Okay, we'll continue our journey
through James. Today's message is called Slow
to Wrath. We touched on that a little bit
last week, Slow to Wrath. And in our last studies, we looked
at the first two admonitions found in verse 19 of James chapter
one. So turn, if you would, to James
chapter one. And these two admonitions, these
admonitions that we're looking at are for God's born-again,
blood-washed people. They're for the saints of God,
they're for us. And we are to be swift to hear,
we saw proclaimed in verse 19, we are to be slow to speak. Swift
to hear means that we're to come to church with a readiness of
mind, ready to hear the gospel, ready to hear the word preached
and proclaimed. And then slow to speak is we
don't speak against that which is being proclaimed as long as
it's the gospel. It's the gospel. We don't speak
against the scriptures. We rejoice in the scriptures.
And we'll see later on today that we receive those scriptures
and the engrafted word, and we'll look at what that means today,
too, as well. So let's read. Let's read verses 19 to 22. So again, we're to be, come with
readiness of mind to hear the gospel preached. We're to come
slow to speak, which means not to be critical of the gospel,
but we're to rejoice in it. And now we're gonna look at this
third admonition, and then we're gonna continue in the verses.
James chapter 1, verses 19 to 22. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
so he's writing to God's born-again blood-washed saints, divinely
loved ones. If you're a child of God, if you're born again,
you're a divinely loved one. Isn't that wonderful? Just to
think of that. That God himself loves us. My, oh, my. Let every man be
swift to hear. So when we come to the service,
let us be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to rise. And then
it says, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness
of God. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity
of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which
is able to save your souls. And another admonition in verse
22, which we're going to look at this more in depth next week,
this verse, but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving
your own selves. So we see in verse 19 that we're
to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. How do we learn to be slow to
wrath? How do we learn that? Well, by
first learning to be swift to hear. And by first learning to be slow
to speak. So much of our anger comes from
being self-centered. We don't like to be wrong, do we? We don't like when people
prove us wrong either, do we? Although we can look at that
now as a learning experience, though, can't we? So oftentimes
when the word of God is preached, and again, I don't know, we've
all talked about this amongst each other, The Lord gives me
a message and I come up every Sunday and now through the week
when I'm studying, I get, I've told you, I get it right between
the eyes sometimes, right? Or I get a little reproof, I
get a little correction, or sometimes you're just filled with joy,
overwhelming joy at what you're reading. And that usually is
the end product of being full of joy because our minds and
our eyes are now set upon Christ. But none of us like to be corrected,
right? But the word of God is for correction, too, for us,
for reproof, for instruction in righteousness. And so much
of our anger and wrath comes from being self-centered, not
being single-minded. Remember earlier in the study,
we looked at how we're to be single-minded, we're to look
to Christ. Because when we're single-minded
looking to him, all those other things will just fade away. And being single-minded is thinking
upon the things of Christ. Being swift to hear is hearing
the gospel with a readiness of mind. And hearing the gospel
is a way for us to be single-minded. See, it guards us against those
things, doesn't it? So here's instruction that we
can utilize today for us in these texts. This is why I've been
loving this study in the book of James, because it's so practical.
And these are things we deal with as believers. Now, remember,
he's not writing to unsaved folks. He's writing to believers. He's
writing to believers. And what happens when we come
to hear the gospel preached and proclaimed, and rejoice in it,
rather than speak against it, or speak against the preaching,
or whoever's doing the preaching? Well, we rejoice if we just get
single-minded and think about the gospel, right? As long as
the preacher's preaching the gospel, it shouldn't matter which
preacher it is, right? We should be rejoicing in the
fact that the truth is being proclaimed. Single-mindedness,
looking to Christ and him alone. And you know what? When we put
this into practice, what we see here, we will be slow to be offended
by people. Because again, oftentimes we
get offended by something someone says, but if we put these things
into practice, we will be slow to be offended with our brethren.
We're all a bunch of sinners here, aren't we? We all have
faults. We know our faults more than
other people know our faults. If we're honest with ourselves,
right, in religion, no one, oh, everybody's perfect in religion.
Especially the preacher, man. He's like the perfection. No,
I'm a sinner saved by grace right here, and I struggle with sin
every day just like you do. Oh, praise God he saved us by
his grace, eh? Praise God that he saved us by
his grace. So we're to be slow in wrath
and hearing the gospel proclaimed. Now, unsaved folks, when they
hear the gospel, it gets them worked up. It gets them worked
up. But think of this, when the distinguishing
doctrines of grace are preached, they're apt to fill the natural
man with wrath. How did we respond the first
time we heard the gospel as an unsaved person? I can tell you
how I responded, and it wasn't very nice. I had nothing to do
with those folks, those religious holy rollers. Nothing to do with
them. Well, here I am now preaching
the grace and mercy of God in Christ. What a miracle God does,
eh? For each one of us as believers.
It's amazing. So let us not get mad when we're
corrected by the word of God. Let us receive that correction
from God the Holy Spirit. You know, I vowed when I got
here to never shear sheep. That's not my job. I went to
a church in religion where they sheared the sheep from the pulpit.
I was asked, would I ever do that? When I got here, I said,
I'll never do that. Never. That's just not right. Where
to preach the gospel? Gospel preachers are to preach
the gospel. Now, something in the preaching might, when the
Holy Spirit takes it, might get us between the eyes, right? But
I'm not intentionally out to offend people. The gospel does
that naturally, doesn't it? It does that. But my, oh my,
look what it says here. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
So let us be slow to wrath with others when we're proclaiming
the truth to them. We can sometimes get frustrated thinking, why
does this person not understand? It's so clear. But remember,
they're natural men and natural women. They don't understand
the scriptures. Remember where we were when the
Lord saved us. And remember where we were before
the Lord saved us, and how we had no, I read the scriptures
before the Lord saved me, and it was paper and ink, guys. I
didn't understand anything. I just looked at it and went,
well, you know, I was reading portions of it. And then after
the Lord saved me, it was a whole different book. It's like, what
happened? Well, now, Now I know the author
of the scriptures. Now he's showing me things that
I never saw before. And remember, salvation in Christ
is a revelation. The scriptures have to be revealed
to us. We can't learn them like we can
go to school and learn math or learn science or learn different
things. Only the Holy Spirit of God can
teach us what's in this world. Gospel preachers, we just proclaim
the report. And it's the Holy Spirit that
takes those words and uses them for his glory and honor and praise
and by his power, by his power. That's the amazing thing. That's
what we preachers marvel at, the fact that God uses our feeble
words to, it's amazing that he uses means
when he doesn't have to use means. Isn't that incredible? He don't
need me. He don't need any of us, but he uses means, doesn't
he? It's absolutely amazing. So what are we to do when the
Lord opens a door? Well, we're to remember that
the person we're speaking to, if they do not know Christ, they're
blind to the things of Christ, just like we were before the
Lord saved us, totally blind. I had blinders on, I didn't,
the last thing I wanted to do was be in the presence of someone
talking to me about Christ before I was saved. I did not want, I guess you guys
know I was saved later in life in my 30s, so for years I just,
I had nothing to do with the Lord. Didn't want anything to
do with him. But by his grace and mercy he
saved me. And now I want to tell everybody about him. Now I know
what those people meant when they wanted to tell me about
Christ. Now I know why. Because he's the only hope for
sinners. So what do we do when the Lord
opens the door? Well, we tell people about the finished work
of Christ. People always wonder, what do
I do when the Lord opens the door? What do I say? Just tell
them what Christ has done for you. Tell them about a work that
Christ performed that's complete. that there's nothing based upon
us, our doing, for salvation, not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he has saved us.
Do you know it's the goodness of God that leads men and women
to repentance? It's the goodness of God. It's
knowing he died for all my sins. He did that for me personally.
That's incredible. And it's all by the power and
grace of God. So if you have an open door to
speak, speak about the finished work, the complete sin-atoning
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're speaking to someone
who's religious, remember they're just as blind as a natural man.
They're both in the same position, just the religious man thinks
he's better. But when God saves, now I'll tell you what, when
God saves a person who is religious, and I can testify of this, I
said to Vicki, I said, man, I'm a recovering Pharisee, because
when God saves you, and you're in religion, and I mean when
he really saves you, not just an empty profession, everything's
all new. Everything, you realize you're
free in Christ, you realize the work is completed, you realize
you're not under the law anymore, you don't have to perform nothing.
You just look to him, and you just rest in him, in all the
peace that floods your soul. So present to our lost loved
ones, or our lost religious friends and family, Present to them the
finished work of Christ. Tell them how the Lord Jesus
Christ has saved your soul. Tell them that. Tell them how
you're free. I'm free. I'm free in Christ. I don't have religious bondage
anymore. And tell them how you're saved
by the grace and mercy of God and that it was the Lord Jesus
Christ's blood that purchased your eternal soul. Tell them
that. Let's read again our text. Wherefore,
my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to
speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh
not the righteousness of God. So we see here the third admonition
is to be slow to wrath. Slow to wrath. Now this deals
more particularly with our response to the possible negativity of
others. How do we respond when other
people are negative? Each of us responds differently,
right? Some of us just turn around and walk the other way. Some
of us try to reason with the person. Sometimes it works, sometimes
it doesn't. I've put this into practice and
it works. It really works. A soft answer turneth away wrath.
It works. I've seen it work. It's incredible. Someone get worked up with you
and they, a soft answer turns away wrath. Because you know
why? Because if you answer them with wrath, you know what happens,
right? Up goes the temperature, right?
It does. It happens. Because that's how
we are. Just ask a husband and a wife.
Right? Right? It happens. Next thing
you know. The temperature is high, but
a soft answer. So here we see slow to wrath.
Slow to wrath. And there will be many times
when we are rejoicing in the truth and someone will come and
pour cold water on us. It happens. But you know what?
Just keep rejoicing. Just keep rejoicing. Don't let
a person's negativity extinguish that joy that you have in Christ. Don't let that happen. And that
happens oftentimes with unsaved people, doing that to save people. Don't let it happen, just be.
And the one thing, too, don't, you know what happens, eh, when
somebody pours cold water on us when we're, we go into battle
mode, don't we? Right? Don't go into battle mode. Don't do it. Don't. Just rejoice in Christ. Right? Be slow to wrath. Slow to wrath. You know, this is the thing too.
I've learned this in talking to different people. We don't
have to prove anything. God exists. God is real. The scriptures are really authored
by God, not by some different men. We don't have to prove that,
do we? It's so. I've often people say,
well, you gotta, that's just not practical reasoning. That's
just not, that's not the right way to think. Well, it's what
the scripture says, so I'm gonna believe it and bow to it. I don't
have to prove anything. Someone says, well, it's not
fair that God chooses some and leaves others in their sins.
Or they say, well, if he was truly a merciful God, he'd just
save everyone. Well, the scripture says God
chooses the people in Christ, right? And some he has mercy
on and some he doesn't. I don't have to prove nothing.
That's what the scripture declares. You see, you know what the ultimate
problem is? They have a problem with God. They have a problem with the
sovereignty of God. Because it offends their pride. I had someone I was talking to
recently, and I said, you need to take that up with God. He
said, well, I heard some stuff you said, and I didn't agree
with it. And I said, well, you're not arguing with me. They had heard a message I preached,
and I said, you're not arguing with me. You're arguing with
God, the word of God. It's not me. I'm just a messenger.
I'm just proclaiming what the book says. And I don't have to
prove it. It proclaims it. Who's the author
of this book? God, the Holy Spirit. I don't
have to prove that. The scripture says that. Holy
men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit. I don't have to
prove it. Scripture says in the beginning, God created the heavens
and the earth. I don't have to prove that. The scripture declares
it. Do you see? We don't have to get mad at folks
when they don't believe us. Because we didn't believe when
we were in their state before the Lord saved us. Slow to wrath,
beloved, slow to wrath. We don't need to go into battle
mode, no. We just rejoice when the word of God is preached,
the gospel of salvation in Christ and through Christ alone, and
we are to come as believers to be ready to hear that with a
readiness of mind and to receive it, to receive it. Here is the
admonition before us when we come to hear the gospel of God's
grace Let us be quick to hear, listen. Let's listen. Slow to
speak. Make sure your response is not
about vindicating yourself. Right? I don't have to prove
God's sovereignty. It's all through the Bible. I
don't have to vindicate myself in believing that, because it's
all through the scriptures. Right? Slow to wrath. Almost every occasion of self-defense
is really self-righteousness. Almost, yeah. We get defensive
a lot of times because something either has wounded our pride
or went against what we think. Be slow to wrath, beloved. Slow to wrath. And we see in
verse 20 that The wrath of man does not produce
righteousness. Look at this. For the wrath of
man worketh not the righteousness of God. It says in my margin
here, does not produce the righteousness of God. So getting angry with
someone because they're not hearing what we're saying about Christ
does not produce righteousness. Isn't that incredible? It's amazing. doesn't produce righteousness.
In light of the nature of temptation and the goodness of God, we must
take special care to be slow to wrath because our wrath does
not accomplish the righteousness of God. Our wrath almost always
simply defends our own agenda. Well, I'm offended that you don't
believe that. What? The scripture tells us that natural
man will not receive things of God. All we do when the Lord opens
the door is tell people what God's done for us. And you know
what we do then? We leave it in God's hands. We've
talked about that, sister. We leave it in God's hands. Just
leave it. Leave it alone. Tell them the
truth and leave it alone. God, the Holy Spirit, is the
one who must give the increase, right? Look at here in verses 20 and
21, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness
and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able
to save your souls. We can't save ourselves. But
it says here the engrafted word which is able to save your souls.
So every occasion, almost every occasion of self-defense when
we're angry is really self-righteousness. It's incredible how we, we need
to examine ourselves, don't we, and see that, see this is practical,
this is everyday stuff right here for us. Isn't that wonderful? It's instruction for us. And
it comes from God the Holy Spirit. Our anger, even if it is defense
of the truth, will not further the cause of the truth. That's what this verse is telling
us. In verse 20, our anger, even though It's in defense of the
truth, will not further the cause of truth, nor engage or nor encourage
men to look to Christ, who is the righteousness of God. We
can't produce righteousness, can we? Remember, it's the goodness
of God that leads men to repentance. Christ died for sinners. Isn't
that amazing? Christ will save all who come
to him. Isn't that incredible? Christ
redeemed his people with the shedding of his precious blood.
Isn't that amazing? What a message we have. Listen
to these words of Paul. He says, I will, therefore, that
men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and
doubting. So even Paul brings this forth,
without wrath. And that's in 1 Timothy 2.8,
if you write down the reference. So the wrath of man does not
produce the righteousness of God. No, that's in Christ, and
in Christ alone. And in light of the nature of
temptation, the goodness, we must take special care to be
slow to wrath. Again, because our wrath does
not accomplish the righteousness of God. Look at verse 21, look
at this, being back to being single-minded. Wherefore, lay
apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with
meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. Now,
in this verse, we see that our wrath revealed for what it is. We see it described as filthiness,
which is pride, vanity, wrath, or malice. And then hearing the
word was superfluity, which means excess, more than is need or
asked for. It's a hyperbole, making a mountain
out of a mohill. We're not to make a mountain
out of a mohill. We're not to do that. We're all guilty. I'm guilty. We all are, aren't
we? Making a mountain out of a mohill.
Then naughtiness, which is malice or maliciousness, evil or wicked.
So we see that James, again, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God, brings us back to the one thing needful, and that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, look at verse 21. Wherefore,
lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and
receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your
souls. So we see an admonition again,
which brings us back to Christ. To receive the engrafted word.
To receive the engrafted word, teaching us that the spirit put the word
in us. Put the word in us. We are therefore
to receive it with meekness. Meekness is accepting God's dealing
with us, not in a fatalistic resignation, but with glad thanksgiving
and praise because we know that the things we go through are
for our good and for his glory. Remember the context of all what
we're reading. It's about rejoicing during trials
and temptations. Got to keep the context in mind,
too. Now, worksmongers, they'll take
this verse 22, which I'm going to read it quick, but they'll
take this verse, and they will run with this verse. Look at
this. But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
your own selves. Oh, worksmongers get a hold of
that verse, and they use that verse for justification that
you can do self-justification before God, but we know that
anyone who trusts in their self-justification, which is not real at all, it's
a refuge of lies, and it'll lead to their damnation. If you're
trusting in anything you've done to get you to heaven, that'll
be your doom. Trust in Christ and Him alone.
Look to Christ and Him alone. And now the word in the context,
doers of the word there, and some people have taken that and
they've said, well, this is the law. This is the Ten Commandments. No, that's the scriptures. It's
the scriptures. Do you know the word moral is
not even found in the scriptures? Ever hear people call it the
moral law? Do you know moral is not even found? It's not in
the scriptures, beloved. It's not there. The purpose of
the Ten Commandments, what does it do? It condemns us, doesn't
it? It condemns us. It points us to Christ. You know
what? Think of this. The Ten Commandments
show that we're dead, and you know what the ceremonies do?
They point us to the one Savior. So the Ten Commandments condemn
us, and the ceremonies are all pictures and types of Christ.
Isn't that amazing? It's amazing, isn't it? So we're
showing the condemnation even in the Old Testament and in mercy,
someone's coming, someone's coming. Oh, the Old Testament, the law
shows man a sinner and the ceremonies reveal the Savior, the day of
atonement, the great substitute. It's just a picture, isn't it?
Picture of Christ. Turn if you went to Hebrews chapter
nine, we'll read a little section here. These people try to put you under
the law with James 1, 22. But look at this in Hebrews chapter
9. We'll read verses 1 to 12. The law has been fulfilled by
Christ, beloved. Our master himself said this.
He said, think not that I am come to destroy the law of the
prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. And he fulfilled
that law in our place. Because we're sinners, and he
is perfect substitute. He's sinless. So he did that
in our place. We often hear people say, Christ
died in our room instead. The old time preachers like to
say instead. That just means place. Christ died in the room
and place of sinners. That's what he did. He's a substitute. Look at this here in Hebrews
chapter 9, verse 1. Then verily the first covenant
had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary.
For there was a tabernacle made, the first wherein the candlestick
and the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary.
And after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is called the
holiest of all, which had a golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant
overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that
had manna and Aaron's rod that budded in the tables of the covenant. Notice what covered the law?
The lid of the Ark of the Covenant, where they put the blood, beloved. They sprinkled blood on it. Covered
that law, beloved. Isn't that wonderful? And over
at the cherubims of glory, shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot
now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing
the service of God, but into the second went the high priest
alone, once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself
and for the heirs of the people. The Holy Ghost thus signifying
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest,
while as the first tabernacle was yet standing, which was a
figure for the time when then present, in which were offered
both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the
service perfect as pertaining to their conscience, which stood
only in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances,
and posed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ, being
come, and high priest of good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, He entered into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. Praise be to God. Praise
be to God. So the word in the context is
the gospel. The word of truth is the gospel,
the scriptures. Look at verse 18. Of his own
will begot he us with the word of truth. See, there's the means.
that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures, James
1, 18. That's the gospel. We see in
verse 21 that when it's received, it's able to save your souls.
Look at verse 21 again. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the
engrafted word which is able to save your soul. See the word
engrafted there? When I was studying over this,
I was rejoicing. Look at this. The word engrafted there literally
means implanted. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness
and superfluity of idleness and receive with meekness the implanted
word, which is able to save your souls. It marks a characteristic
of the word of truth. We who are born again by the
Holy Spirit of God receive the gospel as truth, don't we? We
didn't before, but now we receive it as truth. Why? Because it's been engrafted
in us. We are granted the faith to believe
what God says. Now we believe what the word
says. Matthew says this, but he that received seed into the
good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth, which
also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some an hundredfold, and
some sixty, some thirty. Who made the ground to receive
that seed? Who made the ground fertile to
receive that seed? Who plowed that ground? The Holy
Spirit of God. He plowed the soil of our hearts
to receive that word that was planted. Now, marvel at this. Look at
that verse again. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted word, the implanted word, which is able to save your
souls. Now listen to this verse in Hebrews. Compare that verse there with
this one I'm gonna read in Hebrews 4.12. And listen to what the
word of God proclaims about itself. And think about, again, engrafted. For the word of God is quick,
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is discerner of thoughts and intents of the
heart. It pierces to the dividing asunder
of the soul." You must be born again. And when you're born again,
you're going to receive the engrafted word with joy, with joy. and it's God the Holy Spirit
who performs this operation, we cannot make ourselves born
again. God must do it. Turn if you would
to Colossians chapter two, we're closed with this. So the admonition we see here
in verse 21, wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity
of naughtiness and receive them with meekness the engrafted or
the implanted word which is able to save your souls. It's God the Holy Spirit who
does this, so let us rejoice. Look at this, Colossians chapter
two, verses 10 to 15. I had to include 10 when I pulled
these notes, this verse, because verse 10 is amazing. And ye are
complete in him. We can just stop right there,
right? But complete in Christ, it's amazing. Look at this, in
whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, and put not the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ. This is speaking of the new birth.
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through
the faith of the, look at this, operation of God. If you're born
again, it's because God performed an operation of mercy and grace
on you. Isn't that wonderful? Who hath raised him from the
dead, and you, now being in our natural state, being dead in
your sins, in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, that means to be born again, having forgiven
you what? Oh, look at that, all trespasses. Think of every sin you've ever
done, all forgiven. Oh my, under the blood, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and oh,
there was a lot that was against us, that was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross, and having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly. Praise
be to God. Oh, what a miracle. He takes
the rebel who's cursing his name and fills
his lips with praise. What a miracle of grace. And
now we're slow to speak, slow to wrath. We come with a readiness
of mind to hear the gospel preached and proclaimed, don't we? That's
all because of the grace and mercy of God.