Who is Wise?

Good morning. We continue our study in the book of James, short letter of James, and we are looking at the last part for the last section of chapter 3. So if you are able and willing, how would you please stand as we honor the reading of God's Holy Word, reading from James chapter 3 verse 13 to the end. Here now, the reading of God's Word, who is wise in understanding among you by his good conduct that him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, you know, boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly and spiritual demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there will be disorder in every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure and peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere, and a harvest of righteousness is shown in peace by those who make peace. The Word of the Lord this morning. Gracious Father, we do come to You again asking for Your wisdom, asking for You to illumine Your Word in our hearts and in our minds, asking You to change us by this very breath that comes from You. Help us this morning, we pray, to understand Your Word, to apply it and to be reshaped and transformed by it. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Please be seated. It is the great theologian and scholar, J.I. Packer, who in speaking about this particular passage tries to define or explain to us what through wisdom or Godly wisdom is all about. And he uses the analogy of learning how to drive a car. Wisdom is like learning to drive a car. A wise driver is not the one who wants to ask questions or goes into, wants to understand the knowledge and the philosophy behind the traffic light. Why do we have red, yellow and green light, or even trying to understand why would the engineers even try to make something as a tunnel? And who came up with the smartest idea of toll roads? You can tell I don't like them. The wise driver is not the one who goes into all of this philosophy. The wise driver, J.I. Packer says, is someone who is willing and able to make the right decisions at the right moment or being traffic light. He speaks for your own safety and the safety of others. And so J.I. Packer says that a wise driver makes appropriate responses to constantly changing scene. A wise driver makes wise decisions or appropriate responses to constantly changing scene. Let me think about it. When you're driving your car on the highway, you don't know what's happening all around you. It's not like you've already preceded yourself and seeing the road was clear and everything was perfect. And so I'm going to drive. But you go out there and whatever challenges you face as you're driving, you make the appropriate response. Whether it's stopping because it's a red light or whether it's breaking, whether it's distance, whether it's keeping the speed so you don't get a ticket, you make adjustments regarding those things as you go along. A wise driver therefore if you're going to make those responses, if you're going to make those right decisions, means you drive with your eyes wide open so that you may be able to see what's before you. And when you see what's before you, you use your head to make the right decision. Simple enough, right? That's what wisdom is. Living wisely or wise person is a person who lives or it means having a clear eye view on all things. Opening your eyes to be able to see life and people and God and then being able to respond to all those things, it is seeing life as it is. Not as something else, but seeing life as God has given to us and then responding with a mind which is dependent on the wisdom of God. Now, I just said, depending on the wisdom of God, I'll say a little bit about that in one second. Wisdom means we don't have to know everything. In fact, we don't have to know everything. We don't have to know if there's a crazy driver behind us. We don't have to know if there's an accident about to happen around us or just in front of us. We don't have to know those things in order to be called wise. But wisdom means being enabled to do the right thing as we drive through life. So I said, depending on the wisdom of God, how do we then know what wisdom is from God and wisdom is not from God? Because that's what James is telling us. There's a wisdom that looks to be ungodly and wisdom that is Godly. And I think James is contrasting the two and first he gives us the nature of ungodly wisdom, the nature of earthly wisdom, which we should not be depending upon because that's not going to lead us. That is not how we drive through life. And so James begins in verse 13 by giving this challenge to his hearers and he's basically asking the question or rather making a comment. If you think you're wise and understanding, then demonstrate your wisdom in the works that wisdom produces. If you think you're wise, then demonstrate that wisdom. Show me your works so to speak and works that are produced by wisdom. And so for James, the idea of wisdom is something that is lived out. Wisdom is not something that we possess. Wisdom is not up here. Wisdom is not just having knowledge or reading books and having all these things that we can call intellectual wisdom. James is saying and radical, I should say, wisdom must be demonstrated by our works. But then he adds something here. He says by his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. Your translation, they say humility or gentleness. And so James is really interested in that particular aspect of humility or meekness through which we show for our works. He's not just basically saying show me your wisdom by your deeds and your works, heal you, but he's saying show me your wisdom by demonstrating them through your works done in humility. We can't miss that. And this idea of Christian meekness or humility is actually something that we need to focus just for one second because if you really think about it, the times that James is writing humility is not a virtue. Community is in fact seen as weakness advice to be neglected because by showing humility and meekness, you're really showing that you are not, you're not someone who is seeking success and you don't have the strength and the ability to stand up for yourself. But James is not talking about that. James is actually saying humility is something that needs to be a Christian virtue. It is important for us to have that. And by many, James is not talking about weakness, he's not talking about having a low view of yourself. James is asking us to have a healthy understanding of our unworthiness before God who is perfect and fully and just and great and awesome. And then by viewing him as such and seeing our own unworthiness before him, we have a corresponding humility and lack of pride in our dealing with one another but also with God. So we come before God with reverence because we know who he is. It is truly seeing the awesomeness of God and just how little we are when we stand before him. And he said that the wise will understand and they will know that this awesome great majestic God is the one who is in control of all things. And so by viewing ourselves as people that have been redeemed only by grace, when we meet trials and detractors, when we're tempted to respond in an arrogant way, when we're tempted to respond in a way that is not Christlike, we know who vindicates us. And God is the one who vindicates us. And so we respond to all things we do our deeds in order to show our wisdom in humility. But then he goes on in verse 14 to show us the true nature of ungodly wisdom and he gives us this characteristics there too. I could add a third one, I would say arrogant one of them but here James is showing us first in verse 14 he says bitter jealousy cannot be or is an ungodly thing. And by reading bitter jealousy, your translation they say we use a different language like jealousy or zealous or something like that. It's really envy, right? We know what bitter jealousy is. It's envy, it's criticism of others. And sometimes we can actually think about being zealous and jealous in a positive way. The Bible tells us that God is a jealous God in the sense that he deserves to be worshiped only him and him alone. But James is not focusing on the positive aspects of jealousy or being jealous is focusing on the negative aspects of being jealous being jealous for the truth. You know sometimes we can so easily think that we're being jealous of the truth and yet God sees bitterness, rigidity, arrogance. But we're thinking we're standing up for what is true and yet God is looking at our hearts. And so James is really focusing on harsh zeal, a harsh zeal. When we cannot stand seeing someone in a place of influence that we desire, we cannot stand seeing someone in a position of influence that we so desire. Such jealousy, James is telling us in life and especially in the church is destructive. But it also means that we must be careful that we don't become arrogant when we are trying to argue for our own position. When we so believe the truth and hold it so tight that we want to be right and yes, we may be right. But to do so with bitterness, James is saying as long. Can you think about it? How difficult it is for us to argue or position the need or arguments without wondering others? You know when you're having that heated debate and you know that you are right. But instead of just presenting your argument, you put on or you add a few words that are just meant to make that person just destroy them. As much as you can because you don't like the fact that they are wrong. You just add it in there, take that. It's also equally difficult for us to be convinced of our own beliefs and not be bitter against those who see things differently. You find yourself just being angry that someone else could hold a different position than you do and that just drives you nuts.

I think James wants us to realize that when we argue and when people have different opinions and different positions, we must see them as all friends to be persuaded and not enemies to be destroyed. Whether with all words or with all action. The second thing that James is pointing us to is self ambition. I would say that this is a rare word actually not really using the New Testament much. It's also very difficult for us to translate it. One commentator said it's bitter but prejudices. That is the antithesis of being humble or being weak. Someone else said it is self seeking pursuit of political office. We can get on politicians here, right? Having self seeking pursuit by unfamely any means possible. I will get that. I like this language though. Someone says, selfish ambition is party spirit. You remember in Philippians chapter 1 or 17, this Paul is talking about the divisions going on in the church and he says, you some of the people that are coming to you are preaching Christ out of envy and jealousy. When a leader, when a pastor, when an elder, when a beacon, when a leader in the church begins to draw people away from the body of Christ, whether spiritually, emotionally or physically, at selfish ambition. Selfish ambition always is concerned for the self. It's concerned about any means necessary to gain what the self desires, trying to get what we want by any means possible, even when that means hurting others. It is really division in the church and this unity, division is the enemy of truth in the church and we must avoid it at all costs. That's what James is saying. So in essence, people are to take the arrogance that James is wanting us against in terms of how we perform more deeds. And if we think about this, the bit of jealousy and the selfish ambition, let's put them all together and ask the question, what is really James getting at? Well, how can we summarize those things and say this is, this is at the heart of what James is telling the church to run away from and to be aware and to be careful that we don't buy into that false God for so to speak. I would say this, James is basically saying, if you have bad relationships in the church, that is ungodly wisdom, bad relationships in the church. That is ungodly wisdom, divisive attitude towards other shows of the truth and our hearts are far from one another. The truth and our hearts are strangers because those characteristics that we just talked about all combine to show us that they lead to bad relationships in the church. And I'm not saying that we cannot disagree. In fact, I would say that disagreements in the church are good. I'm not saying that we cannot have conflicts, having conflicts is a perfect healthy thing. I'm saying, when we have conflicts and disagreements that are driven by selfish ambition and bitter and bitter jealousy, that is ungodly wisdom. And that's what James is saying. And then he continues in verse 15 to show us that where these things come from, he says, these things come from the world. They are unspiritual and they are demonic. It is clear. Proud ambitions fighting all of this come from the world which is opposed to God. It comes from the flesh which is opposed to God. It comes from the devil who is opposed to God. And you know what is also true, by the way, it is the fact that these things are undetectable, we're not careful. It is hard for us sometimes to tell whether something is coming from God or not. We're told that the devil masquerades are the angel of light. And so if we don't have our eyes wide open, we're going to miss it. We're not going to see it. What is the result? Why is James wanting us against all these things? What is so dangerous? What is so horrible about these things? It's not that we just need to be nice people and be kind to one another. James says they're results. And it is this. He says inevitably these characteristics of the advice will produce confusion. It will lead to recklessness, instability, to disturbance in the fellowship. That's what he means by it will cause disorder and every via practice, that's what he's saying. He's saying this unity that is caused by all these selfish ambitions will inevitably break out in the church where Christians especially meet us speaking to myself, are more interested in pursuing their own ambitions or partisan causes than the edification of the fellowship of the body as a whole. And so what ends up happening is that chaos or times of sin will break out in our fellowship. And James is wanting us that we must be careful. We don't let these things creep into the church because they will destroy the unity that brings us together. Do we really believe what James is telling us? Do we really believe that James is telling us if we have this bad relationship, if we have ungodly wisdom in our church? And it's actually going to destroy us because if we do, we all need to go to the cross. We all need to go and ask God for grace. We all need to go to the Lord and ask Him to expose our hearts where we've been caddy and petty, where we've basically been means to one another. And if we're not willing to go there, then we must ask an important question that is this is the truth of God reshaping us. Is God's word working in our lives? We worship a God of order, a God of truth, a God of unity, and that must be His church. Wisdom is a way of life. Just like faith. It is vital. It is a vital quality in the church. It must guide everything that we do, everything that we say, everything that we think. And we must be willing to reject anything else that disguises itself as true wisdom, anything that does not deny this. So what does true God the wisdom then look like? He shows us in verse 17 and 18, the nature of heavenly wisdom. We're told in Proverbs 2 verse 6 that true wisdom can only come from God. James already told us in James chapter 1 verse 5 that if you lack wisdom and ask for it. Then he said, don't be double-minded about it. Just ask for it and believe that God is going to give it to you. And throwing essence, God the wisdom is this. It is which comes from above. It is heaven and nature. It is spiritual in essence and it has its divine origins from God. And James is basically saying in verses 17 and 18, we can see through it through the work that it produces. You can see God the wisdom through the work that it produces. And James, I think he is actually in fact describing what wisdom does more than what wisdom is in essence. And so we're going to go through this call that is here because I think that is extremely important for us to look at. The one he says, it is pure. God the wisdom is pure or rather pureity for a 17. Again, we know what true it is all about, right? You can know moral blamelessness. It is pure in the sense that it is undefiled. Something that is perfect, it is not defiled. And we know how we achieve purity, right? It is not by washing ourselves with soap and cleansing ourselves in a spring water, right? How do we get cleansed and become pure? It is only by the blood of Jesus Christ. And he says himself who cleanses us, he himself is pure. And so to live a pure life means putting aside everything that is defiled, putting aside pride and sensuality, covering spirit and selfish ambition and all these things that he's already talked about that are at the root of earthly wisdom. But I think there's also another aspect of purity that we don't focus so much on sometimes. I think James is here pointing us to the idea that purity also means undivided or unmixed devotion to God, undivided, unmixed worship to God, our pursuit of holiness, that God sets us apart for himself so that we may be holy so that we're not double minded in terms of the things that we pursue. We don't just fall across in one way and then pursue other things that are around us. We pursue him and only him, that's purity. And I think James is also putting us to purity as a very characteristic, if you will, of wisdom from above meaning it is the key to which all other qualities flow. And by that I mean, so as God's people there's one question that we must always ask ourselves, right, in terms of purity. In terms of everything that we do, everything that we say, in terms of our thoughts, our actions, our devotion to God, everything that we do, we must always ask ourselves this question, am I pure? Am I pure? Am I really pursuing purity? Am I really pursuing the holiness of God? Secondly, he says it is peaceable, that is wisdom produces peace. Now James is not in any way saying abutation or walking away from conflict, not at all. He's saying we must have a peaceful spirit, a peaceful spirit which can only come again from who? He says he himself is our peace, Jesus. And the idea of peace or shalom in Scripture is such a powerful thing. We only think about peace in terms of the absence of war, right? It's more than that. It definitely does mean that it's more than it means harmony. It means we write relationships. So James is basically saying, you understand what it means to be peaceable? It means having right relationship with God and with your fellow man. And also saying James is pointing us to practical things in terms of what being peaceable is all about. Being peaceable means we know when to stand up and we know when to shut up. We know when something is important enough for us to say something and we know when something is not important enough for us to be quiet and to listen. Through wisdom brings us, as I said, brings about right relationship, right relationship between God and God, right relationship between us and fellow believers. And because wisdom is peaceable, James continues to say, thirdly, it is gentle and fourth, it is open to reason. Now being open to reason doesn't mean that it is necessarily easily persuaded but it is readily persuaded. And possibly also winning, I would ask you. It means to gain the consent of others. It's not weakness. It's not gullibility. But a willingness to defer to others, as Douglas Moore says, when an alterable theological moral principles are not involved. So if we're not talking about the essentials of the gospel, if we're not talking about a main thing that we really ought to argue and debate about, we should defer to one another. Even more, when we are wrong, sometimes we find it difficult to admit our mistakes and fail. And to say, you know what I'm saying, I was wrong. Being open to reason means willingness to be teachable and to be submissive when you're being wrong and saying, I was wrong. The idea of gentleness, I don't think there's an English word that can actually capture the essence of what gentleness in Greek means. Consider it maybe, but it is beyond that. It is to be kind, it is willing to yield, it is an unwillingness to exact strict claims. And my favorite part about it, it is when we have been wronged and have the right to stand up for ourselves but refusing to exercise the right to do so. You know how hard that is? When you are right and you have the right to exercise your right and you refuse to do so. God have mercy because I can only do it by His grace. And He says it is full of mercy and good fruit. Again, you've seen this, the ability to love your neighbors, you love yourself and James is not in any way talking about mercy that produces pity and compassion. James is talking about having true compassion that is able to do something about it, but James is actually taking us even deeper and saying it is having true compassion by doing what we believe means going deep and understanding that we must be quick to forgive as we've been forgiven. We are given and quick to welcome others because Jesus has welcomed us and He says that he is impartial. We already had a whole sermon about that, about partiality. Again, James does not like anything that is not consistent as he. So He's basically saying you have to be steady and consistent. That's true. God, the wisdom, it doesn't waver at all in different directions but consistently lives out anything. Then finally He says it is sincere which means without show, without pretense, without hypocrisy. Unfortunately, as Christians we wear masks, we are not always as we seem to be fainting sincerity at times. James is saying God, the wisdom must be authentic result. He says instead of the disorder that we saw in vile practice or say teen to harvest of righteousness that is shown in peace by those who make peace. I love again the way James is basically singling out this idea of peace to show that peace will produce a conduct which is pleasing to God, viscuing the harvest of righteousness. And I think what James is pointing us to is how good mission ships can happen in the church. How are we going to get along in the church? How are we going to learn and ask for godly and through wisdom from God in the church? Which is basically saying you've got to produce the environment for that to happen. And peace is the environment that's going to make that possible. As someone put it, he says our one-year fellowship of believers is the soil out of which grows the whole life that is pleasing to God. Wisdom begins from a knowledge of God, doesn't it? So we cannot claim to have godly wisdom if we don't know who he is. That's what we start. So if you don't know Jesus, if you don't know the Lord, you cannot know true wisdom. But it's not just simple knowledge of God. Something cannot be known until it reshapes us. Did you hear that? You cannot know until that truth reshapes you. And so the idea is as a church we must go to God, we must go to Christ every day if we're going to live wisely. We have to go to him so that he may nourish us with grace and more grace so that we have a right relationship with him. And that right relationship enables us to have right relationship with one another. And that's that happens. This is nothing to happen. Are you wise? Do you have understand? We must check our lives, our relationship with God every single day of our lives. Because once that relationship breaks and selfish ambition, and bitter jealousy, and arrogance, and all of those things that James mentions, they begin to take food in our lives. And for relationship with them is life. If we have peace with God, then that's going to flow in our relationship with one another. So purity and sincerity and gentleness and peace is going to flow out of our heart. Is it easy to do? I go to him every day. He lets you manual. Give us wisdom. Give us wisdom this day, or Lord, and save you Jesus Christ, we pray. You ask us to desire God, the wisdom you ask us to ask for. And you tell us to ask and not be double minded but to have faith and to trust that you indeed will give us wisdom. And so we pray that God will give us wisdom. Wisdom to live in peace with you and wisdom to live in peace with one another. In Jesus' name, we pray.