The Lord Jesus Christ, I hope you're talking to him on a daily basis, every minute basis. We need him every hour, don't we? We need him every minute. But I thank the Lord we have his word. And if you would, if you'll open the precious word of God tonight, we're going to look in the two books tonight, one in the Old Testament, and we're going to continue a thought that I started last Wednesday. And of course, we're in home improvement month. So every message. is geared towards the home. So keep that in mind. And we started this series of messages last Wednesday. If you will open the word of God to the book of two books in the Old Testament, there'll be one in First Chronicles. And then in the New Testament, the book of James, the book of James, James chapter three, but we're going to turn to First Chronicles first in chapter 12 and if you'll stick your finger over there in James chapter 3 and we're going to really finish up there but let's just read one verse out of 1st Chronicles chapter 12 tonight. 1st Chronicles chapter 12 and we're going to look at verse 32 and then we're going to go over in James chapter 3 and I want you to notice we started this last week on Wednesday and it's just simply this in these times Families need wisdom. In these times, families need wisdom. We started this on last Wednesday. Look at verse 32 of 1 Chronicles chapter 12. And of the children of Issachar, which were men, notice this, that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do. The heads of them were 200 and all their brethren, were at their commandment. Now these are men that had gathered around David, the great king, the the man after God's own heart. And we understand this is the men that's gathering around, the band of these mighty men that band around David. And the Bible says that these men of Issachar, and what they were noted for was that they had understanding of the times. Now some men were great men of war, but these men, the Bible says, had understanding of the times. And I want you to notice what's important about having the understanding of the times is the very next phrase, to know what Israel ought to do. That's pretty important. We live in a day where we ought to have understanding of the times so we know what to do. Now, in James chapter 3 in the New Testament, if we'll begin reading with verse number 13, that understanding of the times just simply means what to do. Well, wisdom is what to do, how to do it, when to do it. When we talk about wisdom, wisdom is a gift from God. Wisdom is not something that man can conjure up. By the way, I'm for education. Education is very important in our day. And I think we've overemphasized education. But nonetheless, I think everybody ought to learn how to read, write, spell, all those things. But I want you to know something. Every child needs to know what 2 plus 2 is. But I've learned this. Them learning 2 plus 2 is not going to help them to choose who they marry. That comes from God. That's wisdom. That's how to do, what to do, when to do it, spiritual discernment, understanding the times. So in chapter three of James, you're going to find probably the greatest exposition on true wisdom. So we started this on Wednesday night, but I want you to notice verse 13. Who is a wise man? and endued with knowledge among you. So there's the qualifier. Who of you thinks you're wise? We hear a lot of folks say, I'll tell you what, I know a lot of things and I'm wise. But the Bible says, wait a minute, who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Here's what he said. Let him show out of a good conversation. Now that word conversation means his manner of life. That's not the way he speaks. In other words, you say, look, if you say you're wise, don't tell me you're wise. He said, let's see it in your life. There'll be a wisdom that is being lived out in our life. You're going to show that by your life, by your conversation. Let him show out of a good conversation his works. with meekness of wisdom, meekness is controlled power, submitting to the one that knows best. Verse 14, but if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth. Notice this, this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work, but boy, verse 17, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. Now I don't know about y'all, I want to live in verse 17. That's where I wanna stay, that's where I wanna live. I want to be known as having wisdom that's from above. In other words, true wisdom. And by the way, every father, every mother, every husband, every wife, the sound of my voice tonight, wisdom is vital for our lives in this day. It's vital for our families. Why? Because we're living in days that are changing. We're living in a society that changes. Now I want to make a few just clear, concise, definite statements before I start. We started here last week. But number one, I want you to know we do live in times that are changing. Society changes. Cultures change. But I want you to know something. God's Word and truth never changes. It's timeless. So that's our fixed point of reference. I'm not trying to find the truth in this shifting world. Listen to me, I have the truth. And so the truth that I have in my life is not something that I'm trying to figure out what I should believe, what I should know. But wisdom is how do we appropriate To understand the times in which we live so we know what to do. How to handle situations. Mom, Dad, you're going to be faced with situations with your children that you're not going to be able to come off the cuff and say, hey, I know exactly what to do here. You're not. You're going to have to ask God for wisdom. And you're going to have to have wisdom. You're gonna have to have this imparted to you from the Lord I'm thankful in James chapter 1 the Bible says in verse number 15 that if any man lack wisdom let him ask of God So we understand wisdom this same Principle we found in the Old Testament with these men of Issachar that they had understanding of the times we need a understanding of the times in this day so we might know what to do, when to do it, how to handle it. It's very important. So I want you to notice, truth never changes. God's word is our final authority. By the way, this church is built on God's final authority, the word of God. God's word is our fixed point of reference. So all of us are clear here tonight, we're not trying to find truth, we know truth. It doesn't change. It's timeless. We need to understand that. But we live in days that are changing. We live in society that is changing. And we're going to face things that you might not have had to face in 1970 that we're facing today. And you say, Pastor Mark, truth doesn't change. No, it doesn't. But we need wisdom in how to appropriate that truth and how we can be more effective in this day. It's important. Some people have this idea. It's right here, right now, Pastor. I can't wait. It looked like that in the 1970s. Well, look at me. You're not being wise. You're not being wise. Things are changing. So you, what you did in the 1970s, it might work, but it might not work. And I'm going to tell you right now, the truth always works. The truth is where we stand, but we have to understand the changing of the times so we know how and when and how to deal with circumstances and know what to do in these shifting times. For instance, can I just explain something to everyone tonight? We live in a day where we live in the great America that is biblically illiterate. If you would go to our public school today and ask 10, let's say 10 children or teen teenagers, Back in my day, you probably would have heard a few of them say, hey, have you ever heard of David and Goliath? And probably back in the 80s, Brother Chris, you probably would have had probably six out of 10 of those kids say, yeah, I know who David and Goliath is. But today, you're not going to get six out of 10. Come on, y'all. You're not going to get six out of 10 today. Why? Because we are in a society that is We need to understand that. Now, I say we need wisdom because let's just say this. How can we expect somebody to know the truth if they've never heard it? We live in a day, let's just go, we're talking about home improvement month. Okay, can I just say this? Not every family is the same kind of family that we find the Word of God. We live in a day now where most children are raised in a one-parent home. One out of three. One out of three is born in a one-parent home. Not only that, most families are a blended family. Okay, that's different than it was 70 years ago. If children are raised in a home where there's only one parent, and they never go to church, and they don't know anything about the Bible, they don't know anything about God's design of marriage, if they was to come here and for the first time they heard, hey, marriage is for a man and a woman to be married forever, they're going to look at you and say, huh? But it's not that they're being rebellious, and it's not even that they don't care. Listen to me. They don't know. So knowing that is going to affect the way we talk to people, the way we're, we can't just expect when someone walks in our lives, walks in this church, that they know everything that we've done, because some of us have been saved 25 years, they don't know any of it. So let me just say, we always have to start with the basics. we're living in days where ignorance prevails when it comes to Bible truth. Your average child, your average family has no idea what marriage and what a functioning family that's not dysfunctional, they don't understand it because most families haven't seen it. I've been preaching down in the Sunday school, teaching has an old picture of a family over there, but there's a mom and dad, two children, they're sitting around a table eating. And I show that picture to these young people every Sunday and say, look, this is what I want for you, but not just so much that I want that for them, God wants that for them. But here's the thing, some might say, well, look, that looks awful good and everything, but some of us will say, well, we'll never have that because that's not the kind of home we have. Brother Colby, it doesn't matter what kind of home I have, God still desires a Christian home for me. And we can learn, but let me just say this, a Christian home doesn't just happen, you have to want it. The decisions you make, the decisions that we, the wisdom that we have, it helps us to have the right kind of home. So we're living in a day where we've got to have wisdom to know what to do, how to handle something. For instance, I'm going to deal with a situation in my home, in this church, in my relationship, anything. If I'm dealing with someone that I'm dealing with and it's ignorance to them and they don't understand, well, that's going to affect the way I talk to them. Now, if there's somebody that knows what I've been saying, a child knows what we've been teaching them, and they try to pull that part, well, I just didn't know. Now, wait a minute now. That's not ignorance, that's just somebody trying to rebel. So when someone tries to rebel, that's a different story than dealing with someone that is not understanding. It's important we understand when we deal with that at home. Sometimes we think a child, well he knows it. He might not. So we need to have wisdom to make sure they understand. And they don't even know, wow, that's been a muscle here, taking the time to train them, or to teach them, or to tell them. What to do, how to talk, how to deal with situations. It's important. What to do, how to, for instance, there's times that you gotta get stern. Well, when is that time? There's times you gotta deal with something that you don't wanna deal with. Well, when do you do that? How do you handle it? You know, you're going to deal with some people more stern that should know better than someone that doesn't know better. You say, well, how do you get that? Well, that comes from wisdom. For instance, I should be able to talk to one of my deacons a little stronger than I'm going to talk to somebody that just walks in the door. I should be able to expect people to follow the rules around here that knows the rules, then we have to keep telling the rules. So there's a way to do things, but you have to understand, is it ignorance? Or is it just rebellion? Now that's going to help us in our homes and families. Because that's going to help us to determine what to do, how to handle it, and it's important how we handle that. So we talk about these men of Issachar. Bible says they had understanding of the times. True wisdom is so we know what to do. It's vital for our homes. And so it's so very important that we understand that our families need wisdom in these changing days. Now quickly, let me just say, what is true wisdom? We find the enemies of wisdom. We see what fleshly wisdom is. The Bible says in verse 14, but if you have bitter envy and strife in your hearts, glory not, lie not against the truth. Notice this, this wisdom doesn't come from God. This is our wisdom. This is earthly wisdom, sensual devilish, but verse 17. But the wisdom that is from above, number one, here's what it looks like. Say, Pastor, what's real wisdom look like? What's it sound like? If someone's being wise, what are they? Well, first, the Bible says they're going to be real. They're going to be pure. They're inward being. In other words, you're going to answer this question. Why am I doing that? Why am I dealing with this? Why am I even doing this? Why am I doing this with my life? Think about that before you discipline a child, or talk to a child. Before you ever start yelling at that child, or yelling at a grandchild, or letting the child go when there needs to be more there, you ought to ask, why am I doing this? Why am I handling this? Why? What do I want out of this? It's a very important mode of management when it comes about dealing with situations. For instance, if I just want an easy way out of things, then I just turn my head and stuff. But the question of that is, if I just turn my head to stuff, am I really helping anybody? If I have problems in my home, and I just sit and say, oh, I'm not going to deal with it. Well, after a while, what's going to happen? Those problems are going to get. So I have to answer the question, why am I doing this? What am I going to do? In other words, who am I? I have to examine myself and know my heart about a situation. You think about that, people don't even think anymore. And by the way, most students in schools today are not being taught how to think, they're told what to think. They're being told what to think, and they're not being helped to think. And we got to a society where I've noticed kids just never think anymore. We used to play make-believe. when we were kids. My goodness, you try to get a kid to play make-believe today, say, look, see, even right now, they're like, what in the world are you talking about? When you play make-believe, you gotta use your mind. You gotta think, you gotta reason. I mean, we live in a day, 50 of them ain't like this. I mean, that's where we're at today, so let me say, that's not wisdom, because we now are raising the generation, can't even talk. What do we do? Well, if that's in your home, fix it. Fix it. Take the phone away. Make them talk. Turn the television off. You don't have to be mean about it. Do something in front of them. Say, hey, look, we're going to take some time here. We're going to have family time here. We're going to teach you how to communicate. You know Kaylee? She's 23. We're still helping her communicate. She calls us every day, and we talk, and she FaceTimes her mother, and I'm constantly, I'm still pushing her down. Her mother pushed her in, because you know what? It's easy for us just to kind of back up and say, oh, but no, listen, we've got to have wisdom how to communicate today. Talk, reason, think. Look here, examine yourself. You said, first, it must be pure. Why are we serving the Lord? Why are we having church? Why are we running buses? Why are we doing all these things? We've got to think. Why? Pastors are popular? No, it's not popular to run a bus. What is the motive? Think about it. Before we just launch out and do something, before we deal with the family issue, first wisdom, someone that has wisdom is going to stop and say, wait a minute, why? Is it real? Is it right? Is it pure? Or is there ulterior motives behind it? See, most families operate with that in mind. If I do this, I'll get this. How about you just be pure and do it because it's right? How about we just do it because we love Jesus? How about we raise our children and our grandchildren and not make them accountable to me or to Laura? How about we make them accountable to the Lord Jesus? Because the mom and dad are no longer around, they don't, look, if we make us the goal, what happens to mom and dad at all? I'm gonna tell you what's gonna happen. If we make them accountable to us, they're no longer gonna do what they should do. But if you make them accountable to Jesus, he's always the goal. So pure wisdom, fingers out the motive. Why? Real. Teenagers, look at it. Don't just do something because somebody tells you. Think about it. self-examined person that wisdom that knows what to do in this day. First, they're pure. If I was to ask you, how many of y'all think y'all know my heart? If I was to ask you tonight, how many of you know me well enough to think you know my heart? How many of you think you know my heart? Would you raise your hand? You know what I think? You know what I desire? As a pastor, if you've been here nine years, y'all know it's innate change. That's what I'm talking about. Pureness, motives matter. I gotta keep the motive right. We gotta keep the motive right. Look here, it's not that I want... If somebody wants that, you can tell that real fast. And by the way, I wanna say this. Motives doesn't matter what role you have. Can I help everybody here? I gotta tell you guys a little lesson. I about had a shouting, slobbering fit yesterday. I got to think about that next time I preach on Sunday night, bringing people to Jesus Christ. Chance got to say something more. I got to think about this. Brother Lexington comes down here, I don't know, on a weekly basis, and he works on these vans, and he does it out of his heart, and he keeps these vans and these buses running, and hardly anybody knows he does it. But I thought about this yesterday, brother. to work and get the vanity that's not caught. What a brilliant lesson. Nobody knows hardly brilliant lesson people work in these vanities. But just think of this. We're talking about bringing people to Jesus. He brought chance to Jesus. And he brought chance, the little boy that got saved Sunday. He helped bring them to Jesus, and he don't even get up here to speak. So that's why I inspire somebody that thinks they have to have a role. If everybody had a role that they couldn't, that they had to seek, there wouldn't be no man working over here on the bank. See, every role in the church is important. Motives matter. Every role. Look at me, there's no small role. See, if you have the right motives, it ain't gonna matter what role you have, you're gonna fill your role to the best of your ability because you know why you're filling that role. You are pure in your motives. You're not trying to get seen. You're not trying to be. You're just going for the Lord. Listen to me. Wisdom shows up like that. It's first pure. I don't believe any family here tonight would be hurt if they would just let wisdom take hold of their life and we all be pure and real and find out and know why we're doing what we're doing. Is it for the love of the Lord? Are we doing it to help others? Are we helping others to grow? Hey, are we making people accountable to Jesus or are we making them accountable to us? Look, motives matter. So first, this wisdom is pure. Number two, quickly, I want you to notice this, it's peaceable. That's an interesting word. To make peace. Those who are truly wise do what they can, listen to me now, to make peace. A person that is constantly wanting to make it up to people over little, minor, negative, petty stuff, look at me. You're not wise. Some of that's immaturity, you know. When I was young in the ministry, a lot of stuff that really wasn't a big deal, I made a big deal. But as years go by with the current outlaw and some of that silly stuff that I got all the world over, hurt people over, really didn't matter. It was a preference of mine or it was something. Now again, let me just state, let me state, the Bible never changes. The Bible is our standard. If it's a biblical principle, we're not gonna move it, but we're not just gonna move it because Dr. Sow is so steady. It might not work here, and if it doesn't violate a biblical principle, look at it. Sorry, I'm not trying to offend you or not offend you, but I'm gonna tell you right now, we've got to make peace. I'm not going to be a part of a nitpicking church. It's going to nitpick everything they do. Hey, that's wisdom. Now you think about that in your home. Y'all gonna have some long nights if somebody don't get some wisdom. Because you know what most couples will do? They'll fight until somebody gets whooped. You know what's the problem with all of us? We all want to be winners. And most of the fights in the arguments that You know why it would have stopped if someone would just humble up, have her lips. You know what I mean? We're fighting over your right, I'm wrong, I love you. We will stop this, we don't have time for it. By the way, can I have a run in a second? It's getting dark, and not just physically dark, it's getting dark outside. Time's rolling through, close to the end. I can tell you, I'd be ashamed of some of the stuff that Laura and I have wasted our time on. And the truth's known, and every family here will know. I tell you right now, see, we have this idea of who a spiritual person is. You know what I tell them? I tell them, get in the Bible. Most people are not going to say, oh, pastor, you need to make peace. Oh, go ahead, pastor, keep scrapping it out. No, wait a minute now. God's word says, wisdom that is from above is first pure, but then it's peaceable. We make peace. Think about it. Be applicable to our family. And this is applicable to our family. in our church and society. Look at me. True wisdom makes men peaceable, not quarrelsome. Stirred up things, not wise. God helped me to have wisdom to desire peace. I want to be peaceable. Then quickly, I'm just going to touch on this a minute. It kind of goes hand in hand. But the next word, and see, God always does things in order. Gentle. Not an extremist. I wrote it down just like this. Not being furious about opinions urging our own beyond the line. You know what is an unwise person? Everybody has different preferences. I don't know if this is your sort of vigilance tonight, but I like you, man. I appreciate it. But I don't know what he wrote in here tonight, but I'm getting ready to say it. I drove in here with a toy oven. You might like something else. My wife drove in here with a Nissan. But I drove in here with a crap toy oven. Brother Cosby, I've been around people that want to get upset and mad because I'm driving with their car. Can I help everybody understand that? That's foolish. I know some people who likes two scoops of coffee in their coffee, and some likes four. But you know what? If you come to my house, I'm going to ask you, how do you like your coffee? You like it strong, or you like it light? And you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to make it the way you like it. Amen. You go to some people's house and say, look, I'm going to go get some stuff. I don't make that call. I don't care how you do it. I don't make that call. The reason for it is the way I do it's right and the way you do it's wrong. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Now maybe the way we give the gospel might be right or wrong, but call me. Don't know what I'm talking about. That silly stuff gets in on stuff with people in church, and the next thing you know, they're not even gentle anymore. You're scared to death to tell anybody, and then the next thing you know, they're going to blow up. They're all here right now. It's not the way I do it. What? Don't make it wrong. A wise man don't do that. Now, he tries to help people if something's wrong. But look, you know what? Hey, I've seen some people look here. It drives me crazy. Y'all ever seen anybody shoot a gun and they're trying to do it like this? Well, I just figured something. I ain't shot that much. But if they shoot a high-powered rifle like that, they'll only do it once. Because I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. The recoil of that gun will come back, and I'm seeing, you know, I have that hole of that scope on the side of her eye. If you're right out, you shoot like this. Then when the recoil of that gun comes back, you keep it in your face. But you know, and I was with some guy, and I said, don't tell me how to do it. And I was like, oh, this is going to be painful. I couldn't even look. Two weeks, you got a red flag around your thigh. But son, look here, this word, gentle, notice, and I wrote a lot of things in there and I can't do them all, we'll do them later, but I want, true wisdom looks like this, gentle. Not an extremist, not being furious about opinions, urging our own beyond the line, furious with one that opposes ours, not being rude and overbearing in our talk or in our actions, harsh and a cruel temper is not of God, Not forming opinions and allowing assumptions to change the way we treat somebody. True gentleness from God, wisdom, will help us to bear and to forbear. And when we felt like we've bared enough, bare it again. Give them more grace. Forgive them again. Gentle. Readily to forgive. Not ready to cut somebody, jerk the rope. But gentle is someone that's ready to forgive. Do not bear hard upon someone because of their failure. That's not being gentle. I love this. It's described as a person who knows how to forgive when strict justice gives him a perfect right to condemn them. Oh, I'm thankful Jesus was gentle. When he had every right to condemn me, he forgave me. Sometimes I hear in the family, I'm here right now, I have every right to give it up. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, We act like someone did something wrong, like we did or anything wrong. Look, I think we're all sinners. If someone was gentle, look at me now, they're ready to give. Even so, I'd pay right now, I wouldn't take that. I'd pay right now, I wouldn't take that. I'd pay right now, I wouldn't take that. I'd pay right now, I wouldn't put up with that. But wait a minute, I'm thankful Jesus was gentle with us. So, who's approval do y'all want? Do we want his or do we want mine? Are we supposed to be like Dr. So-and-so or are we supposed to be like Jesus? Y'all tell me. Show you what is. With head bowed and eyes closed, I'm just gonna ask you, would you just do this? And we won't give the altar call tonight as far as letting the kids go to their bus here in just a minute, but I want you to do business with God at your seat. Would you do that tonight? How many would be honest tonight and say, I'm gonna examine my life. I'm gonna let the Lord search me tonight. And I want God to help me to desire those three qualities to allow his wisdom to be in my life so I know how to act, react, how to deal with something with wisdom, how not to deal with something with wisdom, when to deal with it, and know what to do in these changing days. Say, well, Pastor, God spoke to me tonight, and it's not for me, but you say, hey, God spoke to me tonight. Would you raise your hand? You're not ashamed of that, mine's up. Let's live right there, let's ask God to help us. Would you pray as we close tonight, ask the Lord to help you? If you're here tonight and you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, I tell you right now, he loves you, he died for you, he will save you tonight. You come and talk to us. We'll take the precious word of God and show you from the Bible. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for tonight. We thank you for your word. Lord, I'm thankful that it's timeless. Lord, I pray tonight you'll give us wisdom. Oh, God, we need wisdom. And Lord, I'm thankful it's a gift of you. You told us that if we'll ask you that you'll give it to us. Lord, we like it. I pray you'll help us first in our inward man, in our motive, in being real, being pure. Help us there, God. Help us to be self-examining, allowing you to search our life, And then, Lord, true wisdom looks like this. It's peaceable and it's gentle. Help us, God. Help us to have this true wisdom from above. We ask it in the precious name of the Lord Jesus and all God's people say it.