💭 Consider this: As a believer, the Word of God has been implanted in you, taking root in your heart. What steps do you take to properly receive it and nurture its growth in you? Eg. From sermons, your own quiet time, etc.
TRANSCRIPT
I greet you in the Blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Our text for this morning's message is taken from James 1:19-21. Allow me to read for you James 1:19-21, "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." Verse 21, "Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."
The Lord bless the reading of His holy and sacred word.
One of the most common questions that people would ask is: ‘How do I know for sure I am safe? That I am a true believer? That my faith is real?’
If our faith is real, it means we are born again. And how are we born again? Remember, Jesus said in John 3:5-6, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The word ‘water’ refers to the washing of the Word of God, and the word ‘Spirit’ refers to the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. This is how God saved us—by sending the Holy Spirit into our hearts. And through the wonder-working of the Spirit, our spiritual eyes are opened. We were convicted of our sins, we turned to Jesus Christ in repentance and in faith, we were made spiritually alive, we were regenerated, we were born again, and we became the children of God.
That is exactly what James has said in verse 18 (James 1:18)—that ‘God begat us with the word of Truth’. To begat is to bring forth. We have been brought forth from death to life. We have been born again with the Word of God.
In other words, a person who is born again, he has a certain connection with the Word of God. When his faith is real, there will be this genuine love and hunger for the Word of God. He will be eager and willing to receive and respond to it. The opposite is also true: when a person's faith is not real, he has no love, hunger, or interest in hearing or obeying God's word.
Sometimes an unbeliever may refer to certain passages in the Bible, not because he cherishes it or desires to submit to it, but simply to use it to support his own objectives, to use it for his own advantage, or to justify his actions.
Jesus Himself testified of this truth to the Jews who believed Him. Jesus said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;" (John 8:31) To the unbelieving Jews, Jesus said, "ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you." (John 8:37)—’you have no part in My word’. You can read about that in John 8:31 and 37.
Dear friend, perhaps this morning you are wondering: ‘Am I a true believer?’ Ask yourself this question: ‘What is my connection with the Word of God?’
‘If I am born again, then it is the power of God's word in my new birth. It must also be the power of my new life.’ Then ask yourself: ‘Do I love and hunger for God's word? Am I eager and willing to respond and to receive it?’ If not, something is terribly wrong.
From verses 19 to 21 (James 1:19-21), James was focusing on how the believer should be receptive to the Word of God. And then, from verses 22 to 25 (James 1:22-25), he was focusing on how the believer should be responsive to the Word of God.
I. The Willingness To Submit
This morning, we will only consider the first part: be receptive to the Word of God. And our first point is the willingness to submit. Let us begin with verse 19 (James 1:19), "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:"
The word ‘wherefore’ connects with the preceding verse where James said, ‘God has begotten you; He has caused you to be born again with the word of truth.’ (James 1:18) So, wherefore, this is what you must do. And he went on to give three imperatives or commands: ‘Let every man, or every believer, be swift to hear, be slow to speak, and be slow to wrath.’ (James 1:19) All these three commands have to do with the Word of God.
Let us consider the first command: ‘be swift to hear’ (James 1:19). To be swift means to be quick. The idea is to be a careful listener, pay attention in order to get the message right. It is to take advantage of every opportunity or privilege to read God's word or to hear it being preached faithfully.
Like newborn babies, they do not have to be taught to hunger for milk. The newborn child of God does not need to be taught to hunger for the milk of God’s word. This eagerness to learn God's word is one of the clearest marks of a true child of God.
The believer is someone who is excited to come to church on the Lord's day, to attend Bible studies, to enjoy fellowship meetings where there is sound preaching. When he knows there is a church camp or a Bible conference, he is quick to register, and the date will be highlighted on his calendar. He is eager to learn because he knows that God's word is all he needs for his faith and practice.
When he is blessed, he turns to the Scriptures to find passages of thanksgiving and praise. When he is troubled, he searches the Scriptures for words of encouragement, comfort, and strength. When he is confused, he looks to the Scriptures for words of wisdom and counsel. When he is depressed, he digs into the Scriptures to look for words to uplift his spirit. That is the practical aspect of a person who is swift to hear. Are you such a person who is swift to hear?
The next command is: “be slow to speak” (James 1:19). And it is connected with the command: “be swift to hear” (James 1:19). You cannot listen carefully while you are talking, is it not true? Most people are not interested in listening to others speak; they are only interested in speaking.
They want to air their views, opinions, suggestions. They are just like the example of an elderly man in the old age home, and he had a friend, an old woman, sitting beside him. He turned and said to her, ‘Listen to everything I'm about to tell you,’ and then he went on to speak his mind. When he was finished, and it was the old woman's turn to speak, he switched off his earpiece so he could not hear anything. That may sound like a joke, but that is how often times people would treat the Word of God.
In fact, you cannot listen carefully even while you are thinking about something else. When you are thinking, you are actually speaking to yourself in your mind. And when you do that, you cannot listen carefully. That is why many discussions are unproductive, because the participants only think about what they want to say rather than listening to what others are saying.
Sometimes people may be sitting silently in the pews while the pastor is preaching, but their minds are thinking about other things. They may be thinking: ‘What to have for lunch? Which restaurant to go to?’ or ‘Where to go for holidays?’ Outwardly, they are not speaking, but inwardly, they are speaking to themselves in their minds. And therefore, they are not listening. You cannot really hear God's word when your minds are on your own thoughts.
So here, the idea is not just to be silent on the outside, but to be silent on the inside as well. "Be slow to speak" (James 1:19) also implies that there will come a time for you to speak, and when that appropriate time comes, what is spoken should be carefully considered and thought through.
Remember, James was speaking about the Word of God. So, the application is that we must listen carefully and attentively to the Word of God so that when the time comes for us to speak for the Lord, whatever is spoken must both honour the Lord and edify those who hear us.
This is especially true when it comes to the awesome responsibility to preach, teach, and explain the Word of God to others. Whether it is the pulpit ministry or the elderly ministry, the youth ministry, or the children's ministry, we must first pursue every opportunity to read the Word of God for ourselves, listen to the preaching of God's word attentively, and discuss and clarify whatever we do not understand. And when the opportunity comes for us to speak, then we will be able to do it faithfully.
This is the problem with many new believers. Because in their eagerness and desires to be preachers and teachers, they want to immediately speak publicly. They want to be engaged in discussing Christian doctrines and things hard to be understood. They want to advise and counsel others when they themselves are not biblically prepared.
They are not only endangering the lives of others, but they are putting themselves in great danger. Because later on, James said in James 3:1, "My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation." It is good to be teachers of God's word, but it comes with an awesome responsibility. And you will be judged more severely if you are not faithful.
That is the reason why the Apostle Paul warned Timothy that an elder should not be a novice. Otherwise, pride will creep into his heart, and he will allow the devil to have a foothold on him. (1 Timothy 3:6) And ‘do not suddenly lay hands on anyone’ (1 Timothy 5:22), in other words, do not ordain anyone quickly.
Once there was a famous Roman orator who was asked by a young man to teach him the art of public speaking. The young man kept on talking non-stop and did not allow the teacher to say a single word. When they finally reached the point of discussing the fee, the teacher said: ‘Young man, to teach you the art of public speaking, I will have to charge you a double fee.’ The young man was puzzled and asked the reason why. The teacher explained: ‘Because I have to teach you two skills: the first is how to hold your tongue, and the second is how to use it.’
Isn't it true that we have the same problem too? We do not know how to hold our tongues. The Bible says, "Be slow to speak." (James 1:19)
The third command is, "Be slow to wrath." (James 1:19) The word ‘wrath’ or anger is not an explosive outburst of temper, but an inner deep resentment that is simmering in the heart, and then later on, it will be manifested. Often times it will go unnoticed for a long time. This is an anger that only the Lord and the individual himself are aware of. It is extremely dangerous because it is private. It can be harboured for a long time.
All these three commandments are connected with the Word of God. So, this is an anger against God's word. It could be the believer being confronted with his sins or God's word does not approve of his behaviour or is contrary to his ideas and opinions, and he becomes angry.
Remember, in the preceding verses (James 1:1-18), James was speaking about facing trials and temptations. When the believer is not listening to God's word and he is not slow to speak, soon he becomes angry and he will say all kinds of foolish things.
Have you ever encountered a person who professed to be a believer, and that person suffered a serious accident, or he was diagnosed with a particular medical condition, or he lost a loved one? He became so angry and bitter and started to say things like, ‘I don't know if I can ever forgive God for this. I don't know if I can ever trust God anymore.’ God forbids that anyone of us ever say such foolish things. Be slow to wrath.
Sometimes the believer may be sitting quietly in the pews, listening to the pastor's preaching, but deep down in his heart, an anger is simmering. And he starts to think that everything the pastor says is against him, is about him, so much so that one day he either explodes or he walks out of the church. We have seen that happening so many times, not just in this church but in many other churches.
To the Galatians, the Apostle Paul said, "Am I therefore your become enemy, because I tell you the truth?" (Galatians 4:16) ‘I've been telling you the truth,’ Paul said, ‘and for telling you the truth have I become your enemy, so much so that you are angry with me?’
If the pastor is attacking an individual using the pulpit, he's accountable to God. Remember, he will face a greater judgment. (James 3:1) But if the pastor is speaking the truth and the believer gets angry, then it is to the believer's own detriment because verse 20 (James 1:20) says: "For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."
Dear friends, the purpose of God using the preaching of His word is to convict our hearts, sanctify our hearts. It is to turn us around. It is to transform our lives so that we can be righteous. But when we become angry, then it will not accomplish what is right in God's eyes. It is only to our own detriment.
II. The Willingness To Be Pure
Our second point is the willingness to be pure. Let us move on to verse 21 (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."
Before we can receive God's word and allow it to produce His righteousness in our lives, we must first put away something—something that stands in between and hinders us from receiving His word, and that is sin.
The word ‘filthiness’ refers to all sorts of moral impurity. The original Greek word for filthiness is very interesting. It is a term used for the wax in the ear. All of us know that the wax in our ears will impair our hearing, right? And it must be removed in order for us to hear better. Likewise, the filthiness or moral impurity becomes a barrier for our clear hearing and understanding of God's word. It must be removed; otherwise, we cannot clearly hear nor understand.
The phrase ‘superfluity of naughtiness’ means the abundance of wickedness. This abundance of wickedness refers to the hidden sins residing in the heart for a long time before manifesting itself. Again, these are sins only the Lord and the individual believer himself are aware of.
Someone made a very interesting statement: ‘Either this book, the Bible, will keep us from sin, or sin will keep us from this book.’ How true! You and I will never have a single-minded desire for the truth of God until we stop desiring all those sinful things. As long as we desire evil, as long as we desire filthiness and the abundance of wickedness, we will not experience the pure desire for God's word.
If our hearts are filled with wicked things, if we desire immorality, if we desire things that are evil, if we are hypocritical, if we are envious, jealous, malicious, and we enjoy slandering other people, then our desires are corrupted. And when our desires are corrupted, our desires for God's word are also corrupted.
So, we must ‘lay apart’, which means strip off. To strip off all those sins in our lives, those evil desires, longings, cravings for the wrong things. Lay them aside so that we may purely receive the right thing, and that is the Word of God. We must sanctify our hearts and be pure.
Dear friend, what is the condition of your heart? Maybe you try to read the Bible, but no matter how hard you try, you cannot receive it willingly. You find no joy in reading the Bible. There seems to be something hindering you from receiving it (God’s word) willingly. There seems to be something standing in between you and God's word.
Well, examine your heart. If there be any sins, ask the Lord to sanctify your heart, remove all those hindering sins, and then His word can take residence in your heart.
Allow me to give you the illustration of a little baby who desires nothing but milk. It is the only thing that is nutritious to that little life. But once the baby becomes a little child, he is exposed to different options. He will start to desire things that are bad for him. The sweeter it is, the more he loves it—ice cream, candies, and all sorts of things. When he grows older, his appetite becomes worse and worse. We are all familiar with that in our time.
In a similar fashion, if our desire for God's word is corrupted by all those kinds of desires—things that are spiritually unhealthy, things that are spiritually destructive—and then those things accumulate, increase, escalate over the years, we are in real danger. Because those things will choke our love and hunger for God's word. So, to receive God's word, there must be the willingness to be pure.
III. The Willingness To Be Humble
Our final point is the willingness to be humble. Look at the second part of verse 21 (James 1:21), "and receive with meekness [or humility] the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."
One of the most important qualities of humility is a teachable spirit, which is the key to hearing and understanding God's word. The opposite of meekness is pride. When a proud person sits in the pew, he is not listening to the sermon; he's judging the sermon. He's making critical analyses of the message or the messenger: how the message should be preached, what credentials should the messenger have. His attitude is, ‘Teach me something I do not know. Teach me something I have not heard before.’ Or, ‘Oh, I've heard that sermon preached from that passage many times,’ and then he switches off his mind. Such a person will not receive the Word of God.
Interestingly, James used the phrase ‘engrafted word’ to describe the Word of God. To be engrafted means to be implanted, like a seed planted in the ground. Here, it is used in a metaphorical sense to illustrate God's word implanted and taking root in our hearts at the point of our salvation. And it will continue to grow. Just like the seed being planted, it will slowly grow and become a plant, and perhaps a tree. The Word of God will continue to grow in us.
If the Word of God is engrafted or implanted within us, then the next question is, why must we continue to receive it? We receive it and continue to receive it in the sense of allowing it to direct and control our lives. That is the only way the Word of God will grow in us. And when you and I do that, it will be able to save our souls.
It does not mean that we are not saved. There are three aspects in our salvation: we have been saved in the past, we are being saved in the present, and we will ultimately be saved in the future. Using theological terms, we have been justified, we are being sanctified, and ultimately we will be glorified.
In our conversion, the power of God's word saves us from the penalty of sins. In our sanctification, it continues to save us from the power of the dominion of sins. Finally, in our glorification, it will save us ultimately and completely from the presence of sin, whereby you and I will never again be troubled by sin because we will be glorified.
As long as we live in this mortal body, we will still be molested by sin. Dear friend, we must be receptive to the Word of God. It is by the Word of God that we are born again, and this is the power of God's word for us to live this new life.
We must be willing to submit—be swift to hear, be slow to speak, and be slow to wrath (James 1:19). We must be willing to be pure—to lay aside all those sins that stand in between and hinder us from God's word. We must be humble because only a teachable spirit is able to receive God's word. (James 1:21)
Allow me to end with these three practical things that we must do to receive God's word. It has to do with before the sermon, during the sermon, and after the sermon.
Before the sermon, we must pray. Pray for ourselves, repent from our sins, and ask the Lord to cleanse our hearts. Pray for the preacher, pray for the people around us that they may receive the Word into their hearts.
During the sermon, we must listen attentively. Do not speak outwardly or inwardly, even in our thoughts. Be focused on the sermon.
After the sermon, when we walk out of the church, we remember what we have learned and we seek to apply the lessons into our lives.
This is what it means to be receptive to the Word of God. Will you do that? May the Lord help us. Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Once again, we thank Thee for enabling us to consider this portion of Scriptures as James, Thy faithful servant, taught us. How, as believers, we should be receptive to Thy word. As believers, we are born again with the Word of God, and we ought to live this new life according to the Word of God. There ought to be this love, hunger for Thy word. There ought to be this eagerness and willingness to receive and respond to it.
But oftentimes, it is because of sin that stands in between and hinders us from Thy word. Thou hast taught us to lay aside all those sins—filthiness and the abundance of wickedness—so that Thy pure word can take residence in our hearts. It is Thy engrafted word which Thou hast planted at the point of our salvation. But it must grow, and continue to grow.
And so, we want to submit ourselves today. We want to be pure, and we want to be humble, because this is the only way for us to hear, understand, and receive Thy word. Be gracious, be merciful to us, and help us to apply this truth so that all of us may be found pleasing and acceptable in Thy sight.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
THE BOOK OF JAMESFacing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]James 1:1-4Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]James 1:1-4The Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialThe Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialJames 1:5-8Trial Is No Respecter Of PersonsTrial Is No Respecter Of PersonsJames 1:9-12How To Deal With TemptationHow To Deal With TemptationJames 1:13-15Remember Who God Is And Who We AreRemember Who God Is And Who We AreJames 1:16-18Be Receptive To The Word Of GodBe Receptive To The Word Of GodJames 1:19-21Doers of the WordDoers of the WordJames 1:21-25Be Responsive To The Word Of GodBe Responsive To The Word Of GodJames 1:22-25The Sin of PartialityThe Sin of PartialityJames 2:1-13Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)James 3:1-13How to Be PatientHow to Be PatientJames 5:7-11In Times of AfflictionIn Times of AfflictionJames 5:13-18
