Tag: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Will The Cross Open Wide Our Eyes Too? The Centurion’s Unexpected Confession: His Declaration Of Jesus’ Innocence. Luke 23:44-49

Luke 23:44-49 Amplified Bible

44 It was now about the sixth hour (noon), and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), 45 because the sun was [a]obscured; and the veil [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was [b]torn in two [from top to bottom]. 46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!” Having said this, He breathed His last. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he began praising and honoring God, saying, “Certainly this Man was innocent.” 48 All the crowds who had gathered for this spectacle, when they saw what had happened, began to return [to their homes], beating their breasts [as a sign of mourning or repentance]. 49 And all His acquaintances and the women who had accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, watching these things.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

It was to become the Greatest Injustice in the History of Mankind.

As Prophesied by Jesus Himself three times to His Disciples.

Betrayed, Falsely Accused, a Bevy of False Witness testified against him.

A Kangaroo Court held in the darkest of street corners, behind locked doors.

By His own people who once declared the triumph of his life and ministry.

Pilate Himself declared his innocence, tried everything to release him alive.

But Jesus’ own people would have none of it – Crucify! Crucify! Crucify!

Beaten and Scourged and Humiliated to almost beyond recognition.

Forced to carry his own means of death.

Both Hands and Both Feet Nailed to the Cross in the most painful of ways.

Raised up for all the great gathered crowds to bear their ugliest witness to.

Ceaseless, Unrelenting Mockery and Scorn shouted and heard far and wide.

Finally, more quieted and Hushed Words are uttered and heard but by a few.

“I am Thirsty.”

“Father, Forgive them for they know not what they do.”

“It is Finished.”

“Father, into Your hands I Commend My Spirit.”

And finally, all the words come to their ends, Jesus is dead …

But into this moment when all else is suddenly hushed …

But the hushed flow of words continues from unexpected sources …

Luke 23:47 Amplified Bible

47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he began praising and honoring God, saying, “Certainly this Man was innocent.”

Who else had heard these words spoken by the Centurion, the man with the authority to command and lead others to do his bidding, the man under the even greater authority of Pilate, under ultimate authority of his Emperor.

Yes, who else heard these hushed words of the Centurion …

Luke 23:48 Amplified Bible

48 All the crowds who had gathered for this spectacle, when they saw what had happened, began to return [to their homes], beating their breasts [as a sign of mourning or repentance].

The Word of God for His Children was undoubtedly rare and and far rarer still were the Words of God for His Children to remain hush, unspoken in those days.

Now, it is two thousand some odd number of years later and we “hear” again.

Through the Word of God for His Children and Song we remembered the scene.

Good Friday has passed us by, we have returned to the comfort of our homes.

To quietly await the quiet and hushed arrival of the sunrise on Easter Morning.

In that between time, on that day of whatever comes rushing to your mind – perhaps the final rush of housework, shopping and meal preparation for the final assembly of family and friends and perhaps even your neighbors too …

Question: What happens in your heart when you think of Jesus on the cross?

Probably not too much because like most you are waiting for the Preacher to lead the morning worship and Preach their messages on Sunday morning.

A day meant for personal reflection, perhaps family devotionals is what …?

Perhaps, if you are like me and perhaps a few others who went home “beating their breasts in hushed acts of confession and reflection and repentance, it is a time of inviting the Holy Spirit to intercede into your all too hushed moments.

I guess it is too hard to spend any extra time with God (Matthew 6:6-7) to try to imagine the indescribable, immeasurable depths of injustice on Good Friday.

His suffering is especially hard to imagine during this season of the year when we are still perhaps remembering his Advent and thinking about his birth too.

Our hearts are filled with emotion – the joy, and triumph and the Glory of God, the single greatest act of God’s love and God’s Justice of all time. (John 3:16-17)

The hearts of those who witnessed the Lord’s suffering were filled with all sorts of emotions, too.

Like the Centurion’s, Does The Cross Opens Our Eyes?

Luke 23:47 Amplified Bible

47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he began praising and honoring God, saying, “Certainly this Man was innocent.”

The seasoned Roman officer handling the execution praised God and knew this man Jesus was not guilty of any crime.

The crowd went home with deep sorrow.

John and Jesus’ mother Mary and a few others stood by the Cross …

John 19:25-27 Amplified Bible

25 So the soldiers did these things.

But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, His mother’s sister [[a]Salome], [b]Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 So Jesus, seeing His mother, and the [c]disciple whom He loved (esteemed) standing near, said to His mother, “[Dear] woman, look, [here is] your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple (John), “Look! [here is] your mother [protect and provide for her]!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Most of Jesus’ friends went home in repentance or watched from a distance.

We have all of these “reactions from the ground as they look up at the Cross.”

What are we to make of them still today – in these 21st century times, seasons?

We have not understood, indeed we cannot understand the implications of the the harshness, yet also the beauty of cross unless it has changed us personally.

After Jesus “breathed his last” (Luke 23:46), Luke records for us the reactions of those who witnessed the crucifixion.

“All the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts” (v 48).

Yes, there was sadness, but once the spectacle was over, they left to get on with their lives.

Verse 49 then informs us “all his acquaintances … stood at a distance watching” —and we can barely even imagine what was running through all of their minds.

But the most striking and the most personal reaction that Luke captures is that of the Roman centurion, who, seeing what had happened, “praised God, saying, ‘Certainly this man was innocent!’”—or, as the NIV renders it, “Surely this was a righteous man.”

Here, amid the darkness of hypocritical religious leaders, cynical rulers, and callous passersby, the hushed whispers of lingerers, is a tiny glimmer of light.

Perhaps the very last person we would expect to see the truth—a man with no previous connection to Jesus, no background in Old Testament studies, and no predisposition to the things of God, just utterly obeying his Roman bosses—not only grasped what he looked at, but he immediately responded personally to it.

He saw

“what had taken place”—the words of Jesus, the darkness overhead, the manner of His death—and realized, 

Here is no ordinary man. Here is a man who is different from every other man. Here is a man who is entirely innocent, wholly righteous. 

Indeed, the Gospel narrative of Mark adds that the centurion confessed that the man on the cross was undoubtedly none other but “the Son of God” (Mark 15:39).

With his incredible and trained eye for detail, Luke places a clear emphasis on giving his readers a “from the ground up” seeing what took place on the cross.

He probably hoped that some readers would remember that when Jesus had read from the scroll of Isaiah earlier in His ministry, He had said, “The Spirit of the Lord … has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor … to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind” (Luke 4:18).

Indeed, a great theme found throughout the Gospel of Luke is that of darkness being invaded by light—the confusion and hardness of the people’s hearts and their minds being subsequently invaded by the liberating power of God’s truth.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Amplified Bible

The Wisdom of God

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God. 19 For it is written and forever remains written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise [the philosophy of the philosophers],
And the cleverness of the clever [who do not know Me] I will nullify.”

20 Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world’s wisdom? 21 For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the [a] foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior]. 22 For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy, 23  but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense], 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25  [This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].

Any attempt to articulate Christianity that denies the absolute centrality of the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the Cross can never lead to saving faith.

And while we do not always understand how the Spirit moves in leading men and women to be born again, our message must always and ever be the same:

“But We Preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23).

It is beholding the cross that brings life for anyone who responds to the man who hung there by confessing who He is and praising God for His saving work.

Unless and until the “goodness” of the cross is personal to us, it is essentially to be considered as utterly useless for us.

So, when was the last time you simply looked UP at your Savior on the cross and just walked away?

Or, when was the last time you looked DOWN at your Savior on the cross and up, just walked away into whatever else is about to rush into your hushed mind?

So, when was the last time you simply looked UP at your Savior on the cross and spent the intervening time waiting for the Easter moment and just praised God?

Which one best describes your reaction?

Don’t you find it even minimally amazing that probably the least commendable, the most hushed, the least exemplary response was that from Jesus’ friends?

In these intervening times and seasons, let’s not be just observers of the cross, but rather a people deeply sorrowed by our sins which took Jesus to OUR cross.

However, in our sorrow, let’s make sure we don’t let grief consume us.

Instead, let’s praise God for his grace and the salvation he has provided for us.

Then, rather than walking away, having been hushed by the moment, going into hiding like the fearful friends of Jesus (John 20:19),

Let’s maybe share the confession of the Centurion, and the grace of God with;

O’ Come All Ye Faithful …

Adeste Fidelis …

O’ Come Let Us Adore Him …

Venite Adoremus …

Joyful and Triumphant …

Laeti Triumphantes,

To the King of the Angels …

Regem Angelorum …

To Christ the Lord!

Dominum!

Amen!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 24 The Message

24 1-2 God claims Earth and everything in it,
    God claims World and all who live on it.
He built it on Ocean foundations,
    laid it out on River girders.

3-4 Who can climb Mount God?
    Who can scale the holy north-face?
Only the clean-handed,
    only the pure-hearted;
Men who won’t cheat,
    women who won’t seduce.

5-6 God is at their side;
    with God’s help they make it.
This, Jacob, is what happens
    to God-seekers, God-questers.

7 Wake up, you sleepyhead city!
Wake up, you sleepyhead people!
    King-Glory is ready to enter.

8 Who is this King-Glory?
    God, armed
    and battle-ready.

9 Wake up, you sleepyhead city!
Wake up, you sleepyhead people!
    King-Glory is ready to enter.

10 Who is this King-Glory?
    God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
    he is King-Glory.

Holy and Almighty God, Author of my Life, Perfecter of my Faith, my heart breaks that Jesus had to die as a sacrifice for sin … especially my sin. However, I praise you for your plan of grace, for your desire to provide mercy at the expense of your own heartbreak, and for your overwhelming love for people like me. In Jesus’ name.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Laeti Triumphantes, Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Spiritual Transformation: A Hope Filled Spiritual Mindset. 1 Peter 1:13-16

1 Peter 1:13-16 The Message

A Future in God

13-16 So roll up your sleeves, get your head in the game, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Transformation of Any Kind Takes Effort

We often prize the wonders of ability.

We prize more highly the wonders of those abilities who exceed our own and are even more highly prized are those whose abilities go far beyond everyone else’s.

But if we don’t put our abilities to work, we won’t accomplish much.

If we want change, we have to be willing to work for it.

If we don’t put in enough effort, we won’t bring about any positive change.

Authors who have written a stack of books will tell you that the secret ingredient was the effort it took to get up earlier each day to write.

Great inventors will relate the measures and degrees of “maximum” effort and commitment and dedication it took to bring an idea unto its finished product.

Sports figures will tell you to practice, practice, practice.

The Christian life is 100 percent God’s work.

The resurrection of Christ runs through our veins.

But the Christian life is also 100 percent human effort.

Apostle Peter here urges us to first prepare our minds for action.

The Greek expression here literally means to pull up one’s robe and get ready for action.

Then Peter instructs us to persevere all the way to the end through self-control.

We have to continue to be obedient to our Savior through responsible effort.

The Christian life is definitely going to be hard work from beginning to end.

The pull of the world is unquestionably significant, and will never go away.

Greater is He who is in us than who is in the world, but the pull of the world sometimes seems to be too insurmountable and our balance of thought shifts.

Keeping up and Letting down our biblical guards becomes a great struggle.

Spiritual Transformation is quite the balance act between the Word of God and word of man, and takes all our mental power, our willpower, our muscle power.

But thankfully our balance is the very Cross of our Savior and is a gift of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Amplified Bible

The Wisdom of God

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God. 19 For it is written and forever remains written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise [the philosophy of the philosophers],
And the cleverness of the clever [who do not know Me] I will nullify.”

20 Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world’s wisdom? 21 For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the [a]foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior]. 22 For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy, 23  but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense], 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25  [This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].

Three Keys to a Hope-Filled Spiritual Mindset.

1 Peter 1:13 English Standard Version

Called to Be Holy

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action,[a] and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The words in 1 Peter resound with the sound of hope.

This verse provides a three-step plan for living hope-filled lives.

Peter walks with us through the definition of hope, its nature, and how to be determined in hope.

As a follower of Christ, we live future-minded.

We govern our present choices and actions by training our minds in three areas knowing we will see Jesus face to face someday.

First, we cultivate a disciplined mind.

Outlook influences outcome, and attitude determines action.

I have to keep a source of sugar nearby because my diabetes is in constant need of close and frequent personal monitoring, regular, steady, medical attention.

Sometimes walking through this life is a little like picking up dirt and debris along the way, and soon hope gets lost in the mess.

Centering the thoughts of our minds on the message and wisdom of the Cross, and the promised return of our Savior Jesus helps us to maintain our hope.

Second, we develop a sober mind.

This means to have a steady, calm, and controlled mind by guarding what we think about or expose ourselves to.

It’s listening and obeying God’s Word through the disappointments and discouragements we face.

When we have a sober mind, we stay aware of our range of thoughts, and when hopelessness creeps in, we remind ourselves of God’s faithful, steadfast nature.

Our hope is present and future-minded, so we can strengthen it when we meditate on God’s Word and worship him, which keeps our minds steady.

Third, we pursue an optimistic mind.

“High Energy Positive” comes easily for some people.

It’s like they ooze glitter, and they sparkle.

We can look at that type of person and wonder if they understand pain exists.

As a positive person, let me assure you: I am aware of pain.

Pain has stolen my breath and turned my world dark.

But I’m also aware that God’s heart is abundantly good and trustworthy.

When our hope seems lost, and our outlook is gloomy, look up.

Find something good to focus on.

Maybe it’s the sunrise or the sound of birds singing, the greening of the trees in the coming promise of a new Spring season or your perhaps your child’s smile.

When you see it, hold onto it, lock onto it, “Fort Knox” it, and thank God for it.

Intersecting Faith and Life:

A “God” disciplined, sober, and optimistic mind creates a hope-filled spiritual mindset that allows you to experience the hope of God in the day-to-day grind of life.

We have the blessed assurance of seeing Jesus face to face in the second coming, we can see evidence of him in all our today’s as we all fix your minds upon him.

Look up at the Cross of our Savior instead of down “at your grave site” when hope just leaks from your heart, and let God bring you through to fresh hope.

When Jesus came the first time, he came to reveal God (John 1:18).

As wonderful, powerful, and gracious as he was in his earthly ministry, he did not fully reveal all who he is.

Our hope is tied to his return.

When He comes this time, He won’t come to reveal God, but to reveal himself — the conquering Lord, the Rider on the white horse.

Every knee will bow.

We will get to see him as he really and fully is — Emmanuel in power and grace, triumphant in every way.

When we set our hope on Jesus’ grace when he returns, we can be confidently ready for active service to our king today.

We can live in His hope, under his leadership with obedience and praise today.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God, the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

O Almighty God, You know exactly how much I long for the day when I get to see My Savior Jesus face to face coming with the angels in power. Until that time, fasten my heart and my thoughts in living hope to the glory Jesus will share with me on that day, and please empower me to live as one who knows that victory is mine in Jesus.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled? Praying for Wisdom | James 1:5-8

It has been suggested that a knowledge of one’s own ignorance is the beginning of wisdom and recognizing our lack of wisdom is the first prudent step towards understanding. Proverbs 1:1-7 reminds us of this truth: fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, that a knowledge of the holy brings true understanding.

Life is full of pitfalls and snares, and we often make wrong choices, but it is comforting to know that no matter what trials we may be called upon to face, or what foolish choices we have made in the past, what foolish choices we will definitely and decisively make in the future, how righteous is it to know that we can go to the Lord, ask Him for godly insight and spiritual understanding, and He has promised to give us all the wisdom we can handle, is needed for the task.

1 How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he has said,
to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

James 1:5-8 The Message

5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Do not think you are going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

A man was given a tour of heaven in a dream. As the tour ended, he noted one particular building was skipped over. The angel sternly warned that he did not want to see the inside of the building. This only heightened the man’s curiosity. The angel finally showed him. It was a building filled with beautifully wrapped presents. When the man asked what these were, the angel answered these were gifts which God had prepared for his children that were never claimed in prayer.

How many mansions does God have set aside for us? How many rooms are in all of those many mansions? How many are full? How many are empty? How many are unoccupied by God’s children but are used only as simple storehouses? If it’s one building, one mansion in heaven, storing and housing unclaimed gifts, how many boxes would contain unclaimed, unwanted gift of wisdom? When facing trials, we pray for provision, healing, strength, protection, intervention, miracles, deliverance, and so very many other things, besides God’s wisdom.

In this short passage, James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, is particularly referencing the wisdom of God we need when compassed about by the various difficulties we encounter in our everyday lives and the tough choices we are all required to make. Until Christ’s resurrection, James was at enmity with God and scornful towards his older sibling. It must have been shocking for this young man to discover that the brother whom he had treated with such contempt, during his life, was his Lord, his Savior, was the source of all the best wisdom.

This bondservant of Christ may have lacked wisdom in his earlier days but was ready to admit his folly and willing to share with us how easy it is to gain godly wisdom and spiritual understanding. James began his lesson on wisdom by pointing out that the suffering of this life produces patient endurance, which will furnish us with spiritual maturity. “However,” he continues, “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” If we do really, seriously, unreservedly, want to know how we can set our ultra-unwise selves aside, James writes.

  • Don’t ask how we entered into or exactly how can get out of our trials.
  • But PRAY! God, the Father, Son, Spirit, what we can get out of our trials?

There are times when we do not know what to do or which way to turn, and I am sure James was shocked and mortified when the resurrected Christ visited his petulant, younger brother. But James was a young man with a teachable spirit, who was quick to embrace the wisdom of faith he lacked and encourages those of us who are deficient in spiritual insight to ask the Lord for all the necessary wisdom we need – and never to doubt that God will provide for us liberally.

James also knows that trusting the Lord for godly wisdom as we travel through life… is a tool the Lord uses to test and strengthen our faith in Him, and which helps to produce in us the patient endurance that is so needful for our spiritual growth – we are reminded to stand fast in the faith unwaveringly – if we are to honor the Lord Who bought us with His precious blood, to come forth as gold.

How much we all need God’s heavenly wisdom in the tests and trials of life’s disappointments and difficulties, which are so much a part of our everyday lives. How much we need His guidance in the choices we have to make, a willingness to admit our faults, a readiness to learn the lessons God desires to teach us, and an eagerness to put into practice the truth we have learned.

James 1:1-4 The Message

1 I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello!

Faith Under Pressure

2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work, so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

James is saying, Pray for the unclaimed, unwanted, but precious gift of wisdom.

James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” This verse is a continuation of the previous paragraph. Verses 2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Then here it seems that James abruptly shifts to the subject of prayer. But the two passages are connected. The link is the word “lack.” Verse 4 says that the purpose of trials is to become “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Verse 5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.”

It is God’s will for you to become a mature Christian that lacks no good thing. But we need to grow up. But we need our trials to know how to “gird ourselves” to mature in our faith. Our faith is always going to somehow be incomplete. We consistently lack needed virtues for godly living against all situations. We can in no way predict who, what, where when and why of every exact situation. One thing we always lack is wisdom. God uses trials to expose our need for wisdom.

James 1:5-8 teaches that God freely provides wisdom to face life’s trials to those who come to him in believing prayer. Vance Havner said it well: “If you lack knowledge, go to school. If you lack wisdom, get to God on your knees!”

How do you access the wisdom you need to face life’s trials?

Ask God for Wisdom.

Verse 5 says, “If anyone of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

The Problem. Verse 5 begins: “If any of you lacks wisdom…” This conditional statement does not suggest some do not need wisdom. James states the fact in a way that requires each person to examine himself and be humble enough to confess need for wisdom. No one is perfect in wisdom! (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)

What is wisdom? In scripture, wisdom is not academic, philosophical, or intellectual. Wisdom is not knowledge. Wisdom requires knowledge. But you can have knowledge and not be wise. You can be an “over-educated fool.” Our world is truly filled with them. We live in truly the most skilled, knowledgeable, and advanced generation ever. We also live in the most profane, violent, and hedonistic generation ever. We have our knowledge. We lack God’s wisdom.

Wisdom begins with a certain kind of knowledge. Psalms 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” This knowledge of God comes through God’s self-revelation of himself in scripture. The wisdom of God is found in the word of God.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the incarnate wisdom of God. (John 1:1-5)

Colossians 2:3 says in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” When Adan and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they made fools of us all. But God sent his Son into the world to live a righteous life, die on the cross for our sins, and rise from the dead to give us new life. The gospel is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ. But saving faith does not automatically produce perfect wisdom. Jesus is the answer. That does not mean you will not have to face life’s difficult questions.

Proverbs 4:7 says, “Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.”

The Prescription. God is the source of all wisdom. To receive wisdom to face life’s trials, ask God for it. The prescription for wisdom is simple yet dynamic. You do not need time, experience, or education to be wise. The young, naive, and unlearned can ask God for wisdom. There is never a time God is unavailable.

The prescription is personal: “let him ask God.” You need godly people in your life to intercede for you. But there are things you need from God you will not receive from the intercession of others. You must ask God for yourself. If you need wisdom, you do not have only to go to your pastor, visit a counselor, inform your prayer partners, or go to your family and friends. They are 100% important. But true wisdom you need to face life’s trials is only a prayer away.

God gives. After commanding to us ask God for wisdom, James describes the character of God that makes him inclined to grant our request. God is a giving God. It is wrong to view God with clenched fists that must be pried open. God’s arms are outstretched. God’s hands are full, open, and ready to give. God’s pitcher is tilted toward his children to pour out blessings (Matthew 7:11).

God gives generously. The word “generously” means to be simple, single, or sincere. It is that which is pure. James uses the term to say God’s gifts are true gifts. Proverbs 23:1-3 says, “When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is set before you, and put a knife to you throat if you are given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.” Sometimes a person’s generosity is not genuine generosity. That is not the case with God (Romans 11:35). God gives generously, liberally, purely, sincerely, and freely.

God gives generously to all. Divine generosity is nondiscriminatory. God does not play favorites. He is no respecter of persons. In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who kept going to the marketplace to hire workers. He hired workers early in the morning. he hired workers before the end of the workday. But he chose to pay them all the same things. The early birds whined, grumbled against the landowner. The landowner responded, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me?” Indeed, God has the right to do what he wants. In his sovereign grace, he chooses to be generous to all.

God gives generously to all without reproach. You may know people who could help in your time of need. But are they the first people you want to help because of the lecture you will hear when you ask for help? You would never hear the end of it after they help. God will never chastise you for asking him for His wisdom.

  • You do not have to worry God is too busy running the world to help you.
  • You do not have to worry God may mock you for not knowing how to face life’s trials.
  • You do not have to worry God will become irritated because you ask for the same thing.

The Promise. When Solomon became king of Israel, God signed a blank check and gave it to him. In 1 Kings 3:5, God said to Solomon, ask what I shall give you.” What should you ask for if you had a guarantee that God would grant your request? In 1 Kings 3:9, Solomon asked, “Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

Solomon asked for wisdom. This request so pleased God that he gave Solomon wisdom and threw in wealth, longevity, and success. The wisdom God gave Solomon was not an exclusive gift. God has signed a check and made it out to any believer in Christ who asks for wisdom. All you have to do is endorse it in prayer. Verse 5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

James 1:5 promises those who ask God will receive wisdom, not answers. All too often, answers become idols. We are in many ways like Job, who demanded to interrogate God about his suffering. When God finally took the witness stand, Job was interrogated with questions and never answered one of Job’s questions. Yet Job emerged with greater wisdom. This is precisely how Savior God works.

Wisdom is not a spiritual navigation system with turn-by-turn directions. It is spiritual alertness to see the potholes in the road, or the guy who darts in front of you, and respond in a wiser way that does not ruin your Christian wisdom, dishonor the Lord, or discourage other believers.

Trust God for Wisdom.

There is a natural and critical progression in the text. Trials demand wisdom. Wisdom demands prayer. Prayer demands faith.

Verse 5 commands us to ask God for wisdom. Verses 6-8 explain how to ask God for wisdom. Verse 5 is an open gift every Christian can claim. Verse 6-8 establish an essential condition for receiving the promise. As you ask God for wisdom, trust God for wisdom.

God responds to the one who prays in faith. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith.” God generously gives wisdom without reproach to all who ask him. But God requires that we ask in faith. This requirement applies to anything you ask.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Whatever you ask in prayer must be asked in faith. James specifies that when you pray for wisdom, you must ask in faith. In Mark 11:22-24, Jesus says, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

God rejects the one who prays with doubt. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting.” There is a sense in which double is a friend of faith, not its enemy. Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith. It keeps faith alive, awake, and alert. Yet James commands us to ask in faith with no doubting. It is a prohibition against spiritual indecisiveness that wavers between trust and double. Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs!

What God thinks about the doubter. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that tis driven and tossed by the wind.”

This marine analogy is one of many images from nature in James. Growing up with his half-brother Jesus near the Sea of Galilee, James was familiar with storms at sea. Winds drove the waves in one direction, then another. Winds tossed the waves, lifting them high and then crashing them down. It is the kind of storm the disciples experienced that caused them to wake up Jesus and ask, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38) The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and fearfully tossed about by the wind.

Psalm 107:23-30 Authorized (King James) Version

23 They that go down to the sea in ships,
that do business in great waters;
24 these see the works of the Lord,
and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind,
which lifteth up the waves thereof.
26 They mount up to the heaven,
they go down again to the depths:
their soul is melted because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
and are at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,
and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
29 He maketh the storm a calm,
so that the waves thereof are still.
30 Then are they glad because they be quiet;
so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

What the doubter thinks about God. The doubter lives with a foolish assumption. He supposed he can pray with doubt and receive an answer to his prayers. She supposes God will grant her request even though she does not trust God for what she asks. The doubter is confused about who God is and how God works. James disabused the doubter of this erroneous supposition.

James 1 Verse 7 says, “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the lord.” James 1:2, James addresses his readers as “brothers,” a term of spiritual communion used throughout this letter. James addresses the doubter in verse 6 as “that person,” disassociating himself from the one who prays with doubt.

“For that Person must not suppose he will receive anything from the Lord.” “Anything” is not absolute. Matthew 5:45 says, God “makes his sun rise on the evil and the good and sends his rain on the just and on the unjust.” This is called “common grace.” It is the favor of God put out one all humanity.

James does not mean God refuses to do absolutely anything for the one who doubts. “Anything” must be understood in the context of prayer.

God does many things for doubters. But the doubter should never think he or she will receive anything they ask God for in prayer.

James states this as a divine command: “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.” Doubt receives God’s rejection slip that reads: “Request denied due to insufficient faith.”

Verse 8 gives readers a final, devastating description of the one who believes but doubts: “he is a double-minded man,” unstable in all his ways.” “Double-minded” is unique to this epistle. Scholars believe James coined the term. It means to have two souls. It is to be two different people. Yet the term does not suggest duplicity or deceitfulness. It describes something far worse: Doubt rooted in divided loyalties.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 declares, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

There is one God. This One God alone demands every last ounce of your total devotion. Doublemindedness is exact the opposite of such complete devotion.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

The doubled minded has a sinful heart which needs to be purified to draw near to God (Psalm 51).

This is how a 21st Century version of James would describe the one who doubts.

  • He is a double-minded man.
  • He is a fence-straddler.
  • He is “Mr. Facing-Both-Ways.”
  • He is a walking civil war.
  • He trusts, but he doubts.
  • He hopes for the best but expects the worst.
  • He tries to be a “best friend forever” of the world and God at the same time.

In 1 Kings 18:21, Elijah the prophet confronts the double-minded children of Israel: “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? IF the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 says,

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

How Firm a Foundation Author: K. (1787); Author (attributed to): George Keith (1787); Author (attributed to): R. Keen (c. 1787)

1 How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he has said,
to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

2 “Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed,
for I am your God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

3 “When through the deep waters I call you to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,
for I will be with you, your troubles to bless,
and sanctify to you your deepest distress.

4 “When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,
my grace all sufficient shall be your supply;
the flames will not hurt you; I only design
your dross to consume and your gold to refine.

5 “The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I will not, desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!”

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord of wisdom, I sometimes finding understanding the Bible to be difficult. I know you want me to apply your word to my life. I thank you for giving me your word so I can grow in my relationship with you. Help me grasp what you want me to know as I read your revealed word. Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. Be my teacher, so I can live and obey your word. Thank you for your ever greater, wiser advice. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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