Tag: Wisdom

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James Sermon

Managing God’s wealth: James 5:1-6

Introduction

Good morning church, good to see all of you, hope all of you are doing well, Today we are gonna meditate a very interesting topic James 5, Remember we are going through a book series from James under the theme “Faith in action” and we have come to the last chapter.

Today we shall meditate James 5:1-6.

and I would like to entitle my sermon as “Managing God’s wealth”

What does it mean managing God’s wealth? well….

Life is a gift from God, our talent our skill, everything we got belong to God, our possession, your money, your wealth, your property, your job, your business, all belong to God. how we manage them matters to God.

Colossians 1:16

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him.

God want us to be a good manager of our own life, He want us to take good care of everything He has given us,

everything He has bless us, and we know

Someday we will give account to God for the life we have lived.

Today we shall meditate on just one part, that is “Managing God’s wealth” this is very important subject, you know out of 29 Jesus parable 13 parables are talking about money.

There are over 700 direct references to money in the Bible. Why is money such a popular subject in the Bible?

Because money is a window into the heart.

How we handle money exposes the values and priorities of our hearts.

Today many people wrongly believe that the Bible teaches that it’s wrong to be wealthy. They think that the Bible says: “Money is the root of all evil”.

But Bible does not teach this. What Bible says is: 1 Tim 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

God is not opposed to wealth. In fact, many people in the Bible were extremely wealthy.

Abraham was probably a millionaire if it was valued according to today’s standards.

David and Solomon were both wealthy men of their time. Job was also wealthy and the list could go on and on.

It is not wealth that is evil.

Look at First Timothy again, “The love of money”. You see that is where the real problem arises. It is the misuse of money, the love of money that causes all kinds of problems.

James lashes out at the wrong use of money by the wealthy.

He gives a rebuke probably one of the most negative passages in the Bible against the misuse of money.

He looks at 3 specific areas we need to be aware of when it comes to money. James gives his listeners a healthy warning of how they should handle their wealth. In other words – How to be Wise with Money.

Let’s look how God wants us to handle our money in three areas:

  1. Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.
  2. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.

3Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment.

  • For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
  • You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.
  • You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.
  1. Don’t treasure greedily but manage wisely. (1-3)
  2. Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.
  3. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.

3Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment.

In the first century Middle Eastern culture, wealth was measured in three ways: grain, garments and gold.

The rich had so much food that it was rotting in their barns.

They had a lot of fancy clothing that was filled with holes caused by moths. And their gold and silver, the most durable forms of wealth, had lost its luster because it was hidden under piles of other stuff that they had too much of.

James tells the wealthy that they better get ready to weep and wail, not because they had money but because they hoarded (accumulate) it and took advantage of those who had less.

Wealth is not the problem; the misuse of it is.

Even in our present days many people save their wealth in many forms,

In other words, what you have stored away believing it to be good and something you can rely upon to save you at a future time.

All of that is useless and will leave you helpless.

He was telling these rich people that they could NOT rely upon their wealth for sustenance or for shelter clothing.

They could not take shelter from this world or from their sin in their wealth. It would fail them in the end.

James’s attention is on the day of God’s judgment against these wealthy oppressors. The misuse of their gold and silver will testify against them.

Instead of using their stockpiles of precious metals to help the poor, they just hoarded the money until it began to waste away.

When God rules against them, their own flesh will be eaten away by fire in the same way the corrosion has eaten away their gold and silver.

Without doubt, this is a harsh and cutting pronouncement. James offers no grace from God for these unrepentant unbelievers.

They will be condemned for their greed and selfishness. They are guilty of laying up earthly treasure for themselves in the last days instead of spending it to help those in need.

James echoes Jesus’ own teaching:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

In Luke 12:13-21,

Jesus narrates the Parable of the Rich Fool

  1. Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
  2. Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”
  3. Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
  1. And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.
  2. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
  3. “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.
  4. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
  5. “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
  6. “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.

Everyone around the world is so busy with their life, running for money, when we see Mumbai city, it is always busy, people rush to office, business place, working so hard to earn money for living,

But money should not become our heart idol,

Lets us always remember that we are here in this world for temporary, we will take nothing out of this world, rather

We should focus on what God want us to do with our life and with our wealth and money.

1 Tim 6:17-19.

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they

will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

How do I Manage my wealth wisely

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what He cannot lose. Jim Elliot (missionary to AUCA) @ 28 he was killed by Auca tribe in south America.

Giving up everything it can be money, time, life, family for God’s great work, for His glory.

I think what Jim elliot says is the “wise management”

If we are misusing our wealth we should come to Jesus like Zeccchaius, the tax collector, if i have taken which i am not suppose I will pay back double. because of his sincere repentance Jesus forgive him.

Application:

Church how are you managing your money or wealth God has given you? Are you investing your wealth on earth or

Investing your treasures in Heaven? We should be wise church.

We should not be like heathens who invest possessions in this world.

Colossians 3:1-3 says.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

  • Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
  • For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

2.       Don’t cheat anyone, but manage with integrity. (4)

  • For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Here, James charges these abusive rich men not just with neglect and selfishness, but with outright fraud. These wealthy businessmen cheated their own employees out of the wages they had earned working in the fields.

In the Old Testament Law, employers were commanded to pay their laborers at the end of the work day, because the workers needed the money and they might cry out to the Lord if cheated by their employer (Deuteronomy 24:15).

James describes the unpaid money itself as crying out against the oppressive landowners, along with the voices of the workers.

The landowners should be sure of this: Those voices have reached the Lord of Hosts. That name, “Lord of Hosts”, is one often used throughout Scripture in association with God’s judgment.

The Lord commands powerful armies, and He is coming for you, James is saying.

Church lets be careful if we cheat people we will be without excuse, God is looking down He sees, knows all things.

How people cheat each other this days. (my first job was cheating job)

It was a scam company, I work there for more than a year, I was innocent at first but at the end I came to know that it was scam company.

Everyday I have to dial around 400 people every night, I usually talk to 200 people. We sale a product which does not exist.

At the end of the work i feel guilty of cheating and lying many people, charging their credit card with the products that will never reach them.

at last i was so guilty and depressed i give up and repent of my sins. This scam things are going on all over the world.

We also see fraud in many private and public sectors.

Demanding money for job,

My wife Phila was asked 7 lakh for nurse job in Manipur, we denied coz we don’t believe in fraud.

Cheating can be in many ways

Betraying someone, not keeping promises, false promises, unfaithful to spouse. unfaithful to friends and family, unfaithful at work, unfaithful to God.

Illustration:

Judas was cashier among the twelve, he cheat and work without integrity at the end he felt in sin and end up his life is misery.

As Christians, we know that the Bible has many warnings against the dangers of pursuing wealth. In 1 Timothy 6:9-10, the apostle Paul warns,

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

“Doom to him who builds palaces but bullies people, who makes a fine house but destroys lives, Who cheats his workers and won’t pay them for their work.” Jeremiah 22:13 (MSG)

When we look the live of Joseph in OT ….

Illustration: Joseph was an excellent manger with integrity.

Doing the right things even when no one is watching that is integrity.

He was the incharge of potiphar house he manage with integrity, he did the right things even no one was watching, His faith and integrity was tested many times, but His faith and his integrity didn’t change as a result God raise him higher and higher in his position at the end he was next to his king Pharaoh in Egypt.

Application: Remember church

Colossians 3:9-10 Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old nature with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new nature, which is being renewed in full knowledge, consistent with the image of the one who created it.

Proverbs 10:9 People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall.

3.        Don’t live selfishly but share generously. (5-6)

  • You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.
  • You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.

The way we spend our money is very important. James tells his readers that they are spending their money in a wrong way.

“You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.” James 5:5

We are not to waste our wealth. We are not to be overly self indulgent.

The more money you make the easier it is to waste it. We tend to say, “I deserve it. I’m worth it       I might as well enjoy myself.”

Just because you can afford something does not mean you should buy it. The Bible tells us not to waste our money.

There are millions of ways to spend and squander your money on yourself. But we should always ask, Is that pleasing to God?

The Bible tells us that we are to spend our money wisely. We are to plan how we spend our money. Look at what it says in Proverbs:

“The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5

The Bible clearly teaches that God is concerned with how we get our money, How we save our money and how we spend our money.

God is concerned with every aspect of our lives and that includes our finances. Are you using them in a way that is pleasing to God?

Are you including God in your financial planning?

He wants to be the center of your life and that includes how you handle your money.

Place God at the center of your life. Make Him Lord of your life. Ask Him to be the center of all that you do to include your finances.

Sharing generously-

Illustration: one of the example is first century believers.

They have deep love for one another, they share whatever they have, they take care of one another, Some even sale their property and use it for God’s ministry.

We need to remember the faith of first century believers and follow their exemplary life, they know all their belongings are from God, and they use it for God glory, we have to learn their generosity and glorify God with our resources God has bless us.

Conclusion: Remember church

We are created in God beautiful image, we are created to worship Him, to serve Him, to live this life for him.

We know because of our sins we were living without hope, we were dead in our sins, we were slave to sin.

But because of God great mercy and great loves, He send His only son to die for our sin, to redeem us from slavery of sins, as we repent our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and saviour,

He purchased us from eternal condemnation, from slavery of sins and gave us new life.

2 Cor. 5:17 says.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

We are new creation in christ.

1 Cor 6:19-20.

  1. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
  2. you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Cor 10:31.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Church our life, our wealth, our possession, our everything belongs to Christ. We are here to serve Him, to live for His glory.

Lets use our finance, our wealth wisely for His glory.

  1. let us not treasure greedily but manage wisely. (1-3)
  2. Let not cheat anyone, but manage everything with integrity. (4)
  3. Lets not live selfishly but share generously to all people. (5-6)

May God grant heavenly wisdom to all of you, may God’s name be glorify in your financial life.

May you be the light and salt to the people around you.

May God bless you and keep you and make His face shine on you and give you peace. Amen

Categories
James Sermon

Dangers of Worldly Wisdom : James 4:1-4

Good morning church, so good to see all of you again, hope all of you are doing well. Last Sunday we have meditated on a topic: “Wisdom from above” from pastor Jinson,  Today we shall continue our book study from James 4:1-4. 

I would like to entitle my sermon as “Dangers of worldly wisdom”  

I would like to start with a story from the Old Testament bible,  

There was a king named Solomon, God greatly bless him with abundant wisdom,  He ruled his kingdom with the wisdom given by God, as a result, there were peace, prosperity and justice in his kingdom, He wrote famous books that are in the bible, i.e. proverb, ecclesiastic and Song of Solomon. He was the wisest man in human history but during his later age he was controlled by worldly wisdom and by the end of his life he was miserable. His kingdom was divided into two part. He ends up worshipping his wife’s idols.  

Had he stuck with the wisdom given from above his life would have ended well.  But his life ended up in a disastrous way.  

His life shows us that worldly wisdom is dangerous and can destroy our family, our life and reputation and break God’s heart.  

Keeping this story in mind lets turn to our text.  

James 4:1-4.  

1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  

2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.  

3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  

4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity  against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 

I would like to give 3 vital points from the above verses. 

1) Worldly wisdom leads to fighting, quarrelling and killing. (1-2)  1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires  that battle within you?  

2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want,  so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

You know church,  

There were fights and quarrels and even killing in James days because of worldly desires that battle within their heart. These worldly desires are from our heart idols. 

Worldly wisdom or worldly idols leads to all kind of life problem, such as fighting, quarrelling and killing. 

I will like to bring a story of King David from Old testament to understand our point better.

David was the second king of Israel,  we know most of Psalm in the bible was written by him, he was a musician, song composer, poet,  Shepherd, He was a giant slayer, God said, He is the man after God’s own heart, King David have weakness too.  

I wanna bring the dark story of David so that we will learn a lesson from him. 

The story is in 2 Samuel 11. “The story of David and Bathsheba” 

The story of David and Bathsheba reminds us of how great men who are called by God are still humans and struggle with sin.  

The events begin with King David choosing to stay home in Jerusalem while he sent the rest of the Israelite army to fight other nations and kings. David is relaxing and walking on the palace roof when he sees a beautiful woman bathing on her roof. David was immediately drawn to her and sent messengers to find out who she was. The messengers returned and told David that her name was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah.  Despite David knowing that she was married, he sent for her and slept with her.  Bathsheba later sends word to David that she was pregnant.  

David was nervous that his sin of adultery would now be found out. The King called for  Uriah to come home so that he could spend a night with his wife, Bathsheba, and cover up the sin that Bathsheba was pregnant with David’s child.  

However, Uriah refused to sleep with his wife while his fellow men were off fighting.  David was filled with anger that his plan did not work.  

When Uriah went back to war, King David sent a note to the army commander with instructions to have Uriah put at the frontline and to withdraw so that he would die.   Bathsheba mourned her husband’s death and was then brought to King David to be his wife.  The prophet Nathan visited King David and told him of the Lord’s disapproval and displeasure with David. Even though David repented of his sin, Nathan told David that the son Bathsheba was expecting would die.  

Let us see David heart idols that bring quarrelling and fighting and even killing.

1) Laziness

When the nation is at risk fighting battle with the enemy, when many people are risking their life, sacrificing life to protect their family, their people and their nation, he was enjoying and relaxing at home.

He was neglecting his duty as a leader of the nation. Example, What would you think if China attacks India and our prime minister simply stay home,  sleeping and relaxing and enjoying life at home.  

Do you think opposition party will leave him, do you think citizen of India will keep silent, not at all right. David was neglecting his duty and responsibility. 

2) He commits adultery by sleeping with Uriah wife

3) Not only committing adultery with Bathsheba he killed her husband Uriah.

The result of David sins bring great chaos in his family and the nation Israel, there was fighting among David household, his son Absolom fight back his father David to take the throne. as a result, Absolom was killed. Bathsheba son died. 

This a sad story from the life of King David.

We know David was driven by worldly wisdom, driven by his heart idols which bring pain and misery in his life. 

In the same way, if we are not driven by wisdom from above we will end up our life in pain and misery because outside God we cant find peace and joy and satisfaction. 

Last Sunday sermon reminds us that we should focus on wisdom from above, wisdom from God. 

We know we have our own heart idols, it can be laziness, lust, comfort, covetousness, pride, good things, money, fame, dream, career, family, job, fashion, sports, social media. If these things are controlling your heart and driving your life, we will end up our life in a miserable way.

The bible clearly says in the first commandment that is, You shall have no other God before me. 

What are your heart idols? What are the things that are pulling you down? 

Church lets identify our heart idols like those of King David. What I really like about David is, He literally cries out  to God for forgiveness, He repents his sins to God. 

Let’s see how David repent his sins in Psalm 51. 

1.Have mercy on me, O God,  

 according to your unfailing love;  

according to your great compassion  

 blot out my transgressions.  

2.Wash away all my iniquity  

 and cleanse me from my sin.  

3. For I know my transgressions,  

 and my sin is always before me.  

4. Against you, you only, have I sinned  

 and done what is evil in your sight;  

10. Create in me a pure heart, O God,  

 and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  

11. Do not cast me from your presence  

 or take your Holy Spirit from me.  

12. Restore to me the joy of your salvation  

 and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  

14. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,  

 you who are God my Savior,  

 and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 

Application:  

Church let us come before God and surrender all our heart idols before God and receive God’s forgiveness and grace like David. 

So that we will live a life that pleases God, a life that glorifies God.

2) Worldly wisdom approaches God with the wrong motives.

(3) “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 

James find out their root problem that is, they didn’t even ask God for their needs,  Here in this verse, James reveals that when they did ask God for what they wanted,  They were simply trying to manipulate Him.  

Many a time we all approach God with wrong motives, just to satisfy our heart desires.  Many prayers were not really requests, we just make an effort to make God serve our selfish desires.  

Many people approach with wrong motives in prayer. (How)  

Not only wrong motives many people are prayerless and many people don’t know what they are praying in the middle of their prayer,  Some people pray like reciting a poem, some people pray without believing.  

What does it mean to pray with wrong motives? What is a wrong prayer? Scripture tells us,  because of these reasons our prayers are so often not answered,  

Because we ask for things so that we gratify our lust and pleasure.  

We ask for the wrong reasons, with the wrong motives. For instance, we ask for:  Good health and long life so we can be more comfortable in life. 

We ask Money just to serve our desires and not Gods purpose. 

We ask Success so that we can be recognized,

We ask Position so we can be in authority and power.

We ask for blessed family, so we can enjoy their presence.  

At first, glance, asking for these things doesn’t seem to be wrong, but when we ask for these things simply to gratify our own desires then we are asking with the wrong motive.  

What is the right motive for prayer?  

How can we pray and know that God will give the desires of our heart? 

Our heart motive should be, asking for blessings so that we glorify God.  When a person wants something from God, he must want it so that he can glorify God.

1. If we want good health, long blessed life, it must be, so that we can glorify God. 

2. If we want to bear fruit in our lives and in our work, or in our church and in our community, it must be, so that we can glorify God.  

3. If we want the basic necessities of life food, clothing, shelter, or a purpose in life, or meaning in life, and significance, or assurance, and confidence and security or if we want a  position of authority or money, it must be, so that we can glorify God in our lives and with our testimony.  

Paul said, “don’t worry about everything, but pray about everything.” 

If you lack anything, church, pray!

If you have difficulties in your life, pray! 

If you are overwhelmed, pray! If you are confused pray!  

If you are hopeless pray, If you are stuck in between pray!  

If you are happy, pray!

If you are blessed, pray!

Bible says

“Pray without ceasing.”  

How is your prayer life?

Church are you really living a prayerful life? 

James 4:2 says You didn’t receive because you didn’t ask.  

James 4:3 says You didn’t receive because you ask with wrong motives.  

Application:  

Church God is ready to bless us, He wants all of us to ask,  

But we have to ask with the right motives in order to receive His blessings.  

Romans 8:31 says.  

32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also,  along with him, graciously give us all things? 

John 14:14 says.  

“If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. 

With that lets come to our last point.  

3) Worldly wisdom leads to friendship with the world.
(4) Friendship with the world is dangerous, 

4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 

James uses strong language. He calls them adulterous people 

1. Being adulterous means that a person is guilty of spiritual adultery.  The relationship between a believer and Christ is like that of a marriage.  That is why the church is called the bride of Christ.  

Our bond with Christ is so close that when we turn away from Him to the world,  It is like committing spiritual adultery.  

Spiritual adultery means that we turn away from God to the world that we break our commitment to God and turn to other things of this world. 

The picture of spiritual adultery shows us just how meaningful God counts our  relationship with Christ:  

It’s a relationship of love, a bond of love that can be the closest bond in all the world.  If we turn away from Christ to the world, it breaks his heart with the deepest pain. 

We should never forget that our Lord gave His life and died for us.  He has done everything He can to save us and to create a relationship with us.  So, we shouldn’t hurt Him anymore. We must not crucify Christ anymore.  We shouldn’t forsake Him for the world.  

We shouldn’t commit spiritual adultery against Him by turning to the world. 

What comprises spiritual adultery?  

– Spiritual adultery is not obeying the commandment of the Lord – It’s unclean deeds and sinful behaviour.  

– Spiritual adultery is giving oneself to sinful things and vile things, 

– It’s continually slapping God in the face by committing the same sin over and over again because the world says it’s OK. 

– It’s forgetting God and turning one’s back on Him. 

– It’s refusing to return to God and not acknowledging the Lord.  

– It’s forsaking God, disbelieving in Christ, being ashamed of Jesus and His Words.

Church we should never commit spiritual adultery.  

The question asked in verse 4 last part: “Don’t you know that friendship with the world is  hated toward God?” What does this mean? It means the person who is a friend of the world is the enemy of God.  

Everything in this world passes away. This world is physical and material so it has the seed of corruption and seed of sin in it.

Because of this, it stands against God. It’s not eternal nor holy and righteous like God. So, any person who is a friend of this world stands against God. 

Application:  

1 John 2:15-17.  

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  

16 For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life come not from the Father but from the world.  

17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Church lets obey God’s command and be a true obedient Child of Our Father.  

Conclusion.  

Church, together we have to meditate on 3 vital points under the topic  

“Danger of worldly wisdom”  

1.Worldly wisdom leads to fighting, quarrelling and killing. (1-2)  

2.Worldly wisdom approach God with wrong motive.(3)  

3.Worldly wisdom leads to friendship with the world. (4)  

Don’t let worldly wisdom and idols of this world drive you, it is dangerous, it is deadly,  believers don’t have time for all these worldly things, we have learnt enough lessons from the life of King David.

Let the wisdom of God drive your life, let the will of God drive your life.  

Let the good news of God drive you,  

so that wherever you go you will be the light and salt of this world.  

Secondly, let us always approach God with right motives, let us keep asking God and receive all the amazing blessings from God and glorify God with all the good things we receive from Him.  

Thirdly, Let us not be a friend of this world but let us be a truly loyal friend of Christ.

Let us Pray.

Categories
James Sermon

Wisdom from above – James 3:13-18

Good morning church! Hope everyone is doing okay.

As a Church we’ve been going through a preaching series called “Faith in Action” from the letter of James.

It’s personally been such an enriching and challenging series for my heart personally. It feels like each week that I’ve been shaken up from the comforts of my Christian walk & challenged to evaluate the current status of my faith.

I’m sure similarly this series has been a blessing to you all as well. Right now we find ourselves in the middle of James chapter 3 & “spoiler alert” – this is another challenging passage for us this morning – but as believers, that’s a wonderful thing because we know that these challenging passages turn our hearts back to the gospel.

Let’s dive into it and read the passage once more:

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.

“I thought there was nothing worse that could happen in 2020 and then came the power outage!”

Those were the words of a Mumbaikar that was put out on social media referring to the power grid failure on Monday morning.

And those words I’m sure resonated with many people because it has been a roller coaster of a year for all of us.

Everyone is searching for wisdom on how to make sense of this COVID world.  So you’ll find many people from young to old who have turned into philosophers giving their two cents on what they think life is.

In other words, people are using the filter of their own experience to make sense of our world. But how reliable and helpful is this worldly wisdom?

Can I really bank my life’s decisions on quotes that I read on social media or pep talk from my close relatives and friends? 

Or

Is there a True Real wisdom available from God to help me deal with the twists and turns of life?

Today’s passage from James 3 will help us recognize True Wisdom. Three things about True Wisdom.

1. True Wisdom is not just about knowledge

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. (v13)

Some of us might be surprised by this verse. What does good conduct and meekness have to do with wisdom?

And that’s because the world defines wisdom as just having a good amount of knowledge in a certain subject or field.

So if someone has done his Phd. in Physics & authored many books, by the standards of the world he is considered a wise man.

Similarly in churches, who is typically considered as a wise person?

Someone who has a lot of biblical knowledge. The way the world views wisdom is amoral (unrelated to morality) & in contrast, this passage tells us that a wise person is not someone who just has biblical knowledge but is also living it out in humility!

And when we read through the letter of James, it does seem like the churches he was writing to was going through some kind of tension where there were people who wanted prominence, viewed themselves as superior compared to others and saw the opportunity of being a leader and teacher in a church as a means to get these things.

And through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James is telling the whole church….Do you want to know and identify someone who is wise?

It’s not just by their words but by their lifestyle. Humility will be the hallmark of someone who is wise and understanding among you.

I still remember meeting a 77-year old uncle called MC John in Kerala. It was a time in my journey when I was seeking God’s will in ministry and life. It wasn’t a planned meeting.

We probably spent maybe 30 minutes but those 30 minutes changed my life. In those 30 minutes, I realized that this was a man who spent many good years of his life knowing and living for Jesus and even at 77 he was passionately talking about Jesus.

He was like a Bible dictionary quoting verses from all through the Bible but the most remarkable thing that struck me was his humility. His biblical wisdom actually led him to worship.

And that shouldn’t surprise us – right throughout the Bible whenever we see men and women come to terms with the knowledge of God, it leaves them with an acute understanding of their own sin.

True wisdom of God produces humility.

Let’s take a minute to just pause and reflect – some of us either spent few or some of other many years in church circles listening to many sermons, being part of many bible studies,

what do you think all that knowledge is producing in your heart?

Is it producing greater humility in your marriages?

Is it producing greater humility in your relationships at work or with your parents?

Is it producing greater humility in relationships with other believers?

Let’s allow those questions to sink in because it’s important to identify the problem before we look to the solution.

But not only is True Wisdom is not about knowledge

2. True Wisdom is not worldly wisdom

By worldly wisdom I mean wisdom that is shaped by our experiences of the natural world.

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.

I find it interesting that James directly addresses the Root, Source and Fruit of worldly wisdom in these 3 verses.

First, let’s look at the root – it’s selfishness and bitter jealousy.

When we look at the absolute heart of worldly wisdom, it’s rooted in selfishness. It’s putting yourself forward at the expense of someone else.

Now let’s take a look at the source to see how this worldly wisdom actually plays out from v15:

  • Earthly – How our main concern tends to be mostly about our life in this materialistic world – we are only thinking about “my school, my college, my job, my promotion, my marriage, my kids, my retirement” – that’s all that our lives are consumed by.
  • Unspiritual – Some other versions actually use the word sensual. Which means that this wisdom is controlled by impulses and the sinful desires of my heart. It’s also telling us that our decision making is heavily influenced by how we feel at that moment. I think it can also include the baggage that we carry from our past experiences in this world. Our past baggage – feelings about people and circumstances shapes our worldview.
  • Demonic – I think that’s where some of us might think “Time Out bro James. I know you’re telling me all this is worldly wisdom, but to call it demonic?? That’s taking it a little too far” When James is saying demonic he is not trying to say that we are performing some kind of voodoo or strange ritual, but rather I think whenever NT writers talk about demonic influence in the church, it’s a reference to deception which results in abandoning the faith (1 Tim 4:1). In other words, in my selfishness, I can be so blind that I won’t even know that I’m being deceived by this worldly wisdom. I won’t even know that my heart is being hardened. And so the reason I think James is telling in such real graphic details is to warn us from falling into deception thinking that “okay I have some form of godly wisdom so nothing else matters” – no your heart matters, your lifestyle matters & so all these things are mentioned to warn us and also to call us to repentance.

In v16 – he talks about the FRUIT of selfishness and jealousy. Chaos and every kind of wicked deed is fruit!

When we put ourselves in the throne seat of our hearts and think that the world revolves around us, it can cause serious damage. Sometimes in the form of boasting but also sometimes when we play the victim.

A few weeks back I was having a rough week at work. Long hours, demanding work pressure and plus errors were being pointed out in my work by my managers.

As a result of my insecurity and selfishness in my heart, my interpretation of my team members and managers were as “they don’t understand me, they don’t care about me and how I’m doing & they are just out to get me”.

I remember feeling miserable through that week as I was playing the victim. And God had to remind me once again that the problem is more deep-rooted from within – it’s my own selfishness that is causing me to not believe the best about others.

For me that was another clear example to show how my life cannot be shaped by my experiences or worldly wisdom. Because my experiences are flawed and tainted with selfishness.

Let’s take a minute now to reflect on what kind of wisdom is shaping our hearts and lives?

What’s in the root of the wisdom that you have?

Do you see selfishness and bitter jealousy?

In fact on the basis of this passage, we can conclude that I might be even saying some right things from Scripture but if it’s motivated by selfishness, then that wisdom comes from the world and not from God!

I know this is a weighty subject because it’s dealing with our hearts, but it’s also pointing us to Jesus.

Not only is True Wisdom not about knowledge, and not only is True Wisdom not worldly wisdom but

3. True wisdom is God’s grace

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.

When we look at v17, what stands out to us is the phrase – wisdom from above is “First pure”.

In other words, purity of heart is what produces peace, gentleness etc.

Now, who among us can say they are pure by themselves? No one.

In fact, the previous verses spoke about how our hearts and lifestyles are motivated by selfishness and jealousy. So obviously purity cannot be produced from within.

And that’s why the phrase “wisdom from above” is a phrase that screams of God’s grace. Because it tells us about God giving us something precious that we cannot produce ourselves.

Guess what the Bible calls Jesus Christ as the “wisdom of God” – God revealed His wisdom to us not just by telling us about His Son but more than that sending His Son Jesus (pure Lamb of God) to live the pure life we could never live, and then He willingly gave up His life on the cross to pay the punishment meant for our impure lives. He rose again on the Third Day so that our hearts and lives can be purified for Him which He has promised to fully complete when He returns back a second time.

So what does this mean for us today?

Firstly it humbles our hearts that feels superior in comparison to others as a result of our “wisdom” & it melts our selfish hearts craving for prominence among others. How does it do that?

By telling us that our condition was so bad that it required the payment of God’s own Son through His death. Imagine going to court and having your sins listed down one by one.

How do we know the seriousness of the crime? By the punishment that is given – how worse is your condition that it could only be paid through the death and sacrifice of Jesus. Like Paul we should humbly acknowledge “I am the chief of sinners”.

But also Grace tells you that God loves you so much that He sent His Only Son to die for you and me.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:32)

That’s amazing, great love! You are loved by God and He sent His Son to show that. So that creates in us this humble purity which now bears fruit in our relationships at home, in church and also where we work or go to school to. (Share examples)

That’s why we need these reminders daily – that True Wisdom is not knowledge, True Wisdom is not worldly wisdom but True Wisdom is God’s grace – revealed through the Person and relationship with Jesus Christ. Only His Work and His promise can produce genuine purity which produces fruits of righteousness!

Categories
James Sermon

Seeking God’s Wisdom: James 1: 5-8

Good morning church, I am Awung Zimik, I am one of the pastors at Gathering community church, warm greetings to all of you in the worthiest name of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

It is truly a joy and delight to connect you at this beautiful moment.

Thank you so much for taking out your time, I pray that you all will be richly blessed as we spent time together in the presence of God.

I hope all of you are safe and bless out there.

For those of you who connect us for the first time, I wanna let you know that we are going through the book of James under the theme “FAITH IN ACTION”.

Last Sunday we heard a sermon from bro Elijah from James 1:2-4.

Focusing on “why does God allow trials.” The answer is in verse 3 and 4.

 3 Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be Mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Today we shall continue James 1:5-8

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 

6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 

7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 

8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

I want to entitle my sermon as “Seeking God’s wisdom”

What is wisdom?

The Bible teaches us that wisdom comes from above but it begins with the fear of the Lord,

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,(Prov 9:10).

The dictionary defines wisdom as “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.” 

The Greek concept of wisdom centre’s around “knowledge,” Cleverness, and learnedness.

 In biblical usage, it is a practical, moral, and spiritual insight given by God.

(1 Kings 3:7-9, Pro.2:3-6, 10-19, 9:1-6).

It is the ability to discern right from wrong and good from evil. It is the power that enables a person to do and say the right thing at the right time.

“Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it. Wisdom is, in fact, the practical side of moral goodness. As such, it is found in its fullness only in God. He alone is naturally and entirely and invariable wise.”

J I Packers (Evangelical theologian)

Where do we find wisdom?

We won’t find wisdom in spiritual gurus teaching, books, internet, we won’t find in leaders of the world or favourite talk show host. There is only one source for wisdom.

Wisdom is from God alone. “Wisdom belongs to God”. Job 12:13.

Why do we need God’s wisdom in our life?

The purpose of wisdom is to give insight for our living, that our days may not be wasted and lived fully for an eternal purpose; avoiding regret and living without guilt from choices bathed in wisdom. Wisdom guides how we live and grants joy to those who live by it.

  • God’s wisdom will help you to make good and right choices in life.

Proverb 3:21- 23.

Keep sound wisdom and discretion, so they will be life to your soul, and adornment to your neck. Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble.

We take lots and lots of decision in life, many a times we are confused which is the better and which is the will of God, God promise that in such difficulties His wisdom will help us to take right decision.

  • God’s wisdom will give you favour before God and man.

Pro.3:4. So you will find favour and good success in the sight of God and man.

Pro. 8:35. For those who find me (wisdom) find life and receive favour from the Lord.

If God favour is in your life, in your job, in your married life, in your business, and in your family, you will live a successful, peaceful and victorious life.

  • God’s wisdom will give you long days and years and peaceful life.

Proverb.3:2. For the length of days and years of life and peace, they will add to you.

When God’s wisdom leads you, you will live a long and peaceful life.

  • God’s wisdom brings abundant blessings in our life.

Proverb 8:18-21. Says.

18With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.
19 My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,
21 bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full.

  • God’s wisdom from above is perfect.

James 3:17 says

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 favouritism and is always sincere.

Today we shall focus on two very important points under the topic: Seeking God’s wisdom

From James 1:5-8.

Here is our first point.

1. Seeking with genuine heart

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 

This means that even if you are an imperfect person, which we all are, He will give you wisdom if you ask for it. Moreover, not only will he give it to you. He will do so generously.

Church there are many Christians who are lacking wisdom, you know the problem doesn’t lie with God, we know that He gives generously to all, without finding fault.”

So the problem lies in us, that we are not asking for wisdom with an attitude that pleases God.

Proverbs 2:6 says.

“For the LORD gives wisdom and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding”.

Wisdom belongs to God, He created it, if we desire wisdom we must go to Him to get it.

Illustration:

When God offered king Solomon anything he wanted, what did Solomon ask for?

If God were to come to you and offer to give you anything you wanted, what would you ask for? Money, power, long healthy life on earth?

Solomon asked God for wisdom! Solomon knew he would need wisdom to carry out the task of ruling that he had been called to.

God was pleased with what he asked so, along with the gift of wisdom, God gave Solomon which he did not asked ie. Riches and all other blessings to go along with wisdom.

Beloved, God is eager to give this gift to you; you just need to ask.

God is a generous God: He is willing to give generously to everyone who ask.

Romans 8:31. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Matthew 7:7-11
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 

8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 

10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 

11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Let us always remember the goodness of our heavenly Father and ask His wisdom in our daily life, so that we will know His perfect will and live this life for His glory.

Beloved church the world we are living is a battlefield.

Life is very hard, every day we have to fight against sin; we have to fight against our enemy (devil), we face big giants every day; we face challenges and hardship at our workplace, at home and all around us.

In order to fight this tough life battle, we need Gods wisdom.

In this confusing and chaotic world, what we need most is God’s wisdom.

God’s wisdom is the only way to get through this life, we need the gift of wisdom to be able to navigate through the difficulties of life on this earth successfully. Let’s make it a priority to gain as much as we can.

  • Consequences of neglecting wisdom from God

When you do not know the value of wisdom, it will be easy for you to reject it.

Wisdom is the one thing that you should never reject.

When you reject Wisdom, you are subconsciously inviting pain to enter your life.

Proverbs 4:7 teaches us, “Wisdom is the principal thing.” Wisdom is the most important thing on the earth because without it you are unable to be productive, progressive, happy, healthy, contented and prosperous and so on.

Christian author Fountain Hendricks in one of his articles, explain the consequences of rejecting God’s wisdom in a profound way. He says,

If we reject wisdom.

  1. Failing is must: When you do not have the Wisdom about how to do things CORRECTLY, ACCURATELY and RIGHTEOUSLY you will constantly fail because you are not equipped to succeed. Wisdom empowers you to know the difference between right & wrong.
  2. Poverty will come to your life: The curse of rejecting Wisdom is poverty according to Proverbs 13:18. You cannot get around it and you cannot avoid it.
  3. We will live a Confusing Life: When you reject wisdom you will have a hard time figuring out what to do, where to go, who to trust and etc. because Wisdom gives you CLARITY and VISION.
  4. We waste PRECIOUS TIME: People who reject Wisdom will waste time doing things that do not matter, that is unimportant and that are irrelevant because they do not have the ability to DISCERN what is meaningful.
  5. Rejecting God’s wisdom will lead to Miserable life.

Wisdom brings happiness according to Ecclesiastes 8:1. When you reject Wisdom, misery will be your portion because you have refused to accept the key that unlocks everything that is good.

Do not ignore the voice of Wisdom. Take heed to the teachings! Apply them into your life so that you can avoid going through unnecessary pain. People who do not know about the consequences of rejecting Wisdom will always become a victim to the consequences.

Church let us not reject.

Application:

When is the last time you ask for God’s wisdom?

Are you navigating your life with God’s wisdom?

If God offers you to ask anything right now? Would you like to ask God like King Solomon? Lord give me wisdom.

Let us remember our text. James 1:5. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 

  • Seeking with genuine faith. (James 1:6,7,8).

6 But he must ask in faith, without doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 

7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 

8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

We have to ask God for wisdom in two ways,

  1. By faith
  2. By single-mindedness

Faith is essential in approaching God, because as Hebrew 11:6, says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

You must believe that He personally cares for you and He is able to give you the wisdom that you need to endure your trial with His joy.

Remember faith involves trust in God’s character, trust in God’s Word, and time. When it comes to faith, we are looking for something that we can’t see with our eyes just yet.

Hebrew 11:7-11 gives us some great examples of having faith in God.

7. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith.

8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place, which he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

9. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;

11.By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

All of those blessings came by faith. And James tells us that Godly wisdom comes by asking God in faith. Without faith, we are tossed back and forth. Without faith, we weave around in all directions. Without faith, we are two-faced and miserable.  A.T. Robertson said that without faith, “We are like the donkey that starved to death, because it couldn’t decide which stack of hay to eat.”

Matthew 17:20.

Truly, I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Remember Church,

The root of unbelief is because of double-mindedness. The person who doubts God is not committed to obeying God, His heart is not fully surrendered to do God’s will. He is curious about God’s wisdom. He is not committed to do if it involves suffering and inconveniences.

That person, James said, “Ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord.”(1:7)

We know Jesus didn’t perform miracles in His home town Nazareth? Why? because of their doubt and unbelief.

In the same way, if you have doubt and unbelief in your heart you won’t receive anything from Him.

Verse 8 says they are double-minded and unstable in all their ways, this offers pictures of a person who is drunk and is staggering from side to side along the road.

Have you ever tried to give a drunk person some wisdom while they were drunk?

It doesn’t work well, and God will not impart wisdom to me if you and I are unstable in all our ways.

 Illustration: In Genesis 18 & 19, we find a story of the destruction of “Sodom and Gomorrah”

The angel of the Lord warn lot family to run and not to turn back but Lot wife love their wealth and she turns back and she was turned into a pillar of salt. Actually, God was rescuing them and taking them to better place but because of her double-minded act, she perish.

If we are double-minded we will get nothing, if we are double-minded we will be unstable in all our ways.

Conclusion:

Beloved, the wisest decision you will ever make in your life is to put your trust in Christ.

Because He is our saviour, He came and sacrifice His life for you and me, and when we Repent our sins to Him and receive Him as Lord and saviour, He will forgive all our sins and He will give us a brand new life.

Putting our trust in Christ Because Christ is the source of all wisdom.

Col.2: 3. says. “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”.

Let us Come to Jesus!” because in him “hid all the treasures of wisdom”.

To reject Christ is the most foolish thing a person could ever do.

Let us always remember that Jesus is the fullness of God’s wisdom.

Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God.

“To know and love and follow Jesus is to own the treasure of ultimate and eternal happiness.”

John Piper

Finally Beloved, let us use God’s given wisdom for the glory of God and for the good of others. If wisdom is not exercised then wisdom ceases to be. However, the very nature of wisdom instructs your heart to use your insights, your discernment, your discretion, your vision to fulfil God’s will and to demonstrate his marvellous work.

Church we have meditated together on 2 very important points under the topic

Seeking God’s wisdom.

  1. Seeking with genuine Heart. (Let us genuinely ask God’s wisdom, He has promise that He will generously give to all of us).
  2. Seeking with genuine Faith. (Let us ask God’s wisdom with genuine faith and not with double minded heart)

May God richly bless you with Heavenly wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

May you use God’s wisdom for His fame and Glory.

May the LORD bless you and keep you,

May the LORD make His face shine on you and give you peace.

 Amen.