Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: James 1:19-27 | Date: August 1, 2021 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Hearing and Doing the Word

James chapter 1. James chapter 1. Today, this evening, we’ll be looking at verses 19 through 27, where James takes up the subject of hearing the Word, hearing the Word of God. Or as it’s—if you have headings in your Bible like I do in mine—hearing and doing the word. James chapter one, beginning with verse 19.

“Know this, my beloved 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. Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he’s like a man who looks intently at his face in the mirror, for he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty, 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. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Let’s look to the Lord together. Our Father, your word is given to us to shape us and to transform us, and we confess that we need passages like this to remind us that our religion is not just something theoretical. Our faith is not something we just profess on Sundays. But our faith is something that, if genuine, is vital and real and life-shaping. We pray that you would use this passage of your word to remind us of that this evening and to stir us to increasing levels of faithfulness. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

One of the great claims that the Bible makes for itself is that it’s able to accomplish amazing things. When God speaks, things happen. You find that in the prophets. Making prophecy of the doom of this nation or this king or whatever, it’ll seal it off with the expression, “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.” The job of the prophet was to build up and to tear down, and he’s talking about nations. Build some up, tear down others. How does a prophet do that? By speaking for God. When God speaks, things happen.

That theme in the Bible is introduced to us at the very outset of Scripture in Genesis chapter 1. “And God said, let there be light, and there was light.” And this theme of the power of the Word of God is a dominant one that we find in the Scriptures. We found it last time, if you remember, James chapter 1 verse 18. This is the word of God that brings about the conversion of sinners. It’s pretty amazing. Verse 18: “of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth.” God speaks and people come to life. That’s not something you can do by speaking. It’s not something I can do. This is the power of God’s word. And we have that theme—we are reminded of it often throughout the scriptures.

But the power of the Word of God does not stop at just bringing us to life. That would be enough and amazing enough, but it doesn’t stop there. Scriptures also affirm that the Word of God has the power to transform lives and to continue to transform them and shape them into the image of Christ. And everywhere in the scriptures, the Bible boasts of that kind of power. It’s reflected in Matthew chapter 13 in the parable of the sower where the seed, which is the word of God, the gospel, is sown. The person giving out the word, it is gone and it is spread abroad, and that which falls on good ground takes root and brings forth fruit, some 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold. The word of God has that continually transforming power in the experience of those who hear it.

In other words, then, this great ability of the Word of God to transform lives is so certain in the Bible that it becomes a kind of test. If you are not transformed by the Word, then whatever profession you make of religion is worthless, because the word of God, when it takes root, makes great changes. And so it’s a mark of authenticity. James refers to that here in verse 21, where he speaks of the “implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” In fact, it’s been suggested here that James is grounding his sermon here at this point in Jesus’ parable of the sower: the implanted word. Verse 22: “be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Verse 25, he makes reference to the “perfect law, the law of liberty.” And I think he’s referring there to the law of Christ, which not only tells us what to do, but actually brings enablement. That’s why it’s called the law of liberty. It sets you free from sin’s grip and enables you to follow Christ and to honor God in living.

And that, of course, is James’ whole theme in this letter, as we have seen: that faith is not something that is idle all by itself, but faith is something that works. Faith shows itself by works. And so we saw that James is a very, what we call, practical, practically oriented kind of book. You never get through with James and say, “Well, I wish he’d have given me some exhortation.” He’s filled with it from beginning to end. And his point through this passage, verses 19 to 27, is not so much that we should simply love the Word of God in some vague sense, but what he’s pressing on us here is that the Word of God must be experienced in its transforming power and that must be evident in the way we live.

The reality of our faith is seen in our response to the Word of God. We must hear it well and hear it rightly. And so he exhorts, verse 21, “receive the word with meekness.” When you hear it, bow, confess, conform, and obey. “Receive with meekness the implanted word.” Verse 22, very much to the point, “be doers of the word and not hearers only.” So at verse 18, we saw that it is the word of God that is the source of life and the means by which the spirit of God brings us to life. Now in verses 19 and following, the word of God is the means by which we are continually transformed. And this really is the heart of James’ letter. Faith works, and it must be evident in the way we live. For James, how we respond to the word of God is an all-important question.

Now notice in verses 19 and following, then, he has these repeated references and this sustained focus on the Word of God. Verse 19, hearing the Word. Verse 21, receiving the Word with meekness, that is, a welcome submission to the Word. Verses 22 and following, he combines both the ideas: hearing and obeying. That’s his theme that takes us through the whole passage. So James is urging us and his congregation, and by extension us, to press on to spiritual maturity in our response to the word. And here, that spiritual maturity is in terms of behavior: how we live, how we act, how we behave.

So if chapter one, verses two and following showed us trials are a means of grace, then now in verses 19 and following, he’s telling us that the word of God is the means of grace. That’s his theme here. In fact, it’s very urgent. Verse 22: “be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” There is a way to hear the word of God that only renders you more guilty. You go away from it, say, “Well, I’ve done my part, I’ve done my job, I’ve heard the word.” And you don’t do it; you’re just deceiving yourself.

And then he gives an extended illustration of that in verses 23 through 25. “If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he’s 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 was 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.” That’s kind of a humorous illustration. A guy looks at his mirror and sees that and—oh wow, I gotta take care of that. Walks away, forgets about it. Well, that’s what this person is who hears the word of God, walks away, and forgets his responsibility.

So that’s James’ theme now in the passage: hearing the word of God, hearing it rightly, hearing it profitably, so as to grow by it. And specifically here in terms of our behavior. And as I’ve said before, the Bible is a redemptive book. And that’s true in at least a couple of senses. One, it tells us of the redemption that we have in Christ and gives us the gospel and how we may be saved. But it’s a redemptive book in another sense. And that is, it’s given to instruct us how to live and act and speak and think in a way that honors God. It is given to us to shape our lives. And that’s what James is doing here. If we are people who have prolonged exposure to the word of God, that ought to be evident in the way we live. And people ought to be able to tell that we have spent time listening, listening well to the word of God.

Verses 19 To 21

All right then, in what ways will it be evident? If we have heard and heard well, and we go away from it submissively, obediently, how will that be evident? Well, James frames out this passage with exhortations and applications in a specific kind of way. Verses 19 to 21, notice: “Know this my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls.” There’s one area of application that he gives us.

The next, verses 22 to 25, which we’ve already seen: the right hearing of the word of God. Respond not like the man who looks in the mirror and forgets and goes away, doesn’t do anything about it, but go away from the word obediently, submissively.

Verses 26 And 27

And then verses 26 and 27, he gives more applications. “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Let’s work through these quickly. Verse 19, “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” Exactly the reverse order of our usual practice. We are usually slow to hear, quick to speak, and too quick to be angry, too quick to be offended. Exactly the reverse order of our usual practice. Be slow to speak, be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. Imagine, just imagine how many relationships would have been spared if we took this counsel. Quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.

On one level here, James is warning us against having an unteachable spirit. There are people that just can’t be taught a thing and they won’t listen. My dad used to have a saying. He’d say, “You can’t learn with your mouth open.” Oh, I could go on that for a long time. I’ve seen it many times. People come and they’ll ask a theological question. And I get two words of answer out of my mouth, and they keep talking, and they keep talking, and they keep talking, and they keep talking, and they keep talking, and they keep talking. And, oh, OK, you didn’t want to learn. You wanted to talk to me. OK, go ahead. And I just listen. You can’t learn with your mouth open. That’s a good saying. I think that’s some of what James is dealing with here.

But I think more broadly, his idea here is just too quick to talk and too slow to listen. And particularly in relational context, so you end up becoming too soon angry. Proverbs speaks to this. He that answers a matter before he hears it, it’s a folly and a shame to him. You ever done that? Feel like a fool afterwards? You answer a matter with confidence, you know what your opinion is, and you state it very confidently and well, only to hear a little later that, oh, there were other factors involved, and your opinion is wrong. James says: be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. You hear something, be careful about answering it, be careful about speaking to it, make sure you understand, and then maybe count to 10 before you say anything anyway. And certainly, be careful not to be too soon angry. You might not have understood the context, the nuances in mind, and all of that. Don’t be so soon offended. This is just wonderful counsel. Now, he’ll have more to say about the tongue. It’ll be a very pointed way when we get to chapter 3, and we’ll see that. But this is just wonderful counsel already. Just, as I say, imagine the relationships spared if we’d taken this seriously. I wonder how many arguments, fights could have been avoided if we had done that.

Verse 20, he warns about the consequences of anger. “For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Okay, yes, let’s go ahead and say it and get it out of the way. There is such a thing as righteous anger. A person who can look at some of the sin, the rampant sin going on in our society, and not be angered by it today, I don’t think is a very righteous man. There is such a thing as righteous anger. That’s clearly not what James is talking about here. So we can set that aside. The anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. Too often our anger is just selfish anger. “I got my feelings hurt. I don’t like what he said about me. I don’t like the way he does this or the other.” And he says it just doesn’t accomplish anything good. And so the call here is for self-control.

It’s impossible—it’s impossible in this fallen world that offenses will not come. I have that on good authority. Jesus said that. It is impossible that offenses won’t come. Get over it. Control your tongue. Control your emotions. Control your temper. Don’t be soon angry. That’s James’ point here. It’s a call to self-control. Get a hold of yourself. You’ll have happier relationships if you do.

And then verse 21, he gives a corrective. “Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls.” Now we have a double imperative here, two commands. Put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness—there’s the more negative one—and then the positive one: receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls.

Notice the first part of the verse: “put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness.” What does that refer to? I think it’s pretty clear; it’s a broad category. He’s saying put away all sin, be done with it, put away all sin. But what gave rise to this exhortation in verse 21? It’s the sins of verse 19 and 20: slow to hear, quick to speak, quick to be angry. That he classifies as filthiness and rampant wickedness. I’m sure he has more in mind than that. It’s a blanket command: be rid of all sin. But this is what gives rise to the command here. We don’t tend, I don’t think, to take these sins of being too quick to speak, slow to hear, and being slow to hear, and quick to speak, and quick to be angry—we don’t tend to think of that in terms of rampant wickedness and filthiness. And yet that is James’ characterization of it. This is how God views an uncontrolled spirit.

And then in verses 26 and 27, he gives further application. “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” Again, he’s dealing with the right and wrong use of the tongue. Now, as I say, we’ll deal with that in more detail when we get to chapter three. He has some pointed commands for us about the right and wrong use of our tongue. But here it’s just in brief. If anyone thinks he’s religious and doesn’t bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart, and his religion is worthless. An uncontrolled tongue, an unbridled tongue. Now in chapter three, he’ll tell us that the tongue is something nobody can tame. The implication is, of course, only God can. But here he’s using it as a test of our religion. It is a concern to God. It ought to be a concern to us. It is a mark of the genuineness of our faith that we control our tongues. Don’t speak too quickly. Don’t speak rashly. Be careful in talking to one another. Be careful.

Well, again, as I say, we’ll deal with that more in chapter three. He gives two other areas of application in verse 27—one very specific and one that’s very broad. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” First part of the verse, what’s the identifying mark, one of the identifying marks of genuine religion? Caring for the needy. Now, he’ll pick that up again later here in chapter two, where he deals with the importance of a faith that works. He’ll use this again as an illustration. A man who can look at someone, a brother in need, and turn away without helping? What kind of faith is that? And he deals with that here. Caring for the needy, that is a concern of God himself. We find it in the Old Testament, we find the prophets very often, we find it in Jesus. This is a concern of God himself and it is an identifying mark of the genuineness of our faith. If you can have a cold heart and shut your heart to a brother or sister in need, what does that say? James says, that’s worthless. Whatever your religion is, that’s worthless.

Next part of the verse: “and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” Again, we have just a broad sweeping comment here of the responsibility of faith, and that is to keep yourself unlike the world. There’s to be a Christian counterculture. We are to act and behave differently, not marked by the things that mark the world, but marked by godliness. So he gives this broad sweeping command. We may profess to know Christ, but if we’re no different from the world, then that profession of faith is worth nothing.

Now, one thing that’s striking about this, I think, is that we do not tend to think of our sins in these areas this seriously. You know, there are the big ones. There’s murder and adultery and those kinds of things. Those are the big ones. These kinds of sins—these are acceptable. James takes the message up as tests of the genuineness of our faith. A professed faith that cannot result in the bridling of our tongue, controlling of our emotions, and giving us a heart for the needy, and keeping us unstained from the world—well, whatever that is, that isn’t the real thing.

Now that isn’t all that our religion consists of. This is hardly a comprehensive test. But it is a necessary test. If the word of God has transforming power, if we claim to be Christians who have received the gospel that promises to transform us into the likeness of Christ, and we are not transformed by it, well then our profession is not real. A religion that doesn’t affect the tongue, the heart for the needy, the emotions, and doesn’t clean up life, that’s a worthless faith. And as I say, nobody ever goes away from James saying, “Well, I wish you’d be more practical.”

Hearing God’s word requires that we hear it humbly, submissively, and obediently. And as we hear the word, we bow and we say, “Yes, Lord, as you will.” And so when we come to the word of God, we believe what it tells us. We trust its promises. We obey its commands so that it shapes life.

Now, there is more that I wanted to do here, but it will take me too long. And we have the Lord’s table coming up. I’ll just mention it briefly. And that is James here is emphasizing hearing the word, not reading. In that day, they couldn’t read it much. They didn’t have copies—10, 15 copies of the Word of God in their house like you do. Their exposure to the Word of God was when they heard it in church, Jewish background in the synagogues. So his emphasis here is on the sermon. Now it has equal application to your reading the word and this has application to home Bible studies, Sunday school class, anytime, any exposure to the word, but hearing it.

And so I was going to spend some time here on how to listen to a sermon and I don’t—I just don’t think we have the time to get into that. But keep that in mind that as you come to hear the word of God, James’ point here—and there’s much more we can say about it—but James’ point here is that when you hear the word of God, hear it submissively, hear it obediently. That doesn’t mean you should not be discerning. You should be discerning. And you ought to sit there like Bereans when you hear the word of God taught from this pulpit or any other and say, “Is that really what the Bible is saying?” You ought to be discerning about it. But when you see that, we must listen submissively and obediently. And if we do not, whatever we profess about our religion, James says, it’s not the real thing. All right, let’s bow for prayer. Our Father.