Introduction

James 3:13-18 ESV  Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.  (14)  But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.  (15)  This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  (16)  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.  (17)  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.  (18)  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

• James is an incredibly practical book, isn’t it?
  • James really is a good preacher… he loves to make it plain… to break it down… to make it practical and applicable…
    • He uses great word pictures and apologies to make everything clear… to make it easy to understand… easy to apply.
    • And he doesn’t really cut any corners or pull any punches.
  • And there are two things that I notice James likes to do in his Letter here…
    • First he is all about ACTION.
    • As the great Marshawn Lynch once said “I’m all about that action boss!”
      • I’m about that action!
      • Faith without works is dead!
      • Reading your Bible but not doing what it says is useless, worse than useless it leads to sin!
        • Have faith and have action coming from that faith.
        • Read your bible… and DO something about it.
      • James is all about ACTION coming forth from your faith… works being produced through Christ because of your faith in Him and His Word.
    • So that is one thing that James likes to do… encourage action… we have seen that throught the whole book.
    • But another thing James does is he likes to compare and contrast, doesn’t he… he likes to show the right way, the godly way… and the wrong way, the evil way…
      • We have seen this all throughout the book of James…
        • Cursing and Blessing, Works based Faith and Passive Faith, Partiality vs Impartiality, Hearing the Word only vs Hearing and Doing the Word.
      • He likes to show the differences between the way the world thinks and the way that God thinks… the way the world does things and the way that Saints ought to do things.
  • And in this passage that we read just now we see all of this… we see James being incredibly practical… we see James urging action… and we see James comparing and contrasting…

James 3:13 ESV  Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

• Do you see what James is doing here… YOUR WISDOM SHOULD PRODUCE WORKS… Works of meekness and good conduct.
  • Wisdom is not passive… it is not just some intellectual knowledge to be held inside until you die… YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR WISDOM.
    • It is as if James is saying “Faith without works is dead… so wisdom without works is dead”.
• Then what does James do, he goes into this very practical list comparing and contrasting Godly Wisdom with Worldly Wisdom.
• So if you will humor me for just a minute, let’s go through his list comparing and contrasting these two kinds of wisdom… And I kind of feel like the ESV butchered this, so I am going to use the New King James Version for this list because I think they did a better job translating it…

James 3:14-17 NKJV  But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.  (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 are there.  (17)  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.

• So let’s take a look at this…

•  I made this useful venn diagram to see how James compares and contrasts worldly wisdom with Godly wisdom:

Go with me as I read through these lists. STOP at 13 until I am ready to talk about what both Godly Wisdom and Worldly Wisdom have in common.

• Worldly Wisdom is bitterly envious!
• Worldly wisdom is Self Seeking
• Worldly wisdom is full of Boasting
• Worldly wisdom lies against the truth.
  • So this is how James defines worldly wisdom… but what about Godly wisdom?
• Well, Godly wisdom is pure.
  • It is peaceable.
  • It is gentle.
  • It is willing to yield, meaning it listens and is reasonable.
  • It is merciful.
  • Godly wisdom produces good fruit.
  • It is impartial.
  • Godly wisdom is not hypocritical
  • And Godly wisdom is just. (Remember, don’t show the slide after this (14) yet… wait till I ask for it…)
• This is how James defines Godly wisdom.
  • And he has done a wonderful job contrasting the two, hasn’t he… but let’s see what they have in common…

• Well, they are both called wisdom… he uses the same word there… so that is something they have in common… what else?
• What is that? An ellipsis? Ok, but what else do they have in common?

• That’s just another ellipsis… what else we got?

• Ok… stop with the ellipses! I want to know what James says Godly Wisdom has in common with Worldly Wisdom…

• Is that… is that a tumbleweed?YES IT IS A TUMBLEWEED! BECAUSE THERE AINT NOTHING HERE!There is NO COMON GROUND between wrldly Wisdom and Godly Wisdom.So many people want to think that Christianity is just a slightly different philosophy form the world… a slightly better philosophy even. BUT NO!There is nothing in common with the Godly and the Worldly.One is evil, the other is Holy.HOLY EVEN MEANS “UN-COMON”.The things of God have nothing in Comon with the things of the world.
  • James doesn’t compare and contrast Worldly Wisdom and Godly Wisdom… I just said that to prime the pump…
    • The truth is there is no comparison. It’s just contrasting.
      • One is evil, one is holy.
      • One produces a horrible rotten harvest, and the other produces a harvest of righteousness.
      • And I don’t know about you, but I want a harvest of righteousness in my life!

James 3:17-18 NKJV  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.  (18)  Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

• Give me that harvest of righteousness Lord! That’s the harvest I want… and as such, I want to sow that harvest with wisdom and peace.
  • Now that was all the introduction for todays sermon:

• Contrasting Wisdom: Finding a Harvest of Righteousness.

• Point one this morning is this, straight from the text: Worldly, Unspiritual, and Demonic Wisdom leads to Disorder and Practicing Evil.

Point One – Worldly, Unspiritual, and Demonic Wisdom Leads to Disorder and Practicing Evil

James 3:15-16 ESV  This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  (16)  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

• Worldly, Unspiritual, and demonic! That is how James describes wisdom that is not from God.
  • And what does this wisdom produce? It produces disorder…
    • And it leads to practicing evil…
      • So I will give you the end of the sermon right now… DON’T HAVE THIS KIND OF WISDOM!
• But first let’s just take some time, with the help of the Preachers Commentary, to dig through this list that James gives about worldly, unspiritual, and demonic wisdom.

James 3:14-15 NKJV  But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.  (15)  This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 

• James uses the term “Bitter envy” in verse 14 to talk about this evil worldly wisdom.
  • The Greek word for “bitter” here pikrós, and it is the exact same word James uses to describe the bitter water which comes from the spring
    • Remember that from verse 11, from last weeks sermon… fresh water and biter water can’t come from the same spring… Now James is bringing it full circle and saying that worldly wisdom… the way the world views and seeks after wisdom… this kind of wisdom is very bitter… it is rotten… and it is envious… wanting and seeking after what it can’t have.
    • If your wisdom simply seeks after the things of others… if it is greedy and envious… plotting how you can gain this or get that… how you can climb the corporate ladder… how you can keep up with the joneses… how you can get that shiny new thing that you can’t afford… if it plots to get that woman or man you know God did not send to you… then your wisdom is bitterly envious, and it is not from God.
• In the same way James says here in verse 14 that this worldly wisdom is Self-seeking.
• • This word in Greek here is eritheı́a, which is sometimes translated as “strife.”It denotes factions and drawing party lines.
    • “I belong to this group, you belong to that group… I want my group to win and your group to lose.Eritheı́a says “This is the way that we say it should be and I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”
      • And forget politics for a minute, because the second I said party lines some of y’all immediately thought about politics…But it’s not just politics… Christians do this worldly garbage all the time:
        • Calvinist argue until they are red in the face with Arminians over the doctrine of predestination.Baptists and Pentecostals bitterly fight about the gifts of the Spirit.Denominations point fingers at each other saying “My way is the only way and your way is heretical”.
          • Christians level accusations against each other, curse each other, call each other names…
            • MY BROTHERS, THESE THINGS OUGHT NOT TO BE SO!
    Now I am not saying there is not black and white truth… there is… but what I am saying is that worldly wisdom doesn’t care about the truth… it cares about being right and winning the argument… this is what James means when he says “Self Seeking”.
  • It is a way of thinking that creates a “we-they” mindset, and it is selfish ambition at it’s worst.
• Now James continues in verse 14 saying that worldly, demonic, unspiritual wisdom can be spotted by it’s constant boasting.
  • Now the Greek word for “boast” James uses here is katakaucháomai (kata-ka-cow-my), and the only reason I tell us that is because it is fun to say “katakaucháomai”!
    • Now katakaucháomai means… well it means boasting! It means wining an argument that you know you are wrong about… and boasting in the lie.
    • Showing off, look how smart I am! I AM THE WISESTS. You idiots don’t know anything… yet, deep down… you know the truth… and even if you don’t, your conscience testifies against you.
      • And ya’ll I can argue with the BEST of them… and I can win a losing position… and I have won, or perceived in my own head, to have won arguments that I knew I was wrong about… because I had that katakaucháomai… my worldly wisdom wanted to boast in it’s victory.
      • Church, don’t be a katakaucháomai kind of Christian…
• Finally James says that this evil, ungodly, worldly wisdom lies against the truth.
• Listen, if your wisdom is telling you to be deceitful in order to gain deceitful and illgoten victories… Then guess what, your wisdom ain’t from God, it’s from demons… that’s what James says.
• And James closes this argument telling us what to expect when we have this kind of wisdom…

James 3:16 ESV  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

• This kind of wisdom will destroy your life booth spiritually and practically.
  • It leads to a life of chaos, a life in disarray, a life in disorder…
  • And it leads to sin…
    • What kind of sin? ALL KINDS OF SIN… this kind of wisdom, James warns… leads to every kind of vile practice.
• So what is the practical application for this point? DON’T HAVE THIS KIND OF WISDOM! DON’T PRACITICE THIS KIND OF WISDOM.
• Worldly, Unspiritual, and Demonic Wisdom Leads to Disorder and Practicing Evil.
  • We now know what it is, we now know what it leads to… so what is the alternative? The alternative is GODLY wisdom… wisdom from above as James calls it.
• So our second and final point this morning is that Wisdom From Above, Godly Wisdom, leads to a harvest of Righteousness.

Point Two – Wisdom from Above (Godly Wisdom) Leads to a Harvest of Righteousness.

James 3:17-18 ESV  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.  (18)  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

• So here James gives us a list of the attributes of Godly wisdom… and then he tells us what it produces. It produces a harvest of righteousness.
  • Again, the second point this morning is this: Wisdom from above, Godly Wisdom, leads to a harvest of Righteousness.
• So what does wisdom from above look like? Well first of all it is Pure.
• • Now when James says pure he uses the Greek word hagnós which means clean, innocent, and perfect.
  • In other words… your wisdom, your arguments, your way of thinking should not be sketchy, it should not be seedy, it should not be some kind of back alley, behind the back, wink wink nudge nudge kind of wisdom. It should be pure and holy, free and clear of any sin or fruit of sin. Simple, clean, and pure… this is Godly wisdom.
• Godly wisdom is also Peacable, James asserts.
  • The Greek word used here, eirēnikós, can also mean to be at rest or to pacify.
    • Does the wisdom you are applying in life cause anxiety and stress to you or to others? Then it is probably not the wisdom of God.
    • God’s wisdom should bring rest and peace, maybe not to the wicked, but certainly to the righteous.
    • This is why you will here wise Christians say things like “I don’t have peace with that decision”… because Godly wisdom is a wisdom that brings peace.
• Along with being peacable, James says Godly wisdom is gentle.
  • It is epieikḗs, it is patient and calm.
    • It doesn’t bowl over the ideas of others, even if others are wrong. Instead, it remains in the truth, but it remains there in love.
    • If you have to yell and scream to get your point across, your wisdom is probably not from above.
      • Now again, don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place to flip over the tables and bring out the cat-of-nine-tales. Because patience has it’s end… but those times should be few and far between, as your wisdom patiently works out alongside the plains and will of God.
• Wisdom from God should be willing to yield. It is open to reason.
  • Be wise enough, James says, to know that you could be wrong.
    • Listen to others… Proverbs 15 says there is wisdom in the council of many..
      • But there is only wisdom in the council of many if you are willing to LISTEN to the council of many.If you are willing to consider that the many might be right and that you might be wrong.
    A man who has Godly wisdom is wise enough to know that he is NOT God and that only God is perfect and that only God’s theology, plains, and thoughts are perfect.
  • Therefore a wise man knows enough to listen to others and to be willing to change his opinion, his approach, his beliefs, his plains if they are proven to be wrong.
• Godly wisdom is full of mercy.
  • And the word éleos here means God’s mercy. A wise man knows that God is merciful.
  • And so a wise man will look towards God’s mercy first and foremost when considering a contentious situation.
    • I WONDER… when someone makes you made and you start scheming about how to get back at them… I wonder… do you consider MERCEY first… because that is what wisdom from above does.
• Next James says wisdom from above produces good fruits.
  • We have spent plenty of time talking about the fruit of the spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23 so I hope you know them by now. So just know that your wisdom, if it is Godly, it should be producing fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control.
• Now James when HARD in chapter 2 against partiality, and James brings it back and says that Godly wisdom is impartial.
• • If you are racist, you aint wise.If you are sexist, you aint wise.If you have any kind of prejudice, you are not wise according to Godly wisdom.
  • Because wisdom from above is impartial.
• Further, James Says, Godly Wisdom is not hypocritical.
• • It doesn’t pretend to be right, when it knows it is wrong.It is honest with itself and others.It doesn’t weave long lists of lies and deceits that end up contradicting each other and going against the truth.
    • Godly wisdom is far more simple than that. It says “Here is the truth” it says “Here is what needs to be done, now go and do it”You see worldly wisdom appeases one of the most hypocritical things in all of creation… it appeases the heart. It appeases feelings… and anyone who has ever had a pregnant wife knows that feelings can be hypocritical.Anyone who has ever raised children knows that feelings can be hypocritical.Anyone who has ever had to deal with a stubborn and short tempered man knows that feelings are hypocritical.
  • But Godly wisdom is not hypocritical. It is simple, sincere, and single minded.
• Finally in verse 18 James says that wisdom from above is Just.
• • Injustice is always at odds with God.God is just. His wisdom is Just.
    • Don’t look towards Godly wisdom if you are trying to escape the consequences of your own dumb actions. You reap what you sow.But look towards Godly wisdom if you want what is right, and holy… regardless of the consequences.
      • A wise man is a man who can say “Come what may, I believe in truth and justice… even over my own actions”.
        • “And praise God for His mercy, but even if mercy should not come, I know the mercy on the cross is enough for me.”
    But see demonic wisdom cares nothing for Justice… demonic wisdom says “I have to get out of these consequences… the mercy of the cross was not enough… I have to escape, I have to fight, I have to run…”Those who are demonically wise run from their consequences…
  • Those who are wise with wisdom from above run to their consequences… because it is there they find their savior, come what may, to comfort them, guide them, and be with them through it all.
    • Be it mercy from God or discipline from God, at least I know I am with God.
      • And the truth is, even if he disciplines me, I find comfort in that because Proverbs 3:12 proclaims that God disciplines those He loves.
    • So don’t run from your consequences, because in doing so you run from a JUST God.
    • Instead face your consequences, knowing that God is Just and his Wisdom is Just.
    • Be wise enough to know that you should be with God… starting at the cross… and then walking with every step and every day of your life… and running back to him if you ever wander… even when it means facing the consequences for what you have done.
• So there you have it… Worldly wisdom vs Godly wisdom.
  • Which do you want?
    • If you choose worldly wisdom, don’t be surprised when you end up with a harvest of chaos and disorder… a harvest of sin and filth.
  • But if you chose Godly wisdom… then you can expect a harvest of righteousness.

Conclusion

• Let me conclude by reading these verses one last time… and then maybe we will have just a few minutes to do some ministering…

James 3:13-18 ESV  Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.  (14)  But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.  (15)  This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  (16)  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.  (17)  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.  (18)  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

• So we know now fully there are two kinds of wisdom…
  • So let me ask you… what kind of life does your wisdom produce?
    • Examine your life… this won’t be for everyone here… but I bet there are some in here who can say “My life is in disarray… it is in disorder… everything I have tried… all my plans… they are failing… my life is falling apart…”
    • I bet there are even some in here practicing evil… you have gotten so far into the darkness of sin that you don’t even see the light any more.
      • You don’t know how you got this way, and you don’t know how to stop being this way.
      • And I don’t know what your sin is… pornography, adultery, substance abuse, gossip, lying… strife and division… theft… rebellion…
      • I don’t know what your sin is… but you know… you know exactly what I am talking about… you want to be free from it you just don’t know how…
        • Maybe that is you this morning… let’s deal with that right now…
        • Let’s fix it… in the name of Jesus let’s fix it.
• There are two things that need to happen, some of you in disorder… and some of you in sin… your problem is that you don’t know Jesus as Savior… you have never been saved so you don’t know what it is like to be righteous… but I have good news, Jesus died to make you righteous… if you will just be born again…
• Gospel Call
• Now maybe there are some in here who’s lives are in disorder… or are drowning in sin… and you have been saved… but things are still just so messed up…
  • Let’s deal with that right now… if that is you, I want to pray with you… so what I am going to do is say a prayer over you… if this is for you, CLAIM IT! Tell God “Yes Lord, Amen, that prayer is for me…”
  • Because the issue is, YOU NEED GODLY WISDOM… You need to repent of worldly wisdom and gain Godly wisdom… and that starts by asking for it.
  • James gives us the prescription well before the diagnosis… just ask for it…

James 1:5 ESV  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Pray for repentance from worldly wisdom and ask for Godly wisdom.

Aaronic Blessing