We turn in God's Word to James chapter 3. The epistle of James chapter 3, we continue our series here. The theme of James, I remind you, is that true faith, genuine faith will produce good works to demonstrate that faith. Chapter 3 that we're in speaks about the tongue. That is the topic of chapter 3, that true faith will demonstrate itself with proper use of the tongue. The text that we consider tonight is verses 13 through 18, the last five verses of James 3, which is not disconnected but related to the use of the tongue. Let's read the chapter. My brethren, be not many masters or teachers. knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation, for in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm or rudder, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts and of birds and of serpents and of things in the sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame, It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. That the fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter, Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive branches or olive berries, either of vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt, water, and fresh. And here follows our text. Who is a wise man and a dude with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil works. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." We read that far in God's holy and inspired Word. My brothers and sisters in Christ, I begin this evening with a rebuke. I begin with a rebuke because it is the tone, it is the tone, and I must preach the tone of this text. I rebuke those who have heard the warning about the tongue. and have not heeded that warning and still continue to use it in an improper manner. I do not know who specifically you might be, but you know who you are, and God does as well. You continue to run the mouth without any warning. desire to uphold the tongue. That's ironic. It shouldn't be because in the last two weeks we have in our series in James, especially James chapter three, addressed this very weakness of ours. We've seen God's word, not your minister's word, but God's word and His providence come at this time to this congregation A word that warns very pointedly about the use of the tongue. At our installation of Office Bearers, consider James 3 verses 1 and 2 where God warned us specifically about the tongue that wants to teach. What we call the teaching tongue, the tongue that thinks it knows it all and seeks to speak then against the leaders of the church who are the teachers. Last Sunday, God met us with six illustrations to impress upon our minds, and the simplest of minds, the power of the tongue. Positively first, that the tongue, like the rudder of a ship and the bit in a horse's mouth, is powerful unto good. It can steer the whole body around to do that which is right. But then with the warning as well, a negative part of the text before ours. Now, the tongue has a destructive power like a fire that starts a forest fire, and like the poison of a snake that spreads and poisons the body, the body of Christ also in His church. We were warned about the tongue's inconsistency, seeing that there is inconsistency in all of us in some measure. bringing forth, very contrary to nature even, unlike fruit trees and springs, both good fruit and bad fruit, sweet water and bitter. And although God's Word has come quite sharply, some will not listen. And so the rebuke comes a third time in James 3. I said this is not disconnected from the tongue. It comes in the form of a question. Who is wise? Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? It's very closely tied to the first two verses. Talked about be not many teachers. A teacher is one who thinks himself wise. One who thinks himself to have the knowledge, and James says with this question, he asks this question, who still thinks that he is wise? Among you. Who claims an answer to this question? That's me. And though you might not speak out publicly, might not say it with that tongue, James' point is, many do think, still do. Their wisdom, however, he says, verse 15, descendeth not from above, as they might say it does. But there's a kind of wisdom that is a counterfeit wisdom. A kind of wisdom that claims to be wisdom, but a wisdom that's actually from below. A wisdom that is devilish. A caricature of true wisdom, what sounds and feels like wisdom and is claimed by the world to be wisdom, but it is not true wisdom. Tonight, people of God, in preparation for the Lord's Supper, it is necessary. the third time to hear and teaching about the tongue, and to differentiate with an examination of each one of ourselves, our own hearts and tongues, differentiate whether we are taking on the wisdom from below or the wisdom from above. Wisdom from above versus wisdom from below. Throughout this sermon, we're comparing the two. First, wisdom's character, the characteristics that come forth from true wisdom versus a fake wisdom. Different characteristics or attributes that are listed here in our text. Second, wisdom's source. where these characteristics of wisdom and wisdom itself are coming from, above or below, and then third, wisdom's fruit, the result in the church specifically, the result of this wisdom from above and this wisdom from below. Wisdom defined is the right application of knowledge. Wisdom is the ability, is the power to take God's word that you hear right now, take God's word that you hear every Sunday, take God's word that you're reading your devotions, take God's word and apply it unto your daily life tomorrow and through the week. If you want to sum up the book of James with one word, perhaps the first word that you think about is works. And if you say works is what James is about, then you would be right, you wouldn't be wrong, because it is about works that demonstrate your faith. However, there's another word that begins with a W and that's wisdom. Wisdom is also another one, is one word that sums up what James is about. In fact, James talks about that in the first chapter already to show that that is what the theme of this book can be summed up as. Wisdom. Wisdom. Think of it this way. Wisdom is the link. That joins your faith. It's in your heart. To the works that come forth in your life, wisdom is the link that joins faith that's in your heart to the works that will come forth in your life. You say I have faith. It's brought up in James chapter two. You say I have faith in my heart. I believe, I truly believe genuinely in Jesus Christ. I believe his word. And James says, show that faith, demonstrate their faith or justify that faith. And you and I respond, yes, I want to. I want to show forth this work. Well, what's the power? What's the power to show forth those works from a true faith? That power is wisdom. To illustrate another illustration besides links, if faith is a machine, like a bulldozer or an excavating machine, if faith is a machine, then wisdom is the powerful engine that makes that machine work. It does things that a machine is supposed to do. Wisdom is the power to apply God's word to life. There's a word in our text that's similar to wisdom. It is a synonym to wisdom. It's a word translated as knowledge in that question of verse 13. Notice, who was a wise man and endued with knowledge among you. Now that word knowledge is unique. It's not referring to the kind of knowledge of facts that you store in your brain. This word knowledge is not referring, children, catechism students, this word knowledge in verse 13 is not referring to the ability to spit out words that you've memorized, even though that's a good thing to do. It's not the kind of knowledge that this text is referring to. Not the knowledge of being able to memorize a bunch of facts, math facts or Bible facts. It's not about being book smart. The word of knowledge in verse 13 has to do with knowledge of experience, for example. It's a difference between someone who's gone to school to be an engineer and someone who has had experience for 40 years as an engineer. It's talking about that experienced person with that kind of knowledge, a hands-on kind of knowledge. It's the difference between knowing the parts of an airplane and knowing how an airplane works and which buttons to push. Someone who knows how to fly a plane has been flying it by experience for his life as a pilot. Who is a wise man, James says, even one who has knowledge of experience, one who knows not just theory but practice. Someone who knows how to take the doctrine of God's Word and apply it. Someone who can take the sixth commandment that you heard this morning, and even if the minister didn't give you a specific application that you can relate to, you can still apply it. That's wisdom. Who has this wisdom? That's a significant question. Some of you want to go ahead, you're running ahead, you want to answer the question and move ahead to the rest of the text, but wait. This question's important. This question's a test. Who has this wisdom? Think about it. What is your heart answering? Is your heart saying, I have this wisdom? That's me. Among the people here at Cornerstone, I'm wise. Well, James' point is this. If you answered with your heart and you want to answer with your tongue, that's me. then you show by that very answer that you have not wisdom. That this is his point is found in the answer that James, what James says right after his question. Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. If there is such thing as a trick question, In God's word, I'm not saying it is a trick question, but if there was such thing as a trick question, here it is. It's a question of a test that we are all prone to answer. That's me, I'm the wise man here. I'm the wise woman here. We quickly do it with our hearts, even if we don't say it with our mouths. And God's word catches us. Then you would be meek, James says. then you would be meek and you wouldn't be claiming that you're the wise one. Paul says something similar in Romans 1.22, professing themselves to be wise. They became fools. Romans 12.16, what we read this morning, be not wise in your own conceits. Proverbs 27, to let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth, a stranger, and not thine own lips. A wise man will be meek. And James says he will show his meekness, not show off, that's a different thing. Trying to flaunt some sort of outward meekness, no. He will show his meekness with his behavior, though he will be unaware of it. If he's a wise man, let him show out of a good conversation or conduct his works with meekness because wisdom will show meekness. That's the first characteristic of wisdom that James brings up here. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is not allowing others to treat you however they want like a doormat. Meekness is not self-deprecation. But meekness is such a strong confidence in God's favor of you, not because of yourself, but it's such a strong confidence in God's favor of you in Jesus Christ that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter your status among men. It doesn't matter what other people think, because you know what God thinks of you? Such a strong confidence in God's favor, that there's no need that you feel in yourself for self-promotion to say, I am the one who's wise. I am the one who's meek. No, the meek man bites his tongue and keeps his heart from answering in pride. And he answers, not me, only Jesus. Only Jesus. He's the meek and lowly one. He's the wise. James gives us a test with that question of true wisdom. And then he gives us two characteristics that stand out in those who have a fake wisdom. One we already saw in that question is someone who will claim, who thinks himself to be wise among many, But now, two characteristics that stand out, and James repeats these characteristics for emphasis. It's a fake kind of wisdom. Apparently, there were those in James, they, and there are those in our day who claims, who think that they have wisdom, and James says, you have a fake wisdom, because these are two characteristics that stand out. First, a bitter envy, and second, strife. He mentions that in verse 14. You have a bitter envying and strife in your heart. Glory not, lie not against the truth. And then in verse 16, he speaks of that again. He brings up the same two characteristics. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion in every evil thing, every evil work. This bitter envying and strife is related to a lack of meekness, to pride. It comes forth from it. First, James says, bitter envy. No one, of course, is going to admit it, bitter envy too quickly. So I exhort you this evening. James talks about this in the heart, notice. Bitter envying and strife in your hearts. This is something that you and I must do an examination of ourselves before the Lord's Supper. It's very important to find, if you have bitter envy in your heart, to find it and take it and remove it and repent of it. The word envy is in the original zeal, and zeal can be a good thing. Zeal is rooted in true love. One's zealous for God, loves God, and therefore has a passion for the worship of God, an intense love for Him. A husband who loves his wife has an intense love, a passion to protect his wife. One who has a zeal for the church, for the house of God, is zealous, has a passion for the protection of God's church and the people there. But the kind of zeal that James talks about here is not a good kind of zeal founded upon a love for God and a love for the neighbor, but is a zeal founded upon a love for self and only self and self more than anyone else. The King James Version translates it properly, envy, envy. Bitter envy. Bitter is that feeling within. An anger that others have it better than I do. Others seem to have advantages over me. The bitterness that those men are in office, not myself or my husband, A bitter envy that they drive that vehicle and I don't. A bitter envy that they have wealth and I don't. A bitter envy that they are looked at by others as a more spiritual person and not myself. Their life is easy and mine is rough. With bitter envy, when women say things like, those people with those last names, they get And it especially comes forth in the tongue. This negative energy of bitter zeal is taken. It's taken on the tongue, it's taken online, it's taken to social media, and it's spread. And the public, of course, will like it. Many will like it. Many will join in this bitter envy. They'll listen to you. And they'll join you. They'll commiserate with you. Because it's deemed as wisdom. That's James' point. James in verse 15 calls this bitter envy, this wisdom. And if you could, you can put quotations around wisdom there in verse 15. It's not really wisdom, but it's what men call wisdom. People think bitter envy is wisdom, and that's why it's hidden in the heart and not admitted. It's wise to do this. It's wise to vent, they say. It's not good to keep it all inside. Let your steam out. Talk about it. Let's chat about it. Let's gather with fellow people who are bitter and be bitter together. Bitter zeal is lauded. It's a form of free speech, they say, raising awareness, exposing people. That's wisdom, they say. And it feels it. It feels good. And James says it's fake wisdom. This evening word says bitter envy is fake wisdom, and this morning's word says bitter envy is murder. The second characteristic related to the first that James gives is a fake or a counterfeit sort of wisdom is a striving spirit. Literally, the word is best translated, rivalry. Young people, you have a rivalry sometimes with opposing teams in high school, in sports, and there is a certain competitive spirit that is not evil of itself. But when that rivalry and that competition is brought from the playing field to the church, that's an evil. That's what James is talking about. Whether male or female, as individuals or as a group, there is such in the church who have a striving spirit. A striving man wants to make himself or his group stand out among the crowd. To show himself as better, and maybe it's not done outwardly, but in his or her mind, he or she is comparing herself, himself, with others, wanting to one-up the other, to get the upper hand in an argument, to show himself or herself right. They're cliques formed, willing and ready to trample others, and other cliques, and other groups, or perceived cliques, The niceness outwardly is only to get the favor of men. In a popularity contest that exists in the church. And it seems like wisdom. It feels like wisdom. The world says and people say, but I gotta stand up for myself. I can't let others take advantage of me. What does it say that in the Bible? It feels like wisdom to strive, to have rivalry, but it's a fake wisdom. If that's the wisdom that you and I have, and we all have an element of this in our hearts, then we must repent of it before we come to what we call communion. Communion is the opposite, is directly opposite to this kind of wisdom that is bitterly envious of one another and striving with each other. Communion is a togetherness. Communion is a love for one another. It may not be a hypocrisy that we have when we continue in this striving spirit and a bitter envy with each other and then outwardly in a formal setting come and partake of communion as though we're best friends. That is not to be in the church. That's what the form that we read pointed to again and again The true examination of ourselves consists of finding the sin, not continuing in it. It includes, remember, raising discord, sex, and mutiny in the church. That's what that's talking about. We repent of that before we come. That's a counterfeit wisdom. But there's a wisdom that's different, that's antithetical. God's Word always points to what we need to put off and then points, not only what we put off, but what we put on. This is a true wisdom, a true wisdom. Not a counterfeit one, but a true wisdom. It's one that's meek, not proud. We already talked about that. Not striving to one-up another person. The wisdom from above is first, James says, verse 17, pure, then peaceable, then gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And I'm not going to go in detail of every single one of these, because it's meant to be a list. It's meant to be a list that you take and you go home and you think about and you ponder and you memorize and you keep in your heart. This is the kind of wisdom you need to have. First, pure. When we think about this list, we can think about James' version of the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5 and Jesus' beatitudes in Matthew 5 mixed together. That might be what James is doing here. Many of the similar points of the fruits of the Spirit and Matthew 5 are brought together here in this list. Verse pure. Think of, blessed are the pure in heart, He's talking about holiness, separation from sin, and a dedication of yourself and your heart to the worship of God, like a holy priest dedicated to God's Word and worship of Him. This is wisdom, and the world laughs at that. That's wisdom. What are you doing wasting your time going to church? That's wisdom, prioritizing the study of God's Word and catechism over sports and other things in life. You twist that word pure, and it says prudish. To be a virgin, to respect authority, it's old-fashioned formality. The world mocks at that, they say it's not wisdom, and it feels like it's not wisdom, but God's word says purity, holiness is true wisdom. The next three in James' list go together, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated. It's the opposite of bitter envy. Peaceable. Blessed are the peacemakers. Love, joy, peace. James comes back to this word, but a wise man has peace with God. A wise man has peace in his heart. A wise man seeks peace with one another. He's gentle, another one of the fruits of the Spirit, gentleness. Yes, firm words must be said at times, but in a gentle manner, forbearing. Careful not to start a fight, to stir another one up. Unnecessarily gentle and approachable. That's what it means to be ready to be intrigued or easy to be intrigued. The literal meaning is not only that a wise man is someone who feels, who others are comfortable talking to, but someone who will listen. Swift to hear, slow to speak. Someone who will listen, who will give you the time of day, no matter who you are, to listen, to listen with reason. He may still disagree and express his conviction, but he will listen with a fair hearing. That's wisdom. Then James says, full of mercy, good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy, merciful, less of the merciful. Full of mercy, that is, one who has a heart full because he knows God's mercy towards him and now he's ready and she's ready also to show the same mercy that he has been shown, that is, That is, to those who deserve the opposite, to be kind and loving. That's mercy. Full of good fruits, and James, this is like James saying, everything Paul said in Galatians 5, the fruits of the Spirit, all those good fruits, fullness of it, that's what a wise man has and shows. Without partiality, a respecter of faces. We talked about that in James 2. Illustrated by ill treatment of someone that looks poor and good treatment of that person who looks wealthy. Partiality is that quick rash judgment, shallow judgment, discrimination based on skin color, age, wealth, race rather than character and faith. A wise man puts aside, he is not partial, he is impartial and without hypocrisy. That is, all those characteristics James lists, meekness, purity, gentleness, peaceable, they're not merely outward, while the heart is not genuine. The heart is genuine, doing all things out of love for God and love for the neighbor. Wise man is genuine, not fake. What kind of wisdom do you have? Wisdom from above or wisdom from below? The first kind of wisdom that is proud, bitterly envious, and striving, that has its source, James says, from below. And he makes this point because you and I might minimize, might minimize the seriousness of wisdom from below. We might say, and some think, and people in James' day did think, A little pride is not so bad. A little envy, I know, it's there, it's okay. I'm a little overcompetitive at times, striving. That's not a bad thing, is it? That bad? James says, well, here's the source. Verse 15, it's earthly, it's sensual, and it's devilish. It's earthly, he means it's from an earthly-minded perspective. That's why the people of this earth will approve of your kind of wisdom that has rivalry and competitive spirit in the church. That's why people think it's wise to strive and have envy, because it's an earthly-minded sort of wisdom. It's the kind of wisdom that many attorneys and lawyers today promote. You got a problem? Come, let's take it to the law. Let's take it to the courts and settle it there. It's the kind of earthly-minded wisdom that's unspiritual. That's what James is talking about. From your earthly-minded friends who will give you advice, so to speak. This wisdom, James says, has its source not only of this earth, but from psychology. Sensual, in verse 15, or at least sensual is not referring to what is sexual, not merely at least, but a word in the original that our English words psyche and psychology come from. James is saying that out of natural man's mind, soul, and spirit, from his psychoanalysis of other people comes this kind of wisdom. Everywhere on the internet, all kinds of books have been written with advice on parenting, on marriage, on leadership, how to solve problems and sins in the church, and no one's claiming there isn't truth in some of these things. But the psychobabble in this earth is what James is talking about. That's what is the source of the bitter striving, envy. And then James climaxes with that stunning word, devilish, equalizing the earthly mindlessness and the psychological perspective. that ignores what is true wisdom. He says it's from the devil. And we respond, James, you can't mean this, can you? That the wisdom promoted around us in this world is, yes, it has lots of weaknesses, but is it really devilish of the devil? And that's what James says. That's what God says. It parades his wisdom. And yes, there is some truth in this world. Yes, there is some truth, but that's how the devil works. He always mixes truth with a lie. That's what makes the lie more deceptive. It's claimed to be wise. It feels like it's wise. But it's of the devil. That's where this rivalry, this striving spirit and bitter envy is from, from below, far below. And the source of the meekness, the purity, the peaceableness, the gentleness, full of mercy and good fruits, that's from above, James says, wisdom from above. He means heaven, more particularly he means from Jesus Christ in heaven. Jesus says himself in Matthew 11 verse 29, I am meek and lowly in heart. He's the meek one. He's the pure one. He's the one that did not strive to look better in front of everyone, but humble himself even to the death of the cross. He showed all of these virtues in verse 17. Verse 17 is a description of Jesus Christ. He has wisdom. In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And the gospel of the text is this. The wisdom that Jesus has, that Jesus exhibited through His life, is both imputed and infused into us. Remember those two words. Imputed and infused into us. Imputed, first of all, though that's not the main point of James. That God sees us in Jesus Christ as though we have all of these attributes. We're wise, perfectly wise in His sight. Represented by Christ in His life for us. That's how Christ has earned our salvation. But now the gospel also is this, and this is James' main point. that having imputed legally his wisdom upon us, he also infuses it into us. He causes there to flow from heaven above into us, his people, his spirit of wisdom. How, you ask? Well, through faith, through faith. Faith is compared, remember, to a pipeline. Like a hose, the one end being to Jesus Christ, the other end now joined to our hearts and there flows from Christ through the pipeline of faith into our hearts this wisdom so that we can be wise and put aside the foolishness that we're so prone to through faith. You have this faith. Not everyone has this faith, James says. Not everyone is connected to Christ above, though they may claim that. Those who are connected will demonstrate that faith. That's the point in this whole epistle, by showing wisdom and these characteristics of wisdom. True faith will, and this is the activity of faith, first of all, pray. Give me wisdom. I am yet very foolish. When the question comes in verse 13 again, who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Who here at Cornerstone is wise? We hold our tongue to claim it. Instead, we acknowledge before God. I am yet very foolish. I need wisdom from above. I need Christ to give me His wisdom. I still have so much to learn." And you pray, you ask for wisdom. That's James point in chapter 1 verse 5. Remember, if any of you lack wisdom, imply it is, and you do. Let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and abradeth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. You see, the person who thinks, yes, I'm wise, will not genuinely pray for wisdom. He or she will say, I'm wise, I don't need much anymore. But the meek one will say, I need him to give me wisdom. He will pray for it. He will take this list of verse 17 and He will personalize each characteristic and ask for this wisdom. And where does God give this wisdom? Well, in His Word. That's where Christ is revealed. That's where His wisdom is. In answer to our prayers, He will bring our hearts to His Word to study His Word. to go forth and all sorts of other resources in this earth first, but in His Word and find wisdom where it is. And here's the result, the fruit of wisdom, peace, peace in the church. The result of worldly wisdom, James says, is the opposite of peace. Notice those two words in verse 16, where envy and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work. Confusion is instability. Confusion is what James talked about when he talked about wisdom in chapter 1, like a wave being tossed to and fro, this way and that. And someone who claims to have wisdom but has the wisdom of this world with striving and envy will be rocked to and fro, this way and that by the doctrines of men where he seeks to get his wisdom from. But worse, James says, when there is such drawing of wisdom from the earth below rather than from Christ, this confusion comes into the church. That's a warning to us. As a warning to you here in Cornerstone, when there's bitter envy and strife making ripples in the water as it were, those agitators need to stop and repent because it has potential. Those ripples have a potential. to become great waves that cause chaos and havoc and disorder, to make confusion. Men and women want a free for all. Everyone gets to do what they want, their own way, even if it makes disorder in the church. And that's the opposite of what God wants. 1 Corinthians 14.33, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. And some want it. Some want confusion in this order. Opposed to God. And God's people must seek peace instead. The first result that James says in the wisdom of this world is confusion and disorder, but it's also that the church stops working. That's what he means when he says at the end of verse 16, there's confusion in every evil work. Literally, it means that the church is rendered useless. becomes good for nothing. The Greek word sounds like foul, something to be thrown out, so foul it is. The wisdom of the world says, this is what works, bitter envy and strife. Change the worship to fit the crowds, follow science and evolution, use psychological methods rather than biblical methods, and soon the church shuts down. That's what James is saying. It doesn't work. As the wisdom of the world claims, it works. The wisdom from above will have a different result. Not confusion and evil work, but it will result in peace. Verse 17. The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable." And verse 18, the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace or plant peace. Or as Jesus put it, blessed are the peacemakers. Who's for peace? Who sang that song, people of God? Who sang that song at the beginning of this worship service with sincerity in their hearts? Peace. I pray for Zion's peace. For peace in Israel. And seek it. Seek it, people of God. Seek it. Not at the cost of God's Word, of course. Must seek it at the cost of your own selfish desires and feelings. Seek Zion's peace. Preservation of the church of Jesus Christ. And the reward here, James says, those who plant peace will enjoy the fruit of righteousness in peace. Not only peace, but righteous works. Wisdom of the world will render the church useless, I said. The opposite of it, wisdom from above that seeks peace. will bring the church to be active in righteous works. That's the point. To be a witness in this world. As you're bound together, may that be our attitudes, may that be our desire when we come to the Lord's Supper next week. A desire for unity, for peace, for communion, true communion in Christ. So I close with this question, not That question of a test, who is the wise man and do with knowledge among you? A question that we should avoid answering, but rather this question, who truly wants wisdom from above? That's meek, pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy, good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy. Who wants this? And pray for it. Desire it this week from God. And let your hearts, as your tongues govern the whole body to turn it about withersoever, Let your tongues through prayer turn your heart away from the wisdom of this world and strife and to the wisdom from above which makes true peace. Amen. Let us pray. Father, We come with our tongues and with our hearts. To Thee, the God of wisdom, we pray earnestly, with sincerity, give us wisdom from above. Help us to be sorry and to put aside the wisdom from below. Give us genuine faith, without which there can be no true wisdom. And through that bond of faith, cause there to flow from Christ above unto us, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, especially the fruit of peace. Peace here for the glory of Thy name. In Jesus' name. Amen.