James 3:13-18 Where is Your Wisdom From? (audio file)

Well, if you were here last week, you know that we got back into our study of James. We looked at the passage that addresses our tongue and how our words carry a great deal of influence, that our predisposition is to use our words to inflict pain because of our sinful nature. That when we become a Christian, our speech should reflect the change that has taken place in our hearts. When you have Christ in your heart, your speech will be transformed, as your heart is transformed by Christ.

This week we are going to study what would be a natural progression of the text we are in. If you have been feeling some of the things that I have been feeling as you study this word, you may be wondering, ok, Lord, how the heck am I going to know how to do this? You may, and should be feeling a need as you want to walk out your life in accordance with the words we are studying. You may feel the need for wisdom. I hope you feel the tension between what is in your heart and what comes out of your mouth. It is an essential connection to make, because the connection to today’s text. Is that what we put into our hearts will have a huge impact on what comes out. I don’t think that is an accident that the next few verses deal with wisdom in response to that feeling that we might have as to how we can walk out our lives as believers with this truth in our hearts. Lets look against the last verse we read from last weeks text… Do you see the tie here to wisdom. As Christians, how do we know if we are producing salt water, or fresh water, how do we know if we are producing good fruit with our words. Think about it this way, this could take on various shapes in our lives. This could be the motivation for saying certain things in certain situations to people. Or it could mean advice that we give to people who have come to us. How do I know as a Christian if my words are right.

Lets read the text and get into it shall we

READ

PRAY

Two kinds of wisdom from two different hearts.

Earthly Wisdom: Seeks its own Glory (sees oneself as the primary means of satisfaction)

Bitter Jealousy: wanting for yourself what someone else has

Selfish Ambition: promoting yourself at the expense of another

Boastful: telling people how good you are

False to the Truth: your not that great

Unspiritual: not of the Holy Spirit

Demonic: Satan is the Father of lies

Disorderly:puts you on the throne and diminishes the Glory due to God alone.

Full of Vile Practices: if your only intent is towards your own happiness and comfort, your own feelings, and not the word ofGod become the basis of your decision making.

Godly Wisdom: Seeks God’s Glory. (Has desires satisfied in Christ, so has no need to seek satisfaction elsewhere)

Meek. Greek Culture considered it weakness.

Pure: when your heart is set on God’s glory, you will be pure because you are going to line yourself up with his word

Peaceable:

Gentle

Open to Reason

Full of Mercy and good fruits

Impartial

Sincere

Will produce a Harvest of Righteousness

When we are seeking God’s glory, we are not concerned about our own glory.

There is only one way that any of us can go from seeking our own glory, to seeking God’s glory in our lives and that is to see the glory of God displayed in His son Jesus, His finished work for us, that has made a way for us to be made new. That through His life, death, burial and resurrection, we can be made new, and we can have His righteousness placed upon our lives, and we can see that it is only in the magnifying of His worth that we can find our true joy.

-God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

Questions for practical examination:

1. Where do you go for answers to your questions (wisdom)?
2. Do your words in a fight come more from a desire to make yourself look good, or to make God look good?
3. Do you see that Jesus is all satisfying to the point that you don’t need to seek your own purposes in life, and you can live to make much of Jesus?