James 1:5  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.
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.
7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

In verse 4 we were reminded of the need for patience so that we might be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Now in verse 5 the point is made of how we will grow to that place of perfection, wanting nothing. Those who are saved, will acknowledge the lack of wisdom. True humility is required here. There are people who claim to lack wisdom, but when given true wisdom, they reject it. If we want greater wisdom we must understand where we will find it. The world cannot provide the wisdom we need. We look at our governments and we see foolishness on display. Our tax dollars are being wasted in so many ways. Extremely bad decisions are being made. If it were not for God’s restraining, our country would be under a full-blown dictatorship now.
If the saved person lacks wisdom, he must turn to God for that wisdom. God’s wisdom is found in His Word. The devil has been very active in seeking to destroy God’s Word. Many people have accepted his attacks and they have embraced the multiplicity of perversions that are on the market. Those who are saved and are humbly seeking God’s wisdom will understand that something is very wrong with the entire perversion issue. We cannot have a God Who promises to preserve His Word from this generation and for ever, and also have books that claim we do not know for sure what God said. Either God is a liar or we know for sure what He said. Of course lost man does not want to have any absolute truth. What is missing here is that whether man wants absolute truth or not, in the end, every person will stand before the God Who Is Absolute Truth.
Ephesians 4 tells us that God gave us evangelists, pastors and teachers to direct us to what the apostles and prophets wrote. God has also given the Holy Spirit to give man the ability to know whether an evangelist, pastor or teacher is giving us the truth. Many preachers today like to do topical preaching. They scan the Bible for verses to address the topic they have chosen. That may be good and it may not be good. Many listeners never bother to check the context of the verses the pastor is using and thus they accept what is being preached.
Acts 17 tells us the Bereans were better off because they gladly received the apostles’ teaching, but they also searched the Scriptures to see if those things were so. We know the apostles only wrote what God told them to write. We do not have every word they ever spoke, but we have all that God wants us to have. We know that every Word of God is pure. We can trust It. There are warnings given and there are promises of blessings given. There is the exposure of sin and there is the example of blessings when a person was obedient to God.
We can have confidence in God’s Word if we read it as God’s Word. We need to ask in faith. We need to approach God’s Word as the absolute truth. You cannot do that if you accept the perversions. You do not have the truth then. The break down of the home and the church is the result of a lack of acceptance and submission to the Truth. Our country is in a mess because most of the citizens of this country have chosen to reject the Truth. The nation of Israel is at war and unable to win because they have rejected the Truth. Netanyahu would like to retaliate against Hezbollah for breaking the truce, but the U.S. has pressured them not to do so. If Netanyahu were a true saint, he would know better than to put his trust in a corrupt foreign nation, which is what the U.S. is.
God is ready to help us to know the truth. The Holy Spirit indwells every true child of God. God will guide the true saint into the wisdom needed for each situation.
The Greek word translated as “upbraideth” has to do with chiding or railing at. God does not scold the saint that is truly seeking wisdom. He wants us to know how to walk so that we can also be a help to others. He will give His wisdom to the humble servant of His.
If we are asking God for wisdom, and then we are shown that wisdom in His Word, we need to accept that as Truth. If we reject that because it does not fit with our plans, we will not get the help we need. The big problem we can face is not a lack of truth, but a lack of humility to receive the truth.
James was writing to saints. Yet God knows that saints can be hindered by their own pride. In our text we see that the person who withdraws from the truth is like the wave of the sea. The wave is driven by the wind and it rolls along and then crashes on the shore or on the side of the ship. It has much power, but often that power is very destructive. In some places they are trying to harness the power of the waves. They can do much damage, but they are not generally helpful for the ship or the swimmer.
The person who needs wisdom, but lacks true Biblical faith, will not be useful to the Lord or to others.
In verse 7 we are reminded that such a person will not receive any thing of the Lord. If you are a saved person who wants to argue with God, He will withhold the good you need. God is superior to His children. His children need His wisdom. The person who wants to argue against God demonstrates his unwillingness to accept God’s counsel. Before God can grant such a person His wisdom, He will need to chasten the person so that the person will appreciate God’s wisdom.
In verse 8 we see that the waverer is a double minded man. He cannot settle on where truth is found. It is important to note that there are many men and women who are very sure of their position. They claim to know exactly how to walk and what to do. However, if you examine them, they cannot settle on a firm position which God gives us in His Word. Their lives are full of contradictions. The average person has been trained that there are no absolutes. Most people have no clear understanding of Biblical salvation. We have been heavily influenced by the New Evangelical philosophy.
God is not indecisive. He is Truth. He has given us His Word so that we will know the Truth. We need to know the truth. We need to know how to make wise decisions. We have one source of absolute Truth and that is God’s written Word. The wise person settles on God’s Word as the Truth. He will be able to choose the right way. He will not follow the flow of society. He will be able to show others the right way.
Pastor Bartel