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James 1:19-21 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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After a couple week break from the book of James, we're back to our verse by verse exposition.
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And today's text is James chapter one verses 19 through 21.
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!
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The first 18 verses of James in this way.
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I think the kids have more energy for fussing than less.
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This is what Zach said of the first 18 verses.
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What James is saying then is that the trials themselves are good because they are from God who is good.
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And these trials produce in us good, which is for our good.
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And then he added, that is a pretty decent summary of James one, one through 18.
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I asked Zach for a summary this week and he actually copied and pasted it out of his notes.
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And included in his notes was, that is a pretty decent summary of James.
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I agree.
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That is a good summary of the first 18 verses of the book of James, which brings us to verse 19, 20, and 21.
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Before I read it, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.
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It's written for his glory and our good.
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And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
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James 1, 19 and following.
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Know this, my beloved brothers.
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Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.
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For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
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Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
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Now, it would seem at first appearance that James is beginning already to kind of shotgun commands out together.
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Perhaps you've already looked at verse 19 and 20 and seen the relationship between the two of them and then wondered how verse 21 connects to the rest of it.
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I hope this morning to show you this as we study it together.
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Our outline for our study of today's text will be as follows.
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I will repeat these for your note taking.
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Number one, James teaches us how to receive the word.
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Number two, James gives us a reason to receive the word.
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Number three, James commands us to receive the word.
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So how a reason and a command.
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So first, James teaches us how to receive the word.
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I believe that James is making this very specific point.
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It has some broader implication and we'll talk briefly about that broader implication, but a very specific point because of the final verse of the previous section of this letter.
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He says in verse 18 of his own will, God of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
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Right.
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He brought us forth.
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This Greek phrase can also be used of giving birth, a child being brought forth from the wound.
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But we know that James isn't talking about the first birth in this case because we see the means by which we're brought forth.
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He's talking about the second birth.
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Right.
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Us becoming Christians, being born again because the means by which is by the word of truth of his own will.
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He brought us forth by the word of truth.
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Right.
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We are utterly lost in our sin.
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We are enemies of God.
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And it is by the word of Christ employed by the spirit of Christ speaking into our hearts that we are made new.
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We are made capable of believing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Right.
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This is the doctrine of regeneration.
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Right.
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We are made alive spiritually speaking once dead now alive.
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We have categorically shifted, not changed simply in degree, not made a little better, but made entirely different than who we once were.
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So it's in that context that he then moves on to verse 19.
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It would seem like such a random transition, but it's not at all.
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All he says in verse 19, know this, my beloved brothers.
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Right.
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So he is addressing those within the church, those that he can call brothers.
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And even more than that, those who are called beloved.
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You hear me use this title for you.
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Right.
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As I'm addressing Christians in our fellowship together.
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And I do this because I want you to know that I love you.
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I often say this before I say difficult things you may catch.
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But more than that, I say it because I want you to be reminded that God loves you in Christ.
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God loves you.
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This word is very significant.
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We see a record in Matthew chapter three in verse 17.
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After Jesus is baptized, the spirit descends on him like a dove and a voice from heaven says, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.
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This title given to Christ beloved is transferred to us when we believe in Jesus.
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Right.
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His righteousness is given to us.
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His penalty for our sin is taken by him.
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We are called beloved.
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James does this here.
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Many of the other biblical writers do it as well.
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It's why I use the phrase because I want you to be reminded that God loves you immensely in Christ.
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Right.
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So this is who he's talking to.
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Know this, my beloved brothers.
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Now, according to Robert Gundry, who's a contemporary New Testament Greek scholar, the beginning of verse 19 could also be translated.
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And in fact, in the Greek, it more specifically is translated, be knowledgeable, my beloved brothers.
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Now, all of our English translations have some weaknesses at some point.
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And I have a massive amount of respect for the people who have labored to put together these translations for us.
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I always want to be so careful that I don't sound like I know best because I don't.
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I am not a Bible translator.
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I'm very weak in Greek.
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However, Robert Gundry is not.
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And I really like his work that he does here.
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Be knowledgeable, my beloved brothers, which I think is appropriate for the flow of where we came from in verse 18 and on into the rest of the verse.
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It might help us understand the reasoning that James is following as he's about to say some very specific things.
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The specific point that James is making is this.
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If you are to be knowledgeable, you will need to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.
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I believe that what James is doing is giving them instruction as to how to gather around the word.
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You remember when he writes this letter, they have the Old Testament scriptures, which would have been open to them on the Lord's day.
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These believers would not have had copies themselves the way we have copies in such abundance of the scripture.
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They would have come together each week and had somebody open to them, the scrolls open to them, the scripture and give explanation of it.
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Things like this letter, right, that have now been canonized would have been brought to them for them to hear the instruction of the word.
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And there must have been some measure of chaos in the meetings of these Jewish Christians.
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And James means to correct that chaos for their good.
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James, in the entirety of his letter, is very concerned about the words that these Christians were speaking.
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This letter would have been read in its entirety.
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And I know that we tend to piecemeal it off, and I think it's worth the attention that we give it.
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But I would say to you, make the practice when we're studying a book of the scripture to read through it on the regular and sort of pick up these themes, right?
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James really is thoughtful.
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He's really thinking about and helping correct the way that they speak.
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He seems to really understand what Jesus said, which is recorded for us in Luke chapter 6 and verse 45.
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The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good.
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And the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil.
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For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.
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Look with me just briefly beyond verse 19 at the rest of our letter, right?
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We're instructed to be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger.
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But look at some other places in the text.
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You may flip with me.
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It's okay.
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I'll try to keep you with me.
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If not, verse 26 of chapter 1, if anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
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In chapter 3, beginning in verse 2 and following, I'll read a number of verses here.
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He says,
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For the tongue is set ablaze by such a small fire.
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And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.
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The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell.
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For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
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But no human being can tame the tongue.
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It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
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With it we bless our Lord and Father and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
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From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
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My brothers, these things ought not be so.
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Strong words.
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Something is happening in the life of this fellowship, right?
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These are some really intense words that he is using to bring correction to the way these Christians are using their tongue.
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Down in verse 14 of chapter 3, he says,
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Do not boast and be false to the truth.
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In chapter 4, in verse 11, he says,
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Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.
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And then in verse 13 through 15, he says,
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Come now, you who say.
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And he talks about people who make boastful claims about the future.
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And then in verse 15, he says,
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Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
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In chapter 5, in verse 9, he says,
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Do not grumble against one another, brothers.
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And then in verse 12,
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My brothers, do not swear, but let your yes be yes and your no be no.
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So he has a lot to say.
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He's being very mindful of how it is that we speak to one another.
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So he gives three progressive instructions.
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They build upon one another.
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He says,
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First, let every person be quick.
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To hear.
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You can think more good listeners.
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And beloved, we have become very poor listeners.
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There are few of us that really take in anything substantive on a regular basis
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and take the time to really understand it and apply it.
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And this should not be so with us and God's word.
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There's a lot of stuff in this world that you have all of the Lord's permission to ignore,
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but not God's word.
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God's word is the very sustenance for those who have believed in Christ.
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Why have we become such poor listeners?
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Just a couple of thoughts of mine.
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One, I think that we are so busy.
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We are just busy.
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We have filled up so much of our time.
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And some of this is unavoidable.
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Just a lot of it's expected of us.
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We have a lot going on.
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And very few of us have nighttime hours where nothing can be accomplished but sitting by the fire.
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We have things to do all the time.
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But perhaps we don't need to be quite as busy as we are.
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Maybe there are some things in our life that we could do away with that feel so necessary but really aren't.
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I think that we are on information overload.
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There is so much information coming our way so often.
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And I don't know about you, but I feel the pressure to know it all.
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I feel like I ought to be able to pick up every single thing that's coming my way and process it and know it.
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And it is utterly impossible.
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I am finite.
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I have a limited amount of hours in the day.
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I have limited brain capacity if this surprises you.
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I just have only so much bandwidth in my day to know things, to process information, to even read all of the reading that is out there that can be done.
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Another reason I think we've become such poor listeners is that our world is full of dumb entertainment.
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Just absolutely stupid things to consume.
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And there are times that it's okay for our brains to disconnect and for us just to relax.
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But I cannot believe the proliferation of reality TV.
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That is the evidence that our culture is just getting stupider and stupider.
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We take in stuff that is just so unfruitful.
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And if you watch shows these days, they cut scene to scene to scene to scene to scene to scene.
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You can't watch a conversation in a TV show, right?
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Like the plot thickening place you need to be in a TV show without it cutting scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene.
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Like a single camera just hardly exists anymore with a couple of people standing around having a conversation.
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Why?
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Because we can't pay attention.
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Creators of these shows know to keep people engaged in what these people are saying.
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They have to cut the scene, cut the scene, cut the scene, cut the scene.
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And so as we watch and consume such dumb entertainment, we are becoming dumber.
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We're becoming poor listeners.
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So what can we do about this?
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Some things we can affect and change.
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Some things we can't.
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There's a couple of ideas for you.
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Number one, we need to discipline ourselves to read God's word.
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It needs to become a habit in our lives that we take it up and we read it, right?
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We make the effort to read it.
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And I think that we're often driven by our emotions and we read God's word and we don't feel the thing we wanted to feel when we read God's word.
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And so we tend to not do it, right?
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We don't get the gains that we were hoping for when we opened it up, right?
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Discipline yourself to open his word and to read it, right?
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To think deeply about it.
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I can promise you that you will get better at this if you will discipline yourself to do it.
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Secondly, make time for meditation.
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It's one thing to read God's word.
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It's another thing to think upon it, right?
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To really have it sink down deep within you, right?
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To take the time to think about what it means and what it means for you.
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The application for your life in that day and the days to come.
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To really consider it.
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You will not meditate well if your phone is in your pocket.
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At least I don't meditate well.
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Did you know that we can walk away from our phones?
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Young people, I lived in a day where our house had a phone.
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There was the phone.
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It was a phone.
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And now everybody has their phone.
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People don't need to get a hold of you on their whim.
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It is okay for you to turn your phone off.
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It's okay to walk away from it.
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There's this great thing called do not disturb.
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You can shut your phone up.
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If you find yourself when you're opening up God's word impulsively having to pick up something and look at something, you need to discipline yourself away from this.
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Watch how technology is affecting your soul.
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Is it beginning to control you or are you using it as a tool for the glory of God?
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So make time.
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Carve out space for meditation.
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Third, read the word and listen to sermons prayerfully.
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Ask God to help you as you do this.
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Lord, help me be attentive.
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I am finite.
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I am easily distracted.
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Technology is rewiring my brain.
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Lord, help me as I open up your word to take it in carefully, to be shaped by it as I listen to a sermon, to be undistracted, to pay careful attention to what is being said.
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And I believe that the Lord will faithfully answer that prayer.
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Similarly, prepare for the Lord's day.
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Take some time as you gather with God's people to prepare yourself to come and to gather with God's people.
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We quite by design start our members gathering at 10 o'clock.
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And we start the public gathering of our church at 11 o'clock.
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You've got hours on Sunday morning to prepare yourself to come together.
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But I get it.
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Our household can be in a flurry on Sunday morning.
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Perhaps it's a great work of the devil that everything that can go wrong seems to go wrong on Sunday morning.
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When all of our three boys were little, little, they inevitably would wake up way earlier than we wanted them to every day of the week.
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You'd want them to sleep until a certain time.
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You'd want them to give you quiet time in the morning and they would wake up.
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Except for Sunday.
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Sunday seemed to be the day that they wanted to sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep.
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And when you disturbed them, they would wake up grumpy, right?
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Something seems to happen on Sunday morning as we're coming to do this very, very important thing to do.
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And we can't prevent every diaper blowout.
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But we can prepare ourselves the day before better than we typically do.
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We ought not stay up late on Saturday nights.
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Stay up late on Friday.
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Prepare yourself on Saturday to come together with God's people.
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You will be less distracted.
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You'll pay more careful attention if you are less tired on Sunday morning.
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You'll be less likely to fall asleep.
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Think about what you need to bring when you come together with God's people and the word is open to you.
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Maybe you benefit from note taking.
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Perhaps you don't.
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I'd suggest to you that you would all be better listeners if you listened with a pen in your hand.
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To do a better job through thinking about what's being said and writing down things that need to be thought about later on.
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You can do very practical things.
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Prepare yourself to be quick to hear.
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And lastly, just quickly, think about limiting your exposure to visual and to print media.
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These things are changing the way we think.
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Be quick to hear.
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Become a good listener.
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Second, in this progressive instructions, right?
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If we're going to be good listeners, we're going to tend to be slow to speak.
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We're going to take things in and we're going to process things and we're not going to respond quite as quickly.
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These early gatherings of the church were not very structured.
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And it would seem that the teaching of the word would be regularly interrupted by those being slow to hear and quick to speak.
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I think that James is correcting that here.
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Our times together are more structured.
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And I doubt that any of you would feel the liberty to interrupt a sermon, to ask a question or make a rebuttal.
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I would encourage you not to do that.
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But I would like to encourage you to quiet your inner dialogue.
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You tend to talk to yourself as you're listening.
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I cannot count the times that I've had someone ask me a clarifying question, come up and say, hey, you said this, but did you mean when I offered the clarification during the sermon?
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When I would make a statement and the next thing I would say is, I am not saying this.
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Or I am clarifying it right then.
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But the brain gets stuck.
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They hear a sentence and they go, wait, could that be fully true?
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And they didn't stop and listen, really listen to the clarifying points that are being made.
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None of us are going to do this perfectly, so please ask clarifying questions.
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But it's the thing that we ought to work at doing, slowing down our inner dialogue, really listening to what is being said.
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The contemporary pastor Kent Hughes in his commentary on James cites a rabbinical saying.
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I really like this.
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This is the reason why we have two ears and only one mouth, that we may hear more and speak less.
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The ears are always open, ever ready to receive instruction.
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But the tongue is surrounded with a double row of teeth to hedge it in and keep it within proper bounds.
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So, be quick to hear and be slow to speak.
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And then he adds to that, be slow to anger.
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Now, remember, I think that these things are progressive.
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If you are a good hearer and a careful speaker, you're going to tend to also be slow to anger.
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It is probable that what was taking place in these churches is one man would listen carefully to what was being taught and would interpret the teaching.
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And then another would become angry at the interrupt the teaching and the other become angry at the interruption.
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And then another would get angry.
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Pride would begin to reign in their fellowship instead of humility.
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And soon, no one would be profiting from the word.
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Or perhaps you sat in a Bible study that goes that way.
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Like one guy trying to outclass the other guy with his knowledge of the word.
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And it typically becomes very unhelpful as pride takes over in that fellowship.
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An angry spirit is never a teachable spirit.
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It's a proud spirit.
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It says, I know what the truth is rather than taking, listening, being slow to respond.
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Solomon writes in Proverbs 29 and verse 11, a fool gives full vent to a spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.
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And in Proverbs 16 and verse 32, whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty.
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And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
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We want to be wise people.
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We want to be mighty people by being slow to anger.
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Now, I previously stated that I believe that James is making this very specific point.
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But the implication is broader and we shouldn't lose it this morning.
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We ought to always be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger as we gather with the church.
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But we also ought to always be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger in general.
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Oh, what trouble this world would be spared if we would all just slow down a bit, really seek to understand another's position and respond kindly with carefully articulated truth.
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James would be appalled by the behavior of Christians on social media in our day.
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I think he would say, I wrote a letter about this.
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I am grateful that he is fully enthralled with the glory of Christ and is spared knowing just how vitriolic we have become.
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I think he is enraptured right now with the glories of Christ and doesn't care what's going on here.
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But I think our Lord and Savior cares very much.
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And so should we.
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Beloved, it should not be so amongst us that we would not be careful in the way that we speak to one another.
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And I want to make a further application specifically for husbands.
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Peter writes in 1 Peter chapter 3 in verse 7.
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Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way.
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You could also read that as according to knowledge.
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Showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel since they are heirs with you of the grace of life so that your prayers may not be hindered.
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Listen to James chapter 1 in verse 19 with Robert Gundry's translation of the opening phrase.
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Be knowledgeable, my beloved brothers.
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Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.
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Husbands, we have very little, if ever, any space for becoming angry with our wives.
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Our wives are precious vessels.
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They're given to us as a gift.
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How dare we be slow to hear and quick to speak and become angry with our wives?
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I am guilty of this.
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Many of you have known me a long time.
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And I have been at times an angry person.
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Typically a brooding, slow, kind of simmering anger.
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But at times it would boil out and it would always boil out on my wife.
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It was wrong.
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It was unkind toward her for me to do so.
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I went to a counseling conference where a guy said very boldly, and this will be a really bad example of being a good listener because I was a bad listener in this moment.
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But he said very boldly, if you show me what worries you or what makes you angry, I'll show you your idols.
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He just said it matter-of-factly.
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So in my mind I went, oh, I've got to see if that's true or not.
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So I took the time in that counseling conference, while he said, I'm sure, a bunch of wonderful things following that, but I listed out things that make me angry.
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And prior to that, a man had also said that we tend to use disguising words for anger.
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So I was writing out things that made me angry or frustrated me and really thinking about it.
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Lord, is this idolatry in my life?
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Is there a way that this is sin in my life?
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Things that I had justified, thought that I was right for being angry about, and again, and again, and again, and again.
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I wadded it up and threw it away.
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I probably should have kept it and pulled it out.
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These are the things, the way that I was sinning and being angry.
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And there is no space for this in the life of a Christian husband.
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Should not be so.
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All right.
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Back to the primary point.
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James teaches us how to receive the word.
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We'll be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger.
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And then he gives us a reason to receive the word.
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Why we should be doing this.
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He says in verse 20, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
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The anger of man is self-righteous.
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It is self-justifying.
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It is self-serving and does not produce the righteousness of God.
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We ought not be characterized by the anger of man.
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It takes two forms.
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We all need to recognize this.
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Usually when we see the word anger, we think of like hot, vented anger.
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Right?
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We think of yelling.
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Right?
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We think of road rage type of anger.
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Right?
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A fist through doors kind of anger.
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And that is anger, to be sure.
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But many of us miss smoldering, bitter anger.
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And as I mentioned, we use all kinds of words to disguise it.
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My go-to word has been frustrated.
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I'm frustrated by something.
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Something is frustrating to me.
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It is the thing that is making me angry.
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It is one in the same.
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And we don't have time to explore anger in totality today.
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I wish we did.
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But I want you to hear that we are far too angry.
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Far too often.
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And it needs to be explored in your life.
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You could probably think across this past week at something that made you angry.
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And if it's sin, and it probably is, we need to repent and live lives that are pleasing to our Lord.
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Now, there isn't such thing as righteous anger.
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Anger can be holy.
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Anger that is produced in us by God for the sake of others and his glory.
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We celebrate Veterans Day this week.
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I am glad that we have had men go places and be angry for the right things.
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You don't fight well unless you have anger.
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You must.
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To destroy something else, you must be angry at that something.
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There are times for this kind of thing.
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If I ever caught somebody beating a toddler in a parking lot, you better believe my anger would burn and it would be righteous anger to stop what's happening to this child.
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Right?
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There's times for this.
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Right?
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For the sake of others and for the glory of God.
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But this is not the typical anger that we experience.
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Right?
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The typical anger we experience is when somebody pulls out in front of us and heaven forbid we have to get on our brakes a little bit and slow down from our busy day.
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Right?
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That kind of anger is self-serving.
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It's self-righteous like you've never pulled out in front of somebody before.
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Right?
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It says that this entire world revolves around you and your schedule.
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Everyone on the road should know that you overslept your alarm and you need to get to work on time.
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Right?
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It's about you.
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It's about self-service.
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Most of our anger is that way.
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What we typically experience is the anger of man that does not produce the righteousness of God.
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And this is the reason that James gives us to receive the word.
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We need God's word to work in us to live lives that are pleasing to him.
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This is why we need to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
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So thirdly and lastly, James commands us to receive the word.
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Right?
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He gets more emphatic.
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He says, verse 21, therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
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Anger is just one sin.
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So James now expands his point by saying, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness.
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Right?
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And that's the negative command of verse 21.
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He's saying you need to stop doing some things.
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Things like these things are getting in the way of your receipt of God's word.
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Jesus says in John chapter eight and verse 37 in a rebuke of the Pharisees.
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Right?
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And hear this carefully.
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The Pharisees were people of the word.
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We would say that as a church.
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We are people of the word.
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Right?
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Right?
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The Pharisees knew the scripture.
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Right?
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They studied it daily.
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They took much pain in studying the scripture.
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They memorized great lengths of the text.
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Right?
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All of this was self-righteous activity.
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They were pretty good at it.
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And Jesus says this in a rebuke of the Pharisees.
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John 8, 37.
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I know that you are offspring of Abraham.
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Yet you seek to kill me.
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Why?
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Why are they looking to kill the Christ?
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Because my word finds no place in you.
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They were so full of self-righteousness.
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They were so full of their activity.
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That there was no place in their hearts.
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For the word of God to take root.
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And bring forth fruit in their lives.
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As I think about this.
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I'm drawn to the parable of the sower.
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Mark chapter 4.
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Beginning in verse 3.
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Jesus says, listen.
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Behold, a sower went out to sow.
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And I love this parable.
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Because Jesus explains it.
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It's always nice when he says exactly what he means.
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In the parable.
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So further in Mark chapter 4.
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He tells exactly what's going on.
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So the sower was out to sow.
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And what is the sower sowing?
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He's sowing the word.
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He's sowing the truth.
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And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path.
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And the birds came and devoured it.
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And he tells us later that this is Satan coming and taking away the word.
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I would suggest to you that this is people hearing the truth.
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But then competitive lowercase truths come in.
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And they ceased to believe what they should believe is true.
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Other seeds fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil.
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And immediately it sprang up since it had no depth of soil.
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And when the sun rose, it was scorched.
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And since it had no root, it withered away.
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So there are people who seem to believe the truth.
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They give outward expression of that.
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He says that it doesn't have roots.
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It springs up immediately.
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You see people receiving the word with joy.
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Seeming to make credible professions of faith in Jesus Christ.
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But when, he tells us later, tribulation, trouble, or persecution, direct opposition to the gospel arises.
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It withers away.
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The word does not have root in their life.
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Other seeds fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it.
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And it yielded no grain.
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Jesus tells us later that these thorns are the cares and the riches of the world.
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This Christianity is not promising to me the things that I wanted it to promise to me.
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And they produce no fruit.
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But then, and this is who we want to be.
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Other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding 30-fold and 60-fold and 100-fold.
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People who are fruitful, who are putting away filthiness and rampant wickedness,
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who are being quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger because we take in the word.
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And Jesus ends this parable by saying, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.
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So he drives the point home with the positive command of verse 21.
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Receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls.
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And there's a juxtaposed posture here to the man who is slow to hear and quick to speak and quick to anger.
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But the proud man, he says, receive with meekness.
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Which is a bridled strength.
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Meekness is an expression of humility.
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It says, I need to quiet myself and I need to listen to the word.
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Beloved, we have the word implanted in us, right?
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If you have believed in Christ, he has worked this great thing in you.
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But we must put away our sin and receive the word.
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This is an activity for us to be about.
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We must continually make room for it in our hearts.
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It is the word of Christ employed powerfully by the spirit of Christ that will save our souls, right?
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That will see us through to the end.
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So James is careful here to teach us how to receive the word, to give us a reason that we ought to receive the word.
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And a command to receive the word.
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May we be a people who receive the word.
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A people who are shaped by the word for our good and for the glory of our great God.
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Let's pray together.