Introduction.
As the Church has now entered the new millennium, the
world is longing to see what true religion is. There
is so much counterfeit Christianity on the market today.
As new age movement
gathers momentum, and cults are on the increase, it
is therefore imperative for the true church of Jesus
Christ to be clearly identified, and through her life
make all the difference until Jesus comes.
James has been dealing
in verse 18 with True or "pure" religion.
1:18
of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
This verse begins
in the believers past experience of God's grace in salvation.
The
Perpetuity of the New Birth
"Of
His own will begat he us"
God takes the initiative in this act.
The New Birth is all of God from beginning to end.
James tells these New Testament Christians,
that the Father of lights chose to give them birth.
The new birth is Infinite in its being, in its beginning,
and in its blessing. James goes on to speak of
The
Production of the New Birth.
Of
his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
The Believer has been
born again by the word of truth, by the incorruptible
seed of the word of God, which lives and abides forever.
The "Word of
Truth is Divine in its nature, distinctive, and dynamic
in its power. It’s the gospel of God’s Grace
and it is durable, for it is settled in heaven.
The Purpose of the New Birth.
V
18 "that we should be a kind of first
fruits of His creatures"
Having received the
new birth "by the word of truth", this new
life is now to be evidenced by growth and development.
This will take place
when we respond to the Word, which we have believed.
James is making it very clear that having experienced
the new birth, this should now be seen in the expression
of life.
God never intended
for us as His children, to stop with knowledge, but
rather that to allow His truth to be a dynamic force
for change in our lives, and change in our behaviour.
2
Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new.
Eph
2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them.
While good works do
not save us, we are saved to do good works. It is absolutely
crucial to have the right goals. Instead of asking what
sort of life do I want, we should ask, what sort of
life does God desire for me.
How does our Saviour
expect us to live? Happiness and fulfilment will consist
of identifying this, and then making it our own aim.
James tells us that God desires a righteous life for
us.
How can we make an
impact on an increasingly secular society in this millennium?
How can we make a difference? By giving people a picture
of what true Christianity is all about, and we can only
do this by "Living the Life"
As someone once put
it, "Holiness is the visible part of Salvation".
The point is well made: faith, mercy, grace, and the
new birth ---these things are invisible, but you can
see Holiness, and it proves the reality of our salvation
to others.
The burden that James
has is, that belief and behaviour should go hand
in hand, and in two verses, he touches on three areas
of life, in which the new birth should express itself.
1. Be Ready to
Hear.
1:
19 wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be
swift to hear,
The Righteous person
will be swift, (prompt and ready) to listen to God.
The Believer
should have an insatiable appetite for sound doctrine,
and should be eager to avail himself of all opportunities
of increasing his knowledge of the word of God.
(Robert Johnston)
Our Lord said,
"The sower soweth the
word—He that hath ears to hear let him hear"
James is calling for
alertness and for a readiness to receive the truth of
the word of God. The spoken and the written word are
available to every one of us.
Think of the hours
of preaching that the average Christian hears in the
space of one year! Then think of the words of our Lord
Luke
12:48 For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall
be much required:
Apply these
words from Jesus to those who sit under sound evangelical
Preaching and Teaching week after week and year after
year.
Surely we have a solemn
responsibility to obey the exhortation—
1:22
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
your own selves. (KJV)
If we are swift to
hear it will make us swift to obey.
How often do we bow
our heads when we come to the place of worship and say
with Samuel of old " Speak
Lord for your servant heareth"
A righteous man is
quick to listen. He listens first to God. He listens
to what the Bible says, and especially when the Bible
is being preached.
He'll be saved from
an absolute disaster if he will listen. If the apostle
Peter had listened to what the Lord had said there wouldn't
have been the tears and sobs of sorrow the following
day.
How much do we know
of the quiet, silent waiting on God? Longing for the
Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth and to impress
upon our hearts that truth.
Do we come to the
house of God ready to hear what the Lord has to say?
Sadly, there are
times when we are not ready to hear. We have been occupied
with lesser things, and far too busy, to keep alert
and to hear what God has to say to us for our benefit,
for blessing, and spiritual development, that we might
be Righteous.
How
we need to find the spirit of the Hymn.
Speak
Lord, in the stillness
While
I wait on Thee
Hush
my heart to listen
In,
expectancy.
The first characteristic
that James is looking for in a Righteous person is,
a readiness and an eager hunger for the word of truth.
1. Be Ready to
Hear.
2. Be Reluctant
to Speak.
V
19 "let very man be swift to hear, slow to speak"
Our tongues are the
barometers, of whether we are living a righteous life
or not.
The righteous man
is slow to speak. How different is the spirit of our
age? –
There is this emphasis
on expressing your feelings, and letting everything
hang out.
"Be
slow to speak, says James".
James is not
exhorting us to take vows of silence. How could a Christian,
- who has good news to tell, ever take a vow of silence
without sinning? Neither is he with these words encouraging
an unsociable distance. James is concerned here with
speaking out words, thoughtlessly.
The Lord Jesus speaks
of 'idle words' and having to give to Almighty God an
account of them.
"For
by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words
thou shalt be condemned" (Matt. 12:37).
There is an old saying;
"many a man has had to repent of speaking, but
never one of holding his peace." Some Christians
are blighted with the craving for continuously talking
and chattering about everything under the sun.
James' concern
is, that we might never be rash, that we would be
slow to speak, (think before we speak) and then speak,
when we see our duty clear, carefully weighing up what
we are going to say.
Friends, it is no coincidence, that
we each have two ears and one mouth. Could it be that
we should listen twice as much as we talk? We can reverse
the instruction of scripture, we are slow to listen
and quick to speak, and this is the reason we get into
trouble.
Prov 10:19 In
the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he
that refraineth his lips is wise.
Prov. 17:28)
"Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted
wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man
of understanding"
James
1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and
bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart,
this man's religion is vain.
James
3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:
so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth
the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature;
and it is set on fire of hell.
The Believer who
is "Living a Righteous Life" will not utter
barren and hurtful words. The tongue can be a very dangerous
weapon.
Benjamin
Franklin--- A slip of the foot you may soon
recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get
over.
Oswald
Chambers -- The great test of a man's character
is his tongue. The tongue is the ambassador of the heart.
Friends, the
tongue is a wild beast; once let loose, it is difficult
to chain. There is danger, when a man throws his tongue
into high gear before he gets his brain a-going.
Some use the tongue
for Blasting, they just love to gossip. Some use the
tongue Blazing, for destroying someone’s character.
The unspoken word
never defeats one. What one does not say, does
not have to be explained.
Others use the tongue
for boasting.
Let
every man be slow to speak!
About
Themselves
The
former Beetle, John Lennon foolishly boasted,
"Christianity will go. We're more popular than
Jesus now.
How sad it is, when
a gifted and articulate Christian’s speech is dominated
by the capital
"I"
This is actually the sign of one, who is lacking
in spiritual growth and maturity. The Believer’s
tongue is never to be used for boasting, only for blessing.
Paul writes
in Rom 3:24 Being justified freely
by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus: v 27 Where is boasting then? It
is excluded. This word excluded means " entirely
shut out, banished.
It
was Archbishop William Temple who said, "The
only thing that man contributes to his salvation is
SIN, from which he needs to be saved". Therefore
salvation is a cause for rejoicing and not for boasting.
Boastfulness
is never becoming for a Christian. We should
never boast about "what we are" for
we are just poor lost sinners, who have been saved by
Sovereign Grace. We should never boast about what
we have.
Paul says to
the Corinthians--
1
Cor 4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another?
and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?
Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory,
as if thou hadst not received it?
The
impact of this question is inescapable. What
do we have of material possessions, ability, resources,
and spiritual power that we did not receive from the
free giving hand of God in Grace?
The
Answer is
Naught
have I gotten but what I received
Grace
has bestowed it since I have believed
Boasting
excluded pride I abase
For
I am only a sinner saved by Grace.
Therefore,
we should never boast of "What we do"
Let us ever remember that any valid work we do for
God, however costly, faithful and effective, it is the
outcome of Grace alone. For, without Him, we can do
nothing.
The Apostle
Paul acknowledged this fact 1 Cor 9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to
glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is
unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
Let
every man be slow to speak!
A.
About Themselves
B.
About The Other Person.
Be slow to speak especially
when you are making judgements about people or their
behaviour or doctrine. For when we pass judgment upon
others, we are suggesting how far above them we are?
There are very few
Christians, who have not been guilty of saying things
about others which have been unkind, unfair, unloving
and even untrue. We must keep this in mind and be slow
to speak.
When we say that a
person is so careless, we are implying that we are careful
people. If we say that we don't like that man’s
pride, we are actually implying, that we ourselves are
models of humility. Or, when we speak of someone’s
stinginess in giving to the Church, we are promoting
our own generosity?
Friends, one of the
most sinister and crippling acts in the life of the
church of Christ is "Criticism" Many of us
have been criticised and many of us have criticised
others. Few there are who can claim exemption from this
charge.
There are Christians,
who would never dream of physically hurting another
human being, but verbally, they constantly abuse others,
who are their brothers and sisters in the Lord
Illustration..
The story is told of a woman who was an awful gossip
in the Church. For years her malicious tongue had caused
much hurt and damage. At last, she became convicted
of this terrible sin. She asked her Pastor what could
she do to make amends for the words, which she had spoken
and for the hurt she had caused?
The Pastor told her
to take a bag of feathers, go round the village and
place a feather outside the home of each person, whom
she had offended.
Sometime later she
came back with an empty bag and said to the Pastor "
I have done what you told me, but I do not feel any
better".
The Pastor responded,
" I would not expect you to feel any better, for
you have only done half of the job. I want you to go
back and pick up the feathers again. It so happened
that a strong wind was beginning to blow, and later
this poor soul returned with an empty bag saying,
"Pastor, I cannot
find a single feather". To which he replied;
"It was easy
to put them down but now they are gone with the wind.
Yes—and so it was with your words of gossip, criticism,
and rumour, it was easy for you to scatter your words,
but now they are gone and it is impossible to bring
them back".
From
now on be "Slow to Speak"
Beloved, be slow to
Speak, for we can throw away an unkind word and when
it is gone from our lips, it is gone forever. Let me
remind you of some of the things God hates.
Prov
6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea,
seven are an abomination unto him:
Prov
6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed
innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Prov
6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and
he that soweth discord among brethren.
God hates anything
that hinders His Work and divides His people.
It
was J.B Simpson, who said " I would rather
play with fork lightening, than to speak a reckless
word against a servant of God".
Criticism and rumor
can spread like wildfire bringing hurt to so many.
Prov
26:20 Where no wood is, there the fire goeth
out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife
ceaseth.
1.
Be Ready to Hear "Swift to hear"
2.
Be Reluctant to Speak "Slow to speak"
3.
Be Resistant to Wrath
V 19b, 20 "Slow
to Wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness
of God"
The righteous man is
also slow to become angry. This is the most important
barometer for the God-pleasing life.
The
Imperative "be slow to wrath"
It does not
say that we are not to become angry, but that we are
to be slow in doing so, and within well-defined limits.
All anger is not wrong, Righteous anger is attributed
to the Lord himself. Psa 7:11
God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with
the wicked every day.
God is angry
at unrighteousness, injustice, and false religion. You
will remember how Jesus made a whip to drive the moneychangers
out of the temple.
The apostle
Paul exhorts the Ephesians, not to allow righteous anger
to become sinful anger, by letting the sun go down on
their wrath Eph. 4:26 .
Although, there is such a thing as
Righteous anger, the problem is, rarely is man's anger
righteous. Anger doesn't do ourselves or anyone else
any good, in fact, the very reverse. Think of what the
world does when it's enraged.
What sin anger is, when allied to
the deceit of our own hearts, how quickly we justify
to ourselves every display of our anger as righteous.
The sin of anger lies
in this! It gets angry for the wrong reasons, Cain was
angry with Abel out of envy, and so killed him.
Moses fell into hatred,
when he saw a taskmaster beating a fellow-countryman
in Egypt and he murdered the Egyptian. What retaliation
did Pharaoh take for that action against the Israelites?
Moses had to spend the next forty years living on the
edges of a wilderness because of his anger.
The
Imperative "be slow to wrath"
The
Incentive v 20 " For the wrath of man worketh
not the righteousness of God.
Anger, that comes
from man, is from his sinful nature and does not reflect
the Righteousness of God, which should be seen in His
people.
It is God’s design
to produce practical righteousness in His children.
Our goal is to have the righteousness of God produced
in our lives, and anger does not promote righteousness
"An
angry man stirs up strife, and a hot-tempered man abounds
in transgression" (Prov. 29:22).
Anger gives the
Devil a foothold in your life by filling you with guilt
and destroying your walk with God.
Anger is frequently
out of control and leads to other sins. How is God honoured,
our own lives strengthened, the church advanced, or
the souls saved, by our anger?
If you're under pressure,
the only response is patience, meekness and endurance,
not retaliation.
Think of the Lord
Jesus: When they hurled their insults at him, he did
not retaliate: when he suffered, he made no threats.
Be
slow in becoming angry. Stop! Think! And consider why
are you so angry? Emotions are fast but the fastest
is anger.
So, when the Bible
talks about being slow to anger, it is talking about
an approach that will control anger, and defuse it,
and help us to avoid the destruction that anger can
cause.
If we slow things
down, for example, we can avoid misunderstandings. Go
slow. Don't jump to conclusions and say some things
you may live to regret.
John
Owen says, "As long as there is a
treacherous heart that is prepared to neglect the need
for obedience in every area, there is a weak soul that
is not allowing faith its whole work."
God
had every reason to be angry with us; yet he saved us.
Therefore, instead
of anger, we need to develop love and joy and peace
and gentleness, the fruit of the Spirit.
The
Christian must be
"
Swift to hear" "Slow to Speak" and "Slow
to Wrath"
May the mind
of Christ my Saviour
Live
in me from day to day
By
His love and power controlling, All I do and say.
Control
yourself! Anger is only one letter short of danger.
Hot
heads and cold hearts never solved anything.
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