Opening Illustration: Adoniram Judson sweated out Burma's heat for 18 years without a furlough, six years without a convert. Enduring torture and imprisonment, he admitted that he never saw a ship sail without wanting to jump on board and go home. When his wife's health broke and he put her on a homebound vessel in the knowledge he would not see her for two full years, he confided to his diary: "If we could find some quiet resting place on earth where we could spend the rest of our days in peace. . ."  But he steadied himself with this remarkable postscript: "Life is short. Millions of Burmese are perishing. I am almost the only person on earth who has attained their language to communicate salvation. . ."[1]  What drove Judson to write out and live out those words?  He believed wholeheartedly in the God’s truth. I read that this week and I put myself in Judson’s shoes. I then asked myself, “Would I have wrote and done the same?” I could only answer with, “I hope so.” What about you? Could you write and live out those words? We all don’t have the calling the Judson had. But we all have a calling. Are you ready to live out that calling and give it everything you’ve got? We see that God’s truth deserves everything you’ve got. God has put you right where you are for a reason. God wants you take His truth and live it out to the fullest. Here’s what we see in our passage today: God’s truth deserves everything you’ve got.  We are in our current Sermon Series: James: Faith and Works.  Read James 1:18-27.  Pray.  I want to start out by going back to verse 18.  We covered it ever so quickly last week and the more I studied this week, the more I realized how much of today’s passage hinges on that verse.  I want to start off with a truth that you might know, but I want you to let it go deeper into your hearts. We start with this: God’s truth was given to you.

1) God’s truth was given to you. (vs. 18)  You could look at me and go, “Duh, Jess. I know that. Why do we need to talk about that?”  Well, it’s something we should reflect on a lot more than we do because of the richness of that truth. What does verse 18 say? “He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.” This idea of “birth” is a spiritual birth. It’s the birth that we have gone from death to life. It’s the idea that we were dead because of sin, but Jesus provided a way out of sin and death and into life. It’s the gospel. Every one of us are born with a sin condition. It’s a condition that we have sin in our lives – in our hearts – and that sin keeps up from God and heaven. But God loves you, so He provided a way for that condition to be redeemed. And it’s what Jesus did for us while He was on earth. Dying for our sins, conquering death, and ascending to heaven. GOSPEL PRESENTATION. And this act of birth is what God chose – it’s not what we did, what we thought, or what we earned. It was God’s initiative.

God has given this way to life to everyone who repents of their sin and believes that Jesus is Lord.  How did God choose to give us a spiritual birth? It’s through His word – through His truth.  It’s through the special and general revelation of God – that is His revealing – that He chose to impart His truth. Not only did God choose to give us this truth, but we also become His most prized possession. We are the first fruits of creation. And it’s all for His glory! In verse 19, when James stops and says, “Understand this,” because he wants us to understand what he’s about to say. But the only way to understand what he’s about to say is if we understand what he just said in verse 18. Do you really understand what we have been given? Has the truth that we were dead and Jesus not only provides a way to life, but also pulls us out from the dead into life – has that truth reached a place in your heart that is unshakeable and untouchable? If so, you’ll know that God’s truth is everything. God’s truth deserves everything you’ve got because without God’s truth you’ve got nothing. That’s the foundation that James is using for these verses. If God indeed gave us His truth that provided the way from us to go from nothing to everything, then doesn’t God’s truth deserve everything we’ve got? That was a rhetorical question, but I’ll answer it: yes.  God’s truth deserves everything we got. And James begins to show us that. Verses 19 through 21 tell us God’s truth deserves to be planted in the roots of your heart.

2) God’s truth deserves to be planted in the roots of your heart. (vs. 19-21) James starts off verse 19 by saying, “Understand this…” The ESV translation says, “Know this…” The commands are starting now. Do you remember how many commands are in James? About 60 commands in 108 verses. Look at verse 19: ¹⁹ Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.  There is a clear command of how we are supposed to act – or really react – in relationships. We must be quick to listen and slow to speak. It’s a posture that we should all take. There’s a saying in my house: “If everyone’s talking, then no one’s listening.” I love how Albert Einstein put it: Quote: “Success in life is defined as “a.” If “a” is a success in life, then “a = x + y + z” with “x” being work and “y” being play and “z” being “keep your mouth shut.” Rachel and I have learned this in our marriage as well.  Over the years, we’ve discovered that we are opposites when it comes to anger and forgiveness.  Rachel: Quick to anger and quick to forgive.  Jess: Slow to anger and slow to forgive. Where we are now: slow to anger and quick to forgive. What has caused us to get here? Listening. Being quick to listen. It’s amazing how much anger and hurt and resentment can be avoided if you just stop and really listen.

Why does James start with the concept of talking and anger? Look what James says in verse 20: ²⁰ Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. What do we know from the Bible about the connection between our hearts and our mouths? Let me remind you what Jesus said in Matthew 12: ³³ “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. ³⁴ You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. ³⁵ A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. Now, Jesus was talking to the religious hypocrites, but the truth is for everyone. Your mouth is a measuring stick for what’s in your heart. If all that comes out of your mouth is human anger, then you will not live the righteousness God desires. What kind of anger? “Human anger”  Anger motivates us to do what we believe is right. If there is a danger in that sentence, where is it? It’s not the “anger motivates” part. Anger is not bad. Anger is an emotion given to us by God. ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger. Ephesians 4:26 (ESV). Anger, by itself, is not sinful. The danger in that sentence is the second half. “…what we believe is right.” If what you believe is right is not what God believes is right, then your anger will lead you do what is wrong.

So what do we do? We have to know what’s in our hearts. What James tells us is that we have to let God’s truth be planted in our hearts. ²¹ So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. When you see the filth in your life, you should want to shed it so fast. Illustration: One of my kids recently played in the woods and was covered in ticks. Get rid of the filth and let God’s truth replace it. God’s truth deserves to be planted in the roots of your heart. James doesn’t stop there. God’s Word has to be in your hearts – planted firmly. You’ve got to do something with it. This isn’t just a “set it and forget” part of life. God’s truth deserves more than a cursory glance. 

3) God’s truth deserves more than a cursory glance. (vs. 22-25) In verse 22, there is something implied. The verse starts out with “But don’t just listen to God’s word.” In verse 21, we were told plant God’s truth in our hearts. The implication is that we are listening to the truth implanted in our hearts. We are not listening to our hearts, but we are listening to God’s truth in our hearts. Remember, our hearts are a battlefield. James assumes we are going to listen to God’s truth. I mean, why wouldn’t we! It’s this amazing gift from God. It’s what takes us from death to life. So, let’s all agree to listen to what has been planted in our hearts. With that assumption, what does verse 22 say? ²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. Look at the progression so far: God chose to reveal His truth. We are to accept the truth God plants in our hearts because there is a lot of filth out that that wants to plant in our hearts. We are going to listen to the truth. And then what? We have to do what it says! James then gives an illustration for us. ²³ For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. I don’t know what the mirror situation was in the New Testament times, but I think we have way more ways to look at ourselves now than when James wrote this letter. The illustration here is quite startling. It that even possible to forget what you look like? Well, as much as we look at ourselves today, no. And that’s the way it should be with God’s truth – we should devour it every day. We can’t be satisfied with a cursory glance at God’s truth. Illustration: I played Airsoft recently. I took a quick look, didn’t see anyone, started walking. Next thing I know, I have 2,000 little plastic BBs coming my way…God’s truth – the truth that brings us from death to life – deserves more than a cursory glance. There is a reason that God planted it in your heart and didn’t just give you another app on your phone.

We have to look carefully as we see in verse 25: ²⁵ But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. God’s Word deserves deep listening, intentional retention, and deliberate application. I want us to close by going back to verse 22. What does verse 22 say again? ²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. I have yet to see this verse reach tattoo status. Or I haven’t heard anyone claim this as their life verse. It’s up for the taking, I guess! “You must do what God’s word says.” There’s no way around this one. Obedience is required. So you know what this isn’t hard – or at least it shouldn’t be hard – to WANT to live out. Because God’s truth deserves everything we’ve got. The gospel of Jesus was given to us and it changes our eternity. We should all want to live a life of obedience because of that. But reality is, even though we may WANT to live it out, we don’t always live out. I want to close with this question. What is God calling you to do in obedience? What is God calling you to give everything you’ve got? The overarching challenge of our time in the book of James is the hope to make our faith more visible. What is God calling you to do make your faith visible? It is finally time to admit that you can’t do it on your own anymore and begin a relationship with God? Maybe you’ve never taken the step to be baptized and you need to do it. Who has got put in your life that you need to start sharing the hope of Jesus with? What is something that you need to stop doing because it’s getting in the way of sharing the hope of Jesus? What are doing to fit in that is not making your faith visible? “Life is short. Millions of Americans are perishing. What can you do to take the hope of Jesus to a world that desperately needs it?” Whatever it is, do it. Let’s pray. 

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