If you would, turn with me to
the book of James. Let's read our text, starting
in verse 5. If any of you lack wisdom, let
a mask of God that giveth to all liberally and upbraideth
not, and it shall be given him. 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. For let
not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. These verses
are connected with the previous ones that we looked at on Sunday
about having joy in our trials, because the trials come from
God and we know that they're for the good of His people. We
know that the trial of our faith works patience, knowing that all true faith is
tried and that the Lord will keep His people to the end. And
at the end of this life, when that faith has been proven true,
When the Lord's people have been kept to the end, they'll be made
perfect, entirely whole with the body of Christ, wanting for
nothing, because we will have Christ who is our all. Verse five is connected with
that. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth
to all liberally and abradeth not, and it shall be given him. For the Lord's people to be joyful
in these times of trial, for us to know that the trial
came from the Lord, for us to trust him as he tries our faith,
for us to know that these things are said of God for our good,
we must have wisdom. It says, if any of you Speaking
to the same people stated previously, speaking to the 12 tribes scattered
abroad, to whom James addresses this letter, the spiritual house
of Israel, all the Lord's people, he is speaking to you who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, chosen from the foundation of the world.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. What is wisdom that we are to
ask for? It's not just knowledge. You can have vast stores of knowledge
and still be a fool. It's more than information and
learning. It's knowledge with understanding. It's information
with discernment. You may have heard this before
that knowledge is knowing tomatoes a fruit and wisdom is not putting
it in a fruit salad. Knowledge is the horse. Wisdom
is the driver that steers him in the right direction. It is
seeing providence and knowing that all things come from God
and then submitting to it, knowing that it is the will of God and
trusting him in all that he does. Proverbs chapter three says,
trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine
own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him
and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes.
Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Wisdom acknowledges the
Lord in all things. It looks to him and him alone
to direct our paths. Wisdom trusts him in all things.
And wisdom knows that that wisdom is not of ourselves. This wisdom
is something you will need in your time of trial. this understanding
and discernment. But it is much more than just
this. Wisdom is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is he who is the wisdom
of God, and he who is made of God wisdom unto us. Us, those
that have been chosen, those that the Lord has called. but
unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the
power of God, and the wisdom of God. But of him are ye in
Christ Jesus who is made unto us wisdom. The Lord Jesus Christ
is wisdom itself, and he is our wisdom. In these times of trial,
when we're to have patience and hope, we need the Lord Jesus
Christ. Is that not what you need when
you're in the fire, when your faith is being tried, when the
Lord has you suffering whatever temptations he may? Is Christ
not all that you need in those times? Who was it that walked
with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace when they
were thrown in bound? It was one that was like the
Son of God. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
walking with them in the fire. Is it not your desire to have
Him, to have the peace that He brings, the peace that He gives
to His people? When you're suffering trials,
do you feel like you lack wisdom? Do you feel like you're lacking
Christ? Well, ask God for it. It's what
He tells us to do. Let Him ask of God. The Lord
tells us to come to Him, to God the Father, who is the only wise
God. to Christ Jesus, who is the wisdom
of God, to the spirit of God, who is the spirit of wisdom.
Ask of God for this wisdom because he is wisdom, and only by him
does the wisdom come. First Chronicles says, only the
Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning
Israel that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God.
Only the Lord can give wisdom. Only the Lord can give Christ.
You do not take him for yourself. When you're in the trial, the
fire, the temptations of this life, when you have need of Christ,
go to God and ask him for him. He tells you he will give it.
Let him ask of God that giveth to all liberally. all the house
of God, all the Lord's chosen people, he will give liberally,
bountifully, freely, without self-seeking. He doesn't give
you Christ because you've earned him. You haven't earned him by
the works of your hands, by something you've done. He does so freely,
and he does it in abundance. Do not be afraid to go to the
Lord in a time of need. He says he won't upbraid you.
Let him ask of God that giveth to all liberally and upbraideth
not. Don't be taken in fear that you've
fallen in the trial, that you've sinned too greatly. Our Lord
tells us that when we go to him asking for wisdom, when we go
to him asking for Christ, he upbraideth not. He doesn't rail
on us for previous sins, for transgressions, for falling in
the trial, nor with the sense of former kindness already given,
that which has been squandered, which we so often do. But every
word here is an encouragement to go to him and ask for Christ. If any of you lack wisdom, Let
him ask of God that giveth to all liberally and upbraideth
not, and it shall be given him." If you have need of Christ, you
can go to the Lord and ask for him. He won't upbraid you. He'll give in abundance. And
it is a matter of certainty that he will give. It says, and it
shall be given him. There is no chance that the request
will be denied. When one of the Lord's children
goes to him, asking for wisdom, asking for Christ, he will not
turn you away. He has never turned away one
that has come to him. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. The request shall most certainly
be given to the Lord's child. Turn over to Matthew chapter
seven. starting in verse 7. Ask, and
it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth. And to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened. For what man is there of you,
whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he
ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things
to them that ask him? When my kids come to me because
they're hungry, I don't turn them away. I provide them with
what they need. Now if they come asking for candy,
something that's not good for them or a snack just because
they're bored. But when they come asking for that good food,
a nourishing meal that they really need, I would never turn them
away. Well, how much more so our holy
and righteous heavenly father. He has promised that when one
of his people come to him, when they're lacking wisdom, when
they're lacking Christ, when they come to Him with that one
and only need. Not when they come seeking another
way out, not when they come seeking things of the flesh, but when
they come seeking Christ. Our Heavenly Father promises
you that you shall have Him. It shall be given to you, and
it will be given in abundance. When I say in times of trial,
when we go to our Father in times of trial, and we go asking for
wisdom in these times of trial. I don't mean particular circumstances,
particular times of providence. You can certainly go then, but
our entire life is a trial. You can go to the Lord and ask
for Christ anytime, at all, anytime. Do you need Christ right now?
Then go to the Father and ask right now. Back at our text,
verse six. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavery, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind and tossed. But let him ask in faith. When
you go to the Lord, go believing him. Believing who he is as he
has declared himself to be. Believing that he will do according
to his promises because he is a God that cannot lie. It's about
a person. Believe him. Hebrews 11.6 says,
but without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh
to God must believe that he is. And he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him. When you go to God asking for
wisdom, asking for Christ, you must go believing that he is. We must believe who he has declared
himself to be, the way, the truth, and the life, the almighty creator
of all things, the one who upholds the world, the one that chose
a people from the foundation of the world, You have to believe
as he declares that the sin of his people was put on Christ
at Calvary. That God poured out his holy,
just, eternal wrath on Christ when he saw the sins of his people
on his son. You have to believe that sin
was dealt with and put away in Christ. That his people died
in him when he died. that Christ rose from the grave
and that his people rose in him, that he accomplished the salvation
of his people. Not that it was made possible,
but that all that Christ died for will be saved. That he purposes
all things from beginning to end, that all things that happen,
happen according to his will. He is sovereign, he has the sovereign
right to do with this world whatever it is that pleases him. All men created by him and belong
to him, and they are his to do with as he sees fit. That all
men by nature are dead in trespasses and sins, and that salvation
comes by Christ alone. That Christ alone is the only
hope for righteousness. He is the only righteousness
of his people. Believe that salvation is all
of grace and all of mercy. This is who he is. This is who
he declares himself to be in his word. And to come to him
in faith is to come believing that. Believing what he's declared
and he tells us that he is a rewarder of them that seek him. He tells his people that are
in need of Christ that he will give abundantly, he will give
of certainty, but he only does this for those that come in faith,
for those that believe on the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is not a matter of what
I think I've heard some people say, It's not about what you
believe about yourself, but that you believe on Him. Believers are so easy and so
quick to fall into unbelief, and many, myself being one, struggle
with assurance. They don't know if they're one
of the Lords, believing that they're one of the Lords, or
that the Lord died for them, but they never questioned that
the Lord did it. They never questioned the Lord's mercy and grace that
he gives to his people. They never questioned that he
accomplished the salvation of his people. They just questioned
if it was for them. So when we're told to come to
him in faith, it doesn't mean that we come believing he'll
do it for us because we're one of his. It means that we come
believing on the name of God, on the person and character as
he has revealed himself to be. When you come seeking Christ,
seeking wisdom, believing on the Lord, it shall be yours. This desire for Christ, for wisdom,
comes from the Lord in the first place. He is the one that put
that need in you. He is the one that made you see
you need Christ. And if you come seeking Christ,
it is only because the Lord has already purposed to give him
to you. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. But let
him ask in faith, nothing wavering. This does not mean, I don't believe
at all, that this means wavering in what you're asking for, whether
what you're asking for is right, but wavering in your belief,
your belief on who God is, your belief on the accomplishment
of Christ. It says, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the
sea driven with the wind and tossed. It says in Ephesians
chapter four, that we be no more children tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of
men, cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
If we waver in our belief on the person work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we're like a ship in the ocean. It gets pushed wherever
the wind and the waves may take it. Any fancy new doctrine that
tickles our ears will be quick to follow, easily deceived by
men. You'll just follow whatever it
is around you, maybe what your family believes, whatever your
friends believe. You're just like the dandelion
seed that floats in the wind, moving through this path following
the least resistance, moving through this life following the
path of least resistance. whatever keeps you at peace with
this world. If you waver in your faith and
your belief on the Lord, you'll just be going through this life
wherever the world may take you. This is the distinction being
made here. If we're going to come to the Lord God seeking
Christ, we must be rooted and grounded in Him, believing who
He is, The Lord has nothing for the
person that doesn't believe on him. It says in our text, for
he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind
and tossed. For let not that man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man
is unstable in all his ways. If you do not believe on the
Lord, that he is the God of this Bible, You have no reason to
expect anything from him. Don't ever think he has something
for you. You're a double-minded man. Unstable in all your ways,
like that ship that is tossed to and fro, back and forth, the
house built on sinking sand, not firmly rooted and grounded
on the rock that is Christ, not believing him and him alone. To be wavering is to be double-minded.
because your mind is not solely fixed on Christ Jesus. If it
is anything other than Christ alone, if it is Christ and my
works, and my faith, and my prayer, and my acceptance with Him, it's
God and man, and it is a double-minded mind. You cannot come to the Lord double-minded.
You must come believing Him. Look over at Matthew 6. 19, verse 19, Matthew 6, 19. Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also. The light of the body is the
eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall
be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. No man can
serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and man. Nothing on this earth is worthy
to be our treasure. Everything here is going to fade
away. And it says, wherever you set up your treasure, that's
where your heart will be, that's where your hope will be. Don't
set up your hope in things of men. It says, if thine eye be
single, thy whole body shall be full of light. Well, that
singleness is the singleness of Christ. That Christ is salvation. That Christ is all and in all. And it says, if thine eye be
evil, that is to say anything else. If it's not singly Christ,
if it's anything else, it's evil. If you're looking to Christ plus
anything, evil. There cannot be two masters.
You cannot have Christ and anything else. If you have anything to
add to Christ, then you will hate the God of this book. You will hate the Christ of this
book, the God that is the great I am. But if thine eye be single,
if you believe on the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
if you believe the declaration of the great I am, trust him
and him alone for all your hope and salvation. If you believe
that Christ accomplished the salvation of his people, if you
believe that God is, then come to God in that faith. When you're in trial, the trial
of this life, and you're in need of wisdom, you're in need of
Christ, if you need Christ right now, go to God and ask of him. He will give to his child abundantly
and freely, give graciously, and he will give of certainty.
If you believe on Christ and Christ alone, you have the promise
of God, that when you come to him, he shall answer. For thou, Lord, good and ready
to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call
upon thee. So if you need mercy, if you
need wisdom, if you need Christ, go to him, he will provide it, I'm standing tried and true of
this promise just today in my studies, in need of Christ, in
need of wisdom to see Christ in the scriptures, afraid of my unbelief, the sins
that I've fallen into that he would not provide, but going to him, begging for
Christ, begging for mercy, begging for wisdom, He proves himself
time and again on his promises that you shall have it. This is a tried and true promise
to all believers. If any of you lack wisdom, if
any of you lack Christ who is our wisdom, ask it of our great,
sovereign, omnipotent God. When has he ever turned you away?
Amen.