The Wisdom that Comes from Below: James Lesson 19

 As we come to this part of the worship service where we study the word of God, please open your Bibles with me to the book of James. We will be looking at verses 14-16. We will be looking at the wisdom that comes not from God, but from the world. So that we look at these verses within the context provided by the Holy Spirit, we must read verses 13-18. Read the passage.

 Last week we looked at verse 13. James asks a critically important question. James asks, “Who among you is wise and understanding?” As we looked extensively at this question we learned that James is really asking, “Who among us has the practical skill necessary to rightly understand and apply God’s truth, His commandments, His precepts, His principles, to all aspects of life. To be wise is to have the skill necessary to rightly apply God’s truth to life. To be understanding is to be able to apply God’s truth on a broad spectrum.

 James isn’t asking who is smart, who has a high I.Q., who has the most scripture memorized, who is the most influential, who is the most successful. He is asking who among you is truly skilled in understanding and applying God’s word to life. And, he tells us how to find those who are. They will be putting this wisdom on display. It will be seen in their good behavior, their morally upright, biblically conforming words, actions, and attitudes. It will be on display in their deeds which are shown through an attitude of gentleness of wisdom. If you missed last week’s message, you really need to go listen to it. James asks few questions of greater importance than the question we looked at last week in verse 13.

 Every one of us needs to answer this question on a personal level. Am I among you as one who is wise and understanding? Am I putting that wisdom on display through my good behavior and deeds in the gentleness of wisdom? My family needs for me to be this person. This church needs for me to be this person. My friends who are not part of this church need for me to be this person. But each of you needs to be this person also. Every husband needs to be wise and understanding in order to lead his family. Every woman needs to be wise and understanding to lead her children. Even older siblings can demonstrate wisdom and understanding to influence younger siblings. Every Christian needs to be, or quickly becoming one who is wise and understanding. Your circle of influence needs for you to be wise and understanding.

 This is true because there is only one place where we will find those who are wise and understanding. James asks, “Who among you?” Who among the body of Christ? Who among the fellowship of Christians? That is because godly wisdom and biblical understanding will not be found outside the church. It won’t be found in the world. And it is desperately needed in our world today. It is desperately needed in the church today.

 I need to further explain and clarify something about what it means to be wise and understanding. A wise and understanding follower of Christ may not have all the answers. There will be times when the wise and understanding may not immediately have the answer. To be wise and understanding does not suggest full and complete understanding of everything. What it does mean is that when the questions arise, and when the situations of life confront us where godly wisdom and biblical understanding is needed, the one who is wise and understanding always goes to the right source for the answers. The right source is the only place where godly wisdom and understanding can be found. That is the Bible. The word of God rightly divided. The true and tested word of God.

The source is important. James made that clear in the last section. Don’t go to a bitter fountain expecting to get fresh water. Don’t go to a vine and expect figs. Don’t go to the world and expect to find God’s wisdom. 

And because the source is vital, in this section of Scripture, James paints for us a very vivid picture. James wants us to be able to tell the difference between the only two sources of wisdom. And there are only two sources. There is wisdom that comes from above and wisdom that comes from below, or the world. There is wisdom that has as its source God. There is wisdom that has as its source Satan. The difference is as obvious as night and day. Or, at least it should be. But unfortunately, this isn’t necessarily the case. Those who are not wise and understanding will fail to see the difference. Those who lack wisdom will inevitably mix and mingle the two. Only those who are truly wise and understanding will recognize the mixing and mingling of the two. Those who are wise and understanding are also discerning. 

 There is no room for mixing the two sources of wisdom clearly described by James in this section. They will not mix. They cannot be reconciled on any level. They do not belong in the same arena. They are diametrically opposed to one another. They are completely at odds with one another. God warns against mingling the two sources. Satan loves to stir them together, creating confusion and conflict and turmoil and dissention. Satan loves to infuse the truth with just enough error to render the truth powerless. 

 So James is very clear. He gives us a vivid and extensive description of the sources of both, the substance of both, and the symptoms of both. I think there is something of an alliterated outline there but we won’t necessarily be following it. Rather, I want to begin with an observation about this passage.

 James asked us a pointed and powerful question in verse 13. He had a very good reason for asking the question. He asks this question to bring us, each one of us, face to face with the reality implied in our answer. Our passage points us to the reality implied in our answer. If our answer is “yes, I am among you as one who is wise and understanding,” then great, you are one who has been impacted and influenced by the wisdom that comes from above. But if the answer is “no” then the reality implied is that you are one who has been influenced by the wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic.

 We are not comfortable with that kind of either/or situation. We don’t like being put in that situation where we either have to admit that we are wise and understanding, or we are not. If we were to survey everyone in America who claims to be a Christian, and we asked if they were wise and understanding, how would they answer? We would have to preface the question with an explanation of what it means to be wise and understanding. And armed with that understanding of what the question is asking, I am convinced that most Christians in our culture would say something like, “Well, I may not be where I should be, but I’m not all that far off. I’m probably doing ok.”

 Why would they say this? They would answer in that fashion because they would not want to admit the truth. The truth is that they are not wise and understanding. They are not skilled, they do not have expertise in rightly understanding and applying God’s truth to life. When they lack answers to the issues of life, they aren’t going to the right source. They are turning to the world, which is a demonic source for wisdom. They have, at best, a shallow understanding of the historical gospel presentation to which they have made some intellectual ascent, but they don’t want to go any further than believing and receiving the gift of eternal life so that their eternal destiny is taken care of.

 We would have to agree that most people who claim the name of Christ are not as wise and understanding as they should be. If they were, there would not be as many divorce among Christians as there is with the rest of the population. That is just one example. Most in the church are not wise and understanding, and not many of them are too concerned about it.

 My friends, look carefully at this passage. Something is missing. James left something out. James does not make provision for people who are content to live the Christian life as one who is not wise and understanding. He goes directly from describing the one who puts his wisdom and understanding on display for others to see, to describing the one who does not have wisdom and understanding. And the terms by which he describes the one who is without wisdom and understanding are not very flattering terms. James leaves us with only two options. We are either putting godly wisdom on display, or we have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in our hearts. And when we are confronted with that, and we argue against it, we are arrogant and lie against the truth. What can we say but, “ouch!” That stings.

 It is hard to study James and not arrive at some fairly uncomfortable conclusions. Most modern church people would not be comfortable hanging around with James. That is because James leaves no room for mediocrity in the Christian walk. He allows for no excuses. He cuts no slack. He makes no accommodation for fruitless, wisdomless living that does not employ and manifest godly wisdom and biblical understanding. In James’ world, you are either one who is wise and understanding, or you are one who is described by verse 14. We don’t like that. We aren’t comfortable with that.

 James leaves out the verses that accommodate the comfortable place in between, where most church people in the modern culture live. You know, it is the place where we are able to call ourselves Christians and feel “ok” about the claim. But it is the place where we are not so radical that we worry about rightly understanding and fully applying all of God’s commandments and principles and precepts to every area of life. Many want to be committed but not uncomfortable. Many want to be related to God but not too radical. Most don’t want to be thrown into the same category with those who others consider radical legalists. We like living under grace. There is a lot more wiggle room, a lot more opportunity for comfort if we put a little more emphasis on grace.

 James must not have understood how it would be in the modern church, so he left out some verses that probably should be there. (I’m speaking facetiously of course.) He left out the description of those in the modern church of America. He makes no provision for those who are not extensively skilled in the application of God’s truth, but who are content to live without that wisdom and understanding. So why would James leave this out?

 There are a couple reasons. First, the people to whom James wrote were, as you should remember, a persecuted people. Listen, a persecuted church is a pure church. And a pure church is a church full of those who are wise and understanding. James doesn’t need to accommodate those who are not committed to becoming wise and understanding because they didn’t exist in his day. They didn’t begin to exist until we got to the place where the church and the culture started getting along so well. I’m not convinced that is a good place for the church to be.

Second, James models his approach after the greatest Teacher who ever spoke the truth of God’s word, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus spoke in very clear, and contrasting terms. Jesus spoke of two ways of life, through two gates, which led to two paths. The difference between the paths was clear. The demands of the right path were plainly spoken. Jesus spoke of two kinds of fruit, good and bad. He spoke of two kinds of builders of houses, spiritual houses. One on sand, one on rock. There were two different outcomes, and only two. Jesus never described a path for His followers that was easy, comfortable, and characterized by complacency. 

 The question James asks us in verse 13 is not a question he asks for the purpose of gathering information. He asks the question for the purpose of motivation. This is a call to action. This is a call to all of Christ’s followers to become one who is wise and understanding. We don’t need to compare ourselves with those around us and measure our level of wisdom and understanding against the standard of those who don’t care whether they are wise or not. We must measure our wisdom against the standard of God’s truth and we must ask, seek, and knock on the windows of heaven and ask God to give us that which will make us wise and understanding.

 So, James brings to the forefront an unmistakable reality. We are either wise with the world’s wisdom, or we are wise with the wisdom that is from above. Our lives are characterized by one or the other. We can’t have both. They don’t mix. They are incompatible. They stand in opposition to one another. We have one or the other. We have embraced one or the other. We are influenced by one or the other. We believe and live by one or the other.

 How would one know if he or she was being influenced by the wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic? James gives us a straightforward answer. There will be bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart. This is not only straightforward, it is strong language. The word “bitter” as an adjective for jealousy is the same word used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, to describe the poisonous stew that the sons of the prophets made from herbs, vines, and gourds. They tasted it and declared that there was death in the pot. Elisha threw in some meal and God transformed the stew from poisonous to edible. This word “bitter” describes feelings that are harsh, cruel and malignant. They will characterize the person who is focused on self.

 The selfish person is characterized by jealousy. They will be envious of others. They will be harsh, critical, destructive, and uncaring about the feelings and welfare of others. The “selfish ambition” James uses to describe this person speaks of one who is full of strife, contentious and extremely selfish. This person is demanding, assertive of his or her rights, pushy, and arrogant. You may say, “Well, I don’t see anyone like that around here.” I would remind you that we come here with a really clear understanding of the expectation for how we are to act. The truth about who we are isn’t seen here. It is seen in who we are and how we act at home, or when no one else is watching.

 This selfish focus is what is produced by a wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic. Selfishness will always be the product of a wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic. Because it is earthly, it is of the world. Worldly wisdom, as we discussed last week, begins with man. It always comes from an anthropocentric focus. It seeks to discover truth and meaning and reality without consideration of God and God’s word. It is humanistic rather than theocentric. It teaches that man is the answer to his own problems. It never points to God or biblical truth. It denies the existence of God and the relevance of His truth.

 It is natural, which means it is sensual, fleshly. It elevates and esteems that aspect of man that is fallen, corrupt, and deceived. Paul told the Corinthians that the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him and he cannot comprehend them. Well, this is the aspect of man that worldly wisdom puts on a pedestal to adore. The Scriptures tell us that the fool is the one who says in his heart that there is no god. The world takes that fool and makes him the one to be admired, respected, and followed.

 This wisdom is also demonic. It comes from Satan and is disseminated through his agents. He has an army of fallen angels who are carrying out his evil schemes. His tactics never change. In the Garden he tempted Eve to “become like God.” The humanistic, earthly, natural, demonic wisdom of today is still telling mankind that they are god.

 Everything in our world is based on a false wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic. The ideology of secular humanism pervades every aspect of life in this world. The world of philosophy is based on wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic. Our world’s education system teaches a wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic. Our political system appeals to solutions that are earthly, natural, and demonic. Our economic system is driven by greed, acquisition of all we want or desire, and is fueled by marketing methods that convince us that we can have everything we want. It is impossible to look at any area of life in this world and not see the evidence of a wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic.

 All we need to do is ask one simple question. How is this wisdom working out for us as a society? Boy, things are looking up aren’t they? I’m obviously being sarcastic. We live in a world of conflict, confusion, destruction, death, homelessness, drug abuse, crime, and filth. We live in a culture that is in the middle of a month long celebration of unnatural, aberrant, illogical, sinful sexual behavior. Again I ask, how is this world’s wisdom working out for us?

 James tells us plainly what it will get us. He says in verse 16, “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there is disorder and every evil thing.” Does this need a lot of explanation? No. All we need to do is look around. We live in a world dominated by a self-focus. We live in a world that advocates that we all look out for our own interests. We live in a world where we are encouraged to demand our rights, seek our own way, find what makes us happy, and be yourself. We should be “proud” of a lifestyle that brings death and destruction.

 Where this wisdom prevails there will be disorder and every evil thing. “Disorder” carries the idea of instability. It describes a state of confusion, disarray, instability, disturbance, turmoil and tumult. Our world has never been more influenced by a wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic, and it has never been more disorder in the world than there is now. “Every evil thing” describes things done, actions, and deeds that are characterized as wicked, foul, corrupt, depraved, and worthless. These are vile things. When the wisdom of this world prevails, and people are convinced that man is the answer, and man has the answers, the world will be filled with things wicked, corrupt, depraved, worthless, and vile. This is the world in which we currently live.

 Unfortunately, there has never been more influence of the wisdom of this world infiltrate the church than we have now. And the church is seeing produced a lot of confusion, disarray, and tumult. The church is in decline. The church is loosing influence. The church is confused about the issue of gender, leadership, the gospel, and the authority of Scripture. The ungodly earthly, natural, demonic wisdom of the world has infiltrated the church. The church is not the better for it.

 Is there any question in anyone’s mind here today that the world is dominated and controlled by a wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic? This world is Satan’s domain. He is the god of this world. This world lies in the power of the evil one. His wisdom dominates his world. Is there any question in anyone’s mind here today that the church of our culture has been infiltrated deeply and influenced greatly by a wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic? How can the church get to the point to where it is indistinguishable from the world, because it has become so much like the world, and not have adopted the wisdom of the world?

If we would all agree that these two things are undeniable, then we should give careful consideration to the next question. Is there any doubt about the fact that you and your family are the target of a wisdom that is earthly, natural and demonic?

 There is no room for the world’s wisdom in you or your family. I think we can see why James left out the description of some nebulous middle ground in between being wise and understanding and being influenced by the world’s wisdom. James is calling us to be determined, decisive, and driven to become wise and understanding. We must all acknowledge the fact that we really have no other option.

 Next week we will look further into the description of the wisdom that comes from God.

 Let’s pray.