This exposition of James 1:19-27 by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, March 17, 2019.
Intro:
James, the half brother of the Lord Jesus and the leader of the church in Jerusalem, is writing to Jewish believers who have been “scattered” due to the first wave of persecution following the stoning of Stephen.
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These believers have been driven from their homes. They have experienced testing times, to say the least and yet James says to them, “Count it an occasion for pure joy when you are ambushed by life’s multifaceted troubles.” Yes, I know, this James must be some kind of nut! Who does that? Who responds to heartache, trials and struggles with joy? How, do you respond that way? This can only be your response if you have a radically God-centered faith. Joy in the face of trial can only be accomplished when you view life through the grid of a Sovereign God who works all things together for your good and His glory. Trials, in and of themselves, are not good. They are painful, debilitating and destructive unless they are under the watchful care of a loving God who is determined to get you home safely! That’s the Gospel. That is the hope of the child of God. In the first 18 verses of chapter 1 James is instructing believers in how they are to respond to testing times. Beginning with verse 19 he deals with how believers are to respond to truth, specifically the truth of the Word of God. Our text this evening is James 1:19-27.
Text: James 1:19-27
The stated goal of James is found in verse 4 - …and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. His goal, his aim is for these scattered believers to come to complete maturity. He wants them to have a full-grown faith. One of the ways God brings maturity to the believer is through trials. There are no wasted sorrows in the Christian life. God providentially works in all things and ultimately all things work for our good and his glory. He also works through his Word and that’s what tonight’s text is all about.
In fact 1:22 is really the key verse for the book of James - But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Maturity demands hearing and doing the Word of God.
It is about listening, understanding, and obeying.
In chapter 2 James is going to tell us a workless faith is a worthless faith.
In our text we learn about some folks who think they’re mature and it just might be they have no faith at all!
We also discover that blessing follows obedience.
As we work our way through the text we find that…
Thesis: The mature believer responds to the truth of God’s Word with humility and obedience evidenced by a bridled tongue and a compassionate heart.
James has been called both the Proverbs of the New Testament and the Amos of the New Testament, this is part of the reason for that. Truths put in a succinct and memorable way (Proverbs) and some straightforward words that sting (Amos).
There are three things I want to note quickly.
- The mature believer responses to the truth with a gracious humility. (1:19-21)
- The mature believer responds to the truth with a determined obedience. (1:22-25)
- The mature believer responds to the truth with a life ordered by the word of God. (1:26-27)
Conclusion:
You want to mature in your faith? You want to know what it means to grow up in Christ? You would do well to spend time in this letter to the tribes scattered.
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