James 1:19-27
May 30, 2021
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I. Introduction (James 1:23-25)
A. One of the main reasons why God wrote the Scriptures was to show us OURSELVES as we are
1. To show us our nature – our ways – our flaws and bad habits and sins
2. It was not written to honour us, but to show us as we really are – to expose us
a. It is written like news reporters USED to write articles – that went after the TRUTH about events and people
b. Not like the modern newspapers and news reporters that are so opinionated that they are a complete waste of time reading and listening to
c. No. This Book of books goes deep into the hearts, thinking and backgrounds of both the greatest and most wicked men & women in history, and shows us not only how people USED to be, but it shows us OURSELVES and how we still are today!
3. Even though we are living so many thousands of years after Sarah lives, and after Moses and David and Jonah and Peter and Mary and Judas lives, we are no different.
4. And the worst part is, people today actually believed we are more moral, and better people, and more evolved
5. But the truth is, we are not!
6. So God gave 21st century men and women something to show us what we really are like – He gave us the Bible
B. And He wrote the Bible to be like a Mirror
1. A 3D mirror, that sees us from every side, and even sees IN us
a. It is kind of like going into a house of mirrors at a fun-fair and being able to see what you look like from behind
b. It is also kind of like going to a doctor and being shown the inside of your chest or stomach or arm
c. One thing about the Bible though, is that is never twists and warps our view – it is as straight and flat as can be – like a proper mirror!
2. Yes, and old kind of mirror
a. I find it very humorous that people see the Bible is an old Book – as if it is an old mirror
b. But whether a mirror is old, or new, it still does the same thing – show us what we ARE
C. How does it work?
1. It shows us living, breathing examples of people living by faith, and examples of those who live by folly – foolishly and without God (thousands of people and their lives are recorded in this Book, from Adam to Aaron, from Eve to Esther, from Noah to Nimrod, from John to Jesus)
a. This Book is full of people who lived and failed in the very same ways that we do, so that we can learn
1) The consequences of Adultery
2) The benefits of patience
3) The power of loving God and loving His people
4) The joy of winning souls
5) The heartache of loving this world
6) The destruction that comes from rebelling against God’s way and God’s will
b. As you carefully read and learn from all the people in the pages of this Book, you will find that is not like any movie ever made
1) There is no choreographed acting in the Bible
2) No scripts that were memorized and greenscreens to fake things on
3) There is the just MESSY, UGLY REALITY of how people ARE
2. It exposes our HEART! (Hebrews 4:12)
a. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
b. That word ‘DISCERNER’ means CRITIC, fault-finder, judge!
c. These are the words of Almighty God about the human condition – the heart
d. The words in this Book are not the words of doctors or psychologists
e. And they are not the opinions of writers and authors
f. Thank God that He starts with us as we ARE
3. Haven’t you noticed that we are…
a. Basically a big bunch of hypocrites
b. Mainly unhappy with life
c. And hyper critical of most everything around us
d. And it is basically because we do not see to allow God to criticize US, and change us into someone LIKE Jesus was
4. It actually blesses us, and changes us
a. 2Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
b. Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
5. But only if we make the effort to see ourselves, as we truly are, in the mirror of God’s word…
6. But none of the pages of the Book will do you and I any good unless we make the effort to see ourselves, as we truly are, in the mirror of God’s word… The Bible is owned by so many people, but NOT read – [DUSTY OLD BOOK]
7. Do YOU have a dedicated QUIET time where there are no interruptions – not even from you!
II. Message – Seeing Yourself in the Scriptures (James 1:19-27)
A. Starts with Hearing what the Bible Says… (James 1:19)
1. James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear…
2. I know it seems like I am talking to the choir, but AM I?
3. “Let every man…”
4. Do you and everyone in your family actually READ and LISTEN TO the Book you hold in your hand? (Deut 6:4-7)
a. Deu 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
b. Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
c. Deu 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
d. Deu 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
5. James wants us SWIFTLY to hear these words
a. Quick to hear what GOD is saying, not what RTE is saying, or FakeBook, or InstraDAMN
b. Be Earnest about every word - Swift, speedy, racing, hungry, ready to hear
1) Like when you are starving, ready to eat as soon as dinner is out of the oven!
2) Or like when you hear a sound downstairs at 2:45am in the morning – you freeze and stop breathing just so you can hear if someone has broken into your home
6. HEARING is the MOST important thing to do with this Bible
a. James tells us to HEAR… to listen. Not arguing, and not fighting with what is written, but letting God speak. Not pre-judging, or assuming, but carefully considering what God says
b. Listen to some other Scriptures
1) Ecclesiastes 5:1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
2)
Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell
not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man,
which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was
the fall of it.
WHICH FOUNDATION HAVE YOU LAID FOR YOUR FAMILY?
3) Luke 8:18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath {THE TRUTH], to him shall be given [MORE]; and whosoever hath not [GOD’S TRUTH], from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
7. People seem to think that the words of Jesus are only symbolic, and religious, and as only part of traditions. People generally believe the words in this Book are completely out of date and are not binding. That’s strange!
a. So people end up using the Bible
1) As only a self-help book – if it works, great, if not, I am not going to do it
2) Use it as inspirational – only believe it if it makes me feel good
3) And as just some ancient “literature” – like, dated texts
4) But not actually believing they are the truthful words of God!
5) And not ever benefitted by the power of this Book
6) Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
b. ILLUSTRATION
1) If a doctor took an x-ray of your broken arm, and neither of you actually looked at it, you both would be pretty stupid trying to set it not knowing where the break was
2) Well, if you have a Bible that tells you and me where the problems in our hearts and lives are, and we don’t listen to it, then all the best self-help in the world will only make us worse – never better!
8. So, start by having a dedicated QUIET time where there are no interruptions – not even from you!
a. Reading every word
b. Sometimes reading the words ALOUD
c. Nita has been doing that for us as we have travelled nearly 14,000 miles
d. I love it! She is better than Alexander Scourby!
e. Read it aloud as a family, to one another
9. Then, Start listening to every word, as if written to YOU, about YOU
a. Matthew 21:45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
b. Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God
c. Not about anyone else!
1) Not your wife, or your husband, or your kids, or your parents, or your employer
2) But YOU! If God was ever allowed to get a hold of YOUR heart, he could change your world!
d. James 1:19,20 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
e. God wants people TODAY, in 2021 to HEAR this Book spoken, talked about, preached, pondered, debated, discussed, tested, explored, but most of all HEARD
B. Resist doing what you normally do
1. James 1:19,20 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God
2. Resist arguing, interrupting, being too busy to even stop and listen
3. Be SLOW to speak when God is speaking
4. Let GOD speak!
a. Two people talking at the same time cannot be heard! That is obvious!
b. Resist the urge to be busy, and just pick up bits and pieces like you probably already do with other people
c. That’s why COUCH-CHURCH is a very bad idea
d. We are called to GATHER TOGETHER and be in each other’s bubble, and see each other’s faces, and talk heart to heart – THAT is CHURCH!
e. Not youtubing!
5. Make protected time for just reading and hearing your Bible!
a. Your Bible reading HAS to be protected time, where you sit and listen
b. Like Mary did in Martha’s house “Mary… sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.” Luke 10:39
c. Like the disciples did as they sat and listened to His every word
6. That takes effort in this generation
a. We interrupt each other
b. We cut each other off
c. We ignore what people are trying to say
d. We change channels
7. Look at what a Christian needs to battle against, so that they can HEAR…
a. Saying what YOU think when God is trying to tell us what HE thinks – be slow to speak - How many of you listening to me are right now going back and forth in your mind about everything else (lunch, school, hobbies, chores, girlfriend, boyfriend, boredom, etc.), besides what we are hearing from God’s word?
b. And getting angry – be very slow to get angry at things
8. And there us more for us to work on (James 1:21)
a. James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
b. To “lay something apart” means to put distance between you and what God has cut off from you
c. Separating the dead branches, the rubbish
d. Whatever God has shown you to be wrong in YOUR life, needs to be bagged and binned, and not returned to!
e. Things that James calls
1) All filthiness
a) That means, all the Filthy thoughts, filthy words, filthy desires in us
b) They need to be exposed, found-out, judged and placed under the blood if Jesus Christ!
2) And superfluity of naughtiness
a) Naughtiness is not that bad a word today, but in 1611, it was a word for vile and wicked actions – rudeness, mockery, arrogance, and pride
b) All those things need to be dumped – repented of – as God SHOWS them to you about YOURSELF
9. EXAMPLE
a. Reading 2Samuel 11 and watching as David seeks an adulterous encounter with Bathsheba ought to strike to your heart ladies and gentlemen
1) That that could be YOU tonight as you channel hop
2) That it could be YOU ladies as you flirt and show off what men do not need to be seeing
b. Reading about Peter being ashamed of Jesus before the cock crowed, you should be asking yourself, Have “I” the same fear as he did – of being persecuted?
c. Reading about Moses getting angry at the children of Israel and losing the opportunity to go HIMSELF into the Promised Land at that time, you and I need repent of OUR anger before it ruins OUR lives too!
10. Notice what God says about our wrath
a. We need to be very slow to speak what WE think is right, and trust God is right
b. And we need to be even slower to express our own anger at what God says to go through
c. Our anger does nothing to help God
d. Yes, there are times to be angry
e. But our anger is a quick fix, and never fixes things!
f. God asks us to patiently do what God says without wrath
g. That means even suffering when doing the will of God
11. I recognise that all this is so foreign, strange to most listening to me
a. We all want a Bible that pats us on the back, and that only makes us feel better
b. Well, Jesus’ words made the Pharisees furious, and frustrated Pilate, and confused the Athenians on Mars’ Hill
c. But is absolutely transforms the hungry, patient, earnest hearer!
C. Next Week, I am going to talk to you about the next step – the DOING of whatever God says to do
1. God does not show you yourself in the Scripture to only comfort you, but rather…
2. To show you how you REALLY are – argumentative, critical, angry, proud, haughty, selfish, lustful, uncaring, hypocritical, and even as UNSAVED!
3. To scare you away from continuing to just live the way you always have
4. And to push you, and press you into a new way of living, by the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit of God!
III. Conclusion
A. Review
1. The Bible is like a Mirror, to show us OURSELVES
a. To show us our nature – our ways – our flaws and bad habits and sins
b. To expose how we REALLY are
2. How does it work?
a. It shows us living, breathing examples of people living by faith, and examples of those who live by folly – foolishly and without God (thousands of people and their lives are recorded in this Book, from Adam to Aaron, from Eve to Esther, from Noah to Nimrod, from John to Jesus)
b. It exposes our HEART
c. It actually blesses us, and changes us
d. But only if we make the effort to see ourselves, as we truly are, in the mirror of God’s word…
e. Do YOU have a dedicated QUIET time where there are no interruptions – not even from you!
3. Do you actually Hear what the Bible Says?
a. Do you let it speak right to YOU, and about YOU, and for YOU?
b. Do you and everyone in your family actually READ and LISTEN TO the Book you hold in your hand?
c. Are you SWIFT to hear these words?
d. Quick to hear what GOD is saying?
e. Dear Christian, Start listening to every word, as if written to YOU, about YOU and you will find yourself in every chapter!
4. Do you still Resist what God is saying – just continually doing what you normally do?
a. Why not START resisting what you normally do, for a better attitude and a better routine?
b. Why not just sit down for 30 minutes every day, and just Let GOD speak!
c. Put distance between your life now, and whatever sin God shows you in you
d. Repent of your own anger and wrath
5.
And then you will be
ready to become a doer of God’s word, and not hearers only
Which makes all the difference in the world for the Christian!
B. And dear friend, if you have found that reading this Bible was hard on you, and usually cut you instead of made you feel better, then wonderful! That is what it is supposed to do – to save your soul!
1. You cannot be born again, until you realise that you were born wrong the first time - you were born a sinner, just like your parents
2. And you will die and be separated from God and from everything and everyone important to you for ever in a lake of fire unless you turn to Jesus Chrst and ask Him with all your heart to save you and forgive you and help you follow Him
3. Will you do that? Do it right now!
4. He is waiting! Patiently waiting.
C. PRAY