Isaiah chapter 40 opens with
these words, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Comfort ye, comfort ye
my people, so if you're God and how we need that comfort how
we need that reassurance that comes from above that comes from
God alone that comes from the Spirit of God we read earlier
from John's gospel in chapter 16 of how Christ spoke unto the
disciples of how he would soon depart them of how he would leave
this world of how after he was crucified he would go again to
be with the Father and how the disciples would be alone but
that he promised them that they would not be alone for he would
send them God would send them the Spirit of God the Comforter
from on high who would comfort their souls by speaking unto
them those things which he received from on high. The Spirit would
come with the message of God's grace, God's salvation, the message
of Christ. He would preach Christ unto the
hearts and the souls of his people. Even as they journey through
this world of tribulation, This world of sorrow, this world of
trial, this world of darkness, even though Christ himself physically
would have left them, the Spirit of God would come unto his people
and be with them in the midst of the darkness, be with them
in their trials, be with them in whatever circumstances they
found themselves in and bring comfort. Christ alone. It's this comfort of the gospel
and of that wisdom that comes down from on high in Christ alone
which James reminds his hearers of towards the end of chapter
3. James's constant message towards
the people of God under whom he writes, in whatever circumstances
they are in, whatever trials and temptations and tribulations
they're brought through, whatever difficulties they're in, is that
their hope is found in Christ alone. It comes down from heaven
above. Christ has wrought a great victory
for his people. He's delivered them from their
sin. He's washed them clean in His
blood. He's set them at liberty. He's
set them free. He's delivered them from the
law. He's delivered them from condemnation. He's delivered
them from judgment and the wrath to come. He's delivered them
from the power of sin within. He's delivered them from all
their enemies and all their persecutors and all that would seek to destroy
them, he's delivered them, he's saved them with a mighty salvation. And there is no foe, no enemy,
no trouble, no trial which can come upon the believer, which
can truly do him any harm. Indeed all the trials that we're
brought through, all the sorrow that we endure, comes from above
and is sent for our good. It's sent to turn us unto Christ
alone. It's sent to turn us from ourselves
and look into our own strength and our own wisdom and our own
will. It's sent to humble us. It's
sent to take away the pride that so easily besets us. that which
would pull us down, that which would turn our gaze away from
Christ, that which would turn the gaze of faith away from looking
up under heaven and looking unto self and to our own circumstances. God sends trials to bring us
to an end of ourselves that we may look up and we may see that
our warfare is accomplished. that our iniquity is pardoned,
that we may look up and see Christ seated victoriously on high on
our behalf, and see that whatever the warfare may be around us,
whatever the circumstance may feel like, whatever we may hear
and see all around us, whatever the tumult, whatever the storm,
the victory is ours. The Comforter will come constantly
in the midst of our circumstances and point us unto Christ, who
has finished the warfare, who has accomplished salvation, who
has finished the work. He's sat down at rest. He's blotted out our iniquity. He's destroyed all our enemies. He's delivered us from death.
And he's at rest. And the Comforter will come in
the Gospel, wherever we are, whenever, whatever the storm
around us, whatever the storm within us, and point us by faith
unto our rest, our hope in heaven above. He will point us to that
wisdom which descends from above. He will point us to Christ alone
and say unto ourselves, ye are more than conquerors. In Christ,
He's given you the victory. You're more than conquerors.
So He'll take our gaze off that which we see. in the world around
us and that which we see in our flesh which would cast us down
for it's always there there is so much that we can see within
ourselves and so much we can look upon outside which if we
look upon with natural wisdom alone would cast us down and
bring us sorrow and cause us trouble and yet constantly The
Spirit of God, the Comforter, will come and say, look up, look
unto Christ. James in chapter 3 has been dealing
with that little member, the tongue, and the great destruction
that it brings. He says in verse 8, the tongue
can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even
the Father, and therewith curse we men which are made after the
similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at
the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my
brethren, bear olive berries, either of vine figs? So can no
fountain both yield salt water and fresh. And yet what sort of a filthy
fountain is the tongue of man? Out of our hearts proceed So
much iniquity. So much hatred comes forth from
our tongue. So much that cuts. So much that
slays. So much that harms. And yet with
the same tongues, we bless God. We speak of God. We seek to present ourselves
as righteous before God. Out of the same tongues, the
same mouths, we bless and we curse. What hypocrites we all are. We
all are. And what hypocrites we are in
religion. We bless and we curse. the man that knows nothing of
God speaks as his heart leads him he makes no attempt to pretend
to know God or speak of the things of God but when religion comes
unto a man and he seeks to serve God and he seeks to make himself
right with God oh what a hypocrite he shows himself to be one moment he's full of anger
for his fellow man the next moment he's praising God. Blessing and
cursing. How the religious man uses God's
law and the word of God to supposedly honour God and to justify himself
and to present himself as righteous before God whilst using the very
same words to condemn others. the very same words like the
Pharisee that comes and thanks God that he's not like these
others, these publicans and these sinners. I've kept the law unlike these. Supposedly thanking God for showing
forth his own pride and his own lack of wisdom Because if the
law truly came unto us, if we truly understood that which we
heard and read in the scriptures, we'd find it condemned every
one of us in every thought and every deed. But how religion takes a man
and makes him think that his sinful deeds, his sinful words,
because they're wrapped up in the words of scripture are somehow
cleansed. He speaks and acts with the same
evil motive and the same evil heart but he comes to the word
of God with his own pride and his own arrogance and thinks
that he's living and walking and acting in a way that would
be pleasing to God and he uses God's words thinking he does
God's service to slay and to condemn to murder others. Yes we take God's Word and we
murder, we kill, we condemn others every day. They should do this
and they should do that and why don't they think this and why
don't they think that and why can't they see this and why can't
they see that? Oh how we think we see and and
know how blind they are. And with the words that we speak,
we think we do God's service, and yet we slay our fellow man. In that very same chapter of
John, John 16, that we read concerning the coming of the Comforter unto
the children of God, Christ warns them, warns the disciples, of
what they can expect in this evil sin-soaked world. These things have I spoken unto
you that you should not be offended. They shall put you out of the
synagogues, out of the churches, out of the meeting places. They
shall put you out of them. They shall say you're not welcome
here. Take your gospel elsewhere. We don't want to hear that here.
Get out. They shall put you out of the
synagogues. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will
think that he doeth God's service. And these things will they do
unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. Yes, there is that knowledge
of the Scriptures, that knowledge of the law of God, that knowledge
of religion, that leads us to put God's people to death when we
hear their word. The Pharisees when Christ came
unto them speaking the truth When the author of the very scriptures
that they held and professed to believe and to live by came
unto them and spake the truth unto them, when the truth himself
stood before them, they rejected him. They condemned him. They accused him of breaking
the law. They accused him of breaking
the Sabbath day. They accused him of making himself
God, as though he wasn't God. They did not see him for who
he was, they did not recognize him as having come from the Father,
so they rejected him and cast him out as blasphemous. They rejected his authority,
his sovereignty, his divinity. And so do we. No matter how much religion we
may have, no matter how doctrinal we may be, no matter how much
we have studied the scriptures, when Christ in truth comes before
us, by nature we cast him out. We think he's come to destroy
the law and the prophets. We think he's against the scriptures.
We think he undermines the truth as we know it. Because all we
see of it is that which is outward. And we've never seen through
it to the reality of which it speaks. We've never seen Christ
in all the scriptures. So we go about seeking to establish
our own righteousness. When the righteousness of God
comes unto us in the gospel and we cast him out, we put him to
death. The Pharisees took Christ in
the end and nailed him to a tree and crucified him. And he who
was their Messiah, the Messiah, come unto the Jews They cast
out. They cast him out of the synagogue.
They cast him out of Israel. They cast him out. They cast
him out. Have you cast him out? Have you cast him out? Despite
all you claim to be and all you claim to believe, has your religion,
has your self-righteousness, caused you to cast him out. Jesus in that very same chapter
in John speaks of what will come unto him. And he says unto the
disciples that you too will leave me. You will be scattered. And
the only one I will have will be my father to turn unto. All
men deserted him in the end. Even those who had been with
him, even those who had heard his speech, even those who knew
him, even those who lived with him, even those who were closest
under him, were scattered. How easily, believer, we can
do the same. Even though we may know Christ,
even though we may have heard his gospel, even though he may
have brought life unto us, left to ourselves in the flesh, should
his spirit be withdrawn from us, we will turn. Turn to ourselves, turn to our
own strength, turn to our own wisdom, turn to our own ways,
turn to our own understanding. And with the mouths that once
blessed God, we will curse him. Peter, one moment vowing faith
in Christ that he would never desert him, the next moment betrayed
him with curses, striving to follow him. Peter, when Christ was being
taken off to be tried, desiring to stay nearby, denied that he
knew him because he was worried that he might be taken away,
taken aside from him. So in an attempt to stay close
to where Christ was and follow him and watch him, he denied
knowing him. Before he did God's service,
but he lied, and he fell, and he betrayed him. Oh, how the
fear of man can cause us to stumble. We can't control our tongues.
We can't control them in any way. No man can tame the tongue, but Christ can. Christ can and
he sent his spirit the comforter under his people to lead them
from that wisdom below that wisdom of their own hearts that which
comes from below to lead them under him wherever they are and
whenever they are he comes by his spirit and says look unto
me. Earlier in James, James exhorted
children of God to watch their tongues. Wherefore, my beloved
brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow
to wrath, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness
of God. Let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath. In many ways that's the opposite
to what we are by nature. We never sit and listen. We're slow to hear. Even when
we hear the words, we don't hear. Even when we listen, we don't
hear. Our minds, our thoughts, our
understanding are full of our words. Our understanding, our
opinions, our thoughts. We have conversations with people
where we are supposedly listening to them, when we sit there thinking
what we're about to say back to them. We never hear a word
that they've said. We're just ready to volunteer
what we think. We're very slow to hear. We're
very slow to truly listen, even to others, let alone God. We're
very quick to speak. We're very quick to speak in
anger. Let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man work, if
not the righteousness of God, but how swiftly We respond in
anger, in irritation, in frustration, in fury at those that cross our
path. How quickly we do. And how quickly
we vaunt our own opinion, our own understanding. How easily
we justify ourselves. How quickly we put ourselves
up over others. Particularly in religion. we learn a little bit and we
think we know something and we look at others that don't see
and wag the finger as it were we cannot tame our tongue because
we're full of the wisdom which is from below we're full of the
wisdom of man in the flesh it bubbles up in us we cannot resist
it we think we know So James goes on to say, who is a wise
man and endured with knowledge among you? Let him show out of
a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But
if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory
not and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and
strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. Who's a wise man among you? It's
almost a rhetorical question. Go on, show me your wisdom. Show
me your wisdom. Let him show out of a good conversation
his works with meekness of wisdom. But how rare it is to find a
wise man. Because the wisdom that men have
from below brings strife and envy. It brings boasting and
pride. It puts to death It brings argument. This wisdom descend, if not from
above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envy and
a strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. How much
we see of this below. How much we see of it in the
world. How much we see of it in the
churches. how much we see of it in our
own hearts. Envying and strife. We look on others and their circumstances
and what they have with envy. We strive amongst ourselves to
put ourselves up above others. We strive for glory and honor.
We strive for praise. The churches are full of envying
and strife. Our own hearts are full of envying
and strife. We see this in the book of Galatians
when Paul writes to the church at Galatians. He's writing to
believers. He's writing to the people of
God that knew the grace of God. But having been deceived, by
that teaching which would turn them from Christ back to the
law back to their own works back to their own wisdom in religion
back to doing what seemed right unto themselves turning their
gaze of faith away from Christ alone and resting in Christ alone
away from the liberty that they had in Christ alone, back to
the law, back to striving to live by their own strength and
their own ability. What came forth amongst the Galatians? Did that bring about peace in
that church? Did it bring about peace amongst
those people? Well they were turning to the
law and it was telling them what not to do and what to do. Surely
it would have borne about fruit, surely that's a good thing. But
no, as they turned from Christ to the law, all that came about
was envy and strife. Paul writes in chapter five,
but if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be
not consumed one of another. Where did that turning from Christ
back to the law of God, back to works get them? Nowhere. They bit and they devoured one
another. They argued, they strived, they
envied one another. All it brought them to do was
to look upon themselves and how righteous each one was and how
obedient each one was. Am I living as I should be? Are
they living as they should be? It caused them to look at others
and to wag the finger and to correct and to rebuke and to
put others down in order to put themselves up. It led them nowhere
but to destruction. But the comfort of the gospel
comes unto a people who are nothing in themselves. who know they can't control their
tongues, who know they can't control their hearts, who know
they have no wisdom by nature, who know that they're foolish
by nature. And it lifts them up and leads
them unto Christ. For wherever the pride of man
rears its head, especially in religion, Especially when we
turn back to works and our wisdom, our will, our understanding,
the result is always the same. Envy, strife, backbiting, devouring
one another, lording it over each other, confusion and every
evil work. And it's that which led the Pharisees
to slay Christ. And it is that which has led
us in our own hearts to slay Christ. Why do we reject him
by nature? Because his wisdom sets our wisdom
at naught. His righteousness exposes our
righteousness as being filthy rags. His sovereignty, his rule,
his authority sets us at nothing. We hate him because his rule
over us exposes what sinners we are. The natural man is full
of his own pride. He wishes to sit on the throne.
He wishes to rule over all that he sees. And when he hears of a God that's
sovereign, when he hears that he's but an ant, a grasshopper,
a worm, but dust before a holy God, he rages. He contends. He objects. He's offended. He puts to death. Everyone by nature does the same. You have and I have. Through our own wisdom, our own
understanding, when we heard of Christ, when we hear his gospel,
our response is to put him to death. We took the hammer and we nailed him to a cross. We said, away with this man,
crucify him, crucify him. Our sins, our rebellion, our
unbelief nailed him. We slew him. We left him for
dead. And if that's your heart today,
that's what you're doing to Him today. Every time you turn your face
away from Him, every time you go off in your own wisdom to
walk your own way according to your own will, every time you
say, I don't want to hear of Jesus Christ, you take Him and
nail Him to the tree. You crucify him afresh. But what
we meant for evil, God used for good. What the natural man by
his own wisdom meant for evil, God turned for good. The Pharisees
took Christ and crucified him. We took Christ and crucified
him. But through his death, God wrought
a victory for his people. God took their sins, their unbelief,
their rebellion and laid them upon his own son. God in his
wisdom turned the rebellion, the rejection, the unbelief,
the iniquity of his people and turned it for their good. by
laying it upon his son, who paid the price in their place, who
suffered unto death in their place, that he might deliver
them from it. He took their sins away that
they should have no more sin. He died in their stead that they
should never die. He shed His blood so that they
should never die, that they should never shed their own. He brought
forth righteousness, the righteousness of God in His own Son for them. He gave them life who had no
life. He gave them light who lived
in darkness. Our rejection of Christ. God turned for the salvation
of his people. Through his death he's given
them life, righteousness, wisdom. A wisdom that comes from above. A wisdom that is unlike any wisdom
on the earth. A wisdom that is divine. A wisdom that is everlasting.
A wisdom that is all-knowing. A wisdom that is full of righteousness. A wisdom that is full of power.
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. The wisdom that comes
from above is Christ. What is this wisdom? Who is this wisdom? It is Christ
himself. He comes from above. Who else
is pure? The wisdom that is from above
is first pure. Who else is pure but Christ alone? Who is peaceable? Who is peaceable
but Christ alone? Who is truly gentle, easy to
be entreated, Who is full of mercy and good fruits? Show me
a man that's full of mercy and good fruits. There's none but
Christ alone. Without partiality, without hypocrisy. We're hypocrites by nature. We
bless God and we curse man. We pretend to be righteous. Yet
we can't control our tempers. Out of this same mouth comes
blessing and cursing, comes good and evil. We seek to bring peace
whilst bringing destruction everywhere we go. We're hypocrites, every
one of us. Yet this wisdom, Christ, comes
without partiality. without hypocrisy. And the fruit
of righteousness, the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ is sown
in peace of them that make peace. Christ came into this world of
iniquity, into this world of rebellion, into this world of
darkness, into this world of warfare, into this world of envy
and strife. Into this tumult of men and women
who are set one against another, He came into this tumultuous
evil world to make peace. And when the world took Him and
slew Him, His blood shed upon the cross in the place of sinners
made peace forevermore. He took a people who were set
one against another and at enmity with God and He made them one. One with God and one with each
other. He took away the enmity. He took away the sin. He took
away the law that was the strength of sin. He took away their iniquity
and He made them righteous. He brought peace where there
was nothing but hatred, nothing but evil. Has he come unto you
from above? Has he come unto you bringing
comfort? Has he come unto you in the midst
of a tumult to bring peace where there is no peace? when you walk
through this valley of tears when you walk through circumstances
where there's no peace there's no peace around you there's no
peace in the world and its circumstances there's no peace in your heart
by nature everything's whirling around every voice you hear is
shouting against another everyone that you listen to is vaunting
themselves over each other, everyone knows where they should go and
they're all at disagreement and you're at disagreement, there's
no peace anywhere, no peace outside and no peace within you. Has
he come unto you in the midst of your tumult and said unto
you, peace be unto you? Has he touched you with his blood? by which he made peace with God
and washed you clean and made you to know peace within. Has
he come unto you to bring comfort in the midst of a storm and to touch your tongue that
you cannot tame with a live coal from off the altar to say, I
died? I was slain upon an altar. I was burnt up under the wrath
of God because of your sin. But as he come and touch your
tongue with that coal to bring peace, to put wisdom where there
was nothing but foolishness, to tame the tongue that you cannot
tame. to still you before God and to
bring comfort in the midst of the battle. Has he brought you
in the tumult to be still and know that he is God? Do you know
the wisdom that is from above? How pure Christ is, how peaceable
he is, how gentle and easy to be entreated that wherever you
are in whatever circumstance he's there he's there in the
midst he's there in your heart he's there right with you gentle
and easy to be entreated he's but a breath away a call of faith
away that wherever you are, however sorrowful, however lost, however
difficult the circumstance might be, whatever the storm might
be, there He is to hear. Do you know that He ever lives
to make intercession for you? That a cry unto Him is a cry
that goes straight through Him to the Father, who hears and
answers. and brings peace under his people.
Who can tame the tiger? Christ can. Who can give wisdom
where there is no wisdom? Christ. Who brings peace into
any situation? Christ alone. Because he came
into this world of darkness and sin and he laid down his life
and he shed his blood to save his people and to make them more
than conquerors in him who has given them the victory. Oh, let not your heart be troubled,
for Christ, the wisdom of God, has come unto you, child of God,
and he will never leave you nor forsake you. wherever you may
be, because he is the wisdom of God that brings peace and
makes peace. Amen.