Hearing and Doing the Word James 1:1927

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Hearing and Doing the Word - James 119-27

• Forest Hills Bible Chapel
• 26 March 2006

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James 119-27

• 19 My dear brothers, take note of this Everyone
  should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow
  to become angry, 20 for mans anger does not
  bring about the righteous life that God desires.
  21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the
  evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the
  word planted in you, which can save you.

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James 119-27

• 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so
  deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 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 24 and, after looking at himself, goes
  away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
  25 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 ithe will be blessed in what he does.

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James 119-27

• 26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet
  does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he
  deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
• 27 Religion that God our Father 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.

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Accepting the WordJames 119-21

• Everyone should be
• 1. quick to listen We should continually be set
  to listen to what God has to say to us see
  118.
• Implications for this include the following
• The word of God is worth hearing for its own
  sake.
• The word of God is to be our reference frame
  for all we see or do.

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Accepting the WordJames 119-21

• Some applications of listening
• We must truly work at listening to others,
  especially other believers.
• We must realize that much of the visual and audio
  media does not promote real listening.
• We must read and hear Gods word.
• We must prepare for worship and the hearing of
  Gods word.

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Accepting the WordJames 119-21

• 2) slow to speak.
• Men have two ears but one tongue, that they
  should hear before they speak. The ears are
  always open, ever ready to receive instruction
  but the tongue is surrounded with a double row of
  teeth to hedge it in, and keep it within its
  proper bounds.
• We often comment before we fully understand.
• We often gossip without having all of the facts,
  or having a wrong grasp of the facts.

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Accepting the WordJames 119-21

• Part of the beauty of our Breaking of Bread
  service is it allows quiet times to sit,
  meditate, and listen to what has been shared.
• When words are many, sin is not absent, but he
  who holds his tongue is wise. Proverbs 1019.

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Accepting the WordJames 119-21

• 3. slow to become angry.
• Sometimes when the word confronts us, we do not
  want to believe it, so we become angry.
• Such anger is clearly sin Eph. 431 Col. 38
  Titus 17.
• A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise
  man keeps himself under control. Proverbs 2911

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Accepting the WordJames 119-21

• Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who
  controls his temper than one who takes a city.
  Proverbs 1632
• Adamson tells us that Moses showed his anger on
  three different occasions, and the consequences
  were always bad.
• Cf. Matthew 522

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Accepting the WordJames 119-21

• Command to Accept the Word v. 21
• A twofold command 1) get rid of all moral filth
  and evil, and 2) humbly accept the implanted
  word, which can save you.

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Doing the WordJames 122-25

• Dont just listen to the worddo it! 122
• Looking in the mirror even scrutinizing
  ourselves closely but then doing nothing about
  what we see, is foolish! 123-24.
• The proper perspective is 1) to look intently
  into the mirror, 2) to continue to do so, 3) to
  not forget what one sees (hears), and 4) to do
  what the word says. This brings blessing.

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Doing the WordJames 122-25

• The truly religious person will
• Keep a tight rein on his or her tongue.
• Take care of those in need especially the
  orphans and widows.
• Keep himself or herself unspotted from the world.