James 1:5-8 | For Those in Need of Wisdom
Notes
Transcript
SERMON TITLE: For Those in Need of Wisdom
SCRIPTURE: James 1:5-8 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 1-18-25
TURN MIC ON / WELCOME
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
INTRODUCTION
We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend. As we learned two weeks ago — James — our author — is the younger brother of Jesus and was a key leader in the early church. And James — the book — is essentially a collection of mini-sermons — or teachings — on a variety of topics. The book is considered by many to be the wisdom literature of the New Testament — sort of like Proverbs in the Old Testament — as it contains many short statements that show us how life works generally speaking.
Last week’s topic was the purpose of the trials we experience in life. Those unexpected — and often unwanted — moments that are trying and exhausting do have a purpose. Again — that was what we saw last week. And — today — we’re on to a new topic: wisdom. Here’s what James has for us today. We’re in James chapter one — beginning in verse five. There we read…
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.
Christian or not — here’s a topic that’s relevant and practical for all of us. For inevitably we come to moments in life when we don’t know what to do — we lack wisdom — and James is going to tell us what to do in these moments. And believe it or not — but it probably won’t be hard to believe — but his advice isn’t to turn to Google or ChatGPT — James is going to tell us to turn somewhere else — or — I should say — to Someone else — when we find ourselves in need of wisdom.
But before we get to our destination — here’s where we’re headed. We’re going to first answer the question, “What is wisdom?” Then we’ll look at the generosity of God which — believe it or not — has everything to do with where wisdom is found. And — finally — we’ll look at how we receive — or find — wisdom.
What is wisdom. The generosity of God. And how we receive wisdom. That’s where we’re headed today.
WHAT IS WISDOM?
Beginning with our question, “What is wisdom?” As James says in verse five…
5 If any of you lacks wisdom…
If wisdom is what we lack — we need to make sure we’re in agreement with what we mean by wisdom. For there are two different meanings of the word wisdom that are used by people today. The first definition is something like this: Wisdom is applying knowledge to a situation. Now — that doesn’t sound all that bad — and it’s not — except for one significant aspect. Often — with this view — morality and theology are not taken into consideration. For this thinking about wisdom is human-centric — it puts the power and responsibility of determining what is wise in the hands of us humans.
The second definition of wisdom is nearly identical to the first — but with one significant change. If definition one is “applying knowledge to a situation” this second definition of wisdom is “applying biblical and theological knowledge to a situation.” And this tells us that wisdom — foundationally — is theological. And theology has to do with God. Thus, wisdom is understanding our — humanity’s — proper place in relationship to God and — here’s the application part — responding to our relationship to God accordingly.
Here’s how these two different definitions of wisdom play out. Wisdom — under definition number one — asks, “What works?” Wisdom — under definition number two — asks, “What honors God and reflects his character?”
Listen to what the Bible says about wisdom.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
And…
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
And…
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.
And…
28 And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
Fear — in these verses — means to revere — to hold in reverence — to have a profound respect for someone or something. And here we learn that wisdom’s birthplace is fear — or a profound respect for — the Lord. And — to fear the Lord — means that — in knowing who God is — for example — knowing that God is holy — pure and without sin — and that he’s righteous — God always does what’s right — and just — God doesn’t play favorites or take bribes — and he’s loving and kind and good and merciful and wrathful — meaning God hates wickedness, sin, and will punish those who do such things — in knowing who God is — on his terms and in his own words — we then fear him — are in awe of him — and live accordingly.
So there’s the theological aspect of wisdom — it’s God-focused. Yet we also so the moral aspect of wisdom when we read — in the verse from Job — to turn away from evil. Turning from evil is a statement of morality. It supposes that there’s a definition of good and evil and that — to be wise — is to turn away from evil and turn to the God whom we fear.
Yet — even in the church — the wisdom of “What works” continues to dominate — at least in the church in the US. We’re such pragmatic people that the wisdom of “what works” — and the success it often brings — in relationships, in business, in politics, even in the church — really excites us. But the wisdom of what works will not produce righteousness — which is the goal of biblical wisdom. And — righteousness — as you may know — means to be right with God. And there are many people who call themselves Christians today — and many organizations that call themselves churches — who are very successful and — yet — are not right with God. Many have discovered what works — again, in relationships, in business, in politics, even in the church — and they think this makes them right with God. But our works — what we do — have never made us right with God — even works that bring about great success — and those who are biblically wise understand this. For it’s not our works — but the works of the One who’s called the Wisdom of God — that make us righteous.
But — wisdom — according to God — means not just understanding what works — for many sinful decisions may bring about success — dictators who have their opponents killed win elections — as an example — but what works and what pleases God are not always the same thing. And we who claim to follow Jesus need to be very careful of which definition of wisdom we allow to influence the decisions we make — which definition of wisdom we expect and tolerate those in leadership to use — because God will not bless the wisdom of “what works” when it does not bring him honor and glory — regardless of how we try to spin the results in his favor. He is no fool.
Interestingly — provocatively — and what’s quite possibly one of the most shocking statements in the entire letter — James later says this about wisdom.
13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
We’ll get to these verses in a later sermon — for now — I want you to notice what James said about wisdom in verses fifteen and sixteen. I’ll read them for you again.
15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
What’s often called wisdom — the pragmatic kind that “gets the job done” and “works” — is often a wisdom clothed in jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder, and evil of every kind. And James says that this kind of wisdom is demonic. And — friends — this is why we need to be so very careful in giving into the spirit of our age in which getting things done matters more than whether or not something is demonic.
THE GENEROSITY OF GOD
Earlier I said, “God is no fool.” But he is generous — which leads us to the enormously great news of our verses. We’re in verse five again.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
James — being a good Jewish man — may have been thinking of a verse like this one from the book of Proverbs.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
God has, is, and will always be the source of true wisdom. So — though it may seem overwhelming — especially when thinking that something may work and bring about success and still be grounded in the demonic — though it may seem impossible to know where to begin — James points us right to step one: Ask God. Ask God.
Yet how many of us make decisions — and not just small or insignificant ones — without ever asking God, “What’s the wise thing to do here?” Did you know that there are many ways that God answers our question?
In his cleverly titled book, God Told Me: Who to Marry, Where to Work, Which Car to Buy…And I’m Pretty Sure I’m Not Crazy, author Jim Samra lists twelve different ways that God speaks to us. Including the Bible. The preached Word. Individual prayer and fasting. Corporate prayer and fasting. The inner prompting of the Spirit. Spiritual direction from others. To name a few.
We’ll look at just two ways that God answers us when we ask him for wisdom: 1) God’s Word — the Bible — and 2) Prayer. His Word and prayer.
By far prayer is perceived as the less demanding of the two. You can pray whenever and wherever you are. But here’s something I’ve found to be a principle of following Jesus: The better we know his Word — the Bible — the better we’ll know his answers to us in prayer. Meaning — God’s answers to us in the Bible are clear. Yes, this is a big book with lots of words — but — instead of viewing that as an insurmountable obstacle — I think we should view the bigness of this book and the vast amount of words in it as God’s gracious way of making sure that we know what he says about a lot of things. And — again — the principle I’ve found is that the better I know what he has said — in the Bible — the better I will know what he’s saying to me in prayer.
A recent survey by the Barna Group has found a hopeful trend regarding Bible reading here in the US. Forty-two percent of adults in the US say they read their Bible weekly — up from thirty percent in 2024. That forty-two percent is of all US adults — Christian or not. So what about those who claim to follow Jesus? If forty-two percent is the national average — surely we Christians are tipping the scales, right? Not so fast. In that same survey, just fifty percent of self-identified Christians report reading their Bible weekly. Though I’m thankful that both numbers have seen an increase — I see such an opportunity among Christians to engage more with God’s Word so that we’ll grow in wisdom.
Here at Gateway we describe this as our desire for us to be Word and Spirit Christians. Where — as followers of Jesus — we live under the authority of the Word of God and by the power of the Spirit of God. And — to do this — we must be people who know this book.
That same Barna survey revealed one other piece of data about Bible reading regarding what’s going on generationally in our country. Though Bible reading has grown among Boomers, Gen-Xers, Millennials, and Gen Z — on of these groups is lagging behind the others in their weekly Bible reading. Any guesses? The Boomers. Though forty-nine percent of Gen-Z, and fifty percent of Millennials, and forty-one percent of Gen-Xers read the Bible weekly — only thirty-one percent of Boomers do. So to the Boomers among us — you have an opportunity to lead your generation — to be an example to your peers of the importance of God’s Word when it comes to finding — and living by — wisdom.
God answers us in his Word and in prayer. But I want to take this a step further — because we need to push back against our individualistic view of the Christian faith. How many of us make decisions without ever asking a fellow Christian, “What do you think God would say is the wise thing to do here?” I bring this up — because often — for those of us who do read our Bible and pray about our decisions — God’s leading often ends up being the choice we wanted to make anyway, right?
You know. I know it. And God knows it. Whether it’s a relationship decision, a business decision, a church decision, and so on. And we know if clothe our decision with “God’s leading me” or some other spiritual sounding statement — we know that no one can then question our decision. Even if it’s just a “what works” decision or a decision that’s nothing more than selfish ambition on our part. I mean who does God think he is that he can use someone else to tell me what to do? Or have them point out a verse in Scripture that should cause me to pause in the direction I’m going. Or have the preacher say something that — even though he has no idea the decision I’m thinking about making — says something in his sermon that is clearly a warning to not make that decision.
But will we be people who desire biblical wisdom — wisdom whose primary purpose is to make our God look glorious in our decisions — and not just making decisions that work? If so, then we must ask God for wisdom — knowing that he’s generous and has given us the Bible, prayer, sermons, our fellow Christians, and much more to pass on to us his wisdom — if we will receive it.
RECEIVING GOD’S WISDOM
Which leads to our final thought for today — receiving God’s wisdom. We’re in verse six. There James writes…
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.
The way that we receive God’s wisdom is by asking him in faith — with no doubting. James then goes on to describe what he means by this through the illustration of waves of the seas being tossed around by the wind — going on to call the person who doubts a double-minded individual who’s unstable. And this tells us something very important about what James means by asking in faith with no doubting: He’s describing our posture towards God. And — when we remember our two definitions of wisdom — one is based on what works — while the other is based on our relationship to God — this shows us that James is definitely meaning the second definition of wisdom.
The apostle Paul says something similar to the Christians in Ephesus. Though he doesn’t specifically use the word wisdom — notice the similar illustration he uses to describe why we — together — as the church — need to mature in the faith. He writes…
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Here we’re warned about doctrinal instability causing us to be tossed around by the deceitfulness of false teachers and doctrines that will lead us away from faith in Christ. James is warning about the personal instability that comes as a result of doctrinal instability. And — to be clear — the word ‘doubt’ — in verse six — doesn’t mean a moment of uncertainty but rather having a divided mind — or being double-minded. The word means to have a discrimination against God — where our default is to take him out of the picture when it comes to what we believe is the wise thing to do. Whereas faith — which you’ll not be surprised by — means to have a commitment to God — a wholehearted commitment in fact.
Or as we read in the book of Proverbs…
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on — or trust only in — your own understanding. Thus — to receive God’s wisdom — requires a humble and teachable spirit. Humble — because — we recognize our limitations in what we know and understand. Teachable — because — even what we do know and understand may need some correction — and all of us have a lot of unlearning we need to do — especially when it comes to believing that the wisdom of “what works” is what matters most.
But — ultimately — to receive God’s wisdom — we need to know the One who is the Wisdom of God.
CONCLUSION: TO KNOW WISDOM IS TO KNOW JESUS
For quite a few years we did a series — here at Gateway — that was called Finding Jesus. In this series I preached one sermon on every book in the Old Testament. By far — it was the hardest sermons I’ve ever preached because I was trying to summarize entire books into one sermon. For the sermon on the book of Proverbs — which is part of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament — and a book I’ve quoted quite a bit from today — I helped us to find Jesus by looking at a few verses from Proverbs chapter eight — specifically…
35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, 36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”
Throughout this proverb — wisdom is personified as if it — wisdom — is a person. And there’s a reason for this — for the wisdom of God is a person. The apostle Paul tells us…
24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Jesus is the wisdom of God. Jesus is the person that wisdom points us to — in Proverbs chapter eight — in James chapter one — and in all of Scripture. True wisdom will always point you to Jesus because Jesus is true wisdom. And all who find Jesus — who believe that he is who he says he is and has done what he says he’s done — find life and favor from the Lord. And all who fail to find him — all who reject him instead of believing in him — whether they realize it or not — love death. For eternal death — separation from the wisdom of God for all eternity — is exactly what’s in store for them.
In wisdom — in obedience to his Father’s will and in love for you — Jesus went to the cross. He did so accomplishing the wisest plan ever made — the salvation of the people of God. And the first step of wisdom we all must take — is the step of repentance. For — as one author writes, “The most basic act of wisdom is repentance.”
Repentance is turning from the direction you’re headed and turning to the Wisdom of God — Jesus Christ. Turning to Jesus in faith — believing in him. Not just knowing that Jesus lived, or knowing that he was crucified, or that he rose from the grave — but acting on the knowledge of his life, death, and resurrection. Acting on the knowledge that he — Jesus — is God in flesh.
For — as Paul writes — just before telling us that Christ is the wisdom of God…
18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Jesus is the wisdom of God. And he and his cross is the message that’s foolishness to the world — but is the news that all people must receive in order to be saved. It’s not the news that makes the most sense — or is the “what works” option according to many — yet Jesus and his cross is the wisest plan ever to have been made. And — not only that — it’s the wisest plan ever to be accomplished. And — not only that — it’s the most loving act in all of history. And wisdom is calling out to you to respond to the love of God for you as seen in Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
A
BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)
May you go asking God for the wisdom you need to glorify him in all of your life — and may you remember — that he is always generous in giving wisdom to those who ask. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
