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Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the Internet. Your regular prayers and month… and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of James, the book of James. You say, we’re going to be teaching on the book of games today? No. Got a few verses you want to share with you. I have a little grandson. His name is Jordan. And Jordan, he likes to play, likes to cut up. And we’ll get to play it and I’ll say, here comes the boogeyman, run for your life. You know, there’s somebody’s going to get you run for your life.

Here I come, run for your life. So the title of my sermon today is called run for your life Run for you like do you realize somebody’s trying to catch you? You like somebody trying to do you in? Well, I think you know that But I want to give you some things that I believe that will help you to understand the difference between the Divine perspective and the human perspective the wisdom of God versus the wisdom of man. If you don’t appreciate the difference, you’re not going to take and go after the wisdom of God the way you should.

In the book of James, I want you to look there in verse 13. Chapter 3, James chapter 3 verse 13, who is a wise man and in dude with knowledge among you? Now how did you get to to be a wise man. Well, it says in chapter one, in verse two, my brother in Canada’ll joy when you fall in the divers temptations, knowing this that the trying of your faith work at patience and let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfectly mature in entire complete wanting nothing.

If any of you like wisdom, let him ask of God. So that’s how you got to be a wise man. Well, what did you do? Well, when you had problems, you sought the Lord. You sought the word of God. And so God gave you wisdom. So now you’re a wise man. But look what he says back there in chapter three. He says, who is a wise man among you and then do with knowledge? Let him show out of a good conversation that word is behavior out of a good behavior, his works with meekness of wisdom.

So God says, if you are a wise man, prove it, show it. Did you realize that your wisdom is revealed by the quality of the decisions that you make? Have you ever made any dumb decisions? You made three dumb decisions in your wife, think you’re dumb. You make three wise decisions and you’ll make your think you’re smart. So sure you can find a date when you can make three wise ones in a row. They got to be in a row though to have any value.

So the man is supposed to reveal his wisdom and his wife supposed to safely trust in her husband. So we’re supposed to have this wisdom but look what he says here in verse 14 but if if if you have bitterness bitter in being and strife in your heart glory not lie not against the truth in verse 15 this wisdom descend it not from above but is earthly sensual devilish so there is the wisdom of the world and look in verse 16 There’s results of the wisdom of this world for where in being and strike is, there is confusion and every evil work.

So all the evil works is because of the wisdom of the world. You got to see how it works together. Now look in verse 17 and you ought to underline this word, but the wisdom. That is from above. So there’s the wisdom of the world. There’s the wisdom from above. And there is a different results from the wisdom of God. Verse 17, but the wisdom that is from above is for pure, peaceful, gentle, easy to be entreated. That means pleaded for.

Full of mercy, good fruits without partiality, without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteous, is sown in peace of them that make peace. Now let me ask you a question. There’s the wisdom of the world and there’s the wisdom of God. Look at your life. What are you going through? Is it filled with earthly, sensual, devilish things, envy and strife, confusion, every evil work? Or do you have the peace of God and the joy, the happiness, the fruits of righteousness?

Remember, your actions are a byproduct of the way that you think. And how you think reveals your wisdom. So God says that He wants to teach us His Word so that we’ll know His way and His will. So that’s why you need to know that there is a difference between the wisdom of man, the wisdom of God. God says, your ways are not my ways, your thoughts are not my thoughts. So you’re not as wise as God. And humility is recognizing that fact and submitting yourself to the wisdom of God.

That means if you believe he is so much smarter and wiser than you, then you want to listen to him because you don’t want to go through life making all these dumb, stupid, idiotic decisions and suffering the consequences of them. Do you? Now take your Bible and turn all the way over there to the book of Proverbs, the book of Proverbs, the book of Proverbs and chapter one.

Remember God wants us to study His word and listen to His counseling because there’s so much involved in life that the results are devastating if you don’t listen to Him. In other words, as it run for your life, in other words, realize that your life is something that’s worth something, it’s about you. and the quality of your decisions makes a difference in what you do. So therefore you need the wisdom of God. So here in the book of Proverbs and chapter one, I want you to look there in verse five, a wise man will hear, will increase learning and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise councils.”

Now look over there in verse 19. So are the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain, which take it the way that life of the owners thereof, that’s the human wisdom. But look at the next verse. Wisdom, cryeth without. She uttered her voice in the street. She cryeth to the chief place of concord. And the openings of the gate in the city she uttered her words and how long you naive want our simple ones. We love simplicity and the scourners delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge.

Now not just knowledge of the world but they hate godly knowledge godly counseling. Did you know now in my library I’ve got no thousand books. I probably got rid of over a thousand books. It’s about three years ago. I just gave my way. I still got so many books. All these books trying to explain this one book, thousands of books trying to say what God meant.

Did you know you can read books about the Bible and never read the Bible? You’d be surprised how many of you probably sit in right here. You’ll have all kind of books. CDs and DVDs and all kinds of stuff, but you don’t read the Bible. You read what somebody says about the Bible, but you don’t read and study the Bible. There is an advantage in studying this book. And so God says, look, you’re supposed to learn the word of God from a child.

As he says in Timothy, from this childhood, thou hast learned the holy scriptures that are able to make the wise and the salvation. And the word of God is… Inspired of God, God breathed and is able to make a man wise. So as a child of God, you need to use the language of the King. He’s the King and you’re the child of the King. You need to know his word. You learn to think the way God wants you to think.

It can change your life. Now some people learn more than others and some people apply more than others. That’s between you and God. I want you to know that there is a difference and your human wisdom can’t touch the milk of God. The greatest intellectual giant in this world can’t touch the milk of the word of God. Not the meat, can’t touch the milk. So here in Proverbs he says, now you’re going to have your day. Every day is not a beautiful day.

Every day is not wonderful. Every day is got something, sometimes it seemed like everything goes wrong. Sometimes I get up and it seems like man, everything just flows and I get a thousand things done. Man, I feel like the end of the day, man, I really got a lot of things done. And another day I’ll work just as hard, just as fear, and seem like I didn’t get a thing done. Like I was being gone in circles and didn’t get a thing done.

What God says is, and I want you to see this, Look there in verse 23. Turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you because I have called, now listen, he says, because I called, you’re refused. I stretched out my hand, no man regarded. And I don’t have time for God, I don’t have time to read the Bible, I don’t have time to pray, I don’t have time to go to church, I don’t have time.

Who’s in charge of time? God. Did you know that God gave you time and gave you enough time for him? And then you tell the one that gave you time, I don’t have time. Did you know that God can take away your time? And if he takes away your time, he takes away your life. Run for your life. Learn to run the race that God has called you to do. do. Learn the thing God wants you to know. Why do we study the Bible so that we can know what God wants us to know?

Well, why? So that I can do what God wants me to do. What? So that I can know the will of God. Why so I can have peace and joy and happen to them. See, it all comes back to the book. The word of God is so important. Do you know there’s a lot of churches today and there are people who go to church and they won’t even open the Bible. They don’t need it. I hope that everybody in here brought a Bible with them.

How many of you got a Bible? Let me see your hand. Well, I want to see the Bible. I want to see the Bible. Raise your Bible. Look at that. That’s awesome. That is fantastic. God bless you. I’m going to give you three Hail Marys and two Hail Moses. And look at verse 24 now, he says, I called, you refused. I stretched shut my hand, you didn’t regard. In verse 25, But you have said it not or counted it as nothing All of my counsel and would none of my review wouldn’t listen to me.

You see the word of God is Truth from the greatest counselor of all time You see you don’t need to go to this council back council back council that council again, but you got the book This is counseling. Did you know whenever you come to church on Sunday morning? I’m counseling you I’m trying to teach you how to how to live life What to do, what not to do. I’m trying to teach you how to get control of your mind.

How to think. How to do things you’re supposed to do. How to be obedient. Did you know that there’s people come to church and they will not listen to what I’m saying? I used to always have these people that want to come to me and they won’t get married. And then I’ll counsel them and they won’t listen to me. They go get married anyway. Look at verse 26. He says, now, I also will laugh at your calamity. And I will mock when your fear come.

In other words, it’s coming. The calamity that produces the fear is on its way. In other words, your problems are on the way. But you would listen to me. And then you’re going to wind up crying out and it’s too late for that immediate time. Because have you ever made a mad dad you’re not trying to answer so i can find the will of god where’s it at what is it i can’t find anything when should you have prepared before the problem Don’t wait till there is a problem.

Prepare ahead of time. In other words, when things seem like it going nice and peaceful and wonderful, that’s when you better be steady because you know calamities on its way. Problems are on the way. But you’re going to study the Word of God in advance so they can help you to be wise so you can handle it when it does come. And problems are coming. And look what he says in verse 27. And when your fear come as desolation and your destruction come at, as a whirlwind when distress and anguish come at the Bunyan.

Wait a minute, I thought if God loved me, he wouldn’t let that happen to me. You live in this world, in a sinful world, and people are going to sin against you. And days are going to go wrong. Did you know if it wasn’t for problems, not everybody in here would have a job. Everybody has a job for the simple reason somebody else has a problem. You’re trying to help solve somebody’s problem. I don’t know what it is. It’s somebody got a problem and you are the solution.

We call it jobs. So what are we going to do? Verse 28, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me and they that hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord. They would none of my counsel, they wouldn’t listen to me. Therefore in verse 31, shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. Now the word your day is coming.

You see God’s still in charge, just because you don’t serve him, he’s still in charge. He’s still the boss. See what you trust Christ is you’re saying that he is the Lord. That’s who he is. And just because people rebel against him doesn’t mean they kicked him off the throne. He still has the power and he’s still working his will. And God says, okay, if you listen to me, I can bless you. You don’t want to listen tell me I’m gonna beat the tar out of you and God got laws that are set in effect and there’s a price to pay.

Now look what he says in chapter 2 and verse 2 he says so that thou incline thy ear unto wisdom and apply thy heart to understanding and verse 4 if thou seeketh her as silver and search it for her as for hid treasures then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord. In the words in all of by getting, get understanding. See, you can read the Bible, memorize the verses and not understand a thing of the Word of God.

Do you meditate on it? Do you really want to understand the book? Then you have to live the book. You have to apply the book. You have to seek the Lord, get His knowledge from the book. And wisdom is the application of this biblical, divine knowledge to experiences in life. That’s how you get to be a wiser person than you used to be. And God wants to transform your life by the renewing of your mind. And so whenever you don’t have time to listen to the counseling of God or the reproof of God, it’s gonna cost you somewhere down the line.

Knowledge is power. A lot of Christians have no power, because they to have no knowledge. And knowledge is really knowing what it says. I see you may know Christ as your Savior, but like the Apostle Paul says in Philippians in chapter three, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection. But that’s talking about after you’re saved, knowing Him. And you read the book of 1 John, you may know Him as your Savior, but do you know God?

He says, if you know me, then you’ll love me. And if you love me, then you’ll serve me. But see, you may know Him as your Savior, but you don’t really know the Lord. not close to you, not close to Him. And there’s no substitute for it. You can be close to people. You can be close to the preacher, but there’s no advantages there. You need to get close to the Lord. He’ll never leave you and He’ll never forsake you, but you need to know Him.

Know what He will and will not do what He likes and doesn’t like. You become so sensitive to Him. See, right now, you can be hard and cold and callous and you don’t care what God thinks, how He feels about anything. And yet he’s the one that holds your very life in his hands. He can just cause that heart of yours just to stop working. Just one little beat. One step between me and that. So quick. Now, I want you to look there in verse five.

Look there in chapter three and verse five. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart lean not until thine own understanding. In the word don’t trust yourself. In all by ways acknowledge him. He shot the wreck. And we always forget the first part of verse 7, but look at verse 7. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord depart from evil. To fear God means to shun evil. If you don’t shun evil, it’s because you don’t fear God.

And that’s mocking God when you mocks in. I can do it and nothing will happen. I can sin. I can get away with it. No, you can’t. Do you think that you can mock God live how you please and get away with it? No, you can’t. There’s a price to pay. Now look in verse 13. He says, happy is the man that finds the wisdom and the man that get it understanding. talking about the wisdom of God. We’re to search for the wisdom of God like you was searched for treasure or search for gold.

If you had the wisdom of God over here in a package and you had all the silver and gold over here at about $1,100 an hour, which one would you choose? I want the gold. With gold I can get whatever I want. Now God says with wisdom you can get what you want. Wisdom is worth more than all the wealth in the world, the wisdom of God. Because see this life is temporary and you’re going to leave all that goal here.

It’s only temporary. You are forever. Somebody said earth is like a stage and we’re just performing on this stage. Getting prepared for eternity. We’re just preparing for eternity. And what you have for eternity depends on what you do here. So in verse 15, I want you to look in verse 15. Some of these verses are good. You ought to unwind these verses. I wouldn’t read them, I didn’t think they were important, of course. She taught me wisdom is more precious than rubies and all the things that can’t desire, Now, Kestis are not to be compared unto her.

Why? Because in her hands, in verse 16, is length of days is in her right hand. And in her left hand, riches and honors, she can give you everything you want. Seek wisdom and wisdom to get you whatever you need. Her ways, a ways of pleasantness and all her past are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, tree of life, run for life. And happy is everyone that repainted her. The Lord by wisdom has founded the earth.

So he says there in verse seven or chapter four, wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore get wisdom and with all by getting, get understand, understand God. Understand how God works. Understand what life is all about. Understand the purpose of your life understanding What the will of God is? That’s greater than oh, yeah, you can make money and a lot of people know how to make a living But they don’t know how to live This life is all you’re gonna get You get one trip through no reruns no instant replays one trip through Live now the way you’ll wish you had lived a hundred years from now Now, because you don’t want to look back with the regret, do now the things that God wants you to do.

Now, all this is good and it’s very important, but a wisdom is so important to get and to keep. Look down there at verse 22 of chapter 4, for they are life unto those that find them, to all their flesh. Keep thy heart without diligence for out of it or the issues of life. Concerning the wisdom of God, the wisdom of God is divine wisdom. Is there anybody smarter than God? Has more wisdom than God? No. There is no one like the Lord.

And that is why it is so important to learn about God and what God wants. He’s the one that designed all this life for us. Now, there’s a couple verses I want to read to you, but don’t take them the wrong way. I didn’t write them, but they’re right here. So that you understand the importance of it. Look there in verse 18 of chapter 5, Let thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving, hind, and pleasant row.

Let her breast satisfy thee at all times and be thou ravished always with her love. And why will thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman and embrace the bosom of a stranger, for the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings? His only knickwities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holding with the courts of his sin. He shall die without instruction, and in the greatest of his folly he shall go astray.

So there’s two women mentioned here in these verses. That wife that God wants you to have, that wife that you’re supposed to be faithful to, and then the strange woman. Now take your Bible and turn there to the seventh chapter. 7th chapter of Proverbs. And understand that now Solomon is going to use two women to explain the wisdom of God versus the wisdom of man, the wisdom of the world. And what better way and what better person than Solomon?

He probably knew as much about women as anybody ever lived. I used to wonder if he was so wise, why did he marry 700 wives and 300 porcupines? Okay, concubines. Seven hundred wives! One is enough, but seven hundred. Maybe that’s why he was so wise. He had all those counselors. But here in Proverbs in chapter 7, I want you to see this, look there in verse 4. Say unto wisdom. my sister call understanding that kids woman. So he says, see wisdom is the principle thing and all by getting get understanding to know, to understand.

You get what he says. He says in verse 5, they that they may keep thee from the strange woman. Now the wisdom of God will keep you from the wisdom of the world. the wisdom of God can guard you and protect you from the lure of the wisdom of the world. You see in this world we have our body and with our body we have our eyes and we have our nose and we have our mouth and we have our ears and we have our senses so that we can see this world and there’s a lot of times we want to walk by sight and not by faith and when we walk by sight we go by what we see There’s a pretty good looking blonde bombshell wearing what they call an atomic dress 50% fall out.

And you’re talking about it’s the phase you see that can totally destroy you. You can see a beautiful house that I got to have that. I got to have this car. I got to have this much money. I got to have this. I got to have and you fall in love with the world. And the world is going to all burn up someday. And when you fall in love with the world, you spin your whole life for the world.

Well that’s not why God put you here. Those things come and go, get what you need, but don’t love any of it. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Our two of these teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bible line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the Click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening.

Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon. And just keep looking up.