1018. Wisdom from Above

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina.

The school was founded in 1927 by the evangelist Dr. Bob Jones Sr. His intent was to make a school where the focus would be on Christ, so he established daily chapel services. Today, that tradition continues with fervent biblical preaching from The University Chapel Platform. Let's listen to today's message from the study series from the book of James called Wisdom from Above.

There's a study booklet available for this series, and if you'd like to follow along, you can order a printed copy from the website thedailyplatform.com. Well, this morning we're looking into the third chapter of the book of James as we continue our series on Wisdom from Above, and last week we looked at the question that James asked in verse 13, who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? And James answers his question. He says, well, a wise person demonstrates their wisdom by the way they live and by the way they handle their things, their works, and they demonstrate their wisdom by showing a meek and humble spirit. So this morning we're going to start in verse 14, and today and next week we'll work through down to verse 18. And today we're going to go deeper into the weeds as James unfolds what this meekness of wisdom looks like. And he does it with a contrast because he speaks about a wisdom that is from above, and then he talks about a wisdom from it that is below. And so we're going to look this morning at the wisdom that is from below, which is the contrast to what heavenly or spiritual wisdom that's meek looks like. And as we read this passage of scripture this morning, beginning in verse 14, I'd like you to think also about how it is that Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5, because I've already told you that the goal of the Christian life is maturity, but the writers of the New Testament use different words to describe it. Peter, for example, talks about being holy, and John about loving, James about being wise, and Paul about being Christ-like. All Christian maturity, but it's a little bit different.

And so we'll see that this morning. Let's begin reading in verse 14. James says these words, but if you have bitter ending and strife in your hearts, lie not and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where ending and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work, and then notice the contrast, but the wisdom that is from above is, and then he explains it. So it's very clear we have a contrast, wisdom from above, and he doesn't really say wisdom from a below, but it's implied in his statement. So the question I'd like to try to begin with this morning is what he states in verses 14 through 16 he calls a wisdom. And when you read that, you wonder, at least you ask the question, how can it be if you have ending and strife, how wise is that? Why would he call this wisdom?

It doesn't really make a lot of sense. So let's dive into the verses and try to unpack them this morning, and then I'd like to try to answer the question at the end. If he calls it a particular wisdom, why does he use that particular word?

So let's look at verse 14. Notice what he says. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth, this wisdom descends not from above. Notice the two words that he uses. He talks about envying and strife. He is describing something that is within the human heart that drives you or motivates you to do what you do.

So what is he talking about? He says if there's a bitterness, an envy, a strife, this is not God's wisdom, this is a different kind of wisdom. The word bitter envying comes from two words. The word bitter, which means something that is obnoxious to the taste buds. In other words, you put it in your mouth and you spit it out. The word envy there is the idea of a zealousness. It is a craving for something that we don't possess and we react to it.

I'll give you an illustration. A number of years ago, we were holding special revival meetings at a local church up in New Hampshire. And on our team that day, at that time, we had two young men and two young ladies traveling with us. And after the service, I noticed that the two young ladies and one of the young men, a guy named Will Galkin at the time, all had a little loaf of banana nut bread. And I noticed that the other guy, a fellow named Peter Blake, who was from Australia, who was on our team, that Peter did not have any banana nut bread. So apparently, a lady in the church gave the two ladies and Will some banana nut bread.

Peter didn't get anything. So I asked Peter the question. I said, Peter, why did you not get any banana nut bread? I mean, you were mistreated.

They got it, but you didn't get it. I said, Peter, do you know the difference between envy and jealousy? I said, jealousy is upset that you didn't get any banana nut bread and you deserve it because they've got it and you want some banana nut bread right now. I said, you know what envy is? Envy is much more diabolical. Envy says, I don't want any banana nut bread, but in your heart you hope that when they eat theirs, they get sick to their stomach.

That's the difference. And what James is writing about here is essentially this, that this kind of jealousy or this kind of envy is what is the cause of conflicts. The ancient Greeks and the first century Jewish moralists believe that envy was the moral cause of all human problems, conflicts, and violence. In other words, if there's fighting and tension going on, somebody is jealous. The second century moralists Epictetus said there's an organic relationship between envy and violence. He stated that Caesar could free people from wars and fighting, but he cannot free people from envy.

Think with me a moment. What motivated Joseph's brothers to sell him into slavery? Envy. What motivated Haman to kill the Jews in Mordecai in the days of Esther? It was envy.

What motivated the Pharisees to crucify Jesus? The gospel writer tells us it was envy. Envy is the source of most human conflicts.

Notice the second word. It's strive for selfish ambition. This is the desire to achieve advancement at the expense of others. So what is envy? Envy is self-gratification, something that I want and I'll fight you for it. Selfish ambition is self-glorification. In the days of Aristotle, it was considered to be a greedy, a greedy, self-seeking politician who pursues political office by unfair means.

I mean, all you have to do is read the news today and there is political tension. And we don't know all the reasons for it, but you can take what James says, and if you are a betting person, you could say at the heart of it is envy and selfish ambition. It is one who thinks of his own personal profit. And what does James say? He says these people are driven by sinful motives.

And what does he say they do about it? Look at verse 14. He tells us that bitter envying in your hearts, he says glory not and lie not against the truth. That is, this idea of glorying is that you are boasting about your superiority. And the wisdom of these people means that they're trying to look a bit bigger and look better than they really are. And James calls it lying.

Why? Because it's not true wisdom. As a Christian, you have to be discerning in your thoughts. That when you look at what James says about a wise person, he is a meek person, and in this case, it is the exact opposite. So question, did the Apostle Paul ever speak about envy and strife? Listen to just a couple of verses that are well known. First Corinthians 3, 3, he says, for you are yet carnal, for whereas there's among you envying and strife and divisions. Are you not carnal and walk as men?

Let me ask you a question. Can a Christian be motivated by strife and envy? Absolutely. Listen to what Paul says in Philippians 1 15 about some who preach the gospel. He said some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife and some also of goodwill.

Now I think you would agree with me that someone who is driven by these motives and actions are not wise even if you are a Christian. So he is telling us, James is telling us, that this is the motivation. This is a particular worldly way of thinking. And what is the fruit of strife and envy? Well, he tells us.

Look at what he says in verse 16. For where envy and strife is, then what follows? There is confusion in every evil work. In other words, where there's envy and strife, there is bad fruit. And the bad fruit, number one, first of all, is confusion. The word confusion means to rise up in open defiance of authority with the intention to overthrow it or to act in complete opposition to its demands. In other words, the internal desires for self-gratification and self-glorification put you in conflict with those who are established leaders.

Envy and strife creates disorder, rebellion, unsettledness, revolt, instability, and chaos. Or to put it in simple terms, lots and lots of drama. How many of you have ever met people who are drama people? You ever been around people like that?

And it seems like they always have a problem. Well, what rules the heart wags the tongue. And if the heart — and by the way, a Christian can have this heart — if he is controlled by envy and strife, there's going to be tension. Listen to the way it's used in other places in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 14, 33, for God is not the author of what?

Say it. He's not the author of confusion. James writes in chapter three and verse eight, but the tongue is an unruly evil.

Same thing. James 1a, the double-minded man is unstable. So where there's envy and strife, there's confusion. And then notice secondly, in every evil work. If I just simply define it, a whole bunch of bad stuff.

What's the bad stuff? Slander, gossip, disputes, tempers, dissension, suspicion of other people, and an unhealthy craving for controversy. You know, I've been around Christians a long, long time. And there always seems to be a certain group of people that everywhere they go, there's controversy and there's conflict.

And after a while, I've just come to the conclusion that if that's the way that you are, then there is something in your heart that is driving you. Do churches have an issue with this kind of bad stuff? Listen to what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 20. He says, I am afraid that perhaps when I come, I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish, that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, and disturbances. And these are the bad effects of when envy and strife is in the heart. So back to our problem. Why does James say this is wise?

That doesn't make any sense to me. Well, one other thing. What is the source of all this? If envy and strife produce confusion in every evil work, what is the source?

What's kind of like the foundation for this? And this is what James writes about in verse 15. He says, this wisdom descendeth not from above, but then he gives three basic sources.

And you could say he goes from bad to badder to baddest. He starts out, first of all, and he says it's earthly. What does he mean by earthly? He's talking about the natural human way of thinking in contrast to the divine way of thinking. Do you remember what Isaiah said about the way God thinks? He says his thoughts are not our thoughts.

His ways are not our ways. A natural way of thinking is like what Solomon was writing about in the book of Ecclesiastes, who he talks about the man who had it all, wanted it all, got it all, and in the end he wasn't satisfied. It is the natural way of thinking that shuts God out and he views life in terms of just the here and now. Earthly. Notice number two, the sensual. The word here for sensual is the word from which we get the word psychology. And the idea of the word sensual is the opposite of spiritual. The Greek word for spiritual is pneuma or pneumatikos. The word for sensual is sukikos, the suke or the soul. And essentially what he's talking about is someone who is controlled by his own inner desires and appetites.

This is what's driving him. It is the opposite of someone who is spiritual because a person who is spiritual is not guided by his feelings and his emotions, but he is guided by truth that is under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness unto him. The Bible says in Jude 19, it is these who cause division, worldly people devoid of the Spirit. And the word worldly there is the word for sensual. So people that are driven by envy and strife at the foundation, they are earthly, they are sensual, and then notice the last one is the word devilish.

What does that mean? Well the word here is for the word of demons or unclean spirits. And he's saying that either we act like demons or we are being inspired by demons. And James detects the work of Satan through his demonic forces who comes in and he tries to corrupt the harmony and the life of the church with jealousy, faction, and pride. And so James is pulling back the layers, confusion, bad stuff because of jealousy and selfish ambition. And at the very heart of it, it is the human natural way of thinking that is demonic in its orientation.

So here's a question. Do you know anybody in the Bible who thought this way? Do you know anybody whom Jesus said, you're thinking this way?

Well who in the Bible where Jesus said to him and called him Satan? His name was what? His name was Peter.

Yeah, you remember the story? Mark chapter 8, the disciples are with Jesus and Peter had just made this huge confession that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. And right after that, what did Jesus do? He began to tell his disciples, I'm going to go to Jerusalem. I'm on the road to Jerusalem. I'm going to go there and I'm going to be executed.

I'm going to be crucified and then I'm going to rise from the dead. And how did Peter respond? What was the natural response of Peter? He said, whoa, wait a minute.

You can't do that. And he tried to get in Jesus' way. And what did Jesus say to the apostle Peter who had just made this huge confession? He said, get thee behind me what?

You say it. Satan. Now, was Peter demon possessed?

No. But the way that he was thinking was a demonic way of thinking. He was thinking as one who was trying to preserve himself. He was thinking about himself. He was self-centered. Self-gratifying.

Self-glorifying. It was about self. And that's when Jesus said if anybody would come after me, let him deny himself. The pathway to right thinking is not self-gratification, it's self-denial.

So let's go back to the question. Why in the world does James say this wisdom? So let's go back and think about what's the goal for believers in the book of James is that you and I would become wise. Wisdom involves connecting life to the purposes of God.

What is God doing? Wisdom is becoming skillful in righteous living and making right decisions. Wisdom shows itself in a meek and humble spirit. And James is showing us the exact opposite of the wisdom of God.

He's showing us the wisdom of the world. Is this not what Peter — I mean, excuse me — Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 1 when he talked about the cross? The cross is the wisdom of God. Because on that cross, Jesus went and died for our sins and rose from the dead and it didn't make sense to the world. But it is God's wisdom, God works not through strength but through weakness. The way up is the way down. The way of the resurrection is through the crucifixion. God brings glory out of suffering. And so the, the wisdom of God is in contrast to the wisdom of the world because the wisdom of the world is about pride and self-exaltation and your own human strength. And James is calling it wisdom because this is the way the natural world thinks. This is what they see as legit.

This is what they boast about. But a Christian who is controlled by the wisdom of God is one who is humble and meek and committed to the Lord and follows God in obedience. So I want to ask you a question. What are you going to live for? What's in your heart?

What's in your heart? Is Christ on the throne of your heart? Have you crucified your own envy and selfish ambition? Have you laid it at the foot of the cross?

And have you said, God, I want to be like you and I want to serve you and I want to do exactly what you did and that is you came to give your life for others. That, my friend, is wisdom from above. Father, we thank you this morning for your wonderful word. Oh, Lord, help us to be counterculture people by living our lives for that which is eternal. In Jesus' name.

Amen. You've been listening to a sermon from the book of James by Dr. Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University. For more information on Dr. Pettit's series, visit our website at thedailyplatform.com where you can get a copy of Steve's study booklet entitled Wisdom from Above. I'd like to thank you for listening to The Daily Platform. I hope that you've enjoyed it. I hope it's been a blessing and an encouragement to you.

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