Mr. D's Notes on James
Chapter two James 1.5-8
Copyright 2006
Rev. Stanley L. Derickson Ph.D.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that
giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
If you lack wisdom, ask for some. Ask God because He
gives liberally. Don't refrain to ask, fearing reproach, because God does not
reproach. Wisdom will be the result of your request.
Very simple terms and they are easy to understand. You
can ask God freely because there will be no reproach from God. Ever have a
parent or teacher or a boss that when you asked a question, they made you feel
like a stupid dunce? This will not happen with God, He has all wisdom, and He
loves to share that wisdom, so why would He look down on anyone that is asking
for it. Indeed, is not asking, wisdom?
Reproach is not something a good boss uses, it is not a
good teaching method and it is certainly not a good parenting method. We might
even mention how husbands and wives relate to one another - if one doesn't know
something it is not a reproach, it is that he or she does not know something.
There is nothing wrong with not knowing, but it is wrong to not seek answers.
In the context we have just been speaking of being joyful
in trials - if you don't know how to accomplish this then ask God for wisdom in
how to deal with those trials.
Note, "if any of you" is the qualifier. Not all
will need wisdom, some may and others may not - again being in either group
does not make you better or worse than the other. Some of us are way too wise
in how we speak. We need to curtail such "wisdom" and keep our
spiritual life straight.
One thing you will learn if you study wisdom in the Bible
is that wisdom is from God - true wisdom that is - there are all sorts of
wisdom, but proper wisdom comes from God and His Word.
Let's look at wisdom for a moment so we can be sure we
know what it is. There are a number of terms that will help us gain knowledge
of what wisdom is.
PERCEPTION is that which allows us to recognize what is
around us.
KNOWLEDGE is that perception of what is around you, and
what exists. It is an awareness of all that the world is.
COMPREHENSION: Comprehension is the capacity of the mind
to understand that information that our knowledge allows us.
UNDERSTANDING is comprehending what we perceive and
apprehend.
INTELLIGENCE is that power of the mind to consider, and
think and begin to use all this knowledge.
WISDOM is that ability to use all of these other things
in a proper and judicious manner to come to conclusions about all that we
perceive and know.
PERCEPTION is seeing a ten-dollar bill on the ground.
COMPREHENSION is knowing it is a ten and not a one. Intelligence is knowing
you'd better grab it before the man behind you UNDERSTANDS what you are doing.
UNDERSTANDING is what the man behind you doesn't have when you pick it up for
you see it belongs to him. KNOWLEDGE is when you know he is six foot five and
two hundred and eighty pounds. WISDOM is returning the ten to the huge man that
is towering over you.
Trials are self-equipped with an answer when God sends
them our way. We have only to ask for His wisdom and act upon that answer. The
Word tells us that there is no trial that God does not provide a way for us to
survive. He will not overburden us to the point that we fail. We may feel like
He has, but He will not do such a thing to one of His children. I Cor. 10.13
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God
[is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to
bear [it]."
And in case you feel all alone in your trials, know that
others have gone before you with terrible problems, so find some consolation in
this passage. Hebrews 11.36 "And others had trial of [cruel] mockings and
scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they
were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about
in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom
the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and [in] mountains, and
[in] dens and caves of the earth."
I Peter 4.12-13 speaks to the context of joy in trials.
"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try
you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch
as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be
revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."
The purpose of trials can be seen in I Peter 1.7
"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"
We were between colleges years ago and we had about half
the needed money to register for the coming semester. We felt that we should go
on a cash basis, and since the Lord had supplied the money we had through a
generous gift we felt we should wait for the other half or not register. I
stewed over it and prayed over the situation and one night as I slipped into
bed I just ask the Lord to give us the answer to what seemed to be an
impossible question. Bingo, a few moments later it came to my mind to register
for a half load that semester and see what came along the next semester.
This half semester turned out five years later to be
credits that allowed me to take a partial load at a time when I was working
full time and going to college full time would have been impossible.
It is not
insignificant that anyone that believes can ask for wisdom. The pastor, nor the
missionary, nor the board member has a corner on gaining God's wisdom. All
believers have this freedom to ask and to receive the wisdom that they need for
this life's journey.
We all know the wisdom of Solomon in deciding which of
the mothers belonged to the live baby, and it is this same wisdom of God that
is available to us if we only take a moment to ask of Him.
He will give it in abundance. The term used here means
all that is needed, totally adequate to the need. You never need to worry that
He won't send an adequate amount to get you through the problems.
Treat your wife, children or employees as God treats you
in this area. God will not reproach you for asking. Can you ever imagine Him
answering your request with a retort such as we give to others? "Act like
a Christian stupid! I've never seen anybody so dumb in all my eternity. Even
your brother isn't that dumb!" Not so - never will it be that He answers
us as we probably have answered others.
One must wonder why so many pastors are spending so much
time in counseling sessions with people involved in broken lives, messed up
parenting situations and job problems. Most of it is that the people aren't
seeking God for wisdom and they are running their lives off into problems.
I'm not saying you should not go to your pastor if you
have problems, but asking God might be quicker and it will be totally based on
the Word and not what the pastor thinks or has read in a self help book.
My wife has told me of some of the Christian counseling
sessions that believers she works with go through. They sound like they are
right out of O magazine, or the Oprah show. Flaky at best, downright unbiblical
at worst.
God's wisdom is in keeping with His Word and it is
perfect, why bother with the lesser of options?
6 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.
Ask in faith without doubt might be the thought of the
text. Wavering means to doubt or as a wave of the arm, might indicate turning
from one end of the spectrum to the other. This is not faith; this is totally
with doubt. Asking with faith is asking with the steadfastness of the pointer
hunting dog that varies not from his position once he has found the quarry.
Faith simply is that quality of our mind that allows us
to believe without a doubt that God will do as He has said. If you ask for
wisdom with a "hope" that you will get it, you are wavering. If you
ask with little hope of getting it, you are also wavering. Ask with confidence,
the confidence that Almighty God, the creator of all that there is has promised
to give you wisdom.
The "driving" and the "tossing" are
verbs that have action from without. The winds drive and toss the man that
wavers in His request of the Lord. He is like a wave - this is a perfect tense,
something that is and always will be this way. If you ask wavering, you are the
type that is driven as a wave in the sea. You will be driven whatever way the
wind desires, and you will have no control.
Faith is illustrated by the Lord in Matthew 17.20
"...if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this
mountain, move from here to yonder place; and it shall move; and nothing shall
be impossible unto you."
Quite a mouthful even for the Lord Jesus. Move a mountain
by faith! Some would scoff at such a principle. Indeed, some did when Christ
said it. Luke gives the other side of the story when he tells of the other
people’s reaction. Luke 9.43 "And they were all astonished at the mighty
power of God." One might observe that they were astonished, but the
indication is that they believed it His power.
Faith is a powerful tool of the believer if we will only
use it.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any
thing of the Lord.
The one that wavers will receive nothing from the Lord.
This is a blanket statement of fact; if you waver, you are out of luck. Why?
The faith is faulty.
It isn't that we all have complete and perfect faith; but
that we use what faith we have in a complete manner.
8 A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.
The one that wavers is double minded. He has two minds
when he asks. God won't do that for me. God will do that for me. No, God won't
do that for me. Well, maybe God will do that for me. There is no stability in
this sort of mind. When we ask, know that the answer is on the way and that God
will do exactly what He has said.
This is just another type of man which wavers in his
life. He says one thing and lives another. You can't plan on his talk and
actions being the same. This is one that is wayward either by personality or by
choice.
This reminds me of a politician. While out getting votes
he or she says one thing, but when they have gotten your vote and have been
elected they begin doing the other thing - that thing they wanted to do in the
first place, but had to make you think something else so they could get
elected.
Peter resembles these thoughts. He was totally committed
to the Lord, yet denied him when he had opportunity to stand for Him. Not
unlike some of the rest of us, but then Peter found the more complete faith and
ended up being one of the leaders of the church.
God has us in a growing pattern. Trials bring about
growth in the area of our faith.
APPLICATION:
1. The Life Application Bible correctly notes that wisdom
from God is the knowledge of what God wants us to do in a given situation. It
does not mean that He is going to make the decision, it does not mean that He
is going to provide the way (though He may) and it does not mean that you won't
have to do some things to cure the situation.
If you ask for wisdom, He will give it, but then it is up
to you to do the rest to bring the situation to a good conclusion.
We were asked to fill the pulpit in a little church that
had just rid themselves of a shyster. I had prepared for an evening service as
well as the morning, but they asked if they could have a devotional for after
the
The study was on the qualities of a pastor as opposed to
the qualifications of a pastor that most churches usually look through when
seeking a new man. The devotional time went well and the people seemed very
responsive.
After finishing I prayed and relaxed in my chair. One of
the women almost immediately blurted out, "But how can we find someone
like that?" It was clear that their former pastor was not of this quality.
I talked with them at some length about selecting a pastor.
They seemed to want a quality man in their church, but in a few weeks they had
hired a man that was far from quality and they were regretting their double
mindedness within months. They had heard the standard, they had decided to wait
for a man that lived up to that standard, but then accepted the first man to
come along, settling for a lesser standard than they had originally set. They
had the talk but did not have the walk. They said they wanted a quality man,
but they were not willing to wait for him to be supplied by God in His time.
2. Another way of viewing the double minded person is
that the person's allegiance is split between himself or herself and God the
Spirit and His control.
They want to run their life, but they want God to run
their life. This won't work. Kind of like the driver wanting to drive the car,
and the passenger wanting to drive the car - both with hands on the wheel
trying to make the car go the way they want to go.
We can't control our life when we have asked God to control
it. If we ask for wisdom, we need to receive it and use it. If we don't want
wisdom, we shouldn't ask. If we are going to do it ourselves, we shouldn't ask.
3. It is of import that James, the great man of prayer
that he was, would open his book with such a requirement as faith. Prayer is
based totally on faith, and it is faith that makes prayer work. No faith, no
answered prayer.
Faith is a vital portion in the Christian life. Without
it you can do little, and with a little faith you can do more, but you are
still limited.
Imagine having a man like James as part of the church
leadership in your church. A man that prays so much his knees are hard like a
camel - a man that knows just what faith is in the believer’s life. That is the
kind of leader we need today in our churches, not the bunch that prays five or
six minutes a day and watches several hours of television the same day.
4. The overall theme of James seems to center around
believers getting their lives straight before God.
Is there a better place to start on this job than faith
and how to live by that faith? How can a believer begin in the Christian life
if they do not understand that we must be single-mindedly men and women of
faith? Without faith we will not be able to do anything much for our God and
Savior. Faith is the gas that our motors run on.
The Lord told the disciples that if they had a little
faith, they could move mountains. I personally think we underestimate the power
of faith and prayer in our materialistic world. We have so much we don't have
to worry about faith; we can buy it, pay for it, or acquire it by ourselves
without the need of taking time for prayer.
Years ago Trans-World Radio was building a new facility
and they were pouring a large slab of concrete for some of the heavy equipment
to rest on. The slab was very important to the site and the perfection of the
slab was also highly critical. They knew that if it rained the slab would be
ruined and they would have to tear it out and pour it again at great expense.
Much prayer had been made by people around the mission
and around the world.
One of the mission leaders was to fly in to watch the
work being done. As his plane took off they ran into rain storms immediately
and the entire trip was the same. The official knew that the workmen were in
deep trouble with this sort of weather.
As the plane approached the work site, the clouds cleared
and for a mile or two around the site the sun was shining - as it did until the
work was done and the cement was safe. God is able if we will only ask.
We need to understand that there are some prerequisites
for this sort of prayer - you have to be on praying ground. God told Moses to
take off his sandals before approaching, can we do any less. We need to be in holy
array before we venture into His presence. We need to confess our sins and we
need to know in our heart that God is in the venture about which we are about
to pray. James mentions the prayer of faith that heals; this seems to be a
prayer that is offered with a complete faith that the prayer will be answered.
Don't go before God with a lot of um's and ah's and if
You will's and expect great things.
5. I Cor. 1.24 has an interesting fact relating to God's
wisdom. "24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God, and the wisdom of God."
Since God is also wise and powerful we are left to assume
that this passage suggests that the power and wisdom that we have available to
us may come from Christ. Christ is the wisdom of God. When we ask God for
wisdom, it isn't a great stretch to suggest that we are asking to be Christ
like in our thinking.
6. James uses the tossing to and fro of the waves to
illustrate this double mindedness. Have you ever seen an empty bottle in the
ocean? It bobs and twists and goes this way and that way but never seems to
have any sure direction, while if you have ever watched an ocean going ship as
it sails and cuts its way through the sea. There is nothing that can deter it
from its course, it is set on a course and it does not waver unless there is a
course change that will take it to its destination.
When I was in the Navy, we entered into a Typhoon (a
hurricane in the
So it is with the believer, we must have our course set
and not waver from it.
As a side note to this thought, if we are committed to
Christ, if we have committed to serve and follow Him, then we will have that
course set, we will be on target and nothing will keep us from it. On the other
hand if we are with Christ in the morning after devotions, then decide to go
our own way a few minutes later, then decide we are again on his side, then on
the other then.... you get the picture - how can we hope to ask and receive?
How can we hope to be on track, how can we hope to come to the final
destination that God wants?
Walking in the Spirit is the only sure way of requesting
wisdom and expecting to gain it from God. We must walk with Him in an ongoing
manner lest we be like an empty bottle going nowhere.
7. Constable suggests that wisdom is seeing life in a
proper perspective - from God's view point. I tend to like that, but I think it
is more also. If Constable means all of the details of decisions and choices, I
would tend to agree. However, if he means only an over view of life from Gods
perspective - I think that thought is lacking what wisdom really is.
I can have a good overall view of life with God's
perspective, but need wise mental faculties to work through the intricacies of
the many decisions we face in life.
Constable is correct, in my mind, to picture this wisdom
as relating to all of life, while some seem to relate it only to the specific
context at hand - wisdom in a proper understanding of trials and how to be
joyful. Contextually, yes that is the thought, but the thought of wisdom is
much wider than that as well.
Barnes seems to agree "Probably this refers particularly to the kind of wisdom which they would need in their trials, to enable them to bear them in a proper manner; for there is nothing in which Christians more feel the need of heavenly wisdom than in regard to the manner in which they should bear trials, and what they should do in the perplexities, and disappointments, and bereavements that come upon them: but the language employed is so general, that what is here said maybe applied to the need of wisdom in all respects."