Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading Proverbs 2:20-33

Good morning.

Q. 28.

How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?

A. Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by this Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.

Today we have much to pray about and much to be thankful for.

Pastoral Prayer

God’s Direction for the Church, Those that are dealing with Sickness and health issues.

Clara Barker

Women’s Brunch, Small Groups, Operation Christmas Child

Let us Pray

Last week we started the book of James.

We took a look at who was the author of this book and what his focus was.

We saw that James was Jesus’ oldest half brother.

Who God developed into one one of the pillars of the church.

He became the leader of the church in Jerusalem and the head of the Jewish council.

We saw that Paul went to him at times for council and support.

We saw that the book was written to Jewish Christians who were having some struggles with their faith.

The 1st chapter of James is giving the believer a test to see if their faith is genuine.

We explored

James 1:2–4 (CSB)

2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

We as believers are to see trials from the point of view that God allows and uses various trial to bring glory to himself.

The testing of our faith through these trials leads to spiritual endurance, that when fully developed will make the believer complete and mature.

We are to keep an eternal perspective and come to the point that when we are tested, we are drawn closer to God verses repelled from God. James is developing this idea that when true believers are tested that they turn to God and not away from Him.

This is where we will start today.

Open your bibles to James 1:2-8

James 1:2–8 (CSB)

2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

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.

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.

You may be seated.

Verse 5 may look like a new thought but it is actually a continuation of verse 4. One of the areas that a believer will find that they are lacking is wisdom.

This is also one of the tests believers experience throughout their lives.

Who here has it all figured out?

Who here wishes they were wiser?

Wisdom has been perused in every generation and every realm of thinking.

It has been talked about, longed for, purchased, and lost.

Philosophy

I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is I know nothing.

Socrates

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Aristotle

Literature

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

William Shakespeare

“It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.”

Maurice Switzer

It has been pursued in art, science, philosophy, literature, religion, and any other intellectual endeavor.

Even in the beginning wisdom was sought after.

Genesis 3:6 (CSB)

6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom.

So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

But with everyone looking for it why does it seem that the world still cannot find it.

Why have we always lived in times where common sense does not seem to be common, where we are more divided in our thoughts and conclusions than in our agreements.

James brings forth a single source of wisdom.

God.

Now when you think of it, this should be a no brainier.

Why would we not go to the one who created the universe?

Does it make sense to ask a baker how to time the valves an engine?

Or a mechanic for the right amount of yeast for special kind of marbled rye bread?

If you want to build a bridge do you go to English professor.

We all know that you would never go to an engineer to ask how to spell the word professor?

James says if a believer lacks wisdom they should do one and only one thing.

Ask for it.

That seems so simple.

But it does not work out that way.

Wisdom Defined

Before we dig much further it would be good for us to find what God means by Wisdom.

What is wisdom?

Is it intelligence or smarts.

The ability to remember large amounts of information.

Is it the ability to win a debate?

What does wisdom mean in the bible?

The translated word wisdom is used in more than 1 way in the bible.

It is a very common word in the CSB translation as it is used about 220 times.

It can be used to describe the ability of a person or the knowledge of a person or to describe a trait of a person.

It can be finite as in mans wisdom or true as in God’s wisdom.

These are are some of the common ways the bible translates the word wisdom.

In this case wisdom comes from the Greek word Sophia and here it applies as

The trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight

When we first read this, we would likely read it simply as if any of you lacks knowledge or understanding… But that isn’t exactly how this is being used.

This is saying if any of you lack the trait of wisdom.

Does a person have the characteristic or quality of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight?

This isn’t saying make me smarter this is saying, develop me into a person who is wise, who uses knowledge and their experience with common sense and insight.

Have you ever met that person who knows everything about everything but they lack any ability to actually use it.

Or have you met that person who did not go to collage of maybe did not even get through high school but they they were the wisest person you know based on how they used the knowledge and experience that they had.

Joshua was describes as person with the trait of wisdom

Deuteronomy 34:9 (CSB)

9 Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him.

So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

So was Jesus

Luke 2:40 (CSB)

40 The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was on him.

James says, If any of you lack wisdom, if you struggle with using the knowledge you have effectively then the solution is to ask for it.

Believers are to ask God this type of wisdom.