Hellish Wisdom vs. Heavenly Wisdom (V)
This is a transcript. It may contain some inaccuracies.
Recently, if you're up-to-date in your news intake, you probably are aware that Greenland is back into the news. Greenland is the world's largest island. It may also be history's greatest real estate development scheme. Eric the Red, you've probably heard of him in your history class. If you remember, maybe you haven't. Well, he was a Viking forced to leave his home in Iceland after a brutal fight in which he killed a couple of his countrymen. So he was sort of an exile.
And in 982, Eric the Red sailed west and arrived at a new land. He soon discovered what we call Greenland. It was anything but Green-land. It was a terribly bleak place. Most of the island lies north of the Arctic Circle. 85% of “Greenland” is basically covered in a thick coating of ice.
So this man, Eric the Red, had a problem. He's there by himself, but didn't want to be by himself. And he wanted to encourage other Icelandic peoples to come and join him there. But who would want to live in a place like that? So, he came up with this idea to name the new island Greenland. He called it Greenland, clever advertising ruse. And his fellow countrymen, well, they gobbled it up completely.
In fact, 25 boats filled with 400 to 500 settlers made their journey from Iceland to Greenland, I mean, it's ironic. 11 of the boats were lost on the journey. Only 14 of them arrived. But when they arrived, they soon discovered that what had happened, is they had been duped. It wasn't at all what they expected.
Well, not only, beloved, in the physical world, but also in the spiritual world, things are not always as they appear. And you can't always believe the label. What is advertised may not be, in fact, what you are getting. You always, even today, I mean, you always have to look at the fine print, and sometimes it's so fine that you can't see it. That's what James has been trying to teach us throughout his letter, that the label Christian does not make the person a real Christian. And that the advertising of a righteous person may be, in fact, false advertising.
He's made the point very pointedly in the last section of James chapter 3, and this evening we come to our fifth and last look at these verses, and I trust you have found this journey, particularly in the last portion of James 3, the concerning wisdom, very helpful. But we're going to complete this paragraph, Lord willing, this evening, and as we've learned over the last several weeks, these verses here contrast two kinds of wisdom. Two kinds.
You have in one hand the truly biblically wise man or woman who is characterized by true or with true spiritual maturity, who has embraced the wisdom of God as it is set forth here in the Book of God. But there's also a second kind of wisdom that James wants to warn us about. There's a kind of person who thinks they live by God's wisdom. They're convinced. Convinced himself, that person, he may even have convinced others by using Christian language, pious language, showing off his Biblical knowledge, spending lots of time doing religious stuff. But this person has in fact embraced a counterfeit wisdom, James tells us. It's not the real thing. In fact, they've embraced a counterfeit wisdom that has its origin in demons and those opposed to God. In previous weeks, we've examined how it is that we can recognize this counterfeit wisdom, this false wisdom.
So I'm not going to go over that again tonight. Last week, if you remember, we began to look at verses 17 and 18, James' analysis of heaven's wisdom, true godly wisdom, the wisdom from above, and we saw together the source of that wisdom. He tells us in verse 17, it is the wisdom from above. That is, it comes from God. It is a gift of God's grace. It is a gracious gift from God.
And the seed of wisdom, as we learned time and time again, and this is very important, the seed of wisdom always, always accompanies genuine saving faith in Jesus Christ. Always. At the moment of your salvation, the moment you entered through the narrow gate, if you're in Christ, God planted within you the seed of godly wisdom.
And that seed, the Bible tells us, slowly grows into a full harvest of wisdom throughout our lives as we use the means that God has provided chiefly, first and foremost, God's Word, the Scripture. That's the source of God's wisdom. We also saw together last week the chief characteristic of heaven's wisdom.
You remember, back in verse 13, we learned one key quality of godly wisdom is what? ‘Prautēti’ translated gentleness or meekness. That is, you remember the two-fold meaning within that word, towards God, a calm, trusting acceptance of God's providence in our lives.
We trust Him, we hold on to His word, even when we don't understand the circumstances, we trust Him. There's that calm, trusting acceptance of the providence of God in our lives, and also, it's a humble, gracious, gentle spirit towards others. So you have it vertically and horizontally. And that is an important part of wisdom.
But in verse 17, we saw last week, there's a second key quality, always, always associated with this wisdom from above. We could even call this the chief characteristic of heaven's wisdom, and it is purity, purity. But the wisdom from above, he says, is first, ‘prōton’, he says, pure, meaning chief. A purity is chief, foremost. It is of foremost importance.
James means that purity is logically foundational to the other virtues of wisdom. Now what is this purity? Well, we discovered together that pure, ‘agnós’, the Greek word, has primarily two senses in the New Testament. One you have is moral or sexual purity, free from defilement of sins of sexual variety. And secondly, it means devotional purity, or whole hearted inward devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, and really the two go together. That's the chief characteristic of spiritual maturity or godly wisdom.
James tells us, it is first and foremost, ‘agnós’, pure. Now that brings us to the end of where we left off last time. Last part of verse 17. The last part of verse 17, James lists for us what I would call the now accompanying characteristics of heaven's wisdom. We saw the chief, and now we want to look at the accompanying characteristics of heaven's wisdom, the wisdom from above. So the chief one being purity, that's the chief quality.
But now notice with the word then, ‘epeita’, we transition out of the state of the heart, which is purity, to how godly wisdom responds to others. How godly wisdom responds to others. Then, ‘epeita’, afterwards in importance. First, foremost, purity. Then, afterwards in importance.
We learned that there are seven other qualities here that are to accompany a life lived in godly wisdom. Now, it's clear that James has already laid the foundation for these qualities. Look back at verse 13. If you have godly wisdom, you're going to show it by or in your deeds, in your works, or in your wise actions. And in verse 13, he also says that those obedient actions will inevitably be sustained in what he calls a good conduct or a way of life, the trajectory of my life, lifestyle. And now he's going to tell us what those qualities are.
Now, in the Greek text, there's something here that is not obvious in the English translation. It's clear in the Greek text that James gave really considerable thought to how he actually arranged the seven qualities. There are three groups. Look at the text and see. The first three all begin in Greek with the same Greek letter and have similar sounding endings. Then you've got the middle two, as in English, they are subordinated with the word “full”, and then you have the last two. They begin with the same Greek letter and have similar really metrical sound.
The question is, why would James be bothered in doing this? Remember, it's a letter to the church, to the believers. And James lived in a culture without a printing press. Not every individual member who heard this letter would have a copy in hand of this letter. In fact, the letter would be read in a corporate gathering, a worship service just like this, and the elder pastor would come and stand and read the letter sent from an apostle. And so almost certainly, James arranges these qualities in such a way, he puts them in a sort of a metrical, rhythmical setting to enable, encourage the people of God to memorize them, to retain them so that they would stay with them, it would stick with them.
Now, we don't have to do that today. Blessed be God, we have multiple copies of James sitting in our hands and sitting upon our shelves at home. But the fact that James wanted his first readers to memorize this list really underscores its importance to us.
So look briefly at these seven qualities that James thought were so important as to present them in a form that would be easily remembered, retained, and recalled by those who heard it. And I think we do ourselves a huge favor, for lack of better expression, if we actually again this week go over this list again and again and let our minds be marinated with these qualities related to wisdom.
So the first one here, following the chief one, is peaceable. You see it? Peaceable. ‘Eirēnikē’ is the Greek word. This word occurs only two times in the New Testament. Here in James 3 and in Hebrews 12:11. There's always been throughout scripture a connection between peace and wisdom.
Listen to Proverbs 3:17. Speaking of wisdom, it says, “And all her”, – referring to wisdom being personified, – “All her pathways are peace”. All of the pathways of wisdom are peace. This is the wisdom of peace.
Now, what does it mean? ‘Eirēnikē’, peaceable. Well, a leading dictionary of Greek studies, word studies, says that this word peaceable means disposed to peace. Ready for peace. Now, one thing we need to clear out. This does not mean, beloved, acquiescence in everything. That's not what James is teaching us here. You know, some people don't want confrontation, so they don't want trouble, they don't want any of that, so they just simply give in constantly. They're always after peace, so whenever there's confrontation, they just immediately give in. That's not what James is talking about here. That's not what he's saying.
It's not acquiescence, it's not giving in, neither is it toleration of sin. It's not just sweeping things under the rug that are sinful in order to have peace, nor, and this is important that you and I understand this, is James encouraging compromise with or agreement with error. That's not what he's saying. That is important.
A better definition of this word would be this, peace loving. Peace loving. Beloved, the truth is, and this is important as well, there are times to fight. There are times to fight. There are hills to die on. There are times to fight for purity, for holiness, for truth. But unfortunately, there are some people, even in some Christian ministries, who enjoy fighting, and that's not what he's talking about.
James says that a person who has this quality, ‘Eirēnikē’, hungers for peace. Even while he is fighting, he doesn't enjoy it. Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers”. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
God is a peacemaker. He's the God of reconciliation. Right? To be a peacemaker or to be peaceable means two things. It means number one, you must seek to preserve peace where it exists. And secondly, you must promote peace where it does not exist. And the New Testament is full of examples of both. For example, in Ephesians 4:3, we are exhorted: “being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. Keep it, preserve it, pursue it.
Hold on to it. Fence it. Romans 14:19, “So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” Pursue it. Promote it. Try to gain it.
You say, but aren't there some people who just simply refuse to be at peace? They just simply refuse to be at peace. Even when you try, they just want to fight. They're contentious people. Absolutely, absolutely. In fact, I'm sure you have known yourself, people like that, and as I have known in my own life, with whom you're trying to work things out and all they want is a fight. Scripture speaks of that situation.
Romans 12:18, “if possible, so far as it depends on you, being at peace with all men”. And by the way, this isn't an excuse just to give up. In fact, it's a challenge. It is a challenge. Have you used every conceivable means? Have you used every resource that you have to be at peace with others? Have you exhausted all of that? Lord, help me. Is that the posture, the attitude of the heart? Is that the disposition? Are you a peace lover? You love peace. Lord, help me be a peacemaker. Lord, help me be an instrument of your peace.
Those words, if prayed sincerely from the heart, embody the prayer of a truly spiritual, wise person. Is that how people, the people who live with you, the people who know you best, is that how they think of you? Peaceable? Or are you contentious? Are you known as a person who loves peace, as a peacemaker, as a peaceable person?
This is a very important quality. And as we go through this list, beloved, may your prayer in mind be, search me, oh God, and know my heart. The next quality, number two, is translated in the LSB gentle, ‘epieikēs’. Now, this is not the same Greek word as the word back in verse 13, translated gentleness or meekness. That Greek word is ‘prautés’. This is ‘epieikēs’, a different Greek word.
It's really hard to translate this word, ‘epieikēs’, and this word in English with one word. It's a rich word. It oozes with different nuances. It carries the ideas of mild, seemly, fitting, fair, moderate, forbearing, courteous, considerate, all of those. This word is best translated graciousness. Big heartedness.
Aristotle contrasted it, this word, with strict justice. In fact, it refers to a generous treatment of others. We can put it this way. It's looking for the best and the worst of people. One commentator put it this way, and I quote, “it conveys the thought of respect for the feeling of others, being willing to wave all rigor and severity in its dealings with others”.
One of the most important uses of this word is in Acts 24:4, where it is used of someone patiently listening in a pressure-charged tension situation. There it is translated, forbearance.
Bound up in this word, forbearance. You want the wisdom from above, then have the strength of gentleness that listens patiently when an argument could start if you speak up too fast. You know, it's wonderful that this is a quality of our God, isn't it? Forbearance.
Psalm 86:5, “For You, Lord, are good”. The Septuagint uses this word, ‘epieikēs’, gentle, forbearing. It's true of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:1, and you have both words, ‘prautés’ and ‘epieikēs’, in the same verse there. “Now I, Paul, myself, plead with you by the – ‘prautés’ – gentleness, and – ‘epieikēs’ – forbearance of Christ.” It's required of elders, 1
Timothy 3:3, where it is translated gentle in the NASB. The LSB translates it there, considerate, and I like that word, considerate. It's commanded of every single Christian.
Turn to Philippians 4. In Philippians 4, Paul includes this in a list of ways to gain spiritual stability. He says in verse 5, and look at it here, Philippians 4:5, “let your”, – NASB says “gentle spirit”. The LSB, “let your considerate spirit be known to all men”. What is he saying? Be known for this quality of graciousness, big heartedness, forbearance. Be known as a considerate person. When someone thinks of you, this ought to come to their mind. Oh, how gracious this person is. How considerate this person is. How big hearted this person is.
In Titus 3:2, he puts it this way, he says, Titus, teach the people in the church “to slander no one, to be peaceable,” – and here's our word, – “considerate, demonstrating all gentleness to all men”. You see, how can you do that? How can you do that? How can you be gracious, big hearted, toward people who are sinful and live in such terrible, live such terrible lives? How can you do that with them?
I mean, they're constantly, you know, launching slanderous assaults, they don't care about you. I mean how can you do that? How can you be gracious to such people? You don't know the guy I work with, you don't know my boss, or the person I interact with at work or at school, you don't know how they talk or what they do, you don't know my family members. Well, Paul explains how it is that we can keep this perspective, and he does it here in Titus 3.
After he tells Titus to teach this, he says, here's the motivation, here's the heart behind it. Verse 3, here's the motivation for this. Verse 3, “For”, because. Teach them not to slander anyone, to be peaceable, to be considerate, demonstrating all gentleness to all men. For, because. And then he says, remember that. For what? “We ourselves also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved, to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another”. Remember, that was us before.
Here's how you can stay gracious in your mindset toward others, even those who are living terrible lives of sin, those unbelievers who are all around us. That's what we used to be.
One commentator writes, and I quote, “The Christian man loves to make allowances for the ignorance and weaknesses of others, knowing how great need he stands in constantly of having allowance made for himself, both by God and man.”
If you struggle with this being ‘epieikēs’, considerate, gracious, forbearing, gentle, this big heartedness, this graciousness toward others, it's because perhaps you have not fully come to appreciate your own situation. That's who I used to be. That's what I used to be like. And God delivered me from this. God opened my eyes. Oh, and if God was not forbearing with me, if He was not patient with me, I would have been done.
Are you a peace-loving peacemaker? Are you gracious with people? The third quality is in the LSP, it's submissive. ‘Eupeithēs’, the NASP translates it reasonable, reasonable. And again, this is another rich word. This is, by the way, the only place in the New Testament where this word is found. The Greek word is a compound word, two words, two Greek words. One meaning easy, and the other means to be persuaded. So you put them all, both together, and it literally means easily persuaded. Easily persuaded. Again, that doesn't mean that we should be gullible. Again, that's not what he's saying.
Instead, it means that it should be easy that we are entreated. It should be easy to be entreated. It's a willingness to listen to others and even to learn from them. We could say it is the opposite of stubbornness, prideful stubbornness. It's a willingness rather to yield without resentment or disputing. I love this aspect of the definition. It is to have a teachable spirit. It is teachable, compliant, and not stubborn. Douglas Moo says, and I quote, “It's a willing deference to others when unalterable theological and moral principles are not involved.”
A deference to others when the heart of our faith isn't at stake. There are a lot of illustrations of this biblically, but the one that stands out to me is in the Old Testament. Turn with me. We're going to fly through this, but it's an important illustration, rather than give you one that I made up. It's a biblical illustration.
1 Samuel 25. The story of David and Abigail. Verse 2. 1 Samuel 25. And really it highlights here this quality, this quality mentioned by James. Look at verse 2. “Now there was a man in Maon whose work was in Carmel; the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. And it happened, while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. (now, the man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. And the woman was good insight and beautiful in appearance.” – She was beautiful on the outside, but also, most importantly, on the inside. – “but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite), that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.” – So David and his men went out there.
David sends his men to ask for help, for himself and for his warriors that are with him. They have already assisted Nabal, Nabal's shepherds, as that plays out in the story. Look at verse 9 now. “Then David's young man came and spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David's name. Then they waited. But Nabal answered David's servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master”.
In other words, I don't have any respect for this man. I don't have any respect for this man's authority. I don't care who he is. He's probably just another wannabe king.
Verse 11, “Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat, that I have slaughtered for my sheers and give it to men whose origin I do not know?” So, of course, David's men went back and told David all about what happened. Verse 13, “David said to his men, each of you gird on his sword. So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went up behind David, and two hundred stayed with the baggage.”
Of course, Abigail, Nabel's wife, hears about it, and she goes to appeal to David. Verse 26, she comes to David. She says, “So now, my lord, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, since Yahweh has restrained you from shedding blood, and from saving yourself by your own hand, so now let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabel.”
Verse 27 tells us she brought a gift. She asked for forgiveness for her husband. And she says, don't do this, please, because if you will stop now, verse 31, “then this will not cause stumbling or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having saved himself.”
Now notice David's response. Now David had right to be angry, he had already been anointed king, and so he felt like he had authority behind him, he had been angered by the way this man had responded to him, and yet notice how he responds. Notice the reasonableness of his response. Again, this is the quality we find in our text in James 3.
Verse 32. “Then David said to Abigail, “blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from saving myself by my own hand.” And he says what his plan was in verse 34, and at the end of verse 35, you look at it, he says, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice and granted your request.”
That's reasonable. That's gracious. But you and I both know people who are not. There are people who are so entrenched in their own views that they are completely, totally unwilling to listen to others. Their pride would not permit them. No matter how much advice is brought to them, no matter how much counsel, they always cling to their position and dig in their heels.
The Bible says that kind of person is a fool. That's what the Bible says. That kind of person is a fool. Proverbs 26:16. “The sluggard”, – one of the fools of Proverbs, is the sluggard, – “is wiser in his own eyes” – He's – “wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can respond with a discreet answer.”
You put a fool in a room with seven people who bring good and wise counsel, who all agree contrary to this man, and he'll still cling to his own opinion. The Bible says that's a fool. Beloved, when someone is known for being unreasonable like that, he or she is not a deeply spiritual person at all, no matter the façade they may present, no matter what they're trying to communicate.
So here's another quality of wisdom. This is the wisdom of being reasonable, really teachable, submissive. Number four, full of mercy, full of mercy, this word, ‘eleous’, ‘eleous’, of course, is a common biblical word, but it's often misunderstood. It's not a feeling that overpowers you. Mercy is not a feeling that overpowers you.
It's a kind of sympathy toward another person's distress that moves you into action, motivates you into action, motivates you to help that individual. So it's sympathy, we could say it is sympathy in action. That's mercy. It's pity with clothes on, and with work clothes on, ready to move, to act, to respond. To meet a need, to help a person in need.
This is true of God. Psalm 86:15 says, “But You, O Lord, are a God compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.” Psalm 103:8, “Yahweh is compassionate and gracious”. He's merciful. Ephesians 2:4, our God is what? “rich in mercy”. Not only He has mercy, but He is rich in mercy.
There's an illustration of mercy that I love in Psalm 103:13. It says, and you're familiar with that picture, “As a father has compassion” – or mercy – “on his children, So Yahweh has compassion on those who fear Him”. In other words, compassion or mercy is what you feel when you look down in the crib at that tiny little helpless babe and what you do to alleviate that distress, that discomfort, when you care for that child, your move to action.
Not only does God have this quality, but He demands the same of all of those who genuinely know Him and confess Him. In fact, Christ often pointed out that quality of mercy to be a key marker of whether or not a person belongs to God. In Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are” – who?
“the merciful”.. “the merciful, for they shall receive mercy”.
In Matthew 23:23, Jesus rebuking the Pharisees, they're telling them the woes that He pronounces upon them, and He says, “Woe to you Pharisees” – because you tithe your spices, but – “you have neglected”, – He says, – “the waiter provisions of the law”. And what were the waiter provisions of the law? Well, the second one He names immediately is what? ‘Eleous’, mercy, mercy.
And in Luke 10, Jesus at the conclusion of the story of the Good Samaritan, as He's comparing the actions of the Good Samaritan with those that walk by, He says in verse 36, “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber's hands?” Verse 37, “And He said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same”.”
It's a huge priority for the person who's in Christ, mercy. Mercy. And will you please notice, according to James, this quality of wisdom, notice, it isn't to be found in us just in tiny traces. It isn't to be found in us just in tiny traces, but we are to be what?
‘Mestē ‘eleous’, full of mercy. The Greek word, fiddled, stuffed to the brim. We're to be characterized by this quality of compassion, concern for those in distress, and then moving us to alleviate, to take action. Not just like, I really feel for you all the way from a distance. God bless you, I'll be praying for you, and you walk away. But you're moved to action.
Number five, full of good fruits. Full of good fruits. Well, since James connects this to mercy, both sharing the word full, he probably means that the truly wise person will be known for many acts of practical mercy. Many acts of practical mercy. You see, the Greek's perspective of wisdom, you remember as we studied this together, as we mentioned, was all in the mind. That's the Greek perspective of wisdom. It's all in your head, in your mind. It's an academic thing, it's an intellectual thing. Wisdom is what you really know, what's in the penthouse here.
And our culture has adopted that same kind of perspective, but James wants us to know that if you truly possess the wisdom from above, the God's wisdom, it will produce a rich harvest of fruit in your life. It's not just head knowledge. This is such a constant theme of our Lord's.
Let me just briefly show us this. Let's turn to Matthew 3. And I'm just going to use one gospel so we can see how our Lord really underscored this for us. He really hammered this home again and again and again. Matthew 3:10. Here's John the Baptist saying, “the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Again you see that. Emphasis on fruit.
When Jesus comes, he says the same thing in Matthew 7:16-20 about false prophets here. He says, “You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits”
Chapter 12:33, Jesus makes the same point here, revealing, talking about how our words reveal the nature of our tree, if you will, or the nature of our hearts. You can read that at your own leisure. In 13:23, they're again talking about the kind of soil that yields the right kind of fruit. And he says in verse 23, “the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil,” – the good heart, that is, – “this is the man who hears the word and understands it who indeed, it bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundred fold, some sixty, and some thirty”.”
What is the point? The point is this. Jesus always connected life with fruit. That's the point. He always connected life with fruit. Where there's genuine life, there's fruit. Paul does the same. Colossians 1:10, “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects,” – Now watch this. – “bearing fruit in every good work”. Bearing fruit.
What does this mean then, to be full of good fruits, practically full of practical mercies to people around us? That's what he's talking about. That shows the reality of whether or not we are what we claim to be. John Blanchard writes this, and I quote, “A Christian should not only be growing in his knowledge of God, he should also be the best neighbor a man could have. When there is an accident or sickness in a neighbor's home, when some crisis arises, when some need appears, the Christian should be the first to offer help, because godly wisdom has provided him with a store of good fruit full of good fruits.”
Back to James 3:17, the sixth quality that biblical wisdom produces in life, he says, is without doubting, unwavering, unwavering. And the Greek word that he uses, ‘adiakritos’, is the Greek word, literally means not divided, without uncertainty, indecision, inconsistency, vacillation, doubtfulness. He said, without that, the word was sometimes used to indicate impartiality, treating everyone equally, without favoritism, and important spiritual quality, that James already dealt with, emphasized, back in chapter two, the first nine verses.
‘Adiakritos’ is the opposite of unstable. It would mean that wisdom acts consistently. There's a consistent pattern when it comes to wisdom. True biblical wisdom is stable. It is steady. True biblical wisdom stays on course. It's not like a yo-yo. It doesn't vacillate. It's not tossed to and fro. Stable. Steady. James has already made this point back in chapter one, verse six, “But he must ask in faith, doubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” He says, listen, that instability is connected, not to faith, but to doubting.
And of course, Paul makes the same point in Ephesians four, talking about spiritual maturity and immaturity. He says, when the church functions like supposed to function, verse 14, “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” You see, maturity brings stability, it brings consistency, and that's his point.
And none of us really is ever exempt from this problem. Instability can always be a temptation to us, and can be something that we can fall into if we aren't guarded and protected by the Word of God, tethered to the Word of God. But as long as we live our lives tied to this book, tethered to this book, it brings us stability of the very mind of God himself.
You want to be stable? Remain tethered to this book. Tied to this book. Stay close to this book. Hold on to this book. There is, in the life of a spiritually wise, mature person, a consistency, a stability that is clear to those around him.
The seventh quality, the seventh quality of biblical wisdom, the end of verse 17, he says, without hypocrisy. ‘Anypokritos’ is the Greek word, not playing a part. He says it is without hypocrisy. In other words, the wise person does not hide behind a mask because he's got nothing to hide. Doesn't play a role. The sad truth is that not everyone is what he seems to be. Are we? Are you? Am I? Or do you live behind a mask? If you do, then you're not spiritually mature, you are not biblically wise, you have bought into a counterfeit wisdom.
And perhaps this evening, you are genuine, you are sincere, you don't wear a mask, don't think for a moment that you can't again become susceptible to that, under pressure. Even the Apostle Peter became susceptible to that, Galatians 2, remember, Paul says that Peter gave in the situation so that he was hypocritical, he put on a mask there in Galatia. Why? To gain reputation with the people around him, the people that came from Jerusalem. None of us, beloved, is ever exempt from the temptation to wear a mask or to be hypocritical in order to gain a reputation or to make ourselves look good under pressure.
But where there is Biblical wisdom, we can be constantly genuine and sincere. This genuineness that we're encouraged to have, this lack of hypocrisy, in the New Testament, it expresses itself in three ways, this lack of hypocrisy. If you are without hypocrisy, this quality here that James mentions, then it means three things.
Number one, it means that you will always, always do your spiritual exercises to be seen by God and not by man. You operate before an audience of one. Matthew 6, Jesus says, don't play the part of a hypocrite, don't put on a mask and pray so others will see, don't give so others will see, fast so others see, instead do it because God sees. So genuineness and sincerity in our faith means that you do those things to be seen by God before the eye of God and the presence of God, ‘Coram Deo’.
Secondly, if we're genuine, it will express itself in a genuine faith that doesn't put on a mask in order to build our reputation. Second Timothy 1:5, our faith must be unhypocritical, Paul writes, genuine, sincere.
And thirdly, if we're going to be genuine and sincere, we must have a genuine, sincere love of our Christian brothers and sisters. Second Corinthians 6:6, Paul calls it “unhypocritical love”. It's genuine love. And 1 Peter 1: 22, Peter exhorts the believers to “fervently love one another from the heart”. – How? He says, – “without hypocrisy”. Without hypocrisy.
Do you really love people in this body of Christ? Even as you looked around this morning, and as you look around even tonight, do you love the people of God in this place?
I mean, could you honestly say before God that you truly love them without hypocrisy? A genuine faith expresses itself in a genuine love for the people of God. So James 3:17 lays out the qualities like this. “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy.” Those are the characteristics of godly wisdom.
But James has one more thing that briefly he wants us to know about heaven's wisdom, and that's found in verse 18. And I must complete this verse. The results, and I'll be very brief.
“And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
“The seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” That's the NASB translation. The LSB says, “And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
Now in English, it's just a very difficult verse to understand, and hard to translate. But here's the flow of James' thought. Hopefully, this will help. Look back in verse 16, and you will see that James says there that false wisdom produces two things, disorder and every evil thing. That's what false counterfeit wisdom produces. Now in verse 18, on the other hand, he wants us to know that true wisdom produces what? Peace. There's the opposite of disorder and a harvest of righteousness. There's the opposite of every evil thing.
So he wants us to know that these two kinds of wisdom produce fruit that is totally opposite from each other. That's the flow of thought. You see, James wants to make a negative point and a positive point. That's what he's trying to do. Negatively, he wants us to understand that righteousness cannot be cultivated where there is a climate of jealousy and selfish ambition and strife and conflict. And positively, he wants us to know that because of the atmosphere cultivated by peacemakers, being peace, the atmosphere, that they produce a harvest of righteousness.
Now, why is it that a harvest of righteousness is so important? Well, if you're a child of God sitting here this evening, well, that ought to appeal to you because it appeals to the child of God. Because God has put within you a desire to live a righteous life. But why is it important? Why? Listen to Isaiah 61:3, speaking of a time yet in the future, “they will be called”, – he writes, – “oaks of righteousness, The planting of Yahweh, that He may,” – God – “may show forth His beautiful glory.”
That's why. In the words of Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5 of Matthew, verse 16, “Let your light shine before man in such a way that they may see your good works,” – the harvest, right? And what's the end in view? – “and glorify your Father who is in heaven”. The results of true righteousness consists of a harvest of righteousness and peace to the praise of His glory, to the glory of God. How should we apply this passage of scripture?
Well, James makes it very clear how he intends for us to apply it. I just want to highlight two practical applications, both found in verse 13. The first application is to use this paragraph as a test. Use it as a test. Look at how he begins in verse 13. “Who among you is wise and understanding?” Do you think you're biblically wise? Would you describe yourself as spiritually mature? James says, okay, then test yourself and see. Test yourself and see. Are you characterized by gentleness, a spirit of submission to God's providence, of graciousness and gentleness with people? Are you morally, sexually pure? Are you wholly devoted to Jesus Christ? Are you known for being peaceable and gentle and reasonable and full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering and without hypocrisy?
Or instead, are you filled with bitter jealousy? Do you often feel resentment against others because of their success and advantages? Do you have selfish ambition in your heart, or are you always trying to promote yourself? Do you cater to and embrace sensuality and a hidden life of sexual sin? James says, evaluate yourself.
Each of those lists of qualities describe two totally different kinds of wisdom, one genuinely biblical and the other counterfeit and pretend. Here are clear undeniable tests by which each of us can accurately evaluate our spiritual maturity.
But there's a second application James wants us to make here.
Look at verse 13 again. “Let him show by his good conduct, his works in the gentleness of wisdom.” You see, this passage is not only a test, it's the answer key. It's not only a requirement, it's the roadmap. James says, as you test yourself, if you find yourself wanting, then seek God's grace to begin to obey him, and to try to put these virtues on, start to practice these things, cultivate them by the grace of God.
That's why he wanted us to be able to memorize them easily in the original text. It was so that those who heard this letter initially could have the road map out for them as the course that they ought to follow in pursuing Biblical wisdom and spiritual wisdom. So resolve, beloved, today by the grace of God, as we have this letter in our hands, resolve to cultivate these virtues by the help and the grace of God into your life and mind.
Study these virtues, these qualities, think about them, meditate upon them, memorize them, ponder them, try to put them on and ask for God's grace and help to do it. And the promise is, if we ask for this wisdom, God will graciously give it, generously give it.
And in 982, Eric the Red sailed west and arrived at a new land. He soon discovered what we call Greenland. It was anything but Green-land. It was a terribly bleak place. Most of the island lies north of the Arctic Circle. 85% of “Greenland” is basically covered in a thick coating of ice.
So this man, Eric the Red, had a problem. He's there by himself, but didn't want to be by himself. And he wanted to encourage other Icelandic peoples to come and join him there. But who would want to live in a place like that? So, he came up with this idea to name the new island Greenland. He called it Greenland, clever advertising ruse. And his fellow countrymen, well, they gobbled it up completely.
In fact, 25 boats filled with 400 to 500 settlers made their journey from Iceland to Greenland, I mean, it's ironic. 11 of the boats were lost on the journey. Only 14 of them arrived. But when they arrived, they soon discovered that what had happened, is they had been duped. It wasn't at all what they expected.
Well, not only, beloved, in the physical world, but also in the spiritual world, things are not always as they appear. And you can't always believe the label. What is advertised may not be, in fact, what you are getting. You always, even today, I mean, you always have to look at the fine print, and sometimes it's so fine that you can't see it. That's what James has been trying to teach us throughout his letter, that the label Christian does not make the person a real Christian. And that the advertising of a righteous person may be, in fact, false advertising.
He's made the point very pointedly in the last section of James chapter 3, and this evening we come to our fifth and last look at these verses, and I trust you have found this journey, particularly in the last portion of James 3, the concerning wisdom, very helpful. But we're going to complete this paragraph, Lord willing, this evening, and as we've learned over the last several weeks, these verses here contrast two kinds of wisdom. Two kinds.
You have in one hand the truly biblically wise man or woman who is characterized by true or with true spiritual maturity, who has embraced the wisdom of God as it is set forth here in the Book of God. But there's also a second kind of wisdom that James wants to warn us about. There's a kind of person who thinks they live by God's wisdom. They're convinced. Convinced himself, that person, he may even have convinced others by using Christian language, pious language, showing off his Biblical knowledge, spending lots of time doing religious stuff. But this person has in fact embraced a counterfeit wisdom, James tells us. It's not the real thing. In fact, they've embraced a counterfeit wisdom that has its origin in demons and those opposed to God. In previous weeks, we've examined how it is that we can recognize this counterfeit wisdom, this false wisdom.
So I'm not going to go over that again tonight. Last week, if you remember, we began to look at verses 17 and 18, James' analysis of heaven's wisdom, true godly wisdom, the wisdom from above, and we saw together the source of that wisdom. He tells us in verse 17, it is the wisdom from above. That is, it comes from God. It is a gift of God's grace. It is a gracious gift from God.
And the seed of wisdom, as we learned time and time again, and this is very important, the seed of wisdom always, always accompanies genuine saving faith in Jesus Christ. Always. At the moment of your salvation, the moment you entered through the narrow gate, if you're in Christ, God planted within you the seed of godly wisdom.
And that seed, the Bible tells us, slowly grows into a full harvest of wisdom throughout our lives as we use the means that God has provided chiefly, first and foremost, God's Word, the Scripture. That's the source of God's wisdom. We also saw together last week the chief characteristic of heaven's wisdom.
You remember, back in verse 13, we learned one key quality of godly wisdom is what? ‘Prautēti’ translated gentleness or meekness. That is, you remember the two-fold meaning within that word, towards God, a calm, trusting acceptance of God's providence in our lives.
We trust Him, we hold on to His word, even when we don't understand the circumstances, we trust Him. There's that calm, trusting acceptance of the providence of God in our lives, and also, it's a humble, gracious, gentle spirit towards others. So you have it vertically and horizontally. And that is an important part of wisdom.
But in verse 17, we saw last week, there's a second key quality, always, always associated with this wisdom from above. We could even call this the chief characteristic of heaven's wisdom, and it is purity, purity. But the wisdom from above, he says, is first, ‘prōton’, he says, pure, meaning chief. A purity is chief, foremost. It is of foremost importance.
James means that purity is logically foundational to the other virtues of wisdom. Now what is this purity? Well, we discovered together that pure, ‘agnós’, the Greek word, has primarily two senses in the New Testament. One you have is moral or sexual purity, free from defilement of sins of sexual variety. And secondly, it means devotional purity, or whole hearted inward devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, and really the two go together. That's the chief characteristic of spiritual maturity or godly wisdom.
James tells us, it is first and foremost, ‘agnós’, pure. Now that brings us to the end of where we left off last time. Last part of verse 17. The last part of verse 17, James lists for us what I would call the now accompanying characteristics of heaven's wisdom. We saw the chief, and now we want to look at the accompanying characteristics of heaven's wisdom, the wisdom from above. So the chief one being purity, that's the chief quality.
But now notice with the word then, ‘epeita’, we transition out of the state of the heart, which is purity, to how godly wisdom responds to others. How godly wisdom responds to others. Then, ‘epeita’, afterwards in importance. First, foremost, purity. Then, afterwards in importance.
We learned that there are seven other qualities here that are to accompany a life lived in godly wisdom. Now, it's clear that James has already laid the foundation for these qualities. Look back at verse 13. If you have godly wisdom, you're going to show it by or in your deeds, in your works, or in your wise actions. And in verse 13, he also says that those obedient actions will inevitably be sustained in what he calls a good conduct or a way of life, the trajectory of my life, lifestyle. And now he's going to tell us what those qualities are.
Now, in the Greek text, there's something here that is not obvious in the English translation. It's clear in the Greek text that James gave really considerable thought to how he actually arranged the seven qualities. There are three groups. Look at the text and see. The first three all begin in Greek with the same Greek letter and have similar sounding endings. Then you've got the middle two, as in English, they are subordinated with the word “full”, and then you have the last two. They begin with the same Greek letter and have similar really metrical sound.
The question is, why would James be bothered in doing this? Remember, it's a letter to the church, to the believers. And James lived in a culture without a printing press. Not every individual member who heard this letter would have a copy in hand of this letter. In fact, the letter would be read in a corporate gathering, a worship service just like this, and the elder pastor would come and stand and read the letter sent from an apostle. And so almost certainly, James arranges these qualities in such a way, he puts them in a sort of a metrical, rhythmical setting to enable, encourage the people of God to memorize them, to retain them so that they would stay with them, it would stick with them.
Now, we don't have to do that today. Blessed be God, we have multiple copies of James sitting in our hands and sitting upon our shelves at home. But the fact that James wanted his first readers to memorize this list really underscores its importance to us.
So look briefly at these seven qualities that James thought were so important as to present them in a form that would be easily remembered, retained, and recalled by those who heard it. And I think we do ourselves a huge favor, for lack of better expression, if we actually again this week go over this list again and again and let our minds be marinated with these qualities related to wisdom.
So the first one here, following the chief one, is peaceable. You see it? Peaceable. ‘Eirēnikē’ is the Greek word. This word occurs only two times in the New Testament. Here in James 3 and in Hebrews 12:11. There's always been throughout scripture a connection between peace and wisdom.
Listen to Proverbs 3:17. Speaking of wisdom, it says, “And all her”, – referring to wisdom being personified, – “All her pathways are peace”. All of the pathways of wisdom are peace. This is the wisdom of peace.
Now, what does it mean? ‘Eirēnikē’, peaceable. Well, a leading dictionary of Greek studies, word studies, says that this word peaceable means disposed to peace. Ready for peace. Now, one thing we need to clear out. This does not mean, beloved, acquiescence in everything. That's not what James is teaching us here. You know, some people don't want confrontation, so they don't want trouble, they don't want any of that, so they just simply give in constantly. They're always after peace, so whenever there's confrontation, they just immediately give in. That's not what James is talking about here. That's not what he's saying.
It's not acquiescence, it's not giving in, neither is it toleration of sin. It's not just sweeping things under the rug that are sinful in order to have peace, nor, and this is important that you and I understand this, is James encouraging compromise with or agreement with error. That's not what he's saying. That is important.
A better definition of this word would be this, peace loving. Peace loving. Beloved, the truth is, and this is important as well, there are times to fight. There are times to fight. There are hills to die on. There are times to fight for purity, for holiness, for truth. But unfortunately, there are some people, even in some Christian ministries, who enjoy fighting, and that's not what he's talking about.
James says that a person who has this quality, ‘Eirēnikē’, hungers for peace. Even while he is fighting, he doesn't enjoy it. Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers”. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
God is a peacemaker. He's the God of reconciliation. Right? To be a peacemaker or to be peaceable means two things. It means number one, you must seek to preserve peace where it exists. And secondly, you must promote peace where it does not exist. And the New Testament is full of examples of both. For example, in Ephesians 4:3, we are exhorted: “being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. Keep it, preserve it, pursue it.
Hold on to it. Fence it. Romans 14:19, “So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” Pursue it. Promote it. Try to gain it.
You say, but aren't there some people who just simply refuse to be at peace? They just simply refuse to be at peace. Even when you try, they just want to fight. They're contentious people. Absolutely, absolutely. In fact, I'm sure you have known yourself, people like that, and as I have known in my own life, with whom you're trying to work things out and all they want is a fight. Scripture speaks of that situation.
Romans 12:18, “if possible, so far as it depends on you, being at peace with all men”. And by the way, this isn't an excuse just to give up. In fact, it's a challenge. It is a challenge. Have you used every conceivable means? Have you used every resource that you have to be at peace with others? Have you exhausted all of that? Lord, help me. Is that the posture, the attitude of the heart? Is that the disposition? Are you a peace lover? You love peace. Lord, help me be a peacemaker. Lord, help me be an instrument of your peace.
Those words, if prayed sincerely from the heart, embody the prayer of a truly spiritual, wise person. Is that how people, the people who live with you, the people who know you best, is that how they think of you? Peaceable? Or are you contentious? Are you known as a person who loves peace, as a peacemaker, as a peaceable person?
This is a very important quality. And as we go through this list, beloved, may your prayer in mind be, search me, oh God, and know my heart. The next quality, number two, is translated in the LSB gentle, ‘epieikēs’. Now, this is not the same Greek word as the word back in verse 13, translated gentleness or meekness. That Greek word is ‘prautés’. This is ‘epieikēs’, a different Greek word.
It's really hard to translate this word, ‘epieikēs’, and this word in English with one word. It's a rich word. It oozes with different nuances. It carries the ideas of mild, seemly, fitting, fair, moderate, forbearing, courteous, considerate, all of those. This word is best translated graciousness. Big heartedness.
Aristotle contrasted it, this word, with strict justice. In fact, it refers to a generous treatment of others. We can put it this way. It's looking for the best and the worst of people. One commentator put it this way, and I quote, “it conveys the thought of respect for the feeling of others, being willing to wave all rigor and severity in its dealings with others”.
One of the most important uses of this word is in Acts 24:4, where it is used of someone patiently listening in a pressure-charged tension situation. There it is translated, forbearance.
Bound up in this word, forbearance. You want the wisdom from above, then have the strength of gentleness that listens patiently when an argument could start if you speak up too fast. You know, it's wonderful that this is a quality of our God, isn't it? Forbearance.
Psalm 86:5, “For You, Lord, are good”. The Septuagint uses this word, ‘epieikēs’, gentle, forbearing. It's true of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:1, and you have both words, ‘prautés’ and ‘epieikēs’, in the same verse there. “Now I, Paul, myself, plead with you by the – ‘prautés’ – gentleness, and – ‘epieikēs’ – forbearance of Christ.” It's required of elders, 1
Timothy 3:3, where it is translated gentle in the NASB. The LSB translates it there, considerate, and I like that word, considerate. It's commanded of every single Christian.
Turn to Philippians 4. In Philippians 4, Paul includes this in a list of ways to gain spiritual stability. He says in verse 5, and look at it here, Philippians 4:5, “let your”, – NASB says “gentle spirit”. The LSB, “let your considerate spirit be known to all men”. What is he saying? Be known for this quality of graciousness, big heartedness, forbearance. Be known as a considerate person. When someone thinks of you, this ought to come to their mind. Oh, how gracious this person is. How considerate this person is. How big hearted this person is.
In Titus 3:2, he puts it this way, he says, Titus, teach the people in the church “to slander no one, to be peaceable,” – and here's our word, – “considerate, demonstrating all gentleness to all men”. You see, how can you do that? How can you do that? How can you be gracious, big hearted, toward people who are sinful and live in such terrible, live such terrible lives? How can you do that with them?
I mean, they're constantly, you know, launching slanderous assaults, they don't care about you. I mean how can you do that? How can you be gracious to such people? You don't know the guy I work with, you don't know my boss, or the person I interact with at work or at school, you don't know how they talk or what they do, you don't know my family members. Well, Paul explains how it is that we can keep this perspective, and he does it here in Titus 3.
After he tells Titus to teach this, he says, here's the motivation, here's the heart behind it. Verse 3, here's the motivation for this. Verse 3, “For”, because. Teach them not to slander anyone, to be peaceable, to be considerate, demonstrating all gentleness to all men. For, because. And then he says, remember that. For what? “We ourselves also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved, to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another”. Remember, that was us before.
Here's how you can stay gracious in your mindset toward others, even those who are living terrible lives of sin, those unbelievers who are all around us. That's what we used to be.
One commentator writes, and I quote, “The Christian man loves to make allowances for the ignorance and weaknesses of others, knowing how great need he stands in constantly of having allowance made for himself, both by God and man.”
If you struggle with this being ‘epieikēs’, considerate, gracious, forbearing, gentle, this big heartedness, this graciousness toward others, it's because perhaps you have not fully come to appreciate your own situation. That's who I used to be. That's what I used to be like. And God delivered me from this. God opened my eyes. Oh, and if God was not forbearing with me, if He was not patient with me, I would have been done.
Are you a peace-loving peacemaker? Are you gracious with people? The third quality is in the LSP, it's submissive. ‘Eupeithēs’, the NASP translates it reasonable, reasonable. And again, this is another rich word. This is, by the way, the only place in the New Testament where this word is found. The Greek word is a compound word, two words, two Greek words. One meaning easy, and the other means to be persuaded. So you put them all, both together, and it literally means easily persuaded. Easily persuaded. Again, that doesn't mean that we should be gullible. Again, that's not what he's saying.
Instead, it means that it should be easy that we are entreated. It should be easy to be entreated. It's a willingness to listen to others and even to learn from them. We could say it is the opposite of stubbornness, prideful stubbornness. It's a willingness rather to yield without resentment or disputing. I love this aspect of the definition. It is to have a teachable spirit. It is teachable, compliant, and not stubborn. Douglas Moo says, and I quote, “It's a willing deference to others when unalterable theological and moral principles are not involved.”
A deference to others when the heart of our faith isn't at stake. There are a lot of illustrations of this biblically, but the one that stands out to me is in the Old Testament. Turn with me. We're going to fly through this, but it's an important illustration, rather than give you one that I made up. It's a biblical illustration.
1 Samuel 25. The story of David and Abigail. Verse 2. 1 Samuel 25. And really it highlights here this quality, this quality mentioned by James. Look at verse 2. “Now there was a man in Maon whose work was in Carmel; the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. And it happened, while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. (now, the man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. And the woman was good insight and beautiful in appearance.” – She was beautiful on the outside, but also, most importantly, on the inside. – “but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite), that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.” – So David and his men went out there.
David sends his men to ask for help, for himself and for his warriors that are with him. They have already assisted Nabal, Nabal's shepherds, as that plays out in the story. Look at verse 9 now. “Then David's young man came and spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David's name. Then they waited. But Nabal answered David's servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master”.
In other words, I don't have any respect for this man. I don't have any respect for this man's authority. I don't care who he is. He's probably just another wannabe king.
Verse 11, “Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat, that I have slaughtered for my sheers and give it to men whose origin I do not know?” So, of course, David's men went back and told David all about what happened. Verse 13, “David said to his men, each of you gird on his sword. So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went up behind David, and two hundred stayed with the baggage.”
Of course, Abigail, Nabel's wife, hears about it, and she goes to appeal to David. Verse 26, she comes to David. She says, “So now, my lord, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, since Yahweh has restrained you from shedding blood, and from saving yourself by your own hand, so now let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabel.”
Verse 27 tells us she brought a gift. She asked for forgiveness for her husband. And she says, don't do this, please, because if you will stop now, verse 31, “then this will not cause stumbling or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having saved himself.”
Now notice David's response. Now David had right to be angry, he had already been anointed king, and so he felt like he had authority behind him, he had been angered by the way this man had responded to him, and yet notice how he responds. Notice the reasonableness of his response. Again, this is the quality we find in our text in James 3.
Verse 32. “Then David said to Abigail, “blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from saving myself by my own hand.” And he says what his plan was in verse 34, and at the end of verse 35, you look at it, he says, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice and granted your request.”
That's reasonable. That's gracious. But you and I both know people who are not. There are people who are so entrenched in their own views that they are completely, totally unwilling to listen to others. Their pride would not permit them. No matter how much advice is brought to them, no matter how much counsel, they always cling to their position and dig in their heels.
The Bible says that kind of person is a fool. That's what the Bible says. That kind of person is a fool. Proverbs 26:16. “The sluggard”, – one of the fools of Proverbs, is the sluggard, – “is wiser in his own eyes” – He's – “wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can respond with a discreet answer.”
You put a fool in a room with seven people who bring good and wise counsel, who all agree contrary to this man, and he'll still cling to his own opinion. The Bible says that's a fool. Beloved, when someone is known for being unreasonable like that, he or she is not a deeply spiritual person at all, no matter the façade they may present, no matter what they're trying to communicate.
So here's another quality of wisdom. This is the wisdom of being reasonable, really teachable, submissive. Number four, full of mercy, full of mercy, this word, ‘eleous’, ‘eleous’, of course, is a common biblical word, but it's often misunderstood. It's not a feeling that overpowers you. Mercy is not a feeling that overpowers you.
It's a kind of sympathy toward another person's distress that moves you into action, motivates you into action, motivates you to help that individual. So it's sympathy, we could say it is sympathy in action. That's mercy. It's pity with clothes on, and with work clothes on, ready to move, to act, to respond. To meet a need, to help a person in need.
This is true of God. Psalm 86:15 says, “But You, O Lord, are a God compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.” Psalm 103:8, “Yahweh is compassionate and gracious”. He's merciful. Ephesians 2:4, our God is what? “rich in mercy”. Not only He has mercy, but He is rich in mercy.
There's an illustration of mercy that I love in Psalm 103:13. It says, and you're familiar with that picture, “As a father has compassion” – or mercy – “on his children, So Yahweh has compassion on those who fear Him”. In other words, compassion or mercy is what you feel when you look down in the crib at that tiny little helpless babe and what you do to alleviate that distress, that discomfort, when you care for that child, your move to action.
Not only does God have this quality, but He demands the same of all of those who genuinely know Him and confess Him. In fact, Christ often pointed out that quality of mercy to be a key marker of whether or not a person belongs to God. In Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are” – who?
“the merciful”.. “the merciful, for they shall receive mercy”.
In Matthew 23:23, Jesus rebuking the Pharisees, they're telling them the woes that He pronounces upon them, and He says, “Woe to you Pharisees” – because you tithe your spices, but – “you have neglected”, – He says, – “the waiter provisions of the law”. And what were the waiter provisions of the law? Well, the second one He names immediately is what? ‘Eleous’, mercy, mercy.
And in Luke 10, Jesus at the conclusion of the story of the Good Samaritan, as He's comparing the actions of the Good Samaritan with those that walk by, He says in verse 36, “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber's hands?” Verse 37, “And He said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same”.”
It's a huge priority for the person who's in Christ, mercy. Mercy. And will you please notice, according to James, this quality of wisdom, notice, it isn't to be found in us just in tiny traces. It isn't to be found in us just in tiny traces, but we are to be what?
‘Mestē ‘eleous’, full of mercy. The Greek word, fiddled, stuffed to the brim. We're to be characterized by this quality of compassion, concern for those in distress, and then moving us to alleviate, to take action. Not just like, I really feel for you all the way from a distance. God bless you, I'll be praying for you, and you walk away. But you're moved to action.
Number five, full of good fruits. Full of good fruits. Well, since James connects this to mercy, both sharing the word full, he probably means that the truly wise person will be known for many acts of practical mercy. Many acts of practical mercy. You see, the Greek's perspective of wisdom, you remember as we studied this together, as we mentioned, was all in the mind. That's the Greek perspective of wisdom. It's all in your head, in your mind. It's an academic thing, it's an intellectual thing. Wisdom is what you really know, what's in the penthouse here.
And our culture has adopted that same kind of perspective, but James wants us to know that if you truly possess the wisdom from above, the God's wisdom, it will produce a rich harvest of fruit in your life. It's not just head knowledge. This is such a constant theme of our Lord's.
Let me just briefly show us this. Let's turn to Matthew 3. And I'm just going to use one gospel so we can see how our Lord really underscored this for us. He really hammered this home again and again and again. Matthew 3:10. Here's John the Baptist saying, “the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Again you see that. Emphasis on fruit.
When Jesus comes, he says the same thing in Matthew 7:16-20 about false prophets here. He says, “You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits”
Chapter 12:33, Jesus makes the same point here, revealing, talking about how our words reveal the nature of our tree, if you will, or the nature of our hearts. You can read that at your own leisure. In 13:23, they're again talking about the kind of soil that yields the right kind of fruit. And he says in verse 23, “the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil,” – the good heart, that is, – “this is the man who hears the word and understands it who indeed, it bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundred fold, some sixty, and some thirty”.”
What is the point? The point is this. Jesus always connected life with fruit. That's the point. He always connected life with fruit. Where there's genuine life, there's fruit. Paul does the same. Colossians 1:10, “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects,” – Now watch this. – “bearing fruit in every good work”. Bearing fruit.
What does this mean then, to be full of good fruits, practically full of practical mercies to people around us? That's what he's talking about. That shows the reality of whether or not we are what we claim to be. John Blanchard writes this, and I quote, “A Christian should not only be growing in his knowledge of God, he should also be the best neighbor a man could have. When there is an accident or sickness in a neighbor's home, when some crisis arises, when some need appears, the Christian should be the first to offer help, because godly wisdom has provided him with a store of good fruit full of good fruits.”
Back to James 3:17, the sixth quality that biblical wisdom produces in life, he says, is without doubting, unwavering, unwavering. And the Greek word that he uses, ‘adiakritos’, is the Greek word, literally means not divided, without uncertainty, indecision, inconsistency, vacillation, doubtfulness. He said, without that, the word was sometimes used to indicate impartiality, treating everyone equally, without favoritism, and important spiritual quality, that James already dealt with, emphasized, back in chapter two, the first nine verses.
‘Adiakritos’ is the opposite of unstable. It would mean that wisdom acts consistently. There's a consistent pattern when it comes to wisdom. True biblical wisdom is stable. It is steady. True biblical wisdom stays on course. It's not like a yo-yo. It doesn't vacillate. It's not tossed to and fro. Stable. Steady. James has already made this point back in chapter one, verse six, “But he must ask in faith, doubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” He says, listen, that instability is connected, not to faith, but to doubting.
And of course, Paul makes the same point in Ephesians four, talking about spiritual maturity and immaturity. He says, when the church functions like supposed to function, verse 14, “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” You see, maturity brings stability, it brings consistency, and that's his point.
And none of us really is ever exempt from this problem. Instability can always be a temptation to us, and can be something that we can fall into if we aren't guarded and protected by the Word of God, tethered to the Word of God. But as long as we live our lives tied to this book, tethered to this book, it brings us stability of the very mind of God himself.
You want to be stable? Remain tethered to this book. Tied to this book. Stay close to this book. Hold on to this book. There is, in the life of a spiritually wise, mature person, a consistency, a stability that is clear to those around him.
The seventh quality, the seventh quality of biblical wisdom, the end of verse 17, he says, without hypocrisy. ‘Anypokritos’ is the Greek word, not playing a part. He says it is without hypocrisy. In other words, the wise person does not hide behind a mask because he's got nothing to hide. Doesn't play a role. The sad truth is that not everyone is what he seems to be. Are we? Are you? Am I? Or do you live behind a mask? If you do, then you're not spiritually mature, you are not biblically wise, you have bought into a counterfeit wisdom.
And perhaps this evening, you are genuine, you are sincere, you don't wear a mask, don't think for a moment that you can't again become susceptible to that, under pressure. Even the Apostle Peter became susceptible to that, Galatians 2, remember, Paul says that Peter gave in the situation so that he was hypocritical, he put on a mask there in Galatia. Why? To gain reputation with the people around him, the people that came from Jerusalem. None of us, beloved, is ever exempt from the temptation to wear a mask or to be hypocritical in order to gain a reputation or to make ourselves look good under pressure.
But where there is Biblical wisdom, we can be constantly genuine and sincere. This genuineness that we're encouraged to have, this lack of hypocrisy, in the New Testament, it expresses itself in three ways, this lack of hypocrisy. If you are without hypocrisy, this quality here that James mentions, then it means three things.
Number one, it means that you will always, always do your spiritual exercises to be seen by God and not by man. You operate before an audience of one. Matthew 6, Jesus says, don't play the part of a hypocrite, don't put on a mask and pray so others will see, don't give so others will see, fast so others see, instead do it because God sees. So genuineness and sincerity in our faith means that you do those things to be seen by God before the eye of God and the presence of God, ‘Coram Deo’.
Secondly, if we're genuine, it will express itself in a genuine faith that doesn't put on a mask in order to build our reputation. Second Timothy 1:5, our faith must be unhypocritical, Paul writes, genuine, sincere.
And thirdly, if we're going to be genuine and sincere, we must have a genuine, sincere love of our Christian brothers and sisters. Second Corinthians 6:6, Paul calls it “unhypocritical love”. It's genuine love. And 1 Peter 1: 22, Peter exhorts the believers to “fervently love one another from the heart”. – How? He says, – “without hypocrisy”. Without hypocrisy.
Do you really love people in this body of Christ? Even as you looked around this morning, and as you look around even tonight, do you love the people of God in this place?
I mean, could you honestly say before God that you truly love them without hypocrisy? A genuine faith expresses itself in a genuine love for the people of God. So James 3:17 lays out the qualities like this. “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy.” Those are the characteristics of godly wisdom.
But James has one more thing that briefly he wants us to know about heaven's wisdom, and that's found in verse 18. And I must complete this verse. The results, and I'll be very brief.
“And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
“The seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” That's the NASB translation. The LSB says, “And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
Now in English, it's just a very difficult verse to understand, and hard to translate. But here's the flow of James' thought. Hopefully, this will help. Look back in verse 16, and you will see that James says there that false wisdom produces two things, disorder and every evil thing. That's what false counterfeit wisdom produces. Now in verse 18, on the other hand, he wants us to know that true wisdom produces what? Peace. There's the opposite of disorder and a harvest of righteousness. There's the opposite of every evil thing.
So he wants us to know that these two kinds of wisdom produce fruit that is totally opposite from each other. That's the flow of thought. You see, James wants to make a negative point and a positive point. That's what he's trying to do. Negatively, he wants us to understand that righteousness cannot be cultivated where there is a climate of jealousy and selfish ambition and strife and conflict. And positively, he wants us to know that because of the atmosphere cultivated by peacemakers, being peace, the atmosphere, that they produce a harvest of righteousness.
Now, why is it that a harvest of righteousness is so important? Well, if you're a child of God sitting here this evening, well, that ought to appeal to you because it appeals to the child of God. Because God has put within you a desire to live a righteous life. But why is it important? Why? Listen to Isaiah 61:3, speaking of a time yet in the future, “they will be called”, – he writes, – “oaks of righteousness, The planting of Yahweh, that He may,” – God – “may show forth His beautiful glory.”
That's why. In the words of Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5 of Matthew, verse 16, “Let your light shine before man in such a way that they may see your good works,” – the harvest, right? And what's the end in view? – “and glorify your Father who is in heaven”. The results of true righteousness consists of a harvest of righteousness and peace to the praise of His glory, to the glory of God. How should we apply this passage of scripture?
Well, James makes it very clear how he intends for us to apply it. I just want to highlight two practical applications, both found in verse 13. The first application is to use this paragraph as a test. Use it as a test. Look at how he begins in verse 13. “Who among you is wise and understanding?” Do you think you're biblically wise? Would you describe yourself as spiritually mature? James says, okay, then test yourself and see. Test yourself and see. Are you characterized by gentleness, a spirit of submission to God's providence, of graciousness and gentleness with people? Are you morally, sexually pure? Are you wholly devoted to Jesus Christ? Are you known for being peaceable and gentle and reasonable and full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering and without hypocrisy?
Or instead, are you filled with bitter jealousy? Do you often feel resentment against others because of their success and advantages? Do you have selfish ambition in your heart, or are you always trying to promote yourself? Do you cater to and embrace sensuality and a hidden life of sexual sin? James says, evaluate yourself.
Each of those lists of qualities describe two totally different kinds of wisdom, one genuinely biblical and the other counterfeit and pretend. Here are clear undeniable tests by which each of us can accurately evaluate our spiritual maturity.
But there's a second application James wants us to make here.
Look at verse 13 again. “Let him show by his good conduct, his works in the gentleness of wisdom.” You see, this passage is not only a test, it's the answer key. It's not only a requirement, it's the roadmap. James says, as you test yourself, if you find yourself wanting, then seek God's grace to begin to obey him, and to try to put these virtues on, start to practice these things, cultivate them by the grace of God.
That's why he wanted us to be able to memorize them easily in the original text. It was so that those who heard this letter initially could have the road map out for them as the course that they ought to follow in pursuing Biblical wisdom and spiritual wisdom. So resolve, beloved, today by the grace of God, as we have this letter in our hands, resolve to cultivate these virtues by the help and the grace of God into your life and mind.
Study these virtues, these qualities, think about them, meditate upon them, memorize them, ponder them, try to put them on and ask for God's grace and help to do it. And the promise is, if we ask for this wisdom, God will graciously give it, generously give it.
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