — in the present — would mean to have good works — and these are good works according to God — that are also in the present. Meaning past good works may validate past godly wisdom, but present godly wisdom in your life will be accompanied with present good works.

But — as I said — we’ve already touched on faith and good works in a previous sermon, so let’s focus on the characteristics of godly wisdom. We spent quite a bit of time on demonically inspired wisdom — let’s spend some time on godly inspired wisdom. James says…

James 3:17–18 ESV

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

What are the characteristics or qualities of godly wisdom? Godly wisdom is…

• Pure
• Peaceable
• Gentle
• Open to reason
• Full of mercy
• Full of good fruits
• Impartial
• Sincere
• And godly wisdom results in a harvest of righteousness — or right living — that’s sown in peace by those who listen to it.

Godly wisdom is pure — meaning — it’s holy. It has no faults. For the God who gives this wisdom is pure and holy himself.

Godly wisdom is peaceable. It promotes a state of wholeness, well-being, and happiness. It’s free from a quarrelsome attitude.

Godly wisdom is gentle. It’s kind, tolerant, fair, and fitting. It’s lenient and merciful towards differences of opinion. It’s thoughtful and respectful of other people’s feelings.

One of my favorite sections of the Bible highlights the importance of gentleness in the life of those who follow godly wisdom. The apostle Peter writes…

1 Peter 3:14–16 NLT

¹⁴ But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. ¹⁵ Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. ¹⁶ But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.

Even when you experience suffering, for following Jesus and his wisdom from heaven, be ready to explain why you’re willing to suffer to those who oppose you and do so in a gentle and respectful way. Of all the characteristics of godly wisdom we can display to the world, this one — gentleness — may be the biggest opportunity to distinguish godly wisdom from the natural, unspiritual, and demonic wisdom that runs rampant in our culture today.

Godly wisdom is also open to reason. As Christians, we believe in objective truth. Yet, godly wisdom — in being open to reason — reminds us that we’re not all-knowing — only God is. And we may have faults in our reasoning — though God doesn’t — thus we need to be open to reason. We need to be open to being wrong. Open to adopting or changing our position or belief about something, given sufficient reason or evidence. Instead of quickly responding with the “wrong meme,” which is the way of our culture, godly wisdom is open to reason. To say it another way, those who follow godly wisdom know that they’re not right about everything. And being a “know-it-all” is an indicator that one is not following godly wisdom.

Godly wisdom is full of mercy — it’s compassionate. As Jesus said to his religious opponents…

Matthew 23:23 NLT

²³ “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

Or as James previously told us…

James 2:13 NLT

¹³ There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.

Godly wisdom is made evident by the mercy it shows to others.

Just as godly wisdom is also full of good fruits. Good fruits are the consequences of the wisdom from heaven. Whereas disorder and every evil practice are the consequences of demonic wisdom, godly wisdom produces godly results. And as James earlier told us…

James 1:18 NIV

¹⁸ He (God) chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Our lives are to be the firstfruits of God’s saving and restoring work to his creation. And — in following his wisdom — more good fruits will be produced in our lives.

Godly wisdom is impartial — it’s nonjudgmental. Where demonic wisdom causes division, godly wisdom produces unity. Godly wisdom fights against our natural, unspiritual tendency to divide.

Additionally, godly wisdom is sincere. It’s without hypocrisy. It’s genuine.

And godly wisdom leads to a harvest of righteous living — resulting in peacemaking being a characteristic of those who follow God’s wisdom.

CONCLUSION: JESUS ON GODLY WISDOM

And it’s this final result — this harvest of righteous living — that leads us to the teaching of Jesus that James may have been thinking of. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said…

Matthew 5:3–12 ESV

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. ⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. ⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. ⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. ⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. ¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Though James doesn’t address everything Jesus says here, did you notice quite a bit of thematic overlap?

• Godly wisdom is pure. And Jesus said, “God blesses those whose hearts are pure.”
• Godly wisdom is peaceable. And Jesus said, “God blesses those who work for peace.”
• Godly wisdom is gentle. And Jesus said, “God blesses those who are meek” — another word for gentle.
• Godly wisdom is full of mercy. And Jesus said, “God blesses those who are merciful.”

I’m sure we could find even more connections — but that’s enough to show us that the godly wisdom that James speaks of — will lead to the godly living that Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount. For — remember — James wants us to apply wisdom to life — for just knowing the wise thing to do isn’t enough. Wisdom leads to action. And we’re all guided by some wisdom that leads to the actions we choose. The question — that James is forcing us to ask — is this: Does the evidence in your life show godly wisdom or demonic wisdom to be your guide? And if you’re not satisfied with the evidence in your life, which wisdom do you need to start listening to and following?

As I prepared for this sermon, I came across some words that I thought would help us all take what we’ve heard and begin applying it to our lives.

One author said, “These characteristics [of godly wisdom]…are hard to acquire and hard to maintain. They can only be sustained at great personal cost. They only appear where there has been a steady habit of prayer and self-discipline; even then, they may take a while to show themselves. It would be worth spending the time to work through the words in [James’s] list one by one. Do it slowly. Review your life in the light of them. You might want to make a note of the times, the places, and particularly the people, that make it hard for you to live in this way — and then pray for strength, and for this wisdom from above, to hold firm when the challenge comes round once more. Some of the people you meet every day are people who follow godly wisdom, and others are people who follow demonic wisdom. Which one would you rather see coming towards you down the street? Which one would you rather have as a neighbor? [Which would you rather work with or be married to?] The question answers itself. The challenge is to become that person yourself. Someone who listens to, submits to, and follows the wisdom that comes from above.”

May we all be committed to listening to the wisdom that’s from above. The wisdom that is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. For then — and only then — will a harvest of righteousness be sown in peace through our lives — as individuals — and as a church. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, by wisdom you founded the earth; by understanding you created the heavens. O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. True wisdom and power are found in you; counsel and understanding are yours. Only you can tell you the future before it happens. Everything you plan will come to pass, for you do whatever you wish.

Spirit of God, when it comes to grasping all of this — of truly understanding what we’ve heard today — we admit that our minds seem so incapable. We say with the psalmist, “How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!” We confess that “Your thoughts are nothing like our thoughts. And your ways are far beyond anything we can imagine.” So help us, we pray. Help us to trust that you will use the wisdom from above to change our lives.

And, Jesus, all of this is possible because you not only lived a life full of godly wisdom, but are the wisdom of God come in the flesh. The evidence in your life is clear. All that you do or say is pure and peaceable. You are gentle and full of mercy. You’re sincere, and a harvest of righteousness is being produced in the lives of your people because of your transforming love.

For your glory — Father, Son, and Spirit — we commit to following your wisdom. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

As you go, may you commit yourselves to listening to and following the wisdom from above. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 1-18-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend. As we learned two weeks ago — James — our author — is the younger brother of Jesus — and he was also a key leader in the early church. And James — the book — is essentially a collection of mini-sermons — or teachings — on a variety of topics. The book is considered by many to be the wisdom literature of the New Testament — sort of like the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament — as it contains many short statements that show us how life generally works.

Last week’s topic was on the purpose of the trials we experience in life. Those unexpected — and often — unwanted moments — those experiences in life that are trying and hard and exhausting do have a purpose. Again — that’s what we saw last week. And — today — we’re on to a new — but somewhat related — topic. Here’s what James has for us today. We’re in James chapter one — beginning in verse five. There we read…

James 1:5–8 ESV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Christian or not — here’s a topic that’s relevant and practical for all of us. For — inevitably — we come to moments in life when we don’t know what to do — where we lack wisdom — and James is going to tell us what to do in these moments. And — spoiler alert — his advice isn’t to turn to Google or to ChatGPT. No — James is going to tell us to turn somewhere else — or — I should say — to Someone else — when we find ourselves in need of wisdom.

But before we get to our destination — here’s how we’re going to get there. We’re going to first answer the question, “What is wisdom?” Then we’ll look at the generosity of God which — believe it or not — has everything to do with where wisdom is found. And — finally — we’ll look at how we receive — or find — wisdom.

What is wisdom? The generosity of God. And how we receive wisdom. That’s where we’re headed today.

WHAT IS WISDOM?

We’ll begin with our question, “What is wisdom?” As James says in verse five…

James 1:5 ESV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom…

If wisdom is what we lack — we need to make sure we’re in agreement with what we mean by wisdom. I say this because there are two very different meanings of the word wisdom that are used by people today. 

The first definition is something like this: Wisdom is applying knowledge to a situation. 

Now — that doesn’t sound all that bad. And — it’s not — except for one significant aspect. Often — with this definition of wisdom — morality and theology are not taken into consideration. And that’s because this view of wisdom is human-centric — meaning — it puts the power and responsibility of determining what is wise in the hands of us humans.

The second definition of wisdom is nearly identical to the first — but with a significant change. If definition one is “applying knowledge to a situation” our second definition of wisdom is “applying biblical and theological knowledge to a situation.” 

This second definition emphasizes that wisdom — foundationally — is biblical and theological. And — theology — if you’re unfamiliar with the word — has to do with God. Thus, wisdom is understanding our — humanity’s — proper place in relationship to God as found in the Bible. Which means — to live wisely means we must live according to what the Bible tells us about God, ourselves, and our relationship with him.

Here’s another way to show the difference in these two definitions of wisdom. Wisdom — under definition number one — asks, “What works?” Wisdom — under definition number two — asks, “What honors God and reflects his character?” 

And we live in a “what works” world created by a God who is more concerned with “what honors him.”

For example,listen to what the Bible has to say about wisdom and notice its relationship to God.

Proverbs 1:7 ESV

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

And…

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

And…

Psalm 111:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.

And…

Job 28:28 ESV

28 And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Fear — in these verses — means to revere — to hold in admiration — to have a profound respect for someone or something. And in these verses we learn that wisdom’s birthplace is in having fear of — or a profound respect for — the Lord. 

Now fear is a word we quickly associate with something scary. So let me try and help us all out. To fear the Lord means that — in knowing who God is — for example — in knowing that God is holy — that he’s pure and without sin — and that he’s righteous — meaning God always does what’s right — and that he’s just — meaning God doesn’t play favorites or take bribes — and that he’s loving and kind and good and merciful and wrathful — that last one means that God hates wickedness, sin, and will punish those who do such things — in knowing who God is — on his terms and in his own words — we then fear him — are in awe of him — have great respect for him — and live accordingly. 

So there’s a theological aspect of wisdom — it’s God-focused. Yet there’s also a moral aspect of wisdom. We saw this in the verse from Job which mentioned “turning away from evil.” Turning away from evil is a statement of morality. It supposes that there’s a definition of good and evil and that — to be wise — means you turn away from evil and turn to God who is good.

Having said all of that — even in the church — the wisdom of “what works” continues to dominate — at least in the church in the US — I won’t speak of churches around the world. Here in the US — we’re such pragmatic people — that the wisdom of “what works” — and the success it often brings — in relationships, in business, in politics, even in the church — the wisdom of “what works” excites us. 

But the wisdom of “what works” will not produce righteousness — which is the goal of biblical wisdom. And — righteousness — as you may know — when it comes to us humans means to be right with God. And there are many people who call themselves Christians today — and many organizations that call themselves churches — who are very successful — they’ve figured out “what works” — and yet — they are not right with God. 

Many people have discovered “what works” — again — in relationships, in business, in politics, even in the church — and they think this makes them right with God. But our works — what we do — have never made us right with God — even works that bring about great success. And those who are biblically wise understand this. For it’s not our works — that makes us righteous — but the work of the One who’s called the Wisdom of God. We’ll get to him in a moment.

So wisdom — according to God — means more than just “what works” — for many sinful decisions may bring about success. Dictators — who have their opponents killed — win elections — a shocking example, I know — but when wisdom is solely about “what works” — people will go to extremes. 

But “what works” and what honors and pleases God are not always the same thing. And we who claim to follow Jesus need to be very careful of which definition of wisdom we allow to influence the decisions we make. We who follow Jesus need to be careful about which definition of wisdom we expect and tolerate those in leadership to use. Because God will not bless the wisdom of “what works” when it does not bring him honor and glory. And — many people — after doing nothing other than “what works” — then try to spin their decision as if honoring God was always their goal. But God is no fool.

Interestingly, provocatively, and — what’s quite possibly one of the most shocking statements in his entire letter — James will later say this about wisdom. In chapter three he writes…

James 3:13–18 NLT

13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

We’ll get to these verses in a later sermon, but — for now — I want you to notice what James says about wisdom in verses fifteen and sixteen. I’ll read them to you again.

James 3:15–16 NLT

15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

What’s often called wisdom — the pragmatic kind that “gets the job done” and is “what works” — is often wisdom clothed in jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder, and evil of every kind. And James says that this kind of wisdom is earthly, unspiritual, and — wait for it — demonic. And — friends — this is why we need to be so very careful about giving into the spirit of our age in which getting things done — and “what works” — matters more than whether or not something is demonic.

THE GENEROSITY OF GOD

A moment ago I said, “God is no fool” — but he is generous. Which leads us to some extremely great news about wisdom found in our verses. We’re in verse five again.

James 1:5 ESV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

James — being a good Jewish man — may’ve been thinking of a verse like this one from the book of Proverbs when he wrote these words. In Proverbs we read…

Proverbs 2:6 ESV

6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

God has, is, and will always be the source of true wisdom. And though it may seem overwhelming — especially when thinking that something may work and bring about success and still be grounded in something like the demonic — though it may seem impossible to know where to begin — “How do I even know what’s biblical wisdom or just something that works” — James points us directly to step one — which will never lead you astray. For James essentially says, “Do you lack wisdom? Here’s step one: Ask God.” 

Ask God.

Yet how many of us make decisions — and not just small or insignificant ones — but even really huge decisions — without ever asking God, “Hey God, I’m about to make a decision about — marriage or a promotion or switching careers or having a hard conversation with a friend — and I need some help here. What’s the wise thing to do?” And — my goal — is to encourage all of us — myself included — to do more asking. Let’s ask God more and more for wisdom.

“OK. But how will I know what he’s telling me?” Great question! Did you know that there are many ways that God responds to us when we ask him for wisdom?

In his cleverly titled book, God Told Me: Who to Marry, Where to Work, Which Car to Buy…And I’m Pretty Sure I’m Not Crazy, author Jim Samra lists twelve different ways that God speaks to us. His list includes the Bible, the preached Word, individual prayer and fasting, corporate prayer and fasting, the inner prompting of the Spirit, spiritual direction from others, to name a few.

We’ll look at just two ways that God answers us when we ask him for wisdom: 1) God’s Word — the Bible — and 2) Prayer. His Word and prayer.

By far — prayer is perceived as the less demanding of these two. You can pray whenever and wherever — but reading the Bible — well that’s a lot more work. But here’s something I’ve found to be a principle of following Jesus: The better we know his Word — the Bible — the better we’ll know his answers to us in prayer. Meaning — God’s answers to us in the Bible are clear. Yes, this is a big book with lots of words — but — instead of viewing that as an insurmountable obstacle — I wonder what would happen if we viewed the bigness of this book — and the vast amount of words in it — as God’s gracious way of making sure we know how to be wise. And — again — the principle I’ve found is that the better I know what he’s said in the Bible — the better I know what he’s saying to me in prayer.

A recent survey by the Barna Group found a hopeful trend regarding Bible reading in our country. Forty-two percent of adults in the US say they read their Bible weekly — up from thirty percent in 2024. That’s forty-two percent of all US adults — Christian or not. Can you believe that? Nearly half of all adults in our country say they read the Bible weekly. That’s pretty encouraging to me!

So what about those of us who claim to follow Jesus? If forty-two percent is the national average — surely we Christians are tipping the scales, right? Not so fast. In that same survey, just fifty percent of self-identified Christians report reading their Bible weekly. 

Though I’m thankful that both numbers have seen an increase — I see such an opportunity for Christians to engage more and more with God’s Word — so that — we’ll be people who grow in wisdom and influence our nation for the better. 

Here at Gateway we describe this as our desire for us to be Word and Spirit Christians. Where — as followers of Jesus — we live under the authority of the Word of God and by the power of the Spirit of God. And — to do this — we must be people who know this book.

That same Barna survey revealed another piece of data about Bible reading. This data focused on what’s going on generationally in our country in regards to Bible reading. Though Bible reading has grown among Boomers, Gen-Xers, Millennials, and Gen Z — one of these groups is lagging behind the others in their weekly Bible reading. Any guesses as to which generation in our country is falling behind the others? 

Who thinks it’s Gen Z — the youngest generation surveyed? They’re just on video games and social media, right? I bet they’re not reading their Bible.

What about the Millennials — who thinks it’s them? They’re all depressed because we’ve moved on from talking about their generation and now it’s all about Gen Z, right? I bet it’s them — they’re probably the ones not reading their Bibles.

Who thinks it’s the Gen Xers? Nobody does — because everyone forgets about my generation.

Well — it’s not Gen Z. It’s not the Millennials. And it’s not Gen X. The generation falling behind the others — when it comes to Bible reading in our country — are the Boomers. 

Forty-nine percent of Gen-Z, fifty percent of Millennials, and forty-one percent of Gen-Xers read the Bible weekly — but only thirty-one percent of Boomers do. So — to the Boomers among us — first, I love you. And I see this data as an opportunity for you to lead your generation. You have an opportunity to be an example to your peers when it comes to the practice of reading God’s Word and living by his wisdom.

God answers us in his Word and in prayer. 

But I want to take this a step further — because we need to push back against our individualistic view of the Christian faith. How many of us make decisions without ever asking a fellow Christian, “What do you think God would say is the wise thing to do here?” I bring this up — because often — for those of us who do read our Bible and pray about our decisions — God’s leading often ends up being the choice we wanted to make anyway.

You know. I know it. And God knows it. 

Whether it’s a relationship decision, a business decision, a church decision, and so on. And we know if we clothe our decision with “God’s leading me” or some other spiritual sounding statement — we know that no one can question our decision. Even if it’s just a “what works” decision or a decision that’s nothing more than selfish ambition on our part. 

I mean who does God think he is that he can use someone else to tell me what to do? Or have someone point out a verse in Scripture that should cause me to pause in the decision I’m about to make. Or have the preacher say something that — even though he has no idea of what choice I’m thinking about making — well that preacher said something in his sermon that’s clearly a direct warning to me to stop in my tracks.

Will we be people who desire biblical wisdom — wisdom whose primary purpose is to make our God look glorious in all of our decisions — and not just be people who make decisions that work? If so, then we must ask God for wisdom — knowing that he’s generous and has given us the Bible, prayer, sermons, our fellow Christians, and much more to give us his wisdom.

RECEIVING GOD’S WISDOM

Which leads to our final thought for today — receiving God’s wisdom. We’re in verse six. There James writes…

James 1:6–8 ESV

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

The way we receive God’s wisdom is by asking him in faith — with no doubting. James then goes on to describe what he means by using the illustration of waves of the seas being tossed around by the wind — an illustration we looked at last week. But — now — James goes on to call the person who doubts a double-minded individual who’s unstable. And this tells us something very important about what James means when he says we must ask in faith without doubting: He’s describing our posture towards God. 

And — when we remember our two definitions of wisdom — one based on “what works” — the other based on “what honors God” — this shows us that James is definitely meaning the second definition of wisdom.

The apostle Paul says something similar to the Christians in Ephesus in a passage we looked at last week as well. Though he doesn’t specifically use the word wisdom — notice the similar illustration he uses to describe why we — together as a church — need to mature in faith. He writes…

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Here Paul warns about doctrinal instability causing us — as a church — to be tossed around by the deceitfulness of false teachers and their lies that lead us away from faith in Christ. James is warning about the personal instability that comes from this kind of doctrinal instability. 

And this all becomes clear when we understand that the word ‘doubt’ — in verse six — doesn’t mean a moment of uncertainty — but rather having a divided mind or being double-minded. The word means to have a discrimination against God — where our default setting is to take God out of the picture when it comes to our decision making and what we think is the wise thing to do. Whereas faith — and this will not surprise you — means to have a commitment to God — a wholehearted commitment, in fact. Where you keep God — not just in the picture — but in the center of your life — where your desire is for your decisions to honor him.

Or — to say it another way — it means to…

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on — or trust only in — your own understanding — even if it’s “what works.” Thus — to receive God’s wisdom — requires a humble and teachable spirit. Humble — because — we recognize our limitations in what we know and understand. Teachable — because — even what we do know and understand will need some correction. And then you can add to that — how all of us have a lot of unlearning we need to do as well — especially when it comes to believing that the wisdom of “what works” is what matters most.

But — ultimately — the key to receiving God’s wisdom — is to know the One who is the Wisdom of God — which is where we turn to as we end our time together.

CONCLUSION: TO KNOW WISDOM IS TO KNOW JESUS

For quite a few years — we did a series here at Gateway that was called Finding Jesus. In that series I preached one sermon on every book in the Old Testament. For the sermon on the book of Proverbs — which is part of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament — and a book I’ve quoted quite a bit from today — I helped us find Jesus by looking at verses from Proverbs chapter eight. Specifically these words that wisdom speaks…

Proverbs 8:35–36 ESV

35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, 36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

Throughout Proverbs chapter eight — wisdom is personified as if it — wisdom — is a person. And there’s a reason for this — the wisdom of God is a person. The apostle Paul tells us so.

1 Corinthians 1:24 NLT

24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Jesus is the wisdom of God. 

And wisdom — whether in Proverbs chapter eight or in James chapter one — or in all of Scripture, for that matter — wisdom is pointing us to Jesus. In fact, true wisdom will always point you to Jesus because Jesus is true wisdom. And all who find Jesus — who believe that he is who he says he is and has done what he says he’s done — all who find Jesus find life and favor from the Lord. And all who fail to find him — all who reject him instead of believing in him — whether they realize it or not — love death. For eternal death — separation from the wisdom of God for all eternity — is what’s in store for them.

You see, in obedience to his Father’s will — and in love for you — Jesus went to the cross. He did so accomplishing the wisest plan ever made — the salvation of the people of God. And — in finding Jesus — the wisdom of God tells us that we must take the step of repentance. For — as one person has said, “The most basic act of wisdom is repentance.” 

What is repentance? Repentance is turning from the direction you’re headed in and turning to the Wisdom of God — Jesus Christ. It’s the “turning away from evil” that we saw in the passage from Job. We repent — and turn away from evil — as we turn to Jesus in faith. And faith is more than just knowing that Jesus lived, or knowing that he was crucified, or knowing that he rose from the grave — faith means you act on the knowledge of his life, death, and resurrection. That you live accordingly — in response to now realizing that he — Jesus — is God in flesh. 

For — as Paul — just before telling us that Christ is the wisdom of God — writes…

1 Corinthians 1:18–24 NLT

18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Jesus is the wisdom of God. And the message of what he accomplished on the cross is foolishness to the world. And — though the world may find it foolish — it’s the news all people need to hear. For it’s the news that must be received in order to be saved. It’s not a message that makes the most sense — it’s not the obvious “what works” — yet Jesus and his cross is the wisest plan ever to have been made. And — not only that — it’s the wisest plan ever to be accomplished. And — not only that — it’s the most loving act in all of history. 

So — now — having heard of God’s wise plan — let me ask you: What’s the wise thing to do in response to the news about Jesus that you’ve just heard? Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father, we begin by being struck in awe with who you are: wise, good, kind, righteous, holy, all-knowing, all-powerful, just, wrathful, the God who saves, and the one who is in control of all things. You are awesome.

Holy Spirit, help us to fight against the lure of “what works” wisdom — and instead — commit ourselves to “what honors God” wisdom. And help us to search our hearts and desires — especially in those decisions of life where we’re prone to deceiving others and ourselves into thinking our desire is to honor God when — in reality — we’re selfishly doing nothing more than “what works.” 

Jesus — to you the Wisdom of God — as we turn ourselves to you — we turn ourselves from our sinful ways. We thank you for loving us. Thank you for your commitment to us. Thank you for showing us what it means to be wise. And may we honor you as we follow in your footsteps. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May you go asking God for the wisdom you need. And may you remember that he is always generous in giving his wisdom to those who ask. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 1-4-26

Happy New Year! And — as always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

New Year — new sermon series. For the first half of the year we’re going to be in the book of James. And since this is a new book for us — today’s sermon will primarily be an introduction to the book.

But I want you to know that I have a personal affection for this book because it was the first book of the Bible that I memorized from beginning to end. And — if you’re new to Gateway — you may be wondering, “Did I just hear him right? Did he say he memorized the entire book of James?” That’s what I said. Bible memory — if you don’t know — is something I’m fond of.

I’ve told this story before — so forgive me if you’ve heard it — but my inspiration for Bible memory comes from my wife’s uncle — his name is Ron. It’s going on twenty years now — but I was talking to Ron at a family gathering and he mentioned how he had a bunch of books of the Bible memorized. I can’t remember how many — but it was a lot! It was impressive! It seemed so impossible! And it was inspiring!

So I decided to give it a try. And — again my memory’s a bit fuzzy all these years later — but Ron may have even recommended that I start with James. And that’s what I did. Then Ephesians. And now — I’m currently finishing up First Corinthians — which will be the twenty-first book of the Bible that I’ve memorized — along with a few psalms.

And the book of James is a great first book if you’re intrigued by the idea of memorizing an entire book. I’ll tell you why in a moment — but it’d thrill me to know that I might inspire some of you to memorize God’s Word like Ron did for me.

But — for now — let’s turn to the book of James. Just one verse for us today — the opening verse of the letter. We’re in James chapter one — verse one.

James 1:1 ESV

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Here’s what I hope to accomplish in this sermon. First, I want to tell you about James the man — who is he? Then we’ll look at the book — really it’s a letter — but we call them books of the Bible. But we’ll examine what kind of book James is — how it’s laid out — who it was written to — and so on. And — finally — I’ll briefly explain what you can expect going forward in this series.

WHO IS JAMES?

So let’s begin by answering the question: Who is James?

He describes himself this way in our verse.

James 1:1 ESV

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He calls himself a servant. The Greek word really means something more like what we’d call a slave. Not in the abusive form of slavery you may be thinking of — just a stronger obligation than what we might think of when we hear the word servant. Servant — to our ears — gives the impression of an employer employee relationship. An “I work for you and you pay me for what I’m owed.” A slave — on the other hand — is someone who’s been purchased. Again — we can’t help but think of the abusive slavery that mars our nation’s past — but I hope to show you the difference in what James means. For example, let’s think of what Scripture tells us about what Christ accomplished on the cross.

In the final book of the Bible we read…

Revelation 5:9 NIV

9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

The apostle Paul says quite a bit on this topic. For example…

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

And…

Galatians 4:4–5 NLT

4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

And…

Titus 2:11–14 ESV

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

And the apostle Peter says…

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Friends, I’m not ignorant of the horrors done under the umbrella of slavery — but we can’t allow mankind’s sinfulness to cause us to disregard biblical truth. For — like James — all who believe in Jesus have been…

• Purchased by Christ’s blood.
• And are bought with a high price.
• And have had their freedom bought by Jesus.
• And are now God’s possession.
• And are adopted into God’s family.
• And — all of this — is what it means to be a servant — or a slave — of God.

Now what I want us all to consider is how incredibly remarkable it is for James to describe himself this way. For he calls himself a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. “Well that sounds neither incredible nor remarkable to me, Josh.” Well what if I told you that James was Jesus’ younger brother? Does James calling himself a slave of the Lord Jesus sound incredible and remarkable to you now? It should.

Think about it — and I especially want you to think about this if you’re not a Christian. If you have doubts about the validity of Christianity — maybe you’re not sure about Christianity’s claims about Jesus — like that he died and rose from the grave — or maybe you’re uncomfortable with Christianity’s stance that it’s only through faith in Christ alone that salvation is found — if this is you — here’s my question: What would it take for your older brother to convince you that he’s God?

How many younger siblings do we have among us? All of the younger siblings raise your hands — raise them at North Main and in Bucyrus — keep them up.

OK — my question is directed at you all: What would it take for your older brother or sister to convince you that he or she is God? Is there any way they could convince you? And not pretend convince — not, “If they give me a million dollars I’ll play along with their delusion” — I’m talking about, “I so believe my older sibling is God that I’m willing to die for my belief.” Keep your hand up if you think your older sibling could convince you they’re God.

Now — where are all of my fellow older siblings at — raise your hands. Older siblings — my brother and sisterhood. We’ll let the only children among us play as well — if you’re an only child raise your hand. Older siblings and only children — we’re the responsible ones, right? We had to work hard to get away with anything because our parents were all over us — they didn’t get tired and start to relax on their parenting until the younger siblings came along, right? You can put your hands down.

To my fellow older siblings — what would you need to do to convince your younger siblings that you’re God? To the only children — do you think you could convince your parents that you’re God? I’ve got one brother — he’s a lawyer. That’s right — a pastor and a lawyer — which means I’m the fun one. That was for my mom who’s watching right now. No matter how fun I am — one thing I know I’ll never do is convince my brother that I’m God. It ain’t gonna happen.

And — just so we’re not thinking that maybe James was a gullible kind of guy or something. Here’s how Jesus’ family viewed him before his death and resurrection.

John 7:1–5 ESV

1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him.

Now James isn’t specifically mentioned — none of Jesus’ brothers are named — but we’re also not told that any of his brothers were absent. And what this incident tells us is that it’s reasonable to think that James didn’t always believe his brother was God. Here’s why this matters. 

James — who didn’t always believe that his brother was God — instead of identifying himself by his familial relationship with Jesus — “James, the younger brother of Jesus Christ” — which would’ve been quite the power move — identifies himself as “a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ.” What I can’t do to my brother — convince him that I’m God — and what you can’t do to your siblings — if you’re the oldest — convince them that you’re God — and what your older sibling can’t do to you — if you’re not the oldest — convince you that he or she is God — is what James is convinced of about Jesus. He believes that his older brother is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord means ruler. And — specifically — the Ruler of all rulers — the King of all kings — the One who has authority and power over all things — because — he’s God. And Christ means God’s promised Savior — the One who left Heaven and came to earth to purchase people in order to save them from their sin.

So — in his opening words — James challenges all of us: Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Notice I’m not asking if you believe that you’re a Christian. As one author has said, “A modern Christian believes that believing he is a Christian is enough to make him a Christian. He thinks that his vague acknowledgment of God’s reality and of Christ’s saving work comes close enough to discipleship.” Where — the author goes on to say — you treat Jesus “as you might treat a friendly acquaintance at a party, nodding to him from across the room and then hoping desperately that he doesn’t come over to actually interact with you.” Later the author asks, “Is Christianity sort of like a hobby, or a mild interest, or a contingency plan for a rainy day? This, I think, is how we have ended up as a “Christian” nation that looks, acts, and functions nothing like a Christian nation.” And finally he says, “That’s the thing about Jesus: He’s either Lord and Savior and our only source of joy in this world, or he’s a nuisance.”

Yeah — we’re starting 2026 off hot. Because this is eternally important: Is Jesus your Lord? Your Master? The One who owns you? Yes — he loves you — don’t dismiss his love. Don’t ever dismiss his love — because — in love — he purchased you by giving himself on the cross. Thus, to reject his lordship is to reject his love.

Is Jesus your Lord? And is he your Savior? He was for James — even though Jesus was also his older brother. Talk about a remarkable defense of Christianity: Even Jesus’ siblings were convinced that he was God.

Who knew we could get so much out of half a verse where a guy named James introduces himself?

Let’s keep moving. What else do we know about James? James is mentioned by name in a few places in the Bible. For example — in Matthew and in Mark — where the story’s repeated — we read…

Matthew 13:53–58 ESV

53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

While in his hometown of Nazareth — Jesus is rejected by the crowd. They couldn’t believe what he was saying and doing. One of the ways they justified their unbelief was by saying, “We know where this guy comes from — we know his family. His mom is Mary. We know his brothers.” And they mention James.

We also find James in the book of Acts — which contains the story of the early church. Here we see that James quickly rose to a prominent leadership position in the church in Jerusalem. For example — after Peter was miraculously rescued from prison — he went to let some people know that he was alive and safe. And there was an obvious commotion — it was a miracle after all.

Acts 12:17 ESV

17 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place.

Later — when there was debate about non-Jews coming to faith in Jesus — a big meeting was held in Jerusalem. Much discussion took place about what should be required of Gentiles who come to faith in Jesus. Peter speaks first and gives his thoughts — about four sentences of material. Then Barnabas and Paul speak — both prominent leaders in the early church — none of their words are recorded. The last to speak is James. And of all of those who spoke — the most words recorded from the meeting are from James. Here’s what he said.

Acts 15:13–21 NLT

13 When they had finished, James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. 15 And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written: 16 ‘Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, 17 so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord, including the Gentiles — all those I have called to be mine. The Lord has spoken — 18 he who made these things known so long ago.’ 19 “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood. 21 For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.”

Some of the most powerful words in the book of Acts are spoken by James: “We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” Since the beginning of Christianity — the tendency has always been to make it harder for people to follow Jesus than it needs to be. 

• Believe in Jesus — and — don’t play cards. 
• Believe in Jesus and don’t go to the movies. 
• Believe in Jesus and make sure you boycott Disney — or — never mind we’re not boycotting Disney this year. 
• I’m sure you’ve experienced your own version of “believe in Jesus and ____”. 
• Yet — James — in the early church’s version of the debate — said, “Let’s not make it difficult for Gentiles who are turning to God.” 

A few chapters later in Acts — Paul returns to Jerusalem — and there we find James mentioned again.

And when we turn to Paul’s letters — Paul — while defending the resurrection of Christ in his letter to the Christians in Corinth — writes…

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas (that’s Peter), then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Back to my question earlier — what would it take for you to believe that your sibling is God — how about a resurrection appearance? I bet that’d do it.

In his letter to the Christians living in Galatia — Paul mentions James a few times. He recounts his visit to Jerusalem that’s recorded in the book of Acts. But I want you to see how Paul refers to James. He writes…

Galatians 2:9 NLT

9 In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews.

Paul calls James — along with Peter and John — both who were original followers of Jesus — Paul calls James a pillar of the church. Meaning he’s a main support beam in the church.

And — finally — James is also mentioned in the book of Jude — which begins with these words.

Jude 1 ESV

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

“Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me that James isn’t the only sibling of Jesus who eventually believed that he was God?” That’s right — not only did Jesus’ younger brother James believe that he was the Lord Jesus Christ — Jude did too. And I’m sure you noticed that Jude — like James — doesn’t introduce himself as Jesus’ younger brother — but as Jesus’ servant. But Jude does want to be recognized as James’ sibling. Why? Probably because of the authority James had in the early church — he was a pillar, after all.

And though we don’t find his death in Scripture — church history tells us that James was stoned to death by religious leaders — with the execution having both political and religious motivations.

WHAT KIND OF BOOK IS JAMES?

So that’s James — the man. What about James — the book? What kind of book are we about to spend half of the year in?

Earlier I mentioned that I think James is a great first book if you’re intrigued by the idea of memorizing an entire book. Here’s why I say that. James is written with distinct sections that are topically based. And this makes memorizing it easier than some of the other books you find in the Bible. For you can work on one small section — that’s focused on a singular topic — get it memorized — and then move on to the next section that’s usually about a completely different topic.

James is also considered the wisdom literature of the New Testament. One biblical scholar has said that James is, “Often referred to as the ‘New Testament book of Proverbs.’ James is fundamentally focused on practical Christian living — emphasizing that genuine faith must bear fruit through loving service, not just right doctrine.” So this book teaches us truth — and then shows us what believing that truth looks like in how you behave — because — what you believe can’t help but affect what you do.

Wisdom literature is often like, “Here’s how things work. Veer from my advice and you’ll find yourself in a world of pain.” Which means that wisdom literature often really upsets us — because — when you don’t follow wisdom’s advice — you’re called a fool. And the only thing worse than being a fool is being called one. So — warning — James is going to challenge what you believe and — how what you believe is shaping what you do. And will do so by pointing out where and how you’re being foolish.

For example, right away we’re challenged by the words…

James 1:2–3 NLT

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

I’m not going to go in depth with any of these examples right now — I’m just going to let wisdom do what wisdom does — challenge all of us. And she does so — here — by telling us to consider trouble in life as an opportunity for joy — because trouble helps our faith endure and grow.

Wisdom says…

James 1:19–20 NLT

19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

If wisdom tells us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry — and yet — we live in a world that is slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to get angry — we must conclude — the way of the world in which we live is the way of foolishness.

Wisdom says…

James 1:22 NLT

22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

Ouch. It’s so much easier to just listen, isn’t it? Maybe even feel convicted by God’s Word — but that’s not enough. Wisdom says we must do what the Word of God says.

Wisdom says…

James 1:26 NLT

26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.

We’re going to discover that wisdom has a lot to say about our words.

One last example.

James 3:14–15 NLT

14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

Demonic? Really? Jealousy and selfishness are demonic? According to God’s wisdom — yes.

CONCLUSION: WHAT’S TO COME

One final detail about the book of James: Who is James writing to? In our verse we read…

James 1:1 ESV

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Who are the twelve tribes in the Dispersion? These were Jewish-Christians — so followers of Jesus who — like James — had a Jewish background. Throughout the letter we’ll find that James assumes his audience has familiarity with the Old Testament — something not to be expected if his original readers were primarily of Gentile background.

And — in knowing that James was part of the church in Jerusalem and — from the book of Acts — how many of the early Jewish Christians had to flee from Jerusalem for their lives — most likely — James’ intent was for his letter to be sent to these groups of believers who had been dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. 

Why does that matter? Because it tells us that James continued to pastor his people even after they’d been scattered due to persecution. What love he must have had for these people to continue to shepherd and lead them by letter.

So that’s James — the man — and James — the book. And here’s a bit more of what’s to come as we venture through the book of James. We’re going to discover…

• Where good comes from.
• And what true religion is.
• James will challenge us about our prejudices.
• And what true saving faith is.
• We’re going to learn a lot about the words that come out of our mouth — as we saw earlier.
• And where division comes from.
• There’ll be quite a few words to those who are rich.
• And James will even teach us an important lesson on the power of prayer.

And — in my humble opinion — it doesn’t really matter who you are — young or old — male or female — married or single — even Christian or not — you won’t want to miss our time in the book of James. For every week — there’ll be something for you — something that challenges you, inspires you, and encourages you to follow the way of wisdom and turn from the way of foolishness.

Parents — make sure your teenagers are here. For there’s no better way to help them prepare for adulthood than by having them learn from God’s wisdom and to be warned about the world’s foolishness.

Wives — make sure your husbands are here — and husbands do the same for your wives. For there’s no better way to build your marriage on wisdom than by you — together — learning from God’s wisdom.

College students — get your roommates to church. Wisdom has something to teach you and them. 

In fact — there’ll be something for all of us to learn from God and his wisdom.

May 2026 year be a year of tremendous growth for all of us — as we grow in the wisdom of God as found in the book of James. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — that’s our prayer: May you use your Word to us — in the book of James — to teach us and grow us in your wisdom. 

Spirit — give us all ears to hear and humble spirits to receive your wisdom and to reject any foolishness we may currently be believing. May we submit ourselves to the authority of your Word — especially when it conflicts with what we believe or how we’re currently behaving.

And — Jesus — we pray this because we want to honor you with all areas of our lives. For Scripture tells us that you are the Wisdom of God — the only wise God — and our lives — if we’re following you — will be lives full of wisdom. Jesus, for your glory — help us to be people who take you at your Word. And we pray this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May you commit yourself to growing in the wisdom of God in this coming year. And may you do so trusting that he generously gives his wisdom to anyone who asks. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 11:25-36 (ESV)

‌DATE: 1-19-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend. And — we’re at a pivotal point in Paul’s letter — as we’re nearing the end of the first eleven chapters which are theologically focused. Since chapter nine — we’ve been going through Paul’s defense of God’s sovereign right to be merciful towards whomever he chooses. Meaning no one deserves mercy — because of our sin and rebellion against God — yet God graciously bestows his mercy on those he has chosen.

And this was a challenging idea for Paul’s original audience as much as it is for us today. For Paul’s audience — many who were Jews — couldn’t understand why so many of their friends and family members had rejected Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promised Messiah — a word that means Savior. For the Messiah was a promise God had given to the Jews — yet — when Jesus came — the vast majority of the Jews rejected him — ultimately having him murdered on a cross.

‌And we’re finishing up Paul’s answer as to why this happened — why did the Jews — overall as a people — reject Jesus? Now the thrust of Paul’s argument has been that God had made a promise to keep for himself a remnant — an Israel within the nation of Israel — to be his faithful people. But this faithfulness was never a guarantee to the entire nation of Israel. Yet — Paul himself was a Jew — an example of God’s promise to Israel being fulfilled — for Paul believed in Jesus. But now — Pauls says — the people whom Jesus came to save — are people of all nations. Jews — yes — but gentiles — or non-Jews — as well. For believers — whether Jewish or not — have all been united to Jesus through faith. Thus he’s the root of this spiritual tree that has branches — or believers — that are of Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds.

‌Which leads us to our text for today. If you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter eleven. We’ll be in Romans chapter eleven — beginning in verse twenty-five. There we read…

‌Romans 11:25–36 (ESV)

‌²⁵ Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; ²⁷ “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” ²⁸ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. ³² For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. ³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” ³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” ³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

‌We’re going to briefly look at this mystery that Paul refers to. Then we’ll consider God’s wisdom and knowledge. But the majority of this sermon — will focus on Paul’s conclusion of — not only our verses — but of the first eleven chapters of his letter.

THE MYSTERY OF HARDENING, ELECTION, AND SALVATION

First — let’s look at this mystery that Paul refers to. A mystery of hardening, election, and salvation. We’re in verse twenty-five.

‌Romans 11:25–32 (ESV)

‌²⁵ Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; ²⁷ “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” ²⁸ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. ³² For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

‌Paul begins with a good reminder: “Lest you be wise in your own sight.” That’s another way of saying, “Because I don’t want you to be conceited, or proud, or arrogant…I want to make sure you’re not ignorant of this mystery.” What mystery, Paul? 

Mystery is one of Paul’s favorite ways of referring to the gospel — the message of salvation. And — if you remember from last week — Paul’s concern was that gentile believers in Jesus might become arrogant in hearing that the Jewish people had been cut off from Christ. Not every single Jew was cut off — for Paul himself was a Jewish believer in Jesus — but — overall as a group — the Jews had rejected Jesus as God’s promised Messiah. And their rejection of Jesus resulted in the gentiles believing in Jesus and being united to him and welcomed into the family of God. The outsiders are outsiders no more. Those people once called “not God’s people” are now called “the people of God.”

‌Yet even with new hearts — hearts made alive to God by the Spirit — we can still revert to the desires of our flesh and allow a wonderful mystery — our salvation — to become a point of sinful pride and arrogance. Thus Paul begins with this warning as a reminder. A partial hardening has come upon Israel. Partial because there are some — like Paul — who are Israelites — and yet they believe. And this hardening will continue until the full number of gentiles believe in Jesus. Which tells us that there’s a set number — determined by God — of people who will come to faith. And this is meant to stir great hope in the people of God — yet I find that this truth often disturbs God’s people.

‌For we view this as God having limited who will believe in Jesus — versus — seeing it as sweet grace — undeserved mercy — in that God has ensured that many will believe in his Son. For we must remember what Paul’s already told us: If it weren’t for God preserving — or keeping — for himself a people who are faithful to him — none of us would remain faithful. A humbling truth — yes — but what an assuring truth. God will keep you. He will preserve you. You don’t have to keep or preserve yourself — though — knowing that you’re so loved by God that nothing can separate you from his love — your life will be a response of gratitude and thankful obedience to the God who loves you in this preserving way.

‌Paul then goes on to say, “And in this way all Israel will be saved.” A phrase that’s stirred up much debate in church history. Is Paul saying that all — many every single Jewish person — will ultimately be saved? He can’t be. For he’s already pointed out that ethnicity means nothing in regards to salvation. And he’s already pointed out that — in the past — all Israelites believed they were right with God when only a remnant — or the true Israel — was actually right with God. And there’s no indication that Paul’s suddenly changed his mind. Thus we must keep in mind — and not take out of context — what Paul is saying here. Especially when we remember the question of his original audience: If the Messiah was promised to Israel — why did the vast majority of the Jews not believe in Jesus?

‌So it’d be quite odd for Paul to argue for two and half chapters that the reason why not every single Jew believed in Jesus is because the promise of the Messiah was given only to the Israel within Israel — the remnant — only to do a one eighty turn with no theological clutch and say, “Just kidding. Every single Jew is gonna be saved.” So here’s the promise: every true Israelite — every individual who God has chosen to be part of his remnant — including every Jewish person chosen to be part of the remnant — will be saved. For the gifts to the true Israel — and God’s calling upon them — are irrevocable — they won’t ever be taken away.

‌Those gifts that Paul reminded us of way back in the beginning of chapter nine. The gifts of adoption and the covenants. The law, the patriarchs, and the Messiah. These are the gifts that are irrevocable — gifts that God will never take back or rescind. And — through these gifts — God will draw his people to himself through his mercy. 

GOD’S WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE

And — in response to this now revealed mystery — Paul says…

‌Romans 11:33–35 (ESV)

‌³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” ³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”‌

I appreciate how another translation of the Bible expresses verse thirty-three.

‌Romans 11:33 (NLT)

‌³³ Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

‌Though we can understand many things about God and his ways — we’d be fools to think that there’s not a severe limitation in our understanding. Yet even our limited understanding of him is quite amazing. Which is all the more reason for us to praise and worship God and to live for him alone.

‌Pastor James Boice rightly points out, “No people ever rise higher than their idea of God.” As one Bible scholar explains, “The gods of the Assyrians were cruel, and the Assyrians were cruel. The patron deity of Rome was Jupiter. He gave laws and social order, and the Romans loved law and order. But since the Lord is just, merciful, and faithful, his followers admire those traits and strive to embody them, and this enables disciples to rise higher than those who follow lesser deities.” (Daniel Doriani, Romans, 406).

‌The principle is this: You and I will never rise higher than what we believe about God. How great is the wisdom and knowledge of the God you believe in? Is the wisdom and knowledge of your God based on what’s been communicated to us in the Bible or is it based on some other source? To ask these questions another way: How great is your God? And how do you know that he’s that great? And — if your answer doesn’t come from this book — then — I hate to tell you, but do so in love — your god is quite puny.

‌The lesser gods of our day are not what the Assyrians and Romans worshipped — but the world of our day hasn’t abandoned the worship of false gods. For people — especially in our country — are still trying to “rise to the height” of the gods they worship. Gods like self-autonomy — my body, my choice — whether the choice be to abort a baby or to live together before marriage. This is sanctity of life Sunday after all — so let’s depart from Romans for a minute to see how the worship of self-autonomy leaves no room to worship and obey the God who is rich in wisdom and knowledge. For divine wisdom and knowledge tells us that the unborn child is a person made in the image of God.

‌Luke 1:41–44 (NLT)

‌⁴¹ At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. ⁴³ Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? ⁴⁴ When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy.

‌Now the same Greek word — translated as the child in Elizabeth’s womb — is the same Greek word used in this familiar Christmas passage.

‌Luke 2:12 (NLT)

‌¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

‌Whether in or out of the womb — Luke — a medical doctor by the way — uses the same word to describe a child. Something the secular religion of “my body my choice” doesn’t do. Will we submit to God’s wisdom and knowledge — as revealed in his Word — or submit ourselves to the wisdom and knowledge of a false religion? And not just — will we — but will you?

‌Again — it’s sanctity of life Sunday — the word sanctity means “holy, sacred, saintly.” And the holy living that we — God’s holy people — have been called to isn’t limited to the topic of abortion. For God’s wisdom and knowledge also defines for us what marriage is, what it isn’t, and why living together before being married is a sinful act. We Christians have been bombarded with new definitions of marriage that are contrary to what God — who is rich in wisdom and knowledge — has defined marriage to be.

• This would include so called same-sex marriage — which is not marriage as defined by God.
• This would also include unbiblical divorce — which is a much more personal issue of obedience to God’s Word for the majority of Christians in the US — than is being married to someone of the same sex.
• As is living like you’re a married couple before you’re married — living together, sleeping together — all of those married couple things. Our culture has so watered down what a relationship is — that I now hear people calling their live-in partner their husband or wife. And when asked, “Are you married?” They reply, “No. But he’s still my husband. Or she’s still my wife.” And I’m like, “Huh?” Do you just go around pointing at random kids and say, “That’s my son or she’s my daughter?” You don’t. Why? Because that’s not what the words mean. 

‌

Seriously folks — to believe in Christ means we forgo the arrogance all around us of claiming to be all wise and all knowing and — instead — recognize the incomparable wisdom and knowledge of God and listen and obey him as he’s spoken to us in his Word. And these are just two issues in our day — life and marriage — and I hope this is obvious — but God’s infinitely rich wisdom and knowledge isn’t limited to these two topics but is far greater than any other wisdom and knowledge of all topics. He is God after all.

‌To paraphrase Paul — he basically asks, “Tell me. When’s the last time God had to ask you for advice?” Ever had God call you up on the phone or send you a DM saying, “Hey, God here. I’m stuck and need some advice. What do you think I should do?” I’ll tell you when that last happened — never! But when’s the last time you didn’t know what to do? When’s the last time you needed God’s advice? Did you seek his rich wisdom and knowledge or settle for the wisdom and knowledge of someone far less in the know than the One who knows all things?

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Speaking of God’s rich knowledge and wisdom — in response to writing about God’s incomparable wisdom and knowledge — Paul can’t help but burst forth in praise with the words…

‌Romans 11:36 (ESV)

‌³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

‌Paul ends this lengthy section of his letter with a statement of praise. All things — Paul says — are from God and through him. Nothing happens that he isn’t aware of. This is what it means for him to be sovereign — to be God — and for us to be part of his creation. For even our actions and decisions and free will are from him and through him and subject to his sovereign authority.

‌Yet Paul’s statement of praise isn’t simply based on the few verses we’ve looked at today — his praise is a response to all that he’s written up to this point in his letter. Statements like…

‌Romans 1:16–17 (NLT)

‌¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — the Jew first and also the Gentile. ¹⁷ This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

‌Paul praises God because of how he — God — makes us right — or righteous. And — after reminding his readers of who they are in their sin and rebellion against God — he says…

‌Romans 2:28–29 (NLT)

‌²⁸ For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. ²⁹ No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

‌As we’ve been learning — ethnicity means nothing when it comes to a person being right with God. What matters is the spiritual condition of your heart. And — because of sin — we’re all born with hearts in need of a radical change. A change of our heart done by the Holy Spirit. A change which results in a new way of living for those given this new spiritually alive heart. More reasons for Paul — and us — to praise God.

‌Paul writes statements about God like…

‌Romans 3:3–4 (NLT)

‌³ True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? ⁴ Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”

‌God is always faithful. He only speaks words of truth. And he will be proved right in the end. Reasons for us to praise God. Just as the hope-giving words of…

‌Romans 4:7–8 (NLT)

‌⁷ “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. ⁸ Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”

‌What joy — what blessing — it is to be forgiven. What joy — what blessing — to have God declare you clear of all sin charges against you because of what Christ has done. What reason to worship your forgiving God. Or the fact that…

‌Romans 5:1 (NLT)

‌¹ Since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

‌God — who makes us righteous by our faith in Jesus — who gifts us with the faith that is the means of our righteousness — declares that we’re now at peace with him. Enemies no longer — now friends — adopted children — at peace with God because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. More reasons for us to praise and worship our great God. Or how about this soul-lifting truth?

‌Romans 5:8–11 (NLT)

‌⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

‌Do you need proof that God loves you? He sent Jesus to die for you while you were his enemy. As I said a moment ago — enemies no longer — through faith in Christ you’re now called a friend of God. Praise God from whom all of these blessings flow! And there are even more blessings such as…

‌Romans 8:1 (ESV)

‌¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

‌And…

‌Romans 8:28 (NLT)

‌²⁸ …we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

‌Why? Because…

‌Romans 8:29–39 (NLT)

‌²⁹ God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. ³¹ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? ³² Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? ³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one — for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one — for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. ³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. ³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

‌Think of all of the reasons we have to worship and praise our great God! The God who is sovereign — who reigns and rules over all of his creation. Our great God who ensures that he always has a faithful remnant of people who worship and follow him. Our great God who says to those who were once not his people — “now — you are my people — now — I call you my beloved.” Our great God who guarantees his promise that…

‌Romans 10:9–13 (ESV)

‌⁹ If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

‌And those who call on the name of the Lord — in true faith — those who will never be put to shame — will never be rejected — will never be turned away. For they’ve been united to Christ — who’s the root of a glorious tree of spiritual life. And all who are united to him — who are a branch connected to him — Jew or Gentile — will flourish now and for all eternity.

‌CONCLUSION

‌What reasons we have to praise and worship our great God. For to him be the glory forever — and ever. Amen. 

Do you realize that this is the reason why you exist — to give God glory? You exist to make God look glorious — that’s what it means to glorify God? If you’re a Christian this is why he’s saved you — to make him look glorious to the world. And — not only you — but all of creation exists to make God look glorious. This isn’t because God has a big ego or is self-centered — remember he’s holy and without sin — which tells us his motivation is not like ours. For — in being God — everything else in all of creation must be meant to make him look glorious. For — if not him — who or what else would deserve glory?

‌And do you want to know something awesome? This is where history is headed — the eternal glory of God. Where God’s rescued people will praise him forever and ever. Never ceasing to give him the glory that he alone deserves. Does this excite you — I hope it does. I hope that you see what Paul’s been showing us for eleven chapters — that Jesus came to restore what had been lost due to our sin and rebellion against God: Our ability to give God glory. So often we think of our salvation in terms of what it means for us — “I’m saved — I’m going to heaven” — but Paul ends by showing us what our salvation means for God: It means that he receives our glory. That he receives our worship. That he receives our devotion and praise. Not some day in the future — not only in eternity — but now. Today. For this day — and every day of your life — is meant to bring glory to God.

• So when you leave here today — go with the purpose of living a life that gives glory to God. 
• And when you wake up tomorrow — wake up with the purpose of bringing glory to God. 
• When you sin — because we all will — repent and do so because you know that it brings glory to your God. 
• Parent your kids for the glory of God. 
• Love your spouse for the glory of God. 
• Respect your parents and others who are in authority over you — for the glory of God. 
• If you’re not married — glorify God in your relationships. 
• Fight for the lives of the unborn for the glory of God. 
• Foster children in need of care and — do so — for God’s glory.
• For — as Paul says — “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10.31b)

‌

Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, our God who is rich in mercy and kindness — who’s rich in wisdom and knowledge — how impossible it is for us to fully understand who you are and your ways. We want to understand — but we’re in way over our heads. Thank you for stooping down to our level and giving us a glimpse understanding who you are and your mystery of salvation.

‌Spirit of God, increase our glimpses and do so by your Word. For we want to know the true God — who you are, what you’re like, how you work — and not settle for some false, powerless, unable to give hope or joy — puny, poor substitute for you. So many worship these false gods of our day to their eternal demise. So awaken our hearts to your love for us and the truth of who you are as you’ve revealed in your Word.

‌And — Jesus — you came to earth to show us what our God is like — for you are God in the flesh. In you we see the mercy of God, the kindness of God, the truthfulness of God, the justice of God, and the joy that can be experienced in knowing the true God. Jesus you know how those listening to me have come here with such numerous and diverse needs and desires — coming here thinking they know what they need most. Maybe they’re right — maybe they’re not — but may you open all of our hearts so that — no matter what we came here hoping to get — what we leave here with is a deeper, more intimate, more life-giving, hope-fueling, joy-inducing relationship with you. For some this will be a new relationship with you. For many — this will be a renewing of their relationship with you. Regardless — all of our lives have room to grow in bringing you glory.

‌So Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — that’s our prayer — that you will be glorified in each of our lives. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

As you go — may all that you say and do be done for the glory of God. Amen.

‌God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

Date: 10/19/2022

Questions

Are ghosts real?

1. Not in the modern, Hollywood, definition of the meaning.
2. Ghost was another way to translate the Greek word for spirit. Thus, in older Bible versions the Holy Spirit is called the Holy Ghost. 

Can my house be haunted?

1. Again, this is all confusing because we’re using non-biblical terms. Haunted, no.
2. Can your house be a place that’s welcome to the demonic? Yes, but the demonic don’t want to be around the light of Christ.

Are ouija boards real?

1. Yes. You can buy one.
2. Are they “real” like evil/wicked/controlled by the demonic? Who knows. Either way, there’s no reason for a Christian to be involved with one.

How do you know if someone is possessed?

1. Are they a Christian? Christians cannot be possessed by the demonic for they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
2. Demonic possession is also a very Hollywood idea. Biblically, people are demonically influenced, but the idea of possession isn’t exactly what we find in Scripture.

Are all demons fallen angels that followed Satan? Yes.

What do demons look like?

1. They’re spiritual beings, so we don’t know what they look like.

Where does Satan live?

1. I have no idea. He’s currently roaming the earth. But he is not God, thus he can only be in one place at a time. 

Do demons ever take physical forms?

1. Not that we find in Scripture. They are spiritual beings, not physical. 

Does a priest/pastor’s blessing remove demons if they exist?

1. This, again, is Hollywood influenced and not biblical. The individual must renounce the demonic in their life (just like all other sin).

Do we need to stop supporting Disney because of the new show called ‘Little Demon’?

1. I don’t know anything about this show. But I caution against Christians jumping on the cancel culture bandwagon. Why not just not watch the particular show?

As a Christian, what is a healthy boundary with magic-inspired shows/books/movies (such as Harry Potter or Hocus Pocus)?

1. Here’s where I want to highlight a huge inconsistency for us Christians. And at least get us to be a bit more honest with ourselves about the things we read and watch. 
2. First off, there’s Christian literature that uses magic as a key theme.
   1. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings – Gandalf is a wizard; Saraumon is an evil wizard; magic is found throughout the book
   2. The Chronicles of Narnia series – there’s the White Witch who does evil magic
3. Second, there’s non-Christian entertainment that Christians seem to be OK with even though they include magic.
   1. Mary Poppins – I had a Christian once tell me that Mary Poppins was OK because it was white magic and not dark magic. The Bible makes no distinction between the two.
   2. The Wizard of Oz – Wicked Witch of the West; Glenda, the good witch, from the North
   3. Many of Disney’s older movies had fairy Godmothers who do magic or have evil witches/queens. Snow White. Cinderella. Etc…
4. Third, there’s much in entertainment that we seem to be OK with that celebrates sin.
   1. Violence, murder, drugs, stealing, lying, sexual sin, and so on. 
   2. I get how hard it is not to be entertained by these things. Yet one of the most convicting statements I’ve ever heard is “We should not be entertained by things Christ had to die for.” 
5. All that to say, can we admit that we’re not consistent?
   1. Romans 14 and 15 would seem to put much of entertainment into the category of “to each his own” while also warning us to not trust our own conscience because, just because you’re OK with being entertained by something doesn’t mean that God is OK with you being entertained by it. And just because you’re not OK with being entertained by something doesn’t mean that your conscience is to be God’s conscience on others.
6. Regarding the two specific things mentioned:
   1. I don’t know anything about Hocus Pocus. So I can’t speak to it in any way with any authority.
   2. Regarding Harry Potter, here’s what I want everyone to hear. JK Rowling, whether she meant to or not, copied the story of the Bible. In fact, all stories of good versus evil, heroes rising to defeat a great enemy, and so on…can’t help but be a poor copy of the greatest story ever told — God’s Story.
      1. What do I mean that she copied Scripture? So quick comparisons:
      2. In Scripture, the bad guy of all bad guys — Satan — appeared in the Garden as a what? A snake. In Harry Potter, the bad guy of all bad guys was part of the Slytherin house — represented by a snake —, he has a snake, and he looks like a snake. Hmmm…
      3. In Scripture, the hero — Jesus — freely gave up his life to save his friends. In Harry Potter — spoiler alert — Harry gives up his life to save his friends. The death of the hero is the salvation for others.
      4. We can even get into the details like Harry’s scar. Even that’s a copy from Scripture. For Jesus showed the scars on his hands to Thomas who doubted to show that he had a permanent reminder of his defeat of the Enemy.
7. Now — having said all that — we’d all do ourselves, this church, and the reputation of Christ some good — if we all leaned towards holiness instead of entertainment. Not so we’re apathetic, depressed, or no fun kind of people, but God has not called us to be entertained — he’s called us to be holy. So if you find yourself not spending time in God’s Word, or in prayer, or in reading good Christian books about the faith that are helping you grow — but do have time to watch shows, read Harry Potter, or watch Hocus Pocus — you’re choosing to spend the most valuable commodity you have — your life — on things in place of spending time with God. And that should be a wake up call to all of God’s people. As my wife loves to say, “We all make time for the things that are important to us.” So what does that say about your relationship with God and your pursuit of holiness? How important are they — really — to you? I find when you have things in their proper place, it’s not that you avoid being entertained, you just aren’t the slave to like so many others. It doesn’t push God out of your life for God in your life pushes entertainment into its proper place.

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 8:27-36; 1 Cor. 1:24 (ESV)

DATE: 6-5-22

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or are joining us at our North Main campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too. 

SERIES INTRODUCTION

We’re in week three of our Finding Jesus series. This is a series where each week I introduce you to a book of the Bible that you may or may not be familiar with. I give an overview of the entire book and then we focus on a section of it. And — finally — each week I show you how to find the one story the whole Bible is telling — the story of Jesus. Because the whole Bible is ultimately pointing us to him. 

And in this iteration of our Finding Jesus series — we’re looking at five books in the Old Testament often called the Wisdom literature. And — today — we’ll be looking at the book of Proverbs. So if you have your Bible, please turn with me to Proverbs chapter 8.

Previously we’ve looked at the books of Job and Psalms and in the coming weeks we’ll look at the books of Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. And on that final week — parents — which will be on Father’s Day — you’ll either want to be prepared to have “the talk” with your children — or — make sure you drop them off in Kidway if you’re not ready to have “the talk” yet. I’ve given this warning each week thus far as I don’t want anyone to be surprised when we get to the Song of Songs. 

And my hope — for all of us in this series — is that we’ll grow to know and love these books and spend time in them — finding Jesus — and the joy that’s found only in him.

BACKGROUND OF PROVERBS

And — now — let’s take some time to get our bearings in the book of Proverbs — and I hope you’ll see that Proverbs is a book you’ll want to go read for yourself.

First, what do we know about the book of Proverbs? To begin, we know that the first 24 chapters of the book are written by King Solomon — he’s the son of King David — and was king of Israel for forty years — from 971 BC to 931 BC. Additionally, chapters 25-29 are proverbs written by Solomon but were discovered during the reign of King Hezekiah — he lived over 200 years after Solomon. Hezekiah added these newly discovered proverbs to the book of Proverbs. Chapter 30 is written by Agur and the final chapter — chapter 31 — is written by Lemuel. We don’t know much about either Agur and Lemuel.

Solomon — being the author of much of the book of proverbs — makes a lot of sense when you know his story. In the book of First Kings we read, “Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. 

4 The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. 5 That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” 6 Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne. 7 “Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. 8 And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! 9 Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom.” (1 Kings 3:3-10 NLT)

Basically, Solomon had the opportunity to ask God for anything and he asked for wisdom. And — in the book of Proverbs — we get an insight into some of his wisdom. 

I say “some of his wisdom” because “God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore. 30 In fact, his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men of the East and the wise men of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol — Heman, Calcol, and Darda. His fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. 32 He composed some 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. 33 He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great cedar of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from cracks in a wall. He could also speak about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish. 34 And kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.” (1 Kings 4:29-34 NLT)

Solomon wrote 3,000 proverbs — of which — we have about 17% recorded in the book of Proverbs. That’s why I say we have “some of his wisdom.” And what’s the point of the book? The point is stated clearly in the opening words of the book. 

“These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. 2 Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. 3 Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. 4 These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. 5 Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance 6 by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles. 7 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (Proverbs 1:1-7 NLT)

These verses summarize the point of Proverbs. And we learn that…

• The book offers instruction on wisdom and discipline.
• It helps us understand how to do what is right, just, and fair.
• It gives insight, knowledge, and discernment to those who are young.
• And it will increase the wisdom of those who are already wise.

And these opening words remind us that the fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge which leads to wise living. And to fear the Lord — means that — in knowing who God is — for example — knowing that God is holy — pure and without sin — and that he’s righteous — God always does what’s right — and just — God doesn’t play favorites or take bribes — and he’s loving and kind and good and merciful and wrathful — meaning God hates wickedness, sin, and will punish those who do such things — in knowing who God is — on his terms and in his own words — we then fear him — are in awe of him — and live accordingly. 

And — pardon me for reusing this quote — but there’s nothing else quite like it in all of literature that captures what the fear of the Lord is. The quote is from C.S. Lewis’ book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when the children first hear the name Aslan — who represents Jesus in the series. “Aslan is a lion — the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…”Safe?” said Mr Beaver …”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

To fear the Lord means you realize that God isn’t safe — though he protects his people. He isn’t safe — though he’s good. For God is no tame kitten — he’s the King of kings. And he’s the One who’s wisest of all because he’s all-knowing, has created all things, and he’s the One in charge. So to fear him — is to listen to him — and even more so — to obey him.

OVERVIEW OF PROVERBS

So that’s the bird’s eye view. Now let’s get to some specifics. The book’s divided into 31 chapters with a total of 915 verses. And a key principle — when reading Proverbs — is to know that these proverbs are principles for life and not promises of God. Another way to think of Proverbs is that it’s full of principles that are “commonly accepted as true.” 

As one pastor has said, “Proverbs are statements that paint a small word picture of what life is like or what it should be like. Thus a proverb is a snapshot of life. However, as with every snapshot, a proverb doesn’t represent what life always looks like. One picture doesn’t capture everything. 

A good proverb, like a good snapshot, captures what is typical…[Thus] they’re not always true, but they’re usually true. They represent life accurately, but not completely.”

And this is why we find proverbs — like these — back to back in the book. “Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are. 5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation.” (Proverbs 26:4-5 NLT)

So…which is it? Well — as you know — sometimes the best thing you can do is not respond to a fool. Though — you also know that there are other times in life — when the best thing you can do is respond to a fool. And being wise is knowing when to and when not to respond. Thus two seemingly contradictory verses — right here — back to back in the book of Proverbs. But they’re not contradictory because neither are guaranteed promises. They’re not always true — they’re situational — they’re wisdom for life. Wisdom regarding money, relationships, and so much more found in this book.

There’s one last section of Proverbs that’s worth bringing to your attention before we turn to our verses. The words that close the book of Proverbs — words about the woman who fears the Lord — are at the top of many lists as some of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture. 

MAIN PASSAGE

And — now — let’s turn to our passage for today. Hopefully you’ve had time to find Proverbs chapter 8. We’ll begin in verse 27 as we discover a way to find Jesus in the book of Proverbs — and in all of the Bible. 

“When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man. 32 “And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. 

33 Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. 34 Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. 35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, 36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:27-36 ESV)

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM

Abraham Lincoln is attributed with many memorable quotes. 

• “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”
• Or “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
• And — maybe his most famous quote of all is — “Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.”

Now — that last one caught your attention — but you should know that none of the quotes were actually said by Lincoln. 

He did say something similar to the first one — but the quote I shared — though not his — is what many people think he said. But you can find — on the Internet — these quotes being attributed to Lincoln — the last one as a joke. 

Now — we’ve all run into this danger with the Internet, haven’t we? It’s hard — isn’t it — to know when what you’re reading is true or not. And there are many reasons for this. One library — for a college of criminal justice — suggests the following reasons why we have to make sure we check our Internet sources. For example…

• There’s no quality assurance when it comes to information found on the Internet: Anyone can post anything.
• In most cases, information found on the web has not been checked for accuracy.
• Not all websites are created equal. They differ in quality, purpose, and bias.
• Some websites have sponsors who pay for specific content to promote their products or ideas. The information is not impartial but is biased.

Now — obviously — other forms of media differ in quality, purpose, and bias — and other forms of information may have sponsors who pay for specific content — even biased content. But where the Internet differs from previous forms of media — are in the first two points. There’s no quality assurance on the Internet — anyone can post anything — and most of the information hasn’t been checked for accuracy. 

So — as we talk about wisdom today — something we have to be clear on is that wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing. Recent studies have suggested that human knowledge is doubling about every 13 months. To give you some context, in the year 1900 human knowledge doubled about every 100 years. In 1945 human knowledge doubled every 25 years. Currently we sit at about every 13 months and one scientist concludes that — with the help of the Internet — it’s realistic that human knowledge will double about every 12 hours in the near future. How crazy is that? 

Something shocking — to me — that I learned about the Internet — is that Google has only indexed somewhere between 1 to 4% of everything on the Internet. So even when you “google” something — you’re not accessing all of the information that’s out there. You’re getting results of a very small percentage of all the information on the Internet. 

So what does all of this mean? It means we live in the age of information — the age of knowledge — and human knowledge is rapidly expanding. And — though limited to a small percentage of everything on the Internet — Google’s given us access to knowledge in ways never imagined by previous generations. Additionally, podcasts — covering every topic you can imagine — are available. And — according to the U.S Department of Education — there are nearly 4,000 degree granting academic institutions in the United States. What an age we live in — a time when knowledge can be gained in so many different ways.

But — as I said — knowledge and wisdom are two different things. 

It’s been said that “Wisdom is lived knowledge, the ability to transpose what we know here to that problem over there.” Or — as someone else has said — “Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as the knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.” We may be a knowledgeable society — but are we a wise society?

For example, according to research, the typical U.S. adult makes about 35,000 decisions every single day. Hard to imagine, right? But how many of those decisions are wise decisions? Researchers at Cornell University estimate that we make around 226 decisions each day just on food. And — again, I’ll ask — how many of these decisions — the ones we make about food — are wise ones?

So knowledge isn’t enough — it’s important — but not enough. You have to know what to do with what you know — and then do it — that’s called wisdom. And the challenge for all of us is that we live in a society that uses knowledge and wisdom interchangeably. Add to this the fact that — because we’re inundated with knowledge — it’s hard to know what’s true and what’s false — what’s accurate knowledge and what’s inaccurate — resulting in us having lost the skill of discernment — of being able to rightly judge the knowledge we consume. 

So — we’re blessed with access to knowledge previous generations couldn’t have dreamed of — yet — access to all of this knowledge has seemingly created as many problems as it’s solved because now it’s hard to know what to believe. Which leads us to the Word of God. A place we can turn to for both knowledge and wisdom — a book that doesn’t confuse the two. 

WISDOM, JOY, AND BLESSING

So let’s return to the wisdom of God and see how it points us to Jesus. We’re back in verse 27.

“When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.” (Proverbs 8:27-31 ESV)

The first thing we see about wisdom is that God used wisdom to create all things. And — in these verses — we see wisdom being personified — being spoken of as if wisdom’s a person. As the heavens were being established — wisdom was there. As the sea was given its boundary — wisdom was there. God used wisdom when he made all things — thus we humans — being part of God’s creation — are to live according to the wisdom we’ve been created by. For — to live foolishly — to live opposed to wisdom — or in ignorance of it — is to live contrary to the way you’ve been created to flourish.

And I love how wisdom describes God as a master workman as he created all things. Seeing God’s creativity at work was reason for wisdom to rejoice. God as a master workman reminds me of Paul’s words in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 — our key verse for VBS this year — which says, “For we are his (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

You are the workmanship — a creation — of the master workman. The God who created all things — by wisdom — has created you. And this same God has recreated his people for a specific purpose — and this is why he saves his people through faith in Jesus Christ. And just as wisdom rejoiced in seeing God’s wise creativity at work — his people today are to rejoice in both God’s creative and recreative work. 

Meaning we’re to rejoice in the wise work that God’s done in his creation. Rejoice when you look out at creation and see all that God’s made — rejoice when you see beauty in creation. 

But we’re also to rejoice when we see God’s recreative work — his work of saving people from death to life — from darkness to light — from rebellion to obedience — in giving people a God-glorifying purpose by saving them. 

And not only does wisdom give us the opportunity to rejoice in what God has and is doing in his creation. In verse 32 we read…

““And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. 33 Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. 34 Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.” (Proverbs 8:32-34 ESV)

Here we find that there’s a blessing for the people who listen to and obey God’s wisdom. It’s not just knowing God’s wisdom that makes a person wise — it’s obeying God’s wisdom and instruction that makes a person wise. For — in obeying God’s wisdom — we live the life God created us to live — which is the very best life possible. For — it’s obvious, right — that no one knows better how we should live than the One who created us. 

And when you live according to God’s wisdom — you’re blessed. Yes, because you make wise decisions. Yes, because you’ll have fewer regrets. Yes, because often you’ll find the principles of wisdom result in your favor. But most importantly — you’ll be blessed because you’ll be living in a way that’s pleasing to your Creator. And when God’s pleased with you — he showers you with his blessing and favor and grace. But — even more important than this — you’re blessed with God’s presence in your life. For the greatest gift you’re given — in obeying wisdom — is the presence of God in your life. 

WISDOM AND LIFE (CHRIST, THE WISDOM OF GOD)

We’re in verse 35 — and though we’ve had to dance around Jesus thus far — as he’s been wanting to jump out of our verses — let’s now find him. In verse 35 we read…

“For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, 36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:35-36 ESV)

Here wisdom says, “Those who find me find life and obtain favor from the Lord. And those who fail to find me love death.” I mentioned earlier how wisdom is personified throughout our verses — wisdom’s spoken of as if it’s a person. And there’s a reason for this — for the wisdom of God is a person. The apostle Paul tells us, “But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:24 NLT)

Jesus is the wisdom of God. Jesus is the person that wisdom’s been pointing us to — not only in Proverbs 8 — but in all of Scripture. And — though we must be careful to not force Jesus into every verse in proverbs — the New Testament tells us that Jesus is the one who “He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see — such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:15b-16 NLT)

We’ve looked at Ephesians 2 and how God is the workman and we’re his workmanship and how this should give us joy. This joy — is what Jesus speaks of — when he tells us to obey his commandments. 

He says, “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.” (John 15:10-17 NLT)

Wisdom — then — is obeying the commandments of God — like the command to love one another. And — obeying wisdom — leads to our joy. Jesus — the wisest person to ever live — even wiser than Solomon — for Jesus obeyed all of his Heavenly Father’s commands — even when this meant going to the cross to die — tells us where to find joy. And — Jesus tells us that our obedience will lead to our joy — just as his obedience led to his joy even when it meant his death on the cross. For as the author of Hebrews tells us, “Because of the joy awaiting him, he (Jesus) endured the cross, disregarding its shame.” (Hebrews 12:2b NLT)

In wisdom — in obedience to his Father’s will and in love for you — Jesus went to the cross. He did so accomplishing the wisest plan ever made — the salvation of the people of God. And the first step of wisdom we all must take — is the step of repentance. For — as one author writes, “The most basic act of wisdom is repentance.” 

Knowledge that you need to repent — knowledge that this world is broken and not how you imagine it should be — knowledge that you’re broken and not living up to a standard that you can imagine for yourself — knowledge isn’t enough. Repentance is acting on your knowledge. Repentance is turning from the direction you’re headed and turning to the Wisdom of God — Jesus Christ. Turning to Jesus in faith — believing in him. Not just knowing that Jesus lived, or knowing that he was crucified, or that he rose from the grave — but acting on the knowledge of his life, death, and resurrection. Acting on the knowledge that he — Jesus — is God in flesh. 

For — as Paul writes — just before telling us that Christ is the wisdom of God — “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 

21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-24 NLT)

Jesus is the wisdom of God. And he and his cross is the message that’s foolishness to the world but is the news that all people must receive in order to be saved. Jesus and his cross is the wisest plan ever to have been made — the wisest plan ever to be accomplished — and the most loving act in all of history. And wisdom is calling out to you to respond to the love of God.

CONCLUSION

Throughout the book of Proverbs we’re shown what wisdom looks like and — as one writer states — “We’re told to follow the voice of wisdom. [Yet] — because Jesus is Wisdom — [Proverbs] is a book that asks us to follow him and his voice. [For] to follow Jesus is to fear the LORD [and fearing the LORD] is the beginning and [the] end of wisdom.”

Do you hear the voice of wisdom calling out to you today — calling out to you to follow Jesus? Calling out to you to repent of your sins — to believe in Jesus — to obey the Word of God? The path of wisdom — the path of wise living — the path of truth and clarity in this age of information — is the path of hearing and following the voice of wisdom — which is the voice of Jesus. Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for wisdom. In this age of information — in this confusing age — in this disruptive age — in this age that often has an overwhelming sense to it — thank you for giving us truth — 

for giving us your commands — and for having created us by your Master Workman hands for your purpose.

Spirit of God — give us discernment — man do we need it. Even the discernment to unplug from the information we have access to and spend time learning the wisdom you’ve provided to us in the Scriptures. Give us the strength, courage, desires — and whatever else we may need — to act on your truth and to obey your commands — so we live wisely.

And — Jesus — to you — the wisdom of God — we thank you for living wisely for us — for obeying every one of your Father’s commands. For executing the wisest plan ever made — a plan made before the beginning of time — the plan of rescuing your people — saving us from our sin — and making us holy and righteous. May we — in looking to you — the One who looked to the cross with joy — may we look to you and find reason to rejoice and to live a wise life of joyful obedience. And it’s in your name that we pray for all of these things. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May you go knowing the voice of wisdom — the voice of Jesus. But — more importantly — may you go obeying his voice — for this is what it means to be wise. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 1:20-33 (ESV)

DATE: 4-30-17

We’re in the second week of a series in the book of Proverbs. Last week, we looked at what wisdom is and at what it means to be a wise person. We saw that there’s a way of living that’s wise and a way of living that’s foolish. There’s wise living and foolish living. And the book of Proverbs is an invaluable resource in helping us gain wisdom. 

Over the next few weeks, Pastor Ben and Mike Barnhart will get very practical for us. They’ll show us how wisdom speaks to specific situations we experience every day. That’s what’s coming up over the next few weeks.

And today we’re going to see that wisdom isn’t hidden. Wisdom’s available — it’s accessible to all of us— it’s like a person with a bullhorn calling out, “Listen to me!” And the question for all of us is “Will we listen to wisdom or will we go the way of a fool?”

SERMON INTRODUCTION

Now I don’t know if you’ve ever made an unwise decision before — my guess is that you have — but what I mean is one of those things you look back on and think, “Boy. That was really dumb.”

I grew up in central Florida and one year in high school a group of us were having a pool party. And me and another guy were driving around picking up some of our friends to take them to the party. 

And I can’t remember why, but we weren’t in either of our cars — we had borrowed a car from one of the girls at the party. And one of our friends lived out in the boonies in central Florida where there are no paved roads — and if you don’t know — dirt roads in Florida can be more like beach sand roads than actual dirt roads. 

So we picked up our friend and were driving along this road that was more like driving on a sandy Florida beach. And we were coming to this hill and — yes — Florida occasionally has a hill — and I remember someone in the car saying, “Guys. This isn’t going to work. That hill — with this slippery sand of a road — just isn’t going to work.” And then someone — I don’t know remember who — said, “Nah. We got this.” 

And my friend — who was driving — decided to floor it so we’d make it up the hill. And do you know what happened? Well instead of driving up the hill — we drove into the hill.

No lie. The sand was so thick and slippery that we didn’t go up the hill at all. We drove straight into the hill. And sand was everywhere. In fact, the front of the car was buried into the side of the hill and sand was covering most of the car’s hood.

Now if we’d been a wise group of fellas, we’d have listened to that voice in the car calling out “We’re not gonna make it” — but we didn’t listen. So we got stuck like a bunch of fools. 

Luckily for us there was a house at the bottom of the hill. And the owner had a bulldozer. And attached to the bulldozer was a chain — you know why? Because we weren’t the first fools to think we could make it up the hill. Apparently lots of people got stuck just outside of this guy’s house.

Now I’m not the only idiot in the room. You’ve made some choices in life that you regret. Maybe you haven’t gotten a car stuck in the side of a hill before, but you’ve done some unwise things. 

That’s why we love the show America’s Funniest Home Videos, right? For twenty-seven years we’ve found enjoyment in watching an hour of nothing but person after person making unwise decisions. And we enjoy it because all of us have had a moment or two — or twenty — in our lives that could’ve made the show — if only we’d gotten it on video. 

In fact, raise your hand if you’ve done something that you know would’ve made it on America’s Funniest Home Videos if you’d had caught it on video? Look at the hands raised. Look at all of the unwise decisions we’ve made.

Now something common to all of these moments in life was wisdom — she was calling out to us. She was saying, “Don’t do it. Don’t be a dummy. Don’t be such a fool.” Yet we ignored her call and got on the trampoline, or pogo stick, or slip in slide, or whatever it was that we now know was an unwise decision. 

And what I want to help us see today is that we all have a choice when it comes to being wise or foolish. We don’t have to choose the way of the fool — we can listen to the voice in the car saying, “We’re not going to make it” — because wisdom — like that kid in the car — is calling out to all of us. And we don’t have to take the path of a fool — we don’t have to shut off our ears from the correction, instruction, and guidance that’s available to help us live wisely. 

For wisdom is calling out to us. The question is, “Will we listen to her call?”

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT

If you have your Bible please turn with me to Proverbs chapter one. We’ll be looking at verses twenty through thirty-three this morning.  

And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do here at Gateway is let you ask questions. So if you have a question during the sermon, you can text your question into the number that’s on the screens or you can submit it on the Gateway app.

RE-ANNOUNCE AND READ THE TEXT

And this morning, I’m going to read through all of our verses and then we’ll go back and see what wisdom is wanting to teach us today. Here are the words found in Proverbs chapter one. Beginning in verse twenty. 

“Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? 23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. 24 Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25 because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, 27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. 28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, 30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, 31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. 

32 For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; 33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Proverbs 1:20-33 ESV)

PROPOSITION

Here’s the big idea for us today. “Because wisdom is calling out, none of us have an excuse for being foolish.” Because wisdom is calling out, none of us have an excuse for being foolish.

Look with me in verse twenty of Proverbs chapter one. And when you see a word in all caps, yellow, and underlined…go ahead and say those words out loud with me. In verse twenty we see that…“Wisdom CRIES aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her VOICE; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she CRIES out; at the entrance of the city gates she SPEAKS:

And in verse twenty-four wisdom says…

24 Because I have CALLED and you refused to listen, I have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded…” (Proverbs 1:20-21, 24 ESV)

Because wisdom is calling out, none of us have an excuse for being foolish. 

Wisdom isn’t being silent. She’s not hiding herself. She’s screaming at the top of her lungs, “Listen to me, everyone. Listen to me!” — just like that kid in the car. Yet — we see — in verse twenty-four — that we refuse to listen. We shut off our ears to her words. Wisdom has stretched out her hand to offer us help and we refuse to reach out and receive the gift being offered.

So here’s something we need to admit right at the start. When it comes to foolishness, the one thing we can’t claim is that we don’t have access to wisdom. We can’t say, “This isn’t fair! How was I supposed to know this would happen?” 

• How was I supposed to know that committing adultery would ruin my marriage? 
• Or that being late for curfew would result in being grounded?
• Or that skipping church for sports, dance, and other activities would result in my kids abandoning the faith once they got older?

How were you supposed to know? Wisdom — that’s how. And she’s calling out to you. She’s not hiding. She’s right here in God’s Word for you to discover. 

So it’s not like you have to know a secret handshake or a password or something in order to not be a fool. Wisdom’s out there in plain sight and she’s hoping that all of us will learn from her. And because wisdom is accessible to us all — because she isn’t hidden — it’s not just that we can know the wise choice to make — but what we have to admit is that when we make a foolish choice it’s because we intentionally choose to not listen to wisdom — we ignore her call.

Foolishness is a choice. And it’s a choice we make all of the time and then look for someone else to blame because we just don’t want to own up to the fact that the path of the fool is a path we’re choosing to walk down.

So let’s look at this call of wisdom. What does it mean that she’s calling out to all of us — not hidden behind a veil — not at the top of a mountain that only a few can climb to — but wisdom is out there in the open for any and all who would listen to her.

Well here’s one thing the call of wisdom means for us. 

MAIN POINT 1

“Those who listen to wisdom’s call receive a great promise.” Because wisdom is calling out, those who listen to her receive a great promise. Look with me in verse twenty-two.

“”How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? 23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will POUR OUT MY SPIRIT to you; I will make my words KNOWN to you.” (Proverbs 1:22-23 ESV)

The people who listen to wisdom’s call are given a great promise. 

So we see here that being a fool — according to the Bible — is a bit different than how we usually use the word. I mentioned this last week, but I think that most of us use the word ‘fool’ for what the Bible describes as the simple or young. But the fool — especially in the book of Proverbs — is someone who hates knowledge — who hates wisdom — who doesn’t listen to wisdom’s call — the fool ignores her. Because they’re certain that they’re right — they’re wise in their own eyes — and they don’t care what anyone else thinks — not even God.

But there’s a great promise for those who listen to wisdom’s call. She will pour out her spirit on them. And she’ll make her wise words known to them. And even right here — just at the beginning of our text — I want you to notice how wisdom not only has human characteristics, but God-like characteristics. For wisdom will pour out her spirit on those who hear her call. 

And if you have any familiarity with the New Testament you know that God pours out His Holy Spirit on all who hear and respond to His call. And — like wisdom — God has promised to make His Word known to those who listen to Him. Like wisdom — God isn’t silent — He’s not hiding — but has revealed Himself to us in His Word — the Bible — and in His Son — Jesus Christ.

Yet these promises of wisdom are only for those who listen to her call. If you ignore her, you don’t receive the promises she offers. You don’t experience her spirit being poured out on you. You’re not given her wise words. 

But the people who listen to wisdom’s call are the recipients of a great promise. They’ll experience her spirit being poured out on them and they’ll be given her words. And they will respond to her when she calls to follow her path of wisdom.

There’s a great promise for those who listen to wisdom’s call.

Here’s a second thing the call of wisdom means for us. 

MAIN POINT 2

“Those who listen to wisdom’s call avoid her judgment.” Because wisdom is calling out, those who listen to her avoid her judgment. Look with me in verse twenty-four.

“Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25 because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, 26 I also will LAUGH at your calamity; I will MOCK when terror strikes you, 27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. 28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not ANSWER; they will seek me diligently but will not FIND me. 29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, 30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, 

31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. 32 For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools DESTROYS them…” (Proverbs 1:24-32 ESV)

The people who listen to wisdom’s call avoid the judgment she will pour out on all who ignore her. 

Now we may not like the sound of wisdom’s judgment, but do you see the graciousness in her announcement? She’s telling us what will happen to all who ignore her. So it won’t be a surprise when calamity and destruction come upon those who ignore her call. We may not like that she will judge, but she’s been fair in warning us what will come of those who ignore her call.

For those who refuse to listen to her — those who ignore her call — will be judged. And this judgment is the climax of our verses — it’s the peak of the story, so to speak. And if one thing’s clear, it’s this: You don’t want to get on Wisdom’s bad side — for she is a wrathful judge.

Oh she’s gracious in warning us and providing us with wisdom, but when we ignore her grace and wisdom — she has no qualms with dropping the full weight of her judgment upon those who go the way of the fool. 

And she’ll laugh at you when calamity — when disaster — strikes you. And she’ll mock you when you’re terrified because of the choices you’ve made. 

And — maybe most scariest of all — if you come to your senses in the middle of her judgment — it’s too late. For once her judgment begins there’s no turning back for the fool. The time to reverse course and find your way back to the path of wisdom — has passed. Your fate has been secured. Destruction is your destiny.

And you’ll receive from her exactly what she received from you. For she first called out to you and you ignored her. So now when you call out to her, she’ll ignore you. You’ll look for her — the author of Proverbs says — but because her judgment has come — you won’t find her. For those who want nothing to do with wisdom will get their wish as she’ll have nothing to do with you once her judgment has come.

And notice that wisdom either pours out her spirit on you or her judgment. Remember we just saw how wisdom gives a great promise to all who listen to her call — they’ll be given her spirit. But if you refuse to listen to her call — instead of her spirit — you’ll be given her judgment.

And again, do you hear the echoes of God here? For God — like wisdom — is calling out to us. And He will bring His judgment to pass on all who ignore His call. 

And we may not like that He will judge, but He’s been fair in warning us of what will come of those who ignore His call. For God first called out to us. And once His final judgment has come, those who’ve ignored Him will call out to Him only to be ignored. Because those who want nothing to do with God in this life will get their wish for all eternity. For just as wisdom either pours out her spirit on you or her judgment — so to God either pours out His Spirit on you or His judgment.

So all of us will receive something from wisdom. It’s not that you get her spirit or nothing. For you either listen to her call and receive her spirit or you ignore her call and receive her judgment. There’s no middle ground.

And the people who listen to wisdom’s call — not only do they experience the promise of being given her spirit — but those who listen to her call avoid the judgment she will pour out on all who ignore her. 

One final thing the call of wisdom means for us. 

MAIN POINT 3

“Those who listen to wisdom’s call have security.” 

Do you want some sense of security in this unpredictable world — a confidence in knowing that nothing you experience will bring ultimate disaster your way? Well that kind of security is being offered to you because wisdom is calling out. And those who listen to her have security. Look with me in verse thirty-three.

“But whoever listens to me will dwell SECURE and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Proverbs 1:33 ESV)

The people who listen to wisdom’s call have security. 

There are many troubling things the world can throw our way — even when we’re walking on the path of wisdom. 

• Good employees lose their jobs. 
• Health nuts have heart attacks. 
• You may never drink, but that won’t prevent a drunk driver from changing your life forever. 
• Troubling things — disastrous things — are unavoidable.

Yet security is offered to those who listen to wisdom’s call. A security that offers ease — a confidence not in oneself — but in Someone else who’s in control — which gives a person no sense of dread even when disastrous things occur. It’s an unbelievable confidence we see in people of faith in the midst of great tragedy. 

I was recently watching a video on YouTube about jazz music — if you don’t know I studied jazz music in college. And this video was an interview with Wynton Marsalis and another musician about the evolution of jazz music. Mainly looking at cultural changes in our country’s history and how they influenced jazz music.

And at the end of the interview they talked about the 2015 shooting at the church in Charleston, SC. And at one point, they started talking about the love and forgiveness of the family of the victims. And honestly at that point in the interview it was like all hope was lost.

The musicians tried as hard as they could to find an answer as to why these people could “love their neighbor” — that’s the language they used in the interview — how they could love and forgive the young man who murdered their family members. 

And the best the two musicians could come up with was “We just have to try really hard to not be resentful. We just have to try to be loving in these moments. We just have to decide to love even when it’s hard.” 

And my heart just sunk because — if history has shown us anything — it’s that we’ve tried really hard to not be resentful. Generation after generation has tried to be the generation of love instead of hate. And things haven’t gotten any better. Things don’t feel any more hopeful. There’s no more security today from the dread of disaster than there was in the past.

And that’s because we’re not listening to wisdom’s call. Because only by listening to her will we find the security that we’re searching for.

One last thing about that video — and this was both surprising to me — and — I think it shows us something about ourselves. Throughout the interview the two musicians would talk about a historical event and then play a song that captures that moment in time. And after this final discussion about needing to love our neighbors — with no mention of God, Jesus, or anything of a religious nature — do you know what song they ended the interview with?

What song did two jazz musicians get an entire audience to sing along with them after they just spoke of the disasters of life and their only solution being “We’ve just got to work harder at loving one another and not being resentful?” What song did these two musicians think represented the love that the victims displayed towards the man who shot up their church and murdered their friends and family? What song?

Amazing Grace. How about that? Even when we don’t want to turn to God and listen to His call — I think there’s something in all of us that knows that the real answer won’t be found from within us — because we’re never going to bring about security by trying to love harder in our own strength. But the answer to the security that we long for and the ease in the face of disaster that we hope for — I think that we all instinctively know that the answer won’t be found from within — but will come from Someone greater than ourselves. 

And those who listen to wisdom’s call have security. There’s no need for them to fear the dread of disaster.

CHRIST CONNECTION

So the question for you is: Are you listening to wisdom? For she’s calling out. She’s given promises and is offering security to all who will listen to her call. But she won’t call out forever. 

In the book of Proverbs, wisdom’s voice will now go silent until the eighth chapter. After these words we won’t hear from her again for another one hundred and sixty-nine verses. The father will talk to his son about wisdom, but she herself will be silent. And then — when she speaks — listen to what she says. At first it sounds familiar.

“I call to you, to all of you! I raise my voice to all people. 5 You simple people, use good judgment. You foolish people, show some understanding. 6 Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right, 7 for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception. 8 My advice is wholesome. There is nothing devious or crooked in it. 9 My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those with knowledge.

A few verses later she says…

13 All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech. 

14 Common sense and success belong to me. Insight and strength are mine. 15 Because of me, kings reign, and rulers make just decrees. 16 Rulers lead with my help, and nobles make righteous judgments. 17 “I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me. 18 I have riches and honor, as well as enduring wealth and justice. 19 My gifts are better than gold, even the purest gold, my wages better than sterling silver! 20 I walk in righteousness, in paths of justice.

And then notice a subtle change a few verses later when wisdom says that…

27 I was there when he (that’s God) established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans. 28 I was there when he set the clouds above, when he established springs deep in the earth. 29 I was there when he set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries. And when he marked off the earth’s foundations, 30 I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence. 31 And how happy I was with the world he created; how I rejoiced with the human family! 32 “And so, my children, listen to me, for all who follow my ways are joyful. 33 Listen to my instruction and be wise. Don’t ignore it. 

34 Joyful are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home! 35 For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord. 36 But those who miss me injure themselves. All who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:4-9, 13-20, 27-36 NLT)

Did you notice the subtle change in Wisdom’s words? Wisdom says that I was there…

• When God established the heavens — when He drew the boundaries of the oceans.
• And I was there when He put the springs in the seas and the clouds in the sky.
• I was there when He marked off the foundation of the earth.
• I was the architect — the Chief Designer — by His side during creation and I rejoiced in His presence and was happy with the world He created.
• I was His constant delight.
• And I rejoiced with humanity.

Who does this sound like? Jesus, right? For Jesus was there…

• When God established the heavens and when He drew the boundaries of the oceans and put the springs in the seas.
• And Jesus was there when God put the clouds in the sky and marked off the foundation of the earth.
• And — according to the New Testament — Jesus was the architect — the Chief Designer — by God’s side during creation.
• He was AND is God’s constant delight.
• He rejoiced in God’s presence and was happy with the world He created.
• And Jesus rejoiced with humanity while He walked with us here on Earth.

And like Wisdom, Jesus says to us, “Dear children. Listen to me. For all who follow me will find joy — an eternal joy. So watch for My return — for I’m coming soon. And until that Day, know that everyone who finds Me finds life — and life to it’s fullest — as they receive the favor — the grace — of the Lord. But know that you have been warned. For those who hate Me — those who ignore My call — will find death.”

CONCLUSION

Wisdom’s call to us — like Jesus’ call — tells us a truth about ourselves:  We’d all go the way of the fool if it wasn’t for Someone calling out to us and leading us on the path of wisdom. Because we’re prone to wander from the road of life that most honors God — the road of wisdom — to follow down the path of foolishness that leads to death.

Yet those who’ve heard the call of Wisdom — the call of Jesus — they experience the pouring out of His Spirit upon them. His Holy Spirit who leads them on the path of wisdom. Empowering them to follow the path of Jesus — the path that leads to eternal life. 

Wisdom is calling out to you right now — are you listening to her? And more importantly, Jesus is calling out to you — are you listening to Him? For His call will not go on forever — it will come to an end — and then it will be too late to respond. 

But today is not that day. The Good News for all of us is that it’s not too late to respond to Jesus’ call today — today you can respond. Today you can listen to the call of wisdom. Today you can respond to Jesus’ call and follow Him on the path that leads to eternal life. Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, I pray that everyone who hears my voice will respond to what You’ve said to us through Your Word this morning. I pray that You will remind us often that wisdom is calling out to each of us. She is not silent. She is not hiding. She is pleading with us to listen.

And Father, we thank you. For You are calling out to us. You are not silent. You are not hidden. You want us to listen the call of Your Wisdom, Your Word, and Your Son. 

Thank you for the promises given to those who listen to Your call. Thank you for providing us a way to avoid the judgment that will come upon all who ignore Your call. And thank you for the security that You give to all who listen to Your call. May all who are here, listen to Your call and respond by following Jesus on the path that leads to eternal life. We pray these things in His name. Amen.

BENEDICTION

“Because wisdom is calling out, you don’t have to go the way of the fool. So go listening to her call — and to the call of God — so that you follow the path that leads to eternal life. Amen.”

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 1:1-19 (ESV)

DATE: 4-23-17

Are you a wise person? Let’s start off with a little audience participation. Go ahead and raise your hand if you consider yourself to be a wise person? 

Now if you’re not wise, the next best thing is to be teachable? So raise your hand if you’re teachable?

Have you ever known someone who wasn’t teachable — they thought they knew everything about everything. They’re pretty miserable to be around aren’t they? They’re the kind of person you avoid having over for dinner, right? Because you know that every conversation has to end one way — with you agreeing with them — regardless if they’re right or not.

Now hopefully we can agree that all of us could use a little more wisdom. Because we’re faced with so many choices every day and — often — it’s hard to know what to do. It’s hard to know which choice to make.

SERIES INTRODUCTION

And with that in mind, today we’re starting a brand new series in the book of Proverbs. And what we’re going to do is look at what wisdom is and what it means to be a wise person. There’s a way of living that’s wise — as we’ll see — and a way of living that’s foolish. There’s wise living and foolish living. And I think all of us would rather be wise than foolish, so how do we go about becoming wise?

Well the book of Proverbs is a great resource in helping us gain wisdom. And after we look at what wisdom is today, next week we’ll see that wisdom isn’t hidden. Wisdom is available — it’s accessible — it’s like a person with a bullhorn screaming out for us to listen to her. And the question for us is “Will we listen to wisdom or will we go the way of a fool?”

And then we’ll finish out this series by getting very practical. We’ll see how wisdom speaks to things like our relationships and how we work and other areas of our life. So this is going to be a very practical series in helping us all to become wiser people.

So with that, let’s turn to our passage for this morning.

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT

If you have your Bible please turn with me to Proverbs chapter one. We’ll be looking at verses one through nineteen this morning.  

And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do here at Gateway is let you ask questions. So if you have a question during the sermon, you can text your question into the number that’s on the screens or you can submit it on the Gateway app.

TEXT SETTING

And while you’re finding Proverbs chapter one — let’s talk about this book for a moment. The book of Proverbs was written to help us become wise. The goal of the book is for us to walk on the path of wisdom instead of the path of foolishness. 

Now Proverbs isn’t the only wisdom book in the Bible — traditionally there are five books of wisdom in the Old Testament and there are some wisdom writings in the New Testament as well. So apparently God is trying to tell us something — actually He’s trying to tell us two things. 

First, God’s telling us that He wants us to be wise. 

And second, He’s telling us that we can all grow in our wisdom. Obviously some of us may be wiser than others, but none of us have arrived — none of us have graduated a PhD program with honors — when it comes to wisdom. We all have room for growth.

Now here’s the thing about wisdom. As a pastor, I often have people ask me, “How can I know God’s will? I need some advice on what’s the wise thing to do cause I’ve got two choices and I need to know which one God wants me to make.” 

Usually, they want to know the pastoral secret to discovering God’s will — as if pastors have some sort of special access when it comes to knowing God’s will. 

And people never like my response because I don’t have any different access to knowing God’s will than you do. In fact, you have the same book that I have when it comes to knowing God’s will and wisdom for life. And if you want to know God’s will — if you want to be a wise person — here’s what you do.

You become a wise person by spending years of training, and learning, and getting to know God and His Word better so you — almost instinctively — know what He wants you to do because you know Him and His Word so well. You see, the process in becoming a wise person is a slow — sometimes painful — process, but becoming wise is possible — even for you — it just doesn’t happen overnight.

And then after years of study, and years of learning, and years of reading God’s Word, and coming to church, and hearing sermons, and talking through spiritual matters with other Christians, and reading books about God and theology and the nature of man — when you’re faced with a decision — what you’ll do — is make the decision you believe is best and most honoring to God. It’s really that simple. 

Because after all of the instruction, and learning, and training, and growing what will happen is that your mind, soul, body, and spirit will be conformed to God’s Word and His ways and His wisdom. And you’ll know — with pretty good confidence — what it is that God wants you to do. Because you’ll know Him and His Word better than you do right now.

So the book of Proverbs is written to help us become wise — to understand God’s will for our lives — so that we live wisely. So — then — what is wisdom?

Four things have been said about biblical wisdom. First, wisdom is practical. It includes what we call “common sense.” So wisdom is very practical for our daily lives.

Second, wisdom is intellectual. To be wise means we use our minds. We think. We see the words “understanding” and “knowledge” used often in the book of Proverbs. 

Third, wisdom is about morality. Biblical wisdom will tell us what’s right and wrong — what’s fair and unfair — what’s good and evil — because biblical wisdom wants us to make the choice that most honors God.

And, finally, biblical wisdom is meant to draw us into the mysteries of life. There’re a lot of things about life that are mysterious — things aren’t always as clear as we wish they’d be — and biblical wisdom helps us to see the reasons why things are the way they are. It helps bring our broken world into focus. 

Now something that you may find odd is that throughout the book of Proverbs both wisdom and foolishness are personified as women. There’s a woman in the book who’s called wisdom and a woman who’s called foolishness. 

Now so we’re clear, that doesn’t mean that women are more wise or foolish than men, it’s just a way of making wisdom have some flesh and bones to her. It makes wisdom a bit more tangible. It makes her human like. 

And we’ll see that wisdom is an equal opportunity teacher. She’s open to teaching anyone who’s willing to learn. She doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t matter what your race is, or age, or sex, or educational background — if you’re willing to listen — she’s willing to teach you how to be wise.

So wisdom is practical, intellectual, moral, and she brings clarity to the mysteries of life.

Now one last quick thing before we get to our verses. The book is called Proverbs — so what’s a proverb?

One of my Bible dictionaries defines the word proverb as “a short, memorable statement…used to give wise advice or counsel.” Another says that a proverb is “a short, popular saying that communicates a familiar truth…in an expressive and easily remembered form.” 

So a proverb is a short, memorable, statement of truth. 

OK. Now that we’ve got some understanding about this book, let’s jump into our verses. And what we’re going to find are three types of people who each respond to wisdom differently. There are three types of people in the world according to the book of Proverbs. The three types of people are the simple, the wise, and the fool. The simple, the wise, and the fool. 

Let’s begin by looking at the simple. Here’s what you need to know about the simple.

MAIN POINT 1

“A simple person is someone who has much to learn.” 

Now I know what you may be thinking, “Wow, Josh. Tell me something I don’t know. ” I never said that this was rocket science.

Look with me in verse one. And when you see a word in all caps, yellow, and underlined…go ahead and say those words out loud with me. In verse one we read…

“The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: 2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, 3 to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; 4 to give prudence to the SIMPLE, knowledge and discretion to the YOUTH.” (Proverbs 1:1-4 ESV)

A simple person is someone who has much to learn.

Now don’t be offended by the term simple. It’s OK to be simple, but what you need to know is that everyone who’s simple has a choice to make. Which way will you go? Which path will you take? Who will you become — a wise person or a fool?

Now the term “simple” — here in our verses — is interchanged with the word “youth.” So what this tells us is that if you’re young, you’ve got a lot to learn — and that’s OK — some of us who aren’t so young still have a lot to learn. And wisdom is here to teach us what we don’t know so we don’t stay “simple” — or worse — become a “fool.”

So wisdom is here to teach the simple — and the young — how to become wise. 

• Wisdom wants to help us think the right way about things. 
• She wants to give us the ability to make plans that’ll work in our favor. 
• She wants to instruct us in how to be fair with others.

So you can see that wisdom is an unbelievable gift to the simple and the young. She’s only here to help. So the questions the simple and the young need to wrestle with are:

• Will you listen to wisdom? 
• Will you learn from her? 
• Will you allow her to be your teacher so you gain insights for life? 
• Or will you reject her and go off on your own path thinking that you know everything that you need to know about life?

The good news for the simple is that they aren’t a fool yet. 

They have much to learn, but if they’re teachable, the simple are in a much better place than the fool — because the simple can become wise if they’re willing to learn from wisdom. 

So that’s the first group — the simple — now let’s take a look at the wise. 

What does it mean to be a wise person?

MAIN POINT 2

“A wise person is someone who learns.” A wise person is someone who learns. Look with me in verse five. 

“Let the wise hear and increase in LEARNING, and the one who understands obtain GUIDANCE, 6 to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. And skip to verse eight. Hear, my son, your father’s INSTRUCTION, and forsake not your mother’s TEACHING, 9 for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.” (Proverbs 1:5-6, 8-9 ESV)

A wise person is someone who learns.

I find it interesting that after the “simple” the next type of person brought up in our verses — is the wise. And get this, a wise person needs wisdom — and learns from wisdom — just as much as a simple person needs and learns from wisdom.  

You see, a wise person is a teachable person — they’re a learner. And a wise person stays teachable — they never stop learning and growing in their wisdom and understanding of who God is and what His Word says. 

Because a wise person wants to know what to do in any situation that life throws their way. They want who God is — and what His Word says — to be the filter for their every decision. 

• Because they know that they’re a person who’s in a process of growth. 
• They know they haven’t arrived yet — there’s still a lot for them to learn.
• And they’re humble enough to know that they’re not a finished product yet.
• And one thing the wise have learned is that they’re in need of guidance

And notice how a wise person submits him or herself to instruction. Meaning that a wise person acknowledges that there’s a higher authority over them. The fool — as we’ll see throughout this series — believe that they’re their own authority — but not the wise. The wise know that there’s Someone who possesses authority that they must submit themselves too.

Now let’s pause here for a moment — cause I want to let you in on a little secret about growing in wisdom. The more I learn about God and the more I read His Word — the more I realize what I don’t know. And when I look back — one thing that makes me cringe is how confident — more like cocky — my younger self was in his understanding of God and the Bible. And — of course — ten years from now I’ll probably cringe when I think of myself today — because my hope is that I’ll always be learning and growing and becoming more wise in my knowledge of God and His Word.

But you have to start somewhere. There’s not a microwavable option for gaining wisdom. It starts by reading the Bible through for the first time. And then the second time. And then a third. And a tenth. And a hundredth.

It begins by slowing down and studying the book of Romans. And the book of Genesis. And Mark. And Isaiah. And really understanding what’s being taught in the gospel of John and even here in the book of Proverbs. 

But if you’re not regularly reading God’s Word — and if you’re not regularly studying God’s Word — then how in the world do you expect to grow in biblical wisdom? 

Listen — nobody believes what’s in the Bible without reading the Bible. It just doesn’t happen. You can’t have a biblical worldview if you don’t read the Bible. You can’t have biblical wisdom if you’re not saturating yourself in the Bible.

And I get that some of us need to listen to the Bible because we’re not the best of readers. Go for it — listen away. But give God and His Word your full attention. Don’t multi-task when it comes to growing in wisdom. Focus. Study. Train your mind, body, soul, and spirit so that you grow in understanding who God is and His Word better. Because that’s the way of the wise. That’s the path of wisdom.

So the wise person is a learner. They used to be simple, but they’ve taken the path of wisdom and continue to grow in their understanding and knowledge of who God is and what His Word says.

Finally, the fool — what does it mean to be foolish? 

MAIN POINT 3

“A fool is someone who is caught in a trap.” Finally, a fill in the blank you weren’t ready for. A fool is someone who’s caught in a trap.

Look with me in verse ten. 

“My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. 11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; 12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; 14 throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”—15 my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, 16 for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. 17 For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, 18 but these men lie in wait for their own BLOOD; they set an ambush for their own LIVES. 19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the LIFE of its possessors.” (Proverbs 1:10 -19 ESV)

A fool is someone who’s caught in a trap — and it’s a trap that they’ve set.

Now the illustration is a bit strange. 

The father’s worried that his son will run off with a gang or the mob or something. And my guess is that joining the mob hasn’t been that big of a temptation for you — especially since the Sopranos went off the air. So it’s easy to just read on through these verses without seeing how they apply to our lives. 

But the warning here is about greed because foolishness and greed go hand in hand. You see, the fool — in our proverb— joins a group of greedy individuals. So we have to watch our definition of “fool” because “fool” — in the book of Proverbs — isn’t what we usually think of. When we think of a fool we probably think of the “simple” person we saw earlier. But the fool — in the book of Proverbs — is an evil, rebellious, greedy person. They don’t listen to Wisdom.

And this greed is a greed that traps them. In fact, the destiny for everyone who’s greedy is death — that’s what we see in verse ninteen — greed “takes away the life” of the one who’s greedy. The wise will listen to this warning from Wisdom, but the foolish will keep right on going as if they are an exception to the rule.

So what’s greed — because if greed leads to death — if greed is the path of the fool — then we should know what greed is. 

One person has said that greed is a “desire that knows no bounds…[it’s a] desire so strong that it does not care what’s done to satisfy it or what harm it does to others.” And the scary thing about greed is that our culture breeds greed. Our culture breeds foolishness.

Think about every commercial you see or ad you view. What’s the point of the commercial or ad? To get you to so desire their product that you’ll do whatever it takes to get it, right? 

And it’s not just commercials — TV shows, movies, books, and especially social media all contribute to our greed problem as they show us picture perfect families, the ideal husband or wife, the kind of home you’ve got to have for fulfillment, or the kind of friends that will make you significant…and these things are all producing greed in our lives.

Yet we can’t blame them entirely. 

For the Bible says that if you want to know where greed begins you have to look inward to your heart. For greed and — in fact, all sin — begin from within our hearts. All culture can do is entice our hearts to chase after what it already desires — to go the way of the fool.

And notice how greed is described as a trap. And what’s the point of a trap? To catch something. And for a trap to really work, it’s got to be hidden. It’s gotta be surprising — and greed — like a good trap — is unexpected. You don’t even realize that you’re caught up in greed until it’s too late and the noose is around your neck and you’ve stepped off the ledge.

And because it’s a trap — and because it’s so powerful — greed can cause us to make all kinds of foolish decisions — decisions we live to regret for the rest of our lives. 

And greed is the way of the fool. It’s a trap that catches a person even though it’s a trap that’s been set by their own heart.

And now we’re left with a question. What’s the difference maker? 

• Why do some people — who are simple — become wise while others become fools? 
• Why do some people focus their lives on learning about who God is and what His Word says while others take the path of the fool — the path of greed — that leads to death? 
• Is there something that can help us avoid the way of the fool and ensure that we’re on the path of the wise? 
• And the answer is yes. It’s this.

PROPOSITION

“Wisdom begins with fearing the LORD.” The starting point of wisdom is the fear the LORD. The fork in the road where the simple must choose the way of the wise or the way of the fool — is clear — it begins with a first step. And the first step towards wisdom is “the fear of the LORD.” In verse seven we read…

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. ” (Proverbs 1:7 ESV)

The path of wisdom begins with fearing the LORD. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but biblical writers don’t like to waste time — they like to get right to the point. 

And here — early on in this book — the author gets to what’s most important: The fear of the LORD. And Proverbs doesn’t just begin with the fear of the LORD — it ends with it too. Proverbs 31:30 — the next to last verse in the book — says, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

And throughout the book of Proverbs we find this idea — of “fearing the LORD” — twenty-one times. You could call it the motto of the book. But what does it mean that the “beginning” of wisdom is the fear of the LORD? 

One Hebrew scholar says that the word “beginning” means that the fear of the LORD is the “first and controlling principle” for all wisdom. Meaning that the “fear of the LORD” isn’t something that you learn and then leave behind to go on to more important matters. 

“Fearing the LORD” is the filter for all of wisdom — it affects all of life — it influences everything for a wise person. 

So fearing the Lord is obviously important — so what does it mean to “fear the LORD?” 

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it, but there are two kinds of fear. 

The first is a negative fear — which is a selfish fear. And the second is a positive fear — which is a selfless fear. There’s a negative and positive kind of fear. A selfish and a selfless fear.

It’s been a few years now, but when the Lord of the Rings trilogy came out — Christopher Lee — one of the actors in the series — told a story of when he was younger and got to meet J.R.R. Tolkien — the author of the Lord of the Rings books. And you need to know that Christopher Lee loved the books as a young boy, so when he ran into this hero of his, he said that he started to tremble — he said that he almost bowed on one knee to show honor and respect to this hero of his.

In hearing this story, someone said, “When you find yourself in the presence of somebody you so revere, you…just sort of tremble. It’s a positive fear. It’s not a negative fear. The negative fear is you’re afraid somebody’s going to hurt you because you distrust them. 

A positive fear is you’re afraid you’re going to disappoint them, you’re going to dishonor them, you’re going to grieve them…because you love them so much.” 

That’s what it means to “fear the LORD.” It’s the closest thing to “worship” in the book of Proverbs. 

It’s the idea of not wanting to disappoint God by the way you live or the choices you make. It’s where you desire to live wisely by knowing Him and His Word because you know that the way of the fool will grieve the heart of the One you love. Do you see how different this kind of fear is? 

Negative fear says, “God’s out to get me, so I better obey Him. I better make the right choice or He’ll strike me with lightning or cause me to be late to that important meeting or I’ll end up paying for this decision later.” 

But positive fear says, “God’s not out to get me — He’s not out to punish me — He punished Jesus in my place — so it’s not that I have to obey God — it’s not that I have to live wisely — it’s that I get to live wisely — it’s a joy to obey God because I love Him. And He’s been so kind to me by showing me the wisest way to live — the best way to enjoy life — and the greatest way to honor Him.

CHRIST CONNECTION

And the only reason why a selfless fear is possible — the only reason why you and I can “fear the LORD” and not be worried about Him being out to get us — is because of Christ’s selfless act of love on our behalf.

Do you remember all of the blood in our verses? The fools go out to shed the blood of those they want to rob. 

The greedy gang waits for anyone to fall into their trap so they can kill them. The fools are bloodthirsty — yet the trap is on them — because the blood they’re waiting to spill is their own.

And like the fools, we were all thirsty for blood — for Jesus’ blood — while He was here on Earth. 

• We waited patiently until the opportune time and then we seized the moment and had Him crucified — His blood spilling out as the nails were driven in His hands and feet and as a spear was shoved into His side. 
• We had no idea that the trap we’d set would turn on ourselves as we murdered the Son of God. 
• For we found ourselves guilty of murder — guilty of killing God’s Son — condemned to eternal death because we foolishly crucified Christ.

Yet for those who believe in Jesus — for those who see in Christ not just a dying man, but a dying Savior — for those who see in Jesus the Wisdom of God and fear Him — who bow down in worship of Him — Jesus’ blood cleanses them of their guilt as He uses our trap — not to get us — but to rescue us from the path of the fool.

CONCLUSION

And when you believe that Jesus has done all of this for you — you won’t be simple — for there’ll be nothing you’d rather do than live wisely for Him — to live a life that fears Him — a life that worships Him. 

And when we believe that Jesus has done all of this for us, we won’t be foolish either — for we’ll joyfully submit ourselves to His authority and His Word — because He’s a loving and wise King. He’s the Wisdom of God. And He offers knowledge for the simple, instruction to the wise, and freedom for the fool who’s caught in their own death trap. 

You see, the only way to live not as the simple — nor as the fool — but as the wise — is by believing that God isn’t out to get you — because He got His Son in your place. And He’s not out to hurt you either — God hurt His Son in your place. And in spite of your flaws, rebellion, sin, and foolish choices — God’s out to save you — and to help all of us live wisely — because He loves us. 

Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, I pray that everyone who hears my voice will be receptive to what You’ve said to us through Your Word this morning. I pray that You’ll remind us often that “the fear of the LORD” is the beginning of wisdom.

Father, I ask You to give knowledge to the simple and youth who are among us. No matter our age, there’s much we don’t know. Help us to be teachable and to grow in our understanding of You and the Bible.

For those who are on the path of the wise, Father, I ask that You would continue to stir a desire in us to grow in our understanding of You and Your Word. May we be humble, acknowledging that there’s much we don’t know, but by Your grace — and instruction — much left for us to learn.

And for any who are on the path of the fool, I ask You to reveal to them the trap they’re caught up in — for it’s a death trap that will cost them their life. Father, may they find the freedom and wisdom that’s being offered to them in Your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. May you grow in your understanding of who God is and what His Word says, so that you live wisely for Him. Amen.”

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: 1 John 4:1-6 (ESV)

DATE: 7-16-23

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or are joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRODUCTION

If you have your Bible — please turn with me to First John chapter four — we’ll be looking at verses one through six today. And — while you’re finding First John chapter four — let me remind you that the apostle John wrote this letter so that Those who believe in God can know that they have eternal life.

In First John chapter five we read, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. – 1 John 5:13 (ESV)

So John’s goal — for the audience he’s writing to — is that they would know with certainty whether or not they have eternal life — whether or not they’re a true believer — a true follower of Jesus or not. And — each week in this series — we’ve discovered another test for us — a passable test — so we too can know if we believe the gospel and have eternal life.

And here are the words found in First John chapter four — beginning in verse one — where we find another way to confirm whether or not we truly believe in Jesus. 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: 

every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. – 1 John 4:1-6 (ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

Have you ever wondered if you’ve been deceived into believing something that isn’t true? Now I’m not talking about if Coke tastes better than Pepsi or if Macs are really better than PCs — I mean topics of a bit more eternal importance.

For instance, have you ever asked yourself, “How do I know if I’m believing the right doctrines about God?” Or “How do I know I’m not believing false doctrines about God?” 

For example, I’m sure some of you believe that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. Yet — it wouldn’t surprise me if there are others who believe that all religions lead to eternal life. Two very different beliefs. And — my point — is to ask you — regardless of which group you’re part of, “Have you ever questioned why you believe what you do?” 

A person can believe that Jesus is the only way to eternal life — which I happen to agree with — but have no idea why they believe this or why someone else should believe it. And another person may believe that all religions lead to eternal life and have no idea why they believe what they do. And — honestly — believing something — without knowing why you believe it — is nearly as bad as not believing it in the first place. I mean, how can you say, “This is what I believe” when you don’t even know why you believe it? And when it comes to things of significant importance — like eternal life — shouldn’t what you believe be based on something more than a hunch or a guess or a feeling or an “I hope so”? Shouldn’t we know why we believe what we believe?

As I mentioned earlier, our author John wrote this letter so that those who believe in God can know that they have eternal life. And the congregation John’s writing to has a serious problem: There are people in the church who have influence yet — what they’ve been teaching — particularly doctrines they’ve been teaching people in this church to believe — have been false. These teachers have been deceiving others and it appears as if the people in the church didn’t even know they were being duped. 

Now here’s the subtle thing about false teaching: Often, it’s almost the truth. It looks good — it feels good — it may even be what you or I hope is true. False teachers rarely teach something so radical that no one would ever believe them — they gain influence by taking a truth and slightly altering it so that it appeals to those who either don’t know the truth or don’t know why they believe the truth in the first place. For all it takes is a slight twist on the truth — with just a hint of deception — and suddenly you’re believing things that are false and you don’t even know it.

And — for many people — these “slightly twisted with a hint of deception” beliefs they hold are damnable. In other words, they think what they believe leads to eternal life — all while they’re beliefs are leading them to eternal destruction. 

Listen to this quote by Irenaus of Lyons. Irenaus was born in 130 AD and his Bible teacher was Polycarp and Polycarp was trained by the apostle John — the author of our letter. That’s pretty cool, right? The guy who taught Ireanaus’ teacher was the apostle John. Well Irenaus said, Error never shows itself in its naked reality, in order not to be discovered. On the contrary, it dresses elegantly, so that the unwary may be led to believe that it is more truthful than truth itself. – Irenaus of Lyons

And here we are — nearly nineteen hundred years later — and nothing’s really changed. Error shows itself in such a way that it appears attractive — it even appears truthful — but only to those who don’t know the truth or know why they believe the truth. Which leads us to our big idea for today.

Since deception is possible, we must test what we believe. Since deception is possible, we must test what we believe. Or — as John says it — we must test the spirit of our beliefs to see if they’re from God or not. 

Now we’re going to apply this principle — of testing what we believe — to three teachers in our lives. And this first one might surprise you.

TEST WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES YOU

Since deception is possible, we must test what we’re taught in the church. Test what the church teaches you. In verse one John writes, Beloved, do not (do what? Don’t…) believe every spirit, but (instead) test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. – 1 John 4:1 (ESV)

Since deception is possible, we must test what we’re taught in the church.

Now — if you’re not a Christian — you may be confused because you didn’t think you’d agree with anything you’d hear me say today — and here I’ve just told everyone to test what they’re taught in the church. So now that I’ve got your attention — let’s make sure we understand this principle. 

You should absolutely test what you’re taught in the church — even here at Gateway Church — even what I, Pastor Josh, teach you — but you should do so without being overly suspicious or untrusting of the leaders God’s appointed in the church. Meaning — you can test what you’re taught in the church without having a superiority complex — you’ll see why in our next point — but test what you’re taught — and do so with a humble posture. 

But what’s the reason for testing what you’re taught in church? 

We test what we believe because false prophets are present in the church. We see this in John’s statement, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. – 1 John 4:1b (ESV)

Jesus said something similar in his words, Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves…And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray…For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. – Matthew 7:15; 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22 (ESV) 

Similarly, Peter warned a group of Christians that false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. – 2 Peter 2:1 (ESV)

Now it appears — in our letter — that these false prophets and teachers have already left the church — but at one time they had influence in the church. And — being false prophets and teachers — their desire was to lead people away from the truth. And — as Jesus warned and as Peter made very specific — we’d be naive to think that false teachers are not trying to lead people towards error in our day and age from within the church — for this is how our Enemy works. 

He uses false teachers to deceive people into believing that a lie is the truth — resulting in them either causing division in a local church — by spreading deception as truth — or by leaving the church when their lie is rejected — causing disruption and confusion in the church. 

And on a global scale, false teachers write books, preach sermons, and are popular on YouTube even as they deceive people into believing lies. And these public personalities can cause division in a local church as some in the congregation will say that “so and so’s” new book is a must read, while others say to stay away from the book because it’s teaching a lie. 

But before we go on a witch hunt trying to figure out who the false teachers are, our big idea reminds us that we won’t ever know who they are if we don’t know the truth for ourselves. 

So how do we test what’s being taught in the church and how do we do so in a way that’s not rooted in an unhealthy suspicion towards leaders in the church? 

First, we test what we believe by knowing God’s Word in community. Look with me again in verse one. John begins with Beloved (which is actually plural — meaning John’s writing to the congregation as a whole…) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. – 1 John 4:1 (ESV)

Don’t believe every spirit — there’s the command in our passage. Don’t be gullible by believing everything that’s on YouTube or is written by someone claiming to be a Christian — instead — we’re to test the spirits — test the truthfulness of what you hear or read — including what you’re taught here at Gateway.

And the fact that John’s writing to the congregation as a whole tells us that this testing is to be done in community — meaning with fellow Christians. And the best resource we have — for testing whether or not something being taught is from God or not — is God’s Word — the Bible. 

So like the Berean community of Acts chapter seventeen, we’d be wise to receive the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things (the things taught by the church leaders) were so (or were truths from God). – Acts 17:11b (ESV)

One of my goals — when I preach — is to show you how to understand the Bible — so that when you read the Bible — you start to notice what it’s teaching in a way similar to how I help you notice what God’s Word teaches as we look at a text together. You’ve probably noticed that most of what I say is simply the same Bible verses from our passage over and over and over again. It’s simple, but it works. And it works because God’s Word is truth. 

And when I stick to God’s Word — and simply slow you down so you see the truth in his Word — and hear it over and over again — all so you understand and believe his Word — I trust that the Spirit of God will change you by his Word. And wonderful things happen in our spirit when God’s Spirit uses God’s preached Word to reveal to you his truth. 

Now obviously there’s much more to preaching than just saying Bible verses over and over again — but I promise if you’re here week after week — you’ll pick up on what I’m doing and be able to do it yourself. And you’ll be able to test what you hear me preach — by God’s Word — and will find that what’s taught here at Gateway to be truthful and accurate according to God’s Word. 

And — as you do this — God’s Word will become alive to you — suddenly truths from God’s Word will start leaping off the pages of the Bible. You’ll find that you have much more to share about what God is teaching you when you meet with your Life Group. And you’ll be able to use God’s Word to help others grow in their faith or get through a difficult situation because you’ll have God’s Word of truth at your fingertips.

But there’s a danger here that we need to be aware of — and the danger is this: In our personal search for truth, we can become so confident in our own understanding that we become unteachable. Let me say it another way: 

You should test everything you hear taught in the church with the Word of God, but you shouldn’t allow yourself to come to a place where you’re unteachable because you think you’re the only person who perfectly grasps God’s Word. 

That’s why if you’re not a Christian, you should give Christian teachers a fair shake by testing what they teach according to the Bible and not according to what you believe about the Bible. Disagree with me all you like, but disagree with me because I’m teaching the Bible accurately — not because I don’t teach what you believe — for the way to judge the integrity of a Christian teacher is to judge their teaching with the Bible. So listen to what I’m saying today — for instance — and go study the Bible. And at the end of your study, if you say, “You know, I don’t believe what Josh believes, but I must say he did teach what the Bible says,” then at least you’re being fair.

And — if you’re a Christian — the best way for you to grow in understanding God’s truth and in testing what you’re taught in church — is to be in community. 

Where you and other Christians — together — test what you’ve been taught and — together — test what you believe. Where everyone in the group is equally teachable because none of us have everything figured out. 

This is why humility is key — for without humility — a person is unteachable. And an unteachable person is usually a person who’s believed the biggest deception of all — that they’re the only person who doesn’t need other Christians to help them understand the truth — because they’ve fallen for the biggest deception of our day that’s referred to as “my truth.” You and I don’t have any such thing as “my truth.” The only One who can claim to have “my truth” is the One who is the way, the truth, and the life. And that’s not you or me.

Here at Gateway, we call groups of community — Life Groups. These groups are where God’s Word is opened so that what we believe to be true can be tested with God’s Word. This results in us all growing in the accuracy of what we believe so we more purely love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. 

And — if you’re a Christian — I can’t encourage you enough to get into a Life Group so you’re testing what you believe in community with God’s Word — because deception is possible — so we must test what we’re taught in the church. 

TEST WHAT YOU TEACH YOURSELF

Now the second teacher — we’re to test — has already been mentioned. What teacher am I talking about? Well…Since deception is possible, we must test our beliefs. We must test what we teach ourselves. In verses two and three John writes, By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. – 1 John 4:2-3 (ESV)

Now — since this point’s been mentioned already — I’ll be brief. The most important belief that you must be sure of is what you believe about Jesus. 

Now — in our text — it appears that John’s trying to refute a specific false teaching about Jesus that had to do with him not coming in the flesh — that Jesus wasn’t really human. So John has a very specific error that he’s trying to correct in this church. The slight twist of the truth — here — appears to be a belief that the spiritual world was a more holy or perfect realm — while the realm of the flesh — or the physical world — was evil. So they created a false teaching that said Jesus never became human — and John refutes them. 

Throughout church history there’s been false teaching after false teaching after false teaching about Christ. Many of the big heresies in church history are about Christ. I don’t have time to highlight them — but the teaching that he wasn’t an actual human is just one of the heresies. My point is that you should know what you believe about Jesus and why you believe what you do — for this will keep you from falling prey to false teachings about Jesus which are still around today. And God’s Word — being examined in the context of Christian community — should be the primary means by which you grow in your understanding about Christ. 

Finally, the last teacher.

TEST WHAT THE WORLD TEACHES YOU

Since deception is possible, we must test what we’re taught by the world. In verse four John writes, Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. – 1 John 4:4-6 (ESV)

Since deception is possible, we must test what we’re taught by the world.

I’m often amazed at how quickly we judge others for not thinking through their beliefs — accusing those who believe differently than us to be ignorant or lazy in their pursuit of truth — all while it seems like both sides — Christians and non-Christians — both sides have very smart and intelligent people who know what they believe and why they believe it — and both sides — Christians and non-Christians — have people who are quite ignorant of what they believe and why they believe it.

But what John makes clear is that there are two very distinct people groups: People of the world and people of God. People who listen to the world — and what it says is true — and people who listen to God and what he says is true. And the people of the world do not listen to God or his people — so it shouldn’t surprise those of us who are Christians that the world doesn’t listen to us. Our hope isn’t in getting the world to listen to us anyway — our hope is in Christ. And our desire for the people of the world should be for them to find the joy, peace, and hope that’s found solely in Jesus.

But listen friends — Christians are not to listen to the lies of the world — we’re to be listening to God. This is how we know we’re of the truth and not of error — this is how we know that we’ve listened to God’s Spirit and not the spirit of the antichrist. 

As Pastor John MacArthur has said, the world “causes people to doubt what God said, (it) causes people to distort what God said, (it) causes people to flatly deny what God said…that’s the strategy. God speaks, he speaks clearly, he speaks in his Word, he speaks unambiguously, and Satan comes along creating doubt, distortion and outright denial. These are the strategies that he uses and you can take doubt, distortion, and denial and they all add up to deceit. This is what Satan does.”

Yet those who listen to God — the apostle John says — listen to those who speak on God’s behalf. Yes, they test what they’re taught in the church — but they do listen. They hear God’s Word being preached by imperfect vessels who’ve been called to point you to the truth of Jesus and the joy that’s found in him.

And these verses teach us that we must be diligent in testing what we’re taught by the world. For — as bad of a reputation as Christians have for believing in something without really thinking it through — the same can be said of non-Christians and what they’ve been taught by the world. Just listen to these quotes.

“There doesn’t need to be a God for me. There’s something in people that’s spiritual, that’s godlike. I don’t feel like doing things just because people say things, but I also don’t really know if it’s better to just not believe in anything, either.” — Angelina Jolie

“There doesn’t need to be a God for me.” Say’s who? Based on what? Angelina Jolie? Who gave her such authority?

Here’s another quote.

“I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us. It may be God, I don’t know. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do. The Unitarian believes that God is good, and believes that God believes that man is good inherently. The Unitarian God is not a God of vengeance. And that is something I can appreciate.” — Christopher Reeve

Since when does our appreciation make something true or not about God? Christopher Reeve played a decent Superman — but he plays a terrible spiritual teacher. 

One last quote. “Technically, I’m an agnostic, but I definitely believe in hell — especially after [seeing] the fall TV schedule.” — Matt Gray-ning

That one’s just funny — which fits since it was said by the creator of the Simpsons. 

But how about we make this real — real uncomfortable for some of us.

You say you believe in same-sex marriage. Do you know why you do? How do you know that what you believe is true and that you haven’t believed a lie? And why are you so easily offended that I would even question your beliefs when my beliefs — regarding what God’s Word says about marriage — are questioned all of the time? 

Or maybe you say you believe in a woman’s right to choose when it comes to pregnancy and abortion. Do you know when life begins? If so, what do you base your belief on because doctors can’t seem to agree on this? And if doctors aren’t in agreement, how do you know that you’re not believing a lie? Maybe abortion is the murder of human beings made in God’s image and you just don’t want to admit it?

And — for the hat trick — let’s talk about racism. At one point in history our country — Christians and non-Christians — believed that blacks were not of equal value to whites. No one could question this so-called “truth” at the time. 

Our country had laws that enforced this so-called “truth”. And if you questioned racism — you were viewed the same way as you are today if you question same-sex marriage or abortion. Yet — as we look back — the majority of us would agree that our country bought into a lie that said blacks were of lesser value than whites. A lie that was believed by people in the church and people outside the church. Yet — when you compare the lie of racism with the truth of God’s Word — which states that all humans are made in the image of God — thus all people have equal value — we see that God’s Word teaches a truth that’s counter to the lie of racism.

And if both Christians and non-Christians could believe the lie of racism — what else might we be deceived into believing today? Which means we must test what we’re being taught — even what we’re taught by the world — so we’re not deceived into believing lies that we think are truths.

CONCLUSION

In a world full of lies — and when we have to be warned that even churches can be infiltrated by deception — where are we to find truth — especially the most important truth we should be seeking to know with certainty — whether or not we have eternal life — where do we find truth?

We turn to Jesus and his Word to us. One day Jesus was teaching his disciples about eternity and he said, In my Father’s house are many rooms (Jesus is talking about Heaven here). If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the (what? Jesus says he is the…) truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. – John 14:2-6 (ESV)

Here Jesus teaches us that all truth is ultimately found in him — including the most important truth of all — how a person finds eternal life. 

This is why knowing who Jesus is and knowing what God’s Word says about him should be the highest priority on all of our to-do lists. For — deception is possible — so we must be diligent in testing what we believe — including what we’ve been taught to believe by the church — what we’ve been taught to believe by the world — and let’s not forget to test what we’ve taught ourselves to believe. 

And when each of us tests what we believe — especially what we believe about Jesus — regardless of where you are right now in your beliefs about him — I promise you that in testing what you believe about Jesus — with God’s Word — I promise that you’ll discover truths about Jesus that will change you for the rest of your life — including your eternity. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, help us to be wise in knowing what we believe and why we believe it. Help us to be discerning as to what is true and what is false. Lead each of us into a deeper understanding of who you are, who we are, and how we can know with certainty that we have eternal life.

Spirit of God, help us to not be deceived into believing that we don’t need others to help us understand what we believe. You’ve created us for community and we need each other to help us in our pursuit of truth. I pray against the lies of the world — especially those lies that contain a hint of truth that’s been twisted into something evil in your sight. 

But — most importantly — I pray that each person hearing my voice would pursue the truth that’s found in Jesus Christ. That we’d all grow in our understanding of who Jesus is, what he’s done, what it means to believe in him, and what it means to follow him. All so that you — Jesus — would be glorified in our lives as we grow as people who know what we believe and why we believe it. In your name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May you go knowing what you believe and why — because you believe in Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.