1 00:00:15,458 --> 00:00:16,750 Howdy Mars Hill Church. 2 00:00:16,833 --> 00:00:19,833 Pastor Sutton Turner here and I'm in Ethiopia. 3 00:00:19,875 --> 00:00:21,667 And I just want to thank Jesus 4 00:00:21,708 --> 00:00:25,000 for continuing to use Mars Hill Church 5 00:00:25,042 --> 00:00:28,583 to make disciples and plant churches. 6 00:00:29,167 --> 00:00:34,292 Mars Hill Global is the arm of Mars Hill Church 7 00:00:34,333 --> 00:00:35,917 that makes disciples 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,833 and plant churches all over the world. 9 00:00:38,917 --> 00:00:40,375 We not only do church planting, 10 00:00:40,458 --> 00:00:43,333 but we help better equip church planters. 11 00:00:43,417 --> 00:00:47,042 Most recently we shipped and now distributed 12 00:00:47,125 --> 00:00:49,500 1,000 bibles into Amharic, 13 00:00:49,542 --> 00:00:52,125 which is the language here in Ethiopia. 14 00:00:52,167 --> 00:00:54,042 And we launched a project 15 00:00:54,125 --> 00:00:59,250 to translate Pastor Mark Driscoll's doctrine book into Spanish. 16 00:00:59,333 --> 00:01:02,583 We have people from over 29 different countries 17 00:01:02,667 --> 00:01:06,167 that are giving on a monthly basis to Mars Hill Global. 18 00:01:06,208 --> 00:01:08,125 So whether you're a member 19 00:01:08,167 --> 00:01:11,083 of one of our Mars Hill church locations 20 00:01:11,167 --> 00:01:12,542 in the United States, 21 00:01:12,625 --> 00:01:18,208 or you're 1 of 100,000 podcasters every single week, 22 00:01:18,292 --> 00:01:19,667 we encourage you to pray 23 00:01:19,750 --> 00:01:23,083 about giving above and beyond your tithe 24 00:01:23,167 --> 00:01:24,625 to Mars Hill Global. 25 00:01:24,667 --> 00:01:28,958 Thank you and let's see more materials translated, 26 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,167 more pastors sent out, more churches planted, 27 00:01:32,250 --> 00:01:34,500 and more people saved by Jesus Christ. 28 00:01:51,417 --> 00:01:55,208 Brotherhood, it's a bond as old as time. 29 00:01:55,292 --> 00:01:57,667 It's a love that runs deep. 30 00:01:57,708 --> 00:02:00,167 It's bold. It's strong. 31 00:02:00,250 --> 00:02:01,917 It's enduring. 32 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,500 There's a trust that's built among brothers, 33 00:02:04,583 --> 00:02:07,625 from the trials to the triumphs. 34 00:02:07,667 --> 00:02:11,167 It's a trust that comes from living life together. 35 00:02:11,250 --> 00:02:13,917 No one knows you like your brother. 36 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,500 He knows your strengths; he knows your weaknesses. 37 00:02:17,583 --> 00:02:22,125 A bold brother will lay it all down for his family. 38 00:02:22,167 --> 00:02:25,708 It is difficult to describe that kind of loyalty, 39 00:02:25,792 --> 00:02:29,708 that kind of courage, that kind of strength. 40 00:02:29,792 --> 00:02:31,792 It's the love of a brother. 41 00:02:31,833 --> 00:02:34,500 It's that kind of love that compelled James to become 42 00:02:34,542 --> 00:02:38,083 Jesus' bold little brother. 43 00:02:43,458 --> 00:02:48,875 Who is the wisest person in the room today? 44 00:02:49,542 --> 00:02:52,542 Now, before someone raises his or her hand, 45 00:02:52,625 --> 00:02:54,667 let's ask a second question. 46 00:02:54,708 --> 00:02:56,667 How would we find out? 47 00:02:56,708 --> 00:02:58,042 How would we know? 48 00:02:58,125 --> 00:03:00,833 Would we give an IQ test? 49 00:03:00,917 --> 00:03:04,750 Would we want to administer a Bible quiz? 50 00:03:04,833 --> 00:03:09,417 According to the Scripture, wisdom is the data that we have 51 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:13,458 in our heads, but it also is the disposition of our hearts 52 00:03:13,500 --> 00:03:15,750 and the deeds of our hands. 53 00:03:15,833 --> 00:03:19,750 Glad you're here as we continue our study in James 3. 54 00:03:19,833 --> 00:03:23,667 We're going to cover verses 13 through 18 today, 55 00:03:23,708 --> 00:03:26,750 and as we do so, I want us to ask two questions. 56 00:03:26,833 --> 00:03:31,208 First, what does Jesus' wisdom look like? 57 00:03:31,292 --> 00:03:34,333 How do we identify the wisdom of Jesus? 58 00:03:34,417 --> 00:03:37,958 Then secondly, how do we have more of Jesus' wisdom 59 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:39,750 in our lives? 60 00:03:39,833 --> 00:03:42,042 Before we do anything else, let's pray. 61 00:03:42,125 --> 00:03:45,000 Father, thank you that you are a kind, and loving, 62 00:03:45,083 --> 00:03:46,792 and gracious Father. 63 00:03:46,833 --> 00:03:49,750 Thank you that you're a God, according to your Word, 64 00:03:49,833 --> 00:03:53,500 who commits to us that you will give us wisdom 65 00:03:53,542 --> 00:03:55,167 when we ask for it. 66 00:03:55,250 --> 00:03:58,167 Thank you that you love us with all the love and affection 67 00:03:58,250 --> 00:04:00,042 you have for your Son, Jesus. 68 00:04:00,125 --> 00:04:02,417 Father, thank you that you called this meeting together 69 00:04:02,500 --> 00:04:05,833 today because you want to be worshiped. 70 00:04:05,917 --> 00:04:07,958 And Father, I especially thank you that today, 71 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,000 you've called some people to be who aren't yet Christians, 72 00:04:11,083 --> 00:04:14,208 who I pray and hope will meet Jesus in the next few minutes 73 00:04:14,292 --> 00:04:15,833 that we have together. 74 00:04:15,917 --> 00:04:18,167 Jesus, thank you that you, being eternally God, 75 00:04:18,208 --> 00:04:19,917 you humbled yourself, 76 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,958 and you took on the form of a human being, 77 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,458 and you walked this earth, 78 00:04:25,500 --> 00:04:28,667 and you lived the only perfect, righteous life 79 00:04:28,708 --> 00:04:30,542 that's ever been lived. 80 00:04:30,625 --> 00:04:32,458 And Jesus, you went to the cross, 81 00:04:32,500 --> 00:04:34,167 and there on the cross, 82 00:04:34,208 --> 00:04:36,833 you took upon yourself our sin. 83 00:04:36,875 --> 00:04:38,208 You died for us. 84 00:04:38,292 --> 00:04:40,542 You took the penalty for sin that we deserve. 85 00:04:40,625 --> 00:04:43,333 Thank you Jesus that the grave couldn't contain you. 86 00:04:43,375 --> 00:04:45,333 Thank you that you've risen from the dead, 87 00:04:45,375 --> 00:04:47,792 that you are at the right hand of the Father, 88 00:04:47,833 --> 00:04:49,542 and we want to worship you today. 89 00:04:49,625 --> 00:04:51,875 Father and Son, thank you for the Holy Spirit. 90 00:04:51,958 --> 00:04:54,292 Holy Spirit, we pray that you would help us see 91 00:04:54,333 --> 00:04:55,792 what wisdom is. 92 00:04:55,833 --> 00:04:58,792 We pray that you would give us a desire in our heart 93 00:04:58,833 --> 00:05:00,250 for greater wisdom. 94 00:05:00,333 --> 00:05:04,333 And Holy Spirit, I especially pray for those today with us who 95 00:05:04,417 --> 00:05:07,833 don't yet know Jesus, that they would experience your birth, 96 00:05:07,917 --> 00:05:10,542 that they would be born again, that they would meet Jesus 97 00:05:10,625 --> 00:05:12,042 and forever transformed. 98 00:05:12,125 --> 00:05:14,708 In his good name we pray, amen. 99 00:05:14,792 --> 00:05:18,833 James 3, we're going to begin in verse 13. 100 00:05:18,917 --> 00:05:22,417 Pastor James--James, that's Jesus' half-brother-- 101 00:05:22,500 --> 00:05:25,500 has been warning teachers. 102 00:05:25,583 --> 00:05:28,542 And specifically last week, as Pastor Mark preached to us, 103 00:05:28,625 --> 00:05:31,542 we learned that teachers need to be careful with words, 104 00:05:31,625 --> 00:05:34,125 that words can be very helpful, and productive, and fruitful, 105 00:05:34,167 --> 00:05:36,542 and words can be very destructive. 106 00:05:36,625 --> 00:05:39,208 So as Pastor James continues to talk to teachers today, 107 00:05:39,292 --> 00:05:41,250 he introduces the concept of wisdom. 108 00:05:41,333 --> 00:05:44,458 And the first thing I want you to see about wisdom is this: 109 00:05:44,500 --> 00:05:46,958 wisdom is as wisdom does. 110 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:52,375 James 3:13, "Who is wise and understanding among you? 111 00:05:52,458 --> 00:05:56,458 By his good conduct"-- 112 00:05:56,500 --> 00:05:57,958 pay attention to that phrase-- 113 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:00,542 "By his good conduct, let him show his works 114 00:06:00,625 --> 00:06:03,958 in the meekness of wisdom." 115 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,333 Wisdom is as wisdom does. 116 00:06:06,417 --> 00:06:08,667 Wisdom isn't merely data we collect in our heads, 117 00:06:08,708 --> 00:06:11,458 but it's also the disposition of our hearts and the deeds 118 00:06:11,500 --> 00:06:12,833 of our hands. 119 00:06:12,917 --> 00:06:14,833 And there's a biblical distinction I need you 120 00:06:14,917 --> 00:06:18,750 to understand between knowledge and wisdom. 121 00:06:18,833 --> 00:06:20,542 You can't have wisdom without knowledge, 122 00:06:20,625 --> 00:06:23,667 but it is possible to have knowledge without wisdom. 123 00:06:23,708 --> 00:06:26,750 I think Pastor Mark gave this great definition a few weeks ago 124 00:06:26,833 --> 00:06:29,125 when he was preaching through James 1. 125 00:06:29,167 --> 00:06:30,500 This is what he said; 126 00:06:30,583 --> 00:06:31,917 listen to this: 127 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,542 "Knowledge is knowing the truth; 128 00:06:34,625 --> 00:06:37,458 "wisdom is knowing what to do with it. 129 00:06:37,500 --> 00:06:41,125 "Knowledge is theoretical; wisdom is practical. 130 00:06:41,167 --> 00:06:44,250 Knowledge is truthful; wisdom is useful." 131 00:06:44,333 --> 00:06:45,750 Listen to this: 132 00:06:45,833 --> 00:06:52,750 "Knowledge provides information; wisdom provides transformation. 133 00:06:52,833 --> 00:06:54,833 "Knowledge tells you what to believe; 134 00:06:54,917 --> 00:06:59,292 wisdom tells you how to behave." 135 00:06:59,333 --> 00:07:02,167 Wisdom is as wisdom does. 136 00:07:02,208 --> 00:07:06,625 I am fortunate to have a wife of 27 years this coming December, 137 00:07:06,667 --> 00:07:08,417 Kara. 138 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:10,167 She's not a perfect woman, 139 00:07:10,208 --> 00:07:12,167 but she loves Jesus more than any person 140 00:07:12,208 --> 00:07:13,667 I've ever met in my life, 141 00:07:13,708 --> 00:07:15,750 and it's a joy to be her husband. 142 00:07:15,833 --> 00:07:19,167 And I also have 4 daughters, all between the ages of 23 and 15, 143 00:07:19,208 --> 00:07:21,542 so most of my adult life, 144 00:07:21,625 --> 00:07:24,208 I have been swimming in a sea of estrogen. 145 00:07:24,292 --> 00:07:28,542 And when my girls were little, I remember this scene unfolding on 146 00:07:28,625 --> 00:07:31,250 a regular basis where we were getting them reading for school, 147 00:07:31,333 --> 00:07:33,750 and one of the last things that Kara, my wife, 148 00:07:33,833 --> 00:07:36,500 would do with my daughters is take them into the bathroom 149 00:07:36,583 --> 00:07:38,000 to help them comb their hair. 150 00:07:38,083 --> 00:07:41,458 And she would get hair into ponytails and pigtails, 151 00:07:41,500 --> 00:07:43,417 or whatever was common for the day. 152 00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:45,458 Occasionally, imagine this: 153 00:07:45,500 --> 00:07:48,250 occasionally, one of my daughters wasn't pleased with 154 00:07:48,333 --> 00:07:51,292 the work her mom had done, and she would angrily say, 155 00:07:51,333 --> 00:07:53,000 "Mom, you've done it wrong! 156 00:07:53,042 --> 00:07:56,250 I want to be pretty today. Fix it." 157 00:07:56,333 --> 00:07:58,958 And in every instance--and I've seen this scene so many times 158 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,042 play out in my home-- my wife Kara 159 00:08:01,125 --> 00:08:03,833 would bend down on her knees, she would take their hand--their 160 00:08:03,917 --> 00:08:06,542 face in her hands, and she'd look them in the eye, 161 00:08:06,625 --> 00:08:09,250 and she would say, much like her mother said to her 162 00:08:09,333 --> 00:08:10,667 in the same circumstance, 163 00:08:10,708 --> 00:08:14,958 "Honey, pretty is as pretty does." 164 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,042 That's biblical wisdom. 165 00:08:17,125 --> 00:08:19,917 That's what it means to be wise. 166 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,458 It impacts the data that's in our head. 167 00:08:22,500 --> 00:08:25,125 We have knowledge, but it also affects the disposition 168 00:08:25,167 --> 00:08:27,333 of our heart and the deeds of our hands. 169 00:08:27,375 --> 00:08:29,667 Now, here's what Pastor James is about to do. 170 00:08:29,708 --> 00:08:32,333 He's going to contrast two types of wisdom. 171 00:08:32,417 --> 00:08:34,750 He's going to contrast for us a natural, 172 00:08:34,833 --> 00:08:38,333 earthly wisdom with the wisdom that Jesus gives. 173 00:08:38,417 --> 00:08:42,750 So, let's understand better what earthly wisdom is all about. 174 00:08:42,833 --> 00:08:46,750 Verse 14, "But if you have bitter jealousy 175 00:08:46,833 --> 00:08:51,500 and selfish ambition in your hearts"--I want you 176 00:08:51,542 --> 00:08:54,792 to pay attention to that--"do not boast 177 00:08:54,833 --> 00:08:56,583 and be false to the truth." 178 00:08:56,667 --> 00:08:59,583 If you have an old school Bible like mine, circle that phrase. 179 00:08:59,667 --> 00:09:02,833 If you've got a smart phone and you're looking at a Bible app, 180 00:09:02,917 --> 00:09:04,333 then highlight that in some way. 181 00:09:04,417 --> 00:09:06,542 We're going to start there in just a moment. 182 00:09:06,625 --> 00:09:09,042 "This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, 183 00:09:09,125 --> 00:09:15,042 "but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 184 00:09:15,125 --> 00:09:18,333 "For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, 185 00:09:18,417 --> 00:09:22,833 there will be disorder and every vile practice." 186 00:09:22,917 --> 00:09:27,750 One thing we can do mistakenly when we come to the Bible is 187 00:09:27,833 --> 00:09:31,833 we can isolate ourselves from the author of the text. 188 00:09:31,917 --> 00:09:34,958 We can miss the emotion, if you will, the ambiance, 189 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:36,958 the ethos of a passage. 190 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,000 I want you to think for just a minute who it is 191 00:09:40,083 --> 00:09:41,667 that's writing this text. 192 00:09:41,708 --> 00:09:43,333 This is James. 193 00:09:43,417 --> 00:09:45,333 We believe him to be Jesus' half-brother, 194 00:09:45,417 --> 00:09:46,875 Jesus' little brother. 195 00:09:46,958 --> 00:09:49,375 Probably, you could accurately say that nobody 196 00:09:49,458 --> 00:09:52,792 on the face of the earth, during the penning of this letter, 197 00:09:52,833 --> 00:09:55,500 knew Jesus better than James. 198 00:09:55,542 --> 00:09:57,083 James grew up with Jesus. 199 00:09:57,167 --> 00:09:59,167 He saw Jesus throughout his life. 200 00:09:59,250 --> 00:10:01,083 It's clear that James, in some way, 201 00:10:01,167 --> 00:10:03,292 was in and out of Jesus' earthly ministry. 202 00:10:03,333 --> 00:10:05,583 When Jesus dies, and is resurrected, 203 00:10:05,667 --> 00:10:08,500 and sends the Holy Spirit, and the church takes footing, 204 00:10:08,542 --> 00:10:11,292 James is one of the preeminent leaders in the church. 205 00:10:11,333 --> 00:10:15,292 So, James is speaking with authority, and what James 206 00:10:15,333 --> 00:10:19,167 is saying is--with this phrase--is, "Stop lying." 207 00:10:19,208 --> 00:10:21,500 Stop lying--that there are people that are representing 208 00:10:21,542 --> 00:10:25,000 Jesus who don't know him well, that don't have a wisdom 209 00:10:25,042 --> 00:10:26,458 that comes from him. 210 00:10:26,500 --> 00:10:32,792 And he's frustrated, and he's confronting them because 211 00:10:32,833 --> 00:10:35,875 he's the expert on who Jesus is, and there are people that 212 00:10:35,958 --> 00:10:39,875 are representing Jesus and actually misrepresenting him. 213 00:10:39,958 --> 00:10:43,667 Can you sympathize with Pastor James? 214 00:10:43,750 --> 00:10:45,167 You ever been in that circumstance? 215 00:10:45,250 --> 00:10:48,000 I'm sure this has never happened to you as a parent. 216 00:10:48,083 --> 00:10:49,500 Perhaps it's happened to me. 217 00:10:49,583 --> 00:10:51,625 You ever had an adolescent child tell you 218 00:10:51,667 --> 00:10:53,500 you don't know anything? 219 00:10:53,542 --> 00:10:55,583 "You don't understand how it is today, Mom. 220 00:10:55,667 --> 00:10:58,000 "You don't get the way the world has changed, Dad. 221 00:10:58,083 --> 00:11:00,250 "Things are totally different today. 222 00:11:00,333 --> 00:11:02,292 "You don't understand what I'm going through. 223 00:11:02,333 --> 00:11:06,250 Your experience isn't really relevant here," right? 224 00:11:06,333 --> 00:11:09,000 Maybe some of you are medical doctors, 225 00:11:09,042 --> 00:11:12,500 been through years of training, have years of experience 226 00:11:12,542 --> 00:11:13,958 under your belt. 227 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,792 You take a patient in, you carefully examine her, 228 00:11:16,833 --> 00:11:21,250 you examine him, you reflect on all the scientific data that you 229 00:11:21,333 --> 00:11:25,083 come up with you, you come up with a diagnosis 230 00:11:25,167 --> 00:11:27,083 and a prognosis. 231 00:11:27,167 --> 00:11:31,083 That patient sets up a follow-up appointment, comes back to you, 232 00:11:31,167 --> 00:11:35,583 and says, "You know, Doc, I've been online and there's this 233 00:11:35,667 --> 00:11:39,583 "website, WebMD, and I just want you to know I question every 234 00:11:39,667 --> 00:11:42,667 opinion you have, and I want a second opinion," right? 235 00:11:42,708 --> 00:11:46,667 That's how James feels. 236 00:11:46,708 --> 00:11:51,167 Hypothetically, perhaps there's an owner and a general manager 237 00:11:51,250 --> 00:11:52,792 of an NFL football team. 238 00:11:52,833 --> 00:11:54,792 Let's just say his name is Jerry Jones. 239 00:11:54,833 --> 00:11:58,250 And let's say Jerry Jones goes, and he looks at a recap of 240 00:11:58,333 --> 00:12:01,125 a live chat that happened on the Dallas morning news, 241 00:12:01,167 --> 00:12:05,042 and he comes across one comment from a man who never played 242 00:12:05,125 --> 00:12:09,750 beyond high school football, has no sporting professional 243 00:12:09,833 --> 00:12:12,042 experience in his life--as a matter of fact, 244 00:12:12,125 --> 00:12:14,000 he's been a pastor for 20 years-- 245 00:12:14,083 --> 00:12:16,208 informing Jerry Jones on how to run his team 246 00:12:16,292 --> 00:12:18,042 so they can begin to compete with 247 00:12:18,125 --> 00:12:19,917 the World Champion Seattle Seahawks. 248 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:22,667 Now, I'm just--that's a personal confession I think I need 249 00:12:22,708 --> 00:12:24,042 to make before you. 250 00:12:24,125 --> 00:12:25,750 That's not pastoral observation. 251 00:12:25,833 --> 00:12:27,167 Jesus, forgive me. 252 00:12:27,208 --> 00:12:28,917 Mr. Jones, forgive me as well. 253 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:30,333 That would be insulting. 254 00:12:30,417 --> 00:12:33,417 That would be offensive. 255 00:12:33,500 --> 00:12:35,625 Pastors. 256 00:12:35,667 --> 00:12:39,625 Pastors out there, sometimes you occasionally will have young men 257 00:12:39,667 --> 00:12:41,625 show up who will simply say, 258 00:12:41,667 --> 00:12:43,125 "I've been podcasting Mars Hill Church, 259 00:12:43,167 --> 00:12:45,875 and you need to run your church in a better way." 260 00:12:45,958 --> 00:12:48,375 We want you to know upfront we're sorry for that. 261 00:12:48,458 --> 00:12:49,792 That's not our intention. 262 00:12:49,833 --> 00:12:51,250 Do you feel James' frustration? 263 00:12:51,333 --> 00:12:53,375 James knows Jesus better than anybody 264 00:12:53,458 --> 00:12:55,083 probably on the face of the earth, 265 00:12:55,167 --> 00:12:57,083 and there are people that are going out 266 00:12:57,167 --> 00:12:58,583 and they're misrepresenting Jesus. 267 00:12:58,667 --> 00:13:01,500 They're claiming to belong to Jesus, but they don't know him. 268 00:13:01,583 --> 00:13:03,333 They're claiming to teach the Bible, 269 00:13:03,417 --> 00:13:04,833 but they don't understand the Bible 270 00:13:04,917 --> 00:13:06,250 through the lens of Jesus. 271 00:13:06,333 --> 00:13:09,458 So, I want you to keep that in mind as we look at 272 00:13:09,500 --> 00:13:10,833 what's happening. 273 00:13:10,917 --> 00:13:13,542 Now, two things are going on in the heart of those 274 00:13:13,625 --> 00:13:14,958 with earthly wisdom, 275 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,167 two things that are not good things, two affections. 276 00:13:17,208 --> 00:13:19,667 One is bitter jealousy and the other is selfish ambition, 277 00:13:19,708 --> 00:13:22,542 cohabiting in the heart of those 278 00:13:22,625 --> 00:13:25,417 who don't have Jesus' wisdom. 279 00:13:25,500 --> 00:13:29,333 I want you to understand that. Wisdom isn't merely the data 280 00:13:29,417 --> 00:13:32,542 that we have in our heads; it's the disposition of our heart. 281 00:13:32,625 --> 00:13:35,542 And the best place to go to really evaluate whether or not 282 00:13:35,625 --> 00:13:38,750 you are acting in wisdom is to take a look at your heart, 283 00:13:38,833 --> 00:13:41,458 become a spiritual cardiologist, take a look deep within. 284 00:13:41,500 --> 00:13:45,167 That there are those who are teaching the Bible who are 285 00:13:45,208 --> 00:13:48,167 falsely motivated, first in relationship to others, 286 00:13:48,250 --> 00:13:49,875 because as they look around them, 287 00:13:49,958 --> 00:13:52,875 and they take in the landscape, and they see what's going on, 288 00:13:52,958 --> 00:13:54,667 they're envious of others who have, perhaps, 289 00:13:54,708 --> 00:13:57,667 a stronger gift or greater influence. 290 00:13:57,750 --> 00:14:03,167 So, their motive in teaching is jealousy, covetousness. 291 00:14:03,208 --> 00:14:05,958 They're bitter, they're angry, they feel cheated, 292 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,833 they're in a competitive state with others around them. 293 00:14:09,917 --> 00:14:14,458 Even worse, they don't understand the glory of Jesus, 294 00:14:14,500 --> 00:14:17,833 because they're motivated by selfish ambition. 295 00:14:17,917 --> 00:14:22,000 Every teacher who knows Jesus understands that his fame, 296 00:14:22,083 --> 00:14:25,625 his name, his worth is preeminent. 297 00:14:25,667 --> 00:14:29,917 And there are those that are teaching from an earthly wisdom, 298 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,333 who are not only jealous of other teachers around them, 299 00:14:32,417 --> 00:14:38,333 but they're doing it merely to make a name for themselves. 300 00:14:38,417 --> 00:14:41,708 Now, I want you to see the origin of where this comes from. 301 00:14:41,792 --> 00:14:44,458 Three different things that James tells us 302 00:14:44,500 --> 00:14:46,000 is the origin of this wisdom. 303 00:14:46,042 --> 00:14:47,750 First of all, it's earthly. 304 00:14:47,833 --> 00:14:49,167 It's of the earth; 305 00:14:49,208 --> 00:14:50,542 it doesn't come from heaven. 306 00:14:50,625 --> 00:14:53,167 And we'll talk about what that means in just a moment, 307 00:14:53,250 --> 00:14:55,167 but this isn't a wisdom from above, 308 00:14:55,250 --> 00:14:57,167 this is an earthly type of wisdom. 309 00:14:57,250 --> 00:15:01,333 Secondly, it's unspiritual. 310 00:15:01,375 --> 00:15:03,042 Literally, it means soulless. 311 00:15:03,125 --> 00:15:04,458 The Bible teaches us this. 312 00:15:04,500 --> 00:15:07,167 The Bible teaches that those of us who are in Christ 313 00:15:07,208 --> 00:15:08,667 have what we call "the flesh." 314 00:15:08,708 --> 00:15:10,833 It's not the material part of who we are, 315 00:15:10,917 --> 00:15:13,333 but it's that residue of our old life before Jesus. 316 00:15:13,375 --> 00:15:16,833 It's that part of us, and most of us are really in touch with 317 00:15:16,875 --> 00:15:21,833 this, right, that resists God, that rebels against God. 318 00:15:21,875 --> 00:15:24,000 And that's the essence of this type of wisdom. 319 00:15:24,083 --> 00:15:26,458 It's of the earth, it's fleshly, it's unspiritual, 320 00:15:26,500 --> 00:15:29,958 and in extreme forms, it is supernatural, 321 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:32,708 but not in a good sense, in a very evil sense. 322 00:15:32,792 --> 00:15:35,833 It's demonic. 323 00:15:35,917 --> 00:15:39,917 There are teachers who are out that are frustrating 324 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,667 Pastor James because their motive for teaching 325 00:15:43,708 --> 00:15:45,458 is entirely impure. 326 00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:47,792 It's to compete with other teachers, 327 00:15:47,833 --> 00:15:49,667 jealous and envious of other teachers, 328 00:15:49,708 --> 00:15:51,792 and it's to make a name for themselves. 329 00:15:51,833 --> 00:15:55,167 And James clearly understands the origin of this wisdom. 330 00:15:55,208 --> 00:15:58,792 It's of the earth, it's unspiritual, it can be demonic. 331 00:15:58,833 --> 00:16:01,000 But I think what bothers Pastor James 332 00:16:01,083 --> 00:16:03,042 much more than anything else 333 00:16:03,125 --> 00:16:05,458 is the devastation it brings to the church, 334 00:16:05,500 --> 00:16:07,750 because look at what happens when someone teaches 335 00:16:07,833 --> 00:16:09,833 from that motive: 336 00:16:09,917 --> 00:16:15,667 "There will be disorder and every vile practice." 337 00:16:15,708 --> 00:16:18,458 The church is at war. 338 00:16:18,500 --> 00:16:20,333 When someone is teaching from this perspective, 339 00:16:20,417 --> 00:16:22,958 from bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, 340 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,542 from an earthly perspective, an unspiritual way, 341 00:16:25,625 --> 00:16:27,625 demonically influenced, the result in the church 342 00:16:27,667 --> 00:16:30,167 is devastating because there's factions, and infighting, 343 00:16:30,208 --> 00:16:33,750 and people are devouring and competing against one another. 344 00:16:33,833 --> 00:16:36,917 And not only that, there's every vile practice. 345 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,333 That basically means everything they do is worthless. 346 00:16:40,375 --> 00:16:42,542 It's nonproductive. 347 00:16:42,625 --> 00:16:46,292 People aren't becoming more and more like Jesus when the teacher 348 00:16:46,333 --> 00:16:53,167 that's teaching them has bitter jealousy, selfish ambition. 349 00:16:53,208 --> 00:16:56,167 Do you have earthly wisdom today? 350 00:16:56,208 --> 00:16:57,875 "Well, Pastor Dave, how would I know?" 351 00:16:57,958 --> 00:16:59,667 Look into your heart. 352 00:16:59,750 --> 00:17:02,458 What do you find there? 353 00:17:02,500 --> 00:17:04,750 Is there bitterness? 354 00:17:04,833 --> 00:17:06,958 Is there jealousy? 355 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,458 Is there a deep desire to make much of yourself? 356 00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:13,667 If so, I want you to come to terms with, not only is 357 00:17:13,708 --> 00:17:15,917 that devastating to you, that's devastating and hurtful 358 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,333 to those around you. 359 00:17:18,375 --> 00:17:21,958 I know this from first-hand experience. 360 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,042 I planted a church years ago. 361 00:17:25,125 --> 00:17:27,833 Today, that church is Mars Hill Albuquerque. 362 00:17:27,917 --> 00:17:30,833 I felt a strong calling from Jesus to plant that church. 363 00:17:30,917 --> 00:17:33,333 I left a good church that sent me out with 364 00:17:33,417 --> 00:17:35,458 blessing and support. 365 00:17:35,500 --> 00:17:38,833 And as I began to plant that church and lead that church, 366 00:17:38,917 --> 00:17:41,833 something happened in my heart that wasn't good. 367 00:17:41,875 --> 00:17:45,750 I suddenly began to look at leading a church 368 00:17:45,833 --> 00:17:48,000 as if it was a competitive sport. 369 00:17:48,042 --> 00:17:49,667 I began to keep score. 370 00:17:49,750 --> 00:17:52,333 I began to look around at others who had planted churches 371 00:17:52,417 --> 00:17:54,542 and saw they were doing better than I was, 372 00:17:54,625 --> 00:17:57,042 and to be really candid, I resented them. 373 00:17:57,125 --> 00:18:00,125 I began to see it as an opportunity to add more points 374 00:18:00,167 --> 00:18:02,333 on the scoreboard so that I could beat them, 375 00:18:02,375 --> 00:18:04,333 even though we were on the same team. 376 00:18:04,375 --> 00:18:08,917 To make matters worse, my worth and my identity were totally 377 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,958 tied up into the role of being a church-planting pastor. 378 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,500 It's brutal. 379 00:18:14,583 --> 00:18:17,667 My motive became very tainted along the way, and I 380 00:18:17,708 --> 00:18:20,667 began to lead the church from a perspective--if Pastor James 381 00:18:20,708 --> 00:18:25,917 was speaking into my life--as a place of earthly wisdom. 382 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,167 And the result to the church was devastating. 383 00:18:28,208 --> 00:18:30,208 People were fighting all the time. 384 00:18:30,292 --> 00:18:32,708 I felt like I was pastor of Survivor Island. 385 00:18:32,792 --> 00:18:35,417 Factions were being formed, and people were being voted out, 386 00:18:35,500 --> 00:18:37,167 and it was just not going well. 387 00:18:37,208 --> 00:18:39,000 And probably the most frustrating aspect 388 00:18:39,083 --> 00:18:43,125 about all of it--lives weren't being transformed. 389 00:18:43,167 --> 00:18:44,750 People weren't being changed. 390 00:18:44,833 --> 00:18:48,792 People seemed to be stuck in their rebellion against God. 391 00:18:48,833 --> 00:18:51,792 And it was so exhausting, so tiring that Kara and I 392 00:18:51,833 --> 00:18:53,292 gathered around some close friends, 393 00:18:53,333 --> 00:18:55,042 and we began to pray that Jesus 394 00:18:55,125 --> 00:18:58,250 would give us a hall pass, that he would let us move on, 395 00:18:58,333 --> 00:19:00,333 that he would take us and transport us 396 00:19:00,375 --> 00:19:03,333 in to a healthy church where we could have a new start. 397 00:19:03,375 --> 00:19:05,333 And in the midst of all this experience, 398 00:19:05,375 --> 00:19:08,333 I had a day of solitude where I was fasting, and praying, 399 00:19:08,375 --> 00:19:09,708 and studying the Scripture. 400 00:19:09,792 --> 00:19:12,708 I went out and looked over the city that I was living 401 00:19:12,792 --> 00:19:14,917 in at the time, Albuquerque, and the Sandia Mountains. 402 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,917 I got a vantage point of the city 403 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,667 and just prayed from a heart level, "Jesus, help me here. 404 00:19:19,708 --> 00:19:21,333 What do you want me to know?" 405 00:19:21,417 --> 00:19:23,125 And I didn't hear an audible voice, 406 00:19:23,167 --> 00:19:24,833 I had this impression in my heart, 407 00:19:24,917 --> 00:19:27,250 and it was as if Jesus was saying to me, 408 00:19:27,333 --> 00:19:29,250 "I want you to stay where you are, 409 00:19:29,333 --> 00:19:31,750 but I want you to do church by my book." 410 00:19:31,833 --> 00:19:34,500 So, I began to pour into the Scriptures and I realized, 411 00:19:34,583 --> 00:19:37,500 and confessed, and repented of the fact that I was leading this 412 00:19:37,583 --> 00:19:40,000 church from a place of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. 413 00:19:40,083 --> 00:19:41,750 Now, God is good. God is forgiving. 414 00:19:41,833 --> 00:19:43,167 God redeems all things. 415 00:19:43,208 --> 00:19:44,667 Today, Mars Hill Church Albuquerque 416 00:19:44,708 --> 00:19:46,375 is one of the healthiest locations that 417 00:19:46,458 --> 00:19:48,083 we have in all of Mars Hill. 418 00:19:48,167 --> 00:19:49,792 The church is up over 1,000 people, 419 00:19:49,833 --> 00:19:52,292 but even more importantly, over 600 people have been baptized 420 00:19:52,333 --> 00:19:54,083 over a 3-year span. 421 00:19:54,167 --> 00:19:58,167 I'm grateful for what Jesus has done. 422 00:19:58,208 --> 00:20:00,750 What does Jesus' wisdom look like? 423 00:20:00,833 --> 00:20:02,875 We don't want to be, as Christians, 424 00:20:02,958 --> 00:20:06,167 those who are filled with earthly wisdom, do we? 425 00:20:06,250 --> 00:20:08,167 We want Jesus' wisdom. 426 00:20:08,250 --> 00:20:11,500 So, how do we get it, and what does it look like? 427 00:20:11,542 --> 00:20:15,083 Back to our text. 428 00:20:15,167 --> 00:20:20,833 Verse 17, "But the wisdom from above is first pure, 429 00:20:20,917 --> 00:20:24,833 "then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, 430 00:20:24,917 --> 00:20:30,583 "full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 431 00:20:30,667 --> 00:20:33,958 "And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace 432 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,667 by those who make peace." 433 00:20:37,750 --> 00:20:41,500 I want you to understand what James means when he talks about 434 00:20:41,542 --> 00:20:43,667 a wisdom from above. 435 00:20:43,750 --> 00:20:47,375 He's making a very powerful, poignant point 436 00:20:47,458 --> 00:20:49,000 that we don't want to miss. 437 00:20:49,083 --> 00:20:51,500 What James is saying is that none of us has, 438 00:20:51,583 --> 00:20:55,292 intrinsically, inherently, the wisdom that God would have. 439 00:20:55,333 --> 00:20:58,583 For us to have wisdom, we need an infusion from above. 440 00:20:58,667 --> 00:21:02,167 And what the Bible teaches us in a very compelling way is 441 00:21:02,250 --> 00:21:05,667 the only way that you and I will ever have the wisdom that Jesus 442 00:21:05,750 --> 00:21:09,167 had is through the person and work of the Holy Spirit. 443 00:21:09,208 --> 00:21:11,875 As Jesus lived his life on earth, 444 00:21:11,958 --> 00:21:14,250 particularly in the Gospel of Luke, 445 00:21:14,333 --> 00:21:17,375 we see over and over again that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature 446 00:21:17,458 --> 00:21:20,292 through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 447 00:21:20,333 --> 00:21:24,000 And we desperately need the Holy Spirit today 448 00:21:24,042 --> 00:21:26,333 so that we may, first and foremost, 449 00:21:26,417 --> 00:21:28,833 have the same wisdom that Jesus had. 450 00:21:28,917 --> 00:21:31,583 If you don't believe me, let me prove it to you. 451 00:21:31,667 --> 00:21:36,375 Look in your Bibles at 1 Corinthians 2:11-13. 452 00:21:36,458 --> 00:21:42,542 1 Corinthians 2:11-13. 453 00:21:42,625 --> 00:21:47,167 "For who knows a person's thought except the spirit 454 00:21:47,250 --> 00:21:48,958 of that person, which is in him?" 455 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:50,500 Is that true or not? 456 00:21:50,542 --> 00:21:52,042 I don't know what you're thinking. 457 00:21:52,125 --> 00:21:54,167 You know what you're thinking. 458 00:21:54,208 --> 00:21:56,292 Your spirit knows what your mind is thinking. 459 00:21:56,333 --> 00:21:58,500 You know how I know this to be true? 460 00:21:58,542 --> 00:22:01,042 Because I've been married for almost 27 years. 461 00:22:01,125 --> 00:22:02,833 Nothing frustrates my wife more 462 00:22:02,875 --> 00:22:06,167 when I try to finish her sentence and I'm wrong. 463 00:22:06,208 --> 00:22:07,750 Like, "That's not what I'm thinking." 464 00:22:07,833 --> 00:22:09,167 "Oh, sorry." 465 00:22:09,208 --> 00:22:11,708 What makes her even more frustrated, rightfully so, 466 00:22:11,792 --> 00:22:14,042 is when I try to guess what she's feeling. 467 00:22:14,125 --> 00:22:16,042 "Hey, I know you're really mad at me." 468 00:22:16,125 --> 00:22:17,458 "I'm not mad at you!" 469 00:22:17,500 --> 00:22:18,833 "Well, now you are." 470 00:22:18,917 --> 00:22:21,833 But there's this idea that only in her spirit does she know 471 00:22:21,917 --> 00:22:23,250 what she's thinking, right? 472 00:22:23,333 --> 00:22:25,958 Ladies, that's true of men. Are men a mystery to you? 473 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:27,333 Yes, amen. 474 00:22:27,417 --> 00:22:28,833 Through the lens-- thank you, sister. 475 00:22:28,917 --> 00:22:31,333 Through the lens of your husband, men are a mystery. 476 00:22:31,417 --> 00:22:32,833 Only he knows what he's thinking. 477 00:22:32,917 --> 00:22:34,250 I can't guess anymore, right? 478 00:22:34,333 --> 00:22:36,458 We would accept that to be true of people. 479 00:22:36,500 --> 00:22:38,208 What if it's true of God also? 480 00:22:38,292 --> 00:22:41,833 "So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God 481 00:22:41,917 --> 00:22:44,333 "except the Spirit of God. 482 00:22:44,417 --> 00:22:47,500 "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, 483 00:22:47,542 --> 00:22:49,667 "but the Spirit who is from God, 484 00:22:49,750 --> 00:22:53,375 that we might understand the things freely given us by God." 485 00:22:53,458 --> 00:22:56,000 Verse 13, don't miss this point: 486 00:22:56,042 --> 00:23:00,833 "And we impart this in words not taught by"--what kind of wisdom? 487 00:23:00,917 --> 00:23:03,667 "Human wisdom"--that's earthly wisdom-- 488 00:23:03,708 --> 00:23:06,750 "but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths 489 00:23:06,833 --> 00:23:09,750 to those who are spiritual." 490 00:23:09,833 --> 00:23:12,458 We need the Holy Spirit. 491 00:23:12,500 --> 00:23:18,708 The Holy Spirit enlightens us to discern what the Bible means 492 00:23:18,792 --> 00:23:22,833 and he empowers us to do what the Bible says. 493 00:23:22,917 --> 00:23:24,458 What the Holy Spirit does, 494 00:23:24,500 --> 00:23:26,417 the third member of the Trinity, 495 00:23:26,500 --> 00:23:29,458 is he takes the perfect and finished work of Jesus 496 00:23:29,500 --> 00:23:33,542 and he applies it to our lives through the truths of the Bible. 497 00:23:33,625 --> 00:23:35,917 And if we're going to have Jesus' wisdom, 498 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,833 we desperately need the Holy Spirit to do his work 499 00:23:38,917 --> 00:23:42,708 in us and through us. 500 00:23:42,792 --> 00:23:44,417 If there's anything you leave with today, 501 00:23:44,500 --> 00:23:48,083 I want you to leave with a deep dependence upon the Holy Spirit, 502 00:23:48,167 --> 00:23:50,833 because if we're going to have the wisdom that's from above, 503 00:23:50,917 --> 00:23:53,833 the Holy Spirit has to bring it to us through the truth 504 00:23:53,917 --> 00:23:56,042 of the Bible, interpret it through the finished work 505 00:23:56,125 --> 00:23:58,583 and person of the Lord Jesus Christ. 506 00:23:58,667 --> 00:24:02,250 So, what does Jesus' wisdom look like? 507 00:24:02,333 --> 00:24:04,417 Seven things in this text. 508 00:24:04,500 --> 00:24:06,750 First, it's pure. 509 00:24:06,833 --> 00:24:08,167 Don't you love that? 510 00:24:08,208 --> 00:24:10,833 Above all, it says, the wisdom from above, first of all, 511 00:24:10,917 --> 00:24:12,250 is pure. 512 00:24:12,333 --> 00:24:14,000 That has to do with the heart. 513 00:24:14,083 --> 00:24:16,208 That's a motive statement. 514 00:24:16,292 --> 00:24:19,333 When you read the story of Jesus and the Gospels, 515 00:24:19,417 --> 00:24:22,917 don't you love seeing his motive unveiled? 516 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:26,625 Jesus is always about two things and two things only: 517 00:24:26,667 --> 00:24:29,833 he wants to worship God and he wants to love and serve others. 518 00:24:29,917 --> 00:24:31,333 Isn't that amazing? 519 00:24:31,417 --> 00:24:33,833 So, if you and I have the wisdom of Jesus, 520 00:24:33,917 --> 00:24:36,042 that will be the pure motive of our heart, 521 00:24:36,125 --> 00:24:38,958 that everything we do in all of life will ultimately 522 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:40,958 be motivated by, we want to worship Jesus 523 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:42,958 and we want to love and serve others. 524 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:44,333 We want to be pure. 525 00:24:44,417 --> 00:24:47,458 We don't want tainted motives, because the wisdom that comes 526 00:24:47,500 --> 00:24:49,750 from Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit 527 00:24:49,833 --> 00:24:52,750 and the truth of the Bible is pure. 528 00:24:52,833 --> 00:24:57,250 When my kids were growing up, they loved a breakfast beverage 529 00:24:57,333 --> 00:25:00,333 that was the most disgusting thing I've ever had in my life 530 00:25:00,375 --> 00:25:01,708 called Sunny Delight. 531 00:25:01,792 --> 00:25:03,458 Any Sunny Delight fans? 532 00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:06,458 Oh, that's what's wrong with our culture today--is most of us 533 00:25:06,500 --> 00:25:08,000 were raised on that. 534 00:25:08,083 --> 00:25:11,833 As a matter of fact, it was such a part of our family, 535 00:25:11,875 --> 00:25:14,750 kids just referred to it as Sunny D. 536 00:25:14,833 --> 00:25:16,333 "Yo Dad, breakfast, Sunny D." 537 00:25:16,417 --> 00:25:19,042 You know, that's how they would come to the breakfast table. 538 00:25:19,125 --> 00:25:22,042 My wife was going out of town to visit some family members, 539 00:25:22,125 --> 00:25:26,042 and so I had daddy duty for the whole weekend, 540 00:25:26,125 --> 00:25:27,833 and Saturday morning was my specialty. 541 00:25:27,917 --> 00:25:29,958 I'd get up Saturday morning and make waffles, 542 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:31,458 and I had this brilliant idea. 543 00:25:31,500 --> 00:25:35,000 I'm going to introduce my children this Saturday morning, 544 00:25:35,083 --> 00:25:39,958 where their mom's not here, with 100% pure Florida orange juice. 545 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,458 So, I went to the supermarket, I found a carton. 546 00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:45,667 I knew it had to be true because on that carton, it said, 547 00:25:45,708 --> 00:25:47,042 "100% pure Florida orange juice," 548 00:25:47,125 --> 00:25:50,583 and it cost 10 times more than Sunny D. 549 00:25:50,667 --> 00:25:53,500 Put it in the refrigerator, got ready for Saturday morning. 550 00:25:53,542 --> 00:25:55,375 Kids started waking up Saturday morning. 551 00:25:55,458 --> 00:25:58,500 I wasn't on top of things, hadn't done the dishes the night 552 00:25:58,542 --> 00:26:01,042 before, so all the dishes were out on the counter. 553 00:26:01,125 --> 00:26:02,458 There were no clean dishes. 554 00:26:02,500 --> 00:26:05,458 My oldest two got up and I was committed to giving them 555 00:26:05,500 --> 00:26:08,458 a pure experience of Florida orange juice. 556 00:26:08,500 --> 00:26:11,167 So, I said--they got up, "Dad, we want some Sunny D." 557 00:26:11,208 --> 00:26:12,750 "No, no, no, Sunny D today." 558 00:26:12,833 --> 00:26:14,250 "I've got something better for you." 559 00:26:14,333 --> 00:26:15,667 I went to the refrigerator, 560 00:26:15,708 --> 00:26:17,667 pulled out the carton of orange juice. 561 00:26:17,708 --> 00:26:20,000 Went over to the sink, took two small glasses, 562 00:26:20,083 --> 00:26:22,333 rinsed them under the water, poured some dish soap, 563 00:26:22,417 --> 00:26:24,167 washed it out, put it down, boom. 564 00:26:24,208 --> 00:26:26,167 Put them on the counter, poured for them 565 00:26:26,208 --> 00:26:28,833 100% pure Florida orange juice. 566 00:26:28,875 --> 00:26:31,250 Each girl took a glass, put it to their mouth, 567 00:26:31,333 --> 00:26:34,958 and they weren't as exuberant as I thought they would be. 568 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,500 They looked, actually, kind of puzzled. 569 00:26:37,583 --> 00:26:41,750 I said, "Girls, what flavors does your palate taste? 570 00:26:41,833 --> 00:26:43,333 What are you tasting?" 571 00:26:43,417 --> 00:26:46,000 My oldest daughter said, "Orange juice." 572 00:26:46,042 --> 00:26:47,667 "Yeah, OK, good, good. 573 00:26:47,708 --> 00:26:49,167 What else do you taste?" 574 00:26:49,208 --> 00:26:51,750 My other daughter said, "There's dog hair in this, Dad." 575 00:26:51,833 --> 00:26:53,958 I said, "It's not dog hair. It's called pulp. 576 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,000 It's natural. What else do you taste?" 577 00:26:57,042 --> 00:26:59,083 One of my girls said, 578 00:26:59,167 --> 00:27:01,167 "There's something else in here that's citrusy. 579 00:27:01,208 --> 00:27:02,625 "I can't define it. 580 00:27:02,667 --> 00:27:04,333 I'm not sure what it is, Daddy." 581 00:27:04,417 --> 00:27:06,042 So I went back to the carton. 582 00:27:06,125 --> 00:27:07,458 I said, "That's OK." 583 00:27:07,500 --> 00:27:09,208 I said, "Sometimes, for an extra treat, 584 00:27:09,292 --> 00:27:10,958 "they mix in mango, pure mango juice, 585 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:12,333 even grapefruit juice." 586 00:27:12,417 --> 00:27:14,833 So I went over to the carton, looked. No mango, 587 00:27:14,917 --> 00:27:16,250 no grapefruit, huh. 588 00:27:16,333 --> 00:27:18,750 "OK, describe the citrus taste for me a little better." 589 00:27:18,833 --> 00:27:20,458 "Dad, it tastes kind of lemony." 590 00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:21,833 "OK." 591 00:27:21,917 --> 00:27:24,833 Went back, looked at the carton, no lemon, don't see it anywhere. 592 00:27:24,917 --> 00:27:27,333 Looked all around the carton, didn't know what to do. 593 00:27:27,417 --> 00:27:29,833 And then my other daughter said, "And it tastes soapy." 594 00:27:29,917 --> 00:27:35,667 I said, "Oh, kids, 100% Florida orange juice, Lemon Fresh Joy. 595 00:27:35,708 --> 00:27:38,167 Enjoy your glass." 596 00:27:38,208 --> 00:27:41,500 Isn't that the condition of our hearts, right? 597 00:27:41,583 --> 00:27:43,333 When do we ever do anything pure? 598 00:27:43,417 --> 00:27:46,333 But according to the text, the wisdom of Jesus is pure, 599 00:27:46,417 --> 00:27:47,750 motivationally. 600 00:27:47,833 --> 00:27:50,750 And what the Holy Spirit does is, he works on our heart. 601 00:27:50,833 --> 00:27:53,250 He takes the finished work of Jesus through the truths 602 00:27:53,333 --> 00:27:56,042 of Scripture and he changes us from the inside out, 603 00:27:56,125 --> 00:27:58,833 that we become purely motivated, that all of life is 604 00:27:58,917 --> 00:28:01,667 a pure motive to worship Jesus no matter what we do 605 00:28:01,708 --> 00:28:05,458 and who we are, and to love and serve others. 606 00:28:05,500 --> 00:28:08,750 Jesus' wisdom is peaceful, 607 00:28:08,833 --> 00:28:11,167 peaceable according to this text. 608 00:28:11,208 --> 00:28:16,208 Here's the amazing thing Jesus does for us. 609 00:28:16,292 --> 00:28:20,958 He brings to an end the animosity and the enmity 610 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,458 that exists between God and us. 611 00:28:23,500 --> 00:28:26,458 You need to know, by the mere fact you were born into 612 00:28:26,500 --> 00:28:32,167 the human race, you were born as an enemy of God, 613 00:28:32,208 --> 00:28:34,417 that our common ancestors sinned, and rebelled, 614 00:28:34,500 --> 00:28:36,250 and committed treason against God, 615 00:28:36,333 --> 00:28:38,917 and each one of us is born in this insurrectionist tribe 616 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:40,500 called humanity. 617 00:28:40,583 --> 00:28:44,167 And then we begin to live our lives acting out our rebellion 618 00:28:44,208 --> 00:28:45,583 against God. 619 00:28:45,667 --> 00:28:48,292 Some of us are indifferent, some of us shake our fist 620 00:28:48,333 --> 00:28:51,042 in the face of God, but we're all enemies of God, 621 00:28:51,125 --> 00:28:54,292 and God righteously is angry with us and has every right, 622 00:28:54,333 --> 00:28:57,375 as his natural-born enemies, to destroy us. 623 00:28:57,458 --> 00:28:59,333 But you know what God does instead? 624 00:28:59,417 --> 00:29:03,750 He offers us truce through the person and work of Jesus. 625 00:29:03,833 --> 00:29:08,042 If you're not a Christian here today, 626 00:29:08,125 --> 00:29:10,542 I got some good news and bad news for you. 627 00:29:10,625 --> 00:29:12,250 Bad news first. 628 00:29:12,333 --> 00:29:17,542 You're in an antagonistic relationship with God today. 629 00:29:17,625 --> 00:29:19,542 He's your enemy, you're his. 630 00:29:19,625 --> 00:29:22,958 You've committed treason against him and he has every right 631 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:29,125 as your Creator to absolutely punish you any way he sees fit. 632 00:29:29,167 --> 00:29:31,458 Here's the good news. 633 00:29:31,500 --> 00:29:35,458 He loves you and he offers you a peaceful alternative 634 00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:37,333 through Jesus. 635 00:29:37,375 --> 00:29:40,750 If you'll turn from your sin and you'll trust in Jesus, 636 00:29:40,833 --> 00:29:43,208 Jesus will take your sin upon himself, 637 00:29:43,292 --> 00:29:46,833 which he's already paid for the penalty of on the cross, 638 00:29:46,917 --> 00:29:50,333 and in exchange, give you his right relationship with God. 639 00:29:50,417 --> 00:29:53,958 And the wisdom that comes from Jesus is peaceable. 640 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:58,167 Peaceable people are two things paradoxically, simultaneously. 641 00:29:58,250 --> 00:30:01,375 They're slow and they're quick. 642 00:30:01,458 --> 00:30:04,500 They're slow to take offense. 643 00:30:04,542 --> 00:30:07,542 When you and I live out the wisdom of Jesus, 644 00:30:07,625 --> 00:30:10,292 we're just not easily offended. 645 00:30:10,333 --> 00:30:13,167 We're thick-skinned. 646 00:30:13,208 --> 00:30:18,167 We border on being naive when we look at the motives of others. 647 00:30:18,208 --> 00:30:21,167 We're quick to say, "I don't think you meant to do that, 648 00:30:21,208 --> 00:30:23,292 "so I'm not going to take offense at that, 649 00:30:23,333 --> 00:30:28,667 because I think you love me." 650 00:30:28,750 --> 00:30:31,167 We need to not be hypersensitive 651 00:30:31,250 --> 00:30:33,083 because it's absolutely incompatible 652 00:30:33,167 --> 00:30:36,250 to be hypersensitive and be filled with 653 00:30:36,333 --> 00:30:39,167 the wisdom of Jesus. 654 00:30:39,250 --> 00:30:42,375 So, we're slow to take offense, but simultaneously, 655 00:30:42,458 --> 00:30:45,167 we're quick to resolve an offense, right? 656 00:30:45,250 --> 00:30:47,292 If we realize someone has something against us 657 00:30:47,333 --> 00:30:50,583 or we've done something wrong, as quickly as possible, 658 00:30:50,667 --> 00:30:53,375 we want to go and move toward reconciliation. 659 00:30:53,458 --> 00:30:55,500 That's what it means to be peaceable. 660 00:30:55,542 --> 00:30:58,417 The wisdom of Jesus not only ends our animosity with God, 661 00:30:58,500 --> 00:31:00,583 but it brings what the Scripture calls "shalom" 662 00:31:00,667 --> 00:31:02,250 into our relationships. 663 00:31:02,333 --> 00:31:03,792 For those that are reconciled, 664 00:31:03,833 --> 00:31:07,000 it means that when I sin against you and you sin against me, 665 00:31:07,042 --> 00:31:08,750 we can take that together to Jesus, 666 00:31:08,833 --> 00:31:11,958 and we can walk forward in peace in a way that our relationships 667 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:15,667 are characterized by well-being and good intentions. 668 00:31:15,750 --> 00:31:20,167 If you're easily offended, if you're slow to work out 669 00:31:20,250 --> 00:31:22,083 the offense of others in your life, 670 00:31:22,167 --> 00:31:24,292 you're not living out in the wisdom of Jesus, 671 00:31:24,333 --> 00:31:26,167 because Jesus' wisdom is pure, it's peaceable, 672 00:31:26,250 --> 00:31:28,583 it's gentle. 673 00:31:28,667 --> 00:31:34,333 It's gentle. 674 00:31:34,417 --> 00:31:37,042 Gentle means, most basically in common day language, 675 00:31:37,125 --> 00:31:39,083 it's not pushy. 676 00:31:39,167 --> 00:31:41,542 We all have our pet peeve sins, right? 677 00:31:41,625 --> 00:31:46,083 Do pushy people drive you crazy like they drive me crazy? 678 00:31:46,167 --> 00:31:48,500 So much so that in my own weakness, 679 00:31:48,542 --> 00:31:50,667 I've created this special category in hell for 680 00:31:50,750 --> 00:31:52,875 pushy people who aren't reconciled through Jesus, like, 681 00:31:52,958 --> 00:31:55,875 right next to terrorists and everybody else 682 00:31:55,958 --> 00:31:58,833 who's done atrocious things. 683 00:31:58,917 --> 00:32:02,333 Have you ever read the Gospels and you trip up over Jesus 684 00:32:02,375 --> 00:32:04,833 in the same way that those around him did? 685 00:32:04,917 --> 00:32:08,625 Here's this man claiming to be God, and he's not pushy. 686 00:32:08,667 --> 00:32:11,625 He doesn't impose himself on others. 687 00:32:11,667 --> 00:32:15,500 He invites all to come follow him, 688 00:32:15,583 --> 00:32:17,458 but he doesn't force them to do so. 689 00:32:17,500 --> 00:32:19,833 He invites them, he's winsome, but he's not pushy 690 00:32:19,917 --> 00:32:21,542 in any way whatsoever. 691 00:32:21,625 --> 00:32:25,417 The wisdom of Jesus isn't pushy, it isn't domineering, 692 00:32:25,500 --> 00:32:31,042 it isn't imposing. 693 00:32:31,125 --> 00:32:33,833 Jesus' wisdom is pure, it's peaceable, it's gentle, 694 00:32:33,875 --> 00:32:36,958 it's reasonable. 695 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:38,917 It's reasonable. 696 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:44,042 Reasonable means you are prone to listen before you speak. 697 00:32:44,125 --> 00:32:47,000 Before you render judgment on a situation, 698 00:32:47,042 --> 00:32:50,375 you want to take in all the facts. 699 00:32:50,458 --> 00:32:54,792 You want to give those who you perhaps are having conflict with 700 00:32:54,833 --> 00:32:56,667 the opportunity to share their perspective 701 00:32:56,750 --> 00:32:59,500 before you rush to judgment. 702 00:32:59,542 --> 00:33:04,833 Something none of us has ever said is, "Wow, chatty Cathy, 703 00:33:04,917 --> 00:33:06,833 chatty Kevin, they're so wise." 704 00:33:06,917 --> 00:33:08,833 Who has ever said or thought that? 705 00:33:08,917 --> 00:33:11,958 What would we always say about chatty Cathy and chatty Kevin? 706 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,250 They need to speak less and listen more. 707 00:33:14,333 --> 00:33:15,667 Why? 708 00:33:15,708 --> 00:33:19,833 Because that's the reasonable wisdom of Jesus. 709 00:33:19,875 --> 00:33:23,250 The wisest people I've ever met that have the true wisdom 710 00:33:23,333 --> 00:33:26,750 of Jesus listen more effectively and carefully than anyone else 711 00:33:26,833 --> 00:33:32,250 I know, and probably speak the fewest words. 712 00:33:32,333 --> 00:33:34,500 Look at what else Jesus' wisdom is. 713 00:33:34,583 --> 00:33:36,125 It's merciful. 714 00:33:36,167 --> 00:33:38,625 Two words that are mentioned here together that are clumped 715 00:33:38,667 --> 00:33:42,542 together in meaning from James 3 that I want you to see: 716 00:33:42,625 --> 00:33:44,458 full of mercy and good fruits. 717 00:33:44,500 --> 00:33:47,667 The idea of mercy is, it's a heart disposition, 718 00:33:47,708 --> 00:33:49,958 because wisdom isn't just the data in our heads, 719 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:51,458 it's the disposition of our hearts 720 00:33:51,500 --> 00:33:52,958 and the deeds of our hands. 721 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,292 Mercy is a heart motive towards, "I want to forgive you." 722 00:33:56,333 --> 00:33:59,750 And then good deeds are actions that are consistent 723 00:33:59,833 --> 00:34:03,250 with that heart. 724 00:34:03,333 --> 00:34:05,333 Jesus is merciful, isn't he? 725 00:34:05,417 --> 00:34:07,125 He's quick to forgive. 726 00:34:07,167 --> 00:34:10,125 But do you know what else Jesus does that when we have 727 00:34:10,167 --> 00:34:12,167 his wisdom we want to do as well? 728 00:34:12,208 --> 00:34:15,833 Jesus loves to reverse and minimize the consequences 729 00:34:15,875 --> 00:34:18,333 of sin, doesn't he? 730 00:34:18,375 --> 00:34:20,167 That's what it means to be merciful. 731 00:34:20,208 --> 00:34:22,167 Not only do I want to forgive you, 732 00:34:22,208 --> 00:34:25,167 but I want to reduce the effects of the bad consequences 733 00:34:25,208 --> 00:34:27,250 of sin in your life. 734 00:34:27,333 --> 00:34:29,958 Sin has consequences, right? 735 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,167 Like, there's spiritual dynamics in the world that if you sin, 736 00:34:33,208 --> 00:34:35,833 there are consequences that accompany that. 737 00:34:35,875 --> 00:34:38,333 We don't only want to forgive people when they sin, 738 00:34:38,417 --> 00:34:40,542 we want to do everything we can to minimize 739 00:34:40,625 --> 00:34:42,667 the hard consequences of sin. 740 00:34:42,708 --> 00:34:45,667 That's what Jesus does for us. 741 00:34:45,750 --> 00:34:47,875 Jesus doesn't say, "You've done some really bad things. 742 00:34:47,958 --> 00:34:51,583 "I'm going to forgive you, but I want you to go sit in the corner 743 00:34:51,667 --> 00:34:53,083 and think about what you've done." 744 00:34:53,167 --> 00:34:55,083 Jesus says, "Not only do I forgive you, 745 00:34:55,167 --> 00:34:58,083 "you have my righteousness too, and I want you to start seeing 746 00:34:58,167 --> 00:35:01,167 "yourself in light of the love that my Father has for you 747 00:35:01,208 --> 00:35:02,833 and my righteousness." 748 00:35:02,917 --> 00:35:05,250 I lost a friend lately, Max. 749 00:35:05,333 --> 00:35:11,167 Max was a guy I got to know when I was pastoring at another time. 750 00:35:11,208 --> 00:35:14,333 Max had one of the hardest lives I've ever seen anybody live. 751 00:35:14,417 --> 00:35:16,333 Max grew up in a rough neighborhood 752 00:35:16,417 --> 00:35:19,458 and got involved in street gangs when he was 11 years old. 753 00:35:19,500 --> 00:35:23,250 He started shooting up drugs intravenously at that age 754 00:35:23,333 --> 00:35:26,667 and started sleeping around at 12. 755 00:35:26,708 --> 00:35:29,333 And as Max became a Christian later in life, 756 00:35:29,417 --> 00:35:32,333 he was diagnosed with not only HIV 757 00:35:32,375 --> 00:35:34,833 but a full-blown case of AIDS. 758 00:35:34,875 --> 00:35:38,042 So, I knew Max for years, but he was always deeply stricken by 759 00:35:38,125 --> 00:35:40,542 AIDS during that time. 760 00:35:40,625 --> 00:35:43,917 I love the way the church loved Max. 761 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,583 Because if you were to ask Max and start to feel sorry for him, 762 00:35:47,667 --> 00:35:49,667 he would always fight against self-pity and say, 763 00:35:49,708 --> 00:35:51,833 "You know what, I made some really bad decisions, 764 00:35:51,917 --> 00:35:54,833 "even when I was young, and much of what I'm experiencing today 765 00:35:54,917 --> 00:35:57,042 is just the painful consequence of those bad decisions." 766 00:35:57,125 --> 00:36:00,333 You know what the church would say to Max? 767 00:36:00,375 --> 00:36:04,208 "Hey bro, you're forgiven and we want to do everything we can 768 00:36:04,292 --> 00:36:06,542 to alleviate your suffering." 769 00:36:06,625 --> 00:36:08,250 That's mercy. 770 00:36:08,333 --> 00:36:10,167 Mercy goes beyond forgiveness. 771 00:36:10,208 --> 00:36:11,833 Mercy says, "Of course I forgive you. 772 00:36:11,917 --> 00:36:14,167 "I'm not going to make you pay anything back, 773 00:36:14,208 --> 00:36:16,208 "and let me work towards helping alleviate 774 00:36:16,292 --> 00:36:18,708 the suffering consequences of sin in your life." 775 00:36:18,792 --> 00:36:20,250 That's Jesus. 776 00:36:20,333 --> 00:36:21,958 That's the wisdom of Jesus. 777 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,042 That's what we need, that's what we want, 778 00:36:24,125 --> 00:36:25,750 that's what we need the Holy Spirit 779 00:36:25,833 --> 00:36:28,250 to give to us through the finished work of Jesus 780 00:36:28,333 --> 00:36:30,625 and the truth of Scripture. 781 00:36:30,667 --> 00:36:34,208 Jesus' wisdom is also impartial. 782 00:36:34,292 --> 00:36:38,542 Jesus isn't impressed by people, but he loves people, 783 00:36:38,625 --> 00:36:39,958 and Jesus doesn't play favorites-- 784 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,833 he loves everyone the same. 785 00:36:42,917 --> 00:36:45,792 The Bible goes so far to say as, "In the church, 786 00:36:45,833 --> 00:36:50,167 "there is neither male or female, neither Greek or Jew, 787 00:36:50,208 --> 00:36:51,583 neither slave nor free." 788 00:36:51,667 --> 00:36:54,375 Those were the categories by which people created partiality 789 00:36:54,458 --> 00:36:56,333 in the Bible times. 790 00:36:56,417 --> 00:36:58,083 So, there's no partiality. 791 00:36:58,167 --> 00:37:00,042 Love everyone the same. 792 00:37:00,125 --> 00:37:02,667 And outside the church, we look at people as those 793 00:37:02,708 --> 00:37:06,708 who deserve dignity and respect as image-bearers of God 794 00:37:06,792 --> 00:37:10,125 that we want to meet Jesus. 795 00:37:10,167 --> 00:37:13,250 When we look at them, it's not about their race, 796 00:37:13,333 --> 00:37:16,250 or their nationality, or their political persuasion. 797 00:37:16,333 --> 00:37:17,667 It's nothing about that. 798 00:37:17,708 --> 00:37:19,833 We look at them impartially, and we love them, 799 00:37:19,917 --> 00:37:23,042 and we want them to know and meet our Jesus who will love 800 00:37:23,125 --> 00:37:26,125 and care for them as well. 801 00:37:29,917 --> 00:37:32,250 Jesus' wisdom is fruitful. 802 00:37:32,333 --> 00:37:33,750 I love verse 18. 803 00:37:33,833 --> 00:37:35,833 I want to read it to you again. 804 00:37:35,917 --> 00:37:38,458 I want you to think about this: 805 00:37:38,500 --> 00:37:41,333 "And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace 806 00:37:41,417 --> 00:37:46,667 by those who make peace." 807 00:37:46,750 --> 00:37:50,583 The wisdom of Jesus, worked out in our life 808 00:37:50,667 --> 00:37:54,292 through the Holy Sprit according to the truth of Scripture, 809 00:37:54,333 --> 00:37:57,292 is fruitful. 810 00:37:57,333 --> 00:38:03,458 We become righteous in everyday life. 811 00:38:03,500 --> 00:38:06,458 To be righteous means you are in right relationship with God, 812 00:38:06,500 --> 00:38:08,542 and because you're in right relationship with God, 813 00:38:08,625 --> 00:38:11,458 you treat others rightly. 814 00:38:11,500 --> 00:38:13,625 Christian, you need to understand what happened 815 00:38:13,667 --> 00:38:16,333 when you turned from sin and you trusted in Jesus. 816 00:38:16,417 --> 00:38:18,750 In that moment, something incredible happened. 817 00:38:18,833 --> 00:38:22,333 You were declared, forensically, as if in a court of law, by God, 818 00:38:22,375 --> 00:38:24,125 as being righteous. 819 00:38:24,167 --> 00:38:28,250 The sin and your sin was counted to Jesus' account and what 820 00:38:28,333 --> 00:38:30,958 he paid for on the cross, and his righteousness, 821 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:33,958 his obedience to the Father, his love of the Father, 822 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,042 his compliance to the law, his perfection was credited 823 00:38:37,125 --> 00:38:38,542 to your account. 824 00:38:38,625 --> 00:38:40,750 So you need to know, right in this minute, 825 00:38:40,833 --> 00:38:43,500 no matter what you've done, as a follower, as a Christian, 826 00:38:43,583 --> 00:38:45,000 as one who's been declared righteous, 827 00:38:45,083 --> 00:38:48,167 God looks at you from heaven, and he sees you through the lens 828 00:38:48,250 --> 00:38:49,583 and the perfection of Jesus. 829 00:38:49,667 --> 00:38:51,000 You're in Christ. 830 00:38:51,042 --> 00:38:54,167 You are positionally righteous right here, right now. 831 00:38:54,250 --> 00:38:57,792 And the rest of the Christian life is living practically out 832 00:38:57,833 --> 00:39:02,333 that righteousness that's already ours positionally. 833 00:39:02,417 --> 00:39:05,708 That's what the wisdom of Jesus brings about in our life through 834 00:39:05,792 --> 00:39:09,833 the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 835 00:39:09,875 --> 00:39:14,750 We become people in everyday life who think, feel, 836 00:39:14,833 --> 00:39:16,958 speak, and act like Jesus. 837 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,417 And it's as if the seeds have been planted, 838 00:39:19,500 --> 00:39:21,417 and through Jesus' wisdom they flourish, 839 00:39:21,500 --> 00:39:23,458 and this harvest of righteousness 840 00:39:23,500 --> 00:39:28,042 defines the church. 841 00:39:28,125 --> 00:39:29,750 You want that? 842 00:39:29,833 --> 00:39:32,042 I want that more than anything else. 843 00:39:32,125 --> 00:39:34,250 That's what I want. 844 00:39:34,333 --> 00:39:37,750 Non-Christian, hear me today. 845 00:39:37,833 --> 00:39:39,708 Here's the opportunity that's in front of you 846 00:39:39,792 --> 00:39:42,042 right here, right now. 847 00:39:42,125 --> 00:39:45,583 If you'll give your sin to Jesus, 848 00:39:45,667 --> 00:39:51,667 and acknowledge that you've been treasonous against God, 849 00:39:51,708 --> 00:39:55,542 and you'll trust him to give you back his righteousness, 850 00:39:55,625 --> 00:40:00,583 you can be declared positionally righteous before God right now. 851 00:40:00,667 --> 00:40:03,750 No condemnation, you are considered to positionally have 852 00:40:03,833 --> 00:40:07,500 all the righteousness of Jesus, and the rest of your life 853 00:40:07,542 --> 00:40:10,458 can be spent in the power of the Holy Spirit, 854 00:40:10,500 --> 00:40:15,333 living out that righteousness practically. 855 00:40:20,833 --> 00:40:24,750 We need the Holy Spirit, don't we? 856 00:40:24,833 --> 00:40:26,583 Do you want the wisdom of Jesus? 857 00:40:26,667 --> 00:40:30,083 Now that you see what it is, do you have a hunger for it? 858 00:40:30,167 --> 00:40:31,875 How do we get it? 859 00:40:31,958 --> 00:40:34,542 We need Jesus' wisdom. 860 00:40:34,625 --> 00:40:36,542 Three things in closing. 861 00:40:36,625 --> 00:40:38,542 Three things I want you to think about. 862 00:40:38,625 --> 00:40:40,458 Three categories in which we desperately need 863 00:40:40,500 --> 00:40:41,833 the wisdom of Jesus. 864 00:40:41,917 --> 00:40:43,833 We need Jesus' wisdom in our lives. 865 00:40:43,917 --> 00:40:47,000 I need Jesus' wisdom in my life. 866 00:40:47,083 --> 00:40:49,292 Do you? 867 00:40:49,333 --> 00:40:52,833 Can I tell you something encouraging today? 868 00:40:52,875 --> 00:40:54,667 I'm making progress here. 869 00:40:54,750 --> 00:40:58,417 I'm not perfect, I'm making progress. 870 00:40:58,500 --> 00:41:02,375 One of the areas that I need Jesus' wisdom applied to my life 871 00:41:02,458 --> 00:41:05,375 through the Holy Spirit is when things don't go 872 00:41:05,458 --> 00:41:06,875 according to my plans. 873 00:41:06,958 --> 00:41:09,583 I don't know if any of you can relate to this. 874 00:41:09,667 --> 00:41:12,083 Some of you are going to hear me, be honest, 875 00:41:12,167 --> 00:41:14,833 and you're going to say, "You shouldn't even be a pastor. 876 00:41:14,917 --> 00:41:16,250 I don't believe." 877 00:41:16,333 --> 00:41:18,000 You know what, you may be right. 878 00:41:18,042 --> 00:41:20,167 I struggle when my plans don't come to fruition. 879 00:41:20,250 --> 00:41:22,667 I have a spiritual nuclear meltdown to the point 880 00:41:22,750 --> 00:41:27,292 at the end of that experience, I have a book of Job, 881 00:41:27,333 --> 00:41:28,875 no matter what the circumstance is, 882 00:41:28,958 --> 00:41:35,792 experience where I accuse God of being against me. 883 00:41:35,833 --> 00:41:38,500 I'll give you an example. 884 00:41:38,542 --> 00:41:41,000 Sunday mornings are very regimented for me. 885 00:41:41,042 --> 00:41:44,042 I get up at the same time, have the same meal, 886 00:41:44,125 --> 00:41:47,500 have the same coffee, devote as much time as I need to getting 887 00:41:47,542 --> 00:41:50,833 ready, spend a little bit of time reading my Bible, praying. 888 00:41:50,917 --> 00:41:52,833 I do all the same things every Sunday. 889 00:41:52,917 --> 00:41:54,583 Immediately you hear that and you're like, 890 00:41:54,667 --> 00:41:56,000 "You've got a problem." 891 00:41:56,042 --> 00:41:57,375 Yes, I agree, OK. 892 00:41:57,458 --> 00:42:00,458 But I do that, and I allow just enough time that there's 893 00:42:00,500 --> 00:42:02,167 a 5-minute margin to get to where 894 00:42:02,208 --> 00:42:04,833 I need to be Sunday mornings so I can join up 895 00:42:04,917 --> 00:42:06,542 with everybody else who's coming here 896 00:42:06,625 --> 00:42:07,958 and ready to serve. 897 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:10,250 A few Sundays ago--this happens occasionally in Seattle. 898 00:42:10,333 --> 00:42:11,750 I'm not sure how it happens. 899 00:42:11,833 --> 00:42:14,750 I don't understand meteorology, I don't get it, 900 00:42:14,833 --> 00:42:16,958 but something happened in the middle of the night 901 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,458 that my car that stays parked out on the street 902 00:42:19,500 --> 00:42:20,958 turned into a popsicle. 903 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:24,250 I don't know how that happened, but I went and I was already 904 00:42:24,333 --> 00:42:25,958 running 3 minutes late according to plan. 905 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:28,958 I walk up to my car and it's like somebody put it 906 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:30,958 on a giant stick, covered it in water, 907 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:32,708 and stuck it in the deep freeze, 908 00:42:32,792 --> 00:42:34,125 and pulled it out. 909 00:42:34,167 --> 00:42:37,125 The thing is a popsicle, and I've only got one key left. 910 00:42:37,167 --> 00:42:39,750 And it's not the kind of cool "beep beep beep" thing. 911 00:42:39,833 --> 00:42:42,250 It's the old-school stick it in there and turn it. 912 00:42:42,333 --> 00:42:45,250 And I'm at a huge disadvantage, because I am not a mechanic. 913 00:42:45,333 --> 00:42:48,000 I only know a few things to do with a car. 914 00:42:48,042 --> 00:42:50,000 I know how to change a flat tire, 915 00:42:50,042 --> 00:42:51,750 I know how to open the door, 916 00:42:51,833 --> 00:42:53,750 I know how to turn on the ignition, 917 00:42:53,833 --> 00:42:55,750 I know how to change the radio stations. 918 00:42:55,833 --> 00:42:57,250 That's it. That really is it. 919 00:42:57,333 --> 00:43:00,500 So, whenever my car breaks down, I don't want to be perceived as 920 00:43:00,583 --> 00:43:03,500 foolish, so I always open up the hood because I think that's 921 00:43:03,583 --> 00:43:05,500 what people do when their car breaks down. 922 00:43:05,583 --> 00:43:08,708 I go and I look at it, and in this hand I've got, 923 00:43:08,792 --> 00:43:10,833 where no one can see it, my cell phone, 924 00:43:10,917 --> 00:43:12,833 and I'm texting my wife, "Call AAA ASAP. 925 00:43:12,917 --> 00:43:14,250 Here's my coordinates." 926 00:43:14,333 --> 00:43:16,750 And then they show up, and they save the day. 927 00:43:16,833 --> 00:43:19,250 So, I'm already running late, I've got a popsicle car, 928 00:43:19,333 --> 00:43:22,667 I take my key, and I can't get into the--I can't even get it 929 00:43:22,708 --> 00:43:24,042 into the keyhole. 930 00:43:24,125 --> 00:43:27,458 And all I have is a Bible in one hand and a cell phone. 931 00:43:27,500 --> 00:43:29,208 I need an icepick. Don't have that. 932 00:43:29,292 --> 00:43:31,667 So, suddenly I'm realizing, "OK, this is a huge problem," 933 00:43:31,708 --> 00:43:33,667 and I can feel the meltdown coming. 934 00:43:33,708 --> 00:43:37,667 On a normal Sunday, it'd be like, "Oh God, why me? 935 00:43:37,708 --> 00:43:40,417 "Why have you cursed me? Why have you turned against me? 936 00:43:40,500 --> 00:43:43,417 "You called me to be a pastor and now you're not even 937 00:43:43,500 --> 00:43:45,167 helping me get ice off my car." 938 00:43:45,208 --> 00:43:48,333 And I would expect my wife to come down the stairs with her 939 00:43:48,417 --> 00:43:51,000 bathrobe and her furry slippers, and put her arm around me, 940 00:43:51,042 --> 00:43:53,750 and say, "Honey, just curse God and die right here." 941 00:43:53,833 --> 00:43:56,500 I mean, that would be my normal experience. 942 00:43:56,542 --> 00:44:01,625 But in that moment, I said, "OK, Holy Spirit, help me. 943 00:44:01,667 --> 00:44:04,167 "I don't want to be who I've been. 944 00:44:04,208 --> 00:44:06,458 I want to be like Jesus in this circumstance." 945 00:44:06,500 --> 00:44:08,958 I chipped away at the ice for a little bit, 946 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:11,458 and I don't know if this was supernatural, probably not, 947 00:44:11,500 --> 00:44:13,958 but all of a sudden, what came to my mind. 948 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,667 Got my key, and then it still wouldn't open because it 949 00:44:16,708 --> 00:44:18,042 was, like, rusted shut. 950 00:44:18,125 --> 00:44:19,750 So, ice and rust, the terrible tandem 951 00:44:19,833 --> 00:44:21,250 that destroys all of our lives. 952 00:44:21,333 --> 00:44:24,667 And I couldn't get in, so the first thing that came to my mind 953 00:44:24,708 --> 00:44:26,417 was WD-40, like, that's all I know. 954 00:44:26,500 --> 00:44:28,167 So, I went upstairs, grabbed some WD-40. 955 00:44:28,208 --> 00:44:30,667 It had the little red thing you stick in there, 956 00:44:30,708 --> 00:44:33,833 and I just sprayed it until it looked like a root beer float 957 00:44:33,875 --> 00:44:35,208 had spilled. 958 00:44:35,292 --> 00:44:37,833 Stuck my key in there, got in, got in the car, 959 00:44:37,917 --> 00:44:39,625 texted Pastor Mark and Pastor Sutton, said, 960 00:44:39,667 --> 00:44:41,625 "Hey guys, I'm running a few minutes late. 961 00:44:41,667 --> 00:44:43,000 I'll be there." 962 00:44:43,083 --> 00:44:44,417 Guess what? Everything was fine. 963 00:44:44,500 --> 00:44:46,583 I got there; it was fine. I worshiped Jesus. 964 00:44:46,667 --> 00:44:48,000 I'm growing. 965 00:44:48,042 --> 00:44:51,375 That's Jesus' wisdom in my life applied by the Holy Spirit 966 00:44:51,458 --> 00:44:53,333 through his finished work, and power, 967 00:44:53,417 --> 00:44:56,000 and the truth according to Scripture. 968 00:44:56,042 --> 00:44:59,083 Where do you need Jesus' wisdom in your life? 969 00:44:59,167 --> 00:45:01,542 What's your deal? 970 00:45:01,625 --> 00:45:06,542 We need Jesus' wisdom in our homes, don't we? 971 00:45:06,625 --> 00:45:08,750 You know what'd I love more than anything else? 972 00:45:08,833 --> 00:45:12,667 For my home to be the field in which there is a harvest 973 00:45:12,708 --> 00:45:16,333 of righteousness; that my children, and my wife, 974 00:45:16,417 --> 00:45:22,333 and now my son-in-law, and soon maybe somebody grandkids, 975 00:45:22,417 --> 00:45:23,833 that there would be a field; 976 00:45:23,917 --> 00:45:25,625 that when it's all said and done, 977 00:45:25,667 --> 00:45:27,000 I can look and say, 978 00:45:27,083 --> 00:45:28,750 "Wow, that was a harvest of righteousness;" 979 00:45:28,833 --> 00:45:30,250 that people not only knew Jesus, 980 00:45:30,333 --> 00:45:32,125 and they not only understood that positionally 981 00:45:32,167 --> 00:45:35,000 they're righteous in Jesus, but practically, as a family, 982 00:45:35,083 --> 00:45:41,500 we became people who think, feel, speak, and act like Jesus. 983 00:45:41,583 --> 00:45:46,500 And for that to happen, we need Jesus' wisdom. 984 00:45:46,542 --> 00:45:50,333 I've had a sacred opportunity on a few occasions as a pastor 985 00:45:50,417 --> 00:45:54,292 to be alongside Christian men, 986 00:45:54,333 --> 00:45:57,458 Christian patriarchs, as they died. 987 00:45:57,500 --> 00:46:00,917 In each case, two things were present. 988 00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:04,042 Number one, the man who was dying wanted to be as close 989 00:46:04,125 --> 00:46:06,958 to Jesus as possible on his final day, 990 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:10,458 knowing in a moment he would go and know Jesus perfectly. 991 00:46:10,500 --> 00:46:13,333 He wanted it to just be a smooth onramp. 992 00:46:13,375 --> 00:46:15,333 The other thing that these Christian men wanted 993 00:46:15,375 --> 00:46:17,458 was, they wanted their wife, and their children, 994 00:46:17,500 --> 00:46:19,958 and their grandkids if possible around them and to know 995 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:24,667 that they were loved and that they loved Jesus, too. 996 00:46:24,708 --> 00:46:31,042 I want that to be my finish. 997 00:46:31,125 --> 00:46:34,542 And while this is true for whether you're a man or a woman, 998 00:46:34,625 --> 00:46:36,833 you're a single mom, you're unmarried, 999 00:46:36,917 --> 00:46:40,042 men especially who long to have families, 1000 00:46:40,125 --> 00:46:42,667 who do have families--don't you want that for your family? 1001 00:46:42,708 --> 00:46:44,667 Isn't that how you want to go out? 1002 00:46:44,708 --> 00:46:47,375 Can I give you some news? You're going to go out. 1003 00:46:47,458 --> 00:46:50,375 It may be this week; it may be in a few years. 1004 00:46:50,458 --> 00:46:51,792 I don't know. 1005 00:46:51,833 --> 00:46:53,167 Hopefully it's longer than that. 1006 00:46:53,250 --> 00:46:55,167 Someday though, that's going to be your fate. 1007 00:46:55,250 --> 00:46:56,875 What if we started finishing well today. 1008 00:46:56,958 --> 00:47:00,167 What if we said, "Hey, the day's going to come when my life 1009 00:47:00,208 --> 00:47:01,542 "is going to pass. 1010 00:47:01,625 --> 00:47:04,333 "If I'm lucky enough, perhaps there's a little bit of time 1011 00:47:04,375 --> 00:47:06,833 "to put my things in order, gather my family around. 1012 00:47:06,875 --> 00:47:08,542 "What do I want in that day? 1013 00:47:08,625 --> 00:47:11,750 "I want to love Jesus and obey him more than I ever have 1014 00:47:11,833 --> 00:47:14,417 "in my life, and I want those around me to know 1015 00:47:14,500 --> 00:47:17,167 that I love them and to know that they love Jesus." 1016 00:47:17,208 --> 00:47:19,333 What if I began working towards that end today? 1017 00:47:19,375 --> 00:47:21,500 For me to do that today, I desperately need 1018 00:47:21,583 --> 00:47:22,917 the wisdom of Jesus. 1019 00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:24,667 We need Jesus' wisdom in our home. 1020 00:47:24,708 --> 00:47:27,833 We need the Holy Spirit to help us apply the wisdom of Jesus 1021 00:47:27,917 --> 00:47:29,250 to our homes. 1022 00:47:29,333 --> 00:47:33,833 We need Jesus' wisdom in our church, amen? 1023 00:47:33,917 --> 00:47:39,208 Would nothing excite you more than if Mars Hill Church 1024 00:47:39,292 --> 00:47:43,833 was a field where there was a harvest of righteousness? 1025 00:47:43,917 --> 00:47:46,542 That the people who are already here who already know Jesus 1026 00:47:46,625 --> 00:47:49,042 would grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus. 1027 00:47:49,125 --> 00:47:51,083 They would practically experience 1028 00:47:51,167 --> 00:47:52,667 who they already are positionally. 1029 00:47:52,708 --> 00:47:54,542 Wouldn't that be amazing, to see 1030 00:47:54,625 --> 00:47:56,667 that kind of life transformation? 1031 00:47:56,750 --> 00:48:00,458 Wouldn't it be incredible? 1032 00:48:00,500 --> 00:48:03,208 Wouldn't it be incredible if there were people in our lives 1033 00:48:03,292 --> 00:48:05,958 and our sphere of influence where we work, in our schools, 1034 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:08,708 in our apartments, in our families who presently 1035 00:48:08,792 --> 00:48:10,625 don't know Jesus that would meet Jesus, 1036 00:48:10,667 --> 00:48:12,958 and they would not only become positionally righteous, 1037 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:14,458 they would become practically righteous? 1038 00:48:14,500 --> 00:48:17,458 And we could look at the collective effort 1039 00:48:17,500 --> 00:48:19,667 of the ministry of Mars Hill Church and say, 1040 00:48:19,708 --> 00:48:21,833 "There's a harvest of righteousness." 1041 00:48:21,917 --> 00:48:26,333 Do you realize the only way that will ever happen is for 1042 00:48:26,375 --> 00:48:28,917 the Holy Spirit to go to work? 1043 00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:31,208 Do you get that? 1044 00:48:34,500 --> 00:48:37,500 A few weeks ago, I was in the gym. 1045 00:48:37,583 --> 00:48:40,208 I don't go there often as you can obviously tell. 1046 00:48:40,292 --> 00:48:44,250 And I was finishing up, finished cleaning up, went to my locker, 1047 00:48:44,333 --> 00:48:46,583 getting my last things out, putting the final touches 1048 00:48:46,667 --> 00:48:49,792 on how I was going to look, and headed off to the office. 1049 00:48:49,833 --> 00:48:51,875 And there were two other men with me 1050 00:48:51,958 --> 00:48:54,667 putting the final touches on their wardrobe 1051 00:48:54,708 --> 00:48:56,875 before they went off to work for the day. 1052 00:48:56,958 --> 00:48:59,375 Because it's Seattle, we didn't talk to each other, right? 1053 00:48:59,458 --> 00:49:00,958 That would be a weird thing. 1054 00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:03,500 Other places, not so much. 1055 00:49:03,583 --> 00:49:06,750 And the first guy in kind of our triad there getting changed 1056 00:49:06,833 --> 00:49:09,333 in the locker, he looked like a high-tech dude. 1057 00:49:09,417 --> 00:49:13,333 And the reason I know this is he looked like the mannequin 1058 00:49:13,417 --> 00:49:15,958 at the most expensive section of REI. 1059 00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:18,667 All right, he just was like North Face head to toe 1060 00:49:18,708 --> 00:49:21,167 and I thought, "Man, are you going to work today 1061 00:49:21,208 --> 00:49:23,333 or are you going to go climb Mount Everest?" 1062 00:49:23,417 --> 00:49:25,042 Now, I don't know what you're doing, 1063 00:49:25,125 --> 00:49:27,250 but what gave him away was his security lanyard, 1064 00:49:27,333 --> 00:49:28,750 so he's a high-tech dude. 1065 00:49:28,833 --> 00:49:30,500 I was decked out in the traditional 1066 00:49:30,583 --> 00:49:33,167 Mars Hill pastoral uniform, 1067 00:49:33,208 --> 00:49:36,667 so I looked like an urban lumberjack, OK? 1068 00:49:36,708 --> 00:49:40,125 Flannel, plaid, jeans, boots. 1069 00:49:40,167 --> 00:49:45,250 And in between high-tech guy and urban lumberjack was this man 1070 00:49:45,333 --> 00:49:46,875 who just was stately. 1071 00:49:46,958 --> 00:49:49,375 You ever meet people that just have a stately presence 1072 00:49:49,458 --> 00:49:50,792 about them? 1073 00:49:50,833 --> 00:49:54,292 Just dignified, and nice slacks, and he had a sweater, 1074 00:49:54,333 --> 00:49:57,333 and he was pulling up a tie to finish out his wardrobe. 1075 00:49:57,417 --> 00:50:01,000 He looked to me, honestly, like what a pastor should look like. 1076 00:50:01,042 --> 00:50:04,958 African-American guy, just exuded, like, wisdom, 1077 00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:07,667 and maturity, and I thought in my head, 1078 00:50:07,750 --> 00:50:09,583 before anybody said anything, "That's a pastor. 1079 00:50:09,667 --> 00:50:12,500 I just know it, and I want to look like that someday." 1080 00:50:12,542 --> 00:50:15,875 But anyway, that's in the future. 1081 00:50:15,958 --> 00:50:17,333 So, I'm watching him get ready. 1082 00:50:17,417 --> 00:50:21,250 All of a sudden, high-tech guy turns to pastor-looking guy 1083 00:50:21,333 --> 00:50:24,250 and mockingly says, "So Pastor--" 1084 00:50:24,333 --> 00:50:26,292 made sure he wasn't talking to me first. 1085 00:50:26,333 --> 00:50:30,000 "So Pastor, you going to go save some souls the rest of the day?" 1086 00:50:30,042 --> 00:50:32,000 I thought, "Wow, OK, he is a pastor. 1087 00:50:32,042 --> 00:50:33,500 I knew I was right." 1088 00:50:33,542 --> 00:50:36,500 The pastor, in a very classy way, pulled his tie up. 1089 00:50:36,542 --> 00:50:39,458 He looked at him and said, "Oh no, no, no." 1090 00:50:39,500 --> 00:50:40,958 He said, "That's not my job." 1091 00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:43,583 He said, "That work is entirely the responsibility of 1092 00:50:43,667 --> 00:50:45,708 the Holy Spirit." 1093 00:50:45,792 --> 00:50:47,333 And I was like, "Whoa!" 1094 00:50:47,375 --> 00:50:50,000 I went up to high-tech guy and was like, "Boom!" 1095 00:50:50,083 --> 00:50:51,417 You know? 1096 00:50:51,500 --> 00:50:54,625 And then I started to walk out, and I could hear them talking 1097 00:50:54,667 --> 00:50:57,125 about, "Man, we shouldn't let lumberjacks in this gym anymore. 1098 00:50:57,167 --> 00:51:01,167 Like, there's a problem here." 1099 00:51:01,208 --> 00:51:03,875 What's your heart for us? 1100 00:51:03,958 --> 00:51:07,958 What do you want for your church? 1101 00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:11,042 Wouldn't you love to see a harvest of righteousness? 1102 00:51:11,125 --> 00:51:13,542 That those of us who already know Jesus would become 1103 00:51:13,625 --> 00:51:16,500 more and more like him through the work of the Holy Spirit; 1104 00:51:16,542 --> 00:51:18,542 and those that we love in our lives, 1105 00:51:18,625 --> 00:51:20,292 and maybe even some we don't love, 1106 00:51:20,333 --> 00:51:22,500 they would meet Jesus and become like him, too; 1107 00:51:22,542 --> 00:51:25,000 and we could say at the end of the day, 1108 00:51:25,042 --> 00:51:26,500 "The Holy Spirit worked profoundly. 1109 00:51:26,542 --> 00:51:30,750 "He gave us the wisdom of Jesus, and we saw that harvest 1110 00:51:30,833 --> 00:51:32,542 "go much greater than we ever thought. 1111 00:51:32,625 --> 00:51:35,042 Our barns were filled with the fruit of that harvest." 1112 00:51:35,125 --> 00:51:36,583 Is that what you want? 1113 00:51:36,667 --> 00:51:38,958 That's what I want. 1114 00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:44,833 I want to give you the chance to respond to God's Word today. 1115 00:51:44,917 --> 00:51:48,458 I'm going to ask our financial stewards to come forward 1116 00:51:48,500 --> 00:51:50,292 and collect our offering. 1117 00:51:50,333 --> 00:51:53,292 I want to invite you to worship Jesus in the same way 1118 00:51:53,333 --> 00:51:57,667 you sing songs to him. 1119 00:51:57,708 --> 00:51:59,083 That you're basically saying, 1120 00:51:59,167 --> 00:52:00,542 "Jesus, you're better than everything. 1121 00:52:00,625 --> 00:52:01,958 "You're better than my money, 1122 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:03,458 "you're better than my possessions, 1123 00:52:03,500 --> 00:52:05,458 and I want to give generously to you." 1124 00:52:05,500 --> 00:52:07,667 In just a minute, we're going to take Communion. 1125 00:52:07,708 --> 00:52:10,417 There will be offering stations, and we invite you to come. 1126 00:52:10,500 --> 00:52:13,833 And as you take Communion today, I want to ask you to think about 1127 00:52:13,875 --> 00:52:15,208 something very specific. 1128 00:52:15,292 --> 00:52:17,708 I want you to see that Jesus finished the work. 1129 00:52:17,792 --> 00:52:19,125 There's nothing you can do 1130 00:52:19,167 --> 00:52:21,167 to add onto the finished work of Jesus. 1131 00:52:21,208 --> 00:52:23,500 It's complete, so as you drink up that truth 1132 00:52:23,583 --> 00:52:25,000 and you eat it down, 1133 00:52:25,083 --> 00:52:28,500 I want you to remember that Jesus has finished the work. 1134 00:52:28,583 --> 00:52:31,167 Because if you walk out of here today and you think, 1135 00:52:31,208 --> 00:52:32,833 "You know, I'm going to study more. 1136 00:52:32,917 --> 00:52:34,625 "I'm going to learn some more stuff. 1137 00:52:34,667 --> 00:52:36,125 "I'm going to get up early. 1138 00:52:36,167 --> 00:52:38,625 I'm going to try harder," you've missed the whole point. 1139 00:52:38,667 --> 00:52:40,708 Wisdom isn't a status be achieved; 1140 00:52:40,792 --> 00:52:43,750 it's a gift to be received through Jesus. 1141 00:52:43,833 --> 00:52:46,250 We're going to sing. 1142 00:52:46,333 --> 00:52:47,667 We're going to sing together. 1143 00:52:47,750 --> 00:52:49,167 We're going to worship Jesus. 1144 00:52:49,250 --> 00:52:52,583 I want to ask you to do one last thing that the Bible instructs 1145 00:52:52,667 --> 00:52:55,333 us to do from James 1:5 in the next few minutes 1146 00:52:55,417 --> 00:52:56,750 we have together. 1147 00:52:56,833 --> 00:52:58,958 Pastor Mark preached on this a few weeks ago. 1148 00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:01,000 "If any of you lacks wisdom"--I lack wisdom, 1149 00:53:01,083 --> 00:53:03,208 I don't know about you-- "let him ask God 1150 00:53:03,292 --> 00:53:04,958 "who gives generously to all without reproach, 1151 00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:06,458 and it will given to him." 1152 00:53:06,500 --> 00:53:08,708 The Father loves you. 1153 00:53:08,792 --> 00:53:11,167 He's heavy-laden with wisdom that he wants to give you. 1154 00:53:11,208 --> 00:53:13,250 Would you ask that of him today? 1155 00:53:13,333 --> 00:53:15,958 However you want to do that, while you're giving, 1156 00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:17,833 while you're taking Communion, while you're singing, 1157 00:53:17,917 --> 00:53:21,042 if you want pray with somebody, if you want to pray by yourself, 1158 00:53:21,125 --> 00:53:27,042 would you simply ask God, who loves you, to give you wisdom? 1159 00:53:27,125 --> 00:53:29,417 Let's pray together. 1160 00:53:29,500 --> 00:53:32,542 Father, you're so good to us. 1161 00:53:32,625 --> 00:53:35,167 Thank you for Jesus. 1162 00:53:35,208 --> 00:53:37,458 Thank you for the Holy Spirit. 1163 00:53:37,500 --> 00:53:41,458 We pray that you would now make the wisdom of Jesus ours 1164 00:53:41,500 --> 00:53:43,167 in the power of the Holy Spirit, 1165 00:53:43,208 --> 00:53:46,042 that we might become practically, 1166 00:53:46,125 --> 00:53:49,167 day in and day out, in our homes, in our workplace, 1167 00:53:49,250 --> 00:53:51,333 in our schools, in our leisure time, 1168 00:53:51,417 --> 00:53:54,958 that we would become people who think, feel, act, 1169 00:53:55,000 --> 00:53:56,792 and speak like the Lord Jesus Christ 1170 00:53:56,833 --> 00:53:58,167 for his glory. 1171 00:53:58,250 --> 00:54:00,333 We pray this in his good name, amen. 1172 00:54:02,083 --> 00:54:03,458 Pastor Sutton here, 1173 00:54:03,500 --> 00:54:06,500 we've just finished our services here in the Bellevue church 1174 00:54:06,542 --> 00:54:12,333 and really excited today to tell the extended family of Mars Hill Global 1175 00:54:12,375 --> 00:54:14,000 about Text to Give. 1176 00:54:14,042 --> 00:54:16,708 Just came out and many of you know my story: 1177 00:54:16,792 --> 00:54:20,875 2007 heard Pastor Mark at a pastor's conference 1178 00:54:20,958 --> 00:54:23,167 went there, started podcasting. 1179 00:54:23,250 --> 00:54:26,125 I still gave my tithe to my local church, 1180 00:54:26,167 --> 00:54:29,500 however, gave a contribution amount to Mars Hill Church. 1181 00:54:29,583 --> 00:54:34,167 So this Text to Give, the video that we have produced for you, 1182 00:54:34,250 --> 00:54:36,417 you're going to love, so check this out. 1183 00:54:38,583 --> 00:54:41,292 Hey Mars Hill, my name is Rene and I work here 1184 00:54:41,333 --> 00:54:43,833 at the Media and Communications team at Mars Hill Church. 1185 00:54:43,875 --> 00:54:45,583 If you're a mobile user like me, 1186 00:54:45,667 --> 00:54:47,750 I've got some exciting news to share with you. 1187 00:54:47,833 --> 00:54:50,208 There's a new way to give at Mars Hill Church 1188 00:54:50,292 --> 00:54:52,500 and it's just as easy as sending a text. 1189 00:54:52,542 --> 00:54:55,250 Now, many of you take advantage of our online giving options, 1190 00:54:55,333 --> 00:54:58,000 which is a great way to set up recurring gifts, 1191 00:54:58,042 --> 00:55:01,292 but until now, we haven't had a way to set up mobile, 1192 00:55:01,333 --> 00:55:04,167 where you can give on the spot during our services. 1193 00:55:04,250 --> 00:55:06,208 If you're like me, you don't carry cash 1194 00:55:06,292 --> 00:55:09,833 you don't carry a checkbook, so Text to Give is the way to go. 1195 00:55:09,875 --> 00:55:14,250 It's fun, it's simple, and best of all, it's secure. 1196 00:55:14,333 --> 00:55:16,208 I want you to do something with me. 1197 00:55:16,292 --> 00:55:18,167 Take out your smart phone right now; 1198 00:55:18,208 --> 00:55:20,000 we're going to do something together. 1199 00:55:20,042 --> 00:55:21,917 Don't worry, you're not obligated to give, 1200 00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:23,917 but try this out. 1201 00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:26,792 Simply send the amount you want to give 1202 00:55:26,833 --> 00:55:32,833 and the word "Mars Hill" at the end to the following number: 45777. 1203 00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:35,667 The first time you give via text, 1204 00:55:35,750 --> 00:55:38,333 you will be asked to fill out a one-time form, 1205 00:55:38,417 --> 00:55:41,458 which will safely link your card to your smart phone. 1206 00:55:41,500 --> 00:55:44,875 Now, this new way of giving doesn't go into your phone bill, 1207 00:55:44,958 --> 00:55:46,792 and in case you make a mistake, 1208 00:55:46,833 --> 00:55:50,500 you can always get a refund for the gift that you've given. 1209 00:55:50,583 --> 00:55:52,542 And that's it; you're done. 1210 00:55:52,625 --> 00:55:54,708 You'll receive a text back confirming your gift 1211 00:55:54,792 --> 00:55:57,250 and from this moment forward, you'll be able to give 1212 00:55:57,333 --> 00:56:00,042 anywhere, anytime with just a single text. 1213 00:56:00,125 --> 00:56:02,833 Don't forget to save the number in your contact list. 1214 00:56:02,875 --> 00:56:05,958 I've saved it as "Mars Hill Text to Give." 1215 00:56:06,000 --> 00:56:07,833 For more information about our giving options 1216 00:56:07,875 --> 00:56:11,083 you can visit marshill.com/give. 1217 00:56:13,375 --> 00:56:16,333 Each year, over 10 million Mars Hill church sermons 1218 00:56:16,375 --> 00:56:19,417 are downloaded worldwide for free. 1219 00:56:19,500 --> 00:56:22,000 This ministry is generously supported 1220 00:56:22,083 --> 00:56:24,667 by Mars Hill church members and listeners like you. 1221 00:56:24,708 --> 00:56:28,208 If you'd like to support our efforts to preach Jesus to the world, 1222 00:56:28,292 --> 00:56:31,208 Please consider making a tax-deductible donation 1223 00:56:31,292 --> 00:56:34,125 by visiting marshill.com/give.