Well, I guess it was in the days when Steve was still somewhat young in the mission, well that's not quite true.
About 25 years ago, I don't know if Steve was not yet halfway through, where they finally ended up,
a church gathered a bit like this, not too many miles from here,
and I don't know all the details, thankfully, but halfway through the, I think it was the evening service,
an argument broke out.
Clearly some tensions had been under the surface for a long time,
and the argument was between the two main families in this relatively small church, about 40, 45 people.
Now what happened as a result of that argument?
I don't know the details.
But what happened was that more or less overnight, a church of 40 to 45 went down to a church of 5.
And some of those people have never been back to church since.
Others have gone to other churches, some have never been back.
And whatever witness the church did have in the neighbouring community was completely blown.
You can imagine it primarily, all the neighbours saying,
did you hear about that church?
What a bunch of hypocrites.
Christians are just hypocrites, aren't they?
And I suspect here tonight, there are some of us who've had that experience, haven't we?
Christians are just hypocrites.
Maybe you've been winded by it.
Maybe, like me, you've been one of those hypocrites.
And maybe for others, you've been hurt by tensions in churches in the past.
I've not been in this church long enough to know some of the tensions that may have been in the past.
Or maybe you're sitting here thinking, this could never happen to us.
We're not a basket case like that other church you talked about, Stuart.
Well, that other church was a Bible-believing, reformed church.
So James has something to say for all of us.
Whether we think it could happen or not, whether it's happened to us or not.
And in these verses we're looking at, we hear how such rows can come about.
Why it's wrong.
And what we need to do to stop this happening to us.
What we need to do to ensure we don't demolish the witness of a church somewhere.
So how do these rows happen?
Well, look at James' command here in verse 19.
Know this, my beloved brothers.
Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
Why do these rows happen?
They happen because people are not quick to hear and slow to speak, but the other way around.
They're quick to speak, quick to anger, and very slow to listen indeed.
Now why is it that we get angry?
What is it that makes you angry?
What is it that makes me angry?
Isn't it usually that something's getting in the way of what we want?
So a car cuts us up on the roundabout.
We get frustrated.
What makes us quick to speak is the fact that we love our own voice.
We think our point of view is right.
When was the last time you got really angry about something?
Let me tell you about what makes me angry.
It's in the mornings at about 8 o'clock when I want to get to do my work,
and my children are still messing around,
not knowing where their book bag is,
not able to put their coats on,
not finding their shoes,
and I'm going mad.
Now, of course, part of that is my self-righteous anger.
What do I want to do?
I want to get down to work.
Especially on Monday morning,
I've got to stand there for Tuesday morning.
Let me get on with God's work for my life.
And our anger can be even worse
when we think it's somehow righteous and allowed, isn't it?
I think that's what's happening here in this community
that James is fighting to.
People are getting angry about stuff.
They're not listening to each other.
Why?
Because they think they want what God wants.
Look at verse 20.
See the warning James gives?
For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
The righteousness of God is the righteousness,
the right relationships among his people that he wants,
that is his desire that he saved people for.
So it seems these Christians James is writing to
are people who are arguing with each other
and not listening to each other
because they think the church should be how they want it.
They think that's what God wants.
I'm sure you've known that
in communities of believers, haven't you?
I know I have.
How many times have you heard it said
or how many times have you said?
I'm guilty of a number of these.
This church would be so much better
if only the marriage would look out for the single people
and actually invite us around for dinner occasionally.
This church would be so much better
if only the elders actually knew what was going on
and took time to listen to people.
That's the problem.
This church would be so much better
if only we sang some of the songs that I really like.
If only we knew what Sovereign Grace were up to.
This church would be so much better if the sermons were shorter.
My gifts were recognised.
If those people over there actually got off their chairs and served
instead of letting me do all the work.
So you quickly think it's righteous anger, don't you?
That actually we're doing, we're wanting what God wants, aren't we?
James says no.
The anger of man never produces the righteousness of God.
So what makes us angry really is not that we want what God wants.
We want God to want what we want, don't we?
Everyone else wants what we want.
That's why we don't stop to listen.
We want to speak.
That's why James is warning us here,
be slow to speak.
Slow to anger.
Quick to listen.
That's how arguments happen.
That's how that church got to a stand-up fight in the middle of the service.
People thought they were pursuing God's agenda, they weren't.
They were pursuing their own agenda and not stopping to listen.
So how can we avoid that again?
How can we make sure that doesn't happen here?
Well, three words James gives us.
Receive, respond, submit.
Look at receive first.
Verse 21.
Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness
and receive with meekness the implanted word
which is able to save your souls.
I'm not a great gardener, but I do know this much.
If you want to plant something that will actually grow and take root,
what do you need to do first?
You need to remove all the weeds, don't you?
Look at the weeds James is talking about here.
The weeds are filthiness and rampant wickedness.
What is filthiness and rampant wickedness?
At this point we're going to get out all sorts of sins for our minds.
But hasn't James already defined them?
Invert the previous verse.
The filthiness is being quick to speak.
Quick to become angry.
That's the rampant wickedness.
It's being slow to actually listen to other people.
That's what we have to put away.
That are the weeds that have to go.
And what do we have to plant in its place?
What needs to be implanted in its place?
Well, it's interesting what James says, isn't it?
The word there in verse 19 is
to put things off.
I'm sorry, verse 21 rather.
Therefore put away, put off all filthiness.
It's the language used in taking off clothes.
So you expect James then to say,
you've taken off these clothes,
put on this next set of clothes.
But he doesn't say that, does he?
He doesn't talk about clothes.
He talks about something being implanted into you.
Verse 21.
The implanted word.
Received with meekness.
The implanted word.
Now meekness is the absolute opposite
of pursuing our own agenda, isn't it?
We pursue our own agenda in forceful pride.
Meekness is absolutely the opposite.
Meekness is one of the characteristics of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10 verse 1.
Paul talks about speaking to the Corinthians
with the meekness or the gentleness of Christ.
It's the same word.
It's the word he used to describe
a horse that's been broken.
Its strength under control.
Responding to its owner.
So what is to be received with meekness?
It's the implanted word
which is able to save your souls.
Now God had promised back in the Old Testament,
back through the prophet Jeremiah,
that one day he would write his law
on people's hearts.
There's a picture of how human beings
are not naturally able to do what God wants.
Naturally we are not slow to become angry.
But God promised that because we couldn't keep his law,
he would write his law on our hearts.
That would be the implanted word.
The law on the wall causes us to sin, doesn't it?
It provokes us.
You know, there's signs on buses saying,
do not put your feet on the seat.
I never thought of doing that,
but thank you for giving me the idea.
That's how the law works for us, isn't it?
So God promised to implant his word into human hearts,
to write his command on our hearts.
And that is what is able to save our souls.
No amount of self-discipline,
no amount of self-help,
no amount of following rules
concerning us in changes.
It's only receiving with meekness
God's implanted word.
You see what this word is.
He describes it back in verse 18,
back in the other column,
just a little bit up,
as the word of truth.
The word of truth
by which God brought us forth
by the word of truth.
That we should be a kind of first fruits as creatures.
It's this word that brings new life right within us.
That God uses to make us new people.
That's what we need.
That's what needs to be implanted in us.
So how do we receive this word?
We receive it with meekness,
don't we?
And do you notice the contrast
between verse 19 and verse 21?
Verse 19 is,
be slow to speak.
Sorry.
Every person be quick to hear,
slow to speak,
slow to anger.
That's obviously,
James' people weren't doing that,
were they?
They were being very quick to speak,
quick to angry,
and very slow to hear.
James is saying,
if you want to actually try
and be slow to anger,
and quick to listen,
then you need to receive God's word.
And by the way,
you're not going to receive God's word with meekness,
if you're not listening to one another.
If you're not listening to others,
if you're quick to speak,
and quick to get angry,
and not quick to listen,
then you're not receiving anyone else's word at all,
are you?
If that's your attitude to other people,
then you will not receive God's word with meekness either.
See, all through this letter,
James keeps pointing out to us,
that actually the way we treat other people,
is indicative of what we,
the way we're really acting towards God.
We may say,
that we love God,
and worship him,
and want to hear his word,
but actually if we're despising other people,
not listening to them,
then we're not really in a place,
where we can receive with meekness,
God's implanted word.
So we need to receive it with meekness,
that means listening to others first,
so that we will actually be listening to God.
But it also means,
not just receiving it with meekness,
it means repenting, doesn't it?
It means stopping pursuing our own agendas,
and instead turning,
and accepting God's agenda,
instead.
It means coming to him for forgiveness.
It means confessing our sin,
and seeking the forgiveness,
that is only available in the Lord Jesus.
He will then send his Holy Spirit,
to implant his word in us,
and to write his law on our hearts,
to bring us forth by the word of truth,
to make us new people.
But also accepting this word,
can just sound like it's passive,
can't it?
It sounds very internal.
It is internal.
When we accept people's food,
we take it into us,
then it becomes part of us.
That's what it means to have God's word
implanted into us.
It's taking it in.
So it's part of us.
But that then,
is not just a passive thing,
but it becomes active.
So having received,
the second word James gives us,
is to respond.
Verses 22 to 25.
Here's the second step,
so that we don't end up fighting each other.
Receive this word,
and then respond to it.
Verse 25,
verse 22 rather.
But be doers of the word,
and not hearers only,
deceiving ourselves.
Many years ago,
we had a family holiday,
driving through France at one point,
and we got lost on the Paris Ring Road,
which I believe is a familiar experience
of people in crime negotiated,
and we were looking for a campsite.
So my father stopped the car,
got out,
asked some local lady,
in his best broken French,
where this particular campsite was.
She just figured it wildly,
gave a long series of instructions,
now came back to the car,
we were all telling him,
in anticipation and bated breath,
retired,
and wanted to go to bed.
He said,
so where is it dad?
I don't know,
I didn't hear,
let's just go,
I'll find out,
I'm sure.
It was dark,
by the time we reached that campsite,
I was only about six at the time,
my mother could give you more details,
unsure.
But obviously it's foolishness,
they listen to something,
and then not respond to it,
when you are in need of help.
And James says,
brothers and sisters,
we're in need of help.
We need to respond,
to what God's word is saying.
And that's the whole point,
James' illustration.
You see the illustration,
of a man with a mirror,
verse 23.
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 is like.
Now I sit there,
don't you think,
what sort of idiot would do that?
Well let me tell you,
what sort of idiot would do that.
At breakfast the other morning,
my wife turned around to me,
and said,
Stuart,
do you know you still have
a shaving foam on your ear?
I don't know why it's on my ear,
I don't shave my ears normally,
but there you go,
it was there.
And I didn't know that,
how did I not know that?
I was standing in front of a mirror,
shaving.
Was it because I'm blind?
Well,
perhaps I'm a bit daft at times.
Or was it more likely,
I just kind of assumed,
that I knew,
what the mirror was going to tell me?
And therefore didn't really
pay attention?
Could it be that?
Could it be that I didn't really think,
that the mirror was going to have
anything relevant for me?
Sometimes we like that in God's word,
with God's word,
aren't we?
I think it's especially a danger
in churches like this,
and the other I used to serve in,
where we love God's word,
don't we?
We say we do.
We love listening to sermons.
Some of you will download sermons
and listen from on the way to work.
That's a good thing.
Some of you will read lots of books.
That's a good thing.
We love God's word.
Yet so often,
we fail to actually respond to it,
don't we?
When James says here
that the man forgets,
it doesn't necessarily mean
that intellectually he couldn't
remember what he saw.
It means he didn't act upon it.
For those of you who are in church
this morning,
Paul reminded us that
that word remember in the Bible
is never just about
intellectually recalling a hand.
It's like remembering a birthday,
isn't it?
My daughter turns seven
on Tuesday
when she says to me,
Zoe, Daddy,
have you remembered my birthday?
She doesn't want me to go,
yes, it's the 11th,
it's the 10th of November,
I need you to date,
but 10th of November.
She wants to know
there's going to be a present
for her when she gets up.
And so it is.
Scripture tells us
to remember.
It isn't just mentally
recalling things.
When this man forgets,
not that he absentmindedly
didn't have a clue
what he looked like.
He didn't act
on what he'd seen.
He acted on the fact
he knew.
We can be like that
with God's word,
can't we?
And we can make
very sophisticated
excuses for it, too.
We say,
well, I'm saved by grace,
I'm not under law anymore,
so it's okay,
I'm forgiven.
In fact,
somebody accused James
of preaching legalism here.
Martin Luther,
the great reformer,
had a bit of a problem
with the book of James
for this reason.
He called it
a right-strawy epistle.
It seemed to be
going against
the gospel of grace,
justification by faith.
But let me ask us
a couple of questions.
If we're arguing
with God's word,
then are we
receiving it meekly?
Of course,
we're not,
are we?
Let me ask another question.
If God has
implanted his word
into us,
so we want to obey,
so we're ready
to obey,
because that is
the Spirit's work
in our heart,
then how can we
possibly say no?
If we say no,
isn't it evidence
that the word
has not been received
into our hearts at all?
See, this is,
the danger here
is we're deceived,
isn't it?
Do you notice how
James uses that word
twice?
Verse 22,
be doers of the word,
nor hearers only,
deceiving yourselves.
Then down again
in verse 26,
talks about someone
deceiving their own heart.
It can so easily
be deceived.
That's why James says
we need to respond.
We need to respond.
We need to be doers
and not just hearers.
But in case you're worried,
that makes you a slave
again to the law.
Look at how,
look at how James
describes God's word,
verse 25.
The one who looks
into the perfect law,
the law of liberty
and perseveres,
being no hearer
who forgets,
but no doer
who asks,
will be blessed
in all his doing.
It's a law of liberty,
James says.
Now,
naturally in our culture
we hate the idea
of law,
don't we?
We hate laws,
we hate authority over us.
That's the spirit
of our age.
James says,
this is a law
that is good.
It brings liberty.
There's actually
a subtle change
in James' language here.
So far,
he's been talking
about the word of God,
verse 18,
verse 21,
verses 22 and 23.
But now he refers
to God's law
because he wants
us to catch
the authority
that God's law has,
God's word has.
And he describes
it as a perfect law.
Perfect because
it reflects
God's character.
Perfect because
it's been fulfilled
perfectly
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Perfect because
through Christ
those of us
who believe in him
now have his spirit
in us,
so this law
becomes something
we can keep,
not something
that makes us slaves.
And therefore,
he describes it
as a law of liberty,
meaning the law
that brings liberty
and freedom,
not a law that
constrains and enslaves.
Now,
if we went out tonight
and asked people,
what does freedom
mean for you?
What does freedom
mean for us?
What do you think
would be the response
most people would give?
I think most people
would say that freedom
is about being able
to do whatever
I want to do.
And yet we only need
to reflect on that
for a minute,
see that's nonsense,
isn't it?
You know what it's like
when you get to a big
roundabout,
like some of these ones
on the A40,
you're not far from here.
And if someone thinks,
I'm just going to do
what I want to do,
and sneaks through the lights
and sits on the yellow box junction,
what happens to that roundabout?
You could be queuing for hours,
can't you?
You're trying to get over it,
because everyone starts doing it,
everyone blocks it,
you can't get anywhere.
It's because everybody's doing
what they want to do.
We see that
generally in life,
don't we?
As we pursue
our own agendas,
we hurt other people,
block other people,
thwart other people,
and end up ruining
ourselves as well.
Freedom is not being free
to do whatever we want,
is it?
True freedom
is freedom
from selfishness.
Johnny Depp,
the actor,
when he talked about
when his first child was born,
he told the interviewer,
when I was holding
my first child,
I felt it was
a truly liberating moment.
I felt free
for the first time.
They define that
as being,
as my first
selfless thought ever.
My first
selfless thought.
There,
Johnny Depp
in that moment
got the idea
of what freedom is.
Freedom
is being free
from our selfishness,
free from being
turned in on ourselves.
This is what God's law
written on our hearts
does for us.
It sets us free.
It's the perfect law,
the law of liberty,
the law that brings liberty.
So you want to know
what liberty looks like?
You want to know
what true freedom is,
James says?
It's not pursuing
your own agenda.
Rather,
it's responding
to God's word,
responding to God's commands.
So there's an obvious
question for me
and for you,
isn't there?
Are we dearers
of God's word
or hearers only?
I have to ask myself,
what's changed
in my life
in the last six months
given what God's word
has said to me?
What's changed
in your life?
Has God been speaking
to you about
relationships
with certain people?
Has God's word
altered the way
you think about money?
How you use it?
How you think about it?
How have you responded
to God's word
in terms of
your ambitions?
Your priorities?
Has God's word
done anything
to your attitude
to work?
To your work
or other peoples?
It's hard to change,
isn't it?
But then God
is writing his law
in our hearts.
So it might be hard,
but it is possible.
But do you notice
the word James uses
here in verse 25?
The one who looks
into the perfect law,
the law of liberty,
and perseveres.
We've got a fine example
of perseverance tonight,
haven't we?
Stephen Pan
persevering for 41 years,
six months and seven days,
or whatever it was,
in London City Mission.
That's perseverance,
isn't it?
We need to persevere
in God's word
as he writes it
on our heart
that he would change us,
make us more like Jesus.
And then his obedience
is possible
because God
is writing his law
in our hearts.
It's also desirable.
See what James says
there at the end
of the verse?
He will be blessed
in his doing.
Not blessed
in his hearing only,
but in his doing.
Everyone looks
for blessing,
don't they?
Everyone wants
to be blessed,
everyone wants
to feel loved,
respected,
significant.
Some people look
for that in their careers,
some people look
for it in their families,
some people look
for it in their possessions.
James says,
this is where
true blessing is.
Being approved
and loved
and accepted
by God
and enjoying
walking in his ways,
that's true blessing.
We're blessed
not in our hearing,
but in our doing.
Receive
with meekness,
respond
with action.
And the third word,
submit.
Look down to verses
26 and 27.
This is how we need
to avoid
arouse and catastrophe
in the church,
but also spiritual
shipwreck
in our own lives
personally.
Submit
to someone else's
evaluation.
The company
I used to work for
many years ago,
they had an
employee welfare scheme
where every two years
they'd send you
for a medical.
And I remember
going to my first
employment medical
thinking,
this is a bit
of a waste of time,
isn't it?
And yes,
inevitably the nurse
told me I should be
eating less fatty food
and doing more exercise
and less sugar
and all this kind of stuff.
And then she got
the blood test results
and said,
oh, by the way,
you need to go
and see your GP.
There's something
not right about
your kidney function.
I feel fine.
Okay, I'd better
go to your GP.
So I did,
and as many of you
will know,
what was it?
About 15 years later,
I had a kidney transplant.
It's a good job
I went to that
original employment medical.
It showed up a problem
in the early stages,
but it showed it up.
I had to submit
to somebody else's
evaluation.
And James says
you need to submit
to God's evaluation,
not your own.
Look at the contrast
between verse 26
and verse 27.
Verse 26,
if anyone thinks
he is religious
and does not
bribe his tongue
but deceives his heart,
this person's
religion is worthless.
we can deceive
ourselves
into thinking
we're doing
all the right things
and our religion
be worthless.
James rapidly
takes us through
three areas
where we need
to submit
to God's evaluation.
Now actually
in the next three
chapters of the book
he unpacks these
first.
We'll only look at
them very briefly.
The first area
is speech,
verse 26.
Do you think
you're religious?
Yet what are you
actually saying?
What words
are you using?
How are you speaking
to other people?
What do you say
when that guy
calls you up
on the road?
What do you say
when your children
are cheating?
What do you say
whatever the situation
is for you?
Now why does James
focus on speech?
Doesn't it go back
to what Jesus said?
It's out of the
overflow of our hearts
that the mouth speaks.
Do you want to know
what's really going
on our hearts?
Yeah, take yourself
for the day.
James points
to our speech.
And secondly
he points to
how we relate
to what we do
with the need.
Look at verse 27.
Religion that is
pure and under
far before God
the Father
is this.
To have great theology
no, that's not
what he says, is it?
Is this.
To listen to all
the servants
no, it's not that either.
To visit orphans
and widows
and their affliction
and to keep oneself
unstained from the world.
Now to visit orphans
and widows
and their affliction
orphans and widows
are two great categories
of needy people
in the Old Testament
and the Roman world
of James' day.
So really it's saying
how you respond
to those in need
around you.
And when he says visit
doesn't this mean
pop your head
round the door
and say hi to them.
A visit is a word
in the Old Testament
loaded with meaning.
God visited the people
in Egypt
as he came to rescue
them from slavery.
Exodus chapter 4
verse 31.
It's the word Zechariah
uses in Luke chapter 1
as he looks forward
to the birth
of the Lord Jesus.
Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel
for he has visited
and redeemed his people.
For God to visit
like God remembering
means God taking action.
So the kind of religion
that appeals to God
that pleases God
is to take action
for those in need.
Widows and orphans
refugees and immigrants.
people in the church
family primarily
to then beyond that
especially in the
global church family.
That's what God
approves of
because that's what
God is like.
We don't do this
so God will love us
but because God
has loved us
and visited us
in our need
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So the first two tests
how do we control
our tongues?
Secondly
how do we help
the needy
especially the needy
among God's people?
And the third little test
there.
Little test.
Verse 27 at the end.
And to keep oneself
unstained from the world.
The world constantly
pursues its own agenda
around us doesn't it?
It's the mark of the world
going its own way
leaving God out of the picture.
We can so easily
be sullied by that.
Our attitudes and our desires
are so easily
influenced by them.
As we read on
through this letter
we'll see how James'
audience were influenced.
James talks about
their selfish ambition
their boasting
their covering up
their sin
chapter 3 verse 14
their coveting
fighting and quarreling
chapter 4 verse 1.
See don't deceive yourself
James says.
Don't deceive yourself.
Check your attitudes.
Are you being
affected
stained
by the world around?
See for those of us
who profess
faith in Christ
we need to receive
that word
implanted into us.
We need to respond
to that word.
And we need to submit
ourselves to God's
evaluation.
And not deceive
ourselves in thinking
we're in a good church
we're in a good place
we must be alright.
Now for those of us
who are not yet
followers of Jesus
this is an important
message for us too.
For you too.
I've heard people say
if there is a God
out there
and if there is a judgement
I'm sure I'll be alright
because I'm a nice
person.
I'm hinting to my
neighbours
I try and tell the
truth
I'm pretty honest
I'm not a bad
person.
I do my best.
How often do you
think that?
I do my best.
But is that what
God wants?
Look at these tests
here.
How do we control
our tongues?
How do you deal
with the needy people
around you?
Are you unstained
by the world?
The truth is
none of us are
actually like that.
God wants something
bigger and better
for us.
Here's a look back
to verse 18
for a second.
Of his own will
of God's own will
he brought us
forth by the
word of truth
that we should be
kind of first
fruits of his
creatures.
See God's will
ultimately
is to make us
new.
To make us into
the people he
originally intended
us to be
before we rebelled
against him as a
race
and went our
own way and
pursued our own
agenda.
The only way
to have that
is not through
our own effort
we cannot change
our own hearts
but through
receiving amidst
this implanted
word.
This message
of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
This message
of the one
whose speech
was perfect.
Who Peter says
of him
1 Peter 2
verse 22
he committed
no sin
neither was
deceit found
in his mouth.
This Lord
Jesus
his tongue
was always
under control.
Did he help
the poor and
needy?
Oh he certainly
did.
He gave his
life to rescue
us from the
deep need
to escape
God's judgment.
Was he
unstained by
the world?
Oh he certainly
was.
He was a lamb
without blemish.
He committed
no sin and
no deceit
was found in
his mouth.
It's only to
accept the
message of the
Lord Jesus
with meekness.
Coming to him
seeking the
forgiveness only
available through
the one who
died on the
cross for us.
Only through
accepting him as
our Lord and
Savior do we
have that word
implanted in us
written on our
hearts to change
us and make us
new people.
That is the
offer that is
here for us
tonight.
Not merely
be hearers of
the word but
doers also.
Now they
mean for some
who have never
come to Christ
for forgiveness
before.
There's a
chance for you
to do that
tonight.
Receive the
word implanted.
Respond to
his word.
Submit to
his evaluation.
Let us not
deceive ourselves
but come to
him for
salvation and
forgiveness.
let's pray.
ready.
CONGRATIST