Devoted to God’s Wisdom
James 1:5-8, 22
With God’s help, we can be faithfully committed: doing what we said we would do.
SLIDE #1
INTRODUCTION
• Today we will tackle a subject that seems to be in short supply these days.
• Given the subject matter of last week, standing firm amid trials, what we will discuss today can help one to be able to count it a joy when we face various trials.
• In these times of turmoil, we need something to anchor ourselves. The question is to what will we anchor ourselves?
• What will you build your life upon?
• When you face the proverbial fork in the road, where do you go for wisdom and direction?
• The underlying thought of this series is the issue of devotion, being devoted to God no matter what happens in this life.
• That can be very difficult to do, especially when life throws you a curveball.
• Last week we spoke of the heroic endurance we need to possess to be able to have stand firm and to have victory over the trials we face.
• That endurance is designed to help us not to be lacking in any area of our relationship with Jesus, yet there is one thing we can lack if we are not careful, the issue of wisdom.
• Where do you turn to when you are struggling for answers in life?
• Where do you turn when seeking direction for something in your life?
• It is interesting to me that with the advent of Google, and WebMD, how many of us will take our symptoms to those places and try to diagnose ourselves.
• Who needs medical school, we have WebMD, right!
• Who needs plumbers, electricians, builders, mechanics? We have Google and Youtube!
• In Matthew 7:24–27, Jesus urges his followers to build their lives on his words, which, like a rock, will allow them to stand strong during flood rains and winds.
• The foundation built on the rock far better, He says than building their lives on a foundation of sand that will be washed away.
• A few chapters later in Matthew 14:22–33, Peter sees Jesus walking on the sea and gets out of the boat to join him.
• The wind gets the better of Peter, however, and in his fear and doubt, he begins to sink.
• These are just a few times the Bible uses imagery of standing strong in the Lord rather than being blown about by waves and wind.
• Jesus knows what a temptation this is for us; after all, he lived a human life!
• Suffice to say, we need help, and we need to know where to turn for that help.
• We need the gift of wisdom to be able to navigate through the difficulties of life on this earth successfully.
• Wisdom is an essential word in the Bible; the word means more than intellectual knowledge. Wisdom is less “knowing that” than “knowing how.” (College Press Commentary Series)
• Remember the context; the context is being able to face trials with pure joy.
• A person with knowledge KNOWS THAT is how we are supposed to face trials.
• The person with wisdom KNOWS HOW to put that knowledge into action.
• The word implies a skill in living that is passed down from parent to child and has its ultimate source in God.
• One is reminded of the Wisdom books in the Old Testament—Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job—that say, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7).
• On the one hand, Proverbs urges one to be always “turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding” (Proverbs 2:2); on the other, it reminds, “For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6). (College Press Commentary)
• We will be in James 1:5-8 and verse 22!
• Let’s begin with verse 5
SLIDE #2
Bible Verse
James 1:5 (CSB)
5Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God?—?who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly?—?and it will be given to him.
SLIDE #3
1. I. The source of wisdom.
Explanation
• Have you ever plowed through a Facebook post on any subject?
• It does not matter which subject, but if the question is politics or religion, the “conversation” can be quite colorful at times.
• It amazes me that a group of people can read the same article, or see the same picture, witness the same event, and yet interpret the issues in so many different ways.
• When this happens, the result is usually war.
• This scenario can happen when someone reaches out for counsel on where to get their hair done or what gym you should consider making your monthly donation to (Jaguar Fitness!)
• I have seen this play out when folks want to purchase an automobile. Hey, where should I go to get a new vehicle? (Lawley Dodge, see Rusty)
• It amazes me how varied the opinions can be, from the place I suggest is the greatest ever, to others thinking my suggestion is the worst ever and they will go on and tell me why I am wrong.
• If I get lucky, I will be called a few names along the way. That is usually politics for that one.
• I took Robyn to Vega a few years ago, and I wanted to stay in a nice motel that would not break my bank account. So what do you do when you are going to travel, and you want to get an idea as to where to stay, and where to eat? You look up the ratings from a rating website.
• On my Vegas search, that was confusing!
• One review would say the motel was GREAT, and one would say it was the worst place ever. One would say the motel was super clean, and another said it was a rat trap!
• Do you ever feel that way about life, you are phoning a friend or throwing out a lifeline and you walk away more confused than ever?
• How would you like to be able to go to a source where the answers, even though they can be challenging at times, will never be wrong?
• We have that ability, we have a place where we can turn to where we will not get all these divergent reviews, nor will we get called names and be made fun of from the giver of wisdom.
• When God offered King Solomon ANYTHING he wanted, what did Solomon ask for?
• IF God were to come to you and offer to give you ANYTHING you wanted, what would you ask for? Money, power, long healthy life on earth?
• Would you ask God to squash your enemies, or would you ask for control of all traffic lights?
• Solomon asked God for wisdom! Solomon knew he would need wisdom to carry out the task of ruling that he had been called to.
• Along with the gift of wisdom, God gave Solomon riches and other blessings to go along with wisdom!
• The word wisdom is one of the essential terms in this letter.
• It occurs again in 3:13, 15, and 17.
• The Greek concept of wisdom centers around “knowledge,” “cleverness,” and “learnedness.”
• In biblical usage, however, especially in the Old Testament, it is a practical, moral, and spiritual insight given by God (1 Kgs 3:7–9; Pro 2:3–6, 10–19; 9:1–6).
• It is the ability to discern right from wrong and good from evil. It is the power that enables a person to do and say the right thing at the right time.
• Wisdom is a gift from God, who is the source of all wisdom.
• God is eager to give this gift to you; you just need to ask!
• I cannot tell you how many times I have asked God for help in this area.
• Not once did God send me a note telling me how stupid I was for asking or that I should be ashamed to ask such a question.
• The passage tells us that God will give this gift generously and ungrudgingly!
• The sense of ungrudgingly is that God does not give the gift in a way to make me feel guilty for reaching out.
• Did you ever raise your hand in school to ask a question, and the other students laughed at you for asking what they thought was a dumb question?
• How eager were you to raise your hand again?
• God does not operate that way; He wants you to live the life He created you for. He wants you to make wise choices, to distinguish between good and evil.
• The wisdom that we need has three fundamental characteristics.
o It is practical.
• The wisdom from God relates to life even during the most trying times. It is not wisdom isolated from suffering and trials.
• This wisdom is the tool by which trials are overcome.
• An intelligent person may have profound ideas, but a wise person puts profound ideas into action.
• Intelligence will allow someone to describe several reasons why the car broke down.
• The wise person chooses the most likely reason and proceeds to take action.
o It is divine
• God’s wisdom goes well past common sense. Common sense does not lead one to choose joy in the middle of trials!
• Wisdom begins with respect for God, leads to living by God’s direction, and results in the ability to tell right from wrong.
o It is Christlike.
• Asking for wisdom is asking God how to be Christlike in one’s life!
• Let’s look at verse 6-8
SLIDE #4
Bible Verse
James 1:6-8 (CSB)
6But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
7That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord,
8being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.
SLIDE #5
2. II. The way to hinder wisdom.
Explanation
• With all this great talk about how God wants to impart wisdom to us, there is something we need to know concerning receiving wisdom.
• We can cut the WIFI off to God by displaying something God does not want us to do, ask with DOUBT!
• Our faith gets tested by many trials in life; that same faith has to be directed toward God as we ask Him for wisdom.
• We have to have single-minded devotion to trusting that God can and will answer us.
• Sometimes, God answers us, but it is not the answer we want, so we surmise that God did not respond.
• The faith that we are called to exhibit when we ask for wisdom from God is not merely a general belief in the proposition that prayer will be answered.
• It is confidence in God as one who gives generously!
• When we doubt God, in James 1:6, James offers us the image of a ship at sea during a storm.
• The question to us is this: Will we anchor ourselves in God’s wisdom, remaining faithful to his unchanging character, and living according to His Word—no matter what?
• Or will we tumble about like a ship at sea from one cultural fad and personal whim to another?
• To doubt that God will hear their requests for wisdom is to doubt his generosity and character.
• Such a doubter is like a wave blown by the wind, a common metaphor in ancient literature for indecision.
• I either trust God, or I don’t; there is no middle ground here.
• If I doubt that God will hear my prayer for wisdom, God will not hear my prayer for wisdom!
• James goes onto explain that the person who would doubt God will be double-minded and unstable in their ways.
• James wrote this because the verb tense of verse 7 indicates an action that is currently taking place.
• When we live an inconsistent life for the Lord, we become unstable in our ways because we are double-minded. Our mind is divided between man’s ways and God’s ways!
• The phrase DOUBLE-MINDED is not found in ANY Greek literature (Gareth Reese James Commentary, p.11) before James. The expression is also found in James 4:8. The phrase DOUBLE-MINDED seems to be coined by James.
• The phrase, in its literal sense, means TWO-SOULDED.
• Later the phrase was used to speak of Lot’s wife, who was focused on getting out of Sodom and Gomorrah, yet she still had to look back at what she was leaving.
• The key issues in these couple of verses concerns faithfulness.
• Consistent Christian living is the mark of a stable Christian who is not double-minded with one foot with Jesus and one with the world.
• The phase UNSTABLE IN ALL HIS WAYS offers a picture of a person who is drunk and is staggering from side to side along the road.
• Have you ever tried to give a drunk person some wisdom while they were drunk?
• It does not work well, and God will not impart wisdom to me if I am unstable in my ways.
• Let’s drop down to verse 22 for a final thought!
SLIDE #6
Bible Verse
James 1:22 (CSB)
22But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
SLIDE #7
3. III. The purpose of wisdom.
Explanation
• Verse 22 gives us the ultimate purpose for God wanting to provide us with wisdom.
• God wants us to be DOERS of the Word and not just HEARERS of the Word!
• This verse goes back to the core of what wisdom is all about.
• Wisdom is not merely an intellectual pursuit. Wisdom is not about only gaining knowledge for knowledge sake.
• Wisdom is not about winning a Bible Trivia contest; wisdom is much more profound.
• God wants us to take the KNOWLEDGE and apply it in one’s life so we can be DOERS of the WORD!
• True Christians will experience this phenomenon called growth and maturity.
• Over time, we grow, over time, we are transformed into the image of Christ; this does not happen overnight; it is a process.
• And for the process to work, you have to stick to the plan.
• For years I more or less knew what I needed to do to get into a shape other than round.
• I had the basic knowledge. I could tell you how to do it.
• There are many Christians who can TELL others how to live, yet they are not living the life they are seeking others to live.
• Watching my wife workout does not get me into shape; I have to live the life of proper nutrition and exercise to make it happen.
• I am learning so much from my trainer and his crew. I am gaining knowledge; however, I have to take that knowledge and use it.
• I do not want to make a monthly contribution to Jaguar Fitness; I want to represent the gym by making sure I put into practice the things I am learning.
• I do not want to spend money being trained and then go back to my living large or XL lifestyle.
• We cannot sit in church or Sunday school all of our lives and not be in spiritual shape!
• Jerry and I, as well as all of our teachers, are seeking to give you the tools so you can be a doer of the Word!
• I am thankful for Maurice McNeely, inspiring me to be a doer of the Word.
• Then he got me on the path to ministry.
• God wants you to use what you have received from Him to be a doer of the Word.
• I do not want to walk into the gym after John has put all the effort into helping me to look like I have in the past.
CONCLUSION
• Are you struggling with dealing with the issues of life?
• Do you wish there was a way to get some help?
• God is there and He is ready willing and able to give you what you need!
• God will speak to you through the Word, by the influence of the Holy Spirit and He will work through events of Providence make plain to us the path we are to follow!
Application
• Our application point is simple today!
• When we build our lives on God’s wisdom, we can remain faithful to our commitments, centering our choices on his character rather than our whims.
