You know, we can't just assume that just because somebody's been in church for a long time,
that makes them a wise person.
There are plenty of churches that are filled with people that have never read their Bibles,
that disregard what's taught out of the Word of God.
The sweet little old widow lady with the gray head,
where when he started preaching something she didn't like,
she'd look right at him and just turn down her hearing aid right in front of him.
There's people like that out there.
They might be coming to church and taking a black marker out and going,
I don't like this, and I don't like this, and I don't like this.
That's out there too.
And I remember one preacher told me a lady walked up to him
when he was preaching about a woman's roles,
and she said, well, I went to that chapter and I just crossed it right out.
Took a black marker and said,
out of the Word of God.
Oh, but you know, she's been around a church a long time.
Look, just because people have been around a long time doesn't make them wise.
Anybody that has wisdom to share, they've gotten it from one source, from above.
You know, he that rules among fools, he's her.
He'll have a big following.
He'll be a social media mogul.
Yeah, but he's one that's ruling among fools.
His cry is the cry of a fool.
The words of the wise are heard and quiet.
It's not something that's broadcast everywhere.
Real wisdom, which is from above, is heard and quiet.
It's not as accessible as the cry of the fool.
It's so easy to access the sensual, devilish, foolish wisdom,
so-called, of this world today.
There is wisdom out there.
You're not going to find it out on YouTube.
You're not going to find it on the short attention span theater that is social media.
You're going to find it here.
You're going to find it from above, from God.
And so we're there in James chapter 3 tonight,
and I'm just going to look really at the last bit there in dealing with this topic of wisdom.
And of course, there's a lot in James 3 we could preach.
A lot of real strong language about the tongue and things like that.
Of course, that could be another sermon for another time.
But what I really want to preach about tonight is this idea about wisdom,
and just make a few points about wisdom.
Basically, you know, what makes a person wise, and where does wisdom come from?
And if you notice there in James 3, he talks about how there's really, you know, two wisdoms.
Two wisdoms are kind of mentioned here.
There's the wisdom that is from above,
and then there's the wisdom that is of the earth that is sensual and devilish.
Okay, so there's obviously the wisdom of the world is no wisdom at all,
but it is a worldly wisdom that's out there.
And it's the world's advice.
It's the world's counsel.
It's those things.
We want to make sure that the wisdom that we're using to live our lives is the wisdom that is from above.
That's the title of the sermon tonight.
The wisdom is from above.
Again, beginning in verse 13, it says,
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?
Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
So he starts out with this question asking,
who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?
So basically he's asking who is wise?
And really what we can see from that right out of the gate is that not everybody's wise.
Obviously, the Bible talks a great deal about people who are foolish and fools,
people that lack wisdom and knowledge and discernment,
and we certainly don't want to be lumped in with that group.
But yet there are a lot of false assumptions today about wisdom, too.
People would maybe ask, well, who are the wise people around me?
Who are the people that I can emulate?
Who are the people that I can look to to gain wisdom, knowledge,
and instruction and they might have some false assumptions about who it is exactly.
They're supposed to be looking to ultimately getting ahead of myself here.
True wisdom as the title of the sermon indicates is from above.
It's something that you get from God.
Obviously those that have spent time in their life getting that wisdom from God.
They're going to have the ability to also impart that wisdom that they've gotten unto others.
They're going to be able to direct you to that source of wisdom.
But you know, that's something that has to be proven.
You know, we can't just have these false assumptions about wisdom
or just assume that certain people are wise just because they have certain characteristics.
For example, being old doesn't immediately impart wisdom automatically, does it?
Obviously if you're older, you know, you have some life experience.
There's some things that you've been through.
You're probably going to have hopefully some wisdom to impart to people just about life in general.
But just because someone's been around a while doesn't necessarily mean that they are a wise person.
Hopefully that's not the case, you know, and by and large, thank God in this church, it's not the case.
But you know, this is something we have to be on guard of in our life and we're trying to gain wisdom.
Okay, we can't just go and assume that just because somebody is older
or just because somebody's been around longer or maybe they even have certain experience in the world
that necessarily what they have to share with us is the wisdom that we're looking for.
A lot of times that wisdom is going to be earthly, sensual, devilish.
Okay, that's not the wisdom that we want.
And people will take some bad advice sometime from worldly sources just because they'll think,
well, they're just so experienced, they're just so knowledgeable.
Obviously, they know what they're talking about.
Yeah, they know what they're talking about when it comes to a sensual earthly devilish wisdom,
which is not what we're looking for.
Okay, so we want to make sure that we identify some of these false assumptions about wisdom.
The first one is, is that being older does not necessarily mean that you are wise.
Okay, and the proof of this is go over to Proverbs chapter 16,
Proverbs chapter number 16, keep something there in James, we'll go over to Proverbs.
We're going to be in Proverbs, you know, anytime you start talking about wisdom or foolishness,
you can you can bet on the fact that you're going to be in Proverbs quite a bit
because that's a book that deals with that a lot.
Okay, and you know, that's a great place to turn to if you're one who wants wisdom.
If you're looking for wisdom in your life, you know, you should be found in Proverbs often,
you know, I think even, you know, throughout the course of our whole lives, you know,
reading through the book of Proverbs on a regular basis is a very good practice to be in
because of the fact that it has so much practical wisdom,
so many things that we're going to be reminded of over the years.
Okay, but being old does not automatically impart wisdom.
If you look there in Proverbs chapter 16,
we're going to look at verse 31, the Bible says,
the hoary head is a crown of right, is a crown of glory, right?
The hoary head meaning hoary like the hoar frost or a white head,
you know, the gray head, the white headed individual, you know,
that is a crown of glory.
You know, that's something that if we see somebody that has lived that long,
you know, it should be, you know,
the natural course of things should be that we could look at an individual and say,
there is wisdom here.
Okay, and often there is,
but notice the clause here if it be found in the way of righteousness.
So again, just growing old does not necessarily make you a wise person.
However, if you've grown old living in the way of righteousness,
in all likelihood, you're a wise person
and you have wisdom to impart.
Okay, but we don't want to just have these false assumptions about wisdom because again,
why am I preaching this? Because James asks the question,
who is a wise man among you?
And this is something that we should be asking ourselves.
Who are the wise among us?
Who are the people that we can look to to glean wisdom from?
Okay, and obviously that wisdom ultimately comes from above.
But you know, there are people who have the hoary head.
There are people who have been found in the way of righteousness year after year,
decade after decade.
These are typically wise people that you can gain wisdom from.
Okay, again keep something in Proverbs chapter 16.
Now, let me say this is a clause because I think this is a temptation,
this or could be for young people.
Okay, they might, and I know this is something that I had to learn the hard way.
Okay, and I'm not going to go into the details,
but I got straightened out on this myself,
you know, when I was a younger man, not a young man.
I said younger.
Okay, meaning I'm still young.
Amen, but I'm saying that for myself more than anybody.
Right, but rather or not a person with the hoary head is found in the way of righteousness.
I still believe that there is a certain level of respect that is due.
Whether or not that person has the wisdom that they have to impart or not,
simply they need to be respected.
That's a commandment of Scripture.
Okay, the Bible says, and I'll just read to us from Leviticus 19,
Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head.
So there it is again, the white head,
the gray head, and honor the face of the old man,
and fear the Lord thy God.
I am the Lord, Leviticus 19.
Okay, and whenever he's kind of ending a commandment with I am the Lord,
he's kind of reassuring you, I'm the one that said this.
So that's, you know, we should probably pay extra attention to that.
Okay, and this is something that we should definitely teach our young people,
our children, that there is respect due unto our elders,
regardless of whether they are necessarily a wise person or not.
Okay, so I'm just throwing that out there
because I don't want anyone to get the impression
where they just think that, oh, you know,
this person doesn't have the wisdom that I think they should have,
therefore I can be disrespectful.
Okay, that's not something that we believe here.
That's the exact opposite of what the Scripture teaches.
So that's one false assumption that's out there about wisdom.
People will just say, well, this person's just got the hoary head,
this person is older, they must be wise.
Not necessarily so.
That's why there's that saying, there's no fool like an old fool, right?
You can't teach an old dog new tricks, that kind of a thing.
That's one false assumption.
Another one would be this,
that being saved and or in church automatically imparts wisdom.
It does not.
Again, go over to Hebrews chapter number five,
Hebrews chapter number five.
You know, we can't just assume that just because somebody's been in church
for a long time that necessarily that makes them a wise person.
There are plenty of churches that are filled with people
that have never read their Bibles.
There's plenty of people that you can find that have been in church a long time
that disregard what's taught out of the Word of God.
I mean, I've heard stories, thank the Lord,
I've never had to see anybody do it to me,
but I've heard preachers get up and talk about the sweet little old widow lady
with the gray head where when he started preaching something,
she'd look right at him and just turn down her hearing aid right in front of him
or pull out her car keys and start to jingle them over her purse.
That's enough, right?
You know, there's people like that out there
who just because they're in church,
you know, they might be coming to church and taking a black marker out
and go, I don't like this and I don't like this and I don't like this.
You know, that's out there too.
I mean, I remember one preacher told me a lady walked up to him
when he was preaching about a woman's roles
and she said, well, I went to that chapter and I just crossed it right out.
She literally did, it took a black marker and just said,
out of the Word of God.
Oh, but you know, she's been around in church a long time.
Look, just because people have been around a long time doesn't make them wise.
Okay, again, who is a wise man among you?
You know, we have to determine this, you know, he's asking that question
and he's giving us criteria
and then he's going to tell us where real wisdom comes from.
Anybody that has wisdom to share,
they've gotten it from one source, from above.
Okay, I had you go to Hebrews chapter number five.
We're going to look at verse number eight.
It says, though he were a son,
yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.
I mean, yeah, five.
And being made perfect,
he became the author of eternal salvation unto them,
all them that obey him,
called a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
You say, what does this got to do with wisdom?
Well, verse 11.
Of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered.
Why are they hard to be uttered?
Seeing ye are dull of hearing.
How do you become dull by being around things that get used, right?
You know, this is somebody that's been around and should know better.
He wants to be able to teach them these things about these many things
about Melchizedek and Christ and things like that.
But he's saying, but it's hard for me to utter these things to you
because you are dull of hearing.
You don't have the ability to receive the deeper teachings of the word of God.
He says in verse 12, for the time when you ought to be teachers.
So this is what he's saying about these people.
Look, you've been around long enough.
You ought to be somebody that can teach somebody else.
He says, when you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again,
which be the first principles of the oracles of God
and are become as such as have need of milk and not a strong meat.
Look, just being around a long time
doesn't necessarily mean that you're a wise person.
Just because you're in church on a regular basis
and you've been there for years
does not automatically impart wisdom in your life.
Wisdom is something that has to be sought from above.
That's the only place it comes.
It's not osmosis.
It's not some magical, mystical thing.
You know, you walk through the doors of Faithful Word Baptist Church
and sit down in the pew and all of a sudden you're just going to walk out wiser.
That's not how it works.
You know, I just managed to, you know, keep myself healthy enough
and out of any major accidents long enough
to where I can live to a certain age
and I automatically become wisdom because I have gray hair.
Now, that's not how it works.
Wisdom is something that has to be pursued from above.
It has to be obtained.
He's saying, look, you guys are dull of hearing.
It's what he's telling these people in Hebrews.
They're dull of hearing.
You know, this is something that can set in on people
that have been in church a long time.
They can develop a kind of know-it-all attitude.
You know, we don't want to let that happen to ourselves.
And look, people do this and say, oh, another sermon on wisdom.
I've heard this before.
Oh, another sermon on this topic.
Oh, I've heard that before.
You know, and what that is, is allowing yourself to become dull of hearing.
You know, we need to be reminded of these things continually.
I mean, good night.
I'll hear a sermon and I'll think, wow, that's a really, you know,
I'll talk to my wife about it.
And she'll say, sometimes she'll remind me, like, well, you preached about that.
Or she'll hear something and say, hey, remember when you,
you know, this preacher was preaching about this.
Remember when you were talking about that in your sermon?
I was like, no, I preached that.
Man, that, you know, I don't know.
That must have been, man, I wish I would have been there for it.
That must have been a good sermon.
I don't know.
You know, but my point is this, that even me,
I'm getting up here and preaching these things.
It's like, I need these reminders.
You know, I need to keep myself constantly refreshed in these things.
We don't want to just sit there and become dull of hearing
because then we're not going to be a wise person
and develop a know-it-all attitude.
He says that people, you know, who are wise,
that they are teachers, why?
Because they have exercised their,
we'll look at verse 14, I'm going to misquote it.
Verse 14, but strong meat belonging to them that are full age.
Yes, they've lived a long time.
They've been around a long time.
Even those who by reason of use have had their senses exercised
to discern both good and evil.
So it's not just that they're a full age,
they've been around a long time,
but in that time they've actually exercised their senses.
They've actually worked at things.
They've actually read the Bible.
They've paid attention to preaching.
They've put certain things into their life.
They've developed certain standards.
You know, they've spent time studying and reading
and knowing the Word of God.
They've done what?
They've exercised themselves to discern good and evil.
They've developed that wisdom.
You know, that tells me that wisdom is not something
that just happens because we're older.
It doesn't just happen because we've been in church
a long time.
It's something you have to exercise at.
It's something you have to work towards, okay?
So again, going back to James, back to James.
In James chapter three,
he asked that question in the beginning in verse 13,
who is a wise man and a dude with knowledge among you?
Who is he?
Well, we kind of looked at who it might not be.
You know, it might not be the people
that you would maybe should be able to assume that it is.
You know, it's not just people
that have been around a long time.
It's not just somebody that's lived a long time.
It's somebody who's exercised themselves.
It's somebody who's gotten wisdom from above.
That's who the wise men are among us, okay?
You say, well, how would you know?
If someone's truly wise.
Well, it seems to me from this passage
that wisdom is something that's observable.
It's not necessarily, oh, I'll know who's wise
because they're gonna come up and tell me they're wise.
They're not gonna reach into their car.
Well, I've got a card here that says,
you know, I've been certified wise.
You know, I passed a certain test, you know,
and I tore enough box tops off of whatever
and I sent them in and they sent me this card
that I'm certified as a wise person, right?
You know, wisdom is something that we can look at somebody
and see whether or not they have it
by the way that they conduct themselves,
the way they live their lives, okay?
That's why he says there and he asks the question
who is a wise man and a dude with knowledge among you?
Let him show out of a good conversation
his works with meekness of wisdom.
Meaning if you're the wise person,
you're not gonna have to go around telling everybody.
People are gonna be able to just look at your life,
see the way that you live your life
and say this is either a wise person or they're not, okay?
Look at the things that they do,
the decisions that they make.
And look, obviously nobody's perfect,
everyone's gonna be mistakes, but when the general,
you know, when the consistent pattern is, you know,
good decision after good decision after good decision,
they have the fruits showing,
that's when we can kind of say,
okay, this is a wise person, why?
Because they can show it in their life.
That's why he's saying here let him show what
out of a good conversation, right?
And conversation simply just means that not necessarily
the words that he says in conversation,
the things that come out of his mouth,
although that's probably part of it.
But also it's, you know, what it's talking to
or talking about rather when it comes to this idea
of a good conversation is that it's the manner of living.
How does this person conduct themselves in their life?
What is their behavior like?
What do they spend their time doing?
What are their priorities?
What's important to them?
You know, that's what shows a good,
or that's what shows whether or not this person
is living their life with wisdom,
the wisdom that is from above,
the wisdom that comes from God.
You know, people can get all the wisdom they want
from the world, but that does not necessarily make you
a wise person when it comes to the things of God, okay?
You know, your manner of living is what's going to testify
of your wisdom, not just us going around and saying it
and telling people or, you know,
trying to come off that we are.
Look, we just look at one another's lives,
you just look at how people are living
and the decisions that they're making and you say,
that's either wise or it isn't, it's that simple.
It has to be that way.
It has to be a good conversation, a manner of living
that testifies of it, why?
Go over to Ecclesiastes chapter number nine.
Ecclesiastes chapter number nine.
Actually, you go to Proverbs 17, Proverbs 17.
I had you over there already, just go back to Proverbs.
I'll read to you from Ecclesiastes nine.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes nine, verse 17,
the words of the wise are heard and quiet
more than the cry of fools.
The words of the wise are heard and quiet.
You know, a person who truly has wisdom,
you know, that wisdom is not what's popular,
it's not what's often heard,
it's not the cry that is heard among fools.
Then the words of the wise men are heard and quiet
more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
You know, he that rules among fools, he's heard.
A lot of people will hear his voice.
He'll have a big following.
He'll have eight million subscribers.
He'll have, you know, 100 million subscribers.
He'll have millions of views.
He'll be a social media mogul.
Yeah, but he's one that's ruling among fools.
And it's his cry is the cry of a fool, okay?
The words of the wise are heard and quiet.
It's not something that's broadcast everywhere.
It's not something that's just out there,
easy to find everywhere.
Real wisdom, which is from above, right?
That's the title of the sermon.
Wisdom which is from above is heard and quiet.
It's not as accessible as the cry of the fool.
Look, the cry of the fool is everywhere today.
It's everywhere.
It's so easy to access the sensual,
devilish, foolish wisdom, so-called, of this world today.
But the people who have true wisdom, which is from above,
their words are heard and quiet.
It's a smaller group that's gonna hear those words.
Why is that?
Well, because of Proverbs chapter 17.
I had you go there, right?
Proverbs chapter number 17.
Because there's something,
people who have wisdom understand something about wisdom,
that not everybody wants to hear it.
They're wise enough to know that one,
not everybody wants to hear it,
and not everybody can receive it.
And a lot of times, you know,
it's casting your pearls before swine
to share the wisdom that you have, okay?
Proverbs chapter 17, look at verse 16.
Wherefore is there price in the hand of a fool
to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?
He hath no heart to it.
He doesn't have a heart to receive.
It doesn't matter what he brings to the table
if he doesn't have a heart for wisdom,
it doesn't do any good.
And people that have wisdom,
they're not just gonna speak that in the ears of a fool.
We're to go from the presence of a foolish man
when we perceive in him not the words of understanding.
I know I'm kind of butchering that one a little bit.
We're not to cast our pearl before swine.
We don't waste our breath on people
if they now have a heart to receive.
I mean, to receive what we have.
I mean, what about the wisdom of the gospel?
I mean, this is a very practical part of the sermon here.
We go out and preach the gospel,
there's a lot of people I just walk away from.
There's people that say some really stupid,
ignorant, foolish things at the door
and I just think this person has no heart
to receive the wisdom of the gospel.
And not that, oh, I'm just not gonna waste my breath
on this individual because I'm so important,
I have so much better use of my time.
Although that's true, there's a lot better use of my time
to go and preach to somebody
who actually has a heart to receive it.
But there's a lot of people,
you hear certain things come out of their mouth,
it's like, well, there's no point talking to this person.
There's no point trying to tell them anything
because they're a know-it-all.
And it's sad, and I don't say that in a mean way.
To me, I walk away from doors like that and it's sad.
It's sad when you have somebody
who looks like they've got one foot in the grave
and the other foot on a banana peel
and they say things like, well,
the apostles were some of the most ignorant men
that ever lived.
I'm just thinking, you're a fool.
And you're gonna find out that's quite the opposite, sir.
And it's sad, you walk away from that.
But why should we speak in the ears of a fool?
Why is there a price in the hand of the fool?
See, he doesn't have a heart to receive it.
This is why the words of the wise are heard and quiet
more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
You know, the Bible says, we'll go back to where we were in,
actually, go to Proverbs chapter nine, Proverbs chapter nine.
And he tells us to show out of a good conversation,
what, with meekness of wisdom, with meekness.
The wise among us are typically the meekest among us
because they know where true wisdom comes from.
It comes from God, it comes from the Bible.
And God doesn't just hand that out to anybody.
Just like we wouldn't hand out the wisdom maybe
of the gospel or of somebody who has true wisdom
to impart isn't just gonna speak it into the ears of a fool
because he doesn't have a heart.
God's not just gonna impart this wisdom to the people
that he has in his word unless they actually have a heart
to receive it.
And you know how you're gonna get that?
Humility, humility.
Because one of the first things you're gonna have to admit
is I'm not wise.
If you don't have a heart to receive it,
I'm not wise.
If you want wisdom from God, you're gonna have to go,
God, I'm an idiot.
I don't know anything.
In fact, I know that in me dwelleth no good thing
that is in my flesh.
That's when God begins to impart true wisdom
when we have humility.
That's why we show our wisdom out of a good conversation
with meekness of wisdom because truly wise people
are typically the humblest people.
They're not braggarts.
That's why their words are heard and quiet
because they're not gonna go around and just, you know,
tell everybody how wise they are.
When I have you go Proverbs chapter nine,
look at verse 12.
He says, if thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself.
Say, well, you know, I don't care if I don't have any wisdom
to impart to other people.
You know, everybody else would be fine without me.
Yeah, but here's the thing.
Here's why you need wisdom from above,
for yourself, for you.
It's not even about me being, well,
I'm gonna get to a certain level of wisdom
so I go around and impart wisdom to the people
who I deem worthy or something like that.
Look, we need to be wise for ourselves.
You know, if I never speak another word of wisdom,
if I never impart good godly advice to another person,
I still need it for myself to learn how to live my life,
to know what I'm supposed to do with my life
and how to live my life.
I need wisdom for myself.
That's what he's saying here in Proverbs 9.
Verse 12, if thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself.
But if thou scornest, thou alone shall bear it.
You know, if we mock and scorn and ridicule
and just blow off the word of God,
blow off godly counsel from those that do have wisdom
to impart on us, we just blow that off.
You know, we alone are gonna be the ones that bear it.
This is a concept that people need to get in their heads sometimes.
They think that, you know, the godly counsel that they're getting
is just because, you know, maybe they seem to think that,
oh, you just want to show how smart you are,
you just want to tell me what to do,
you just want to boss me around.
No, we're trying to help you to not be a fool
and not to bear, you know, the consequences
of living a foolish life for yourself.
Because here's the thing about, you know, being a wise person.
Whether or not you take my advice,
whether or not you take the advice of a wise person,
they're gonna be fine.
You know, if some godly person says,
hey, you need to work on this.
If someone who has a wisdom from above and says,
hey, I've noticed this, you might want to think about this
and work on this and change this.
You know, if you don't do that,
the person who gave you that advice is gonna be fine.
Thou alone shall bear it.
Be wise for yourself.
So we're talking again tonight about wisdom,
wisdom which is from above.
And he asked the question at the beginning there,
who is wise?
And we saw, you know,
not that the people we might assume to be wise
aren't necessarily always, it's not always the case.
Because true wisdom comes from above.
It's given to those who are meek.
It's something that we observe in people.
It's not something that is just broadcast
en masse to the world, okay?
That's the other kind of wisdom that's out there.
Going back to James, James, chapter number three.
So before we get into more about this wisdom from above,
and I'm almost done,
we'll talk about what wisdom is not.
Because again, if we notice there in the chapter
he talks about how there's the wisdom from above
and there's the wisdom which is of the earth,
which is from below, okay?
What wisdom is not, okay?
The wisdom, you know,
true wisdom is not the world's wisdom.
And I'm not gonna say that the world
doesn't have some things right.
But you know what's funny to me
is every time I see the world being right about something
it's whether they realize it or not,
it's a principle or a truth that I find in scripture.
You know, they have wisdom about finances, right?
It's like, oh, well that's a principle that I see in scripture.
They'll have, you know,
principles or teachings about marriage or child rearing,
like, huh, that's something that's in scripture.
And whether they know it or not,
you know, they are parodying or echoing, rather,
the message of scripture.
So I'm just saying, well, let's just cut out the middle man.
Let's go straight to the source
and get the wisdom for ourselves, okay?
But a lot of the world's wisdom today,
so-called, is not wisdom at all, okay?
Looking again in James chapter 3 verse 14, he says,
but if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts,
glory not and lie not against the truth.
Okay?
He's saying, this wisdom descendeth not from above,
but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
So what is the world's wisdom today?
Well, what does the world teach us today? To envy.
Doesn't the world's advice make people envy one another?
Hey, get rich, retire young, fornicate,
commit adultery, just live a hedonistic lifestyle,
and try to be better than everybody else.
That's the world's philosophy, folks.
You know, that's kind of in a nutshell,
but I think I'm pretty much on the mark
with the world's philosophy today.
That's the wisdom that they'll tell you.
That's what they're gonna tell young people.
You know, don't worry about God, you know,
forget the Bible, just do what feels good,
do what thou wilt shall be the hold of the law.
That's literally a satanic motto that's out there.
Do what thou wilt, you know, just do whatever you want,
you know, rebel, go out there, live it up,
sow your wild oats, and, you know,
if you don't, you know, you get married,
you don't like them, just divorce them, whatever.
The world's wisdom just leads to envy.
Doesn't it?
That's the world's wisdom.
Get more at any price.
Step on people's heads all the way to the top of the ladder.
That's the world's advice.
And what does it lead to?
Envying and strife in your hearts.
And look, if we have these things, he's saying,
lie not against the truth.
Admit that you're following a worldly philosophy.
You don't have the wisdom which is from above.
You have the wisdom which is,
which descendeth not from above, verse 15,
but wisdom that is what?
Earthly, sensual, and devilish.
It's satanic.
You know, and I was writing this, you know,
and a certain character, and I,
and he's certainly a character,
he doesn't necessarily have character,
came to mind, and it was this guy, Andrew Tate.
Okay?
Oh, wow, a lot of people know this name.
What a, how do independent fundamental Baptists
know about Andrew Tate?
Because he, his cry is heard today,
out in the world, isn't it?
You know, and I've heard very little about this guy.
In fact, I've heard more about him from preaching
than I have from his own mouth, okay?
Say, well, are you giving him a fair shake then?
Are you sure you're being fair to Andrew Tate tonight?
Look, I don't even want to bring this guy's name up from the pulpit.
I really don't, but I think I'm just gonna use it
because it's a great example of what I'm talking about.
The guy's a total scumbag, okay?
And listen, if you're listening to Andrew Tate,
you need to get that garbage, you know,
I'm trying to use very mild language here,
out of your life.
That guy is wicked as hell, okay?
In fact, one of the first times I ever heard him,
somebody asked me if I had heard about Andrew Tate,
and I said, no.
And I don't remember how the conversation went,
but I said something like, well, how did he,
and somehow it came out like how he made his money,
what made him famous.
And it's not something I want to even express
from the pulpit, okay?
It's, the guy is a dirtbag, okay?
And so I was writing, I said,
well, let me Google Andrew Tate
and see what old Andy's been up to lately.
And as of December, there's an article
that was printed last month where he's actually
being held prisoner or was detained for 24 hours, okay?
I don't, forgive me, Andrew,
if I don't get all the facts straight.
You know, but he was detained for a length of time
for human trafficking and abuse.
But this is, the world's following this guy in mass.
I mean, the guy has millions of followers, millions.
And he gives wisdom, doesn't he?
You know, I could only read a little bit about this guy.
You know, it turns your stomach.
But go to 1 Corinthians chapter number three,
1 Corinthians chapter number three.
You know, and I was just kind of skimming through this article
and I guess they quoted him at one point as saying,
anybody that needs therapy is useless.
What a cold-hearted thing to say.
Look, I'm not again, I'm not for all the things
that are practiced in modern therapy.
You know, I think there's a lot of good
that's come out of it.
And look, some people need it.
Some people need to go out and,
I know people that have benefited from therapy.
You know, people go through things,
people have difficult things that happen in their lives,
things that they have to deal with,
trauma, tragedy, things like that.
So to sit there and say that anybody
who's gone through something like that
and needs help is useless?
What a cold-hearted, wicked thing to say.
But is that the advice we should be following,
is somebody like that who is just so flippant
and just disregards, you know, human suffering?
You know, but, you know, we're getting up
in churches like this and we're trying to express
the wisdom that is from above,
but where's the millions of followers?
Where's the thousands upon thousands,
yea, millions of views?
You know, the words of the wise are heard in quiet,
more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
And anybody who follows people like Andrew Tate
and those of his ilk are a fool.
Oh no, he's got wisdom.
His wisdom is earthly, sensual, and devilish.
Okay, and I'm not gonna go into him
because there's young people and children in the room.
I don't wanna spend a long time talking about that guy
and where he got his start, but it's wicked as hell.
And, you know, anyway, I wanna get off that
as quickly as possible.
1 Corinthians chapter number three, verse 16.
Let's see why I put this in my notes.
Verse 16, know ye not that they,
that are the temple of God,
that ye are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Okay, if any man defile the temple of God,
him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy,
which temple ye are.
Right, look, this is the wisdom that's from above.
It says you are the temple of God.
God's Holy Spirit indwells you as the believer.
And if you go out and defile that temple
through fornication, that God will destroy that temple.
But is that the world's advice today?
Is that what Andrew Tate's gonna tell you?
No, he's gonna say, go run a harem, like me.
He's gonna have his, what is it, Hustler's University,
where he's gonna teach you how to be a real man
and exploit women?
That's not, that's sensual, that's devilish, okay?
God's wisdom is, hey, your body's the temple of God
and if you defile it, I'll destroy it.
That's God's wisdom.
That's what comes from above.
And then he goes on and says in verse 18,
let no man deceive himself.
If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world,
let him become a fool that he may be wise.
And again, that goes back to the point I was making earlier.
Anybody's actually gotten wisdom from God
has had to say that at some point.
They've had to say, I'm a fool, I know nothing.
God, teach me, allow me to behold wondrous things
out of thy law, instruct me, guide me, lead me.
He has to admit he's a fool.
And look, if there's somebody out there
that seems to think that they have this worldly wisdom,
they're following people like this,
if they're following this sensual, earthly,
devilish philosophy that's out there,
you know what you need to do tonight is become a fool
so that you can actually become wise
and not listen to these people,
these Andrew Tates of the world.
You know, because the fruit of the world's wisdom is what?
It's bitter, envying, and strife.
Let's go back to 1 Corinthians,
or excuse me, James chapter three, James chapter number three.
That's the fruit of the world's wisdom, envying and strife.
Oh, but you know, he's got the big cigars
and all the gold and the fancy luxury cars
and the castle and some foreign country
and all the loose women around him.
Oh, he's so cool.
He's a fool, friend.
And he wants to take as many people as he can with him.
You want to talk about somebody who needs therapy,
it's that guy.
You know, and I'm just kind of shooting off the cuff
right now with this one, but I'll go ahead and say it.
What I've noticed is that people,
the more macho they have to make themselves,
the more macho and just they have to make themselves
come across as just this big, tough guy,
they're usually the people who need the most help.
They're usually the ones that are trying to hide something
more than anybody else.
You know, they don't want anybody to know
that there's this vulnerable, weak, hurt person
inside of them, so they try to put out this tough,
you know, masculine, I mean, over-the-top.
I'm not saying we all need to walk around,
you know, anyone who exhibits any kind of masculinity
is, you know, somehow covering up for something,
but I'm saying like this hyper idea
that's out there of masculinity,
this over-the-top masculinity,
it's usually because they're trying to hide something.
And then when they're saying things
like anyone who needs therapy is useless,
it's like, I think you need therapy.
You know, who hurt you, Andrew?
You know, let's lay down on the couch,
I'll get my pad of paper out, let's try some talk therapy.
You know, maybe some art therapy would work for him.
You know, we'll get some crayons, some paper,
you can explain to us what happened,
maybe some poetry, you know, you can get it out, right?
I don't know where that came from or where that's put,
you know, that's what happens when I shoot from the hip.
That's why you gotta stick to the notes,
that's what I was told, stick to the notes.
We are in James chapter three, let's look at verse 17.
So we've talked about the wisdom, what wisdom is not.
It's not the world,
it's not what the world's out there offering.
And again, there's a whole bunch of people out there
that are gonna come out to you from the world and say,
this is what will make you white,
this is how you should live,
this is the world's philosophy,
and it's foolishness with God, okay?
Because true wisdom comes from above,
is that not what it says in James?
It says in verse 16, for where envying and strife is,
there's confusion and every evil work.
I mean, let me back up a little bit,
isn't that exactly what we see with these so-called,
you know, wise people out there, these Andrew Tates?
Confusion and every evil work?
You know, you start out just exploiting women online
and now you're literally getting involved
in human trafficking.
That's every evil work.
You know, the love of money is the root of all evil, okay?
I gotta move on.
But he says here that, verse 17,
with the wisdom that is from above.
The wisdom that is from above.
So it's not that we're just left
to figure things out on our own,
there is wisdom out there.
We can live wise, informed lives from the Lord.
But you're not gonna find it out on YouTube, folks.
You're not gonna find it on, you know,
the short attention span theater that is social media.
You're not gonna find it out there.
You're gonna find it here.
You're gonna find it from above.
It's gonna come from God.
That's where the true wisdom
is going to come from in this world.
That's gonna keep you from living a life
of bitter envying and strife and confusion
and every evil work.
Go ahead and follow the world's path.
Go ahead and follow the world's wisdom.
Go ahead and follow the earthly,
sensual wisdom that's out there
and just prepare yourself to be the one
that bears it alone.
All of the envy and the strife
and the confusion and every evil work.
Thou alone shall bear it, okay?
And it'll be a tragedy
if anybody in this room walks out
and that's their life.
Because we have access, as God's children,
to the wisdom that is from above.
Because think about what he's saying there,
that the wisdom that is from above,
meaning it's accessible but not to everybody.
It's a divine source.
It comes from God.
You know what that tells me?
It's not accessible to everybody.
Otherwise, why doesn't the world have it?
Why aren't they teaching us Bible?
Why aren't they directing us to the word of God?
Because the natural man receiveth not the things of God.
Neither can he know them.
They're foolish just under him.
They're spiritually discerned.
You have to have the Spirit of God.
You have to want to read the Bible
and practice in your life.
You know, the fact that wisdom comes from above
tells me that it's not always accessible to everybody.
It's not.
We are very privileged to have access to that wisdom.
True wisdom comes from the Lord.
Just go back to James chapter number one.
The Bible says wisdom is what?
Too high for a fool.
Wisdom comes from above.
It's too high for a fool.
The fool that has said in his heart there is no God,
the wisdom that is from above is too high for him.
He can't access it.
It's out of his reach.
The only wisdom that he has is earthly, sensual, and devilish.
That's the only thing he has to share.
So be careful who you're taking advice from out there.
Consider the source.
Because there's a lot of people out there
that have a lot of earthly, sensual, and devilish wisdom to share.
But you know what?
That's because that's all they've got.
Because they're fools.
And the real wisdom that's from above is out of their reach.
They can't share it because they don't have it.
Praise God, we do.
James chapter number one, verse five.
Well, I want that wisdom.
Verse five.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.
That giveth to all men liberally and abraitheth not,
and it shall be given him.
It sounds to me like God wants us to be wise.
I mean, why do you think he wrote such a big book?
Why do you think we have all these just things
that are written for our examples
upon whom the ends of the world have come?
Why is there a whole book in the book of Proverbs
that is dedicated to teaching us wisdom?
Why has he given us so many principles and doctrines
and things that are gonna help us live godly lives?
I mean, think of how practical the Bible is.
It touches every area of our life.
How to have a good marriage, how to raise children,
how to be good church members.
I mean, these are the practical issues of life.
He's not gonna teach you how to, you know,
God's not gonna enroll you in hustlers academy
or university or whatever it is,
teach you how to be some ungodly, borderline reprobate.
You know, but God is gonna give you true,
he wants us to be wise.
He wants us to have these things.
That's why he says if any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask God.
You know, but that's not gonna do the unsaved any good.
Well, just ask God.
They're not even saved.
But look, we're sitting here, we're saved,
we have the Holy Spirit.
If you want wisdom that's from above, it's right there.
All you gotta do is ask for it.
It's right there.
And it shall be given him.
God's not gonna hold it out like a carrot
and be like, oh, let's see how bad you really want it.
God wants his people to be wise.
God wants to impart wisdom unto us.
Verse six, but let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering, for he that wavereth
is like a wave of the sea,
driven in the wind and tossed.
Let not that man think that he shall receive
anything of the Lord.
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Look, if you're gonna get on board with God's program,
if you're gonna get on board with his wisdom,
you gotta get all the way on board with his wisdom.
You can't say, well, you know, I'm gonna use a little bit
of a few of the principles from the Word of God.
I'm gonna use this wisdom for this,
but I'm also gonna draw from this wisdom over here
that's earthly, sensual, and devilish.
Those things are, you know, they're opposed to one another.
You know, it's oil and water.
It's not gonna mix.
You gotta get all the way over.
You know, and when we get there, all the way over,
we say, Lord, you know, if we say,
the only wisdom I have is the wisdom of this world,
I'm a fool, you know, if we let ourselves become a fool,
then God will impart to us wisdom, if we ask him.
But I mean, think about how you would ask that of God.
Dear Lord, give me wisdom, now.
Not gonna get it.
No, Lord, I demand wisdom now.
You're not gonna get it.
You're gonna get it when you go humbly and meekly
before the throne of God.
And you know what?
It's not like God's just gonna sprinkle some dust on you.
Wisdom is something that's slowly imparted over time,
something that we learn and grow into.
We have to go through experiences.
We have to find answers in the Word of God.
We grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
It's something we grow into.
But it's there if we want it.
It's from above.
It's too high for the fool.
God's wisdom is something that is imparted unto us.
Imparted means simply that it's communicated.
It's information that is make known unto us.
God imparts wisdom to us.
God's wisdom is not just something you take at will.
Well, I'll get around to God's wisdom when I feel like it.
You're not gonna get it.
God imparts that wisdom unto us.
It's something he communicates to us.
It's something that he makes up.
It's something that he makes known unto us
when we desire it.
You say, well, how is he gonna do that?
Well, it's right here.
Go to Proverbs chapter number one.
How is God gonna impart wisdom to us?
You probably already know the answer.
You've probably already heard it.
We could probably go around the room
and everybody would know the answer.
Where is wisdom to be found?
It's in the Bible.
God's not gonna write some special revelation just for you.
God's not gonna come down here
and whisper in your ear
all the wisdom you need to hear
because he's already done that.
He's already written all the wisdom you need for this life
right here in this blessed book
called the Bible.
Where are we at? Proverbs one.
Look at verse one through five.
The Proverbs of Psalm and the Son of David,
King of Israel, to know wisdom
and instruction
to perceive the words of understanding,
to receive instruction of wisdom,
justice and judgment and equity,
to give subtly to the simple,
to the young man, knowledge and discretion,
a wise man will hear and will increase learning,
and a man of understanding shall attain
unto wise counsels.
That's the purpose of the book of Proverbs.
That's the purpose of the Bible.
It's the word of God
that is going to give us.
That's what the Bible says.
I won't take the time to turn us there
but didn't Paul tell Timothy
that from a child thou hast known
the holy scriptures which are able
to make thee wise.
What is it that's going to make you wise?
The holy scriptures.
Psalm 19 says
the testimony of the Lord is sure
doing what? Making wise the simple.
The testimony of the Lord is sure
making wise the simple.
That's one of the
amazing things about the Bible.
It's from above.
It's God-breathed.
God's spake
through the holy men of old.
That's how we have the Bible.
It's an inspired word.
It's a preserved word.
It's not just
any ordinary book.
It's literally the very
words of God
that you have here.
And it's the wisdom that comes from above.
And you're not going to find it out there
in the world.
Go to Proverbs chapter 21.
I'm almost done. Proverbs chapter number 21.
You know
if wisdom is from above
and if God has given us
his wisdom through his Bible,
through the word of God, you know what that tells me?
No Bible? No wisdom.
You're not reading
your Bible? No wisdom.
Somebody doesn't know the word of God?
No wisdom.
Somebody hasn't spent
the time reading and studying
and listening to and understanding
the word of God? There's no wisdom there.
Find somebody that knows the word of God
you have somebody that knows
wisdom. Because they know that
this is where it comes from.
And that's what
the Bible says. That is the source of wisdom.
Proverbs
21 verse 30.
There is no wisdom nor understanding
nor counsel against the Lord.
The
world's wisdom is gonna fail.
It's not like, well
God has some good ideas but I think there's
something better out there.
I know Andrew's got
his problems out there. Not Andrew Tate.
Not our Andrew.
Worlds apart. Believe me.
Oh man.
You know
I know he's got
his problems out there. Andrew Tate.
But you know maybe there is some good at it.
There is no wisdom or counsel or understanding
against the Lord. If it's not from the Bible
it's not wisdom.
It's the world's wisdom.
It's earthly. It's sensual.
It's devilish. It leads to envy
strife and bitterness.
It's not anything you want.
Let's go back
or yeah let's go back
keep something in Proverbs. Again I keep saying
it. I'm almost done. I'm not supposed to say that.
But I do anyway.
At least it drives me nuts.
I'm almost done. 20 minutes later.
I'm almost done.
Just say it when you're actually done.
Let's just look
real quick and this is like a whole other
sermon here.
Attributes that describe the scripture here.
Because we looked at
what the earthly
wisdom is. The attributes of it.
The things that it leads to.
That it's earthly, sensual, devilish and so on.
But then he talks about the wisdom
verse 17 that is from above.
And I believe that's a reference to the Bible
itself.
It's something that God imparts through the word of God.
Through his Holy Spirit.
And then when you kind of keep that in mind
and you start to think about how
wisdom is described here you can kind of see how
it reflects the word of God.
But the wisdom that is from above
is first pure.
That is a description of the word of God.
The Bible calls itself pure.
And I won't take the time to turn there to all these different passages.
But Proverbs 15.
Every word of God
that's Proverbs 30.
Every word of God is pure and is a shield unto them
that put their trust in him.
Every word of God is pure.
Let's go to
well no I've got it written down.
Psalms 12
it says this
this is Psalm 119
Thy word is very pure
therefore thy servant loveth it.
So the wisdom that is from above
is what? First pure.
The word of God is pure.
It's the purest thing there is.
That's what the Bible
describes itself. The words of the Lord are pure
words as silver tried in a furnace
of earth purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them O Lord. Thou shalt
preserve them from this generation
even forever.
The words of the Lord are pure words. I mean you can see how
this is a description of that wisdom
which is from above where he's calling it
pure.
He goes on and gives a few
other attributes. I'm not going to take the time to look
at all of them tonight.
He says first it's pure then what?
Then peaceable.
Look I know there's some rough things
in the word of God. Anybody who's read
it knows there's some things that
you would say I don't know if peaceable is exactly
the word I'd use to describe that.
But there's a lot of things in the word of God
that bring peace to us isn't there?
He's the God of all
comfort the Bible says.
There's a balm in Gilead.
You know God can heal. God
brings peace. Great peace
have they that love thy law and
nothing shall offend them.
Those of us that love the word of God
that love the law we have great peace
and nothing shall offend
them.
I will hear what the Lord will speak
for he will speak peace
unto his people and to his saints
but let them not turn again to
folly. He said I will
hear what the Lord will
speak. What's the Lord going to speak?
Peace unto his people.
You know you read the word of God
you get this wisdom that is from above
you're going to find out some things real quick. One it's pure.
Everything it's
saying is right.
And two it's peaceable.
You know it's things that are going to bring peace to us.
It's things that are going to comfort us. It's things that we need.
And he goes
on this list and I'm not going to take the time
to develop all this I haven't. And he says
it's easy to be entreated. Full of mercy.
I mean isn't that
don't we see I mean the Bible
describes the mercy of God.
I mean the whole theme of the Bible really
when you think about it is mercy.
What's mercy? Not getting what you deserve.
God basically just takes the time to show how wicked
man is. Christ shows
up dies for all of mankind.
You know offers grace
freely to all who will believe
and then goes to heaven and promises you come back
and restore peace.
What's the overarching theme of Scripture?
Mercy.
That God is a merciful God.
That he didn't just say well
you know I tried with these people
but you know let's try
again let's start over.
No it's a theme of mercy.
It's full of mercy
and good fruits.
If we go to the wisdom which is from above
if we go to the Bible if we
put it into practice in our life
we're going to have a life that is full of good
fruits.
We're going to have all these things.
It's without partiality.
That's the word of God.
I mean the Bible says
if we're guilty we're guilty.
If we cross this line
we don't
we observe these things
without preferring one before another doing
nothing by partiality as
Timothy was told.
That's a charge he was given the sight of God
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And without hypocrisy.
The Bible doesn't contradict itself.
God isn't a hypocrite.
His word is not hypocrisy.
You can see how this is kind of a good description
of the word of God itself.
What's my point is that
if this is the word of God
that it's referring to and I believe
at least that's how I'm applying it tonight that it is
it tells me that
the wisdom that is from above
has descended to us
the word of God.
Just like Christ who is the word of God has descended.
And we have access to this wisdom
which is from above.
Are we taking advantage of it?
Are we going to be a people
that seek to have that wisdom
from above? If we are
our lives will show it.
Our lives will show it through our
conversation through our meekness of wisdom
which is imparted unto us
through the word of God as we go to God
with humility
with an open heart and mind
to the things of God.
Let's go ahead and have a quick word of prayer.