Wise People Seek Wisdom, Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. To ask in faith. That's what this is all about.

I have to have faith in this. I have to have faith that God will give me the wisdom to be joyful in the midst of my trial. You see, it's not a feeling he's talking about. It's a perspective that he's talking about. That perspective, all things work together for my good. That's a perspective. You see, I can learn obedience through suffering.

That's a perspective. The current sufferings of my life right now can't be compared with what awaits me in glory. That Christ will never leave me nor forsake me even in the midst of my trial.

All these are perspective things. And they produce joy and wisdom in the midst of the trial. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's word meets our world. What do you do when it's one of the worst days of your life? What do you do when you're in a lot of pain and a lot of suffering? What do you do then?

How does it work then? You see, that requires a certain amount of experience and wisdom. Many years ago, we had a pilot in the church. He was a commercial pilot, and I was involved in the discipleship ministry with him. And originally, he was a fighter pilot, then he flew in the airlines. And I always have all these questions for those kind of guys, and I want to know how you fly a big airliner. One time he said to me, he said, you know, in two weeks, I could teach you how to fly a commercial airliner to take off in New Orleans and land in another city.

Two weeks. So I, sort of the wise guy that I am, I said, well, why do they need you then? You know, and he said, because things go bad. And when it goes bad and you're in the cockpit, everybody dies. You see, that's why I'm here.

Oh, yeah, it's all automate, but that's why I'm here. In other words, there is a certain amount of wisdom and experience you need when things go bad. And that's what we need in our life.

We need wisdom. Turn with me now to James Chapter one in the New Testament, a passage we've looked at often. James Chapter one. When things go bad. I've been to this passage so many times in my life.

And I've got to be honest, at a certain level, I never like going there. There's a certain truth here that no matter how much I want to hold it, I struggle with it. And it's just the way James says it. Typical of James, he's blunt.

But in verse two, James says this. Consider it all joy. My brother. When you encounter various trials. Consider it all joy, my brother, when your life goes bad. Now, I want you to think about it.

The last time your life went bad was your first thought. Hey, let's consider this all joy. You see, we don't really do this. This is a struggle for us. What do you mean consider this all joy? That's a radical attitude.

Certainly not our default mode. He even tells us why. He said, knowing that the testing of your faith. Oh, now he's telling me why things go bad for me at times.

Now he tells me why there's a trial. It's the testing of your faith. Now, by the way, when God tests you, it's not like when a teacher professor tests you. When a teacher or professor tests you, they test you so that they know what you know. They want to know how much you know, how far along you've come. God never tests you to know.

He already knows where you are. OK, God knows exactly what the grade is you're going to get on the test before it ever comes. He tests you so you know how you've done with the test, not God. And he says here, then, consider all joy, my brother, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith, it produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect or complete result that you may be perfect or mature and complete and lacking nothing.

OK, so you're telling me it's a test of my faith and apparently it's good for me. But really what I'm still struggling with is I don't know exactly how to cope with that. You see, what's the first question you ask when your life goes bad? If you're honest, why is this happening to me?

I mean, be honest. Why is this happening to me? Why this?

Why now? See, it's the wrong question. How often do we say, how can I understand this trial from God's perspective? How can this trial help me, you know, as a Christian grow closer to the Lord? See, that's a question we should ask, but it's almost never the question we ask. You see, how do I cope with this life?

How do I deal with it? God says, look, you're going to have to see it from a perspective. He then says in verse five, knowing right where we're at, if any of you lacks wisdom. Now, by the way, it doesn't mean in a trial that if you ask God to be wisdom, you'll be like Solomon.

You'll be able to tell your friends and family, bring everything to me. I am now a wise person. It doesn't mean that. What he's talking about here is a context.

The context is this. You will acquire the wisdom to be joyful in the middle of the trial. You will get the wisdom to be joyful in the middle of your trial. Please understand, so often what we think is, no, what I think that means if I'm wise enough, I'll be able to get out from under the circumstances. You see, if I learn the wisdom lesson, God will take the trial away and everything will be fine.

Not necessarily at all. What you'll learn is how can I be joyful in the midst of the trial? And that's a very different kind of thing, and that requires an awful lot of wisdom. And that's hard for us.

The reason is our self-sufficiency. Hold your place here and go with me to the book of Revelation. Chapter 3 and verse 14. The Church of Laodicea.

It represents, I think, so many of us. To the angel, the Church of Laodicea writes, the Amen, the Faithful, the True Witness, the Beginning of Creation of God says this. It's the Lord speaking. He said, I know your deeds, that you're neither cold nor hot. Oh, he said, I wish you were cold or hot. He says, so because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. So apparently it's not good to be lukewarm. Now, the problem is, why are they lukewarm? I can tell you in one word. They're self-sufficient.

That's why they're lukewarm. When you're self-sufficient, you know what it means is sort of like this. You know, I believe in God, but I don't need him. You see, I don't need him, not to do what I do. I know how to do. See, I know how this works. I know how to succeed. I know how life works. I don't really need God, but I believe in God.

Here's what happens. Notice he says this. I know your deeds because you say I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing. Now, remember, included in nothing is God. I don't need anything. I know how to operate.

I can do this. Now, notice this is the church. These aren't unbelievers.

This is the church, our lukewarm believers. And he says, I don't need anything. He says, you know, the problem is you do not know that you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. In other words, you don't understand that you're spiritually, you see, that you're spiritually have nothing.

You think because you've been able to cope with life on a certain level that everything's fine with you, but you're not. He says, I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed and eyes have to anoint your eyes so that you may see those whom I love. He said, I reprove and discipline. Therefore, be zealous. You've got to repent.

See, what they have to repent of is their self-sufficiency. And the worst thing about self-sufficiency is you end up playing the role of a fool. And the reason you play the role of a fool is you say, I've got it handled.

I can do this. Now, isn't it interesting that the wisest man who ever lived said, I can't handle this. I need counsel.

But you, and I probably could get friends and family to one sworn affidavits for this. You're not the wisest person who ever lived. OK. And it's like, I don't need anybody else. I make my own mind up.

I can decide. You see this spot? That's why he said, he said, you're spiritually naked.

You have nothing. He said, look, you need to come from me, get from me what you need most. Now, let's go back to James and put it in that context. He said, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously without reproach. God says, I'll give you the wisdom for this.

And without reproach means this. God's never going to say, Bill, you again? I mean, you again? Come on.

How many of these do you have to go through? What's wrong with you? He says, I don't do that. He said, I won't do that. I will not withhold wisdom. You see, now you got to understand.

He's talking about wisdom to be joyful in the midst of your trial. One of the reasons we don't ask too much about that is that's not what we're looking for. We're looking for a change in circumstances. You see, come on, God, this is really a bad day.

I want it changed. You see, God says, I can't really help you there. You see, this is going to be really good for you. This is another version of all things working together for the good. That's what this is. You see, this is wisdom. And think of how wonderful it is. Do you mean it's potential of every believer is that you can be joyful in the midst of the worst days of your life?

And I'm saying emphatically, yes. Who wouldn't want that? You see, who wouldn't want that? We're all joyful in the best days of our life.

Everybody is. You could worship the devil and be joyful in the best days of your life. God says, that's not what I'm talking about, right in the middle of the trial. And he said, and you know what, the wisdom I give you will change you.

Now, there's a condition to this, though. He gives a condition. Verse 6, he must ask in faith without doubting. You've got to ask in faith.

By the way, did you notice that it said in verse 3, knowing the testing of your what? Your faith. And you have to ask in faith. That's what this is all about.

I have to have faith in this. I have to have faith that God will give me the wisdom to be joyful in the midst of my trial. You see, it's not a feeling he's talking about. It's a perspective that he's talking about. That perspective, all things work together for my good. That's a perspective. You see, I can learn obedience through suffering. That's a perspective. The current sufferings of my life right now can't be compared with what awaits me in glory. That Christ will never leave me nor forsake me even in the midst of my trial. All these are perspective things.

And they produce joy and wisdom in the midst of the trial. Notice what he said. He must ask. By the way, it's a present tense. What it tells me is you have to keep asking. This isn't a one-time prayer. This is asking.

By the way, pain kind of skews everything, doesn't it? Sometimes I have to keep asking, Lord. I need wisdom in this.

I need to see this from your perspective. And I have to ask, and I have to ask God. It reminds me of the Hebrews passage, come boldly to the throne of grace. You know that I can go boldly to the throne of grace, and what am I going to receive there? In time of trouble, what am I going to receive? Grace and mercy. By the way, what is it that I need to endure a trial? Grace and mercy. You see, our whole perspective of the trial is make it go away, make it go away, make it go away.

I can tell you, in most cases it's not going away. It's just not. The Lord has something much more important. He wants you, in a sense, to be joyful. Living as a sinful person in a cursed world with all of the pain and agony, you can be joyful.

He said, that's what I want you to have. You need to ask me for the wisdom for that kind of insight. He says he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. He said, for that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. I'll tell you one of the most difficult things of pastoring a church over a long period of time is seeing certain people that go from trial after trial and are tossed by the wind the whole life. Their whole life is robbed from joy. One trial after another trial after another trial and they never get the joy. They just get the turmoil. You see, why does God not love me?

Why won't he change my circumstances? Why? Why?

It's sad to watch. He says, I have to ask it in faith. He said, otherwise, he said, I won't receive anything.

I'll be double minded, unstable in my ways. He goes on and explains, he says, but the brother of humble circumstances, he said, is the glory in his high position? It's an analogy. You could be dirt poor in his world, he says, and you could glory in your position before God in the midst of trials. Then he says, on the contrary, the rich man is to glory in his humiliation because like a flowering grass, he will pass away.

What's he mean by that? What is the rich man? Self-sufficient. He's self-sufficient.

He's just like the Church of Laodicea. I am rich. I can handle this. He said, you get nothing out of this. He said, you see, it doesn't matter what the circumstances of your life are.

This is attainable. The kind of biblical wisdom that will produce joy in your circumstances. Verse 12. Blessed is the man. Happy is the man who perseveres under trial. For once he has been approved, he will receive a crown of life. He says, what the Lord has promised to those who love him. It's not only greatness life. It's great in the next life. It's one of the crowns of the New Testament.

God rewards that because he knows how much faith it takes to persevere under trial and to be joyful. Now, I know what you might be thinking. Can people really do that?

Yes. They really can. You know, sometimes I feel sorry for using these analogies that I use all the time over the same lady. But she's that special. You know, I wish there were about 10,000 examples I could use like Joni Eareckson Tada. I wish there were.

But there are not. She is unique. Joni Eareckson Tada, when she was 17 years old, dove in a swimming pool with a typical teenage girl and came out of the water a quadriplegic. Now, that's her life. That now defines her for the rest of her life. Seventeen, full of all kinds of talent and ability, and now a quadriplegic. Shortly after this happens to her, this is what she writes.

Now, she's a child compared to many of you. And this is her perspective on what happened to her. God engineered the circumstances. He used them to prove himself as well as my loyalty. Not everyone had this privilege. I felt there are only a few people that God cared for in such a special way that he would entrust them this kind of experience.

Do you hear what she said? I felt that there are only a few people that God cared for in such a special way that he would trust them with this kind of experience. This understanding left me, notice this understanding is the biblical wisdom. This understanding left me relaxed and comfortable as I relied on his love, exercising newly learned trust. I saw that my injury was not a tragedy, but a gift God was using to conform me to the image of his son.

Something that would mean my ultimate satisfaction, my ultimate happiness, yes, my ultimate joy. See, can you see yourself becoming a quadriplegic? And that's your perspective. You see, where did that kind of wisdom come from? That didn't come from the world.

That's not the world's perspective. Someone's got to be sued here. You should be suing somebody here. There's got to be justice done here. That's not her perspective. That didn't even come from inside of her. That came through the Spirit of God. You see, that can really be the case. Wise people know what they don't know and they know when they don't know it. Wise people have no problem seeking counsel. And when the bad times come, and they inevitably do, wise people go to God and ask for the wisdom to joyfully endure that bad day. You'll never be as wise as you're capable of being until you're able to tap into the wisdom of God and the wisdom of others.

Let's pray. Father, whenever we face circumstances, as James speaks about, it seems so difficult for us to even think about wisdom and virtually never think about joy. But Father, there's something extraordinary about the wisdom you give.

It gives us the ability to cope with this life on this planet surrounded by these people, a life that is marked from time and time again throughout our life with very difficult circumstances, very difficult ones to endure. Father, I pray that we understand just how valuable that kind of witness is. I pray for some of us, Father, that we ask ourselves the question, do I admit it when I don't know what I don't know?

Do I admit that I have a need to seek counsel, not only from you but from others as well? Father, I fear that so many of us are so self-sufficient that we make the same mistake of the Church of Laodicea, and we think we have need of nothing and we make one foolish decision after another, and instead of when trial comes, our life being full of joy, it's filled with anger and bitterness. Father, I pray we understand the value of biblical wisdom. I pray that we understand it for your glory and for our good.

In Christ's name, amen. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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