OUTLINE:

Mt 16:26
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Wisdom
If you’re not with God, you’re against Him (Mt 12:30) - there is no neutrality. If you’re against Him, your life is vapid, your purposes fleeting, and your faith/ hope is in vain. “All is vanity” (Ecc 1:2).

“the sum” of God’s Thoughts
This is godly wisdom. The more knowledge we have, the larger the sum. We gain knowledge by studying the Word of God. Speculation is tantamount to invention, which is evil.

Context and Purpose
Godly wisdom gives your life context. When you discover this context for yourself, you realize that God has a purpose for you - you have a joy set before you, regardless of circumstances, which is a tremendous blessing. (Ref: 1Co 9:24-27; Php 4:4-13)

“by his own desire”
DON'T blame others for YOUR sins!!! Don't say, "Oh, that person tempted me and I was totally helpless." Fact: temptation only exists because YOU are temptable (e.g., "by your own desire”). You sin because you WANT to!

“brings forth death”
The vector of sin is always death, regardless of the sense in which we ponder it. For example, sin in the Garden resulted in spiritual and physical death, sin for a believer can result in physical death, and sin for a believer can result in degradation of fellowship with God (e.g., experience the throes of spiritual death).

The Goal of Sin
It is to take you away from the Word of Truth. Anything/anyone that does that to you ought to be considered a “friend” of sin. Sin is powerless for as long as you’re steadfast in the faith. (1Co 16:13; 2Co 1:24; Gal 5:1; Eph 6:13)

Wisdom...
Do yourself a favor and avoid the GUARANTEED suffering that comes with sin by avoiding the cause of it in the first place, namely sin. (Ref. Jas 1:15)

Gal 5:1
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Eph 6:13
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

The Full Armor of God
Sin cannot seduce us if we’re so in love with Jesus Christ that no one and no thing can tempt us away from Him!

Temptation
Sin tempts us to focus on US, not others - that is, to love ourselves more than others. This is opposite of what the Bible teaches us.

Privileges
You are not entitled to anything unless God decides to give it to you.

The Crucible
Faith must be tested for it to be consummated. In other words, while God always knows the purity of our faith, we must have it “tested by fire” (ala 1Pe 1:7) in order to understand its purity for ourselves.

The Result of Testing By Fire
The value of being tested by fire in the crucible is very much about confession. God already knows. We need to have things pointed out to us!

The Proof of Humility
We must willingly go into the crucible to be tested by fire. It’s never enough to say, “God knows the truth.” We must understand the truth about ourselves fully and confess it to God in order to be truly delivered from whatever impurities still remain in us.