The Wisdom From Heaven (Part 2 of 2)

The Bible teaches us that true wisdom is measured by how we live our lives by our IQ or our age are our experiences. So, how should we live will find out today on Truth for Life as Alister Ben concludes a message titled the wisdom from heaven were in James chapter 3 verses 13 through 18. Wisdom comes down from heaven is first of all pure and peaceable is the opposite of contentious that we are to be my wisdom is my by consideration.

Consider, fourthly, wisdom is also submissive, submissive also and fifthly wisdom is full of mercy, full of mercy nicely. Of course, is one of God's essential qualities. Grace. Put simply, is that aspect of God's character whereby he gives to us what we don't deserve Massey is that guy mention of God whereby he does not give to his what we do desire, not the mercy of God is an all embracing arsenic breaks down the barriers that manna racks is classically reported for us in the parable that Jesus told after one of the teachers of the law came to him and said you are a wise man.

What must I do to inherit eternal life. Jesus said well you know was written in the law. How do you read it and he said well II know that in the Lord says you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus said that is entirely correct, you've answered rightly, then just go ahead and do this and you will live in. Luke tells us that the man seeking to justify himself asked Jesus to define neighbor. I want to know my neighbor is let me tell you stories as it was this fellow anything on their own. He buzzed off another one came down. I need to do, but a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he wants and when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, importing oil and wine, and set him on his own animal and brought them to an end and took care of him and on the next day when he departed need to come to the Natalie and give them to the innkeeper and said, take care of him. And if you spend any more than this when I come back I will repay. So which of these three do you think was the neighbor to him who fell among thieves and the lawyers forced to answer.

He who showed mercy to then Jesus said to going to like who were shown they are sent to the half dead of 21st-century Cleveland culture who will show no mercy to the battered in the beaten, the merciful. My unwillingness to display mercy to those outside my circle of reference is unavoidably a representation of my own stony hearts inability to grasp the vastness of God's mercy towards me is when I am reminded constantly of what I deserve before God and what he has chosen to do in Jesus that I then realized what a wonderful thing that RCS never seen theirs as a songwriter was great and Grace was free and there was multiplied to me on the words of the old him by Margaret Constance, who wrote appointment from the memoirs of Samuel Rutherford with mercy and with judgment. My web of time, he will in Victoriana language and I are always the dues of sorrel were flustered by his love is tremendous picture of the compassion and grace and mercy of God that back kindness which leads men and women to repentance who is my neighbor.

How many people do I have to be nice to have got the question wrong. Who was neighbor to this man, the one who showed an mercy correct during parts as a merciful community. People come to us and in our daily routine at the office when they when their life is in a shambles and end in ruins and they come into our office and he closed the door and said I know I can speak to you because I know that you understand mercy, are we the kind of people that they come into our office and he closed the door and they say and I can talk to you. I'm really envious of that promotion can stand that character can you I'm so ambitious it's hard to wiggle out of this.

I find it really, really hard.

Mercy is a characteristic of wisdom nursing enters into the difficulties identifies with the needs and the feelings and enables us to point men and women to a God who is rich in mercy, mercy and judgment are met in the cross is not mercy of the expense of judgment but is mercy in judgment.

He does not count our sins against ours because he comes them against Jesus. That is mercy. Sixthly, we must move on. Good fruit good fruit more back in verse 18 of chapter 1 and were down in verse 18 of chapter 3. Because faith for James is a faith that is seen. We have agreed that we had recited should be seen in our conduct. If we are men, women of truth and the truth will transform indeed is by means verse 18 of chapter 3 of the spiritual harvest that we prove that God is at work in us. In other words, it is because we are peacemakers are not troublemakers is because were not marred by envy and selfish ambition that were not raising harvest weed infested crop of disorder and evil deeds. No, but wisdom produces peace and that peace produces a harvest and not harvest is a harvest of a right standing before God and write deeds before men and women as hell will know where we are receipt. It is not the fruit that determines what the tree is. It is the fruit gives evidence when the trees I was driving in Indiana this past week when I speak at Taylor University corn on one side and across the wind forever. On the other side and eventually had to stop and find out what it was it was soybeans, and the reason I know is because of what was going there. The beans.

The beans did not determine what the plan was the plan was what was the beans displayed when the plan was our fruit does not make us our fruit reveals us.

Some people think that's Christianity that is plastic fruit like I ran Mabel's from Minneapolis or porcelain fruit if is a little upmarket all those beautiful produce a man I never saw his pristine condition before dawn of a trilobite of one of them will break your teeth off because they're not real there manufactured their fake the Christian life is not Christmas tree ornaments being hung on from the outside.

That is moralism that is ethics try your best embrace a few values and hang them on your life and see how you do is a litany of despair because remakes are – the Christian life is Jesus. As I am the vine and you are the branches.

I come and live in you.

I will produce fruit through you and you will bear the fruit of wisdom because I am all of righteousness, and I am all of wisdom and so that it is as God invades our lives that we become increasingly wise increasingly peaceable one on the finished article, we won't be this side of eternity, but nevertheless we are growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and finally, this wisdom is defined in terms of being impartial and sincere undivided in mind it's the wisdom that is without wavering is not hesitance you and expected to be within a God would know his mind. When you when he says yes it means yesterday says no, he means no and this wisdom is impartial. The clarity of God's word determines our coming and are going undivided in mind and untainted by hypocrisy, impartial and sincere. The word in Greek is an appropriate us and neutral poultry thoughts. He said five times quickly.

It will begin to sound like on hypocritical and is exactly right because it is virtually a literal translation from the Greek into English and appropriate us on hypocritical. In other words, God's wisdom isn't two-faced.

God's wisdom doesn't play one thing on a Sunday and another thing in a business trip is not one way on a Friday night in another way on a Sunday night, the wisdom that comes down from heaven is untainted by hypocrisy that all by way of definition.

What is the display save these characteristics by God's spirit worked in and through a life. Remember back in 13 who is wise and understanding among you grab for your SAT scores don't give me a speech I don't need to know how articulate you are, show me, show me this of course allows me to go over my favorite musical always anytime I can quote Eliza Doolittle. I like to do so. And in that classic song that she sings to Freddie. Remember seeing me know song read me no rhyme. Don't waste my time. Show me is not so much.

Tell me it show me, show me what show me the quality of your life that expresses itself on the basis of the humility of your heart a humble heart is the key to a quality life God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble humility of heart do not notice the phrase let insured by his good life life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

A wise man is an arrogant wise man knows how much he doesn't know a bright wise girl knows that what she knows is only tiny portion of the vastness of knowledge that is available so you will find that particularly intelligent people who married their intelligence with wisdom will be marked not by the ostentatious ugliness of their displays of verbosity are intellectual capacity, but by the humility of their very lives. Where does this humility come from comes from a high view of God from a high view of God in the beginning God not in the beginning you are in the beginning, me in the beginning God in the end God. He is the Alpha and the Omega and in the middle God the humility of heart is a high view of God has sole overview of one's self. Romans 12 decision not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think of yourself with sober judgment.

According to the measure of grace or faith that God is giving you so you have a say in estimating yourself a high view of God, a sin estimate of yourself and a generous view of other people. That's how you know if you're dealing with humility.

That's how we will know if wisdom is producing humility within its we began our day, thankful that God has awakened us, recognizing that the sign olio fluid that works are in all of our joints. We are at. We are totally unable to control her to produce the double circulator system of our hearts is not doing anything really. In response to ourselves, no matter how much Lipitor were jamming in and so on and on which we are entirely dependent on God, oh God, you will be up to date.

I want to thank you for that. God, you made yourself known in the world today. I honor you and adore you for that you give me life and breath you give me parents whatever it might be and hereby the tiny thing. The vastness of your universe high view of God is seen view of myself and a generous view of other people. How will I know if I have a generous view P I will know if I have a generous view of other people. If I am routinely cutting them down or building them up is not a generous view of other people that is constantly carping tearing down diminishing second-guessing.

Here's a quote from van Dyck as Henry Van Dyke not Dick Monday is our nerves never believe anything bad about anybody unless you positively know it to be true never believe anything bad about anybody unless you positively know it to be true. Never tell even that unless you feel it is absolutely necessary, and that God is listening while you tell understanding standard of humility, wisdom displayed in the humility of heart, and finally in the quality of life who is wise and understanding among you, let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom, good beats, I was struck this week in meeting our chapter 10 Peter and Cornelius's house where he has a big dramatic lesson because Peter had the same problem as the man and in Luke chapter 10 needed the parable of the sick good Samaritan told her him and remember our Peter wanted to draw circles around the providence and grace and goodness of God and and God had to obliterate that form and showing that God's mercy and grace extended beyond the Jewish nation, and I would into the peoples of the world and when he God that he made a speech in Cornelius's house and is a wonderful talk that he gives and as he goes through it.

He tells of people you know that this was true and you know that was true and right in the middle of a game on this phrase he says and you know about Jesus of Nazareth.

He went around doing good is what it says he went around doing seems almost anticlimactic. Doesn't except think how goodness is a family thing.

How goodness sets an agenda in a company.

Think how goodness ties hearts together. Think how goodness displays the character of God.

Surely he says show me by the teams that are done in the humility that comes from wisdom. Wisdom, humility, deeds, quality life is like Paul to Titus three Titus three for your homework and your findings constantly say make sure the people that you're the person overdoing good I want you to stress these things so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good to doing what is good. Now remember, and with this I finish James is not issuing a call to his readers to accumulate virtues is not a call to accumulate virtues. Anybody can read this list and say well I can try be more peaceable.

I can try be more humble. I can try and be more submissive or considerate or whatever else it is, I guess that's the message I'm supposed to go out and just trying to stick as many of these characteristics on my horrible life as I can know all you need to do is put your your name at the head of this list type.

Try putting your name in the top of the list goes. Alister is pure peaceloving, considerate, and I want to go much further, because you're saying we know, I'm not. I wish I were. How may I be and it is the very absence of the state that shows our need of someone who is the embodiment of these things, namely Jesus using it. If I showed you a painting appear on the screen done by Turner or by the castle and then I said this afternoon.

I want you to take that image away and I want you to paint paintings like that and bring them back this evening I'm going to put them up on the screen and and and show how well we've all done. Some of us would come back and we thing we done pretty well, but will put Turner over here in his landscape and then will put yours over here and then will try and put handkerchiefs in her mouth to stop from laughing at the disparity between the two situations. Some people be nice and considerate and they wonder that, but maybe I'll be like all man that is so far from it that I can leave you and were prepared to put that out there how you going to do list through a life through the life of Jesus up here that is pure and peaceable and gentle and open to reason and full of good fruit in the harvest of righteousness that comes repeat. Let's throw that life up there and then the sick will also go out in the end – try best this afternoon until gives a week we come back next Sunday and see how we are in the disparity between the two is so vast that it will be pathetic to behold.

But if somehow or other, by some miraculous procedure, the genius of Turner could come and live in our lives than we could paint Turner's paintings and if the power of Jesus would come and live in our life's that we can live a life like Jesus and the very purpose of God from all eternity is to produce his children looking more and more like Jesus.

So the Christian life is if you like a point of entry, where we be whereby we say gracious God, thank you for sending Jesus to be a Savior and I so desperately need a Savior and and I want them to be my Savior. Okay now were married. Now the fun starts. Just like in a marriage, or I didn't know it was going to be like this all I didn't know you were going to be like that. All I did know how hard this might prove to be, but through it all. Growing learning loving. I wonder where you are in relationship to this when God invades our lives. That's when we get right view of him right view of ourselves right view of others, and that's when we can display a humble and fruitful life listing to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life.

Alister returns in just a minute if you know someone or if you even find yourself unsure about some of the claims made in the Bible about God, about us, we should request a copy of the book 7 reasons to reconsider Christianity.

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You can give a one time gift the Truth for Life.org/donate or you could arrange to set up an automatic monthly donation. When you visit Truth for Life.org/true partner and of course if you prefer you can call us at 888-588-7884. Now here's Alister the closing prayer father teaches not to sin with such abandon we do it all too easily pretend and lie and envy and lust and criticizing Gruden ignore people's needs and deny them. We consume things for ourselves. We hoard money, defame others, we distort make excuses and then and then we come and expect an easy forgiveness just because we pause at the end of the service, we ask you gracious God to forgive us for the neglect of your holy character help is not to misinterpret your patience with our sin is nowhere permission loving father astonishes with a wholesome godly fear which will not drive us to despair cause us to number our days and to produce in us hearts of wisdom. Lord, your love and goodness to his is an undivided love. It is impartial and sincere friend that we might have undivided hearts as we go out into the sweet for your son say amen Bob Lapine thanks for listing one of the main differences between heavenly wisdom and earthly wisdom is that the latter often results in chaos and confusion. Find out why tomorrow Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living