True Wisdom or False Wisdom James 3:13-18
Notes
Transcript
Today we are in our 7th sermon in our series in James…
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Today I will be unpacking 3 points....
1. The Evidence of True Wisdom
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
How many know there is a big difference between saying you are wise and actually being wise?
(James begins the passage by asking the question… “Who is wise and understanding among you?… step forward and let us examine the evidence of your wisdom…)
I like how the NLT translates V13… “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.”
In other words prove that you carry Godly wisdom by walking in humility and doing good works.
Now, James has communicates throughout his letter the idea of proving what you say you are by living it out in action.
(put your money where your mouth is)
[I don’t want to hear you say that you are wise, as much as I want to see that you are wise.]
Your wisdom will be seen before it is heard,
Thus good conduct will show up in your life if you carry true wisdom.
Your good conduct that is seen is the byproduct of you walking in humility before God.
James articulates the point that Meekness and Humility is a fruit of spiritual wisdom...
Therefore, we must see the evidence of someone being humble before we say they carry spiritual wisdom…
People that I have found to be the wisest in life,
are the very same people that will admit when they don’t know something.
It takes real humility to say “I don’t know… but let us figure it out together”
People that walk in wisdom know that they don’t have all the answer,
but they are willing to wrestle with the problem in order to figure it out.
I have learned that people that always have quick and concrete answers on everything,
usually struggle with pride… opposite of humility…
(Prideful people think they have all the answers…)
[gives you are answer before you are finished… this person is really arrogant]
Have you noticed,
Prideful and Arrogant people will get angry when you don’t follow their advice. (they believe they have all the answers)
James says humility is a mark for true wisdom,
then it is safe to understand that pride is a mark of false wisdom.
James highlights a list of markers and signs of those who carry false wisdom in their lives.
2. The Signs of False Wisdom
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
I have a feeling that James is seeing a trend of people thinking they are wise but are really not wise at all.
I have a feeling that James is seeing a trend of people wanting to be spiritual leaders who are not really walking as spiritual leaders.
Remember James begins this chapter by saying....
“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1)
In Verse 13 James opens this passage by challenging those who believe they are wise and possess special spiritual insight to step forward and examine the validity of their claim.
Let us look at the evidence… Because there are marks of Godly wisdom and Earthly wisdom.
James highlights the signs of earthly wisdom… you will see bitter jealousy and selfish ambition manifest in the hearts of people with false wisdom.
Jealousy and selfish ambition seem to be always tethered together. (jealousy justifies selfish ambition)
Story of Saul and David.… Jealousy and selfish ambition… kill greatest asset in David....
James communicates don’t be false to the truth and say you are wise when you are full of jealousy and selfish ambition...
(Lying)
Jealousy and selfish ambition comes from wisdom that is according to James is earthly, unspiritual, and even demonic…
Now when James says demonic here he is not referring to being demonized,
he is more so articulating that this earthly wisdom,
which is false wisdom,
comes from the same perspective as the kingdom of darkness.
(Peter… get behind me Satan.… same type of wisdom Satan gave)
What I have learned over the years is that earthly wisdom seems to always involves taking the easiest path.…
(Earthly wisdom is demonic because it avoids the road God has for us)
Earthly wisdom usually involves me hearing what I want to hear versus what I need to hear…
Because of this earthly wisdom is very attractive…
So we therefore surround ourselves with people that will give us earthly wisdom that never challenges us.
We put ourselves in positions where the people around us only encourage our messed up lives.
Hear me when I say this…
Earthly wisdom will always support your disfunction....(go to the bar… messed up people)
James tells us that earthly wisdom is marked with jealousy and selfish ambition....
And he goes on to say.… “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” V16
Disorder follows those who walk in earthly and unspiritual wisdom.
(disorder at home… disorder in the work place… disorder and chaos follows those who walk in earthly wisdom)
And he finishes up showing the marks of earthly wisdom by communicating that those will walk in this type of wisdom,
will have all types of evil practices accompany them.
We see this today,
Those who live by false wisdom of this age,
Live absolutely corrupted lives marked by darkness.
It used to be people would try to hide evil, but today’s generation of earthly wisdom we parade it for all to see.
Romans 1:22 “22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,”
Isaiah 5:21 “21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!”
After James tells us the signs of earthly wisdom,
he gives us the characteristics of Godly wisdom.
3. The Characteristics of Godly Wisdom
17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
The first characteristic of Godly wisdom is that it is pure.
(No agenda, no selfish ambition, just pure)
It is really evident when someone is giving you advice and has an agenda. (selfish ambition)
And when someone gives false wisdom from a place of selfish ambition,
it is really hard to take advice in the future from them,
because they have lost credibility.
However, it is also very evident when someone shares wisdom to you that is from a place of having no agenda. (Pure, from a place of integrity)
There are people in my life that I will go to for advice and wisdom because I know what they will say will be pure. (Not tainted by anything)
True wisdom is always pure and is always embedded in peace.
(Some giving you advice and there is no peace in it… watch out)
Unlike false wisdom that is connected with chaos and disorder,
James says true wisdom from God is peaceable.
First wisdom from above is pure and then it is filled with peace.
One of the fruits of the Spirit is peace.
And as Christians we must bring peace into our areas of influence that God brings us into.
Verizon story… there is peace here… (we need to bring peace)
The 3rd marker James uses for Godly wisdom is that it is gentle.
People who carry Godly wisdom will give gentle guidance or correction out of love.… (Not harsh)
It is important to understand that being gentle does not mean that we are passive and not hold people accountable.
Rather it is when they do hold one accountable that they doing it in peace and gentleness.
James brings up that another characteristic of someone who is wise in God’s eyes, and that is they are open to reason.
I have talked with people that are so closed minded and set in their ways that it does not matter what you say or what evidence you bring,
they are not going to change their mind because they are not open to reason.
(Trevor book store) [Not open to reason… not teachable]
True wisdom is shown when someone is willing to hear and learn from someone else.
True wisdom is being humble enough to take advice from others.
14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls,
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
It is also important to realize that being upon to reason does not mean that you follow everyone’s advice.
(Youth and Worship pastor, Assistant Pastor, Senior Pastor)
[Open to reason does not mean blindly following others]
Next 2 characteristic’s James list for Godly wisdom is that it is full of mercy and good fruits.
Wisdom is marked by giving mercy to others,
even when they don’t deserve it.
Wisdom is expressed by demonstrating the fruit of the spirit,
even when you are in environments that are difficult. (church it is easy but at work or at home not as easy)
The last 2 marks of wisdom from above is that this kind of wisdom is impartial and sincere.
James understand that true wisdom does not show favoritism, it is impartial in its judgements.
James has already touched on the reality of the church showing partiality to the rich over the poor.
In chapter 2 of James, he communicates the sin of showing partiality.
Thus, James articulates here that Godly wisdom shows no favoritism as it is impartial and sincere.
The last mark of Godly wisdom in verse 17 is that it shows up in true sincerity.
(My generation… Millennials have been marketed since we were born… sincere and authentic)
[first for James… Purity before authenticity]
The reality for the characteristics for Godly wisdom that James presents,
is that they are all seen more than they are said.
We must realize that true wisdom is not something that is said in a clever way,
as much as it is something expressed in how we live.
True wisdom is full of lasting fruit from the Spirit as it manifest itself in our daily lives.
James closes out the passage after giving the characteristics of a wisdom from God, by saying...
James 3:18 “And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
The legacy of those who walk in true wisdom,
will in the process plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
Hear me when I say this...
Righteousness will grow and flourish in an atmosphere of peace.
Are we creating an atmosphere of peace in our homes?
Are we creating an atmosphere of peace in our workplaces? in whatever area of life you are in… are you bringing peace with you?
Story of Caleb establishing peace...
It takes wisdom to establish peace… Righteousness will not grow in chaos…
James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
