I. There are certain realities of life common to all believers – 1:2-1:18.
A. Trials and testing will come and can be overcome -- 1:2-8.
3. Ask for wisdom -- 1:5.
Text – James 1:5 (KJV)
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
INTRODUCTION
James is not the James who was one of the 12 apostles and killed by Herod Agrippa I in the YEAR AD 44. Instead, James was the half-brother of Jesus (Matt. 13:55), the one who was a leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13; Gal. 1:19), the one Paul called a pillar in the church (Gal. 2:9), and the one, along with all the elders whom Paul went to see at Jerusalem after the third missionary journey (Acts 21:18).
COMMENTARY
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
If any of you lack wisdom,
In speaking about wisdom, James develops the principle that we can trust God to provide for us. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5). It may seem surprising that we can ask God for wisdom about the tasks of everyday work—making decisions, assess¬ing opportunities, trusting colleagues or customers, investing resources, and so on—but James tells us to “ask in faith, never doubting” that God will give us the wisdom we need. Our problem is not that we expect too much help from God at work, but we expect too little (James 1:8).
It is essential to grasp this. If we doubt that God is the source of all we need, then we are what James calls “double-minded.” We have not yet made up our mind whether to follow Christ or not. This makes us “unstable in every way,” and we will not be able to accomplish much for the benefit of anyone or able even to “receive anything from the Lord” on our behalf (James 1:7). James is under no illusions about how hard it can be to trust God. He knows all too well the trials his audience is already beginning to experience throughout the breadth of the Roman Empire (James 1:1–2). Yet, he insists that the Christian life must begin with trusting God to provide.
The perfection that Paul speaks of should not be understood as happening in this life, since the Apostle immediately supposes that they lack wisdom, and he did not doubt that they wanted it. Instead, he assumed that they did. Saints often want wisdom to decide if God is their maker, for they do not look upon themselves as a product of mere chance. God has his hand upon them, as He did Job; who does not ascribe his calamities to the thieving Chaldeans and Sabeans, to the boisterous wind, and the malice of Satan, but to God. They want wisdom to observe the sovereignty of God in them, and bow unto it, and be still, and know that he is God, who does all things well and wisely; and likewise to see and know that God is love, and very faithful, and always for good. They shall learn useful lessons from Him, and mainly to take the Cross well, to bear it patiently, and even to count it all joy, and reckon it to be right, necessary, and useful: it requires abundant wisdom to learn all this, and act upon it.
Moreover, this may be applied to other cases as well, in which wisdom is wanted. Men want wisdom for the ordinary affairs of life, and especially the people of God; for the children of the world are wiser in their generation, for themselves and posterity, and in the management of worldly affairs, than the children of light; and to detect the providences of God, make good use of them, and behave suitably under them, and not be elated too much in prosperity, nor be cast down, and become distressed in adversity. But to take into account that the one is set against the other, and both work together for good. Saints need wisdom in spiritual things; they want more grace, which is the truest wisdom, and more extensive knowledge of the Gospel, which is the wisdom of God, the hidden wisdom of God. They lack the understanding to know how to walk with them without, and towards them that are within, so as becomes the Gospel of Christ: and as this is more or less the case of every one.
Next, the Apostle moves on to the thought of heavenly wisdom, not the knowledge of the deep things of God. Still, that which can make us wise unto our latter end “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” (Proverbs 19:20). Few may be able, save in self-conceit, to say with Isaiah “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned;” (Isaiah 50:4), and, on the other hand, the wisest and most gifted of men may be lacking in the wisdom descending from above.
Now, it seems to me that, in this hypothetical exhortation, there are three points to be noted, two of them being somewhat unlike what we should have looked for. One is the great deficiency in the average Christian’s character - wisdom; another is the great means of supplying it - ask; and the third is the great guarantee of the supply - the giving God, whose gifts are bestowed on all liberally and without upbraiding.
What would you say is the great deficiency in the average Christian’s character? It is what we have been talking about – wisdom. That is not exactly what we should have expected to be named the main thing lacking in the average Christian. If we had been asked to specify the chief defect, we would probably have thought of something other than wisdom. But, if we remember who is speaking, we shall understand better what he means by this word. James is a Jew, steeped through and through in the Old Testament. We have only to recall the Book of Proverbs, what it has to say about ‘wisdom’ and ‘folly,’ which means something a great deal more profound and more alive than knowledge and ignorance or intellectual strength, feebleness, and practical sagacity and it’s opposite. That more profound conception of wisdom, which bases it all on ‘the fear of the Lord’ and regards it as moral and spiritual and not merely or chiefly intellectual, pervades the whole New Testament. This Epistle is more of an echo of the earlier revelation than any other part of the New Testament, and we may be quite sure that James uses this venerable word with all the associations of its use there, and in all the solemn depth of meaning which he had learned to attach to it, on the lips of psalmists, prophets, and teachers of the true wisdom. If that were at all doubtful, it is made sure by his subsequent description of ‘wisdom.’ He says that it is ‘from above,’ and then goes on to ascribe all manner of moral and spiritual good to its presence and working on a man. It is ‘pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy, and good fruits.’ You cannot say such glowing things about the wisdom which has its seat in the understanding only, can you? These characteristics must apply to something a great deal more imposing and more potent in shaping and refining character.
What, then, does James mean by ‘wisdom’? He means the sum of practical religion. With him, as with the psalmist, sin and folly are two names for the same thing, and so are religion and wisdom. He, and only he, has wisdom who knows God with a living heart-knowledge which gives a just insight into the facts of life and the bounds of right and wrong, and which regulates the conduct and shapes the whole man with power far beyond that of knowledge however wide and deep, illuminating intellect however powerful. ‘Knowledge’ is inadequate and superficial compared to this wisdom, which may roughly be said to be equivalent to practical religion.
The use of this expression to indicate the most significant deficiency in the average Christian character suggests this thought, that if we had a clear, constant, certain, God-regarding insight into things as they are, we should lack little. Because, if a man habitually kept vividly before him the thought of God, and with it the true nature and obligation and blessedness of righteous, loving obedience, and the true foulness and fatalness of sin - if he saw these with the clearness and the continuity with which we may all see the things that are unseen and eternal, if he ‘saw life steadily, and saw it whole,’ if he saw the rottenness and the shallowness of earthly things and temptations, and if he saw the blessed issue of every God-pleasing act - why! The perfecting of conduct would be secured.
It would be an impossibility for him, with all that illumination blazing in upon him, not to walk in the paths of righteousness with a glad and serene heart. I do not believe that all sin is a consequence of ignorance. Still, I do think that our average Christian life would be revolutionized if we each carried clear before us and continually subjected our lives to the influence of the certain realities of God’s word.
let him ask of God,
Every man should ask God with believing and fervent prayer, for wisdom, the wisdom of God the Father, who is the only wise God, who has overflowed in creation, in providence, and, above all, in redemption and grace, all wisdom and prudence; and of his Son Jesus Christ, who is the wisdom of God, and has all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in him; and of the Spirit of God, who is a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, and all divine things:
The little word “if” does not imply doubt but supposes something they would grant had they the ability to do so. Nevertheless, they did lack wisdom, either in whole or in part. It is as if he had said, “Since, or seeing that ye lack faith, see Malachi 1:6; “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?” Though this holds true for wisdom taken more generally, the wisdom here is to be restrained, according to the text’s circumstances, and taken for wisdom or skill to bear afflictions and to rejoice in them.
Dear reader, I believe that nothing in the ordinary type of Christian opinion amongst us, in this generation, is as defective as that truth, that the Spirit of God is dwelling in men’s hearts. And I believe that is why the other realities of Christianity have so little power upon people. It is of little use to believe in a Christianity that begins and ends with Christ’s death on the Cross. It is of less use, no doubt, to have faith in a Christianity that does not begin with that death. But if it ends there, it is imperfect because, as the Apostle put it, our Christ, the Christ who sends wisdom to those who ask for it, is the ‘Christ that died and is risen again, who is even now at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us, and sends down His Spirit upon us.
And to receive that Spirit of wisdom, the one thing necessary is that we should want it. That is all—nothing more, but nothing less. I doubt very much whether crowds of the ordinary Christian people of this generation do want it, or would know what to do with it if they had it; or whether the gift of a heart purged from delusions, and of eyes made clear always to behold the God who is eternal, and the real importance of the things around us is the gift that most of us pray for most. ‘If any man lack wisdom, let him ask.’ It is a gift, and it is to be obtained from that Holy Spirit who dwells and works in all believers. The measure of their desire is the measure of their possession of the Holy Spirit. It is beautiful that the Lord made wisdom available for the asking and not to be won by proudly self-reliant effort.
But let us not think that any kind of ‘asking’ is sufficient to put that great gift into our hearts. The petition that avails must be sincere, intense, constant, and accompanied by corresponding conduct. It is not dropping down on your knees for two minutes in the morning before you hurry off to work, nor is it struggling over a formal petition, or praying after you have gone to bed at night, and perhaps falling asleep before you get to ‘Amen.’ It is not asking, and then not waiting long enough to get the answer. It is not faint and feeble desire, but one presented with a steadiness which is not shameless begging, but patient persistence. It must breathe intense desire and perfect confidence in the Giver’s willingness and in the power of prayer.
that giveth to all men liberally,
The thought is that God gives all good gifts to those that ask Him (Matthew 6:11), and the highest gift, that of the Spirit that imparts wisdom, is included in the promise (Luke 11:13).
God is the Giver of all good things, in nature, providence, and grace; every good and perfect gift comes from him, and therefore he, and he only, should be asked: and he gives to “all men” the bounties of his providence; and to all that ask, and call upon him in sincerity, the riches of his grace; even to Jews and Gentiles, high and low, rich and poor, greater or lesser sinners; all which he gives “liberally,” readily, and at once, freely and cheerfully, and abundantly; not grudgingly, sparingly, and with a closed hand, but with an open one, and in a very far-reaching manner.
He gives to all men liberally. ‘That is a beautiful thought, but it is not the whole beauty of the writer’s idea. The word translated ‘liberally,’ as many of you know, literally means ‘simply, without any underlying thought of what is to be gained in return. That is how God gives. People have sometimes objected to the doctrine of which the Scripture is full from beginning to end, that God is His own motive, and that His reason in all His acts is His own glory, that it teaches an almighty and divine selfishness. But it is entirely consistent with this thought of my text, that He gives simply for the recipient’s benefit and without a thought of what may accrue to the bestower. For why does God desire His glory to be advanced in the world? For any good that it is to Him, that you and I should praise Him? Yes! good to Him in so far as love delights to be recognized. But, beyond that, none. The reason why He desires that men should know and recognize His glory, and should praise and magnify it, is because it is their life and their blessedness to do so. He desires that all men should know Him for what He is because to do so is to come to be what we ought to be, and what He has made us try to be, and therein to enjoy Him forever.
and upbraideth not;
He does not scold or chastize us with former sins and transgressions, with former miscarriages and misconduct; or with former kindnesses, suggesting that he had given already, and his favors had been despised or abused; or he had been treated with disrespect by those who seek his presence, but so is God; Every word used here is encouraging us to go to God for wisdom.
He gives the humble petitioner without upbraiding him with his past sin and ingratitude or his future abuse of God’s goodness. The Jews pray, “Let me not need the gifts of men, whose gifts are few, but their upbraidings many, but give me out of Thy large and full hand.”
And If it were not so, that He “upbraideth not”; who of us would dare to ask Him anything? But He does not say when we come to Him, ‘What did you do with that last gift I gave you? Were you ever thankful enough for those other benefits that you have had? What has become of all those? Go away and make better use of what you have had before you come and ask Me for any more.’ That is how we often talk to one another and rightly enough. That is not how God speaks to us. There is sufficient time for upbraiding after the child has the gift in his hand! Then, as Christ did to Peter, He says, having rescued him first, ‘Oh! thou of little faith; wherefore didst thou doubt?’ The truest rebuke of our misuse of His benefits, of our faithlessness to His character, and the poverty of our askings, is the largeness of His gifts. He gives us these, and when He bids us go away, and profit by them, and, in the light of His bestowments, preach rebukes to ourselves for the poverty of our askings and our squandering of His gift.
and it shall be given him.
God has said it - “and it shall be given him”; Christ has promised it, and the Apostle might, with certainty, say it after them, and all experience confirms the truths of it; See ( Matthew 7:7 Matthew 7:8 ) ( John 14:13 John 14:14 John 14:16 John 14:23 ).
Oh, brethren! if we believed that He is not a serious man, gathering that which was not his, and reaping where He did not sow, but a ‘giving God!’ Suppose we only believed that He gives simply because He loves us and that we need never fear our unworthiness will limit or restrain His bestowments. What mountains of the misconception of the divine character would he roll away from many hearts! What thick obscure clouds would he swept clean from between us and the sun! We do not know half enough to realize that He is the giving God. Therefore, our prayers are poor, and our asking troubled and faint, and our gifts to Him are grudging and few, and our wisdom woefully lacking.
God has said it, Christ has promised it, and the Apostle might, with certainty, say it after them, “and it shall be given him; and all experience confirms the truths of it; See ( Matthew 7:7 Matthew 7:8 ) ( John 14:13 John 14:14 John 14:16 John 14:23 ).
God hears every true prayer and grants either the thing asked, or else something better than it,
