Living Out The Message Series

Living Out The Message

Jeffery Anselmi / General

True Religion / Faith; Example / James 1:19–25

True religion puts words into action.

INTRODUCTION

• Have you been around a person who could talk a good game?

• They would tell you how great they were at whatever they bragged about.

• I have seen this in athletes.

• I used to watch boxing, and I remember fighters who would mouth off before fighting Mike Tyson.

• I would be respectful if I were going in the ring with Mr. Tyson. 😀

• Some fighters with the biggest mouths ended up on the canvass, wondering what hit them.

• Some of them retired from boxing or were never the same after the beat down they took from the man they claimed they were going ot destroy.

• The lesson is that if you are going to talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk!

• Let's take this thought to our faith; I should have titled this series True Faith because I am not a fan of the word religion.

• I do not think many Christians bragged about being a Christian like a prize fighter who will enter the ring.

• But, when we clothe ourselves with Christ, something about us has to be different.

• That begs the questions such as, what does faith look like?

• How does faith change my life?

• How does my faith change the world around me for the better?

• Today we embark on a five-week series from the Letter of James to answer these questions as we move through James's teachings on faith in action.

• This is practical theology for all believers, especially for younger and newer followers of Jesus.

• With one teaching from each of James's five chapters, we're encouraged to read through the whole letter and discover what true religion or faith might look like.

• James is one of the Bible's most practical books on living out the Message.

• James is filled with complex concepts or great theological writing, but rather, simple, down-to-earth counsel.

• Our Big Idea for the Message today is: True religion puts words into action.

• Let's turn to James 1:19-25.

• We will begin with verses 19-20.

James 1:19–20 (NET 2nd ed.)

19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.

20 For human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.

SERMON

I. A difficult command.

• I wouldn't say I like passages like verses 19-20.

• I hate them because they are so practical yet can be so challenging to practice.

• Yet, this passage tells me one of the ways my faith, or religion, should impact my life.

• Honestly, on my own, I would not be able to carry out this command because I used to have a very volatile temper.

• I would go off like a stick of dynamite if you got under my skin.

• I would get so angry that I would not listen to reason, so I would be slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to anger.

• Part of me being a new creation in Christ when I was baptized into Him was having the Holy Spirit help lead me away from this type of life.

• Let's break down verse 19.

• What does it mean to be quick to listen?

• Who are we to be quick to listen to?

• In the context of verse 18, we are to listen to God's Word.

James 1:18 (NET 2nd ed.)

18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

• If we do not listen to God and His Word, we will end up pretending to follow His will because we have no idea what it is.

• The command to be quick to listen denotes an eagerness to hear and obey God's Message.

• Once we taste the wonderful blessing from God that flows down to us as a result of our obedience and His love for us, we should want to listen more and more!

• How many times have we been told something but did not hear it because we were so anxious to speak that we did not listen?

• I am glad I have never done that!

• It is interesting sometimes to listen to Christians discuss politics, economics, or other matters.

• When you listen to these conversations, you can hear many interesting human thoughts, but how often do we ask, "What would God's Word say about this?"

• For us to be able to grow in Christ, we have to listen to God's Word.