James 3:13-18

[0:00] I'm thankful to be back tonight. Thankful that I have my wife with me tonight. That's a true blessing and that's many prayers answered.! I've said many times it's intimidating enough to get behind the pulpit.

[0:13] Yeah. And always will be. And if it's not, then anybody that does so just needs to sit down. Right. If it's not intimidating. But it's a little bit easier when your better half is part of the congregation.

[0:26] Right. Because you know, even if nobody else has your back, than she does. Now if I'm up here just preaching rank heresy, I don't expect her to have my back. But it is good to have Missy with us again.

[0:41] Book of James in chapter 3 this evening. Just a few verses out of this book. This is a wonderful book. It's my favorite book in all Scripture, the book of James.

[0:52] It's just five chapters long. I've heard the book of James called the Proverbs of the New Testament. Because it's so practical. Practical for godly wisdom.

[1:05] Practical for godly living. It's just a very practical book. And I had a preacher friend of mine one time. This came up in conversation. How James was my favorite book.

[1:16] He said, Why James? He said, There's nothing good in that book. And because James will. James will rake you across the coals. Right. And, But you know, We need to be raked across the coals sometimes.

[1:27] I need to be raked across the coals sometimes. But James, And I've described it like this many times. James will grab you by your collar. He'll sling you against the wall. He'll shove his knee in your gut.

[1:39] He'll kick you once you slide down to the floor. And he'll tell you he loves you the entire time that he's doing it. And that's what I love about the book of James. He pulls no punches.

[1:51] There's no holds barred with James. And it is a very practical book. And that's probably why it's my favorite. It's very easily understood. The book of James is. But James chapters 1, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Even on up through chapter 3.

[2:07] We see James, Again, Being very practical in chapter, And you can actually divide each chapter into two separate segments. Until you get to the fifth chapter.

[2:17] And the fifth chapter is just kind of a hodgepodge. Of all kinds of different stuff. And I've often wondered. There's nothing really in church history. I've studied it.

[2:28] Why that might be. I don't know if James may have been writing this letter. Before he knew that he was about to die. That's a possibility. He knew something was going to happen.

[2:40] Possibly. That he knew that this was going to be his last chance. This is the last opportunity he had to get out what was on his heart. And so, It's very, Very constructed in the first four chapters.

[2:54] And again, Chapter 5 is just, He's kind of everywhere. But it still makes a whole lot of sense. But chapter, Chapter 1 is where we learn many things. Y'all have heard me quote. If you've heard me preach at all, You've heard me quote from the book of James.

[3:06] It's a wonderful book. But James 1, He tells us that trials, Trials work patience in us. He also tells us to be doers of the word, Not hearers only.

[3:20] We see all kinds of good stuff. In James 1, James 2, We learn not to be partial towards people. We learn that if someone comes into the congregation, And they're dressed right, They look right, They act right, They sound right, They smell right, That we're not to treat them any different, Than someone that comes in the congregation, And ripped up jeans, And holes in their t-shirt, And smelling like three days worth of body odor, And all that good stuff.

[3:44] We're not to treat them any different. God is not a respecter of persons, Nor should we be a respecter of persons. Then we read also in James 2, About the relationship of faith and works.

[3:57] And there's many people out there that will say, That James contradicts what Paul wrote about faith. Faith alone and Christ alone. No, folks, They complement one another. It is absolutely complementary, What James writes about that.

[4:12] James does not believe that works get you into heaven, And he makes that perfectly clear. But he says, Shoot me thy faith without thy works, I'll shoot thee my faith by my works. So he understands that faith has got to be there, But he also understands that there is works, To prove that faith to the world.

[4:28] Folks, The world out there, They're not reading the Bible. The world doesn't read the Word of God. You know what the world reads? They read us. They read us, Those that profess Jesus Christ.

[4:40] Those that profess Christianity. Those that claim their redemption Through the blood of the Lamb of God. That's who they read. And they are the very ones That are waiting on us to mess up.

[4:51] And they're the very ones That will tell us How we should be acting If we act amiss. Or if we act contrary To what the Scripture tells us to. Then we get to James chapter 3, Which is a very scathing chapter.

[5:04] James chapter 3 deals much with the tongue. And how evil the tongue is. And it talks about our speech. And this is where we learn That bitter water and sweet water Can't flow from the same fountain.

[5:20] James even says, My brethren, These things ought not so to be. Speaking of that very subject. But he talks about the tongue. He begins chapter 3 With, Be ye not many masters.

[5:31] Knowing this, We shall receive the greater condemnation. So there's a warning That begins James chapter 3 About those that Paul actually addressed To the Corinthian church. Those that were just wanting to be teachers.

[5:44] Wanting to be rabbis. They were wanting the okay of man. They were wanting the backpack of man. And James gives strict warning to that here.

[5:56] It says, Be not many masters. Speaking of teachers. He says, Knowing this, That we shall receive the greater condemnation. When we stand before God. When I stand before God. I will give an account for everything I've ever preached or taught Out of His Word.

[6:11] And that's what James is getting at there When he says that. Then he goes on through How the tongue, How it's evil, How it's set on fire of hell. And all these other things. How no man can tame the tongue.

[6:22] But then we get into the last few verses Of James chapter 3. And these last few verses Speaks of the wisdom. Speaks of wisdom. So we've gone from speech In the first, We'll say two thirds of the chapter Into the wisdom.

[6:39] Into where that speech comes from. Where that speech is derived from. So all that being said, I know that was quite an introduction, But that's okay. All that being said, We'll begin at James in chapter 3.

[6:53] Starting at verse 13. He says, Who is a wise man And endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation His works with meekness of wisdom.

[7:05] But if ye have bitter envying And strife in your hearts, Glory not, And lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, But is earthly, sensual, devilish.

[7:18] For where envy and strife is, There is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above Is first pure, Then peaceable, Gentle, And easy to be entreated, Full of mercy, Full of good fruits, Without partiality, And without hypocrisy.

[7:35] And the fruit of righteousness Is sown in peace of them That make peace. So again, In verse 13, Backing back up to verse 13, He begins with a rhetorical question here.

[7:46] He says, Who is a wise man And endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation His works with meekness of wisdom. So again, He begins with this rhetorical question.

[7:58] Who is a wise man And endued with knowledge among you? Again, He began this chapter With a warning to those That were wanting to show What knowledge that they had And what wisdom that they had.

[8:11] They were saying, I want to be a teacher. I want to be referred to as master. I want to lead a congregation. I want to do this And I want to do that. And James here says, Who is a wise man And endued with knowledge among you?

[8:25] Let him shew out of a good conversation His works with meekness of wisdom. Now this conversation here, We're not talking about The conversation of his mouth Like you and I would have A conversation over the phone Or face to face.

[8:38] He's talking about Let him shew out of a good conversation Out of his life. Out of the way that he lives. Out of the way that he conducts himself. Is what James is getting at here. Let him shew out of a good conversation His works with meekness of wisdom.

[8:52] So let him show Out of a good account Of his life, his works. Let him show That he is full of wisdom. James in chapter 1 Says if any of you lack wisdom Let him ask of God.

[9:05] Folks, if we lack wisdom We need to be asking of God Every time I stand in the pulpit To preach. Every time I've ever stood to teach. I'm like, God, I lack wisdom. I'm depending upon you To give me this wisdom.

[9:17] I'm depending on you To help me with this. Folks, I cannot do anything Without Almighty God. Jesus makes that very plain In John in chapter 15. He says, I am the vine And ye are the branches.

[9:30] He that abides in me Shall produce much fruit. And he goes on to say That without me ye can do Nothing, folks. I can do nothing Without Jesus Christ. I couldn't stand here.

[9:41] I couldn't breathe. I couldn't go to sleep at night. I couldn't wake up in the morning. I couldn't take the first step Without my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is my all in all. He is my everyone, everything.

[9:53] He is the one That gives me strength. He is the one That gives me ability. And if there is any wisdom At all to be found in me. It is all of Jesus Christ And none of me.

[10:04] And I am not so naive. And I am not so haughty. And I am not so cocky As to think otherwise. The Bible makes it plain. Solomon makes it plain in Proverbs.

[10:15] He says that Pride goeth before destruction. And a haughty spirit Before a fall. Folks, we need to be careful Of our pride. These teachers that were These supposed teachers These people that were wanting to teach.

[10:29] The congregations. This was their very fault. Was pride. They thought that they knew something. They thought that they knew something Of the Old Testament Scriptures. And they were wanting to get in there And teach.

[10:40] But James here says Who is a wise man Endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation His works with meekness of wisdom. I believe we talked a little bit About this meekness last week When we were in Matthew In chapter 11.

[10:55] Meekness is nothing more than Strength or power under restraint. His strength and power That is being held back. In other words, He says, Let him shew out of a good conversation His works with meekness of wisdom.

[11:09] With meekness of wisdom. Regardless of how much wisdom That we might think that we have. Folks, it all comes from Almighty God. Whether we're saved Or whether we're lost. Our wisdom, our smarts, Our know-how, Everything that we know It has all come from God.

[11:25] He is the one that designed us With the brain. He's the one that gave us The ability to comprehend things. He's the one that gave it All as our desire. And if there is anyone That is endued with knowledge among us, He needs to be proved.

[11:40] He needs to be proved Just as James says here, Let him shew out of a good conversation His works with meekness of wisdom. Now verse 14 here Is actually the only verse That I was going to preach tonight.

[11:53] But it turned into These other few verses here as well. So we're likely going to be Spending more time in verse 14 Than we will the rest of them. Verse 14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife In your hearts, Glory not, And lie not against the truth.

[12:09] He begins this with But if ye have. But if ye have. So in other words, James, He has understanding, He comprehends That not everyone is going to be in this boat.

[12:23] But he also comprehends That there's going to be some That are in this boat. This boat of pride. This boat of want. This boat of vainglory. He understands this.

[12:34] He says, But if ye have bitter envying And strife in your hearts, Glory not, And lie. Lie not against the truth. If ye have. In other words, You may not have. And folks, Let me tell you something Right now.

[12:46] There is no place for vainglory. There is no place for pride. There is no place for a haughty spirit. There is no place for thinking That you are above someone else Or that you are better than someone else In the life of any born again child of God.

[13:01] There is no place for that In our lives. There is no place for that In our homes. There is no place for that In our speech. Or our actions. We are simply sinners That are saved By the grace of Almighty God.

[13:14] Trying to get the gospel message Out to a world That they can be a sinner Saved by the grace of God Just as we are. We have no right to brag. No right whatsoever to brag.

[13:26] In fact, Paul addresses this To the churches in Galatia. He says, God forbid that I should glory That I should glory Saving the cross Of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[13:36] God forbid that I should do that. And hundreds of years before that God Almighty Himself addressed that With the prophet Jeremiah In Jeremiah chapter 9 You'll see where God Himself says That if any man glorieth Let him glorieth And that he knoweth me And understandeth me.

[13:53] That's the only thing we have To glory in. Is our knowledge of God. Our knowledge And our relationship with God. And the cross of Jesus Christ.

[14:03] God forbid that I glory In anything else. Save the cross of Jesus Christ Is what Paul wrote In his letter to the Galatians. But here he says, But if you have bitter Envying and strife In your hearts Bitter envy Folks, These two words.

[14:19] This is venomous What he's talking about. We're not talking about Some fleeting jealousy here. We're not talking about I'm driving northbound There's a nice looking 69 Camaro Driving up the southbound lane Going the opposite direction.

[14:33] And I'm envious About that fellow Driving that car For just a few seconds. But by the time I get to the next mile marker I've done forgot about it. That's not what I'm talking about here. We're talking about Bitter envy. We're talking about The envy that Cain had for Abel.

[14:46] We're talking about The envy that In Luke chapter 15 The elder son had For the prodigal When he came home. We're talking about The envy of the Pharisees When Jesus was preaching And drawing the crowd And they plotted To kill him.

[14:58] That's envy. And that's bitter envy. And it will corrode Your soul. It will set corruption Up within your heart. The heart is deceptive Above all things And desperately wicked.

[15:09] Who can know it? It's the word To the prophet Jeremiah. Folks, bitter envying Is a dangerous thing. And we Christians Are just as susceptible To it As the lost world is.

[15:20] It has no place In your life. And it has no place In my life. But if you have Bitter envy We shouldn't have. But we've got to Remember folks, James wrote this letter To a congregation Of saved people.

[15:33] He was writing To people That had professed Jesus Christ. He was writing To people That had acknowledged The gospel That had been Washed in the blood And they were Professing Jesus Christ.

[15:44] This is who He was writing to. I understand That James 1 He says To the twelve tribes Which are scattered abroad Greeting But He is writing To saved people.

[15:55] Therefore it applies To us being saved people As well. And it applies To the lost world Just as much. It applies to anyone And everyone That reads it. But if ye have Bitter envy and strife In your hearts What is this strife That he's talking about?

[16:08] This strife This is Basically All he's talking about here Is Self glory. Self glory.

[16:18] This is the strife That he's talking about. It is self glory. And there is no room In our lives For such a thing. Folks, The cross of Jesus Christ Praise God Deals a death blow To self glory.

[16:32] Jesus said If any man Will be my disciple Let him take up His cross daily And follow me. Let him deny himself And take up his cross daily And follow me. But the cross of Jesus Christ Does away with self glory.

[16:45] It lets us know There is nothing That we can do To save ourselves. Even if it had been me On the cross at Calvary. It would have done me Nor you Any good. But it was the perfect Sinless Faultless Blameless Lamb of God That gave himself for me.

[17:01] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. My self glory. And my wants My desires Are no good. But what God wants And His desires And His will Those are what Counts for eternity.

[17:17] I praise God For the scripture That Peter wrote When he said The Lord is not slack As some men count slackness Not willing that any Should perish But that all Should come to repentance.

[17:27] It is God's will For people to come to repentance. It is God's will That people be saved. Hallelujah. Not all will be saved. The scripture makes that plan.

[17:39] But I praise God That I am. I praise God That He came to me one day. He reached down Into miry clay. He plucked me up. He set my feet Upon a solid rock.

[17:49] And He established My goings As the psalmist wrote. That is exactly What He done with me. And if you are born again That is exactly What He done with you. But if you have Bitter, envy, and strife In your hearts.

[18:01] Not in your mind. Not in your actions. If it is in your mind And it is in your actions You know where it started? It started right here. It started within your heart.

[18:12] So many people in the world Want to blame God For everything. They say Well if God didn't want me To do that He would have stopped me From doing that. Folks We are all given free will.

[18:22] We are given free choice. We can do whatever We want to. We can choose To accept the gospel. And we can choose To reject the gospel. It is our own choice What we do with it.

[18:34] But if it is in your heart If it is in your heart Folks It is you That came from you God didn't place it there. God does not put Strife in hearts. He does not put Vainglory in hearts.

[18:46] He does not put Bitter, envy in hearts. He puts none of these things. God does with the heart What He says He will do with the heart. When a person is Saved and born again He takes out That stony heart That old cold stony heart That hard heart That we had all of our lives To the point of salvation And He puts in a heart of flesh Something that is soft Something that can be molded Something that can fill The presence of Almighty God Abiding within us.

[19:13] Hallelujah for these things. Hallelujah for the Word Of Almighty God. If you have bitter, envy, and strife In your hearts Glory not And lie not Against the truth.

[19:24] If you have these things Glory not. Folks, I've seen preachers That are guilty Of this very thing. I've heard preachers That are guilty of this. I've sat under preaching Where everything that was preached From the pulpit Was absolutely to a T.

[19:40] Every jot and every tittle Every word was truth. But I couldn't amen the man Because he was preaching In the wrong spirit. I've heard that too many times. And I hope you all don't think I'm preaching in a bad spirit tonight.

[19:53] I'm not. I love you. I'm here to be an encouragement And a help to you. God bless you. I want to be a help to you. But I've heard men do this. I've heard men That come in And they're bragging About what they preach Wednesday night Or Sunday night Or Sunday morning Saying, boy, I really pinned them To the walls then.

[20:10] Folks, that's self glory. And all they're doing Is looking for a backpack From their fellow preachers When they do that. I have cried Before I've gotten in the pulpit To preach some of the messages That God has put on my heart.

[20:25] I have bawled Begging God to change the message. Because I knew what it was going to do To some people. We preach what God gives us.

[20:36] We preach His Word. We preach Christ and Him crucified. We preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And if it hurts, it hurts. The Gospel is offensive. It's offensive, Especially to a lost world That wants something to do With their own salvation.

[20:50] That wants to think That they are good enough. You're not. You'll never be good enough. But Christ. Christ is what's good enough. Christ is who is good enough.

[21:01] The perfect Lamb of God. John looked down the river bank And he said, Behold the Lamb of God Which taketh away the sin of the world. It is Christ and Christ alone That can get you out of your mess.

[21:12] It is Christ and Christ alone That can save your unworthy soul. And lie not against the truth. Lie not against the truth. Not against a person per se.

[21:23] But lie not against the truth. In other words, If you go back to the beginning of this verse, But if you have bitter envy and strife In your hearts, Glory not. And lie not against the truth.

[21:33] In other words, If you go back to verse 13, If you think you are a wise man, Or a wise woman, And endued with knowledge, And that you are showing your good works, Good conversation through your works, And meekness of wisdom.

[21:50] And you are living this life That it is talking about here in verse 14. You are lying against the truth. In other words, The common phrase is, You are living a lie.

[22:02] You are living a lie. If you have got the mindset of verse 14, But making the claim of verse 13. It is living a lie. And you are lying against the truth. What is the truth?

[22:12] The gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth. This word of God that we all got in our laps, I've got on this pulpit, Wherever you've got it right now, It is the truth. Jesus Christ said Himself in John 14, I am the way, The truth, And the lie.

[22:25] Christ is the truth. This word is the truth. The gospel is the truth. These things are truth. And if you are doing these things, If you are living a lie, Like verse 14, But claiming the lie from verse 13, You are living a lie.

[22:39] And I highly recommend, You repent of your ways. That you turn 180 degrees, And you turn yourself and your face, And your heart towards God. You turn it toward Him, And away from the things of this world.

[22:52] Verse 15, That was the condensed version of verse 14, By the way. Verse 15, This wisdom descendeth not from above, But is earthly, Sensual, Devilish.

[23:04] What wisdom? What wisdom is He talking about? The wisdom of verse 14. Everything that we just went through. Everything we just talked about. About bitter envy. About strife. About not glorying in those things.

[23:16] About not lying against the truth. He says, This wisdom does not come from above. It does not come from Almighty God. And He describes it here. He says, It is earthly, Sensual, And devilish.

[23:28] Folks, He is describing three different things there. He's describing the world. He's describing the flesh. And He's describing Satan himself. And the world, And the flesh, And the devil, Have ever been, And ever will be, In opposition, To the kingdom of God.

[23:45] Amen. And they still are to this very day. And this is how we know, That this wisdom doesn't come from above. Because it's in opposition to God.

[23:55] It's in opposition to His Word. It is not how we are to act. It is not how we are to practice our lives. It is not how we are to walk. Brother Paul says, If we live in the Spirit, Let us also walk in the Spirit.

[24:08] If we're claiming to have the Spirit within us, Folks, We need to act like it. We need to act like it. We won't act perfectly. I don't act perfectly. And you don't either.

[24:19] And if you tell me you do, I'll call you a liar right to your face. None of us are capable of walking a perfect walk, And living a perfect life. None of us are. I don't care if we've been saved for a year, A month, A week, Or a hundred years.

[24:33] We are still incapable, While we are in this corrupted flesh, To live a perfect life. But I am promised to go to a city one day after a while, Where everything there is going to be perfect.

[24:45] I'm going to be there in a perfect setting, With perfect saints, With a perfect satyr, In a perfect atmosphere. We're going to sing perfect songs. We're going to give perfect praise, To a perfect God, Forever and ever.

[24:57] Hallelujah. And that's the only time I'll ever be perfect. But I've got all eternity to be perfect. Hallelujah. But I'll only be perfect by Jesus Christ. It is only through Him, That I will gain entry to that city, And it's only through Him, That I will be granted a perfect body, Like and in fashion, Under the Son of Man.

[25:17] This wisdom descendeth not from above, But is earthly, Sensual, And devilish. For where inbeing and strife is, There is confusion, And every evil work. He's talking about the fruit of the life, That is lived in verse 14.

[25:32] Here. When we go back to verse 14, Talking about bitter envy and strife, And not glorying, And people that lie against the truth. He says, For where envy and strife is, There is confusion, And every evil work.

[25:45] This is the fruit of living that life. It causes confusion. And it causes people, To continue in their evil ways, And to work more, And more, And more evil ways.

[25:58] That is not the way, Of a born again child of God. We are to live soberly, We are to live righteously, We are to live holy. The Bible says, God said Himself, Be ye holy, For I am holy.

[26:10] Don't tell me it's an impossible thing to do, When God commands us to do it. Be ye holy, For I am holy. How are we made holy? Only through Jesus Christ. It is only through Jesus Christ, And it is only through Him, That we can walk in a holy way.

[26:24] That we can walk, And live a holy life. It is only through Christ, That this is possible. And again, It will not be perfect, This side of eternity. It will not be.

[26:35] But we should strive to do that. The Bible teaches us to strive, Under perfection. God knows that we're not going to be perfect. One of the greatest things, I've ever read in my life, I read here very recently.

[26:46] It said, When God called me, He said, When God called you, He already factored in your stupidity. And I say, Praise God, Amen, And hallelujah to that statement.

[26:58] That's one of the most comforting things, I've ever read, In my entire life. When God called you, Regardless, Whether He's calling you, Out of the dark, Into His marvelous light, At the moment of salvation, Calling you to teach, Calling you to preach, Calling you to sing, Calling you to do this, Do that, Do missions, Whatever the case is, When He called you, He's already factored those things in.

[27:17] And He's already factored in, More imperfections. And that is one of the most comforting thoughts, Thoughts that I could have. Where envy and strife is, There's confusion, In every evil work.

[27:31] We all know the scripture, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, That God is not the author of confusion. So if there's confusion present, It's not of God. It goes right back up a couple of verses, Where he's talking about this wisdom, Descendeth not from above.

[27:45] It doesn't come from above. And this confusion, That James is writing about here, It doesn't come from above. Now, That being said, There's some things in this Bible, That I don't get.

[27:58] And I'm not ashamed to tell you all that. Brother Mike's been preaching longer than I had. There's some things in this Bible, That he doesn't get too. Amen. Ain't nobody got the Bible, Backwards and forwards, And sideways, Diagonal, The whole nine yards.

[28:12] Nobody understands it that perfectly. The folks, I understand enough of it to know, That Joel, The prophet Joel, In Joel chapter 2, Said there would come a day, When whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, Shall be delivered.

[28:27] And Paul echoes that statement, In Romans chapter 10, When he says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, Shall be saved. I understand that much, Of the scripture. I understand that I'm a sinner, And I understand that I was, That I was in need of a savior, And I understand that that savior came to me, He looked down upon me, He put me up, He redeemed me, He brought me into the family, I've been grafted in from the wild, But I'm a child, Of the king of this universe.

[28:54] Hallelujah. Amen. I understand enough about the Bible, To know that. And I know it for a fact. Amen. Verse 17, You know, You just talked about the fruit, Of the life in verse 14.

[29:08] Now we go to verse 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.

[29:22] So, He's told us, What's not from above, So we can rightfully assume, It's from beneath. It comes from the devil, It comes from the earth, It comes from the world, That other wisdom does.

[29:37] But here, 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. That sounds just like my God. That sounds exactly like my God.

[29:51] Every one of these, Are attribute to the Almighty God. It's peaceable. That was first pure, Then peaceable. Gentle. Easy to be entreated.

[30:01] What is easy to be entreated? It can be reasoned with. That's what it's talking about. Easy to be entreated. You can be reasoned with. And this is something that God, Invites people to do.

[30:13] You read in Isaiah chapter 1, He says, Come, Let us reason together, Saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, They shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

[30:25] Hallelujah. Come, Let us reason together. What reasoning is there? I'm a sinner. And He is the Savior. That's the reasoning.

[30:36] There are so many people in the world right now That say, I have an arrangement with God. Me and God have an agreement together. Folks, The only arrangement and agreement Is through Jesus Christ.

[30:48] That is the only agreement That God has with mankind. Jesus Christ, According to the book of Hebrews, Is the mediator of the new covenant Between man and God.

[30:59] Right? And according to what Paul wrote to Timothy, There is but one mediator Between God and man. That is the man, Christ Jesus. He is the only one That can mediate between God And us.

[31:12] And what a mediator He is. There ain't a lawyer out there Who holds a candle to my Jesus. There ain't nobody out there. There is no negotiator. There is no one That holds a candle To what my Jesus can do And has done for me.

[31:26] Wisdom that is from above Is first pure, Then peaceable, Gentle, Then easy to be treated. Full of mercy, Praise God. Again, This sounds exactly like God Because it's talking about Attributes of God.

[31:37] And if we are true children of God, We're going to act like our Father. Hallelujah. Full of mercy. And good fruits. Without partiality.

[31:48] We've uncovered that In a little bit of an introduction That I gave tonight. How God is not a respecter of persons. And we shouldn't be either. We shouldn't be partial to folks. Now folks, As far as salvation is concerned, God is no respecter of persons.

[32:02] That's why there's so many Whosoever's in the Scripture. Whosoever believeth in Him Should not perish Should have everlasting life. Whosoever is a thirst, Let him come, Take him to the water of life.

[32:13] Freely. Whosoever, Whosoever, Whosoever, Whosoever shall call upon The name of the Lord Shall be saved. Hallelujah. Amen. As far as salvation is concerned, God is no respecter of persons.

[32:25] The people will say, Well, I wish I could teach like that one, But God just didn't give me that gift. Wish I could preach like that one, God just didn't give me that gift. Folks, If you're born again, You have a call Of some kind.

[32:42] I've said it before here, Not too awful long ago, And I'll say it again, God didn't save you To just sit there in the pew And do nothing. Right. Christ gives us strict commandment At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Go ye into all the world And preach the Gospel To every living creature.

[32:58] We are to tell people About the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to tell people That they are a sinner, But that God is a wonderful, Mighty, And willing, And able, And powerful Savior.

[33:10] And He is able and willing To redeem them, And to save them. And He can save the most vile rich From their sin. And I praise God for that. Without partiality, And without hypocrisy.

[33:22] That's what He's talking about up here In verse 14, When He says not to lie against the truth. Again, If somebody's living verse 14, But claiming verse 13, That's hypocrisy.

[33:33] Right. I mean, That's textbook definition Of what hypocrisy is. To do one thing, Or to say one thing, But to do another. And if any of y'all out there Are parents, You've probably done that When you tell your children Do as I say And not as I do.

[33:47] I've been guilty of doing that. But He says, Here, We're to be without hypocrisy. Or this wisdom That is from above Is without hypocrisy.

[33:58] Verse 18, And we'll be done. Verse 18, And the fruit of righteousness Is sown in peace of them That make peace. Now notice, The fruit of righteousness Is sown in peace.

[34:12] The righteousness Is not sown. The fruit of righteousness Is what James is talking about here. And the fruit of righteousness Is sown in peace. Why would we sow fruit?

[34:23] Those of you that are gardeners Have ever raised a gardener, Ever worked on a farm, Whatever the case is, Why do you save some of the corn back? Why do you save some of the beans From the green beans?

[34:34] Why do you save some of these things back? Because you sow that fruit Back into the ground the next year. That's the only way it used to be. There ain't always been a tractor supply. There ain't always been these other stores You can go to to buy your seeds from.

[34:48] People had to save back From their harvest from the previous year, Or the current year, To sow for the next year. And that's what we're talking about here. He says, The fruit of righteousness Is sown in peace of them That make peace.

[35:02] So we sow the fruit of righteousness To do what? To produce more righteousness. That's why we sow corn. Sow corn seed. To have more corn. That's why we sow the beans.

[35:15] So that we can have beans. That's why we throw watermelon seeds And cucumber seeds And everything else in the ground. So we can have more of those things. But they were originally derived From the fruit.

[35:25] We sow the fruit of righteousness In order to produce more righteousness. But that righteousness will not come from us. But folks, We put forth effort To sow this fruit of righteousness.

[35:38] We do that in going out And performing our righteous works. And living a righteous life. And living a holy life In front of the world. We sow the fruit of righteousness In doing that.

[35:50] But He says, The fruit of righteousness Is sown in peace of them That make peace. In other words, Folks, This isn't talking about the world here. It's talking about saved people.

[36:00] They're the ones That sow the fruit of righteousness. They sow it in peace Of them that make peace. Jesus said in the Beatitudes, Blessed are the peacemakers For they shall be the children of God.

[36:13] So those that aren't peacemakers, The flip side of that coin, They're not the children of God. There ain't the two sides of that coin. The fruit of righteousness Is sown in peace of them That make peace.

[36:27] It's sown in peace of them That make peace. It's sown in peace Of the children of God. We are the only ones That can sow the fruit of righteousness. Now I understand God is God And He can do whatever He wants to Whenever He wants to.

[36:42] He doesn't need my permission to do so Or your permission to do so. He doesn't need the permission Of the United States Supreme Court Or the world government for that matter. He can do whatever He wants to.

[36:52] And if He wants to sow this righteousness Himself, He can. But folks, we are given commandment In the Scripture again, Be ye holy, for I am holy. We're told to love our neighbors as ourselves.

[37:06] We're told many things in the Scripture How we are to treat those around us. And if we do those things, And we're saved, We're sowing seeds of righteousness.

[37:17] And we're sowing in peace of them That make peace. So again, We began this chapter, We didn't read through the entire chapter, But we began this chapter with James giving us some harsh lessons On the tongue.

[37:33] And how evil and wicked Our speech can be. And again, remember, He's writing to save people In this letter. So, he began with that.

[37:43] And with these few verses That we went over tonight, He's talking about wisdom. He's talking about where that speech Is derived from. So, if we have ill speech, If we have negative speech, If we have corrupted speech, Guess why?

[38:00] It's because our wisdom is corrupted. And our wisdom is ill. And our wisdom is evil. It's sensual, earthly, and devilish. Just as James says Here in this letter.

[38:12] God bless you all. That's the message for this evening. I hope it was a help to you. I appreciate your attention this evening. Amen. Thank you.