A lesson this morning will be
taken from James 1, verse 5. James 1, verse 5. He said, if any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God that giveth to all liberally. Men is in italics. You can lift that out. He giveth
to all liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. I brought a lesson from James
chapter 3 last Sunday in Rock Valley, Iowa. The title of the
lesson was Wisdom from Above. This is wisdom, the wisdom, which James asks
in our text if they had lack of wisdom from above. A wise old preacher told me one
time to go through the book of Proverbs and he said every time
you see that word wisdom, draw a line through it and bring it
out to the edge of your Bible and write the name Christ. Every
time you see that word wisdom, just substitute it with the word
Christ. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1.30,
but of him, that is of God. Are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom. Wisdom. If any man lack Christ,
that's wisdom. That's the wisdom of God. And
men and women have Wisdom, but it's not wisdom from above. Our
wisdom is a product of the world that we live in, the circumstances
around us, and the ignorance that's in us. That's where our
wisdom comes from. It's a wisdom from within, and
a wisdom from without, and a wisdom from beneath. What we need is
wisdom from above. Wisdom from above. When God calls out His people,
He gives them the gift of faith. By grace are you saved through
faith. Nobody's saved apart from faith.
He that believeth not shall be damned. By grace are you saved
through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. God gives this gift. He gives
us the ability, makes us meet to be partakers. And faith, unlike
most of the work of salvation, is not a work done for us, but
it's a work done in us. There's a big difference. Big
difference. Paul wrote to the saints at Philippi,
and he said, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence. Work out your own salvations. You're going to have to reason
these things, you're going to have to be persuaded of these
things, and both of those things he uses in the scripture to describe
the giving of faith. I know whom I have believed,
Paul said, and am persuaded. There's a persuasion that takes
place. I'm persuaded of what? That he's
able to keep that which I committed. There's a committal involved
in this thing. And to do this in fear and trembling,
for it's God which worketh in you both to will and to do of
his good pleasure. It's as much a divine work as
the raising of the dead, the giving of faith. Our Lord fed
5,000 men plus the women and children, and then he just faded
away. And a lot of things took place,
the crossing of the sea, the ship was about to be taken under,
and our Lord appeared walking on the water. And after that
event, they were immediately, when he stepped into the ship,
they were immediately at their destination. And that's the way
it is when Christ comes into our heart. We're exactly where
we want to be. And then he began to minister
on the other side. Well, these fellas took shipping
and they got over there, and when they finally figured out
where he was here, they all come, this big crowd of people. And
he's over here preaching, and they come running up to him like
they'd known him all their life, and started right in talking
to him. He said, whoa. He said, how come you're here? How come you to seek me? He said, I'll tell you what it
is. You ate the loaves and were filled. You're here to get on
easy streets. You're here for me to take care
of you and for you to do nothing. And they said, well, what can
we do to work the works of God? He said, this is the work of
God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent. That's the
work. That's the work. And you can't
do that work apart from the living God in you. It's miraculous work. It's as miraculous as the raising
of the dead, or the cleansing of the lepers, or the giving
sight to the blind. And our sin is pictured in all
those infirmities that our Lord healed, and even so, our faith
is pictured in their healing. You recall that man in Mark chapter
9. His son had a demonic spirit,
and he was dumb, and the spirit was was just uncontrollable.
Sometimes he'd throw himself in the fire and sometimes off
of a cliff and in the water. He was a mess. He was acting
like a lunatic. He brought him to the disciples
and they couldn't cast his spirit out. As the disappointed father relayed
his story to the Lord, he said, if thou canst do anything, have
compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, if thou
canst believe. Here's where the if goes. The if's not on him. He can do
anything. He's God. The if's on us. If thou canst believe, all things
are possible to them that believe. And straightway the father of
the child cried out, and he said with tears, Lord, I believe.
Help thou my unbelief. Faith is a work done in us that
enables us to believe. Turn with me over to Colossians
chapter 1. Let's see how Paul defines this
work. Colossians chapter 1. He begins
in verse 5 talking about a hope laid up for them in heaven, which
he says they heard before in the word of the truth of the
gospel. The gospel sets before men a
good hope in Christ, a good hope by grace. He said, and as it
has come unto you as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth
fruit as it does also in you since the day you heard it, and
knew the grace of God in truth. Verse 9. This cause we also,
since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and
to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will
in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you might walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work,
and increasing in the knowledge of God. Now just hold your place
there and let me say a few things. This faith in both Romans 10
and here is said to come by hearing. It comes by hearing. And hearing has to do with three
things. It has to do with an ability
to hear. Blessed are your ears for they
hear. And secondly, it has to do with
the opportunity to hear. How shall you hear without a
preacher, and how shall he preach except he be sent? There's going
to be an opportunity, and God's going to open the door. That's
what Paul said, pray for me that God would open unto us effectual
doors. And thirdly, it has to do with
reason and persuasion. And so he continues in Colossians
1 and verse 12, saying, giving thanks unto the Father which
hath made us meet, giving us the ability to be partakers of
the inheritance of enlightened saints. To have light and to
know light, to recognize it, believe it, trust in it, walk
in it, to have light, that's one of the greatest privileges
there is, and that's what this salvation's all about. Every
good gift, every perfect gift, cometh down from where? The Father
of lights. He illuminates. When He makes
us meet, He makes us meet to be partakers of light. And it's
called here our inheritance. The inheritance of the saints who hath delivered us. See the
next verse? who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness, translated us unto the kingdom of his dear
Son." Now the word translate, you can go through all the linear
work and study the word and on and on, but I like to interpret
words textually. I like to look at it as he's
using it in the text. And most of the time he sheds
a lot of light on those linear explanations. But the word translate
here is to take something you could not understand and put
it into such words that you can understand. Ignorance and darkness
and blindness are all used to describe the mind of this world. In Ephesians 4, he says, don't
walk like other Gentiles walk. How do they walk? In the vanity
of their mind. Their minds, they have wrong
thoughts, they have vain thoughts, they're deceived. They walk in
the vanity of their minds, now watch this, having their understanding
darkened. People get offended when you
tell them that they're without understanding, but that's what
he says, there's none that understand it. What you mean I can't understand? I know at least something about
the language. I can perceive something that's
being taught. No, no you don't. It's just right over your head. And he tells you why. Being alienated
from the life of God through the ignorance that's in them
because of the blindness of their heart. And then he says this,
but you have not so learned That wisdom from above has not
yet entered into your way of thinking. You've not so learned Christ,
if so be you have heard him and have been taught by him as the
truth is in him. And by way of this work in us,
we put off concerning our former behavior, the old man, the fallen
man, the ruined man, the dead man, the natural man, the carnal
man, the cursed man, the wretched man, and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind. That's what has to take place. The whole scope of our thinking
has to change. It has to change. And that change
is brought about through understanding who Christ is. And that's where
the gospel goes. I don't care what you're talking
about. If you want to talk about communion, we're going to talk
about Christ. If you want to talk about sanctification,
we're going to talk about Christ. Because there is no wisdom in
any of these things apart from Him. If you want to talk about
a local assembly, we're going to have to talk about Christ.
That local assembly is just a part of His body. If you want to talk
about marriage, we're going to have to talk about Christ. If you lack wisdom, in what? In everything. Everything you
do. And we do lack wisdom. Let him
ask from God. And He'll give it to him. And
this wisdom is in Christ. And I'll say this, everything
about God is a mystery. Paul said that the believers,
the believer. He that is spiritual, that's
what he's talking about, the believer, this man who's received
this wisdom from above. He that is spiritual understandeth
all things. That wisdom unlocks the mystery. Yet he himself is understood
of no man. Now why do you Why do you believe
that way? Nobody else does. So you're saying
you're the only one that's right and the whole rest of the world
is wrong. How many times have I heard that? We're understood
by nobody. Nobody understands us. Because
they don't have that wisdom. That wisdom. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have
the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ. The very
image of God created in the mind of faith. You see, the fixed-up
man is not the object of faith. My whole life I was told that.
You need to stop doing this. You need to start doing this.
And that's all true enough. You don't pray enough. You don't
read enough. Yeah, I know. I know. I'm aware of it. But
the fixed-up man is not the object of faith. The object of faith
is the perfect man. Well, now, old wretched man that
I am, the perfect man. Faith brings us into the unity
of vision by the knowledge of the Son of God, now listen to
this, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ. That's the object of faith. The
perfect man is accepted of God. The perfect man is blessed of
God. The perfect man is loved of God. But I'm not perfect, but I am
in Him. You see, that's what faith is.
Faith keys in on this wisdom from above. John wrote, Beloved, now are
we the sons of God. And it does not yet appear what
we shall be. Religion is always telling me
what I ought to be. God said we ain't got a clue
what we're going to be. That's how far under we are. It does not yet appear what we
shall be. That is as far as examining ourselves. But we know that when He shall
appear, we'll be like Him. We'd be like him. And every man
that had that hope in him purifies himself. And that's not talking
about I quit drinking and I quit smoking. That's not what that's
talking about. When he's talking about purifying
himself, he's talking about purifying how you think. That's what he's
talking about. Purifying your faith. Getting
that ungodly mixture out of it. Getting this fleshly reasoning
out of it. focusing on Him. He's not talking about us looking
like Him, as He was in the flesh, or all being the same age. He's
talking about our hearts and minds and our attitude and spirit.
The only thing our Lord's flesh symbolized was our flesh. It
says, For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through
the flesh, God sending His own Son, now listen to this, in the
likeness of sinful flesh, condemn sin and afflict. And what I'm laboring to do here
this morning is for us to see this wisdom from above and to
see where it comes from and how it's discerned. And this wisdom,
this wisdom of Christ, is that enlightening wisdom that delivers
us from the power of darkness and translates us into the kingdom
of God, makes it understandable makes it seem possible. It's the wisdom of God in Christ,
and it's what faith is all about. And no matter what the trouble
is, Christ is the answer. He's the answer. And if any of
you lack wisdom, let him ask of God to give it to all men
liberally. And James tells us in verse 17
that God is the Father of lights, and therefore the giver of every
good and perfect gift. And by way of these gifts begat
he us with the word of truth. Now this miraculous work of God
is going to be tried. It's going to be tried. And God
will have the glory of this work and not man. And while we reason
of what we hear and make certain conclusions, we realize that it's God who
works in us. I do believe. Help thou my own
belief. But I know the faith that I have,
it's the gift of God. It's not something I come up
with. And God will arrange a certain circumstance in a way of that
arrangement. He'll prove that our faith is
His work in us. He's going to prove it. He's
going to prove it. And how's He going to do it?
Well, He's going to enable us to discern this work aright. And it requires wisdom from above. Where do we lack wisdom? Everywhere. Everywhere. In true saving faith,
in our daily walk with God, in our house, in our children, in
our daily struggle with sin, in our trials and temptations.
We lack this wisdom everywhere, and here in James 1.5, he's talking
about a wisdom needed to patiently endure the trial of faith. We
hear the gospel, we believe it, and we repent of our sins and
turn to God from our idols, and we submit to his rule, and by
way of his commandment, we're baptized. God doesn't ask men to be baptized. He commands you. He commands
you. We submit to His rule and by
way of commandment we're baptized, confessing faith in Christ to
the world. And generally things go smooth
for a little while. Don't they? Huh? Man believes
on Christ and boy, everything. like a bed of roses. All the
problems are solved. And then God arranges a situation
to try our faith. And being the author and finisher
of our faith, he knows how to try it. He knows when to try
it, and he knows why. And all of a sudden, we find
ourselves in a quandary. See, we thought we had strong
faith. That's what we thought. That's what we told ourselves,
like whistling in a cemetery. I got it, I got it, I got this,
I can handle this. We thought we had strong faith,
solid faith, faith to overcome anything, but now we're in need
of wisdom. To do what? To do what? To discern the situation, first
of all. Is this persecution? Is this
chastisement? Or is this a trial of faith?
Or maybe a mixture of all three? The if here, I'm not questioning
the inspiration of the scripture. Please don't tell folks I'm doing
that. I'm not. But the if here seems
almost out of place. It's like that passage over in
1 John 2 and 1, he said, if any man sin. First time I read that,
I thought, man, that ought to read when, not if. But we can take it either way. If any man lack wisdom, oh, you
lack wisdom. We all do. And we all struggle with wisdom
to discern the will and way of God in this world, and that's
why we gather and hear the teaching of God's Word and hear the gospel
on a regular basis. And if we lack such wisdom, Let
a man ask of God who can and does give such wisdom to all,
that is, all who ask him and ask him are right. But, uh-oh, here's the hurdle. Let him ask in faith. Nothing
wavering. What's faith? I just spent three
quarters of my message telling you what faith was. It's looking
to Christ, resting in Christ, walking in Him, bowing to Him,
submitting to Him. He's everything. He's all. Can
you ask God for this in that respect without wavering? He's not talking here. Let Him
ask in faith, not only in faith of His divine being, but in his
promises to us in Christ, in his power and faithfulness to
perform what we're asking, in his will and purpose to do what
you ask him to do. Is what I'm asking him according
to his will? Because if it's not, it's not
in his outline of prayer. Not my will, but thy will be
done. That's how we talk to God. It's in His will and purpose
to do what you ask Him to do and that we ask such a thing
for His glory and not ours. Ask in faith. Nothing wavering. We're not to waver in this thing
asked for. All that wavering needs to take
place before we talk to God. We need to settle all that wavering
business before we ask God for wisdom. And we're not to waver
concerning God's ability to perform what we're asking Him for. He's able to do abundantly more
than we ask, and usually does. And we shouldn't be wavering
as to His faithfulness to keep His promises. And a wavering
man or woman is like in the waves of the sea. The wind blows out
there on that vast ocean, waves go every which way. They have no certain destination,
just whichever way the wind blows, that's the way they go. The wavering
man and woman, he's like in the waves of the sea, blown about
with every wind of doctrine. Well, I believe this, but will
you believe it or not? Is Jesus The Christ? But. No. No, there ain't no but. And when it comes to faith in
Christ, there's no but. Blown to bat. He tells us to
be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness
whereby they lie and wait to deceive. Is this talking about
big deceptions? Well, it's talking about big
deceptions. It's talking about little deceptions. This man that Peter talks about
that's going to creep in unawares, he's not going to come in with
a big deception. They wouldn't let him in the
door. He's going to come in and sit for a little while, and then
all of a sudden he's going to introduce something little. and then it's going to grow,
and like a cancer, it's going to eat away at the body of Christ. Let him ask in faith, in true
faith, faith given to him of God, sound faith, faith in God
and in his Son, and God will give him the will to be asked
for. Now let me say this, and we'll continue our subject next
week for the will. What we ask for, we need to look
for. And many times you bowed your
head and said some words and went about your business. What
you ask for, you need to look for. What faith asks for, it
looks for. How's that verse going? Let me
back up here just a page or two and I'll read it to you. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time. Unto them that look for him.
What we ask for, we look for. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the word of the Lord, and to ask God for wisdom and ignore
the means of it. is what he calls here a double-minded
man. And that's what we're going to
get into next week, this double-minded man. You close your eyes and
pray for wisdom and then grab your fishing pole and head for
the lake. Don't we? Exactly what we do. Oh God, give me wisdom to get
through this trial. And then we hook up the tamper
and head for the woods. That's not how it's done. That's
a double-minded man. One mind is on this world and
all of its comforts and pleasures and potential, and the other
mind is on Christ and salvation and deliverance from hell and
sin. That's a double-minded man. And
he said, don't do that. Don't do that. That's fatal.
That's fatal. Now, if a man lacks wisdom, that's
one thing. But to ask of God with a double
mind, oh, that's fatal. That's fatal. And that man, he's
not going to receive anything. Let not that man think that he's
going to receive anything of the Lord. That's what he said. May the Lord help us. I want
in these studies not just to stand up here and fill in time
so we can say, well, we had a Sunday school. I want us to learn. I want to learn. I want you to
learn. And I hope what I'm saying will go home to you and be used
with God to teach you and teach myself as well. All right, thank
you.