Good morning, everyone. Joy to the world, the Lord is come Let earth receive her King Deeper cave Let every heart prepare Him room To heaven and nature sing And heaven and nature sing And heaven, heaven and nature sing Joy to the world, the Savior reigns Let men their songs employ Wild fields and floods Rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy Repeat the sounding joy Repeat, repeat the sounding joy No more let sins and sorrows grow Nor thorns infest the ground He comes to make His blessings flow, for as the curse is found, for as the curse is found, for as, for as the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nation's fruit, the glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love. O come, let us adore Him Jesus Christ, the Lord Joy to the world, the Lord is come Let earth receive her King Let every heart prepare Him room And heaven and nature sing And heaven and nature sing And heaven, heaven And heaven and nature sing And heaven and nature sing And heaven, heaven, nature sing you Good morning. Merry Christmas to everybody. This is our Christmas service today. There is no service for the next two Tuesdays, although the Sunday services are the same. And following that, we'll resume our regular schedule in case you didn't get my email. Thank you, Vicki, for that wonderful rendition of Joy to the World. I never heard it played in such a way that you wanted to dance to it. That was good. Great arrangement. Let's pray, please. Father, thank you for the Word of God. Thank you for the local assembly. Thank you for your gifts in the body. Those that minister the person and manifestation of Christ one to another, that augment one another, that build up the body of Christ. Father, those who attend on a regular basis, that understand the importance of hearing and witnessing the Word communicated through the Spirit face to face, that their joy might be full. Father, we pray that the joy that you give and the joy that is the good news of eternal salvation, the coming of Christ, the birth of Christ, would permeate our souls, those in whom Christ has been born and in whom Christ is being formed. even now. Father, may we glorify and express our gratitude. May our hearts overflow with thanksgiving. May we offer up the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise and enter into your gates with thanksgiving, into your courts with praise. We thank you for Jesus Christ. He's everything. He's your wisdom. personified, even as He is righteousness, joy, peace, and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit personified. He's our role model, our example. He's done the things that he's done and given us the truth that he's left behind so that we might follow in his footsteps. Trusting you, Father, every step of the way, even as he did. That is the goal, the objective, the ultimate purpose for which you called us. That we might glorify you by depending on you. Not by doing anything, but by depending on you. by doing that which you enable inside of us, as you will and work inside of us according to your own good purpose and pleasure. Father, bless this holiday season. May doors be open that no man can shut, and doors shut that no man can open. Father, may we have the gospel, the good news, the joyous message upon our lips. and our hearts overflowing with melody, not just on Christmas, every day. It's not sufficient. There are no feasts mandated by the Bible. Father, you did that so that we would not exalt one day above another. Although we can take advantage of it, there's no harm in it, as long as Christ has first place in everything. So, Father, bless this time together. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. I have entitled the message, Christmas Wisdom. It's Sunday, December 23, 2012. Born in a stable, laid in a trough, wrapped like a mummy, wonder of scoff, wonder of wonders God in the flesh promised for ages, hope born afresh. All who believe come to behold God's only Saviour, predicted of old, guided by heaven to search for a king, three seeking wisdom, to whom gifts they bring, gold royal treasure, the frankincense sweet, and myrrh bitter dying or late at his feet. To a manger with straw his nativity bed, son of man come to earth without rest for his head, born in a stable God's perfect lamb, laid in a manger, salvation for man. Wisdom incarnate in lowly estate, with praise and thanksgiving we enter His gates. Turn to James, chapter one, verse five, and hold your finger there. Yes, another original poem by Scott A. Warren, that famous poet. I can't help it. When I reflect on things, I want to summarize them in poetic form. Some people like it, some people don't. And guess what? I don't care. That's just who I am. If you found that passage, just hold your finger there. Gratitude for what God has done in all aspects of Christ coming and redeeming us is the coin of the realm for Christian advance. Gratitude. We grow in our gratitude. That's what grace is on the human side. Nothing more than gratitude. Thanksgiving. See, you've got Eucharistos, which is the attitude of gratitude or thankfulness and even joy is related to thankfulness. See, if you are thankful, you're happy. That means you recognize something that God has done for you, and that you're grateful for it, and therefore happy because of it. Nobody's grateful that isn't happy. Nobody's happy that isn't grateful. Especially in the spiritual realm. And so, we express our thanks to God. In Romans 6.17, the scripture tells us, thanks be to God, that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that particular type of teaching to which you were committed. You know what that particular type of teaching is, don't you? Acts 20, 31, the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and reveals the inheritance that is awaiting all those who are set-apart ones, scheduled for all, but received only by some. Those who find a way, find God's way, of remaining positive all their lives, or for the rest of their life, if today is the first day of the rest of your life. And so Christ was born unto that purpose, and would be opposed from the moment he emerged from the virgin womb until men, religious men, good and evil, that is, religion and politics, from the human side put him on the cross, but God allowed that to happen, specified that it would from all eternity. He was delivered up by the predeterminate counsel of God, and he was offered up for our sins and raised up from the dead for our justification. So thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin you became obedient from the heart to that particular type of teaching to which you were committed or 1st Corinthians 1557 gratitude once again but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, He is our victor and has the victory, the strategic victory of earth in paying for sin and defeating the enemy, Satan, crushing his skull. and removing his power, that is, the power resident in the fear of death, which he holds men bondage to all of their lives, so that they neither live well nor die well. But you can do both because of what the Lord has done and offers each one of us a remarkable life of faith, hope, and love. So it says, thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Or 2 Corinthians 2.14, thanks be to God who always leads us in threambio, that is, triumphant procession, in Christ and manifests through us, whether we see it or not, know it or not, He does, the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. And then, thanks be to God, 2 Corinthians 9.15, for His indescribable gift. Christ is the gift. Wisdom was born in a manger. Wise men followed the star to find Him and brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. You say, well, what does that have to do with James? Oh, you'll see. You'll see what it has to do with James. James is all about the wisdom of God. It's the Proverbs of the New Testament. So he relates back, harkens back to the wisdom literature and the wisdom given to the wisest man that ever lived, Solomon, who desired wisdom above everything else, including riches. I hope we're like him at the beginning, but not like him at the end. because he accumulated babes and they ruined him so don't keep your eye looking straight ahead don't look to the right or to the left look at Christ and you'll escape all the traps that are set for you and there's no man that is immune to that type of thing I pray this prayer all the time and God answered it I think he answered it organically but if not he answered it by request that is that I would be unattractive to everybody that way I'm not flattered or or or you know enticed by anybody by men or women and that's a good thing because otherwise watch out and that's the way we all are So, wisdom born in a manger. Whose wisdom? Christ. He's wisdom personified. And wise men followed the star. That is, God directed them from heaven. And with them they brought their gifts. Their expensive gifts. Gifts worthy of a king. And what I mean is, is that gold is a gift that you would give to a king, frankincense is the sweet fragrance, an expensive perfume that you would give to a king, and myrrh an expensive spice and ointment used for burying kings. They didn't bury paupers with myrrh. Only the royal. Only the wealthy. Only the privileged. And so they're recognizing him and giving him expensive gifts. See, in Proverbs 4.7, wisdom is the most important thing. And if it costs you everything, That's the expensive gifts. Then, get wisdom. Even if it costs you everything, get wisdom. Get understanding. In Psalm 90, verse 12, we have a prayer that all of us should pray in order to acquire wisdom so that on the day of our personal evaluation And we'll all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5, 10, Romans 14, 10, and give an answer. I hope that that will be a favorable situation and a favorable experience for all of us so that we might be seen to be full of it. What? Wisdom, not anything else. You don't want God to say you're full of it. Full of what? Full of your own thoughts. Instead of full of my word. Filled with my word. Because you never learned to be filled with my spirit. You never learned to take advantage of the full disclosure of truth in the word of God. To hear it and believe it all. Not to do it. Because you can't do it. God will do it in you. And you never discovered the great secret of Bible truth. as it resides and circulates in your soul to get it from the page into the fleshly tables of your heart so that you might be a living epistle known and read by all men so those who have it will have a favorable experience those who do not will have a less than favorable one and will weep and gnash their teeth and will be ashamed before Christ and shrink back from Him instead of stepping forward with expectation, anticipation, having faith be converted into hope and hope into love. They're face to face with the one they love and will experience that love in close proximity for all eternity in the New Jerusalem getting all and everything that he has slated for you, instead of having it withheld and put in the museum of lost opportunity. We don't want that, do we? But rather, living out our lives with gratitude and a greater and greater appreciation, a greater and greater recognition, and letting recognition become cognition, that is, Thinking with the Word of God. Don't stop taking it in until you think with it. Because unless you think with it, unless you speak with it, unless you choose with it, you don't have it. Because you have some alternate viewpoint of life and reality. Like human viewpoint or satanic viewpoint. Usually it's a combination of the two. They're one and the same, as Jesus said to Peter. He said, Get behind me, Satan, you savor the things that only be of men, and not the things that be of God. So, wisdom is the most important thing. In Psalm 90, 12, we have the prayer that we should pray, which is, So teach us, Lord, to number our days. in order that we might present to you a heart filled with wisdom. Wisdom is the most important thing. The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord. That is to fear falling short or missing out on the greatest grace of all which will be dispensed at the Bema judgment of Christ, the evaluation of the believer. See, because the reward is reckoned of grace. Did you know that? Not only is this life and all that's in it and the provision of God and the acceptance of God reckoned by grace, but the reward is reckoned by grace. Therefore, we have the 24 elders casting their crowns before the Lord, which he makes them wear as a testimony of his faithfulness his reality, the reality that he placed into their souls, and the effectiveness of each one had, because they learned to lean and depend on Christ, like Jesus did, who is wisdom personified, who is wisdom from God. So, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, so that when we're evaluated, we might gain the rewards of wisdom, the rewards of humility, and the fear of the Lord, which is wisdom, which are riches and honor and life. Proverbs 22.4 The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord. What's the beginning of wisdom? The fear of the Lord. So he's talking about wisdom here. Is riches and honor and life. I'm not talking about here and now only. Which it may be, may very well be. But it won't be a distraction to you. It won't be anything that turns you aside. It won't be a temptation to you at that point. God knows your capacity and gives you what is due to capacity and nothing beyond your capacity. If you seek those things beyond your capacity, they'll ruin you. They'll ruin your spiritual life and rob you of your rewards. So be careful what you ask for because you might get it. Because God always gives you what you want. Now as a believer, he may say no. As an unbeliever or an unbelieving believer, He may say yes because he sends those things as discipline so that you might learn that you don't even know what you want or know how to pray or what to ask for. That's right Romans 8 26. We don't know how to pray like kids. Daddy, I want more candy. Can I have a can of icing for lunch? Yeah, go ahead. That's what Homer Simpson said to his children. Yeah, sure. It's got vitamin D in it, that icing. Can we have a can of frosting for lunch, Daddy? No, you can't. So God is our Father and He knows what we want. And in the innocence of childhood and reliance of childhood, He gives us what we need. He takes good care of us until we think we're too big for our britches, like some children do. They think they're smarter than their parents, wiser than their parents are, when they haven't even lived long enough to gain basic wisdom. and or common sense, which isn't good enough. And the word of God inside of our souls is the gauge that measures all things. And so if we give them advice, they say, oh no, that's good for you. You needed it. I don't. You say, well, guess what? How did you get and have all the things that you have now? How'd you get, how'd you, how'd you get, you know, to the age you're at now, 16 or 17, apart from what we provided for you here, which God provided for us to provide for you, and protection through orientation to authority or humility, who trained you, who gave you the gospel so that you might believe in Christ and be saved in the Word of God, made the Word of God available to you, and yet you turned it away. That will all be recognized. It won't be sin, but it will be recognized as the reason for your tiny capacity in eternity. With little gratitude, you'll arrive in the kingdom of heaven. And with a glorious body, regardless of your status, and as an heir of God, but not as a joint heir or co-heir with Jesus Christ. Because that requires Christ-likeness. And demonstrated by suffering. That is, suffering of identification with Him. If you're like Christ, you'll suffer some of the things that He suffered. Certainly not all of them. Because much of His suffering is substitutional. And the suffering, undeserved suffering for sin. But undeserved suffering comes our way, too. To conform us into the image of Christ. It's all about Christ-likeness. That's why you're here. To be like Christ. To manifest in some small way the person of Christ. To be that fragrance, that sweet-smelling savor to God. And that is having the wisdom of Christ, who is wisdom from God, living large in you and expressing himself through you in many different ways in many different portions. through each gift given by the Holy Spirit. So, the reward of wisdom, that is of humility and the fear of the Lord, is riches and honor and life. That wisdom is His. It's not yours. You'll be wise in your own eyes if you think it is. And some people are. Some people are wise guys because they're wise in their own eyes. And that doesn't cut it. God's not looking for you to be wise, worldly wise. He's looking for you to be wise with the spiritual skill and know-how of Christ. That's what wisdom is. It's know-how. It's knowing how to think. And beyond that, what to do in every situation. And launching the Word of God into your situation, thinking with the Word of God, choosing with the Word of God, speaking it into your situation so that God might take up your cause and bring you the solution to a spiritual problem. Because behind all of the physical problems and material problems and human problems are spiritual problems. that cause them. And so the Lord will give you a, what do you call that, an attitude adjustment. And He'll grant repentance. That's what we need. We need to change our mind. And you can't repent unless you hear the Word of God. And you can't repent consistently. And you can't change your mind unless you hear the Word of God continuously. How can you change your mind? How can you walk in the light and not change your mind. Well, you do, because if we walk in the light as he is in the light, the blood of Jesus, God's Son, continuously cleanses us from all sin and keeps on saying, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's right, that's right, that's right. And so you make your choice. Simple. All we do is say, Amen. Yes, Lord, I agree. It never gets more complex than that, but how hard it is for people to do that because they're filled with their own thoughts. So if that fits, wear it, please, and go to the Lord with it. Say, Lord, I'm full of my own wisdom. I'm full of my own thoughts. I'm filled with myself. And we all are from time to time. We need to admit it and let the Lord do His office work and in reducing us, we must decrease so that he might increase. That's what John the Baptist, Jesus' second cousin, said to him when he saw him coming and he saw the dove descend and abide on it. He's the one who came before you did, whose shoes you're not worthy to tie or untie, but just to worship at his feet. The wisdom that He gives is His, even as the righteousness that we have is His, even as the sanctification and the glorification of resurrection humanity that will replace the bodies of humiliation that we bear around in time. 1 Corinthians 1.30, but by His doing, it's His doing, not yours, that you were in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification. and redemption. Righteousness is justification. That is, the moment we believe in Christ, we have His righteousness as a gift and eternal life imputed and we become a new creation. And sanctification is the setting aside or setting apart process. Setting aside from all of the sinful thinking and all of the sinful choices by being re-educated and set apart unto the plan, the purpose, and the will of God, which is first and foremost, get the Word. And the Word will do the work. You'll have all of it. The Word is, see, faith, hope, and love is all that exists. And all of them, all three of them, consist of nothing more than the Word. It's the Word, it's the Word, it's the Word, and nothing more. Here's the Word for Christmas. The Word is for Christmas and every other day of the year. So, He is wisdom from God. In 1 Corinthians 1.24, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Turn to James 1.5, where your finger is already. This is more important than we think. And we dare not become familiar with the Word of God. That is to say, oh, I've heard that a million times. Yet you haven't metabolized it or retained it or applied it. Ever. Or maybe just once in a blue moon. Maybe on Christmas only. Or Easter. You know what's worse than somebody who only comes to church on Christmas and Easter? Somebody who never comes that's a believer. That's worse. At least those people that come, you know, may be unbelievers or maybe just starting out as believers in Christ or the plan of God is delayed their coming. And it may just spur them on to do so, to fulfill the will of God. And it's the ones who already made their decision. Christmas or I'm not going ever Christmas or Easter. And they don't even have the traditional thing going on. We worship Christ. We go to the department stores and watch the beautiful little displays of elves and children playing. And we listen to the joyous sound the Jews play on the cash register, jingle bells. That is merchants, secular Jews, not being racial. That's not a racial slur. It's just they control most of the commerce and industry and media in the world. Remember? And there's as many in the United States as there is in Israel. So there. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. It's a happy season for them because they're getting your money. They're jingling your jingle bells. James 1.5, but if any of you lacks wisdom, and who doesn't? Do you lack wisdom? Yeah, you do. I've seen it. And you've seen it in me. Then let him ask of God. who gives wisdom that should be that should be entered there because it's just an ellipsis which means it's inferred who gives wisdom to all men generously as well as everything else and never finds fault if you ask for wisdom you say I don't have wisdom and he says or I failed in this area many many times he doesn't find fault with you he just says Okay, it's about time that you ask. It's about time that you come to me for what you don't have. For what you can't do. For the problems that you can't solve. The temptations you can't resist. And the desire that doesn't exist for my word. And your refusal to this point to acknowledge your sin and change your mind. He loves when you come. He never says, You know, well, no, because you've offended too often. Jesus said, you're forgiven seventy times seven. Peter asked him, he said, should we forgive our brother if he sins against us seven times? He says, no. Seventy times seven. That is, God has no high level of expectation toward man. He knows that it takes us a long, long time to come to the end of some hurtful, harmful, or sinful choice or action. And when the pain index gets high enough, we will be finished with that particular sin and God will work on something else. Because He wants us to prosper spiritually. so that he might prosper us in other ways, so that we might be a blessing, blessed to be a blessing to many others. That Christ would be born in us, wisdom personified, and then he would be formed in us, wisdom personified and manifest. to the world, and it'll be a manifestation of Christ that can't be denied. It'll be remarkable to them, and perhaps spur them on to want to know more. Who knows? So, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men generously and without reproach. And it will be given to him. It doesn't say it may be given to him, it says it will be. So have you tried that? Have you mastered that one yet? Have you applied that one yet? Maybe you can apply it starting today. Lord, I need wisdom. Show me what to do. Give me your heart, your wisdom, your know-how, your skill. Let me see it in my role model, Jesus Christ, and follow in his footsteps. So he says, it will be given to him, but let him ask in faith. Let him ask in faith. That means going to God and believing God is the only source of wisdom. Not consulting with people, not going to the pastor or going to another Christian. Or going to the priest, or going to the Pope, or going to the Supreme Court, or the government, or the intelligentsia to find your answers. No, but sourcing God. In other words, He's the only source. You recognize Him as the only source. And you go to Him, not just with something sometimes, but everything all the time. So he says, let him ask in faith, without any doubting. This is a good one, because I don't think we do this, do we? If there's something specific that you need, make your request known to God. That is, without doubting, like, oh Lord, I know you're not going to give me what I need. Nobody is favorably disposed to that kind of disbelief or unbelief. It's offensive to one who's always done everything and that can never be shown to have forsaken anyone ever. He could if he wanted to and be just in doing so, but he doesn't do it. He gives us ample opportunity to believe and to progress in life until the day we die. And He gives us, you know, a complete provision for time. And He's so gracious, He's so merciful to all mankind, that those who reject Him are without excuse. There's no excuse. There's no excuse for the believer not pressing on to the end. And there's no excuse for those who start out well, since all do, through faith in Christ, who don't finish well because they don't continue on. They don't continue to believe. They're children of God through faith in Christ, but not friends of God like Abraham was through continuous faith, who believed and feared God when finally he offered his son without fear or trepidation, knowing he would receive him back and would be used as a portrait and foreshadowing and a prophetic utterance of Christ's coming in the future, and that Christ would not be spared. He who spared not His only Son, but gave Him up freely for us all, how much more will He not, along with Him, give us all other things besides? Think about how much He's given you and be grateful. Recognize it all. Don't say, well, that's not enough. Is that what you say? It's like, OK, I'll do this myself, God, but then you do this. Who made you the director? Who made you the director of your own life? Do you think your life belongs to you? Or do you think you've been bought with a price, and your life belongs to him? He'll show you that it belongs to him. When you're young, you'll do whatever you want, just like Peter. But when you're old, another will gird you and guide you where you wouldn't normally go. where you can't even believe you are. So you'll see in the end. Wisdom is made known by her children. That is what happens in the end. What she gives birth to, that's wisdom. So he says, God will give him wisdom any time he asks for it. But let him ask without doubting, that is in faith, without any doubting, For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind." In other words, there's no rhyme or reason to their life. There's no definition. There's no meaning, no purpose, and no definition. They don't know the will of God, don't even know what they want, and certainly don't know what they need. And so God has to use various means to get and keep their attention and to keep them moving forward and use more and more intensive measures so that they might eventually respond to Him. And it's usually through the misery index that they do. It doesn't have to be that way. You don't have to be one guided by the bit and the bridle. You can be one guided by the Lord's eye. Don't be like a horse or the mule that you have to beat simple in order for him to come near to you? No. Be guided by his eye. All he has to do is look over here and you look where he looks. All he has to do is express that he loves or likes something and you like and love it because he does. Or that he despises or hates something and you look and despise and hate it because he does. So you love what he loves and hate what he hates. Therefore, you're led to victory by joy. That was the message on Tuesday night. I recommend that you get it if you haven't heard it. It's available for free, you know. It doesn't cost you anything except a couple minutes to either download it or punch it up on your fancy schmancy iPhone or whatever that other thing is you carry around. That screeny thing, you know, that's what I call. Now my cell phone broke so I don't even have one of those so don't try to call me. that'll keep you from calling me and trying to get me to give you the answer that you need, then you'll have to go to God. That's what I'm here for, to direct you to Him, not to myself, that's for darn sure. And if I was, then He'd take me out. So, on with James, without any doubting we ask, For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That needs no further explanation. It just means they're all over the map, all over the place. There's no rhyme or reason to their ebb and flow of emotion that overrides their thinking because of the vacuum in their souls. That is, the emptiness and the vacuum where there is no content of Bible truth. That they might think with it, apply it in know-how, wisdom, or skill. Then he says, let not that person, that man, woman, boy, girl, expect to receive anything from the Lord. I don't think that's quite accurate. Let him expect discipline. nothing but discipline from the Lord, that one being as he is in the status, present status, of double-minded. That's dipsukas, which means double-souled. He hasn't made up his mind. He still dabbles in human and satanic viewpoint, dabbles in God's Word. But you don't trifle or dabble in God's Word. Because His Word has been magnified and exalted even above all His name. Psalm 138, 2. It's to be praised along with Jesus Christ, who is the Word. Anytime you insult the Word of God, you insult the Son of God, because the Son of God is the Word of God, the wisdom of God. That is righteousness, redemption, and righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. So, you don't want to be a double-minded man. That's like schizophrenia. Not fully having identified who you are through the truth of God's word according to the scriptures that you're a new creation in Christ. You think you're the same old... I can't think of a new word. I thought of new words a couple times. Slime bucket. A bucket of slime that you used to be. Maybe you are. Maybe you still act like that. And maybe you're a dog that returns to his vomit if you're a man or a woman. Having been washed, it returns to wallowing in the mire. And you can only expect more and more discipline, more and more severe measures to be used against you and more misery in your life. But God uses misery to bring you into joy. To lead you to joy. To lead the mind into joy. It's hegeomai, which means to lead the mind. That's what James says in James 1, 2, and 3. Chapter 1, verses 2 and 3. He says, listen my beloved brethren, know this absolutely, that you may lead the mind to reckon or account as joyful when you face multiple opponents. When you face multiple opponents. Because the testing and trying and exercise of your faith will guarantee that you have what it takes and that you're not lacking anything that you need. And you'll press on beautifully and finish well, which is the objective. So he says, that one should not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. Because he's asking for things that are in his own disinterest, his own worst interest, and he's his own worst enemy. And he's doing and saying and asking for things that will further alienate him from God. And if God doesn't give it to you, you're blessed. If he does, that leanness will come upon you and you'll be shipwrecked in your faith. So if you want to be happy, if you want to be wise, If you want to be virtuous, loving, liberated, and really Christ-like, then James is the book for you. If you don't, you won't like it, because there's not enough grace in it for you, as you define grace. As Jude defines it, there are many who turn the grace of our Lord Jesus into licentiousness. And they're like the waves of the sea, too, casting up their disgusting foam. and like reefs to wreck people's lives in your love feasts, he says, whose destination has been determined long ago for those who are saved the black holes of space, away from Christ, even away from the earth. And for those who are not, a fate worse than death, that is the second death, the lake of fire, which is the second death. And you don't want to mess with either one. You don't want either one to be your destination or destiny. Because it doesn't need to be either one for either one. James is the book for you if you really want to achieve and succeed in fulfilling the will of God. Christ was born in your stable where your animal instinct, intuition, yes ladies, even your intuition is animal, not mineral. What is that? Animal, mineral, vegetable. That might be vegetable. But it's animal instinct, because man does have that. He has the same kind of life and certain instincts like animals do. And only a little different, as species differ from species. And his intuition, because he's a volitional creature, also is active, but it cleaves to the dust and is related only to the material and temporal continuum. and also along with that animal indiscretion. That means animals don't pick and choose partners based upon or companions based upon spiritual standards or principles. No. They just do what they do in terms of mating etc. So you don't want to be like an animal in that way either. And see all such as these and all of us in some way or another have reduced and obscured our own dignity and marred the image of God in man. And if we get the Word of God in us, we don't have to live that way anymore. James makes a big deal out of works, and those works are important. Works are the works of faith. They're the labors of love. They result in the production of hope. And hope doesn't disappoint, but the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. So there's faith, hope, and love fulfilled. The plan of God fulfilled. The will of God fulfilled. The word of God fulfilled. And he makes a big deal out of works. You know why? He says, actions speak louder than words. You say, well isn't that just a human thing? Not hardly. People write checks. with their mouth, with their words, that they can't cash by their actions. That's why James says in James 1.17, 1.18 actually, let your words on earth be few. And that man's angry reactions, his anger and his emotional reaction, never accomplish the righteous purpose. of God. See, anger, which many of us live in, that's what the sin of man is, anger. And the sin of women is emotionalism and crying about everything. And both of them equally are disoriented to truth or reality and objectivity because they bypass thought. Bypass thought, forsake truth, and operates apart from principle. James 119 says, This you know, or should know, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God, or the righteous purpose of God. In no case does it, ever. The truth is, and James brings this forth beautifully in many different ways, what you say is only validated by what you do. It is. It's only validated by what you do. Oh, you talk a good game. It's important to know what to do, but then it's more important to do it. And if you don't, it's sin. James tells us that too. I'll show you that in a minute. What you say is only validated by what you do. Recognition is not cognition. It's not thinking right so that you might do right eventually. And you know nobody does right unless they think right first. I said that. That's the thousand seventeenth time I've said that. Nobody does. You can't know what's right and do what's right unless you think what's right. Think with righteousness. That is, right from God's perspective, absolutely right, good, true, pure, acceptable to Him. And you don't have the power to do that, but He does it in you. which is a great promise that I cleave to every day, and you should too. So, recognition is not cognition. So many believers can recognize the Word of God, and I venture to say most of you, and me, we say, oh yeah, I know that, instead of being instructed by the Word without any familiarity so that we might have the full effect of God's Word upon our soul, redirecting our path. acknowledging him in everything so that we have a straight path in life. No, we take little crooked paths off the straight path, the straight and narrow path, by our arrogance. Arrogance is evil and God disciplines us for our arrogance. So, Not recognition, but cognition. That means thinking, not recognition, which is just as, oh, I'm familiar with that. Yeah, I know that verse. I heard that before. But you've never really had it metabolized by God. You never believed it on purpose so that God might nourish and furnish your soul with know-how or wisdom from that verse. Every verse of Scripture contains precious wisdom, gold frankincense, and myrrh, as it were. That is, those things fit for a king, and you've been called to be a king and a priest. So you need the Word of God. That's your training for reigning with Christ for all eternity. Recognition is not cognition and so many mistake it for the purpose of God or the ultimate objective. So knowing what is right and not doing it is as much a sin as doing what you know is wrong. James 4.17. Mark that one down. Therefore to one who knows the right thing to do and doesn't do it to him and his sin, just like doing what you're not allowed to do. This is it. And he doesn't say that because God's offended by it. He's not. Christ paid for those sins. But the ramifications or negative consequences that result are not pleasant ones. Only righteousness has pleasant fruit. The peace of more pleasant fruit of righteousness. That's by good decisions based upon the leading of the Holy Spirit and God willing and working inside of us. And it's always good and pleasant. And that doesn't mean it doesn't have persecution and it doesn't have temptation, because it always does, but He gives you the crown of life. You're an overcomer in time. So, wisdom begins with fear. The fear of the Lord, which is no more, no less than fear and trembling. with regard to the Word of God. There it is. Because that's God's communiqué. That envelops the essence and nature and character of God, and the righteousness and justice of God. You want to be on the right side of righteousness and the right side of justice. Because justice then will bless you rather than discipline you as a believer. God never changes. Christ is the same yesterday, today, yes, and forever. In Psalm 111, 10, the psalmist says, David says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Where do you think Solomon got that from? From David. and Bashi, father and mother. He was positive and compliant and humble under the teaching and discipline of his father and the teaching and nourishment and nurturing of his mother and therefore he would wear a crown of grace and a chain of grace around his neck. And he would know what to ask for, and ask for the right thing, and God would bless his socks off. But that doesn't mean, in the end, you'll succeed, because you must press on, no matter what. And so, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a good understanding. Have all those who do his commandments. His praise versus the praise of man endures forever. We should seek his praise, not the praise of men. Not the accolades of men. Not the acceptance of men. Not the lauding and applauding of men. Because that will be your reward. That's all you get. Proverbs 4, 7, the beginning of wisdom is Get it! Quick! Acquire wisdom. And with all your acquiring, get understanding. Proverbs 9, 10, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One. Who's that? Christ. I told you, He is the wisdom of God. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. That's understanding. So what are we doing? Are we trying to learn something? No, no, no, no, no. You're getting acquainted with someone. Who is? The communication of God to man. Who is the Word of God? Who is? Wisdom from God. Righteousness. Sanctification and redemption. So you just cleave to Him. Christ is the wisdom and the power of God. That's what you've been looking for all along. You missed it. If indeed you have. See, actions speak louder than words. What if God was to say how much he loved us, but never did that within his means, his power, that which was necessary to save us, to help us, to heal us, to solve our problems, to provide for us. But see, that's not how God was, and that's not how we're to be. See, God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights. in whom there is no variance, that is, he's not capricious at all, or arbitrary, and in whom there is no dark side, there's no ulterior motive to him doing anything, it's just his goodness and his graciousness to all mankind. And where believers are concerned, especially for them, so that they might glorify him, by fearing Him, which is fearing and trembling at His Word. So, what if He said He loved us and didn't, but He loves the world and didn't do anything, but He loves the world so much that we have Christ, He gave His only begotten Son. Or like Paul says in Galatians 2.20, Christ is the one who loved me and gave Himself for me. So He's a giving God and He does whatever is necessary to rescue us, to redeem us, to help us. So the first order of business or action for all believers in James Epistle is to ask God for wisdom. And the reason believers don't do that is there is no fear of God. before men's eyes. That's what the psalmist tells us in Romans chapter 3 verses 10 and following. It says there's no fear of God before their eyes. Their tongues are like the tongues of poison snakes and they're swift to shed blood, shed innocent blood, and the way of peace they have not known and the thoughts of God are far from them. There's none righteous, no not one. So There's no fear of God before men's eyes. And the culture that we live in, and the media especially, doesn't include God in anything. God's not the source or reason for anything. Did you hear anybody on the news say that Superstorm Sandy was brought by God upon New York City, or that God allowed the mass murder of small children in his merciful purpose and to get the attention of the American people once again in New England. Connecticut, the seed of agnosticism and atheism and religion. So what do you think? They don't tell you that. That's what I'm here for. I'm here to tell you. And you need to remember it all the time. And you can't take in that viewpoint because it'll poison your mind. Don't take too much of that in, but make sure you get the word of God. Then you'll be okay. But wait. See, you have to want it, that is wisdom, even to ask for it. Don't you? Yep. Those who want it, ask. Simple. Seems simple, but they don't understand the simplicity of it and don't receive the benefits of it. Those who don't want it are sure never to ask. Those who have it, that is wisdom, have it because they asked for it. And God's never denied their request. Those who do not have it never asked and never will have it. Wisdom is the most important thing. Therefore you get it at all cost. That's what the wise men did. They brought expensive gifts. They're going to get wisdom at all cost. So they bring the most expensive gifts. That's all it signifies and it also signifies of his royalty and his mission and his death upon the cross, which he was born unto and all the symbols of his manger, of the stable, that is the filthy place where he was born because there wasn't any room in the Holiday Inn. or the comfort in. Sorry, but no room. So he's looking for rooms to be born in. And the only rooms he can find are our stables, where our animal likeness is found so that he might bring his own likeness through his plan in our lives. And we might depend on him and be wise, even as he is, by spending everything to get it. So, 1 Peter 2.22, Jesus is our role model, the only one. He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. He never lied in any way. And while being attacked, reviled, insulted, he did not revile, attack, counterattack, or insult in return. When he suffered while suffering, He didn't utter any threats. Sound like you? Payback's a terrible thing. Don't cross me. Watch out. I'll have a vendetta, a vengeance upon you, greater than the vengeance of the Lord. and I'll never speak to you again. I'll hate you forever if you do anything wrong to me. That's how people are. Believe me, they are. That's our natural tendency. But God changes all that when we see how much we've been forgiven for and how God's restored us into fellowship every time we simply fess up and let truth guide or lead our mind. And the result is joy and wisdom. So He didn't revile again in return while suffering. He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to the one who judges righteously. Yes, he did. We only gain wisdom from God because it's God's wisdom that's in view, not man's wisdom, not words of wisdom taught by men, who gave us as our role model Christ that we should walk in his footsteps. In 1 John 2, 6, if anyone alleges that he abides in Him, that one ought to walk around. even as Jesus did in the days of his humanity. 1 Peter 2.21, For you have been called for this purpose, as Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his footsteps. That's 1 Peter 2.21. He never spoke or acted unless he knew the will of God. He never thought, spoke, chose anything or went anywhere unless or until he knew from the father that it was right. It was his will. John 5 19 Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them truly truly I say to you the son can do nothing of himself. He also said without me apart from me you could do nothing. So we should know that by now unless it is something he sees the father doing for whatever the father does these things the son also does in like manner. From the day he was born, he fixed his hope fully on God the Father. And that is how we are to live from the new birth on. When Christ is born in us and as he begins to be formed in us by the Word of God, we're dependent. Our dependence on God is everything. It's essential for progress in the spiritual life. Like I said, not sometimes. All the time. Not just for some things, but for everything. So, we follow Jesus. He's our example. He's our role model. He's the only celebrity in the church. He's the one that we study. He's the one that is wisdom personified. And, He is the one That is the Holy One that we come to know through the Word of God and become like in thinking His thoughts and by making the same choices, experiencing many of the things that He experienced in some small way and being conformed into His image which pleases God immensely because faith is the only thing that pleases Him. And so in James 2.12 With this in view, James says, Therefore, brothers, so speak and so act, that is, follow Christ, follow Christ's footsteps, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty, that is, responsibility to the freedom that they've been given to execute that freedom. to receive all that grace, to receive all that mercy, to receive all that faith, hope, and love, and to learn what it means to let or allow God to will and work in us according to His own good purpose. Therefore, wisdom was born in a stable, that it might be born, wisdom might be born in the person of Christ inside of you and then formed inside of you, which is not a new message. It's the message that we have from the beginning, like John says. but for some it'll be an awakening. I hope. And those across the world that listen by Sermon Audio might have a different kind of Christmas message instead of Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem and the angels appearing, which is the gospel, which is true, and is the events surrounding his birth. But the ramifications of that go all the way through and extend through human history. It's the most, it's the central reality with his death, burial, and resurrection, the central event of all human history that divides us. See, we have a brilliant day of illumination and revelation, and we need to take advantage of it. Shame on us if we don't. Let's pray. Vicki, if you would get ready, if I could have my usher.