A. One day a man was driving down a country road when his car sputtered to a complete stop near a field with a few cows in it.
1. The driver got out of his car and lifted the hood to see what was the matter.
2. Then he noticed that one of the cows had come over to the fence nearby, and suddenly the cow said, “Sir, I believe the problem with your car is the radiator.”
3. The man was startled and amazed by this and ran to the nearest farmhouse and knocked on the door.
4. When the farmer opened the door, the man with the broken down car said: “My car broke down by your cow pasture, and a cow just gave me advice about my car!”
5. The farmer asked him, “Did the cow have big black spots on it?”
6. “Yes it did,” the man replied.
7. “Well,” said the farmer, “That’s Ethel. Don’t pay any attention to her. She doesn’t know a thing about cars!”
B. So, if you can’t trust the advice of a talking cow, then, who can you trust? Right!
1. To whom should we go for advice and wisdom?
2. James, the writer of the book of James, has a good answer to that question.
3. As we will see in our text for today, James says: “if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God.” (James 1:5)
4. Well, that certainly seems simple enough, but there’s more to it, as we will see.
5. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
C. There’s an old saying that says: “Too soon old, too late smart.”
1. I think there is a lot of truth in both of those phrases.
2. “Too soon old” - Life speeds by and before we know it, we are old.
a. Yesterday we were born, today we live, and tomorrow we die – life rushes on for all of us.
b. But guess what – wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age – sometimes age just shows up all by itself.
3. “Too late smart” – most of us learn the important stuff the hard way and the long way.
a. We often take a long time to “wise up” to what matters most.
b. You’ve heard the proverbial: “no one on their death bed every said: ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.’ ”
c. I would add to that: “No dying person ever said: ‘I wish I had spent more time at the mall,’ or ‘I wish I had spent more time watching TV.’ ”
4. Wouldn’t we all like to get wiser about the things that matter most?
5. In today’s verses, James is going to tell us how to get the wisdom we need, but lack.
D. Last week, we explored the first topic that James addressed in his letter – the topic of trials and how to face them.
1. We learned that James suggested that we adopt the radical attitude of welcoming trials as friends and rejoicing about them because they help us grow up and mature in Christ.
2. James said that when endurance has had its full effect, we will be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
3. Today’s verses and topic are linked to last week’s verses and topic by the word “lacking.”
4. Last week, we learned that the ability to triumph in our trials is tied to our ability to see things from God’s perspective and another way to talk about God’s perspective is to talk about having God’s wisdom.
5. God doesn’t want us to be lacking in anything, but one thing we often lack is God’s wisdom.
6. And if we are going to be able to endure our trials joyfully, and bring glory to God through them, then we are going to need God’s wisdom.
7. But how do we get God’s wisdom? Glad you asked!
E. When James began verse 5 with the statement: “Now if any of you lacks wisdom,” he wasn’t suggesting that some don’t need wisdom, but others do.
1. Rather, James was saying: “when you lack wisdom” or “since you lack wisdom” – a lack of wisdom is a given, it is a reality.
2. Truth is: none of us is as smart as we think we are, or as wise as we think we are.
3. We don’t just need God’s wisdom some of the time, we need God’s wisdom all of the time.
4. And that’s often part of our problem – we don’t want to admit that we have a need.
5. But in the end, if we want to have the wisdom we need, we first have to admit that we lack it.
F. But what is wisdom?
1. Wisdom and knowledge are both recurring themes in the Bible, and are related to each other, they are not synonymous.
2. The dictionary defines wisdom as “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.”
3. Knowledge, on the other hand, is “information gained through experience, reasoning, or acquaintance.”
4. Knowledge can exist without wisdom, but not the other way around. – A person can be knowledgeable without being wise.
5. Knowledge is what is gathered over time through study and experience.
6. But it can be said that wisdom, in turn, acts properly upon that knowledge - wisdom is the fitting application of knowledge.
a. Knowledge understands the traffic light has turned red which means to stop; wisdom applies the brakes.
b. Knowledge sees the quicksand and knows the danger; wisdom walks around it.
c. Knowledge is being aware of the Ten Commandments; wisdom obeys them.
d. Knowledge learns of God; wisdom loves God.
7. Therefore, a person can be an “educated fool” - our world is filled with them.
a. We live in the most skilled, knowledgeable, and advanced generation ever, but we also live in the most profane, violent, and hedonistic generation ever.
b. We have knowledge at our fingertips, just Google it, but we lack wisdom.
8. Wisdom begins with a certain kind of knowledge.
a. Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'”
b. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
c. This knowledge of God comes through God’s self-revelation of himself in scripture.
d. The wisdom of God is found in the word of God.
e. The Lord Jesus Christ is the incarnate wisdom of God - Colossians 2:3 says that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
f. Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.”
G. So, where do we get this wisdom that we so desperately need? We get it from God.
1. Look closely at the amazing promise of verse 5: Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.
2. To ask God for wisdom implies that God can deliver – and deliver is what God does!
a. “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Pr. 2:6).
b. “There is no wisdom and no understanding and no counsel against the Lord” (Prov. 21:30).
c. In other words, if worldly “wisdom” contradicts or goes against God, it is false “wisdom.”
d. Only God’s wisdom is real wisdom and it stands above all else.
3. In 1 Corinthians, Paul contrasted the so-called wisdom of this world with God’s wisdom as seen in the cross of Christ (1 Cor. 1:18-30).
a. Paul sarcastically asked (1:20-21), “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”
H. But, how does God impart the wisdom that we need?
1. God reveals His wisdom by His Spirit through His Word.
2. God’s wisdom does not come as a sudden revelation or impression that hits out of nowhere.
3. You won’t find it in “Dear Abby” or Reader’s Digest, unless they accidentally say something that coincides with God’s Word.
4. God’s wisdom comes directly from God and is revealed in His Word.
5. It especially centers in the knowledge of Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3).
6. God reveals His wisdom by the Holy Spirit to those who are spiritual and have the mind of the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:6-16).
7. God’s wisdom includes knowing how to apply biblical truth to particular situations in life.
8. Part of receiving the wisdom we need from the Lord includes spending consistent time learning God’s Word, so we will have a foundation of knowledge that wisdom can draw on and apply when our trials come.
I. But then, in addition to our consistent immersion in God’s Word, we need to pray for wisdom.
1. The wisdom we need is only a prayer away, because God answers prayer!
2. James says that God’s character inclines Him to grant our requests.
a. God is a giving God.
b. Any view of God that envisions Him with clenched fists that must be pried open is a wrong view of God.
c. God’s arms are outstretched, His hands are full, and open, and ready to give.
3. James says that God gives to all generously.
a. God is nondiscriminatory. God doesn’t play favorites.
4. And James says that God gives ungrudgingly – or without reproach.
a. You and I know some people who might be able to help us in our time of need, but we would never ask them for help because we would never hear the end of it.
b. They would help us, but lecture us the whole time or hold it over us forever.
c. God will never chastise us for asking Him for wisdom.
d. We don’t have to worry about God becoming irritated because we ask for the same thing over and over.
e. God invites us to ask Him for all the wisdom we need.
f. God gives because He delights to give to His children.
5. Praise God that we can ask God for help and know that He gives generously and ungrudgingly!
J. But there is an important thing that must accompany our asking – we must ask in faith.
1. Notice the natural progression of thought: trials require wisdom – wisdom requires prayer – prayer requires faith.
2. James says: 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.
3. Faith is essential in approaching God, because as Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
a. It would be silly to ask something of a Being that you weren’t sure existed.
b. Or, if He did exist, you weren’t sure if He cared about your request or if He had the power to grant what you requested!
c. So to ask from God, we must believe that He exists, that He personally cares for us, and He is able to give us the wisdom that we need to endure our trials with His joy.
4. If we doubt God’s existence or His ability to give us wisdom for our need, James says (1:6) that we’re “like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.”
a. Have you ever been in a boat on a windy day?
b. The wind and waves can really toss a boat about and threaten to sink it.
c. And the wind and waves can dash a boat against the rocks causing it to come apart.
d. That’s the picture James draws of the person who lacks faith in God.
5. I don’t think that James is saying that there is no room for doubt at all, after all, Jesus himself commended a man who came to him and said, “I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)
a. So, I think that James is emphasizing the importance of authentic faith as a person’s basic lifestyle and attitude, as contrasted with a lifestyle or attitude of constant doubting.
b. At some point, we have to make a faith decision - are we really going to trust God or are we not going to trust Him.
c. That’s what Elijah called the people to do on Mount Carmel, he asked them, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God; follow him.” (1 Kgs. 18:21)
d. Earlier, Joshua confronted them in a similar way, he said, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh. 24:15)
e. If we don’t make the decision of faith, then we are going to be like a little boat in the middle of the ocean, without an anchor, being tossed by the wind and waves.
6. It is possible to have questions and doubts within the larger context of deep trust in the Lord.
a. The life of faith does not mean that we have all the answers.
b. It does mean that we are putting our confidence in the One who we believe has all the answers.
c. It means that in the midst of our trials and doubts we take a stand on God’s promises and we apply God’s wisdom.
d. That kind of faith brings a stabilization of our lives in the midst of an honest acknowledgement that there are many things we don’t know or understand.
K. Tragically, yet logically, the person of doubt should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
1. Doubt receives God’s rejection slip that reads: “Request denied due to insufficient faith.”
2. James says that person is “doubled-minded” and “unstable” in all his ways.
a. This term “double-minded” is unique to this letter – scholars believe that James coined the term - the word literally means “double-souled.”
b. Behind this term is the Hebrew idea of being double-tongued or double-faced.
c. Deut. 26:16 warns the Israelites against worshiping God with two hearts or a double heart.
d. Such a heart or mind contrasts sharply with single-hearted or single-minded devotion.
3. The term doesn’t suggest a deceitfulness, so much as a divided loyalty.
4. Being double-minded is like being a fence-straddler.
a. The doubled-minded are trying to face both ways or be on both sides at the same time.
b. The doubled-minded have an ongoing “civil war” inside of them.
c. They trust and doubt.
d. They hope for the best, but they expect the worst.
e. Just like in the old story of the church that gathered for a special prayer time to ask God to end a terrible draught. The whole church turned out for the prayer time, but the preacher scolded them, because no one brought an umbrella.
5. A double-souled person lives in perpetual ambivalence.
a. They are never able to commit to anything.
b. They dart from one relationship to another, from one job to another, from one friendship to another, from one church to another, from one promise to another, never staying in one place long enough to make anything stick.
c. They’re here today and gone tomorrow.
d. They make promises and then make excuses.
e. They are unstable in all their ways.
6. Now let’s be honest about ourselves - we are all double-minded people at some level and to some degree.
a. These words from the hymn “Come Thou Fount” come to mind:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.
b. The last line offers us the only hope there is:
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
7. Left to ourselves, we will be like sheep going astray, going our own way, turning aside, running away, always looking for greener pastures.
a. Left to our own devices, and to our own wisdom, we will always leave the God we love.
b. How strange, how sad, how fearful.
8. But the good news is, we don’t have to hide that from the Lord.
a. He already knows our hearts - divided and pulled in a thousand directions.
b. He knows our conflicting desires.
c. He knows how much we want to do right and how quickly we do wrong.
d. The only hope we have is to return to the God who loves us so much that He will not give up on us even when we run from Him.
9. We all need Jesus, and we need Him more than we know
a. The wisdom we need is not an answer or a formula or a plan for tomorrow.
b. We are told that Christ himself is our wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30).
c. If you are not a Christian, what you need is Christ.
d. And if you are a Christian, what you need is Christ.
e. The need of the whole world is the same - we all need Jesus, and we need him more than we know.
10. We all need a “come to Jesus” meeting now and then.
a. Perhaps for you, this is the moment.
b. Let’s not be afraid to say, “Lord Jesus, take the broken pieces of my life and put them back together again. I know I keep wandering from you, but I’m back home again. I need you and I need your wisdom. Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above. Lord Jesus, help me to run to You so that I may receive the wisdom that comes only from You. Amen.”
c. And perhaps a perfect place to end this sermon is with the wisdom and advice of Solomon, the Wise-Guy from Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.”
d. The only way to be wise-guys and wise-gals is to trust in God’s wisdom and not our own.
e. Things go much better when we do! Amen!
Resources:
• How To Receive God’s Wisdom, Sermon by Ray Prichard, Keepbelieving.com
• Praying for Wisdom, H.B. Charles, Jr., https://hbcharlesjr.com/resource-library/sermon-outlines/praying-for-wisdom-james-15-8-2/
• How to Obtain Wisdom from God, Steven Cole, https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-2-how-obtain-wisdom-god-james-15-8
• The NIV Application Commentary: James, by David Nystrom, Zondervan, 1997.
• https://www.gotquestions.org/wisdom-knowledge.html
