James 1:19-27
MAIN IDEA: Three steps taken by redeemed people that birth redeemed people
Remove known interference
JAMES 1:19-20 - 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Look at verse 19. I touched on this briefly last week. A quick glance at this verse and we might walk away with; listen more, talk less, and keep our emotions under control. We should do those things, but not only those things. “Know this” refers to the previous verses that points to the truth of God’s Word and the righteousness of God produced in our life.
Quick to hear – This person puts God’s Word into them any way possible. Read the Bible every day. Listen to an audio version while you drive. Attend church every week. Listen to your favorite preaching podcast. Get God’s Word inside you. When you need encouragement or wisdom, turn to the Bible FIRST. When you are struggling or when temptation is coming after you, you turn to the Bible FIRST. The Bible should be the most frequently invited friend into our situations of life.
Slow to speak – This person carefully considers God’s thoughts and ideas before his own thoughts and ideas. Psalm 46:10. This person stops long enough and often enough to hear God’s voice about the current situation rather than telling God our expected outcome regarding the situation. Think about DRIVERS ED for a moment. Before a new driver is given a license, that driver must take drivers ed, practice driving, etc. During the course, there is an instructor with a brake on the passenger side of the car to prevent an accident. Depending on the student, that instructor is the savior of the day. Friends, God doesn’t want to be our driver’s ed instructor – he wants to be our driver. I think it’s negligent to invite God into a situation as a passenger – so he can save the day when something goes wrong. He calls us to consider his ideas and thoughts and allow him to drive us through the situation. Diligently learn to hear God’s Word accurately so it becomes easier to listen and dwell on his thoughts and ideas.
Slow to anger – This person is gentle. Yes, there is healthy anger. Jesus was angry in the Temple because people were cheating others when they came to church, and he overturned the tables. If you get angry because one country attacks another country for no apparent reason other than to be a bully, that might be healthy anger.
I want to give you two verses to consider and then a few applications before we move on. Ephesians 5:21 says we are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. If my default is submit to others, anger is experienced less frequently. Ephesians 6:4 tells fathers not to provoke your children to anger.
Slow to anger - is not addressing blasting another person, exploding at your family, road rage, or emotional word vomit.
Here is what slow to anger addresses:
First, the quiet, resentful anger that is only known by you and God.
Second, the anger that flows from a person not spiritually prepared for any situation that end differently than how we want it to end.
Third, the anger that corrodes our soul, prohibits spiritual growth, and ceases the accomplishes God’s plan in our life.
Fourth, the anger focused toward God because we were confronted with the truth of Scripture. When the Holy Spirit pressed into our lives, we refused to listen.
If you’re sitting here this morning and you have issues with any type of anger, I encourage you to call your anger sin, confess it and let God take care of it. Please do not resist how the Holy Spirit might be working in your life.
Friends, God cares about our holiness. This passage is meant to refine us and grow us to become more like Jesus Christ. We must allow the transformation process to run its course.
Look at verse 21. The thought here is remove and receive. Remove what interferes with your vertical relationship and receive what God has for you. Colossians 3:1-17.
Would anybody agree that q-tips are useful? They remove a substance prohibit our ability to hear clearly. Ear wax blocks what people say to us. Filthiness and wickedness blocks what God wants to say to us. As a growing follower of Jesus, it is our job to remove the interference that gets in the way of our relationship with God. The Holy Spirit will keep pressing into us about the same area of our life until we remove the interference.
Absorb God’s Word
JAMES 1:22-25 - 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
Let’s look at a hearer first. We can compare a hearer to a person who audits a college course. He attends class with the regular students but is not required to complete assignments. When the course is over, there is no record he attended the class. The progression of a “hearer” can be subtle and can go unnoticed. If a person becomes spiritually stale, he can stop being a doer and become a hearer. If we are not careful, this slippery slope can progress in each of our lives.
Look at verse 22. You’ll notice the word deceive, which means to mislead or misguide yourself. Every person is naïve enough to be misled or misguided once. This is one of those slippery slopes. Look at verse 26. Here, deceive means to cheat yourself. Have you ever met a person that accidental cheated? No. People cheat because they have convinced themselves that cheating is an accepted practice. The progression of being misguided to cheating is described in verses 14-15.
Look at verse 24. A hearer looks in the mirror and forgets what he has seen. A hearer is curious, considers the information, decides to overlook it, and let it go unnoticed. Does anybody have a junk drawer at your house? The progression of the hearer promotes the tolerance of sin, compromises Scripture, distorts sensitivity to the voice of God and redefines holiness. One commentary said a “hearer is a sermon taster without tasting the grace of God” in his life.
The doer is the complete opposite. He is dedicated to learning God’s Word while walking toward faithful obedience. He puts God’s Word into practice. Look at verse 25, a doer looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it. Both the doer and the hearer are curious and give careful examination, but the doer continues to ponder. After time, he begins to patiently examine the contents of the law. The doer abides in the law of liberty. He does not forget what he has seen because it transforms his perspective.
Here are some application points. A hearer cannot keep up the spiritual circus forever. At some point, that person breaks. The doer cannot be content to remain in sin forever. Are you a hearer or a doer? Do you audit the Bible or do you put God’s Word into practice? Is there evidence to support your claim?
Act in agreement with God’s Word
JAMES 1:26-27 - 26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
If our religious practices could speak, what would they say? Would they tell us we’re focused on the wrong things or completely missed the purpose and mission behind following Jesus? I suggest that our religious practices loudly speak every day. They tell people if our actions agree with God’s Word
Look at verse 26. Did you know the average person speaks 18,000 words per day? That is a 54-page book spoken every day. It has also been stated that Americans spend 20% of our lives talking. Place these statistics next to Matthew 12:34b which says, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Our speech reveals how much time we spend in our Bible. If we do not possess the self-control required to bridle our tongue, how corroded is our heart? If you spend 20% of your life talking, what is that communicating about your religious practices? Does it provide evidence that you act in agreement with God’s Word? Does it illuminate growth opportunities in our life?
Look at verse 27. We need to authentically care for others. The text mentions orphans and widows, but the Greek has deeper intentions. First, assist the parenting process when appropriate. Second, protect those who are unprotected. Third, give aid and comfort one who needs a friend. Fourth, offer relieve for the pressures that burdens one’s soul.
The quality of our holiness matters to God. The people we know that need Jesus look at the consistency of our lives to determine their need for Jesus. The more our lives look Jesus, the more people will realize they need Jesus.
God has impressed on me that 2023 is a year of GO. Throughout this year, our SLT will continually pray and consider what that looks like for Trinity. As we GO, would you pray alongside us? Would you ask God to grow your ability to care for people and expand your influence in the community? Would you ask God to open your eyes to caring opportunities already visible?
As we look ahead to 2024, the SLT will begin conversations about mission trips. Would you ask God to guide those conversations.
Looking far ahead to 2026, what does it look like for Trinity to be a redeemed church that births redeemed churches? Would you pray alongside the SLT as we prayerfully consider what God has for our future together?