THE WISDOM FROM BELOW
(James 1: 5; 3: 13-18)
By
Shelby G. Floyd
May, 2008
Is there
anyone in this audience who lacks wisdom?
Do we have any who are wise and understanding? James asked these questions of his
readers. James is fond of asking
questions and then answering those questions himself. He also likes to contrast one thing with
another.
TWO
QUESTIONS
Let us
notice these two questions regarding wisdom from the book of James:
James 1: 5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not;
and it shall be given him.
KJV
All of us
can answer the question by indicating that we need more wisdom. Therefore the idea is that we should go to
God in prayer and ask him for wisdom.
But to pray for wisdom doesn't mean that God is going to give it to us
miraculously. We are taught to pray to
God for our daily bread. But God does
not miraculously hand us bread like he did in feeding the five thousand. God gives us bread when he provides
everything we need from his perspective—seed, soil, and good weather. We however must do our part from our
perspective. "If a man will not
work do not let him eat.”
The same
thing is true regarding wisdom. God
desires that we pray for wisdom, but he wants us to do everything in our power
to acquire wisdom from the provisions and providence that he has supplied. One of David's psalms illustrates this point:
Psalms 119:98
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser
than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
KJV
The
entire 119th chapter of Psalms indicates over and over again that wisdom and
understanding come from the will and word of God. The wisest people therefore will be those who
order their lives by the word of God.
The only
one who ever asked for wisdom and it was given to him directly was
Solomon. God told Solomon to ask for
anything and he would give it to him.
Most people would have asked for riches and pleasure, but Solomon said, "I
am like a little child and you have given me this great nation to lead. Please give your servant an understanding
heart.”
1 Kings 3:7-12
"Now, O LORD my God, you have made your
servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do
not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you
have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your
servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between
right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people
of yours?"
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for
this. So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long
life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but
for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will
give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone
like you, nor will there ever be.
NIV
Therefore,
when we pray for wisdom a good place to start is the book of Proverbs. The terms wisdom and wise are found over 300
times in the Old Testament, but 100 times they are found in the book of
Proverbs. Proverbs is not just a book of
wise sayings, but they relate to behavior.
Our conduct or behavior is where wisdom is really demonstrated.
Who
is a Wise Man among You?
The
second question of James is found in the third chapter:
James 3:13
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among
you? let him shew out of a
good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
KJV
Therefore, if we do possess wisdom and understanding
we can demonstrate or show it to others.
Yogi Berra, one of the great professional baseball players of
the New York Yankees stated humorously some tidbits of wisdom:
"First, never give up, because it ain't over till it's over.
Second, when you come to a fork in the road, take
it.
Third, don't always follow the crowd, nobody goes
there anymore, it's too crowded.
Fourth, stay alert, you
can learn a lot by just watching.
Fifth, remember that whatever you do in your life,
90 percent of it is half mental."
Remember,
James is asking us, "Who is wise and understanding among you?" Most of us in our own estimation think we are
fairly wise. And Solomon would agree:
Proverbs 21: 2
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but
the Lord pondereth the hearts.
KJV
In the
context of James 3:13-18, we notice first that James asked the question "is
anyone wise and understanding among you?" Next, he says we can show or demonstrate that
wisdom by our good conduct growing out of the wisdom of humility. The wisdom from above and the wisdom from
below is manifested by the kind of lives that we live. Right living and good works show wisdom. Wrong living also shows lack of wisdom and
evil works.
THE
WISDOM FROM BELOW
We have
all heard the saying, "experience is the best teacher." But there is a Welsh proverb that goes like
this: "experience is the fool’s best teacher. The wise do not need it."
Today
everyone is thinking about the danger of flying as a result of
This
story illustrates that sometimes those who claim to be smart and wise,
demonstrate by their conduct that they are not as wise as they thought
themselves to be.
WISDOM
DEFINED
General
Omar Bradley, a U.S. General of World War II said in his retirement: "the
world has achieved brilliance without wisdom."
Socrates
was one of the wisest men in ancient
In
reference to wisdom, Job once asked this question:
Job 28:12
But where shall wisdom be
found? and where is the place of understanding?
And then
later in the chapter Job answered his own question:
Job 28:28
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the
Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
KJV
How then
do we cultivate wisdom in our lives? We
fear the Lord and shun evil. One is
positive and the other is negative.
Fear, respect, and obey God and cut off all evil in your conduct—this is
wisdom indeed!
WISDOM
IS DISPLAYED IN OUR EVERYDAY CONDUCT
Wisdom is to be displayed in the everyday arena of
life. People can see whether we are a
wise person by the action we take and the deeds that we do.
Once there was a beautiful blonde who was sick and
tired of all the blonde jokes. So she
decided to have a makeover. She went out
and had her hair cut and died. Then she
purchased a new convertible, put the top-down and went for a drive in the
country. As she traveled along she
noticed a large flock of sheep in a field.
She called the sheepherder over and complemented him for the fine flock
of sheep. Then she asked him if she
could have one of the sheep to take home with her if she could guess the exact
number of sheep in the flock, to which he agreed. She looked the flock over, and said 382. That is amazing said the sheepherder. You are correct. He told her to go pick out one of the
sheep. She picked out one and put it in
her car. The sheepherder then said, “if I can tell you the exact color of your hair, could I have
my dog back!”
Charles Steinmetz designed the generators for Henry
Ford's automobile plants. One day the
generators ground to a halt. Not one of
Ford's engineers could get them started again.
So Henry Ford called up Charles Steinmetz, who came out, tinkered around
for a while, then he threw the switch on, and the generators started up and the
factory started making parts again.
Shortly thereafter, Henry Ford received a bill for $10,000. Henry blew up in called Charles Steinmetz and
demanded an itemized statement. Later he
received an invoice that stated: $10 for tinkering, $9,990 for knowing where to
tinker! Wisdom is applying the best
understanding at the best possible point of need.
THE
WISDOM NOT FROM ABOVE
James next describes the wisdom that is not from
above. If it is not from above it is
from below. Therefore we can describe
the wisdom as worldly or secular wisdom:
James 3: 13-16
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him
show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if
you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie
against the truth. This wisdom does not
descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist,
confusion and every evil thing are there.
NKJV
This
worldly spirit of wisdom can get into the church and it will always create big
problems. Therefore, James is warning the
members of the church to watch out for this wisdom not from above, but from below! This worldly wisdom comes from bitter envy
and selfish ambition. This is the source
of most problems. Ambition is good, but
it must be held in check. If not,
selfish ambition and bitter envy will lead a person to trample on the rights
and the feelings of other people. Bitter envy is a sinful attitude. Envy is where someone has something you want
and you would do anything to get it.
James
reveals the origin of this wisdom. He says it is not from above. He says it is earthly or secular. Christ once said the children of this world
are wiser in their generation than the sons of light. There is a lot of wisdom in the world, but it
relates to this world and not the world above.
The wisdom of the world produces wealth, power, and position. But it also produces crime, confusion, and
disorder. This is because of bitter envy
and selfish ambition.
James further describes this wisdom as being sensual and of the devil. Notice these examples of how this worldly wisdom can ruin the lives of many people.
Emanuel Ninger was arrested for passing counterfeit $20 bills. When they searched his home they found a $20 bill in the process of being made. They also found three paintings that he had done. Ninger had hand-painted each $20 bill. He was a master; meticulously applying each tiny stroke so skillfully that no one could guess they were counterfeit. He was so slick that he was getting away with passing these bills until one day he passed one to a clerk whose hands were wet. When he noticed the smudged ink, he called the authorities and Ninger was arrested. After his arrest the three paintings were sold at public auction for $16,000. These paintings brought over $5000 each. The amazing thing is that it took Ninger the same amount of time to paint a $20 bill as it did to paint a $5000 painting. Ninger went to prison because he was using his God-given talent to serve worldly wisdom rather than the wisdom that comes from above.
Sigmund Freud was one of the great psychologists. One of his peers, Dr. Nikolai was professor of psychiatry at Harvard medical school. He related that Sigmund Freud died at the age of 83, a bitter and disillusioned man. In 1918 Freud wrote, "I have found little that is good about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they subscribe to this or that ethical creed or no creed at all." Freud died friendless and even his famous pupils, Carl Jung and Alford Adler were expelled from his life because they had on occasion disagreed with him. Freud died a bitter, disillusioned and friendless man because his wisdom was from below.
Bitter envy and selfish ambition will destroy not others but ourselves. It is said that if you corner a rattlesnake it will become so angry that it will bite itself. That illustrates what happens when a person allows bitter envy and selfish ambition to consume them. They will bite and devour themselves like a rattlesnake!
Buddy Hackett the comedian once said, "I have had arguments with people, but I never hold a grudge. While you're holding a grudge the people you hold a grudge against are out dancing."
Bitter envy and selfish ambition demonstrates that one has the wisdom not from above, but from below. The story is told of an eagle that was envious of another eagle that could fly higher and better than he could. One day a hunter with a bow and arrows came along and the eagle said to him, "I wish you would bring that eagle down from up there." The hunter said, "I would but I need some feathers for my arrows. The envious eagle plucked out a feather and gave it to the hunter. He shot the arrow but missed his target for it was too high. More feathers were plucked until the envious eagle was naked and could not fly at all. Then the hunter killed him. Bitter envy and selfish ambition is much like that. It will destroy us rather than those we envy.
Why is
the wisdom from below so bad? It is bad
because it will destroy our souls, our influence, and our lives. This wisdom is bad because of where it comes
from. It is earthly and secular.
Philippians 3:18-19
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and
now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of
Christ: whose end is destruction, whose
god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on
earthly things.
NKJV
Why do
have so many problems in the church today?
It is because we have much of this worldly wisdom in the church. Our minds are upon the earth instead of up in
heaven.
James
says that this wisdom is sensual, it is unspiritual, and it is natural. It is concerned more with our feelings rather
than our faith:
Jude 19
These be they who
separate themselves, sensual, having not the spirit.
KJV
Those whose wisdom is sensual will come along and divide the church because they are only concerned about their feelings and their selfish ambitions.
This
wisdom that James describes is also satanic.
It originates with the devil and not God.
1 Peter 5: 8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
KJV
THE
RESULTS OF WORLDLY WISDOM
Where there is bitter envy and selfish ambition
there will be confusion, contention, corruption, jealous rivalry and every evil
work. God is not the author of this kind
of harvest. We must keep it out of the
church.
1 Cor. 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion, but of
peace, as in all churches of the saints.
KJV
Let this
be our motto. Let us show by our conduct
that we have the wisdom from above. When
we have the wisdom from above there will be peace—peace with God, peace with
ourselves and peace with our fellowman.
EXHORTATION
Anyone that is subject to heaven's invitation is
encouraged to respond to the gospel message.
Remember that the beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord and cut off
from evil. May God help each one of us
to seek the wisdom that is from above? *
*Shelby G. Floyd delivered this sermon