Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Why is Listening so hard?

Pride

We like hearing ourselves talk

We think about our reply while the person is talking

As we’ve been looking at in Hebrews in recent weeks, we’re commanded to pay attention to what the Bible says about our God!

Every time that we open up our Bibles at home or come to church and study God’s Word together, it matters that we listen well.

This is so hard in our world that prides itself on doing a million different things to a C- standard.

God doesn’t want us to hear something and it go in one ear and out the other.

He wants us to listen well and to apply what we’ve heard.

James will continue talking about the importance of genuine faith today and will share with us that true listening is not only cleaning out our ear drums but moving from hearing to accepting, obeying, and doing what His Word says.

Our study guide begins this week with a statement that, “Christianity is not just about believing certain things or claiming to have faith; it is having your life transformed by the gospel… The word must be put into action.”

What are your thoughts about this statement?

What about Christianity stands out from other major religions and worldviews?

So many want their adherents to live a better life or do a certain thing… But Christianity starts with our heart and Christ demands complete devotion.

A completely transformed life, not just 1 hour a week or 10% here or there as we’ll talk about this morning from Colossians 3.

Genuine Faith Requires Us to Listen (19-21)

This passage of Scripture naturally divides into 2 parts with the final 2 verses diving deeper into the second part.

James opens up in verses 19-21 with a simple statement that is much easier to say than to practice, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.”

What is hard about this statement?

We naturally do the opposite!

We’re slow to listen, quick to react, and immediately get angry when something doesn’t go our way!

Why is this the case?

See James 1:14

It’s almost as though James knows what he’s talking about here because he too had this desire to do the opposite of what God wants us to do.

Where do you most frequently see people doing the opposite of James 1:19?

Social Media!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen something happen and instead of someone asking a question, they assume the worst and immediately speak with anger.

We have keyboard warriors everywhere in our world it seems!

I’ve said this to people and I genuinely mean it: There are few problems that a lunch at Arandas can’t solve.

Seriously!

If you have a problem, don’t we usually do better when it comes to solving it whenever we gather with the other person and have a normal conversation instead of exchanging nuclear subtweets back and forth?

That doesn’t accomplish anything - yet it’s the norm in our culture.

We’re quick to speak and slow to listen and everyone is angry!

What stands out to you about the way that James delivers this to his audience in verses 19-20?

He again starts out with his love for these people

He shares that everyone should do these things - this helps soften what is about to come!

Human anger doesn’t accomplish God’s righteousness.

We can’t justify our desire to go and rudely smash tables all the time and say that God told us to do it.

If you count the number of times that Jesus flipped tables with the amount of times that He washed feet, you’re reminded of James 1:19.

We want to go straight and flip tables, though.

This isn’t what we’re called to do.

We’re called to be patient.

To listen.

To be slow to speak and be angry.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t times to get angry or disagree - there are and we have to be careful about how we handle those things.

We follow Matthew 18 and we go in private - usually not a public platform like Falsebook - and we talk and we listen.

What is the good news in James 1:21?

God’s Word is implanted.

Where is it implanted?

Jeremiah 31 talks about this wonderful truth as we studied during our Wednesday night Bible study that God has written His law on our hearts

This is good news!

Through the Holy Spirit - remember James is talking to His brothers and sisters in Christ here - God’s Word is implanted in our hearts and God’s Word alone will save our souls!

What must we do?

We must listen to His Word.

David Platt put it like this, “Like the blood that flows to our hearts, we need God’s Word.”

What prevents us from receiving God’s implanted Word?

Lack of humility

Lack of urgency

Lack of understanding

This requires us to listen!

Takes 1000 times to make something a habit - it’ll take a while to make Bible intake a habit but it is one of the most important habits that we can make.

We must hear the Word and this requires us to listen.

The good news from Romans 1 is that God has made His existence known to all of humanity.

General Revelation makes us responsible but General Revelation is not sufficient to save.

Sitting through sermons, going on mission trips, hearing Gospel presentations do not save!

This is James’ point in this letter and he arrives at it in sentence form in verse 22. Could someone read chapter 1:22-27?

Genuine Faith Requires Us to Act (22-27)

Our study guide shares that James 1:22 serves as an overall topic verse for the entire book.

The point of Christianity is not simply to hear the Word but to actually do what the Word says!

What are some extreme positions that you’ve heard people make based on James’ teaching about faith and works?

God only cares about my actions and not my thoughts

Church doesn’t matter - I just need to be a good person

Bible study and doctrine are irrelevant, I just need to do what feels right

I’ve heard lots of other extreme positions based from the book of James but they almost always overemphasize personal actions to the point that actions are the saving factor in the life of a human.

Works matter but works do not save.

Genuine faith in Jesus results in works of righteousness for Jesus.

There are other at the opposite end of the spectrum, though, who think that they can be saved simply by church attendance and 1 hour a week.

James says that the person who only hears the Word deceives himself - what is the deception with only hearing the Word and not doing it?

We fail to do what Jesus commands in places like Matthew 5:14-16

James says that if you are just a hearer of the Word, you are like someone who looks in a mirror and forgets what you see.

Have you ever been there?

You just look at something and 10 seconds later you forget what you saw!

We laugh when it happens to someone else but we’ve all been that person before!

After having a toddler, mirrors have turned into a must have!

You think that you’re ready for the day only to discover that you have a blob of ketchup or your collar is half up and half down.

What do mirrors allow us to do?

See how we look and make changes as needed

We might like what we see, we might not like what we see

Without the mirror we’d be in trouble because we wouldn’t see the trouble that we’re in

This is how it is with God’s Word.

It serves as a mirror of sorts that we can use to evaluate ourselves and where we stand.

You see a problem and you address the problem.

A fool would look into the mirror and do nothing to solve the problem!

You get nothing done.

There was no point in looking into the mirror in the first place!

How can God’s Word act as a mirror in our lives?

See Hebrews 4:12

It shows us our sinfulness and God’s holiness

We don’t just read it, it reads us!