The Devils’ Wisdom (Who are we listening to)
James 3:13-18
Introduction
In a book published some years ago, Canon Roger Lloyd an archdemon within Satanism, instructs disciples on an ancient and effective piece of satanic strategy. “Insert yourself into the simple situations which call for plain and obvious duties, and complicate them, and complicate them again, until at last no one involved in them can make sense of the confusion.”
This is a strategy that is used by atheists in debating Christians as well. Ask a thought provoking question and do not allow them to answer by interrupting and asking the same question again and again and then ask a different question on top of that until you have the Christian so confused that they can only give up the debate. We will talk about wisdom from below and wisdom from above. Satan has his own wisdom and he feeds into us that wisdom
I. Wisdom from Below
a) What it is (14&15)
i) A thought that makes sense to the senses, but is tainted with self-seeking
ii) Bitter envy and self-seeking are fairly synonymous because one leads to the other… you envy this so you set out to get what you envy…
(1) Envy is coveting… Ex 20:17 to add to that bitterness (resentfulness)…
(2) This word “self-seeking” in the Greek means to have a “party spirit.”
(i) It describes a politician out campaigning for votes. The world’s wisdom says, “Get all the support you can!
(ii) Is the church for you or against you!” This spirit of self-seeking only creates rivalry and division in the church. (Phil. 2:3).
(b) Someone at work is bitterly envious about your position and goes on a campaign to oust you and raises people to resent you… Or vise versa
(c) This is what the Devil’s wisdom produces… division…
(3)
iii) Do not boast or lie against the truth… (V 14)
(1) Do not speak boastful lies about what God is not doing
(a) If you’re telling people God is not doing anything in this church you are speaking naively or boasting lies …and that is malicious
(b) He is doing something in people
(2) Do not speak boastful lies about what God is doing
(a) If you are telling people that God is doing something here that He is not you are filling the air with falsities …and that is lying
b) Where it is from (15)
i) All three are made synonymous with wisdom from below:
(1) Earthly (Satan: Ruler of this world)
(a) Identify first who the ruler of this world is (John 12)? God of this age (2 Cor 4)? Prince of the power of the air (Eph 2)? Satan
(b) Why because it is who is most popular to listen to.
(c) Jesus says he was liar from the beginning, (Jn 8) but we like his lies
(d) Satan’s reign will end… so will this age and this kingdom of his…
(2) Sensual (Men: the state of ego)
(a) If we lose our consciousness with God we choose to do what seems right rather than what is right.
(b) We cause our sinful condition to grow when we give our own desires preference over the will of God…
(c) Ayn Rand’s Objectivism is egocentric and self motivated… Atheistic
(3) Demonic (Demons: Super-unnatural influence, oppression or temptation)
(a) Through the whispering lies of the opposing spirits who do not have the mind of God… Andrea Yates save your children and kill them…
(b) or Susan Smith drowned two sons to gain the love of another…
(c) confusion swept across America… Alema broke down
c) What it does (16)
i) Creates confusion
(1) If you don’t think self-seeking and bitter envy creates confusion…
(a) Look at the self-seeking wisdom of the CEO’s of Enron, World Com, Arthur Anderson and so on…
(b) Confusion in the stock market, in the homes and lives of former employees who don’t know what to do or where to go and one who took his life.
(c) Prosperity was the buzzword in the 90’s this millenium is starting with the word “survival”.
(2) Confusion of gifts (1 Cor 14:26-40)
(a) Everyone wants to speak
(3) Confusion of gods (Acts 19:21-41)
(a) Everyone is right. Paul’s foes: “everything we worship is worthless”
ii) And every evil thing… (long list)
(1) Joseph and his brothers bitter envy and self-seeking (Genesis 37)
(a) They envy Joseph’s place of favor
(b) Seeking not their own favor, but favor in replace of him competition was not an option
(i) Verse 4 says they hated him
(ii) Verse 5 says the hated him even more
(iii) Verse 8 says they hated him even more
(iv) Verse 11 says they envied him
(v) Verse 18 says they conspired to Kill him
(c) And the final outcome is it tears brothers and sisters apart
(d) Envy and self-seeking it confuses it brings in all kinds of evil:
(e) bitter speech, conspiracy murder That is what will kill a church:
(f) Bitter speech and envy => conspiracy => confusion => death
(g) This kind of wisdom is not from above and you can see why…
II. Wisdom Above
a) The Fruit inside
i) In contrast to these verses here is what God is looking for.
(1) It is pure uncorrupted and incorruptible…
(2) It creates an air of peace and not destruction or division.
(3) It is always spoken with meekness and not a know-it-all attitude.
(4) Willing to yield (God)… prayed about… Lord has told you what to say.
(5) It is full of the fruits listed in Galations 5:16 and full of mercy from God
(6) It is not partial to men who will hold you in high esteem
(7) Not given with out first a self-examination… plank eye.
b) The seed outside
i) The action in verse 18 is sowing seed as a farmer would, either it is good seed from the peace of your heart or bad
III. Who are the wise and understanding?
a) We need to know who the wise are
i) They are not necessarily those who are the experienced
ii) Time does not bring wisdom God does… Bill and Rich…
iii) There are elderly in my life that are not wise. Young people can be wise…
iv) It is those who think they are wise because of experience that can bring in the most baggage… It may be the baggage that keeps you from wisdom…
v) They experienced the hurt and the wrong done to them, but hold on to it
b) We need to know who the understanding are
i) We need understanding like we have never needed it before
ii) The empathizer and the sympathizer will never run out of things to do in the church… as well as the encourager…
iii) A person gets more mileage out of being heard when they are speaking their heart than they do when they are being told what to do.
iv) Where experience is not needed to receive wisdom… experience helps tremendously in understanding… Job… Man who lost wife and child to AIDS
c) The verse says the wise and understanding must prove it
i) If you are wise and understanding Show it by Good Conduct… prove it
(1) We all handle situations in a wrong fashion but it is the unwise who learned nothing the first time and resists the change for the next time
(2) The wise learns from their mistakes, accepts the change to be and do better the next time and executes that when a similar situation arises.
ii) Working in meekness (humility)
Conclusion
Challenge: watch your tongue and attitude that it may not create or sow confusion in the body of believers, because one person is seeking their way, which opposes another.
Nugget: Have you confused another believer or unbeliever by what you have spoken to them? Use wisdom from above and correct that.
