What Wisdom Is

In the OT book of Amos, God said through His prophet that the people of certain places had sinned again and again and God declares He will not forget it.

America is like that.

Our nation has sinned again and again – and God will not forget our national sins either.

Concerning this national condition, the prophet Amos posed the question ‘how can two walk together unless they agree?’

The Lord Jesus Christ warned Israel that a nation divided cannot stand.

And there is no question that America is divided - and there is no question that America will fall.

It’s no secret that the vast majority of the American people (including most Christians) love to do that which seems right in their own eyes.

And they do so, regardless of truth.

And nowhere is our national arrogance displayed more boldly and unashamedly than it is across the pages of Facebook where everyone has an opinion about everything under the sun – but no one knows what their talking about.

Proverbs 16 describes this attitude pretty well where it says in vs25

‘there’s a way that seemeth right unto man - but the end thereof are the ways of death’

Social media, in all of its manifestations, is a place where the opinions of men are valued more highly and treated more respectfully than the truth is.

This fact ties in very nicely with 2 Timothy 4:1-4 where the apostle Paul described a future time when,

men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.

Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Now what is perhaps most shocking about this, is that Paul was primarily referring to people in the church.

A tragic situation that will clearly be caused by an inability to discern between a lie and the truth.

And this lack of discernment by the church - is the result of a total and complete failure to apply the right kind of wisdom.

Now as you know, wisdom has two sources:

The wisdom of men and the wisdom that comes from God.

And because all men can so easily be deceived in the matter of wisdom, we need to be able to recognize godly wisdom and understand how to use it.

And James is going to teach us how to tell us what we need know about godly wisdom.

Read with me beginning there in James 1:1

The Cambridge Paragraph Bible of the Authorized English Version Chapter I

Jas 1:1 JAMES, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3 knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Here, James introduces us to the recipients of his letter, calling them ‘the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad’

Given the description “scattered abroad,” it’s not hard for us to imagine the disorientation, disillusionment, and despair these people were suffering.

So it seems odd that James would immediately address these poor, suffering believers by telling them “to rejoice”

And yet, it is the contrast that exists between the troubling circumstances described in vs1 and the exhortation to “count it all joy” in vs2 that actually sets the stage for the remainder of this letter.

It’s also here that James begins to focus on the most pressing issue his readers were dealing with.

The Greek word James uses for “trial” in vs2 (peirasmos) refers to a kind of test that challenges the integrity of one’s faith.

Now there are a couple of things that our text implies about the nature of these trials.

First, James tells us that trials are inevitable.

Like death and taxes – trials are inescapable and unavoidable in this life.

And while we lament the fact that there are so few things that are certain in this world - troubles, hardships, and challenges to our faith are some things we can count on.

Secondly, you’ll notice that James calls these inescapable trials of ours “various.”

Now it may seem like a waste of our time to dwell on such a seemingly unimportant word – but think about it.

While we can certainly expect trials to come in this life – we have no idea what form they’ll take.

And the Greek word James uses for “various” (poi-kilos) explains that these trials of life come to us in different shapes and sizes.

Like unwelcome guests, they burst into our lives unannounced and stay too long!

In fact, these trials are so unpredictable that we can never know if they’re going to be frequent and frustrating - or epic and life-changing.

But here, James pulls back the veil of mystery and lets us see the inner workings of our trials, and reveals that they have a purpose.

And as he cuts a pathway of the Christian journey through life, James declares that these unpredictable trials produce both immediate and ultimate results.

First of all, he tells us in vs3 that the testing or the trying of our faith produces endurance.

That, by the way, is the immediate result of the testing.

The Greek word for “testing” doki-mion refers to a means of authenticating something.

One commentator I read explained that ‘in the same way a prospector will bite into a gold nugget to test its quality – God applies specific tests to each of His children, assessing their faith in order to reveal its true character.’

Now it’s not that our heavenly Father is like a mad scientist pushing his subjects to determine their breaking point.

I tend to think of Him as being more like an expert trainer who knows which muscles to develop, what diet to follow, and what schedule to keep in order to bring about the best results.

And the goal is to stretch and strengthen our ‘faith muscles’ in order to produce endurance—which is a term derived from two Greek words that together literally mean “to abide under” or in our modern vernacular: “to hang in there”

And yet, Endurance is just the initial result.

As we see there at the beginning of vs4, Endurance itself has an even greater purpose that involves a “perfect work” where God says, in effect,

“In My sovereign plan I’ve lined up a chain of events that will take place, and My finger of testing pushes the first one—endurance.

And when endurance takes place, it bumps into maturity – and maturity leads ultimately to a fully developed character.

The people I regard as having a well-developed Christian character are those who have learned how to handle life in the crucible.

It’s the mother who’s lost a child and is able to say to God,

“You gave, and You took away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

It’s the father who, having given his best at his vocation for years, loses his job and says to his family,

“Let’s get together tonight and thank God for this opportunity to trust Him.”

It’s the teenager who says, “I won’t surrender my principles. I’ll maintain my standards even though I am shunned and treated like an outsider by my peers.”

That is the marvelous quality of maturity.

There is a completeness and wholeness that emerge when we, with patience and faith, “hang in there.”

Now if you know something about the Old Testament, then you know about the devastating trials and tribulations a man named Job faced.

You also know that Job dealt with more problems than most of us ever will.

Now when Job was reaching the end of his rope, do you remember the one question he wanted answered?

Job wanted to know – “where wisdom can be found, and where is the place of understanding” right?

In fact, this is the same question we’re asking here tonight: Where can we find the wisdom we so desperately need – and WHERE is the place of understanding when we’re dealing with trials and tribulations in our own lives?

Well, we already know that the wisdom we need can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ as He reveals it to us in the Word of God.

And yet, it’s not enough just to KNOW where wisdom comes from – we must also understand what wisdom IS.

Someone has well said that knowledge is the ability to take something apart and analyze it – but wisdom is the ability to put it all back together in working order.

The point is that anyone can analyze a problem.

And anyone can look at a problem from this angle and that angle and break it down into little pieces.

But being able to put the pieces back together in working order requires WISDOM.

Therefore, we can say that WISDOM is not merely knowledge

You can have knowledge. In fact, you can have all kinds of diplomas and degrees, and still not have wisdom.

WISDOM, then, is the practical use of knowledge.

This means that Godly WISDOM is knowing what the Word of God says – AND applying the Word of God to a given situation in life.

Now James is going to show us that the first step toward putting Godly Wisdom into action is for us to REALIZE THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM WE ALL FACE….

I. THE PROBLEM WE ALL FACE.

Look with me at James 1:5 where James says

The Cambridge Paragraph Bible of the Authorized English Version Chapter I

5 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.

Now the truth is that we ALL lack wisdom.

And while some of us possess more WISDOM than others – We all lack wisdom to some degree.

So what James is saying here is that if you find yourself in a trial and you don’t know how to respond to it – Realize that you have a problem - You need wisdom.

And NOTHING reveals how deficient of WISDOM we really are – than the trials and tribulations of life can!

You all know what I’m talking about - One minute you can be on top of the world and think you’ve got this life thing all figured out.

When out of nowhere a trial comes into your life and you find yourself IMMEDIATELY immersed in suffering and sorrow and you don’t know what to do.

Now that response is the normal, human response – but it clearly reveals the lack of Godly Wisdom.

And that is precisely what James is talking about in vs5 “if any of you lacks wisdom – if any of you are destitute of wisdom – if any of you fall short of wisdom, then the very first thing to do is: RECOGNIZE YOUR NEED for wisdom.

Now is it possible that there is someone here this morning who is too proud to admit you have a desperate need and refuse to say “God – I need wisdom?”

Perhaps you are struggling with some problem in your life right now and you really do need godly wisdom. BUT – your pride won’t allow you come humbly before the Lord and ask Him for it.

Let me say that until you come to the end of your rope – Until you come to that place in your life where you can say “God – I can’t, but I know You can and I’m gonna let you”

Then you will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have the godly wisdom you so desperately need to solve the problems you’re facing in life.

So James declares here in vs5 that the very first step we all need to take toward applying Godly Wisdom is to recognize our desperate need of it.

Regardless of your position in life – Regardless of your social standing – Regardless of your financial situation – Regardless of your age – we ALL face issues in this life that leave us not knowing what to do – and at those times we all need WISDOM.

And the good news we have here before us this morning is that God doesn’t leave us to fend for ourselves in our time of need – for when we truly RECOGNIZE OUR NEED OF WISDOM and ask God for it, James says that there is a PROMISE we can count on…

II. THE PROMISE WE CAN COUNT ON.

Notice again what James says there in vs5 “If any of you lack wisdom – LET HIM ASK OF GOD….”

Have you ever noticed how it is that our trials and tribulations have a way of encouraging our prayer lives?

ILL>>>Some time ago, there was a lady who came to see me about a rebellious daughter who was living her life in a way that was contrary to the way she was raised.

Now I don’t really remember all the particulars of our conversation, but there is one thing she said to me that I still remember to this day.

She said “You know, I once thought I knew how to pray – but since my daughter has rebelled against me – now I really know what it means to pray”

You know, her words serve to remind me how it is that we will sometimes pray with this casual sort of attitude where we just repeat those routine prayers that we’ve kind of memorized over the years – but all the while, our hearts are far from our words.

And so we’d better be very careful here, for our Lord KNOWS very well that there is nothing that will school us in prayer, like those bitter trials of life can.

Now if you’ll look with me at vs5 again - there are 2 things I want you to see:

1. The words “Let him ask” are in the FORM of a PRAYER.

2. The prayer is for something to be GIVEN – NOT for something to be DONE.

In other words, this prayer is asking God to GIVE us wisdom in order to endure the trial for the glory it will bring God and for the benefits it will bring us – rather than asking God to remove it.

Now – whenever a trial comes into your life:

· and you don’t know whether to go to the right or to the left.

· and you don’t know how to respond.

· and you don’t know what to say.

· and you don’t know what to think.

· and you don’t know what to do.

Then what should you do???

James says here that we ought to PRAY for God to give us the WISDOM to embrace the trial and rejoice in the tribulation – because they will ultimately glorify Him and benefit us.

And then, in order to encourage us in our praying for wisdom, James declares at the end of vs5, “here is the PROMISE of God: He gives to all men liberally and upbraideth not.”

Let me ask you a question:

Whenever you pray - Do you see God with a clenched fist OR do you see Him with an open hand?

James says here that when you ask God for wisdom it is His nature to “give freely to all men”

This means that God wants us to have His wisdom, to possess His wisdom, and to use His wisdom as our own.

James also wants us to know that we can ask God for all the wisdom we need, for God has a treasure house full of wisdom and He wants us to put it to use - but we must pray for it.

Now let me ask you another question – Have you ever prayed a prayer like this:

“God, if you will give me this thing I’m asking for, I promise that I’ll go to church every Sunday for the next 4 weeks”

Or have you ever prayed “God if you’ll get me out of this financial bind, I promise I’ll start tithing.”

Now - if you’ve ever prayed the kind of prayer where you are trying to cut some kind of deal with God, you really need to put a stop to it and I’ll tell you why:

First of all is the fact that not one of us is in any position to bargain with God – He’s God and we’re not.

Secondly, we don’t have to cut any deals with God to begin with – for James declares here that it is God’s nature to give wisdom to all men liberally – without bargaining – without reluctance – and without prejudice.

So if you ever find yourself lacking wisdom and you don’t know what to do, or how to respond to the trials in your life – remember the PROMISE: Ask and God will generously give you all the wisdom you need.

Are you in a trial this morning? Then why not ask God for wisdom?

*You say, “Well He might not understand” Oh He understands!

*You say, “Well He might not do it” Oh yes He will – how do I know, you ask? First of all God cannot lie and Secondly God will not lie.

*You say, “But God has already done so much for me”

James says there in vs5 that God not only gives wisdom liberally but that He upbraideth not…..which simply means that God is not going to remind you of what

He did for you yesterday.

He won’t bring up past petitions.

He will not insult you.

He will not humiliate you for asking.

And so the PROBLEM WE ALL FACE is that we all lack Godly Wisdom.

And the PROMISE WE CAN ALL COUNT ON is that God will give us ALL the wisdom we need EVERYTIME we ask for it.

However, BEFORE we can claim the PROMISE, there is a CONDITION THAT MUST BE MET by those who seek God’s wisdom.

There is, in fact, A PROCEEDURE THAT WE MUST FOLLOW:

III. THE PROCEDURE WE ALL MUST FOLLOW

Look there in vs6a where James declares of those who would ask God for Wisdom

The Cambridge Paragraph Bible of the Authorized English Version Chapter I

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

This simply means that we must BELIEVE that God can and we must BELIEVE that God will give us the wisdom we ask for.

Did you know that there are no acceptable prayers that can be offered to God apart from faith?

The bible is absolutely clear that apart from faith it is impossible to please God.

So when you pray – you MUST believe that God will hear and that God will answer what you pray for - or your prayer is useless.

Now why would anyone pray and not believe when Jesus Himself promised that “in all things whatsoever you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive them”

You know what I believe? I believe that if you pray to God for rain – you ought to carry an umbrella – AMEN?

This is exactly what James means when he says that we are to pray - believing that God has the ability to answer our prayer and that God is willing to answer our prayer.

Now James continues in vs6

The Cambridge Paragraph Bible of the Authorized English Version Chapter I

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

And this metaphor speaks of a ‘2-souled man’ who on the one hand declares “Yes God will hear my prayer and He will grant my petition” BUT on the other hand he says “NO, God really won’t give me what I ask for”

Then James provides us with an illustration of the 2-souled man declaring that he is “like a wave of the sea that is driven with the wind and tossed”

And here James presents the tortured picture of a man who is in constant unrest. And you know what?

That is precisely the way faithless people are.

They are at unrest.

Maybe that’s the way some of you are this morning.

One minute you believe God will and the next minute you are saying God won’t.

One minute you say God can and the next minute you say God can’t.

And there is constant unrest in your spirit and constant churning in your soul.

Now is that the way God wants you to live your life?

With uncertainty? With unrest? With turmoil in your spirit and churning in your soul?

Now if this sounds like what you are experiencing in life, there is a principle I want to share with you that can change your life:

Where DOUBT produces instability – FAITH produces stability.

You say, if I want stability in my life what can I do?

I say take a look at what James says there in vs7 “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

Do you want stability in your life while the world around you is going to hell in a handbasket?

Then BELIEVE in God, for your faith in Him will unlock His divine storehouse – but your unbelief will bar its doors!

CONCLUSION: Two Simple Truths

Now there are just two simple truths that I want to leave you with this morning – and the first one is this….

We all have a problem – and our problem is that we lack godly wisdom.

And yet, James warns us that without Godly Wisdom, we are incapable of meeting the trials and tribulations in our lives with decisions and actions that are consistent with God’s will.

So I plead with you, by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, would you let God impress upon you – you’re desperate need for godly wisdom? And would you set aside your pride and humbly ask the Lord for Wisdom?

The second thing I want to leave you with this morning is that it’s God’s will for your life, that you have His WISDOM.

Wisdom to do what you ask? Wisdom for every area of your life.

*If you’re experiencing an emotional problem, God wants you to have His wisdom to deal with it.

*If you have a physical problem, God wants you to have His wisdom to cope with it.

*If it’s a financial problem you are struggling with, God wants you to have His wisdom to handle with it.

Whatever area of your life you need wisdom in – God wants to give it to you.

The question is - will you humble yourself and ask for the Wisdom God wants you to have, and will you receive from God the Wisdom you so desperately need to respond to your trials and tribulations in a way that will glorify God and benefit you?