YouTube Transcript:
Verse by Verse Bible Study | James 1:1-8 | Gary Hamrick
Skip watching entire videos - get the full transcript, search for keywords, and copy with one click.
Share:
Video Transcript
Available languages:
View:
all right James chapter one is where we
are tonight you can take your Bibles and
go with me to this new book study as we
venture on through the Bible if you're
new here to Cornerstone we go straight
through the Bible and on Wednesday
nights we go even deeper we go verse by
verse and so we just finished Hebrew so
we're now moving on to the book of James
if you need a Bible tonight one of the
ushers will be glad to give you a Bible
if you want to raise your hand they'll
hand one your way James chapter one
we'll see how far we get tonight but I'm
gonna first pray and then I'm gonna give
you the background as we always do when
we start start a new book study together
I always like to give you the background
who wrote it when why
so James chapter one let's first pause
and pray lord thank you for your
goodness to us we just continue to
rejoice concerning all that you did over
Easter weekend we thank you that we
serve a risen Savior Lord and that you
are the same yesterday today and forever
and we just continue to celebrate you
and worship you we thank you for the
hundreds of people who got saved we just
commit them to you Lord we pray that you
would especially just fill them afresh
with your Holy Spirit and that you would
guide them and direct them and help them
to grow in their faith as they journey
with you it's a privilege Lord Lord just
to be able to witness some things this
side of heaven that you're doing in
visible tangible ways and we thank you
for the invisible intangible ways that
your providentially at work as well and
be with us now as we open up the book of
James we pray that you would strengthen
our hearts and that you would encourage
us and challenge us where we need it
tonight I thank you for all those who
are here and those who were watching
online we commit our study to you now in
Jesus name and everybody said amen
for you note-takers here's a little
background on the book of James the
writer is none other than the guy after
whom this book is named James but he is
distinguished from James the Apostle
this is James the half-brother of Jesus
remember Jesus
some half-brothers and some half-sisters
they shared the same mother but not the
same father their father was Joseph but
the father of Jesus of course was God
and his supernatural birth was very
different unlike any other conception
unlike any other birth ever and so this
is James the half-brother of Jesus
Matthew chapter 13 verse 55 names for
half-brothers that Jesus had James is
one of them also Joseph Simon and Judas
a different Judas and it tells us that
he also had sisters plural although
they're not mentioned by names so we
know that he had at least two sisters
because it is plural so we had in
essence four brothers half-brothers - at
least two half-sisters and so it was you
know a large family by some comparison
and and so this is James the
half-brother of Jesus James the Apostle
was martyred in AD 44 by Herod his death
by the sword is recorded in Acts chapter
12 remembered that the siblings of Jesus
the family of Jesus did not initially
accept him as Messiah they doubted that
he was the Christ John chapter 7 verse 5
said that specifically Jesus's brothers
did not believe in him but they would
later come to believe because in Acts
chapter 1 verse 14 it says that they are
numbered among the hundred and twenty in
the upper room after Jesus ascends back
into heaven and the early church
numbering initially about 120 are
meeting in the upper room and they are
waiting for the gift that Jesus promised
which was the gift of the Holy Spirit
among those mentioned there in acts 1:14
are the Brothers of Jesus so at some
point they become believers in him as
the Messiah and then in Acts chapter 15
it tells us that that this James the
half-brother of Jesus the writer of this
book who was inspired by the Holy Spirit
to write it becomes the leader / pastor
of the Church of Jerusalem
and history tells us that he will lead
the church there for some 30 years he is
consulted along with some of the other
early apostles regarding some church
doctrine issues and so in acts 15 he
speaks to that and he gives leadership
and direction concerning those doctrines
of the faith and so here he is the
half-brother of Jesus the leader of the
Church of Jerusalem and and the one that
the Lord used to pan this epistle he is
traditionally and affectionately called
old camel knees and the reason he is
called that is because James had an
incredible prayer life and he was on his
knees so much that his knees became
calloused and if you've ever seen camels
knees they are calloused and they're
gross looking
and so tradition says that James was
called old camel knees because he had
developed such calloused knees as the
result of such incredible times of
Prayer such a prayer warrior tradition
says that he was martyred in the year 80
62 by being thrown from the temple wall
church history says that Ananias who was
the high priest at the time convened a
meeting with the Sanhedrin which was the
Jewish ruling council and they demanded
that James renounce his faith in Jesus
as the Messiah and when he refused to do so
so
church history says that they ran him
off the pinnacle of the temple they
threw him to his death from the highest
point of the Temple Mount area in the
city of Jerusalem so that's the
background on the writer himself the
date of this epistle is somewhere around
ad 50 which makes it the earliest of all
the New Testament books some theologians
some church scholars date this book even
earlier than that some dated around 45 80s
80s
somewhere between 45 really no later
than 50 ad James was inspired to pen
this epistle so again it makes it the
earliest your Bibles are not in
chronological order if they were in
chronological order the New Testament
would begin with the book of James and
and so it predates Paul's epistles by at
least two years the recipients of this
letter as you'll notice in the first
verse is the scattered Jewish believers
and when we say scattered Jewish
believers are talking about the dice for
the dice for is the Jews who have been
now dispersed throughout in this
particular time Asia Minor in particular
and so this letter is apparently going
to be read in multiple churches
throughout Asia Minor to minister to
these Jewish believers and the overall
theme of this letter is practical
Christian living he addresses it if
you'll notice real quickly in your
Bibles there to the 12 tribes scattered
among the nations so the twelve tribes
are referenced to Jews they were
suffering and they were living in
poverty they were suffering persecution
because if you were a Jew who believed
in Jesus as the Messiah you were
basically ostracized by your own people
the majority of the Jews did not believe
that Jesus was Messiah remember Jesus
came among his own his own received him not
not
so when you were a Jew who was a
believer in Jesus as the Messiah as the
one who fulfilled more than 300 Old
Testament prophecies related to the
coming of the Messiah the first coming
you were shunned by your family some
families would have funerals for you you
were ostracized if you had a business
people would stop buying from you and so
it was a very difficult time of
persecution it was a very difficult time
for Jewish believers to basically
survive and so James is in part
encouraging them in in the midst of
their persecution and their poverty as a
result of nobody buying from them and
and and yet it's causing some of them in
their persecution to start living in a
worldly manner and so the overall theme
of this
having to do with practical Christian
living is that James is going to
challenge them to go on to spiritual
maturity he is going to give us if you
count somebody did I didn't fifty-fifty
exort ations throughout this ladder
the book of James has been compared to
the book of Proverbs in the Old
Testament in that you're going to read
very short succinct pithy exhortations
one after another after another after
another it's kind of the wisdom
literature of the New Testament that
proverbs is to the Old Testament and and
James is going to challenge his readers
here that the evidence of a Christians
life is how that Christian lives and
that's why he's going to talk here about
the the delicate balance between faith
and words because while he's going to
make the argument that works don't save
you he's going to make the point that
works show that you are saved now this
book has become problematic for for some
people in fact Martin Luther when he
read this book he called it the Epistle
of straw he didn't like it he in fact he
was he questioned whether it should even
be included in the Canon of Scripture
because Luther came out of Roman
Catholicism and he was liberated by the
book of Romans and he really understood
the whole idea that we don't work our
way to heaven that it's by grace are we
saved through faith and he was he was
liberated in his understanding so he he
posts his you know 95 thesis on the
Wittenberg adora in there in Germany and
he and he basically then was he is
excommunicated from the Roman Catholic
Church but he but he basically leaves
his own volition and and so then
Protestantism really that vein that
stream of product is it products protest
easy for you to say Protestantism that
stream then begins to to emerge and and
here we are related to that stream and
so Luther's liberated from the whole
idea of works works works and he reads
the book of James that he feels like
James emphasizes works too much and in
reality what James is going to teach us
is that we're
are the evidence if you're truly a
Christian you're gonna live like one and
if you're not really a Christian it's
going to it's going to be evident by the
way you live and so there shouldn't be a
contradiction there if you really are a
Christian by belief then you should also
be a Christian by behavior and so he
calls Christians this why this is a good
practical book he but for us today he
calls Christians to holiness he calls
Christians to holy living and he says
listen if you really are Christian
there's gonna be some ways that you live
out your faith and and so he's gonna
develop all of this in five short
chapters so the overall theme is
practical Christian living and and the
idea of holiness but if we if we drill
down to basically five main themes of
this book it would be these five main
themes number one is trials and
temptations and that's one because it
goes together here in Chapter 1 he's
gonna talk about trials it's going to
talk about temptations but it's really
one kind of continuous stream of thought
number two another main theme here is
again this relationship between faith
and deeds or faith and works number
three he's gonna talk about speech you
know Christians should watch their
mouths and and part of the evidence of
you know that you really love Jesus is
by the way you your you know your
speeches by the way you talk by that by
your language and number four he's going
to talk about wisdom and that number
five he's gonna talk about prayer so
we're gonna be looking through you know
the whole book here but we're gonna come
across these themes you'll see it and he
doesn't necessarily talk about these
different themes in in chronological
order it's he kind of mixes it all up
throughout throughout the book so it's
some it's somewhat ordered and in other
ways it's somewhat of a disorganized
book which is another reason why Luther
felt like James wasn't the author of it
but anyway that that's for another
debate but but here we are in James
chapter 1 I'm going to read just the
first two verses because the first two
verses will actually I'll read the first
four verses the first four verses here
are full of
just a lot it's rich I mean there's a
lot of meat here in this book we're
gonna take our time and we're gonna go
through it slowly but you'll notice here
how rich it is just in the first four
verses so follow along here in your
Bibles James 1 verse 1 James a servant
of God that word servant in the Greek is
doulos so he's happy to say listen I'm
just I'm a slave of Christ I'm a servant
of his I belong to him he's a servant of
God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the
twelve tribes scattered among the
nations again these are the Jewish
believers that have been dispersed
throughout Asia Minor greetings he says
in verse two consider it pure joy my
brothers and sisters is just a universal
term whenever you face trials of many
kinds because you know that the testing
of your faith develops perseverance
perseverance must finish its work so
that you may be mature and complete not
lacking anything
all right let's park it there for just a
few minutes because first to is a very
challenging verse consider it pure joy
my brothers by the way he's going to use
that term my brothers he's going to talk
about brothers 15 times he's going to
specifically say my brothers
eight times so it this is an
affectionate letter but it's also a very
strong exhortation he's writing to
people that he loves he's writing people
that he shares a common bond with they
come in faith with they love Jesus he
loves Jesus and right out of the gate
here he says something that's very
challenging I mean yeah who among us
naturally consider it joyful when we
face trials of various kinds but he but
he says it right at the beginning here
consider it pure joy my brothers
whenever you face trials of many kinds
so first thing he's gonna talk about
here the first topic is trials and
temptations and in regards to trials he
mentions this here in verse 2 about
considering a pure joy whenever you face
trials of many kinds now I've I've
underlined three
words in this verse whenever many and
kinds to point out that what he's
basically saying is three things from
these three words at least in the NIV
translation number one that trials are
somewhat spontaneous that's what he
means by whenever you face okay it's
unpredictable trials don't tell you in
advance when they're coming don't you
wish you could prepare a little bit but
if they're not going to call you up and
say listen there's a trial coming next
Tuesday get ready trials are spontaneous
they are unpredictable number two they
are numerous
he says whenever you face trials of many
many is the key word there they are
numerous they don't just simply come
once only in your lifetime over the
course of your life you will experience
many trials and he says many kinds the
third word there is kinds meaning
various so trials come in spontaneous
ways the trials come in numerous ways
trials come in various ways there are
many kinds of trials that we will face
we face trials in the world we face
trials in relationships we face trials
in health we face trials from Satan you
know he's a part of trying to afflict us
we we face trials of various kinds and
yet James says here consider it pure joy
now he doesn't mean it in a celebratory
way he means it well I'll just quote for
you out of Albert Barnes Barnes has
written a Greek commentary and and
Barnes put it this way we are not to
consider it meaning our trials as
punishment a curse or a calamity that's
that's that's what James means here by
joy we are not to consider it as a
punishment when we go through a trial as
a curse when we go through trial or as
calamity in other words trials are not
the result of a bad
God but of a fallen world that's what
he's trying to say here which is why
then we can consider it joy because when
we realize that trials are not the
result of a bad God but of a fallen
world then we can turn to God to find
the source of our joy through the trial
now everybody understands right Joy's
different from happiness happiness is
very circumstantial happiness is very
temporal happiness you know will come
and Happiness will go depending on what
day it is what mood you're in if it's
sunny if it's rainy if your boss likes
you if you know all these kind of things
very circumstantial that's happiness joy
is a constant if you know Jesus and that
isn't to say that you don't have bad
days because trials come in various
crimes various ways spontaneously
numerously and and and in many different
ways but it is to say that in the midst
of the trial there's this constant
there's this peace in the midst of it
there's this reliability on the Lord in
the midst of it there's the source of a
contentment that does not fluctuate
based on the circumstances our joy is
rooted in Jesus that's why this is not a
you know this is not saying put on a
plastic face at the act hypocritical
pretend like you know everything's fine
when everything's NOT fine but it is
simply to say hey things aren't fine I'm
going through this trial but the source
of my joy the source of my strength the
source of my peace is in knowing Jesus
this is why Psalm 34 verse 15 says the
eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry
and it says in Isaiah 41:10 so do not
fear for I am with you do not be
dismayed for I am your God I will
strengthen you would help you I will
uphold you with my righteous right hand
and because of that we can say like the
psalmist did in psalm 46:1 that God is
our refuge our strength our ever-present
help in times
trouble that's how we have joy in him
because he helps us to face our trials
not alone but with his help and with his
presence then the question becomes why
why do trials come when you look at the
Bible there are basically three reasons
why trials come and here they are for
our maturation for our correction and
for our direction all trials basically
fall into one of those three categories
or maybe a combination the first one is
for our maturation that's basically what
this passage is saying to us here in
verses 3 & 4 he says that the testing of
your faith develops perseverance
perseverance must finish its work so
that you may be mature new King James
and ESV says you might be perfect and
complete not lacking anything now this
is very similar by the way to what
Romans 5 tells us Paul Paul writes in
Romans 5 3 to 5 he says we also rejoice
in our sufferings because we know that
suffering produces perseverance
perseverance character character hope
and hope does not disappoint us because
God has poured out his love into our
hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has
given us so trials tend to grow us up
they build character in our lives we
don't you know I don't know anybody
really welcomes them I'm just telling
you the residual effect of trials is
that it tends to grow us up it draws us
closer to the Lord in ways friends and
those who've you been through trials
can't acknowledge us they bring us
closer to God in ways that the good
times just don't I mean you know I love
to press near to Jesus in the good times
but I'm telling you I've pressed into
him harder in the bad times and as much
as we don't like to go through the bad
times we grow more during the bad times
than we do the good times is it is that
anybody's testimony you grew by leaps
and bounds through the difficult times
through this stretching times through
the challenging times
Paul would write in second Corinthians
one eight and nine when he was talking
about his own trials and his own
difficulties he said we're under great
pressure far beyond our ability to
endure so that we despaired even of life
he said indeed in our hearts we felt the
sentence of death but this happened that
we might not rely on ourselves but on
God who raises the dead and so Paul was
saying I didn't like the trials but I
can tell you this much it purged me of
self-reliance and it made me more God
dependent and that's the nature of
trials you know we esteem in our culture
people who are self-made people but let
me tell you something the problem of
self-made people is they're self-reliant
because they're self-made and when you
go through a difficult time if you think
you're gonna be the source of your
strength you're mistaken and that's when
people begin to realize their desperate
need for God and so when Paul says that
he said you know these Charles happen
and I might not rely on myself as much
as I would on God Trials have a way of
moving us in God's direction trials have
a way of growing us up and maturing us
and refining us and deepening our walk
with Him Billy Graham once wrote this he
said quote when a ship's carpenter
needed timber to make a mast for a
sailing vessel he did not cut it in the
valley but up on the mountainside where
the trees had been buffeted by the winds
these trees he knew were the stronger of
all hardship is not our choice but if we
face it bravely it can toughen the fibre
of our souls
end quote and so Trials come from
maturation number two for correction
sometimes the trials we face quite
honestly are brought on by our own bad
choices when we disobey God
we sometimes invite difficulties we
sometimes invite trials God isn't
pleased with our choices
sometimes but he will use our bad
choices to bring correction so that we
might learn and therefore some of the
trials we experience are the direct
result of our own disobedience you look
at the prodigal son in the story of the
New Testament Jesus shared that story
you know it was clear that the prodigal
son wanted to live life the way he
wanted to live it
and he was given Liberty to do that but
in living life the way he wanted to live
it without real regard for God and he
squandered everything that his father
had given him it wasn't until he was in
the pig crib eating what pigs eat that
he began to realize his own desperate
condition and and sometimes that's where
we need to go before we finally will be
corrected enough the trial brings
correction a similar thing remember
Jonah the story of Jonah I mean Jonah
disobeyed God I don't want to go pretty
sure than advice I don't want to go do
this so you know he ends up going the
opposite direction from Nineveh gets on
a ship and tries to sail away from God
God's call I guess if you could do that
and then God brings along the storm you
know you know the story and Jonah then
is thrown into the sea by his own
admission he's like yeah the reason
we're in a bad storm is because I'm
running from God and so you got you all
ought to just throw me overboard and
they're like no no no we love you join
it we'll just row faster back the shores
like no and then the storm gets worse
remember that and so he's like no and
they're like yeah you're right we ought
to just throw you overboard and so then
they throw them over and then a
swallowed by a big fish this isn't this
isn't a fable it's it's a real story
it's just it's just it was a big fish
now you know we say whale but the Bible
doesn't really say whale the Hebrew word
is dag da G as in dag that's a big fish
swallowed them up spit him out guess what
what
all the sudden Jonah's obedient now he's
gonna go to Nineveh you know it's
nothing like being swallowed by a big
fish to you know get you on the right
track and so sometimes correction comes
our way and and the trial is something
we brought on ourselves
Jonah brought the trial on himself but
God used it to to correct him and then
of course we have not just maturation
not just correction but sometimes trials
come for Direction sometimes a
difficulty can actually be the way that
God redirects our lives maybe he has
other purposes that we cannot see
until hardship moves us in that
direction you you can see a couple of
examples in the Bible you look at the
Apostle Paul when he was on his way to
Rome sailing in the Mediterranean Sea
Acts chapter 27 28 record the whole
incident when the ship ends up wrecking
and he ends up surviving barely and
comes ashore on a little island of Malta
in the middle of the Mediterranean but
it was there on the island of Malta that
God used him in miraculous ways to heal
people who were sick on that island and
you know it's interesting you know Paul
hadn't sinned he hadn't done anything
wrong just circumstances and trials you
know being shipwrecked he ends up on the
island of Malta and God used that to
bring healing to people and God just
redirected Paul's life because here Paul
is on his way to Rome and God's like
nope I got some people in Malta that you
need to see and so sometimes trials
happen because God is redirecting our
lives and it doesn't have anything to do
with like disobedience there's another
example in Scripture related to Paul -
in Acts chapter 16 verse 6 it's
interesting that tells us on one of
Paul's missionary journeys that Paul was
on his way to Macedonia but it's and he
was in the region of Galatia and in acts
16 6 it says but we were kept by the
holy spirit from going into Macedonia
why would the Holy Spirit keep the
Apostle Paul
going somewhere to advance the gospel if
in fact God is going to use a trial to
redirect him for other purposes and what
we end up finding then when we read the
letter to Galatians in Galatians 4:13
Paul says to the people of Galatia as
you know it was because of an illness
that I first preached the gospel to you
it's very interesting when you put
together acts 16 6 and Galatians 4:13
what we learn is the reason why Paul did
not advance into Macedonia the reason
why he was sidelined in Galatia is
because he got sick he hadn't sandy i
disobeyed God he I'm done anything wrong
but God then sidelined him in Galatia
and then the gospel came to the
Galatians because Paul ended up staying
there instead of moving on and so God
used an illness to bring about actually Paul's
Paul's
advancement of the gospel there in
Galatia rather than moving on to
Macedonia so there are different things
listen the point is simply this there
are some times that God will use a trial
to redirect your life and it doesn't
have anything to do with your
disobedience sometimes it can be you
know the difficulties say the breakup of
a dating relationship because God is
going to redirect you to another person
sometimes it's the loss of a job and at
the moment that feels devastating it's a
trial is difficult how are you gonna pay
the bills but it's because God wants you
to get somewhere else you know sometimes
it's that flat tire and we think oh this
isn't you know this is an inconvenience
is the difficulty but maybe God is
redirecting you you know there are
different things that happen not every
trial is is is to be seen as something
that is terrible because in the long run
it might actually be God's way of
redirecting so these are typically the
three reasons why Trials happen for our
maturation for our correction and for
our direction but I want you to notice
if you're still here in James 1 if you
jump down to verse 12 because again he
doesn't some of this information is you
know not all that organized but in verse
12 of chapter 1 he says blessed
is the man or the woman it's just a
generic term blessed is the one who
persevered under trial because when he
has stood the test he will receive the
crown of life that God has promised to
those who love him
and so what he's saying to us is
whatever the reason for the trial
whether it's for your maturation
correction or direction all trials in
the end you can rest assured if you
persevere you'll be blessed because the
one who persevered no matter what the
trial no matter what form the trial
takes or no matter for what purpose the
trial happens God gives this promise
that if you persevere you will be
blessed now go back up here in Chapter 1
where we left off at verse 5 he says if
any of you lacks wisdom he should ask
God who gives generously to all without
finding fault and it will be given to
him but when he asks he must believe and
not doubt because he who doubts is like
a wave of the sea blown and tossed by
the wind that man should not think he
will receive anything from the Lord for
he is a double-minded man unstable in
all he does so this section here now he
talks briefly about wisdom he's going to
talk about wisdom further in the book
but first he talks about wisdom here for
you note-takers jot down this verse as
proverbs 4 verses 5 through 7 this is
what it says proverbs 4 5 through 7 get
wisdom get understanding do not forget
my words or swerve from them do not
forsake wisdom and she will protect you
love her and she will watch over you
wisdom is supreme therefore get wisdom
that's interesting there it tells us two
things there in proverbs 4 that wisdom
is attainable otherwise God wouldn't say
get it
wisdom is attainable that's one thing it
tells us but it also tells us that
wisdom does not come naturally God
wouldn't tell us to get something if we
just naturally had it
so that's important to recognize wisdom
is attainable but wisdom does not come
naturally so why does God tell us to get
wisdom and James talks about wisdom here
what is wisdom and how do we get it so
first things first
why does God tell us to get wisdom and
the answer to that folks is basically
this because because circumstances in life
life
demand it knowledge is not enough
knowledge is not enough there are
problems that you will face there are
challenges there are circumstances that
confront all of us that need something
more than what knowledge can provide
have you ever been in situations where
you realize not enough book smarts and
not enough street smarts is going to
help me with this
I need wisdom from above ever been in
situations like that where you just
realized not enough book smarts is gonna
help me
not enough street smarts I need wisdom
from above and that's why God says get
wisdom wisdom is supreme you see we live
in a culture that says get knowledge we
live in a culture that is almost deified
education is I get knowledge get education
education
now listen nothing wrong with getting
knowledge and nothing wrong with getting
education only if that is like the God
in your life right I like smart people
especially if they're gonna take out my
appendix you know what I'm saying to you
I want somebody who's really smart and
knows how to take out my appendix if I
ever need that and when somebody is
really smart if I get on an airplane I
want somebody really smart in the
cockpit who knows exactly what he or she
is doing so I want smart people and
smart people are good we need we need
smarts we need knowledge but knowledge
is not the solution to everything in
life and so while we tout education you
know in our culture we've made we've
made knowledge the premium we don't talk
much about wisdom we talk about
knowledge get a good education
okay fine get a good education
and getting a good education has made a
difference in a lot of people's lives I
get that but we can't dismiss the
importance of wisdom and God says for us
to get wisdom here's basically an
understanding in a differentiation
between knowledge understanding and
wisdom think of it like this knowledge
is the accumulation of information
understanding is the interpretation but
wisdom is the application see I know a
lot of smart people they've they've got
a lot of knowledge they've accumulated a
lot of information and they can
interpret it well but data they don't
know jack squat how to apply it and so
it's like what that person is really
smart you ever run into people who are
brilliant they got a lot of letters
after their names but they can't tie
their shoes and you're like what
happened here well because there's
sometimes a disconnect between you can
have a lot of information you can just
be a receptacle of information you can
even regurgitate the information that's
basically how I pass school I just I got
it i regurgitating it right but there's
a whole difference between gathering
information interpreting it okay and
then applying it and for the application
we really need help from above
you know you for example you can read
all the parenting books in the world to
try to be a good parent but all that
parenting information will be useless to
you unless you have wisdom as to how to
apply it and as to how to apply it
related to your particular children who
are different and who are unique you can
read all the self-help books you can
read all on approving your marriage and
books on dieting and books on investing
but if you don't have wisdom all that
information will just be an accumulation
of stuff wisdom is supreme contest
therefore get wisdom when you're facing
a crisis you need the wisdom of God when
you're making life impacting decisions
you need the wisdom of God when you have
questions or fears you need the wisdom
of God wisdom
is supreme therefore get wisdom and so
James talks here about wisdom there is a
difference by the way between worldly
wisdom and heavenly wisdom and James is
going to talk a little bit more about
that further on in in chapter 3 worldly
wisdom is basically the accumulation of
knowledge and the accumulation of life
experience so people it is it isn't to
say because I want to make make clear on
this it isn't to say that only
Christians have wisdom I I would say
this only Christians have wisdom from
above but there's an earthly wisdom
however Paul says in first Corinthians
3:19 that the wisdom of this world is
foolishness in God's sight so there is a
certain measure of wisdom that people
can have obviously who don't know the
Lord but that wisdom is basically based
on what has been developed in their
lives over time and experience and the
accumulation of life experiences but
godly wisdom is from above and it has
nothing to do necessarily with how old
you are
you know I I've met some very young
people who have liked wisdom beyond
their years because they know the Lord
and they have a wisdom from above to be
able to see and discern things in their
world that doesn't come through text
books or life experience it is something
that is really from above and so how do
we get it he tells us right there in
verse 5 look at your Bibles again if any
of you lacks wisdom he should want ask
God pray and ask see how do I get this
wisdom you ask and it says and God who
gives generously to all without finding
fault in other words God is no respecter
of persons
he doesn't discriminate doesn't say well
I'm gonna give wisdom to you but not to you
you
if you ask he'll distribute it he'll
give you wisdom from above generously
without finding fault and it will be
given to him but when he asks you must
believe and not doubt because doubting
is like a wave of the sea blown and
tossed by the wind
don't think you're gonna get anything
you're just a double-minded person in
other words don't do this don't say lord
I need wisdom I got this incredible
decision I I have to make and I just I
need your wisdom from above so give me
wisdom I probably won't you know don't
do that
just just say thank you Lord I'm gonna
trust that you're gonna give me the
wisdom for this and and and I'm gonna
trust you based on your word and you're
faithful to your word and you said you
give generously you give liberally to
all who ask without finding fault and so
thank you for the wisdom that I need
today and thank you for the wisdom that
I need tomorrow and pray and don't doubt
because God gives generously to all
without finding fault so pray for wisdom
which is a good place for us to pause
tonight and we'll do just that and
because our time has escaped this and
we'll pick it up here next week so read
ahead we'll pick it up at verse 9 but
for tonight let's pause and ask the Lord
for wisdom and maybe there's something
in particular in your life that you need
God's wisdom for let's just take a
moment as we close our service and
specifically asking for that would you
pray with me
Lord we thank you for the promise of
your word you tell us directly that if
we lack wisdom we should ask and you
will give generously to all without
finding fault but if we ask we should
not doubt that just makes us double
minded and you don't honor that and so
lord I pray by faith and we could all
use wisdom Lord no matter if we're going
through something specifically or we
just need wisdom for everyday life we
pray for it right now Lord we pray in
Jesus name for just a fresh outpouring
of wisdom from above that is beyond
knowledge beyond degrees beyond
education information Lord we don't lack
for information we live in the
information age so much information is
at our fingertips but we lack for wisdom
so Phyllis Lord with your wisdom from
above I'm just gonna pause in my prayer
just still your heads bowed just in an
attitude of prayer and I just want to
invite you right now just between you
and the Lord just quietly just tell them
specifically lord I need wisdom for and
then just tell them just say lord I need
wisdom for whatever that situation
whatever that need and now I want you to
just respond by saying thank you Lord I
trust you that according to your word
you give liberally generously without
finding fault so I just receive your
wisdom right now and I trust your word
that you are faithful to all your
promises that if we ask you will give it
so we don't doubt we just refuse to
doubt right now instead we receive and
believe that you have given us your
wisdom from above for whatever our need
and help us Lord to always remember this
verse so that we don't run to other
sources trying to figure things out
may we first pause and seek you and ask
for wisdom give us your wisdom Lord and
in regards to trials that we talked
about tonight to whoever might be facing
a trial Lord thank you that you are
faithful to us that if we persevere you
bless us and for some your you're just
trying to grow us up more for others
you're trying to correct us for others
you're trying to direct us Lord whatever
the situation we thank you that if we
persevere you tell us that you bless us
and so take us through the trials
whatever we might be facing and we trust
you Lord we love you and we thank you
together in Jesus name and everybody
said a man
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
Works with YouTube, Coursera, Udemy and more educational platforms
Get Instant Transcripts: Just Edit the Domain in Your Address Bar!
YouTube
←
→
↻
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
YoutubeToText
←
→
↻
https://youtubetotext.net/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc