Let us turn once again to the
Word of God and turning to that latter portion that we read in
the third chapter of the General Epistle of James. James chapter
3 and I want to draw your attention this morning to verses 17 and
18. James chapter 3 verses 17 and
eighteen, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy
and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy, and the
fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." In particular the opening words
that we find here in verse 17, but the wisdom that is from above
is first pure. James in this passage is dealing
with that wisdom that is so basic really, that wisdom that is the
mark of the Christian believer. We know that unbelief is foolishness. Therefore it follows that faith
is wisdom. Remember the words of the Lord
Jesus to those two on the road to Emmaus when he rebuked them,
O fools, he said, and slow of heart to believe all that is
written in the prophets. What folly it is to be those
who pursue the ways of unbelief. And so the believer is that person
surely who is, as the Apostle Paul says, made wise unto salvation. The way of salvation is the way
of wisdom. And this is the subject that
the Apostle James is dealing with here in the closing part
of this third chapter of the Epistle. In verse 13, He speaks
of how those who have that true faith will be godly in the manner
of their living. He was a wise man, he says. That
is the child of God, that is the Christian believer, the wise
man, endued with knowledge among you. Let him show out of a good
conversation his works, he says, with meekness of wisdom. How the reality of this man's
faith then is to be evidenced in the way in which he conducts
himself, his behavior. The word conversation here has
regard not just to the words of his mouth but the whole manner
of his living. He seeks to walk in the way of
godly obedience to God. The Lord Jesus said in the course
of his ministry, you shall know them by their fruits. And James of course is saying
much the same in this epistle as we see previously there in
the second chapter. Verse 17, Even so faith, he says,
if it have not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say,
Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Or it is by
that fruit then, that the godly man is known and distinguished,
who is a wise man, and endured with knowledge among you, Let
him show out of a good conversation, a good behavior, his works with
meekness of wisdom. Do observe that expression at
the end of verse 13, he speaks of meekness of wisdom, lowliness
of wisdom. Though this man seeks to lead
the godly life, he is in no way looking to himself, he's not
dependent in any sense upon his own works for salvation. Though he will be careful to
practice right behavior, yet that's not where he puts his
trust and his confidence. His wisdom is marked by that
spirit of true humility. He knows something of the evil
of his own heart that James speaks of in verse 14. He says, If ye
have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and
lie not against the truth. Or this man knows something of
himself. He knows something of his own
heart. It is from within, out of the
heart, that all manner of evil and sin proceeds. That's the
teaching, is it not, of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in the Gospel. It's not so much what men partake
of. He's rebuking the Pharisees who
were speaking so harshly against his disciples because they were
not following the traditions of the fathers in their washings
and so forth. And the Lord says it's not what
a man does externally. It's not what he takes into his
mouth that defiles the man. It's those things that are there
in the heart of the man that defile him. And so here you see,
if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory
not, and lie not against the truth. Is not Satan himself so
active? The Lord Jesus could say, the
Prince of this world cometh, and that's nothing in me, but
how different it is for men who by nature are sinners, dead in
trespasses and sins. He says at verse 15, This wisdom
descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every
evil work. How Satan himself is so active. But the wise man is aware of
these things. He knows his own heart. He knows
the source of those sins. They are within him. He is wise
to the activities of Satan, and so he is that man who seeks yet
to walk in the way of obedience to God. He has that wisdom that
is from above, the wisdom that is spoken of here in our text
this morning at the end of this chapter. But the wisdom that
is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy
to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality
and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace." Let us consider
then something of this wisdom, the wisdom from above. And we see first of all here
that it gives primacy to purity. That's what the scripture says,
is it not? The wisdom that is from above
is first, pure. It is purity that has that principle
place. It is purity that is the grand
distinguishing mark of this heavenly wisdom. Those who have this wisdom,
of course, they know God. but they know God as that One
who is pure, that One who is holy, and He is holy and righteous
and just in all His ways. Look at the divine order as we
have it set before us here in the text. This heavenly wisdom,
the wisdom from above, we're told, is first pure, then peaceable. Oh, it is right and proper that
we have a concern for that that is right before God. We are to
live at peace with all men, especially with them of the household of
faith. We should desire peace, but not at any cost. We are to
be concerned primarily for that purity of truth, that purity
of doctrine. It's interesting how we see this
emphasis in other parts of scripture also. Remember the teaching of
the Lord Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount when we come
to consider the Beatitudes and something of the order of those
Beatitudes. In Matthew 5 and verses 8 and
9 he says, Blessed are the pure in heart and then blessed are
the peacemakers. but purity comes before peace. Again, in the language of the
wise man, in the book of Proverbs, he says, a man's ways please
the Lord's. Now what is it for a man's ways
to please the Lord? It's when that man is concerned
to practice holiness of life, to walk in accordance with God's
holy commandments. He's concerned to do that that
is right. When a man's ways please the
Lord, says Solomon, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace
with him. First of all, his ways must please
the Lord. First of all, he is to be concerned
about that Puritan. And then God will so order things
that even his enemies will be at peace with him. This is the
divine order, is it not? God himself is concerned first
and foremost with that Puritan. God must be true to himself.
And God, of course, is that one who is holy, He is Holy Father,
Holy Son, and Holy Spirit. He is thrice holier. The angels,
as they veil their faces and bow their heads, they cry, Holy,
Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts. And so in all His dealings, God
ever has reference to that holiness. and that purity of his own character. And so when he comes to salvation,
what do we see in scripture? He is spoken of, is he not, as
a just God and a Saviour. There in Isaiah 45, 21, he is
a just God. He's a merciful God, he's a gracious
God, he's a loving God and a Saviour. But observe the language of his
employees. by God himself as he speaks to
his servant Isaiah the prophet he is just and in his great work
of salvation he is first and foremost a just God Romans 3
and verse 26 he is just it says and the justifier of him that
believeth in Jesus all the justice of God the righteousness of God
the holiness of God All that that makes God to be one who
is pure. How this purity then has this
principle place when we think of heavenly wisdom. The wisdom
that is from above is first pure. Are we those this morning who
can say that we really delight in this heavenly wisdom? And we want to understand something
more of this great wisdom. When we think of the wisdom from
above, are we not to seek to be those who would contemplate
those great eternal purposes of God? That the God's purpose
before the foundation of the world, that great salvation,
that covenants that was made between the persons in the Godhead,
the inter-trinitarian covenants, or the great mystery, you see.
This is the wisdom that is from above. It is a mystery of God
and of the Father and of Christ in whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge says the Apostle as he writes to the
Colossians. It's that that concerns all the
persons in the Godhead. That that God did when he covenanted
with himself It is remarkable, is it not, when we think of the
ways of God with man whom he has created in his own image. We know that with regards to
man's creation in the first place there was a counsel in the Godhead,
as we have it recorded there at the beginning of Scripture.
We read of God, as it were, consulting himself, let us make man his
heirs. Let us make man in our image
after our likeness. So different to the way in which
God creates in general. He creates by fiat, does he not?
He speaks. He says. And so it comes into
being. God said, let there be light
and there was light. God said, let the dry land appear. The dry land appears, but when
it comes to man. Now God counsels with himself,
let us make man, he says, in our image, after our likeness. He doesn't just speak man into
creation. In all his dealings with men,
so remarkable and so with regards to that great plan and purpose
of salvation, Was there not a consultation and a covenant made in the Godhead
before ever the world was created, when the Father was pleased to
commit into the hands of the Son all those who were to be
redeemed? And now the Son so willingly
undertook that great work of their redemption. And now the
Spirit also Himself is party to all these things. Oh, this
is that heavenly wisdom that the Apostle is speaking of there
at the beginning of Colossians chapter 2. And of course it all
centers in the Lord Jesus Christ, who of God, says Paul, is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,
that as it is written, he that glorieth. Let him glory in the
Lord. we see him set before us, do
we not, as that one who is truly the wisdom of God?" Remember
the language that we have in that 8th chapter in the book
of Proverbs where he stands before us as God's wisdom. He speaks there in the opening
words of Proverbs 8, "...does not wisdom cry, and understanding
put forth Her voice, who and what is this wisdom? Her wisdom
speaks later in the chapter, verse 24, when there were no
depths. I was brought forth when there
were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were
settled, before the hills was I brought forth. There is that
wisdom that is eternally begotten. All this is the eternal Son of
the Eternal God, is it not? Verse 30, Then I was by Him as
one brought up with Him, And I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his
earth, and my delights were with the signs of me." Oh, this is
the wisdom of God. This is that wisdom that is from
above, that is first pure. It is that wisdom that centers
in Christ. Can we not understand the text
in terms of Christ as the wisdom that is being spoken of? And
he is first pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated,
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy. Is he not a wonderful description
of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ? And friends,
I am with those who would delight to consider this heavenly wisdom
as we come together this morning. Remember how Paul himself can
pray concerning these things, his desire as he expresses it
for the Church of the Ephesians. His prayer there at the end of
chapter 3 is that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,
that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend
with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that
she might be filled with all the fullness of God I say that
this this is the wisdom that is being spoken of here how it
is really that that is beyond our comprehending but ought to
have a desire that we might understand something of it The wisdom that
is from above, that heavenly wisdom, that's wisdom that is
first pure. And yet, alas, our poor minds
are so darkened, we're in such gross ignorance by nature, are
we not? Having the understanding darkened,
alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is
in us because of the blindness, because of the hardness of our
hearts. Well, we need, friends, if we're
to comprehend anything of this heavenly wisdom, we need that
our understanding should be enlightened. And where is it that we can receive
such light? Again, it must come from God
Himself. Paul again writing to the church
of the Ephesians, and this time in that first chapter, and again
he's praying for them. He ceases not to give thanks
for them, he says. He makes mention of them in his
prayers at verse 16, and then we have his prayer, that the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom. and revelation in the knowledge
of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may
know what is the hope of His calling and what the riches of
the glory of His inheritance in the saints." Oh, it's the
same ones, you see, that he speaks of later, as we've already said,
in chapter 4 and verse 18, the same ones who whose understanding
is darkened, who are alienated from the life of God through
the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their
heart. That's their condition by nature. But have we prayed
you, sir? Or is it our desire that we might
know what it is for the eyes of our understanding to be enlightened? That we might be those then,
who have from God that spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of himself. But not only is it necessary
for our minds and our understandings to be enlightened, what of our
hearts? And what of our consciences?
Is it not a truth that these also need to be purified? And here is the wisdom, you see.
That wisdom from above, it is pure, pure wisdom. And we need
to know the gracious application of it even to our hearts and
to our consciences. As we read in Hebrews, Hebrews
9.14, How much more shall the blood of Christ do through the
eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God purge your
conscience? or how we need to have our consciences
purged, cleansed, purified from dead works that we might serve
the living God. And so we have that exhortation
later in Hebrews 10.22, let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith, says the Apostle, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure
water. all that wisdom you said, that
heavenly wisdom that is pure. And when God is pleased to make
us wise unto that salvation, we see that it is all together
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in His person, it's in His
work, it's all that Christ is, it's all that Christ has done. And then we see here something
of the fruit of it also. The fruit is spoken of, is it
not, in the words that follow? It is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruit,
without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace." Oh, there is such
an emphasis here, is there not, on that kindness, and that tenderness,
that mercy, that compassion, that is the hallmark of this
heavenly wisdom. Isn't this the Spirit of the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself? He went about doing good, we're
told in the Acts. He says, or it says of him, a
bruised wreath shall he not break, and smoking clutch shall he not
quench, till he send forth judgment on the victory. O how the Lord
Jesus Christ is that One who is so kind and so tender in all
His ways, in all His dealings, as we read of His life unfolded
to us there in the Gospel. And what is the great work that
he comes to accomplish? Is it not to make peace? To make peace through the blood
of his cross, when he makes that great sacrifice as the one who
is the sin-bearer, the substitute of his people dying in their
place, in their room, and in their stead. We have it there. in Colossians 1.20, having made
peace through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all
things unto Himself. By Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
has He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to
present you holy and unblameable and unretrievable in his sight? Or the Lord Jesus Christ is that
one, you say? He has sown peace. And where there is the gracious
work of God in the soul of the sinner, the sowing of that peace
in the sinner's heart, will there not be this conformity to the image of the
Lord Jesus Christ, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated,
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without
hypocrisy. Or that we might know something
of these graces, these blessed graces of the Spirit. This is
that fruit of righteousness, the fruit of the Spirit of God
Himself, is it not? to be those who are without hypocrisy. Loyalist. Transparent. Sincere. You know the basic meaning
of the word hypocrisy has to do with pretence, play-acting. We're not to be those who come
just to make a display of our religion surely we should come
before God as those who above all things desire that we might
have something real something that is truly wrought of God
in our souls not just pretending but with those who know the truth
and that truth as it is revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ
and we know and are concerned for that purity of doctrine What
did Christ say concerning Nathanael? Lovely words, are they not? When
he sees them, and behold an Israelite indeed, he says, in whom there
is no guile. You see, they're not all Israel,
there are of Israel. Oh, we know that in the Scriptures,
there was the nation of Israel, there's ethnic Israel. They are
a typical people. those who are of Israel, Jacob
of course became Israel a Peniel in Genesis 32 when the
angel wrestled with him when he prevailed with the angel,
when he was blessed and his name was changed from Jacob and he
became a prince with God Israel and the people descended from
him that is the nation of Israel we have the twelve tribes do
we not? the descendants of the sons of
Jacob and they are a typical people but they are not all Israel
that are of Israel that's what we are told by the apostle writing
to the Romans there in chapter 11 the true Israel of God is
but a remnant it's a spiritual people These are the Israelites, indeed. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ says of Nathanael. He's guileless. There's nothing
of pretense there. Or are we those, friends, who
desire that we might be found sincere Christians before our
God? that we might be those who truly
do have that heavenly wisdom, that wisdom that is from above. But I want, in particular, to
observe with you for a moment how this heavenly wisdom is said
to be without partiality at the end of this 17th verse. The wisdom
that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy
to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality
and without hypocrisy now the word that we have here as partiality
is one that is used previously by James in the epistle we have
it for example there in the opening verses of chapter 2 he says my
brethren have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord
of glory with respect of persons For if there come unto your assembly
a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also
a poor man in vile raiment, and ye have respect to him that weareth
the gate-clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good
place, and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under
my footstool, are ye not then partial in yourself? Here we
have it, you see. Are you not impartial in yourselves
and are become judges of evil thoughts? So it's used there
in verse 4 of chapter 2. But the word is also to be found
in chapter 1. Again in verse 5 he is speaking
of wisdom. And it's that heavenly wisdom
that we've been considering. If any of you lack wisdom, Let
him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth
not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven
with the wind, and tossed. Now we don't have the words partial
here, but we do in fact have the words wavering and wavereth,
and it's the same word. Really, let him ask in faith
nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the
sea driven with the wind and tossed. How are we to explain
the difference in the rendering of these particular words? Well, the basic meaning of the
word is to separate, to distinguish, to discriminate, to make a difference
in a sense. Well, how does it come to be
translated by the words wavering or wavering? Well, there is to
be a considering both sides of the question in making a judgment. The thing is to be looked at
carefully. You are to waver, as it were,
from one side to the other. to consider the pros and the
cons of this particular question. And so they render it, there
in the opening chapter, by the word wavering, as it's being
considered, as it's being examined. And what James is saying of course
there in verse 6 of chapter 1 is that with regards to God's promise
there is no place for wavering. With regards to God's promise
our heart is to be settled. This is the language of faith,
is it not? The man desires wisdom, that
heavenly wisdom. How is he to obtain it? He is
to ask for it. But let him ask in faith, not
in wavering. For he that wavereth is like
a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. It's not
dissimilar really to the language of the Apostle Paul when he writes
there in chapter 11 and verse 6 of Hebrews, without faith he
says it is impossible to please Him, that is God, for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him. Oh, to come in all that
boldness of faith. That's what he is saying, that's
how the word is employed as we have it in chapter 1 and verse
6. But then we see it also as I
say in chapter 2 and verse 4 where it has the same meaning
as it does in our text this morning. Are you not impartial in yourselves
and are become judge of evil thoughts? But when we examine
it we can see that it's related to what we've just said concerning
that waving, are you to consider both sides of the question. Here
we have it you see in the sense of you've considered the matter,
you've pondered these things, you've looked at the pros and
cons, But a decision has now been made, after considering
the matter, a decision which is decisive and divisive has
been reached. And it is wrong, he says, it
is wrong to make a difference between the godly Treat the godly all
alike. Don't be partial in the way in
which you are judging your fellow believers. Beware of the great
evil of that partiality. That's the whole thrust, is it
not, of what he is saying there in those opening verses of the
second chapter. Don't prefer the rich, the wealthy
man. before the poor man. Don't despise
the latter and dismiss it. Don't be partial in yourselves,
because then you are a judge of evil thoughts. But of course, the great problem
is, the great problem is friends, that we are partial. Heavenly
wisdom is free, free from all partiality. But by nature we
do not possess that heavenly wisdom, we are partial. And what
are we partial to above all things? Why are we partial to every sin? Fallen nature as a bench, that's
why. The talk of man having freedom
in his will, is really nonsense because man's will is bound up
with man's nature and man's nature is a fallen nature and so man's
will has that bias to sin we're partial to every sin can the
Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots then may
ye do good who are accustomed to do evil says the prophet Jeremiah
we are accustomed to do evil we have no propensity then to
do good and we need then that God himself should grant to us
that that we so much stand in need of we are to ask of him
for that heavenly wisdom if any of you lack wisdom let him ask
of God that giveth to all men liberally
and it shall be given him All the language you see, the language
of certainty in the Word of God. Every encouragement to come in
faith, let him ask in faith, not in wavering, for he that
wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and
tossed. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything
of the Lord. And we are to come, you see, and we are to be those
who are ultimately looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, are we
not? looking on to Jesus, the author and finisher of our fates,
says the Apostle Paul. If we lack wisdom, this is where
we're to seek it. Doesn't heavenly wisdom, as we've
already intimated, center in the Lord Jesus Christ? Isn't
heavenly wisdom to be understood altogether in terms of the Lord
Jesus Christ? He is the strength of God, He
is the wisdom of God, we're told in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse
24. He is the wisdom of God. Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom. Oh, it is the Lord Jesus Christ,
and how the Lord Jesus Christ is that One who speaks, and He
speaks so graciously. And we see his language there
in the opening chapter of that book of Proverbs. Verse 20. Wisdom crieth without. She uttereth
her voice in the street. She crieth in the cheap place
of concourse, in the openings of the gates, in the city. She
uttereth her word, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye
love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their
scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn you at my reproof. Behold,
I will pour out My Spirit unto you. I will make known My Word
unto you." Oh, how we need that, that the Lord God would yet be
pleased to pour out of His Spirit upon us, and by that make known
His Word unto us. and bless us then with that spirit
of true wisdom, the wisdom that is from above. Where does it
begin? Does it not begin in a sense
with that fear of God? Or that we are to fear in our
own spirits as we have dealings with this God? The Swami says,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If we're going to
be made wise unto salvation, we must begin there, we must
realize, as I said at the outset, something of the primacy of that
purity. Now that God is such a pure God,
a holy God, a righteous God, of eyes, it says, to pure to
behold iniquity. You cannot look upon sin, and
yet as we come before Him, we come so very conscious of what
we are as sinners. And yet we must begin there. If we're going to be wise, wise
unto salvation, we must begin with the purity of God. And in
the light of that purity of God, to see something of our own sinfulness.
We cannot escape it, you see. this gospel, this heavenly wisdom,
it's so suited to those who are sinners. So God teaches us that
solemn truth, does he not? The reality of our sin. And it stands there when we think
in terms of the great doctrines of Christ, of course, we begin
with total depravity. And the Lord has to teach us
that, what we are. Our impotence, our utter inability, We're those
who by nature are dead in trespasses and sins. Our understanding is
darkened. We're alienated from God. We're
ignorant. Oh, but when we begin there,
isn't God then really teaching us something of the ways of this
heavenly wisdom? The wisdom that is from above
is first pure, And then all these fruits follow, peaceable, gentle,
and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality, without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace. Oh, the Lord be pleasing
to grant to us this heavenly wisdom, for his name's sake.