True Wisdom, Part 2James 4:4-10

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True Wisdom, Part 2James 4:4-10

What is wisdom?① Discernment

ability to see what’s best② Skill

ability to master every area of life③ Pattern of success

consistent use of discernment & skill

Review 3:13-4:3

Counterfeit wisdom• jealousy, selfish ambition, pleasure-seeking• fosters conflict & evil

True wisdom• pure, peaceful, merciful, loyal, true• fosters peace & righteousness

Review 3:13-4:3

Our Fundamental Problem4:4-5

Idolatry = adultery

Our fundamental problem

Jeremiah 3:20 “Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the Lord.”

Idolatry = adultery

Our fundamental problem

Ezekiel 16:32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!

Our fundamental problem

Exodus 20:3–5 “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God...”

Idolatry = adulteryFriendship with the world = idolatry

“double-minded” (v8) – love God AND the world

Our fundamental problem

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Whenever we...embrace the world’s values live for the world’s pleasures & possessions

...then we are friends with the world......and therefore idolaters......and therefore adulteresses!!

Our fundamental problem

God’s Grand Solution4:6-10

God gives “greater grace”...strength to be faithful to God

God’s grand solution

God gives “greater grace”......to those who humble themselves

God’s grand solution

God’s grand solution

Isaiah 66:1–2Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

God gives “greater grace”......to those who humble themselves

① Submitattitude of respect towards authority that leads to willing obediencerequires us to resist Satan

God’s grand solution

God gives “greater grace”......to those who humble themselves

① Submit② Repent

Draw near – return to GodCleanse & purify – stop sinningBe miserable, mourn, weep – grieve

God’s grand solution

God gives “greater grace”......to those who humble themselves

① Submit② Repent

God’s grand solution