Living out the Message
Notes
Transcript
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Giving a title to the message , shows where the direction of the message might be going. Deciding on several titles:
Living out the Message // Practice the Word
Quit kidding yourself
Deception is a terrible thing
Doers not hearers only
So you can decide which title that you like best because as we go through James 1:19-27 all will be present.
On version of the bible starts of verse 19 as - So then my beloved brethren.
Another version says: Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters.
I like this version because of the statement - Understand this...
When looking at the Greek - (Perceive - you know this)
James is say understand this , you know this......
We are not dumb, we know things of God’s word but what are we doing with it. Head knowledge is great but the doing part can be challenging.
Swift to hear (v. 19a). “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear!”
Quick to listen
To listen intently
When instructions are given
Think of a football huddle you have to listen
Are we hearing God’s word?
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God
Just as the servant is quick to hear his master’s voice
The mother to hear her baby’s smallest cry
The believer should be quick to hear what God has to say.
Slow to speak (v. 19b).
We have two ears and one mouth, which ought to remind us to listen more than we speak.
Do not be in a rush to get a word in - guilty
I will start talking as Rhonda is talking
Being slow to speak helps us to think through what we are going to say before we say it.
This way we are not putting our foot in our mouth!
Slow to wrath (v. 19c).
Do not get angry at God or His Word.
In the Garden, Peter was slow to hear, swift to speak, and swift to anger—and he almost killed a man with the sword.
Slowness to speak up when angry will tend to curb the anger
James warns us against getting angry at God’s Word because it reveals our sins to us
When angry it does not accomplish God’s righteousness.
If a Christian sins because Satan deceives him, that is one thing. But if he deceives himself, that is a far more serious matter.
Deceptions:
Thinking you are saved but are not
Living out the message and just not listen to it
Matthew 7:22–23
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
Deceiving our heart
Thinking you are religious but not able to control the tongue
Spiritual Immaturity
Thinking you are spiritual and doing the right thing when in fact you are doing the opposite.
It is the mark of maturity when a person faces himself honestly, know your weakness and admit your needs
The final test of salvation is fruit.
This means a changed life,
Christian character and conduct, and ministry to others in the glory of God.
This fruit might be winning souls to Christ (Rom. 1:16),
growing in holy living (Rom. 6:22),
sharing our material possessions (Rom. 15:28),
spiritual character (Gal. 5:22–23),
good works (Col. 1:10), and even
praising the Lord (Heb. 13:15).
Religious works may be manufactured, but they do not have life in them, nor do they bring glory to God.
Real fruit has in it the seed for more fruit, so that the harvest continues to grow fruit, more fruit, much fruit (John 15:1–5).
They attend Bible classes and church services but never seem to grow. Is it the fault of the teacher or the preacher? Perhaps, but it may also be the fault of the hearer. It is possible to be “dull of hearing” (Heb. 5:11) because of decay of the spiritual life.
If the seed of the Word is to be planted in our hearts, then we must obey the instructions James gives us.
A prepared heart (v. 21). James saw the human heart as a garden; if left to itself, the soil would produce only weeds. He urged us to “pull out the weeds” and prepare the soil for the “implanted Word of God.” The phrase “superfluity of naughtiness” gives the picture of a garden overgrown with weeds that cannot be controlled. It is foolish to try to receive God’s Word into an unprepared heart.
How do we prepare the soil of our hearts for God’s Word? First, by confessing our sins and asking the Father to forgive us (1 John 1:9). Then, by meditating on God’s love and grace and asking Him to “plow up” any hardness in our hearts, “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns” (Jer. 4:3). Finally, we must have an attitude of “meekness” (James 1:21). Meekness is the opposite of “wrath” in James 1:19–20. When you receive the Word with meekness, you accept it, do not argue with it, and honor it as the Word of God.
Practice the Word (James 1:22–25)
It is not enough to hear the Word; we must do it.
Too many Christians mark their Bibles, but their Bibles never mark them!
If you think you are spiritual because you hear the Word, then you are only kidding yourself.
In the previous paragraph, James compared the Word to seed; but in this paragraph, he compared it to a mirror. There are two other references in the Bible to God’s Word as a mirror; and when you put all three together, you discover three ministries of the Word of God as a mirror.
Examination (vv. 23–25). This is the main purpose for owning a mirror, to be able to see yourself and make yourself look as clean and neat as possible. As we look into the mirror of God’s Word, we see ourselves as we really are. James mentions several mistakes people make as they look into God’s mirror.
First, they merely glance at themselves. They do not carefully study themselves as they read the Word. Many sincere believers read a chapter of the Bible each day, but it is only a religious exercise and they fail to profit from it personally. Their conscience would bother them if they did not have their daily reading, when actually their conscience should bother them because they read the Word carelessly. A cursory reading of the Bible will never reveal our deepest needs.
The second mistake is that they forget what they see. If they were looking deeply enough into their hearts, what they would see would be unforgettable!
Mistake number three is: they fail to obey what the Word tells them to do. They think that hearing is the same as doing, and it is not. We Christians enjoy substituting reading for doing, or even talking for doing
Five minutes with God each day will never accomplish a deep spiritual examination.
I have been fortunate with the doctors who have cared for me through the years, and I owe a great deal to them. Each of them has possessed two qualities that I have appreciated: they have spent time with me and have not been in a hurry, and they have always told me the truth. When Jesus, the Great Physician (Matt. 9:12), examines us, He uses His Word; and He wants us to give Him sufficient time to do the job well. Perhaps one reason we glance into the Word instead of gaze into the Word is that we are afraid of what we might see.
After seeing ourselves, we must remember what we are and what God says, and we must do the Word. The blessing comes in the doing, not in the reading of the Word. “This man shall be blessed in his doing” (James 1:25, literal translation). The emphasis in James is on the practice of the Word. We are to continue after reading the Word (James 1:25; see Acts 1:14; 2:42, 46; 13:43; 14:22; 26:22 for examples of this in the early church).
Why does James call the Word of God “the perfect law of liberty”? (James 1:25) Because when we obey it, God sets us free. “And I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts” (Ps. 119:45).
Our first responsibility is to receive the Word. Then, we must practice the Word; otherwise we are deceiving ourselves. This leads to a third responsibility.
Share the Word (James 1:26–27)
The word translated “religion” means “the outward practice, the service of a god.” It is used only five times in the entire New Testament (James 1:26–27; Acts 26:5; and Col. 2:18, where it is translated “worshiping”). Pure religion has nothing to do with ceremonies, temples, or special days. Pure religion means practicing God’s Word and sharing it with others, through speech, service, and separation from the world.
Speech (v. 26). There are many references to speech in this letter, giving the impression that the tongue was a serious problem in the assembly (see James 1:19; 2:12; 3:1–3, 14–18; 4:11–12). It is the tongue that reveals the heart (Matt. 12:34–35); if the heart is right, the speech will be right. A controlled tongue means a controlled body (James 3:1ff).
Service (v. 27a). After we have seen ourselves and Christ in the mirror of the Word, we must see others and their needs. Isaiah first saw the Lord, then himself, and then the people to whom he would minister (Isa. 6:1–8). Words are no substitute for deeds of love (James 2:14–18; 1 John 3:11–18). God does not want us to pay for others to minister as a substitute for our own personal service!
We See Ourselves Reflected
The Word of God is like a mirror
Not only do I read this Book; this Book reads me.
This Book has a picture of me. And if I want to see me, I just simply look into the Word of God.
Now the mirror doesn’t lie. The mirror is very brutal.
James has in his mind two imaginary people, two people who have a mirror. And they hold it up and they look at it.
One man takes, what I’m going to call a casual glance.
The idea of a person who is just simply glancing into the Word of God.
He gets up in the morning. He’s in a hurry.
He just runs past the mirror. And then he’s gone.
And he’s really forgotten what he saw.
Forgotten what he has read
Looking at your face casually - after I shave I look but if I glaze at it I do not realized where I missed
Many people say they do morning devotions, but all it is , is a kind of a glance.
We open the book.
We glance in it.
We say, “I’ve done my duty.”
A dose a day keeps the devil away. And then, we’re on our way,
but we have not really looked into the Word of God.
The other man takes a concentrated gaze.
James speaks of a person here in verse 25: “
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
Now here this word, looketh into the perfect law of liberty, the word look is a very interesting word. It means literally to, to peer into something, to look, to scrutinize, to look intently.
Now, when you look into the Word of God, don’t just forget what you see.
When you read the Bible, the Bible reads you.
Make a habit of writing down what things you need to correct and then, correct those things as you read the Word of God, and the Word of God will burst aflame in your heart and in your life.
Now let me tell you what God’s purpose is for you in the Word of God. Number one: To show you what you are by nature. And then, number two: To show you what you ought to be by grace. That’s what the Bible is for. The Bible is to show you what you are, but also what you could be.
