Practical Truth (Week 3)

Announcements:

Man's night out September 29th.

all location young adults October 3rd

Flourish ladies retreat October 4th through 6th.

YA bonfire October 11th.

Prayer: ask

Intro:

When was the time he found it hard to listen to someone?

What made it so hard to listen to them? Should you have listened to them?

Now, when was a time that someone said something to you, and you found it hard to control your temper.

What would you say is the root cause for your anger?

How dose a moment of anger make you look as a person to the outside world?

Tell personal story about how my anger has affected my life

Today's text goes deeply into the anger of Man, and then leads that into our moral cleanliness as Christians, and then wraps that up with what true religion looks like.

Text:

James 1:19–27 ESV

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. 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. 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.

Like I said, I've broken up today's text into three parts and aprt one is…

1. Our Humility

James 1:19–20 ESV

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.

How many of you have heard this passage before?

Now, how many of you can say that you live this out perfectly?

Finally, how many of us here Can honestly say we struggle with this?

I want to make sure that we understand that this is a process of sanctification, but it isn't something that we should ignore because it's a commonly used passage.

A Christian should be known by their meekness. not my weakness, and definitely lot by our inability to learn or keep our cool.

Be Quick to hear

What does it look like to be quick to hear?

What's the difference between listening and hearing somebody?

A picture that comes to my head is a married couple, where the wife is talking to the husband, and he's quote Unquote, listening, but doesn't understand or remember anything that she says.

At the end of the conversation, she says, did you hear anything I said And he would respond, yeah, I'm listening, but wouldn't be able to explain what she just said.

We can get caught up into 3 different types of listening.

Passive listening.

Listening to respond.

Listening to understand.

The text is saying that we should listen to understand. we should seek the good of the other and seek to fully understand and not make a straw man.

The next portion of this we see is slow to speak.

Now, how many of us in this room can honestly admit that we struggle to stop talking?

I personally, since I've been a kid Have had a struggle with not interjecting, not butting in, not dominating the conversation.

There is a scene In the office where Michael Scott says, “sometimes I'll start a sentence and don't even know where it's going. I just hope I find it along the way. “

And at times I've found this to be me. And scripture has some choice words for those who are quick to speak.

Ecclesiastes 10:12–14 ESV

12 The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness. 14 A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him?

Proverbs 17:27–28 ESV

27 Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. 28 Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

Now what the Bible isn't saying is that we should never speak up. But what it is saying is that we should be thoughtful about what we say, because we can never take back a word we say. We will be accountable for every single word we say.

Matthew 12:36 ESV

36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

So what I'm saying is, we should consider what we say before we say it.

We should be a people that speak words of life.

We are not to be weak. but we are to be meek with our speech.

As we'll learn about later, our tongue has power and we need to keep it under control.

Luke 6:45 ESV

45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

So a question for each of us internally should be, where is my heart at.

Are the words I'm saying edifying? Are they thoughtful? Do they come from wisdom, or do they come from the flesh?

and finally “slow to anger”

This word for anger can be translated as violent, passion, indignation or wrath.

Is anger Evil?

The anger of man, or the anger of the flesh, as we see in verse 20 does not produce righteousness.

James 1:20 ESV

20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

But let's look at the passage that gives us a good picture of how to manage anger and exercise it.

Because when the passage says be slow to speak, it doesn't mean you should never speak. Likewise, when it says, be slow to anger, it doesn't mean you should never be angry.

John 2:13–17 ESV

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Jesus didn't enter the temple and immediately go into a rage. He took the time to make a whip. Of course, in process and evaluate, and then make the decision to act out in a righteous way.

Jesus wasn't angry because of what people said about him or did to him. He was angry because they were turning his father's house into a place of evil.

People were selling things to sacrifice and gatekeeping God and sacrifices from the people for a profit.

What this means for us is our anger should be slow and controlled and should be within the bounds of our authority and within the bounds of what God would have us speak out on.

We should not allow anger to consume our lives because of the. cause it does not produce the righteousness of God.

2. Cleaning our House

James 1:21 ESV

21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Because of all this previously said, James goes in to verse 21 saying, put away a ALL filthiness.

And what this filthiness means is moral turpitude. What he's saying is, put away things that are uncharacteristic of Christ.

We should not be a people of anger. We should not be a people of fools. We should not be a people who do not hear wisdom. We should be a people who are obedient.

And a question that I have for each of us is, what is the filthiness in our life that the Lord is convicting us on?

What is the sin in your life that you believe that the Lord is putting some pressure on right now? We are to put away all wickedness.

In the Greek, the word all means all. even in your notes, write down a list of 5 things that are wicked in your life that you should fight against and remove.

But specifically referring to listening speaking and anger, we need to put away the filthiness. in order to receive the righteousness.

Now, I'm not saying that if you sin that you need to put away sin in order to be saved again.

But what I am saying is that the longer we hold on to sin. the less the Lord can sink to find our life.

When we hold on to these sins or these vices, it keeps God from being able to give us the virtues, the positives. It's like holding on to gravel or dirt when God is trying to offer you jewels.

We are to put away this sin and receive. the implanted word.

What would you say the implanted word could be?

Scripture Jesus the truth.

But I believe James is getting at is that once we're able to listen, to understand what. we're able to slow our speech and control our tongue and once we're able to hold back our anger, we can hear the truth of God's word that is implanted in our hearts and the Holy Spirit can convict us and change us

If you and I are going to God saying, Lord, teach me and change me. And then we also cover our ears and avoid the truth of his word. Then we don't really want to learn.

For those of us who are not Christian, we need to lay down our pride and receive God's truth of the gospel.

And for those of us who are Christian, we need to lay down our pride and receive the words that can and will sanctify us

3. Our Obedience

James 1:22 ESV

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

What does James mean by being doers of the word?

There are two aspects I wanna point out.

In church today, I believe there are two people, people who hear the word and don't do it. and people who do not hear the word and therefore don't know what to do.

Neither is a proper position. We need to dive deep into scripture and understand God's laws and his commands and his ways of living.

We need to learn about how Jesus lived.

But if we only learn about these things and never implement them, then we are no better than the Pharisees. because God desires obedience. not just understanding.

Matthew 21:28–32 ESV

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

What is the difference of the two men in this parable?

How often do we find ourselves to be these men?

God wants obedience. not just a verbal ascent or An external facade. He wants true obedience.

James 1:23–26 ESV

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. 26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

For me to not do the word, but to know it is like looking in the mirror, seeing how disgusting I look, smelling my breath, seeing how bad it is, and then walking away and acting as if nothing is wrong.

The word is meant to point out flaws within us, so that we can pray and conform to the image of Christ.

1 John 2:6 ESV

6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

James is pointing out ways that we all need to improve. No one will be perfect in this.

And the reason I know this is because there is even greater call or challenge that we see in scripture than what James is pointing out.

Leviticus 19:2 ESV

2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

Be perfect as God is perfect. And this is an impossible task for us, and that's why Second Corinthians is so important.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We are to look at what Christ did on the cross and allow that implanted word, the implanted truth, to change us. to sanctify us.

If we come to this building to act religious and don't allow it to change our lives, it's worthless. But if we come to this building because Christ has changed us, and we want to be more like him, and we want to live out our faith, then that religion is worth it

My final thought for this passage. is, are you surrendered to Christ? Are you deceiving yourself and living a double life?

Are you a person who knows? the scripture but doesn't live it out? Are you? a person who is struggling to be obedient to God's word and want to improve that?

I want to give you an opportunity, if that's you, if you're struggling with this type of passage. And you feel like you've deceived yourself. You feel like that you have a worthless religion. Take time to repent and seek God.

Ask him to change you and grow you and rescue you and ask him. to use the implanted word to change your life.

now i want to finish with verse 27

James 1:27 ESV

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.

A religion that is pure and genuine is one that works and takes care of the least of these.

Matthew 25:40–45 ESV

40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’

True Christianity seeks after serving the least of these not in order to earn salvation. But as a demonstration of it.