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Christianity Where the Rubber Meets the Road
Part 4: Moving Forward in Christ
James 1:16-27
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - March 4, 2012
*Years ago Paul Harvey told about a biker riding down the highway on his motorcycle, and he had this message printed on the back of his leather jacket: “If you can read this, -- my girlfriend fell off.” (1)
*IF: That little word has a great big meaning.
It’s a word that can change everything.
And tonight we will look at some of the progress God wants to see in our lives, IF Jesus is our Savior and Lord.
1. Christians, the first piece of progress is this: God wants us to restrain our tongues and our temper.
*So in vs. 18-20, James says this to Christians:
18.
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
19.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20. for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
[1] The Lord wants us to restrain our tongues.
*Tongue trouble is one of the most important topics in James’ letter.
Chapter 3 explores tongue trouble in great detail.
But here in vs. 19, James simply said, “My beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.”
*All things being equal, we would get along a whole lot better with other people if we would “be swift to hear and slow to speak.”
[2] The Lord wants us to restrain our tongues.
-- But He also wants us to restrain our temper.
*Again in vs. 19-20, James tells Christians:
19.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20. for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
*Our tongue and our temper.
I think God’s Word put these two together, because so many times they go together.
We don’t restrain our temper, so we don’t restrain our tongue.
*Our selfish, sinful anger can be a dangerous and destructive thing.
Anger can lead us to say things that cut like a knife.
And our tongues can do damage that goes far beyond our expectation.
*Bill Tolar helps us see this in a story about a young girl.
She had the bad habit of talking about other people.
Then her papaw told her he wanted to show her how much damage she was doing with her tongue.
He waited for a real windy day, then gave her a large bag filled with pillow feathers.
*Papaw told her to go to the top of a steep hill, and scatter those feathers to the wind.
She followed his instructions, then came back and asked: “Now what do I do?” -- Papaw said: “Now go back and pick up all the feathers.”
(2)
*It can be much, much harder to undo the damage we do with our tongues.
-So God wants us to restrain our tongues and our temper.
2.
He also wants us to receive His Word.
*In vs. 21, James tells believers: “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
*The AMP Bible says: 21.
So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls.
*Last week we saw that God’s Word can give us new birth and new belonging as part of the family of God.
But here James is stressing the power of God’s Word to give us new behavior.
And that’s what the Word will do, IF we will receive it.
*That word “receive” carries the idea of holding the Word, embracing it, making it your own.
James is talking about us holding God’s Word in our heart, -- allowing it to mold and shape our lives.
James is talking about us basing our lives on the Bible, -- allowing it to transform our behavior.
*On the night before the cross, in John 15:3, Jesus told His followers: “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”
*And in Ephesians 5, where Paul was talking about Christian marriage, he said:
25.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26.
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27.
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
*Those are the kind of changes the Lord wants to make in our lives.
-And He can do it!
-- IF we will receive His Word.
-God wants us to receive His Word.
3.
But He also wants us to respond to His Word.
*So James gives us this warning in vs. 22-25:
22.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24. for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25.
But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
*Of course hearing God’s Word is great!
The greatest commandment of all begins with the word “Hear.”
In the Old Testament, this commandment is found in Deut 6:4-5:
4. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
5.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
*Jews call this commandment the “Shema,” because “shema” is the Hebrew word that means “to hear.”
-Hearing God’s Word is great!
-But just hearing the Word is a great waste.
*God wants us to take action!
-He wants us to respond to His Word.
-He wants us to apply His Word to every area of our lives.
-It’s the only way to have the abundant life Jesus wants us to have.
*That’s why in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:
24.
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25. and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26.
Now everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27. and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.
And great was its fall.”
(Matt 7:24-27)
*It’s not enough to hear.
We have to do the Word.
-When God commands, we should comply.
-- But how can we do that?
[1] James shows us 2 things to help.
-- The first thing to do is remember the truth.
*You see, the problem in James 1:24 was that the man forgot who he was.
He “immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”
James is telling us: “Don’t do that.
Remember the truth.
Remember who you are in the Lord.”
[2] Remember the truth.
-- And remain in the truth.
*Or as James said in vs. 25, “continue” in the truth.
God’s Word is a mirror in these verses, and we need to keep looking into the mirror.
*We can all understand that because we all use mirrors.
I certainly used one this morning.
This is about as good as I ever look.
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