James 1:19-26 Live the Word

Scripture: Dave L

Intro:

Slow Your Anger vs. 19-21

James 1:19–21 ESV

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

The first instruction in living the Word is to slow your Anger

James looks at two things that can trip us up in following Jesus

The first is to let our anger get out of control

The next is an unbridled tongue

James gives us four things in this passage that will help us slow our anger

Listen twice as much as you speak

First, we need to listen twice as much as we speak

It is said God gaves us two ears and one tongue so that we will listen twice as much as we talk

People are not ionterested in listening

My kids ask me a question and I give them my answer

They weren’t listening so they ask me again and my wife gets on me for not listening to them

Some people like to hear themselves talk

Others are thinking of how they are going to respond to a person while that person is talking

Proverbs 10:19 ESV

When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

Our words get us into trouble

If we would start out trying to listen AND understand first it would eliminate a lot of problems

Speak Less

the second thing James tells us how to slow our anger is to speak less

I think we can all agree we could do with a lot less talking

There is a meme on the internet that depicts an exhausted mom listening to a hyper-talking teenager who is spilling out their whole drama at 10 pm

Solomon weighs in on this

Proverbs 16:32 ESV

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

The person who controls his anger is better than the mighty, he is able to take a city

He goes even further

Proverbs 17:28 ESV

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

Put away the Filth

The thrid way to slow our anger is to put away the filth

We we are caught up in sin we are over defensive out of the fear of being exposed

We compensate by talking

If someone gets too close to our sin we often get angry as a smoke screen

We can prevent talking and anger by not being involved in sin

Paul lists what some of those are

Colossians 3:8 ESV

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

Receive the Word

The final way that we can slow our anger is to receive the Word

Receive it with meekness

Meekness = calm temper, not easily provoked

Do the Word vs. 22-25

James 1:22–25 ESV

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 who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 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.

The second instruction for living the Word is to be Doers of the Word

vs.22 is the foundational verse for this church

When we started the church I wanted our people to be doers of the Word

So our motto becames “Living the Word”

I was tired and still am of Pastors who wax eloquent about theological positions they are passionate about while their congregations were left with nothing

I didn’t want our people to hear the Word on Sundays and not be challenged to change

Don’t just hear the Word, but go and do it

That’s why I focus so much on application

Hearing Only Deceives

Why are we to implement what Scripture says?

Hearing alone can deceive

If we just listen we can twist and rationalize what the Bible means to our liking

Doing the word puts teeth on Scripture

It causes us to choose and make sacrifices

Jesus was a big promoter of Doing the Word

Matthew 7:24 ESV

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Not a surprise that his brother continues the mantra

Living the Word produces a strong foundation

Hearing Forgets

I don’t know about you but I forget much of what I hear

Hearing the word and not doing it is like looking at yourself in the mirror and then walking away and forgetting what you look like

In our distracted world it is more important that we focus in

My wife often starts conversations with “Are you listening to me?”

Such a weird way to start

Our attentions spans are so mall that we can’t sit here for 40 minutes and listen to preaching

Our minds wander off

We look at our phones

We need to have a steady diet of God’s Word coming in so it sticks

Blessed by Doing

James gives us a second promised blessing

If you look into the perfect law, persevere, and do it you will be blessed

James gives us three tasks

Look into the Law

The idea here is to dig deep

Don’t just be fed, but do your own study

Then he tells us to persevere

James had already seen people drop out of the church

It was probably due to pressure from families, lost jobs, or wanting familiarity of the traditions

There is a

Finally he re-emphasizes the need to do the Word

This includes obeying

Doing the Word is more than just obedience

It’s cultivating healthy habits

It’s

Tame that Tongue vs. 26-27

James 1:26–27 ESV

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

The final instruction James gives us in living the Word is to tame the tongue

Part of living the word is bringing discipline and self-control into our faith

Control Your Mouth

James use the metaphor of a bridle

We put bridles on horses to turn them in the direction we need them to go

Rebellious horses need more yanking of the bridle than trained ones

Nothing gets us in more trouble than our tongue

Psalm 34:13 ESV

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.

James spends a lot of his letter addressing this issue

Deceives Your Heart

We can deceive our heart by what we say

You can repeat a lie so many times that you convince yourself its true

A person with an out of control person will think he is religious but he is only deceiving himself

Visit the Downtrodden

A pure believer visits the downtrodden and keeps himself unstained from the world