Walk The Walk Series

James: Practical Faith 

James 1:19-27

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church 

09-22-2024

Jesse

Jesse loved church! He was there every Sunday on his pew at First Baptist Kearney, Missouri. He was born a Baptist and had been baptized in the creek.

He killed a man in a robbery the morning of his baptism but that didn’t stop him from going into the cold creek with the pastor.

He loved singing in the choir and was said to have a beautiful tenor voice.

He honored the Sabbath and almost never robbed trains or killed people on Sunday. By the way, he is said to have killed more than 20 people.

Oh yes, he was a beloved Sunday school teacher!

The biographer of Jesse James wrote that Jesse believed that when he died he was headed to heaven. He had “done the best he could…just ask his church family.”

Something is wrong with this story. In the verses we will study this morning, James is going to make the point that our belief should affect our behavior. Our creed will affect our conduct.

And if it doesn’t, there is something flawed about our faith.

So far, James has given us encouragement to greet trials as friends know that God can use trial to grow us up in the faith and help us to look more and more like Jesus.

Last week, we looked at James’s words concerning temptation.

James uses the same word for trials and temptations. How can we tell the difference?

Skip Heitzig helps to clarify this :

* Trials come from God to develop us.

* Temptations come from the world, the flesh and the devil to deceive us.

But God can use both to mature us.

If you missed one of the sermons, you can always watch it on my Facebook page.

Would you please turn with me to James 1?

Prayer.

Text within its Context

Look with me back to verse 18:

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

James makes the case that the new birth comes through the word of truth, by which he meant the Gospel found in the pages of the Bible.

Now he’s going to help his readers to get as much out of the Scriptures as possible.

A Proverb

James is very similar to the book of Proverbs. It’s a practical, rubber-meets-the-road guide for living the Christian life.

Let’s remember that James is writing to Jewish Christians that are now scattered all over the Mediterranean. They are fellow believers and part of the family of faith.

He begins this section with a proverb:

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 

What he is about to write is important so he calls for their complete attention - this is important, listen up, take note.

James issues another command in the form of a proverb in three parts:

Everyone should be quick to listen

James has a pastor’s heart and starts out with a personal appeal.

This is in the present tense so it means “keep on being quick to listen.”

He commanded “open ears.”

In this context, James is commanding an intense, active listening when the Word is preached or read.

It’s the picture of Mary quietly and attentively sitting at the feet of Jesus while her sister Martha is scurrying around.

Pastor Steve Cole writes:

“To be quick to hear God’s word implies an attitude of eagerness to take in the word from every angle. As a believer, you should desire to read the word, to listen to biblical preaching of the word, to memorize the word, and to understand all of its teaching with a view to obedience.”

When we are facing a trial or trying to resist a temptation, we need to be quick to listen to what God says to us through His Word.

When it comes to the sermon, how can we do that?

By turning off the notifications on your phone.

Before the sermon, pray Samuel’s prayer from I Samuel 3:10: “Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening.”

By following along in your copy of God’s Word.

By having a notebook or journal to take notes in.

By saying “amen” or “go get it pastor!” when something really stands out to you.

Most people are not very good at listening.

When I started my counseling program in seminary, the first verse we had to memorize was Proverbs 18:13:

“To answer before listening— that is folly and shame.”

Why don’t we listen well?

Some people don’t listen well because they are busy thinking about what they are going to say next.

Some people, (menfolk), don’t listen well because we want to solve the problem.