I'm going to ask you please to join with me in looking at James chapter 3, and we're going to read beginning at verse 13 and read down to verse 18. 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, and the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your word. It is the light, Lord, that shines upon our pathway It is, Lord, that wisdom that instructs us in the way that is right before You. It is our comfort when we're hurting. It is our corrector when we're wrong. And, Lord, it is that Word that lets us know who You are, what You've done for us in Christ, and what You have in store for us today and into the future. We give You praise that You've given us the Word of God. We pray that tonight, Lord, you would guide us in our understanding of it. Your Holy Spirit would help us to know, Lord, what you mean for us to know by what you've said. Help us to handle your word in a way that pleases you, to rightly divide it, and, Lord, to share it in the power of your Spirit. We look to you for the results that only you can accomplish. We ask all this tonight in Jesus' name. Amen. What will characterize those who are walking in the wisdom that comes from God? That's what we're learning about in verses 17 and 18. We learned in the previous verses that wherever there is earthly, natural, demonic wisdom at work, there will be bitter jealousy, there will be selfish ambition, there will be pride, and there will be self-justification. He mentions this self-justification at the end of verse 14. Do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. Don't say that this sort of thing comes from God. On the other hand, the wisdom that comes from above, we're told, is first pure. Holiness is the driving force, the motivating, controlling ambition behind all that the wisdom of God teaches. And then from that purity comes these other qualities. The first of which we looked at last Wednesday night, and that is peace. God's wisdom is first pure, then it's peaceable. It is peace-loving. But the peace of God, the peace that comes from God, is a peace totally different than that which the world knows. And we talked about that last week. Tonight, we begin with a third characteristic. We see it in verse 17. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, and then he says, gentle. Gentle. When the wisdom of God is the wisdom that you're walking in, one of the characteristics of your life will be a God-taught, God-given gentleness. What does that mean? Well, the particular word translated gentle here carries the thought of being fair, equitable, fitting, courteous, considerate, moderate, and forbearing. As is pointed out by commentators, there really isn't a satisfactory English equivalent. It's a hard word to get a hold of. The word is only used in four other places in the New Testament. One of the ways to know what a word means is to take notice of how it's used. Philippians chapter 4 verse 5 says, let your forbearing spirit be known to all men, the Lord is near. The word translated forbearing is the same word we have in our text. Then in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 3 it says, speaking of the qualification of pastors, it says, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, which means to be a fighter, but gentle, same word there, uncontentious, free from the love of money. In Titus 3, verse 2, it says, to malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. And then in 1 Peter 2, verse 18, it says, servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. And so when you look at those four times that it's used outside of our text, there are a number of ideas that emerge. To be gentle in this meaning of the word, to be gentle is to be long-suffering. It means that you're patient. You endure. You bear up under. You have a forbearing spirit. A gentleness means that you're without a fighting spirit. You're not a contentious person. You don't love a fight. You don't love controversy. To be gentle is to show every consideration for all men. You are, in general, a mannerly person. You are a considerate person. You are a thoughtful person. You take into account the feelings of others. Gentleness is the opposite of being unreasonable. That's where the idea of being fair, equitable, comes in. You're not an unreasonable person. And the thread that runs through all of those verses is that self is not at the center, but what is pleasing to God is at the center. That's really what it means to be gentle. It means that what you want, above all else, is to do what is right in the sight of God. And one of the things we're going to see as we walk through this list together over these Wednesday nights is how they logically build upon one another. God's wisdom is first pure, that is, it's holy. What is most important to us is that our lives not be offensive to God. That our lives be holy in the sense of pleasing to God, set apart from the world, set apart unto the Lord. What we want is to be right in the sight of God, not offensive to Him. And if that's true of you, if your desire is to live in holiness, then you understand that the kind of peace you want is not my way, or your way, or some sort of mixture of our two ways, but we want to meet together on the ground of truth. Not what is right in my eyes, or what is right in your eyes, but what is right in God's eyes. That's where we can meet together, and that is true peace. Now, if what I want is only what is right in God's eyes, and if what I want is to meet together with other people and with God on the ground of truth, now I am truly fair-minded. Now I'm truly equitable. Now I'm truly considerate of others. Because now I'm free not to fight for my way, or not to defend my way but to be concerned about His way. And wherever my life has to be adjusted in order to be conformed to His way, I'm ready to do that. That's gentleness. That's what it means to really be equitable. That's what it means to really be fair. I'll say it this way, that's what's required to be fair. We'll never know what it is to really be fair-minded and even-handed until we get ourselves out of the picture. And what we want is what God wants. Now, there is real objectivity. God, all we want is what you want. If we're gentle, our first concern will not be our own cause, but God's cause. Our first concern will not be our own opinions, but God's truth. Our first concern will not be our own honor, but God's glory. The wisdom of God will teach us that the only cause that really matters, and the only position that we want to arrive at, and the only honor to be defended, is God's. Let me try to make this practical to us tonight. How will this practically work out? Let me give you a few specifics from God's Word. If I am walking in this gentleness that the wisdom of God teaches, which is born out of a desire for holiness and born out of a desire for true peace. If I'm walking in that gentleness, then I can be patient with those who are in the wrong." Now, this is a real test of us. How do you respond to those who are opposed to you or opposed to your position, and you know from the Word of God they're wrong? How do you respond to them? Listen to 2 Timothy 2 verse 24. It says, And the Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, listen to this, patient when wronged, next verse, with gentleness, correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth." Here you have someone who is in the wrong. They need to repent. They are opposed to what you're teaching. Now, can you be patient? And as long as they will allow you to, instruct them, praying that God would grant them repentance and lead them into the knowledge of His truth. It's a test of what kind of wisdom we're walking in. You see, you're able to do that if you're walking in the wisdom of God because you realize something. If my cause is God's cause, not my own, then I don't take opposition to God's cause personally. I can be even-handed. I can be moderate in my response to being wronged because I'm not defending and avenging myself. What I'm after is simply stating God's position from God's word. The battle is not with me. I wonder, dear Christians, my brothers and sisters, how many times do we really realize that the battle is not with us? That the battle is, if someone is opposing the truth, is against the truth and ultimately against God. Another example of this, if I'm walking in this gentleness and in the wisdom of God, I can receive correction. Here's a test of what kind of wisdom you're walking in. Can you receive correction? If what I'm concerned about is what is holy and what is true, then I truly want to see when I'm not right. Are you following me tonight? If all I really care about is what's right and what's true, then if I'm not right, I want to see it. I want to know it. And I would love anyone who would show it to me, you see. Because they're showing me something that I'm most interested in. Proverbs chapter 9 teaches this, verse 6. It says, "...forsake your folly and live, and proceed in the way of understanding." He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself. And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Let's just stop there for a moment. How do you respond to people who correct you? Do you insult them? Do you dishonor them? You may not even do it publicly. You may just do it in your own mind. The next verse says this, it says, "...do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you." But then it says, "...reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning." Isn't it interesting? He characterizes the person who can receive correction as a wise person. You know why? Why can they receive correction? Because there's this gentleness at work in their life that is equitable and fair-minded because all it's interested in is what is true and what is right. Another example of it, if I'm walking in this gentleness, I will be able to see, I'll be willing to see the wrong in myself and others who are closest to me. This is a test of fairness. To be equitable is to be so honest with what is honoring to God and what is true before God that even if the truth reproves me or if the truth reproves the dearest people in my life, I will receive it and I will respond properly to it. Because again, all we're interested in in this gentleness is what is true, what is right. That's why there's objectivity. That's why there's fairness. Because we're interested only in one thing. What's true? What's right? What's holy? What's pure? What's the ground of truth that we can stand on? I'll ask you tonight, can you do no wrong? Can your family do no wrong? Can your dearest friends do no wrong? I've known husbands and wives who would defend each other regardless of the wrongness of their spouse. I mean, they may hate each other and fight like cats and dogs, but you point out some blemish on the life of the person they're married to, and now they're together. I'll never forget us counseling with a husband and wife that had not been living together basically. They were in the same house, but they weren't together for years. And then when we were trying to deal in love with an area of sin in one of the people's lives, they came into the counseling room and said one of the best things to come out of this is they had a newfound unity. Yeah, that was our response. What kind of a unity is that? But you know what? The same thing happens with parents. I've known parents who would defend their children regardless of the wrongness of their children. See, that's in keeping with worldly wisdom. I mean, in the world, blood is thicker than water. But that's not God's wisdom. God's wisdom says that if I truly love the person I'm married to, or if I truly love my children, then the most vital thing in the world is that all of our lives, including the person I'm married to, including my children, all of our lives must conform to the truth of God. And wherever there's wrong, we want to see it. Gentleness, fair-mindedness, objectivity. Where does it come from? A single-minded ambition that we would know what is pure and holy and right and true in the sight of God. Let me give one other illustration. If I'm walking in this gentleness, I will not be guilty of the sin of favoritism. James chapter 2 verse 1, My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. You want to talk about fairness? You want to talk about objectivity? We'll see people the way God does. which means that we won't, because see what we're interested in is, Lord, what is right in your sight? What is most important in your sight? And so we will not make decisions like the lost world does. Who has the most money? Who has the most influence? Who will improve our reputation? Those things are not important to God, and they shouldn't be important to us. And so if we're walking in the wisdom of God, there is this objectivity, Attitude of being equitable and fair, reasonable, respectful, considerate, thoughtful, forbearing, patient, and it's all born out of a single-minded focus, what is holy before God, and the ground of truth that we can all stand on. That's real wisdom. Let me also add one other thought before we move on to the next quality and the last one we'll be able to deal with tonight. You know, sometimes if we're not careful, we fall into a ditch, not only on one side of the truth, but we can fall into the ditch on the other side of truth too. And if we're really walking in this wisdom, it is true that we will receive the truth even when it deals with the people closest to us. But let me also say that if we're walking in this wisdom, we will not discriminate against those who are closest to us either, if they're in the right. We won't sacrifice someone we love to look good in the eyes of others or to simply appear to be fair and equitable. If the person who's closest to us is in the right according to God's Word, then we will stand with them even if it opens us up to the charge of personal favoritism. God knows our hearts. And most important, He knows what is true and right. That's all that can matter to us. That's the wisdom of God. Now, there's a second thing here we see. We've seen two others last Wednesday. He says, the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, then he says this, reasonable. Reasonable. And this builds upon the previous quality. This is the only place where you find this Greek word in the New Testament. The only place. Strong's defines the word ready to obey. Another source says this, willing to yield without rancor or disputing. It is teachable, compliant, and not stubborn. It was used of a man who willingly submitted to military discipline, accepting and complying with whatever was demanded of him, and of a person who faithfully observes legal and moral standards. In other words, this is a person... if you think about again how these qualities build on each other, alright? Here's the wisdom of God. First, what is holy, Lord, in Your sight? What is it that would be non-offensive to You? Now, Lord, that means that the only place I want to stand on is the place of truth. And that's the only kind of peace that I'm interested in, is the kind of peace where we can stand in that which is holy and pure in Your sight. Now, Lord, what that means is I'm willing to be, You're teaching me to be fair-minded, to be equitable, to be considerate of all, to want to see the truth even if it means that I have to change or someone near and dear to me asks. It doesn't matter. All I'm interested in is what is right, what is true. Now, built on those first three things is this next quality which is now when I see what is right, I am willing to yield. I am willing to submit. I am willing to actually change. That's what the word means. Ready to obey. Willing to yield. Used of that man who would submit to military discipline. Accepting, complying with whatever was demanded of him. Reasonable. It's not uncommon in this world of ours for people to boast. to feel proud about the fact that they're not very compliant. You've heard it around the water cooler, I'm sure, some places where you work. Well, I'm just not going to do that. The world boasts of its rights, its independent character. Isn't it interesting that the very thing that the world boasts about, God in His wisdom teaches just the opposite. Not an independent, rebellious mindset, but one that is willing to yield. And I'll tell you what, when you're really operating in the wisdom of God, not only are you willing to yield, but you joyfully yield. It's not grudging submission. It is joyful submission. Because remember why you're submitting. You've seen what is holy. You've seen what is right. You've seen the ground of true peace. And now there is no greater privilege in the whole world than to stand in the place where Almighty God would tell you to stand. And to make the choice that Almighty God would want you to make. No greater privilege, no greater joy than that. For walking in God's wisdom, we will be a submissive people. This kind of quality teaches us to be reasonable, first of all, just in general. That is, we should just in general be a people who are flexible, easy to get along with. We're not touchy, we're not defensive, we're not argumentative, we're not stubborn. I'd ask you tonight, do any of those words describe you? Touchy? Inflexible? Defensive? Argumentative? Stubborn? Where this wisdom is at work, where God's wisdom is at work, we should be able to deal with each other as brethren. People who genuinely love each other. And even when we're dealing with lost people, our lives should stand apart as an example of being reasonable. Reasonable people. In general, we should be a people who can take instruction. How are you at taking instruction? Who can fulfill someone else's wishes and do it with joy because it honors God and it benefits that person. So in general, if we're walking in the wisdom of God, we're going to be this yielding kind of person. But we can be more specific than that. This wisdom will teach us to be reasonable when we're in authority. It's interesting, when we talk about submission and talk about a spirit of being willing to yield, we normally think first about being under authority. I'm going to talk about that in a moment. But God's wisdom teaches this quality to those who are in authority as well. Someone in authority who is reasonable is someone who is approachable. Someone who can listen to the concerns of others and yield wherever the other person's views are right. Willing to yield, the word means. Husbands, let me ask us tonight. Do you ever yield to your wife? I know that God has given you an authority. I know that you're the head of the home according to the Scriptures. But do you recognize that God has given you someone in your wife who is meant to contribute to your leadership? And do you realize that you and I, we cannot be effective leaders unless we're loving leaders, understanding leaders, a leader who only wants to do what is right so that you will yield wherever she sees what is right. Husbands, do I sometimes stubbornly hold to a position when it's a parent that we're simply wrong? Do you dig your heels in the dirt and say, we're going to do it my way? Or are you willing to yield? Parents, you may ask us, have you ever yielded to one of your children? I want to be careful. We have such a lack of teaching from the scriptures these days about how to raise children. Sometimes people mean well, but they don't do well. I'm not talking about a child lecturing a parent or doing something that is disrespectful toward their parents. That should not be allowed in a home. In fact, what I'm talking about your child may not even be aware of when you do it. What I'm talking about is sometimes as parents, we're not very equitable. We're not very fair. And we make statements or we make judgments in haste and come to the wrong decisions. I'm asking, have you demonstrated as a parent the ability to reverse your course when you're wrong? To be able to yield when it becomes apparent that you're wrong? Is it any wonder that we have stubborn, rebellious children when we have stubborn, rebellious parents? Should we be surprised when our children can never admit they're wrong if they have parents who can never admit they're wrong? Have you ever had someone admit to you that they're wrong and it doesn't lower them in your estimation? It raises them in your estimation? You know what, parents? You may be surprised at how that works with your children. I'm not talking about something fake and something you're just trying to put on a show. I'm saying that when the Lord has shown you from His Word that you have taken a wrong course, the godly thing to do, the wise thing to do, the gentle thing to do, the reasonable thing to do is to change your course. And then those who lead others, whether it's working in the church, or working in some other organization, working at your job? Are you willing to listen to the legitimate concerns of others? Do you ever change course on something not because you have to, but because it's right to? That's the wisdom of God at work. And so where God's wisdom is, it teaches us to be reasonable in general. It teaches us to be reasonable when we're in authority. And we also say, though, it teaches us to be reasonable when we're under authority. That's where the meaning of obedience and submission comes in. And this is something I'm convinced has been lost, is being lost in the present generation. Don't get me wrong, it's a sin in every generation. The sinful nature has never enjoyed submission. But I think it is an especially prevalent sin today, rebellion. And the gospel teaches us a different attitude. The gospel teaches us that we can trust God, which means that we can submit to others as long as we're asked not to disobey God. Dear wife, you may not agree with your husband's choices, you may not agree with the course that he's steering as a God-ordained leader in your home, but if he is not asking you to violate God's will or God's Word, the Bible is clear about what your responsibility is, and that is to submit to your husband and to respect him. To respect him. And young people may not always agree with their parents' decisions, and you are being raised by sinful parents and saved by the grace of God if you have Christian parents, and they don't always make the right decisions. Many things in my life I wish I could go back and do different with my children, but God will work even through that imperfect leadership that your parents represent. And God calls you, young person, that unless your parents would be asking you to violate God's Word and God's will, you ought to have a humble, submissive heart towards your parents. and follow their leadership. And the same is true in any area where you want to talk about authority. This is what God teaches us. He teaches us we can trust Him. That He is ultimately in control. He can change things. And the Gospel teaches us to have a servant's heart that enables us to submit in the sense that we will work just as hard on behalf of a superior as we would work on behalf of ourselves. This is what the Word of God teaches. This is the kind of character the Word of God teaches, that we serve in whatever realm we're serving in, not as men-pleasers, but as God-pleasers. Which means that if the person we're working for, even if they're hard to get along with, It's hard to submit to. Even there, we ought to give our very best and do our very best to make them successful in what they're doing because we're not doing it ultimately for them anyway. We're doing it as unto the Lord, right? You know what? When you're doing it as unto the Lord, it's amazing how your attitude changes toward the person you're serving. It's amazing how God gives you a love for them, and a care about their soul, and how you really want God's best for their life. So that it's not some cold, mechanical kind of service. It is a service you give from your heart, and you work every bit as hard for them as you would if you were working for yourself. Because really you're not working for them or for you, you're working for the Lord. And then the Gospel teaches us a sense of reward. that sets us free to be submissive. How are you submissive? You've got to trust in God. How are you submissive? You've got to have a servant's heart. How are you submissive? You have to understand the biblical sense of reward. This is what allows us to be faithful even if we're not appreciated by men. You say, Pastor, I've done what you're talking about. Most importantly, what the Bible's talking about. I've done that. I mean, I've tried to serve my superior, and I've done it with a servant's heart, and I've done it trusting in God. But you know what? It just goes totally unappreciated. Nobody notices. Nobody pays attention. I don't even get as much as a pat on the back. I've just gotten tired of it. Well, can I remind you of something? Hebrews chapter 6, verse 10. It says, for God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. Now I know in its context there, that verse is talking about work in ministry. But brethren, we've got to realize something. Every area of our life is to be lived as an act of worship to God. And wherever you're serving the Lord, if you're doing it as unto Him, you need to know something. He doesn't miss what you're doing. And better yet, He doesn't forget what you've done. I don't know about you. I would rather forget what I've done and have the Lord remember it, than remember everything I've done and have the Lord forget it. Wouldn't you agree? I think sometimes we take too much notice of what we've done. We ought to just forget what we've done and let the Lord remember it and remember something He won't forget. And He will reward. So what have we seen tonight? God's wisdom is first pure. It's holy. What we want is for our life in every area to be without a fence toward God. And then God's wisdom out of that purity teaches us a different kind of peace. Not trying to insist on my way, or letting you have your way, or trying to mix our ways, but standing simply on the ground of truth. Coming together on the ground of truth. That's peace. Which means that God's wisdom teaches me to be equitable, to be fair-minded, to be objective. If I can really get to the place that all that I want is what is right, Now I'm willing to see what is right, no matter what it means. Even if it means I'm wrong. Or the people closest to me are wrong. It doesn't matter. All we want is what is right. And then wherever I can see what is right, by God's grace, God's wisdom teaches me to yield. To submit. To follow with a joyful heart. and an obedient heart, the God who teaches this wisdom. I'll close tonight by asking you, is this your wisdom? Is this the wisdom you're living in right now? Let's bow our heads together, please. In just a moment, we're going to sing an invitation song together. It's a time for us to take action in any area of our life where the Lord has been dealing with us. Maybe not just through this sermon, but something the Lord has been doing in our life over time. If someone here tonight has received Christ, trusted Christ as the Lord who saves, and you need to publicly identify yourself with Christ, we invite you to come. If tonight your need is to come and join this fellowship, this would be the time to respond. If there's sin that has been revealed to you tonight by the Lord and you just want to come and pray, that's appropriate. You can feel free to do that. Whatever the need is, this will be our time to obey the Lord. Father, we thank You for Your Word. Lord, it is the only thing that will ever keep us in the right place. Your Word and Your work, Your Spirit in our lives. Lord, wherever you've shown us the right and wherever you've shown us we're wrong, may we immediately joyfully yield to you, that we might stand in that place that is pure and holy and right in your sight, a place where there's true peace. Lord, give us the fair-mindedness, give us the objectivity taught by your Spirit, to be able to be concerned only about one thing, what is right in your sight. We ask you this in Jesus' name, Amen.