Call to Commitment

One-room schoolhouse

                            James 1:19-27

 

Swift to hear… with meekness

      19.  So then, my beloved brethren, let every man  be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;    

     20.  for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 

    21.  Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 

When I was in first and second grade, I went to a one-room schoolhouse, for first through eighth grades. The students were called, a grade at a time, to sit at a table with the teacher in the front of the room. I used to listen attentively, as the teacher gave the higher grades their lessons and was able to glean a good deal from them. In biblical studies, we soon learn that the Bible offers insights into the spiritual world that go far beyond what one person can learn in a lifetime. We need to listen to others.

 John Wesley outlines the rest of the book by verse 19: “Let every man be swift to hear – This is treated from James 1:21 to the end of the next chapter. Slow to speak – Which is treated in the third chapter. Slow to wrath – Neither murmuring at God, nor angry at his neighbor. This is treated in the third, and throughout the fourth and fifth chapters.”

 In verse five, James counseled the Christian to pray for wisdom and in verse 19, he is adding to this advice, showing us that prayer should be coupled with a desire to listen. In conversation, we learn as others share what they have learned and, of course, through preachers and teachers, our knowledge of the Word grows. Reading is a form of listening and blessed is the Christian, who is a good reader. We must be ready and anxious to hear. 

 

 James joins the writer of Proverbs in practical, spiritual advice. Solomon’s wisdom did not stem from his great knowledge alone, but expertise in teaching that knowledge. His fatherly counsel was “Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and call understanding your nearest kin” (Pr.7:4). Beginning in chapter 8, he beautifully personifies wisdom, and in verses 32-35, she calls to her students: “Listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord.” It was wisdom from God that enabled Solomon to share his knowledge.

 There is a common error concerning hearing, which I must address, simply because it is common. Biblical hearing goes beyond the faculty of the two ears attached to our heads. There are extremely simple Bible versions, which cater to this error, seeming to conclude that if the Bible is written simply enough, people will read and grow more spiritually. That is not necessarily true.

 There are people, who are diligent in going to church, attending Sunday School and Bible studies, who seem to continue to be stymied in their spiritual growth. Jesus warned his disciples concerning hearing that falls short of capturing spiritual truth. In Mark 4:24, He said, “Take heed what you hear” and in Luke 8:18, He adds, “Take heed how you hear”. The verse continues, as Jesus alludes to those, who seem to have, but do not, and to those who truly possess the ability to receive truth. They know how to hear. From Mark 4:24, we learn to be selective in what we should hear, assuring ourselves that it is truth, but then, going beyond what can be learned with intellectual knowledge, we must do as Luke records, learn how to hear with ears of the heart.  Academic learning is not enough in order to grow spiritually.

 The next gem in verse 19, “slow to speak,” also finds much confirmation in Proverbs: “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise” (Pr.10:19) and “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction” (Pr.13:3). More of this kind of powerful advice can be seen in Proverbs 15:2; 17:27; 18:13, 18:21 and 21:23 for the reader, who is swift to hear.

 The third word of counsel in this verse, to be slow to wrath, also finds corresponding truth in the book of Proverbs. I will just cite one, Proverbs 14:29: “He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly.” Here are a few others: Proverbs 13:10; 14:16; 15:18; 19:19; 22:24-25 and 25:28. How does the Christian respond, if he is sensitive to spiritual truth? Wisdom requires that he must be careful not to trigger a carnal response. The Christian can understand truth and see the error of a worldly humanistic viewpoint. It is easy to give place to anger against those who have believed a lie and walk in deceit.

 We can assume that wrath is an outburst of pride, because it follows that the word of God is received with meekness, the opposite of pride. Jesus said that He was meek and lowly of heart and the seed of truth can only be planted in the soft soil of a meek spirit. A contentious, striving spirit wards off truth. We are learning another principle about how to hear; we are to hear with meekness.

 There are certain conditions that must be met, in order for someone to receive salvation. It is universally accepted that repentance and faith lead to salvation. Jesus also taught that the seeker of God’s kingdom must come in humility: “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein” (Lk.18:17). He was speaking of the virtue of humility in a child (Mt.18:4). The truth that brings salvation takes place in a meek, humble soul.

 

Doers of the word

            22. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 

23.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 

24.  for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 

25.  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 

26.  If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 

27.  Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. 

 Can a person be deceived, while listening to the Bible? That is what James teaches, if he does not act on what he is hearing. We have learned that 1) spiritual things must be heard with ears of the heart. 2) We must hear and receive with meekness, and now he is giving us a third principle about how to hear: 3) We must hear and then act (22). 

 The principle is founded on the teachings of Christ, because Jesus taught that the same deception, of which James speaks, would exist in many who would call Him “Lord”: “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?... but he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell” (Lk.6:46, 49). In Matthew 7:21, He gave the same teaching:  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” 

 The believer should walk in the word, his very life reflecting the teachings of Christ. If he does not, simply listening to truth, he begins to forget what he has heard instantly. While you listen to the word, it is like holding a mirror before your eyes (23). You put the mirror down, when the message ends, and you forget what you heard (24). However, if someone lives in truth, what he hears is retained, because he continually walks in it.

The principle is taught throughout the New Testament. Paul tells the Christian that, if he claims to be made alive in the Holy Spirit, then his walk should confirm his confession: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal.5:25). We notice that John uncovers the same deception that James does: “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous (1 Jn.3:7). Jesus, James, Paul and John teach the same truth, saying… If you call Me Lord, do the will of my Father, Jesus said… Do the word that you hear, James teaches… walk what you confess, Paul added… practice what you claim to have, John concludes. James already told us to be swift to hear, but we must hear carefully, and now he adds, be swift to obey and act.

 Warren Wiersbe counsels that we should read the Bible, as if it were an X-ray, and not like a casual photo… “A cursory reading of the Bible will never reveal our deepest needs. It is the difference between a candid photo and an X-ray.” John Wesley wrote what happened in a meeting, as he preached: “One before me dropped as dead, and presently a second, and a third. Five others sunk down in half an hour, most of whom were in violent agonies.” These people looked into the perfect law of liberty and when they got back on their feet, they walked in it for the rest of their lives.

 The word that we have in our Bibles, God’s word, is “the perfect law of liberty”, because it has the power to set us free.  Jesus said to Jews, who claimed to believe in Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (Jn.8:32). John Wesley comments on verse 25: “But he that looketh diligently - Not with a transient glance, but bending down, fixing his eyes, and searching all to the bottom. Into the perfect law - Of love as established by faith. He who keeps the law of love is free.” He listens deeply with his heart and then he continually walks in it.

 Here is a deceived person, who may be among the dispersed Jews, and thinks himself to be a Christian. He may be among Christians in 2023, as well. We use the term “religious” commonly to talk about someone, who is an outward Christian, but not truly converted. That was not commonly meant in the past. A person could be called religious, because he or she was a devoted, pious Christian of the heart.

 However, James is seeing some, who are not devoted or pious, but is seeing them as we do, when we use the term in our day. They practice a ceremonious, outward Christianity but by their practice, reveal themselves to be false and superficial. Their heart is deceived, their tongue is untamed, and their religion is total vanity (26).

 James makes a point that he continues to uncover throughout his book. It is a great revelation to him and he sees the need for people to read and learn the lesson. He sees that there is a false and there is a true Christianity. True, inward Christianity will manifest itself outwardly by its deeds. It will reach out to those who are in need; they are helpless to face the world in which they exist. God is the Husband of the widows and the Father of the orphans and wants His people to do something about their dire situations.

 There is something else that God is concerned about and that is holiness… separation from the world and its system. We will see that James has more to say about this later. The church consists of people, who are not stained by the world (27). Peter gave his listeners that advice on the Day of Pentecost… “Be saved from this perverse generation” (Ac.2:40). It is in the meaning of the original Greek word for church, that is ekklesia… a people called apart.