Receiving the Word

INTRODUCTION

Every believer has a unique relationship to the word of God. It is a relationship that distinguishes them from world.

It was through the word that God first brought us to salvation

- James 1:18 - Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

- 1 Peter 1:23 - you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God

As we heard the word, God opened our eyes to see it for what it really was

- 1 Thessalonians 2:13 - When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Because of this, the believer loves the word. He sees the word as life, as hope, as comfort, as joy

- Psalm 119:97 - Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

- Cf. Ps 119:16, 47, 105, 159

That is not something an unbeliever would say or could say. It’s a special relationship we have to God’s word.

We cherish that here at Anchorage Grace. We know that Scripture…

- Is able to make wise to salvation (2 Tim 3:15)

2 Timothy 3:15 - and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

- Is profitable for life and doctrine (2 Tim 3:16-17)

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

- Is the instrument for sanctification (John 17:17; Eph 5:26)

John 17:17 - Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Cf. Eph 5:25-26

- Is the means of growing believers (1 Pet 2:2)

1 Peter 2:2 - Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation

- Is the tool for building us up (Acts 20:32)

Acts 20:32 - And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

All this explains why we do what we do here. Our DNA from the very beginning has been built on these convictions.

- Preaching

- GCS

- TMS

We believe all life and ministry needs to be oriented around the word of God. That’s why we preach the word. That’s why we have a bookstore to provide good resources to study the word. That’s why we encourage you to spend time in the word.

Here’s the thing, though: often we emphasize spending time in God’s word, hearing it preached, studying it yourself. But we don’t often talk about what it takes to properly receive the word.

All the study and reading and preaching in the world won’t profit you much if you don’t properly receive the word.

MAIN IDEA: One of the primary marks that distinguishes you as true believer in Jesus Christ is how you receive and respond to the word of God.

Your response to God’s word is a barometer for your spiritual life. It uncovers your heart and exposes and measures your spiritual pulse.

QUESTION: How then should you, as a Christian respond to the word? What does a proper reception of God’s word look like for a believer?

ANSWER: We find our answer in the text before us, and the answer can be summed up in the following 3 components:

A believer receives God’s word with…

- A posture of submission

- A commitment to holiness

- An attitude of humility

1. A POSTURE OF SUBMISSION (1:19-20)

Now at the outset of this passage, James makes his urgency very clear.

“Know this” – a command to recognize/understand

It draws our attention to the urgency of what he is about to say. This isn’t an option—there’s no room for consideration. It is a demand that is placed on all believers to settle in our hearts to ownthe instructions which are coming.

At the same time, however, there is no doubt in James’ mind that he is addressing fellow believers.

“my beloved brothers” – He addresses his readers with a tenderness and affection—as a brother and as a shepherd.

He wants then to recognize his concern for them—to soften their hearts and so by lead them to an eagerness to listen and receive his exhortation.

BACKGROUND: Now, who is James, and who is he writing to?

Well, from the opening verse of the book, James introduces himself as “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Now, that turns out to be a rather modest introduction because James happens to be the very brother of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus had several brothers and sisters, according to Mark 6:3. During his earthly ministry, we find out from John 7:5 that none of his brothers believed in him. It wasn’t until after he had ascended did any of his siblings come to faith, and James was among them.

But more than that, James actually was one of the early eye-witnesses to the resurrected Christ. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7,

1 Cor 15:3-7 - For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

This appearance to James, no doubt, was one of the key reasons why he came to be the leader of the church in Jerusalem.

James, in other words, was a pastor. He was a leader. He was an influencer. He was perhaps the chief figure presiding over the Jerusalem council as recorded in Acts 15.

All that to say, James was no small potatoes. As one commentator put it,

“If a stranger arrived in Jerusalem or in Antioch between the years a.d. 40–62 and asked, “Who is the person in charge of this movement?” any knowledgeable Christian, including Peter or John or Paul, would have answered without hesitation, “James.” (William Varner, James, EEC, 9.)

Now, James addresses his letter to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion”, and what that means is that James has in view those Jewish Christians who, because of persecutions and other events, were living outside of the land of Palestine.

This is a very early letter. It is actually the earliest writing by date for any NT writing. Although the four Gospels record events which took place before James was written, the epistle of James was itself written before any of the gospel writers penned their works.

So it could be said that James represents a very early period of Christianity—a time when the church was predominantly comprised of Jewish Christians. It joins with the early chapters of Acts as a unique testimony to what the church was like during the infancy of Jewish Christianity.

These Christians were experiencing trials and persecutions. There many poor in the congregations, but also some wealthier individuals. But by and large, the biggest issue these folks were dealing with was over the nature of saving faith and its relationship to the daily Christian life as the proving ground for one’s faith.

And so James’ overall concern in writing was to help his readers understand how true saving faith works itself out in the life of a believer.

“Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”

This entire statement summarizes the posture you need to have in order to properly receive and respond to the word. It is a posture of submission—a posture that recognizes divine authority and recognizes your own subordination to that authority.

Now, first of all, note the comprehensiveness of this command.

There are no exemptions—that is made clear by the phrase, “every person”. This is an all-encompassing command. It leaves no one out of consideration.

It doesn’t matter your…

- Gender

- Age

- Occupation

- Ethnicity

- Background

- Education

- Time as a believer

None of these factors matter. There are no allowances made for privileged groups or those who might claim to be the victims of some circumstance which would allow them to disregard it. Every person must posture themselves in submission to God’s word.

Now, this posture is expressed in 3 necessary but deceptively simple commands:

- Quick to hear

- Slow to speak

- Slow to anger

I say “deceptively simple” because they challenge each one of us in our hearts. It goes against human nature to do these things.

“Quick to hear” – speaks of eagerness and attentiveness to listen—to hear the message rather than just to make a hasty and ill-informed conclusion.

God wants careful listeners in his church. He is looking for those who recognize that what he has to say is more important than what we have to say.

The believer knows that God’s word is life. They have experienced that life-giving word in their own salvation.

- 1 Peter 1:23- since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God

- Cf. Jas 1:18; 2 Tim 2:14-17

We listen because we want to be changed. We listen because we want God’s word to shape and fashion us, to equip us for every good work (2 Tim 3:17).

Now, James’ command is rooted directly in the OT. His epistle, after all, is often called “The Proverbs of the NT” for a reason. Proverbs is filled with reminders of the necessity to listen—to be quiet:

- Proverbs 17:28 - Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

- Ecclesiastes 5:1 - Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools…

Illustration: We listen closely to the things that are important to us. I remember in school, I often times had a wandering mind when the teacher was talking about something I wasn’t interested in. But if it was subject I was passionate about, I was attentive. I wanted to learn. I listened closely because it mattered to me.

That’s the posture of submission. That’s what it means to be quick to hear.

“slow to speak” – this is a natural companion to the first—it’s the necessary outcome to being quick to hear.

This is not talking about slowness in cadence or tempo, but about hesitation and delay. This is a necessary part of the posture of submission.

APP: We live in a time where there are ample opportunities to speak what on your mind. Social media is a feeding frenzy of individuals who want to get their ideas out to as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen people say and write horribly rash and foolish comments without ever thinking through what they were saying, how it would come across, and the consequences their words would bring.

20 years ago, if you wanted to say something with any kind of broad, national platform, you had to write a book or publish an article. But today, you can pick up your phone and in this very room while I’m speaking post a quick and hasty comment and it could be seen and read by millions around the globe. It’s a recipe for disaster.

It takes great wisdom and restraint to say something meaningful and at the appropriate time, and James is concerned with giving us the wisdom necessary to make that call.

It starts with being “slow to speak.”

Once again, James thoroughly roots his command in the OT. The wisdom literature of the OT is filled with reminders to restrain one’s speech:

Proverbs 10:19 - When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

Proverbs 13:3 - Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Cf. Prov 17:27; 29:11; Eccl 5:2

APP: How many relationships have been broken because we’ve been quick to say what’s one our mind? How often have we jumped to conclusions and responded to someone when we didn’t really fully process what was said and hadn’t fully thought through what we were going to say?

Illustration: Some of my lowest moments as a father have been when I’ve rebuked my sons for saying or doing something before I understood what really happened. I jumped to conclusions, only later to find out I had it all wrong, and I rebuked them needlessly, or rebuked the wrong son because I was too quick to speak before I had gathered all the facts.

James is very concerned about this. In fact, this command to be slow to speak permeates through his entire epistle:

James 1:26 – unbridled tongue is equated to a worthless religion

James 3:1 – warns of the risk associated with being a teacher

James 3:2-8 – the danger of the tongue

What you have to understand is that our words reflect the content of our heart. When we speak, we’re really exposing our hearts to others:

Matthew 12:34 - For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Cf. Matt 15:18

We know from Jeremiah 17:9 that man’s heart is desperately sick and impossible for us to know.

That knowledge should give us great pause, and should drive us toward this posture of submission where we’re quick to listen—quick to listen to others, but even more quick to listen to God’s word, because it’s the word that is able help us see what’s in our heart.

Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

So if you want to speak with wisdom and understanding—it starts with a posture of submission to God’s word by being quick to hear before you even begin to speak.

Transition: Now, we need this posture because of the third part of this triad…

“slow to anger” – certainly the call for restrain in speech is naturally connected with our tendency to speak rashly out of anger.

Proverbs 14:29 - Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

Proverbs 15:1 - A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Cf. Eccl 7:9

So not only can we speak with anger, but even our words and outbursts can elicit anger from others which then needlessly complicates the situation.

But even more than that, James has in mind something far more insidious than rash words spoken in the heat of the moment.

“anger” = orge, which denotes not a violent, emotional reaction, but an inward, seething kind of anger that’s hidden in the heart. It speaks of a deep resentment that smolders inside us which only we know about.

It’s this kind of anger that leads to a host of other evils and sins.

NOTE: Now, we have to stop and recognize that anger is a natural human emotion. In fact, it speaks to the fact that we are made in the image of God.

All throughout Scripture, we see statements that God manifests anger:

Psalm 7:11 - God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.

Cf. Nah 1:2

Even the Lord Jesus Christ manifested anger

- He became angry when he saw that his Father’s house had been turned into a robber’s den

- He became angry at the hardheartedness of the people (Mark 3:5)

So it should not surprise us, then, that we who are made in the likeness of God should manifest anger.

And James does not deny this fact. This is not a wholesale condemnation of anger. In fact, I would say that there is something wrong if you didn’t have anger at times when confronted with sin and unrighteousness and injustice.

The problem is that often times its difficult to discern the real motivations for our anger.

James diagnoses this very problem later in his letter:

James 4:1-3 – source of quarrels and fights based on unfilled passions and selfishly motivated desires.

MacArthur: “People desired to have their own opinions confirmed, their own ways approved, their own likes and dislikes accepted by others. Self-will was supreme, personal hostility was rampant, and the spiritual damage was enormous.”

So the call for believers is to manifest a posture of submission by being “slow to anger”—to keep it in check, to keep a close eye on your heart, to study your motivations, analyze your desires, to make sure that your anger is truly justified and to not allow it to smolder into a deep-seated resentment.

Ephesians 4:26 - Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

Anger that anchors in the heart leaves an open door for the enemy to use to sow resentment and hostility and division.

Transition: Now, James goes on in verse 20 to explain more why being slow to anger is so important.

“For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (1:20)

The reason you need to be slow to anger is because man’s anger never leads to behavior that pleases God.

“righteousness of God” – not forensic righteousness which God gives to man through faith in Christ, but righteousness that God expects and desires to see in our lives.

It is a righteousness of doing right and being right. And that kind of righteousness never comes about through human anger.

NOTE: So the reason to be “slow to anger” is because it is very difficult sometimes to discern whether your anger is born out of righteous indignation toward sin and injustice or whether its human anger.

And even when our anger begins because of injustice, that righteous anger can morph into fleshly anger if we allow it to root down in our heart and turn into resentment.

That kind of anger is incapable of producing actions and attitudes that please God.

Transition: So the first requirement for receiving the word of God is to come in a posture of submission—to be quick to hear, attentive and ready, to be slow to speak, and slow to anger.

2. A COMMITMENT TO HOLINESS (1:21a)

There is preparation that is necessary for coming under the word of God. I’m not just talking about the hurried morning of getting up, getting some clothes on, eating some breakfast, and driving here. I’m talking about spiritual preparation.

This preparation doesn’t just happen on Sunday morning. It happens every day. It is necessary everyday.

“Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness”.

Receiving the word of God as a Christian necessitates that you are committed to dealing with everything in your life that might get in the way of the word doing its work in your life.

“Put away” means to “strip off.” It’s used in Acts 7:58 of removing garments. In 1 Peter 3:21 its used to speak of removing dirt from the body.

So the picture here is one of removing filthy, soiled clothing. And here, the clothing is sin. Sin must be dealt with. It must be removed. It must be identified and taken off.

Ephesians 4:22 - put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds

Colossians 3:8 - But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Hebrews 12:1 - let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

The sin identified here in the text is called “filthiness.”It speaks of filth and impurity. It is those things which defile and make dirty. It’s the same word used in Isaiah 64:6 to speak of “filthy rags.” It is the moral filth that soils your life.

Along with that term, James speaks of “rampant wickedness.” That word “wickedness”at times speaks specifically of malice, but here I think it takes on a more general idea of wickedness or unrighteousness. It’s a kind of “catch all.”

“Rampant” refers to excess, or abundance. It’s the overflow of sin, and it’s a way of making it clear that everything has to be dealt with. You can’t leave any stone unturned. You must deal with it all.

All of this is preparation for receiving the word.

Even though the command to put off appears as its own command, there’s actually a timeline in the Greek that places this act of putting off as a necessary step before you can properly receive the word.

God requires a commitment to holiness to grow as a Christian. You cannot come and sit under the teaching of Scripture here and expect to grow and change if you are not committed to dealing with sin in your life.

ILLUSTRATION: If you have a skylight and you want the light to shine through, you first have to clean it off. You have to get all the gunk and debris and buildup clear so that the light can shine through. Otherwise, it just muddies the skylight.

In the same way, sin—if left alone and not dealt with and attacked and killed with determination—will have a hardening effect on your heart. It will damage your receptivity to the word.

1 Peter 2:1-2 - So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation

Transition: Now, once you deal with your sin, and you’ve postured yourself in submission to the word, there’s a final component.

3. AN ATTITUDE OF HUMILITY (1:21b)

“receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your soul.”

“with meekness” – this is speaking of your attitude. It speaks of gentleness and docility and humility. It’s the opposite of anger and pride.

Coming under God’s word requires an attitude of humility. It requires teachability. It requires a readiness to learn and to be fed, to be confronted and corrected, to be poked and prodded by that sharp, two-edged sword until everything in the heart is exposed.

And just like sin can get in the way of that by hardening the heart, pride can get in the way as well. You have to be humble to receive the word. There’s no room for arrogance or self-importance.

Only when you’re humble can you then “receive…the implanted word.” The word “receive”means to accept or welcome. It’s what the noble Bereans did in Acts 17:11, when they “received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

You can’t do that if you’re not humble, just like you can’t do that if your life is fouled up with sin, and you’re not quick to hear, and you speak quickly without thinking, and harbor resentment and anger in your heart. You can’t receive the word that way.

James talks about the word as the “implanted word.” It’s the word which has been planted in your heart at salvation. Like the seed in Matthew 13:8 which fell on good soil, so the word was implanted in you and took root and saved you.

James 1:18 – He brought us forth by the word of truth

1 Peter 1:23 – you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God

That word has been planted. But even now, as you hear it preached and taught, as you read and study it on your own, you still receive that word implanted in you, welcoming it, embracing it, and appropriating it.

Why?

“which is able to save your soul” – it was instrumental in your salvation. But it’s also necessary for your sanctification and will lead you ultimately to the completion of your salvation when you go to glory.

CONCLUSION

How you receive the word is one of the tests of the genuineness of your faith. How you receive the word is also a measure of your spiritual health.

Do you approach it with a posture of submission? Do you listen carefully? Do you guard your speech, and hold anger and resentment in check?

Do you approach it with a commitment to holiness? Do you deal with sin in your life. Do you keep your heart soft, so the word can do its work in you?

Do you approach it with an attitude of humility? Are you teachable? Do you read and hear it with the desire to learn and grow?

These are the questions you need to ask yourself.

In the end, receiving the word in this manner isn’t easy to do. In fact, it’s impossible to do on your own. That’s why God has written his word on your heart. And he’s put his Spirit in you, to enable you to do this.

GOSPEL: And if you’re not a believer here this morning, know that the same word of God that condemns sin is able to save your soul.

Humble yourself. Confess your sin. Turn away from it. Place your faith in Jesus Christ. Place your full trust in the fact that he died in your place to free you from your sin. You can have that same kind of relationship with God’s word as well.