Now, let's turn in our Bibles
to the book of James, chapter 1. I'm going to say a few words
this morning concerning the trial of faith and wisdom. The trial of faith and wisdom. Now, let's just read the first
few verses of James. I've already preached on the
first four, Somebody asked me, said, you're spending a lot of
time on trials, and asked me why. And I said, well, because
they're just something that every one of us can identify with.
Common to every one of us. You know, everybody has trials,
even unbelievers. But in a believer, it's something
different. Not necessarily the nature of the trial. I mean,
we go through some of the same things that unbelievers go through. But in a believer, it's a trial
of faith. a trial of our faith, a test
of our faith. And so let's keep that in mind
as we read these verses here. Verse 1, James, a servant of
God, a bond slave of Christ, a servant of God and of the Lord
Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting,
my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse or
various temptations. Those aren't temptations to sin
now. Those are trials of faith, tests of faith, sent by God to
his people. He says, verse 3, knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience, that's endurance,
perseverance in the faith. But let patience have her perfect
or complete work, that you may be perfect or complete and entire,
wanting nothing, lacking nothing. And that's what we see as we
are considered in Christ. We lack nothing. I thought about
that quite a bit because, you know, in ourselves we lack a
lot of things. We lack foresight. We lack knowledge. And then he says in verse 5,
considering this, what we do lack, he says, if any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally,
that is all who ask him in faith, that's speaking of believers,
And upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." Wisdom. The trial of faith and wisdom.
That passage that Brother Aaron just read in the book of Job,
chapter 28. You know, Job was a man under heavy, heavy trials. Sometimes we'll get under a trial,
we'll talk about, well, how we're feeling like Job. You don't. You don't feel like Job. I don't
either. Go back and read the book of
Job. We have some heavy trials, and
I don't want to belittle that. I don't want to lessen that as
if, well, you're not really hurting or I'm not really hurting. But
I'll tell you what, Job is the prime example of a man under
trial. We're not told in the Scriptures. of exactly why God was pleased
to try Job in the way that he did, other than it seemed good
in his sight. But it was a test of his faith.
But when Job was trying to figure all this thing out, and of course
he had some advisors, you know, we always have advisors. And
these comforters, he called them miserable comforters, because
they didn't comfort him. They tried, but they didn't.
He asks there in chapter 28 and verse 12, where shall wisdom
be found? Where is it going to be found?
And he starts out, he talks about how valuable this wisdom is.
There's nothing to compare with it. It's more valuable than the
gold of Ophir. That was a place where there
was a lot of gold and it was pure and it was known for its
purity. It's more valuable than that.
And what Job is saying is wisdom is more valuable than money.
You know, sometimes we get the thing, well, if I just had more
money, that would solve all my problems. And we know better,
but we somehow think that way anyway. And Job is saying that
wouldn't do it. Job had all the money that a
person could have when he started, when this whole thing started
and God took it away from him, had his family, God took it away
from him. His wife told him to curse God
and die. You remember that? And Job said,
not so. He said, the Lord giveth, the
Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Job, his whole hope was on the promise of a Redeemer. He said
in Job 19, he said, I know my Redeemer liveth and shall stand
in the latter day. And he said, what he was talking
about, I'm going to rise with him. So Job, his hope, he knew
his hope was in the promise of a Redeemer, not in these earthly
things that had been given to him and taken away. You see,
Christ is one who is given to all of God's people who will
never be taken away. And you'll never be taken away
from him. Christ said, my father holds us in his hand. And he
said, nobody will ever pluck us out of his hands. He saves
us to the uttermost, the scripture says. So Job's saying that this
wisdom now, wherever it's to be found, it's more valuable
than anything I could own here on this earth. And he said, it's
not to be found in earth. You can go to the depths. It's
not there. The sea says it's not with me. It's just not there. Well, where is wisdom to be found?
Verse 23 of Job 28 says, God understandeth the way thereof,
and he knoweth the place thereof. If you want true wisdom, you
must go to God. And here's what God will say.
And this is the thing now, you know, wisdom, that's something
people search for all their lives in some way or another, some
fashion or another. But it says in verse 28, And
unto man he said, Behold, now here it is, the fear of the Lord,
that's wisdom. The fear of the Lord. Do you
fear God? What does that mean? Are you
afraid of God? No, no, that doesn't mean that. To fear God is to worship God. It means to reverence God. You
have respect and regard for who God is according to his revelation
of himself in the book, in the Bible, in Christ. To fear God
is to trust God. That's what it is. That's the
fear of the Lord, to trust him. To fear God is to serve God.
The book of Proverbs says the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge, the beginning of wisdom. And he says, and to depart
from evil is understanding. Now, what he's showing there
is that there's a difference between knowledge and wisdom.
You know, people can have a lot of knowledge, but no wisdom. You might think of someone who
is very intelligent, very smart, can accumulate a lot of facts.
But they can't even hardly walk across the street without falling
down, you know, things like that. They don't know how to make right
choices and they don't know how to direct their lives. So wisdom
and knowledge are different. Now, you can't have wisdom without
knowledge. That's why it says the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and the beginning of
wisdom. You can't, but now there are
people who have some, a lot of knowledge without wisdom, but
you can't have wisdom without knowledge. You can't. Someone
said that knowledge is like the horse and wisdom is like the
rider who rides the horse and guides it and tells it when to
stop, when to go, which direction to go. But this is what James
is talking about. It's what Job was talking about.
Going through these trials, these tests of faith. Whatever nature
it is, whatever it is, if any of you lack wisdom, and we do,
let him ask of God, James 1, 5, let him ask of God that giveth
to all men liberally, that means generously, and upbraideth not,
and it shall be given him. And we all lack wisdom in ourselves.
But all wisdom comes from God, and all of God's wisdom is wrapped
up totally in the person and work of Christ. We cannot endure
trials in our own wisdom, so we are to seek God's wisdom in
Christ. We are to seek God's wisdom in His Word. Wisdom is
the understanding, one person said, that we need to live life
to the glory of God. Look over at James chapter 3. Look at verse 13. He asks this
question. Who is a wise man and endued
with knowledge among you? Let him, if there is anybody
like that, let him show out of a good conversation his works
with meekness of wisdom." And what he's talking about is walking
by faith in Christ according to the Spirit. And then look
at verse 17, it says, "...but the wisdom that is from God is
first pure, then peaceable, gentle." easy to be entreated, full of
mercy and good fruit, without partiality and without hypocrisy,
and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that
make peace." So James has a lot to say about wisdom. Now, during
trials, it's God's will that we recognize the folly of human
wisdom and turn to him in Christ and his word for wisdom. And
as he said back here in verse 5, he said he gives to all who
ask him, all men, that's all who ask him, that's talking about
believers now, those who know Christ, liberally, that means
unconditionally, it means freely, it means generously, it's there.
You know, one time he says you have not because you ask not.
And he's not bargaining here or laying out conditions, it's
free for the asking. And it says he upbraids not.
And what that literally means is that he holds nothing back.
He gives it without reservation. It's not reluctantly or by reminding
us of something that we've done wrong or our sins. He doesn't
keep raising them up. And then look at verse 6. He
says, 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. Two things here, to ask in faith. In faith means seeking
wisdom in and by Christ according to God's Word. In other words,
if you ask in faith, you go to the right source. Now, you can
ask people their advice. Sometimes they may give you good
advice. But if you want wisdom to go through these trials, then
go to the source. Go to the Word of God in Christ.
See what God's Word says. with the best intentions will
give you advice that may sound good, but it's contrary to the
word of God. And so you have to go to the
source, ask in faith. But it also means, secondly,
to ask believing. Believing what God says and acting
upon what God says. You see, this is an exhortation
to believers. Paul said, I know whom I believe
and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. And this certainly applies in
the matter of salvation, when we preach the gospel. You know,
what is it that, how does God save a sinner? It's by his power,
it's by his grace, it's by his mercy in Christ. It's not through
our works. And he tells us to ask. He says,
ask and you will receive. He says, knock on the door of
grace and it will be opened unto you. All of that, you see, God
gives freely, unconditionally. Any sinner who comes to God wanting
salvation, desiring salvation, God's way, shall receive it.
No holds barred. No upbraiding. Now, what is God's
way? That's the question that people
ought to be asking. Well, God's way is the way of Christ and
Him crucified and risen again. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Any sinner
who comes before God seeking salvation based on his own works
is not going to receive it because that is not God's way. Any sinner who comes asking for
God's salvation through Christ by his blood and righteousness,
they shall receive it. That is God's way. You see the
example of that in the very beginning in Cain and Abel. Cain came bringing
the fruit of the ground, what he had worked for. God did not
accept him. Abel came bearing the blood of
the Lamb. which pictured Christ. You want
forgiveness of sins? Come God's way. That's wisdom
now, coming through Christ, who is God's wisdom, pleading his
blood, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Any other
way is a way of a fool. Did you know that? It's a way
of unbelief. It's the way of pride. You want
righteousness? I heard a lot of talk about that
term righteousness today. And people want to complicate
it up, make it something that you're searching for inside yourself?
That's a fool. If you want righteousness, you
come to God through Christ. He's the Lord, our righteousness,
the Scripture says. Jehovah Sid Canoe. You can twist
it and tame it any way you want to, but that's a fool's way.
Come to God through Christ. You want mercy? Come to the mercy
seat. Who is the mercy seat? Christ is our mercy seat. And
God will give it. He won't hold back. That's what
the scripture teaches. But now this is also so in the
matter of trials, that we go through daily life, every day,
whatever the trial is. And when he says, ask in faith,
he says nothing wavering here. He says, for he that wavereth
is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. That's
not talking about perfect faith as if a believer never has any
doubts. If that were true, we'd have
to say the scripture does contradict itself. Let me show you. Look
across the page there to Hebrews chapter 12. Do we have doubts
and fears, unholy fears? Yes, we do. Again, we go back
to what the scripture teaches us about ourselves as justified
sinners, as born-again people, that we have a warfare, the flesh
and the spirit. We're not in a state of unbelief,
but unbelief is still in us, isn't it? Lord I believe, help
thou mine unbelief. Paul writes here in Hebrews chapter
12 verse 1, wherefore seeing we also are compassed or surrounded
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, these stalwarts of
the faith of the past who endured trials. He said some of them
endured the trials of being stoned and scourgings and mockings,
imprisonment. They lost their homes. They lost
their jobs. They had to go out into the wilderness
and wear goat skins, he said. They were afflicted. They were
tormented. They faced those trials, but they endured by the grace
of God. It wasn't under their own power. And it wasn't because
they were such good folks. It was because God is faithful
who promised. And he says, well, we have these
great cloud of witnesses surrounding us in verse 1 of chapter 12.
Therefore, let us lay aside every weight The burdens that burden
us down and hinder us from enduring and hinder us from seeking wisdom
in the Word of God. Whatever hinders you in that
way, lay it aside, he says. Whatever hinders you in the walk
of faith, whatever hinders you in looking to Christ and Him
crucified. And I know you've got problems. I've got them too.
We all have problems. But whatever problem you have
that's hindering you in the walk of faith by the grace of God,
lay it aside, he says. And he says, and the sin which
doth so easily beset us. What's he talking about? Well,
in Hebrews 11, these are all examples of faith. The sin that
so easily besets us is doubts and unbelief. That's what he's
talking about. And let us run with patience.
There's that endurance again, the race that is set before us.
Now, how are we going to run? Look at verse 2. Well, I'm going
to turn over a new leaf and quit doing this and quit doing...
No, that's not what he's saying. He says, here's how you run it.
Looking unto Jesus, God our Savior, Jehovah our Savior, the author
and the finisher. He's not only the one who got
it started, he's the one who completes it of our faith. You say, well, he really can't
empathize with me and know what I'm going through. Well, look
what it says here, "...who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross." He endured the cross. You know, his whole
life here on this earth was one big, long trial. Our Savior. Sometime when you
get an opportunity, read Luke chapter 22. That was the night before our
Lord was crucified. And He's there in the upper room. And
He's surrounded by His disciples, beginning all twelve, even Judas
was there. Now you think on the night before
His crucifixion, on that night, His disciples surrounded there,
those who loved Him, except Judas. And then Judas left, you know,
He exposed Judas. And Judas left, so there were
eleven there. And you think, well, He had that trial of Judas.
And now the eleven are there, and you think, now here's the
Lord with eleven disciples, and you think, well fine, before
he goes to the cross, here's a moment of peace. Here's a moment
of solace. Here's a moment of no trial.
Think again. You know what happened that night
when he was there with the eleven disciples? I mean, even after
Judas left, they started arguing about who was going to be the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The disciples did that. And he
had to set them straight. And then he told them, he told
Peter, but he also told the rest of them, he said, before the
cock crow strikes, you're going to deny me. Peter said, if I
have to go to prison and have to die, I won't deny you. And
he told Peter, he said, think again. And told the rest of them
too. One trial after another. And
then it says there in Hebrews 12, 2, "...who for the joy that
was set before him." The joy wasn't in the trials. It says
here that the joy, it says, "...who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God." The joy was to be set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. The completion
of His work. The redemption of His people.
The glory of His Father, that was the joy. And that's what
James is telling us back in James chapter 1, to think the same
way, to have the mind of Christ in that way. It's not fun or
happiness or joy to go through these trials that we're going
through. Whatever trial you're going through, it's hurting.
It's hard. It's grievous, Paul wrote in
Hebrews chapter 12, later on. But the joy is the expectation
and hope that we have in Christ. This world is not our home, you
see. It's to be with Him. That's the
joy. And so back here in James 1.6,
when he's talking about nothing wavering, he's not talking about
perfect faith, but he goes on to tell us, look at verse 7,
he says, for let not that man think that he shall receive anything
of the Lord, verse 8, A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Now, who's he talking about there? He's talking about an unbeliever.
He's not talking about a believer who has doubts. We have those.
And I'll admit that it seems like sometimes even unbelievers
can be double-minded at times. But when he identifies the one
who will not ask in faith, who will not receive anything of
the Lord, he's talking about an unbeliever. Listen, if you're
a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can't say you won't
receive anything from the Lord. You've already received salvation
through Him. You've already received the new
birth. You've already received the gift of faith, the gift of
repentance. the gift of life, but this double-minded man is
like those who, you remember back in the book of Kings, I
think it's 1 Kings 18, you can check me on that, it's where
Elijah was standing against the prophets of Baal, and he asked
this question, how long shall you halt between two opinions?
If God is God, serve him, if Baal be God, then you serve him.
He's talking about an unbeliever there, a double-minded man, unstable. in all his ways. He doesn't believe
the gospel. And so he says in verse 9, or
verse 8, a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Do you see that? You see, the
wise person, the believer, comes God's way. A double-minded man
is unstable in all his ways. Now, which way is your way? Are
you coming your way or are you coming God's way? Now, let me
give you some things about true wisdom now. bearing up these
trials. Let me give you these things.
Number one, true wisdom is knowing first that trials are coming. These people who sort of indicate
that once you're saved, or once you're born again, or once you
become a Christian, then it's all downhill. It's all roses. And if it's not, there's something
wrong with you. Well, let me tell you something. Whether it
is or it's not, it's not going to be. But whether it is or not,
there's still something wrong with you. And there's still something
wrong with me. That's right. But you see, those
who indicate that the Christian life is a bed of roses, that's
foolish. Trials are coming. That's why
Peter, we read this a few weeks back, when Peter said in 1 Peter,
I believe chapter 2 or 3, I can't remember, but he said, don't
think it's strange when the fiery trial comes. As if it's something
that's just out of kilter here, you know. There's a wrinkle in
the universe or a glitch in the matrix or something, you know.
No, no. Listen. Somebody says, when you
become a Christian, then everything's OK. Listen, that's the beginning
of the real, real trials. Because not only you have, not
only now as a believer, do you have the trials that are common
to all people, believer and unbeliever, now you've got the trial of faith.
Now you've got the test that identify you with Christ. So
true wisdom is knowing that they are coming. True God-given saving
faith will be tested. Now, here's the promise, here's
the joy. True saving faith will persevere
and endure. True faith triumphs over trouble.
Not because we're so great, or good, or strong, or wise. But it triumphs because true
faith is in Christ, who's already gained the victory and given
it to us. Let me read you some scripture, John 16 and verse
33. Listen to this. Christ, you know,
in John 16 there, he just finished in John 15 and the first part
of John 16, telling the disciples how they're going to be tried
and tested, how they're going to be opposed, how they're going
to be persecuted. He said, marvel not if the world
hate you. It hated me before it hated you.
The disciples not above its master. And he said, they're going to
throw you out of their worship services. They'll kill you and
think they're doing God a service, he said in John 16. Here's what
he said in John 16, 33. He said, these things I've spoken
unto you so that you can go off and sulk and feel sorry for yourself. No, he said, these things I've
spoken unto you that in me you might have peace, not in the
world. But in me you might have peace. In the world you'll have
tribulation. You know what tribulation is?
Don't think of it as just seven years in the future. Tribulation
is trouble, and it's right now. Trouble. In the world you shall
have trouble, but be of good cheer, he said. I have overcome
the world, he said. That's the joy. It's in him.
And you know, that's why it's so strange when a person who
claims to be a believer, they get in trouble, they get in problems,
and one of the first things sometimes they do is they get away from
the Word of God. They get away from the worship of God. He told
you, in Him you'll have, there'll be peace, not outside of Him.
They leave the worship of God and they go out into the world.
In the world you're going to have what? Trouble. And you might
think, well, I'll get some relief somewhere. No, not out there.
It's only in the Word of God. It's only in Christ. I'll read
you another one. Acts chapter 14, verse 22, the
disciples went out preaching the gospel. And here's what it
says. It says, they went out confirming
the souls of the disciples by the preaching of the gospel and
exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must through
much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. You see, they
were wise. They knew it was coming. They
said, we, through much tribulation, will enter the kingdom of God.
The true faith will not fail, even in trouble. And then here's
the second thing. I want you to turn to Psalm 19.
Look at Psalm 19. You know how Psalm 19 begins.
That passage talks about creation, how it declares the glory of
God. The heavens declare the glory of God. But here's the
second thing. True wisdom is knowing ourselves. Now, when God the Holy Spirit
brings us to the new birth, one of the first things He does is
He shows us who we really are. He shows us our frame, our sins,
our depravity. He convinces us of sin. Without
Christ, we're nothing but sin. All we are is sin, and all we
do is sin without Christ. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. That means without looking to
Christ. And that's what he does. He shows us who we are. And he
shows us our weaknesses, our powerlessness, our impotence
to really do anything. You know, people talk about stand
up on your own two feet. Well, in this matter of trials
of faith, you can't do that. But the true wisdom is to know
ourselves, to know our sinfulness, to know if God were to remove
His hand of grace and providence and power from us in one second,
we'd be miserable, we'd fail, we'd be condemned. That's why
it's beyond me, these people who talk about you can be saved
one day and lost another. They really think that they can
do something. in themselves, meet some condition
or some qualification to earn back what they think they've
lost by sin. And that's foolish. If we could
be lost, we would be and are. Period. Think about it. Our weaknesses. Here's what that
means. We cannot endure these trials
of ourselves. I don't care what they are, the
light ones or the big ones. That's why I read Proverbs 3,
verse 5, 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."
Don't you try to figure it out on your own. Go to the Word of
God. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. You know why, given that knowledge
of ourselves, you know the person who thinks that They're powerful
enough, or they can just muster enough. That's foolish. But you
know why this knowledge of ourselves is so important? Our sinfulness,
our weaknesses, our unrighteousness? To know that my only forgiveness
for all my sins is in the blood of Christ, and my only righteousness
is in Him? It's because I need to know.
This is wisdom. I need to know that if it weren't
for Him bringing me through, I'd be nothing. I'd be lost forever.
That's what Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 1 in verse 6 here. He
says, I'm confident of this very thing, that He, which hath begun
a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
If God started it, He'll finish it. You know, over there in Philippians
chapter 2 in verse 12, people will major on this verse, but
you've got to read Scripture in context. It says there, wherefore,
my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling. And they'll major in it. Work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. I believe that.
Do you know what people do? They'll say, well, that means
salvation is by works then. Work out your own salvation by
fear and trembling. Well, first of all, that's not
what it means. When he's talking about working out, he's just
simply talking about serving the Lord, enduring, perseverance. And you notice he says, work
out your own salvation. With what? With fear and trembling. Now, what is the fear? Well,
it's the same fear that we have in faith. It's reverence for
God. It's respect for God. It's trusting God. It's serving
God. It's worshiping God. What is that trembling there?
Am I supposed to go around trembling all the time? No, no. Let me
tell you exactly what it is. It's an ever-present, ever-abiding
knowledge that you have that without Christ, where would you
be? Oh Lord, don't ever let me be
found without Christ. You see, that's the tremor. I
tremble to think of what I am, what I would be, what I'm capable
of, and where I would end up if I didn't have Christ as my
hope, my Savior, my righteousness. That's the trembling. Because
without Him, I'm nothing, less than nothing. Without Him, I'm
doomed for all time. That's what He's talking about.
But you know, in verse 13 of that Philippians chapter 2, he
goes on to really explain more. He says, for it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. So as
you're working out your own salvation with fear and trembling, you
realize it's God that works in me. It's not me. It's Christ
living through me by His Spirit and by His Word. It's not my
power. It's his. It's not my goodness.
It's his. It's not my determination, really.
It's his because there are times when I just determined to quit.
How about you? You ever determined in your mind
to quit and just give up? Well, sure you have. If you're
honest. I quoted. 2 Timothy, part of
2 Timothy 1.12 there, where Paul said, I know whom I believed
and am persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto me against that day. He's able. Hebrews 7, 24 and
25, let me read that to you. Talking about Christ and his
continual priesthood, it continueth forever. He has an unchangeable
priesthood. Now, think about that. Now, we're
changeable, right? We change from hour to hour,
day to day. We change physically. We change mentally. Some days
we feel good. Some days we feel bad. Some days we feel like we
could just take on the whole world. Some days we feel like
that we want to crawl under the bed and hide. But Christ has
an unchangeable priesthood. He himself is unchangeable. He's
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. But he has
an unchangeable priesthood. Now, what does the priesthood
do? He represented the people before God. He brought the sacrifice
to God for the people, and when He came out of the tabernacle,
you see, it was accepted. That's what Christ did in His
work on the cross. He, as our surety and high priest
and substitute, presented Himself a sacrifice for our sins. He
was made sin, Christ who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. And that priesthood is forever.
It never changes. It's always the same. It never
diminishes. It never gets any better because
it doesn't have to. It's perfect. And he sat down
on the right hand of God. He's our advocate. He's my advocate
now while I'm preaching to you in my best moment. But if you
ever catch me at my worst moment, he's my advocate. I hope you
don't. But if you ever do, he's my advocate then too. He never
changes. I say I'll change. I might wake
up tomorrow morning and say, ah, man, I'm not going to ever
preach another message. You all didn't think I ever did that,
did you? But he's my advocate then. He never changes. So it
says, wherefore, in verse 25, he is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them. And somebody says, well now,
how do I know if he's making intercession for me? Well, are
you looking to him and him alone for salvation, or are you looking
somewhere else? Are you looking within? Are you looking to the
baptismal pool? Are you looking to church membership,
tithing, works? Or are you looking to Christ
and him alone? Do you have any other hope but
Christ and him crucified and risen again for all your salvation,
for all your wisdom, for all your righteousness, for all your
redemption and holiness? And therefore, now unto him that
is able to keep you from falling, he keeps me from falling. Did
you know that? I don't keep myself from falling. He keeps me. And
to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy, he's able. Here's the third thing. True
wisdom is knowing the salvation which is in Christ. I told you
to turn to Psalm 19. I didn't even read it. Look here.
Let's go back to Psalm 19. Let me read that real quickly.
Verse 7. I'm not going to read the whole
psalm. He says, The law of the Word of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are
right, rejoicing in the heart. This is the Word of God that
leads us into Christ. The commandment of the Lord is
pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than
gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the
honeycomb. Now listen, moreover by them
is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there's great
reward. Who can understand his errors? You see, that's the wisdom
in knowing ourselves. Cleanse thou me from secret faults. You know what I believe that's
talking about? My sins that even I'm unaware of. That's wisdom. To know your frame. To know yourself. And to know that your only hope
is in the Word of God that leads you to Christ. Now, turn to 1
Corinthians chapter 1. Let me show you this. Here's
the wisdom of God. If any man likes, will. You're
going through a trial now. You want wisdom, you want to
know how to deal with it, here it is. This is wisdom in knowing
the salvation which is in Christ. You see, it wouldn't be wisdom
if I only knew my sins and my inadequacies and my weaknesses
and my depravity, and I stayed right there. That's not wisdom.
I mean, it's truth. But you remember I said knowledge
is one thing, wisdom is another. But here's wisdom. Verse 18 of
1 Corinthians 1, for the preaching of the cross, that's the finished
work of Christ, is to them that perish foolishness. But unto
us which are saved, it's the power of God. The preaching of
Christ and all that he accomplished at Calvary to satisfy law and
justice To enable God to be just and justifier, to make me righteous
before God, to forgive my sins. He says, verse 19, for it's written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, that's the worldly
wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? The scribe
there meaning the interpreter of the things of God. He says,
where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. That is worldly wisdom.
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. That's why you're here this morning. The preaching of
Christ. That's wisdom. You going through
a trial? It's wise for you to hear the
preaching of the cross, the preaching of Christ. But go on. Verse 22,
the Jews require a sign. Somebody said, well, those foolish
Jews. Well, have you ever said, Lord, just send me a sign? The Greeks seek after wisdom.
You ever go after the wisdom of men? Some people watch Oprah
more than they read their Bible. That's not wise. It's not. He says in verse 23, But we preach
Christ crucified. That's our redemption. That's
our righteousness. That's our forgiveness. That's
our hope. He says, Under the Jews a stumbling
block, and under the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called,
called by the Spirit, that's the new birth, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Christ
is our wisdom. Look up at verse 29. He says,
that no flesh should glory in his presence, but of him are
you in Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The Bible says a
wise man builds his house on the rock. Who is that rock? Christ
Jesus. We stand upon him. We stand upon
him. And so we endure these trials
as this is our motivation. And then lastly, true wisdom
is knowing what these trials are for. Let me just read you
these and I'll quit by focusing on what these trials do. They
have purposes. They're not just random events
in the universe. They're not just atoms crashing
together to make you feel bad. God sends these trials to humble
us and show us our hope is in Christ and him alone. He sends
these trials to drive us more to Christ and His Word. He sends
these trials to wean us from the world and focus on eternal
things. Our minds need to be focused
on eternal things. We have to deal with the world.
We have to live in the world. Don't get me wrong. But our focus
and our hearts are to be on eternal things. He sends these trials
to test our faith. We've seen that. Do we really
believe this? He sends these trials to reveal
the objects of our love. What do we really love? Do we
love Christ and His Word, His people? He sends these trials
to teach us the value of God's blessings. We may lose everything
we have in this world, but as Job said, blessed be the Lord.
He sends us these trials to enable us to help others in their trials. 2 Corinthians 1 says, Blessed
be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of mercies, the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our
tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in
any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of
God. He sends these trials to develop
in us greater strength for greater usefulness. And he sends these
trials to chasten us for our sins and push us in growth and
grace and knowledge. These are all concerned with
primarily one reason that God sends these trials, and that
is to drive us to Christ for all hope. Continually. Continually.