13 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 3:13-18)
Introduction
As we return to James this Lord’s Day we return to some of the themes that we have seen James set before us, and in our text today these themes of wisdom from above, or kingly wisdom, are further extrapolated. Now, two of the themes that we have seen James put forth thus far are wisdom and endurance through trials and testing. I hope you see that these two things go wonderfully together. For it is in the midst of trials and testing that seem so difficult to endure that we so often long for wisdom. We want to have understanding and answers for how we are to endure and navigate the times of trial. That is indeed what all men want: answers in time of trouble; wisdom for the evil day.
James clearly wants us to have this wisdom from above that we may endure valiantly our trials of various kinds. For it is in the midst of a trial that the pain and suffering becomes acute and makes it all the more difficult to see beyond. And so what we need is wisdom from above, wisdom that is from above us, wisdom which is over our trial, for indeed wisdom that comes from above comes from a vantage point which we do not have – it can see beyond the dark clouds of storm, it can see beyond the seemingly unsurpassable mountain before us, and give us the answers for how we endure.
What we need in the midst of trial is vantage point to see the way through, and that is what wisdom is in a sense. It is the vantage point, or direction for us. When I was out backpacking recently in the wild, we were trying to make our way to a certain lake, but for a good distance surrounding the lake was a heavily wooded area. When you are down on the ground in wooded area, you lose all vantage point, and it can be very easy to lose your sense of direction and your plan for how to get through the woods. And so before we entered into the wooded area, we were on a ridge that had great elevation for us to see the whole layout of the woods and the path to get to the lake, and we could spot several different markers in the woods that when we got to them they would reorient us and tell us we were on the right path. So thankfully we had that wisdom from above so to speak, that vantage point, so that when we were in the thick of it, we still knew how to persevere through it.
That is what we need in our trials: to see above it and how to get through it, and that is a gift of God, wisdom from above, that we need from him. We can’t see all the results of what may come or know all the reasons why, but we have what is sufficient, we have sufficient wisdom and vantage point from God to endure every trial.
And in the way that James talks about wisdom in the text before us is in relation to the brothers, in relation to loving one another, and practicing wisdom together. Because so often in times of testing, when you are in the thick of the wood, and you begin to lose your bearings and panic or get frustrated, it is the very brothers in arms with you and alongside you that you can wrongly get angry at, or take out your frustrations on, and if the enemy can so divide the people of Christ in the midst of the woods, he would love to do so. So James here is teaching us wisdom for how to get through the woods together.
Identifying the Wise, v. 13
So James has talked about trials, about wisdom, and just before this about taming the tongue, and then he asks this question, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” So how can we know, recognize, and identify who is wise? And do notice that James asks about who is wise AMONG YOU. So the context of his discussion here is among the body of Christ, among the beloved brothers. Well, James tells us how a local church can identify who is wise among them. You can identify the wise by observing their good conduct by which they show their works. So how can you know if someone is wise? Look at their conduct and their works. What are they showing you?
Now this itself is wisdom, because in our flesh, or in the world, we may think that wisdom is seen by the great elegance of words that may flow from the tongue which sounds like divine wisdom. We can be taken in by someone’s great power and skill to persuade and sound wise with their tongue, and forget all about the importance of their life. Wisdom is not so much saying all the right sounding things – a parrot can hang around a wise man and learn to regurgitate wise sayings. Wisdom is doing the right things, putting in practice the right things. And this is the hard part. Wisdom is not merely knowing things, it is knowing how to rightly apply things, and doing so. Merely knowing all the right things to do but not doing them is useless; but wisdom puts those right things into practice – that is wise. It is not wise to know the right thing and then not do it.
So James is very simple and practical. We can know who is wise by watching and observing their life. But another part of wisdom is that a wise person’s works are done in the “meekness of wisdom.” So wisdom has a certain meekness to it, which is a wonderful irony because the world’s powerful and mighty often look down upon meekness, as a weakness or softness. But of course biblical meekness is not weakness or softness. Biblical meekness is the wisdom of self-restraint and self-control. It is the patience and endurance to wait upon the Lord to deliver and act on your behalf rather than acting rashly and taking vengeance into one’s own hands. It is strength restrained; power under control.
For example, Psalm 37 is all about this meekness of wisdom. You know Psalm 37. The believer looks out at the world and sees many a wicked and evil person prospering and doing well and oppressing the godly, and the temptation the believer faces is to fret and be wrathful and to do evil. But the admonition is wait, be patient, trust the Lord, do good and not evil, and God will deliver you. God will defeat the wicked and the meek shall inherit the land by waiting on God. This is the meekness of wisdom and it is just what these believers to whom James writes would have been going through. They have fled persecution from evil men, they are enduring the hardships that go with that, they’ve been dispersed from their land and homes, and they may be tempted to anger and to violence and to vengeance and to taking matters into their own hands, or to just turning and devouring everyone around them in frustration. But James says that wisdom doesn’t do that. Wisdom endures patiently, wisdom controls the tongue, wisdom is not partial – wisdom shows itself by good conduct and works done in the meekness of wisdom.
And in this meekness of wisdom which waits upon the LORD rather than being a revolutionary, there is long term victory. To be meek is not to be a loser, but it is to be an overcomer. You’ve heard the phrase, “work smarter, not harder.” Zealots and revolutionaries hasten their demise, but the wise, the meek inherit the earth, as Jesus said in Matthew 5.
“But that is too hard!” you say. When we are faced with wrong we so often just want to go to war and be angry and go out guns blazin’. There is a time for war and there is a time for peace. And not every time we are offended or wronged is a time for war. Look to Jesus Christ, our Lord. He was and is the perfect example of meekness, He is the wisdom from above. Wisdom has come from above and come down in flesh and lived and walked among us that His life of works done in the meekness of wisdom may be observed and followed. Think of the many times Jesus had opportunity to react in wrath toward an evil person and wipe them out, and how many times he did not do that. He had the wisdom to know His mission, to know the works His Father gave Him to do. He had the wisdom to be patient and wait. In meekness Jesus healed the servant of the High Priest’s ear which Peter cut off, telling them to put away their swords, not because He is not a man of war, but because He trusted in the vindication of God to raise Him from the dead and to then receive all authority and power in heaven and on earth.
Wisdom from Below, v. 14-16
So James tells us how to identify who among us is wise, then in verse 14-16, he tells us how to identify wisdom from below, or how to identify the unwise. He says, “if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.” Oftentimes it is because of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in our hearts that we express those sins in the ways James has been telling us not to – we act out in sinful anger, thinking in our wrath we can make the situation right. We fail to control our tongues, but use them in conniving cutting ways and set a whole forest ablaze causing chaos, disorder, and destruction. If there is jealousy and selfish ambition then there is no meekness. There is not a patient endurance waiting upon the LORD. So if that is what is in your heart, don’t boast about being wise and understanding and so be false to the truth.
Bitter jealousy is a rotten discontent with one’s own station or circumstances in life that covets after another person’s. And those thoughts and desires are cultivated in the heart and mind and consumes a person and drives them to ungodly words and actions. Selfish ambition is essentially the outflow of bitter jealousy in the heart, it is a driving force to act only for one’s own desires with disregard for others and the righteousness of God. It is a refusal to forgive or a refusal to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. It’s a vile pleasure in others’ downfall. It is not loving the brethren as Christ loved us. Such things are not to be blamed on our environment, circumstances, or what others have done to us, but they are from our own hearts. Such things are our problem, our sin that needs to be forsaken. Bitterness, jealousy, selfish ambition is what we choose to be, no one makes us be those things.
Philippians 2:3 instructs us, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
Words and actions that are said and done out of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are not words and actions that are done out of wisdom, it is not wisdom that is from above. Rather, James says, this is wisdom that is earthly, spiritual, and demonic.
“Earthly” is used here in a negative sense. It is not the good sense, in the way that God created the earth and called it good. Nor is it talking about wisdom that can be gained from observing creation, such as the Proverbs tell us to go and look at the ant for wisdom. But “earthly” is used in a negative sense here, as coming from below, not from God above. It is worldly.
Similarly “unspiritual” is also not used in terms of anti-spiritual, but rather it is used in terms of the Holy Spirit. It is not of the Holy Spirit. For James says that this earthly unspiritual wisdom is demonic, and what are demons but spiritual beings. So such boasting of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition is from the enemy. This is James’ second direct reference to the demonic, as he mentioned even the demons believe that God is one in chapter 2 verse 19. So here even the demons have a kind of wisdom – it is a false wisdom, an evil wisdom. So it is not enough to have the demon’s profession, or to have the demon’s wisdom.
What comes from jealousy and selfish ambition? Disorder and every vile practice. This is demonic. God is a God of order, but the demonic is chaotic, evil, and disorderly, thus we can see the result of jealousy and selfish ambition is demonic – disorder and every vile practice.
I think of the story of Absalom, David’s son who fomented rebellion. He harbored bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. He did not practice the meekness of wisdom and the result was a rebellion which was a time of disorder, chaos, and vile practice in the kingdom. And it led to Absalom’s demise. What we need is wisdom from above. What we need is Christ who is the wisdom from above, to make us new, to mortify the flesh and the old man, and give us new desires. We need Christ, the conqueror of demons to destroy the works of the devils and cast them out so that we may be free to live unto God. What we need is His life for ours, to be conformed into His image and live as He lived in the meekness of wisdom. And James tells us in verse 17 what this wisdom from above, what the wisdom of Christ looks like in his people, among the brethren.
Wisdom from Above, v. 17
This wisdom from above is part of what we are to pray for when we pray the Lord’s prayer, “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” We are praying against demonic unspiritual and earthly wisdom and for the wisdom of heaven from above that comes to us in Christ. We are praying for the demonic, unspiritual, and earthly to be destroyed and the heavenly to be enacted. And what does it look like when this wisdom is given?
First, it is pure. It is in accordance with the truth. It is in righteousness. It doesn’t grow the deadly fruit of vile practices. It is good and pure.
And then it is peaceable. So see the progression: it is first pure – it is truthful and good – then it is peaceable. Wisdom isn’t at peace with evil, but it is peacefulness with truth and purity. But IT IS peaceable. In the same sermon that Jesus blessed the meek He also said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.” Are you a peaceable person? Or are you always argumentative, always finding things to fight about?
Then this wisdom from above is gentle. Gentleness is acting with consideration of others’ weaknesses. It is like Jesus who does not break the bruised reed and does not quench the faintly burning wick. It considers the weaknesses of others and handles them accordingly. This is wise. It is not wise to take a box that says “Fragile: Handle with Care” and to toss it around like there is no tomorrow. This means that when we care enough about others that we consider what they can handle, we consider their frame and their state, emotionally and spiritually. Selfish ambition blinds you to the cares, concerns, and needs of others. The wisdom of gentleness cares about others, just as God considers our frame, that we are dust, that we are fragile, that we are in great need of divine care from a Heavenly Father.
Then, this wisdom from above is “open to reason.” Are you open to reason, are you approachable? Do you consider that you may have something to learn or consider from others? A wise person knows he doesn’t know it all. Reasonableness or approachableness is a sign of wisdom and humility, for pride does not want to listen, nor does it think others have anything to offer, for it is already determined it is right. Are you open to reason, willing to be corrected, willing to be wrong, willing to change your mind or your ways? This is wisdom from above.
Then, this wisdom from above is full of mercy and good fruits. James has talked about this – how mercy triumphs over judgment and about being merciful to others, just as we have received mercy from God in Christ though we deserve none of it – do we show that mercy to others. Or in bitter jealousy do we condemn without reserve? Wisdom is full of mercy and good fruits, for mercy brings about good fruits, and being merciful to others can win others over and change them for good. Wisdom sees this and practices it.
And then, this wisdom from above is impartial and sincere – which James has also talked about. Wisdom does not judge upon mere outward window dressing. It is impartial, and it is sincere. It is not fake or a facade, it means it, and sincerely cares about others.
So James shows us what wisdom from above looks like among the brothers and then he puts a bow on it with the concluding statement in verse 18.
How to Reap Righteousness, v. 18
Here he shows us how to reap a harvest of righteousness, “And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” You are being tested. You want to be a zealot or a revolutionary, you want to make a right by the anger of man. But don’t. Be wise, for a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James can be summarized up thus far by Hebrews 12:11, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
James reminds us that what we do now, what we do in the midst of testing, what we do in this life, has effects, has consequences, and yields fruit later on. We need that vantage point, that wisdom from above to see beyond the moment, to the harvest that will come by what we do, how we act and what we say. In one sense the call to follow Christ is the call to be a farmer for the kingdom of heaven. To be a good farmer takes wisdom to know how to sow good seed. It takes wisdom to see beyond the current season to the season to come. It takes wisdom to know how the seeds we sow will bring forth fruit later.
By this very word picture of sowing and harvesting, James encourages us to the meekness of wisdom, of doing right and waiting upon the Lord. Everything we do in this life contains within it a seed, which will bring forth a fruit. Though waiting on the Lord, and exercising the meekness of wisdom is hard, and it seems like we suffer and lose, Thomas Manton reminds us that “you do not lose by serving God.” If we sow in peace we reap in righteousness. If we do good and wait we will reap.
This image of sowing and reaping implies several things to us: it implies time – good things take time. It implies that results are not immediate – they are grown. It implies patience – we must wait for harvest. It implies endurance – we must continue in good. It implies steadfastness – we must not give up. It implies faith – we must believe the promises of God. It implies hope in future reward – God will vindicate His people. It implies trust in God – the meekness of wisdom doesn’t make sense to the world and the flesh. It implies our duty of sowing – now is harvest time, today is the time to sow. It implies attention and care – we must watch our words and our actions knowing they will reap a result.
And oh how great and wise a farmer Jesus Christ is. He entrusted Himself to the one who judges justly and conducted Himself in all the meekness of wisdom. He made peace by the blood of His cross, that we may have now and future peace with God. And by His cross He made peace among men, to be all called sons of God and brothers in Christ no matter if they are rich or poor, great or weak. And Jesus is not slow in fulfilling His promises. But patiently brings about justice in the earth, and He will not grow faint or weary until He has established justice in the earth. Jesus has sown the seeds of peace and love in our hearts, in His church, and it is watered and grown, and one day that whole bride of Christ will be ready for harvest, she will be complete and mature, lacking in nothing, spotless and without blemish, the full reward of the sufferings of Christ. Jesus is THE meek, wise, peacemaker who has and will have a harvest of righteousness. Let us go and do likewise for His way is good, right, and true.
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