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James 3:13-18 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Go ahead and take a copy of God's Word and open to James chapter 3, verse 13, picking right up where we left off from last week.
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!
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And we'll say again, James is laying out a series of tests that aid the church in discerning true faith apart from false faith.
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And in one word, the difference between these faiths, the false faith and the true faith, is fruit.
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True faith produces good fruit and false faith produces bad fruit.
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This week, James is going to give us a wisdom test to discern true faith apart from false faith.
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He's going to contrast the wisdom of God and his kingdom with the wisdom of the kingdom of darkness.
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So looking at James chapter 3, verse 13, James writes,
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Who is wise in understanding among you?
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By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
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But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
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This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.
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For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vile practice.
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But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
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And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
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So the first part of our outline is to recognize that true wisdom is doing.
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And all I mean by that is that true wisdom is found in action or in doing something.
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And we'll see what wisdom is doing momentarily.
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But for now, true wisdom is doing.
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Verse 13, he starts off with a question.
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Who is wise in understanding among you?
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Right at the outset of this new train of thought, James is concerned with knowing and doing.
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The Greek word for understanding carries the idea of one who is knowledgeable, skilled in an area.
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Right?
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This person knows his X's and his O's.
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Part of what James is asking then is, who among you knows his stuff?
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And I think it is obvious he's referring to true knowledge of God.
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You might say theology.
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Who knows God and knows his word?
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Who has understanding among you?
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But the other part of the question is this.
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Who is wise among you?
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The Greek word for wisdom is sophos.
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This word does not necessarily refer to one who is knowledgeable, but rather it refers to one who acts according to knowledge.
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Okay?
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So a simple example would be this.
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If you know that sleeping in today will cost you your job, so you get up and go to work, you've acted wisely in light of your knowledge.
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But if you sleep in and lose your job with the same knowledge, well, that's not very wise.
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So the knowledge is the same, but the action is different.
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The one is wise.
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The one is unwise.
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So today we often think of knowledge and wisdom as synonymous, but not so with James or the Greco-Roman world.
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In many ways, he is basically reiterating that idea of one who hears and does from chapter 1, verse 22.
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The one who hears is understanding, and the one who does is wise.
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In fact, because James has hit this idea in so many ways already in his epistle, he gives a perfect illustration of the importance of acting in wisdom upon having knowledge.
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He mocks the unwise among his audience by saying in chapter 2, verse 19, he says,
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You believe that God is one, you do well.
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You believe in monotheism, a big idea, a big unique idea for Judaism.
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You believe God is one, you do well.
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So James is acknowledging that they have arrived at truth.
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There is something they know and understand that is true and necessary to know, good to know.
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But James goes on in verse 19 and says,
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Even the demons believe and shudder.
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So even these demons have this knowledge.
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The demons know God is one, and yet look at how they live is the point.
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They are unwise.
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And that is why they shudder.
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They are hearers, but they are not doers.
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So as believers, we need to be wise and act in light of our knowledge.
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So what does that look like according to James?
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Well, we are going to answer that question more in depth with our third point.
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But James gives us a foretaste in the second half of verse 13.
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He is referring to the wise among his audience.
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And he says,
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By his, so by the wise man's, right?
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By the wise man's good conduct.
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Let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
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So in English, this might sound like a helpful encouragement or a gentle nod in the right direction for someone to start.
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But in Greek, this is a commandment.
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It's in the imperative.
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There's no option.
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He's telling you, if you are wise, then do this.
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So if there are truly any wise among us, then those people will show their wisdom in two things according to verse 13.
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First being good works.
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And the second is in humility or meekness.
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So the word for good in our text could also be translated as beautiful.
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And I love that picture.
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It would read like this.
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Let him show out of his beautiful way of life could be another translation.
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It sounds like that idea of wholeness that we've been talking about throughout the book of James.
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I've asked you all to do this before and I'll ask again.
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Just imagine what it would look like for your way of life to be described as beautiful.
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Only those who have understanding and wisdom can live this life, the truly good life.
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Our good works then are known by the church.
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They are beautiful and good in the sight of the church.
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They are not something we produce on Sunday mornings alone, but it is something we are doing 24-7.
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It is a characteristic of our life.
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We don't do it perfectly, but by grace and always growing more and more in this way, by grace.
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And the other area that wisdom would reveal itself in is in meekness or humility.
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Okay, so we show it in good works and now we show it in meekness and humility.
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What then is meekness?
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Well, it carries the idea of one who is gentle.
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We might be tempted to see this as a potential weakness, but the term specifically denotes one who is in power but has no need to demonstrate that power in every instance.
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It's getting against the idea of one who likes to lord over their power.
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This person is meek.
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Moses was described as meek throughout the Old Testament and as was Jesus throughout the Gospels.
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So we definitely would not consider Moses or Jesus to be weak, but meek.
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In fact, Dr. John MacArthur, who pastors in California, notes in his commentary that this word was often used as an adjective to describe a wild horse that was broken and made useful to its owner.
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So you get that imagery of a powerful animal, right?
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A bigger animal than you, and yet it's controlled.
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It's tamed.
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It doesn't need to use all its energy, all its strength at all times.
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Meekness.
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I like to think a modern equivalent is a gentle giant, if you have heard that expression.
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Meekness would be somewhere in that ballpark.
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So this word also, with it, carries the idea of humility, and this is especially true in the book of James.
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We saw in chapter 1, verse 21, where James says,
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Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
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This is a common Old Testament teaching that the Lord teaches and saves the humble or the meek.
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Psalm 25, verse 9 says,
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God leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way.
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Proverbs 11, 2,
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When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
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In Proverbs 22, 4,
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Humility is the fear of the Lord.
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Its wages are riches and honor and life.
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So wisdom is doing.
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What is it doing?
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It is doing good and beautiful deeds in the sight of the Lord.
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Not things that you and I deem to be good and beautiful, but what God deems good and beautiful.
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And more than that, it is doing these things in a spirit of humility and meekness.
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Not being boastful of your good works, but being humbled by the fact that God's grace is at work in your life.
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Now, James is going to tell us more concretely what that specifically looks like at the end of our text.
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But before we get there, he is warning the church of false wisdom.
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We are going to see this wisdom described, right?
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We're going to see its effects.
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We're going to see where it comes from.
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And this is not a random rant in the middle of what James is saying.
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Rather, this is a warning we need to heed because there is false wisdom all around us.
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In the world, it's in churches, it's being taught everywhere.
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And we need to be wise and discerning so as to not fall prey to that evil.
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So the next part of our outline this morning, we're going to see the nature of false wisdom.
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The nature of false wisdom.
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So looking back at verses 14 through 15, James writes,
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But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
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This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.
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So James' description of this false wisdom is that it innately has bitter jealousy and selfish ambition.
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Not only this, but the person who is this way will deny it.
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This person is in denial of his jealousy and ambition.
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And notice how self-serving these descriptions are.
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This person has jealousy, meaning he wants something or someone that he does not have.
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This jealousy is so strong that it has embittered him.
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He's angry with others, and he's angry in general over what he does not have.
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This person has selfish ambitions.
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Notice that James intentionally does not say what the ambitions are.
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All he tells us is that they are self-serving, which frankly could be anything.
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This person could want to become a missionary or operate an orphanage, which would be wonderful things.
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Except that the motivation for this person would not be the gospel going forth or caring for the vulnerable or the glory of God.
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But rather, his motivation is selfish.
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He wants the glory, the power, the respect, to be viewed a certain way, a certain thrill or whatever.
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But the point is that it is all about him.
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And once again, we are reminded that it is an issue of the heart.
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We see that in verse 14.
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This person's heart remains in sin and shows no evidence of the wisdom from above.
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Further, notice how these qualities of false wisdom are totally contrary to the humility or meekness of true wisdom that we just read about.
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They're talking about an unwise person who lacks meekness and humility.
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Which, according to the text I read from Proverbs and Psalms,
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this person is without the teaching, without the leading, or without the salvation that God alone can grant.
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So this is another instance where I think James is again addressing false believers in the church by way of a litmus test to see if they have true wisdom.
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The source of this false wisdom will further clarify the issue.
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James says bluntly that the source for this false wisdom is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.
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In verse 15.
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The idea here being that it is everything evil and comes from anywhere but God in heaven.
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And if you recall from last week, the tongue is set on fire by the very same source.
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Demonic activity, unspiritual and earthly things.
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This is all connected in James' mind.
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Everything we have read thus far.
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Evil speaking, false wisdom, hearing but not doing, partiality, and so on.
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Pastor scholar Douglas J. Moo notes that for these three terms, you can practically substitute them with earth, the flesh, and Satan.
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To just drive that point home.
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Now something that is important to consider in light of this text is the universal acceptance of this false wisdom by the world.
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If this wisdom is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic, then that means it is embraced, approved, and celebrated by the earth, the unregenerate, and the demons.
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This means whenever we speak foolishly, we will be celebrated by the ungodly.
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But God has warned the so-called wise of this world throughout his word.
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Jeremiah 8, 9.
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He says, sarcastically, the wise men, that's sarcasm, the wise men are put to shame.
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They are dismayed and caught.
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Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord.
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And what kind of wisdom do they have?
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They have a false wisdom in Jeremiah's day.
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It was also in James' day, and so it is in our day.
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Isaiah dealt with the same thing in Isaiah 29, 14.
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It records the word of the Lord, and he says,
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Therefore, behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people.
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Wondrously marvelous.
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Referring to believers.
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But then he says,
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And the wisdom of their wise men, again, there's that sarcasm.
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And the wisdom of their wise men will perish.
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And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.
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Isaiah earlier recorded in Isaiah 5, 21.
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Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
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Meaning judgment awaits those who are wise in their own eyes.
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All right, so the constant biblical warning is that living in this false wisdom will kill you.
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Embracing this wisdom is to be cut off from God.
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But even before judgment day, there are effects of living in this false wisdom.
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James continues on in verse 16.
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He says,
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For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vile practice.
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So the word for disorder could also be translated as rebellion or riot.
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James is getting at the point that living in this false wisdom in this life will lead to division and aggression.
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It does not build up the church, but seeks to destroy it.
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And this Greek word has already appeared twice in James.
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In chapter 1, verse 8, he uses it to describe the double-minded man.
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And your ESV translates it as unstable.
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We also saw this word last week in chapter 3, verse 8, describing the tongue as a restless evil.
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It's the same word.
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Again, James seems to be personifying this double-minded man by referencing the word in this context.
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This type of person will cause chaos and division everywhere he goes.
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The Apostle John makes a similar point in a similar circumstance where he's addressing false teachers who have split up the church.
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He says in 1 John 2, 18-19,
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John goes on,
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And John goes on,
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So again, he's saying,
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Had they truly been of Christ,
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Had they truly been in the faith,
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They would have stuck with us in unity.
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They would have continued on with the church,
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But rather they caused division.
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They split the gang up.
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And James also says this leads to every vile practice.
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It's not as if they go off and just play cute church on their own.
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No, it leads to every vile practice.
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And we can all imagine the various and numerous specifics that he has in mind, right?
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Anger, murder, lust, adultery, hatred, partiality,
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In racial, social, economic ways, abuse, pride, drunkenness,
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You name it, this false wisdom will endorse it and rationalize it as normative.
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It's normal.
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So we've looked at the source, the description,
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And the effects of false wisdom that James has laid out for us.
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But before we continue on to see James teaching on true wisdom,
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I want you all to turn to Proverbs chapter 1 with me just for a moment.
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Lengthier text, but I think it is so prevalent to what James is saying
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That it's worth taking the time to read.
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This text is straightforward and will describe the end result of living this unwise life.
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And in this text, God is personified as wisdom.
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So in Proverbs chapter 1, starting in verse 20,
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We're going to read through the end of the chapter.
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God says,
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Wisdom cries aloud in the street.
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In the markets, she raises her voice.
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At the head of the noisy street, she cries out.
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At the entrance of the city gates, she speaks.
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How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
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How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing?
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And fools hate knowledge.
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If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you.
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I'll make my words known to you.
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Because I have called and you refuse to listen, I have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded.
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Because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
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I will also laugh at your calamity.
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I will mock when terror strikes you.
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When terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind.
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When distress and anguish come upon you,
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Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer.
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They will seek me diligently, but will not find me,
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Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord.
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Would not have my counsel and despise all my reproof.
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Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their way and have their fill of their own devices.
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For the simple are killed by their turning away,
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And the complacency of fools destroys them.
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But whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease without dread of disaster.
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Whoever lives wisely will be at ease.
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Whoever acts according to knowledge is what he's saying.
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So the end result of living unwisely is eternal death and punishment.
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And if any of you today feel as though this describes your life,
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Hear the gospel invitation to have your sins wiped away in verse 33.
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He says,
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Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease without dread of disaster.
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As long as Christ tarries, there is an opportunity right now to begin listening to him, to wisdom.
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And that process starts by repenting of your foolish way of living your sin.
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And by beginning to live obediently by placing faith in Jesus Christ.
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Now what does that life look like?
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So let's return to James 3, picking back up in verse 17.
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You can flip there now.
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Just like James' treatment of false wisdom,
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We are going to see his treatment of true wisdom.
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We're going to see its source, its end results,
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And descriptions of what it looks like more concretely and more specifically than we saw in verse 13.
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So the last part of our outline, the nature of true wisdom.
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The nature of true wisdom.
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So looking at verse 17, James goes on,
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But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
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So talk about 180 degree difference.
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We see the source for true wisdom immediately.
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It comes from above.
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The obvious implication is that true wisdom comes from God in heaven.
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That is the source.
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James' Jewish audience would not have been scratching their heads about this one.
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It's all over the Old Testament as we have seen already.
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And we know that nothing evil comes from our good and heavenly Father.
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A truth that James established in chapter 1, verse 17 through 18, which says,
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Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,
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with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
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Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth,
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that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
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So there you have it.
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Every good and perfect gift comes from above.
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This wisdom, true wisdom, is of good and perfect wisdom from above,
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where our heavenly Father dwells.
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And this wisdom is described as pure.
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This word means this wisdom is not diluted.
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It is of one substance.
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There are no irregularities with it.
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This wisdom is without evil or sin.
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And yet, again, James alludes to the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 8.
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Jesus says,
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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
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So the way of life that true wisdom leads to carries with it the promise that we shall see God.
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This implies salvation, right?
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We are not cut off from God.
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Next, he describes true wisdom as peaceable.
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I cannot even begin to explain to you fully the significance of this term,
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but I'll try to very briefly.
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The Greek word behind peaceable is used throughout the New Testament,
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and it's the equivalent to the Hebrew term shalom.
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Typically, when describing someone as peaceable in the Bible,
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it is understood in a holistic way.
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There's that word again, whole.
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And here's why.
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This word carries the idea of one who has peace with his situation in life in general.
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It connotes one who has peace about the end times because he or she feels secure in Christ.
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A peaceable person is one who has peace characteristically with others.
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Sometimes it's the other person at fault for there being no peace,
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but a peaceable person always pursues peace so far as he is able.
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And a peaceable person has peace with God.
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We are once his enemies, but through Christ we have peace with God.
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Our relationship has been reconciled.
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So this kind of peace should permeate our entire life.
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Not one aspect of our life should be without peace.
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And the Sermon on the Mount is in view again, Matthew 5, 9.
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Jesus said,
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Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
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We'll get to see God and we'll be sons of God as peaceable and as pure.
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The next description is true wisdom is gentle, tough to translate and retain the full meaning,
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but essentially it is one who is considerate, fair, one who seeks the betterment of others
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even at the cost of personal mistreatment.
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This person is gentle.
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And true wisdom is open to reason.
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Now this might give you the impression primarily of someone who handles debates well and humbly
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or something like that.
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But the Greek term carries more the idea of one who accepts instruction and obeys.
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In other words, true wisdom is not stubborn, arrogant, nor does it continue in ignorance,
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but is teachable and reachable.
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True wisdom is full.
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And true wisdom is full of mercy.
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So notice that totality language again.
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True wisdom is full of mercy.
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As sinners who have been forgiven a great debt that we can never repay,
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we ought to express our thanksgiving by forgiving others and being merciful to them as God has been to us.
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And mercy is more than merely forgiving.
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It also speaks to one who seeks to help others with their needs.
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If somebody can't carry their groceries, then be merciful to that person who carry their groceries for them.
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So again, we see it's an action.
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It's doing something.
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This is true wisdom from above.
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And again, this alludes to the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 7.
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Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
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And the next description we get is true wisdom is full of good fruits.
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Full.
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This is a catch-all statement.
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James is saying that if we have any wisdom from above,
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then that wisdom will reveal itself in all manner of good works.
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We will bear fruit just as Jesus taught in Matthew 7, which we saw last week,
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so I won't quote it now for sake of time.
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But I will point out that totality language here again.
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Our lives as true believers is to be full of good fruit.
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Abundant.
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This is a characteristic of true faith.
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As James has said in chapter 2, verse 18, he says,
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I will show you my faith by my words.
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Right?
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There is a direct link.
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My faith is shown in works.
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That's good fruit language.
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And then finally, true wisdom is impartial and sincere.
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I preached on partiality in the book of James,
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which you can find a line for a more in-depth look at what he is referring to.
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But essentially, we are to treat people the same and fairly, right?
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Without partiality.
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This is not rocket science.
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Though very hard to actually faithfully do.
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But true wisdom is sincere as well.
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The Greek here literally means without hypocrisy.
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James is saying true wisdom does not mentally and vocally affirm the way of life that true wisdom admonishes,
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while not also practicing that very way of life.
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Right?
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Who's not going to say murder is evil?
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Right?
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But then to not be a murderer, that's the next step.
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That's a drastic example, but that applies with anything.
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Right?
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James is saying, or excuse me, he's saying,
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don't exhort honesty and be a liar.
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Don't exhort fidelity and be an adulterer.
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Don't exhort love and be a hater of your neighbor.
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Be without hypocrisy.
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Be genuine, sincere.
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So these things summarize what true wisdom looks like in the way of life for the believer.
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And in verse 18, we will see the result of this way of life and its virtues.
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This true wisdom from above.
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James wraps up in verse 18.
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He says, and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
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So there it is.
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The result of this life, abiding by wisdom from above, will harvest righteousness in peace.
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I can already hear the cages rattling.
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Right?
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We reform people know what righteousness means.
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And we want to read that doctrine of justification by faith alone into this text.
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And listen carefully.
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Right?
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I love and affirm the doctrine of justification by faith alone.
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I have every biblical reason to confidently assert that our righteousness is an alien righteousness that was imputed to us entirely by God's grace.
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Right?
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This is the heart of the gospel.
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No doubts about that.
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But that is not what James is talking about in this text.
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And if you were thinking what I just described, you have the right doctrine but the wrong text.
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James' use of righteousness is referring to actual, practical, day-to-day, living out, fruit-abiding, fruit-producing righteousness.
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In other words, he is saying that living according to wisdom from above will reap the reward of fruitfulness.
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That we will actually grow in obedience by practicing obedience.
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Isn't that a novel thought?
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And more than that, it will be done in peace.
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That doesn't mean we won't face persecution, trials, or other difficulties, which he made clear in chapter 1.
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But we will have real peace when we consider our reconciled relationship with God and that he will make all things anew.
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Now, think about that.
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We are so blessed as believers that we get to live life growing in righteousness.
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Can you imagine the horror we would all be if God saved us from our sin but left us to grow in practicing our sin?
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The reality for us is that day-to-day we are given evidence of God's presence in our lives by growing obedience, by growing wisdom.
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That obedience is a witness to the world, to be sure, but as I've said before, is also a witness to encourage ourselves.
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That truly, we do have peace with God by his Son.
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You cannot account for that righteousness apart from God's work in your life.
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And that is what is so reassuring, which causes peace to ensue in our souls.
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We who are peacemakers are called sons of God.
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We who are pure in heart will see God.
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We who are meek will inherit the earth.
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It's just a matter of time.
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And what's most amazing about all this is that it is entirely of grace.
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It's nothing we merit at all, yet we have it all the same.
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Praise God.
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So in light of these truths, just a few simple closing applications for us all.
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Application number one.
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Know your Bible.
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Right?
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Who is understanding among us?
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Know your Bible.
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And there are a number of ways to accomplish this.
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Hearing it taught as you all are now.
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Right?
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Reading Scripture daily.
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Memorizing Scripture.
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Meditating on Scripture.
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Reading books about Scripture that help you better read Scripture on your own.
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Right?
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There's a theme here.
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Psalm 119, 130.
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The unfolding of your words gives light.
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It gives understanding to the simple.
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The point is that before we can even attempt to live wisely, we have to know certain things.
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And this is one reason why God has graciously revealed so much in his word with lots of truth claims, with lots of theology.
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Right?
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So that we can know it and obey it.
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Which leads to the next application.
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Application number two.
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Live wisely.
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We just saw in great detail what that looks like.
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But if you go throughout these next few weeks and realize, hey, I'm not really growing in this.
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I'm not seeing more gentleness.
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I'm not being a peacemaker.
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Meekness does not describe my life nor mercy.
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And I would just offer this advice from earlier in James.
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He says in chapter 1, verse 5.
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If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach.
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And it will be given to him.
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But let him ask in faith.
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If you are in the faith and you ask God for these things, he will grant it day by day, growing in this way.
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And application number three.
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Be humble.
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As made clear earlier in some of the references to Proverbs and Psalms, the Lord only teaches and embraces the humble.
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You will have nothing to do with the arrogant or proud without first humbling them.
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But by living humbly, we are remaining teachable and useful to God.
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And by virtue of being humble, we could not possibly fall into the snares of false wisdom.
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Only when we are proud are we susceptible to such a trap.
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So be humble and be thankful that God has humbled us and will continually, faithfully humble us.
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Pray for that humility.
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That you would be wise.
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That you would be knowledgeable.
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That you would be growing in these things.
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So we have much to be thankful for considering that the wisdom of God is not the wisdom of man.
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The wisdom of God has counseled God to save sinners like us.
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This wisdom comes from God's very heart in that he is gentle.
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That he is merciful.
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And that he is a peacemaker.
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That he is impartial and sincere.
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And he is all these things perfectly.
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So by grace we will be conformed more and more to that image day by day.
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Let's pray.
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Let's pray.