Today we will study James 3:13-18 and let God’s Word teach us about Godly wisdom.
James begins his teaching by asking a rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is one asked, already knowing the answer, to set up an argument.
Here is an example. You are a teenager and you come home late. Your father gets up and comes charging down the hall. His hair is standing straight up, he’s wearing his 20 year baggy pajamas. His eyes are bulging out because he is mad. You offer him a lame excuse. He says, “do I look stupid?”.
Even as a teen, you know that is a rhetorical question. The wise answer is “no sir”. The foolish answer is “do you mean right now or in general?”.
James’ rhetorical question is “who is wise and understanding among you?” James assumes some in the church believe they are wise. Remember, he is writing a letter to those who have left Jerusalem because of persecution, and are now meeting and worshipping together in other towns. The probably met in homes. Naturally, some would come forward to be leaders, claiming to be qualified because they are wise. In effect, James is saying “I know some of you think you are wise”. And so James wants to show them what that means in Biblical terms.
He says, in verse 13, if you are wise, you need to show it by your good conduct in the meekness of wisdom. In other words, you cannot go around the church claiming to have spiritual wisdom unless you conduct is godly and your works are done in meekness.
In James’ time, wisdom was an intellectual thing, especially among the Greeks and Romans. It did not affect their conduct in moral terms. That same thinking exists today. In parts of our culture, you are considered wise if you believe whatever is the current thing is. That thing is decided by movements in the culture. You can believe those things and be considered wise regardless of your conduct in other areas.
But the Bible does not see wisdom that way. The Bible defines wisdom as a knowledge of God, and his standards, that reveals itself in Godly living. The Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament is written on this premise. Proverbs 9:10, for example, says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
The book of Psalms is anchored in this concept also. The very first Psalm tells us the blessed man or woman delights in the law of the Lord and does not follow the counsel of the wicked or hang out with sinners and scoffers. Wisdom comes from knowing God and is shown by obedience to his law.
James is very much plugged into this way of thinking. He is concerned with action and with behavior. All through his letter he deals with behavior: how we handle trials, that we do the word and not just hear it, that we do not show partiality, that we tame our tongues, and show our faith by our works. Likewise, he is not impressed by one’s claim to be wise; he demands to see the fruit of it. That fruit is, first of all, Godly behavior, or conduct.
All of these works are to be done in a certain way: with meekness. So, first of all, what is meekness?
I define it this way: it is a calm confidence in the Lord. I believe Psalm 37 describes this Godly meekness. Is not weakness or timidity. It is the ability to react to all things knowing God is in control and desiring to glorify him.
This allows you to put aside your desires and ambitions, your sense of entitlement and competition, and deal with people, and especially God’s people, with gentleness, respect, and concern for their welfare, even when those people are not conducting themselves in Godly meekness.
It is clearly expressed in the Bible that God values meekness. Psalm 37:11 says “the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace”. If those words sound familiar to you outside of the Psalm, it is because Jesus alluded to them in the beatitudes. He said “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. (Matthew 5:5) Those live in obedience to God may rest in knowing he will take care of us and bless us.
The greatest leader in the Old Testament was Moses. He contested for the Lord and the Israelites, with the most powerful man on earth, Pharaoh, and prevailed. In the power of the Lord, he parted the sea. He led hundreds of thousands of Jews across the wilderness to the land of Canaan. Yet, Numbers 12:3 says “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”
Moses never defended himself. He went to the Lord for help when Israel rebelled or complained. Even when his brother and sister rebelled against him in jealousy and ambition, he did nothing. He let the Lord act to vindicate him. (Numbers 12)
Jesus was meek. He said “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”. (Matthew 11:29) Jesus demonstrated the meekness is not weakness. You could hardly call Jesus weak, since endured scorn, beatings, and crucifixion without even complaining. Yet he was meek in that he submitted to the Father’s will that he suffer for our sins, being confident in the Father to raise him to glory.
Gentleness is listed as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. The word translated there as “gentle” is the same word translated “meek” in James 3. Therefore, the man or woman who has the Holy Spirit indwelling them, should have this meekness when in submission to the Spirit.
WISDOM FROM BELOW
In contrast to good works with meekness, James says that bitter jealousy and selfish ambition show you do not have Godly wisdom. That is because jealousy and ambition come from the desire to elevate yourself or to achieve your desires rather than glorify God and edify his people.
Yes, some church people get jealous. They are jealous because someone is in charge and they are not. They get jealous when someone else is praised and they do not. They are jealous when someone gets to do something they do not, like sing a solo, speak to a group, or get a title. They are ambitious and resent not getting what someone else gets.
If you have this jealousy and\or ambition, do not boast about having true wisdom. You are lying about it and compounding your sin.
Ambition and assertiveness were values in the Greek culture of James’ day. They were signs of strength and wisdom. These traits are valued in our culture also. Self-help books do not tell you to be meek, but to assert yourself, compete, and work to get what you want.
James is clear and graphic about the source of this wisdom. He says it is earthly, unspiritual and demonic. (15)
It is earthly because it reflects the thinking of man, not God. God’s thinking and the thinking of unregenerate, unsaved, men and women are not the same. You may have even had someone say to you, “I have difficulty believing because God seems to do everything backwards or upside down from what I think he should do.”
But the fact is, it is man’s reasoning that is upside down. You see, when Adam sinned, humanity immediately began to change. It changed for the worse. Within one generation, a man felt justified in murdering his brother. God’s wisdom said do not murder. And it kept getting worse. Romans 1 tells us the mind darkened by sin becomes foolish and its thinking becomes futile. That person may claim to be wise, but has become a fool.
In Isaiah 55:8-9, God said “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declare the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than you ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”.
Because bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are earthly, they are unspiritual. In 1 Corinthians 2:14, Paul tells us that the natural person cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. He will not be able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. So, we expect the unsaved person to act out of jealousy and ambition, but not the one who has been saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Lastly, James says that jealousy and ambition are not just earthly and unspiritual, they are demonic. That sounds pretty strong doesn’t it? How is it demonic?
It is because these things do not glorify God, they seek to glorify the person at the expense of glory to God. The devil has rebelled against God and sought to lead mankind away from God’s thinking from the beginning. All the way back to the Garden of Eden, as recorded in Genesis 3, the devil convinced the first man and woman that God’s rules were not wise and should be rejected in favor of what they wanted. Eve looked at the forbidden fruit and she desired to be made wise in opposition to God. (Genesis 3:6)
She wanted wisdom that was not God’s wisdom. She wanted to be like God in knowledge, but not in wisdom. This is what the devil wanted and still wants: to make us rebel against God and seek ourselves. That is demonic wisdom, wisdom from below.
Because jealousy and ambition are not from God, but from below, they cause disorder. They break down the fellowship. They cause rebellion against the leadership. They cause arguments that anger and hurt people. You may have experienced this at some point in your life. You can have a lovely fellowship with a group, then see it ruined when people vie for control or run each other down to other members out of jealousy.
Even the twelve disciples experienced this. Mark 9 tells us that as Jesus and the disciples walked through Galilee to Capernaum, he taught them that he would be killed, and would be resurrected. But, when the disciples talked among themselves, they did not talk about Jesus suffering and dying. They did not talk about the miracle of resurrection.They argued with each other who would be the greatest.
Ambition and jealousy were at work in them. Their fellowship was broken. They missed out on learning from Jesus because they were venting their selfish ambitions. Jesus has to tell them that being a leader of believers meant being their servant.
Yet, this message did not take hold. Mark 10 tells us that James and John asked to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in glory. They were ambitious. The other 10 disciples were indignant at them. They were jealous and upset that James and John might get better than positions than them. Again their fellowship was broken. Jesus had to give them a talk about leading and serving.
In addition to disorder, James said these traits lead to every vile practice. If we let evil desires take us over, we will commit evil actions. If you apply the world’s political maneuvers to church business, sooner or later you will commit the same sins committed by corrupt politicians. You will lie, you will gossip, and maybe worse.
WISDOM FROM ABOVE
In contrast to this, wisdom from above reflects God’s attributes and his standards. “from above” means “from God”. James list several traits of the person who has Godly wisdom. (17)
It is, first of all, morally pure. This is the good conduct James mentioned in verse 13. Those full of Godly wisdom live according to God’s standards of purity and holiness. Ephesians 5:1 tells us to be imitators of God. 1 Peter 1:16 “as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy”. (1 Peter 1:16)
It is peaceable, not stirring up dissention or disorder. I don’t think James is saying we can never disagree or debate. He presided over a great debate in the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. The issue was whether the Gentile believers had to circumcised and follow the law of Moses in order to be saved. In other words, did they have to become Jews to become Christians. Acts 15:6 tells us there was much debate.
But after Peter, Barnabas, and Paul spoke, the issued was settled and James announced the decision that they would not require the Gentiles to be circumcised. There was debate on a hot topic, but there was a Godly decision made in wisdom and disorder was avoided. And, notice that the church in Antioch, Paul, and Barnabas acted in meekness, submitting themselves to the authority of the apostles and elders.
Wisdom from above is gentle, or meek, treating everyone kindly and with concern.
It is open to reason, able to sit down, listen to others, and talk about things that we disagree on, without getting mad or refusing to see the point of another person.
Wisdom from above is full of mercy and good fruits, recognizing that Jesus has been merciful to us and we should then extend mercy to others.
It is impartial, not giving the rich more privileges and respect that the average person or the poor person. James discussed this in detail in 2:1-13.
Wisdom from above is sincere. It is never fake or posturing.
James ends this discussion with a beautiful sentence in verse 18: “And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” It seems like a proverb or saying that James quotes.
He is saying that those who express their wisdom through acts done in peace will be pleasing to God, which is how he defines righteousness in 1:20. And those who are pleasing to God will be rewarded in eternity.
It is God’s desire that churches exist in peace, not fighting or quarreling. That is his desire for our church. He is not pleased with divisions and disruptive behavior. Brothers and sisters, we all have things we want and things we do not want. We have preferences, But, we will not always have it our way. And that is ok.
Our church, like many churches, has divisions, quarreling, and complaining. This is not the expression of Godly wisdom. We have many that do not participate in any of that, but some who do.
Let us all remember that church is not about what pleases us. It is about what pleases God and reaches people for Christ. We cannot expect his blessing if we do not act accordingly.
Finally, remember that Godly wisdom begins with knowing God. How do you know God? How do you have a relationship with him? You only do it through Jesus Christ. You cannot expect to have heavenly wisdom if you do not know the savior from heaven. If that is your situation today, I beg you to repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus for eternal life. Romans 10:9-10 says “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart the God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”.
If you need to talk to someone about that, there will be people over here in the Next Steps area who are happy to talk to you.
James begins his teaching by asking a rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is one asked, already knowing the answer, to set up an argument.
Here is an example. You are a teenager and you come home late. Your father gets up and comes charging down the hall. His hair is standing straight up, he’s wearing his 20 year baggy pajamas. His eyes are bulging out because he is mad. You offer him a lame excuse. He says, “do I look stupid?”.
Even as a teen, you know that is a rhetorical question. The wise answer is “no sir”. The foolish answer is “do you mean right now or in general?”.
James’ rhetorical question is “who is wise and understanding among you?” James assumes some in the church believe they are wise. Remember, he is writing a letter to those who have left Jerusalem because of persecution, and are now meeting and worshipping together in other towns. The probably met in homes. Naturally, some would come forward to be leaders, claiming to be qualified because they are wise. In effect, James is saying “I know some of you think you are wise”. And so James wants to show them what that means in Biblical terms.
He says, in verse 13, if you are wise, you need to show it by your good conduct in the meekness of wisdom. In other words, you cannot go around the church claiming to have spiritual wisdom unless you conduct is godly and your works are done in meekness.
In James’ time, wisdom was an intellectual thing, especially among the Greeks and Romans. It did not affect their conduct in moral terms. That same thinking exists today. In parts of our culture, you are considered wise if you believe whatever is the current thing is. That thing is decided by movements in the culture. You can believe those things and be considered wise regardless of your conduct in other areas.
But the Bible does not see wisdom that way. The Bible defines wisdom as a knowledge of God, and his standards, that reveals itself in Godly living. The Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament is written on this premise. Proverbs 9:10, for example, says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
The book of Psalms is anchored in this concept also. The very first Psalm tells us the blessed man or woman delights in the law of the Lord and does not follow the counsel of the wicked or hang out with sinners and scoffers. Wisdom comes from knowing God and is shown by obedience to his law.
James is very much plugged into this way of thinking. He is concerned with action and with behavior. All through his letter he deals with behavior: how we handle trials, that we do the word and not just hear it, that we do not show partiality, that we tame our tongues, and show our faith by our works. Likewise, he is not impressed by one’s claim to be wise; he demands to see the fruit of it. That fruit is, first of all, Godly behavior, or conduct.
All of these works are to be done in a certain way: with meekness. So, first of all, what is meekness?
I define it this way: it is a calm confidence in the Lord. I believe Psalm 37 describes this Godly meekness. Is not weakness or timidity. It is the ability to react to all things knowing God is in control and desiring to glorify him.
This allows you to put aside your desires and ambitions, your sense of entitlement and competition, and deal with people, and especially God’s people, with gentleness, respect, and concern for their welfare, even when those people are not conducting themselves in Godly meekness.
It is clearly expressed in the Bible that God values meekness. Psalm 37:11 says “the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace”. If those words sound familiar to you outside of the Psalm, it is because Jesus alluded to them in the beatitudes. He said “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. (Matthew 5:5) Those live in obedience to God may rest in knowing he will take care of us and bless us.
The greatest leader in the Old Testament was Moses. He contested for the Lord and the Israelites, with the most powerful man on earth, Pharaoh, and prevailed. In the power of the Lord, he parted the sea. He led hundreds of thousands of Jews across the wilderness to the land of Canaan. Yet, Numbers 12:3 says “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”
Moses never defended himself. He went to the Lord for help when Israel rebelled or complained. Even when his brother and sister rebelled against him in jealousy and ambition, he did nothing. He let the Lord act to vindicate him. (Numbers 12)
Jesus was meek. He said “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”. (Matthew 11:29) Jesus demonstrated the meekness is not weakness. You could hardly call Jesus weak, since endured scorn, beatings, and crucifixion without even complaining. Yet he was meek in that he submitted to the Father’s will that he suffer for our sins, being confident in the Father to raise him to glory.
Gentleness is listed as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. The word translated there as “gentle” is the same word translated “meek” in James 3. Therefore, the man or woman who has the Holy Spirit indwelling them, should have this meekness when in submission to the Spirit.
WISDOM FROM BELOW
In contrast to good works with meekness, James says that bitter jealousy and selfish ambition show you do not have Godly wisdom. That is because jealousy and ambition come from the desire to elevate yourself or to achieve your desires rather than glorify God and edify his people.
Yes, some church people get jealous. They are jealous because someone is in charge and they are not. They get jealous when someone else is praised and they do not. They are jealous when someone gets to do something they do not, like sing a solo, speak to a group, or get a title. They are ambitious and resent not getting what someone else gets.
If you have this jealousy and\or ambition, do not boast about having true wisdom. You are lying about it and compounding your sin.
Ambition and assertiveness were values in the Greek culture of James’ day. They were signs of strength and wisdom. These traits are valued in our culture also. Self-help books do not tell you to be meek, but to assert yourself, compete, and work to get what you want.
James is clear and graphic about the source of this wisdom. He says it is earthly, unspiritual and demonic. (15)
It is earthly because it reflects the thinking of man, not God. God’s thinking and the thinking of unregenerate, unsaved, men and women are not the same. You may have even had someone say to you, “I have difficulty believing because God seems to do everything backwards or upside down from what I think he should do.”
But the fact is, it is man’s reasoning that is upside down. You see, when Adam sinned, humanity immediately began to change. It changed for the worse. Within one generation, a man felt justified in murdering his brother. God’s wisdom said do not murder. And it kept getting worse. Romans 1 tells us the mind darkened by sin becomes foolish and its thinking becomes futile. That person may claim to be wise, but has become a fool.
In Isaiah 55:8-9, God said “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declare the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than you ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”.
Because bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are earthly, they are unspiritual. In 1 Corinthians 2:14, Paul tells us that the natural person cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. He will not be able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. So, we expect the unsaved person to act out of jealousy and ambition, but not the one who has been saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Lastly, James says that jealousy and ambition are not just earthly and unspiritual, they are demonic. That sounds pretty strong doesn’t it? How is it demonic?
It is because these things do not glorify God, they seek to glorify the person at the expense of glory to God. The devil has rebelled against God and sought to lead mankind away from God’s thinking from the beginning. All the way back to the Garden of Eden, as recorded in Genesis 3, the devil convinced the first man and woman that God’s rules were not wise and should be rejected in favor of what they wanted. Eve looked at the forbidden fruit and she desired to be made wise in opposition to God. (Genesis 3:6)
She wanted wisdom that was not God’s wisdom. She wanted to be like God in knowledge, but not in wisdom. This is what the devil wanted and still wants: to make us rebel against God and seek ourselves. That is demonic wisdom, wisdom from below.
Because jealousy and ambition are not from God, but from below, they cause disorder. They break down the fellowship. They cause rebellion against the leadership. They cause arguments that anger and hurt people. You may have experienced this at some point in your life. You can have a lovely fellowship with a group, then see it ruined when people vie for control or run each other down to other members out of jealousy.
Even the twelve disciples experienced this. Mark 9 tells us that as Jesus and the disciples walked through Galilee to Capernaum, he taught them that he would be killed, and would be resurrected. But, when the disciples talked among themselves, they did not talk about Jesus suffering and dying. They did not talk about the miracle of resurrection.They argued with each other who would be the greatest.
Ambition and jealousy were at work in them. Their fellowship was broken. They missed out on learning from Jesus because they were venting their selfish ambitions. Jesus has to tell them that being a leader of believers meant being their servant.
Yet, this message did not take hold. Mark 10 tells us that James and John asked to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in glory. They were ambitious. The other 10 disciples were indignant at them. They were jealous and upset that James and John might get better than positions than them. Again their fellowship was broken. Jesus had to give them a talk about leading and serving.
In addition to disorder, James said these traits lead to every vile practice. If we let evil desires take us over, we will commit evil actions. If you apply the world’s political maneuvers to church business, sooner or later you will commit the same sins committed by corrupt politicians. You will lie, you will gossip, and maybe worse.
WISDOM FROM ABOVE
In contrast to this, wisdom from above reflects God’s attributes and his standards. “from above” means “from God”. James list several traits of the person who has Godly wisdom. (17)
It is, first of all, morally pure. This is the good conduct James mentioned in verse 13. Those full of Godly wisdom live according to God’s standards of purity and holiness. Ephesians 5:1 tells us to be imitators of God. 1 Peter 1:16 “as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy”. (1 Peter 1:16)
It is peaceable, not stirring up dissention or disorder. I don’t think James is saying we can never disagree or debate. He presided over a great debate in the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. The issue was whether the Gentile believers had to circumcised and follow the law of Moses in order to be saved. In other words, did they have to become Jews to become Christians. Acts 15:6 tells us there was much debate.
But after Peter, Barnabas, and Paul spoke, the issued was settled and James announced the decision that they would not require the Gentiles to be circumcised. There was debate on a hot topic, but there was a Godly decision made in wisdom and disorder was avoided. And, notice that the church in Antioch, Paul, and Barnabas acted in meekness, submitting themselves to the authority of the apostles and elders.
Wisdom from above is gentle, or meek, treating everyone kindly and with concern.
It is open to reason, able to sit down, listen to others, and talk about things that we disagree on, without getting mad or refusing to see the point of another person.
Wisdom from above is full of mercy and good fruits, recognizing that Jesus has been merciful to us and we should then extend mercy to others.
It is impartial, not giving the rich more privileges and respect that the average person or the poor person. James discussed this in detail in 2:1-13.
Wisdom from above is sincere. It is never fake or posturing.
James ends this discussion with a beautiful sentence in verse 18: “And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” It seems like a proverb or saying that James quotes.
He is saying that those who express their wisdom through acts done in peace will be pleasing to God, which is how he defines righteousness in 1:20. And those who are pleasing to God will be rewarded in eternity.
It is God’s desire that churches exist in peace, not fighting or quarreling. That is his desire for our church. He is not pleased with divisions and disruptive behavior. Brothers and sisters, we all have things we want and things we do not want. We have preferences, But, we will not always have it our way. And that is ok.
Our church, like many churches, has divisions, quarreling, and complaining. This is not the expression of Godly wisdom. We have many that do not participate in any of that, but some who do.
Let us all remember that church is not about what pleases us. It is about what pleases God and reaches people for Christ. We cannot expect his blessing if we do not act accordingly.
Finally, remember that Godly wisdom begins with knowing God. How do you know God? How do you have a relationship with him? You only do it through Jesus Christ. You cannot expect to have heavenly wisdom if you do not know the savior from heaven. If that is your situation today, I beg you to repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus for eternal life. Romans 10:9-10 says “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart the God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”.
If you need to talk to someone about that, there will be people over here in the Next Steps area who are happy to talk to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment