Daniel Pasaribu
"THE WISDOM OF GOD VERSUS THE WISDOM OF MEN” : (James 3: 13-18)
Monday Sermon For LJUSC, February 28, 2012
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
When we started studying the book of James, a Servant of God, Steve Carr said that many theologians including Martin Luther struggled with James’ theology because it was so full of laws, do’s and dont’s and we’ve been taught that the gospel is not about works but about grace. We are not under law but grace. So what is up with James opening up a can of legalism on us? Isn’t this a contradiction of sorts?
This is why it is important to put the book of James in its proper context. The book of James is a specific type of literature known in the ancient world as wisdom literature. Wisdom literature was primarily proverbial, it was full of quick witty sayings; usually was poetic; very directive and often contain very obvious advice. This literature taught you how to be a wise person and how to make good decisions. Wisdom literature usually focused on topics like understanding and discernment and knowledge.
The Old Testament contains wisdom literature; Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are wisdom literature. Job is also considered wisdom literature. Other ancient cultures also had wisdom literature. The sayings of Confucius are wisdom literature. The Egyptians had wisdom literature. The Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle wrote volumes on wisdom.
On top of this kinds of Wisdom then we know that The Old Testament also held wisdom in high regards Initiated by the mind of God.
Proverbs 8:11, "For wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things cannot compare with her.
Proverbs 16:16, “How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.”
Wisdom was the key to prosperity, success and living to a ripe old age. In those days if you survived to old age, you must have been wise to avoid death because people usually died early. Wisdom was so sought after in the ancient world that when Solomon was asked by God in 1 Kings 4 of all thing in this world what do want, Solomon said “wisdom.”
Now if God came to you and was going to grant you a wish what would you wish for besides three more wishes. I would say most of us would wish for riches or money, maybe health. Solomon said, “wisdom” and the Bible says that Solomon was wiser than all the sages of his day. In fact, Solomon was considered the wisest man who ever lived.
James is a book of wisdom. In fact, much of what James writes about you can find in the book of Proverbs. For instance James talked about the tongue. Proverbs talks also extensively about the tongue:
Proverbs 15:22 :"The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly".
What is truly wisdom according to your opinion? In fact, there are a million definitions of wisdom based on men's knowledge and understanding.
If we go to the bookstore or on Amazon.com and you will find all kinds of books giving advise on how to Live a Purpose Driven Life and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In the Business section you read book like Good to Great. And a new one written by Jeffrey Pffefer entitled, What Were They Thinking: Unconventional Wisdom About Management. All these titles echo wisdom…
The funny thing is that even though the word wisdom appears in the Bible over 300 times, I am yet to find anywhere where it really defines wisdom. It tells us what is the wise thing to do, what is not wise to do, it tells us where wisdom begins, it tells us to get wisdom. But wisdom is not really defined in the Bible but through the scriptures I try to show you the definition of wisdom that I have arrived at :
"True Wisdom is the ability to live (act) in harmony with the created order of God".
The Bible teaches us that God is an orderly God (1 Corinthians 14:33, For God is not a God of disorder but of peace). He created this world with a certain order to it.
Oliver O’Donovan stated in the book of Resurrection and Moral Order (1986):
"We must understand creation not merely as the raw material out of which the world as we know it is composed, but as the order and coherence in which it is composed. To speak of this world as created is already to speak of an order. By virtue of the fact that there is a Creator, there is also a creation that is ordered to its Creator, a world which exists as his creation and in no other way so that by its existence it points to God".
There are phenomenon in this world that you can predict with precision. The orderliness of God is reflected in the consistency and structure of nature or the created order. The created order operates according to something we call laws. So wisdom would be living in harmony with these laws.
There are two basic types of laws in this world:
1. THE PHYSICAL LAWS OF NATURE
Jeremiah 33:25 :
This is what the LORD says: ’If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth”.
There are fixed physical laws of the universe. In fact that word “fixed” is Hebrew word that means, “cut in, inscribed or decreed.” These laws are cut into the fabric of the universe.
Scott Rae writes in his book : , “God’s wisdom includes the material laws of the universe and also includes interpersonal and especially moral knowledge. It is ‘inscribed’ in nature and can be discovered by the human mind and reason.”
Think about this. Being wise means that you understand and act in harmony with these physical laws. If I told you that I was going home and I was going to the top of my apartment building and I was going to jump off it you would call me a fool would you not? Jumping off a building is not a wise thing to do because it is not in harmony with created order. And you can predict that the laws of gravity usually hold up and I’m going to wipe out. Living against the physical laws of nature is foolish.
In Proverbs 8:22-31 it is clear that God’s wisdom was intimately bound up in physical creation. In this passage wisdom is personified and wisdom actually speaks to us:
2. THE MORAL LAWS OF NATURE
This could also be called the moral order. Scientific laws rule the physical order. Moral laws rule the moral order. So Wisdom is also living in harmony with the natural moral dimension of creation. When I talk about the moral order I mean that which dictates to us the right way to live or the godly way to live. People used to call this prudence.
C.S. Lewis said, "The Moral Law tells us the tune we have to play: our instincts are merely the keys..."
Where do moral laws come from? The primary source of the moral law is also the created order or nature. Morality comes from the same place that physical laws come from. It is written into the fabric of the universe and it is encoded on our consciences. We are born with a moral sense. This is what Paul says in Romans chapter 2.
Indeed, when pagans, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.
Paul argues that even the pagans, the Gentiles who had never read the Bible, never been to a church have access to moral order. It is written on their conscience. There is an external and internal moral order.
These laws are self-evident if you just observe the way things are in the world. So Wisdom is the ability to observe the world, scrutinize circumstances and live in harmony with both the physical and moral order set in place by God.
What does the Bible call the ability to weigh a situation, consider the consequences of your actions and make the wise or right decision? Discernment!
Here is what discernment means: to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend.
In fact, there are a lot of situations in your life where you are not going to be able to open the Bible and get a direct answer and you are going to have to use discernment to make the right choice.
Wisdom pushes us to understand how the world works and gives us the possibility of acting in ways that fit the pattern of the created order. Even those who have never gone to church or read the Bible have access to wisdom.
Proverbs 14: 33 :
“Wisdom reclines in the heart of the discerning and even among fools she lets herself be known”.
Often we over-spiritualize things like wisdom and discernment but they are fairly practical common sense things. If you read the commands in the book of Proverbs or James they are pretty common sense. Proverbs says in several places; Don’t sleep with a prostitute that’s not going to go well with you. Don’t drink too much wine, you’ll get drunk. Don’t spend more money than you have! Those aren’t really all that novel ideas.
Discernment and wisdom are often gained from understanding and reason and being able to choose the right thing. It is living in harmony with the created order from God.
James 3:14-16:
“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice”.
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
James tells us that there are actually two types of wisdom.
1. There is godly wisdom which is the type of wisdom that I described before (TRUE
WISDOM)
2. There is earthly wisdom (FALSE WISDOM). What is then earthly wisdom?
Earthly Wisdom is living in harmony with the corrupted order.
There are two orders in this world. There is the original created order; the way God originally designed this world at creation. It was good, perfect, God called the shots. Man was in submission to God.
But something happened to the created order. Look at Genesis 3:6:
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it”.
Eve sought another type of wisdom. What is the wisdom that Eve wanted? It was worldly wisdom. Satan tempted her with worldly knowledge, with worldly wisdom. And after the fall the corrupted order emerges. Eve got what she wanted; what we all want, a world where we rule and we do things our way and not God’s. But it is a corrupted order. James describes it as disorder.
To have worldly wisdom means to live according to the spirit of the present age. And this age is a corrupted order where envy and selfish ambition and bitterness are the way you get ahead. If you harmonize with greed, self-interest, manipulation, strife and conflict you are living according to worldly wisdom.
It is survival of the fittest in the corrupted order. Those attributes can actually work to your benefit in the corrupted order. You can get ahead by stabbing co-workers in the back, by spreading gossip with your tongue.
I read a study that most people who rise to management and leadership positions in corporations usually are people with lower standards of morality; they just know how to kiss butt and work the system. The college students most likely to cheat on tests are Harvard MBAs. And they will probably make a lot of money!
Greed is good on Wall Street. Be the alpha male! Live up to your evolutionary heritage. Look out for yourself. Take all you can. Lie to get ahead. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you and if they do; exact revenge.
James says here you can describe the corrupted order also by bitter envy or bitterness. Isn’t that a good way to sum up the attitude of most us down here in this corrupted order. We are just angry and bitter down here.
If you are a person who ascribes to worldly wisdom you look around at this world’s system and you take stock of the way the world turns and you do what you have to do to get ahead. It is what it is. When in Rome do as the Romans do. Sometimes worldly wisdom works for you. But it is a corrupt wisdom. It masquerades as wisdom but in the end it is foolishness. And in the end you pay the consequences. You end up bitter and disillusioned like Sigmund Freud. Freud was smart but not very wise.
1 Corinthians 3:18-20 (New International Version):
“Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"[a]; and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."[b]
James 3 : 17-18 :
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness”.
Notice the difference between worldly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. Is this not the way that God originally ordered the creation to be? In the Garden of Eden things were pure. Adam and Eve lived in peace with one another.
This is not the way things are in the world today. Would you say the world is peace loving, considerate, submissive, merciful, impartial, sincere? No, the world is full of jealousy, conflict ,hate and prejudice and judgment.
In fact, if you are considerate or submissive in our modern world you are going to get eatin’ up. It is Dog eat dog and this world eats peace loving pansies like yourself for dinner.
"JESUS CHRIST IS ABSOLUTELY THE EPITOME OF WISDOM, THE SOURCE OF LIFE".
You know the only person I have ever met that I truly see any of those traits in? Jesus Christ. Think about it, Jesus is the manifestation of all those traits. James describes here. He is the epitome of wisdom, the source of life. When Jesus was here on earth he lived wisely.
Can we answer these questions: Who is the manifestation of heavenly wisdom? Who was wisdom in the flesh?
Colossians 2:2 says, “Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
How we can recognize and live with the heavenly wisdom according to His wonderful promises which is written in James 1:5?
“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him.”
What God is offering us is the gift of His divine wisdom, which is quite different to the wisdom of men.
God’s divine wisdom is not with us all the time at out beck and call. Instead, it comes as God considers we need it, for the benefit of ourselves or others. Solomon appears to be the only man who walked in what could be considered divine wisdom most of the time, as First King’s 4:29-30 says: “And God gave Solomon exceeding great wisdom and understanding, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt.”
As we read further into the General Epistle of James, the brother of Jesus, James lays out for us the marks of divine wisdom as he saw them. James 3:17 puts it this way:
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”
Let us now find the conclusion of this sermon to understand the Characteristics of the gift of God’s Wisdom which James clarifies for us:
1. God’s Wisdom of “from above.” It is not something over which we have control and is given to us as a gift as God sees fit. However, just because it is a gift, does not mean we should not seek after it or ask God fir it, for that is exactly what James 1:5 requires of us. If we don’t have it, it may well be, as James 4:2 says “… you have not because you ask not.”
2. God’s Wisdom is “pure.” It is chaste, it is holy and it is pure. The Greek for pure used here is ‘hagnos’ [ ἁγνός ] meaning also innocent, modest and perfect; in other words, it is not in any way sensual. It means First in both rank and time.
3. God’s Wisdom is “Peaceable.” It means salutary, peaceable, pacific, loving peace, brining peace with it, peaceful. The Wisdom of God, therefore, does not bring fear, or worry or concern. The Wisdom of God gets to the heart of the matter and sets aside all other human emotions to deliver peace, and deliver it abundantly.
As a side note here: When we study peace we need to recognise that peace at any price is unbiblical. The loving peace mentioned here, can also mean bringing peace, as in Hebrews 12:11 (the only other New Testament example), but clearly great as peace is, purity (righteousness) comes before peace and peace at any price is not worth the having. For this reason, Jesus spurned Satan’s peace of surrender.
4. God’s Wisdom is “Gentle.“ It is meek, it is modest, it is kind and is not self-attention grabbing. It is mild, gentle, in moderation, patient, suitable, equitable, fair and seemingly.
5. God’s Wisdom is “open to reason” or easily entreated. It is not stubborn, or obstinate, but yielding to others, easily obeying, compliant and approachable. Open to reason, means of a yielding disposition in all indifferent things; obsequious, docile. In other words, we are not standing on our own position and dictating our own terms.
6. God’s Wisdom is “full of mercy.“ It is ready to pass by a transgression (an unintentional sin) and to grant forgiveness to those who offend, and performing every possible act of kindness and practical help, As Thayer’s Greek Definitions defines mercy:
“kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them; 1a) of men towards men: to exercise the virtue of mercy, show one’s self merciful; 1b) of God towards men: in general providence; the mercy and clemency of God in providing and offering to men salvation by Christ; 1c) the mercy of Christ, whereby at his return to judgment he will bless true Christians with eternal life”.
7. God’s Wisdom is “full of good fruits.“ Good fruits, here also means good deeds the fruit of righteousness (Philippians 1:11) as well as those from Galatians 5:22-23 “… the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Divine wisdom is a compassion and beneficence to the poor; feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the widows and fatherless in their affliction; and doing all other good works and duties, both with respect to God and man, as fruits of both grace, and of the Spirit.
8 .God’s Wisdom is “impartial,” without partiality and being of no respect to persons. It means without dubiousness, ambiguity or uncertainty. In other words, it is clear that Divine Wisdom does not pander to the man, or a person’s celebrity or worth in worldly terms.
James 2:1-10 also speaks to this impartiality aspect for divine wisdom to which all Christians are expected to aspire, saying:
“My brothers, do not have the faith of our Lord Christ, the Lord of glory, with respecter of faces. For if there comes a gold-fingered man in fancy clothing into your assembly, and if there also comes in a poor man in shabby clothing, and if you have respect to him who has the fancy clothing and say to him, You sit here in a good place, and say to the poor, You stand there, or sit here under my footstool; Did you not make a difference among yourselves and became judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him?
But you dishonoured the poor one.
Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do they not blaspheme that worthy Name by which you are called?
If you fulfill the royal Law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin and are convicted by the Law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
9.God’s Wisdom is “sincere,“ and without hypocrisy. This means here unfeigned, undisguised, sincere and we are no putting on an act, either with respect to God or man; not making show of that which they have not, or do not intend. As Wikipedia says: “Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie.” Hypocrisy comes from the original word meaning ‘play acting’ or ‘acting out’ and ‘coward.’ When we are sincere, as Christians are required to be in all things and at all times, then what we outwardly demonstrate is the same as that which inwardly drives us and which we inwardly believe and have faith in.
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We have come to understand that many of the truths are useful to Christians and non-Christians, their purpose in the Scriptures is to guide the child of God into living a meaningful life in communion with the LORD and his people. The knowledge provided is relational and is to impact our relationship with ourselves, God, and our fellow person, whether believer or unbeliever.
The genuineness of faith, and with it eternal life, is at stake in the basis we offer for faith. It is possible to offer a basis for faith which ruins faith. There is a kind of foundation which will destroy the superstructure of faith. That's why it is so crucial for our faith not to rest in the wisdom of men but in the wisdom of God because if it rests in the wisdom of men it is a mirage, a bogus faith.
The end of the conclusion is that God’s wisdom presented in James 3:13-18 will be able to develop God’s character in our lives through impact relationships by guiding us to make proper choices in life. Two ways are presented: the way of wisdom, which heeds the instructions of the LORD and so yields positive relationship with him, and the way of folly, they way of living without regard for God or his instruction and which yields only destruction.
It is finally our choice to live with these Characteristics of God’s Wisdom which are also characteristics which every Christian life is intended and expected to mirror. These characteristics are divine and we who are the Temple of God must reflect that which is inside us, the Spirit of God to enable us to live with the Wisdom of God instead of the Wisdom of Men during the perilous time in these Last Days.
To God Be All The Glory And Honor From Now On And Forevermore, A m e n .
Daniel Pasaribu
End of Sermon
"THE WISDOM OF GOD VERSUS THE WISDOM OF MEN” : (James 3: 13-18)
Monday Sermon For LJUSC, February 28, 2012
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
When we started studying the book of James, a Servant of God, Steve Carr said that many theologians including Martin Luther struggled with James’ theology because it was so full of laws, do’s and dont’s and we’ve been taught that the gospel is not about works but about grace. We are not under law but grace. So what is up with James opening up a can of legalism on us? Isn’t this a contradiction of sorts?
This is why it is important to put the book of James in its proper context. The book of James is a specific type of literature known in the ancient world as wisdom literature. Wisdom literature was primarily proverbial, it was full of quick witty sayings; usually was poetic; very directive and often contain very obvious advice. This literature taught you how to be a wise person and how to make good decisions. Wisdom literature usually focused on topics like understanding and discernment and knowledge.
The Old Testament contains wisdom literature; Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are wisdom literature. Job is also considered wisdom literature. Other ancient cultures also had wisdom literature. The sayings of Confucius are wisdom literature. The Egyptians had wisdom literature. The Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle wrote volumes on wisdom.
On top of this kinds of Wisdom then we know that The Old Testament also held wisdom in high regards Initiated by the mind of God.
Proverbs 8:11, "For wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things cannot compare with her.
Proverbs 16:16, “How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.”
Wisdom was the key to prosperity, success and living to a ripe old age. In those days if you survived to old age, you must have been wise to avoid death because people usually died early. Wisdom was so sought after in the ancient world that when Solomon was asked by God in 1 Kings 4 of all thing in this world what do want, Solomon said “wisdom.”
Now if God came to you and was going to grant you a wish what would you wish for besides three more wishes. I would say most of us would wish for riches or money, maybe health. Solomon said, “wisdom” and the Bible says that Solomon was wiser than all the sages of his day. In fact, Solomon was considered the wisest man who ever lived.
James is a book of wisdom. In fact, much of what James writes about you can find in the book of Proverbs. For instance James talked about the tongue. Proverbs talks also extensively about the tongue:
Proverbs 15:22 :"The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly".
What is truly wisdom according to your opinion? In fact, there are a million definitions of wisdom based on men's knowledge and understanding.
If we go to the bookstore or on Amazon.com and you will find all kinds of books giving advise on how to Live a Purpose Driven Life and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In the Business section you read book like Good to Great. And a new one written by Jeffrey Pffefer entitled, What Were They Thinking: Unconventional Wisdom About Management. All these titles echo wisdom…
The funny thing is that even though the word wisdom appears in the Bible over 300 times, I am yet to find anywhere where it really defines wisdom. It tells us what is the wise thing to do, what is not wise to do, it tells us where wisdom begins, it tells us to get wisdom. But wisdom is not really defined in the Bible but through the scriptures I try to show you the definition of wisdom that I have arrived at :
"True Wisdom is the ability to live (act) in harmony with the created order of God".
The Bible teaches us that God is an orderly God (1 Corinthians 14:33, For God is not a God of disorder but of peace). He created this world with a certain order to it.
Oliver O’Donovan stated in the book of Resurrection and Moral Order (1986):
"We must understand creation not merely as the raw material out of which the world as we know it is composed, but as the order and coherence in which it is composed. To speak of this world as created is already to speak of an order. By virtue of the fact that there is a Creator, there is also a creation that is ordered to its Creator, a world which exists as his creation and in no other way so that by its existence it points to God".
There are phenomenon in this world that you can predict with precision. The orderliness of God is reflected in the consistency and structure of nature or the created order. The created order operates according to something we call laws. So wisdom would be living in harmony with these laws.
There are two basic types of laws in this world:
1. THE PHYSICAL LAWS OF NATURE
Jeremiah 33:25 :
This is what the LORD says: ’If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth”.
There are fixed physical laws of the universe. In fact that word “fixed” is Hebrew word that means, “cut in, inscribed or decreed.” These laws are cut into the fabric of the universe.
Scott Rae writes in his book : , “God’s wisdom includes the material laws of the universe and also includes interpersonal and especially moral knowledge. It is ‘inscribed’ in nature and can be discovered by the human mind and reason.”
Think about this. Being wise means that you understand and act in harmony with these physical laws. If I told you that I was going home and I was going to the top of my apartment building and I was going to jump off it you would call me a fool would you not? Jumping off a building is not a wise thing to do because it is not in harmony with created order. And you can predict that the laws of gravity usually hold up and I’m going to wipe out. Living against the physical laws of nature is foolish.
In Proverbs 8:22-31 it is clear that God’s wisdom was intimately bound up in physical creation. In this passage wisdom is personified and wisdom actually speaks to us:
2. THE MORAL LAWS OF NATURE
This could also be called the moral order. Scientific laws rule the physical order. Moral laws rule the moral order. So Wisdom is also living in harmony with the natural moral dimension of creation. When I talk about the moral order I mean that which dictates to us the right way to live or the godly way to live. People used to call this prudence.
C.S. Lewis said, "The Moral Law tells us the tune we have to play: our instincts are merely the keys..."
Where do moral laws come from? The primary source of the moral law is also the created order or nature. Morality comes from the same place that physical laws come from. It is written into the fabric of the universe and it is encoded on our consciences. We are born with a moral sense. This is what Paul says in Romans chapter 2.
Indeed, when pagans, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.
Paul argues that even the pagans, the Gentiles who had never read the Bible, never been to a church have access to moral order. It is written on their conscience. There is an external and internal moral order.
These laws are self-evident if you just observe the way things are in the world. So Wisdom is the ability to observe the world, scrutinize circumstances and live in harmony with both the physical and moral order set in place by God.
What does the Bible call the ability to weigh a situation, consider the consequences of your actions and make the wise or right decision? Discernment!
Here is what discernment means: to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend.
In fact, there are a lot of situations in your life where you are not going to be able to open the Bible and get a direct answer and you are going to have to use discernment to make the right choice.
Wisdom pushes us to understand how the world works and gives us the possibility of acting in ways that fit the pattern of the created order. Even those who have never gone to church or read the Bible have access to wisdom.
Proverbs 14: 33 :
“Wisdom reclines in the heart of the discerning and even among fools she lets herself be known”.
Often we over-spiritualize things like wisdom and discernment but they are fairly practical common sense things. If you read the commands in the book of Proverbs or James they are pretty common sense. Proverbs says in several places; Don’t sleep with a prostitute that’s not going to go well with you. Don’t drink too much wine, you’ll get drunk. Don’t spend more money than you have! Those aren’t really all that novel ideas.
Discernment and wisdom are often gained from understanding and reason and being able to choose the right thing. It is living in harmony with the created order from God.
James 3:14-16:
“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice”.
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
James tells us that there are actually two types of wisdom.
1. There is godly wisdom which is the type of wisdom that I described before (TRUE
WISDOM)
2. There is earthly wisdom (FALSE WISDOM). What is then earthly wisdom?
Earthly Wisdom is living in harmony with the corrupted order.
There are two orders in this world. There is the original created order; the way God originally designed this world at creation. It was good, perfect, God called the shots. Man was in submission to God.
But something happened to the created order. Look at Genesis 3:6:
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it”.
Eve sought another type of wisdom. What is the wisdom that Eve wanted? It was worldly wisdom. Satan tempted her with worldly knowledge, with worldly wisdom. And after the fall the corrupted order emerges. Eve got what she wanted; what we all want, a world where we rule and we do things our way and not God’s. But it is a corrupted order. James describes it as disorder.
To have worldly wisdom means to live according to the spirit of the present age. And this age is a corrupted order where envy and selfish ambition and bitterness are the way you get ahead. If you harmonize with greed, self-interest, manipulation, strife and conflict you are living according to worldly wisdom.
It is survival of the fittest in the corrupted order. Those attributes can actually work to your benefit in the corrupted order. You can get ahead by stabbing co-workers in the back, by spreading gossip with your tongue.
I read a study that most people who rise to management and leadership positions in corporations usually are people with lower standards of morality; they just know how to kiss butt and work the system. The college students most likely to cheat on tests are Harvard MBAs. And they will probably make a lot of money!
Greed is good on Wall Street. Be the alpha male! Live up to your evolutionary heritage. Look out for yourself. Take all you can. Lie to get ahead. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you and if they do; exact revenge.
James says here you can describe the corrupted order also by bitter envy or bitterness. Isn’t that a good way to sum up the attitude of most us down here in this corrupted order. We are just angry and bitter down here.
If you are a person who ascribes to worldly wisdom you look around at this world’s system and you take stock of the way the world turns and you do what you have to do to get ahead. It is what it is. When in Rome do as the Romans do. Sometimes worldly wisdom works for you. But it is a corrupt wisdom. It masquerades as wisdom but in the end it is foolishness. And in the end you pay the consequences. You end up bitter and disillusioned like Sigmund Freud. Freud was smart but not very wise.
1 Corinthians 3:18-20 (New International Version):
“Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"[a]; and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."[b]
James 3 : 17-18 :
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness”.
Notice the difference between worldly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. Is this not the way that God originally ordered the creation to be? In the Garden of Eden things were pure. Adam and Eve lived in peace with one another.
This is not the way things are in the world today. Would you say the world is peace loving, considerate, submissive, merciful, impartial, sincere? No, the world is full of jealousy, conflict ,hate and prejudice and judgment.
In fact, if you are considerate or submissive in our modern world you are going to get eatin’ up. It is Dog eat dog and this world eats peace loving pansies like yourself for dinner.
"JESUS CHRIST IS ABSOLUTELY THE EPITOME OF WISDOM, THE SOURCE OF LIFE".
You know the only person I have ever met that I truly see any of those traits in? Jesus Christ. Think about it, Jesus is the manifestation of all those traits. James describes here. He is the epitome of wisdom, the source of life. When Jesus was here on earth he lived wisely.
Can we answer these questions: Who is the manifestation of heavenly wisdom? Who was wisdom in the flesh?
Colossians 2:2 says, “Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
How we can recognize and live with the heavenly wisdom according to His wonderful promises which is written in James 1:5?
“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him.”
What God is offering us is the gift of His divine wisdom, which is quite different to the wisdom of men.
God’s divine wisdom is not with us all the time at out beck and call. Instead, it comes as God considers we need it, for the benefit of ourselves or others. Solomon appears to be the only man who walked in what could be considered divine wisdom most of the time, as First King’s 4:29-30 says: “And God gave Solomon exceeding great wisdom and understanding, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt.”
As we read further into the General Epistle of James, the brother of Jesus, James lays out for us the marks of divine wisdom as he saw them. James 3:17 puts it this way:
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”
Let us now find the conclusion of this sermon to understand the Characteristics of the gift of God’s Wisdom which James clarifies for us:
1. God’s Wisdom of “from above.” It is not something over which we have control and is given to us as a gift as God sees fit. However, just because it is a gift, does not mean we should not seek after it or ask God fir it, for that is exactly what James 1:5 requires of us. If we don’t have it, it may well be, as James 4:2 says “… you have not because you ask not.”
2. God’s Wisdom is “pure.” It is chaste, it is holy and it is pure. The Greek for pure used here is ‘hagnos’ [ ἁγνός ] meaning also innocent, modest and perfect; in other words, it is not in any way sensual. It means First in both rank and time.
3. God’s Wisdom is “Peaceable.” It means salutary, peaceable, pacific, loving peace, brining peace with it, peaceful. The Wisdom of God, therefore, does not bring fear, or worry or concern. The Wisdom of God gets to the heart of the matter and sets aside all other human emotions to deliver peace, and deliver it abundantly.
As a side note here: When we study peace we need to recognise that peace at any price is unbiblical. The loving peace mentioned here, can also mean bringing peace, as in Hebrews 12:11 (the only other New Testament example), but clearly great as peace is, purity (righteousness) comes before peace and peace at any price is not worth the having. For this reason, Jesus spurned Satan’s peace of surrender.
4. God’s Wisdom is “Gentle.“ It is meek, it is modest, it is kind and is not self-attention grabbing. It is mild, gentle, in moderation, patient, suitable, equitable, fair and seemingly.
5. God’s Wisdom is “open to reason” or easily entreated. It is not stubborn, or obstinate, but yielding to others, easily obeying, compliant and approachable. Open to reason, means of a yielding disposition in all indifferent things; obsequious, docile. In other words, we are not standing on our own position and dictating our own terms.
6. God’s Wisdom is “full of mercy.“ It is ready to pass by a transgression (an unintentional sin) and to grant forgiveness to those who offend, and performing every possible act of kindness and practical help, As Thayer’s Greek Definitions defines mercy:
“kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them; 1a) of men towards men: to exercise the virtue of mercy, show one’s self merciful; 1b) of God towards men: in general providence; the mercy and clemency of God in providing and offering to men salvation by Christ; 1c) the mercy of Christ, whereby at his return to judgment he will bless true Christians with eternal life”.
7. God’s Wisdom is “full of good fruits.“ Good fruits, here also means good deeds the fruit of righteousness (Philippians 1:11) as well as those from Galatians 5:22-23 “… the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Divine wisdom is a compassion and beneficence to the poor; feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the widows and fatherless in their affliction; and doing all other good works and duties, both with respect to God and man, as fruits of both grace, and of the Spirit.
8 .God’s Wisdom is “impartial,” without partiality and being of no respect to persons. It means without dubiousness, ambiguity or uncertainty. In other words, it is clear that Divine Wisdom does not pander to the man, or a person’s celebrity or worth in worldly terms.
James 2:1-10 also speaks to this impartiality aspect for divine wisdom to which all Christians are expected to aspire, saying:
“My brothers, do not have the faith of our Lord Christ, the Lord of glory, with respecter of faces. For if there comes a gold-fingered man in fancy clothing into your assembly, and if there also comes in a poor man in shabby clothing, and if you have respect to him who has the fancy clothing and say to him, You sit here in a good place, and say to the poor, You stand there, or sit here under my footstool; Did you not make a difference among yourselves and became judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him?
But you dishonoured the poor one.
Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do they not blaspheme that worthy Name by which you are called?
If you fulfill the royal Law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin and are convicted by the Law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
9.God’s Wisdom is “sincere,“ and without hypocrisy. This means here unfeigned, undisguised, sincere and we are no putting on an act, either with respect to God or man; not making show of that which they have not, or do not intend. As Wikipedia says: “Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie.” Hypocrisy comes from the original word meaning ‘play acting’ or ‘acting out’ and ‘coward.’ When we are sincere, as Christians are required to be in all things and at all times, then what we outwardly demonstrate is the same as that which inwardly drives us and which we inwardly believe and have faith in.
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We have come to understand that many of the truths are useful to Christians and non-Christians, their purpose in the Scriptures is to guide the child of God into living a meaningful life in communion with the LORD and his people. The knowledge provided is relational and is to impact our relationship with ourselves, God, and our fellow person, whether believer or unbeliever.
The genuineness of faith, and with it eternal life, is at stake in the basis we offer for faith. It is possible to offer a basis for faith which ruins faith. There is a kind of foundation which will destroy the superstructure of faith. That's why it is so crucial for our faith not to rest in the wisdom of men but in the wisdom of God because if it rests in the wisdom of men it is a mirage, a bogus faith.
The end of the conclusion is that God’s wisdom presented in James 3:13-18 will be able to develop God’s character in our lives through impact relationships by guiding us to make proper choices in life. Two ways are presented: the way of wisdom, which heeds the instructions of the LORD and so yields positive relationship with him, and the way of folly, they way of living without regard for God or his instruction and which yields only destruction.
It is finally our choice to live with these Characteristics of God’s Wisdom which are also characteristics which every Christian life is intended and expected to mirror. These characteristics are divine and we who are the Temple of God must reflect that which is inside us, the Spirit of God to enable us to live with the Wisdom of God instead of the Wisdom of Men during the perilous time in these Last Days.
To God Be All The Glory And Honor From Now On And Forevermore, A m e n .
Daniel Pasaribu
End of Sermon
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