{"id":191,"date":"2025-07-22T00:49:28","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T00:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/?p=191"},"modified":"2025-07-22T00:49:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T00:49:28","slug":"meek-and-malice-the-heavenly-wisdom-of-god-and-the-hellish-wisdom-of-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/meek-and-malice-the-heavenly-wisdom-of-god-and-the-hellish-wisdom-of-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Meek and Malice: The Heavenly Wisdom of God and The Hellish Wisdom of Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermon Link<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon Excerpt from James 3:13\u201318<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I could reach for one fruit from the Spirit\u2019s tree in this season of my life, I\u2019d reach for wisdom. Though I long for all the fruits to grow, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control\u2026 Wisdom feels like the one I need most right now. And I\u2019ve come to realize something: just like oranges grow in spring and apples in the fall, the Lord grows different spiritual fruit in different seasons of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patience often grows in the long summers of waiting. Love deepens in the cold winters of grief. And wisdom? Wisdom blossoms in the uncertain spring of learning, learning on the job, through experience, and especially through the Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the truth: I don\u2019t have all the answers. Sometimes I think I do, but I don\u2019t. And that\u2019s okay, because God does. He may not always tell me everything I want to know, but in His Word, He tells me everything I need to know. So if you\u2019re reaching for answers, longing for wisdom, don\u2019t look to self-help books or social media posts. Reach for your Bible. Look to His Word. He wants you to know wisdom, not just any wisdom, but His wisdom. And James 3 shows us exactly what that looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, James calls us to examine ourselves: \u201cWho is wise and understanding among you?\u201d (v.13). It\u2019s a good question. But too often we define wisdom by our standards\u2014gray hair, deep pockets, and a pile of diplomas. But true wisdom isn\u2019t about age or wealth or education. It begins with \u201cthe fear of the Lord\u201d (Prov. 9:10). You can have decades of experience, worldly success, and impressive credentials, but if you don\u2019t fear, love, and submit to the Lord, you don\u2019t have wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real, authentic, and pure wisdom comes from God. \u201cFor the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding\u201d (Prov. 2:6). If you want to be wise, not in the eyes of men but before God, then you must know Him, fear Him, love Him, and surrender to Him. And James shows that true wisdom isn\u2019t just what we say, it\u2019s how we live. \u201cBy his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom\u201d (v.13b). This means that even those who quote Scripture and speak truth may not actually be wise if their lives contradict their words. The wise don\u2019t just say, \u201cJesus is my Savior\u201d; they live like Jesus is their Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But James warns us of a dangerous counterfeit: the hellish wisdom of pride. \u201cBut if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth\u201d (v.14). Do you see what he does here? James skips the mouth and goes straight to the heart. Because what\u2019s in the heart will always come out of the mouth. If you speak of love, it must come from love in the heart. If you sing about Christ, it must flow from a heart that treasures Christ. And if we boast about things that are not truly in our hearts, if we boast of love but harbor bitterness, or speak of forgiveness while holding grudges, then we are lying. And that\u2019s not just a problem; it\u2019s spiritual deception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James goes even further: \u201cThis is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic\u201d (v.15). Strong words. But they\u2019re true. Because the world\u2019s wisdom is selfish. It leads to \u201cdisorder and every vile practice\u201d (v.16). It\u2019s the wisdom of demons, the kind that values control over surrender, applause over truth, and pride over peace. Solomon echoes this in Proverbs: \u201cThere is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death\u201d (14:12), and, \u201cThe way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice\u201d (12:15). The fool insists, \u201cI want my way.\u201d The wise man, however, falls to his knees and prays, \u201cYour way, Lord. Have Your way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does heavenly wisdom look like? James answers: \u201cBut the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere\u201d (v.17). Why is it first pure? Because if it\u2019s not pure, it\u2019s polluted. If wisdom isn\u2019t holy, then its peace can be manipulative, its mercy selective, and its fruit rotten. But wisdom from God is as pure as He is. It can be trusted and it can be trusted because it will endure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what does this wisdom produce? \u201cA harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace\u201d (v.18). That line brings us full circle. Earlier in James 1:19\u201320, we read, \u201cThe anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.\u201d There, we saw the disease. Here in James 3:18, we see the cure. The righteousness of God grows in the soil of peace\u2014peace sown by those who belong to the Prince of Peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let me ask you: Does this describe your life? Are you known as a peacemaker, not because you say so, but because you live so? Do you carry the pure, peaceable, sincere wisdom of God\u2019s Word in your conversations and decisions? Or are you driven by bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, and the hellish wisdom of pride? Have you caused more division than reconciliation? Do you speak peace while sowing anger? Do you claim wisdom while resisting the ways of Christ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are not small questions, friends. This is life and death. This is the difference between earthly chaos and heavenly peace. If you want to follow Christ in a world of confusion, you must walk in His wisdom. There\u2019s no half-measure. No part-time discipleship. This is not a job, it is a life. We don\u2019t clock in and clock out. We are in Christ always, or we are not in Him at all. We are either with Him or against Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So ask yourself: Am I wise and understanding? Do I know wisdom Himself? Do I love Him? Trust Him? Have I surrendered to Him? Or am I just fooling myself? If today you realize that you\u2019ve been clinging to hellish pride instead of heavenly peace, there\u2019s good news. This is the day the Lord has made. And today can be the day of salvation. You can surrender your wisdom, your way, and your will, and receive the pure wisdom of Christ. Come to Him. Follow Him. Receive His peace. And go forward, full strength ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace be with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermon Link Sermon Excerpt from James 3:13\u201318 If I could reach for one fruit from the Spirit\u2019s tree in this<\/p>\n

Continue readingMeek and Malice: The Heavenly Wisdom of God and The Hellish Wisdom of Man<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions\/192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}