Good morning church, I am Awung Zimik, I am one of the pastors at Gathering community church, warm greetings to all of you in the worthiest name of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.
It is truly a joy and delight to connect you at this beautiful moment.
Thank you so much for taking out your time, I pray that you all will be richly blessed as we spent time together in the presence of God.
I hope all of you are safe and bless out there.
For those of you who connect us
for the first time, I wanna let you know that we are going through the book of
James under the theme “FAITH IN ACTION”.
Last Sunday we heard a sermon
from bro Elijah from James 1:2-4.
Focusing on “why does God allow trials.” The answer is in verse 3 and 4.
3 Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be Mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Today we shall continue James 1:5-8
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
I want to entitle my sermon as “Seeking God’s wisdom”
What is wisdom?
The Bible teaches us that wisdom comes from
above but it begins with the fear of the Lord,
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,(Prov 9:10).
The dictionary defines wisdom as “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.”
The Greek concept of wisdom
centre’s around “knowledge,” Cleverness, and learnedness.
In biblical usage, it is a practical, moral,
and spiritual insight given by God.
(1 Kings 3:7-9, Pro.2:3-6, 10-19,
9:1-6).
It is the ability to discern
right from wrong and good from evil. It is the power that enables a person to
do and say the right thing at the right time.
“Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it. Wisdom is, in fact, the practical side of moral goodness. As such, it is found in its fullness only in God. He alone is naturally and entirely and invariable wise.”
J I Packers (Evangelical theologian)
Where do we find wisdom?
We won’t
find wisdom in spiritual gurus teaching, books, internet, we won’t find in
leaders of the world or favourite talk show host. There is only one source for
wisdom.
Wisdom
is from God alone. “Wisdom belongs to God”. Job 12:13.
Why do we need God’s wisdom in our life?
The purpose of wisdom is to give
insight for our living, that our days may not be wasted and lived fully for an
eternal purpose; avoiding
regret and living without guilt from choices bathed in wisdom. Wisdom guides how we live and grants joy to those who live by
it.
- God’s wisdom will help you to make good and right choices in life.
Proverb 3:21- 23.
Keep sound wisdom and discretion, so they will be life to
your soul, and adornment to your neck. Then you will walk in your way securely
and your foot will not stumble.
We take lots and lots of
decision in life, many a times we are confused which is the better and which is
the will of God, God promise that in such difficulties His wisdom will help us
to take right decision.
- God’s wisdom will give you favour before God and man.
Pro.3:4. So you will find
favour and good success in the sight of God and man.
Pro. 8:35. For those who find me (wisdom) find life and
receive favour from the Lord.
If God favour is in your life,
in your job, in your married life, in your business, and in your family, you
will live a successful, peaceful and victorious life.
- God’s wisdom will give you long days and years and peaceful life.
Proverb.3:2. For the length of days and years of life and
peace, they will add to you.
When God’s wisdom leads you,
you will live a long and peaceful life.
- God’s wisdom brings abundant blessings in our life.
Proverb 8:18-21. Says.
18With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and
prosperity.
19 My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses
choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of
justice,
21 bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their
treasuries full.
- God’s wisdom from above is perfect.
James 3:17 says
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace-loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favouritism and is always sincere.
Today we shall focus on two very important points under the topic: Seeking God’s wisdom
From
James 1:5-8.
Here is
our first point.
1. Seeking with genuine heart
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom,
you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and
it will be given to you.
This means that even if you are an imperfect person, which
we all are, He will give you wisdom if you ask for it. Moreover, not only will
he give it to you. He will do so generously.
Church there are many
Christians who are lacking wisdom, you know the problem doesn’t lie with God,
we know that He gives generously to all, without finding fault.”
So the problem lies in us,
that we are not asking for wisdom with an attitude that pleases God.
Proverbs 2:6 says.
“For the LORD gives wisdom and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding”.
Wisdom
belongs to God, He created it, if we desire wisdom we must go to Him to get it.
Illustration:
When God offered king Solomon anything he wanted, what did
Solomon ask for?
If God were to come to you and offer to give you anything
you wanted, what would you ask for? Money, power, long healthy life on earth?
Solomon asked God for wisdom! Solomon knew he would need
wisdom to carry out the task of ruling that he had been called to.
God was pleased with what he asked so, along with the gift
of wisdom, God gave Solomon which he did not asked ie. Riches and all other
blessings to go along with wisdom.
Beloved, God is eager to give this gift to you; you just
need to ask.
God is a generous God: He is willing to give generously to
everyone who ask.
Romans 8:31. He who did not spare
his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with
him, graciously give us all things?
Matthew 7:7-11
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Let us always remember the
goodness of our heavenly Father and ask His wisdom in our daily life, so that
we will know His perfect will and live this life for His glory.
Beloved church the world we
are living is a battlefield.
Life is very hard, every day we have to fight against sin; we have to fight against our enemy (devil), we face big giants every day; we face challenges and hardship at our workplace, at home and all around us.
In order to fight this tough life battle, we need Gods wisdom.
In this confusing and chaotic
world, what we need most is God’s wisdom.
God’s wisdom is the only way to get through this life, we
need the gift of wisdom to be able to navigate through the difficulties of life
on this earth successfully. Let’s make it a priority to gain as much as we can.
- Consequences of neglecting wisdom from God
When you do not know the value
of wisdom, it will be easy for you to reject it.
Wisdom is the one thing that
you should never reject.
When you reject Wisdom, you
are subconsciously inviting pain to enter your life.
Proverbs 4:7 teaches us, “Wisdom is the principal thing.” Wisdom
is the most important thing on the earth because without it you are unable to
be productive, progressive, happy, healthy, contented and prosperous and so on.
Christian author Fountain
Hendricks in one of his articles, explain the consequences of rejecting God’s
wisdom in a profound way. He says,
If we reject wisdom.
- Failing is must: When you do not have the Wisdom about how to do things CORRECTLY, ACCURATELY and RIGHTEOUSLY you will constantly fail because you are not equipped to succeed. Wisdom empowers you to know the difference between right & wrong.
- Poverty will come to your life: The curse of rejecting Wisdom is poverty according to Proverbs 13:18. You cannot get around it and you cannot avoid it.
- We will live a Confusing Life: When you reject wisdom you will have a hard time figuring out what to do, where to go, who to trust and etc. because Wisdom gives you CLARITY and VISION.
- We waste PRECIOUS TIME: People who reject Wisdom will waste time doing things that do not matter, that is unimportant and that are irrelevant because they do not have the ability to DISCERN what is meaningful.
- Rejecting God’s wisdom will lead to Miserable life.
Wisdom brings happiness according to Ecclesiastes 8:1. When
you reject Wisdom, misery will be your portion because you have refused to
accept the key that unlocks everything that is good.
Do not ignore the voice of
Wisdom. Take heed to the teachings! Apply them into your life so that you can
avoid going through unnecessary pain. People who do not know about the
consequences of rejecting Wisdom will always become a victim to the
consequences.
Church let us not reject.
Application:
When is the last time you ask
for God’s wisdom?
Are you navigating your life
with God’s wisdom?
If God offers you to ask anything right now? Would you like to ask God like King Solomon? Lord give me wisdom.
Let us remember our text. James 1:5. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask
God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be
given to you.
- Seeking
with genuine faith. (James 1:6,7,8).
6 But he must ask in faith, without
doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and
tossed by the wind.
7 That person should not expect
to receive anything from the Lord.
8 Such a person is
double-minded and unstable in all they do.
We have to ask God for wisdom
in two ways,
- By faith
- By single-mindedness
Faith is essential in approaching God, because as Hebrew 11:6, says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
You must believe that He
personally cares for you and He is able to give you the wisdom that you need to
endure your trial with His joy.
Remember faith involves trust
in God’s character, trust in God’s Word, and time. When it comes to faith, we
are looking for something that we can’t see with our eyes just yet.
Hebrew
11:7-11 gives us some great examples of having faith in God.
7. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith.
8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place, which he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
11.By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
All of those blessings came by faith. And James tells us
that Godly wisdom comes by asking God in faith. Without faith, we are tossed
back and forth. Without faith, we weave around in all directions. Without
faith, we are two-faced and miserable.
A.T. Robertson said that without faith, “We are like the donkey that
starved to death, because it couldn’t decide which stack of hay to eat.”
Matthew 17:20.
Truly, I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Remember Church,
The root of unbelief is because of double-mindedness. The person who doubts God is not committed to obeying God, His heart is not fully surrendered to do God’s will. He is curious about God’s wisdom. He is not committed to do if it involves suffering and inconveniences.
That person, James said,
“Ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord.”(1:7)
We know Jesus didn’t perform miracles in His home town Nazareth? Why? because of their doubt and unbelief.
In the same way, if you have
doubt and unbelief in your heart you won’t receive anything from Him.
Verse 8 says they are double-minded and unstable in all their ways, this offers pictures of a person who is drunk and is staggering from side to side along the road.
Have you ever tried to give a
drunk person some wisdom while they were drunk?
It doesn’t work well, and God
will not impart wisdom to me if you and I are unstable in all our ways.
Illustration: In Genesis 18 & 19, we find a story of the destruction of “Sodom and Gomorrah”
The angel of the Lord warn lot family to run and not to turn back but Lot wife love their wealth and she turns back and she was turned into a pillar of salt. Actually, God was rescuing them and taking them to better place but because of her double-minded act, she perish.
If we are double-minded we will get nothing, if we are double-minded we will be unstable in all our ways.
Conclusion:
Beloved, the wisest decision you will ever make in your life is to put
your trust in Christ.
Because He is our saviour, He came and sacrifice His life for you and
me, and when we Repent our sins to Him and receive Him as Lord and saviour, He
will forgive all our sins and He will give us a brand new life.
Putting our trust in Christ Because Christ is the source of all wisdom.
Col.2: 3. says. “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge”.
Let us Come to Jesus!” because in him “hid all the treasures of
wisdom”.
To reject Christ is the most foolish thing a person could ever do.
Let us always remember that Jesus is
the fullness of God’s wisdom.
Jesus
Christ is the wisdom of God.
“To know and love and follow Jesus is to own the treasure of ultimate and eternal happiness.”
John Piper
Finally Beloved,
let us use God’s given wisdom for the glory of God and for the good of
others. If wisdom is not exercised then wisdom ceases to be. However, the
very nature of wisdom instructs your heart to use your insights, your
discernment, your discretion, your vision to fulfil God’s will and to
demonstrate his marvellous work.
Church we have meditated together on 2 very important points under the topic
Seeking God’s wisdom.
- Seeking
with genuine Heart. (Let us genuinely ask God’s wisdom, He has promise that He
will generously give to all of us).
- Seeking
with genuine Faith. (Let us ask God’s wisdom with genuine faith and not with
double minded heart)
May God richly bless you with
Heavenly wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
May you use God’s wisdom for His
fame and Glory.
May the LORD bless you and keep you,
May the LORD make His face shine on
you and give you peace.
Amen.
