On this Lord's Day, we continue to consider the words of James. We'll be using the verses 19 through 27 of the first chapter, and this will be our sermon text for the next two or three Lord's Days. James chapter one, verses 19 through 27. Know this, my beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness. Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror, He looks at himself, he goes away, and at once he forgets what he is like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer of her acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he's religious and doesn't bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person, religion, is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the orphans, the widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Father, we've already addressed the fact that we do not with our mouth speak always the truth of your word, that we often do not write our tongues as we're commanded to do here in this portion of God's word. We pray father that our reflection upon these Holy Spirit inspired words would prompt us to be more led by your spirit in our lives so that our tongues would be those that demonstrate most clearly that we belong to Jesus. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. And you may recall that over recent Sunday school lessons during the summer, we focused in on a few books written by Jay Adams. Jay Adams wrote so many books. There's another one that we didn't even consider during our summertime together. And this one is called, interestingly enough, a really intriguing title, What to Do on Thursday. Now, why would Jay Adams write a book with that title, What to Do on Thursday? Well, Adams wanted his readers to know how to study the Bible and then how to apply the truths of God's word every day of the week. The subtitle was this, A Layman's Guide to the Practical Use of the Scriptures. And there are three sentences from the introduction of that book that I'd like for us to hear from Jay this morning. Quote, problems from Monday through Friday do not arrive in that same orderly fashion as discussed in church Bible studies. Decisions about matters not considered in Sunday school have a way of demanding immediate attention. They even have the audacity to appear whether or not the pastor has preached on that subject during the past month." End of quote. So what do you do on Thursday then? Requires you to know not just what the Bible says, but how to take the principles of scripture and then apply them to your life. Well, Pastor James states it this way for us in verse 22 of our text, be doers of the word and not hearers only. be doers and not hearers only. But even beyond that, it's not just our actions throughout his letter that James emphasizes, because throughout the epistle we're going to see he keeps coming back to the theme of the tongue that's introduced for us. in verses 19, 20, and 26, specifically this morning. See, James focuses our attention on how we speak as well as how we act. And so I imagine if Jay Adams were still alive and he wrote a book on James 1, 19, 20, and 26, he might have entitled it something along the lines of What to Say on Tuesday. And I gave the sermon this morning that title, as we consider what James tells us about this very practical matter of our tongues, the way we should speak, obviously not just on Tuesday, but each day of the week in the text before us. But before we consider those three verses directly, let's put these verses, as much as we can, in the context of James' other words around them. And we've said all along with James, sometimes it's hard to see a connection from one verse to another. He seems to jump from one topic to the other. Often he doesn't have precise theological teachings or explanations that perhaps we would like. So let's be reminded, I think, of the two basic truths from our passage, truths that we already know, truths that we emphasized last week, but as we emphasize these truths, we're going to be able to focus in more closely and delve into the issue of the tongue that James wants us to address. First, let's be reminded, as we said last week, your generation begins your new life in Christ. Your regeneration begins your new life in Christ. And I know many of you were not with us last Lord's Day, so note with me verse 18. Of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth. And we were reminded last week it was the Father who decreed of His own will. of his own will could actually be the word decreed. He decreed your salvation. He decreed that you would be born again. And it's the Holy Spirit who gave you that new nature, who brought you up by the word of truth. And we said last week the word of truth from other passages very clearly, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see the triune work of our God together as he gives us those new natures, and we turn in repentance and faith. And that's how your Christian walk began, each and every one of you, my dear brothers and sisters. And now, as one united to Christ, one who's born from above, one who's born again, however you wish to state that, as Scripture uses all of those terms, for our regeneration, you are now called to follow God's word. Again, a very simple, basic truth that we all know. But I think if there's a unifying theme of verses 19 through 27, I don't think they're totally random. They're not disconnected thoughts from James. His emphasis is this. Your regeneration, your being born again by the spirit of God, results in your obedience to God's word. Your regeneration results in your obedience, then, to God's word. And so let's briefly, again, we're setting the stage for our verses this morning. Let's briefly see these verses and how they connect together. The word of God keeps recurring. Verse 18, we've already defined the word of truth as the gospel of the Lord Jesus, which we believe and thereby begin our new Christian walk. But verse 21, James identifies God's word as the implanted word, the implanted word in our hearts. Just as the spirit gives us new natures, he now gives us a desire to understand God's word. Remember the psalmist? Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Well, that implanted word, verse 21, tells us to receive with meekness that implanted word in order that we would put away all filthiness and we would put away all rampant wickedness. And then verse 25, this word of God is identified in a different way for us. It's identified as the law of God, the perfect law. And it's a perfect law of liberty. It's perfect because it is the full revelation of God. It's complete. It's all we need to live righteously, to have liberty then, to have freedom in Christ, to no longer be those in bondage to sin. And as verses 22 through 25 for emphasize, we're not mere hearers of the word, but now we're doers as well. So it's in this whole context of obedience that James tells us in verse 26, bridle your tongues, to have godly speech that does not produce human anger, but God's righteousness, according to verses 19 through 20. And before considering these verses more closely, just to finish our brief survey of these verses and see where we'll be headed in future weeks as well, notice in verse 27, those who are obedient to God's word Religion that is pure and undefiled before the God his father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction caring for the afflicted It's a demonstration that we wish to obey and not just hear God's word. And refraining from worldliness as well, as verse 27 ends, to keep oneself unstained from the world. And all of these verses, James is going to come back to in chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5. So having laid the foundation there, how does your new life in Christ affect the way you talk? How should you speak on Tuesday? Well, James gives us another general principle to follow in verse 26. If anyone thinks he's religious and he doesn't bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, that person's religion is worthless. So let's first of all then consider your religion and your In that word, religious, in its adjective form and religion in its noun form, and then Paul, James will say it again in verse 27. It's interesting that this word doesn't show up very often in scripture. It only shows up two more times in the New Testament. And it's an emphasis really on religiosity, if you will, outward ceremonies, the practice of rituals. That's how the word is normally used. Colossians 2.18 talks about the worship or the religion of angels when people go astray and they start having ceremonies and rituals dedicated to angels. Even pagan religion in James Day used this term. What's the problem here? What's James teaching us? He's teaching us that outward religion is not enough. Outward religion is not enough. And even outward ceremonies to the triune God, the God of the Bible. are not enough. Now you know me well enough to know that I would never ever want to minimize the importance of gathering together on the Lord's Day, the importance of singing God's praises, the importance of praying together, the importance of reading and listening to God's word, the importance of professing our faith, the importance of using our mouths to feast on the Lord's table, and then at the end, to use our ears to receive the blessing of our triune God. But see, all those things are outward elements of our worship. And so what James is reminding us, though, is that being present in worship and participating in these rituals, if your religion is real, is going to result in godly speech on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Let's add a couple more. Praying before meals, certainly a good thing. Reading your Bible on your own, a wonderful outward expression of personal piety, but only if they result in godly actions and godly speech. The only other time this word for religion is used in scripture is used in Acts 26, verses 4 and 5. If you'd like to turn there, I'll give you that opportunity. Paul is giving a defense of his preaching, his ministry, going around the world proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ before King Agrippa. He's already been arrested. He knows he's on his way to Rome. But Paul wants to let Agrippa and all those there hear his testimony, if you will. And he talks about his former life before he was born again, before he was regenerated, before the Lord met him on the road to Damascus. And so he says this in chapter 26 of Acts, verse 4. My manner of life from my youth spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem is known by all the Jews. Paul obviously was well known, known as a persecutor of the church, known as a great rabbi. And they've known for a long time, if they're willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of, and here's our word, of our religion, I have lived as a Pharisee. I did all the outward ceremonies I was supposed to do. I was seen as a great, great religious figure in Israel. But none of that mattered. Outward rituals, outward strict conformity to the tradition of men was not a true religion. And we know this. Jesus often condemned Pharisees like Paul for their mere outward show. We know how often the Old Testament prophets railed against the people of Israel for making sacrifices while their hearts were far from God. So James really is now just adding his voice to the condemnation of mere outward religion that's found throughout scripture. True religion, true obedience to the word, a demonstration of your new life in Christ involves, according to James 1.26, the need to bridle your tongue, the need to bridle your tongue. If anyone thinks he's religious and doesn't bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart. Now let me quickly and hasten to add this. Significant verb tense going on here. We really could translate this, is not bridling his tongue, is not bridling his tongue. The reason I bring that up, it's a reminder of the ongoing, gradual process of sanctification. We'll never completely have our tongues under perfect control. And James reminds us of that in chapter three, verses two and three. Notice with me. We all stumble in many ways, but if anyone doesn't stumble in what he says, he's a perfect man. He's able to bridle not just his tongue, but his whole body. Now we put bits into the mouth of horses so that they obey. We guide their whole bodies as well. We can control a horse by putting a bridle in his mouth. We can't control our own tongues. If we could do so, we would be perfect men, and our entire bodies, our entire entities would follow. But it's still a noble goal. Notice in chapter 1, verse 4, James has already told us, We need to let steadfastness have its full effect. In the midst of trials, we can have joy, we can demonstrate true faith, we can be steadfast. Why? So that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. That ongoing work of sanctification continues for us in this life, both in our hearts and in our actions and in our words. And really, I think James is contrasting for us the unbelievers who are not practicing true religion, who have no control over their tongues. Do you have co-workers? Do you know others around us in the world around us habitually swearing, regular liars, constant complainers, those who take the Lord's name in vain, Those who think it's a great joy to tell coarse, obscene jokes. See, that not ought to be who you are, dear Christian. If your religion is true, when you speak on Tuesday, you tell the truth. You speak pure words. You give praise to God instead of complaining. Now, James is going to have a lot more to say about this whole issue of controlling the tongue. We've already read some of those verses, chapter 3, verses 7 through 10. I want to just read them again just to remind you that James is giving us a general category. There's so many ways in which we can demonstrate that our tongues have not been bridled. Again, James 3, 7 through 10. Every kind of beast, every bird, every reptile, every sea creature that can be tamed. And it has been tamed by mankind. But no human being can tame the tongue. It's a restless evil. It's full of deadly poison. And with it, we bless our Lord and Father. And with it, we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. And from the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things should not be. Notice chapter 4, verses 11 and 12 as well. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge. There's only one lawgiver and judge. He is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? Chapter 5, verse 12. Above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes simply be yes, your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. Many of us recognize James as echoing the words of our Savior there as he does so often in. All that to remind us that if we are perfect, if we are those who take our religion as seriously as we should, we would bridle our tongues. But why is it impossible for us, even as true believers in Christ, to completely bridle our tongues? Even though we have new natures, even though we have new life in Christ, let's be reminded we're still at odds with what sometimes scripture calls the old man, the flesh, our old sinful natures. Which reminds us, our issue with our tongues is really an issue of the heart. It's an issue of the heart. Our inner being is our heart in scripture. The sum of all we are, our thoughts, our emotions, our will. And remember what Jesus said in words that we read already this morning. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. He tells us also in another place that a tree that is a good tree produces good fruit, and a tree that is an evil tree produces evil fruit. Good hearts produce good words. Evil hearts produce evil words. And James uses that imagery. We read these earlier, but let me remind you of 3, 10, 11, and 12. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening, both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. I don't know if any of you have ever attempted seriously to avoid a sin of the tongue that you really struggle with. I recall as a 20 or 30 year old, I decided, you know what, I complain too much and I'm gonna stop complaining and every time I'm tempted to complain, I'm just gonna say praise the Lord or start singing a hymn or something like that. Well, you know that didn't last very long, right? Here's the problem. The problem really wasn't with the tongue. The problem was right here with the heart. If I had been contented, perfectly contented, in my life, then out of the abundance of a contented heart would have come forth the praise of our God instead of the complaining. And James is pretty strong here as he ends our verse. He's already said it's not a true religion if you don't seek to brighten your tongue. But notice what he also says about those whose religion doesn't affect the way we speak at all. This person's religion, he says at the end of verse 26, is worthless. And that sounds pretty bad, worthless, vain. meaningless, that's great condemnation. It's a clear indication that it's not a true, valid religion. It's not the religion that's pure and undefiled that he goes on to talk about in verse 27. But you know what? It's worse than that. It's worse than that. Because we could properly translate this word, this religion is worthless, as this religion is a form of idolatry. It's a form of idolatry. And that's pretty strong, right? If it's not a true religion, then it's idolatry. Well, the reason I say that is Paul, three other times in the New Testament, and isn't it fascinating? I say this every week, but I am setting the stage for chapter two, where everybody says James and Paul contradict each other. How many times have we turned to an epistle of Paul to verify what James is telling us in chapter one? And here we go again. Three times Paul uses this word, vain, worthless, and he's talking about idols in all three times. In Acts 14, 15, you remember when Paul and Barnabas are in the city of Lystra, they perform miracles? And so the citizens there think that Paul is Hermes and Barnabas is Zeus, the chief messenger of the God and the chief of gods. Remember what they want to do? with Paul and Barnabas? They want to bow down and worship Paul and Barnabas. So Paul reminds them at this point, and he says to them in Acts 14, 15, to turn away from vain, worthless, empty, idle things. Turn from these vain things and turn to the living God who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. Paul uses that same word of futile or useless when he talks about those who God has given over to their reprobate minds in Romans 1. They knew God. They didn't honor God. or they give thanks to God, but they became, here's that word, worthless, futile, idolatrous in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened, and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creepy things. They didn't worship the Creator. What do they do? They worship the creation instead. They turn themselves over in their reprobate minds to idols. And so in Ephesians 4, 17, Paul cautions the church at Ephesus, I say and I testify that you must not walk like Gentiles in the idolatry or the futility their minds. So what are James and Paul telling us together this morning? They're telling us this. It's a very strong warning for all of us. If your religion only extends to Sunday worship and it doesn't affect how you speak the rest of the week, your heart's not right before God, Your religion is as useless as that of pagan worshipers throughout the history of the world, and as vain as people who follow after false religions today. But my dear brothers and sisters in Jesus, you who've been truly born again, who struggle with bridling your tongue on an ongoing basis, let me encourage you, you keep fighting that good fight of faith, you keep guarding your heart, and you keep striving to bridle your tongue. Keep making it your desire to speak godly speech on Tuesday and throughout the rest of the week. Well, if verse 26 teaches us the relationship between our religion, our hearts, and our tongues, then verse 19 connects the relationship between our ears and our tongue. And so we read in verse 19, know this, my beloved brothers, Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. Really, this is an example of bridling your tongue very specifically in your conversations with others. Be quick, pursue rapidly, and do so without delay. In your conversations with others, what should your priority be? Your priority should be finding out what they have to say. One has phrased it very well, hurry up and listen. Hurry up and listen. Open your ears and then your mouth. Or as the message translates it, read with your ears, follow with your tongues. Well, all too often, we do want to hear ourselves talk. We think what we have to say is far more important than what others have to say. We want others to be quick to hear and slow to speak, but we want to be quick to speak and slow to hear. And you know what this is another indication of? It's another indication of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, because I am convinced that an unwillingness to listen first is an indication really of an arrogant heart. In pride, we fail to keep the second great commandment. And we know the second great commandment, love your neighbor as yourselves. But we don't follow that. We don't even follow our Lord's description or Paul's description of our Lord in Philippians 2 verses 3 through 5, words that are probably familiar to us. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but to the interest of others, having this mind among yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Do you want to be like Jesus? Do you want to demonstrate that you count others more significant than yourself? Hurry up and listen to them. Don't interrupt them. Don't anticipate what they're going to say and answer questions that they don't even ask. Be patient with them when it's taken them a long time to articulate what they're trying to say. Those of you who know me, know me, this is a great, great failing in my life. I felt great conviction pouring over this passage this week. I think pastors often are too quick to give counsel without being first, good listeners. And a good counselor is really a good listener first and foremost. Parents, it's so easy, isn't it? With children to say, spit it out, child. You know what? And we don't give them time to spit. Let them spit. If it takes 10 minutes to get up the story, give them the 10 minutes they need. And I know that's hard, because the dishes are waiting and everything else. But we do need to be quick to listen. and slow to speak. And some of you recognize, we read a lot in Proverbs that relate to all of this. Well, we don't have time during the sermon, or we're not gonna take the time during the sermon to consider those Proverbs. We're gonna look at those in Sunday school because there's some more further practical things that we can consider. But James being incredibly practical also reminds us of something. Listening is most difficult when you're mad, right? How often when you get angry do you shut things down and you're not even listening? I mean, it could be the greatest argument you've ever heard, but you're done. You're not going to listen to it anymore because you're angry. But if you're slow to speak, you'll also be slow to anger. I am finding myself more and more doing what I should have done a long time ago, and that is shut off. irritating podcasts, radio shows, TV stations, because what's going on? You've got two people arguing with each other, attempting to talk over each other. It's a battle of verbal anger. Useless. But let's get more personal, shall we? How often do you wind up in an argument with someone because you refuse to listen, to refrain from speech yourself, or to speak in an unkind manner when you do speak. And again, we read just the tip of the iceberg in Proverbs. We'll consider more of those in Sunday school as well, but let's all be reminded of Proverbs 15, one. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Well, let's be reminded of that simple truth that we all know to be true. Our actions on Thursday, our words on Tuesday, our goal ought to be this, to produce fruit, to produce words of righteousness, of godliness. Yet here, practical James tells us, the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness of God. Anger does not result in godly words or godly deeds. And let's be clear. I know some of you are thinking, well, what about righteous indignation? We'd like to jump to that. Let's note that James isn't even referencing that. This is a self-centered anger exhibited by our need to speak over someone else. And let me remind you of those incredibly convicting words that we read from our Savior's lips, we will give account of every word. He hears them all, good or evil, whether said in love for our neighbor or more in love for ourselves. And I think James would draw our attention to Ecclesiastes 5.2 in this regard that we also have already read, but let me read it again. Don't be rash with your word. nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. There's the source, the heart. For God's in heaven, you're on earth, he's in that exalted position, he's looking down, he sees it all, he hears it all. Therefore, let your words be few. Slow to speak, swift to hear. I trust by now, if you're like me, you're feeling rather convicted. at this point by the teaching of Pastor James. Your words on Tuesday do not always demonstrate the true religion of one who's been given new life in Christ. You talk too often. Your manner of speech often shows a lack of obedience to God's word. Your heart's more centered on self than on listening to others. Well, let me remind all of us conviction of sin is a proper response for God's people to God's word. But never, ever should that be our only response. Dear Christian, as always, a recognition of your sin should cause you once more to flee to your Savior who died for all of your sins. So it's good to consider our religion, Our hearts and our tongue, it's proper to consider our ears and our tongues, but as we close, it certainly is appropriate to remember our savior and our tongue as well. And let's be reminded about this, of your savior. His heart, his speech were sinless. His heart and speech were sinless. Out of the abundance of his holy heart always came holy words. even as He took on the curse of sin, the curse of death for you on the cross. Peter reminds us of this in 1 Peter 2, verse 23. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he didn't threaten, but he continued entrusting himself to the one who judges rightly, to his heavenly father, doing the acts that his father had brought him to do. His sinless life, his agonizing death on your behalf has removed the curse that you deserve. For every unbridled word that ever has come or will come out of your mouth. So your response this morning is you reflect on that great truth. And on Tuesday, when you speak on godly words, keep trusting Him in your heart and keep confessing Him in your mouth. Keep trusting Him in your heart. confessing him with your mouth. It's out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. And so start with your heart. Trust in Jesus. Keep trusting in Jesus. And then keep confessing that, indeed, he is Lord. We often use Romans 10, 9 through 11 as verses for evangelism. And indeed, it talks about how we can be justified, how we can initially be made right with God. But I would submit to you, brothers and sisters, that these verses apply a bit as much to our sanctification If you confess on an ongoing basis with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord, and if you continue to believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, but it's also with the mouth that one confesses and is saved. Scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. And so, beloved, Keep trusting the one who overcame sin and death on your behalf. Keep confessing him with your mouth and keep trusting him as you speak words of truth. And another reminder to us all as well this morning, as we reflect on our Savior and on our words, and as we recognize that our words should bring great conviction because of our failure to speak righteously, are too frequent getting angry with others in our conversation. Let me encourage you thirdly, keep confessing your sins and keep being rest assured of your forgiveness in Jesus. King David's words ought to be your words. Psalm 1914, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, you're my rock. We've been saying that all along from Psalm 46 this month in our call to worship, but David ends with, you're also my redeemer. We recognize even more clearly how God has redeemed us, ransomed us from our sins with the coming of Jesus. We who recognize then that he paid the price for our sins, we rejoice then in the truth of the Apostle John, words that we know, words that many of us can recite from 1 John 1-9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful, he is just to forgive us our sins. He's faithful, he always will, when we truly repent of those words that we should not have spoken. And it's a just thing for him to do. He paid the price on the cross, so it is a right response when God's people repent of all of our unrighteousness, both our sinful mouths, our sinful hearts, and our sinful actions. Well, I don't know about you, but I look forward to the rest of worship service because we get to use our mouths in correct ways. We get to sing our praises to God. We get to confess our faith together. We get to use our mouths to receive the blessing, the sacrament that God's given to us. And then we get to use our ears at the very end to receive the blessings that God has given to us. But do not let these be mere outward rituals. Practice true religion this week. as a regenerate saint of your triune God. Be doers of his word on Thursday. Brighten your tongues on Tuesday. Be quick to hear, be slow to speak, be slow to anger as you keep trusting Jesus in your heart and you keep glorifying him with your mouth. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we began worship even as we respond to your word today, that we do not allow often enough our tongues to be bridled. And our demonstration of a self-centeredness and unwillingness to live wholeheartedly for Jesus, wholeheartedly to love and serve others around us, causes us to be quick to speak and slow to hear, and oftentimes quick to anger. Father, please forgive us. And Father, we do recognize that failing. We do want to do better. We do know that the way to do so is to continue to pour out our hearts before you when we do sin, but also to have a greater faith in the Lord Jesus, a greater confession from our mouths that he is Lord, the one who overcame sin and death for us. Father, we do pray that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our heart would be acceptable to you, our God, our rock, our redeemer. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.