Beacon Sunday Service: August 11th, 2024

Salvation belongs to our God who sits along the throne. All righty. Let's uh gather ourselves back. Grace and peace to me. Uh just what a great truth that we can proclaim to one another. Um it's just such a great privilege to be able to worship together today, um, corporately with everyone. And so I just wanted to start off with uh a scripture from First Peter one three, and just to get our hearts and minds set upon the Lord, um, he is our living hope in our resurrection. And so uh would you all rise as uh as uh we read first Peter one three? It says this. It says, Come, let us bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us.

What a great uh God that we have, what a great Savior. Um He is our living hope, and that is who we come before to worship and praise today. So may we sing to him with our hearts Christ alone, my hope is God, He is my life, my strength, my son What heights of love, but depths of peace when we use our show when strike seeds my God Christ alone in Christ alone who took on flesh, fullness of God in hell the space this gift alone and righteousness, scorned by the ones he came to save till on that cross as Jesus died the wrath of God was satisfied every sin on him was laid by in the death of Christ I live there in the ground there in the ground his body lay light of the world by darkness lay bursting for glorious day up from the gravy rows again and as he sends in victory since curse has lost its grip on me for I am his precious blood of Christ no guilt in life no guilt in life no fear in death this is the power of Christ in me from life's first cry to final breath Jesus commands my death no power of no scheme of man can never block me from his hands till he returned or calls me home here in the power of Christ no power of hell no power of hell no scheme of man can never block me from his hand till he returned or calls me home here in the power of Christ I'll send amen what a great truth that we have sung together today just continue in praise and worship you are who you say you are you are who you say you are you'll do what you say you'll do you'll be who you've always been to us our hope our hope is in you alone our strength in your mighty name our peace in the darkest day remains Jesus we know we will see the enemy run this we know we will see the victory come.

We hold on to every promise you ever made. Jesus, you are unfaith. Sing our guide, our guide through the wilderness. In the wilderness, our joy in the heaveness in the heaviness. Our way when it seems there is no way.

Yes, we know. We will see the enemy run. This we know we will see the victory come. We hold on to every promise you ever made. Jesus, you are unfaithful. We trust you. We trust you.

A higher than our own. We trust you. Jesus, we trust you.

A higher than our own. Oh, we trust you. We trust you. Your ways are higher than our own. Oh, we trust you. Jesus, we trust you. Your ways are higher than our own. And this we know, we will see the enemy right. This we know we will see the victory come. We hold on to every promise you ever made. Jesus, you are unfaith. This we know. This we know we will see the enemy run. This we know, we will see the victory come.

We hold on to every promise you ever made. Jesus, you are unfailing. Jesus, you are unfailing. Amen. This morning we will confess our faith using a catechism for Christian growth. And then in this question and answer, we'll confess about what the best evidence is that our self that our salvation is genuine. And so here's the question. What is the best evidence that our salvation is genuine? And together, first John gives us three evidences of genuine salvation. A repentant faith, a consistent obedience, and a love for other Christians. James says, faith without works is dead. And so we see that the best evidence of our salvation is sanctification.

Every genuine Christian will grow in holiness and produce fruit. Amen.

So may we just continue to worship him and live our life out for him.

I shall not want in green pastures, He makes me lie down, He restores my soul, and leads me on for His name for His great name and surely goodness, surely mercy beside me all day now will dwell in your house forever and bless your holy name.

I trust you, surely mercy your house and bless your name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no easy, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are on my side.

And surely surely mercy right beside me now will dwell in your house forever and bless your holy name. Good morning, everyone. Today's confession of sin is truly a confession, an acknowledgement that we are sinners, and that we are ashamed of what we portray ourselves to be in front of the eyes of our Lord. So let us confess together that even in our shortcomings we must come to the Lord and ask for that forgiveness. Together holy and merciful God, in your presence we confess our sinfulness, shortcomings and offenses against you.

You know how often we have sinned by wandering from your ways and wasting your gifts. Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we are ashamed and sorry. Forgive our sins and help us to live in your light and walk in your ways for the glory and sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. Please be seated. And at this time, let's take in a time of private confession of since we have a lot of people who are not going to be able to do that.

Here's your assurance of pardon. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.

His mercies are new every morning. Amen. Today's prayer requests is one of a reminder this week and one of encouragement. Brother Howard has been weekly meeting with a brother named AJ who's gone through a really tough time. And I'm sure he shared his story with you guys inside discussions and just asking for prayer over him. But there's a moment, I think, in every relationship, especially where one where the gospel message is trying to be reached, where it clicks, it's starting to click for the person listening. And not by any work or power that Howard has done, because Howard knows that the Lord is working through him in his friend AJ. And so this week, listening to how their conversation is going in the way that he AJ is excited to listen to the read the word and want to hear more about the gospel.

Let's pray for him and just that the Lord continues to work in him, works in our brother Howard, and that Howard is continuing to be a faithful vessel of the Lord and showing him the ways of the Scripture and what is inside so that the Lord and the Holy Spirit will work in AJ so that he will come to Christ. So let's pray.

Let us also take example in AJ and Howard's relationship and just how the Lord is using Howard, that we too know somebody in our lives who does not know the Lord, whether it's a uh a family member or friend or someone that you've kind of had this urge and wanted to talk to but didn't have the boldness to go. Just ask that the Lord works in you, that the opportunity is there, and that the field is right for the picking, but we ourselves are limited in our thought in our convictions. So let's pray for the Lord for those opportunities to come for those for those people to be able to listen, but for you yourself to have the boldness to go and preach however the Lord has moved you to share that gospel message.

So let's pray.

For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. Lord, I pray for this passage to resonate for us, for us to move forward and to preach the good news as you've commanded us to do. But Lord, we pray that it's not our glory that we seek, but yours alone for the growth and glory of your kingdom. We pray for AJ that you continue to work within him.

The seeds have been planted, we know it's been watered, and we know that the roots are there. Lord, we pray, Father, for this plant, this beautiful thing to grow inside of him, that this gospel message that he would truly believe, Lord, in who you are, that Jesus Christ would be his Lord and Savior. We also pray for conviction upon us ourselves that there is somebody that we know, a family member, a friend, or someone that we've come across, even as stranger, that when the moment comes across us, that the urging is there to share the gospel message, that we would take it, Lord. May we not be a church, a people who holds this treasure to ourselves, Father, that we would share it, and that we would be motivated by just the blessings upon which you've already given us, Lord.

So Lord, bless us, bless this church and bless the opportunities that you give us, Lord, when we leave from this place today. In Jesus' name we pray, am I. Uh, children, you're dismissed. Please follow Teacher Stephen and teacher Sarah as uh and have a good Sunday school. We're gonna go over some announcements as the children are being dismissed. Uh children's ministry requests. Uh, if you are unable to serve on your scheduled week, um, please take a look. Please look at your calendars. Make sure that uh you know when you're teaching, and then also if there's a conflict in your calendars. And if there is, please go to the back. There's a sheet on the table. Uh, check to see who can uh or see when you are and maybe figure out someone uh to replace you or take your spot.

Uh please take that as your personal responsibility uh and you know uh and just so that we can have it all figured out. Uh and prayer usual our offering options are Zel Venmo Cash and Check. Uh, I'm going to welcome our brother Pastor Medicine. Hey, what a joy it is to be back. Um it seems like it's been a long time, and it's only been a couple of weeks. Uh, but uh it's good to see you guys. I've been at the camp in New York, and that camp uh had uh nearly a hundred people involved from the United States and Canada for the for the last two weeks, and uh my grandson and my our daughter is uh they're flying back from Buffalo this morning. So they they got on the plane seven o'clock Buffalo time, which is four o'clock our time, and they landed in Phoenix, and they just got on the plane in Phoenix and are headed for LA.

Uh so they have been at that camp in New York as well, and that camp is for leadership, for young boys to learn how to serve the Lord. And you met my grandson at the picnic, uh, Titus, and had a chance to be with you uh as well. So hey, three weeks ago we looked at James chapter three, verses 13 to 18, and we talked about wisdom. And I asked you, who would you who would you turn to if you needed some wisdom from the Lord? Who are the people that you say, oh, they're wise? They've got what I need in terms of what do I do? God, what do I do? Now, let me be clear. When when God's word is clear, speaks clear, speaks clearly to us, we know what wisdom is. If he says, don't steal, then we don't steal.

It's it's clear as can be. But wisdom is when God's word doesn't clearly tell us, should I marry this person? Should I buy this car? Should I buy this house? Uh, should I take this job? So wisdom is knowing what God would tell you to do when his word doesn't tell you what to do. We said Solomon, Solomon was one of the wisest men who ever lived. But Solomon still got into all sorts of problems, even though he had a lot of wisdom. So I said to you, why? Why did Solomon fail the Lord if he was the wisest man out there? If if we're to if we're to have God's wisdom, James 1 5 says, if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally, and that doesn't withhold. So if we're to have God's wisdom, and Solomon had God's wisdom, why did he fail the Lord in such a such a horrendous way?

He failed the Lord because in Proverbs 4, chapter 4, verses 5, 6, and 7. I told you that was an easy way to remember that. 4, 5, 6, 7. Proverbs chapter 4, verses 5, 6, and 7. It says, wisdom. Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom. But with all thy getting, get understanding. So Solomon had wisdom, but he didn't have understanding. Wisdom, let me give you this definition. Wisdom is the ability to see things from God's point of view. So when I don't know what to do, I ought to be able to sit down and say, okay, Lord, you're right here with me. If you're sitting here right here with me right now, and I don't know what to do, you said all I had to do is ask you, and I'm gonna ask you, tell me what to do.

Is this the job? Is this the place? Is this where we go to move? Is this those are issues. See, conviction is based on the word of God, and it will never change. It will never change when I say, Is it right to commit adultery? No, it's never right to commit adultery. Is it right to steal? No, it's never right to steal. And my conviction is based on the word of God, and the word of God is so clear, and it tells her what to do. So I have conviction, and then there are flexible areas. That's where I need wisdom. The flexible areas where God doesn't clearly say, do this or don't do this.

When God's word doesn't tell them what to do, you want them to learn to listen to God's voice so that they know what to do. So Solomon lacked understanding. Wisdom is the ability to see things from whose point of view? God's point of view. So when I'm when I'm counseling somebody, if I mind counseling couples that are in marital problems or families that have problems, I'll say, you know, I'll take them to this very issue. Let's ask God for wisdom. And wisdom is the ability to see things from God's point of view. So I turn to them and I say, it's not your point of view. If a husband and wife are having problems, and she says, Well, it's him, and he says, Well, it's her, it's their point of view, then, and I say, Okay, I'm not talking about your point of view.

Let's talk about God's point of view. From God's point of view, what does he want you to do? He wants you to be married, he wants you to live. Uh husbands, love your wives like Christ loved the church. That's never going to change. He wants wives to submit to their husbands as unto the Lord. That's never going to change. So from God's point of view, let's start there first. Understanding is the ability to apply in our lives what God showed us from his point of view. So let me go back and say it again. Wisdom is the ability to see things from God's point of view. God, what do you want me to do? For Alex, for instance, uh, as he looks for college in the future. For him to say, God, where do you want me to go to college?

He's not going to be able to open the Bible and says, hey, go to Princeton. Oh, hey, go to UCLA, hey, go to uh University of Southern California. You're not going to find that in the Bible. But you are going to find in God's word that you want to go to a place where you will learn principles of your life that will honor Him and keep you in touch with the Lord the rest of your life. It hardly, it hardly matters where you go to school for the for the studies you're going to get. You're learning discipline, you're learning education, but what you're really wanting to learn is how to finish projects, how to prepare to serve God in the areas that he's going to lead you in. You want to go, I'll give you an example on this, and this is just a little side note.

When our daughter got ready to go to college, I was taking her to different schools. My wife was home and is still serving and working, and so I said, Hey, let's uh do you want to go to this school? We went down to the school. We went to two or three schools and met with their coaches because she played soccer. And so she was she ended up first team all-American in the United States for soccer. And so I wanted her to be at a godly Christian school. She didn't want to go to the school her brother was attending and be under his, you know, he was three years older than her, and he was a soccer player, and everybody knew him. So she didn't want to go to that school. And so she wanted to go to this school.

And there was a school in the Midwest in Chicago that was recruiting her. When we sat down with the coaches, the coach, I remember one coach looked and said, hmm, you don't have our school on your list. What do I have to get do to get you to put our school on your list? And so she was talking to him. And he said to me, Do you have any questions for us? And these were Christian schools. And I said to him, Yeah, the only the only thing I really want is this. Will my daughter be more in love with Jesus after going under your tote under your coaching for four years than when she started? Of course, that's not something that a coach expects to get you to ask. Will my daughter be more in love with Jesus after being with you?

That's understanding. See, wisdom is the ability to see things from God's point of view. Once he tells you what to do from his point of view, then understanding is the ability to apply it. That's what Solomon lacked. So three weeks ago, we looked at chapter three, and it gave us four signs that could indicate that we might lack wisdom. Because you need to know if you lack it before you say, eh, I guess I need it. So these were the four areas. If you have bitter envy, if you have selfish ambition, if you have disorder and confusion, or every kind of evil. If these are part of your life, you lack wisdom. Let that sink in.

Why do they have it and we don't? Selfish ambition, I deserve it. Why did they get it? Disorder and confusion, or every kind of evil. So let me drop this in here and say, these signs can reveal that you lack wisdom. But they don't tell you how you can know if you have it. They just reveal that you lack it. So here's the text. If you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, such wisdom does not come from above. But the wisdom from above, God's point of view again. The wisdom from above. So that, what does that tell you? It's going to tell you, here's the sermon for today.

Because he's going to tell you the wisdom from above is, and now he's going to spell it out. He's going to spell out eight, eight things in the text. We're not going to get it all of them today for sure. But I want you to see the following marks on your life reveal that you have godly wisdom in your life. Here are the eight. Let me put them on the screen. Pure, peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy, full of good fruits, without favoritism, without hypocrisy. Let's talk about the first one. Pure. Here's what the text says. Who is wise and has an understanding among you? He should show his works by good conduct with wisdom's gentleness. The wisdom from above is what? First pure.

Proton men hegna. Proton men hegne. The actual second word doesn't get translated, does not get translated into our English language on this verse. So let me slide it up here. And let's talk about proton. You know this word in English. It's the word for first. The pie in Greek, as in pi r squared, the pi in Greek becomes RP. The next letter in Greek is rho, the R. The next letter is the omega. Let me say it this way. When Jesus said, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. And Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet.

So Jesus said, I'm the first and the last. I'm the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. So omega, and I've already put it on the screen, but Omega says what English letter. Omega. So it's the letter O. Oh omega. The next letter is tau. Tau. And you can you can hear the T in the tau. And then the next letter is Omicron. So Greek has two letters that get translated with the O. The Omicron and the Omega. Proto. What word do you think comes from English from this? Prototype. Prototype. If something is a prototype, it's the very what? It's the very first.

So now let's get it worked out and then we'll reproduce it and reproduce it and reproduce it. But it came from the prototype. What he's saying here in this text is if you want God's wisdom. The first thing you need to begin to do as a believer is to look at purity in your life. You will never ever have God's wisdom without purity in your life. Where you say, okay, Lord, I'm I'm not sinless, but you declare me as holy and without blame. I'm I'm pure before you. But let's take the last part of this word. Hagne. Hagne. Grant Osborne says the Greek word hagne refers to innocence.

But here especially moral, moral blamelessness, blamelessness. Let me let me illustrate it this way. Children, just look at me for a second. Children are completely innocent when it comes to sexual issues. They don't have any idea what's going on. They don't have any idea where they came from. When they know, how did babies get born? You know, it's they don't have a clue. They're completely, what's the word I want you to hear? Innocent. They're just pure and innocent. And then they start hearing things, and then it gets all distorted. But that's why we want to keep children from pedophiles and others who distort that innocence early and confuse them.

So it's moral blamelessness. That which allows a person to be unstained. You know, your children, you know, you get these five, six, seven year olds. They're unstained from the world. They don't think of homosexuality. They don't think of bad things. They're innocent. They're pure. Let me put it this way on the screen. We are not sinless. Correct? Are we sinless? No. We sin. If we say we do not, 1 John 1 9. If we say we do not sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth isn't in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So we are not sinless. So when you're looking at being pure, the wisdom from above is first pure.

That doesn't mean sinless, but it means to be blameless. God doesn't look at you and throw any guilt on you, any blame on you anymore. If you've trusted him as your Savior, that's all gone. But that doesn't mean you're sinless. However, we, and then I've left a blank in there. We're not sinless. However, we as we grow in our walk with the Lord. What am I going to insert in there? We are not sinless. However, we're actually two words that I'm going to put in there. However, we as we grow in our walk with the Lord.

Did that help you? As soon as I put it in here, you're going to go, oh yeah. Anyone got it? Yes. He got it. You want to say it out loud? Since. However, we sin less as we grow in our walk with the Lord. Do you see the difference there? We're not sinless. But we sin less as we grow in our walk with the Lord. And that enables us then to come to the Lord and say, Lord, I don't know what to do. Lord, I don't know where to turn. Lord, I would you help me with my son here? Would you help me with my daughter here? Would you help me with my spouse here? Would you help me with my job here? I don't know what to do. And your word is blank on this. But you're not blank on this.

You said, if I lack wisdom, I'm going to ask you, and you'll give it to me. And you said, ah, I need to be pure before you. I want to be pure before you. So I'm going to concentrate on being pure before you, Lord, so that you can tell me what to do. You know who this guy is. I'm asking too many questions this week, aren't I? You know, I I learned last week from your from your new pastor. And when he was, he gave, he gave the great word on the screen, and then he had you repeat it. And he was interacting with you that way. Anyone know who this is? Okay. Let me put this name on the screen. Anybody know who it is now? Beside Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. What does he do? Louder. Yeah, he's the creator of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

He was a prankster. Now, some pranks are okay. Okay. They're not, you know, where you're not hurting people. You're not, you know, you just you do a little prank on somebody. I there are times. I there are times that as pastors, people want to uh put us in unique situations. I had a lady in my in my in our church in uh Palmdale. She since passed away, but she always used to, you know, want to chide me and have fun with me. And she was a little uh Russian lady, and so I walked up to a group, she was talking with about eight other ladies, and as I walked up, she said, Oh, oh, pastors here, pastors here that don't believe a word he says. So she's gonna chide me that way. And I I put my arm around her and I said her name, her first, I said her full name, but I'll just say her first name now.

I said Paula, and I looked at every one of them, and I said, Paula is a wonderful woman, and she goes, you know, because you know, I you just have to learn how to how to have fun with them, and she said, Don't believe a word he says. So I said, She's a wonderful woman, and she didn't know what to say about that. This guy was a prankster as well, and what he did is he wrote notes to twenty-one very famous and important people, and he said, All is known, flee immediately. Sent those to these 21 people. They didn't know who sent it. All is known, flee immediately. Within 24 hours, 19 of them had fled the country.

Why? Why did they flee the country? Because they didn't have a clear conscience, they weren't pure. And they thought, somebody knows, I better get out of here. And he's going, oh my goodness. I mean, this is a prank that he just pulled on them. This is when you know you've really been pranked. When 19 of the 21 people you're writing a note to flees the country. Listen, you can know if you have God's wisdom. The question I have for you is, do you have God's wisdom? Here are the marks. There are eight of them. The first one is, Lord, make me pure before you.

I've had a cold earlier this week, and and my voice has not come back yet, but when we were singing, create in me a clean heart. Oh God, and renewal right spirit within me. It was Lord, created me a what? A clean heart. Let me be pure before you. The second one is this. You need to be peace loving. Peace loving. That's something that you really have to teach your kids how to do. It's not, it doesn't come naturally. They want their way. They want their toy. Why did you take my toy? Here's what the text says. The wisdom from above is pure first pure, then what? Peace loving. Here's the Greek word that's used for peace loving.

You know, maybe I'll just uh let me try to drop that in one more time. Erenicae. The last part of the word is the word that's used. Well, I'll tell you this. The root of this word is used in every New Testament book except 1 John. That's how famous this word is throughout all those New Testament books. Every one of them, but 1 John. See the last four letters on the Greek on the screen. The last four letters are pronounced Nikai. Nikai.

It comes from an English word that every one of you have heard. And it means to conquer. The word Nikai especially is used in Romans chapter 8. That we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Nicae. I'm going to say it again. What's the first letter of ni? And I.

So N I K. And the last letter is an Ada and an Ada in Greek. It's a long E for us. And you ever heard of the word Nike? The Nike brand, the swish, the just do it. And here's what he's saying is God has conquered. And with God conquering and living in you, you ought to be able to be peace loving. Why are you worried about stuff? Why do you have to get all upset about things? You ought to be able to sit back and trust God. So when I look at Luke chapter 11, now this, I'm going to read a long passage here for a moment where he uses the word that I've just referred to. Now when he was driving out demons, Jesus driving out a demon that was mute, when the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed.

But some of them said, he drives out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons, and others at a test were demanding of him a sign from heaven. Knowing their thoughts, he told them, every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction. And a house divided against itself falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say, I drive out demons by Beelzebub. And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, who is it your sons drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges.

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his estate. His possessions are, and I'm going to highlight this, secure. That's the same Greek word that's used in James 3.17. They have this peaceableness. They're not fighting over things. They're secure. Let me even put it this way. You have peace of mind knowing that your possessions are what? Safe. Who owns every possession you have? I do. No, no. No, no, we don't. We are only stewards of those possessions. Because someday we're going to be gone. And none of those possessions are going to go with you.

And so he's saying, look, let's let's move you into a peace, peaceable security. Proverbs 14 29 says this. A patient person shows great understanding, but a quick tempered one promotes foolishness. He's not peaceable. So if you see somebody that's quick tempered, you know they don't have what? They don't have wisdom. Right? Because the wisdom that's from above is first of all pure, then peaceable. And a quick tempered person is not peaceable. A quick tempered person promotes foolishness. You don't want your kids around someone that's quick tempered. I would tell you this, Proverbs says, have nothing to do with that kind of a man, lest you learn his ways and become like him.

So if you have someone that's quick tempered, keep your children from them. I don't care if they're a school teacher or whatever their position, that's not the person you want your kids around. Because they'll learn his ways and become like him. And they'll begin to think, well, that he got things done. He got his job. He got a promotion. He got this. But that's not the kind of person that's going to have God's wisdom. Another proverb is Proverbs 20, verse 3. It is honorable for a man to resolve a dispute, but a fool can get himself into a quarrel. You ever see people that they just can't keep their mouth shut? And they're just going to give you a piece of their mind that they can't afford to give.

A quarrel. And he's saying, why? Why would you do that? A fool can get himself into a quarrel. Do you know what Proverbs says? Even a fool, even a fool is considered wise if he keeps his mouth shut. But he can open his mouth and remove all doubt that he's a fool. James 3.18. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace. So what is he saying? There are at least two marks on my life if I'm going to have God's wisdom. The wisdom that is from above is first of all, what's the word? Pure. Secondly, peaceable. Got it? Pure and peaceable. What is the source of wars and fights among you?

Now we are in chapter 3, and he's talking about chapter 3, how to know God's wisdom, and you're going to be peaceable. And then chapter 4, verse 1 comes right out. What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don't they come from cravings that are at war within you? You don't have God's wisdom. Because if you have God's wisdom, the wisdom from above is first of all pure. Then peaceable. Then you want to know the third one is gentle. Gentle. So you can have God's wisdom. What are the marks? Do I have these marks? Do you have these marks? Let me ask you this. Right now before God, as he looks at your life, does he see purity? Do you know something? What's interesting in our society? Listen to me carefully, okay?

In our society, they want to teach little kids. First, second, third graders, all about the LGBTQ plus nonsense. They want to teach them and rob that innocence from them. Do you know what Romans says? Romans says that we are to be innocent. We don't need to know evil. We're to be innocent when it comes to evil. And we're to study to learn good. So what are you going to be teaching your kids? That's why we say we're not going to put our kids in schools where they're going to be taught you can have two dads or two moms. We're going to be taught. Here's what God says about, you know, a family. It's a husband and a wife. Not at the first and second and third grades. It's interesting.

The Florida governor who was, hey, no, we're not going to type we're not going to teach that in the school. You know, and all the all the people that practice that want to know why not. Why aren't we teaching it? Well, because they're innocent. And they're pure before that. The question I have for you is this. Is your heart, is your life, is your mind. You know what? Is on purity. You know what Philippians says? What's last week? Uh, Pastor Peter talked about Philippians 4, verses 4 and following. Rejoice in the Lord always is again. I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. And when he gets there, let the peace of God guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of a good report. Think on these things. That's what you want to be teaching your kids. If you want to memorize a passage of scripture for your kids, take that passage. Philippians 4, 4 to 9, and where it ends with, uh, and whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are a good report. Think on these things. And then you say to your kids, as they're, is that is that of a good report? Are you giving me a good report about your sister? Are you giving me a good report about your brother? Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are a good report.

Think on these things. Are you thinking on those things? So he's asking you, do you want God's wisdom? Then it's got to be something that's pure. It's got to be something that's peace-loving. I can't be going at people.

When you look at these things, are these things that you see in your senators and congressmen and potential presidents? Probably not much.

So that he can put a pressure on them.

Third thing, gentleness. Okay? Here's in the text. Who is wise and has an understanding among you? He should show his works by good conduct with wisdom's gentleness. Wisdom's gentleness. Which must mean, ah, there is a gentleness that's not from wisdom. But there's wisdom's gentleness. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle. Romans 14. Except anyone who is weak in faith. But don't argue about doubtful issues. One person believes he may eat anything. But one who is weak eats only vegetables. You didn't know there was vegetarians back then, right? You know, they say, hey, I don't eat meat, I just eat vegetables.

The one who eats must not look down on the one who does not eat. And the one who does not eat must not criticize the one who does. So wisdom is what? The art of knowing what to overlook. There are things in this church body that we won't agree on. But they're not essentials. Can I say that clearly enough? There are things that you will not agree with someone else in our church. And that's okay as long as they're not essentials. Essentials are convictions based on the word of God. Jesus is God. He's sinless.

The Bible is the Word of God and without error. Those are essential. The other issues of, oh, let's say the kind of music you want to listen to. That's not an essential. Whatever music you listen to, let it draw you to God. Am I a person that enjoys rap? No. I'm not. Somebody gets up here and tries to rap my way through the sermon or something. And if some kid came up with rap, you know, would I be thrilled about it? No, I wouldn't have been thrilled. But you know, what's interesting, when I study for sermon or stuff, I I many times listen to classical music. You know how many people in America listen to classical music? Two percent of Americans. You know, for every 100 people, two of them are listening to classical music.

I'm in the minority. So I don't impose classical music on a church because you're wanting to win as many people as possible. When my kids were growing up, you know what I played for them? Classical music. You know what their favorite stuff is now? Country and Western kind of stuff, you know, and they're listening to it, and I'm going, how did you what did I do wrong? They said you played classical music. And so they enjoyed that kind of music. But you know something? 55% of American people listen to country and western music. So you're trying to get in a church convictions based on the word of God. And other areas are non-essentials.

And wisdom is the art of knowing what to overlook. You know, is it important that they have the same Bible translation as you? No. It's important that they read their Bible. And that when they see some problems in a translation, that we are able to share those problems with them. But I'm just glad that they're reading the Bible. And we want to encourage them to read the Bible. Whether it's a little kid's version of the Bible, some kind of living Bible. Or whether it's you know the highest, more most articulate translation.

Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. This is what Pastor Peter said was the key verse last Sunday in translating his text before you. Do you remember what he did? He gave you verse 4, Philippians 4 4, skipped verse 5, had verse 6 and verse 7. You remember? And he said, hey, if you notice, verse 5 isn't there. Does it make any difference? And then he said, This is the key verse. Let your graciousness, and then he gave you multiple translations, because it's translated various ways. King James, let your moderation be known to all men. Let your graciousness be known to all men. Titus chapter 3. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be what?

Kind. Always showing gentleness to all people. This translation actually uses two words to translate what was there. Be kind and show what? Graciousness to all people.

You know, if you look up the Greek word in the New Testament for all, you know what it means? All and what are we to do? We're to be gracious to how many? All people. So do you want to know if you have wisdom? Well, wisdom is from above, is first of all pure. So let's ask God to have us have our minds filled with pure thoughts. That's why a lot of times people don't let their kids look at a lot of junk on television. When our kids were growing up, we thought we could, you know, uh use some Disney movies and things like that. And we would always have it like on our VCRs at the time, you know.

Yeah, you if you need to have me tell you what those what a VCR is later, see me. You know, but we we'd be we'd pause the VCR when it came out with a word, and I and I'd say, we don't talk that way, and explain to them why. You know, I mean, I I I thought, I wish there were TV programs or programs that would just allow you to say, okay, what words don't you want to be heard in this? And then they just you could go, I mean, they could easily do that. And people would actually end up using those programs to have their kids learn wholesome things, but I'd always have to stop it and say, we don't talk that way. We don't use that word. They don't, and that's where you're you're teaching them when you when they see kids not being kind to other kids, then they learn how to be ugly with other kids.

So the question I you know have for you is do you have this wisdom? We looked at three of those eight marks. We'll see what we do next week and whether we continue there or kind of work our way forward, because it will be my privilege to continue to preach here through September 22nd.

And then the 29th, we're having a guest speaker, and then October 5th, Pastor Peter is coming to start his ministry here. And Lord willing, I'll be here that Sunday with him. And then on the 13th, we're going to have a special service where we install him as the pastor. And I want you to, if any Sunday you start laying aside a date, lay aside that second Sunday in October when we do that. When we install him, and that Sunday, it looks to be right now. That Sunday will be a Sunday afternoon service as well. We'll do a Sunday morning service and a Sunday afternoon service. And a Sunday afternoon service will be held in the main auditorium next door.

But getting back to this, I want you to recognize that wisdom, wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom. If you don't have wisdom, you won't know what to do when nobody's when there's nobody there to tell you what to do. And wisdom is you want your kids to know how to respond, how to act, how to talk, how to live godly. And you want that to be a part of your life. So your kids grow up, seeing wisdom in you. And the wisdom from above is first pure, peaceable, gentle, gentle. We think our society, you need to be strong and you need to stick it to them. That's not what God says.

And that you would be showing us how to live our lives before you.

Amen. Amen. And as we go forth this week, may we just focus on these things to just have the wisdom to be pure and peaceable and gentle. And in response, may we just uh sing this out as a prayer? That we would ask the Lord for just purity to have a clean heart. May we rise and sing together. Created me. Create in me clean Oh God. Heavenly new spirits within me.

Say that again, created me. Henry new right spirit within me.

From thy presence and take not thy spirit from me restore me the joy of thy salvation within me. So that again created me, created and renewed spirit within me cast me not away, cast me not from thy presence and take not thy spirit from me so me the joy of thy new spirit with me no more time.

Cast me not away and cast me not from thy present and take not thy spirit from me restor me the joy of thy salvation with me.

That on the screen for a second. Oh, can you back up to that? I just want you to see that. See that third line? And take not thy Holy Spirit from me. By the way, that's Old Testament. In the New Testament, once he gives His Holy Spirit to you, he never takes it from you. That's the seal that you're saved. And when you look at the next line, he says, Restore the fourth line down, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. He doesn't say, Restore unto me thy salvation. Because it was never taken away. What did what had David done? David had committed sin with Bathsheba. He'd murdered a guy. I mean, he had done all sorts of bad things. And he needed to repent, and he did. And he said, Oh Lord, give me the joy of your salvation.

But he didn't ask to be saved again. Because he was saved. Got it. Let's just close in prayer. Oh, Heavenly Father, I just want to pray for these people. Thank you for this congregation. What a joy it is to be back with them. And Father, thank you that you have now led.

Use this this week as we go out now and serve you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God bless.