As I said, tonight we want to conclude our studies in the third chapter of James's epistle. Over the last three weeks we've been considering the subject matter of the tongue. And we've considered how that it is the perfect or the mature Christian who is the one who is able to bridle or to restrain their tongues would be brought face to face with the fact that our tongues, though they are but a little member, can do great damage and can do great hurt. But not only can it do that, but it also can be a means of blessing and also a means of comfort even to those to whom we employ it to. Last week we thought about one particular kind of tongue. that of a hypocritical tongue. And how James teaches us that the tongue that blesses God and curses man at the same time is contrary to logic and to reason. Now James, as a preacher and as an apostle and as a Bible writer, he seemed to love his alliteration. What I mean by alliteration is simply words that begin with the same letter. Preachers like alliteration, beginning each of their points with the same letter. And it seems to be that James loves alliteration. In chapter number 2 he is dealt about the believer and their works. And then in the beginning of chapter 3 he begins speaking about the believer and their words. And now he comes to speak about the believer and the subject matter of Wisdom. And so we come to the third W, the subject matter of wisdom. Now James has already spoken about this matter of wisdom. If you turn there to James 1 and the verse number 5, we read, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth you all men liberally, and that breatheth not, and it shall be given him. And as he has done before, James now returns to this subject matter of wisdom. Now, the question that we need to ask, how does this connect with what has come before? He's been speaking about your words, and now it seems to me that he just jumps on to a new subject matter, that of the tongue. Is there any connection? Well, I'm sure you would well guess that there is a very simple connection, because wisdom, Divine wisdom, heavenly wisdom, is most certainly needed when we use our tongues and when we employ our lips. Without God's wisdom, guiding and directing the words that we say, an offhand remark, a careless comment, a thoughtless word, an unwise application of And all I want to do tonight is to make our way through these concluding verses, these last six verses of James chapter 3, and see what God has to say to us about the subject matter of wisdom, because that's what we want to consider this evening. And that's why I haven't read any of the scriptures yet, because we'll just simply make our way through each of the verses. looking at what we have in the verse 13 of James chapter 3. James writes, who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out a good conversation of his works with meekness of wisdom. As you know, the old-fashioned or the authorized virgin word conversation does not simply mean our words. It has a broader meaning to the word itself. It simply means our everyday behavior, how we have our lives, the manner in which we conduct ourselves in the world, that's what the word conversation is. Now it does incorporate what we say, of course it does, but it also incorporates how we behave ourselves and how we conduct ourselves The person who speaks well, the person who talks well, the individual who can talk complimently on many different issues is the individual that is endued with wisdom and with knowledge. What James here informs us that it is the person whose day-to-day behavior, that person whose behavior is marked by good works, and those works guided by meekness of wisdom, It is that individual who is the wise person. You see, wisdom on our part is not proven by what we know. It's not proven by even what we say. But it's proven by what we do. And so James is bringing each of these three W's together in this particular verse. Our words, our works, and also wisdom and our works and our wisdom are to be guided, our works and our words are to be guided by this wisdom. We come to evidence our knowledge and wisdom by our practice. If the wisdom we are in tune with is the right kind of wisdom and from the right source then it results in a good conduct in our living. What I'd like to see you say is that with this wisdom there accompanies something, comes with this wisdom. And that is, if you look at verse 13, it is the meekness of wisdom. Meekness comes with wisdom. Mildness of disposition, gentleness, humility. These are just some of the ways in which this word meekness can be translated. A wise man, a wise woman, a wise young person will be humble. They'll be gentle. They'll be meek. The absence of these things within an individual, a Christian's life, testifies to the absence of true wisdom on their part. Often we think of those who find or think themselves to be wise. Often those people, they are arrogant. You ever meet someone who thinks that they know everything? They're often arrogant. They're often haughty, proud, self-obsessed people. However, Jeans tells us here that those who are truly wise are those who are meek. They're gentle. They're humble. They're lowly. They're lowly individuals. I thought, has there ever been anyone in this world that has exhibited in their eyes what James is talking about here more than the Lord Jesus Christ? He was endued with infinite knowledge of all things. He was endued with infinite wisdom. He demonstrated in his life meekness, that he was infinitely wise and therefore he provides for us as believers the most proper and the most individual that we should follow in our lives. He presents to us a role model for who we ought to mimic when it comes to showing out a good conversation of our works and with meekness and with wisdom. And so we ought to follow our Savior when it comes to how we live in this world. Then look at the next number of verses. Verses 14 through to the verse number 16. In verse 14 we read, but if ye have bitter envy and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth. Now in order for us to understand the verses then, we need that verse, we need to go on and read the next two verses. Because if we go on, it goes on to say, this wisdom, descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. Where envy and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. Now James now speaks and starts to unfold two kinds of wisdom. that a person can be endued with. Two kinds of wisdom. He, first of all, deals with what is called earthly wisdom. This is wisdom that comes from there, comes from below, from this earth. It does not come from lower, from above. And there are two things that James deals with whenever he speaks about the wisdom that is from below. He speaks about the characteristics of this wisdom. The characteristics of this wisdom. Look at the terms he uses in the verse 15. Speaking here of this earthly wisdom. This wisdom that does not come from above. It's called earthly. points to the fact that this wisdom finds its origins in this world. This kind of wisdom incorporates those worldly maxims that you hear people say, and those earthly principles that they live their lives by, the principles of the age. I would suppose one maxim really today in 21st century living is, do as you like, be what you want, Whatever you feel, that's what you are. That's worldly wisdom. And we see, and we'll look at the outfall or the outcome, that the outfalling of such wisdom only leads back to confusion. The world will tell an individual with regard to the matter of gender, they'll say, well, whatever you feel like, if you're gender fluid, You might feel like a man today, you might feel like a woman tomorrow, but whatever you feel like, that's fine. That's the world's wisdom. And what does it lead to? It leads to confusion. And that's why we're in the situation that we're in within our world and within our province. Earthly wisdom has been employed instead of men seeking after heavenly wisdom. Because men believe that they're wiser than God. But we must always remember what Job said, God is greater than man. And the fount of all wisdom is the God of wisdom. God only lies. And he has revealed his wisdom to us in the scripture. And so if we live our lives according to the scripture, we will live lives guided by perfect wisdom. earthly. Matthew Henry said the following about this earthly wisdom. He says it springs from earthly principles. It acts upon earthly motives and its intent upon serving earthly purposes. So then the next phrase is sensual. Sensual. Now you'll know what this word sensual is. It really appeals to the emotions it's not wholesome, it's not sound, it's not healthy, but rather it is splicely, it's sensual, it appeals to the senses, never to the intellect, never to the heart, never to the soul, never to the mind. It is a wisdom that will satisfy the physical part of our being, the body, but never does it satisfy or answer the spiritual part of our being, the soul, it's also devilish. And that word points to a more sinister source of the wisdom that is employed by the Omnipotent One. The worldly wise man, the worldly wise woman are guided in their affairs by a wisdom that is demonically inspired. It is devilish, devilish. You think of the world's religions, the claim to be the fountainhead of wisdom, or you think of the philosophers or the scientists or the naturals of this world, they're revered by many as being wise men, wise women, and then according to James, all those religious systems and all those men are but propagators of earthly devilish wisdom. And this kind of wisdom, it never brings a person to know God. It never brings a person to know God. What did Paul say in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21? He said this, the world by wisdom knew not God. You think, well, Surely by wisdom they would come to know God. But he's not speaking about wisdom from God, heavenly wisdom. He is speaking about this earthly wisdom. This coming to a knowledge of God. They were wise, of course they were wise. They were wise in their own eyes. But even though by wisdom, and though they employed their brains, yet they never came to know God by the wisdom that they employed. Paul speaks of the insufficiency of the world's wisdom. It never brings a person to know God seemingly. In actual fact, the wisdom of this world brings a sinner into a greater ignorance of God. It takes a man, a woman away from him. Think about the wisdom. that is healed today in our society with regard to evolution or Darwinism. Well, he's healed as a wise, intelligent individual. But Darwinism doesn't bring a man to the wall. Darwinism brings us to slaughter children in the womb because it's simply the survival of the fittest. And simply if we come from animals, well then we're just doing away with an animal. And thereby, this wisdom, healed by the world, is but foolishness. Foolishness. And it brings a man, a woman, a young person, into a greater ignorance, and into a and experts that are yield to be great and wise, ignorance still prevails, and iniquity still abides. Is that not the case? You think about how intelligent our world is. And we are an intelligent world compared to our forefathers. Many young people, they go to university. Many leave school with GCSEs and A-levels. I would say that among individuals here, some of you, maybe I shouldn't say this, I'll never be your friend again, but you may be, you may be of the way levels, you may be of the low levels, or whatever they were. As they always say, all I had was the spirit level. I don't know what you had. But you think about how intelligent people are. How they can put name on the moon, and satellites in space, Robots and Lars, I think it went to Lars, but whatever. So intelligent, but have we got more godly? No. Have we become more spiritual? No. Men love their darkness, and this earthly wisdom brings us in and brings this world into a greater darkness, as I said. Ignorance, still prevails and he met where he still abides despite a world that's full of wise people. The stab of their wisdom bringing them to a knowledge of God that has plunged them into greater darkness and entrenched them further into sin's ignorance. One picture said this kind of wisdom leads man into smugness, self-conceit, immorality, ignorance. arrogance, self-sufficiency that leads him into total abandonment of his natural impulses. In other words, it gives a man over to his flesh, to the detriment of his soul. It's a wisdom that the child of God wants nothing to do with. Well, having dealt with the characteristics of the wisdom, James speaks secondly about the consequences of this wisdom. When the wisdom that James speaks of here in verse 15 is employed by individuals, their envying and strife are never far away. And there is confusion and every evil word. That's what it says in verse 16. These are the natural consequences of earthly wisdom being employed in situations that we find ourselves in. there's going to be strife, jealousy, envy. The outcome is strife. Envy will then find itself expressed in our words, and such can cause grief, unrest, and unquiet within a natural family, within a spiritual family, within a grouping of friends, within a business. Whenever there's envy, People start to get jealous. They end their strife. Think of a Bible example. Joseph. His brothers were envious. Envious that his father gave him the coat of many colors. Well, what happened? Strife. They sent him in to Egypt, and their words are futile. Uncertainty, strife fueled by envy, then results in confusion. My God is not the author of confusion. And thereby, if he's not the author, who is? Well, it must be then the wicked one. The person that is earthly and sensual and devilish can creep into the church and potentially wreak havoc in the harmony of the body, resulting in disorder and in confusion. There's a vast, there's uncertainty, and there is ungodliness. Not which begins with simple envy. Kind of like work itself and outright ungodliness. Every evil work, this earthly wisdom. I was thinking of Bloom's words tonight just before I came out. He often put them especially to young people, Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5 and 6. You probably saw it written down in any accord, Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5 and 6. The words are, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and be not owed to thy own understanding in all thy ways, acknowledge him. He shall direct thy paths. Do you know what that word, understanding, is? Wisdom. Lean not on to thy own wisdom, but in all thy ways acknowledge him, Lord. He shall direct thy paths. In light of the characteristics and the consequences, then, this wisdom is to be rejected by the child of God. There must be a seeking on our part. And there is a better wisdom, and it is a heavenly wisdom. Look there at James 3 in the verse 17. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure and peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. The contrast is stark, isn't it? But there on the surface for us all to see, look at the description. of this wisdom that comes down to us from the Father of Life, James states that it's pure. This wisdom, if employed by the believer, will lead that believer into a life of purity, into a life that is unsullied by sin, will bring a life that will cause that individual, if they employ this wisdom, And we have already said words to be found in the word of God. If employed in the believer's life, it will cause them to live a life that is free from defilement, contamination, and impurity. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way, by taking heed thereto according to my word. So we employ the word, and as we live the word of God out in our eyes, it will bring us into a state of purity. If you want to be pure, then you need to be wise, and if you want to be wise, then you'll need to be in the word, the word of God. Then it's peaceable. When earthly wisdom is used, we have thought about it, it results in strife. But whenever this wisdom, this wisdom from above, whenever it's employed, it promotes harmony. It promotes concord, and it promotes love. One Christian writer said, it influences the professors of it to be at peace among themselves and one another, to cultivate peace in families, among neighbors, and even with enemies. Even with our enemies. Then it's gentle. The word carries the thought of forbearance. To forbear, moderation. When someone gets under our skin, do we employ this kind of wisdom? Because whenever it's employed, we will be gentle. We'll not be brash, we'll not be aggressive. Rather, we'll be gentleness, as we deal with the individual. Easy to be intrusive. That simply means that this wisdom, it's open to reason. When a person possesses this wisdom, they're not someone that's got a closed mind to issues that are not fundamental to the faith that I need to put that in place. They aren't, as it were, blinkered. Rather, they're someone who's willing to listen to someone else's point of view and to be open to be persuaded by them. It is wisdom that helps us to be open to a fresh view on issues and to change our opinion whenever we are wrong on a particular issue. Easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits. Anthony Bird wrote, mercy is here linked with good fruits, to emphasize the wholesome and productive nature of genuine wisdom. Wisdom leads us to practically help others. We've thought about that concerning our work Faith without works is dead. There needs to be works of company or faith. And wisdom leads us to practically help others. Broadly, wisdom is not simply theoretical. It's practical, brethren and sisters. It rolls up its sleeves and does something. It works. It takes action. I wonder, does that describe how we're living? Are we sort of living in a little bubble of our own? Me, mine, and it's mine. Or do we look out beyond? Do we see people in need? And do we employ our wisdom? I can help that individual. This is what it is, full of mercy, and of good fruits without partiality. Now, we have dealt with the matter of being impartial in the work of God. Remember, chapter two begins with that. There was partiality being shown in the assembly of believers. How were the eldership and the oversight, how were they to free themselves of this spirit of being partial, showing favoritism? How do we triumph over this Achilles' heel that so often we suffer within the Church of Jesus Christ? No, how do we conquer it? by seeking God for his wisdom, because heavenly wisdom is without partiality. When we possess this wisdom, all partisan bias within us is removed. In light of what James deals with in chapter 2, he is gently rebuking these believers for their lack of impartiality, and it shows them that such has arisen from the fact that they have not sought God for, or employed wisdom from above in their dealings with others. He's dealt with the matter of impartiality. He's shown them that they were being impartial, and now he's saying, now here's the reason. Here's the reason. You did not employ heavenly wisdom. You employed your own wisdom. It is without hypocrisy, a word without hypocrisy, just one word in the Greek that simply means sincere, no pretense, no charade, no acting, no fakeness, with the wisdom that is from above. I wonder, did you count how many characteristics there are to this wisdom? Did you count them? There's seven. Seven. Seven. the number of perfection. And where is the perfection of wisdom found? It's found in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul speaks of Christ as the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 24. Was and is the Lord Jesus Christ not peaceable? Was and is he not gentle, easy to be intrigued, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy? Just consider the ministry of Christ. You take each of these characteristics and you see how they are played out wisdom personified. He is the perfection of wisdom. The German Calvinist theologian, Johann Peter Lange, said the following in his Bible commentary, the seven qualities which James attributes to the wisdom from above are nothing but the seven colours of the one ray of light of heavenly truth which has been revealed and has appeared in Christ himself. He is therefore supremely entitled to the meal, the wisdom of God. O then to exemplify in our lives and to exhibit in our lives the wisdom that Christ exhibited. Finally, quickly, verse 18. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. These words speak of the fruit that is produced in the person's life when they use and employ the wisdom that is from above by the child of God. According to James, it yields in that individual's life the fruit of righteousness. Where there is contention and strife in the family, the church, the group of your friends, you'll find that such discord can be traced back to the decision of heavenly wisdom. Sadly, the assembly of believers that James was writing to were marked, look at what it says in the next verse, chapter number four, verse one. These assemblies were marked by wars and fightings. Civil war in the church of Jesus Christ. Civil war. Why? Because earthly wisdom Oh, let us learn from others' mistakes. It's not a good way to learn, not by making a mistake yourself, but learning from another man's mistakes. Let's learn from the mistakes that were made. And brethren and sisters, if we don't have this wisdom, and I speak of this heavenly wisdom, this wisdom from above, if we don't have it, If any man lack wisdom, there is a master of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and who breatheth not, and it shall be given to him. May God give us this wisdom. and thank God it will bring us to live a quiet and a peaceable life. May God be pleased to make us wise even in these days. Let's seek the Lord briefly in prayer. Holy Father, take my word and apply it to these hearts of ours and help us as we come to seek my face in prayer. We offer petitions in Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen.