This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Let's turn to James chapter 3. We'll begin reading at verse 13. This is God's holy and inspired word. Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. The seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace. by those who make peace." This is God's Word. Well, last week, we started in this passage, and I told Jason before the sermon last week, I said, you'll be preaching in the morning unless, of course, I don't finish. And so he was just working away on Monday as if he was going to preach twice. And I thought for a second that maybe he didn't understand what I meant by not finish. This is actually, as you well know, not finishing is what I excel in, right? So, Lord willing, we will finish today, and Jason will preach to us this afternoon from John chapter 14. And I would encourage you to stay and hear the word of God preached this afternoon. So, we saw last week that wisdom is demonstrated not in how much you know, but wisdom is demonstrated in your behavior. in your conduct. Wisdom is demonstrated not just with a wise choice here or there, but wisdom is demonstrated with a, however much lifetime God has given you up to this point, a lifetime of wise decisions. To the contrary, false wisdom behaves badly. That's what James is going to tell us, and told us as we saw last week so clearly, is that false wisdom behaves really badly. It pretends to be wisdom, but the reality is that this pretended wisdom is actually nothing more than envy and selfish ambition. Now, that is certainly praised by the world, as wisdom, but only because it is earthbound, unspiritual, and actually demonic. I don't want to re-preach last Sunday's sermon, but we have to actually understand that from James' perspective, that to operate, to function according to this wisdom which is from below, which is not real wisdom, is actually to be blinded and held in the clutches of the powers of darkness. So a person that is driven by envy and selfish ambition and a person who thinks that he is so smart because he's figured out how to get his own way and he's driven and he takes pride in the fact that he's able to intimidate people, of course that's just influence and leadership. The person who thinks like this is not just thinking in a carnal way, the person who thinks like this is thinking in a demonic way. The fruit of this so-called wisdom is unmistakable. It's disorder, it's chaos, and it's also the source of all kinds of evil deeds. And so what Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, you'll know them by their fruits, is absolutely true of this kind of wisdom. You know this wisdom by the fruit that it produces. So if you think that you're really smart, you're really wise, and you've really got the upper hand on the issues of life, and you're going through life, and what you have in your life is just nothing more than chaos and the wake of disturbance and disruption and disorderliness and other evil deeds, then you're not operating according to wisdom, you're operating according to the principles of this world, which amounts to operating according to the demonic. And that brings us to wisdom from above. And so James is contrasting these two wisdoms, right? But the wisdom from above. What we have to understand is that as James starts this section, he throws out a challenge. Who's wise and understanding among you? And then he presents two perspectives on wisdom. And what he wants us to do is he wants us to take our lives and stack up our lives according to one of these two descriptions. This is not just a matter of saying, well, of course I'm wise because, you know, I've got gray hair. Of course I'm wise because I went to school. Of course I'm wise. James wants us to actually have enough courage to step back and actually stack our life up against this wisdom, which is from below, and this wisdom, which is from above, and actually see where we fit by description. Wisdom from above. Yesterday, I was talking to the men about wisdom literature and the introduction to the Proverbs. And we were talking about what wisdom really is. And love this definition, by the way, from John Frame in his Doctrine of Christian Life. He says, wisdom enables us to apply the knowledge of God to practical situations. Scripture often represents wisdom as a skill or a knowledge of how rather than that. Let me say that again. Scripture often presents wisdom as a skill, a knowledge of how rather than that. Wisdom is the ability to do the right thing in different situations and especially to say the right thing. James describes this wisdom as that which comes down from above. In other words, this wisdom that he's about to describe comes from God Himself. We need to remember that all true wisdom originates with God Himself, comes down from God Himself. Now, here's the thing is that James has already told us this in so many ways. Remember chapter 1, verse 17, every good and perfect gift comes from where? Comes from above, from our Father of lights in whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. So wisdom as a good gift comes from God, but we also know wisdom comes from God because James has already told us back in chapter one and verse five, if any among you lacks wisdom, okay, so we'll just take a poll. Any of you lack wisdom, okay? Didn't raise your hand, there's no hope for you, okay? If you lack wisdom, what are you supposed to do? Let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally, generously, and without reproach. And so here James is telling us, you don't want the wisdom that's earthbound, you don't want the wisdom that's natural, that just comes from anybody's old unregenerate brain. You want the wisdom that actually comes from God himself, because the reality is, is that in this universe, there's only one who is truly wise, There's only one who possesses all wisdom, and that is God Himself. I love to think about the wisdom of God. Does God know everything? Absolutely. Does he know all things past, present, and future? Yes. Does he know all things real, actual, and all things possible? Yes. So, for instance, he knows what would have happened if Sodom and Gomorrah would have repented, right? I mean, so he doesn't just know the facts, he knows all possibilities. So his knowledge is absolutely, utterly, completely exhaustive. It's comprehensive. There's not a single thing in the universe that God does not know. Here is a newsflash. God can't learn anything. If you know everything, you don't have to learn anything. Okay? Of course, teenagers already know that. Now, well, let me remind you, you are not God. There's only one person in the whole universe that actually is his own Google search engine. And it doesn't take any time for him to know anything, right? He knows everything. He's absolutely exhaustive in his knowledge, okay? So, think of that. Then, does God have all power? Absolutely. In fact, all power actually originates with God himself. That's what the Psalms teach us. Psalm 62, for instance, power comes from God. So God has all power. Can anything that God sets his mind to do be thwarted by anybody? No, nobody's strong enough to thwart God's purpose. So God has all power. So on the one hand, we say God is omniscient, knows absolutely, utterly everything. And then we also say God is omnipotent, that is God has absolutely all power. You think about those two things. So there's nothing that's too hard for God. God can do whatever he pleases. There is nothing that once he extends his hand, there's no one who can actually say, what are you doing? And send his hand back, right? So think of this, the one who has all knowledge is also the one who has all power. But he also has wisdom. We say God is omniscient. We say God is omnipotent. We should also say God is omnisapient. All wise. See, how many of you ever heard omnisapient? And yet, we should actually know it just as sure as we know omniscience and omnipotence, right? Because here's what wisdom is. Wisdom is the ability to take what you know and apply it to real life situations to try to get the outcome that you want. So as a human being, you take what you know, is that limited? Yes, okay, and then you apply it to the situations of life, but do you always have the power to actually execute what you think is the wisest course of action? No, here's God who's not limited in what he knows, nor is he limited in what he can do, and he is all wise in that he knows absolutely everything, he's got all the knowledge, and then he's got the power to bring about the absolute best result possible. He, this isn't even in the sermon, Okay? Now, that means that God never, ever makes a mistake in the execution of his wisdom in this world. So here he is, the source of all wisdom. So here we are, and we need wisdom from above. If all we do is we just think that we can get through life, you know, I mean, I've got gumption, I've been taught how to pull myself up by my bootstraps, you know, and we think that we're just these really, you know, really, earthy, gritty, wise people with lots of common sense, we're not going to be tapping into that which is true wisdom, because true wisdom comes from God, and you have to ask for that wisdom to get it. So the wisdom which is from above, now we'll get back to the sermon, is first pure. It's first pure. James actually says in the text, it is chiefly pure. Why does he say purity is first? Because Purity stands at the source of everything else that flows from this wisdom. When James talks about this wisdom that comes from above, he says the first thing you need to know about it, the chief thing about it, the principle from which everything else flows down is its purity, its blamelessness, its integrity, its completeness. It is the opposite of what we have with bitter jealousy. Bitter jealousy marks the wisdom which is from below. It's purity that marks the wisdom that is from above. In other words, when you're operating according to this wisdom, there's a purity in it that is free from envy, free from jealousy, free from all of the impurities of this earthbound, natural, demonic stuff, and it operates in a sense from an undivided heart, which is another biblical idea of purity is an undivided heart, and it is operating on the principle of integrity. Now, how do we know that that marks the wisdom from above? Well, James tells us, but that's always what marks God's wisdom. There's never any impurity, there's never any admixture to his motives in the execution of his wisdom. Don't you look forward to the day when we'll be free from mixed motives? What a day that will be. So this wisdom first is pure, and then he says, notice the way he does this, first pure, and then, explicitly, and then peaceful. In other words, the wisdom that comes down from above is the opposite of the disorderliness that comes from the wisdom from below. The disorderliness and the chaos from the wisdom of below is in stark contrast to the wisdom from above, because that wisdom from above is actually a peaceful wisdom, a peaceable wisdom. This is not the typical word, by the way, for just peaceful. It is, NIV does peace-loving, which is okay. I mean, unless you're like a hippie or something. It's not what's in mind. Now, there's a connection between first pure and then peaceable. And the connection is this. It is not, the wisdom from above is not peacemaking wisdom at the expense of purity. Because there are plenty of people that want to be at peace, but at the expense of purity or integrity, this is not peace which compromises purity, but this is peace which actually comes from purity. So, the truly wise person, the person that has wisdom that's from above, is a person who is actually a peacemaking person. Warmongers demonstrate that they don't operate according to the wisdom from above. And I'm not talking about, you know, the hawks in Congress. I'm talking about warmongers among the people of God. You know they exist, right? Remember years ago, I think I was a teenager, Marshall Shelley, son of a church historian, Bruce Shelley, wrote a book called Well-Intentioned Dragons. Of course, he's talking about dragons in the church. We used to joke when I was in college that the certain denomination that went by I-F-C-A actually just stood for, I fight Christians anywhere. Okay? And so here, the idea is peaceableness, peacemaking. But notice, the characteristic of wisdom of being a peacemaker demands something, doesn't it? It demands community. It demands being in relationship with others. John Piper makes this really great observation. He says, wisdom is not a solitary attainment. It is corporate and a relational attainment. Loaners are not wise. Let me read that again. Loaners are not wise. Wisdom is given and found and forged in the fires of committed relationships. So if you're harsh, if you're abrasive, if you're self-centered, if you're intolerant, these things come from a defiled heart. If you are peaceable, if you love peace, if you are a peacemaker, that comes from a wise, purified heart. You know, the heart that's been purified by faith in Jesus revels in the fact that I've been reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus, and it revels in the fact that I'm at peace with God, and therefore it values me being at peace with others. So pure, peaceable, and then the next difficult word here, probably one of the most difficult to translate in the whole list, kind. or considerate. Now, what's interesting about this particular word, we have one of the deacons turn the air conditioning on. Is it hot in here? It's like really hot in here. I mean, I'm feeling the heat from the wisdom from below. About 55 would be good, Eric. Thank you. Okay. Kind or considerate. Maybe it's just getting hot in here because I brought up kind and considerate. Have you thought of that? Kind or considerate. The thing about this word is that this word is counterintuitive to what we typically are by nature. Okay? Because the word has the idea of a willingness to yield to others. Now, of course, we come right out of the womb willing to yield to everybody, don't we? We actually come out of the womb ready to enter into combat to make sure we get our way. Is that not right? I mean, we come out of the womb and we're ready, and in fact, after mama and dada, it's mine. Okay? And so, here we have this characteristic of wisdom that comes from above that says, you know what, this kind of wisdom, you know what it looks like in your life? Is you're a kind, you're a considerate person. You know what that means? It means you're a non-combative person that's actually willing to yield to others and you actually have a respect for the feelings of others. We can live our lives in a way where the only feelings we care about are our own. And the feelings of others are not even an afterthought. In fact, the feelings of others may not even appear on the radar. And the reality is, is that wisdom that comes from above makes my heart and manifest a willingness to actually yield to other people because I'm taking into consideration what I'm about to say or what I'm about to do. How is it going to affect that person and how is it going to affect that person's heart? That a wise person actually thinks through these things. You know, we live in such a strange culture, don't we? We have turned vices into virtues. We somehow think that really one of the key virtues of being a modern 21st century person is just telling people what you think. We've raised, by the way, a whole generation of people that think that the best thing to do is just tell people what's on your mind. The Proverbs describe a person like that. And it's not direct. It's not transparent. It's not authentic. It's full. And so, James says the wisdom from above manifests itself in the way that you're willing to actually avoid combat with other people and yield to others. And then he says, and this gets even worse, compliant. Compliant. I recently took one of those internet personality tests and compliant was not on there. Quit laughing so hard, dear. Now. What was the anonym to compliant that was on that desk? I think it was something like demanding. Yeah, okay, thanks for confirming that. Now, compliant doesn't mean I'm a doormat. Wisdom from above does not produce doormat. What it produces are people who are open to reason and who are accommodating whenever they can be accommodating and they actually practice a willing deference to others. That's a wise person. And so that this compliant aspect is just, I'm just simply, I'm open to reason and where I can accommodate, I'm going to accommodate. And here's the reality, you and I can accommodate far more often than we think we can accommodate. We think that, you know what, I know where my lines of accommodation are. It's like from here to here. If they get in there, I can accommodate. You know, the fact is, is that a wise person is looking to try to accommodate. A wise person is actually looking to how, how can I defer to this person? Which, by the way, I think that you can take every one of these characteristics and you can take the anonym and put it right down into the category of the wisdom, which is from below. Next, full of mercy. Full of mercy. Now, James has already said this in chapter two, verse 13. He says, judgment will be merciless to the one who has shown no mercy. Then James says, mercy triumphs over judgment. So wisdom from above gives birth to mercy, a mercy that actually triumphs over judgment. So if you're a person who is full of mercy to those around you, what does that look like? Well, you see, mercy is holding back from people that which they deserve. Grace is giving that to people which they don't deserve. Mercy is holding back what they do deserve. And so, mercy, a heart full of mercy, being full of mercy, looks like this. I'm not a judgmental person. I don't demand my pound of flesh. I actually can cover things in love because mercy, I've received mercy and now I'm a giver of mercy. You think you could be more merciful? You think you could actually extend mercy to people? I will tell you that it is It's one thing to think about giving mercy to people that you like. Extending mercy to people that only bother you a little bit. They only irritate you some. But the real test of being full of mercy is when you're dealing with a person that bugs you a lot. and that irritates you a lot. One of the things that we do is we walk through this world and we have this invisible little force field around us. And anytime anybody sticks their finger in it, we have a little alarm that goes off in our head. And that little warning says, that person has just insulted you. That person has just offended you. By the way, do you realize that if everything around you is an irritant and everything is an insult and an offense, that you're not full of mercy, you're full of yourself, right? Okay? Parents, this is a tough lesson for us, but I'll tell you what, it's absolutely true, is it not? We have these children that God gives to us. And if they do things that make our life uncomfortable or inconvenient, or now I have to do something I wasn't planning on doing, all of a sudden, you know what I think? I think not that this is a demonstration of childishness, or this is a demonstration of immaturity, or here's an opportunity for me to serve. That never comes up on my radar. What it comes up is, is that, you know what, why are you doing this to me? The very expression, why are you doing this to me, shows that we're not full of mercy, we're full of ourselves. James says the wisdom that comes from above, it is a wisdom that's just full of mercy, overflows mercy, looks for opportunities to give mercy and then good fruit. Good fruit. Now, when James says good fruit or good fruits there, you notice in the NAS, understand this comes to us from the background of wisdom literature. It's in contrast, of course, to the every evil deed that comes from wisdom from below, but the good fruits is actually the the manifestation, the multi-dimensional manifestation of wisdom. So, in the Proverbs, the wisdom is a tree of life. And the mouth of the wise is a tree of life. And that tree of life that emanates from the wise heart actually produces good fruit in people's lives. Good fruit like mercy. Then James throws in a word that is, the meaning is debated. NAS puts it like this, unwavering, and I like that, and I'll tell you why. Some translations go with the idea of impartial or without partiality, and there's a reason why they do that, but I think that the idea is not just the idea of being impartial. That's certainly wisdom from above, impartiality. James has addressed impartiality. But I think that the idea should be unwavering in the sense of being stable, going back to a related word in chapter 1. Notice in verse six of chapter one, James says, but he must ask, ask for what? Ask for wisdom in faith and without doubting. It's a related word. So for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect he'll receive anything from the Lord. Being a double-minded man, and here's another related word, unstable in all of his ways. So the wisdom from above does not produce instability and wavering being tossed to and fro. Wisdom from above produces unwavering. It produces confidence. It produces stability. So that the person who is wise from God is a person that doesn't vacillate back and forth but they're stable, they're sound, they're secure. And then notice the next description, sincere, without hypocrisy, that is not playing the part, right? Not playing the part. A hypocrite in the first century was a term that was typically used for a play actor. And so the idea is they're not playing the part. They are sincere. That is, the person who has wisdom from above, there is a genuine sense of transparency. So what you see is what you get with that person. They're not trying to put anything on or put anything over anybody. In fact, D. Edmund Hebert wrote, it does not need to work under a mask since it has nothing to hide. Douglas Moos summarizes this, he says, the person characterized by wisdom from heaven will be stable, trustworthy, transparent, the kind of person consistently displaying the virtues of wisdom and one on whom people can rely for advice and counsel. Finally, verse 18. Literally it reads, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those making peace. It sounds like a proverb, but in fact probably was. has a proverbial ring to it, and it seems as if James, which by the way is the New Testament wisdom book, James is actually kind of just capping off this section with a proverb concerning wisdom, and I think that what is in view here in this verse 18 is that James is talking about the great benefit that comes to the wise who are making peace. All right? And so when he says, and NAS says, the seed whose fruit is righteousness, I think fruit which is righteousness is absolutely right. So those who are peacemakers sow in peace by making peace. Notice they're not just peacekeepers, they're peacemakers. There's a difference between being a peacekeeper Keeper of peace and being a peacemaker. In the olden days, didn't they call law enforcement officers peacekeepers? And of course, they carried a firearm, right? Called the colt peacemaker, okay? There's a sermon coming out of this, I can tell. Now, peace, says Craig Blomberg, is the ultimate goal of wisdom. And wisdom only reaches its fullest potential in the midst of peace. And so people that are actually sowing the seeds of peace and are actively peacemaking are going to reap the harvest of the fruit which is righteousness. Now, why is this last proverbial statement in this description of wisdom from above so important? It's because this. when James talks about the fruit of righteousness or the fruit which is righteousness, he's not talking about righteousness in its forensic justification sense. He's talking about it in its ethical sense. In other words, what he's saying is that the people who actually seek this wisdom from above and operate in terms of this wisdom from above are displaying a righteousness in their life which is indeed pleasing to God. Can we actually understand that there is a kind of Christian life which is indeed pleasing to God and that there are indeed actions and lifestyles among Christians which are displeasing to God? The minute that I say that, somebody's gonna turn around and say, well, hasn't Christ completely pleased God on my behalf in justification? And the answer is, of course he has. There is a sense in which I'm completely accepted by God, but that does not mean that the life of obedience and righteousness in working out the implications of the gospel does not please God, because it does. It does. And the minute that we start to shy away from talking like this for fear that somehow we're going to step on justification, we are in real danger of eclipsing an absolutely critical aspect of living the Christian life. God wants his people to bear the fruit of righteousness. He wants his people to demonstrate through their actions, through their decisions, through their lifestyles, a life that's pleasing to God. Woe to the man or woman that simply says, I stand in Christ complete. It doesn't matter what I do. You don't know God from a stick if that's your theology. Jesus says, blessed are the peacemakers. For they shall be called the sons of God. The sons of God. Has it ever occurred to us that we most accurately image God? That we most accurately reflect God when we're peacemakers? You say, you know what? I prefer the image of God as divine warrior. That's what I resonate with. You hold on to that and take that with you into judgment day. And then tell me whether you'd rather have God as divine warrior or divine peacemaker. So which wisdom rules our lives? The wisdom from above or the wisdom from below? To answer that question, we don't just simply fill out a card. and say, well, obviously above. To answer that question, we look at the relationships around us. Alec Motier, who's a wise old British Bible scholar said, bad relationships and a divisive attitude towards others shows that the truth and our hearts are strangers to each other. So let's acknowledge and confess that we're not nearly as wise as we think we are. Let's acknowledge and confess that we often rely on wisdom that's from below. And the proof, of course, comes in the pudding, as they say. It is in the fruit of our relationships. So when we're critical, when we think that our opinions carry a certain moral authority, when we have our preferences that carry the weight, of course, of divine revelation, and that we think that we are always right, and that we are experts in just about everything, and that we are are incredibly skilled in getting our own way. We're operating according to the wisdom that is nothing more than the worldling's wisdom, which is demonic. The fact is, is that if you look around at your life and you see nothing but strife and contention, the demonic is at work. Broken lives, strained relationships is the fruit of wisdom which is from below and we can never afford to justify ourselves in these things. There is indeed wisdom and insight that comes from God that shapes our lives. There's wisdom and insight that actually shapes our understanding and shapes our words. It shapes our hearts, it shapes and governs our relationships, it finds its source in faith in Christ, and so is ours by right, but nevertheless must be asked for, James 1.5. And in asking for that wisdom, we need to be willing to turn our back on the wisdom which is from below, where I make much of myself, the wisdom from above says I make much of others. We need to see the beauty of the wisdom that's from above. The beauty of good conduct, humility, the beauty of these seven descriptions. We need to stop valuing what the world values and value the character of true wisdom and seek it and live it and bear the fruit of righteousness to the glory of God. What would our marriages look like? What would our churches look like? What would our families look like? What would our workplaces look like if we said to God, fill me with the wisdom from above? Transform me with the wisdom that's from above. Give it to me, Father, in Jesus' name, give it to me. And once I've asked for it, I don't doubt that he's given it. because he's good. And he wants me and he wants you to be wise like him so that we're called the sons of God. Let's pray. Father, we pray that your spirit would be absolutely ruthless in showing us where we are in bondage and where our wisdom comes from. And we pray, Father, that you, through Jesus, would give us the wisdom from above, and that might manifest itself in how we treat others and in all of our relationships. How we thank you this morning for wisdom incarnate, Jesus Christ. May He be our portion today. Amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com