Wisdom, Fear, and Faith

James 1:5–8 (ESV): 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

PRAYER

Tonight, I want to talk to you about WISDOM, FEAR, and FAITH, and how they are all related, as we’re shown in this short passage, and how they’re all critical components of us fulfilling the will of God in our own lives.

SALVATION - EXPLAIN GOSPEL

When it comes to our salvation, Jesus plus nothing equals everything…We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.. So that nobody can boast..I didn’t do anything to save myself; God did it.

How many of us know those people (don’t raise your hand) who are going to heaven, profess Christ as Lord, but bless their hearts, their lives are just a string of bad decisions… because of a lack of wisdom. In this life, we are called to more than simply coming to a saving faith. The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we are 1) By nature and 2) By choice, people of sin…people in rebellion against God….and the good news is that He loves us enough to meet us where we are, amen? But if He loves us enough to meet us where we are, then He loves us too much to leave us there.

James writes to the church about living out our faith - not just having faith but being faithful. Being sanctified. Growing in holiness and growing in our faith. God’s message in this book is one of discipleship, of becoming the individuals that God has called us to be. And in order to be the individuals that God has called us to be, then we must walk in wisdom. In order to fulfill the will of God in our own lives, we have to be people who walk in Godly wisdom.

So tonight, I want to talk about 1) what Wisdom is and 2) how we walk in the wisdom of God.

WISDOM

Define Wisdom

Wisdom is more than just knowledge. Wisdom is knowledge applied. It’s not just knowing; it’s also doing. The book of James is all about living out our faith. Walking in wisdom is living out our faith. Godly wisdom is in direct alignment with our mission as a church: discovering God’s will (that’s knowledge) and walking in God’s will (that’s the application of the knowledge we’ve been given).

Knowledge Wisdom Knowing that driving at excessively high speeds is dangerous. Obeying the speed limit. Knowing that venomous snakes are dangerous. Staying away from venomous snakes. Knowing that when you’re with a certain person, you drift further from God. Cutting that person out of your life. Knowing God’s Will Doing God’s Will

And if we want to be wise people who are walking in the will of God, then we have to 1) Stay in the Word of God - because the will of God will always align with the Word of God.. and 2) We are to pray the will of God - PRAY FOR WISDOM.

Where does wisdom come from & How do we get it? (from above, James says.. That’s why we have to ask for it. And we get it by asking for it in faith)

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

This is a model for prayer (the 1st in the NT). It is impossible to walk in the fullness of what God has called us to without a powerful prayer life. And in our prayer lives, we should always be seeking to align our hearts with God’s, to align our will, our desires with His. In God’s Word, I see three ways that we can pray to ensure that we are praying the will of God:

1) Pray in the Spirit, Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Our prayers are moved and guided by the Holy Spirit that lives within us, not by our emotion, not by our flesh.

We are a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit of God..He lives within us. As an act of worship, when we align our hearts with God’s even when we don’t know what to say. He is there to intercede for us, to pray God’s perfect will in whatever we’re encountering.

2) Pray the Lord’s Prayer,

Luke 11:2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

3 Give us each day our daily bread,

4 and forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation.”

If you feel like you don’t have a great prayer life, then this is a wonderful place to start. Not to mindlessly recite the prayer without even thinking what you’re praying, which Jesus actually warned against. But write down the Lord’s prayer, take your time to focus on each line of that prayer and what it means for you in your life, in the circumstances you’re facing. If you do that, then you’re praying in alignment with the will of God.

3) Pray for wisdom. James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

When you’re praying for wisdom, you’re praying that God reveals to you His will and equips you to fulfill it.

*Moses asked for wisdom Ex 33:13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.

*Solomon asked for wisdom 1 Kings 3:9 - Solomon could’ve asked for anything and he asked God for wisdom to govern God’s people. We should be asking God for wisdom to govern our lives.

We need wisdom to govern our own lives - to lead our families - to lead our children

B. FEAR

we are called to ask for wisdom and to walk in wisdom..that’s essential to us walking in the will of God. I want to dig into this passage of scripture and look at how the level of wisdom that prevails in our lives is directly impacted by our FAITH and our FEAR.

James 1:5–8 (ESV): 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

In the NT book of James, we get this model of prayer for Godly wisdom. But wisdom is certainly not just a NT concept. There’s a section of OT books that we refer to as Wisdom Literature. Throughout the OT, we see countless examples of what it means to operate in Godly wisdom is…most notably in Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom

In order to walk in wisdom, we have to fear God. But what does that mean? What is the fear of the Lord? God is capable of wiping us off this earth right now, but He is a good Father, and He is long suffering, and that would not be in alignment with His character. The fear of the Lord is not fear of condemnation (Rom. 8:1), but the fear of the Lord is a holy reverence for God. It’s an acknowledgement that God is sovereign over all, He is in control of all, His way is the best way, and I’m fully submitted to Him. In order to discover God’s will and walk in God’s will, our starting place has to be a reverence for who God is.

Remember how I said that James echoes the teaching of Jesus and the majority of what he teaches comes from the Sermon on the Mount…This prayer draws a parallel from the Lord’s Prayer…in that before we ask anything of God, we have to revere God. Before we ask God anything in the Lord’s Prayer, we say “Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” That means that Jesus’ instruction on prayer is this: before you ask for anything at all, posture yourself in a position of humility and submission, revering God.

C. FAITH

And that posture, the posture that we take before the Lord, determines the level of faith that we operate in, the level of faith that we possess. Fear of the Lord (knowing that He is sovereign over all and in control of all) is a foundational element of a strong Christian faith.

What we fear becomes the foundation of our faith. The opposite of faith in God is not ‘lack of faith’; it’s faith in something else.. Anyone you meet, whether they’re Christians or Musilims or atheists, they all have faith…they all put their trust in something. The difference between us and them, is that we are called by God to put our trust in Him - to revere Him, to acknowledge Him as holy and to make Him the guiding point of our lives.

What we fear will directly influence our faith.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom

A holy reverence of God directs us toward His will and sustains us in His will.

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.

Fear of anything else pulls us out of the will of God.

When we fear anything besides God, then let those fears control us, we let those fears trap us..Those fears trap us in a way that we are held back from fulfilling what God has called us to.

2 Prevalent examples in God’s Word that still reign supreme in the lives of many today:

Fear of man - God calls us, and we say, “There’s no way I could ever do that. Do you have any idea how people would react if I did that?” God’s Word says, “Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” You can’t serve God and live for the approval of others.

Fear of poverty - God calls us, and we say, “I can’t do that. That would drastically change my financial situation. That would jeopardize my financial security blanket.” Jesus said Matthew 6:32 … “your heavenly Father knows (everything you need). 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

- Rich young ruler..vs..Matthew the tax collector

Let’s look back at the text. James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Here’s what James is saying here…the one who doubts is the one who puts their faith in things that aren’t God. While the one who walks in wisdom is anchored in the fear of the Lord, the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, tossed by the wind, because they’re subject to the things that they put their faith in.

If you put your faith in money, then you are subject to your job, or your investments, or you’re subject to the economy, and to whatever circumstances change your bank account. You’re like a wave tossed by the wind..one season you’re up and the next you’re down. The same is true when we fear man, when we put our faith in the approval of others. You may be up in the morning because of a nice compliment you received then be down by the afternoon because of the way someone criticized you. God’s Word is telling us here that putting our faith in anything but God is absolute foolishness.

Wisdom is putting our undivided faith in the God of the universe, and knowing He will take care of the rest. It’s trusting in the Lord all our hearts and knowing that He’ll make our paths straight.

James 1:7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Fear of anything other than God is what makes us double minded, makes us unstable, makes us like a wave being tossed on the sea. Because while God is never-changing, always the same yesterday, today, and forever, anything else that we fear and choose to make the focus of our lives is subject to change. People change, circumstances change, the economy changes, the weather changes… and if you fear those things, then you’re subject to the ups and downs of those things.

Fearing anything other than God inevitably leads to a trap that takes us out of His will. If we want to discover God’s will and walk in God’s will - that is, by definition, Godly wisdom, then we must keep our focus on Him, and in fear and reverence, make Him the center of our lives.

We not only want to have faith, but we want to live out that faith. Living in wisdom is essential to living out our faith.. To do what God has put us here to do. To be eternity minded, knowing that this life is just a passing through point on the way to eternity.. And doing all we can while we’re here to seek God’s will and to do God’s will.

Every person in this room, God has a unique call on your life. God has a purpose to be fulfilled through you. He desires to use you to fulfill His will - to

Wisdom: ask for it, and when it’s revealed to you, walk in it. Walk in what God has called you to. Don’t let fear of anything hold you back from it.