A Word of Wisdom | James 1:5-11 (Sermon Only) // January 17, 2021

thank you for joining us we are excited that you came across this message and are tuning in the sermon you are about to hear is from our study through the new testament book of james if you're joining us for the first time i want to be the first to say welcome to hope church do us a favor and text new to hope to 94090 after you hit send you'll get an immediate response from our team with a link to a short form you can fill out so we can get to know you better once again thank you for joining us today enjoy the sermon i want to begin by asking you a question what comes to mind when you hear the word wisdom wisdom it's not an unfamiliar word but what do you think about when you think about wisdom i think when we think about wisdom a lot of us have a lot of different images that maybe comes to mind and i want to put some images up on the screen that maybe are what come to mind when you hear the word wisdom here's the first image now that is socrates if you know who that is socrates is one of the founders of western philosophy he gave us the socratic method a lot of people when they think about wisdom they think about someone like socrates they think about critical philosophy philosophical thinking obtained through asking and answering stimulating questions that's what wisdom is to a lot of people the realm of philosophical thinking to other people maybe this is the picture that comes to mind when you think about wisdom how about this one right you know who that is that is who yoda right yoda we think about wisdom as sage advice gained from some master of experience in a certain discipline by the way if you see that picture hopefully you're like me i'm a big mandalorian fan now right so if you hadn't got to the end of season two just hang on there's a big surprise at the end of season but yoda we think of wisdom as climbing up to some mountain going off to the swamp and getting the sage advice from the master some people think about wisdom with this image the image of who's that albert einstein we think about wisdom as advanced accumulation of intellectual knowledge somebody's very smart then they are very wise i studied a lot this week about this idea of wisdom and i came across a statement by a man named our kent hughes listen what he said he said wisdom is not knowledge it is far more than the accumulation of information and perception the fact is man through his vast accumulation of knowledge has learned to travel faster than sound but displays his need for wisdom by going faster and faster in the wrong direction man has amassed a huge store of information about the world but shows his abysmal lack of wisdom by failing to live any better in the world wisdom last weekend we began to gather a series a journey together through a new testament letter written by the half-brother of jesus james who's also the first pastor or the pastor of the first church in jerusalem we began last weekend and i want to continue if you got your bible i want you to open it to james chapter one we're gonna start right where we left off in verse number five and as we continue through this letter james is addressing this idea of wisdom listen to what he said but if any of you lacks wisdom anybody say amen right there you lack wisdom if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of god who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him but he must ask in faith without any doubting for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind for that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the lord being a double-minded man unstable in all his ways but the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation because like flowering grass he will pass away for the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass and its flower falls off and the beauty and its appearance is destroyed so to the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away james begins to talk to us about this idea of wisdom particularly wisdom from a biblical standpoint and i'm going to take the verses that we've read this weekend and i want to unpack them with three simple questions here's the first one what is wisdom i mean if we're going to understand what james is talking about we got to all get on the same page and understanding what wisdom is because we don't know what it is then we're going to read these verses the wrong way and we've already said wisdom is not just knowledge wisdom is not just insight wisdom is not simply intellect it's not just accumulating more knowledge than other people what james is writing to us about here is something that is much more than just mental ability james uses words here that communicate what he's talking about is wisdom that has a spiritual dimension to it one greek scholar whose name is spiro zodiate says about this word wisdom that james uses here is it's a word that speaks to divine wisdom and it has to do with our living out our relationship with god let me read you one more quote about what another writer said about this concept of wisdom and his name is d edmond hey bear listen to what he said for james wisdom is more than wide knowledge or that mental intelligence that can express itself in subtle rhetorical distinctions or obscure arguments now listen to this james viewed wisdom as related to the practice of righteousness in daily life it is that moral discernment that enables the believer to meet life and its trials with decisions and actions consistent with god's will that's what james is talking about when he's describing wisdom so our pastoral team this week spent some time just mulling over and praying over this biblical concept of wisdom to try to give us a practical definition that we could use so that we could all wrap our hearts around this idea as we talk about wisdom so let me put it up on the screen here's what wisdom is wisdom is the ability to see life from god's perspective read that out loud with me you ready one two three wisdom is the ability to see life from god's perspective think about that in every decision every moment every circumstance every relationship every opportunity wisdom from a biblical perspective is the ability to see whatever you're facing from god's perspective wouldn't you like today to be able to say with whatever's in front of you maybe it's a big decision that you have to make or maybe there's personal conflict in your life or maybe there's a relationship that you are pursuing or maybe there's a career choice wouldn't you like to be able to say man i can completely see this from god's perspective i'm not just looking at this from my perspective i'm not just looking at this from an earthly perspective i am seeing this from god's perspective wouldn't you love to be able to say that well here's the challenge we live in a world with a lot of differing perspectives we all see things differently whether it's politics or culture or sports let me try to illustrate it some of you were expecting this this past monday night i watched what i thought was one of the greatest college football games ever played i watched monday night as the alabama crimson tide rolled all over the ohio state buckeyes now i know some of you from ohio but but listen i'm from alabama when you grow up in alabama you don't get a choice it's in your blood you just root for the alabama crimson titus i was rooting for them and i watched that game and i thought that game was one of the greatest college football games ever played i got to watch my coach and the team hoist that trophy we have another guy on our staff team his name is tim brown i don't know if tim's in the service tonight are going to be here in one of the services this weekend but tim is actually our owner's rep and our project manager for the development of this whole campus so whether you know it or not you owe tim brown tonight when you go to bed to thank god for tim brown tim had led through this entire project put all this in place for us and is on our staff team we're so blessed to have tim brown but here's what's interesting tim's from ohio tim loves the ohio state buckeyes and during the game i text tim from my amazing perspective of watching this game on monday night and to my shock and dismay he did not even text me back i found him on tuesday and to my surprise he had a completely different perspective about monday night's football game now obviously i'm having a little fun at tim's expense roll tide but here's the real story we all see things very differently and here's the bottom line at the end of the day it's not my perspective that matters it's not your perspective that matters it's not what the world's perspective is that matters at the end of the day in every situation in our lives the real question is what is god's perspective on this situation how does god see this what is the wisdom that i need from god to see this like he sees it i know for a lot of us 2020 was a challenging year but i'm just telling you i've been in pastoral ministry now for 31 years and we listen i've been through some stuff but by far it's not even close 2020 was the most challenging year in my life i needed god's wisdom like never before and listen don't misunderstand me there were plenty of perspectives if you don't believe me come check my email inbox there were lots of perspectives as i follow a lot of people in our church on social media there's plenty of perspectives but what i needed was not your perspective or my perspective what i needed what the pastors of this church needed was we needed god's wisdom so that leads to the second question where does that wisdom come from what james is telling us is that wisdom is the ability to see life from god's perspective and james is teaching us how you and i can get and acquire and experience wisdom james is writing to us about how you and i can see life from god's perspective in every situation so i want to break down what james teaches us in a three-fold statement here's the first part of it wisdom comes from god do you hear what he said in the text if any man lacks wisdom let him ask of who pastor vance nope your small group leader nope the nightly news no social media no if we need wisdom from if we need wisdom then the place to go for that wisdom is god himself that's one of the problems in the church in america today one of the problems we're so jacked up right now in the church in america is we're going to everybody under the sun to get their perspective rather than it's sitting at the feet of the only one who can give us real wisdom we need to know what god has to say and let me tell you some good news about god's wisdom romans chapter 11 listen to what paul says about the wisdom of god oh the depth the word depth is a word that means greatness or immensity oh the depth of the riches it's a word that means it's incapable of being fully explored it's incapable of being exhausted what's he talking about he's talking about the immensity and the vastness of the what the wisdom and knowledge of god here's what that means god is never in short supply of wisdom you're never going to be in a moment of your life where you need god's wisdom and you go to god and find out that he's out today i'm sorry i just gave out the last little bit of wisdom i had if you'll come back and see me tomorrow now here's what this text teaches us there's no end to the wisdom of god look what he goes on to say how unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable are his ways for who has known the mind of the lord or who has become his counselor or who is first given to him that it might be paid back to him again for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever amen here's what that teaches us god is all wise and all wisdom comes from him now if i say to you god is all wise and all wisdom comes from him from him how many of you would say amen that is theologically correct say it out loud if you believe it say amen if you didn't believe it you need to say amen anyway because it's true theologically we understand the bible teaches god is the source of all wisdom all wisdom comes from him and he's never in short supply of wisdom but what does it mean practically to say god is all wise and all wisdom comes from him what does that mean practically i want to put a statement up here to help you unpack it here's what it means god being infinitely wise knows the greatest potential outcome for every moment in your life and he knows the absolute best way for you to achieve it i want you to let that sink in for a minute let me read that one more time i hope i hope you grab ahold of what we just said here's what it means to say that god is wise all wisdom comes from god god being infinitely wise means that he knows in every moment of your life every decision every choice every circumstance every trial every difficulty every relationship god knows the best potential outcome of every situation you're going to face but not only that he knows the absolute best way for you to achieve the best potential outcome that is god's perspective when god is looking at your life and god is looking at your situation god is not thinking about what what maybe is the best no god knows what is the best possible outcome of that situation and not only that he knows the steps you need to take to get in on the best possible outcome of that let me try to break that down practically anybody in the room right now be honest enough say i got a decision i need to make in the next week or two maybe you came in today with that on your heart just raise your hand if you got a decision you can hold it up your hearts you can put it down several people you got a decision that you got to make would you like to know the greatest possible outcome of that decision anybody like to know the greatest possibility and would you like to know the steps you need to take to get in on the greatest possible outcome of that decision here's what james says that wisdom comes from god and god alone anybody right now in a personal conflict walking through something at work in your family with a neighbor some personal conflict that you're dealing with listen do you want to know the best potential outcome of that conflict and do you want to know the steps that you need to take to achieve the best possible outcome of that situation there's only one place you can get it god and god alone anybody right now about to begin a new relationship maybe you're thinking about starting a new relationship you've met someone and you're thinking about begin you want to know the best potent you want to not make that same decision again do you want to know the best possible outcome of that and know what steps you need to take to listen that wisdom comes from god and god alone here's what that means no wonder henry blackaby said a love relationship with god is more important than any other single factor in your life if we're going to experience the best that god has for us we've got to have wisdom and wisdom comes from god let me give the second part of the statement wisdom comes from god as a gift look what it says let him ask of god who say it out loud gives that that word gives in the greek language it's in the present tense which describes god's generous nature of continuously giving meaning that god is always in the posture of readiness when it comes to giving you and i wisdom wisdom comes from god as a gift that means there's never a moment there's never a circumstance there's never a situation in you in your life that you will face when god is not eagerly waiting to pour out his wisdom into your life some of us have the idea that god's wisdom and god's will is this game that god is playing with our lives and he's like hiding behind rocks so that we have to try to come and find him and when we get close he's going to run over here and hide over here and we got to go find him and then when we do find him he doles out wisdom like this but here's what this text implies god is right here and he is waiting on you to approach him in need of wisdom and when you do here's the perspective he's ready to just take the barrel and turn it upside down and pour his wisdom into your life that's why proverbs said it this way for the lord gives wisdom from his mouth come knowledge and understanding you say okay if that's really true if in every situation in my life i can get god's perspective i can know god's wisdom how do i receive god's gift well he told us you and i must ask go back to james chapter 1 verse 5. but if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of god now the word ask here in the text again implies ongoing continuous action meaning this like when you get saved you don't say god give me wisdom once and then you get it all it's describing a continuous pursuit in my life of seeking wisdom from god it's describing a moment-by-moment posture of seeking god's perspective you say well how do i do that what does it look like to have a posture of continuously seeking wisdom from god well i want to make this as practical as i can so i'm going to give you three handles here's the first one we seek wisdom through the word if you want to know god's perspective in every situation circumstance relationship and opportunity in your life listen to me very carefully i'm going to be as honest as i can be you will never you'll never know god's wisdom if you don't consistently sit at his feet in his word you just won't you can't just live however you want to live and do whatever you want to do get to the moment of crisis and microwave god's wisdom into your life it doesn't work like that but james says if you lack wisdom the ongoing passion the pursuit of your life means to be a continual seeking of the wisdom of god and one of the ways that we get wisdom from god is by spending time in his word one of my favorite passages of scripture to to unpack this is in the old testament book of isaiah isaiah chapter 55 i'm going to put these verses up on the screen listen what it says for my thoughts this is god speaking for my thoughts are not your thoughts that's a good place to say amen nor are your ways my ways here's what that means he has a different perspective on stuff a lot of times than we do he thinks about it differently he see sometimes we assume we know god's perspective on stuff but he says your ways are not my ways your thoughts are not my thoughts declares the lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts then look what he says for as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout and furnace seed to the sower and bread of the eater so will my word be which goes forth from my mouth it will not return to me empty without accomplishing what i desire and without succeeding in the matter for which i sent it you know what god said god said in this text of scripture listen your perspective is not my perspective as a matter of fact you're not even close he said as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts and your thoughts you're not even in the same stratosphere with where he's looking at this from but he said here's how i'm going to let you in on what i'm doing and what my ways are i'm going to do it through my word now he said sometimes the word is going to be like rain he says sometimes it's going to be like snow that's interesting rain and snow ultimately accomplish the same thing they do what they water the earth but the way they water the earth is different when it rains guess what it's wet when it snows sometimes snow can sit for weeks and months before it melts and waters the earth you see you and i can't just run to the bible when we're in the moment of crisis need to make the decision and do the spiritual because here's the bottom line it ain't always raining you see sometimes god is building a snow bank of wisdom and when the situation arises when the opportunity surfaces when the the relationship's in front of you then god by the power of the holy spirit is going to melt away that snow bank where you've just been consistently consuming the word he's going to melt away that snow bank and god is going to provide his wisdom so so let me give you three quick little things about the word if you and i are going to be people who are regularly seeking wisdom from god through his word three things number one you gotta be in the word daily be in the word daily listen to me there is no substitute in the life of a believer for time spent alone daily in his word that's a good place to say amen there's no substitute in the life of a believer for time spent daily in the word we must be in the word daily so here's the question when you examine your life right now can you honestly say before god that there is time that i carve out every day to spend with god in his word if not you can't claim james promise to have wisdom when you want it because we got to be in a regular posture of seeking wisdom from god be in the word daily number two we need to sit under the word weakly why do we gather here and open god's word and preach it because god in his infinite wisdom has chosen to pour out his wisdom through the preaching of his word and here's what i want you to understand that very sunday you don't feel like it maybe the very sunday that god was going to speak wisdom into your life and you just chose to not participate you got to sit under the word weekly number three we need to fellowship with others around the word consistently you hear that if we're going to do this we got to be in the word daily sit under the word weekly fellowship with others around the world consistently we need to be doing life with other believers around the word of god listen that doesn't mean we're just hanging out and eating together that's fun that's great we need to do that but we also need to take the word together and take the word in my heart and speak the word into your heart and the word in your heart and speak the word into my heart that's why paul wrote in colossians this is what he said let the word of christ richly dwell in you with all wisdom teaching and admonishing who who does he say one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with thankfulness in your hearts to god every personal pronoun in that verse is plural meaning paul is describing how we relate together around the word and get wisdom we seek wisdom through god's word secondly we seek wisdom through prayer the word prayer james says if you lack wisdom ask god how do we do that we do that in prayer but often we think about prayer simply as talking to god but that's not what prayer is prayer is communication with god which means speaking but it also means what i mean how's the conversation in your house if you're the only one talking that's not much conversation right as a matter of fact you would walk away from that unfulfilled if you sat down for a moment of fellowship and the other person and when you began to open your mouth they said thank you and that's what we do with god god i need this god i need this god i need this god i need this god i need this god i want this god i need this direction thank you lord and we don't sit and listen god through the holy spirit speaks to us wisdom in moments of prayer now listen he will never speak to you in prayer in a way that is contrary to his word i hear people say oh well you know i really feel like the lord is leading me and it's in direct conflict to the word of god listen the holy spirit of god will never speak to you in conflict with his word ever the scripture says that the holy spirit guides us into all truth we to seek god's wisdom through the word we're to seek god's wisdom through prayer here's the third one we're to seek god's wisdom through counsel oftentimes in my life the way i've received wisdom from god when i'm in his word and when i'm praying i can go to a brother or sister in christ and ask for them to speak into my life and often i'll get god's perspective through a brother or sister in christ i love the way the proverbs said it in proverbs 12 15 the way of a fool is right in his own eyes but a wise man is he who listens to counsel as i think back on my life most of the unwise decisions i've made could have been avoided if i'd simply sought counsel and perspective from another christian so here are those three things the word prayer counsel if you and i are going to experience this wisdom from god if we're going to be able to see life from his perspective which means know the best potential outcome and know the steps to take to get in on it we must be people that are seeking god's wisdom consistently through the word through prayer and through counsel so let me ask you a question before i go any further lay that paradigm down on your life can you honestly say before god that you are living out the practice of seeking god's wisdom through his word seeking god's wisdom through prayer and seeking god's wisdom through counsel from other christians if we can't say that we're not in the posture of consistently seeking god's wisdoms here's what that means in the moment of decision in the moment of conflict in the difficult circumstance starting the new relationship here's what's going to happen more times than not we're going to blow it because we won't be ready to receive god's wisdom but if we are living out this practice listen to what we can claim look at the third part of the statement wisdom comes from god as a gift generously and without reproach look back at james 1 5. look what he says here james chapter 1 verse 5. but if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of god who gives to all say this out loud generously meaning this he's not just going to give you the bread crumbs for you to try to figure it out he's ready to dump his wisdom into your life he's ready to show you his perspective he's ready to reveal to you the steps that you need to take he'll do it generously and without reproach these two phrases generously and without reproach mean that it doesn't matter how many times you and i may have asked for wisdom in the past it doesn't matter how many times we may have gotten it wrong if we approach god for wisdom god is ready to give us wisdom listen to what david platt said god gives wisdom generously abundantly liberally he pours it out to all without discrimination without question and without hesitation james 1 5 this is the god of the universe saying i will impart my wisdom to you let me tell you what the promise of james chapter 1 is here's the promise if you need wisdom god is ready to give it to you how do you see god do you see god with a closed fist or do you see god with open hands here's what james says if you need god's wisdom with open arms he is ready to give you wisdom you and i simply need to ask meaning the word prayer counsel we need to seek it so i got one last question we're done what are the obstacles to obtaining wisdom if what we're saying is true why don't we all just have god's perspective all the time well let me give you three and we'll close number one we fail to ask god for wisdom remember what asking means a continual practice through his word through prayer through counsel not asking god for wisdom not living out that way is disobedient to the clear command of james and a little later on in this letter james is going to say you have not because you ask not are you in the word daily are you under the word weekly are you fellowshipping with others around the word are you communicating with god through prayer listening for the voice of the holy spirit are you seeking counsel from others if you are here's the promise god's going to give you wisdom if you're not you will not experience god's wisdom in that moment you can't microwave this you don't get to go to god like a genie in a lamp and rub it when you need three wishes it's not the way this works it's a relationship so we fail to ask for god's wisdom here's the second one the second reason we don't obtain wisdom is we consider god's wisdom as an option what do i mean by that let me show you look look up here verses six through eight i wanna read these again he said but if we ask he he must ask in faith without any say that out loud doubt it the word doubting is a greek word and this greek word means to to be in strife to be in a fight with yourself meaning i'm asking god for wisdom but i'm not really sure i want to know what he's got to say if we ask doubting for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind for that man ought not to expect that he'll receive anything from the lord being double-minded man unstable in all his ways that word double-minded is a term that james actually coined this is the first time in greek literature it's ever used and it describes a divided heart and what it really means is it's saying god i want to know your perspective so i can consider it with all the other perspectives my mentor clyde cranford wrote it this way listen to this we must realize that when we're truly seeking to know the will of god he will not reveal that will to us as an option some would have god lay his will out on the table along with all the other options but they reserve the final decision for themselves though they definitely want to know god's will they will follow it only if they think it is their best option their major concern is not is their own will not god's before they can know god's will they must be willing to follow it no matter what it might be god i want to know your perspective god's not going to reveal his perspective if we want to know it as an option so i can lay it down with all the other options and then say okay which one of these best suits me no if we're going to be people that say we can't do it doubting you can't go to god half-heartedly into the divided heart a heart that's arguing against itself an obstacle to god's will means this or an obstacle that's experiencing god's wisdom means when you and i are not at a place of surrender where we're willing to follow his will his wisdom whatever his perspective is he's not going to give it to us but here's what you got to know we need to get over that obstacle and here's why he knows the best potential outcome for what you're facing and he's trying to give you the steps to get in on the best potential outcome for what you're facing he's not trying to rob you of the joy and the pleasure of another bad decision here's the last obstacle we place greater value on this life than the life to come and that's this james 9 verse chapter 1 verses 9 through 11. i'll just read the last line he says so to the rich man in the midst of pursuits will fade away we put too much emphasis on the stuff of this world and not on the stuff of the world that is to come and if we're too focused on this world rather than the world to come we can miss out on the wisdom i've got what's wisdom the ability to see life from god's perspective it means he knows the best potential outcome and the steps you need to take where does it come from comes from god when we ask him consistently continuously through his word through prayer and counsel and when we do that he's ready to pour it out into our lives but there are some obstacles we gotta ask when we ask we got to be ready to hear what it is he has to say and we got to be focused more on eternity than we are right now that's what the bible says about wisdom you

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Length: 39min 5sec (2345 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 17 2021