How should we respond to God & His God's Word [especially through a trial]? That's what I want you to think about as we go through this next section.
1. Response: What our response should be to God's Word- vs 19
2. Reason: What is the reason for this response- vs 20
3. Receive: How we should receive God's Word- vs 21
James 1:19-21 [NASB]
19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
20 For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
Ok, verse 19: the KJV says, wherefore; Young's Literal translation says, So then and the ESV says, Know this. Anytime there is a wherefore, or a therefore in the Word of God you have to go back. Why is he saying this?
-Because God is the source of good
-Because He tempts no man
-Because He has saved us
-Because He is the Father of Lights
-Because we have the honor of being the first fruits of His creation
Then we should have a proper response! Also notice that He doesn't just call them brethren. He calls them BELOVED brethren...why? Because He is getting ready to confront them. Remember I mentioned in my last blog, anytime you are getting ready to say some hard things to someone, mask it with love. I heard it said before that you should "confront with a white glove on". We should never allow our love for each other to keep us from admonishing one another.
Hebrews 10:25 [Young's literal translation] tells us: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as a custom of certain is, but exhorting, and so much the more as ye see the day coming nigh.
Don't you think "the day" is almost here? Maybe Jesus is standing at the threshold waiting for His Father to say, "Go get 'em"! Because of this, we should be exhorting one another every single day!
Read verse 19 again...
"But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;"
In the Greek this verse is in the imperative which means it is a command. Remember I told you there were 54 commands in James? What this means is that for us as a Christian, this verse is not an option. Some of you may have heard this verse used out of context. They say, well, that means I am supposed to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger in my personal relationships and yes, that is a good principle to have but the context here is talking about something different. It is talking about trials and how we are to respond to God and His Word during a trial; we are to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.
There are 3 responses we should have to God's Word especially during a trial.
1. Swift [the KJV and YLT uses this] or Quick [NASB and ESV] to hear. This means you are to be quick to listen. We'd like our children to be quick to listen! James is saying our attitude should be one of eagerness and attentiveness to what God is saying. What James is saying here is very important. Why? Because James' readers did not have a personal copy of the Bible. In NT times, it was almost unheard of for a NT Christian to have a copy of the Bible; it was rare and very expensive. So the challenge for them was to be swift to hear. They had to come to the synagogue to hear the Word of God taught and they must listen very carefully. More so than we do because they couldn't go home and check it out in their own scriptures. We have such advantages over the NT Christian. Most of us probably own at least one Bible but probably more like 2 or more, some of us might have it on cassette [old school] or CD and even some of us have software with the Bible on it. We have all this advantage over the NT Christian. How many of us, with all this available to us, are swift to hear? I daresay we are not swift to hear & listening to the Word of God. But why? Maybe because we have lost the art of listening because of TV, media, computers, technology, etc. Then you come to church and it's hard to listen because we're used to visual media. It has been proven that visual media hinders our listening! If you have children, limit their TV because it will hinder them in school; they will have a hard time listening to their teacher. So I challenge you if listening is hard for you, limit your visual media! That way, when you come to church to hear the Word of God or you go to Bible study, you can sit and listen to the Word of God. EVERY man/woman should be swift to hear. Not some men or some women but EVERY man/woman. Remember, God gave us 2 ears and one tongue so that we will hear more than we speak. Think about that! Why are we to be quick to hear the Word of God? Because it is the only thing that provides nourishment for our soul. In fact, Ephesians 6:17 says the Bible, the Word, is our sword. Battles WILL come, so how are you going to get up in the morning and fight those battles that will come? With this book...the Word of God. II Timothy 3:17 says this is how we are strengthened and how you are equipped. The Word will deliver you from trials and temptations, and it should be our most welcomed friend and we should be swift to hear it.
2. Slow to speak. What James is saying is that the readers or listeners were to be slow to speak back to the Word of God or to the one proclaiming it. We should give thoughtful evaluation to what is being taught before reacting. Now you need to think Jewish and New Testament because their church services were much more informal than ours [check out 1 Corinthians]. Instead of one person being at the front such as we have today with our pastors different people in the congregation would stand up and read something; it produced a lot of arguments and heated debates and so James is telling them Be slow to speak.
Eccl. 5:2 says:
Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.
Warnings about rash words:
Proverbs 29:20 says:
Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
In cross referencing this section of the verse I came across other passages in Proverbs:
10:19 When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is wise.
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Pr 10:19). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
This verse really spoke to me as I am a talker. What Solomon is saying is, if you like to talk a lot then you also sin a lot because in the multitude of words sin is unavoidable but then he goes on to say he who controls his lips is wise...
13:3 The one who guards his mouth protects his life; the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
17:27-28 The intelligent person restrains his words, and one who keeps a cool head is a man of understanding. Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent, discerning when he seals his lips
11:12 Whoever shows contempt for his neighbor lacks sense, but a man with understanding keeps silent.
One commentary said this:
- The admonition to display wisdom by listening much and talking little is found quite often. Indeed, one of the best known of all the proverbs is the one found in Prov. 17:28: “Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue” (see also 10:19; 11:12, 13; ).
A side note > In my Thompson Chain Reference Bible the # for restraining the tongue comes under "Evil Speaking".
>>>>As I glanced down at my Bible to re-read the previous verses in Proverbs, my eyes caught this verse: Proverbs 19:1
Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity Than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.
Perverse is Strong's #6141 and means, false or crooked. Just chew on that for awhile. Being slow to speak ... weighing your words ... being honest [having integrity] in our speech.
>>>>
Yes, these verses are talking about our speech and back in the context of James he is talking about being slow to speak back to the Word of God as it's being taught or slow to speak back to God when you are going through a trial...do not become angry...but we should be very careful when God's Word is being taught,
when we're going through a trial and when we know God is speaking to us, to be slow to speak.
3. Slow To Wrath. This means that we should not be angry at God's Word. The anger here is a deep internal resentment accompanied by an attitude of rejection. In fact, it denotes a strong and persistent feeling of indignation and active anger. [Strong's #3709. ὀργή ŏrgē, or-gay´; from 3713; prop. desire (as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind), i.e. (by anal.) violent passion (ire, or [justifiable] abhorrence); by impl. punishment:—anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath.]
Remember to whom James was writing. This would be a temptation to those readers. If you recall, these Christians were going through terrible persecution to the point that we are reminded to look back at the Holocaust and realize that was the type of persecution they were going through. James says do not become angry. Not at your situation, not at your persecution, not at God's Word, not at those persecuting you and not at those teaching God's Word. An angry spirit toward the Word of God is never right....NEVER! Responding in this manner really demonstrates you have an unteachable spirit.
Now look at verse 19 again...slow to wrath....did you notice that James does not say to never be angry, never be wrathful? Why? Because there is a time for anger. There is a righteous anger.
Psalm 7:11 says that God is angry with the wicked every day. He must be really angry right now because there is a lot of wickedness going on every day!
Ephesians 4:26 says Be angry but do not sin!
So their is a righteous anger but for us to be angry with the Word of God is NEVER righteous and it is never a right response for us as believers in Jesus Christ.
What would we say our response is to the Word of God and its proclamation? Do we got to church eagerly on Sundays? Are we eager to hear what God has to say to us in His Word? What about daily time with the Lord in His Word & prayer? Is it just something you do to check off your "to do" list or do you eagerly come with anticipation of what He has to say to you and once you hear or read His Word, do you find yourself constantly wanting to challenge what you have read, or challenge the person that has proclaimed the truth? Does God's Word make you angry? Do you welcome the words of reproof and warnings or do you secretly resent it? When a Christian brother or sister confronts a sin in your life, do you accept or reject their counsel? These are things we need to think about! James says we should not become angry with God's Word and those that are proclaiming it.
Look at Acts 7 - Stephen was preaching God's Word and the people listening got angry with him. And they threw him out of the city and stoned him. For what? All he was doing was preaching God's Word. Verse 54 says:
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.
They were angry! As a believer in Jesus Christ, this should never be our response to God's Word. Maybe you are wondering why.
Read James 1:20: for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
That is the reason we are not to respond to God's Word this way. If we choose to be angry, it will never promote righteousness and it will keep you from receiving the Word. Can we receive God's Word when we are angry? No! we can't. Do you want to know if you are angry?
Here are some attributes that accompany that:
ambition, revenge, jealousy, egotism just to name a few. The wrath/anger that James is talking about here is a wicked wrath and we should have no part in it if we are a genuine believer. Maybe you hear the Word preached or taught in church or Sunday school or in your ladies or men's groups and in your heart you become angry or during a trial you become angry and say to God, "How dare you do that to me!" That does not produce the righteousness of God. This angry reaction can happen with unbelievers as well. Have you ever shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with an unbeliever and they become livid? They say they don't want to hear you talk about it, never share it with them again. They become angry!
The result of a wicked wrath/anger does NOT produce the righteousness of God. What is the righteousness of God?
The word righteous [in the Greek] means justice. Righteousness presents God as a great just. He renders justice to whom justice is due and He also renders reward to whom reward is due.
[Strong's #1343. δικαιοσύνη dikaiŏsunē, dik-ah-yos-oo´-nay; from 1342; equity (of character or act); spec. (Chr.) justification:—righteousness.]
James wants us to know, in our anger we will never render justice in any situation that God would have otherwise rendered justice to us. Man's anger is contrary to the character of God. Whatever we are going through, we do not have license to be angry with God.
It has been said that when man gives way to anger he never furthers the righteousness he professedly strives for. Anger blocks his goal of fostering righteousness.
If anger is problem for you, memorize this verse! Here are 2 more verses you can check out: Proverbs 16:32 and Eccl. 7:9
I will stop here because this is a lot to chew on and I hope I can finish up and post tomorrow also. I apologize for the length of time between posts.
If this blog post has helped you at all in any way, please drop me a line & let me know. I pray for all the people who read this, wherever you are and what whatever you do in life even though I don't know who all reads this, God certainly does.
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