Foolproof – A Study of James
GROUNDING Faith – James 1:19-27 Sunday AM
Recap: We’re in a series in James about how to have a foolproof faith so that we won’t be fooled into thinking we have genuine faith when we’re only religious and so we can’t be fooled into embracing anything not of God.
Note: So far we’ve looked at the purpose of trials/temptation to validate our faith as they force us to depend on God and resist the devil. Last week we looked at how a foolproof faith treats others w/in the family of God. Today we want to look at the foundation we must possess if we’re to have a foolproof faith – God’s Word.
Point: The Christian life isn’t about performing a set of rules and regulations or being a good person – it is about knowing God, hearing His voice, and obeying His leading. Thus, if the key to the following Christ is hearing and obeying God’s voice, then we must make sure we’ve tuned our ears to hear Him speak. The surest way God speaks is through His Word and by His Spirit – they never contradict one another.
Insert: Here is how it works – God’s truth resonates w/ the H.S. To convict, convince, and convert us to live according to His Word.
Trans: As I have studied the Bible it has become crystal clear to me that the most reliable evidence of genuine faith is a hunger and love for God’s Word.
Verse: Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. 1 Pt. 2:2
Note: God’s Word is the Christian’s food. Believers instantly crave it from birth like a newborn craves milk from his mother; it is a natural response to a spiritual life. But God’s Word is more than food. The psalmist says that it is the source of our life.
Verse: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Ps. 19:7-11
Trans: It’s vital we understand James intent in underscoring the relevance and importance of the Word in our lives to insure that we have a foolproof faith. This is why James makes a distinction b/w hearing the Word and doing it.
Word: hearer (akroates) one who sits passively in an audience listening to a singer/speaker.
Insert: This is like auditing a college class. You pay money to sit in a class but receive no credit b/c you choose only to listen instead of participate. The reason people audit a class is b/c they have an interest but they don’t want to be held accountable w/ test.
Note: This happens spiritually too. Some believers take advantage of hearing the Word but never put it into practice; they’ve an interest in spiritual things, a moral lifestyle, and in church programs, but they’ve no desire to follow Jesus and obey His Word.
Word: doer (poiete) the total immersion of a person – body, soul, and spirit into the activity for which they’ve been called. This is more than practicing what you hear; it’s becoming what you hear b/c you believe/value it.
Note: To hear and not do is to fool yourself into thinking you belong to God when you belong to the devil. Just b/c a person proclaims to hear the Word doesn’t mean it has seeped into their soul. Genuine faith hears and applies.
Quote: James does well to remind us that what is heard in the holy place must be lived in the market place – or there is no point in hearing at all. Barclay
Trans: To be a hearer who puts the Word into action distinguishing a foolproof faith requires you receive the Word and that you respond to it accordingly.
I RECEIVE the Word v. 19-21
Trans: To properly receive God’s Word to live it requires that you have a proper approach, a proper alignment, a proper attitude, and a proper anticipation.
A Proper APPROACH v. 19
Text: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger doesn’t bring about the righteous life God desires…
Trans: To do the Word you must be able to hear it. Rm. 10:17 says, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. To hear the Word requires you tune your ears, shut your mouth, and receive God’s truth w/ humility.
1 Quick to LISTEN
Idea: Christians are to carefully, continually, and skillfully put themselves in a position to hear God’s Word. They’re to seize every chance to be exposed to God’s Word and to take advantage of each occasion to hear and digest it.
Remind: The faith walk is about knowing God, hearing His voice, and responding to the Spirit’s leading. If you pursue a Christian life w/out hearing God’s voice, then you’re just religious. You must be quick to listen. Genuine faith loves to hear, study, and apply God’s truth. Whether it is a sermon, Bible study, radio/TV program, or your QT, genuine believers can’t get enough of God’s Word.
Quote: James’s appeal is for believers to seize every opportunity to increase their exposure to Scripture, to take advantage of every privileged occasion to read God’s Word or hear it faithfully preached or taught. The sincere, eager desire for such learning is one of the surest marks of a true child of God. When he is specially blessed, he turns to the Word to find passages of thanksgiving and praise. When he is troubled, he searches for words of comfort encouragement, and strength. In times of confusion, he searches for words of wisdom and guidance. When he is tempted, he searches out God’s standards of purity and righteousness for power to resist. The Word is the source of deliverance from temptations and trials. It becomes the most welcome friend, not only b/c of what it delivers us from but also b/c of what it delivers us to – glorious, intimate, and loving communion w/ God.
2 Slow to SPEAK
Trans: James has three things in mind when he says be slow to speak.
• You can’t hear if you are talking. It is next to impossible to hear someone else when your mouth is running.
• You can’t hear if you’re formulating what you’re going to say next. You can’t hear what God has to say if you’re fixated on what you think.
• Carefully plan your words b/c you’re speaking for God. When we speak we should only speak b/c we have clearly heard from God, weighed our words, b/c we must realize that we are not speaking for ourselves but for God.
Point: As a believer you never speak on your behalf unless you are walking in the flesh focused only on your own life. As a Christian, who lives under the leading of God’s Spirit and the voice of God, realize that every word that comes out of your mouth is spoken on behalf of His kingdom and righteousness. Get it right!
3 Slow to become ANGRY
Trans: If this statement seems out of place, let me assure that it is not. If the natural response of a God-ward life is to receive the Word, then the natural response of a carnal life is to reject it w/ anger.
Word: anger (orge) not explosive anger, but a seething, smoldering anger. It is an anger that is inwardly and privately harbored.
Note: When the word of God is proclaimed, it always confronts sin and conflicts w/ a person’s opinions and sub-standard convictions – and men resent it.
Note: It is amazes me how violently far people will go to justify their actions and attempt to establish their opinions over God’s truth. It doesn’t matter if the person is lost or saved, if they’re unwilling to submit to God’s Word, they will not only resent the message, but also the messenger.
Insert: I have never met a happy atheist! They all have a seething hostility towards God and people of faith. Why? B/c they resent the standard and truth established by God and rather than accepting and submitting to it, they fight for their fallacy.
W/in the church, I am often saddened by how we major on the minors and fight for things secondary to God’s priorities. It’s amazing how many churches have split over the color of a carpet, versions of the Bible, and the types of instruments used in worship. Let me ask, do you think for one second when Jesus was hanging on the cross that he was concerned about the color of the carpet, whether we use the KJV, NASB, or NIV, or whether we sang to a guitar, piano, or accapella. No!
Quote: Whenever I feel the pressure to fight for my opinions or conform to the opinions of others I ask, “Is this something that Jesus would have died for? It is amazing how much energy we spend at church promoting our own opinions. Soon our opinions become our creeds; our creeds become our dogma; and before we know it, we are walking around looking to devour anyone who doesn’t meet our expectations. Sandras
Trans: To have a proper approach to hearing God’s voice, we must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry when God does speak. Secondly, we must have a proper alignment.
B Proper ALIGNMENT
Text: Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent…
Trans: To be properly in tune or aligned w/ God to hear His voice requires that we eliminate the filth and wickedness of this world and from w/in our lives.
Word: wickedness (kakia) refers to deliberate and determined sin.
Word: filthiness (rhuparia) it refers to any sort of impurity or moral vice. The word was used in two ways – (1) of dirty clothes that need to be stripped away; (2) of the building up of ear wax on your ear drums impeding sound.
Note: Both ideas appear to apply hear. To receive God’s Word one must strip away the moral impurity and walk in alignment w/ God’s call to holiness.
Verse: You must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self w/ its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator… Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves w/ compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Col. 3:8-12
Note: As followers of Christ, through the ministry of the H.S., we have a responsibility to walk by the Spirit and to abstain from the sinfulness of this world in order that we might hear and follow God.
Insert: Put your hands over your ears – what do you hear? Muffled sounds and the sound of your own voice. This is what happens spiritually when sin gets into your life. God’s voice is muffled and you only hear your own opinion.
Insert: Remember, the key to the Christian life is hearing and obeying God’s voice. James says that to HEAR God you must CLEAR the sin from w/in.
C Proper ATTITUDE
Text: and humbly accept the word planted in you…
Word: humility (prautes) w/ meekness or gentleness. It means to receive God’s instruction w/ a submissive and teachable spirit w/ out resisting.
Verse: God opposes to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Pr. 3:34
Note: Humility stands in contrast to the anger (orge) from “slow to become angry.” Rather than drawing a line in the sand w/ God telling Him what you won’t do, receive His instruction w/ a willing spirit b/c you understand that He is working His will in you for His own glory and goodness.
Note: Notice that the Word you receive is implanted in you by God. It is not the result of your efforts or ability, but only by an act of God.
Word: implanted (emphutos). Like a seed planted in the ground. It’s not received in physical birth, but in spiritual birth. The Word isn’t just the Bible, but the entire gospel that is able to forgive your sins and redeem your soul.
Note: God is saying that the truth of the gospel is inserted into the fertile soil of your soul where it will germinate, take root, and grow to fruitfulness.
Insert: The Parable of the Soils – one seed fell upon the rocky ground (a hard heart), one seed feel among the thorns (a worldly life), one seed was swooped up by the birds (Satan), and only one seed grew to fruition.
Point: Receiving the Word w/ humility and a teachable spirit is a monumental aspect of a foolproof faith. If you are resistant it marks a fooled faith, but if you are anxious to receive it, then it marks a proven faith.
D Proper ANTICIPATION
Text: which can save you.
Note: The Word is able to save our souls in three ways: Past, Present, and Future.
Past The Word brought us to the reality of our sin and lost condition and to the saving grace of Jesus.
Present The Word is able to save in the present guarding our hearts during times of tempting serving as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our way.
Future The Word points us to the ultimate end of sin and the promise of the glorification of our lives into eternity w/ God.
Trans: W/ all this said, and as important as it is to hear the Word, it means absolutely nothing if you do not put it into action. The only reason to receive the Word is to respond to it. The only reason to hear it is to do it.
II RESPOND to the Word v. 22-27
Trans: To appropriately respond to God’s Word requires that you pay proper attention to its intent and that you learn how to properly apply it you your life experience.
A Proper ATTENTION
Verse: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Prove yourself by doing what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
Note: God has only one expectation of believers – they must obey His instruction and give proper attention to the detail of applying God’s truth to their life.
Verse: Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching then you are my disciples.” Jn. 8:31
Quote: The bottomline of true spiritual life isn’t a momentary feeling of compliance or commitment, but a long-term obedience to Scripture. MacArthur
Insert: It is staggering how quickly we will TALK the Word and not WALK it. It is pathetic how quickly people use the Bible to manipulate their agenda instead of face their flaws.
Story: During the WF vs Louisville game in the Orange Bowl, students/alumni from WF were drinking and carrying on during an interview. WF was originally SBC School.
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Note: How quickly we claim to know the truth only to forsake it for the world’s pleasures. God isn’t concerned about what you know, but what you apply.
1 Desire God’s APPROVAL
Word: prove (ginomai) to be continually striving b/c you cannot be satisfied. You continually pursue His truth b/c you know that you have yet to arrive.
Verse: I am confident of this very thing that He who began a good work in you will perfect unto the Day of Christ Jesus. Ph. 1:6
Verse: Not that I have obtained it or become perfect, but I press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Ph. 3:12
Trans: So James offer a poignant illustration to help us to understand His teaching. He compares the Word of God to a mirror.
Insert: The purpose of a mirror is to reflect the details of the outer man. The thing about a mirror is that it tells no lies – it accurately reflects every quality and flaw. God’s Word does the same for the inner man. It accurately depicts a person’s true nature, habits, and character.
Verse: For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hb. 4:12
Note: God’s Word accurately reflects who we are on the inside and then w/ the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel, goes to work to force us to address that spiritual cancer w/in.
2 LOOK for God’s Truth
Word: Look (parakuptoo) to stoop down to scoop up. It’s a man who humbles himself before God’s Word by studying it, meditating on it and absorbing it into his life so that it become a part of him – like his very breathe.
Insert: In Ps. 1, David encourages believers to continually meditate on God’s Word day and night – that they’ll be like a tree planted by streams of water – nourished/fruitful.
Verse: Paul encourages – Study to show yourself approved of God as a workman who rightly divides the Word of truth. 2 Tm. 2:15
Note: James is encouraging us to allow the God’s Word to penetrate and alter our behavior and our character. He boldly proclaims that this is the reason God gave His Word – to speak directly to the issues of our lives that would prevent us from knowing Him and serving His kingdom and righteousness.
B Proper APPLICATION
Text: If anyone considers himself religious and yet doesn’t keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Verse: Paul writes, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tm. 3:16-17
Note: God’s Word is profitable to give us truth to walk on, truth to confront us, truth to restore us, and truth to empower us. We only have to apply. James insists the application of God’s Word will manifest itself in three ways.
Point: How we apply God’s truth to our actions and behavior is proof either of our salvation or of our lostness.
1 Apply the Word w/ CONTROL
Word: religious (threskos) refers to external religious rituals and activity - the very attitude and activity Jesus chided the Pharisees for – religious on the outside but dead on the inside – void of authentic faith.
Note: Notice that they talk a good talk, but eventually their words don’t substantiate their faith. A person who trusts in their outer activity will sooner or later expose their faithlessness by their mouth b/c they don’t have the inner working of the H.S. to bridle their tongue.
Insert: People who talk a good game and do what is necessary to put on a spiritual show, but when they get squeezed by life, their words expose lostness.
Note: Your mouth is the bucket that dips into the well of your heart.
2 Apply the Word w/out CONCEIT
Note: W/out going into great detail, there are some people who want to focus on widows and orphans, but I believe James point is much broader. I believe he is expressing that authentic faith has a genuine concern for the welfare of others, but especially for those who are in need.
Word: look after (episkeptomai) meaning to care for others by visiting them and by exercising oversight on their behalf to help them in their time of need.
Insert: This just happened w/ my family w/ the birth of Camden. Many of you ministered to my family during our time of need; and it was greatly appreciated. Whether someone is widowed or orphaned, sick or just going through a difficult stretch, as believers, we lay our needs and desires to the side to care for others.
Verse: By this will all men know you are my disciples, if you love for one another. Jn 13:35
3 Apply the Word w/out COMPROMISE
Word: to keep (tereo) the word indicates a continuous motion to remain clean. It is an attitude and determination to not compromise your faith, your witness, or your relationship w/ God and others for a quick dip in the sin pool. It is a perpetual obligation and determination to be holy in the sight of God.
Verse: Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, b/c I am holy. 1 Pt. 1:13
CONCLUSION
Point: Remember, the Christian life is about knowing God, hearing His voice, and obeying His instruction. When we tune our ears and hearts to His call, He is enabled to work through us to draw us closer to Him and to empower us to represent His kingdom in this world. But it is conditional upon hearing the Word, and putting it into action.
Trans: This means God’s Word isn’t a book to sit on your nightstand or coffee table to help you look religious and pious, its His breath spoken to you through the ministry of the H.S. to guide you in the way of the Lord.
Story: A man entered into church late one Sunday and asked, “Is the sermon done yet?” The person wisely answered, “The sermon has been preached, but it has yet to be done.” Talk about insightful! The sermon isn’t done when it is preached, but only when it is practiced!
Intro: Live on Purpose Video from Facing the Giants – www.sermonspice.com
Note: It is not enough to just hear the Word – you have to do it. Just do it!
RESOURCES
Sermons: Joey Rodgers – Cultivating the Word of Truth – 6.8.01
Websites: www.sermonspice.com
Books: John MacArthur – Commentary on James
John MacArthur – Bible Study – Guidelines for a Happy Christian Life
Clayton Harrop – The Letter of James
Eric Sandras – Butt Naked Faith
Harold Fickett – Faith that Works
