One of the hardest tasks I had in preparing to preach James was outlining it. Normally, when I’m going through this process, I’ll have a lot of commentaries out and look at their outlines. And there’ll be disagreement among them on exactly where one section ends and another begins. But there are a few sections everyone without exception agrees on. So, what I’ll do is I’ll take those sections and write them down. Those sections are locked in, and then I wrestle with the rest of the sections until I’ve decided how I think the sections should work. With James, however, I first found that there were very few sections everyone agreed broke down the same way. And when I came to discerning where I thought one section ended and the next began, I found myself changing my mind all the time.
The reason for this is because James almost reads like New Testament wisdom literature. It reads almost like the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament, where it’s easier to trace a theme (such as the “fear of the Lord”) more easily than you can preach through a chapter of the book. So, you end up thinking you should either look at it in real small sections of only a few verses because James changes topics so quickly or you end up thinking you should preach a very large section because though he might leave a topic at the first part of a chapter, he returns to it at the end of a chapter and even at a later part in the book.
So, though I’ve broken down this chapter into three sections: verses 1-11, 12-18, and 19-27, I really did consider the option of preaching the whole chapter together. And the reason I almost took the whole chapter together is because the same themes keep ringing throughout this chapter: trials, temptations, the nature of God, the Word of God, etc. You can’t leave verses 1-11 and forget what was addressed there, or you’ll not rightly understand what’s going on in verses 12-18 and 19-27.
Now, why do I mention this? Is it because I want you to picture my hard work of wrestling through how to outline this book and have pity on me? Certainly it is! No, I’m kidding. It’s because I want to make sure that as we focus on 1:19-27 this morning, you’re holding in your mind what we have seen from the first two sections of this book. Because, I really believe this chapter builds on itself. So, then, let me remind you quickly that in verses 1-11, the focus was on what God does in and through our trials, namely, testing and building our faith so that we might persevere in the faith. Then, in verses 12-18, James did not abandon the topic of trials. Rather, he focused on another facet concerning trials, namely, how it is that we handle the temptations that come with trials. There, we saw the importance of persevering, the realization that temptation comes from our own desires, the fact that God is always good (never varying from that), and that he has made us his own by bringing us life through his Word.
Well, it seems that this last point James makes in verse 18 keys his thoughts for verses 19-27. That is, when he mentions that God brought us forth by the “word of truth,” this spurs him to focus on the importance of God’s Word. That’s the focus, I believe, of verses 19-27, and that’s why I isolated this section for us to look at this morning. However, as James talks about the importance of God’s Word in these verses, I think he wants us to keep in mind the context he has developed for us in 1-18. That is, he is focusing on the importance of God’s Word while walking through trials, for persevering in faith, for facing various temptations, for rightly understanding who God is and who we are, etc. That is, he’s not now saying, “Hey, let’s talk about the importance of God’s Word if you’re going to win the next game of family Bible trivia, know all the answers in your Sunday school class, or impress your friends. No, the crucial focus of persevering in the faith until the end, even in the midst of trials, remains the context for these verses so that when we speak of the importance of God’s Word in these verses, we are speaking of the importance of God’s Word in persevering in the faith (i.e., that which is necessary if we are to know eternal life). So, though we’re changing focus slightly, we’re not leaving the setting developed in the first 18 verses of this first chapter.
So, let me, then, give you a thesis statement of sorts for 1:19-27. If we are going to be people who persevere in the faith and know eternal life, we are going to have to be people who treasure God’s Word.
Now, James gets to his focus on God’s Word in verses 19-21. He’s been talking about the right and wrong perspective on trials up to this point, and in verses 19-21, he speaks against a wrong approach and explains a right approach to trials. He writes in verses 19-20, “Know this, my bellowed brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.”
Typically, when you face trials, especially weighty trials, there can be a temptation to get angry and say things that you will regret at a later point. So, James warns against this, exhorting us to be a people who are slow to speak, quick to hear, and slow to get angry. The reason being that anger does not produce “the righteousness that God requires.” That is, our anger typically does not lead to the kind of behavior that honors the Lord.1 So, instead of being quick to get angry and speak in that anger, we need to be quick to hear.
But James isn’t necessarily telling us that our friends are wiser than we are. In the account of Job, the opposite was true, wasn’t it? Job indeed listened to everyone around him, and they were telling him, “You must be getting what your sin deserves” or “Curse God and die.” Being slow to speak and quick to hear didn’t provide Job with the best of wisdom or perspective on his life, did it?
But there is a point in the book of Job where Job admits that he should keep his mouth shut and open his ears. When is that? It’s at the end of the book when God speaks. Job may be wiser than his friends, but he is not wiser than God. And Job realizes that he has spoken from anger without seeing the whole picture, the picture that God had known all along. So, God shows up and his first words to Job are, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? (Job 38:2), and after the Lord addresses him, Job says, “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:3).
Therefore, Job has already provided us a picture of what we need in life filled with trial. We do not first need our own thoughts, for they might be wrong and formed in anger. We do not first need the thoughts of our friends, for they too might be wrong and limited in perspective. Rather, we need the Word of One who knows all and has spoken to us what we need to hear, namely, God. So, this then brings us to the first point concerning God’s Word that I want us to see this morning, namely, we must realize our need for God’s word and receive it humbly.
James writes in verse 21, “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” So, James, then, provides a contrast. Instead of being quick to anger and quick to speak, put away filthiness and wickedness and receive the word of God, which is able to save your souls. Now, what’s interesting about this is that this same idea comes to us in 1 Peter 2:1-2. There, Peter writes, “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation.”
So, the idea that our approach to life needs to be one of putting away the filthiness of sin and receiving the Word of God is not unique to James. Nor is it unique to him to suggest that the word is the means by which you will be saved in the end.
But instead of simply showing that this is a common note in the Bible, let’s stop and think through what it’s saying. First, you do not rightly come to the Word of God with a heart that is committed to holding onto your sin. That is, it’s not the right approach to say, “Fine, I’ll read the Bible, but I’m not letting go of sin.” You must cast it aside. Then, you need to come and humbly receive what the Bible says to you. You realize that you need to hear more than speak, you need to learn more than teach, so you come to the Bible in a humble position, ready to learn.
And the reason you need this is because this book is a God-ordained means to provide you persevering grace in life. It is able to save your souls. So, first of all, if we’re going to be people who persevere through a life filled with trials, holding fast to Christ, we must be a people who realize our need for God’s Word and humbly receive it.
So, let me ask you this, “Do you think you need the Word of God? Do your life and habits reflect an understanding that this is as important to you as milk to a newborn infant?” If not, it may be that you are not being shaped into the kind of person who will respond in a God-honoring way as trials face you. Put differently, I would dare say that the person who encounters trials and abandons the faith is not the person who was immersing himself or herself in the Scripture prior to that trial. Why do I say that? Because one means God has provided for us to bring about our final salvation is the Word of God, that must be received humbly. So, this morning, let’s pray for the grace and commit to be the kind of people who treasure God’s Word by constantly and consistently receiving it in humility.
But James doesn’t want us to think that we receive the Word just by hearing it preached or lightly reading it. Rather, we receive God’s Word by remembering what it says and obeying it.
James writes in verse 22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” You see, thus far, I’ve stressed Bible intake. You need to hear the Word preached, read it, learn it, etc. However, you can do all of those things and still be in a bad place. You might be doing all of that and think all is well, and yet be deceived. James says that we deceive ourselves if we hear the Word only and do not do it.
Now, what exactly does James have in mind? He tells us with an illustration. He says, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (23-25).
Now, you can imagine this illustration. You can imagine a man who looks in the mirror, sees his face, and then goes away and forgets what he saw. Now, perhaps unsurprising to many of you, I’ve done this. There have been multiple days that I got up, looked in the mirror, saw I needed to shave (for example), and then forgot to shave. And it wasn’t until later that I found myself in a meeting with someone, reached up to scratch my face, and realized that I hadn’t shaved. I had looked in the mirror, seen things that needed to be addressed, and then forgot what I saw and never addressed it.
James contrasts that with the person who looks at the Scripture, sees what it says, and perseveres. That is, he doesn’t immediately forget what he saw but acts on it. You see, people have tried to find a hundred different things in James’ illustration here. He uses two different words for “look” in verses 23-24 and 25. So, some have said that James is contrasting a brief glance with looking intently. But the words really aren’t that different in their meanings so that James means to say that both are simply looking. Others have tried to suggest that mirrors in those days weren’t good, so James is saying that we look in the mirror and think we’re better looking than we are. Therefore, James is warning against reading the Bible in such a way that you’re always trying to think of yourself better than the Bible will allow. But I don’t think any of these is James’ main point. Rather, he spells it out for us.
Look what he presses. One man looks in the mirror and forgets what he sees. The other, looks at the Word of God and does not forget, but rather he remembers and acts. James is warning us against forgetting what we have heard in the Word of God. And I think we can all relate to it. Haven’t you heard a sermon and thought, “Man, that really convicted me,” only to go out and do nothing different? Of course you have.
You may even tell people throughout the week, “Man, I heard a strong Word on Sunday and was really convicted.” You might even feel good about yourself for having heard the Word. But unless you listen in such a way that you allow it to make a lasting impression on your heart and affect how you live, you’re deceived. The Word hasn’t been received or accepted.
Even today, you may walk out and think, “Wow, I’ve really been reminded of how important God’s word is.” But if you don’t devote yourself more toward reading, hearing, treasuring, and obeying God’s Word, then you haven’t really received the message of James 1:19-27. So, to receive the Word of God means that you act on what it says.
Specifically, James ends this section by reminding us that obeying God’s Word will affect our speech, actions, and lives.
Obeying God’s Word will affect our speech, actions, and lives (vv. 26-27)
It’s interesting isn’t it how James always seems to grow more practical and specific as he goes along. It’s like a parent who says to his child, “Listen to me when I talk to you. Do what you hear me say. Go make your bed.” James doesn’t want us to leave with some general notion that God’s Word needs to be heard and obeyed. He wants us to have some specific examples in mind. He writes in verse 26, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his hearts, this person’s religion is worthless.”
Again, just as James does not want us to be deceived in thinking we’ve heard the Word unless we’ve also obeyed it, so he doesn’t want us to think ourselves religious if we don’t bridle our tongues. Christians should be people who bridle their tongues. The church should be characterized by people who do not gossip, slander, backbite, always want the last word in, or who tear down others. Jesus told us that out of the heart the mouth speaks.
So, James wants us to know that one of the most important ways we can obey God’s Word, doing what it says, is by controlling our tongues. He’ll go more into this later, so I won’t elaborate much now except to say, “Isn’t it interesting that what we find perhaps most tolerable – destroying others with our tongues – is the one thing James lists when he speak of worthless religion?” If we’re not a people who control our tongues, then we’re no better off than those people worshiping idols.
Yet, James also gives positive examples. He writes in verse 27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from this world.”
Positively, James tells us that we must be holy and care for those who are weak, such as widows and orphans. Now, why does James focus on these two things? Is it because this is the sum of what the Bible commands us to do? No. James doesn’t even mention evangelism, for example, and we know that’s commanded. James isn’t intending an exhaustive list of what true religion looks like. But I think he’s pointing out these two things because they reflect what our Father is like. He is holy. He is not involved in the sin that we see all around us. And we’re to be like him. We’re to be holy as he is holy. So, just as we can say of God that he is not characterized by the sin we see all around us, nor should we be characterized by that sin. Just because our culture accepts something doesn’t mean that we must accept it as well, for we do not take our cues from those around us but from our Lord.
Second, our God is one who, according to Psalm 68:5 is the Father of the fatherless and the defender of widows. Isn’t that a comforting reality? God is a Father to the orphan, and he is a defender of widows. These are individuals in society that need others. And God cares for them. But James reminds us that it is not only God who should care for them, so should his children. Christians should be those who care for orphans and widows. There should be no one in this community of believers without a father who does not have men willing to involve themselves in his or her life. There should be no widow who feels like there is no man to stand and defend her. And as we have means, outside of this community, we should be those people caring for widows and orphans.
When people in Jackson get word of the work that goes on at the Care Center, and they say, “Why would anyone be willing to live like that and do the things that Nathan and Susan Young do?” We should answer, “It’s because their Christians, and that kind of thing is normal for Christians.” Christians do things that aid the ones who cannot return the favor. We defend the defenseless, care for those whom no one wants to care for, and reach out to those who do not seem worth pursuing because that is what our Father is like. And as we read the Word and are shaped by his character, desires, and actions, they should be reflected in us.
So, let’s close with a moment to examine our lives. Are you a person who treasures the Bible? If not, then you may not be the kind of person who perseveres, because James teaches us that the one who perseveres is the person who receives God’s Word humbly. Are you obeying God’s Word? If you’re a student of the Bible who could pass a theology test and yet do not obey it, you may be deceiving yourself. And I don’t say that as one who hates theology. I love theology. I say it as one who has lived in this place of self-deception – giving myself to hearing the Word without doing it. Are you specifically bridling your tongue, reaching out and caring for those who have need, and keeping yourself holy? If not, then your life may not be reflecting the character and heart of the God whom you claim to worship.
Now, I do not want you to examine yourself with the thought that if you do all these things, then you will be right with God. The only thing that makes us right with God is faith in his Son who lived perfectly for us, died for our sins, and was raised on the third day. God demands perfect righteousness, so you’ll never do enough to do right with him. I’m asking us, as those who profess faith in Christ, are we deceiving ourselves and failing to see our lives shaped and altered by the Word of God? If so, let us be deceived no longer but let us repent this morning and show that we have humbly received God’s Word even today as we come to the table. Amen.