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.
14  But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

In verse 13 we are given the opportunity to consider whether we are wise or not. We see that the wise person is endued with knowledge. To be endued with knowledge speaks of the qualification to teach the truth. This knowledge is a gift from God. How can a man prove that he has been endued with knowledge? James tells us it will be evidenced in a good conversation with meekness of wisdom. The Greek word translated as “conversation” here means “manner of life”. We cannot hide who we are for long. We know there are corrupt men who have stood in pulpits for years, they have travelled and preached in many churches, and all of a sudden they are exposed for who they truly are.
God’s people need to listen to men, but God’s people need to hold God’s Word highest. God’s man must be a man of God. Shame on those who want to deceive those who are seeking after truth. The man of God must show his works with meekness of wisdom. There is no room for proud men in the work of God. The Greek word translated as “meekness” means “gentleness of spirit”. A godly, meek man is a man whose spirit is under God’s control. God’s man must be wise, and he must understand that his wisdom comes from God. Thus there is no right to be proud. You did not come up with the truth. I did not come up with the truth. God IS Wisdom, and He has given us His wisdom in the King James Version of the Bible for the English speaking people. Those who believe they have the authority to teach God’s Word, need to teach and preach the Word of God.
Acts 17 tells us that the Bereans gladly received the apostles’ word, but they also searched the Scriptures to see if those things were so. They were not lazy. They did not take for granted that the apostles were right. Keep in mind, these were apostles. They were men chosen directly by the Lord Jesus Christ. However, the Bereans understood that men of God can be wrong at times. If they are in the flesh, they will not speak the truth. We know that everything in a true Bible is truth. It is all inspired of God. That cannot be said of the perversions, but it is true of the King James Version. God has seen to it that man will have the truth in every generation.
In verse 14 we see the danger of the flesh. What James wrote here is the opposite of what must be lived in verse 13. In verse 14, James is directed to point out the sin of pride. There is nothing praiseworthy when bitter envying and strife rules in the heart. A person guilty of this is lying if he stands in the pulpit to preach. Verse 15 makes this very clear.
The wisdom of that man is not from God. Jesus Christ never had bitterness or envy or strife in His heart. God condemns this attitude as earthly, sensual and devilish. They come from the devil, not from God. The man of God cannot live in bitter envy and strife. The man of God must be humble and if he is guilty of sin, he must confess that sin and forsake it.
In verse 16 we see that where envying and strife is present, there is confusion and every evil work. Nothing good can come from such a meeting. There will always be individuals who will try to cause trouble. There will be others who are wiser than you are. Praise the Lord! God’s people are not in a competition with one another. God’s people are servants of the true God and they must seek to know Him better every day.
In verse 17 we see where true wisdom comes from. It is from above. It is from God. You will never find bitter envy or strife in God or the Godhead. Godly wisdom is first pure. There is no sin in God’s Wisdom. It is also peaceable. If we submit to God’s wisdom, there will be no strife. There is much strife today, but we know exactly where that is coming from. It is coming from a lack of submission to God’s wisdom. We can have God’s wisdom. We have His Word and the Holy Spirit indwells every true child of God. We must submit to His authority and believe His Word. When we do that, there is no strife. Those who live by God’s wisdom will be gentle toward others. They want others to know the truth. They are not going to threaten those they are teaching. They will not tolerate heresy. They will be very clear on that. They will also be open to questions that are designed to gain further understanding. Jesus showed us that.
The next point there states that very fact. Queen Esther was afraid to go before the king when Mordecai demanded she do so. The law there was you do not go before the king unless he invites you to come. The king had an inflated view of himself. He needed to be saved. The man of God must be accessible. He must be approachable. He must be a good teacher who can help the learner to be settled on the truth.
The wisdom from above is also full of mercy. It does not just contain some mercy. It is full of mercy. The wisdom from above also produces good fruits. It is full of good fruits. It is without partiality. It does not prejudge people. Yes, the person must be saved to grow in the truth. The lost person will know he is under conviction. He will know he is guilty before God. A godly person can help that person to see the hope is to turn to God and be forgiven and saved. Without that there is no hope.
The teacher must be able to teach without partiality. The Greek word translated as partiality speaks of speaking without ambiguity. The teacher must be clear and not beating around the bush. If something needs to be said, say it. He is teaching the lost of the necessity of Biblical salvation. He is teaching the saved of the necessity of growing in the Lord.
There is no hypocrisy in Godly wisdom. The Pharisees were guilty of hypocrisy. They tried to look pious but Jesus knew who they were. Jesus was not a hypocrite. He taught the truth and He is the truth. The apostles were not hypocrites for the most part. Peter was caught in hypocrisy in Galatians 2. Paul exposed his hypocrisy and Peter listened. The strife there was in Peter’s sinful actions. The way to end that strife was for Peter to confess his sin and forsake it. It was not for Paul to find a compromise.
In verse 18 we see that the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace. The teacher is teaching the Word of God. The fruit of that will be peace for those who receive it. The teacher is seeking to make peace. He wants others to know the peace of God. He wants others to be set free from sin and growing in the Lord.
Godly wisdom is the opposite of worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom causes trouble. It causes bitterness and envy and strife. God’s wisdom is the vehicle through which the saints will receive peace. Jesus provided peace for the disciples. The Pharisees did not have peace because they were not interested in truth. Jesus did not revise His message to suit them. They strove against Him because they did not want the truth. They were seeking strife. Jesus offered them peace but they did not want it. We must understand that James is not writing that saints should be at peace with the ungodly. He is writing that saints should be at peace with saints.
When God’s people submit to Him, they will find peace among one another. When God’s people are not submissive to God, they will not find peace with those who are submissive to God. Too often the way forward in those cases is through compromise. That does not help. That is the downfall of a true church. It is important to submit to God and walk in His peace.
Pastor Bartel