The Godly Wisdom We Need - Part 1
James 3:13-18
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - July 25, 2010
*We had an outstanding Vacation Bible School this summer. Sometimes the leaders would call out to the children: “Need Answers?” -- And the kids would reply: “Ask God!” This theme was based on the promise in James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
*Need Answers? -- Ask God! We can ask God for anything we need, but according to James 1:5, one of the most important things we need is wisdom, God’s kind of wisdom. Let’s ask Him for it today with four prayer requests, -- four requests based on the truth we find in James 3.
1. The first prayer request is: God help us overcome the problem of worldly wisdom.
*Starting in vs. 13, James helps us to see that all wisdom is not from above. James asks:
13. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
14. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
*The “self-seeking” he talks about here is “strife” in the KJV. -- It means a contentious heart, somebody looking for a fight, politicking in a bad way.
-It’s a factional spirit, seeking to jockey for position.
-It leads to doing things with an ulterior motive, even by conspiracy and deceit.
*And in vs. 15-16, James says:
15. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
16. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing will be there.
*All wisdom is not from above, and we must overcome the problem of worldly wisdom. In this chapter, James has just finished giving us the example of the evil that can come from our tongue. Please look starting in vs. 2:
2. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
3. Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.
4. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.
5. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!
6. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
*Our tongues produce all kinds of evil misery, when they are led by the ungodly wisdom in our hearts. And unfortunately, we are all born with this sinful, selfish, worldly wisdom.
*Sometimes Mary and I like to watch “The Family Feud.” -- Once they had a question about little babies: What are the first words that little babies learn?
-Top 4 answers on the board: #1 was “Mama,” #2 was “Dada.” The 4th answer was “baba” for “bottle.”
*Guess what the #3 answer was. -- It was “NO!” And when you think about it, isn’t that amazing? One of the first words babies ever learn is, “No.” But we are born with a streak of stubbornness. And once we make up our mind, sometimes we stubbornly stick with that decision.
*Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes it’s a good thing to say “no.” But when we say “no” to something good we are just in stubborn rebellion, especially when we say “no” to God. We need to face up to the truth that we were all born with this evil, worldly wisdom. It shows up in the things we say.
*How big is this problem? -- So big that it is impossible for us to fix it on our own.
7. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
8. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
*No man can tame the tongue. We will never overcome the evil in our hearts without the help of Almighty God.
-God help us overcome the problem of worldly wisdom.
2. And help us have the purity of Godly wisdom.
*It’s the purity James mentioned in vs. 17 when he said “The wisdom that is from above is first pure.” -- This word “pure” comes from the same root-word as “holy,” so Godly wisdom is clean, innocent, modest, holy, pure.
-A.T. Robertson tells us it means “pure from fault, not half-good and half-bad.”
*This takes us back to the tongue example James used here. -- Starting in vs. 9:
9. With it (with our tongue) we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.
10. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
11. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?
12. Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring can yield both salt water and fresh.
*Remember that James is talking to believers here. -- And he knows that sometimes we curse men with the same tongue we use to bless God.
-James says: “Church, it ought not to be that way!” -- Then he challenges us with four examples from nature, four things that just can’t be:
-Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?
-Can a fig tree bear olives?
-Can a grapevine bear figs?
-Can a spring give both salt water and fresh?
*Of course the answer is “No, no, no, and no.” -- So we must not curse men with the same tongue we use to bless God. But sometimes we do.
-We live out a mixture of Godly wisdom and the impure wisdom of this world.
-We mix the bad with the good.
*Think about sparkling, pure water, like we get from “Water By the Gallon.” This is like God’s wisdom from above. Now think about scummy, muddy water from the ditch out front. Who wants a drink of that?
*God wants to give us the pure wisdom from above. It’s ours, if we will only ask Him in faith! Our cup, our life can overflow with God’s wisdom, but far too often there is something else mixed in: Selfishness, pride, envy, lust, gossip, hate, dishonesty, cruel and evil things.
*Christians, this is our problem, if we will admit it. By the grace of God, we’ve got some good in us. But we’ve also got some bad. We have used our tongues to praise the Lord this morning. But how else have we used our tongues this week?
*God is telling us here that we’ve got to stop mixing the bad with the good. We need more of God’s pure wisdom ruling in our hearts, because believers we are all still a work in progress.
*One day Billy & Ruth Graham were driving through a long stretch of road construction. They had many slowdowns, detours and stops along the way.
-Finally, they reached the end of that mess, and smooth pavement stretched out before them. That’s when a sign caught Ruth’s attention. The sign said: “End of construction. Thanks for your patience.”
*And Ruth Graham told Billy that those words would be a great inscription on her tombstone someday: “End of construction. -- Thanks for your patience.” (1)
*That’s true for every believer. Christians, we are still under construction. That’s the truth. But we have to cooperate with what God is trying to do in our lives. We have to recognize the bad in our lives, then repent and confess it to the Lord.
-God help us have the purity of Godly wisdom.
3. And help us be the picture of Godly wisdom.
*James uses 7 other words in vs. 17 to describe the wisdom from above. Listen to vs. 17 again: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
[1]-The wisdom from above is peaceable. That means it loves peace, and it seeks to be a peacemaker.
*One of the best things we can do is be a peacemaker for the Lord. That’s what Paul was trying to do in Philippians 4, when he said:
2. I implore (I beseech, beg, urge, plead) Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.
3. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
*Euodia and Syntyche were having a fuss, just like we have sometimes with family, friends, at school, at work, even at church.
-We don’t know what their argument was about. It wasn’t important enough for Paul to even mention. (Have you ever gotten into arguments over nothing?)
*We also don’t know who was to blame. It could have been Euodia’s fault, but her name meant “Pleasant Journey,” and I am sure she was a wonderful woman. Syntyche’s name meant “Pleasant Acquaintance.”
-Both of these women were good, Godly women.
-Both of them were saved;
-Both of them had worked together with Paul to spread the Good News about Jesus. -- But now they were fussing, and fighting. This reminds us that sometimes even the best of us don’t get along like we should.
*I read about an 8-year-old boy from Waterford, CT who saved his sister’s life. Zachary Bushwack saved his 6-year-old sister, Meghan, when she started choking on a piece of hard candy. Zachary noticed that Meghan wasn’t breathing, and gave her the Heimlich maneuver he had learned on TV.
*But Zachary and his sister were not getting along too well when the reporter came to do an article on the rescue.
-The headline in the paper said, “Waterford boy, 8, saves sister’s life.
-But the secondary headline underneath quoted Zachary saying: “I wouldn't do it again. She's been a pain this week” (2)
*Has anybody been a pain in your life this week? -- Have you been a pain?
-Sometimes we are, but God wants us to do everything we can to be peacemakers. -- As Jesus said in Matt 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” The wisdom from above is peaceable.
[2]-And it is gentle. This means it treats people with patience and gentleness. The unexpected word picture here is to resemble someone, to be a faint copy of someone. You see in all of these things, we are to be a picture of Jesus Christ. The wisdom from above is gentle.
[3]-And it is “willing to yield” or as the KJV says, it is “easy to be entreated.” This means it’s not selfishly stubborn, but approachable and easily persuaded to do the right thing.
[4]-Just like Jesus, the wisdom from above is also full of mercy. It’s compassionate and kind, genuinely seeking to help those in need.
[5]-The wisdom from above is also full of good fruits, the good results of the good things we do.
[6]-The wisdom from above is also without partiality. It doesn’t judge people by the color of their skin, the level of their education, the prestige of their job or the money in their wallet. As the great preacher Charles Spurgeon once said: “Be not proud of race, face, place, or grace.” (3) The wisdom from above is without partiality.
[7]-And it is without hypocrisy. That means it is not fake or phony. Godly wisdom is sincere.
*There is so much truth in one short verse! “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” Christians, this is the wisdom we need, and in all of these things we are a picture of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
*Anthony Fortosis gave this compelling description of our Lord: “Jesus is the King of kings, Lord of the infinite universe, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, unspeakably holy, dwelling in light, unapproachable, changeless.
-And yet He condescended to become enclosed in lowly human flesh, to be born a despised Jew in a filthy stable, without fanfare or pomp.
-The richest became the poorest that the poor might become rich.
-He starved for 40 days in the wilderness that we might feast on the impeccable Bread of Life.
-He emptied Himself that we might be filled.
-His heart was broken that He might bind up the broken-hearted.
-His body was crushed that we might be made whole.
-He was rejected that we might be accepted.
-He was condemned that we might be justified.
-He was judged that we would not be judged.
-He was deserted for a time by the Father that we might find access to the Father.
-He died as the innocent One that the guilty might be declared innocent. (4)
*Thank God that Jesus rose again from the dead! Now the Risen Lord will give His eternal life to anyone who will receive Him as Savior and Lord. He will give us new life, His life, a life that can overflow with wisdom from above.
-God help us be the picture of Godly wisdom.
4. And help us have the proof of Godly wisdom.
*God wants to see proof in our lives. So in vs. 13, James said, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.” Then in vs. 18, he said: “The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
*Godly wisdom will bear fruit in our lives. -- There will be proof.
*Several years ago, Kenneth Berry gave me a great testimony of this proof. One morning back in 2006, Kenneth was in the hospital, and he told me something about his sister-in-law who had passed away the week before. Her name was Gay Moody, and Kenneth was really sorry that he could not go to the funeral in Springhill. -- But of course, there was no way.
*Kenneth told me something special that happened at the funeral, something that the pastor did: He started asking questions:
-“If anyone here was ever helped by Gay, would you please stand up?”
-“If she ever helped you with some groceries, please stand up.”
-“If she ever helped you with a bill, please stand up.”
-“If she ever offered to pray for you, please stand up.”
*Kenneth said that after a few minutes, EVERYBODY in that church was standing!
*Gay Moody touched a lot of lives, because she overflowed with the wisdom from above. She overflowed with the Godly wisdom of Jesus Christ: pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
*That’s the kind of wisdom we need, and that’s the kind of wisdom we can have.
-Let’s ask God for it right now.
-But you must start by opening your heart to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord.
-Would you please bow for prayer.
1. SermonCentral illustration contributed by: Paul Fritz
2. http://www.oddee.com/item_96156.aspx
3. Spurgeon quote found Sermonillustrations.com
4. Adapted from Dr. Anthony Fortosis, quoted in Prokope, Nov./Dec. 1992, Page 4 (Found in SermonCentral sermon “Jesus Is” by Mike Hays - Col 1:15)
