Real Righteousness

Good morning again everyone! Welcome to the Baptist Fellowship of Randolph. We are so glad that you chose to worship here this morning. I want to take a moment to remind each of us that we are collecting an offering on Easter Sunday called the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. This is an offering where 100% of the proceeds go to support missionaries across North America in activities such as church planting, church revitalization, support ministries and much more. Please turn your attention to the screen for a short Video.

Great! Please make plans to give sacrificially this Easter. Our goal as a church $1000.

We are going to continue our study in James this morning. We have looked at the first 18 versus of the first chapter. We have talked about facing Storms, how to deal with the trials of life that God might send our way. We discussed how those trials are what make us stronger and how God refines us and teaches us to grow as His children. We learned that we need to be still and seek his wisdom during a trial.

We also learned about temptation that may come into our lives. We discovered that God never sends temptation. Temptation always comes from either an external source, Satan, or internally, from within ourselves because of our sin nature we were born with. The best way to deal with Temptation is to remove what we can and flee from the rest. When we fall into temptation and succumb, we must confess that to God and claim victory over it through the blood of Christ. Repent and turn away from our sin and start over in Jesus.

This week we are moving on to the next part of the book of James. Remember, James wrote this book originally as a letter to maturing Jewish Christians who had left Jerusalem and had settled to the east and south of Israel. It is written in many ways in the form of a letter of proverbs. If you are reading it and seems to be jumping around a bit, go and read a few chapters of Solomon’s Proverbs, it will have a similar feel to it.

Speaking of reading… How are you doing in our challenge? Did you make it through James 5 times? 6 Times? Maybe Seven times this week? Keep up the good work! What jumped out at you that was new this week?

Let’s look at the next few verses.

James 1:19–21 ESV

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Ok, so James, as we have discussed, starts this letter reminding these believers, who were going through some really tough times, Roman persecution, Jewish persecution, losing their homes, trying to learn a new religious system without a lot of clear direction or instruction… all of these things, James starts out telling them to count their trials as Joy!

He encourages them by telling them that their trials are evidence that God is at work and is doing a great work in them.

But then he also encourages them to not confuse their difficulties caused by temptations, , with trials from God Temptations are self-inflicted difficulties.

James then starts talking about what might produce the righteousness of God in our lives. James really loves to focus on the opposites. He likes to compare and contrast. Trials sent by God, Temptation sent by Satan. Anger of Man, Righteousness of God.

What is he doing here? I believe that He is building an introduction in this first chapter of this letter that the rest of the text will rest upon as a foundation. He is showing us that it is impossible to count it all joy, it is impossible to flee temptation, it is impossible to control anger, it is impossible to know the righteousness of God; without the Salvation.

Many people in church struggle with anger and do not know why they cannot have victory. Many people in church struggle with temptation and sin and do not know why they cannot seem to overcome. Many people in church cannot find any joy to celebrate. Many people in church do not understand these writings in James because the truth is, while they are physically in the church, they are not spiritually saved. They do not have the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They have never experienced spiritual rebirth.

Jesus Said

Matthew 7:22–23 ESV

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

I think that is what James is hinting at here to these early Christians. Many people inside the church walls around our country, perhaps in our own church walls, do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. James is teaching that it really depends on what you do with the Word of God.

Let’s look at the text and break it out a bit.

James 1:19–21 ESV

These verses and the rest of this chapter teach us that we have three responsibilities toward God’s Word. We are only going to have time to get the first one today, we will get to the other two next week.

First, We must Receive the Word of God.

In verse 21 James calls God’s Word the “implanted word.”

It is possible that he is referring to and remembering Jesus’ parable of the sower. Let us look at that for a moment.

Matthew 13:3–8 HCSB

3 Then He told them many things in parables, saying: “Consider the sower who went out to sow. 4 As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Others fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil, and they sprang up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. 6 But when the sun came up they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered. 7 Others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them. 8 Still others fell on good ground and produced a crop: some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.

Matthew 13:18–23 HCSB

18 “You, then, listen to the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path. 20 And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 21 Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times what was sown.”

“In His parable, Jesus described four kinds of hearts:

The Hard Heart

which did not understand or receive the Word and therefore bore no fruit;

The Shallow Heart

which was very emotional but had no depth, and bore no fruit;

The Crowded Heart

which lacked repentance and permitted sin to crowd out the Word; and

The Fruitful Heart

which received the Word, allowed it to take root, and produced a harvest of fruit.

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.” [4] If you are Christian, you will bear fruit! If you are not bearing fruit, is doubtful that you have a meaningful saving relationship with Jesus Christ. The rest of James speaks of this exact thing. We will start looking that in the weeks to come.

It is obvious that if we are to have a relationship with God, if we are to be born again, if we are to experience the righteousness of God, we must have a fruitful heart. “The soil of the heart must be prepared to receive the Word. If we have unconfessed sin in our hearts, and bitterness against God because of our trials, then we cannot receive the Word and be blessed by it.”[5]

James gives us subtle instructions on how prepare our hearts and our minds to be receptive to the Word of God.

James tells us

We must be swift to Hear the Word of God.

let every person be quick to hear

We have to make sure that we are making an effort to receive God’s Word in the right way. It has been pointed out that Jesus not only told His followers to be careful of what they heard (Mark 4) but to also be careful of how they heard it! (Luke 8) Jesus told us in Matthew 13 that many look but do not see, they hear but do not listen.

So often, we sit in church, listen to sermons, listen to Sunday School lessons, listen to God’s Word being read, and it has no impact. We listen but do not hear. We, for whatever reason, whatever excuse, do not allow ourselves to be well worked ground. When I was a freshman in college, all freshmen had to take an orientation class. Now in this class there were no grades. All you had to do was show up and at least look like you were awake. There were no tests, there were no notes to take, there were near zero obligations. Show up and you pass. I think there are many people who treat church the same way. Like an orientation class, or like a class they are auditing. They want credit for showing up and that is it. The minute that something might be required of them, the second that they get a little uncomfortable, they leave to find another class to audit that they like better.

We often refuse to apply the Word, to allow it to take root and create actions. “He wants us to absorb his message and change our lives because of it.”[6]

Paul wrote to the Romans, So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. [7] Ask God to help you hear! Be Eager, be quick, be swift to hear God’s Word.

We must be slow to Argue with God’s Word

let every person be… slow to speak

James uses the word “speak,” but I think it may be appropriate to use the word “argue” here. This passage, “let every person be slow to speak,” is talking about speaking to men and to God. I want to focus on the latter.

Look at what King Solomon said about talking to God.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 ESV

2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

James is wanting us to see that for the Word of God to have the desired effect on our lives, we cannot just read it or hear it and pass judgement! So many of us go through the Bible with our scissors in hand, ready to find the passages “that could not possibly apply to us today” and cut them out, simply dismissing them. Or we are eager to find the passages or the sermons that apply to that other guy! That other lady, Bless Her Heart…. Do you guys say that up here? That is a great southern insult, Well Bless her Heart!

We are quick to find fault with God’s Word, demanding that it does not apply to us. When we do that we make it impossible for God’s Word to take root in our heart. It will never produce fruit in our lives, it will never change us or those around us unless it takes root. God gave us two ears and only one mouth. We need to listen at least twice as much as we speak. In fact, that ratio should probably be much greater weighted towards the listening.

An example of someone in the bible being quick to argue, quick to speak when presented with God’s Word can be found in Luke 10:29. When asking Jesus about questions about His teaching, the lawyer attempted to argue and clarify what Jesus was saying. He asked, “And who is my neighbor?” He was trying to find a loophole. A way out. He was trying to figure out a way to just audit Jesus’s class instead of having to stay for the test!

“Our society encourages us to express our feelings, whether they be good or bad, peaceful or inflammatory, godly or ungodly. James 1:19, however, pictures the wise person as one who listens to God and others, deliberates a response carefully, and answers with cautious words.”[8]

We need to be slow to speak, slow to take issue with God’s word.

We must be slow to get Angry with God’s Word

let every person be… slow to anger

James’s last point speaks of the person who takes things a bit further than just being flippant or dismissive of God’s Word. James is talking about the man or woman who, for whatever reason, has become angry with God.

Perhaps it was because of a misunderstood trial. I think of Moses who was asked to lead the Children of Israel. The people kept complaining and complaining. In one instance they felt that they didn’t have enough water. They complained to God, and He told Moses to strike a rock and water would come out for the people. Moses allowed his own anger toward the people, and I believe toward God also, to get the better of him. He disobeyed God’s Word and hit the rock twice in stead of just once. His anger overtook him, and he missed God’s blessing and misrepresented God to the people.

Perhaps people are angry at God because they have sinned and have suffered judgement and punishment. Maybe they do not feel they deserve the consequences of the sin they have committed. I think of the anger of Esau, the anger of Cain. I think of the anger of King Saul when he sinned against God and consequently had his kingdom removed from his lineage.

We need to be slow to anger. As we read God’s Word and it speaks to us, even if what we read makes us uncomfortable or even angry, we need to take a moment. Meditate on it. Ask God for wisdom and clarification. Then be quick to listen to what He has to say.

All our anger will do is harden our hearts and make it even more difficult for God’s Word to take root in our lives.

Everything we have talked about so far has been in relation to preparing the soil of our hearts for God’s Word. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.

We must have a Prepared Heart.

“The soil of the heart must be prepared to receive the Word. If we have unconfessed sin in our hearts, and bitterness against God because of our trials, then we cannot receive the Word and be blessed by it.”[9]

In fact, is foolish to try to receive God’s Word if your heart is unprepared. I want to close this message this morning by showing you how to prepare your hearts when you go to God and His Word. And then I want to invite you to do just that. Prepare your heart.

“First, (we need to confess) our sins and ask() the Father to forgive us (1 John 1:9).

Then, (we need to meditate) 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” (or anger) 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. You do not try to twist it to conform it to your thinking.

(Warren Weirsbe writes,) If we do not receive the implanted Word, then we are deceiving ourselves. Christians who like to argue various “points of view” may be only fooling themselves. They think that their “discussions” are promoting spiritual growth, when in reality they may only be cultivating the weeds.”[10]

So, will you prepare your hearts this week? As you go about your work week, will you keep in mind that your need to make sure the soil of your heart is prepared and ready for God’s Word to take root and bear fruit in your life, in your family relationships, in your work relationships? Even in your personal life, your struggles, your temptations….

Next week we will look into how to put God’s Word into action, how to start bearing some that fruit that a prepared heart will certainly begin to bear.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jas 1:19–21. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jas 1:19–21. [3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Mt 13:18–23. [4]Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 346. [5]Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992), 722. [6]Thomas D. Lea, Hebrews, James, vol. 10, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 264. [7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 10:17. [8]Thomas D. Lea, Hebrews, James, vol. 10, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 264. [9]Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992), 722. [10]Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 347.