James: Practical Christianity - The Wisdom of God

In the stage play, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, there was one scene I particularly liked. Charlie Brown comments to Lucy, "Someone has said that we should live each day as if it were the last day of our life."

"Aaugh!" cries Lucy. "This is the last day! This is it!" She dashes away screaming, "I only have 24 hours left! Help me! Help me! This is the last day! Aaugh!"

Charlie Brown, left alone, muses, "Some philosophies aren't for all people."

As I read the Scriptures here in James, we discover that some kinds of wisdom are not for all people. James talks about worldly wisdom and he talks about Godly wisdom. Worldly wisdom is all right for those who are of this world. But it’s not all right for those of us who are citizens of a different Kingdom.

Unfortunately, much of today’s Church has bought into the wisdom of the age. This is especially true when it comes to the entire spectrum of the LGBTQ+ agenda. Just this last week the Church of England okayed the blessing of same-sex unions, and called for “ ... the church to lament and repent the harm done to LGBTQ+ people by the Church of England, in its failure to welcome them.” Translation: The Church of England is apologizing for 2,000 years of Christian orthodoxy when it calls lesbians, gays, bisexual, transsexuals, and queer to repent of their sexual sin. The more relevant churches try to be, the more irrelevant they become. The wisdom of the age is not so wise!

Everywhere we turn in our society, people are offering us tidbits of wisdom for life. Self-help books, talk shows, and psychoanalysis are the order of the day. James says there is a better way to understand our experiences in life.

I. THE FOLLY OF WORLDLY WISDOM

1. the Bible teaches us that there are two kinds of wisdom in this world

a. there is worldly wisdom

b. there is Godly wisdom

2. worldly wisdom is often described as knowledge, experience, or judgment joining together that leads to proper decisions, thoughts, and actions

a. God gave us the capacity to think and to know and to reason and therefore to become wise

b. but, like all other attributes of man, our reasoning process has also been affected by sin

1) by nature man is rebelliously autonomous

2) he wants to solve his own problems and make his own decisions

ILLUS. The last two lines of William Ernest Henley’s poem ‘Invictus‘ ( written in 1875) say, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” No line of prose so thoroughly describes the spirit of radical autonomy that permeates our culture today.

c. when a man divorces his thinking from the mind of God, his reasoning becomes corrupted

1) Paul gives us an account of what happens to men when they seek to employ their own wisdom about the nature of the world and God

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Romans 1:18–25, ESV)

3. what is God’s attitude toward worldly wisdom?

“For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”” (1 Corinthians 3:19–20, ESV)

A. THE MARKS OF WORLDLY WISDOM

“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.” (James 3:14, NIV)

1. James tells us worldly wisdom has two chief characteristics that identify it as worldly wisdom

a. 1st, it is filled with bitter jealousy

1) James here refers to a spirit of rivalry that refuses to be reconciled

2) this philosophy rules the business and political worlds

a) worldly wisdom says that to be the best, you’ve got to beat everyone else – there is no glory in second-best

b) any method you employ to obtain that accomplishment is prudent

ILLUS. Such “wisdom” leads the scandals like Watergate, and Berniegate, and Deflategate. All scandals were someone cheated to try to get ahead. Worldly wisdom says, “All’s fair in love and war and business and sports and, well ... everything.

b. 2nd, it is filled with selfish ambition

1) worldly wisdom says, How will this affect me to the better? or How can I best manipulate this situation so that I come out on top?

2) selfish ambition leads to the establishment of parties, and factions, cliques and alliances

ILLUS. I have never watched any of the original ‘Survivor’ shows. But it doesn’t take a genius to understand that the competitors in these shows base their survival on worldly wisdom. The goal is not merely to survive but to stab all your competitors in the back at the same time. And you need to stab them in the back less they stab you, which, indeed, they are trying to do. The result is bitter jealousy and selfish ambition.

B. THE RESULTS OF WORLDLY WISDOM

“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” (James 3:16, ESV)

1. the sad reality is that the producers of ‘Survivor’ could go into hundreds of churches across our nation and film episodes of their show as one church member pits themself against another church member in a real-life struggle for dominance and one-ups-man-ship

ILLUS. In the early church we have the story of Ananias and Sapphira found in Acts 5. Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property, with the intent of giving the proceeds to the Church in Jerusalem. The land was there’s to sell and the profit there’s to do with what they wanted. But they kept back part of the proceeds for themselves while claiming to give the entire proceeds to the church. Peter see through it and says, “Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God?” The result is that they both die.

The question is why would they do this? The key is found in the verses just before their story. In Acts 4:32-37 we read about life in the early Church. It’s a story of a community of believers who loved each other deeply and cared for each other’s needs. A hallmark in that early community was generosity — “ ... and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” One day, a man named Joseph sold a field belonging to him and brought the proceeds to the Apostles for the benefit of the church. Everyone is so excited at what Joseph did that they renamed him. He will forever more be known as “ ... Barnabas (which means son of encouragement).”

This is why, I believe, jealousy and selfish ambition arose in the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira. Worldly wisdom says, “If you want to be recognized in the Church, if you want acclaim and the praise of men, give a large sum of money to your church, and they just might rename you to ‘Mr. Blessing’ and ‘Mrs. Honor.’ At the very least, they might name the fellowship hall after you.

a. worldly wisdom says you get ahead in the church they same way you get ahead in the world — through the influence of money

b. Godly wisdom say, “Don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing”

c. if God would have let Ananias and Sapphira get away with what they did if would have allowed disorder and even every evil practice to come into the life of the Church

2. I see lot of churches where there is disorder and even every evil practice

a. I mentioned this at the beginning ... the more relevant churches try to be, the more irrelevant they become

1) we see this rush toward relevancy in the abandonment of Biblical doctrine

a) not to beat a dead horse, but this is especially true in the whole-sale acceptance of the LGBTQ+ agenda by many congregations

1) from the beginning, the purveyors of sexual deviancy have sought to “mainstream” sexual deviancy by forcing their agenda upon every element of society

2) the church has been the last hold out, but the walls are crumbling quickly

2) we see this rush toward relevancy in the replacement of Biblical worship with Evangelical entertainment

a) worship was never intended to be a spectator’s event, but in many churches that’s just what it has become

b) cue the spotlights and the fog machine

3) we see this rush toward relevancy in the desire to elevate people to leadership based on their extraordinary abilities instead of their extraordinary character

C. THE SOURCE OF WORLDLY WISDOM

“This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” (James 3:15, ESV)

1. do you see the contrast?

2. if our wisdom is not Godly wisdom, if it is not heavenly wisdom, then it is ...

a. it is earthly

1) that means it is a wisdom that proceeds from man’s limited understanding

b. it is sensual

1) that means it is unspiritual

c. it is devilish

1) this means that worldly wisdom proceeds from an evil spirit

2) that doesn’t necessarily mean the devil is behind it, but that it is affected by the falleness of the world and the evil that proceeds from a civilization blasted by sin

3. James is not disparaging all knowledge or wisdom that arise from the physical order

ILLUS. Praise God for Willis Carrier who invented air conditioning and developed forced air furnaces.

a. when James uses “earthly” he refers to a mind-set that does not consider God’s sovereign rule, or His will, for creation

b. such earthly wisdom, unlike true, biblical wisdom, is not rooted in the fear of the Lord

II. WISDOM FOR THE ASKING

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5, ESV)

1. "If any lacks" implies that everyone has a deficit of wisdom

a. believers are commanded to pray for wisdom

b. this command is matched by the certainty of receiving wisdom from God

2. a measurement of our wisdom verses God's is what question we ask when the trials of life come our way

a. our wisdom asks, "why me?"

b. God's wisdom allows us to start asking for wisdom to see us through the trials and circumstances of life

3. James says we are to ask God for the wisdom we need

a. the word ask in this verse is a verb that means to ask and to keep on asking

b. we might say it like this , Let him constantly ask a giving God who constantly gives

4. Godly wisdom is finding out what God thinks about something and then bringing our minds and our behavior in line with that

A. GOD IS NOT TIGHT-FISTED TOWARD HIS CHILDREN

1. He is a giving God!

2. this wisdom God offers to us, simply for the asking, is not mere knowledge of facts, or the accumulation of information

a. many a man and woman have gone under the trials of life knowing all the facts

3. the wisdom God offers is understanding for living

a. it is the God-given ability to make godly decisions and choices in the midst of difficult circumstances

b. many will ask "Why do we need wisdom for trials?"

c. why not ask for strength, grace, or deliverance?

4. we need to ask for godly wisdom that allows us to see that strength, grace and deliverance comes with God's wisdom

a. the trials of many kinds (vs.2) which come to us all are nothing less than gigantic opportunities to become wise

5. God's giving of His wisdom is given without reproach

a) God does not scold us or get on to us for past failures or sins

b) our God is a good, giving God, who gives wisdom for the asking

III. WISDOM FOR THE BELIEVING

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:6, ESV)

1. as we live in the world of advancing technology, we also live in a society where people want something for nothing

a. James sets the conditions of asking for the godly wisdom

A. ASK IN FAITH

1. faith is an unwavering trust and belief in God

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6, ESV)

2. to ask in faith believing, says we are committed to depend upon God and His wisdom rather than our own

B. WITH NO DOUBTING

1. skeptics are born everyday

a. they live in a sea of doubt and faith never enters their lives

b. "Doubt ruins everything, because it ruptures the relationship between you and your Lord."

2. to ask God for wisdom and then doubt tells of the conflict of trust that is going on inside of us

a. doubting is in contrast to faith

ILLUS. James views the "DOUBTING BELIEVER" (paradox!) as being on the waves that go in and out. A wave is at the mercy of outside influences. It has no power of direction. It is in a state of constant change. It is the perfect picture of the doubting that causes instability in our lives.

b. God's wisdom give us stability in our lives

“so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” (Ephesians 4:14–15, ESV)

Conclusion

Stability or instability, which do we want in our lives? Instability is the easiest. We simply live a life full of worry, and constant questioning of God over our circumstances. And the answer never appears on the horizon.

If we want stability we must ask God for His wisdom and then believe God will see us through the trials. Stable faith we might call it.

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