How Wise Are We Really?

Rev. Dr. Buford Edwards II
An Evening With James  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Wisdom comes from God above and selfish ambition and fighting from sin and the flesh. We must choose whether we are going to chase after God or chase after the flesh.

Notes
Transcript

Introduction

Good morning and welcome!
As always it is an honor to bring the Word to you today!
Over the past couple of weeks, the Lord has been leading me to the Book of James and some of the more intriguing details of James’ writings.
And for those who are not very familiar with James, he was an interesting person in his own right.
James was the 1/2 brother of Jesus and what is most interesting is that during Jesus’ ministry on earth, James actually was not a follower.
In fact, John 7:5 says that none of Jesus’ brothers believed He was the Messiah at first.
Which sort of makes sense if you think about it from a human perspective.
I mean to them, he was just Jesus—their brother.
They saw him grow up and was like-okay.
But for James at least, all of this changed after the Resurrection.
James, like so many others became believers and James went as far as to become an Apostle.
And from there—the rest they say is history.
And one of the biggest contributions that James made was the book that bears his name.
And what makes the Book of James so special is that it focuses on the practical application of the Gospel in the lives of the everyday believers.
He is trying to get God’s people to actually live and act like God’s people.
He tells the people that they should be pursuing a life of holiness.
And as James 2:17 puts it . . .
James 2:17
James 2:17 NRSV
So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
And what he is meaning by this that if there is no evidence—no change in our lives—then our faith really no faith at all.
And that’s really the overall focus of the book as a whole but within that there are several small nuggets of truth to be found.
One of which is what we are going to be talking about this morning.
So, if you want to follow along in your Bible or Bible app, we are going to primarily be in James 3.
And we are picking up sort of at the end of one nugget and at the beginning of another.
So to flesh it out we have to start in Chapter Three and is discussion of the fiery tongue.
And he’s not talking about the good kind of fiery tongue that we see in Acts 2.
No, we were talking about tongues that were on fire with the flames of hell raging in them.
Tongues that were out of control and tongues that did nothing but damage and ruin a person and by extension a church’s witness for Jesus Christ.
And James spends a great deal of time explaining the danger of the untamed tongue and tells them that . . .
James 3:5–10 NRSV
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.
And one of the things we need to understand is that without the Holy Spirit leading, guiding, and directing us, there is no way we can ever “tame the tongue.”
We lack within ourselves and within our flesh the ability to fully control even our own tongue.
And the reason behind that is because the way we act, when we are apart from God, is the manifestation of our fleshly nature and a departure from the holiness we are called to live.
But through God, we can overcome and rise above our nature.
But that only happens when we relinquish control to the Holy Spirit.
When we let the Holy Spirit truly transform us as Paul puts it.
But that, like any amount of Spiritual growth or even Spiritual discipline this has to be voluntary.
We have to voluntarily give ourselves to the Holy Spirit in order for the Holy Spirit to work.
And for the sake of this morning’s message let’s assume we have done that.
We have made that choice and are trying to live the best we can under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit.
If so, then what’s next?
What should we be striving for?
What should we be seeking?
And there are many things we can seek and should seek, but there is one in particular that James keys in on and speaks about specifically.
And that one thing is wisdom.
Just like Solomon that we talked about this past Wednesday night we should be seeking wisdom.
But here’s the rub— not all wisdom is equal.
And not all types of “wisdom” should be sought after.
Because if the wisdom is not coming from God, then who is it coming from?
The enemy
The world
From within our selves
So James, in the end of chapter 3, is going to expose us to the two kinds of wisdom and then in the beginning part of chapter 4, he is going to address another major issue for the church that if we have time I want hit on because it all goes together.
So, with that said, lets get right into it.
Starting in James 3, verse 13.
He writes . . . .

Scripture Focus

James 3:13–18 NRSV
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

Who Is Wise

And I love this because right off the bat, James asks us the question of the hour . . .
James 3:13 NRSV
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.
In plain Kentucky English who in our lives would we consider “wise?”
And I’m not talking about being “smart” because there is a huge difference between being smart and being wise.
James is looking to us to look within ourselves and discern who we would consider wise in our circles.
And to each of us that will look slightly different.
But when we look at what James says, there are some definite qualities that start to stick out regarding true Godly wisdom
He says some of the markers are, they are . . .
Quick to listen
Slow to speak
Slow to become angry
So, when you think about those in your circle that you consider wise, how do they measure up?
And even more significantly, how do you measure up?
Because if we are going to seek Godly wisdom, then we need to be seeking after those things, those attributes that bring about this Godly wisdom.
And a good place to start is the Fruit of the Spirit . . .
Galatians 5:22–23 NRSV
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
So again, it all circles right back to the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Spirit.
That is the key to living a holy life, a life that his acceptable to God.
Because, as we have all been taught . . .
Hebrews 12:14 NRSV
Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
And look at what the writer of Hebrews says . . .
Pursue Peace.
Stop with all the fighting and striving.
Stop living and acting just like the world and start acting like Christ.
Ephesians 5:1–2 NRSV
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
James finishes that verse by saying, let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom.
If we can just do that then we might just see a shift in our lives and gain the wisdom and understanding that we all are seeking.
And since the “Church” is made up of people , we may also see a shift in the culture of the Church and of all of Christianity.
And if we see that shift then we may just be able cause a shift in society as a whole.
But again, I think for the third time this morning--WE HAVE TO BE WILLING TO DO IT.
We can belly ache and complain all day long about how bad things are but until we get off the cushion that God built into us and do something, nothing will ever change.
So, in summary if we want to be wise, then we need to:
Live a good life-a life given over to God, led by the Holy Spirit.
Do our good deeds in humility-do it because you love God and not to be recognized.
Do all things out of wisdom-out of a place where you are listening and responding to God and not others and most importantly not your self and what you think is a good idea.
Remember . . .
Jeremiah 17:9 NRSV
The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse— who can understand it?
So all this stuff you hear about “trust your heart” and “just follow your heart” is utter new age garbage.
Your heart can be easily deceived, which is why you learn to discern God and don’t just follow your heart.
But you know what-— That is easy to say standing up here on a Sunday morning but the reality it is difficult
And it’s difficult because our flesh and our self gets in the way.
That internal war is going to rage right on and we have to be active in the fight.
We have to . . .
James 4:7 NRSV
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
And as we have said before, that “resisting the devil” is ACTIVE RESISTING.
It is fighting.
We have to fight and sometimes we may even have to take the fight to him as well.
But we forget this and this is what happens.
Things start to get a bit out of whack, and then we start to exhibit what is called “wordly wisdom.”
James explains . . .
James 3:14–16 NRSV
But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.
And that, unfortunately is the attitude of the world that has wormed its way into many Christians and many churches.
People are all about seeking after their own selfish ambition, trying to lift themselves up.
Paul says they “think of themselves more highly than they ought.”
And as part of that selfish pursuit, they become bitter with envy toward others who have achieved what they are after.
And they will do whatever they can to make themselves look good, regardless of whether it is fake or not.
And we see it on full display in our world today.
They don’t even try to hide it.
It’s dog eat dog.
And that same attitude has crept into many of the 21st century churches of today.
They chase money, fame, popularity, a big crowd.
And forget all about chasing Jesus.
And it is all because they are full of people who refuse to walk by the Spirit.
They refuse to allow the Holy Spirit to rule their lives.
Heck, they don’t even teach or preach about the Holy Spirit.
And as a result many . . .
Romans 1:22–25 NRSV
Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
They began to worship idols and began to worship themselves.
And you know what God did in response . . .
Romans 1:26–28 NRSV
For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done.
And while some do flock to this kind of garbage and try to convince you it okay, and “just follow your heart” the reality of their true nature is this . . .
Romans 1:29–32 NRSV
They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.
And it is all because they decided to seek their own wisdom and not God’s.
And all people are really looking for something true and something real in a world of lies and deception.
In the world of disorder and chaos, ruled by the fad of the week, people are seeking order, acceptance, Godly love.
And all of those things are what the Church is supposed to be.
But what happens is that if we are not very careful and very diligent about it, we allow the this worldly attitude, this “wordly wisdom,” that stands in direct opposition of God, to worm its way into our Churches.
And people end up finding the same things in the Church that they found outside the Church that they were trying to get away from in the first place.
And because of that, people become disheartened, throw their hands up, and leave the Church, searching for what they are looking for somewhere else.
Because we are following our own wisdom and not God’s.
And it doesn’t even have to be this extreme.
Anytime you put your wants and desires above God’s will, you are operating under wordly wisdom and not Godly wisdom.
And James plainly tells us that . . .
James 3:15 NRSV
Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.
It is of the devil and all it is, is more lies and deception of the devil.
And we, as the Church have to be able to recognize and discern what is really going on.
We have to know what is really of God and what is really of the flesh and of Satan.
Face it we want what we want and if we do not have the self-control offered by the Holy Spirit, we don’t stand a chance.
But James goes on--he doesn’t leave us hanging.
He tells us . . .
James 3:17–18 NRSV
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
Heavenly or God given wisdom is:
Pure
Peaceable
Gentle
Willing to yield (to God and to one another)
Full of mercy
Full of good fruit
Impartial
Sincere and not fully of hypocrisy
So here is the road-map as to what real and true wisdom looks like.
And this is what we should be seeking after.
And how do we obtain it?
Through the Holy Spirit and the power and influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
That is the only way.
Period.

In-Fighting

So what happens though if the two types of wisdom collided with one another inside the Church?
Do you think one would just give in to the other and everybody would just go about their business?
Heads butt and the in-fighting begins.
And this is exactly what James addresses next in the first part here of chapter 4.
He says this . . .
James 4:1 NRSV
Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?
And there it is again.
Those internal battles, those internal struggles.
That war that wages inside of each one of us that drives us to do things at times that we don’t even understand what we are doing.
And as that war wages on, guess what, it spreads like a cancer through the whole church.
That internal battle turns into battles between groups and factions inside the Church.
Clicks start to develop.
And one group thinks one thing and another group thinks something else.
And the problem is, neither group is listening to God.
Neither group has the wisdom of heaven behind their decisions.
Both are being ruled by the flesh and by the wordly wisdom.
Because everybody is mad and hurt.
And the fight is on.
And it is driven by this . ..
James 4:2 NRSV
You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask.
Let’s break this down a bit.
Instead of going to God we ask ourselves and determine what we want and not what God’s will is.
We seek after our own selfish ambitions and not God’s perfect will for us or our Churches.
James says we do not have because we do not ask God.
But wait there is much more.
Sometimes we wise up and think to ourselves, hmmmm…maybe we should pray and ask God for _______ (you fill in the blank).
I mean we ain’t got it because we ain’t asked for it right?
That’s what it says.
So we think we are being all Spiritual and Godly and wise because we decided we should pray for it.
And notice I didn’t say pray ABOUT IT because we don’t do that.
We pray FOR IT.
And there is a huge difference between the two.
Look at what James says in the next verse . . .
James 4:3 NRSV
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
And there lies the difference between praying about something and praying for something.
When we pray about something we lift it up to God and ask for God’s wisdom and guidance.
When we pray for something we pray for God to give it to us, regardless of what it is.
We want it and we think God should provide it, just like we asked for it and just like we wanted it.
And don’t act like you’ve never do it because we have all done it.
And I would venture that this is the default of how we pray many times.
We say, “Lord, this is what I want, give it to me.”
And it doesn’t matter if it is good/bad, right/wrong.
We want it because we want it.
Instead we should pray, “Lord, this is what I’m feeling but I know my heart can be deceived, please reveal Your will to me.”
Or we could even say, “Lord, this is what I’m feeling, I think it’s right, I really am not sure, please reveal Your will and if it’s Your will, and if not, please help me find peace and understanding. Please Lord increase my faith so that I can trust You completely with all things.”
And we should learn to do this because God’s not going to grant us a wish like a genie in a bottle for things that we just want.
Especially when those things are not God’s will and when those things are not going to be good for us.
God protects us because sometimes we need to be protected from ourselves.
But when things are not going well and we are not getting our way, we become frustrated.
And the fighting ensues in the church because everyone is frustrated because it’s all about them and not about God.
And we have to decide who will win this battle— God or the flesh?

Altar/Challenge

And most if not all of us would say— “Well, we want God’s will,” and in our minds we do.
But what happens when God’s will doesn’t line up with what we want?
What do we do then?
That’s where it really matters.
Are we wise enough to discern God’s will?
Do we have the necessary trust in God to accept His will and His decisions?
Or do we continue to fight and scratch to achieve our own ambitions and desires, regardless of whether they are God’s will or not?
So as you pray, there may be things you have been hoping for, praying for.
Why not spend a few minutes asking God to reveal His will.
And asking Him to help you understand and accept His will whatever it may be.
Can we do that?
Let’s pray . . .
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