03 | James | James 1:19-27 | Hearing and Doing

INTRODUCTION

We need wisdom for joy in trials.

The center of wisdom will be that which orients us whole-heartedly to the glory of God.

Read v18

The Lord has brought us forth by the “word of truth”

Now, let us see the word at work in our passage this morning:

READ James 1:21.

Put away filthiness and wickedness!

Is this mere law? A new rule for how to be slow to anger?

The problem is, I can’t “put it away” because it is “rampant”.

James gives us this command, “receive with meekness the implanted word.”

He wants us to focus our attention on a more basic issue than merely adopting a new code of behavior.

He wants us to see that it is God’s word that produces the fruit of obedience.

Our passage this morning is all about how the Word planted in us produces the righteousness of God.

We become what we aren’t by with meekness receiving the implanted word—the word of truth

This Word is the word of Christ, who is transforming us from enemies of the cross …

… rampant with wickedness, into his very image.

We are not only those who have seen the Lord, or who have savored the Lord …

… but we ourselves will become like him by seeing and savoring him with meekness.

Meekness is faith, trust and submission to an alien Word implanted in us.

3:00

Now, our passage says: “But be doers”:

Faith is not faith if it doesn’t have the effect of actual transformation; becoming doers of the Word that is transforming us.

The Course of Transformation in James

We encounter a trial (test of faith) ➼

We endure with steadfastness (faith-filled trust; that is, meekness receiving the Word) ➼

We are made perfect and complete (transformed doers of the Word we have received)

There are only two ways to live …

desire ➼ sin ➼ death

steadfast faith (meekness) ➼ transformation (obedience) ➼ crown of life

5:00

External rules cannot change the heart of a man.

The heart must be remade.

In the life of the believer, this is called sanctification: being made practically holy.

The Lord plants the seed of his Word in our hearts …

… and we, with patient endurance, receive this word

… that the Lord works actual transformation in the whole of our lives.

As Jesus teaches us: If it is what is inside of a man that defiles him (Mark 7:20-23) …

… it is also what is implanted within a man that will have the power to transform him.

PRAY

6:30

QUICK TO LISTEN

James begins by calling for our attention:

Know this, my beloved brothers.

I do this when I’m preaching: Listen to this! Hear me on this!

This instruction is not first a general one.

This is one of the easiest mistakes to make in James.

We’ve already seen this in v5: If any of you lacks wisdom, ask God.

I’ve taken that as a general instruction most of my life.

And surely it is true.

But, to take it merely as a general truth, a mere abstract proverb, is to miss the point of the central thread of James.

The context of James’ instruction to seek wisdom from the Lord …

… is the failure to have joy in trial.

That is, what wisdom do you probably lack?

You lack the wisdom needed to have joy in trial.

And what is the center of that wisdom, that lack?

That you are double minded, not wholly focused on the glory of the Lord alone …

… and the joy that is found in communion with him.

You are worldly and so you are blown and tossed by the circumstances of the world.

James is not a mere collection of proverbial teachings.

It is the well digested compendium of the teachings of Jesus, gathered into a central argument.

You need the Word of the Lord to work into the core of your imagination!

That you would be remade from the inside out …

… perfect and complete with the Word of the Lord at our core.

So it is with our passage this morning.

This is not some general proverbial teaching on how to keep your mouth shut.

It is a specific instruction on your to humble yourself before the Word of truth, the implanted Word.

And let me suggest, that James has specifically in mind your attention to the preaching of the Word.

8:30

It is for this reason he beings: let every person be quick to hear

Quick to Hear

1 Peter 1:25 ESV

“the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

The primary means by which the Word of truth comes to us is by preaching.

There is a unique power to speech (preaching) that is not the same as in reading to yourself.

We are perhaps too quick to make an abstraction of the words “quick to hear”.

What if it literally means listening?

Preaching makes the Word alive, with the room literally vibrating with the sound of the truth of God.

What are you doing this morning.

I know you are all here, but are you hearing?

What is your active labor?

If you are quick to do something, you are active in doing it.

Your posture, your open Bible, your notebook and pen, your eyes …

… your intentional, conscious decision to let the things of the day and of the week wait until later.

Are you quick to hear?

10:30

No, there is an immediate parrallel.

Slow to Speak

Slow to make objection.

Remember the four profits of the scriptures:

for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness

Remember the three aims of preaching:

reprove, rebuke and exhort

Do not be defensive when the Word goes on the offensive.

Will you let me be your pastor?

Will you let me say words that you may at first not want to hear?

12:00

And now, we have the context for the next instruction

Slow to Anger

Again, this isn’t a general proverb or command.

James is dealing with how we handle hearing the Word.

How often is the word received as folly and stumbling block?

We become angry when the scriptures are applied to the reality of our blown and tossed lives.

Now, let us take these together: quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger

Our disposition is of one who desires to be taught.

We do not make quick objection because we presume that we are in need of correction.

When the word of truth is applied to our lives …

… we who are weak and wounded by the fall

… expect that the balm will at first sting.

But we are not angry, because we expect the word to work for the salvation of our souls.

14:00

One of the most difficult things about preaching is the contant sense that I need to confront and soothe the objections to things I didn’t even say.

I preach some element of the truth of scriptures and I can hear the objection: “But what about!”

But I don’t have time to address all the “but what abouts.”

I’m simply asking you to be quick to hear the words I’m actually saying.

Practically:

Often, when someone has brought a complaint or objection to some aspect of the preaching, I will listen to the person share …

… because I also assume that I need to be taught, and even corrected. Truly!

But I’ve often noticed this.

It is clear and evident, listening to the objection, that when the person ought to have been listening, most of what they were hearing was the voice inside their head.

It is so common for all of us, we hear something that is difficult …

… and our mind begins chattering away

… with defenses, and objections and fringe cases.

We do the same thing when we read the scriptures.

Even with the scripture we have before us today.

Read v20.

Tell me one of your first thoughts was not, “But what about righteous anger?”

Good question! Write it down.

But listen first! Because as much as there is more to the story, and there are fringe cases to be considered …

… have we even heard the truth of the Word before we run off to consider all of the ways and cases where it isn’t true?

17:00

Anger and the Righteousness of God

ILL from Manton: Fire in Straw vs Fire in Iron

Straw — fast and explosive

Iron — slow, lasting, useful

There is anger that is a quick reaction.

And there is an anger that is a slow, considered, rising zeal.

Let’s spend a moment to consider how anger works:

How often is anger is aimed at justice …

… but does not obtain it.

In the moment, we think our anger is a righteous assertion of all things right and holy …

… but in our passion it is little more than a fit of rage.

How often is anger not truly aimed at the righteousness of God …

… nor at waiting upon him who declares, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.”

… but instead is merely a loud assertion of self-righteousness.

It is not our natural disposition to be angry at sin itself for the sake of the glory of God.

We are more likely angry for our own bruised self and injured circumstance.

How rarely is anger the result of the circumspect and those enamored by the glory of God above the self.

How often are we coaxed into anger …

… displaying merely foolish zeal

… rather than considerate of the ways of God and his righeousness?

Andrew Klavan (cultural commentator) — Anger is the devil's cocaine …

… because he addicts you to it and you think it's gonna get you where you want to go, but it never does.

We do not "anger" our way toward the righteousness of God …

… we wait upon the Lord for it.

21:00

Now, let’s remember the context.

James is not addressing the sort of anger that rises up when someone cuts you off in traffic.

He is addressing the sort of defensive anger that rises up when the Word confronts our sin nature.

And we find that the one who is quick to listen and slow to speak will:

put away and receive

Put Away

Filthiness and Rampant Wickedness

We are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

We are not the righteous, but those who hunger and thirst to receive it.

We do not make objection when the Word of truth pricks our conscience …

… because we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Psalm 119:11 ESV

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

So, we put away filthiness and rampant wickedness.

23:00

Receive

With Meekness

Let me suggest that meekness is a one word summary for quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.

Humble submission not only of the mind’s arguments and our emotional dispositions …

… but the humble submission of our lives to the work of the Word.

The Implanted Word

The implanted Word is a gift continually received. It is not taken up and put away, but suckled upon.

Able to Save

We are constantly seeking worldly comfort and emotional approval.

And so we find ourselves easily blown and tossed.

We are double-minded.

Ecclesiastes 6:7 ESV

All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.

But, the implanted Word penetrates to the soul, and things that are eternal.

26:00

APPLY

v22 — Not hearers only

deceiving yourselves

To merely hear and talk of religion ...

… yet not to walk in faith.

We are those who not only listen, but who walk.

Psalm 119:105 ESV

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Lamp to feet, not only a light to the mind.

The implanted Word is a lamp for the walk of faith.

27:00

FAITHFUL TO DO

No one emphasized as strongly as Jesus the need for people touched by God’s grace to respond with world-renouncing obedience.

Jesus states this in the most stark terms

take up your cross

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.

Of course, that rock is Christ!

Faith is not faith if it doesn’t have the effect of actual transformation …

… becoming doers of the Word that has transformed us.

This was something that was widely reflected upon even among the Jewish rabbis

Not the expounding [of the law] is the chief thing, but the doing [of it].

Luke 11:28 ESV

Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!

29:00

The Deceived (v22)

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

To be deceived is to be blinded to the reality of one’s true spiritual state.

John Blanchard The man who is not prepared to heed the Word of God obediently will not even be able to hear it correctly. This is why the parables become windows to some people and walls to others.

To receive the implanted word is to see the reality of the state of our soul.

And to seek the Lord in humility for soul transformation.

31:00

An Illustration of Forgetfulness

Read v23-25

The key failure of the “hearer only” isn’t a failure to listen, but a failure to remember.

The failure is forgetfulness.

Chan Kilgore Grace is what empowers us to live out PRACTICALLY who we already are POSITIONALLY in Christ.

So, true hearing remembers Christ and his gospel.

It remembers righteousness because it remembers the righteous one.

To remember is to see that we who have received the righteous justification of Christ are free to walk in the righteous sanctification of his Word.

32:00

Two things forgotten throughout scripture

His Mercies

Remember the strong hand of the LORD who brought you out of Egypt
(Exodus 13:3)

Lamentations 3:21–24 ESV

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

How does one hope in the Lord? How does one “wait” for Him, “seek” Him

Through Obedience we wait.

We say, I remember that you are merciful and powerful.

So I know that your command is pure and for my good.

I remember and so I obey.

His Law

Numbers 15:40 ESV

So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.

Even here, the next verse (v41) reminds the people that it is God that brought them out of slavery in Egypt; that He is the LORD their God.

What law?

The Law of Moses interpreted and fulfilled in Christ

Most of James parallels the Sermon on the Mount

APPLY

Those who look, study, think, talk about and meditate upon the perfect law …

… without looking at the reality of what the word is to create have not actually “looked into” (stoops down to look) the law.

A law written on the heart is transformative

It is not just something studied.

It is something that transforms as it is received with meekness.

As we stoop down to look not only at its words, but what those words create.

34:00

THREE TESTS FOR DOING

The true test of religion is not in its theological correctness …

… but in how the word of truth is received with faith

… that is, an intent, serious looking into and meekness before the Word and how it works to save our souls from our own filthiness and rampant wickedness.

Now, theological incorrectness is powerless to change the heart because it is a false implanted word.

But correctness that yields no transformation has fallen short of the transformation that intent looking at who God is in his Word is to create and so is not theological correctness at all.

Such correctness is not the fruit of belief, but rather argument over words.

36:00

Now, in these three tests of religion, James does not intend to summarize all that religion is.

He is reminding us that religion without transformation is false and deceptive.

It is impure and defiled.

In a word, it’s “worthless.”

The first test is simple.

Bridle the Tongue

You think you’re religious?

Your tongue will reveal your heart.

Concern for the Helpless

We become most like God when we act as the Father of the Fatherless and the Defender of the Hopeless.

We reject what we most need from God when we deny it to others.

This is reminiscent of Jesus’ teaching about the least of these brothers of mine.

Do we identify ourselves with the helpless.

We see in those who have need, our own need for Christ.

And so, we give to them, what we ourselves have received from Christ: mercy and grace!

Who are the orphans and widows around us?

Consider adoption.

It is more than a rescue mission, it is deep belief and “looking into” the doctrine of adoption.

That we were at best orphans and more accurately, children bound by slave master sin.

Children of wrath.

Surely we were rescued, but more than that, we were made children of God.

The Spirit within us cries, “Abba, Father, Papa!”

Widows can be more difficult to define.

Surely there are those who have tragically lost a husband or a wife.

Visit these!

Be a friend and companion.

Mourn with those who mourn.

Be of aid in every way.

Identify yourself not only for the sake of the helpless …

… but as a fellow sufferer who longs to be reunited with your Beloved, the Lord when he returns.

39:00

But what about the woman who is abandoned after 20 years of faithful marriage?

Perhaps, she worked in the home, she raised the children, but she has no skills in the marketplace?

Many in the church truly uphold the value of a wife and mother who works diligently in the home, in the family, and in the community.

How can we uphold this value for those who are left essentially a widow when abandoned by a husband?

Can you become like our God who comes to the aid of those who have been cast off

Because you were once the one who was cast off by the world?

Psalm 68:5 ESV

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

As we aid the helpless we understand and proclaim our own helpless state.

Pure religion reveals the reality of our own faith in God our Help.

41:00

Unstained by Contact with the World

It does not say that pure religion is so pure that it doesn’t touch the world.

Pure religion has such a firm foundation in the transformation that the implanted word has wrought that …

… it remains “unstained” when in contact with the world because it has been so transformed by the Word.

APPLY

We who believe are in Christ.

This is reality.

The Lord, the giver of every good and perfect gift …

… works in us to transform us so that we reflect practically what we are already positionally in Christ.

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APPLY

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