Ask God For Wisdom

Ask God For Wisdom

by Sylvester Hassell

ADVOCATE AND MESSENGER
DEVOTED TO THE CAUSE OF TRUTH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
R. H. PITTMAN, Editor - - - SYLVESTER HASSELL, Editor


Williamston, N. C., January 1924

ASK GOD FOR WISDOM

The Epistle of James is probably the earliest of the New Testament writings. He calls himself 'a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.' It is believed that he was the brother (half-brother) of Christ, and was the first pastor of the Church in Jerusalem, and, because of his great uprightness, he was called 'the just', and that, for his faith in Christ, he was stoned to death by the Jews. He addresses his Epistle to 'the twelve tribes scattered abroad', that is, to Jewish professors of Christianity dispersed among the Gentiles. He exhorts them to steadfast faith in Christ and patience under their manifold trials, and to earnest prayer, and to obedience, and brotherly love, and to reverence and humility and unworldliness, and to the constant expectation of the coming of the Lord, who is not only our Savior, but our Lawgiver and our Judge.
Even all the children of God are, by nature, sinful and devoid of spiritual understanding; and, in our many difficulties, we often do not know how we can properly serve God, and how we can correctly understand His word, and act rightly towards our brethren and sisters, especially when troubles arise in our Churches. In such cases, James, the inspired servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, says: 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all (that is, all His children) liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (or doubting); for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.' God the Father is the only wise God; His Son Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God; and the Spirit of God is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. And if we ask God for wisdom, with faith in Christ, fervently and importunately, He will give us wisdom freely and abundantly, and not reproach us for our ignorance or our sinfulness, or our delay in asking, or our asking Him too often, or for too much, but will give us wisdom in regard to the meaning of His word or His providence or how to act in Church troubles.
I have written this article on account of the increasing number of questions asked of me by brethren from many parts of the United Sates. I do not set myself up as a judge of my brethren. The Lord knows all about the matters. Ask Him.
S.H.