Putting God's Word into Action
James • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 33:29
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· 34 viewsWe should do more than just hear God's Word. We should apply it to our lives.
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We’re going to continue our study in the book of James today and will finish out chapter one by looking at verses 19-27. Last week we studied James 1:1-18 and learned a few things:
True faith withstands tests and trials with joy.
We can’t be sure our faith is genuine until we experience trials.
Our faith is tested so we will grow.
We should depend on God through the trials of life.
We will be rewarded for enduring trials.
God is not the source of our temptations.
True faith is received from God through the “the word of truth” which is the Bible
18 By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Today we’re going to learn what we should do with the word of truth given to us by God as we look at verses 19-26:
19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
This passage is broken down into three parts. The first part is in verses 19-21:
19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
James shifts gears in verse 19 with the command to “understand this.” Notice he gives the command to “my dear brothers and sisters”. James is focusing on the relationship he has with the people he is writing to. We should follow his example in dealing with issues in life. We should develop the relationship with someone before we try to speak into their life.
We need to receive the Word
We need to receive the Word
The main focus in these verses is “receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” James compares God’s word with a seed that is planted in our heart. He is borrowing from the Parable of the Sower in Matt 13:1-9
18 “So listen to the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path. 20 And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 21 But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”
The true test of our faith is whether God’s word is truly planted in our heart. Have we received it, understood it, and allowed it to bear fruit in our lives? James talked earlier about how our trials and temptations are a true test of our faith. Now he’s saying that the way we receive God’s word and let it play out in our lives is another test of our faith. So lets look at how we should receive the word.
We should receive the Word without anger
We should receive the Word without anger
19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.
James says we should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. I don’t know about you, but I find this hard to do! James is clear in verse 20 that anger isn’t compatible with God’s righteousness.
I used to have a real issue with anger. I joked that it was because of the Irish temper from my mother’s side of the family! I didn’t think there was any way to control my reaction, but I learned that I could slow down my emotions before I went off on someone. I still fight the urge to get angry and don’t always win, but I am learning to control my anger better as I get older.
We all have a choice whether we get angry with someone. James gives us practical wisdom about how to avoid that anger. We need to listen more than we speak. I’m sure you’ve heard that saying that God have us two ears and one mouth because He wants us to listen twice as much as we speak.
Being quick to hear would solve a lot of the disagreements we have in life. So many conflicts come from misunderstanding the person we are upset with. How many arguments could we avoid if we asked the other person what they are thinking or feeling before we blast them with an angry rant?
I’ve learned that we should always assume the person doesn’t have bad intentions when we are upset with them. My tendency is to jump to conclusions without really understanding what they are thinking or going through.
Slowing down to listen to someone can stop an argument before it starts. The Bible is clear that the way we use our mouth is an indication of our maturity:
20 Do you see someone who speaks too soon? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
3 Lord, set up a guard for my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.
23 The one who guards his mouth and tongue keeps himself out of trouble.
There was another reason that James encouraged his brothers and sister in Christ to be slow to speak. Some believers in the churches James wrote to were used to saying and teaching whatever happened to come into their minds, without giving it careful thought or checking it against Scripture.
I’m sure many of the teachers were probably sincere but poorly taught and unprepared. Some were proud and arrogant (see James 4:6) and enjoyed hearing their own voices. They like to be seen as teachers and leaders.
Some were quick to criticize and argue with each other (see James 3:14; James 4:1-2, James 4:11; James 5:9). There were also false teachers who were undercutting the doctrine and faith of church members, causing great confusion and damage. Anyone in a position of teaching or leading should be
1 Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment.
I’m always fearful to preach. It makes me sick every Sunday morning. I have a responsibility to teach God’s word with diligence and accuracy. We are all responsible for the things we say and should be especially careful when we teach.
We see the next way we should receive the word in verse 21:
21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
We should receive the Word with purity and humility
We should receive the Word with purity and humility
James tells us to get rid of all moral filth and evil excess. Filth refers to any sort of moral defilement or impurity. It is closely related to a term used of wax in the ear, which keeps us from hearing well. Sin in our life also keeps us from hearing from God and receiving His word.
We need to cleanse our hearts from the filth that comes from unrepentant sin. Evil excess means sin that is deliberate and determined. Going back to the analogy of the word being planted in our hearts, we can think of sin as weeds that grow in a garden.
I know many of you plant gardens with delicious vegetables. What happens if you don’t take care of the weeds? They will grow out of control and choke the good plants you’re trying to grow.
I’ve heard it said we should keep short lists with God. We need to prepare our hearts to receive God’s word by pulling up the weeds of sin. The amazing thing is that God’s grace is free for us to receive when we ask Him to forgive us for our sins.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Finally, we should prepare our hearts to receive the word with humility. When you plant a garden, you use a tiller to plow up the hard ground. Pride will keep us from receiving God’s word in our life. We must humble ourselves before God and ask Him to soften our hearts.
When you receive the Word with humility, you accept it. You don’t argue with it. You honor it as the Word of God and don’t try to twist it to reinforce your own way of thinking.
In the next section in verses 22-25, James says we need to do more than hear and receive the word:
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.
James says we need to practice the word.
We need to practice the Word
We need to practice the Word
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James tells us in verse 22 to be doers of the word and not just hearers. He says if we only listen to the Word and don’t put it into practice, we are deceiving ourselves. If you claim to be a follower of Christ then you will do what God’s Word says. Otherwise, you are fooling yourself in thinking you are something that you aren’t. Some people think that listen to a good sermon or Bible study is what will make them grow. It’s not the hearing, but the doing that will lead to God’s blessing.
James compared the Word to seed in the last paragraph, but now he compares it to a mirror. If we only listen to God’s Word, but don’t put it into action, it’s like looking at ourselves in the mirror and forgetting what we look like as soon as we walk away.
23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror.
Why do we have mirrors? We have them to look at ourselves and make sure we look our best! What good is a mirror if we look at ourselves in the morning, see that our hair is standing up and our clothes are wrinkles, shrug our shoulders and go to work anyway? What good is a mirror if we don’t get a new view of ourselves and do something about it?
Sometimes we hear something we know we need to change about ourselves, but don’t want to do anything about it. Or maybe we think we need to learn more before we put it into action. Our society puts a lot of emphasis on knowing things, but God says we need to go beyond knowledge to obedience.
I think James’ idea of the mirror is helpful for us to avoid a few mistakes in our lives. First we shouldn’t just glance at ourselves in the mirror. We should really examine our hearts. We should let the Word of God penetrate our hearts and minds so that we are convicted to live it out.
A lot of Christians read their Bible every day. They feel guilty if they don’t. But they don’t really read to understand and change. Their just checking a box. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the things in our life we need to change and do.
J.A Motyer was an Irish biblical scholar who wrote about really paying attention to God’s Word:
We might wonder why the ever-practical James does not proceed to outline schemes of daily Bible reading or the like, for surely these are the ways in which we offer a willing ear to the voice of God. But he does not help us in this way. Rather, he goes deeper, for there is little point in schemes and times if we have not got an attentive spirit. It is possible to be unfailingly regular in Bible reading, but to achieve no more than to have moved the book-mark forward: this is reading unrelated to an attentive spirit. The word is read but not heard. On the other hand, if we can develop an attentive spirit, this will spur us to create those conditions—a proper method in Bible-reading, a discipline of time, and so on—by which the spirit will find itself satisfied in hearing the Word of God. (J. A. Motyer, The Message of James [Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1985], 64–65)
The next mistake that James mentions is forgetting what we see. If we really look at ourselves through the lens of God’s Word, we will be convicted to change. We will understand the depth of our sin and cry out to God for forgiveness.
5 Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”
The final mistake James mentions is the failure to obey what the Word tells us to do. We think hearing is the same as doing. We fail to please God when we read, listen, and talk about doing God’s work without actually doing it.
25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.
James says in verse 25 that the person who looks intently at the perfect law of freedom and does what it says will be blessed. James calls God’s Word the perfect law because the Bible is perfect, without error, and sufficient for all our needs. Some people think of the Bible as a bunch of rules that keep us in bondage, but it frees us from the bondage of sin. In reality, it brings us freedom.
16 Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over, 18 and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.
14 For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”
The last part of this passage is found in verses 26 and 27.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James says that we need to receive the Word, we need to practice the Word, and we need to share the Word through the things we do.
We need to share the Word.
We need to share the Word.
The word translated “religious” and “religion” is the outward expression of our faith. James starts out be telling us what authentic religion is not. If we can’t control our tongue, we can’t practice true religion.
The tongue isn’t the only way we know if someone’s heart is right, but it’s a might good indicator. The average person will speak around 18,000 words a day. I think the ladies in our life might talk a little more than the men, but the idea is that we use words a lot!
James says that what a person says reveals what is going on in their heart. Jesus said the same thing:
34 Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. 35 A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil.
I played football in high school and was the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at our school. I picked up a lot of bad language when I started playing football from my friends and coaches. I thought cussing was a way to show I was tough and cool in front of my friends. One day after an FCA meeting, one of the assistant football coaches who was our sponsor pulled me aside. He told me that even though he was thankful that I led the club, my foul language was ruining my witness. He told me that as a believer, I had a responsibility to talk with wholesome language and he hoped I would change. I was cut to the core and vowed to let my speech match my faith from that day forward.
Cussing isn’t the only way we reveal the maturity of our heart. When we gossip, criticize, use the Lord’s name in vain, we show the world that our heart is not right. James will talk about the power of the tongue later on in this book, but he steps on our toes here in chapter 1!
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Next, James says we should share the Word by serving those who are the most helpless. Verse 27 says pure and undefiled religion is to look after orphans and widows. To look after carries the ideas of caring for others, protecting them from harm, and helping them in whatever way they need.
Widows and orphans are examples of people who desperately need God’s love and help and He wants us be His hands and feet. We simply can’t be a true follower of Jesus and ignore the needs around us.
16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.
I pray that our church and every member in it will have a heart for serving others, especially those who are in need. In the short time I’ve been at Enterprise, I’ve seen you help others. I want to thank you for having a servant’s heart. The challenge for all of us is to always be looking for those people God has put in our lives that need our help.
I know we get busy and distracted, but we can’t ignore the call to serve others. I pray that we will see others with God’s eyes and will be sensitive to their needs.
We need to take care of our own church family, but we also need to help people around the world who are suffering. We have an opportunity to give to the victims of the two hurricanes that recently hit the southeast. Please watch this video about the work Southern Baptist are doing to help those in need.
I’d love for our church to send a gift out of our abundance to help. We have around $600 that wasn’t designated in our budget. I think a gift of $500 from the church to help those affected by the hurricanes is what God would have us do. All of the money will be used to help those in need. I’d also like the church to have an opportunity to add to that gift. We’ll take up an offering next week for anyone who wants to help.
Finally, James says in verse 27 that true religion is to obey the Word without compromise. He says we should keep ourselves unstained from the world.
We should apply the Word without compromise.
We should apply the Word without compromise.
The word translated “to keep” means an ongoing duty. We should always strive to live a holy life. We’re not perfect. Only Jesus met that standard on Earth. James is challenging the believer to hate our sin and work with God’s grace to change.
We can’t get caught up in loving the things of the world. Believers are in the world but not of it. Someone who is more interested in the things the world offers rather than the things of God doesn’t have true faith:
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.
I hope you will take a hard look at your heart this morning and honestly evaluate your willingness to share the Word through your actions. When was the last time you checked on someone in need? When was the last time you did more than check on them and really helped them?
As we come to the end of this passage, I hope you have been challenged as I have to receive God’s Word and applying it to our lives. Most importantly, have you really received God’s Word? Have you heard the good news that Jesus died for your sins and have you asked Him to forgive you and save you? If you haven’t, please talk to me during the invitation or after the service.
Have you submitted to God’s Word? Do you believe what it says? Your desire to study the Bible is a measure of your maturity and walk with God.
Are you applying God’s Word in your life? Is it evident in your words and actions? Are you obeying God by helping those in need?
