Let's go ahead and open up God's word to James chapter 3. We continue our study of that letter beginning our reading this morning in verse 13. James chapter 3 verse 13. Remind you that James in the previous section was discussing the tongue and the power and the evil of the tongue and especially in relation to teachers in the church and why not many should become teachers. because of this issue of the untamableness of the tongue. He's going to continue on a related subject as we begin reading in verse 13 today. James writes, chapter 3 verse 13, 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. Amen. Well, this is very simply in terms of an outline for our text, a comparison between the wisdom that is from below versus the wisdom that is from above. The main contrast here is between these two things. James is addressing the same core issue as before, that is divisive, dangerous, damaging speech, the evil of the tongue, particularly by false teachers. Those who with their divisive rhetoric or by their ungodliness threaten to divide the unity of the Christian church. James had that very vivid image last week of the tongue being set on fire by hell and setting aflame the whole force. This is the power and the evil that speech can affect within the Christian community. And now he's going to go on to contrast between that wisdom that is from above and that wisdom that is earthly wisdom. Heavenly wisdom, very briefly, as we set out our text, is really that wisdom that produces peace and righteousness, whereas earthly wisdom, it results in strife and disorder. And so we need to As we consider this text, evaluate ourselves as to our own wisdom and the source of that wisdom. Is it coming from above or is it coming from earth? And to do so according to the measure James gives us, namely the fruit of our own conduct. And reflecting on this text, keeping in mind the context, we should ask that not only for ourselves, but also for those who are teachers in the church. Do they live lives? Do they exhibit conduct? that evidence is godly, spiritual, heavenly wisdom, or does their conduct betray that they are, in fact, fools? As you're evaluating, perhaps, elder candidates, we have an election coming up. As you consider in the future the call of a pastor, perhaps, in the future, or if you go to another church at some point, how do you evaluate the kind of pastor that you sit under, the teachers, the ministry? Who we have in Sunday school, for our teachers in Sunday schools. There's ample application of this text. We need to ask, does their conduct reflect godly wisdom or does it reflect a wisdom of another sort? Well, James begins in verse 13. He asks this question, Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. And before we can really understand anything about this text, we need to have a biblical understanding of what James means when he says wisdom. That's really the key term here is this meekness of that comes from wisdom. So what is wisdom? Well, it's more than an intellectual ability. It refers biblically speaking to the skill of living godly. In Deuteronomy 4.6, in the Septuagint translation, there the same word for wisdom is used. God's people, they're regarded as wise when they obey His commandments. Warned similarly in Proverbs 3, 7, not to be wise in their own eyes, but to fear the Lord and to turn away from evil. And so what we see is wisdom's not primarily about an intellectual understanding. It's a term that reflects the skill of living in a Godward direction. In the New Testament, Paul He wants the obedient church to be wise as to what is good and evil. It's the ability to discern between moral matters and to discern moral principles in decision making and to choose what is pleasing to God rather than what is sensible to our own fleshly standards. Wisdom then refers to the skill of practical godly living. It requires fearing God. It requires keeping his commandments. It requires possessing a moral discernment by which you are able to recognize and turn away from evil and instead turn toward the good. And so this is the biblical understanding of wisdom. A very similar and often a word that comes into the scripture connected with wisdom is what James writes next, and understanding. The sense of is similar to wisdom. The terms are often used together in scripture. But here it has the idea of somebody who has an understanding such as to make them competent leaders. I think that's the primary sense James is getting at here. It's actually when Moses, he commands the people of Israel to choose wise people to be their elders, their leaders, right, over the heads of the tribes, right? The second word he uses to describe them is not only wise, but understanding, again, the Greek translation of the subdugent of this, it's the same word here, understanding. And so you're looking for wise men, those who have the skill of living godly, and likewise, they are those who are understanding. They have an understanding of themselves. More importantly, they have an understanding of who God is. They understand the times they're living. These are men who have such understanding, and James doesn't include it here, but Moses does, experienced men. It's a pretty good criteria to judge teachers. Are they wise? Are they understanding? Are they experienced? If you're looking at people to be ruling elders, certainly for the calling of a pastor, if you're considering a church to go to, you should evaluate under this rubric. He goes on to say, not only wise, not only understanding, but he says good conduct. That is a lifestyle marked by moral goodness, not perfection, but a real good reputation and conduct. sorry, Peter, he describes elsewhere that our former conduct is futile. He says the futile ways, there's the same word as here, ways, conduct, the futile ways inherited from your forefathers. That's a negative description of mankind in its unregenerate state, right? And James here, he puts it positively, and he says we ought to be able to demonstrate the sort of wisdom we have by means of good conduct. That is that the lifestyle, the habits, the actions are characterized by a moral goodness. And this is evidence and proof that such a person truly is wise. People might say, I'm a wise person, therefore I'm going to be a teacher. And James is saying, well, let's consider the proof, right? The proof is in the eating of the pudding, right? Does it actually taste good does it set right the evidence is not in saying something is something but in seeing that it actually is what it says it is and in this case what proves a man what evidence is a man is a a wise man biblically is the conduct of his life this is especially true with respect to leaders and this is why the author to the Hebrews will call us to remember such leaders he says consider the outcome of their way of life. Teachers, whether they are regular unordained members in the church who are teaching Sunday school or whether they are the ruling elders who are to be apt to teach and certainly the the pastors, the ministers of the word, they ought to have this sort of good conduct as their way of life, as an evidence of the wisdom they have from God, and we are as members then to imitate them. It's one of the reasons why it's so important that the teachers of the church have such good conduct is because they necessarily become a model and an example of piety that the church is then to follow. And we do great damage to the church if such men lack this because then people see their conduct and say that's how pastors live then surely that's okay for Christians to live that way regular Christians are members of the church. James goes on he says in the meekness of wisdom and so if the proof of wisdom is good conduct we ask a more specific question in what manner Are we to do our good works? Good works are required as the proof of wisdom, but in what way? Because there's a way of doing good works that does not evidence true godly wisdom. You can do good works the way the Pharisees and the scribes did good works. publicly so that they could be seen by others. There's a way of doing it for the self-justification of yourself before God. There are ways to do what are good works in terms of the matter, but in terms of the heart and the manner, yet they are defiled by sin and do not reflect biblical wisdom. He describes the manner of such a man's conduct, his habits, his actions are not to be performed in pride, not in severity, not in selfish ambition, as James will later go on to speak, but they are to be done in meekness, that is, in humility. What is biblical humility? Perhaps the preeminent example besides Jesus. Obviously, Jesus becomes the preeminent example in every good virtue in the Bible, but one of the preeminent illustrations besides Jesus in the scripture is found in Moses. Scripture records in numbers, now the man Moses was very meek more than all the people who were on the face of the earth. The meekest man on earth is Moses. That's quite a commendation, scripturally speaking. What is the context of that meekness? Well, it's when Aaron and especially Miriam, they complain against Moses. And Moses, what does he do? Does he try to self-justify? Does he try to argue? Does he maneuver politically to get rid of them? No, he remains silent and he entrusts his defense to the Lord who then speaks to Aaron and Miriam and then strikes Miriam with a leprosy for a week. as a discipline for their rebellion against Moses, such as a picture of Moses' meekness, a willingness to restrain his speech, even in the face of serious criticism and rebellion even, and he entrusts himself to the Lord, such as a picture of meekness, biblically speaking. Well, the question that we need to ask is where does a man like Moses and where can we find such meekness, such humility. Where can we get it? James tells us this meekness is of wisdom. That is, wisdom is the source from which we gain this fruit of meekness. Wisdom is the source of all good fruit, including Moses' meekness. And so before a leader or a teacher or any of you as Christians can ever learn to control your speech, Before you can learn even to control your conduct, you must gain the principle of wisdom, that is, fearing the Lord, trusting in His strength and in His defense, obeying His commandments. Such a man is wise, and therefore he acts wisely even in the face of his critics. But a man without such wisdom, whatever he may profess, he may profess to be very wise, may profess to be very godly, but if he does not fear God, if he doesn't have that principle of wisdom, he will inevitably prove that his wisdom is actually false and that he himself is a fool. Briefly by way of application before we proceed to the next point, true wisdom is not therefore proven by words. evidenced is demonstrated by your conduct and not only your external conduct but the inward manner of your conduct whether it is done proudly and self-justifyingly or humbly before the Lord. A teacher or a leader who lacks meekness, who is proud, severe, selfish, in ambition, such a man lacks true wisdom. And that brings us then to James's negative statements in verse 14 through 16. He's going to describe the marks of false and earthly, even what he will go on to call a demonic wisdom. He writes, 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 from above, but is earthly unspiritual, demonic, For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vile practice. So what are the characteristics and tendencies of this false wisdom? bitter jealousy now jealousy really zeal is a term that by itself can have either a negative or a positive meaning you can have a zeal that is towards God or you can have more negatively a rivalry and a Factionalism and that's what James is referring to here when he characterizes this zeal this jealousy as being bitter It's referring to a harsh kind of zeal and that perhaps even disguises itself as being about the truth. It's maybe the presentation of it by a teacher or by a leader or by an individual is that they're zealous for the truth. But that's just a guise. It's not the truth of the matter. It's a bitter jealousy, one that has more concern for personal ambition, for selfish gain, for the prominence and the benefits and advantages of the position of being a teacher in the church. He's concerned with those things. He casts a public image that says, I'm very zealous for the truth perhaps, but in reality he's angling for advancement. He's angling for a crowd or a faction to follow him rather than somebody else. There's a way of presenting it positively publicly when in fact it's in the heart one of bitter jealousy. He goes on to say selfish ambition. This term actually is used in secular writings to describe exactly what I have just spoken of, that the political maneuvering for personal gain. It's very clear that what James has in mind is false teachers either doctrinally or or false teachers in terms of their heterodox or their heteropractice, their ungodly living, whether in teaching or in piety, they are false teachers and they are using their tongue to divide the church, to gain a faction, a following for themselves, and so to advance their position in the church. In various New Testament vice lists, this word, it refers to the factionalism that's in the church. I think perhaps if we had a good example of what meekness looks like in Moses, perhaps the best example of this sort of selfish ambition in the church and the people of God would be perhaps Absalom when he divided Israel in his attempted coup. And we see this So often today, men seeking to gain an advantage or a following in the church, and they present it as being more zealous for the scripture or more zealous for the tradition than other peers. And then they break away from the church and they start their own denomination or their own micro-Presbyterian kind of group of three or four churches. They have no interest in preserving the peace and the unity, and it's really not ultimately even the purity of the church. They're simply using their tongue as an instrument to divide so that they can gain a personal advantage. And it's not just teachers who do this, of course. Members in a local church can do this as well, where they have some conviction and they don't like the pastor or the elders, they don't share that position with them and so they start talking and they form a group and oftentimes it's a small group Bible study or an at-home Bible study but they're organizing and mobilizing people around them and they're trying to create a faction. Unfortunately what this leads to, and often cases we get You know, church plants that are projected as being, portrayed as being church plants, we love church plants, but in reality they're splants, they're split plants, right? People have created a faction, they can no longer go along together with one another, and so they come out and they take a group from the church and they do their own church elsewhere, as often is the case. What are some examples of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition? I've mentioned earlier the chief priests and the Pharisees. You remember their interactions with Jesus. They see all these people starting to flock to Jesus, starting to believe in him. And they asked, what are we to do? And they lament. The world, the whole world has gone after him. And so they agreed. Anyone who confesses Jesus to be the Christ must be put out of the synagogue. You see how that process works. They're not concerned about the truth of whether Jesus is or is not the Messiah. They're concerned about their own position, their own institutions, their own power structures. And rather than looking to the scripture and asking, does Jesus fit the biblical description of the Messiah, they instead condemn him without a trial. They reject people who would believe in casting him out of the synagogue. such as the factionalism of ambitious, self-serving men, even though it's guised under the idea of being true to their tradition, true to the scripture and to orthodoxy. They are teachers who claim to be wise, but their conduct, it evidences a bitter jealousy, a selfish ambition. And so James says such men are self-deceived. They are boasting, they are lying, they're contrary to the truth. Whatever so-called wisdom they may have is actually false, and as James goes on to describe, earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. Well, let's look at some of those terms first. In terms of, now we're in the origins of false wisdom. Where does false wisdom come from? What is its nature? James says it's earthly. That is, it's rooted in the things of this world and of humanity. It's human reasoning rather than divine revelation. Paul will use the same word to contrast worldly wisdom with God's wisdom. In 1 Corinthians 1, he writes, 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? You see, there's a difference between the wisdom that is above and the wisdom of this world. One relies on human reason and thinking. It relies on human philosophies. Often today in the church, this is business practices and it's good business sense and it's sociology, but it's not rooted in God's word and divine revelation and the truth that God has given his church. One characteristic of this earthly, this false wisdom, it is earthly. It's devoid of divine truth. Secondly, it's unspiritual. That is to say, it's devoid also of the Holy Spirit. It's governed instead by natural impulses and tendencies. Jude will describe such an unspiritual people. In his letter, he says, it is these who cause divisions, worldly people devoid of the spirit. This kind of wisdom, it operates purely on fallen human nature rather than on the renewed nature, which is the work of the Holy Spirit. There's a vast difference between the sort of wisdom of the world that unregenerate people have and the sort of wisdom of God and heaven that spiritual people, people who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, ought to have. These are not the same. One is true wisdom, one is false. One leads to good outcomes in the church. One will lead to division and destruction in the church. Well, it gets worse. There's a climaxing ladder here between these terms. It's earthly. It's unspiritual. That's bad enough. But then James goes on to say it's demonic. You see, ultimately, false wisdom is satanic in its origins and influence. And we go back to the very beginning, to the garden in Genesis 3 and it's the serpent and he uses his tongue to deceive Eve. And scripture makes a big point about this, that Eve was deceived and that by the serpent. This is the demonic origins and nature and character of wisdom that is not from above. God said, but then Satan said. And there's a great difference between what each of them said. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil. While Jesus rebukes false teaching in John chapter 8. He says, you are of your father the devil and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. What does James, what does Jesus think of such worldly, unspiritual, demonic wisdom? It manifests, it demonstrates the nature of the one who exercises it. The proof that these false teachers are of the devil still and have not yet been regenerated is their conduct. What a world of difference there is between somebody who has been born from above and received the Holy Spirit and has wisdom by that principle and by that Holy Spirit, who's a person really, I don't even like calling a principle, by that Holy Spirit, what a difference there is between that and somebody whose parentage is still the devil, who is still without the Holy Spirit, who is very much of the world. These things are quite different. What is the consequence then of such false wisdom? If these things are so different, they should have very different outcomes. The heavenly wisdom ought to have its outcome, namely the wise conduct, godly conduct, and ultimately peace in the church in that particular application. What is the consequence then of false wisdom? What happens When we have false teachers, unregenerate teachers, those who are relying on the wisdom of the world and of the devil, what happens as a consequence to such people in the church? Well, James tells us disorder. That's the first thing that will happen. That refers to the sorts of confusions and divisions that we often see in the church. That's what Paul uses to describe in the Corinthian church all the disorder in worship. And you've got everybody trying to exercise their gifts at once. And there's no regulating of the worship service. It's just kind of chaos. And then he goes on to describe the roles of women and men in the worship service. And there's lots of applications there. But the primary consequence here of false wisdom in the church is disorder. We would be thankful if that was the only consequence, but James goes on to say, and every vile practice. It's not just confusion. It's not just disorder. It's not just that there are factions, but that there is all sorts of sin. all kinds of moral corruptions and actions. It's not just the divisions and the factionalism, it's the hypocrisy, it's the people pretending and making a good face about their religion publicly, but in their homes and in their private life, they are living godlessly. It is the abuse of authority that we often see in the church. It is greed and financial corruption, the laundering and embezzling of funds, the stealing from the church, the sorts of financial things we see. Some so-and-so, one of our local pastors, you know, got caught several years ago in an adulterous relationship and then he ended up using his financial resources that he had through his church and through his book deals to go and purchase a luxury vehicle for his now very disgruntled wife. That sort of financial corruption. We see sexual morality within the teaching officers of the church. They are not faithful to their spouses if they have one. They are engaging in extramarital affairs, that is adultery. They are sometimes caught in it and we have big scandals in the newspapers because of things like this. Where does it come from? Where does all the gross, public, notorious, evil vice that the church publicly has a reputation sometimes for, where does it come from? It comes from those who lack the heavenly wisdom. They're not making their decisions based on the word of God, but they're making decisions based on the flesh and based on human wisdom and what seems right in their own eyes. Such ought not to be the case. These are just a few examples of the evil fruits of false wisdom. Do you have bitter jealousy? Do you have selfish ambition? James would encourage us not to show that forth, not to brag about being wise if this characterizes you. Rather, what should you do? You should repent. You should humble yourself before the Lord. You should ask Him for the true heavenly wisdom that He promises to give those who ask Him. Now moving on to our last point, what then are the marks of the true heavenly wisdom? James says in verses 17 and 18, but the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. Purity has a moral aspect and sense to it. It's about unmixed motives. It's about a life that's sincerely dedicated to God and to his ways. Peaceable, as contrasted to the contentious factionalism of worldly wisdom, heavenly wisdom is peaceable. That is, it actively cultivates peace. It's gentle. The idea here is yielding, not like a wave going back and forth, always being tossed to and fro by every doctrine, not a man who has no convictions, but a man who has heavenly wisdom, is a man who's going to listen. And he's going to consider what other people have to say. He's not, you know, sort of an uncompromising person, but he pays attention, is able to be taught, and he's reasonable. He is one who is not stubborn, open to reason. He goes on to say, very similar, teachable, willing to listen, full of mercy. That is practical compassion. His interests aren't selfish and concerning only himself, but he has consideration of others and their needs and full of good fruits. A comprehensive statement concerning the tangible good deeds of a righteous and wise man. Impartial. Something James talked about previously. He's not partial. He doesn't have favorites. He doesn't favor the rich. He doesn't favor the Jews or the Gentiles. He doesn't favor the poor even. He doesn't favor anybody according to class or economic status or whatever criteria you might use. He is one who is impartial. He sees everybody in the church for who they truly are, that is children, sons, heirs. He's sincere, no hypocrisy. What are the fruit of true wisdom? James says, and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. The fruit of righteousness here is a common term both in the Old and New Testament. It's this theme of a righteous harvest. It is you're sowing something, and it's growing, and what do you reap? You reap righteousness. What is conducive to growth and godliness? Well, according to James, it is sowing in peace. The means of cultivating godliness, holiness, in our lives is not through strife, not through factionalism, not through dividing the church and trying to make something of ourselves, but it's through making peace. A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. So if you want to harvest righteousness, what do you need to do? You need to sow in peace. You don't sow in contentious. the backbiting and the slander and the rumors and the tail bearing, none of that is conducive to growing in godliness in the church. Whether you're a member or a teacher, if you want to grow in godliness, you will seek peace. As we conclude, we should reflect briefly how Jesus exemplifies this kind of heavenly wisdom. I'd ask you to consider this with me briefly, Jesus with respect to purity. He was completely devoted to his father's will, not for my own will have I come to do, but my father's will I came to do, right? He was one who was devoted to doing things God's way, the Father's way. He did not sin in this respect. He was peaceable. He aimed not to divide, but to bring reconciliation, first man with God reconciliation, but also As a consequence, man with man reconciliation. He wasn't building his ministry on factionalism, but on making peace. And that by his atoning work. It was gentle. He was one who exercised great compassion towards sinners. He was one who healed and did many good righteous deeds for the blind and the deaf and the crippled, the lame. He was open to reason. Even Jesus, as he's engaging, it's worth noting when he engages with his critics, the Pharisees and Sadducees, much of the gospel writings is Jesus engaging with his opponents. And the way in which he engages with them is instructive for us. You know, even, you know, when Jesus is debating, he's still listening to what they say and he's hearing their argument and then he's demonstrating why their argument is fallacious and wrong, often from the Old Testament, right? And so he's open to reason. He's grounded in the word of God. He knows it perfectly. He's not going to change his beliefs on anything. But he listens. He's open to reason. He overflowed with mercy and good works, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, forgiving sinners. And finally, and most significantly for James's purposes, Jesus was impartial. That is, he didn't exercise favoritism towards one group or another. Didn't matter Jew, Samaritan, Gentile, man, woman. Didn't matter rich, poor. He dined with them all. He taught them all. He exercised no favoritism or partiality towards any of them. And he was sincere. Jesus was no hypocrite. Everything he said, he believed, and so he conducted himself according to that same standard. Well, as we conclude then, we should ask the question of ourselves and of our own teachers, which wisdom govers yours and their life? James would challenge us to ask this question, not just what we say and what we do, but the spirit behind our words and our actions. What is the principle? What is the source? from which our conduct and our speech flows, which wisdom governs your life? Is it heavenly wisdom? How can you know? Well, it will produce peace and it will produce righteousness, that is, godliness. But if it is earthly wisdom, it will produce strife and disorder and factions of these sorts of things. And so we ought to look to the fruit and to consider backwards from there, what is the seed principle still in us? Have we gained heavenly wisdom or do we still lack it? Let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to give it to us. Heavenly Father, we thank you for James's instruction here concerning teachers and how instructive it is to us all, Lord. And we do pray, Lord, that you would give us wisdom from above, that you would give us the new birth by your Holy Spirit, that you would cause your Spirit to dwell within us, that you would continue to Renew our minds and our hearts that we would walk in a way which is pleasing to you, the way of wisdom, Lord, the meekness which you call your people to. Lord, would you preserve the purity and the unity and especially the peace of your church, Lord, and help tame our tongues by your spirit, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.