Hearing And Doing

Giving honor to God the Father,and God the Son ,and God the Holy Ghost ,and to all my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, And the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Text:James 1:19-27

Topic:Hearing And Doing

Introduction:

  Appropriating the Word of God

(1:19–21)

We must keep reminding ourselves that James wrote his letter to Christians who were experiencing terrible persecution. This created all kinds of problems for them, and James wrote to give them guidance and encouragement.

One of the problems created by the persecution was the tendency to doubt the goodness of God. It was the ‘If God is good, why is this happening to me?’ syndrome.

James responded to that problem by affirming three things about the goodness of God: he is the only source of goodness, he is the unchanging source of goodness and he is the source of the supreme act of goodness. The supreme act of goodness is, of course, the goodness of salvation, and that goodness flows to those who believe through the Word of God.

His mention of the role of the Word of God in salvation took James to yet another problem associated with his readers’ persecution, namely, how they could find strength to face it.

Can we relate to these people? The problems of life demand strength, and we often feel that we have no strength. The demands are great and reserves are depleted! The question of James’s readers is, then, the same that we often find ourselves asking: Where can we find strength for the living of these days and the facing of our difficulties?

James’s answer is plain and emphatic: strength is found in the Word of God! Every Christian has already experienced the strength of God’s Word. Salvation is nothing less than a demonstration of the power of God’s Word. Each believer was once in the spiritual graveyard—dead in trespasses and sins!—but the Word of God came and brought spiritual life. God used the truth of his Word to save us.

Now that same powerful Word is still available to us. God did not use his Word merely to save us and then withdraw it. No! It is still available, and it is still powerful. If we want strength for living, then, we must look to the Word of God.

But as powerful as the Word of God is, it will not infuse its strength into us if we do not appropriate it. And it is this business of appropriation that James addresses in the verses before us.

What must we do to appropriate the Word of God? We can summarize what James says in three words: swiftness, filthiness and meekness. Proper appropriation of the Word means developing swiftness, laying aside filthiness and cultivating meekness.

Developing swiftness (v. 19)

James urges his readers to be ‘swift to hear’. And swiftness in hearing means being ‘slow to speak, slow to wrath’ (v. 19).

Be swift to hear! The Word of God is more necessary to us than our food. It is more precious than gold. It is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We cannot live properly without the Word of God!

How very eager we should be to read it and hear it taught! Nothing, absolutely nothing, should be more important to us than taking it in!

But our age will not go down in history as ‘the age of hearing’. Adlai Stevenson once opened an address to students at Princeton with these words: ‘I understand I am here to speak and you are here to listen. Let’s hope we both finish at the same time.’ But the truth is, a lot of church attenders get through listening long before the pastor gets through preaching.

Part of it is due to the short attention span created by the media. Another part of it is that we are largely lazy and undisciplined. Yet another part of it is that we are constantly encouraged on every hand to talk. The thinking seems to be that if we talk enough, we will come to discover important truths. But the greatest part of it is that we do not prize the Word of God as we should.

Be slow to speak! The worship services of those days often featured people interrupting the speaker to share their own ‘insights’. And sometimes those ‘insights’ were ‘out sights’—out of touch with reality!

But there is another way in which we need to be slow to speak, namely, to ourselves. In other words, when the Word of God is being declared, we must be on guard against the tendency to be inwardly raising objections.

Be slow to anger! When the Word of God is accurately preached, we will often find that it hurts. It is a sword that pierces and cuts (Heb. 4:12)! How do we respond when this happens? Do we become resentful and combative? If we allow anger to come in, the Word of God will not come in!

Hebrews 4:12 GNB

12 The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart.

Some fail to appropriate the Word of God because they are angry at the one who is delivering it! Perhaps they have seen a flaw in him. Or perhaps they disagree with something he has done in leading the church. Those in this category would do well to heed James’s word about being slow to anger.

What searching words James has given us! These are days in which the tendency is to be slow to hear, swift to speak and swift to anger!1

  Laying aside filthiness (v. 21)

James says, ‘… lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness’. The word ‘filthiness’ means all that defiles us in God’s sight. The Puritan Thomas Manton said the word was sometimes used for the filthiness of ulcers and for the nastiness of the body when sweating.

The word ‘overflow’ does not mean that some wickedness is all right and the Christian should only be concerned about excess in wickedness. James’s point is that we are to get rid of remaining sin. Curtis Vaughan writes, ‘The thought then is that sin, though renounced by Christians, is not entirely vanquished in them. There may be some wickedness remaining, like a bad “hangover” from pre-conversion days, as one commentator puts it.’

Cultivating meekness (v. 21)

James urges his readers to ‘receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls’. What does it mean to receive the Word of God?

James uses the Greek word dechomai, which means ‘a welcoming or appropriating reception’. It’s the same word Luke used to describe the Bereans’ response to God’s Word: ‘… they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so’ (Acts 17:11). Paul also used the same word to describe the response of the Thessalonians who, when they heard God’s Word, ‘welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God’ (1 Thes. 2:13).

So what does receiving the Word of God mean? James says, ‘receive with meekness the implanted word.’

The word ‘meekness’ tells us that we are to come to the Word with a soft, gentle, teachable disposition, recognizing the authority of God’s Word and submitting to it.

But what does James mean by the phrase ‘the implanted word’?

The Word of God has already been implanted in each and every Christian. How is it possible, then, to ‘receive’ a word which is already implanted? John Calvin suggests that James is saying we are to receive the Word so ‘it may be really implanted’. In other words, we are to go on receiving the Word of God in such a way that it becomes more firmly and deeply planted in our lives than ever before. We are to go on opening our hearts to it and welcoming it so that its truth will be transfused and transmitted into our lives.

Here are some closing thoughts on this matter of hearing the Word of God:

• Both hearers and proclaimers of the Word carry a heavy responsibility for the success of the preaching of God’s Word.

• Receiving the Word of God requires us to prepare ourselves in advance. We must think about what the Word of God is and how very blessed we are to have it.

• When it is time to hear the Word of God, every believer would do well to silently say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening’ (see 1 Sam. 3:10).

  Applying the Word of God

(1:22–25)

James’s readers were looking for strength to face their trials, and James was able to tell them where to find it. It was in the Word of God! The strong Word that had saved them (v. 18) was still available to them.

But availability was not enough. The Word of God would not infuse its strength into their lives apart from their own diligent efforts. First, they had to be diligent about taking the Word in (vv. 19–21). And then, as our text so clearly declares, they had to be diligent in applying it.

Listening to the Word of God is important. We must always begin there. Many church members fail in the listening. Let us be forever clear on this: we cannot possibly succeed in the Christian life apart from the regular intake of the Word of God. We can go further. Refusal to do this indicates that we have no spiritual life in us!

But while we must always begin with hearing the Word of God, we must not stop there. We must apply what we have heard. James writes, ‘But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves’ (v. 22). His meaning is quite plain. Just as the person who has no interest in hearing the Word of God is horribly deceived about his or her spiritual condition, so is the person who is content to hear and not obey.

No Christian obeys perfectly (1 John 1:8). But every Christian has a desire to obey God, is making efforts to do so and is grieved by failure.

To drive home the importance of this matter of obedience, James likens the Word of God to a mirror. Anyone who has any familiarity with Scripture knows that James is correct. It is indeed like a mirror! We cannot look into it very long without seeing ourselves for what we are!

But there are different ways to look in a mirror, and this is what James emphasizes in the verses of our text.

The forgetful glancer (vv. 23–24)

We all know that lots of things can go wrong with our faces! And we depend on mirrors to tell us what is wrong. A man does not want to go out in public with blood on his collar from shaving. And a woman doesn’t want to be seen with lipstick on the end of her nose.

So we look in the mirror. But what would you think about a person who looks, sees a problem and then fails to correct it? You would say that there was absolutely no point in that person looking in the mirror. Looking in the mirror only works if it leads to action. Otherwise, it is useless.

With this in mind, we must say that there is a lot of useless looking in our churches. The Word of God, like the mirror, does its work. We look into it, and it tells us the truth about ourselves. And then the responsibility rests squarely on us! Are we going to correct the problems, or are we going to ignore them? Are we going to act on the Word, or are we merely going to walk away?

What does the Word of God reveal to you when you look into it? Does it tell you that your prayer life is not what it ought to be? What are you going to do? Are you going to begin to pray as you should? Does it tell you that you have bitterness and resentment towards a brother or sister in Christ? What are you going to do? Does it tell you that you are not as diligent as you should be about your study of it? Does it tell you that you are not as faithful in attending worship as you should be? Does it tell you that your love for Christ has grown cold?

How do you respond? Are you going to go on as you have been? Or are you going to take action?

This, by the way, is what the Word of God commands us to do! Take action! Many seem to be waiting for something to happen to them—some great spiritual experience!—that will make them do what they ought to do. Meanwhile, the Bible tells us to take responsibility for ourselves. It tells us not to wait for a feeling, but rather to begin to deal with those things that it has revealed.

There is no more urgent business before us than addressing those matters in our lives which the Word of God has called to our attention. But how many refuse to do so! They are like the witch doctor who saw herself in a mirror owned by a missionary. The figure before her was so hideous that she jumped back from it. Immediately she began to bargain with the missionary for the mirror. Realizing that she would not take ‘no’ for an answer, the missionary finally agreed to a deal for the mirror. No sooner was the transaction complete than the woman grabbed the mirror and dashed it to the ground. When the missionary asked why she did this, the woman replied, ‘It won’t be making ugly faces at me any more!’

The Bible reveals our ugliness to us, but the ugliness does not go away by us ignoring the Bible. It only goes away as we take the proper measures.

We can be thankful that James included another option.

The thoughtful gazer (v. 25)

This is the person who ‘looks’ into the Word of God and ‘continues’ in it.

The word ‘looks’ comes from a Greek word which suggests far more than a casual glance. Curtis Vaughan says it ‘has the sense of looking carefully, closely, or seriously into a thing’. He adds, ‘It speaks of stooping down so as to see an object more clearly or to know it better. The word is used in John 20:5 of the beloved disciple stooping and looking into the empty tomb. Thus the word seems to denote a minute, searching inspection.’ And such careful scrutiny is not occasional but habitual. James says the thoughtful gazer into the Word ‘continues in it’.

What is the purpose of this ongoing, penetrating gaze? It is to master God’s Word with a view to putting it into practice.

Isn’t it interesting that James here refers to God’s Word as ‘the perfect law of liberty’? God’s Word is a ‘law’ because it was given by God for the express purpose of guiding and regulating conduct. It is ‘perfect’ because it was given by God himself. God who is perfect cannot produce anything that is not perfect. It is the law of ‘liberty’ because it gives liberty to those who subject themselves to it.

Satan works very hard to portray sin as the greatest freedom and God’s Word as the greatest bondage, but just the reverse is true. Thomas Manton says, ‘Duty is the greatest liberty, and sin the greatest bondage.’

James’s use of this phrase for God’s Word ought to make us realize how very blessed we are to have it! A mirror to show us the truth about ourselves! The law that gives us liberty! If we could only realize to a fuller degree what we possess in God’s Word, we would find ourselves struggling less to be thoughtful gazers!

We cannot leave James’s words about this matter without noting the promise that he attaches to looking carefully into God’s Word. The one who does so ‘will be blessed in what he does’ (v. 25).

We are accustomed to defining the word ‘blessed’ as ‘happy’. But it is better to define it as ‘fulfilled’. People are constantly striving for peace and fulfilment. These are restless days! And in their quest for fulfilment, people try pleasures and possessions. Some seek it in their careers. Some even seek it in drink and drugs.

But the more we seek fulfilment, the more it eludes us. Where, oh where, can it be found? James says it is found in doing the Word of God. We should not be surprised at this. We were made by God and for God. Doesn’t it make sense, then, that we can only find fulfilment in God?

If you want to be blessed, be a doer of the Word. Put James to the test! Live according to the Word of God, and see if James was not telling the truth about the matter.

 Three marks of true faith

(1:26–27)

James has been emphasizing the Word of God. His readers were in need of strength to face the persecution that was coming their way. And that strength was available in God’s Word. It had already manifested its strength in their salvation, and it was ready and able to manifest its strength again.

But they needed to appropriate it and apply it. In other words, they needed to devote themselves to taking it in and living it out. A strong Word is of no avail if we do not avail ourselves of it.

The verses of our text deal with this matter of living out the Word of God. James here identifies three things that are essential parts of living out the Word of God: taming the tongue, caring for the needy and avoiding worldliness.

We must note that he does not regard these as optional matters. We cannot ignore these things and still regard ourselves as having truly come to Christ. Our religion is ‘useless’ if it does not tame our tongues, move our hearts and separate us from the world. Anyone who thinks otherwise ‘deceives his own heart’ (v. 26).

The fact is that James considers these practices to be so very important that he devotes the rest of his letter to developing them. He takes up caring for the needy in chapter 2. He goes into detail about controlling the tongue in the first twelve verses of chapter 3. And from verse 13 of chapter 3 to verse 6 of chapter 5, he elaborates on separation from the world.

As we look at each of these, we must examine ourselves.

Taming the tongue (v. 26)

James first calls his readers to ‘bridle’ their tongues.

The word ‘bridle’ tells us how James regarded the tongue. It is like a powerful, rearing horse, which can take us on a wild ride if we do not hold the reins tight. Kent Hughes says, ‘If you’ve ever sat on 1,500 pounds of restless bone and muscle and then hung on at full gallop, you have the idea.’ James was saying to each of his readers, ‘You have a horse in your mouth!’

When do our tongues gallop like out-of-control horses? They do so when we gossip, which someone has defined as ‘the art of confessing others’ sins’. Our tongues gallop when we use them to express profanity and blasphemy. They also gallop when we use them to lie.

It could very well be that they gallop most often in the form of complaining and criticizing. How very easy it is for us to fall into this trap! Someone sings, and we find fault. Someone preaches, and we find fault. Someone teaches a class, and we find fault.

All of these and more are evidences of an unbridled tongue, and habitual practice of such things indicates a heart that is not right with God. The tongue reveals what is in the heart! The Lord Jesus himself said, ‘Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks’ (Matt. 12:33–34).

I want to emphasize that which I have already stated, namely, that James is talking about what is habitually true of us. Every child of God speaks inappropriately from time to time. James and Jesus are not talking about that which is occasionally true of us, but rather that which is continually true of us. Let the word go out loud and clear: continuing in sin is evidence that we have never been saved!

The great Methodist preacher John Wesley was once confronted by a very critical woman who said, ‘Mr Wesley, the strings on your bow tie are much too long.’

Wesley secured a pair of scissors and asked the woman to trim them to her liking. After she did so, Wesley said, ‘Your tongue, madam, is an offence to me—it’s too long! Please stick it out … I’d like to take some off.’

We would all do well to take this to heart and determine that we are going to take the scissors of repentance and do some trimming! How much good could we accomplish if we were to do so? How many of our children would have a different attitude towards the things of God if they could see that our religion brings us joy instead of making us crabby? How many of our friends would be convinced of the reality of our faith if our mouths were full of praise instead of profanity?

Caring for the needy (v. 27)

James tells his readers to visit the orphans and the widows in their trouble. These two groups of people were the most helpless in that time. So James was calling for his readers to show compassion to the most helpless.

There is something here that we must not allow to slip by. James was writing to people who had troubles of their own! And yet he tells them that they must not forget to show compassion to others! One of the very best things we can do for ourselves when we are in trouble is to help someone else who is in trouble.

There are all kinds of aching, hurting people around us, and we must not simply turn our heads and pass by.

One of the saddest dimensions of our day is that so many Christians are so absorbed with their seminars, charts, notebooks, study groups and discipling techniques that they don’t have the time to bake a pie, send a card or mow the grass for the sick, the elderly and the lonely. It’s easy to be a very good Pharisee while the world cries for a good Samaritan.

By the way, James is not alone in making this emphasis. We can find it in several other Scriptures, one of which is from the apostle John:

But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

Separated from the world (v. 27)

James calls his readers to keep themselves ‘unspotted from the world’. The word ‘unspotted’ can also be translated ‘unsoiled’ or ‘unpolluted’.

To be unstained from the world is to maintain both personal integrity and moral purity. It’s to refuse to allow the world to set the standards for our beliefs and our conduct.

This is a polluting world! It can pollute our thinking, our speaking and our doing. Many who profess to be Christians give evidence of that pollution. They have set aside the clear teachings of the Word of God because they do not want to be out of step with what the world says. The authority for these people is not the Bible. It is the latest opinion poll!

And many who profess Christ have been polluted in their speaking. They talk just like everyone else. They would rather run the risk of offending God than sound different!

And many who suppose themselves to be Christians have polluted behaviour. They order their lives in exactly the same way as those who make no profession of faith at all.

There was a time when Christians considered it to be essential to be different from the world. They believed that only by showing the difference could they hope to attract unbelievers. Now, in a crazy flip-flop, the church is often saying the opposite. The church is trying to attract the world by being just like the world, not realizing that if Christianity is not different, there is no need for it! We can’t hope to influence the world for Christ if we allow it to influence us in our thoughts, words and deeds.

As we have noted, we shall find James developing later in this letter his points about controlling the tongue and caring for the needy. The same is true on this matter of being separated from the world. Here is one of his most telling and biting statements about the world: ‘Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God’ (4:4).

So James has set quite an agenda before us. Controlling the tongue! Caring for the needy! Staying separate from the world!

Is it possible to be saved and fail in these areas? Sure. But it is not possible to always be failing in these areas and be saved! May God help all of us to search our own hearts.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ps 19:14). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.