Wednesday, December 14, 2022 PM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

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and know everything there is, but because I've looked in the scriptures, the wisdom literature in the scriptures, it's in the book of Job, the book of Proverbs, the book of Ecclesiastes, and there's a book in the

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New Testament that speaks of wisdom, sometimes included in the wisdom literature.

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Can you guess which book it is? I'll give you a clue.

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If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God.

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Now where would you find that? What was it? James, that's right, and he speaks of wisdom in a number of places and has some wise things to say throughout his letter.

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So those are the primary sources of wisdom in the scriptures, including a few psalms.

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Psalm 1, Psalm 37, for example, are classified as wisdom psalms.

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There are others, but the Bible has a lot to say about wisdom.

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So first of all, let's have a word of prayer, and we'll take

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James' advice. Father, bless our time together tonight as we look into your word.

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Give us wisdom to understand your word, to understand your will and your ways, and help us to know you in a deeper way that we might serve you with a greater diligence and love you with a deeper love, and be better witnesses for your

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Son, the Lord Jesus. In his name I pray, Amen. In Proverbs chapter 1, verse 20, it says,

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Wisdom cries aloud in the street. In the markets she raises her voice.

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At the head of the noisy streets she cries out. At the entrance of the city gate she speaks.

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And then in chapter 8, also, does not wisdom call, does not understanding raise her voice?

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On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand. Beside the gates, in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals, she cries aloud.

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To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. O simple ones, learn prudence.

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O fools, learn sense. This is wisdom that cries out.

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This is wisdom that's universal. It's common.

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It's wisdom that every man has to a degree.

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Some have, maybe most, have a little bit of it, and some a lot.

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But every man has some, and it's by the common grace of God, just as every man has life, physical life, by the common grace of God.

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Every step is a gift. Every breath is a gift.

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Every heartbeat is a gift. Some of you know that more than others.

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I stubbed my toe the other night, and I thought I was gonna die. Just a toe, okay, and I could just barely get around.

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You know, the whole body was shut down because of the toe. Every step is a gift.

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It was a reminder of that. This wisdom that cries aloud.

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Again, it's universal. It's common, and it's by the, you know, common grace of God. Every man has it, and because it's of the common grace of God, it speaks of the ways of God.

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There was a time in the life of Moses when he said, well, he was given a job, and the job was getting a little bigger than he thought.

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It involved a little more than he was thinking, and so he came before God one day, and he says, show me your ways.

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He says, if I'm gonna lead these your people, okay, you're gonna have to show me your ways.

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I need help, okay. Show me your ways. And Psalm 103 verse 8 says,

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God shows his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel.

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He did show Moses his ways. Psalm 25 says, make me to know your ways.

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Teach me your paths. You see, this wisdom that is universal from the common grace of God can speak of the ways of God.

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It does speak of his ways, but there is a deeper wisdom, a wisdom that you may have to dig for, okay.

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You may have to search it out. In chapter 2 of Proverbs, my son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding, yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the

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Lord and find the knowledge of God. Seek it like silver.

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Search for it as for hidden treasure. You see, there is a wisdom that cries aloud, and there is a wisdom that is hidden.

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Now, this wisdom is uncommon. This wisdom that is hidden is uncommon.

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It must be sought after. It must be dug for after Moses asked

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God to show him his ways, and God thought that was a good idea. Moses worked up a little more boldness, and then he asked

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God, show me your glory. You know, not only do

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I want to know your ways, I want to know your glory. And so God answered this also, and he said,

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I will make all of my goodness pass before you. I will make all of my goodness pass before you.

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See, the glory of God is his goodness. And this is Exodus chapter 33 and 34.

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And shortly after that, God told Moses, you stand on this rock here, and I'm going to pass by, and I'm going to put my hand over you so that you can't see my face, and as I pass by, you're going to see my glory.

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And so the Lord did that, and as he went by, he said, the Lord, the

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Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

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You see, this is the goodness of God. Moses said, show me your glory.

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David said, one thing have

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I desired, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the

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Lord all the days of my life, beholding the beauty of the Lord, the beauty of the

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Lord, that will

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I seek after. When we come to the New Testament, it's 1

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Corinthians 2, verse 7. Paul says to the

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Corinthian church, but we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which

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God decreed before the ages for our glory. We impart a secret and hidden wisdom.

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You see, there's a wisdom that cries out, and there's a wisdom that's hidden.

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And who is it that finds this hidden wisdom? It's the ones who seek for it.

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Who was it that found the lost coin? It was the woman who sought after it. Who was it that found the lost sheep?

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It was the shepherd who went after it and found it. Jesus said, ask, and this is a sermon on the mount, okay?

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Ask, and it will be given. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

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Hidden wisdom is found by those who seek after it.

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David said, one thing I desire, and that will I seek after. A very good illustration of that is in Mark chapter 4.

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Jesus just lays it out in the parable of the sower.

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Now this is a parable you all know, the parable of the sower. A sower went out to sow, and some seed fell here, some seed fell there.

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You know the parable, okay? Fell on four kinds of soil, and he was in the boat close to shore.

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The crowd was on the shore, and when he finished this parable, he got out of the boat, walked onto the shore.

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You can picture this in your mind, okay? Got out of the boat, walked to the shore, gathered up his disciples, and walked off.

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And some of the crowd came after him, and it says, okay, and when he was alone with the disciples and some others, okay, who came, they asked him, we want to know what this means.

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I mean, now what he shared with them, you might call it wisdom that cries out.

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I mean, if you're a sower, okay, what he shared with them, okay, you need to know that.

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You know, if your seed falls on the path, you know, you're not going to get any fruit. If it falls, you know, on rocky soil, you're not going to get any fruit.

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If it falls among weeds, you're not going to get any fruit. The only place that you're going to get any fruit is if you sow your seed on good soil, okay?

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That's universal wisdom, and a sower should know that.

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At Proverbs 6, that's the chapter of go to the ant, thou sluggard.

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You remember that, right, about the lazy man? Now, this man, he's not going to sow at all.

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He's not going to reap at all either. This is universal wisdom, okay?

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But now, these people come after Christ, and they want to know, what does this mean?

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This universal wisdom. We know you mean something more than just that, and so he tells them what it means.

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But before he tells them, this is what he says. To you, you that have come after me, you that seek to know more, to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God.

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Now, think about all the other people in the crowd. They just left, but there were some who came after him.

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You see, it's the ones who hunger and thirst.

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Even in the Old Testament, Psalm 63, O God, you are my

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God, earnestly will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

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My soul thirsts for you. This hidden wisdom, this deeper wisdom is for those who are hungry and thirsty and are willing to dig and seek and ask and knock and come to the

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Savior and say, I want to know more. Show me your glory, a secret and hidden wisdom.

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Well, let me ask you, are you satisfied with knowing the ways of God? Or do you hunger for the glory of God?

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You remember Jeremiah 29, 13. You will seek me and find me when you seek for me.

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You remember the rest of it? With all your heart, that's right. As digging for silver and gold.

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The hidden, the deeper wisdom.

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And the most important part, the most important part of this secret and hidden wisdom is in Colossians chapter 2, verse 3.

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Guess where all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

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It's in Colossians 2, 3. In Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

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If you want to know the glory of God, seek out Christ. Seek out

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Christ. In Christ, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ.

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There is a wisdom that is universal and cries out and is common everywhere.

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And then there is a hidden wisdom. The wisdom that comes from knowing

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Christ. The wisdom that comes from knowing Christ.

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And it comes to those who will ask, seek, and knock.

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It comes to those who are hungry to know more. Who are thirsty to know

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God in a deeper way. Who want to dig into his word and find not just the wisdom that cries out, but the wisdom that's deep in the heart of Christ.

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The wisdom that's deep in the heart of Christ. Now this wisdom, let me give you a little more insight into this wisdom.

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We spoke of the New Testament book that's classified as wisdom literature.

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That's the book of James. So turn to James. First of all, the source of this wisdom, we already spoke of that.

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It's in chapter 1, verse 5. If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

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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.

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For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double -minded man, unstable in all his ways.

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If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously.

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But he must ask in faith. If we are to receive anything from God, we must have faith in Christ.

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Faith in Christ. And then in chapter 3 of James, verse 13.

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Now James speaks of two kinds of wisdom here. Now, we've already spoken of the wisdom that cries out and is universal, and the wisdom that is hidden.

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James speaks of wisdom that is from above and wisdom that is from below.

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Okay? One of the contrasts that James speaks of.

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Chapter 3, verse 13. Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

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You see, James wants to see, you know, it was last week, right,

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Chris shared with us about justification by faith.

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James says, okay, I buy that. I just want to see it. You know what

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I'm saying. Remember last week, right? Who is wise and understanding among you?

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By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.

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

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

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But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

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And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

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Okay? This wisdom, okay, that James describes as wisdom from above, okay, is first of all pure.

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It's pure. Whenever I see the word pure, I think of, you know, a, well, think about distilled water.

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You know when you buy distilled water, what do you think you're getting? Just water.

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That's it, right? No minerals, no chemicals, or no other chemicals.

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You know, water is a chemical. Just water. That's all that's there. It's pure water.

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Pure just means, you know, one substance. And it's like James speaks of here when he says, you know, if you're going to ask

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God for wisdom, be sure you ask in faith. Because if you ask in doubting, you will never receive what you're asking for.

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You're like a double -minded man, unstable in all his ways, you know, tossed to and fro.

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This is a man who's not single -minded, okay? This is a man who is not a man of integrity, whose thoughts, words, and actions do not agree.

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He is double -minded. A single -minded man is a man of integrity.

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His thoughts, his words, and his actions all agree. He's not deceitful.

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Single -minded. Pure. Ritually clean.

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Chaste. Morally blameless. Innocent. You know, the word holy, you know, when you speak of the holiness of God, it has three components.

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Purity, okay? Separateness. That which is holy is separate from that which is profane.

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The instruments and the furniture that was put into the tabernacle were all anointed and became holy, sacred, set apart.

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I mean, you could have a candelabra in your home that was different than the one that's in the tabernacle because the one in the tabernacle is separated to the use of God.

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Separate. God's holiness means He is pure.

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He is separate. He is God. We are not. He is

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God. We are people. And then one more component to the holiness of God, and that is awe.

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And when I speak of awe, I'm speaking of fear, terror, wonder.

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You know, God's name is not to be known but is to be wondered at. Oh, Lord, our

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Lord, how wonderful is Your name in all the earth. Wisdom from above is pure, ritually clean, chaste, morally blameless, innocent.

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Okay? It comes from the holiness of God Himself. It is secondly, peaceable.

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Peaceable. You know, a group of people that come together to make a decision.

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You know, if they are Christian people, they will pray. And they will ask for wisdom from God.

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You know, help us in this decision. Well, I can tell you this, okay, if they're arguing and fighting, okay,

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I don't see any peace here. I don't see any wisdom coming down from above. You see?

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Thirdly, it is gentle. Okay? It is gentle. A soft answer turns away wrath.

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It is open to reason. Open to reason. You know, whenever I see protesters, you know, on the news, you know, with the signs and the yelling and the screaming and the, you know,

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I don't see any wisdom there. Zero. Zero.

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Wisdom from above is open to reason. It's full of mercy and good fruit. Fruit comes from wisdom, making the right decisions.

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A good definition of wisdom, if you're looking for a definition, is seeing and responding to life situations from God's perspective.

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That's wisdom. First of all, you can see the situation from His perspective. And secondly, you respond accordingly to His ways.

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Okay? Seeing and responding to life situations from God's perspective.

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Because He's at work in your life, is He not? You know, work out your own salvation.

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For it is God who is working in you both to will and to do

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His pleasure, His good pleasure. He's working within you to make you after the image of Christ.

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And so, see these things in life situations that are before you. See these things in the situations that God brings into your life.

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I remember Paul said in, I believe it's the first chapter of 2 Corinthians, he says,

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I felt like I was given the sentence of death. You know, quite often

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Paul tells about, you know, his afflictions, his troubles, you know. But hey, you know, he never complains about any of it.

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He always says, I rejoice that I can share Christ.

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I still remember, I think it was Lystra, he went into this town and shared

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Christ and they really got upset with him. They drug him outside of town and stoned him and left him for dead.

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And some of his followers came after him and shook him and he got up.

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Now if that was me, I'd head for the next town. You know where he went?

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Back to Lystra. They need Christ. I felt like I was given the sentence of death, but this was to make me depend more on God who raises the dead.

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Wow. You know, James speaks to that.

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He says, listen, count it all joy, brothers, when you meet various trials.

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Hey, Paul took his advice. He said, listen, I felt like I was given the sentence of death, but this came to make me depend more on God.

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Wow. Now what an attitude. Who raises the dead.

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Even if I do die, he will raise me from the dead. Wow. Well, it's just about time to stop.

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Wisdom is full of good fruit. It's impartial. It's not biased. It is sincere.

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Sincere. I'll close with this.

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First Timothy, I think it's chapter one, verse five. The purpose of our instruction, the end of the commandment, is love which springs from a pure heart.

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A pure heart. Love which springs from a pure heart. A sincere faith.

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A sincere faith. And a clear conscience. A clear conscience.

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Those would also be characteristics of wisdom from above. Not wisdom from below.

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The purpose of our instruction, in other words, why am I standing here sharing these things with you? That you might develop love from a pure heart.

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A sincere faith and a clear conscience. That you might be more like Christ. That I might be more like Christ, our

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Savior. I'll close in prayer. Father, I thank you and I praise you for your

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Son, the Lord Jesus, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Help us to see your hand at work in our lives.

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Help us to form habits that would draw us closer to Christ every day.

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Help us to see the world as you see it. A lost world.

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And help us to share Christ. Help us to be better witnesses for your