Heavenly Wisdom

Well, good afternoon all of you out there. I always do that with the church down in Stockton, because they usually have about 13 that show up down there. Sometimes they get a little bit more. But it's good to see everyone. It seems like forever since we saw you last. We came, of course, the last part of the month, last month, and have been very, very busy. It's kind of interesting what's happening down in the Oakland area. Today, of course, I'm up here.

Rex Spears is up in Eureka. And let's see, Fred Crow is in Oakland, and Tim Peppert is in Stockton, and Bob Koser is down in San Jose. So that's what's happening today. And my question is, who's on first? Remember that old joke that people used to tell?

It seems like we're all different directions. And I should say also that Mark Rorem is down in Columbia, South America. So everybody has just spread all over the place, and we're very, very busy. And it seems like every way. Of course, as was mentioned in the announcements about what's going on in the Middle East, I think it's pretty exciting to me in one sense to see what is happening, because I think this is a watershed event that's happening in the Middle East.

They're not going to turn back from this, and it is likely to spread before, in fact, the problem is settled out. Of course, you have now, you have Bahrain, you have Yemen, you have Libya, which is really a basket case when it comes to problems over there. You have Egypt, you have Jordan, and you have Saudi Arabia. So you have all of these countries that are in upheaval right now. And I think we should know that Egypt is the lead nation over there. This is the one that is, you might say, the mover and the shaker in the Middle East when it comes to the Arab world.

And I find it very interesting. Let's turn to chapter 19. I've been looking at some of these things in the Old Testament recently, and it's kind of interesting to me that it says this over in Isaiah chapter 19. It's talking about the end time, because if you read the last part of Isaiah 19, you'll find that it is in a millennial context, that it's definitely in the end of the age when these things will begin to happen. But notice in verse 1 it says, The burden against Egypt, behold, the eternal rides on a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will totter at his presence.

And it says, The heart of Egypt will melt in its midst. And it says, And I will set Egyptians against Egyptians. Kind of interested here, it's what's going on, in fact, in the Middle East right now. And everyone will fight against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor. And it says against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst, will destroy their counsel, and they will consult the idols and the charmers and the mediums and the sorcerers.

And the Egyptians I will give into the hand of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them, says the Lord, the eternal of hosts. Kind of interesting here, where we are now, what might come next after this is all over. We know toward the end of the age there's going to come on a scene, an individual that is going to be the head up the beast power, and we know he's going to rule out of Jerusalem, according to what the prophecies tell us.

So we need to keep an eye on this. Egypt, it seems to me, was a catalyst for the whole Middle East world to begin to stand forward and demand these dictators step down. And of course they're wanting freedom, they're wanting democracy, but I think we should know what's going to happen in a world which is predominantly Muslim. You're going to get basically what you got we have now in Iran.

And this seems to be already happening, by the way, in Egypt, that they may have, in fact, their Khomeini that's going to come on the scene. And of course you're going to have Sharia law that will be put into effect.

And we can also understand and believe that the United States will not be favored by this new organization that's going to happen, nor will the West. So I think we're living, brethren, in a time where we're seeing prophecy literally coming alive before our very eyes. And you know, I think we need to be very much worn by it, sobered by what's beginning to happen here, not only in the world, but what's happened in the church. I think that's also something we need to think about as well. It does seem, though, that some people see it and they sort of yawn. Maybe they've gotten to the point where maybe they've seen things and just don't think it's going to that the events that are prophesied for the end of the age are going to happen. But, brethren, we need to again be sobered by it. You know, where are things, again, headed in the Middle East? You know, that every member ought to be asking themselves, you know, and be warned right now from a spiritual perspective, because it should impact us dramatically in how we live. You know, when we see things begin to happen, we should be moved to begin to change our lives a lot more, because we see the day approaching as even the Bible talks about it that way. I want to begin the sermon, though, by going to the book of Daniel. If you would go with me to Daniel 12, Daniel 12, talking about the time of the end here. And it says, at that time, Daniel 12, verse 1, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. Michael probably is that archangel that has watched over Israel, watched over the United States and Britain. And, of course, he watches over the church as well.

And it says, there shall be a time of trouble. And that's what we're seeing begin to happen in the world, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time, your people shall be delivered. There's going to be a remnant out of physical Israel that is going to be delivered out of this. And, of course, we believe that probably a tenth of Israel will be preserved. And, of course, there's going to be a remnant of God's church as well that is going to be saved, a very small number by comparison to the world. And it says, and everyone who is found written in the book, and of course that's the book of life, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

And it says, and those who are wise, this is what I want to focus in on here, those who are wise shall shine, it says, like the brightness of the firmament and those who, it says, who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. So here it says, brethren, that the wise are going to shine. Now, I don't know about you, but I'd like to be one of those people that is spoken about here in Daniel chapter 12. I'd like to be among, counted among, the wise who understand in this day and age, have an understanding of the end of the age that we're in. And brethren, we need, all of us here need, the wisdom to understand. And we need to have that wisdom to be a people of understanding in this end time that we are living in. You know, Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, and throughout it we're encouraged to seek after wisdom. Let's go to Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3, and Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 13, as I work along here and beginning to present the message here to you that I'd like to leave with you today. But in Proverbs chapter 3, in verse 13, it says, Happy is the man who finds wisdom. I don't know about you, but when I look at people throughout my area of where I see people, you might say in the friendships, the people I know of, particularly those in the world, there's not a lot of wisdom out there. There just isn't. People do some of the, in fact, stupid things, very stupid things. You know, you remember Art Langley letter used to have his program, kids do the darndest things, I think is how it was called. And it was funny when little kids said different things that they did. But you know, when we as adults make mistakes, it's not funny, isn't it? Not very funny when we make mistakes as God's people.

And so there's need, a need for wisdom, not even, not only in the world, rather, but in our own personal lives, making decisions. You know, sometimes we made, again, not so good decisions. It says the man who gains understanding. So we've got, blessed or happy is that man that finds that wisdom and has understanding. And it says for her, proceeds are better than profits of silver. It's much better than silver, he says here. And her gain, then fine gold. You know, some men have said, look, if you took all the money from me that I had, you know, all the gold, all the silver, you know, if you took it away from me, I could get it back. And it has to do with their understanding. Of course, they're thinking from the standpoint of a physical, you know, type of thing. They have, people have wisdom in understanding how the stock market works. People have wisdom in understanding how to make money in this world. But, of course, people lack in terms of understanding about how to live life. And, you know, that is more precious than gold. Knowing how to do that, having an understanding about that. She is more precious than ruin. And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. And it says, length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand, riches in honor. Her ways are the ways of pleasantness. And all her paths are peace. You know, we need to understand that wisdom ends in peace. Our lives, in other words, will end in peace. And that's where it goes. Wisdom, you know, directs itself toward peace. A lack of wisdom directs itself to a time of violence, a time of conflict, and that sort of thing. So, you know, this is what the Bible says about wisdom. And it says, she is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her. And so wisdom is a very valuable thing, very important thing in our life. And, you know, today I'd like to, again, to expand on our understanding about wisdom. But let's first go to Proverbs 4 and verse 7. Over here is 4 and verse 7.

Because here Solomon puts it this way. He says, wisdom is the principal thing. It's the principal thing, he's saying here. Therefore, get wisdom, and in all you're getting, get understanding. And so it's the principal thing, he says here. In the Hebrew, what that means, it's the first in place in terms of what we ought to seek in this life. It's the first in time, in other words, we should seek it first at the beginning, and it's the first in rank as far as what is important in life. I think we would all agree this is sorely needed by everyone, and certainly within the Church of God today. But, you know, Daniel, as we read back there in Daniel 12, Daniel said the wise will have an understanding. Now, what are they going to understand? What did Daniel mean back in Daniel 12? What were they going to understand, do you suppose, that Daniel specifically talking about? Will it be Bible prophecy? Now, I look into Bible prophecy a lot, brethren, but I really do believe that there are some things more important than Bible prophecy. I do, again, listen for news and try to really, intently, to think about it in terms of fulfillment of prophecy. So is it going to be prophecy so that they will know where to flee?

You know, some people think that if you know where to flee, then you just go there and stake a claim, you know, over there anyway. You know, remember years ago we used to talk about Petra, going to Petra all the time, and there were actually people that went over there.

And, you know, they weren't going to wait for God to say it's time for the church to flee. They're going to go over there, buy a few acres, and just build a house, you know, and wait till all of us come around, I guess. So, you know, there are people like that, again, that get so caught up in prophecy, and they think that, you know, if they're in the right place, time, that they're going to be able to be in that place of safety. When I read the book, it has to do with what God chooses, not what we choose, you know. We want to make sure that we're pleasing God. You know, many people have thought that prophecy was so important that they've spent their lives working on charts and timelines to plot the exact time of the return of Jesus Christ. You know, there's a Protestant pastor down in Oakland, and it caught my eye, one of the members mentioned to me, and I hope this doesn't scare you or anything. I don't want to do that today.

But anyway, this Protestant pastor is saying that the rapture is going to happen on May 21st of this year. Now, the interesting thing, I look a little bit into his literature. He said the same thing in 1994, and he had to change his explanation of it. So anyway, I think I'm a pretty—I'm not a prophet, but I think he's going to be a disappointed man, so May 1st, but you know, it's amazing what people think. Sir Isaac Newton, by the way, was one who also looked into prophecy, and he studied prophecy, and he looked at it from a mathematical, scientific point of view, and he made numerous predictions of what the end of the age would be when Jesus Christ was going to come back. And so the understanding that Daniel is talking about, he's not talking about understanding prophecy. I think we have a sense, again, of the timing of the end. You know, Christ talked about that when you see certain signs. You know you're in the end of the age. Well, let's go over to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5, in verse 15. Ephesians 5 and verse 15 over here, it says, "...so then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise." He talked about how that we need to be awake, spiritually speaking, here. So we should be walking circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil, it says here. And so the days that we're living in are evil. It says, "...therefore do not be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." So wisdom we see here is knowing what the will of God is.

Now, I gave a sermon about the will of God, you know, down in Oakland. I don't know if I gave it up here. I think it may have. But I talked about how the will of God is that we keep the commandments. The will of God is spelled out all through the Bible about what God expects us to do, to keep the Sabbath, to keep the Holy Days, and to refrain from eating unclean meats. There are many things, of course, that we know are commanded to us in the Bible, throughout the Bible. And so we should not be unwise, but we should understand what the will of God is. And if we're wise, we understand the will of God. If we see the will of God, then we're using wisdom.

Now, we discover that God gives us spiritual guidelines for free moral agents. We're free moral agents. God's not going to make us do anything. You know, He's saying to us, you choose how you're going to live. And we have many choices that we have to make in our lives. And we can choose to walk with Him, or we can choose not to walk with God. You know, the most important concern God has for His children, though, as any parent would be concerned about—you know what? The concern I have for our children and my wife and I think about is, what is their conduct based upon what we have taught them? And, you know, the most important thing to us, in fact, is their conduct. You know, I've sometimes kidded with our children that we want you to be rich when you get older, and so that we'll come and live with you, you know, when we get older. And I've joked with them for a long, long time. Of course, when we get old, they promise to live with them.

But I don't know what the future will be. I hope we don't have to face that. I hope Christ has returned before, in fact, all that kind of thing happens. But we are always concerned about their conduct. What kind of people are they? You know, are they respectable men in society? Will they be good husbands? You know, will they be good fathers? That's what we're most concerned about. Will they obey God? Will they walk in God's way of life? And you know what? God's main concern for us, brethren, is exactly the same thing. Our conduct and that how we live in our lives. Now, back in the book of Daniel, you don't need to turn back there, but the Hebrew word in Daniel 12 for the word wise is sokom. It means to be circumspect. You know, here Ephesians tells us that we need to be walking circumspectly. It means prudently. And this really stood out to me of the Strong's Concordance definition, behave. Behave. Pretty clear, isn't it? In other words, how we behave, and it also means have good success. So this verse says that we should be wise. In other words, we should behave as God's people so that we will be lights to the world. You know, we're living, of course, in a time where we live in a wicked world, a society that has gone awry. It seems that they have no values now that are, you know, solid values, the way people even had back in, you know, the 40s and 50s, you know. Man has always been wicked, but it's like if this is such a word, man has become wickeder, you know, as time goes on. And it's like in Hollywood, it used to be if you were caught up in some sort of scandal that you instantly, your stock went down as a movie star, and you were out. Now, you know, you have people like Lindsay Lohan who get thrown in jail, and they get a movie deal, you know. Or you have some that are notorious for taking drugs and being alcoholics, and again, they get some sort of contract with Hollywood. I don't know if you've been following the Charlie Sheen thing that has been going on for probably a decade or more or longer, and I think that CBS pulled this contract. But knowing the way human beings are and, you know, that money that comes with that, don't be surprised if Charlie Sheen doesn't clean up his act for a little while, and he'll be back on television again, because the money means too much to the CBS corporation. So we live in a world, again, where it seems like that morality is topsy-turvy. It's upside down. You know, we live in a world in a time now when men are rebelling against established governments, and so we have that all over the Middle East, and now we got it in Wisconsin. It's going to happen probably in California, you know, that we'll probably see that begin to happen, where people will begin to march on governments.

And, you know, it's so amazing to me, again, as we see this time of rebellion that is going on in the world, and probably again is going to come to the West before all is said and done. You know, it takes more than government to make people free, though. You know, when the United States was being formed and founded, John Adams, who was the second president, said this. He says, we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. You know, again, look what's happened in Egypt over there with the Muslim religion and the others of Egypt, even there with the Coptic Christians that are actually working shoulder to shoulder. But, you know, they better not think that somehow or another that the Muslims are going to tolerate them, even though they were shoulder to shoulder with them. You know, there's an article that was in the news about how that this particular one who is considered to be the one that might become the Khomeini of Egypt, he was asking the Coptic Christians to kneel in submission to Allah. I don't know if you saw that or not. And, of course, the Christians did not kneel at that particular rally. But, you know, that means, I think it really shows where this thing is going to go ultimately. But, you know, if there's unbridled passion that's involved, whether it is morality that's involved or religion is involved, or avarice, or he goes on, Adams goes on to say, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest chords of our Constitution as a whale going through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other. And so the only thing the American government work and what we've had since 1776 has been the morality and the sense of a religion of the American people. And when that's gone, I think our Constitution will fall. And we'll be probably like some of these other nations. So you can't govern anyone without the morality and the submission to God. You simply can't. Because God, of course, has as a part of his law morality and the values that we are to have. And, you know, as the United States gets further and further away from God, the harder this country is going to be to govern. And there's been corruption in the United States. I don't need to prove that to you from head to toe. And I don't know if it's been a while since you've read Isaiah 1, but read over there where it talks about from head to toe that we are sick. Israel is sick. That we're like Sodom Gomorrah. But that corruption has made men and women to be self-seeking, greedy, and vengeful. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3 over here.

2 Timothy chapter 3. Here Paul writes to Timothy, he says, and know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come. And that word, by the way, for perilous means difficult times or dangerous times. Dangerous for what? Well, from a physical standpoint and dangerous from a spiritual standpoint as well. I think this is the main reason that Paul is writing this. Because as you notice here, so he says, dangerous or perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money. There's avarice and greed, boasters, proud. In other words, somebody that is not about to receive any correction or instruction, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful and holy, unloving, unforgiving, slanders, without self-control, brutal, despises of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And it says, and from such people turn away. And so here, you know, this is the age we're living in, and we see right before our very eyes, brethren, and it's a dangerous time for all of us spiritually speaking to stay on track.

You know, imagine being in school right now in this age, day and age, it's a lot harder than it was when we were in school. You know, I think I used to think it was bad, and I was going to Rollin, Oklahoma school. We had 200 people in the whole school, and I thought those guys were bad.

And imagine again what it is now today for our kids. It's difficult to live by God's way of life, you know, in the world today. And because people are this way, you know, it's important for us to realize, gave his Holy Spirit, brethren, so that we would bear a certain fruit in this age.

A wisdom which is different from this world's wisdom that's out here. Now, the world has its wisdom, and God has his wisdom, God's way of life, the way God thinks. The world has, again, their way of thinking. God has his way of thinking, and his way of thinking, you know, as high as the heavens, you know, away from man's way of thinking. You know, when the Apostle Paul was dealing with the Corinthian church, let's go over here to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and notice a bit about this. Notice what he says to the Corinthians. This was a very big church up there.

The city was a city like New York or San Francisco, Sacramento, probably closer to, again, San Francisco, to Corinthianize. In fact, the word Corinthianize meant to prostitute. So give you an eye of the kind of place this was. And notice what Paul says. He said, And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. So he didn't come to the Corinthians the same way that somebody at that time in the world might have come. You know, he lived in the Greek world, and in the Greek world, what was the way that normally one would come? They would come with debate. They would come with arguing. Remember how it was for Paul on Mars Hill, you know, because this was often done that people, again, in the Greek world, if they were a man, they were going to come and talk to somebody. They would want to have this stentorian voice and be an orator, because they prized a manly orator. But Paul's presentation, on the other hand, was quite different. You know, Paul was probably short. You know, he was a short—he was bald.

And also, he probably didn't have that good of a voice. You know, he was not one who would—you'd say, wow, you know, I just—I could listen to him just because of his voice, you know. But he wasn't that way. He, of course, had challenges. He had problems, we think, with his eyes, where his eyes drained, you know, all the time. Some of you may remember Mr. Armstrong toward the end of his life, when he would always have to constantly daub his eyes, because he had water always coming out of his eyes.

And, you know, what he did is when he came to the Corinthians, brethren, he came in a humble way, a very humble way, and he submitted himself to God to be successful. In the Gentile world, leaders lorded over people with swelling vanity, but Paul was different as he came before the people humbly. And he did not think of himself better than the people he was—which would have, again, been the attitude of people in the Gentile world.

Like, I'm better than you, because, you know, here I am, I'm instructing you, you know, and you need to listen to me. In fact, it's kind of interesting when, you know, I had the chance to go over to Thailand. If you tell somebody over in Thailand that you're a teacher—oh, man, all the—you know, you're a teacher. They have this respect for teachers.

Again, that's the way it is in the Gentile world. But here, the way that Paul came, he was very humble. He says, for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were—it says, we're not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of the power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Paul, it sounds like here, when I read what Paul did, he came before people and he simply told them the truth. He spoke the truth. And basically, he said, here it is. If God is working with you, if God's Spirit is working with you, then you're going to see it. And, you know, we find that to be true to people. Either they're going to believe it or they won't believe it. But the Corinthians believed it. And it says, in verse 6, it says, however we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of the age, not of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing.

He said that all of this approach by the world, when it comes to wisdom, their wisdom is going to come to nothing. Absolutely nothing. In the end. Brother, do we really believe that? Do we believe what he's saying here? You know, that the wisdom of this world, this society that we live in, is going to come to absolutely nothing when it's all said and done. So, when Paul came to you, he came with the wisdom of God.

Heavenly wisdom, if I can put it that way, heavenly wisdom. And not the worldly wisdom of man. And this is what we need to learn, rather than to discern, as God's people. I'm not sure that we understand this the way that we should. I know I don't. I don't understand this the way I should understand it. And sometimes, you know, we let a person's appearance, we let a person's outward show impact is more than what's on the inside of a person.

And, you know, Christ told us not to look on the outward appearance. He said, look on the heart of people. But we need to learn to discern that. You know, where are people coming from? You know, what do they want me to do? What do they want me to follow, you know, once they've talked to me? Or I'm talking, you know, in the case where you're maybe listening to somebody as they're talking. Let's go to James chapter 3. Because I think these verses over here, brethren, teach us how to discern heavenly wisdom. They teach us how to really understand it and to see it.

In James chapter 3 and verse 13, it says, who is wise? There's that word again. Who is wise and understanding among you? Now that's what we want to be. You know, we want to be. It says, let him show by good conduct. Remember that word in Daniel about the word wise meaning conduct?

That we walk circumspectly, in other words. Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. So the word meekness has to do, of course, with being mild. It has to do with humility, being humble. You know, somebody who is mild and they are humble, in other words, this should be a demonstration of wisdom. If somebody is wise, they're going to have that wisdom which involves meekness as God's people. And these are things, again, that we can literally do in our lives and should be doing. So he says, who is wise among us? If they have understanding, let them show it through their conduct and their behavior. This is, again, what the word wise means in the book of Daniel. You know, this is what we do if we are wise. We're going to be meek. And meekness, brethren, is not to have a defiant attitude. You know, if we are meek before God, and again, we're showing that godly wisdom, we are not defiant type people. You know, even if we tell someone no, we're nice about it. You know, in other words, it doesn't mean we don't tell people no, but we strive to be nice about what we do. Now let's notice continuing in verse 14 over here. And let's, again, sort of pick this apart a little bit, what he says here.

But if you have bitter envy, and we all know what envy is, don't we? I mean, envious is somebody who has a new car, and we don't have a new car. Somebody has a new house.

But here it's talking about envy that has gone so far that people get bitter about it.

And it says, self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. You know, so here he's saying, I want you to be honest that if you have this in your heart, and this is what you're thinking inside, don't lie against what is the truth here. He says, this wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly. And it's essential and demonic. Now, I think that we could put this even more forcefully here, what Paul is saying to them.

And that he's saying, I want you to get this idea that somehow if you think that envy, if you think that, you know, this kind of thing, and some other things that people do that is of that are of this world's wisdom, and the way the world is, but he said, I want you to get this completely out of your mind. He says, this is not of God. This is just not of God. You know, I know sometimes I've talked to people about maybe problems that they've had, and, you know, they've come back to me and said, well, that's just the way I am.

Wow! At least they're honest about it. You know, that's just the way I am. But, you know, sometimes it's just the hardest thing to convince them, look, but it's not of God. It's not God's way of life. It's not from above. It's from down here. It's the way that the people are down here. And so he's going on to say that it's sensual, it's demonic, and he says, and we're in thee and self-seeking exists confusion and every evil thing are there. So James here is saying, look, I want you to get it out of your mind that somehow, just because you're in church and you found the truth, that you have these little foibles about yourself that you should understand that these things are not from above. This is not from God. But he says that they're sensual. In other words, they appeal to the senses, like, you know, the desire to envy and so forth. These appeal to the physical lust, the passions, the emotions. And you know, even though it may feel right, James is saying here it doesn't make it right. It's not right. It's not of God.

You know, I don't know about you, but sometimes people have gotten angry at somebody and they've said some blistering things. And I don't know if you've ever heard somebody say, I have, where people say, well, that felt good. You know, I was telling a group one time, and I don't know what it is about ministers, that sometimes a member gets upset with a minister. They just love to chew him out. You know, I remember years and years ago, there was one of the men who came back down from Sandy back in 1974, if you remember, back in those days where the associated churches broke off back in 74. There were some members that came up to one of the ministers and just chewed him up one side and down another. And afterwards he told somebody, he says, wow, he says, I've never chewed out a minister before. It's like it was a badge of honor to have done that for them. And I thought, well, that's really too bad. You know, there's some things in the Bible that talk about ministers and how you should be respectful and how we need to control our emotions. But here, even in verse 15, James says it's demonic. It's demonic. So these words here he applies to man's wisdom, brethren. It's demonic. In other words, it's the kind of wisdom that Satan used to deceive the angels. And whenever we see selfishness, brethren, or envy, we can know that Satan has been there.

Now, it doesn't mean that you have been a part of that, but brethren, Satan has been with or in a situation if we see these kinds of problems. He's been there. We can see his DNA, you might say, and the way this being is. Because, you know, with earthly wisdom, brethren, earthly wisdom values power. It values position. It values privilege and prestige. That's what earthly wisdom does. That's the way it is in the world, isn't it? You know, people want to be in a position of power. They want to be privileged, and they want to have prestige in the world. That is the way that this earthly wisdom, brethren, is and the satanic demonic wisdom is. And this is not the kind of wisdom we should be seeking to have. Although, brethren, it's natural to us. It is natural to us. And we have to put it out, lordify the deeds of the flesh. And so, James is emphatically saying its origin is not of God. It's the kind of wisdom that the devil taught the rebelling angels. This is the kind of wisdom, also, brethren, the disciples had when they argued about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom. They had the same attitude, like, say, the devil, you know, when they were arguing with one another about who was going to be in charge of the kingdom. Let's go to Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20.

You know, we're talking about servant leadership at the conference. I'm sure that Mr. Horchak mentioned about some of those things that were covered that were there. I think that we in the ministry want to be your servants. I went over and visited with a member recently and might ask you to pray for Jerry Martin, by the way. She has a cancer, stage four cancer. She's still in very good spirits, you know, quite a woman of faith, an incredible attitude that she has. But anyway, Jerry was sitting there and we were talking to her and one of the other patients who was in the other bed, their relatives came in to see them, and she had met them before. And she said to the people that came in, I'd like you to meet my minister. And so, Jonah and I met her and the other gentleman that was there that day. And on the way back home, I was telling my wife, you know, what Jerry Martin said is, I would like you to beat my slave, because that's absolutely true. Because we are slaves, rather, to the church.

And that's what the purpose of the ministry is, to serve you, to give our lives for the church.

And, you know, I certainly want to do that, you know. There's, if I wanted to go in the world, obviously, it might be easier, quite frankly. But, brethren, that's what we in the ministry are wanting to do, and that is to be servants to you in every way we can be. And thank you for your patience with us, by the way, as well. I guess sometimes we need a kick in the pants, you know, and to be shown what we need to be remembering and thinking about. But in Matthew 20, notice it says, then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons kneeling down and asking something from him. And it says, and he said to her, what do you wish? And she said to him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on the left in your kingdom. And Jesus answered and said, You do not know what you ask. You don't know what you're asking for here. And are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and be baptized with a baptism that I'm baptized with? And they said to him, are you able?

They, of course, didn't have a clue as to what Christ meant by that. Are you able to go through this to endure this? And I might also mention that probably when the disciples, of course, found out about this, thinking carnally the way that probably they were thinking, they say, yeah, they got to him before we did, you know, because we wanted those spots. And then they were angry with the, you know, the Zebedee brothers for asking these questions. And so he said to them, You are indeed, it says, You will indeed drink my cup. Oh, you're going to go through some trials and difficulties and drink my cup and be baptized with a baptism that I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my Father. And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. They were really upset. Again, probably upset that they didn't ask first. Jesus called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them, yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. And so the way that Christ is talking about here, brethren, is that, look, He's saying, I don't want you to use this worldly religion that's out here, or this worldly wisdom that is out here. I don't want you to live that way. I don't want you to be that way. I don't want you to be a leader in that way. But I want you to be servants, that you're here to serve, and you're not here to be served. And, you know, it's important for us to understand that Christ rebuked them because of the wisdom that they were utilizing, which was contrary to heavenly wisdom, the kind of wisdom that they should have. And let's go back to James 3, James 3 in verse 17, because he presents the two kinds of wisdom here, as we already began reading over here.

There is, again, the earthly wisdom, worldly wisdom, wisdom of this world and society out here. And then there is the godly wisdom, or the heavenly wisdom, another way to describe the kind of wisdom that God wants us to have. And verse 17, let's notice here, but the wisdom that is first this, he says, pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And so here he says this is what heavenly wisdom is. And brethren, we can use what he says here, we can use what it says here, to know how to discern many things in this world, in this society, if we learn it, if we look at these and really examine these and meditate on these and see how we can put them into practice in our own life and be a discerner to be able to see, again, what some of these attitude is, so that you can look into the heart, you know, so you know what's going on inside of a person's heart. And so here are the qualities of heavenly wisdom. Let's go through each one of these here. It makes a good study to go through. And then again, it won't take a lot of time on each one of them, but just simply describe here. So he says it's first, pure. The first thing, it has to be pure. You know, in worldly wisdom, that is not the first thing that people think about. You know, that's what people think about is how can I get them to do what I want them to do? That's what they're thinking about. How can I get them to do it, you know, through if I got to lie to them, you know, how can I get them to do it? That's how people get elected to office, you know. That's how people get, you know, a lot of things in society, because they don't think about that. And they don't think about those things the first thing. So first pure here, what do you mean, brethren? There's no motives, no motives other than good motive here. It's like Paul said, I didn't come to you with in the worldly wisdom, the way of the society and so forth, but I came to you humbly. And the only thing I wanted of you, basically, is that you turn to Jesus Christ. That's what I wanted. And, you know, brethren, that's what we want in the church. You know, we don't care about anything else, but we want people to come to God. We want them to come to Jesus Christ, and we want them to do that in the fullest sense of the word.

You know, we don't desire, you know, anything other than that, to do good. We want them to know the truth, and we want them to know what is the will of God, that that would be upheld in their lives. So it's first pure. You know, when you see something happen in the world, you know, and sometimes it doesn't seem quite right, what do people say? They say, follow the money. Follow the money. Okay, that's the worldly principle. That's how people operate in this world and society out here. And then next, let's notice what it says. It says, peaceable. Peaceable. In other words, it's the opposite of worldly wisdom. There is no envy. There is no strife. There is no selfishness in it. In other words, hold to the truth and make every effort to be at peace. The only desire, again, is to lead someone to God, the Father, and Jesus Christ.

And it's peaceable. Peaceable. You know, worldly wisdom often does not end in peace.

And unfortunately, brethren, we've seen worldly wisdom in action in the church, and it didn't do well, did it? Didn't do too well. It divided. Godly wisdom, though, leads to peace. And of course, we have to have the realization, though, that you have to have both parties that are willing to have peace. And we'll do so. And there's another one of these fruits here that we mentioned, qualities here, that we'll show a little bit more about why that should be. So it's peaceable. Now, I'm not going to ask you to turn to these, but you might want to write them down. Romans 12, 18 says, if it is possible, as much as depends on you, because it all doesn't depend on just us, brethren, live peaceably with all men.

So as much as it depends on you. In other words, if somebody else is going to not live in peace, you can't stop them. All you can do is desire to do that yourself, to be that way yourself.

In Ephesians 4, let's go to Ephesians 4. Let's turn to that one over in Ephesians 4.

Look at my watch, by the way, since we didn't have a sermonette. They said I could speak till we quit what, six? Is that when it happens? I'm just kidding you. Ephesians 4 and verse 1, here Paul says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you, he was begging them, to walk worthy of the calling with which you are called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. You know, keeping, in other words, peace between people. And it says, there is one body, one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. And so we ought to endeavor, brethren, to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That bond really should be love, shouldn't it, between us? So, but you notice here, brethren, it says that we need to have an attitude of humility bearing with one another. You know, I have to apologize. Sometimes you have to bear with me, you know. And sometimes we all have to bear with one another, don't we?

I mean, we don't necessarily get along with every last human being within the church, you know. I wish we did. I mean, I wish all of us just clicked with each other. But some we simply love. Some we like. You know, most of all, we need to love one another. And we need to love every member within the church. But we have to have an attitude of humility, of bearing with one another. So that is equality. We need to be peaceable people.

The next point, going back to James 3, verse 17, you don't have to turn there, but is to be gentle. In other words, if we're going to discern godly wisdom, heavenly wisdom, we should look to see whether someone is gentle and how they deal with other people. So, they're designed and they're dealing with other people. In other words, not being harsh in dealing with people. You know, we want people, of course, to be gentle with us, don't we, as God's people? And I know that, brethren, that all of us strive to do that, I hope we do, at least, to be kind to everyone. I'm not going to turn to it, but in 2 Timothy 2, verses 24 through 25, I think it really fits under this word, gentle, this quality of godly wisdom. It says in 2 Timothy 2, verses 24 and 25, a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all. So, we're to be gentle with everyone. And it says, able to teach patient in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God, perhaps, will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth. So, you and I, brethren, are so God, and we need to be striving to be gentle with everyone. Be gentle with everyone. Again, you want to discern whether something is of God, or it's of the heaven, or of this world. Look for that quality. If somebody is harsh all the time, then, of course, you have to wonder where they're coming from. Now, the next quality there in James 3, verse 17. This one is a very important one, by the way. All of them are important, but this one, I think, is very important from the standpoint of what it will mean.

It says, willing to yield. You know, willing to yield. In other words, you know, as God's people, that word or that phrase means it is easy to be entreated. If you see, in fact, the King James, it says, I think, easy to be entreated. In other words, you can approach to them, and there, where you can ask them the word entreat means to ask or to implore. You look up the word entreated, it means good for persuasion or compliant. They're good for persuasion or compliant. You know, it's like sometimes, you know, in the ministry, when we do things, you know, we do have different conflicts in the ministry, but very often, you know, what happens is we talk to one another, and the problem is corrected. You know, we're not obstinate, in other words. We're not stubborn, but we're willing to yield. It's like, I talked to Larry Walker last night. Mr. Walker, as you know, has been very ill, and he's been having some really serious pains in his legs. When he gets up in the morning, at night, he told me he could not sleep, so it looks like he won't be back in action until March or so, which will be very shortly, but I hope he takes as much time as he needs. But I told him, I said, look, let us know. You know, we're pretty thin, but, you know, we want to help you out as much as we can. So, you know, that's what I mean about that kind of thing, that we yield to people. We see needs, and we try to fill them. We're not obstinate about it, because when one party or another is obstinate, what happens?

They get separated. They get separated. And so, let's remember that. Godly wisdom, heavenly wisdom, is we're easy to yield. You know, we're willing to work with one another. We're not fighting with each other. We're doing the same job, and we want to accomplish that job.

The next quality, brethren, there in James 3, 17, it says that heavenly wisdom is full of mercy, full of mercy. And so, they're just a bundle full of mercy. Remember when Peter, you know, asked Christ, how many times should I forgive my neighbor? What did he say? He said seven times. If I say not to you, Peter, seven times, but 70 times seven, I'm sure that probably, Peter at that time probably swallowed his tongue. How in the world am I going to forgive somebody for 490 times? Well, brethren, how many times do you think God will forgive you and me? Do you think it's 490? I don't think so. The Bible says, in fact, he forgives on end into eternity how God is willing to forgive. So we ought to be, brethren, full of mercy, full of mercy. We need an attitude of mercy with all people, and we must show mercy to receive it. You know, just like we have to forgive people to receive forgiveness, we have to show mercy to receive it. It says over here, let's go over to 2 James, 2 James, in verse 13. Here, you know, James says, For judgment is without mercy, one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Now, judgment's important as well, brethren. Remember Christ was talking to the Pharisees. He said, you neglected the weightier matters of the law, which was judgment, mercy, and faith.

But mercy is right up there and very important. And so we need to be full of mercy.

And then the next one is good fruits, good fruits. And so we need to remember what Jesus Christ said, You shall know them by their fruits. You see, if we're looking for this, when we're talking to people and they're talking to us, brethren, we're seeing what is godly wisdom, what are the fruits of this person? You know, it's not what we say, brethren, but what we do. You know, some of you may remember in the old Spokesman's Club manual, there was an adage that was there that went something like this, what you do speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you're saying.

You know, so in other words, it's what we do. What kind of light are we giving people as god's people?

Then the next one, brethren, is without partiality. In other words, god is not a respective person's. He does not look on the outward appearance, but on the heart. And so we should show, again, the same kind of respect, the same kind of love that we would show to anyone. You know, I think it's incredible to me, brethren, if God, though, saw us among a big group of people of this world, He would show more respect for us. You know, He really would. He would show that honor for us, but He would show respect for everybody. The final one in the qualities of heavenly wisdom is without hypocrisy. In other words, what we do is real and is from the heart. It's not just, again, a show for the moment, but it's what we really are. It's like the old saying, what you see is what you get. And what you're seeing right now, this is what you're getting. In other words, what's on the inside is what I'm trying to demonstrate someone is saying, the outside. You know, I look at these beautiful things about heavenly wisdom. It's a beautiful picture, and we really need to put it into practice, brethren, and put it to work in our lives and into this age before it's too late. Let's go over to Ephesians, chapter 5. We talked about, again, what it mentions over there in Ephesians 5 earlier, but let's notice further what he says over there, what Paul says. Down in verse 15, he says, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. So this is a demonstration of wisdom. And wisdom is living by God's way of life. Going on down now to verse 18, And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with a spirit. In other words, don't allow yourself to imbibe of the physical accoutrements of this world. Here he mentions wine, but I think he means much more that we need to be careful about drinking in of this world and society that is out there. And we need to be filled with the Spirit of God. We need to be fulfilled in our calling. And going on in verse 19, Speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. You know, I think that the hymns we have really do put those thoughts in our our heads. It's like you listen to a song and it goes around and around in your head. Sometimes I'm the type of person, by the way, if I'm driving along and listening to a song on the radio, and a song gets in my head, I can't forget it. So I don't listen to music on the radio. You know, I just, it bothers me when I do that.

And, you know, somehow when I listen to a talk show, it doesn't stick in my head. But a song will.

And so I just had to stop listening to some of these, some of this music. I enjoy all kinds of music, by the way. You know, most of the songs, the country western songs especially, end up in divorce and drinking and drugs and then finding Jesus, you know, somewhere along the way, I guess.

But going on, it says, giving thanks always for all thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God, he says here. In other words, we need to be submissive to one another. This is godly wisdom, too. You know, worldly wisdom is, again, the opposite of that, not willing to yield, not willing to submit to one another. And then he says in verse 22, wives submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. And then it talks about, brethren, how that men also need to honor their wives and to love their wives and to show respect for their wives. We need to, brethren, have humility to submit to one another in godly fear.

And you know, if people are willing to submit to one another, then you're not going to have these conflicts, are you, between people? If everyone is willing to do that, you know, I heard one man, by the way, who made this statement, you know, when he left, said, well, I just couldn't work for that man. You know, I suppose I can understand that in a limited way, but I always felt that we should be able to work with each other, you know, that we shouldn't have the conflicts like that.

And I was disappointed to hear him say that. I just couldn't work with that man.

And I think we ought to be able to work with anybody.

And the problem is, when we can't work for somebody, is oftentimes we think we're above that. You know, I remember when I first came to the ministry that I'm glad I went through some of the things I did in the ministry. When you get out of Ambassador College, I was a little older. You go out into the field, you think you're something, you know, because, hey, I'm going into the field. I'm somebody, you know. And the minister I worked with, by the way, taught me that I wasn't. And I'm glad he did. He did teach me that. I hope I've kept that attitude.

But, brethren, if we are trying and striving to show heavenly wisdom, and I know we can't do it all the time or don't do it all the time because we're battling with our own carnality. But, brethren, that's what we should be striving for. So wives and husbands should be submissive to one another. Children should be submissive to their parents because, you know, this is the first commandment, the fifth commandment, the first commandment of promise, as it mentions, too, is in Ephesians 6 over here. You see, those, brethren, who do these things, who are resisting the world around them and are submitting to Almighty God are the wise. These are the wise people that Daniel was talking about. And when God gave the prophecies in the book of Daniel, brethren, let's notice what he told back over to the book of Daniel as we started out with this message, talking about wisdom at least, and discussing here through this message the godly wisdom we need to have. You know, we talked about, in fact, in verse 3 of chapter 12, those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteous like the stars forever and ever. Brethren, I'm hoping, by the way, that these kingdom of God lectures will impact a lot of people that we're going to start doing in the month of May. These same lectures, by the way, were done in Australia, and there were a couple hundred people came to theirs down there in Sydney and, I believe, in a number of other cities where it was done. And by the way, we're saying it's going to be done in 50 cities. It may be more than that. We may find that it's going to be done throughout the country. You know, Jesus Christ did say, you shall not have covered the cities of Israel before the Son of Man come. And, you know, we pray that, in fact, we can do this as Jesus Christ gave instructions, and that when Jesus Christ comes back, that He will find us so doing. And He says, though, that the wise are going to turn many to righteous like the stars forever and ever. Let's go down to verse 8. You know, Daniel was given this prophecy, and it says in verse 8, and although I heard, He says, I did not understand. Then I said, my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? You know, the end of the age was going to come, and He wanted to know what was going to be the conclusion of all these things. And He said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed to the time of the end. Well, brethren, here we are, in the end of the age is God's people today. And notice what it says in verse 10. It says, Many will be purified, made white, and refined, but, He says, the wicked shall do wickedly. And it says, None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.

And then He talks about the daily sacrifices and the days that are mentioned here, the 1335, 1290 days that are mentioned here. Oh, brethren, here we see that those who are going to be in the age that are wise are going to be purified. They're going to be made white. They're going to be refined. And what does that mean? We're going to be made white. Well, in the New Testament, brethren, it talks about how the righteous wear garments that are white, that are absolutely glistening and shining and bright. And in Revelation 19, in verses 7 through 8, let's go over there to Revelation 19 and verses 7 through 8. And notice what it says over here. It says, Let us be glad and rejoice, and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. So that's what, brethren, that white means, that bright and shining linen depicts the righteous acts of the saints. In other words, the behavior of the saints, the kind of way that they walked in their lives in doing good in this world in applying heavenly wisdom. And, brethren, I submit to you this, that if we are able to be among the wise who have true understanding, and we're living according to heavenly wisdom, that we will come to understand what Daniel did not understand, was not privileged to understand. I think some of the things that are mentioned here in the book of Daniel are still not understood by us at this time fully. You know, we have guesses about what it might mean, but we don't know absolutely. But, brethren, if we walk in wisdom, in heavenly wisdom, we'll come to understand these things that God has for us to understand in the end of this age through the Holy Spirit. Brethren, are you going to be there among the wise who are going to shine? Are you going to be there, brethren, when many are going to be called to Jesus Christ and to Father? We are, brethren, to be shining as the lights of this world, as Jesus Christ said to us in Matthew chapter 5. So, brethren, let's let godly wisdom, heavenly wisdom, be in us. Let's reflect that kind of wisdom, brethren, in our daily conduct, in our daily behavior, because, again, the wise will understand, but the wicked will not understand. But, brethren, we should be those that are the wise that shine brightly to this world that is very dark at this time. So, let's be that light in this world.