What type of wisdom do you have? Recently, the vehicle that my wife drives had a problem. The problem was that the air was not flowing through the vents, as it should. It was only coming through the defrost vent, up on the windshield.

You could turn the hot and cold dial, it would turn hot and cold. You could turn the vent reflector dial, and cause the air conditioning to come on, and cause the defrost to come on, but it would only blow out the vent onto the windshield. It did not come through the dash vent, and it did not come out on the floor vent.

Now, I am not very wise, when it comes to things like that, but I thought I would try to tackle the problem. So, I looked things up in a book, and I looked things up on the Internet, and discovered it was a little too much too handle myself. Plus, the instructions said that if you do something wrong, you might deploy the airbags! J

And that would cost a lot of money to fix.

Again, I am not very wise, when it comes to things like that. But, I know of someone who is wiser than me.

So, I went and talked to him. He told me to come the next day, and he would take a peek at it. Within five minutes, he concluded that it was not a problem inside in the vehicle. He concluded that is was not a problem under the vehicle. He opened the hood, and said, "Here is your problem, right here."

He reached in and there was a hose that had been severed, because of some heat from the engine. A vacuum tube had been severed, that controls where the air is deflected.

He said to me, "Here is what you need to do. You need to get a tube to repair this."

He sent me on my way, and no kidding, it cost me 13 cents, including tax, to fix the problem. 13 cents, including tax!

Again I am not very wise, when it comes to vehicles. But, I know somebody who is wiser than I, and he was able to solve the problem. If it would have been left to me, I probably would have caused more damage than good, maybe even deploying those air bags! J

What kind of wisdom do you have, when it comes to decisions you need to make.

Let's look at some examples in scripture of people who received Godly wisdom, and yet through selfish ambition, they destroyed that worldly wisdom.

The first example of this is King Saul. God, in His wisdom, chose Saul to be the king of Israel. But there were times, during Saul's kingship, when he added selfish ambition to that Godly wisdom that he had received. One time, Samuel was going to come and offer a sacrifice, before Saul went into battle. Samuel didn't come at the appointed time, so Saul made a sacrifice to God. That was not his job. He was the king, not the priest. His selfish ambition led to their defeat in that battle.

Another example is when Saul was envious, as people were singing praises to King David saying, "Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands." Saul's selfish ambition led to the destruction of that Godly wisdom that he had received. That was not a very good thing for the whole kingdom of Israel.

Another example is Hezekiah, another king in Judah, who did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He had received wisdom from God. And yet, when people came from Babylon, he opened up the store houses. He showed them all of the treasuries in Israel. Selfish ambition led to that. What happened? Years later, the Israelites were carried off into captivity, in Babylon.

Adding selfish ambition to Godly wisdom, destroys that wisdom that God has given to us. It is like adding lemon juice to milk. You destroy it, because you curdle it.

Today we see how we have destroyed Godly wisdom with our selfish ambition. We see how easy it is for us to destroy that wisdom that God has given to us.

For example, God has given me wisdom to be a pastor. But, if in my selfish ambition I say, "I want my church to be bigger and better than my brother-in-law's, in Florida," (he is at our ELS church in Naples) I have destroyed that Godly wisdom with selfish ambition.

If God has given you wisdom to start and own your own business, but you burn bridges along the way, you step on people's heads to get to the top, you destroy that wisdom that God has given you, because of your envy and selfishness.

For those of you who are parents, God has given you wisdom to raise your children. But, if you want your children to be successful at the expense of bringing them up in the training and instruction of the LORD, you have destroyed that wisdom that God has given to you with your selfish ambition.

There were once two boys who were arguing over the inheritance that their dad had left, after their dad had died. Their arguing over that inheritance landed them in court for a judge to decide how the inheritance should be split. The judge looked at the oldest son, and said, "You can divide the inheritance any way that you want to."

I am sure that selfish ambition was starting to take hold in the oldest son's mind.

But then, the judge looked at the younger son and said, "You get first choice."

How do you think that oldest son divided the inheritance? He probably divided it right down the middle. He set aside his selfish ambition.

Listen to what our text says about envy and selfish ambition. "For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice…What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."

What kind of wisdom do you have in life?

Somebody once put it this way,

"Real wisdom

is knowing who we are,

and who God is."

It is realizing that we are sinners, who deserve to be condemned for all eternity. And, it is realizing that God, in His grace, does not want to cast us away, but by His mercy, He wants to save us, for Christ's sake.

That is real wisdom, because that is Godly wisdom.

There are many examples in scripture of Godly wisdom. At first appearance, it seems pretty foolish, but in the end it is God working for the good of his people.

Take Joseph, for example. Joseph was sold into slavery, when he was seventeen years old. (At first glance it looks pretty foolish.) And yet, God brought Joseph down to Egypt, and when a famine came to Israel, Joseph was able to save Israel, (including Judah, though which the line of the Savior was to come). Seems foolish at first, but God in his wisdom saved his people through Joseph.

God's wisdom gave beauty to Esther, which attracted a heathen king. Esther went to beauty school for a whole year, before she could appear before the king. This king wanted to kill the Children of Israel, but Esther, the queen, was able to approach her husband the king, and plead for their mercy. She saved them, through her beauty. Seems foolish at first, but God in his wisdom saved his people through Esther.

Through His wisdom, God caused Daniel to be thrown into a den of lions. It seems pretty foolish at first glance. And yet, God caused the mouths of the lions to be closed. After Daniel came out of the lion's den, the king made a decree that only the God of Daniel could be worshiped. Daniel was high in power in Babylon, and was able to send the Children of Israel back to the land that God had given to them. Seems foolish at first, but God in his wisdom preserved his people through Daniel.

And so what Paul says is true,

"Oh the depths of the riches and wisdom of God!

How unsearchable His judgment

and His paths

beyond tracing out!"

➢ It is God, in His infinite wisdom, who had a baby born of a virgin.

➢ It is God, in His infinite wisdom, who had that baby grow up to be a man, go to a cross to suffer and die.

➢ It is God, in His infinite wisdom, who raised that man from the dead, three days later.

What appears to be foolish, in the eyes of the world, is very wise, because through Jesus' birth, His life, His death, and His resurrection, God has forgiven you of all of your sin. That is God's wisdom.

God gives His wisdom to you,

How does that play out in your lives? Look at verses 17 and 18, at the end of chapter three, and see how that wisdom is to play out in our lives. James says, "The wisdom that comes from Heaven, (that is the Godly wisdom that he is talking about) is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace, raise a harvest of righteousness."

✔ And so, that means, as a Christian having received Godly wisdom, when someone cuts you off in traffic, on the freeway, it means you do not yell a blue streak.

✔ As a Christian student, that means you don't have to put other students down, just to stay in the good graces of your peers.

✔ As a Christian employee, that means you don't talk under your breath, as your boss gives you a job to do.

✔ As Christian siblings, that means you don't fight over whose turn it is to clear the table, or whose turn it is to pick up the living room.

Having received God’s wisdom, we carry on living our life in a God pleasing way.

I am not very wise, when it comes to repairing things that go wrong on vehicles. I could cause more damage than good, maybe even setting off one of those air bag sensors, causing thousands of dollars of damage (it costs a lot to repack an airbag). But, I know someone who is wiser than I. And, for 13 cents, for 13 cents, he showed me what to do and the problem was repaired.

God in His wisdom,

sent Jesus, as a baby.

God in His wisdom,

had Jesus go to the cross,

suffer and die,

to pay for our sin.

God in His wisdom,

raised Jesus from the dead,

to insure that we have

the gift of eternal life in Heaven!

What kind of wisdom do you have?

We have received God's wisdom, let’s not spoil it through our envy and selfish ambition. May we take God's wisdom and sow it in peace, in order to raise a harvest of righteousness, for Christ's sake.

Amen.