The 'wisdom' From Below

“The ‘Wisdom’ from Below” (James 3:13-18)

I. Introduction. A. Orientation. 1. Last week, James gave us two warnings: a. One against intruding into the office of teacher without a call. b. Second, against allowing our tongues to remain unbridled. 2. This first warning is literally, “Stop becoming so many teachers.” a. We all have a call to teach at some level. (i) Parents, their children. (ii) Husbands, their wives. (iii) Older women, the younger women. (iv) Each of us is called to admonish. (v) Each of us, to evangelize. b. But not everyone is called to the office of teacher. (i) Christ has given pastors and teachers to His church for the equipping of His saints (Eph. 4:11). (a) This office is not given to everyone (1 Cor. 12:29). (b) But to those He specially gifts and calls. (c) He also clothes them with authority to execute this office. (ii) If we are not called, we must be careful not to intrude into their office. (a) By clothing ourselves with authority. (b) By taking the role of a public teacher. c. To do so with a call is serious enough. (i) Teachers will be judged more severely because of the effects of their teaching on others. (ii) They need to make sure they know the truth, teach it, and live it. d. To do so without a call is even more serious. (i) Not only because we trespass into areas where we are not called. (ii) But also because we will be held accountable for what we lead others to believe. 3. James followed this up with a warning to tame the tongue in general. a. Language is powerful to begin with. (i) It is through the Gospel that Christ’s kingdom will come. (ii) But it is through false doctrine that the church has been polluted and many souls have been destroyed. (iii) Lies are the devil’s number one weapon.

2 (iv) They are his main means of sowing division and strife. (v) Often, he uses those who profess Christ to do his work. (vi) That’s why we must tame our tongue and use it for God’s glory. b. Our struggle, of course, is with the sin in our heart. (i) It has the same nature and tendency as the devil. (ii) Even with grace it is difficult to fight against. (iii) But we must overcome it, and we can with God’s help. (iv) James tells us that when we have our tongues under control, that’s a good indication that our sin has been subdued. B. Preview. 1. Another good indicator that our sin has been subdued is the fruit our lives produce: our lives will reflect what is in our hearts. a. Are we really qualified to teach, even in our respective spheres? Are we mature enough? Are we genuine Christians? b. Here is a way to examine these questions: (i) This is similar to James’ question: You say you have faith. Show me (2:18). (ii) You think you’re fit to be a teacher? Show me. (a) How knowledgeable, how wise are you? (b) How has it affected your heart, your inclinations? (c) How has it affected those you teach? (d) Does it tend to divide or unify God’s people? (iii) Of course, all of our lives are a mixture of grace and sin. (iv) If we have only sin, we’re not Christians at all. (v) But as James has already shown us, if we are Christian, our fruit will primarily be good. 2. Today, let’s examine our lives by what James asks us here. a. This evening, we’ll consider what must be true of our lives if we really have the wisdom that comes from above. b. This morning, we’ll look at the sinful fruit that shows we’re really deceiving ourselves either regarding our understanding of this subject, or about our spiritual condition in general. (i) His challenge is, Are we really wise and understanding? If we are, it will show by the way we live. (ii) And if we are – as we all hope to be in the Lord – there are two things which must not control our hearts, two things that must be subdued: bitter jealousy and selfish ambition (v. 14). II. Sermon. A. Notice that James speaks about “bitter” jealousy and “selfish” ambition. 1. There is a kind of jealousy and ambition that is good. a. There is a jealousy that is godly.

3 (i) God Himself is often jealous for His own glory. (a) After warning us not to make idols or any likeness of created things, He says, “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me’” (Ex. 20:5). (b) In the LXX, the Greek word is related to the word in James. (c) The Lord desires His worship to be for Him alone and to be pure. (d) He shows us in Scripture that He is zealous for His glory. (ii) Jesus showed this same jealousy and zeal for the honor of His Father’s name and the purity of His worship: (a) After Jesus cleansed the Temple, “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house will consume Me’” (John 2:17). (b) This is the same word used in James. (iii) And Paul showed this same jealousy for the sake of Jesus’ name. (a) “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2). (b) Again, it is the same word. (iv) Jealousy is not bad in itself; it is merely a zeal for something. (a) If that zeal is for something good, the jealousy is good. (1) We should all have a zeal for God’s glory, honor, worship. (2) We should jealously protect our relationship with Him. (b) But if the zeal is for something bad, the jealousy is bad. b. There is also an ambition that is good. (i) The word ambition comes from the Latin word ambire or ambio, which means to go around after something; to push forward. (ii) It often has self for its object, but not always. (iii) Paul tells us that we should always be ambitious to please the Lord, “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him” (2 Cor. 5:9). (iv) This is what should be our aim, our goal in life, to please and honor the One who made us and redeemed us. 2. But there is also a kind of both that is not good: bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. a. The word “bitter” means resentful. (i) It is the same word used in James 3:11 referring to bitter water. (ii) It has a pungent or repugnant taste. (iii) To be bitterly jealous means to have a zeal borne out of resentment, and this is always destructive.

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b. And of course “selfish” refers to being self-centered. (i) The word used here means to push forward for personal ends. (ii) To have this kind of ambition – one that is centered on making yourself known, or putting yourself forward – is always sinful. (iii) It’s one thing to be ambitious for God’s glory and to have Him exalt us: “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:10). (iv) It’s another to showcase your gifts so that others see them and exalt you. (a) Jesus warned us in the Sermon on the Mount not to draw attention to ourselves by putting our piety on display (Matt. 6:1). (b) Paul tells us that those who pursue this path and disregard God’s Word will inherit His wrath: “But to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, [God will give] wrath and indignation” (Rom. 2:8). B. This latter kind of “wisdom,” James tells us, is not from above. 1. Consider its attributes: a. It is earthly: (i) Sometimes this word refers to what is of the earth, such as where Jesus compares spiritual birth to natural, or the work of the Spirit to the blowing of the wind (John 3:12). (ii) Other times, such as here, it is used to contrast what is of man with what is of God. b. It is natural: in this case, distinctively not spiritual, not possessing the Sprit of God; such as a natural/unconverted man. c. It is demonic: sharing the nature of demons. (i) Wasn’t it bitter jealousy and selfish ambition that moved Lucifer to attempt to exalt his throne over that of God’s? (ii) These motives, desires, intents, are demonic, sinful, not from above. d. In essence this is not wisdom, but sin. (i) And yet how often do we let these things motivate us? (a) How often do we do things because we have a zeal that grows out of resentment for what someone else does, or what position they have? (b) How often do we believe we’re seeking to do what will honor the Lord, when really we just want people to see and recognize our gifts? (ii) James says, “Do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth” (v. 14). This is not the godly wisdom from above. 2. Consider also the fruit of this behavior: a. It produces disorder. (i) Confusion, instead of the order that God loves (1 Cor. 14:33). (ii) Unruliness, instead of living according to rule.

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b. It produces every evil thing. (i) It is the root upon which the fruits of sin grow. (ii) Bitterness or selfishness fuels just about every sin that is committed. 3. To have these predominantly in your heart, and yet to believe you are truly wise and understanding, or qualified to teach, is to deceive yourself and lie against the truth. And so examine your heart: a. Are they dominated by these things? (i) Are you seeking to be a teacher without a call, teaching things that shouldn’t be taught, or in a way you shouldn’t teach them? (ii) Do you not have control of your tongue? (iii) Is your heart controlled by a zeal, but one produced by bitterness – the desire to get even – and by ambition, but an ambition to exalt self? (iv) If so, you need to be born again. (v) You are still of the earth, natural, have the nature of the devil in you. (vi) You need a clean heart, one controlled by God’s Spirit. (vii) You must repent and turn to Christ. b. But let’s all remember, that though these may not dominate us, they’re still there. (i) These tendencies exist in each of us. (ii) We do get angry and sometime bitter at others if they do better than we do, or occupy positions that we might want. (iii) We often find ambition to make a mark for ourselves in the world. (iv) We must mortify these things and put on Christ. (v) We’ll see this evening what the true wisdom is: that which honors God. Amen.