I began our time together last Sunday by reciting to you both the question and answer for Westminster Shorter Catechism Q.82. Now, I won’t recite it again, but I will simply sum it up by saying that we sin, we stray from God, daily in thought, word, and deed. We noted that it was well-known and universally accepted at the time of James’ writing this epistle that sin could be and was manifested through outward actions (deeds). We also spent last Sunday looking at the ways in which we are so quick to sin with our mouths (words). Instead of using our mouths for glorifying God (as they were intended to do), we instead use them to speak endlessly about sinful desires or mundane things that bring about no glory to God whatsoever. Well, today we’re going to deal with that third and final aspect of this trifecta of sin. We’re going to talk about how we sin in thought as well. However, much like with the tongue last week, we are going to see that some pretty wonderful things can be done for God’s kingdom through our thoughts, but it is only when we fully rely upon Him that this is even remotely possible. It is only through our reliance upon Christ that our thoughts can be inclined to glorify God.
James begins this text by asking the question, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” Now, by speaking about two aspects of mental ability (wisdom and understanding), we can reasonably make the connection that James here is talking about the mind of a person. Also, as I said earlier, it fits perfectly into this context of showing the severity of our sin in action, word, and thought. He goes on to say, “By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” In other words, just as James has already told us that our faith ought to be displayed via our works, so also our wisdom, our minds being turned towards God, ought to be seen through our living lives that honor God. The word meekness, if you recall our look at the Beatitudes this past fall, doesn’t mean weak or feeble like so many think. No, instead it has more to do with gentleness and humility, having a humble spirit. James is calling for a level of humility when it comes to our thoughts, to our wisdom.
Then, James makes a sharp turn away from speaking about how we are to incline our minds towards God for the moment and gives us the other side of the coin. He says, “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” Now, we may think that earthly and unspiritual are acceptable words to use here, but that demonic may be going to bit too far. Well, just see what James says in the very next verse, “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” You see, jealousy and selfishness are what we might consider the gateway sins. What do I mean by gateway sins? Well, I’m talking about sinful thoughts and desires that really expose us to the myriad of things that we might list when thinking about sins. Jealousy and selfishness are really the root causes of things like theft, coveting, murder, adultery, or deceitfulness. A person commits theft because they are jealous of what someone else has. A person commits adultery because they are both jealous of what someone else has and also selfish as to what they want in a relationship. I know that this really isn’t the subject that we’re on, but I’ll just go on record as having said that anyone who tells you that they were thinking about anyone but themselves while committing adultery is telling a complete lie.
Just think about what James is saying here. He’s saying that if you’re thinking about yourself, if you’re putting yourself in the center of your thoughts and your desires, then you have no reason to boast and your idea of truth is skewed. Wisdom, a mind, that is working as it should, has God in the center; if it doesn’t then “it is not the wisdom that comes down from above,” as James says. So, do you think that demonic is too strong of a word? Well, the truth is that very little in this world is neutral in terms of God. We’re either being drawn closer to God or we’re pushing further away. If something is earthly (i.e. being of this fallen world) and unspiritual, then it is opposed to God. Therefore if it is opposed to God, then it is in the service of Satan, who is the head of all demons. I mean, think about the magnitude of that for just a second. If any part of our thinking isn’t in line with the will of God then it is demonic. Even the fleeting thoughts of anger or jealousy or enviousness or covetousness are against the will of God and should rightly place us outside of his covenant blessings. As I’ve talked with many of you about this notion of sin being in thought, word, and deed, you have readily admitted your belief that that is indeed the case. However, many of you view this notion of sin in thought to be the real killer. You can put on a good face and be kind to someone (action) and you can even be kind to them through your words, but you can’t help but to have that thought in your mind about your distain for them. We read the words of Jesus as Matthew recorded them when he said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council.” Now, I can keep myself from murdering someone. I can even keep myself from insulting them verbally, but I am powerless to prevent my anger. This leaves us in much the same place that we were in last Sunday with respect to taming the tongue; we have to rely upon Jesus completely to give us the power to turn our minds in the right direction. So, what is the right direction?
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” So, by a quick show of hands, how many of us can say that our minds, our thoughts, are completely and naturally inclined with this list of what faithful godly wisdom is and how it ought to look in our lives? Look, I know that you’re going to look at this list and say that several of these things go against basic human nature. My response is that that’s the exact point that James is trying to make here. If it is wisdom that is from above (i.e. from God) then it isn’t going to naturally align completely with fallen (i.e. sinful) human nature, at least not based on our efforts alone. Just go down this list really quickly and look at some of these things. Sure, we may be inclined to some of them through our personalities, but not all of them. First off, none of us are pure in thought so we’re all eliminated right off the bat. To be peaceable is to have a mind for true peace, free of a mindset that lends itself to quarrels. To be gentle is to be thoughtful and respectful of other people’s opinions. Now, we may tell ourselves that we are this way, but I can promise you that all of us have left a conversation before and spoken the phrase “He’s just an idiot who has no idea what he’s talking about.” If you’ve ever sought your own way regardless of what someone else had to say then you have at least at some point not been open to reason. Full of mercy and good fruits are quite honestly calls to a measure of charity and compassion that we cannot even fathom. And to be impartial and sincere in their truest form again is something that we lack because of our fallen natures, because of the total depravity of mankind. So, we have the destination of where our minds ought to be, but we need the map for how to get there.
Y’all I am directionally challenged. I will admit to you and Amy can confirm that I am completely lost when it comes to traveling somewhere that is even the slightest bit unfamiliar to me. If I drive to someone’s house at night and it is the first time I go there, I have no clue how to get back there the next day. It’s as if I wake up in one of those movies where someone waits out a natural disaster and after emerging from a house or a building find the place where they are to look nothing like it did when they closed the door. I’m thankful that I live in a time where maps are readily available. I’m even more thankful that I live in a time when most cell phones have some type of GPS or map service as part of their basic functions. I used to have to sit down and plan my trips out very specifically, taking care not to omit one detail because the slightest missed turn and I was in trouble. Now, all I need is an address and a cell phone with a charged battery and I feel like I could navigate my way to anywhere in the world. I know where I am starting out, I know where I need to get to, and I have my means of telling me how to get there. Why am I telling you about my being challenged when it comes to my sense of direction and my thankfulness for GPS devices?
Well, James has really already laid most of this out for us and in the verses immediately after our text, which we will look at next Sunday, he will give the final part to this equation by telling us of the importance of Christ (although, we all should know that by now shouldn’t we). But James has already pointed out for us what earthly wisdom (where we are) looks like. He’s already told us that when we think from an earthly perspective that our thoughts and our minds are going to be filled with selfishness and jealousy which are sinful and will lead us to sin even further with our words and our actions. James has also already told us where is it that we are trying to get to (our hopeful destination if you will). We are trying to get from earthly wisdom to “wisdom from above” (i.e. Godly or heavenly wisdom). He’s given us those things that ought to be present when our minds are rightly fixed upon God, that list of characteristics and works that we looked at a moment ago. Now, as I said a second ago, even though James is saving the revealing for how we tame our tongues and how we get from earthly wisdom to heavenly wisdom for a little while longer, that doesn’t mean that we don’t know the answer.
We all know that sin is a powerful force in the world and in our lives. We all know that these notions of jealousy and selfishness have the ability to make us do some pretty horrific things. And not only that, we do these horrific things so often that we become calloused, we become immune almost to our even doing them. Whether it’s talking about someone else or promoting ourselves with our words, or if it’s thinking hateful things about another person and putting ourselves as the main priority in this life, we cannot deny the grasp that sin has on us. Yes, sin is a pretty big force, but the Christian has a force working for him that is much stronger. The Christian has One working on his behalf who the mere mention of his name causes the agents of sin to shudder in fear. We have Christ. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. We have God working in us, and to us, and through us to help us overcome these sinful thoughts, these sinful actions, and these sinful words. Now, unfortunately, we are just that far fallen and sinful that God’s process of working in us to bring about our salvation will take our entire lives. We’re like children who want to be cleaned, yet when we’re placed in the bathtub we try as hard as we can to get out of the tub and undo all the cleansing that has been done.
I’m trying to be careful here to not go too much into our text for next Sunday, but I’ll just end by saying this: the world is fallen and sinful and God is not. Therefore, the world and the things that it teaches us that we are to live by (what we say, how we think, how we act) are not always going to be in line with the things of God. Now, there may be moments where the principles that this world teaches and the standard to which God calls us closely aligned and bear great semblance. Both God and the world teach us that murder is wrong, although God’s definition as we saw with Jesus’ words earlier goes much further, much more to the heart of a person. The only hope that we have of ever breaking free of the ideals of this fallen world and aligning ourselves with God’s will is to completely and totally rely upon Him. We have to completely rely upon Jesus Christ, our Advocate with the Father. We have to rely upon the Holy Spirit to move in us and not just change us and clean us up some, but to create within us a whole new person. We have to rely completely and totally upon God to create in us the person who is worthy of God’s gift of eternal life. And the only way in which that is possible, is through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Through the bearing of our sins and the willing death of the one and only righteous Son, we find forgiveness or sins. Through Christ’s work, we find our hope for salvation, we find our only means by which we may come before the Father. We find grace and mercy from above. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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