Heavenly or Worldly Wisdom?

James chapter 3 verse 13 through 18. Now as I get us started this morning I want us to take a little trip back to the Old Testament for just a moment and what I mean is this I want us to talk about Solomon for a moment. Now there are many people that say that Solomon was the wisest man who has ever lived. Obviously he was one of the wisest men whoever was in the pages of the scripture. Some people say he is the wisest man who has ever lived. But a little background about Solomon. Solomon was the third king of Israel. He was David's son. I don't know if you know the progression of the kings of Israel.

Saul was the first king that Israel ever had. Remember Samuel anointed Saul as king. It was not God's original plan, his first plan, but yet the people wanted a king so that they could be like the pagan people. God gave him a king his name was Saul and the second king was David. David was a wonderful man. He was a man after God's own heart. As a matter of fact Luke tells us in Acts that he was a man after God's own heart and that he did everything that God purpose for him in his day, in his generation. What a wonderful description of a ministry that David had. David wasn't a perfect man but yet Israel was a very strong nation.

Israel was being led by a godly man in David. But David's son succeeded him. His name was Solomon and he came to power at a great and wonderful time in the nation of Israel. David had really laid the groundwork for his son to step into his shoes and be a godly leader. If we know our scripture we know that the story of Solomon is found first in first kings and then over in first Chronicles as a matter of fact first Kings chapter 3. But it's kind of interesting when Solomon comes to power and when God is visiting him and he is meeting with God and basically Solomon says I'm a young man.

I'm a young man who am I and he says how can I govern how can I lead these people. He's overwhelmed by the task. He sees who his father David was. He sees the great nation, the nation of God. God's chosen people before him and he has the monumental task of being God's man and in that God visits him and God says to Solomon, Solomon you ask me and I'll give you anything you want. Now if you know your story he didn't think selfishly but he said Lord I need wisdom. Now you don't have to turn there but in first Kings chapter 4 listen to what start starting in verse 29 listen to what the word says.

Says now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind like the sand that is on the seashore and Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all of the sons of the east and all of the wisdom of Egypt for he was wiser than all men. This is the breadth of the wisdom and knowledge that God deposited up on him and it goes on there in chapter 4 to talk about excuse me all of the Proverbs and all of the songs and all of the great knowledge and wisdom that he had. He was great in understanding the military and in the government and in the areas of biology and wildlife and the list goes on and on what am I showing you.

God answered his prayer and he became a very wise man. Now if I can move from the Old Testament to today in the world in which we live today wisdom is desperately needed is it not. Do we not need wise men today as I pan the horizon and I see the church in the state that it's in is that I listen to friends and I read the headlines. I mean we desperately need wise church leaders in the church today. The church is not victorious as it should be. The church seems to be powerless to advance into this culture and to reach the multitudes for the gospel.

The church needs wise men to lead under the authority of God's Word and the anointing and the mantle of the Spirit of God on them. The church needs wise men. I was reminded this weekend as I was talking to a brother in Christ and he was sharing with me the struggles in the life of his church and he was describing to me the pastors and the ministers that are around him and over him and all he was describing were us unwise men. If we watch the headlines we know that we need wise men in government today. Oh yes we can have Christian leaders. Solomon was excuse me and David were godly men and they were in positions of government.

We need godly leadership in government today but we need wise men everywhere. We need wise men on the job. We need wise men in the home. We need wise husbands. We need wise fathers. Let me tell you sir if you're not a wise godly man in the home that is your number one job. We need wise men today. Now I know as I throw that term around you automatically think about the three wise men who visited our Lord. I mean so much more than that. As a matter of fact James means so much more to that and that's the subject that James has us in this morning and that is wisdom. That leads us to the title of the message this morning.

The title of the message is heavenly or worldly wisdom and it really is in the form of a question and we're going to explore this question in these verses, verses 13 through 18. Heavenly or worldly wisdom. I put our main truths on the on the screen this morning you can write them down but let's look at the verses first. Let's look at the text that is before us. James picks up in verse 13 and he says who among you is wise and understanding let him show by his good behavior, his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.

This wisdom is not that which comes down from above but is earthly natural demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exists there is disorder in every evil thing but the wisdom from above is first pure and then peaceable, gentle and reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering without hypocrisy and the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. We're going to look at three main truths out of these verses this morning and you can write them down. First are number one I want us to see James is testing wisdom. We'll see that in verse 13. James is testing wisdom.

Number two, James is revealing worldly wisdom. That's in verses 14 through 16 and then number three James is revealing heavenly wisdom. James is revealing heavenly wisdom and that's in verses 17 through 18. So let's dive into these verses and let's look at them one by one as we're learning about wisdom. So number one are Roman numeral one. I want us to see James is testing wisdom. Go back to verse 13 with me. He says, "Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom." Now James is following that same line of teaching that we saw in verses 14 through 26. Remember those messages?

We looked at dead faith, we looked at demonic faith and we looked at dynamic faith. James was testing their faith in those verses was he not? As a matter of fact the book of James is all about test after test after test and I think we see that pattern developing. But now we see James is testing, listen, their wisdom. He's testing their wisdom and as we break down this verse we're going to notice two things. First I want us to notice he asked them a question. Go back to the verse, the very beginning of the verse. "Who among you is wise and understanding?" James is asking a question which simply is calling them out.

This isn't a passive question. There are two words that are used here in this verse. I want you to notice the word wise and understanding. If you write in your Bible I want you to circle those words or underline those words or highlight them. The King James says wise man and knowledge. The word wise it means purposeful and careful application of knowledge to everyday living. See the practical nature of that word wise? It means purposeful and careful application of knowledge to everyday wisdom.

Now it seems like James is stacking words on top of one another, maybe being redundant, but there is a purpose because the word understanding it means the application of specific specialized knowledge. See how these two words come together? They come together to teach what James is trying to show us. The word wise it means to be careful in applying knowledge to everyday living but yet the word understanding is a little more specific. It means to apply specialized knowledge like that of a professional. That's what he's revealing in this question. Second I want you to see he demands proof. He demands proof.

Go back to the next portion of the verse. Let him show by his good behavior his good deeds in the generalness of wisdom. Now James moves from a question to being a little more forceful. What I mean is these words let him show in the original in its construction it is a command. What James is saying is prove it. With that in mind let's go back to the verse. Who among you is wise? Who among you is understanding? Now prove it is what he's saying. Let him show it. I want to see it and it's a command. It's not something soft.

He is saying more than just a question here but notice within this command notice within this demand of proof what does he say? He says I want to see good behavior. He says I want to see good deeds and I want to see gentleness. Now this word gentleness can be translated meekness. That's in the English Standard Version and the King James. What is he showing? He's showing the attitude of meekness but yet what is he showing? I want to see the proof of good behavior, good deeds. That's what this word understanding and wise means.

It means the purposeful careful application of that which you know to everyday life and it is more than a broad general thing. It is a specialized application of knowledge. What is James saying? James is saying who among you is wise and understanding? If you say you are he says I want to see it in good behavior, good deeds with the right attitude of the heart. All James is doing is he's describing the title of the message series. Is he not? Because good works flow out of good faith. That's all he's saying. I want to see good faith come out of that wisdom you say you have and he's testing their wisdom.

One Bible commentator that I read describes this word, this verse. He says wisdom knows the good and knows how to do the good. That's very simplistic but it's true. What is he saying? True Bible wisdom puts into action that which they know and that's all James is doing. He's testing their wisdom. I can't think of a better example than the story of the Good Samaritan. I mean we all know that story. I hope that you do. You don't have to turn there but if we look into the Scriptures and the Scripture is in Luke chapter 10 verse 25 through 37 is one account. Don't turn there. Let me paraphrase that for you.

Jesus has been questioned by one of the lawyers in the day and they're saying Lord what must I do to have eternal life? What must I do? They're coming to pose that question and so many different words and Jesus says you know we've got to love the Lord God with all our hearts soul, mind, and strength. That's always the theme that he came to him with but what they are asking is what must we do? And he tells a parable Jesus does to illustrate what that looks like. He tells the story of a man who was robbed. He was beaten. He was beaten black and blue and he was left in the ditch to die by the bandits, by the robbers.

And in that story there's a priest that comes by and the priest just glances over at the individual in the ditch and goes along his way. Then there's a Levite that comes along and he glances over at the individual in the ditch and he goes on his way. Basically what he was saying was the ministers of the day walked by but then a Samaritan came by and what did the Samaritan do? The Samaritan got down in the ditch with that individual and the Samaritan took care of that individual's needs and he bandaged that individual.

He gave medical care to that individual and he took him to an inn and he paid for his needs to be met there and he went on his journey and he said when I come back if there are any more expenses incurred I'll cover them. What is the story of the Good Samaritan illustrate for us? The story of the Good Samaritan illustrates wise understanding and dealing with wisdom because that individual, that Good Samaritan, they were careful to apply the knowledge to everyday living and as a matter of fact they applied that knowledge in a specific way like a professional. I guess if we can say it like this that Good Samaritan was a professional Christian.

And I guess I want to ask us a question. How do we react? How do you react when you're a Christian wisdom is tested? See in our culture we have a lot of people who are Sunday morning Christians. We have a lot of people they're Christians when their wife is around. We have a lot of people they're Christians only when they're at church you know. I guess when they drive up on the premises they start being a Christian and when they get a little piece down the road they just let that fade into the back of their mind. We have a lot of people they're not professional Christians.

Oh they would say they're Christian or they would be able to spit out scripture verses Sunday school lessons. But see they are not wise and they are not understanding and they don't apply the knowledge that they say they have and when it is tested it is revealed. And see in these fellowships these Christians these Jews who have been scattered there were people in the fellowships who did not have real wisdom. Go back and listen to what James says. "Who among you is wise and understanding let him show it." He's saying I command you to prove it by good behavior by good deeds with what? A gentle humble attitude. That's what James is saying.

He's testing their wisdom and I'll tell you in the church today. Now listen. We need people's Christian wisdom tested. Not everybody who comes in and sits in the pew is Christian. You can have an event on Sunday morning, Easter Sunday morning, you can have a homecoming or really just any Sunday of the week. Any meeting of the week and there are people who are in the pews today who need their wisdom tested because they just got Sunday morning wisdom at best. Well let's move on. Let's look at Roman numeral two or truth number two. James is revealing worldly wisdom. He is revealing worldly wisdom.

See it wasn't enough for him to test and now he's going to reveal. Let's look at verses 14 through 16. But that word tells us there's a transition there but if you have bitter jealousy, selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above but it is earthly, natural, demonic. Goes on to say for a word jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there is disorder of every evil theme. James is still testing their wisdom but he moves on from probing and commanding in verse 13 to revealing their wisdom.

There were some of the fellowships who obviously did not have true heavenly wisdom. Now I want us to notice some things out of these verses. First I want you to see the description of their wisdom. Look at verse 14. But if you have bitterness, bitter jealousy, selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant so that you lie against the truth. What do we see here? This is a description of the type of wisdom that they have. Excuse me. James describes their actions. James describes how they live. He asked more than a question. Now he starts to explain to them how they really are. Notice they have bitter jealousy.

These two words are put together to describe the type of jealousy which was among some of them. Now the word bitter right here it means sharp. It means prickly. Now that might sound humorous to some of you. That is the same word that is used in verse 11 when it speaks about bitter water. What is James trying to say? He brings the word bitter alongside this word jealousy to describe the level of jealousy that they have. It was a sharp jealousy. It was a prickling jealousy. It was a bitter jealousy. The King James says it like this, bitter envying, and it communicates the same thing. Notice they have selfish ambition.

The King James reads strife. This phrase simply means selfishness or ambition for selfish gain. Notice they have arrogance. This word means to be boastful, to be prideful, to be full of self. Notice they also have lying because what does he say? They are lying against the truth. In other words these people would reject the truth that James was bringing. So notice their description. Their faith consists of bitter jealousy and envy. Their faith consists of a selfish ambition. Their wisdom and faith consists of arrogance which is full of self and their faith, their wisdom, consists of lying, lying against the truth.

Second, I want you to notice the source of their wisdom. Look at verse 14 again. This, excuse me, verse 15. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but it is earthly. It is natural. It is demonic. This is the source of the wisdom and faith that they do have. Notice the source is in two places. Notice first their heart. What does he say in verse 14? But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, what? In your heart. This is the source of this so-called wisdom. This speaks to their responsibility. This speaks to the sinfulness that is within their hearts. Notice second the world. What does he say? The world is earthly.

It simply represents worldliness. This word earthly. The word natural, it means of the flesh and the word demonic means of the devil. You see he's describing the source of their wisdom. Let me go back and read the verse. But if you have bitter, bitter jealousy, selfish ambition in your heart, that's where it comes from. Do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not from heaven. He goes on to say, but it is earthly. And he describes where it comes from. It comes from the world. It comes from their flesh and it comes from Satan himself. Third, the results of their wisdom. Look at verse 16 with me.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there is disorder and everything and every evil thing. This is the results. First, notice the disorder. This word in the original, it means a state of instability and confusion. So what is James saying? The result of your kind of wisdom, it brings about disorder and confusion and instability. And notice it opens the door for every evil thing. This simply means a wide variety of results are brought on by demanding, by depending on man's wisdom. I can't think of a better example in the story of diatrophies.

And third, John, you remember when we were going through the book of first John back in the spring of 2012? As a matter of fact, on May the 20th of 2012, we had a message that was called a big bully in the church and we learned about this man, diatrophies. Now, I don't want you to turn there, but I want to read to you this description of diatrophies. Now, diatrophies was in the church. John was not there. John was coming back and he is writing to the church and dealing with diatrophies. And notice what he says. I wrote something to the church, but diatrophies, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.

For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds, which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words and not satisfied with this, neither does he himself receive the brethren and he forbids those who desire to do so and he puts them out of the church. What is diatrophies doing? He is this verse, verses 14 through 16, in the flesh. He has nothing but bitter jealousy against John and it is a sharp bitter jealousy. He has nothing but selfish ambition within the church. He has nothing but arrogance and pride and boastfulness. All he does is reject the truth because what did he say?

In verse 9 he says, "I wrote something to you earlier," but he rejected it. And all John is doing is showing the source of his wisdom. It was from flesh. And what do we see? We see the results because what we see diatrophies doing in the life of the church is he's kicking people out of the church. He's rejecting John and those who travel with John and all we have is confusion and instability and disorder and it throws open the door for every sort of evil. And diatrophies is nothing more than a man that is full of worldly wisdom. And running loose in the church, he destroys. Now I don't know if you have known a person like diatrophies.

I think some of you have. Some of them are obvious to see. I'm afraid we've run across diatrophies and they have the badge of Deacon on or they have the badge of pastor. You know a lot of times the diatrophies, they will have an unseen badge and that will be the patriarch of the church. You ever seen people like that? Sometimes in these small country churches, they'll be just like this patriarch in the church and a lot of times they will be a diatrophies. Sometimes it'll be the matriarch of the church. I've seen that before.

I've seen the church have a couple of women in the church and they are the matriarchs in the church and all they are are a female version of diatrophies. I think that this can be seen in the life of an entire family. Sometimes you'll go to the church and there'll be one side that's nothing more than one family and then the other side is everybody else and that family, they're nothing more than the diatrophies in the life of the church. Now what am I trying to show you? I'm trying to show you what energizes people like this. They have a worldly wisdom and look on the surface it'll sound good. They will use the right words.

They will have good ideas but yet if you understand the scripture you'll know exactly where it comes from. It's demonic. Now I don't believe we have a diatrophies in this church. If we did I'd have to deal with it immediately. But you know there are some people they might not be a diatrophies but they still have worldly wisdom because when James puts the test verse 13 to their lives when James says let me see your wisdom it is shown to be not full of good behavior, good deeds and gentleness and wisdom they cannot look exercise their faith in wisdom and in understanding. You're just like diatrophies if that's you.

You might not be acting out like diatrophies but that is exactly who you are. Some of the times we have people in the churches and they are closet diatrophies. What I mean is in the right set of circumstances in the right time they will be a diatrophies. Let me give you an example. I can remember years ago I was involved in a particular church and there was a man the life of the church he was one of the few diatrophies in the life of the church and I'll never forget I heard a woman who had been in that church for years say it like this you know we don't really know where he came from but we can tell you how he got here.

What she was saying was this she went on to tell her story. She said he grew up in the life of the church but in his teenage years he left the church. He went out into the world and he left the church and in his high school years he went out into the world and in his college years he went out into the world and then when he got married he kind of made a full circle and he came back to the church.

See one of the problems is that man's loss he's never been saved but see he made a full circle and he came back to the church and he was just kind of hit and miss he was kind of hit and miss but then there was a minister one day they said well we can get this brother so called brother to be active in the life of the church now listen if we give him a job and he put him on some special stewardship committee and that woman said that's what did it.

He plugged right in started going to Sunday school started coming to prayer meeting started coming every time the doors were open the next thing you know he's a deacon the next thing you know he's supposedly a leader and all he was was a doctor of these that came into the side door and see what James is showing us they are energized by worldly wisdom but I won't tell you see our job is to not let people like that be put in certain positions because look every time you have a lost man in a place of authority spiritually they will always react out of worldly wisdom and see it's not my job to get you plugged in if that's you my job and only God can do it and my prayer and my hope is that you would be saved.

So what we see here is James is revealing worldly wisdom. Let's move on to truth number two three Roman numeral three I want us to see that James is revealing heavenly wisdom. Let's look at verse 17 verse 18 but again there's another transition we see a natural transition but the wisdom from above is first pure and then peaceable and gentle reasonable full of mercy and good fruits unwavering without hypocrisy and the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

I've already said it James uses the word but right here in verse 17 it shows us the transition he did the same thing in verse 14 you can see James's natural progression but James is drawing a line of distinction here he is tested and now he's revealed worldly wisdom and now he's going to reveal the real thing the good thing and that is heavenly wisdom.

Let's notice in the verses first I want you to see the source the source but the wisdom from above I want you to see the source this this this this type of wisdom it only comes from God it does not come from gaining knowledge it only comes from God this is made possible through Christ Jesus this tells us that true wisdom is not gaining Bible knowledge it is not having a gift or a talent or a number of gifts and talents it comes from a divine relationship with God isn't that strangely similar to Solomon where did he get his wisdom it was when God himself bestowed that gift upon him when he was meeting with God and he said God how can I leave these people and God gave him wisdom this is the source of heavenly wisdom now let me pause here for a second I want to tell you something just because someone has a vast knowledge of the scripture they can articulate Christian doctrine they can operate in the life of the church in certain roles does not mean that they have heavenly wisdom a man or a woman can study hard they can go to Bible school they can have they could have grown up in the church they can have a vast knowledge of the scripture and because of their gifts and their talents which are naturally given at birth they can operate in the flesh in the life of the church but that does not mean that they have wisdom that is only come from above and there is a difference second I want you to see the description look at verse 17 well the wisdom from above is first here he goes pure then peaceable gentle reasonable full of mercy and good fruits unwavering without hypocrisy this is long list of words notice it's pure this word simply means free from contamination notice it is peaceable this is one who does not instigate conflict with others because of their selfishness or personal ambitions Jesus said in Matthew 5 and the Beatitudes blessed are what are blessed are the peacemakers and they have a peaceable heart a peaceable spirit so notice they're pure notice they're peaceable notice also that they are gentle this carries this word carries the idea of being humble of being meek of an overall kindness now this does not mean that they're weak because the biblical definition of meek is power that is under control also notice that they are reasonable this means that they have a teachable spirit they are not self-willed it means that they are willing to submit without resisting to authority and being teachable notice they are full of mercy this means that they are full of all sorts of good works towards others does it not not sound like the Good Samaritan also it is they are unwavering this means that they are not divided or they are not easily dissuaded a lot of people they are wavering in their faith they will quote-unquote live for God for a little while and they just kind of quit for a little while why because they are dissuaded by the world notice that this faith this wisdom it is without hypocrisy the word hypocrisy in the scripture it really means to act out in our world we have actors they act one way we have an actress they act one way but what what the word hypocrisy means it means to act one way one minute and act another way another minute and what James is saying is they are not a performance they are not a show they are not a hypocrite one Bible commentator that I read said it like this this is nothing more than a description of virtues I like that look at the description again but the wisdom from above is first pure I mean just clean peaceable gentle reasonable full of mercy and good fruits unwavering without hypocrisy but then third notice the results look at verse 18 in the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace I'll read you two different translations might help you the new international version is accurate it reads peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness the King James reads and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace now in the original this verse is very difficult to translate in the English John MacArthur says that literally this verse reads from the original and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace what are we seeing here what is James teaching James is teaching that there is a direct relationship between godly heavenly wisdom and righteous living peace-filled lives James is using an agricultural illustration to teach what to teach a cycle and what is that cycle if we have received godly wisdom if we know godly heavenly wisdom then it will come out in righteous living and peaceful righteous lives in that what James says in verse 13 who among you is wise that means you act out your faith who among you has understanding you act it out specifically like a professional and then he says I want to see it and see verse 18 all it's doing is is showing the cycle that when heavenly wisdom comes down then righteous living comes out one Bible commentator I read said that these verses and especially verse 18 sum up the entire third chapter which we have been in what about an example I like examples I will try to be speedy because of our time but I thought about so many times Paul exemplified these verses I won't bore you with the length of it but in first Corinthians chapter 9 don't we see Paul's heart don't we see this heavenly wisdom just oozing out of who Paul is Paul is dealing with his rights in chapter 9 as an apostle Paul is dealing with his enough his authority as an apostle and he talks about all the rights that he has he has a right to a wife but yet he turns that away he has a right to have his needs physically met but he turns that away why because he wanted to be a servant he wanted to serve the church and not be a burden on the church and all that we see is is he says this for I am though I am free from all men I have made myself a slave to all that I might win the more what do we see nothing more than heavenly wisdom this comes from God into his heart and it was pure and it was peaceable and it was gentle and it was reasonable not resistant to truth he was full of mercy he was unwavering and there was no hypocrisy in him and what do we see we see this cycle in his life he received this heavenly wisdom and he lived this heavenly wisdom and therefore what came out of him was righteous living and I guess James could look at him and say Paul I see proof but see these type of people they're not sunny morning Christians like we have James is not describing the kind of people that we are so familiar with you know the ones that they get a little godly the close to the gate they get godlier more and more godly the closer they get to the church then it just fades away when they leave they act one way when they're sitting in a pew but as soon as they get home when they close the door the mask changes the act changes that's not what James is describing here these are true Christians they live their lives wisely they live their lives with understanding and they apply what they have and as I begin to close I want to ask you are you this kind of person do you have heavenly wisdom now as we move to the conclusion I want to make two areas of application first to the individual there are people among us and around us that we come in contact with it they don't have earthly wisdom heavenly wisdom what I mean is there could be a man or a woman or a young person here that they do not have heavenly wisdom it comes from above people and I'm afraid that in the right set of circumstances people like that could become the diatrophies among us and see what James will be doing this morning is he's questioning you he's questioning you show me your wisdom and then also from the standpoint of the church see people we could just do this thing in the flesh and be nothing more than a church house full of people with earthly wisdom I know those churches I've seen them and they are full of all sorts of evil and they will devour you they will not reach the world for Christ they will not form you into the Christian that God wants you to be we can be a church full of people who have earthly wisdom or we can determine in our heart that we will be a church that is full of people with nothing more than heavenly wisdom and then and only then can we become the church and be the church and function like the church and go out and conquer the world for Christ as God leads us so as I close verse 13 who among you is wise and understanding let him show by his good behavior his deeds his gentleness James is saying prove it prove it by what heavenly wisdom if you have it father thank you for letting us assemble this morning thank you for the beauty of your word the beauty