“GOT WISDOM?” James 1:5-8
FBCF – 9/18/22
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Video
Did you pay attention to all of the benefits of wisdom?
- We are blessed when we find it
- It is more profitable that silver & brings better returns than gold
- More precious than rubies
- There’s nothing that compares to it
- Brings long life & riches & honor
- Its way are pleasant & peaceful
- It’s a tree of life if you grab it & hold fast to it
Sounds to me like this is something so good that we need to go hard after it as much as we can.
Proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. Walked up to the muscular philosopher – "O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge."
Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. Led young man through the streets, to the sea, & chest deep into water. Then asked, "What do you want?"
"Knowledge, O wise Socrates," said the young man with a smile.
Socrates put his strong hands on the man's shoulders and pushed him under. 30 sec later Socrates let him up. "What do you want?" he asked again.
"Wisdom," the young man sputtered, "O great and wise Socrates."
Socrates shoved him under again. 30 sec, 35, 40. Socrates let him up. Young man gasping. "What do you want, young man?"
Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, "Knowledge, O wise and wonderful..."
Socrates jammed him under again. 40 sec passed. 50. "What do you want?"
"Air!" the young man cried. "I need air!"
"When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge."
When we want & need wisdom, we can get it from God.
EXPLANATION – James 1:5-8
Remember that the letter of James is an immensely practical book. It’s got an real life “I ain’t playing” feel to it as James addresses real life issues in the life of every Christ-follower. Tony Evans: “James is the in-your-face, no-holds-barred apostle. He says in essence, ‘If you’re going to be a Christian, be a real one.’ This book thus explains what practical Christianity looks like. It’s about living out your faith in everyday situations w/ everyday people, & doing it victoriously.” (The Tony Evans Study Bible, p. 1470)
To be able to do that – to live our your faith in everyday situations w/ everyday people – we’ve got to have wisdom b/c those situations & those people can be challenging.
- For some of you, your situations & your people are family members
- For some of you, your situations & your people are coworkers
- For some of you, your situation is financial
- For some of you, your situation is health-related
- For some of you, your situation is church-related – you’re in a leadership position, a LG leader, a deacon, a committee member & you need God’s wisdom in those areas
- For some of you, your situation is a sin issue, an addiction, a pattern of behavior that is causing difficulty for you & for others in your life.
The reality for ALL of us here today is this: We need wisdom. Not the world’s wisdom, but God’s wisdom.
- He’s the creator of wisdom
- He’s the source of wisdom
- He’s the Spirit of wisdom
Listen to these verses:
- 1 Kings 4:29 – “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore”
- Proverbs 2:6 – “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding”
- Ecclesiastes 9:18 – “Wisdom is better than weapons of war…”
- Jeremiah 10:12 – “It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, & by his understanding stretched out the heavens.”
- Ephesians 1:16-17 – “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him…”
This wisdom that God gives to His children enables us to live under His dominion & control in every area of our lives. It’s not just information & knowledge, though that’s important. Wisdom is the God-given ability to take the information & knowledge that He gives to us & apply it to our lives. If you lack knowledge, go to the classroom. If you lack wisdom, go to your prayer room.
APPLICATION – Wisdom for life is available to every Christ-follower.
WHY WE NEED WISDOM – We don’t need wisdom b/c we are dumb. We need wisdom b/c we are desperate. We simply need wisdom. 3 reasons why we need it:
B/c of the TESTS we face – Talked about this last week in the message. Our faith is going to be tested. For many of us, it’s being tested right now. There’s no getting around the tests. They’re coming whether we want them to or not, whether we are ready for them or not, whether we see them coming or not.
- In school, when a test is given, we simply need knowledge. We knew what to study. Knew what was going to be on the test. We gave that knowledge back to the teacher/professor & passed the test.
- In life, when the tests come, we need more than knowledge – we need wisdom, the capacity to understand AND to act wisely. That’s what God gives to us.
B/c of the TIMES we are in – Remember who James is writing to – Jewish believers in the “Dispersion” (v. 1) – believers who’ve been scattered all over the world b/c of persecution. Driven from their home, away from familiar surroundings, away from family & friends, away from their livelihoods. If anyone needed wisdom to know how to deal w/ difficult times, it was these believers.
You & I, too, are facing increasingly difficult times. There’s a great falling away from the faith. More & more young adults are “deconstructing” their faith, deciding that they no longer believe the foundational Christian truths that their parents & grandparents believe.
- Had a friend contact me a couple of weeks ago – both of her sons grew up in a strong Christian family & strong church setting & now have walked away from the faith, no longer believing the biblical truths that their parents poured into them.
- Alistair Begg (quoting David Myers): “Since 1960, the divorce rate has doubled, teen suicide has tripled, violent crime quadrupled, number in prison has quintupled, illegitimate children sextupled, & the number of those [living together] has increased 7-fold.” (The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty)
- The times in which we are living demand that we have God’s wisdom. Otherwise, we are doomed.
B/c of the TEMPTATIONS we encounter – I will preaching on James 1:13-15 in a couple of weeks, but look at it now. There are TONS of Christians who have shipwrecked their lives & the lives of so many others b/c they looked away from God’s wisdom & looked at the wildly attractive temptations that Satan put in their path.
Beloved, we MUST cry out to God for HIS wisdom! When we do, He responds.
HOW GOD RESPONDS WHEN WE ASK FOR WISDOM – This is an amazing promise from God! Ask for wisdom & you’ve got it! It’s a real promise from a real God for real life!
His response shows us some of His attributes
- He gives “generously” – We see His generosity. He doesn’t hold back from us when we ask for His wisdom. He’s not tightfisted w/ His wisdom. He lavishly gives it to you IF you belong to Him!
- He gives lovingly – “to all” – We see His love. He loves ALL of His children equally, & b/c of that love, He pours out His wisdom to ALL of us who belong to Him & ask for His wisdom. He loves YOU. He’s going to take care of YOU. So He gives wisdom to YOU IF you belong to Him.
- He gives gracefully – We see His grace. “without reproach” “without finding fault” (NIV) “God gives generously & graciously to all” (GNT) When we come to God in the midst of our turmoil & trouble, He doesn’t shake His head & say, “Boy, you really messed that one up! Come on! You ought to know better than that by now! I can’t believe you’ve gotten yourself into this mess!” No, b/c of His grace, He gives us His wisdom whether we think we deserve it or not. It doesn’t matter whether you deserve it or not – He’s going to give it to you IF you belong to Him!
WHAT CONDITION MUST BE MET TO RECEIVE WISDOM – When we read v. 6-7 & see that we must “have faith w/ no doubting”, most of us probably feel a little unsure about that. Who of us has not experienced a measure of doubt in the midst of a time of struggle & pain? Is James saying that if we’ve ever had a moment of doubt that we can no longer come to God in need of wisdom?
This does not mean that we have to psyche ourselves up before we pray – “Ok, I’m not going to doubt. I’m not going to doubt. I’m not going to doubt.”
What James is saying is that we must have single-minded devotion. We can’t be “double-minded.” In other words, we can’t ask God for wisdom, but look over our shoulder to see if anybody else has a better offer. A double-minded person will check out what the Bible says, but also check out what the wisdom of the world says.
- That’s what gets so many people in trouble. “I know the Bible says this, but doing THIS feels so much better, feels so right in the moment.”
- That’s why people are deconstructing their faith. “I used to believe what the Bible says, but when I started listening to these other voices, they seemed to make more sense.”
- We can’t have one foot in the world & one foot in the K’dom of God. Like putting foot on a raft & one foot on bank. Raft starts drifting away. Very unstable footing.
CONCLUSION/TAKEAWAYS
Back to title of sermon – “Got Wisdom?” Do you need it? Is there an urgent situation in your life where you need it right now?
More important question – “Got Jesus?” B/c if you don’t, then you don’t have wisdom. Come to Him today & be saved!
