Untitled Sermon

to James chapter 1. James chapter 1. The reality of Christmas is that God became flesh. God became a man, poured himself out, left his robes of glory in heaven, and the person of the Godhead known as the Son became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, John says. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Then he went to a cross. So from Bethlehem

to Calvary is about 15 miles on the map, but it was already ordained as part of the travel plan when Jesus came. It wasn't an accident. It was purposeful, and from his venture to the cross, we have new life to those that believe on his name. We have abundant life, and we have that that's described for us in James. There should be an evidence of new life if you have truly

understood salvation. There should be evidence of new life in your life. Your faith should manifest itself. In the workings of faith, or there is no new life, and you may as well just chuck your manger scene because it's no more than something just taking up space. It's just some kind of a ritual that you do at this time. If there is not the evidence of faith in your life, if there's not the workings

of that faith manifesting themselves out in your life, and that's what James says, and he pulls no punches. He makes no bones about it. He's forthright. He spent 30 years with the Son of God denied. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian.

He's a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's not a Christian. And now after coming to a realization that what he said about himself was true, James says there's no time to waste. There's no playing games. This is how it is. And he had such an urgent feeling, such an urgent appeal that people understood that, that it becomes evident as we go through

his book. And so the chapter one is dealing with that, the evidences of faith that are the workings that come out in our lives, the workings of our faith. There's a poll that I read about this week from the evangelical Press. It was conducted by the Barna Group, who does, it's a Christian. They are a research group that is Christian. They do research for various agencies, but they're all Christians, and they do

a lot of Christian research. And for the Lutheran Hour Ministries, they conducted a survey, and they found that fewer than half of Americans who identify themselves as Christians say that the most important part of Christmas is the birth of Jesus. Fewer than half of all Americans who call themselves Christians, when they were surveyed, fewer than half of them said that the most important part of Christmas was the birth of Jesus. The survey said while 88% of those surveyed identified themselves as Christians, only 37% called the birth of Christ the most significant aspect of Christmas. Family time was cited as most important by 44%. Now, family time is important.

Family time is extremely important. But the most important thing about Christmas, the most important thing about this time of the year, is that Jesus was born, is that God came down and reached out to man and dwelt among us. And I think probably one of the reasons that fewer than half of the Christians say that the most important part of Christmas is the birth of Jesus, is that many Christians realize that or acknowledge that is because we have become, in our day and age, apathetic. A lot of us would like to think that we are the Church of Philadelphia, the Church of Promise in the book of Revelation, that God will spare from the hour that's coming upon the world

to try the earth, and because of their love and their faithfulness, that God really thinks they're great. But I think we forget to realize that there are the different church groups mentioned in Revelation in each age. In the predominant age of this, the predominant age of this, the predominant group of this age is Laodicea. And there is a lot of half-heartedness in this generation. There's a

lot of a satisfaction in this generation. I don't want you to ever be satisfied with your Christian life. There's always more. There's always more of God to know and experience. There's always more of His love to realize in your life. There's always more of His Word to have made real in your life. There's always more. There always will be more. For eternity, you'll be spending eternity doing

that. So don't get satisfied. Don't get satisfied with your life. Press on. Seek to know more. And that's what James is implying. That's what James talks about as we come into his epistle. I keep laying that down, and I need to pick it up. James is dealing with the workings of faith. And in chapter 1, he's dealing with that through the areas of trials. And he's saying that if, in fact, you are saved, the evidence of that

will be worked out in your life through trials. Trials have a purpose, and they are to reveal the workings of faith. And so in verses 1 through 11, we've seen where he says you need to have a proper perspective. You need to have a proper perspective. You need to have a proper perspective. You need to have a proper perspective about these trials. And so as we look at the trials in our

lives, from the itty-bitty ones to what we consider big ones, we need to consider those trials joy. We need to evaluate the trial and to remember that God has a purpose in it, that He's working patience out of us, a patient trust in Him, a patient trust that He will accomplish what He has promised to accomplish and to work out in our lives. That's verses 1 through 11, a proper perspective of trials. And in verses 12 through 18, He wants us to persevere through those trials.

James tells us there's a blessing that comes. Blessed is the man, verse 12, who perseveres through these trials. You are happier when you, listen, you are happier when you persevere through a trial than if things are rosy smooth, than if things are glass calm and there's no irregularities in your life. You only think you're happy at those times. What you're mainly doing is averting a

storm. And what you're doing at that time is becoming complacent and becoming laodiceic. And so God stirs up the waters. He brings the trials to work, a special work in your life, molding you into the image of His Son, calling you to depend upon Him. And it's at those times that you are the happiest. It's those times as you're in relationship with the Lord during those times, and He brings you through, just like

He brought the disciples to the other side of Galilee, just like He brought Israel from the wilderness into Canaan, just like He defeated the Philistines before David, just like He used Gideon and defeated the foe, just like He, in Chronicles, as the people prayed to the Lord, He brought the disciples, He raised Him, He defeated the enemy. That's when there's the most joy. Those are the times we shirk, but that's when there's the most joy. And so God says, persevere. There's a blessing

in perseverance. To Him that perseveres, will I give the crown of life, He says, to those that love Him. And we saw last time that the crown of life deals with a type of relationship with the Lord after this life, the type of relationship with Him in the millennial kingdom and beyond. So there's a faithfulness here that determines a service there. And that's what James is wanting

to bring out. are great. At least you make it. Those that are holding out till the last minute, if you make it, you know, if the death angel doesn't get there first, if you're holding out till the last minute because you want to enjoy all the supposed things here, and you just happen to make it, you'll get there. But the quality of your life relationship with the Lord is going to be far less than it

could be. And that's what James doesn't want us to miss out on. Because see, he missed out on it for 30 years as he denied his brother, as he denied who his brother was. He missed out on that. And so he doesn't want us to miss out on that. So there's the perseverance. Now we come in verses 19 through 27 to the product of those trials. We get a proper perspective and we persevere. Now there's a product

to those trials. There's something that the trials are working out. Back up in verse 3, it says that they're working patience or perseverance. Well, what is that? What is that exactly? What exactly does that look like? How do I know that patience and perseverance are working themselves out in my life? Well, he shows us that product in verses 19 through 27. Let's read along as I, follow along as

I read verses 19 through 27 this morning. In chapter 1, he says,

For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 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. Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. And 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 and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 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 it, he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 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. We're going to divide this into two parts. We'll just look at

verses 19 through 21 today and look at 22 through 27 next time, because I want us to, not lightly read over this, I want us to catch what he's saying because it's important. I don't know what this next year holds. None of us do. I don't think it's going to be business as usual. I'm not looking at it as we're just going to have the same type of year that we had this year

and we're just going to seek to be making it through our daily grind in the job and seek to be working towards retirement. I'm not looking at it that way. There's some major upheaval, some major distress just on the horizon. And I'm anticipating, and I don't know if you, but that's what Paul tells Timothy is going to happen with increasing intensity. That's what

Jesus says is coming on the scene. Watch out, watch as these things get this way. So I don't think it's being pessimistic or I don't think I'm being a negative confessionist to say those kinds of things. The watchmen are called by God to warn. And if they don't warn, then the blood of the people is on their heads. And so I feel an urgent responsibility to God

for you. And so I see this and I'm warning, get stirred up, out of your satisfied attitude, put on the glasses of God's word and look at the world around you because we are fast approaching the catching out of the church and the emergence of a global system. And there's going to be some persecution on the church with graduating intensity until that happens. And so anticipate. I'm talking whole scale persecution. I'm not

talking the jailing of somebody here and there because they picket in an abortion clinic. I'm talking about whole scale concentration campaigns. Jailing, separation of families, father goes one way, mother goes another, kids go another, persecution style, this country before long if the Lord tarries. So anticipate it and prepare for it. These should be times of preparation in your walk with the Lord, not preparing to fight

the enemy out there physically and stocking up on artillery and all, but a preparation for whatever is ahead. Is your faith at a point that it can endure those things? Are you at a point in your walk with the Lord where you can trust him in the middle of that? You better get ready. That's what James is talking about. James, anticipated that. He knew the persecution of Rome. He didn't know to what extent it was going

to be. He didn't know how soon his brother was coming back, how soon Jesus was coming. He anticipated it imminently. And we'll see that when we get to chapter 5. And he was preparing the people for the persecution that was ahead. So that's what we're looking at as we look at this. And as we look at the product of the trial here in verses 19 through 27, I want you to see it in

that light. I want you to anticipate learning it in that, not just learning something else about the Bible, but preparation to anchor your faith on the Lord for the times that are ahead. Okay. The first thing I want you to see as we look at verses 19 through 21 are, or is, the fact that one of the first products of the trials, as we persevere, as we trust the Lord, as we consider it joy, is a change of attitude. You and I will be experiencing a change of attitude. Listen,

if you have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, if there's a time that you have been born again, then there should be a visible, definite, distinctive change from and after you've accepted him. It should be noticeable to you as well as to people around you, but it shouldn't be something that you just kind of did. And then you're back in lifestyle that you used to be in and the same kind of things that you used to do. There should be a visible change. The first change will be a change of attitude. And that's what James is pointing

out as he brings us to this section. Look at verses 19 through 21. Let's just look at verse 19. He says, my dear brothers, take note of this. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Take note of this, he says in the NIV. In King James, reading King James, it says, wherefore. And if you have a wherefore or a therefore, you need to look wherefore they're therefore, right? They're a conclusion. They're concluding

a thought. They're concluding something that's just gone on prior to that. James has been seeing things concerning trials, concerning the purpose of the trials, and that we have the proper perspective of God's purpose, that we persevere through those trials. Just as he finishes up in verse 18, he says concerning the fact of the blessing of the crown of life and all he says in verse 18, he chose to give us.

Through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all that he created. So through the word of truth, God has brought us new life. You and I have been born again because we heard the gospel, because we heard the word of truth. And the same thought is still coming as he comes into verse 19. And he says, wherefore, or take note of this. He says,

connected to that, take note of this. If you have the proper perspective of trials, if you persevere through those trials and you want to see the product, then it's going to be related to this life that's given to us by speaking the speaking of the word of truth. It's going to be related to this word of truth. And so he says, wherefore, be quick to listen, be quick to listen. Now, I don't know about you, but it's easy to read, be swift to

hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath, or be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger, whichever translation you read. It's easy to read over those and think of them in the general sense of life. In the general sense of life, I need to be quick to hear. Quick to hear others. In the general sense of life, I need to be slow to speak because I need to be quick to hear what others have to say. In the general sense of life, I need to be slow to

get angry and that's a given. Now, unfortunately, we look at that and we see a result instead of the key, instead of the core. Yeah, that should be the major result of life, of our attitude in life, but it goes deeper than that. It begins somewhere else. You see, there are, and I shared this with first service, there are the management classes you take today. If you're going into

management or human resources, what they try and teach you this, that in your relationships with other peoples, in your relationship with your employees as a manager, you need to be a listener. You need to listen because you get yourself into trouble if you don't listen. You need to hear what the people have to say and they're trying to teach communication skills and they're making us aware that there needs to be a listening and then a feedback kind of thing and it's all up here. It's all a nebulous kind of thing out here and they're missing the core. You see, those are great things

biblical. Those are great things that we see that we need them in our relational abilities, in our in our jobs and all because it has a biblical source, but it begins somewhere other than just learning communication skills. He's not teaching communication skills because of the context. He's making a conclusion. Wherefore, because of what we've just said concerning the word of truth,

be quick to listen to the word of truth. See, that's where it begins. Be quick to listen to God's word. You want the proper perspective on trials so that you can count it all joy, so that you can persevere. You want the proper perspective on trials so that you can count it all through the trials so that you can realize what the product of those trials are. Then be quick to

listen to God's word. Be swift to hear what God has to say. In other words, you're going to have a change of attitude. If your faith is definitely genuine and the salvation of God is in your life, there will be a noticeable change of attitude. You're going to have a receptiveness to the word of God. Let's start there. Your first change of attitude is a receptiveness to the word of God.

You are going to be quick to listen, to hear what God has to say. Now, when I first got saved, before I got saved, I would go to church and I knew there was something missing. I mean, I had a Bible. As a matter of fact, I went through, what did they call it back then? You go through class and then you're confirmed, confirmation class. At 12, you go down front

and you're baptized and you repeat after the pastor a prayer. He baptizes you and he gives you a Bible. I had a Bible and I knew there was something important about that. I memorized the 23rd Psalm and the Lord's Prayer so that I could get that Bible. I memorized the Apostles' Creed. I really had no idea what they were saying other than that I memorized. And I'd go home and there

were times I knew there was something more to this life. And I'd grab that Bible and I'd start to read it and it was like reading somebody else's mail. It was like it wasn't, it just was a bunch of words. It didn't make any sense at all. Then the guy that ended up leading me to the Lord, as he was sharing with me, he was planting that word and watering the word in my life. And we'd

get together and I'd ask him questions and he would answer from the Bible. And I started getting interested in this. I wanted to know more about this from an intellectual point. I wanted to know more of what it said because to me it was disjointed and didn't make any sense. And I wanted to see how it connected and how he knew where to go to find these answers. And so finally I got to the

point when I got saved, I just went to bed one night after having a Bible study with Ron and I said, Lord, I don't know what it is Ron has, but whatever it is he has, I want it. And that's a prayer, pray, sin, and prayer. You don't have to pray a certain prayer. I just, Lord, I want you. And I come into my life and he takes over from there. And from that point on, as I started

looking at this, it's like the scales dropped and I saw, boy, I could see this makes sense. And I just had a hunger for the word. I wanted to know more. I had that desire to know more. I couldn't get enough. I started to see how the gospels related to the acts and how they related to the Old Testament. And the Old Testament wasn't done away. It was the groundwork for what was

laid here. And you could find the New Testament in the Old Testament concealed. And you could find the Old Testament in the New Testament revealed. And I was hungry and I couldn't get enough. See, there's a point though that you can get to where you lose that hunger, you lose that awesomeness before God, and you end up just clicking along, functioning. You're doing the function, but you haven't spent the time with the Lord. That's the church at

Ephesus in the book of Revelation. You're doing the work, he said. You're clicking out ministry. You're really functioning well. You've got one problem. You left your first love. You left that hunger, that awesomeness of meeting with me in my presence and devouring my word and learning more, but you've lost that. You see, that's where a lot of us are this morning as we sit here. There's a

lot of us that hear words. They hear, you hear what I'm saying, but it's not making any sense. It's just kind of, you're functioning. You're just here. And he says, be quick to listen. There's a receptiveness. There's a change of attitude. And specifically, we're still dealing with the trials here, the subject of trials. Specifically, as you're looking at the trials in your life,

there's a receptiveness to God's word. There's a hunger for God's word. There's a quickness that wants to listen to what God has to say, because I know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And I know that the strength that I need to make it through this trial is found in God. And God reveals that to me through his word. And so there's a desire for that. We grow. The

Bible says, Peter says that you grow by the sincere milk of the word. Hebrews tells us that we grow from milk to meat as we eat of the word, as we digest the word, as we eat more and more, as we spend time with God in here. And it warns us, it admonishes that some are still on milk. You still, the biggest thing to you is that Christmas is the baby Jesus in the manger. And there's no

correlation in your mind. The fact that God became, a baby. You ever thought about that? I mean, thought about the, the, the ramifications of that, that the creator of the world who held the very world between his fingertips was in a manger, was a baby that, you know, the concept to me is that if he burped wrong, we'd lose half of the galaxy. I mean, have you ever thought of the awesomeness of that? Or is it just that we get

to put the manger scene up and we put the tree up and we have people over and you're like the majority of the percentage of the people in the survey that say that Christmas is family, family time. James says, be quick to listen because God wants to speak. And that's how we grow. And that's how we gain the faith necessary to move through the trials that we're in. Jesus

warns us in Luke's gospel chapter 18 to take heed how you hear. He was talking to the people in parables and he says, take heed, not what you hear, but how you're hearing it. You're going to hear it, but take heed how you hear it. It's important. It will affect your choices. It will affect your life. It will affect the importance of your relationship with him. Take heed how you hear,

because listen, I, I know so, many things are screaming for your attention. So many things in life are clamoring to have your direct attention that it's hard to study. It's hard to just spend devotional time with the Lord to just get apart for 10 or 15 minutes a day just to spend with. I know that I understand it's hard for me and I'm a pastor. This is my job and it's hard for me if it's hard for me.

And this is my job. When you have outside employment as well, and you're trying to do this as well, I understand the difficulty. It's hard, but it's necessary. And that's what James is saying. It's absolutely necessary. There's so much distraction. I was sharing with first service. I know how easy it is to get distracted. I, I go, you, you go apart, you know, to take time to get up early and you finally get awake and you get in and I go in and

I sit down and you sit down in a chair and you've got the word and you sit down in the chair and all of a sudden you're sitting in the chair and it's not tight. And you kind of reach under there and you start screwing the screw in and well, it's not getting tight. So I'll just go down and get a screwdriver and you go down and get the screwdriver and you come back and you start screwing that thing in to get it tight and the head breaks. Well, you got to go get the drill and drill it out and put a new bolt in. And by that time,

devotional time is over. I know how it is. I know how easy it is to become distracted. An article here on that. A couple was riding up the ski lift at one of the popular Colorado resorts. Suddenly the woman complained to her husband that she was in dire need of a restroom. He told her not to fear that he was sure some kind of a powder room was at the top. He was wrong.

And the pain did not go away. You've ever had nature hit its panic button in you. Then you know that at a temperature of 12 below zero, you're going to be in a panic. You're going to be in a panic. You're going to be in a panic. With time running out, the woman weighed her options. Her husband picking up on the intensity of the problem suggested that since she was wearing an all white ski outfit that would

camouflage her, she should go off into the woods. She headed for the tree line and began disrobing. You've ever parked on a slope. Then you know there is a right way and a wrong way to set your skis so that you don't move. You guessed it. In her hurry, she had them positioned the wrong way. Steep slopes are not forgiving, even during embarrassing moments. Without

warning, the woman found herself sliding backwards, picking up speed, out of control, racing through the trees, back down the slope. Her derriere was still there, her pants down below her knees, creating an unusual vista for other skiers. The woman skied, if you define the word loosely, back under the lift and finally collided violently with one of the support pylons. The bad news was that she broke her arm and was unable to pull up her ski pants. At long last, her husband arrived and put an end to the skis. She was able to

get to her nude show and then went down to the base of the mountain and summoned the ski patrol who transported her to the hospital. In the emergency room, she was regrouping when a man with an obviously broken leg was put in bed next to hers. So how did you break your leg, she asked, making small talk. It was the darndest thing you ever saw, he said. I was riding up the ski lift

and suddenly I couldn't believe my eyes. There was this crazy woman skiing backward, out of control, down the mountain with her bare bottom hanging out of her clothes and her pants down around her knees. I leaned over to get a better look and I guess I didn't realize how far I'd moved. I fell out of the lift. So how did you break your arm? I understand distraction. That's one of the things

that the enemy wants to do in our walk is distract us because this is our supply line. This is our food and water supply. This is how we feed and keep ourselves strong. And all the enemy wants to do is disrupt that supply line, make it irregular so you're not getting the food that you normally get. So you're not getting the food that you normally get. So you're not getting the

cleansing water as the Holy Spirit takes the word and refreshes and cleanses you. I understand distraction. James says we have to be swift to hear. We have to make that time and especially, especially in the midst of trials, especially if you're going through a pressured situation now, which statistics indicate that the Christmas holidays are the most stressed and pressured time of the year. People go through more stress. There are more suicides at this time of the year

than any other time of the year. There are more family breakups at this time than any other time of the year. So if you're going through a trial, the thing you need to be doing, the most now is seeking to spend that quiet time with the Lord, seeking to be silent before him, seeking to be quick to hear. All creation, all of creation obeys his word. The birds know when to

migrate, the trees know when to drop their leaves, the plants know when to grow and when to stop growing. The sun and the moon and the stars are set and they do their thing that God has set them to do. All creation obeys God except those who were created in his image. We have a choice and you and I need to choose. We have a choice. We have a choice. We have a choice. We have a choice. We have a choice.

We can be swift to hear God's word. There needs to be a receptiveness, a change of attitude, a receptiveness for the word of God if there indeed is the faith working in our lives. Secondly, he says, you need to be slow to speak. You need to be slow to speak. And there are a myriad of scriptures dealing with that. And it seems to be the one we overlook the most

because it seems like everybody has to get the word in edgewise. Everybody's talking, be it on the internet or on a phone or somewhere. Everybody's quick to speak. Proverbs 10, 19 says, when words are many, transgression is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is prudent. Proverbs 13.3 says, he who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips

comes to ruin. Proverbs 17.28 says, even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise. Tribute was paid to a linguist who people said could keep silent in seven different languages. Proverbs 29.20 says, do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There's more hope for a fool than for him. Hasty in his words. Many troubles come from hasty speaking. Now, again, this phrase is dealing in

the context of trials. When the trial hits, how often have you caught yourself saying something hastily, some hasty remark? Oh, it's the water heater again. You know, why did you have to do that? How can I be so stupid? Hasty, hasty speech, hasty words in the midst of trial. And specifically, James is looking at the trial where it affects us. So when someone speaks against you, when someone says something

derogatorily to you, to cut you down, to cut your job performance down, to cut you down in some way, how swift are you to speak? Hasty words. That's one area that the Lord really had to deal with me and is still dealing with me in my walk. Before I got saved, I was quick with barbed witticism. Somebody could say something to me and I was quick to zing them back and I could one-up them. And if somebody

said something, I could zing something back that would cut their legs out from under them. And I prided myself in that. And so now when something's said, I really have to lighten my tongue. And especially if it's said to me, because immediately there's the billboard and I can read it and I could zip something back quick. It would chop somebody to shreds. And I really have to hold that back.

That's what he's meaning here, where he says, be slow to speak, specifically during trials, specifically during those tense times. That's a product of going through the trials, considering them to be the workings of God. There's a purpose in him. He's working out the patience in all in us so that we're swift to hear his word, to be obedient to him in that, and slow to speak, slow to speak something hasty that might hurt the situation, that might harm someone in the midst of this trial. Maybe reading Matthew 15,

18 helped identify to me more the meaning of that where this application is concerned. Matthew 15, 18 says, but the things that come out of the mouth, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees about what defiles. And see, the Pharisees were all into the ritualism. You don't eat the food that's not consecrated. You wash your hands. Your disciples didn't wash their hands. And Jesus said,

don't you know it's not stuff that goes in, but stuff that comes out that defiles a man. And he says in Matthew 15, 18, the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart. And these make a man unclean for out of the heart come evil thoughts. Now you go back in James just a bit, and you find that that's where sin starts. Remember that sin starts from our own evil

thoughts, our evil desires back in verse 14. The heart from outside, from inside of us comes out evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. And those things evidence themselves in our speech and in our hasty speech. And so James warns us to be swifty here, but slow to speak. Psalm 145, 3 says, set a watch, O Lord, set a guard before my mouth. Keep the door of my

lips. Guard me, Lord. As I mentioned, first service, I know there are a lot of you who have just a personality that you just bubble. You love to talk to people. It's not, it's not talking about that. It's not talking about, you just got to be silent. I've got a personality. I like to talk to people, but the word of God says, I got to keep my mouth shut. No, it's referring to the

hasty kind of speech in a trial. God wants you to speak. That's your personality. That's part of your personality. God wants you to speak. He wants you, that's part of your personality. He wants you to continue talking, but watch yourself, guard yourself, guard your lips that you don't say something hasty. There are times to really be silent. When you're in the middle, I don't, I try

not to get into arguments with people, especially about religion, because the first time somebody says something, then you say something back, and if they start moving up, and this really should go under the angry part, you've lost, and I just step back, because no longer are they listening now to hear your points. They're trying to prove theirs to you, so slow to speak. I'll just wait, but there are times when God prompts you to share, prompts you to speak, that you need to be obedient, and sometimes those are in some pretty dire situations. Another article from the evangelical press that you didn't hear in the secular press was December 6th. A fellow named Andrew Meekins, who was an elder in the International Evangelical Church of

Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, was one of those who died November 23rd when a hijacked jet with 163 passengers and 12 crew members on board ran out of fuel and crashed near the Comoros Islands. You heard about that? You didn't hear about this. According to the survivors of the crash, after the pilot announced that he would be attempting an emergency landing, Meekins stood up and spoke to calm the passengers on the EP.

Meekins then presented the gospel of Jesus Christ and invited people to respond. A surviving flight attendant said that about 20 people accepted salvation, including a fellow flight attendant who did not survive the crash. Meekins, who was on his way to an international conference on urban ministries in Ethiopia, was described as deeply committed to his faith and reserved in his manner. So here's a guy who's normally reserved and quiet. He's on a plane, and they announce that they're

going to make a crash landing in the water. They've just dumped all their fuel. They're going to crash in the water because, well, they didn't dump it. They ran out of it. They're out of fuel, and they could crash, and a lot of people die. And this guy is prompted by God to stand up and call on the passengers. I don't see him preaching a hellfire. He didn't have that much time. We're going down,

and here's Jesus. And if you want him, take him down. And 20 people did, including a flight attendant who died, who didn't make it. Can you imagine? You know, they say, one minute they're sitting here, and they, okay, Lord, come into my life. And the next minute, they're standing before him. What an awesome thing. But the guy responded to the Lord's prompting to speak at the time that

God was telling him to speak. He needs to be more. More of a quick to hear the word of God and a slowness to speak so that we don't say hasty things that can hurt other people. You've probably heard this before, too. One commentator says, that's why God gave us two ears and one mouth, so that we listen more than we talk. Too often, it's like we've got two mouths, a forked tongue hanging out. Quick to hear, slow to speak. And

then he says, slow to become angry or slow to wrath, if you're reading King James. The Greek word for that word is orge, which the scholars say means a violent passion, an anger, an indignation, a vengeance, or a wrath. So here, now, it goes beyond the speech, the hasty speaking that seeks to hurt somebody that's hurt us. Now, it's an anger that seeks a vengeance in the midst of our being hurt, an anger that erupts when our egos are bruised.

And here again, it's referring to the times during the trials. During those time of trials, and you just feel that anger building up. And it could be over the stupidest thing. We had our Christmas tree all put up. We had several different groups over for Christmas parties and stuff. We had a big tree this year, because we've got tall ceilings. We've got a nine-foot tree. Had

it all up and decorated. And came home and walked in and walked in the kitchen, and I didn't notice it was down in the family room, and I think it'd fallen over. We had a nice stand for it and everything else. And it's real easy. A stupid tree, you know. It's just a tree. It just fell over. I'm the stupid person who put it up. But it's easy, see? Just let anger build, and then

you respond in anger. And it's like, oh, my God, I'm so angry. I'm so angry. I'm so angry. I'm so angry. And it's like a vengeance towards the tree. I'm going to beat your tree. I didn't go that far, but we can do stuff to kick the car when it's got a flat tire, like the car's going, I'll show you. You stupid car. And we do that to one another so often. You know, there's just this angry,

and he says, be slow to anger. Be slow to vengeance. Proverbs 14, 29 says, he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. Proverbs 16, 32 says, he that rules his spirit is better than he that takes a city. Proverbs 15, 1, one of these I try to live by, is a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. This is one of the things I mentioned earlier, things that they teach in management classes. This is one of the things

they taught us at the police academy, was when you go, when you respond to different things, especially writing tickets, or when you go to family disturbances, you need to learn how to respond with a gentle answer. The people are inflamed, and they're enraged, and you come in, and they're all upset at one another, and you walk in, they start getting mad at you, and it's real easy to want to go, listen, you called me. I didn't, you know, but you got to respond as, you stupid pig. Well, you know, pigs are stupid, I guess, but that's not a gentle answer. If you don't get riled, when you don't get riled with somebody, it's like they're a fuse on

a firecracker. They just, and finally burn out, and they've said things in haste, things that normally they wouldn't say. That happens in family relationships, husband and wife, a lot. Best thing to do when you're starting into the midst of that, is just stop, and let the fuse go ahead and burn out on the other side, and just let a gentle answer now come, and if you're reviled again, don't fight. It takes two to fight. Just stop. It's really only those who have the power of the

Holy Spirit in them who can do that. It can't be, it can't be learned at a seminar. You can't be trained, and you can't, because our fuses are still human, and they only go so far, and my will is only so strong. It's his empowering. That's what James is saying. If you're born again, if you have the power of God living within you, then this is one of the products that will be proved by the

trials, is you will be slow to anger. So realize it. You have the power of God to be able to do it. You have the power of God to be able to do it. You have the power of God to be able to do that. Paul says in Ephesians 4.31, put away bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking. It's something he commands us to do. It's our, it's our responsibility to do it,

to put it away, to take it off, to remove it from us, and that only happens as you grow in the Word of God. It only happens as you're feeding on his Word. It's only, it's only going to happen as you're quick to listen to the Word of God. He goes on to say in verse 20, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. The only anger, or righteous anger that there is, is righteous indignation, and that is when something is

perpetrated against God, not you. There is very, very seldom that you or I will ever, ever, ever have the opportunity to manifest a righteous indignation. I don't see that in Scripture. I see in Scripture to love your enemies. I see in Scripture when you are reviled against, don't revile back. I see in Scripture to when your enemy is hungry, you feed him. When he's thirsty,

you give him water to drink. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I'll repay, not you. It's not our responsibility. It's not our, listen, it's not our responsibility to correct the world. It's our responsibility to love them and show them Jesus. It's his responsibility to bring about change. It's his responsibility to change their hearts. He says, verse 21, therefore, get rid of all moral

filth and evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you which can save you. Let me read that in Amplified, because it so broadens the understanding, I think. Amplified says, so get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble, gentle, modest spirit, receive and welcome the word which implanted and rooted in your hearts contains the power to save your souls. It starts off in verse 21, get rid of. Again, that's our responsibility. And the word literally means strip, like you take

off clothes. So literally, it's our responsibility to remove, to strip off all unrighteousness, all, it says here in verse 21, all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent. All moral filth. How much are we supposed to put off? How much are we responsible now that the spirit of God's living in us, and specifically where our speech and our anger is concerned? All. We're supposed to put

away all that defiles us, not just part of it. God's not into partial purity. God's not into partial purity. Now, let me make this practical. In each of us, with each of us, there is a certain area where you and I wrestle. I shared one of mine, that area of speaking back, quick wittedness that cuts other people down. I have to really guard myself against that. There are other

areas in my life. I mean, I do a lot of this fine. It's great. But there's this area over here that God touches and says, I want that. And I'm reluctant to give it to him. But he says that we are to strip off all wickedness and defilement. What is it? What is it in your life? Is it gossip? Is it immorality? Is it unforgiveness? Is there someone in your life that's hurt you that you do not want

to forgive? Because you feel like you have a right to be angry. It's not in here. Nowhere is to say you have that right. Nowhere are you justified by your actions based upon that feeling. Nowhere. You'll only be digging yourself a deeper hole if you act that way on unforgiveness. Maybe God's touching that area and he wants you to give it to him. And there's some kind of a security there.

I feel secure not liking that person. And God says, I want it. All of it. He can't. God's not satisfied with a partial purity. He wants to cleanse us from all. That's why he says, get rid of it. Strip off. All moral filth. Now, the word for moral filth in the Greek is the word ruparia, which means a filth that soils clothes. But it's from a root word, rupos, which according to the Greek scholars,

when rupos is used in a medical sense, it means wax in the ears. Now, listen, follow me on this. There is an area in your life that God wants to cleanse. Maybe it's unforgiveness. Let's stay with that one. And it's when you're unwilling to forgive in that area that you are like sticking wax in your ears. Not hearing God's word. And God says, strip it off because I've got more to share with you. I've

got more to say to you, but you can't hear me because there's wax in your ears because there's that area in your life that's sin. And he's saying, put it away. Get rid of it. You have the power to do that through the power of the Holy Spirit. Your receptiveness to my word. If you're receptive to that, you're quick to hear and I'm speaking to you. Don't be quick to speak. Don't be quick to

wrath. But strip off that moral filth that's causing a deafness to my word. He says, and humbly accept the word planted in you. Which can save you. The word humbly in NIV or if you're reading King James says, with meekness accept the word. That's an untranslatable word. Humble or with meekness. It's an untranslatable word from the Greek. It means a teachable spirit. A soul in which everything is mixed in the right

proportion. It's one who is willing to learn. To face the truth even when it hurts. One who's not blinded by its own prejudice, but is clear-eyed to the truth. In other words, you're in your particular trial. Maybe it's a marriage relationship and you feel like you're justified in your anger towards your husband or towards your wife and God says, no, husbands love your wife as Christ

led the church. Wives submit unto your husbands as unto the Lord. Maybe you're a child and your relationship with your parents, your parents just don't understand me. They just don't see where I'm coming from. It says, children obey your parents and the Lord. This is good. And God's saying to you, this is my word. Now humbly receive it. Be instructed by it. Just do it. I don't care what

you feel like. I don't care how you're trying to justify your own position of rightfully doing what you do. Just do what I'm doing. Just do what I'm telling you to do in my word. That's the humbly accept. Humbly receive. That word accept implies a yielding to God's word because it's God's word. Not because I feel like it. Very seldom in your Christian walk will you do things because you feel like it. When God says

to love somebody, unless you really like them, it's a hard thing to do. When God says to love the unlovable, to love those that you really don't want to associate with, it's a hard thing to do. And he's not saying, wait until you feel like it and then go love them. He's saying, go love them. I'm putting them across your path. Now love them, whether you feel like it or not. And he's saying

here, you accept, you receive the word. You accept, you humbly accept it planted in you, which can save you, which can save you. Now he's speaking to the save. James is not writing an evangelistic letter. He is speaking to the save, but he says, humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. What's he talking about? Listen, literally it says, which if you're reading,

I think it's King James, it says, which can save your soul, which can save your soul. James is not talking about works, which save. He's moving from the assumption that you are saved, remember? And he's saying the trials are going to evidence that in your life. They're going to work out of you, the fact that you are saved or evidence that you're not. And one of the workings that works

out of you, one of the things that you evidence is a receptiveness to the word of God. And as you're receptive to God's word and you apply it in the areas of your life, it saves you, in those areas. See, what is the soul? Well, we believe it's made up of the mind and the emotions and the will. And so it helps with our thinking and our feeling and our desire to be obedient.

As I apply the word of God to my life, it will save my soul. If I apply the word of God in my marriage, if I apply the word of God in, in my mind, if I'm having trouble with, with the areas of pornography or with areas of wrong desire, then as I apply the word of God to my mind, as I diligently do that and seek to let it come in, it will save my soul. What does he mean? Save your soul. He's just been talking back in verses 14 and 15 about the trials that lead to

temptation are those that when your evil desire is linked to the temptation, it causes, it brings out sin. But as you humbly receive the implanted word, as you humbly say, yes, Lord, I'll yield to what you say. It saves you from that. So if you have, if you're having a problem in a particular area and you're, you're really, I just, I'm wrestling with this. I don't know what to do.

I've had all kinds of counsel. Fine. You need to spend time with the Lord and do what his word says to do. And it may take a little bit of time, but don't give up. Trust God in this. It will keep you pure. Literally save you or save you. So you save your soul. Literally it will keep you pure. And see, that's, that's what Christmas is all about. That's what, that's what God coming to

earth and manifesting himself in the flesh of a baby in a manger is all about. He lived a life of obedience to his father and demonstrated that to us. He lived a life of obedience to his father and demonstrated that to us. Showing us what kind of life we need to live. We can't do it. So he went to the cross, part of the plan, and died to take our sins so that he could send his spirit to live

within us so that now we can. And see, it's your choice. It's nobody's fault but ours. The extent of our Christian walk is determined by us. God's already given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. He's already given us everything we need. It's just our choice. It's whether or not we're going to choose to be receptive to his word that's planted in us. It's our choice. It's

that word in the, if you're reading King James, it's engrafted and it is a botanical term. It's a botanical term. Jesus said in John 15, I am the vine, you are the branches. In Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews, who I believe is Paul, says that you and I as Gentiles are wild olive branches and we have been grafted to the vine. The word of God has been grafted into you, which is from the vine.

So if the word of God definitely is in you, it will be producing the same fruit that's a part of the vine, the same character as Christ, the same nature as Christ, the same humility as Christ, the same loving as Christ. There will be a change of attitude or there has been no saving faith. And that's what James is saying. God's done everything he can. He's given us the opportunities.

It's up to us to choose. Now this morning, you have to choose. Either this has just been words and they have no meaning at all. It's just words from a book. It's just what you say, or it's the word of God. One of the choices that you make concerning how you hear this morning, will determine your attitude the rest of the day, the rest of the week, but it's up to you.

The change of attitude, Christ's likeness is due to the receptiveness of the word of God. Let's stand together.