Sermon Tone Analysis

Listen, Receive, and Obey

Introduction

Good morning; please take out your Bibles and turn with me to the book of James, chapter 1

It is good to be back with you studying through this often neglected epistle of the New Testament

Now I know last week brother Brandon preached to you verses 9-11 and chapter 5:1-6, so in order to orient ourselves for the text this morning, lets recall what brother Matt preached two weeks ago on verses 16-18.

Those verses tell us that every single good gift comes directly from God

That means food, clothing and provision; it means trials, tribulations and persecution that draw us closer to him and shape us into the image of Christ; and ultimately it means salvation itself.

All of this, and especially salvation, is given by his own choice, as he wills

And he does not change; he is the sure and steady anchor whom we can trust, and who keeps everyone of his promises.

So we want to hold these truths in our minds as we examine verses 19-21 this morning, because they bear special significance on what James says in these verses here this morning

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PRAYER

Father, we pray that you would receive our praises to you this morning.

I pray that every person would be resolved in his own heart to direct his full, unwavering attention to you as we look to your Word in hope of knowing you and glorifying you more in our lives.

Holy Spirit, grant us understanding; remove from us any worldly distraction that we may have carried to this place and prepare our hearts to receive from you this morning, through your Word.

Above all, may you be glorified in us, and we in you, to the praise of your glorious grace.

All these things we ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Overview

Now, I told you that the previous few verses were important for today’s message, particularly verse 18, so lets begin with that.

So those whom God has given birth by the word of truth, that is who James is addressing here, which is why it is significant for us

The commands of 19-21 are intended for everyone who is a born-again Christian, everyone who is a true member of the body of Christ

So when James says in verse 19, “Everyone should be” or “Let every person be,” he is addressing every person in the church

That matters because we must see that this text, though universally true, cannot be yielded against unregenerate man and used to try to make them better behaving sinners.

This is the unfortunate tendency in the church sometimes: we forget that apart from God’s unfathomable grace in our lives, we are but degenerate, immoral, God-hating sinners just like the world.

So if we take this and try to force its commands upon unbelievers apart from the gospel, then we have become Pharisees

This text is for the Christian; so we must come to it in humility and see that the only hope we have of receiving it and rightly applying it is because God has given us new birth, not as a reward, but as a free, undeserved gift.

this mindset then ought to change how we see the world, and move us from judgment to compassion since those who are “forgive little, love little,” but those who are forgiven of much also love much.

SERMON THESIS

Now lets press into verses 19-21 and begin by simply stating the overall point of the section: Gospel salvation produces gospel obedience.

In our verses here, James addresses three areas of obedience; listening, speaking, and anger

But remember, he isn’t writing this in a vacuum; there is a whole world going on around these people James is writing to

These are Jewish Christians outside of Jerusalem who have been spread out over the land because of Roman persecution

At the same time, there were sharp divisions between the rich and the poor, which led to the rise of the Zealots, who wanted to overthrow Roman rule, as well as others who were using force and violence against their persecutors

Some of these folks were no-doubt a part of James’s audience, but to these troubled and afflicted people he writes:

These people had bigger issues than us, yet James tells them this; thats radical.

Yet, it isn’t unique; Jesus said in :

In light of that, verse 20 makes more sense: human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness because it does not represent Christ

He came as the suffering servant, not a militant king, and the charge of the Christian is to follow him…thus our reward and blessing comes through patient endurance, not angry assertion of force

LOCAL CONTEXT

Now if you remember in , Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, and this actually happened at the hand of the Romans in 70 A.D., 40 years after Jesus’s resurrection.

What precipitated that event was largely the disobedience of the Jews who were angry with Roman rule, but many Jewish Christians shared similar sentiments

Yet James, in his wisdom, knew what would be the result of such angry acts of disobedience…destruction

So his Spirit-prompted command is to be humble!

think not more of yourself than you ought

instead, be quick to listen rather than quick to speak and anger!

Why?

Because hasty speech and anger do not represent God, and that is the primary role of the Christian

Shouldn’t those who know and love him, and are known and loved BY him, represent him well as NEW CREATURES (2.

Cor.

5:17)

That is the goal of James’s writing; eager listening, reserved speech, and subdued anger are really just means to an end...

WHAT IT MEANS FOR US

Think about it this way:

If the end goal in this life was for the church to take over the world, to rule in a place of power, then the vocal, and even angry, approach would make sense

BUT that is not the end…that way of thinking is the mistake that the Jews made up to Jesus’ time, and it is the mistake the Roman Catholic Church has made since

Both groups thought that the people of God are to rule the earth in this life…but that is not the case

We are to walk as sheep among wolves; for that is what our Lord did, and it is his example we look to

And we rejoice in the sufferings of such a life because our hope is in the resurrection of the body to life in the New Earth

If we share in Jesus’ sufferings, and we share in his death, then the Bible tells us that we will share in a resurrection just like his; that is why Christ is our living hope!

He came and bore our sins upon his own body, and purchased our reward by his blood, so that we may share in all that is his.

Why then should we think that small, temporary disadvantage is worth our worry, when an eternity of glory awaits us?…that is James’s position

VERSE 19 “Understand”

Look with me, if you would, at verse 19: the first word in the Greek manuscripts is the word translated “understand this” or “know this”

this is a command James is giving; not just a suggestion.

I like the rendering of “understand” rather than “know,” though both are appropriate, because it points beyond simple knowledge, and that is the idea here

I can know that I am supposed to change the oil in my vehicle without understanding WHY I need to do that

In the same way, James is calling for understanding here

Understanding is greater than knowledge; it moves towards wisdom

which is knowledge righty understood and rightly applied

and if you recall back in verse 5, James said if you lack wisdom, ask God who gives generously to all without reproach

But zoom out and see James’s approach; he isn’t appealing to emotions or trying to manipulate the will of these Christians

What we see in this is James’s pastoral sensibilities; he is

No, he is going through the mind to reach the heart;

That is what biblical preaching does, because it is what the Bible does

If the heart is the most deceitful thing on the planet, then the last thing we want to do is to try to reason with it, for it can’t be trusted

Yet, a changed heart is ultimately our goal, since it is at the core of our corruption

Romans 12:2

I hope I am painting this picture well; the heart, our inner most being is absolutely important, but we don’t start there.

Instead, our heart is reached through our minds, so that our minds become renewed by the Word of God, which in turn transforms the whole man

That is James’s intent here as he provides instruction on living out the Christian life

VERSE 19 “My dear brothers and sisters” or “my beloved brethren”

The address here once again shows the author’s pastoral care:

He is writing to build up

But this also doesn’t preclude

VERSE 19 Exposition

So to these Christians whom he loves very much, James gives another command in verse 19: “Everyone should be”

so the next three thing mentioned all fall under that command “to be”

Notice that this charge focuses not just on action, but on character.

You can perform an action that is out of character; it doesn’t reflect who you truly are

But James goes beyond mere action; he is saying “may your actions proceed from who you really are”

which, recalling verse 18, is one who has been born again, and according to verse 21, has received the implanted word.

The gospel results in a changed person

This is actually the 10th command to this point in James, but remember we said that he isn’t being original here;

Jesus said every one of these things in one way or another

What that means is that every one of these commands is rooted in the gospel

Basically, “if you say you are born again, do these things, be these things...”

Quick to listen

The first thing James says we should be is “quick to listen”

The Bible puts a lot of emphasis on listening and hearing, yet I would say it is one of our greatest weaknesses

In our society everyone wants to be heard, but no one wants to listen

13 times in the book of Proverbs, listening is mentioned as a wise and noble thing