A Word about Demonic Wisdom

Today I want to share a word about Demonic Wisdom as I comment on James 3:13-4:8:

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 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. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 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 dread of disaster. 

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Which Type of Wisdom?

My wife and I often remind each other of  sayings that we have heard over our lives together. We use them to punctuate life events or to give ourselves a reason to laugh over a situation we are facing. 

One of those sayings comes from the John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd film “The Blues Brothers,” in which they were told by a waitress that the establishment where they hoped to play blues music had “Both kinds of music: Country and Western!” 

Well, I guess you had to be there . . .

When we look at wisdom from the Scriptures, we most often study God’s Wisdom, and we should. We must note, however, that there is another type of wisdom which is the total opposite of God’s type. James refers to this type of wisdom as  earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. In our focal passage for today, we see that both types of wisdom want our allegiance, and that James teaches us the ramifications of following demonic wisdom.

The first thing we will notice about demonic wisdom is that it is 180 degrees out of phase with God’s Wisdom. It is as far as the East is from the West! God’s Wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. This is a wonderful word picture! Contrast it with demonic wisdom, however; which is bitter, jealous and full of selfish ambition, grasping and covetous, and quarrelsome to the point of murder! God’s Wisdom is light, but demonic wisdom is full or darkness!

Another aspect of demonic wisdom is that it is wasteful and it is the epitome of poor stewardship. Instead of being a wise manager of what God gives us and using those resources to bless Him and to do His ministry, and also to bless our families, communities, and churches, we waste God’s bounty on our own lusts and passions. Those who follow demonic wisdom are walking in the steps of the prodigal son, and the end result will be the same!

We also need to note God’s Holy Jealousy which is revealed here. God created us and He loves us. He was gracious to us and He sent His Uniquely Begotten Son to pay for our sins and to restore us to fellowship with Him. God paid a high price for His love for us, and He will not stand for His people cheating on Him with the world in an adulterous relationship with demonic wisdom. This is serious business to God and it should be a serious issue for us as well!

Finally, as I said above, it doesn’t end well when we are friends with the world and when we adopt demonic wisdom as our philosophy. The Prodigal Son fell far and he fell hard because of his dalliance with the ways of the world. The same is true for us today, but there is also good news!

We Must Choose Wisely!

As James tells us, 

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

As the old saying goes, “A word to the wise is sufficient!” To quote another movie, this time an Indiana Jones flick, “You must choose . . .  wisely!”

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt