The Importance of Sanctification in Our Spiritual Walk

And if you missed the first part of today's message, you have to go back and listen to it because I don't think we want to re preach it just for the sake of time.

But we're going to begin tonight with number seven.

So if you say I missed the first six points, you did.

But you can go back and get those, I'm sure.

And I trust to see that as we continue in God's Word, I want to say thanks again to Brother Weatherby and to your church for your kindness and inviting me to come out to preach this weekend.

I trust that the Lord will use his word to encourage your hearts.

My wife and I are delighted to be with you.

We love this place.

We had the privilege of serving here for eight years.

And so many of our teenagers, we call them, are now fathers and mothers and college students and graduates and faithful members of your church.

We praise the Lord what God has done at Heritage Baptist Church, Victory Baptist Church, the church I Pastor, if you have your Bibles, let's go to Joshua, chapter four.

I introduced to you this morning our theme and our title for tonight.

And the title is the same this evening.

Part 2.

When moving forward is complicated.

When moving forward it's complicated.

This morning you'll remember we began diving into Joshua chapter number four.

And as you look at it with me, the Bible says in Joshua, chapter four, verse one.

And it came to pass when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, take you 12 men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, and command ye them saying, take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priest's feet stood firm, 12 stones.

And ye shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where ye shall lodge this night.

Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared for so prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe of man.

And Joshua said unto them, pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up, every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what mean ye by these stones?

Then ye shall answer them that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off.

And these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever.

Let's pray and ask The Lord to help us tonight.

May we, Lord, tonight I stand before you needy.

It is my desire, Lord, to teach and to preach tonight from your word and declare what you say.

Lord, I pray that you completely empty me of myself.

Lord, I realize tonight that in my flesh I can do nothing to help this church.

But, Lord, by the spirit of God, through your word, you could use tonight's message from your word to encourage the hearts of your people, Lord, to help this church as they move forward for God's glory.

So I pray tonight, Lord, that you would empty me and you would use me.

Lord, please speak to our hearts.

Lord, I pray tonight more than anything.

May each of us be spirit filled.

From the preacher to the listener.

And may the spirit of God manifest himself this evening in our hearts in this place.

And may we leave here, Lord, saying that God has been with us and met with us.

We love you in Jesus name, Amen.

I count it a privilege and also great responsibility anytime I preach and teach God's word.

Sometimes I've heard it said recently, I enjoy podcasts and I enjoy listening preaching.

And there's a particular podcast I listen to that's not of an independent Baptist stripe.

And I'll tell you that for this reason, the men on there say it's really hard for any preacher to preach 35 good sermons a year.

And here's the point they're trying to make.

If you're a pastor and you're preaching on Sunday mornings and you have to preach 52 sermons and.

And by the time you have other guest preachers in, they made the point how hard it is to preach 35 good sermons in one year.

And I just couldn't help but laugh because our church has three services a week, so you begin to do the math.

If we only get 35 good ones, my church is in trouble, and your church is, too.

And so I often tell my church I can't hit a home run every time, but I hope at least I don't strike out.

Okay, so we'll go for a single or a double.

And that's okay.

It's okay if you laugh a little bit.

But I trust tonight the spirit of God will help me.

I just want to be a helper.

A blessing.

This morning, as we concluded, we came to this text here in Joshua chapter four on the screen, if it's there, would you mind going to that next slide there?

And this is just going back and reminding us where we were.

And if you keep going.

Let's go to the next slide here.

All right.

Very Good.

So the children of Israel have been in shittim.

They're going across to the Jordan River.

God led them there and difficulties begun to happen because they get the Jordan River.

And now in Joshua, chapter four, they're going across.

And as God directs, as they're going across, by the way, if you look there to Jericho and Gibeon, Bethel, AI, it seems like that's the difficult task.

But before you ever get to AI, which should have been the small enemy, the.

The easier enemy, Jericho stands in his way.

But before they ever got to Jericho, they're about to come to a place called Gilgal.

Before they get to Gilgal, they're in the midst of the Jordan River.

So that's where our text is.

Tonight they go in the Jordan River.

And in your notes, if you'll put down number seven, if you're taking notes as we follow God, number seven.

We must move forward without forgetting the past victories of God.

We must move forward without forgetting the past victories of God.

I'm so thankful for all that God will do in our lives in the future.

I'm so thankful that all that God will do in the church, I pastor the future.

I'm so thankful for all that God will do in this church in the future.

But by looking the future, if we think about the past, we move forward, remembering how good God has been.

Joshua's here in Joshua, chapter four.

And as Joshua has commanded the men, he says to them here in verse number, verse number six, he says, hey, go get these 12 stones.

And I want you to do this, that this may be a sign among you that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what mean ye by these stones?

Then ye shall answer them that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

When it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off.

And these stones shall be a memorial unto the children of Israel.

How long?

Forever.

Joshua said, I don't ever want us to forget what God did.

Question for you.

Would the children of Israel who were alive remember the Red Sea passing their entire lives?

They would.

Would the children of Israel remember who were alive in this Jordan river crossing?

Would they remember?

Of course they would.

But what about the next generations?

What about the work of God?

And here's what I'd remind you of that those of us who know must tell those who don't.

And it's our privilege to tell our children about not just who God is, but what God has done.

And as you desire to move forward, moving forward is good for us to remember the goodness of God in the past.

And Joshua said, I want these stones to remind everybody.

I want everyone to know what God did in this place.

I want when they see these stones and ask a question, hey, grandma, Grandpa, what happened here?

And with smiles on faces, we could say, I want to tell you what God did in this place.

I'm thankful for the past victories.

And Joshua does not want to continue moving forward without drawing a line and saying, but let's remember this place.

Let's ensure that our children and grandchildren and future generations can go back and say, let me tell you what God did.

As the Bible continues, in the book of Joshua, we go to the book of Judges.

We don't have to turn there.

But Judges, chapter number two, the Bible used this language.

And after that generation, they passed away.

And the Bible says there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which God had done in Israel.

What happened?

Here's what happened.

Moms and dads, grandmas and grandpa stopped telling their children and grandchildren the goodness of God and the victories.

And guess what happened?

One generation comes along and they just think, well, these are my mom and dad's.

This is their conviction, their preferences.

But as generations go on now, it's just what they believe because they didn't experience it.

I just want to remind you, as you move forward, as we move forward for God's glory, may we remember the past victories that God has done in our life and in our midst.

If you will notice, this is very interesting.

Now, they passed over the river here, Jordan.

You come over to chapter four.

Look at verse number 14.

So the Bible says this about Joshua.

On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel.

And they feared him as they feared Moses all the days of his life.

Doesn't it sound like the Lord's beginning to do a great work?

Joshua's been magnified in the eyes of the people.

Things seem to be going so well.

Take your Bible if you would, and go over to verse number chapter five of verse number one.

Things seemed to going so well and they passed over the river here.

You can go back to sermon slide if you all would like.

I just wanted to reference this as they're going across the Jordan River, Chapter five, verse one.

And it came to pass when all the kings of the Amorites, which are on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the Children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted.

Neither was their spirit in them anymore because of the children of Israel.

Question for you, as you consider here in our text, these nations, now they're scared, their hearts melting, because they know what has happened to the children of Israel, what God has done because of these people.

Doesn't it seem to you, how many of you all served in the military?

Would you raise your hand?

Thank you for your service.

It seems to me that when victories are coming, you keep pressing on.

If your enemy is scared, don't you feel the same way?

But it's interesting.

Chapter five.

We just got done hearing, as the Bible tells us, that the victory has happened.

God is doing a great work.

And in verse number two, the story takes an odd turn.

It seems to me the best time to continue the assault on the enemy.

The best time to continue moving forward is to full speed ahead.

It's time to go.

Jericho's in front of us.

Let's go.

But God has divine Paul.

And God says, okay, you're now across the Jordan River.

And look what God says in verse number two.

At that time, the Lord said unto Joshua, make these sharp knives and circumcise.

Again, the children of Israel.

The second one.

And Joshua made him sharp knives and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of their foreskins.

Now you say, why is this important?

I'll be discreet because I know we have children in here and I recognize the crowd.

But when our boys were younger and when they were circumcised, I would not have wanted to be in the room to experience that.

I certainly would not want to be around or experience what these men experienced.

So why would God choose to, in the midst of moving forward, say, let's do something that's going to slow everything down?

If you have your notes, I put this number eight in my notes.

We must move forward only after sanctification.

We must move forward only after sanctification.

Look at verse number four.

And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise all the people that came out of Egypt that were males, even.

All the men of war died in the wilderness, by the way, after they came out of Egypt.

What's the Bible referring to?

Well, for 40 years, the Bible says their carcasses fell in the wilderness.

Now there's another generation after them.

Not the unbelieving, faithless generation, but a new generation who had not been circumcised.

The Bible says in verse number five, now all the people that came out were Circumcised.

But all the people that were born in the wilderness, by the way, as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.

For the children of Israel walked 40 years in the wilderness till all the people that were men of war which came out of Egypt were consumed because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord, on whom the Lord swear that he would not show them the land.

When the Lord swear unto their fathers that he would give us a land that flowed the milk and honey.

Why?

Why was this circumcision so important?

Well, if you were to go back and study in the book of Genesis, chapter number 17, Leviticus, chapter number two, you'd understand the rite, the ceremonial rite of circumcision, that this represented the covenant that man was making with God.

This was God's people.

These were God's people.

This covenant relationship was a special thing.

And God says, timeout.

I've led you out of the land of Egypt.

Your fathers were a rebellious and wicked generation.

You've come across the Jordan river on dry land because of who I am, and now about to send you over to possess the very land that I promised you and appropriate the land.

It's yours.

But before you do, we need to get something right.

We need to get something straight.

You need to be sanctified.

You need to be set apart.

Because you are my possession.

You're my people.

In my notes again, I take notes.

And I hope this might help you.

Letter A. I have this about.

This idea about moving forward.

Letter A.

Moving forward required God's approval.

It wasn't just them saying, okay, God, you've done all this.

No, no.

They wanted the Lord's approval on what they were doing.

And God said, you cann move forward without consulting me.

You cannot move forward your way.

You can only move forward when I say it's time, when I know that you are sanctified.

A set apart.

People, let her be.

Moving forward was a personal decision.

Yes.

The children of Israel were ready to move forward.

But I just want to remind you that no man could be forced to be circumcised.

These were not babies.

These were men.

And the decision was not everybody else was doing it.

This was a very, very, very serious, personal decision.

And I want to remind you, as a group of people move forward.

Groups move forward.

By personally people taking it seriously, by individual people saying, no, not only do we want to be set apart, that's nice.

We want this.

No, no, no.

God says, what do you want?

And God says, you need to Be a sanctified people.

Moving forward was a personal decision.

Notice this letter C though.

Moving forward was in God's timing.

Moving forward was in God's timing.

You come down with me to verse number eight.

And I love so personally when I love reading God's word, I like putting myself in the story.

So would you think about verse number eight with man?

The Bible says this.

It came to pass when they had done circumcising all the people that they abode in their place in the camp till they were whole.

It's just a verse that might not grab your attention, but let's consider the Bible saying here.

If the men of Israel in the midst of them being circumcised, someone, the enemy was to come on, they were in not.

They were in no condition to fight.

They needed to heal.

And God says, hey, you ready to go over?

By the way, if you remember on the map, where are they going to go?

To Gilgal.

And from Gilgal to a place with no walls, no enemies, just this little place called Jericho.

And you know I'm being facetious because you understand the great enemy that Jericho was.

And God says, I know you're about to go do some great task.

By the way, God fights that battle for them anyway.

But God says, before you do, I want you to know you will go on my timing.

And God says, this circumcision, this covenant relationship you have with me.

By the way, do you know God talks about circumcision in the New Testament, but he talks about not just the circumcision of the flesh, but he talks about the circumcision of the heart.

I just want to remind you, if we're going to move forward, we only can move forward after we personally ensure that we're sanctified.

What is sanctification?

Well, when we were born again, we were saved.

God justified us.

God declared us righteous.

One day either Jesus will come back or I will die.

And one day I will be glorified.

I'll experience glorification.

I'll be with my Savior.

And you will too, if you're a Christian.

But along the pathway from justification to glorification, we're living in this time, that's called sanctification.

Can I encourage you with something I've learned?

And I'm learning, just because you have been saved for X number of years or just because you teach a Sunday school class, or just because you have some position leadership, or just because you're X number of years old, that does not make you spiritual.

This has been A hard lesson for me to learn.

But there are people who I look at and say they must be spiritual because they're.

And we have all these parameters.

But friends, a person becomes spiritual by spending time with Jesus, by obeying his word, by being courageous.

And God says that's the work of sanctification.

And so if we're going to move forward for God's glory, if we're going to do that, it's complicated.

And one of the complications is ensuring that before we move forward that we are living a life of sanctification.

It's interesting.

The Bible says they go to a place called Gilgal.

The Bible says in verse number oh, verse number nine.

And the Lord said unto Joshua, this day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from all wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.

You know what Gilgal means?

A rolling.

Gilgal is a place where the shame of Egypt is rolled away.

Do you know that God's able to take all the shame, all the negative thoughts and comments, and God's able to say, if you walk with me and if you'll be sanctified, and if you follow me, God is able to roll all that away.

And you say, what a merciful God, that he could do that.

And I say, praise the Lord.

Not only do I believe God can do that, but I believe God desires to do that in our lives, in our families and our churches.

May God do a work like he did in Gilgal, in this church where God rolls away the shame, the reproach.

And God brings on and chooses to breathe life and move things forward for God's glory.

As we continue our text here, we'll go over to chapter number five.

The Bible says something very interesting.

Verse number ten.

The children of Israel encamped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

And they did eat of the old corn, the land, on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn, the selfsame day, everything sounds so good.

They've now been set apart.

They've now faced circumcision.

The men, they now are whole.

And everything seemed to be going good.

And they have enjoyed for over 40 years Manna, angel food from heaven.

And all of a sudden God says, okay, you're ready to leave the wilderness and go to the promised land.

And God does something I think is quite miraculous.

Verse number 11.

I'm sorry, verse number 12.

And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land.

Neither had the children of Israel manna any more, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

I could preach entire series on this verse, but I'm not here to do that tonight.

Can I just give this thought tonight?

Number nine in my notes.

We must move forward as mature Christians.

We must move forward as mature Christians.

God says, okay, children of Israel, you've come across the Jordan River.

The stones I want people to remember.

You've been circumcised, you've been sanctified, you've been set apart, you're healed, you're getting ready to go in the promised land.

And guess what?

No more manna, no more spoon fed, if you would.

The provision's not going to be handed to you.

Now you're going to enjoy the blessings, but you're going to have to work for it.

You remember at one point they complained about the manna and God said, okay, I'm going to give you what you want.

Quail.

They had learned that God's way is best.

But now God says, before you go in the promised land, the manna ceased.

And I love it.

There's not necessarily complaining in this verse.

There's just a reality that as we follow God, we have to be mature.

And here's the thing, as we get through this process, can I remind you they haven't even got to Jericho yet.

Have you noticed that there's a lot of steps in order to get to Jericho?

And then they go to Jericho.

And I remind you, after Jericho, they still fall again in AI.

God's always doing a work in our lives.

And God always desires to do a work in our churches.

But can I remind you of something tonight that God is intimately interested in you personally.

God does not necessarily have mature churches because mature churches are only made up of individuals and churches who are spiritually mature.

And if a church is going to be a godly church, it doesn't get there by saying it or acting like it.

It takes individual people saying, I will be spiritually mature.

I will dig in God's word for myself.

I will walk with God, I will fight my flesh.

I will not sin.

I will.

It's a personal thing.

And if we're going to move forward for God's glory, we must be mature Christians.

Now, I'm about to get point number 10 and you're saying you've not been controversial.

And I'm about to be.

And I'm looking at some eyes and you're thinking, what is he about to say?

Can I just tell you?

Have I proven yet that I don't have an agenda?

I'm here to help you, all right?

Because some of y' all know me.

You're not concerned.

Some of y' all are like, I don't know this guy.

Where's he going?

Okay, number 10, ready for it.

We must be sorry.

We must move forward by making conscious choices.

We must move forward by making conscious choices.

Originally, I was thinking about my message and said, I will move forward.

And then I was going to title tonight's I will make a choice and choose a side.

But I want to show you what the side is that God tells us to decide on.

Joshua, chapter number five.

Would you look at me?

In verse number 13 came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho.

They lift up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him with the sword drawn in his hand.

Joshua went unto him and said unto him, art thou for us or for our adversaries?

I want you to get the text here.

Joshua has seen, experienced God's blessing under Moses.

Joshua has been faithful to God.

He has chosen to be one of the good spies of good report.

Joshua lived through the wilderness.

Joshua is now the leader of children of Israel.

He's been through the Jordan river.

He circumcised the men.

Sanctification's there.

Everything seemed to go well.

The man has ceased and Joshua now has a choice.

Joshua runs into a man.

And Joshua, I can just imagine, with his hand on his sword, asks a question, and it's a really good question.

And Joshua says he doesn't recognize this person.

And he says, are you for us or are you for our adversary?

In other words, which side are you on?

Oh, I love it.

I love what happens.

Joshua runs into a man.

He doesn't know who it is.

Some people think this was just an angel.

I do not believe.

I think this was a pre incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.

And the reason why is what the angel which is not an angel says.

In verse number 14, Joshua said, Art thou for us or for adversaries?

And he said unto him, nay, what did the angel of the Lord say?

Joshua, I'm not for you.

And Joshua, I'm not for your adversary.

You're asking to choose sides, but you've missed it.

Because, Joshua, there's not a right side and a wrong side in this text.

Here's what happens.

Look at the rest of the verse.

But as captain of the Lord of hosts, am I Now come Why do I believe this is a pre incarnate appearance?

Look at the rest of the verse.

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship and said, what saith my Lord unto his servants?

And the captain of the Lord of hosts said unto Joshua, loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy.

And Joshua did so.

Joshua did not bow down and worship a man.

And I don't believe Joshua bowed down and worshiped an angel.

Joshua bowed down and did obeisance and recognized that he was in the presence of God.

And in God's presence, God was not for Israel or against Israel.

The question was the wrong question.

Because the question was not whose side are you on?

The question was, Joshua, whose side are you on?

And there's only one side.

The side is the Lord's side.

And when the question's asked, are you for us or against us?

God says, nay, no, Joshua, are you on my side?

Friends, I want to tell you something.

Do you realize how much time we live our lives trying to get people to agree with us?

How much time we invest and spend trying to get people to think that we're right or we're wrong?

And when that happens, it leads to so many other things.

And by the way, there's times when people are right and people are wrong.

I'm the first to admit that I'm a pastor.

Guess what?

You know what I want.

I like people being on my side in our church.

I love it when people are on my side.

But you know what I'm often reminded of?

It's not my side.

The goal for me as a pastor is to lead the church to follow Jesus.

The goal that I have as a pastor, the goal that you have as a church member is to know, what does God want for my life?

What does God have?

What is God's will and do whatever God says.

What did God say to Joshua in Joshua chapter one?

He said, joshua, only be thou strong and very courageous and observe to do, observe to do.

Don't turn to the right hand.

Don't turn off Joshua.

Don't choose the right or left hand side.

Joshua, just follow me.

And my question tonight is how do you know?

How do you know what's the Lord's side?

How do you help make sure that you're on God's side?

Would you take your Bible?

We're gonna go to the New Testament for making application.

We're finished here this evening.

James, chapter number three.

James, chapter three.

James, chapter number three is a text of scripture that you often think of.

And this text of scripture is a text where the Bible talks about the tongue.

And if I say James chapter three, some of you all think, is this preacher gonna talk about the tongue?

No.

But yes.

James, chapter three is when the Bible talks about can a fountain yield both salt water and bitter?

He talks about the fact that the tongue can no man tame.

It's an unruly evil full of deadly poison.

But I'm not gonna talk to you about James, chapter three, those verses we're gonna look in Chapter number three, verse one.

My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

For in many things we offend all.

If any man offend not in word, the same as a perfect man and able also to bridle the whole body.

Jump down with me if you would, to verse number 13.

God's word says, who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you church?

Can I ask you a question tonight?

Do you want to be known as a wise man or a wise woman?

Let me ask you a second question.

Don't answer.

But are you known as a wise man?

As a wise woman?

So many people say, I want to be a wise man.

I want to be a wise.

I want people to look at me and say, I'm a wise man.

I'm a wise woman.

And God says, let me answer the question for you.

Who is a wise man and endured with knowledge?

Who's wise?

Who has knowledge?

Look at the verse.

Let him.

And I could add or her show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

What is God's word saying here to us?

There's a criteria for people being wise men and wise women.

What's the criteria?

The Bible uses this phrase, let him show up a good conversation.

The word conversation, when you and I think about it, has to do with what we're saying with our words.

And that's true today.

But the word conversation as used in scripture has to do with more of your manner of life.

It's more encompassing.

God says, if you want to be a wise person, don't tell people you're a wise person.

Live a life that proves you're a wise person by the way that you choose to live your life.

Let him show have a good conversation.

His works would notice this meekness of wisdom.

Keep on reading here, verse 14.

But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth.

I came across this verse here recently for me personally.

And the phrase here lie not against the truth really gripped my heart.

I began a study personally for me of all the place in scripture where we can lie to ourselves.

And I'll tell you this.

The Bible talks about James chapter number one.

But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only.

What's the rest of the verse say?

Deceiving your own.

For if any man be a hearer of the word, not a doer, he's like unto a man beholden, his natural face a glass.

For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forget the manner of man he was.

In other words, do you know that we can be self deceived?

Do you know that we can look into the mirror and say, oh, at church, man.

And I'll use this example as a husband, as a father.

Do you know how many times I go to a church service and I'm preaching or listening and God convicts me about something in my life that has to change And I say, lord, with your help, I'll change it.

Do you know that sometimes 10 minutes later I can't remember the message is on.

Can I be honest with you for a second?

If you think preachers remember everything.

Sometimes people say, I appreciate your message this morning.

And I'm in my mind thinking, what did I preach on?

Because I preached Sunday school, Sunday morning, Sunday night chapels.

I've talked to my family.

Here's the thing.

All of us take scripture in, but the intake of scripture does not make you spiritual.

It's when we take scripture in and apply it to our lives and let the word of God change us.

And so God says we can be self deceived.

How do we know for self deceived?

Look again the verse, verse number 14.

But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, what is bitter envying?

What does this mean?

It means someone who becomes envious.

Bitter envying, for instance, at the sight of superior excellence of another person.

If someone else by being right or someone else by being better at something.

If we think I deserve that.

I wish people said that about me.

I wish that everyone thought that I was right.

I wish everybody would choose my side.

Can I tell you the Bible calls that bitter envying.

Keep on going.

Bitter envying literally means this.

If a person has selfish ambition.

Selfish ambition, Not.

Not that everyone or not that God's glorified, but that somehow I look good.

If you have bitter envying and the Bible uses word strife.

Strife.

What is strife?

Strife means contention, literally, if you look it up, strife means electioneering, trying to get People to get on your side.

I want to be right.

In order for me to be right, then I have to make sure that other people know that I'm right and get them.

It's almost like this tug of war.

And in our lives, how often do we choose that we want to be right, that we want to be the person who has the answers.

And this entire text isn't about bitter envying or strife.

You know what this entire text is about?

It's about two types of wisdom.

In verse number 13, the Bible refers to godly wisdom.

But before God can give us godly wisdom, he has to tell us about earthly wisdom.

What is earthly wisdom?

But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

Do you realize in chapter number three, he's speaking to people that were leaders?

Go back to verse number one.

Be not many masters.

He's saying, hey, in the church, James, by the way, you know, James was.

James was the half brother of Jesus.

James was the man who was the spokesman, the leader of the church of Jerusalem, James, the one who, when Paul came back, James spoke up.

James was a godly man.

And James said, hey, so many people think that there's wise.

So many people think that they know.

And James says, hey, don't be around many masters.

Here's what you should do.

Find out who a person is by what wisdom they choose.

What's the wisdom?

Well, the godly wisdom we're about to learn about.

But first, he addresses earthly wisdom, man's wisdom.

Keep on reading verse number 14.

Lie not against the truth.

This wisdom, this wisdom, this ungodly or this earthly wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly.

Now, if I were to say to you, are you a wise person?

Few of you all raise your hand right now because we're in church and we're talking about wisdom.

But if I were to ask you outside of church, do you consider yourself wise?

Most of us will say, well, I think so.

I hope so.

You know what James says in James, chapter three, if you don't have a vote, but people could truly just watch the manner of your life, they'll figure it out.

Or if we were honest with the fruit of our life, we'd figure out how wise we are or how wise we are not.

And God's word says in verse number 15, this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly.

And if I were to say to you, if you're not choosing godly wisdom, you're choosing earthly wisdom, most of us will say, okay, that doesn't hurt my feelings too bad.

But do you notice that James kind of doubles down?

This wisdom descend not from above, but is earthly.

It is sensual.

It's about what you want.

It's about your desire.

It's all about you.

But then he goes on further and he says something that really, I don't like.

This earthly wisdom is earthly.

Here's the word he chooses.

Devilish.

Man's wisdom.

Earthly wisdom, our selfish ambition at the very end of it is earthly, sensual, devilish.

Do you know what God desires to do in every one of our lives?

God desires to bless us.

God desires to see us become more like the image of Jesus.

But you know what the devil wants to do?

He wants to destroy your life.

He wants to destroy your marriage.

He wants to destroy your family.

He wants to destroy this church.

And do you know what often happens?

Churches, families can be destroyed by people thinking, I want what I want.

Me number one on the throne in my life is not God, it's me.

But we me love to portray ourselves as following God.

Jesus is preeminent.

And James says, okay, you want to know?

You know what the test is?

Verse number 13.

Let him show out of a good conversation his works.

Let his life preach, not just his words keep on going.

This wisdom descended not from above, but his earthly, sensual, devilish.

Look at verse number 16.

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work.

Can I really simplify this text down to two things?

There's godly wisdom and there's selfish ambition.

And we love to say, well, there's godly wisdom and there's everything else.

But God says in James, chapter three, there's only two.

There's godly wisdom and then there's man's selfish ambition.

And we all like to say.

I like to say I'm not selfishly ambitious.

And guess what?

I'm a liar.

If I truly believe that.

You know what happens every day in my life?

I have this thing to battle I think you know something about.

It's called a flesh.

Every morning I wake up and I look in the mirror.

The greatest enemy I have is not anyone else.

It's that man.

I'm looking in the mirror.

It's that flesh, the devil.

It's this world.

The enemy is after me and after you.

And God says, hey, there's godly wisdom and there's selfish ambition.

Where does selfish ambition lead to?

Where envying and strife is.

Have you ever been in a workplace?

There's envying and strife.

Have you ever been In a home where there's envying and strife.

Have you ever been in a church where there's envying and strife?

And if you have, here's.

The Bible says on the authority of Scripture, there is confusion in every evil work.

Confusion.

What does confusion mean?

Instability, disorder, commotion, disturbances.

What happens when there's commotion?

I think about the Bible verse where there's pride.

With pride is contention.

And I do believe pride.

But what does pride mean?

Pride means my way.

God says when we selfishly want our way, it's about selfish ambition, not about what God wants.

There is pride and there is contention.

And then the Bible goes on here.

Do you notice this?

And every evil work.

Now, this text is powerful, but these verses are often just skipped over because what is this talking about?

This is talking about our ambition, our wisdom.

What does it lead to?

Every work.

Which work is it?

Well, the Bible tells us every.

When we want our way, when it's all about me.

I can lead to any evil thing.

The sky's the limit on what I can do.

Because now it's not about God.

Now it's all about what I want.

It's all about me.

It's all about me being right.

People knowing that I'm wise.

I love, though the Bible doesn't just give us a negative look with, if you would, in verse number 17, but the wisdom that is from above.

I love this, that God's going to tell us what truly godly wisdom is.

And so you say, well, I think my wisdom's godly wisdom.

Or I think I may be selfishly ambitious in my family, in my job, in my church.

Well, don't have to worry about it.

Let God's word tell you and then he tells us what it is.

What is Godly wisdom?

Wisdom that from above is first pure.

Do you know what's wonderful?

When you tell the truth, you don't have to remember what you lied about.

It's wonderful when you can just say the truth is in my life.

When you're not hiding things, when you're just living a life that is pure.

It's clean, it's clear.

But the Bible says wisdom from above is first pure.

Notice the second one.

Then notice this phrase, peaceable.

What does God's wisdom do?

God's wisdom is pure and God's wisdom is peaceable.

Next, Bible says God's wisdom is gentle.

God's wisdom is gentle.

Do you know that gentle doesn't mean like.

Just like you're holding a baby.

Gentle means appropriate or fair.

Being gentle doesn't mean I never correct, hey, we have children.

We have three kids and we have good kids.

I'm thankful for them.

But if I left our kids themselves, I would not be a good father.

The Bible says, if we truly have a dad, guess what our dad does?

He disciplines and chastens us.

Why our Father?

Because he wants to make us like him.

And we as parents should want to correct our children so that they can learn what is right and what is wrong.

And guess what God says.

Wisdom that is from above is pure.

It's peaceable, it's gentle, it's fair, it's equitable.

Keep on going.

Then the Bible says this.

Easy to be entreated.

Easy to be entreated.

In other words, good for persuasion.

Someone can have a conversation and doesn't have to say, no one else can talk.

It's my way.

God's wisdom has no problem having a conversation, seeking what God wants and conversing in a way that is pure and peaceable and gentle and easy to be entreated.

Keep on going.

Full of mercy.

Oh, wow, now I'm just going to tell you my own life.

Do you know, sometimes I don't want to have a conversation.

Sometimes I don't want to take the opportunity to be full of mercy.

Sometimes I just want to say, here's the way it is, this is how it is.

And sometimes I. I can be not very kind.

And God says, well, I can tell you which one that is.

That's not God's wisdom.

That's your selfish ambition.

That's your wisdom.

My wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy.

Keep on going.

And good fruits.

Keep on going.

Without partiality, not biased in favor of one party more than another.

Not prejudiced.

God's wisdom says, I'm not.

It's not about everything else inside.

It's about, what does God want for my life?

What is the right thing to do?

And the Bible says, without partiality.

Notice this.

And without hypocrisy.

No one likes being called a hypocrite.

I don't.

I'm not gonna call you hypocrite tonight.

But I will tell you this.

If we're living a life of wisdom, we can live a life without hypocrisy.

But can I be honest with you?

Too many times in my life I thought I was wise, but it was only outward because the fruit of my tongue, the works of my flesh, my outward responses, the way I responded to people was not godly and pure and gentle and peaceable and because of that, I know what it was.

It wasn't God's wisdom.

It was my ambition.

It was my way.

It's what I wanted.

So you say.

Okay, preacher, wrap it up already.

Well, God's not done yet.

In verse 18.

Would you look at it?

And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Verse number 18, I think we just skip over.

But do you realize that God uses a word twice in verse number 18, and he's used the same word, a few verses about wisdom?

What's the word?

Church peace.

The Bible says the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace.

What's the Bible talk about here?

Harvest.

Guess what happens when you live a life that's pure, gentle, easy being true.

You know what you do?

You put out a crop of peace.

You put out a crop of not about what I want or about my way.

I want God's way.

I want to follow God's word.

I want to live a life that's pleasing to Jesus.

And because you do that.

Can I just use a phrase?

You don't have to be a jerk for Jesus.

You can be kind and loving and nice.

And even if people disagree with you, do you know, you can still be kind and loving because God's wisdom is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of good works, full of mercy, without partiality, without hypocrisy.

And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace.

And the Bible keeps on going of them that make peace.

Can I remind you of Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers.

God said, joshua's walking around Jericho, and I'm sure it's dark at night.

I imagine he's doing a reconnaissance mission.

And Joshua just wants to see what's coming up in Jericho.

We just want to move forward for God's glory.

This has been complicated.

We had to go across the Jordan River.

We had to put stones up.

We had to circumcise people.

There's no more manna.

This is so complicated.

And here he is, and he has his hand on the sword, and he says, sir, are you for us or against us?

And God says, nay.

But as captain of the Lord of hosts, am I come.

Can I encourage you?

Your life will come down to this.

Which wisdom will you choose?

God's wisdom is looking into God's word and following Jesus.

Man's wisdom is all about selfish ambition.

God said to Joshua, joshua, I am not for you.

I am not against you.

I am God.

And I just want to encourage you tonight.

As we get done, finish this way.

If you're going to be a person who follows God, you need to be a person.

As the Bible says in James, chapter one, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath for the righteousness of man.

I'm sorry, the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Do you want God's righteousness in your life?

You and God's righteousness in your church?

If you want, I'll tell you where it comes from.

It comes from a person who says, I want to walk with God.

I want to follow Jesus.

I want to be committed every day of my life.

I want to be more and more like Jesus Christ.

And when we follow Jesus and want to be more and more like him, the Bible says he predestined us.

Predestined us to be what?

Conformed to the image of his son.

Jesus wants to make you church member.

Jesus wants to make you sir, and you, ma', am, and you teenager and child and me.

He wants to make us more like Jesus.

And the more we're like Jesus, the more we will find that when we choose God's wisdom, we become people that are choosing wisdom.

And we are pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy, full of good works, without impartiality, without hypocrisy.

Let me ask you a question.

Let's get that rubber meets the road.

Would people describe you that way?

Or would people describe you as a person who.

Well, it's about what I want.

It's about my way.

And I would just remind us that God's not asking, which side are you on?

God didn't say, Joshua, pick a side.

God said, joshua, get on your face before me.

Sanctify yourself, Josh.

You're about to lead my people, Joshua, and here's what you need to do.

You make sure that you're after me, after my will.

You make sure you're pure, you're holy.

Because, Joshua, I am doing a work and I want to move forward.

But you need to make sure you first are worshiping me and you're ready to move forward personally, before God can move forward the entire children of Israel.

So the question in wrapping up is this.

Does Heritage Baptist Church want to move forward?

I think the answer is yes, but it doesn't work that way.

If we took a vote tonight, I have nothing to do with your church.

I couldn't do it.

But we took a church who wants to move forward.

I think everybody's going to say yes, but what does that mean?

You know what moving forward means?

Moving forward means every member of this church chooses.

I'm gonna follow Jesus.

I'm gonna submit myself to him.

I'm gonna seek to live a godly life.

I wanna be like Jesus.

I wanna be a person who is pure and gentle and easy to be treated.

Yeah, I'll be fair and equitable, but I wanna follow God's word and know God's word.

I wanna be like Joshua.

Strong and very courageous.

And when God does that in hearts, you know what God does?

God takes a group of people and he knits their hearts together and he helps a group of people to follow him.

And as he does that, then God says, like to the children of Israel, okay, it's time.

There's Jericho.

Let's move forward.

May God help each of us to be people who walk with God and submit to his will.

And may the goal of our lives be to be on God's side.

I trust this has been a help to you.

And may God help this church.

Brother Weatherby.