-Transcript-
00:36 Amen. Welcome to the program. Welcome to KJV Cafe.
00:44 My name is Clark Covington, pastor of Heartland Community Baptist Church in Lincolnton, North Carolina. So thankful that you took time out of your day to join us. Today we are talking about godly wisdom and how godly wisdom can help us.
00:56 How godly wisdom can do more for us than we probably know and how the Bible spells this out. I’m so thankful for God’s Word because it helps us to live our lives closer to Him. It is literally like an instruction manual.
01:12 It is the living Word but it’s also instruction manual on how to live our lives. Where we seek peace and comfort in all times is very important. If you find your peace in the things of the world, those are failing and those will die, the Bible tells us.
01:32 But if you seek your peace in God, you will forever be fulfilled. James 3:17 mentions godly wisdom. James 3:17, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
01:58 So, we spent some time previous episodes looking at pure, the wisdom that is from above is first pure. And how pure wisdom is, we can know it by comparing it to worldly wisdom, the context. That’s why if you look at James chapter 3, it’s not a long chapter, it’s a very, very good chapter.
02:19 And there’s so many lessons to learn in James 3. And as you go through it, you read about man turning to worldly wisdom and what happens when man does and how it can be really bad. It also talks about the tongue, about gossip, about all manner of Christian living. And it ends here, James 3 does, with mentioning the idea of bitter envying and strife in our hearts, lying against the truth, earthly, sensual, devilish lies and living that comes from not above.
03:07 Well, not above would be below, amen? Or it’d be either in the world or below the world, and either way we know that’s Satan’s territory. And that’s where envy and strife is, and that’s where confusion and every evil work is, because we know that God is perfect. And so we know that every good and perfect gift comes from above, Amen We know that God doesn’t change.
03:25 And so we realize that when we’re living in this world, we have a type of wisdom that comes from this world. And I can’t help but think of the big textbook on the library shelf, and I know people don’t go to the library or look at textbooks as much today, because oftentimes they’re just searching it up on a computer, or maybe they have a class on a computer, or a resource on their phone, or whatever it may be. But we go to man for our wisdom, and how often are we disappointed? How often are we left longing for more? How many times does someone promise it’ll be life-changing? You know, I work in my day job.
04:04 I work in marketing. And I should say that I have a day job, and I pastor a church, because in my belief, if I’m pastoring a church and I’m not asking for anything, we don’t even pass out a plate. We just, people can give in a box at the end if they so choose.
04:22 So we have a poor church, we don’t really pass out a plate. We don’t have any kind of fundraising efforts. The Lord knows, Amen.
04:31 And yet the Lord provides for the church and for the radio ministry. So if I have a job, I can say, well, you can’t accuse me of wanting anything, and that’s what Paul did. Paul worked, he was a tent builder.
04:43 He could say, look, I worked with my hands, so you can’t accuse me of being corrupt in the ministry. And I preach a straight gospel message. I preach the blood, Amen.
04:57 I preach hell-hot and heaven-sweet, and I can’t back off from that. And therefore, I work a job. So anytime you hear me say, oh, in my day job, that is why I believe the Lord has me working a job, so I can just be unabashed and just preach it like it is.
05:08 Nothing against people in the full-time ministry, nothing at all against them, because I believe that God calls some to the full-time ministry, and they are due a good pay, a good wage, and good benefits for all that they have to bear, and Lord knows. So nothing, I mean, if anything, I envy those in the full-time ministry. But the Bible says to be content, so I’ll be content.
05:30 And let me not get sidetracked here. The point is, I work in my day job in marketing. What do you do in marketing? You’re constantly telling people, this is going to change their life.
05:39 This is going to make their life better. Now, luckily, I don’t have to work in that type of marketing, but I see it all the time. And does it ever really? No, of course not.
05:48 We’re being sold a false bill of goods by the world saying, take my wisdom, the worldly wisdom, and be content, be pleased, be happy, and it’s never, ever enough. You say, well, if I just had this one thing, it’d be enough. I got news for you.
06:01 If that one thing is not God, it’s not enough. In fact, you’re creating an idol and you’re coveting, and these things will never lead to happiness. They won’t.
06:09 They may lead to temporal happiness, but they won’t lead to what I would call joy, which is that long and beautiful and wonderful fullness in our hearts that only God can provide. And so we see this delineation here. We see the world and what the wisdom of the world provides, which is confusion and evil and problems.
06:30 And again, the devil perverts all of what God wants into something else. And so the worldly wisdom almost always goes against or counter to godly wisdom. Amen.
06:41 And godly wisdom is pure and it’s lovely. You know what? God is incredibly wise. God is all wise and all knowing.
06:54 Romans 11:33, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge ofGod, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. And how true is that? I mean, how can we even comprehend that the one that created us, the one that saved us also knows us best. How can we really even begin to understand that? Does he not have every answer that ever was needed? Can he not be counted on for every problem that you’ve ever had? I see a billboard on the highway and I thank God live in North Carolina.
07:25 We’re in the buckle, the Bible belt. I see crosses churches. I see billboards.
07:28 I love what I see here because I grew up in the north and didn’t see a whole lot of that. And uh, there’s a billboard on the side of the highway that says something to the extent of Jesus is the answer to all your problems. And I love that because it’s biblically true.
07:41 And I bet a lot of nonbelievers roll their eyes at that because they think it’s such a blanket statement, right? But if we look at Romans 11:33, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how His ways past finding out. Is it not true that every answer lies with our creator, that every answer lies with our Savior, that every answer that He decided we would need, he put in the book and what’s not in the book. We go to Him in prayer.
08:11 How great is God? Amen. He’s incredible. Unless do you think the Bible is some polished, um, a book that is just full of, Oh, be perfect and you’ll be happy.
08:22 It is full of flawed people, people that are sinful and broken people like me, people like you, people that are everyday people. And I believe one reason why the Lord had it that way is that we would understand how we can apply lessons to our lives where we read about these great men and women of God. And we also see that they’re not perfect and they go line.
08:46 I mean, literally line for line, the Hebrews 11, the Hebrews hall of fame. You can go through there and see many of those individuals, those great, uh, men and women of faith had great, uh, sin problems in their life that they had to overcome by the word of God. Amen.
09:00 And by His spirit. And so we see that godly wisdom is pure and we see also that godly wisdom will lead us to salvation. Of course he wants, he, the Bible says he desires all to come to repentance, to all to be saved.
09:18 So it leads us to salvation and then sanctification. Psalm 119:9 wherewithal shall young man cleanse his way by taking heed there to according to thy word. Psalm 119:9 wherewithal shall young man cleanse his way by taking heed there to according to thy word.
09:31 And so we get Godly wisdom and you know what? We cleanse our way. We’re sanctified because we learn about how God wants us to live and we’re convicted of that way and we seek Him. We get ourselves out of the way.
09:44 I’ll use myself as an example. The things that I naturally desire, okay, they could be nothing bad on the surface, right? I could naturally desire a air conditioner or something, right? Uh, and if God tells me I don’t need it, I don’t need it. Amen.
10:00 And maybe God has a better plan in store. Maybe I don’t need that air conditioner cause I’m moving, but I didn’t know I was moving because I never sought God’s will. I hope that makes sense.
10:10 So, we cleanse our way. We get away from, from these desires and little things and from big things and from understanding the idea that God is a holy God and a just God. And we get into His word.
10:21 We study His word. We realize he’s not okay with being blasphemed in the movie theater or on Netflix. He’s not okay with it.
10:28 Cancel it. It’s enough. Amen.
10:29 Get rid of that ungodly stuff. And I’m saying that 100% as someone that loves you, uh, because God loves you. And if, if that network, whatever it is, not just Netflix, but Disney plus all of them, if they blaspheme God, and I know they do say enough, I won’t do it.
10:45 We laugh around our house cause we boycotted half the companies there are. Okay. Now I understand that Paul says it to leave sin.
10:53 Uh, you’d have to leave the world. Amen. But at the same time, Godly wisdom teaches us to get away from the unclean things.
10:59 Get away from the things that are not of God. Amen. Titus 2: 12, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and Godly in this present world.
11:11 Is that not what I just mentioned? Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. See, if you’re never in the word, you would never know it says this in Titus two 12. And if you never knew it said it, you may not feel compelled to do it because you have these worldly lusts.
11:28 We all do. And here the Bible says, deny them. Okay.
11:31 Take up your cross. Say enough. This is something that is against God.
11:36 Okay. And I won’t do it. Say your friend, uh, wants to go to a wicked movie.
11:40 Say I’m not going to go. Amen. Uh, say that somebody is trying to push alcohol on you and you’ve decided you are not going to drink.
11:47 You’re going to be sober as this verse says. And you say enough, I’m not going to do it. Deny it.
11:51 You can do it. You can do this not on your own, but through the power of God. And the next part of Godly wisdom is not just salvation and sanctification, but it is peaceable, peaceable, which means free from argument or conflict.
12:07 Peaceful. Godly wisdom is so peaceable. God creates peace in our life.
12:14Why? Well, it starts with the idea that God is peace. 2 Thessalonians 3:16. Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means.
12:24 The Lord be with you all that 2 Thessalonians 3: 16. So we see that in order for God to provide peace to others, he must inhabit peace Himself. He must be a, a, a bastion of peace on His own before He’s going to bestow it to others.
12:44 And so if Godly peace is so great, we have to recognize where that peace comes from and understand that Godly wisdom is peaceable. And so God is peace and he is wonderful. And if you ever had a moment with the Lord, you know what true peace is.
13:00 And it is absolutely spectacular. I remember at youth camp some years ago, we were all in a room there, congregation of 40 or 50, I’d say at youth campus, pretty big group. And we weren’t saying anything and people were just sobbing because God’s spirit was there.
13:17 Amen. We’d had a good service or a good few services and the Lord just showed up and there was Godly peace there. We were, we were moved by the spirit, we were moved by God and yet we didn’t have to say anything.
13:29 “`And God, that kind of peace is in His wisdom. And so when He tells you to do things like deny these ungodly lusts or these worldly lusts, he’s doing this to create peace in your life. I hope you understand that.
13:42 God’s not trying to take something away good. He’s trying to take something away bad and replace it with the good. He wants to supply you with a peace that maybe you’ve never known and certainly surpasses all of our understanding.
13:54 And that’s why we get godly wisdom and we start having peace in our lives, peace in our marriages, peace in our work, peace in our studies, peace in our relationships. It all comes from God because God is a God of peace. Amen.
14:11 He is a God of peace. I thank you so much for listening. Take care.
14:15 God bless and Amen.