James 3:13-18 - Whose Voice Will You Believe?
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
There are two places in which wisdom can originate.
There is the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below.
Specifically, there is wisdom that is heavenly wisdom that comes from God, or there is earthly wisdom which comes from man.
The wisdom of the world tells us to put ourselves first. It tells us to make sure we get what we deserve. It tells us to do whatever it takes to get to the top. As we will see in our Scripture today, it is marked by selfish ambition and bitter jealousy.
Listen to Solomon as he writes Ecclesiastes and talks about such bitter jealousy and selfish ambition .
Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Yet there is another kind of wisdom as well, a wisdom that is heavenly, a wisdom that comes from God.
This wisdom instructs us to be humble and to be holy and set apart. It teaches us to be sincere and peaceable.
These two wisdoms are diametrically opposed to one another. As we prepare to read our Scripture for today, which wisdom do you follow?
Whose voice will you believe? God's voice or the voice of the world?
Listen to James expound upon these two types of wisdoms…
Read Full Scripture:
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Prayer
Today we are going to see three ways wisdom is manifested and lived out. The first is…
I. Wisdom is Demonstrated by Practice (13)
I. Wisdom is Demonstrated by Practice (13)
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
James has finished letting us know that our faith should be accompanied by works, and then our faith should be shown through our speech. Now he tells us that our faith should be accompanied by wisdom.
Again, the master of rhetorical questions, he asks, "Who is wise and understanding among you?"
The obvious theme of this passage is wisdom. The Bible frequently teaches us about wisdom throughout its pages.
In fact, the word wisdom appears over 400 times throughout the Bible.
Sounds like we probably ought to pay attention to this word!
The Scriptures are clear that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). We heard in James 1:5 that if any of us lack wisdom, we need to ask God, and He gives to all men generously. Proverbs 2:6 teaches us that all wisdom originates from God.
James also includes the word "understanding" here as well. Interestingly, this is the only place in the Bible where we see this particular Greek word. In secular Greek literature it pointed to a well-informed person or an expert in a certain field.
This brings up an important question for us to answer.
How do we measure wisdom and understanding?
Is it by who possesses the most knowledge? Is it measured by the person with the highest IQ is in the room? Is it based on who has the most gray hairs or who is the most aged?
James tells us that wisdom is shown by good conduct and meekness.
James reminds us that wisdom is not just how much you know. It is a practical use of that knowledge.
As we have stated before, some of the smartest people in the world are also the most foolish. They believe things like we all originated from a big bang - In other words, an explosion made things more orderly. They believe that we originated from an amoeba and eventually from monkeys through an astronomical amount of mutations: when almost every mutation that we see either makes no changes or makes changes that are negative .
Despite no evolutionary evidence of one kind becoming another kind, they exchange the glory of God for images resembling creeping things, as we read in Romans 1. They deny the existence of God because they do not want to be accountable to Him.
There are some who may not be as intelligent but are far much wiser. Wisdom shows itself through meekness, and meekness is strength under power. It is knowing when to use your strength and when not to use your strength. It is knowing when to speak and when to stay silent. It is knowing when to act and when to refrain from acting.
James is a book all about action.
It is also one of the most confrontational books of the Bible. He challenges those who may think they are wise and understanding to step up to the plate and give it their best swing.
True wisdom produces good conduct as well as meekness or humility.
Humility and meekness were not prized by the Greeks or Romans. They actually saw humility and meekness as weakness. The Greek word translated meekness or humility was actually very rarely used in any secular Greek literature. It would have been considered the opposite of wisdom in their culture. Frankly, our culture is not much different today. Like the Romans, we seem to exalt and glorify those who are the most full of pride.
Yet, Jesus turned this teaching upside down.
Listen to Paul teach Christ's humility in Philippians 2:5-7
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Jesus condescended by taking on human flesh. The Savior of the world. The Lord over all became a baby. Born of the Virgin Mary, He lived the sinless life that we could not live. He washed His disciples' feet. He cared for the poor and sick. He cared for orphans and widows. He was a servant to all. In the greatest act of service the world has ever known, He took our punishment on the cross and died in our place. The righteous for the unrighteous, the perfect for the corrupt. He rose three days later, showing His victory over sin and death, so that if we repent of our sins and place our faith and trust in Him, we can have eternal life.
Brothers and sisters, true wisdom is demonstrated by practice.
And the greatest to ever practice wisdom was Christ himself, who is the embodiment of wisdom, and the source of all wisdom Himself (1 Corinthians 1:24).
James has practically called out those who may claim to be wise and understanding, and points out the inconsistency in their conduct and pride. Which brings us to our next point…
Scripture References: Ecclesiastes 4:4, Proverbs 9:10, James 1:5, Proverbs 2:4, Romans 1, Philippians 2:5-7, 1 Corinthians 12:4
II. Wisdom is Distorted by Pride (14-16)
II. Wisdom is Distorted by Pride (14-16)
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
After encouraging wisdom, he starts talking about foolishness.
One way that foolishness shows itself is through bitter jealousy and selfish ambition.
The word bitter here is derived from the Greek word meaning zeal. Zeal can be used positively or negatively. Yet, when depicted in the negative sense - it can mean great destructive power. Paul spoke of his zeal as he persecuted the New Testament Church in Philippians 3:6.
James is speaking of destructive and unbridled jealousy here.
And then he calls out those with selfish ambition. This speaks of those who are self-seeking and all about their own glory. With their bitter jealousy, they use this zeal for the most important cause that they can imagine - the cause of themselves.
Brothers and sisters, our natural selves are devoted to one cause above all others—not Christ’s cause, but the cause of self.
The problem with both of these descriptors is that this type of focus and boasting is all about one's own glory.
The Bible is clear that we are to live for the glory of God alone (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Listen to Galatians 6:14:
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Our only boast should be in Christ.
When we boast in ourselves, then we are false to the truth as we are told here.
Namely, as John 14:6 tells us, we are being false to the one who is the way and the truth and the life, namely Jesus Christ.
When our focus is on our own glory and our own desires instead of the desire of our Heavenly Father, we are in great sin, and we show that we are foolish.
Church, whose glory are you living for?
Christ’s or yours?
An illustration has been used to compare our lives to a mirror or a window.
When we look into a mirror, we see our own reflection. Our focus is only on ourselves. We are concerned about our looks or our own glory.
Yet, when we look through a window, we see what is beyond. When one looks through a window, he is not paying attention to the window at all. It is almost as though the window doesn't exist. Instead, he is looking at what is on the other side of that window.
Friends, when people look at you, do they see your reflection? Is everything about you? Is it like they are looking into a mirror and seeing your reflection? Do your conversations always seem to come back to what you are doing and how great you are?
Or when they look at you, is it like they are looking through a window, observing the goodness and glory of God? Is the glory of God shining through you so wonderfully that people almost ignore the fact that you are even there? They just know that they want whatever they are seeing beyond you.
Friends, may we live our lives as windows pointing people to Christ and not as mirrors seeking to reflect and glorify ourselves. May we never be false to the truth and boast in anything but Christ.
Listen to James continue to expound upon the wisdom from below…
This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
James contrasts wisdom from above with wisdom from below with three descriptions.
Wisdom From Below Is:
1 - Earthly
By this, James means that there is no lasting component of this type of wisdom. Earthly wisdom is temporary and will prove to be short-lived. Unlike the Word of God, which will stand forever (Isaiah 40:8), earthly knowledge and worldly wisdom will one day cease to exist (1 Corinthians 13:8).
Listen to Paul speak of this so-called wisdom of the world:
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
This can be seen many ways and applied many ways to our world today.
As a physician, I have seen such foolish wisdom many times throughout my career already. I have seen professional organizations make prideful and arrogant recommendations which were proven wrong in a matter of months to years.
Or consider secular parenting books that offer advice that is unfounded which often leads to more harm than good. There is more secular information on parenting now than there ever has been. Yet, if you talk to teachers or parents today, I don't think they would say that things are better now than they were decades ago.
Earthly wisdom is defined by naturalism. Earthly wisdom refuses to accept that there is a God. It refuses to acknowledge the Scriptures.
This type of earthly wisdom has become more and more common and apparent as secular humanism has become the only accepted and normative teaching within our public schools and universities. The foundation of secular humanism is that we are gods ourselves. Man is the measure of all things.
Secular humanists deny the existence of God. They believe in naturalism - Meaning that we came from nothing - that non-life became life. They deny any type of moral absolute, as they do not believe that there is a moral law giver. Because of this, they deny the concept of sin and they reject the teaching and concept of any type of salvation or afterlife.
This teaching is nothing short of demonic. It encourages selfish ambition. It encourages one to do whatever it takes to rise to the top, including stepping on others in order to get there.
Because there are no moral absolutes, relativity reigns.
False teachings such as situational ethics and consequentialism oftentimes riddle secular humanists. They determine whether something is good or bad based on the consequences of the action or decision.
Thus, if you commit an immoral act and something good comes of it, then it actually was moral to begin with.
An example of this would be someone who lied on his taxes and ended up with more money and was not caught by the IRS. Consequentialism would state that the decision was morally right because the consequence turned out in his favor.
This type of consequentialism and moral relativity is ungodly, earthly, and from the evil one.
True wisdom understands that things are determined as good or evil, not based on consequences, situation, experience, or feelings, but based on the Word of God, which never changes.
Next we see that wisdom from below is…
2 - Unspiritual
This type of wisdom is characterized by the unregenerate nature of humanity.
The Greek word for unspiritual is the opposite of the word spiritual. It stands in complete contrast to what God would have us do.
Consider the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Unspiritual wisdom would be characterized as the opposite of all of these.
Unspiritual wisdom would refer to:
hate
depression
a lack of peace
impatience
meanness
unfaithfulness
harshness
a lack of self-control
Unspiritual wisdom could be defined as the fruits of the wrong spirit - namely a spirit of evil, which brings us to our final description of wisdom from below - which is:
3 - Demonic
That is quite a statement about wisdom from below.
Wisdom from below has now been shown its truest and darkest source. It is from way below, namely from Satan and his demons.
We were told last week that an unbridled tongue is set on fire by hell. Here we would see that wisdom from below originates from hell as well.
As John MacArthur states, we have been told that wisdom from below is:
earthly (being of the world)
unspiritual (being of the flesh)
demonic (being of the devil)
Our three greatest threats are the world and the flesh and the devil.
We must never forget that our battle is a spiritual battle.
Consider Ephesians 6:10-12
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
We are in a war zone, my friends.
Unfortunately, many people live out their lives completely missing the danger that is around them. They read, watch, and listen to the things of the world. They covet the things of the flesh. And they are indoctrinated by the teachings from the enemy of their soul.
Continuing to rail against this ungodly wisdom, James finishes in verse 16…
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
James reminds us that when jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
In other words, there is nothing ultimately good that can come from wisdom from below. There may be some temporary seemingly positive consequences from human wisdom, but in the end, human wisdom leads to destruction. It leads to ungodliness and disorder.
In fact, the Greek word translated "disorder" here means a state of confusion or disarray. It can often times even be used for rebellion or anarchy.
Wisdom from below eventually leads to confusion and chaos.
James wants us to consider the consequences of wisdom from below. He wants us to consider whose voice we will believe.
We will practice the preaching that we embrace.
What are you embracing today? Are you allowing the influences of the world and of your own flesh or of the enemy of your soul to wrongly influence you?
May today be the day that you repent of that and that you instead, as our last point tells us - may you listen to the true voice of wisdom - namely wisdom from God above - which is displayed in peace and purity …
Scripture References: Philippians 3:6 1 Corinthians 10:31, Galatians 6:14, John 14:6, Isaiah 40:8, 1 Corinthians 13:8, 1 Corinthians 1:20, Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 6:10-12
III. Wisdom is Displayed in Peace and Purity (17-18)
III. Wisdom is Displayed in Peace and Purity (17-18)
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
We are told that the wisdom from above is first pure.
The Greek word for pure also means innocent and is related to the Greek word for holy, which means to be set apart and unstained by the world.
The following seven descriptors that come after this all fall under this pure and holy umbrella.
Wisdom From Above Is:
1 - Peaceable
We will talk more about peace in verse 18, but a true believer is a peacemaker. Namely, a lover of peace.
They are also…
2 - Gentle
Believers should be known for their kindness and gentleness. Although Jesus was incredibly strong, He was also meek and gentle. Children felt comfortable coming up to Him (Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:16).
In fact, even one of the requirements for overseers or pastors is to be gentle, as seen in 1 Timothy 3:3.
The word gentle also means to be non-combative. We should seek to be peacemakers, as we've already mentioned, and even when provoked, we should not be easily angered or defensive.
Next we see that wisdom from above means that one is…
3 - Open to Reason
This really means reasonable.
It is pretty much the opposite of a what happens when you try to reason with a toddler. I probably somewhat wrongly enjoy watching new parents try to reason with their toddler. They are patiently explaining to them all the reasons why they have just given a particular instruction - They are probably doing this because they read it in one of these modern parenting books that I mentioned earlier that came from worldly wisdom - Yet, all they hear back is what we see in this picture. Unreasonable screaming, crying, and fits.
No matter how much you try to put it into words, toddlers can be unreasonable and not respond properly. I have my Biblical parenting advice in these situations, but we don’t have time for that and will have to leave that for another day. But I can just about guarantee that that advice would not be found in modern parenting books of the world.
But interestingly, that is how the lost world is as well. There is no reasoning with those who have no true godly wisdom. They are so confused by the things of this world that they cannot see things clearly. Their minds are darkened, and they are foolish.
This should not be so with the believer. Those who have godly wisdom are reasonable, meaning that you can reason with them from the Scriptures.
When you present the Word of God to a believer, they should respond in humility and be open to reason.
Next we see that wisdom from above means that one is…
4 - Full of Mercy
Mercy is not getting what we do deserve, and grace is getting what we do not deserve. This means we should not be a people of revenge or vengefulness, but instead we should be a people quick to forgive (Ephesians 4:32) and overlook offenses (Proverbs 19:11).
Next we see that true believers should be…
5- Full of Good Fruit
The concept of fruit is commonly seen throughout the Scriptures. We know that Jesus clearly taught that a tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 7:16-20) - Obviously, meaning we can see evidence of one’s heart based on the fruit that he or she bears.
We should be known by the fruit of the Spirit, as the Holy Spirit lives in us and works through us. The fruit of the Spirit is found in Galatians 5:22-23. As we mentioned earlier, we should be marked by these fruits as the Holy Spirit works in and through us.
Next we see that wisdom from above is…
6 - Impartial
We should be people of right judgments. We should not be partial to certain people based on external factors, but we should be impartial in how we treat others. We should love all because Christ loved us.
On a quick search of the Scriptures, there are more than 20+ significant passages that directly address the subject of partiality.
Romans 2:11 reminds us that God shows no partiality.
Multiple proverbs also teach us to avoid partiality, such as Proverbs 18:5, 24:23, 28:21.
Believers hurt their witness when they are inconsistent. When we are like chameleons, changing our position on an issue based on different circumstances or changing our personality based on who we are around, we show ourselves to be partial and unsteady.
We are most like Christ when we remain unchanged despite our surroundings and circumstances. Consider Hebrews 13:8, which tells us that Jesus Christ never changes. When we stand for the truth, even when it does not benefit us - and frankly may even lead to our harm or detriment - we glorify our Heavenly Father by showing great wisdom from above.
And finally, wisdom from above is…
7 - Sincere
Sincerity is of the utmost importance in the believer's life. Although our world is foolish in many ways, they do understand deception and insincerity - as this type of activity is of the world. They can see right through an insincere heart. They can see when things are done for selfish ambition instead of selfless ambition.
They know whether our heart is for them or for ourselves.
So may we be sincere in how we love others and how we place their interests about our own (Philippians 2:3-4).
Coming to our final verse for today James says…
And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James ends this section discussing peace.
The idea of sowing and reaping is commonly seen throughout the Scriptures - roughly 20-30 times. This was a common illustration because the Israelites were an agrarian culture. They would have been intimately involved in sowing and reaping in order to have food.
Here, James wants to let them know that if they sow peace, they will harvest righteousness.
God's wisdom produces a life that has a soil of peace and purity.
And that soil will produce righteousness, as we saw in verse 17.
In essence, all of those qualities that come out of a true believer that we saw in verse 17 - namely the person who has wisdom from above - shows the righteousness of Christ within them.
This is not a Scripture that tells us that we can work for our salvation. Note that this wisdom is from above, and it only comes through the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, who illuminates it and applies it to our lives.
Thus our righteousness comes through the blood of Christ and is shown by the work of the Holy Spirit working in and through us.
This also is not a Scripture promising a carefree life to all those who live their lives with godly wisdom. Although those who live their lives through godly wisdom will be peacemakers and bring peace to those around them, we know that we also live in a world that is full of earthly wisdom, unspiritual wisdom, and demonic wisdom.
Just as Christ was persecuted, we know that we too will be persecuted (John 15:18-20).
2 Timothy 3:12 soberingly states:
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
Yet even in the middle of our life's struggles, we know that God promises us that His peace surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7).
Scripture References: Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:16, 1 Timothy 3:3, Ephesians 4:32, Proverbs 19:11, Matthew 7:16-20, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 2:11, Proverbs 18:5, Proverbs 24:23, Proverbs 28:21, Hebrews 13:8, Philippians 2:3-4, John 15:18-20, 2 Timothy 3:12, Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Kings 12
Conclusion:
As we come to a close, I want to give us a Biblical illustration that magnifies the importance of choosing wisdom from above over wisdom from below.
If you remember, in 1 Kings 12, King Rehoboam took over after his father Solomon died.
The assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam the following:
“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.”
The people were tired. Solomon - the wisest man who ever lived other than Jesus as well as perhaps the richest king in recorded history - had done an incredible amount of building between his house and the temple and many other projects. Exhausted from the labor, the people requested a lighter load under his son’s leadership.
Rehoboam then received two words of supposed wisdom.
The older men told him to listen to their request and to honor it, while the younger men told him to respond harshly and to lay on an even heavier yoke.
Unfortunately, Rehoboam listened to the younger man and made the foolish choice, which ended up leading to the splitting of the people of Israel into the northern and southern kingdom.
Rehoboam had two voices to listen to: the voice of wisdom and the voice of folly.
We are actually in a similar situation. We have two voices that we can choose from as well.
We can listen to earthly wisdom, which is the one that makes the most sense in our flesh. Like Rehoboam and the young men, we can choose selfish ambition and bitter jealousy. We can try to figure out how we can make much of ourselves and not think of others. We can think of what's going to make us advance the furthest. We can seek to be a mirror instead of a window.
Or we can listen to the voice of wisdom from above. We can follow the Word of God and understand that we are to be pure and holy. We are to be people of peace. We are to be gentle, open to reason, and full of mercy and good fruit. We are to be impartial and sincere.
Friends, whose voice are you going to believe and follow?
May we not make that tragic choice that Rehoboam made and choose earthly wisdom, but instead may we choose wisdom from above.
