I want to invite you to open up James chapter 1 this evening. We’ll be looking at verses 19 through 21. I think I was first introduced to that song, Christ Our Wisdom, actually at our business meeting just a few weeks ago. And since then, I’ve just been listening to it nonstop. It is such a beautiful song. And if you notice, at the end of every verse, it ends with, you are God, and then something else. And the first verse is, you are God and we are not. And what a summary of the Christian life. You are God and we are not.

James 1, verses 19 through 21. I have a confession to make before I begin, though. My intention tonight was to go ahead and finish chapter one. I’m sure many of you are thinking, man, is Pastor Stephen ever going to get out of chapter one? Well, that thought is going through my mind as well, but we will get out of it eventually next week. One of the things when you’re preaching or teaching, is that when you really are studying and exegeting the Bible, especially the epistles, you find there’s so much teaching in just one or two or three verses, that sometimes you just have to take those few verses at a time. And that’s what we’re doing this evening.

So James 1, verses 19 through 21. James writes, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all the remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you. that we are able this evening to listen to what your word has to say, that we preach the word of God here at Fellowship Baptist Church. And I pray the Holy Spirit speaks and moves through me as I preach this evening and that I’m relying upon you and that you would soften the hearts of everyone here to receive the implanted word that we are gonna be talking about this evening. In Jesus’ name, amen.

This past May, I graduated with my MDiv from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. And as all of us in here have experienced, because we’ve all graduated from at least high school or college, as a graduate, you are marked as a graduate with certain identification. identification, certain things that mark you as a graduate.

So as a graduate, I had my graduation cap, I had my gown, I had a little medallion, I had my hood, and then as I walked across the stage and they said my name, Dr. Mohler gave me my diploma. And when I received that diploma and I walked down the steps, I was a graduate. with my Masters of Divinity, and those few things marked me as a graduate. If you would have been there that day, you would have looked at me and said, he is a graduate. It was clear, it was undeniable.

And this is how it is with many different things in life. Doctors are marked by their doctor’s coats. Firemen, if they’re fighting a fire, are marked by their fireman’s hats. A police officer is marked by his police officer’s badge. That’s how it is in life. There are certain things that mark us. They identify us as that’s what He is. And it’s no different for Christians. It’s no different in the Christian life. Christians should be marked by certain traits that makes it clear that we are Christians. It should be clear to those around us, the world around us, that we are Christians.

When we come to James 1, verses 19-21, this passage shows us some of the marks that Christians are to demonstrate. We’re going to look at this idea in two main ways. The first way is that Christians are to be quick and slow. It’s going to cover verses 19-20. I’ll read those real quick just again. Verse 19, this you know my beloved brethren, but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Now the first part of verse 19 seems to be introducing James’ next discussion, his next sort of train of thought. Though I think it could also be linking back to verse 18.

Verse 18 says, So verse 18 is basically talking about salvation, saving people, giving them new life. And then moving into verse 19, But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” So verse 19 does serve as sort of a transitory verse in a way. He’s moving to a new thought. But I think it could also be connected to verse 18. And the connection is, in one way to be understood, is God gave you new life by the word of truth, which James talks about in verse 18. And because you have new life by the word of truth, because you are a Christian, this is how you are now to act. Be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

And we see again in the first part of verse 19, he says, my beloved brethren. He used that earlier on, just a few verses earlier. And we’re reminded once again of James’ love for these Christians. He says, my beloved brethren. He loves them. He wants to see them acting like Christians. Christians should listen carefully and not just run their mouths off. We should practice wisdom and how we listen and what we say. And that’s what we’re looking at in verse 19. Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak.

This is a very famous passage. James is a very famous book with many famous passages. And verses 19 through 21 are famous. In fact, later on in chapter three, James is gonna talk about the tongue. But he’s introducing that idea right now. And that idea of being quick to hear, slow to speak is something many of us have heard in preaching and teaching. If you’re like me, it’s probably something you’ve been told quite often. But it’s something we need to hear and need to understand because it’s important. And one New Testament scholar points out that James here seems to be, when he’s talking about being quick to listen and slow to speak, he seems to be reflecting on the teaching of Jewish wisdom literature, specifically on the subjects of speech and anger.

And this admonition that we read in verse 19 was apparently a very common one in Jewish writings. So when we look at old Hebrew wisdom literature, especially in the Old Testament and Proverbs, we see that Proverbs spoke several times about the tongue and listening and wisdom and speech. So obviously we find it in scripture, but this admonition that James gives here, this command, was also apparently a common one that would have been found in Second Temple Jewish writings. Second Temple Judaism is when, at the time, typically the intertestamental period between when the Old Testament ended and then when Jesus came. There was many writings done by the Jewish people in those days.

So this seems to be a common admonition or common thing that was written on during that time. And James is writing to Jewish Christians, and it’s most likely that they would have been familiar with this admonition, specifically if they are familiar with the Old Testament. Let’s remember, as I just said, these are most likely Jewish Christians that he’s writing to. So they probably would have been very familiar with wisdom literature of the Old Testament, with what Proverbs talks about when it talks about wisdom in speech and listening. So he’s reminding them of what they’ve heard and read. And this fits, this idea with wisdom and listening and speech fits in the context of the letter because James has already brought up wisdom. Earlier in the chapter, in the first few verses, he talks about asking for wisdom from God.

So wisdom is a big theme in this book. In fact, the idea of practicing wisdom is a major theme in James. And that’s actually one reason scholars sometimes have a hard time agreeing and finding one formula for the structure of James. Especially in this first chapter because a lot of what he’s doing throughout this book is he’s introducing these different themes and it doesn’t always seem to have one sort of coherent thought. Now it does, I’m not saying it’s random or it’s just different things, but what was common in Hebrew wisdom literature specifically Proverbs, is you have one wise statement after another, which is a lot of what you have here in the first chapter of James.

So wisdom, as I already talked about earlier on in chapter one, is a big theme in James. Remember, James is telling these Christians how to live as Christians in a pagan world that’s constantly changing. And wisdom, I’m not gonna recap everything I said about wisdom all those weeks ago, but remember that wisdom is how to live out God’s commands in this secular world, in this pagan world we live in. And part of wisdom is knowing when and when not to speak. It’s when to listen and when to say something.

This is hard for anyone, especially those of us who are like me, who ever since we were very young just have a lot of thoughts on our brain and we want everybody on the planet to know the thoughts we have. Because who doesn’t want to know what we have to say? I have so many thoughts. Surely every single one of you wants to know what’s going through my brain every minute of the day. No, that’s not true at all. So there’s wisdom in what we say and what we don’t say. And this is what James is getting at here. And there’s great wisdom in not speaking sometimes. Proverbs chapter 10 verse 19 says, when there are many words, wrongdoing is unavoidable, but one who restrains his lips is wise.

And John MacArthur commenting on this verse says, wisdom restrains the tongue since much speech risks sin. So much speech can risk sin. As I used the phrase earlier on just a couple minutes ago, Christians should not run their mouths off. What I mean by that is we shouldn’t engage in foolish talk. We shouldn’t just run our mouths off and say dumb, silly things. We should be wise in what we say. And there’s much wisdom sometimes in remaining silent. Proverbs 17, 18, even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise. When he closes his lips, he’s considered prudent. There’s much wisdom in remaining silent. There’s a time to speak and there’s a time to listen. And that’s part of wisdom, is knowing when to speak and when to listen.

And I’m sure many of us can think of someone who’s just not always talking, but always talking foolishly. They’re not thinking before they speak. They’re not thinking about the consequences of what their words may have. Foolish talk. They pay no heed to what others are saying. And they don’t think of the consequences of what they say. You know, there’s that old phrase, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, which is just a big lie. It’s not even remotely true. Words are damaging. We see that in the digital age we live in on social media.

Now, it may not be actual verbal words someone’s speaking. It may be something they’ve tweeted or a post they’ve put online. But those are words. And words are very powerful. The President of the United States, world leaders, use social media platforms to give out, to say things. They use words to communicate on a daily basis. Words are important. And if you pay attention to the words that often pop up on social media from a variety of people, oftentimes we can look and say, they should not have said that. They should have practiced wisdom. So instead of being quick to speak, James is telling these Christians to be quick to listen.

Notice he’s using the word quick, meaning they need to do it. He’s just not saying listen, he’s saying be quick to listen. Basically saying there’s a priority on listening. So be quick to listen and slow to speak. So we should prioritize listening to others. Much wisdom comes from listening to others, and I’ve experienced this in my own life. I’ve actually found in life that when you just sit and listen to others talking, you can learn so much and gain so much wisdom.

Now, as I just mentioned, I just finished my Master’s of Divinity degree. Now, in a classroom setting, you’re supposed to sit and listen. You’re required. And it is great. But even in conversations with other people, we can sit and gain much wisdom, especially from people who are older and have had much more experience than us. There is much wisdom in listening. Though, we do want to make note of who we are listening to. Are we listening to wise voices? Are we listening to the Word of God? Are we listening to Christians? Or are we listening to people who don’t know the Lord, who are giving us bad advice? Make sure we are listening to the right people. Be quick to listen to wise, godly people.

This idea of quick to listen brings to mind marriage. And, you know, they say, well, when a young man is getting married, everyone says this to him. Now, in marriage, your wife’s gonna talk to you sometimes, and you’re gonna be focused on trying to fix the problem, but you just have to listen. Everyone told me that. I’d heard that for years, and I thought, oh, yeah, yeah, sure, I know, I’ve got that. Yeah, I’m gonna listen, and I won’t try to fix the problem.

Well, then I get married, and you know, my wife and I, we come home, and Carrie’s prepared this amazing dinner, and we’re sitting down, and I’m enjoying the dinner, and she starts telling me about her day, and she starts telling me about her coworkers and all these problems, and I’m like, okay. This is what we’re going to do. You’re going to do this. And this is how you’re going to handle this conversation. And we’re going to do this. And then she looks at me and goes, no, I don’t need you to fix it. I just need you to listen. And if you could see a picture of me in that moment, it’s like my brain is going, can’t compute. What am I supposed to do? Because as a guy, I’m like, I don’t understand. Why are you telling me this then?

Now, we should listen. That’s not what I’m saying. We should listen. But it’s hard for me to listen. Because I’m like, well, we got to fix the problem. What do you mean? You just want me to listen. But that’s part of being quick to listen. Because sometimes when we’re quick to speak or quick to quote unquote solve a problem, we don’t have all the answers. We don’t have all the facts. We don’t know what’s going on. It’s important to listen. And James doesn’t stop with these two though, being quick to listen and slow to speak. He doesn’t stop there. He goes on to tell them they are to be slow to anger.

So verse 19, everyone must be, and notice he says everyone, not just this group of people, not just the elders of the church, not just the deacons of the church, not just the men, not just the women, not just the children, everyone. This applies to every Christian, no matter your age or whatever stage of life you are in. We are all to live by these words. Quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Slow to speak. wisdom in what we say, and slow to anger. And this one, the slow to anger, may at first seem disconnected from the other two, but that’s not necessarily the case.

Proverbs 17:27 says this. One who withholds his words has knowledge, and one who has a cool spirit is a person of understanding. A cool spirit, a calm spirit, a peaceful spirit, a spirit that is not quick, that is not quick to anger. The calm, peaceful person who is not quick to anger knows when not to speak, because what they might say could be foolish. Flaring up and getting angry typically leads to foolish talk or hateful talk. In fact, in most cases, it does. In fact, I think we can say in all cases it does. When you’re angry at someone and you have hateful thoughts towards them and you lash out towards them in rage, you not only speak foolishly, but you speak in a hateful manner.

And as we move into verse 20, we see that anger is a serious issue and something Christians should not be marked by. Remember, we’re talking about what Christians should be marked by, but to know what you are to be marked by, you also have to know what you are to not be marked by. When you’re preparing for graduation, as I just was, they tell you, don’t wear jeans, don’t wear shorts, don’t wear a t-shirt, don’t wear all these things. You wear these things, you show up in your gown, you show up with your cap because you’re to be marked as a graduate. Same thing with Christians. Do not be marked by quickness to anger, be marked by slowness, by not becoming angry. And anger does not lead to godly living.

Verse 20, for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Anger does not produce the righteousness of God, which means that being controlled by anger does not lead to right living. Having a life that is fueled by anger and malice and hate does not lead to godly living. You’re not honoring your brothers and sisters as you are commanded to. You’re not loving them as you are commanded to. And this reminds us of the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5, 20 through 22. Jesus says, referring back to the Mosaic law. And whoever commits murder shall be answerable to the court. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court. And whoever says to his brother, you good for nothing, shall be answerable to the Supreme Court. And whoever says, you fool, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Here Jesus explains to the crowd that they are to be more godly than the hypocritical Pharisees. They are to live in a right manner before God. They do not have to have anger and malice in their hearts toward a brother or sister. So they’re just not to kill. It’s not just about murdering someone, it’s about what’s in your heart. And Jesus talks about why he was on earth when he was in the gospels. Sin starts in the heart. Hating someone is sin. To do such, to have such anger and malice towards a brother or sister is to refer to them as such things, it’s almost the same as saying you don’t want to fellowship with them. You want no part with this brother or sister. When you act towards someone with such anger and malice in your heart, you’re saying I want no part with you. I want no fellowship with you. You’re not treating them as a brother or sister in Christ. You are treating them with contempt. And it’s something that Jesus takes, clearly takes, very seriously. As should we.

Now, of course, there is righteous anger, and we see that even in the life of Jesus when he goes into the temple and overturns the money changer’s tables. That’s not what James is talking about here. He’s not talking about righteous anger. He’s talking about unrighteous anger. That hate towards a brother or sister. Sinful anger must be avoided. And when we look at these two verses and think about how applying them to our own lives, the first thing to note is that we are to listen and we are to listen well. All of us, no matter what you say or how you act, everyone wants to feel like they are being heard when they are talking. It’s a natural feeling. So listen to someone when they’re talking to you.

And when we say listen, when I say we should listen to one another, that doesn’t mean we have to agree with what the person is saying or affirm what the other person is saying. In witnessing encounters, we are listening to someone. We should be listening to what they have to say. They may be telling us why they don’t believe in God. They may be telling us why they left the church. They may be telling us how God couldn’t save them because of all the things they’ve done. We need to listen to what they have to say. But in our response, and by our listening, we are not agreeing or affirming with them. But we need to listen, and we need to be wise in what we say.

My dad always told me, and I still have to practice it, that we need to think before we speak. right before you say something? Is this helpful, what I’m about to say? Is this good, what I’m about to say? And I want to be careful as we’re talking about this passage, because I’m not saying that we need to sort of analyze every single thing we say. And I’m not saying we have to walk on eggshells around every person we talk to. That’s not what we need to do. But we do need to think through what we say sometimes. Is what I’m about to say encouraging to one another? Am I gonna build this person up? Or am I gonna tear them down? Our words should be encouraging to one another. We should seek to build each other up.

And we need to recognize that what we say does have consequences. Our words have consequences. Gossip, that has consequences. Gossip is not wise speech. Is what I’m saying gossip? Is what I’m about to say gonna build this brother or sister up or tear them down? And we must not give into anger and hate. Do not let it control you because it will. They talk about crimes of passion where someone kills someone or commits a crime because they’re passionate and oftentimes it’s because they become so angry that hate and anger controls them and overcomes them. And they sin, grievously.

Now, when I say overcomes, I don’t wanna say that they have no, it’s not as if they couldn’t do anything against the anger. We still choose to be angry and hateful. In fact, oftentimes, the older we get, I know even in my own life, there’s times where I feel that anger, and I know it’s there, and I know it’s wrong, but I still choose to be angry. We still choose to say that angry phrase, or that angry thing, Do not respond in anger when you speak. It’s easy sometimes when someone says something maybe hurtful or cutting to just say right away something hurtful or cutting back. But that’s not godly wise speech.

We should be loving in what we say to one another. Be mindful of what we say. Giving into anger will cause you to say and do things you never thought you would do. It’s easy to become angry. We hear it since we were little kids. We hear people, our teachers, our parents, our grandparents, everyone telling us, don’t give into anger, don’t be angry. And it doesn’t stop when we’re three or five or 10 or 20. We always have to fight against being angry. We always have to pray for patience and peace. What’s one of the fruits of the Spirit? Peace. Pray that God would give you a heart of peace, a forgiving spirit.

When someone wrongs you, and we are wrong sometimes, at times we are hurt. but we are to forgive. Remember, Christ forgave our sins, which means we can forgive others. Only God can heal a hateful, angry heart, and this starts with giving our lives to Christ. Some people are so consumed with anger and hate against the world and others, and even against themselves. Some people really hate and are angry against themselves, and only the power of Christ through salvation can take that away. Now I’m not saying someone who is super hateful and angry will overnight suddenly not struggle with that anymore, but over time with the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they will become more godly. But it’s only Christ’s power that can replace that hate with peace. Only through salvation. Christians should be quick to listen and slow to speak.

And they should also seek to be rid of sin and receive the truths of God’s word. And that brings us to our second point. Christians are to put away and receive, which covers verse 21. I’m gonna read it. Verse 21, therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all the remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. So in verse 21, James shows that it’s just not anger and foolish talk that Christians are to be rid of, but all filthiness and wickedness. And this verse reminds us that none of us are capable of being good on our own. Sin affects all of who we are. Total depravity. One theologian referred to it as pervasive depravity, in the sense that it’s pervasive.

There’s no part of the human that it doesn’t affect. It’s only by Christ’s power that we can be free from it. But notice how he describes sin, putting aside all filthiness and wickedness. It’s filthy, it’s wicked. It’s not just bad. It’s not just, you know, he doesn’t describe sin as something you just shouldn’t do. It’s filthy, it’s wicked. And those are two terms that throughout the history of the world, no matter where you live, and no matter if you’re a Christian or not, filthiness and wickedness don’t have good connotations, even an unbeliever. can understand the word filthy and wickedness as something that’s not good. And that’s the two terms that James is using here. There’s nothing good about sin. The world, Satan, in our flesh will try to make it seem like our life is better when engaged in filth and wickedness, but it never does. And that’s what the world does. That’s what Satan does. Hey, this is what your life could be like. Look at what you could have. Look at who you could be with. Look at the status you could have, the job you could have, but what you don’t see in those moments is how filthy and wicked you’ll be. And that’s what James is talking about.

Craig Blomberg, a New Testament scholar, points out how the verbal phrase that’s used here in verse 20, which is ridding yourself or putting aside, should send the message that these Christians should have already done this. So James is saying this is what you need to do, but you should have already done it. He’s writing to Christians, you should already be seeking to be putting away the filthiness and wickedness. It shouldn’t have started today. It shouldn’t have started when you read these words. It should have already happened. You should already be trying to do it. But he’s also reminding them, hey, seek to continue to do it. It’s a daily battle. Sin doesn’t go away. And they should be quick to do it.

When temptation comes, when sin comes, we should be quick to pray, Lord, remove this temptation. We should be quick to go to the word of God. We should be quick to fight it because fighting sin is one battle we should never be complacent in, that we should never be lazy in. And sinning should make us feel dirty. We should not be comfortable with it. When we see sin, when we hear of something, it should make us feel dirty. We should not be comfortable with sin.

Which is a good reminder sometimes when we hear a specific word that’s used, when we hear God’s name abused in an unholy and irreverent manner. Does it make us shudder? Maybe not physically shudder, but even in our minds we think, oh, that’s awful. When we hear a crude joke, is our response to laugh? or to be uncomfortable with it. We should be uncomfortable with sin. We should be uncomfortable with people going and getting drunk every night. We should be uncomfortable with people living together and having sex before marriage. It doesn’t matter how normal all of that is in the world, we should be uncomfortable with it. Because it’s sin and it’s filthy and it’s wicked and God hates it. Many of us know what it’s like to feel dirty. You’ve worked a long day. You’ve maybe done a bunch of yard work.

Just this past week, I didn’t exactly know what I’d signed up for, but my in-laws were out of town, so I was like, well, I’m going to go mow their lawn. Two or two and a half hours later, I was like, oh my goodness, they have the biggest lawn ever. It’s like they’ve got, there’s the left side of the front yard, there’s the right side of the front yard, there’s the back side of the front yard, then they got the backyard, then they got the garden area. And after mowing two patches, I was like, oh, I gotta go mow that lawn. And then I was like, oh, I gotta go mow that side. I was like dying. It’s like, Mark, where are you? But I was dirty afterwards, I was sweaty, and I needed to be clean, and after showering, I felt clean. And everyone knows that good feeling after you shower and you’re clean, you feel made new almost. And that’s what sin makes us feel, dirty.

But when we’re apart from Christ, and then when we’re saved, we’re washed clean, but even once we’re saved and we’re continuing on in the Christian life, we still at times are made dirty. We still sometimes sin, and we have to ask for forgiveness and repent. But even being around sin can make us feel dirty, which is a reminder to be careful and mindful of who we spend our time with. We want to remove the filth and replace it with cleanliness. But James just doesn’t stop with telling these Christians to throw off sin. He says, put it away. Put all filthiness and wickedness away. But he doesn’t stop there. He goes on into verse 20. So he says, therefore, putting aside all filthiness and wickedness and all the remains, putting aside all filthiness and all the remains of wickedness, in humility, receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. And he’s linking back to verse 18. Verse 18, in the exercise of his will, he brought us forth by the word of truth.

When James talks about the word in verse 21, that’s what he’s talking about. The word of truth. He’s talking about the message of Christ. He’s talking about the story of redemption. He’s talking about the gospel. The gospel message when he mentions the word. But he’s also, I think, talking about scripture as a whole. The truths of God’s word. From Genesis to what they have now here in James. And this actually seems evident from the next three verses, where he’s talking about obeying God’s word. And we’re gonna cover those next week. But in the next three verses, he’s gonna be talking about being a doer of the word, obeying the word of God, obeying the commands in it.

So James is talking about here by the word, the word of truth, the gospel message, but he’s also talking about scripture as a whole, all of it. He’s telling these Christians that every part of their lives should be saturated with the word of God. Instead of being saturated by filth and wickedness, be saturated by scripture.

I came to the realization several years ago, I enjoy cinema, I enjoy movies. And sometimes if you enjoy movies, you find these lists and it’s like, oh, these are the top 10, top 20 greatest movies ever. And I was like, oh, I gotta watch these movies. But then you look up some of these movies and you read about the filth that is in them. And you think to yourself, I have control over this, and why do I really have to watch this? Am I gonna get to heaven and God’s gonna be like, well, you did okay, Stephen, but there’s one movie you missed. So, like, no, that’s not what’s gonna happen. Do not put yourself in a situation where you’re surrounded by filth and wickedness.

Now, I wanna be careful. We can’t control who we work with. We can’t control always where we go to school or who our schoolmates are. but we can respond how we act and how we respond to the filth and wickedness around us. And when you’re in a situation like that, where you’re surrounded by filth and wickedness and constant sin, it should drive you to the word of God. Saying like, I don’t wanna be saturated by sin, I wanna be saturated by the word of God. And this command that James gives in verse 21, and humility receive the word implanted which is able to save your souls reminds us that the gospel message should constantly be transforming our lives. It should be constantly.

James is saying this message should be transforming your lives. That’s what he’s telling these Christians. They should be seeking to be more like Christ each and every day. And he’s also telling these Christians to receive it with humility. So this word, this word implanted, receive it with humility. And I mean, that word is part of the Christian life, humility, being humble. Because of sin, these Christians, or because of sin, these people before they were saved, they were unable to save themselves. Salvation is a work of God through Christ in Christ alone. Man cannot save himself. And they need to remember that only God gives new life and shows them how to live the godly life. And scripture is what shows them how to do this, and the inner sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

They need to recognize, these Christians that James is writing to, and us as well, need to recognize that we need scripture and must depend on it for authority and truth. And I use those two words for a reason, authority and truth. Scripture is our authority. It’s our final authority. This is a great book. There are other great books out there. Calvin’s Institute’s one of the first full systematic theologies we have. I just finished a great book about being created in God’s image. There’s so many great Christian books out there that are wonderful and we should read, but they pale in comparison to this one because this one has the final authority. It’s authoritative and it’s truthful. This is actual truth we are reading. Authority and truth and James is saying you need to receive it with humility because you depend on it. You need it and he says the implanted word.

The implanted word most likely referring to this is a gospel message. This word of truth is the word that they have heard before So receive the implanted word Receive what you have been told receive what’s been taught and preached to you continue to believe it Continue to read and grow Don’t forget the gospel message We can get so busy in our lives Sometimes we can forget the simple fact that Christ died for our sins and then rose on the third day But that is the most beautiful message in the entire world and we should never forget it. I And at the end of the verse it says, which is able to save your souls. And save your souls most likely actually refers to salvation at the final judgment.

Doug Moo, a New Testament scholar, describes it as a salvation as future from the standpoint of the believer. So it’s looking at, save your souls is looking towards that future judgment when Christ returns to earth and he judges and we’ll be saved from eternal condemnation in hell. If you are in Christ, you will not be sentenced to hell for eternity. For those who believe the gospel, they are saved from the final judgment. And this is cause for great rejoicing. This is another thing we need to think of often. What our heavenly inheritance means. What our eternal inheritance is. We are spared from that final judgment. We are spared from eternity in the literal lake of fire. Instead, we will live and reign in the new heavens and new earth with Christ and our Heavenly Father and all the saints. That’s cause for great rejoicing.

This passage that we read here is similar to what Paul writes in Colossians 3, verses 1-17. And I actually want to invite everyone to turn to Colossians 3, verses 1-17. This is a very famous passage. Paul writes where he’s talking about putting on the new self, getting rid of the old, out with the old and in with the new essentially. And several things that we’re reading here correspond very closely to what James is talking about in these three verses 19 through 21.

So Colossians chapter 3. 1 through 17, starting in verse one, the Apostle Paul writes, therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. Therefore, consider the members of your earthly bodies dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience. And in them you also once walked when you were living in them. But now you also put them all aside. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him. A renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free man, but Christ is all and in all. So as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so should you. Beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. But now you’re also put away all aside. Anger, wrath, malice, slander. Paul is talking about some of the main things that James was talking about. You see the language of putting aside and putting on. Get rid of the old, put on the new. He talks about putting away anger, wrath, malice. That’s what James talked about. Being slow to anger because it doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. Putting on the new self.

In verse 10, have put on the new self, which is being renewed. And in verse 12, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Verse 14, beyond all things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. What we read in James reminds us what we read here in Colossians. As Christians, we are to be marked far differently than what we were marked by when we were unbelievers. and put off the old self and put on the new self. Put off wickedness and receive the truths of the gospel message daily. And when we look at this passage and think, and we’ve already talked about it a lot, but applying it to our lives, we must rid ourselves of sin each and every day. The battle of sin, the battle to fight sin doesn’t stop.

Now, if you are a Christian, you are saved and you have the Holy Spirit in your life, which is a great asset and the ultimate ally. You have God to help you, you literally have God to help you fight sin. But you still have to obey and listen to him. And I talked about fighting sin last week and that still applies here. Fight sin. But do you hate sin? I talked about that. Sin should make us uncomfortable. It should be unbearable. Do we hate it? Does it make us sick? The abortion and the LGBTQ plus movement should make us sick. To see two people of the same gender getting married, to see someone saying they want to change their gender, to hear of a woman going and murdering the child in her womb, that should make us sick. But all sin should make us sick.

The quote-unquote little white lie, which is not a thing, there’s no white lie, it’s just a lie. The little theft, that little thought, that malice, that anger in your heart that Jesus talks about? Well, Jesus talked about that and clearly it’s not just a little deal, it’s a big deal. That should make us sick. Does cheating, does any type of sin, that one look, does it make us sick? Are we convicted of our sin? Because we should be. Sin should make us sick. We should read scripture from a humble posture and let it transform our lives. We need it after all. We need this book. We need scripture. We need to be taught from it. We need to be reading it each and every day and let it transform our lives.

This past May, I was marked as a graduate. It was clear that I was graduating. I had my hood, I had my gown, I had my cap and my diploma. I was a graduate. But as Christians, we are to be marked by certain qualities and traits. Are we marked by wisdom in how we listen and speak? Are we marked by a controlled and calm temper? Are we marked by seeking to put off our sinful flesh and receive the truths of God’s word that have the power to transform our lives? That’s the daily life of a Christian, putting off the old and putting on the new, seeking to be wise in what we say, letting the gospel continue to transform our lives each and every day.

Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for what we just read about in the book of James. I pray that we are quick to listen, that we are slow to speak, and slow to anger, and that we are seeking to put off all filthiness and wickedness, and seeking to receive the truths of your word. I pray that we are marked by those qualities, that when people look at us, they can say, those are Christians, and they really love the Lord, and they love me. I pray that you bless everyone as we leave this evening, and bless our week, in Jesus’ name, amen.