Two Kinds of Wisdom - James 3:13-18

1. A Prayer For The People of God
God of unsearchable mystery and light,
your weakness is greater than our strength,
your foolishness brings all our cleverness to naught,
your gentleness confounds the power we would claim.
You call first to be last and last to be first,
servant to be leader and ruler to be underling of all.
Pour into our hearts the wisdom of your Word and Spirit,
that we may know your purpose and live to your glory.
Amen.

2. Part 4Part 4 –– The Heavenly Missionary:The Heavenly Missionary:
Divine AccommodationDivine Accommodation

4. TWO KINDSTWO KINDS of WISDOMof WISDOM
Sunday,Sunday, 9.23.189.23.18
JAMESJAMES 3:13-183:13-18

5. Are any of you wise and understanding?
Show that your actions are good with
a humble lifestyle that comes from
wisdom. However, if you have bitter
jealousy and selfish ambition in your
heart, then stop bragging and living
in ways that deny the truth. This is
not the wisdom that comes down from
above. Instead, it is from the earth,
natural and demonic. Wherever there
is jealousy and selfish ambition, there
is disorder and everything that is evil.
JAMES 3:13-16
(CEB)

7. What of the wisdom from above?
First, it is pure, and then peaceful,
gentle, obedient, filled with mercy
and good actions, fair, and genuine.
Those who make peace sow the seeds
of justice by their peaceful acts.
JAMES 3:17-18
(CEB)

12. What of the wisdom from above?
First, it is pure, and then peaceful,
gentle, obedient, filled with mercy
and good actions, fair, and genuine.
Those who make peace sow the seeds
of justice by their peaceful acts.
JAMES 3:17-18
(CEB)

13. But the wisdom that comes
from heaven is first of all pure;
then peace-loving, considerate,
submissive, full of mercy and good
fruit, impartial and sincere.
Peacemakers who sow in peace
reap a harvest of righteousness.
JAMES 3:17-18
(NIV)

14. “While most people think about God’s
holiness, private morality, or spiritual
prudence when they see the word
righteousness, scripturally (it) is
most commonly used to define
those who conduct themselves
uprightly in all their relationships.
A righteous person treats all people –
whether rich, or poor, or
condemned – with justice,
generosity and equity.”
Dominique DuBois GilliardDominique DuBois Gilliard

15. “The biblical notion of righteousness
refers broadly to doing, being,
declaring, or bringing about what is
right. Righteousness is a
comprehensively relational reality.
It is not a private moral attribute one
has on one’s own…to be righteous is
to be true to the demands
of a relationship…with God
or with other persons.”
Christopher D. MarshallChristopher D. Marshall

16. - How can I sow peace within
my own heart/mind/body?
- How can I sow peace within
my living/work space?
- How can I sow peace within
my church/community?
- What steps of obedience is
God inviting me to take?
“Peacemakers
who sow
in peace
reap a
harvest of
righteousness.”

17. A Prayer For The People of God
O God, our teacher and guide,
you draw us to yourself
and welcome us as beloved children.
Help us to lay aside our envy and selfish ambition,
that we may walk in your ways of wisdom
and understanding as servants of your peace.
Amen.

18. Mark 12
Hear, O Israel:
the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’
And, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment
greater than these.