Two Kinds of Wisdom (James 3:13-18) 14 th September 2014 1 Please keep your Bibles turned to chapter 3 of James beginning at v13. And take notes if you wish in the outline provided inside the bulletin Let me pray for God s help first though Intro/Wisdom Defined This morning we re going to spend a short time looking at the topic of wisdom. What is wisdom? [Powerpoint 1 Wisdom Defined] A dictionary definition of wisdom is: Having or showing experience, knowledge and good judgment So it s more than just knowledge or being intelligent and knowing stuff and being brainy. It s putting that knowledge of stuff to good and sensible use. Here s a couple of examples: 1. You might know that a fire can burn you. But it takes wisdom to apply the knowledge you have about fires burning people to choose not to put your hand in a fire 2. You might know that a tomato is a fruit. But it takes wisdom to apply this knowledge so that you don t put tomatoes in your fruit salad and have it with ice-cream So in a nutshell wisdom is applying the knowledge you have and making good choices and sensible decisions. Page 1 of 12
2 In our passage from James this morning the Greek word used for wisdom is Sophia. It s where we get our English word philo-sophy from. [Powerpoint 2 Philosophy] Philo-sophy comes from 2 Greek words: Philo meaning love or like Sophia meaning wisdom So Philosophy means the love of wisdom In our passage from James chapter 3 this morning. James gives us an idea of how we can tell if someone has wisdom see v13. He says if someone is wise they will show 2 things [Powerpoint 3 2 things about wisdom] a) Firstly a wise person will show themselves to have a good life and the Greek used here for good life literally means someone who has good conversation, good behaviour and good manners b) Secondly a wise person will be doing good works in a gentle and humble manner no tickets on themselves just doing stuff for people because they care for others and without seeking any praise for doing it (pause) Two Kinds of wisdom contrasted (vv14-18) But then James for the rest of the passage from v14 to v18 says there are 2 types of wisdom? Page 2 of 12
These 2 types of wisdom are very different? 3 [Powerpoint 4 2 types of wisdom] And their different because one type of wisdom comes from the world which is earthly wisdom - and one type of wisdom comes from Heaven which is Godly or Heavenly wisdom. a) Earthly wisdom (v14-16) So first - what does earthly wisdom look like? Well take a look at v14 [Powerpoint 5a heading and bitter envy] Earthly wisdom looks like someone who is bitter with envy and jealousy. We see that in our OT passage this morning. The mother whose baby boy died is so jealous of the mother whose baby is still alive. And she s bitter in her jealousy in that she steals the other mother s baby! [Powerpoint 5b selfish] Still in v14 - Earthly wisdom also looks like someone who has selfish ambition in their heart. And again we see that with the mother whose baby boy died. Yes it s sad what happened to her baby but she selfishly would rather the other baby die as well - than see the other mother keep her baby! [Powerpoint 5c boasting/denying truth] Page 3 of 12
And can you also see that this bitter envy and selfish ambition of the mother 4 whose baby boy died leads to boasting that the live baby is hers and also leads to denying the truth. Can you see how earthly wisdom corrupts the truth and spirals out of control? And in the case of these 2 mothers it leads to a situation where it s hard to know who is telling the truth? [Powerpoint 5d-agenda] Well James says in v15 this sort of wisdom - obviously doesn t come from heaven it s from the world! Earthly wisdom is not interested in God s agenda it s interested in the world s agenda Earthly wisdom is interested in the here and now and does not take into account eternal matters. Earthly wisdom has the attitude let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die and has the attitude of you only live once so go for it So how are we living our lives right now? Is it all about us what pleases us with no thought on what God wants for our lives? And no thought for others? Is our life all about the here and now with no thought for a future heavenly destination? (pause) James hasn t finished describing earthly wisdom. Page 4 of 12
[Powerpoint 6a heading/unspiritual] 5 Still in v15 he says earthly wisdom is unspiritual. And the Greek Word for unspiritual means it s wisdom based on our senses, our impulses and our emotions. In other words it s making decisions and choices based on our feelings rather than based on what makes good sense. It s wisdom that feels right rather than being right! That s what the mother whose baby died did. She reacted in her terrible grief and sadness by stealing the other baby and then telling lies. [Powerpoint 6b-Demonic] And James says still in v15 earthly wisdom is demonic literally from an evil spirit direct from Satan himself. Satan is the great tempter, tempting us to feel good by telling lies, by making bad choices, by conning us into thinking that our bad choice is actually a good choice and no one is going to find out? [Powerpoint 6c-Disorder] But this type of thinking and this type of earthly wisdom James says in v16 will lead to disorder and every evil practice. Isn t that what we are seeing around the world at the moment? In places like Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Syria and so on. Earthly wisdom in these countries has led to disorder and every evil practice hasn t it? Page 5 of 12
And yet we shouldn t let ourselves of the hook. 6 The earthly wisdom of those countries stares us in the face from our TV screens? But maybe our earthly wisdom is a little more subtle. We tell a lie that no-one is going to call us on. We harbor bitter envy and jealousy in our hearts and no-one really knows. We quietly hope that someone fails so we can gloat about it? We quietly hope someone s kids or grand-kids are naughtier than ours? Or not as successful as ours? We are nice to someone s face but inside and when talking to others we dislike them and scheme against them? We re two faced. We have double standards. James says this type of thinking this type of wisdom leads to disorder literally confusion and then ends up with every evil practice. It s a snowball effect. A slippery slope! b) Heavenly wisdom (v17-18) [Powerpoint 7a-Heading/Heavenly wisdom] Thankfully there s an alternative to this earthly wisdom. See v17 it s wisdom that comes from heaven Heavenly wisdom! When wisdom comes from Heaven it has God s agenda and God s will in mind rather than human s agenda and human s will in mind. And heavenly wisdom James says in v17 is very different to earthly wisdom. In fact it has 8 qualities that make it special. Page 6 of 12
Heavenly wisdom is: 7 [Powerpoint 7b-8 qualities] 1) Pure which means it s clean and perfect it has to be because it s wisdom from God himself 2) Peace-loving it s wisdom that is always looking for a peaceful way to settle a dispute and always concerned with keeping relationships in peaceful harmony. That s why Jesus is known as the Prince of Peace. He brings peace between God and humankind by laying down his life on a cross for the sin of the world 3) Considerate - it s wisdom that considers God first, others second and self last. It s servant like. Just like Jesus washed the disciples feet. It s wisdom that considers others feelings so you are not harsh and arrogant even when you are right. 4) Submissive it s wisdom that says I submit my life to you God I will do what you will for my life not what I will for my life. 5) Full of mercy it s wisdom that shows mercy and compassion to all. If you are full of mercy you forgive others easily, you love your enemies as Jesus said you pray for those who persecute you you are quick to forgive - 6) Good fruit It s wisdom that shows practical evidence. It s not just having wisdom in your head but it s wisdom that produces good stuff. It s wisdom that is so obvious to others by the evidence they see in you before their eyes. As Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians that s what this Page 7 of 12
good fruit looks like: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 8 faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 7) Impartial it s wisdom that doesn t play favourites. It treats everyone as equal. 8) Sincere it s wisdom that is genuine. You re not acting what people see is what you really are. It s wisdom that comes from a good heart. As you look through this list of what heavenly wisdom looks like in v17 how are you going? Is it obvious to others that you display heavenly wisdom or do you think people would see you as a person who displays earthly wisdom? (pause) If the qualities of this heavenly wisdom were used in the Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Iraq and Syria there would be no conflict (pause) If the qualities of this heavenly wisdom were used in our relationships with each other they would be great relationships! (pause) Conclusion As you listened to our OT passage this morning. Were you impressed with how King Solomon handled this difficult situation? 2 distressed mothers. Page 8 of 12
9 Both seeming to be sincere and telling the truth both seeming to have a genuine claim to the baby that was still alive. I read this story to the kids at Scripture a couple of weeks ago. As I got to the part where King Solomon gave the order to cut the baby in half. The class teacher was having a heart failure! (pause) I reassured her it would be a happy ending before I continued the story. But after class it occurred to me How was Solomon able to come to his wise decision? (pause) Well when Solomon came to be king. God said to him Ask for whatever you want me to give you (1 Kings 3:5) Here s what Solomon said: [Powerpoint 8] 7 Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours? Solomon was smart enough to realize to be king and govern his people fairly and carefully he needed wisdom not of this world but from Heaven. And it s the same for each one of us here today. Page 9 of 12
As we run our families, run our lives, run our church, deal with people we need 10 wisdom just like Solomon asked for wisdom that gives us a discerning heart wisdom that allows us to distinguish between right and wrong. [Powerpoint 9] James has already told us right at the beginning of his book in chapter 1 verse 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. To finish up then one final thought on the story of King Solomon. As you read this passage it seems crazy that King Solomon would suggest cutting the baby in half. But yet that suggestion produced the required result didn t it. That s because the wisdom of God seems foolishness when you look at it in human terms. That s how we can view Jesus dying on the cross. From a worldly point of view we could say that s crazy why would God allow his only son to die on a cross for the sin of the world? Why would the so called Messiah and Saviour of the world die? how is that going to save anyone? But it does! Jesus death meant our sin was dealt with. Jesus death meant we are forgiven. God s ways are not the world s ways. God s wisdom is not like the world s wisdom. The apostle Paul picks up on this point in 1 Corinthians. Page 10 of 12
I m going to finish up - by reading from 1 Cor 1:18-25 11 As it sums up the difference between worldly wisdom and earthly wisdom. [Powerpoint 10] 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate. 20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. [Powerpoint 11] 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Friends how do you view God s wisdom from heaven? Do you see it as foolishness or do you see it as a superior wisdom that is far beyond the wisdom of this world? Which wisdom will you embrace this day Worldly wisdom OR Heavenly wisdom? Let s pray Page 11 of 12
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