Good morning. I don't know if you do the, what we call at the end of the year, resolutions, is it? Like this year, when we were coming in this new year, I had to write one resolution. And then I said, in this year, I want not to be speaking loud, because students have been complaining that I just speak loud and all this kind of thing. So I'm going to make sure that I don't speak loud. And then... And then it came, I think, the week of 13th, we had an intensive year. So I was encouraged, you know, because I managed to teach all the five days. Nobody came to me saying I speak loud. Okay. Then I said, okay, it's working. All right, and then we started this week. On Tuesday, I went to Pretoria to preach there. No, not to preach, to teach. So, just before the, after the devotion, because you have class, and then after the class, then there's a devotion. I see, you know, one of the students is coming to me. That student was here, and you may remember, her name is Frida Motiang. So, she studied here. And she said, OK. I saw, I couldn't hear that you were here. And then I started being disappointed. How? How? How did you know that I'm here? I said, no, I couldn't hear you in the other class. I said, oh, my gosh. This resolution is not working. Then I just lost hope. Then I said, I'm not going to carry on trying to do that. So today, I'm going to build out. The reason why is because, as I was telling you this scripture, the word of God is not against loudness. It's against speaking rashly. So I said, I was very much encouraged when I was preparing the message today. I said, yeah, it's fine. I'm in a good position. So please turn with me to James. Chapter one, from verses 19 through 27. But before I read, let me pray for us. Father, thank you so much, once again, that we can gather this morning, and just to listen to your word. I just pray, Father, that may you help our hearts, may you calm our hearts, Lord, because we know that there are things that are happening. that can distract us from listening to your word, hearing your word. So I pray that may your spirit help us that we can hear this word and that we can put this into practice. It is in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that I pray. Amen. So like for some of us who were here last year, remember that I said I started looking into the book of James and we spent three weeks looking into chapter 1 and this is the like I can say like the fourth week and then today we end this passage this is 19 and we are finishing the chapter 1 today from verse 19 to 27 so if you have got your bibles I'm gonna read from English Standard Version ESV verse 19 says 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 lusciousness of God. Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and 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 is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, and goes away, and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, be no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts. He will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Today, this morning, we are looking at an important passage, you know, this passage that we have just looked at, and this passage calls us to respond to God's Word with obedient listening, careful speech, and a humble demeanor. As James 1 verse 19, chapter 1 verse 19 puts it, we must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. James is not introducing a new topic here. Instead, he's building on what he has already discussed. Remember, in Chapter 1, we already looked about trials, and we looked also about wisdom, and we touched about the issue of poverty and riches. James is writing to these believers who are going through different Fails, as we see in chapter 1, verse number 2. The suffering that these early believers were experiencing had affected their behavior and some had become careless in their speech, they were easily angered and inattentive to God's instruction. And we find that here James reminds them that As those born of God's will through the gospel, that is in James 1 verse 18, Christians should demonstrate Godly character, and they should do this not just by hearing the word, but they should live it out. They should demonstrate this Godly character, not just by hearing, but they should live it out. And then what we're going to see in this, we find that James is encouraging us that responding to trials with wisdom, as James 1 verse 19 teaches us, involves these three things. Number one, it involves responding to God's Word with humility rather than wrath. And rather than wrath, that is in verse 19 and 21. And secondly, responding to God's Word, not by merely listening, but also obeying it, that is verses 22 and 25. And lastly, we're going to look at giving out our faith through controlled speech, compassion for the needy, and a life set apart for God. That is verses 26 through 27. So let us unpack these truths together. First one, responding to God's word with humility rather than wrath, James verse 19 to 21. I'm going to read this again. It says this, know these, my 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 off filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your soul. The question is, why is James saying this? Why is he edging the Christian? Why is he exalting the Christian? the Christians in this way. So, remember that these Christians are going through suffering, as they're going through trials. And what we find is that mostly, trials often expose our hearts. When life gets difficult, it is easy, you know, to become bitter, impatient, and angry. And we see this in the Old Testament, the story of the children of Israel. They became angry, they became impatient with Moses and God. And what was the result? The result is that they started grumbling and complaining and calling Moses, why did you bring us here so that we can die in this wilderness? It's better we go back. We find that in Exodus 16 verses 2 to 3. But what we found here is that James is warning us against such kind of response. When people are going through challenges, it's very easy. I've seen it in my life. I'm not just talking about something else, but I've seen it in my life. I become angry. I become just some stuff that we're not supposed to be coming out of my mouth. But James warns us here. Instead of reacting with anger and frustration, we should be quick to listen. Not just to people, but most importantly, to God. To understand what is it that God is doing in my life through these challenges that I'm facing. Listening here doesn't mean just hearing the sound. It means understanding reflecting and applying what Jesus and what God is teaching us in his way. However, it's unfortunate that our natural tendency is the opposite way, isn't it? We are quick to speak and slow to listen. Think about the conflicts that we have had, maybe in your marriage, or maybe in your church, or like with your friendship with other people in your relationships. Where do they come from, those kinds of conflicts? Mostly, they come because we don't understand each other. I know it with my wife. Most of the times when we fight, it is because I didn't pay much attention to what she's saying. Sometimes it's her not paying attention to what I'm saying. Then she just concludes, OK, this is what exactly that James is teaching us this morning. He's instructing us. also to be, not just to speak hastily, but we need to be also slow to anger. And we need to understand that he's not saying that we should not be angry at all, but he's talking about sinful anger here. Because we find that Jesus in the Gospels, who expressed the righteous anger, he cleansed the temple with anger. The Bible tells that he whipped the people out. We are selling stuff in the church, in the temple. But James is running against the self-centered and controlled anger. that does not produce the righteousness of God. He's not, sometimes we just burst up. He's not talking about that, but the anger that lives in our hearts, that makes us to hate one another, that makes us to, you know, have that one, and it lives with us. That's what he's talking about here. And it leads us to sinful thoughts, hurtful words, and even broken relationships. So how do we deal with anger, such kind of anger? It is not by suppressing it, you know, just saying, ah, like just ignoring the anger that we have in our hearts. And also it is not by venting it out. You know, you go to some psychologist, they say that you need, when you are angry, you need to vent it, and that will affect us. You need to have a punch back, you know, have you ever heard of something like that? When you're angry, go to God and begin to punch it. No, that's not what, how we can control this anger. It is by surrendering it to God. We need to surrender our anger to God. Verse number 21 tells us, put away all filthiness and lump and wickedness. What is he talking about? He's talking about this anger and, you know, verse is speaking. James is calling it, what? Wickedness and lump and filthiness. He's saying take it away. Put it away. and receive this meekness, the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. Anger is not overcome by outburst or silence, but by humility and submission to God's word. So the God's word has the power to help us to overcome our anger. Not all these other, you know, how to do these things that we are taught. When we let God's word shape our hearts, then our speech and emotions will follow. There is instruction from God's Word that how do we deal with anger is through submitting to God's Word and let the power of God's Word that was implanted within us do its work. Secondly, responding to God's Word by not merely listening but also obeying it. James here is reminding us that it is not enough just to hear, not to come to the church, to listen to the sermons, to be here in the, you know, like, chapel devotion, but we must obey whatever we hear the Word of God says to us. Verse 22 says, but be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourself. Attending church, as I mentioned, listening to sermons and reading the Bible, Having built Bible study and not responding to what you get from that is not enough. James warns that merely listening to God's word without applying it leads to self-deception. We may think, sometimes we look at our lives and see, why is it that I'm not growing in my spiritual life? But maybe the good question to ask is, are you applying what you are getting from the Word of God? Are you applying what you get from the sermons that we hear, from the classes that we have here at Mokano? It was raised yesterday concerning how some of our students respond when somebody is preaching, or maybe they are praying. Some people, they are on their phones. Some people, they are packing their books. Some people, they are jazzing. You know, they are sleeping. You wonder, even when I'm preaching, you wonder, but why is this man listening? He's sleeping. This one is sleeping. Sometimes I see from here, this one is sleeping. It just shows the attitude that we have towards the Word of God. And you can't tell me that, OK, but I do obey. If you are not listening to God, because here it says we need to hear the Word of God. If we can't pay attention to the preaching of the Word of God, then we should forget. even to the application, I mean, to the, like, obeying it, where we cannot obey something that we don't pay attention to listen to. And James illustrates this with a mirror analogy in verse 23 and 24. He says, a person who hears God's word but does not obey it is like someone who looks at themselves in the mirror and immediately forgets their appearances. So what kind of mirror is he talking about? We may say, ah, I do look at my mirror, and I remember. what I look like. But here, maybe it's in the 5th century, Genesis talk about the Lord of these mirrors in the ancient world, they were made from polished metal and they produced dim and also distorted reflections. Then when you just go there and quickly look at that, and then you go, you're never gonna, you know, like, have two reflections of how you look like. That's why when this person forgets, because he didn't pay much attention to what he's looking like. But similarly, listening to God's Word without applying it, you only get superficial knowledge, but there is going to be no transformation. real transformation of the heart. And Jesus made the same point in Matthew chapter 27, verse 26 to 27. He compared hearing without, I mean, he compared hearing without obedience to building a house on a sand. And I believe you have read, what did he say? The result of this house that is built on the sand. When storms of life come, the house crumbles, collapses. But verse 25 contrasts this forgiveness here with a faithful doer. And this is what verse 25 says. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no here, he forgets that a doer who acts will be blessed in his doing. So there's something that we need to look at here. Number one, God's word is called the law of what? Liberty. Because why is James saying that it's a law of free body? Because true freedom comes from obeying God's way. If you want freedom, then obey what God says. Because if you don't practice what you already get from all these exams and Bible study and classes, then it's going to tempt you. It's going to come to you. You're not going to rest. But if you want to rest, make sure that you are paying attention and you're obeying what God's Word says. And another thing here says, a person who perseveres in obedience will experience God's blessing. And here we need to understand that he's not talking about material wealth, you know, because that's, somebody can take this and say, okay, yes, you're going to receive blessings. No, it's not talking about material wealth, but he's talking about spiritual vitality, okay, spiritual growth, joy, and steadfastness. That's what James is focused on. So obedience brings growth. Obedience brings joy. Obedience brings perseverance. If these things are lacking in our life, like spiritual growth, joy, We already talked about what kind of joy, we're not talking about jubilant and just dancing on all this, but this sense of peace. If we are like this, maybe we need to ask ourselves this morning to say, how am I doing it, you know, like obedience to God? Am I obeying God's word? And that these things are the result of me living on my own way. Lastly, Living out our faith through controlled speech, compassion for the needy, a life set apart for God. That is verse 26 to 27. The first thing we will see that as Christians, we are to control our speech. Please, we are to control our speech. We cannot just allow to talk Something's coming out of our, of our mouth. Look at this. If anyone thinks he's religious and does not brood or brood on his tongue that deceives his heart, this person's religion is what? Worthless. You just talk. Whenever you're going through challenges, you just blast whatever. James says your religion or your Christianity is what? Worthless. James says that true faith affects how we speak. Proverbs 10 verse 19 says this, when words are many, transgression is not lacking. But whoever strains his lips is prudent. You talk, you talk, you talk, make sure, you need to be assured that there's going to be one, two, three things coming to your eyes and you know what? Your speech. You are just talking carelessly. Now Jesus warns us in Matthew chapter 12 verse 36. He says this. He says that we will give account for every careless word we speak. That we are going to be accounted for everything, careless word that we speak. And then you may ask, even my jokes. Yes. So you need to, you need to, if you are joking, make sure that's your jokes. I try to do that. My jokes should not be dirty jokes you know like if you like if we go to your face we are we are not christians and we ask what what what what comes from this brother from her from his mouth are they gonna say no no no you jokes but we don't hear dirty jokes that's what James is talking about here. Our heads, why? Because our heads, even our jokes, can give up or tear down. They can ruin some people. So we need to be careful with what we are speaking. True Christianity is not just about outward rituals, but about transformed heart that produces Godly speech. And then lastly, we see here that number two, I think not lastly, but number two, So that Christianity, genuine, authentic Christianity, it should accompany also with the care for the needy. Verse 27, it says, the religion that is pure and defiled before God, the Father, is this, that to visit orphans and widows in their affliction. Here James is emphasizing on practical love. We cannot claim to be Christians while ignoring the suffering around us. Helping the needy is not an abortion extra. It is a fundamental part of true faith. So how do you know? How do I know? James is going to emphasize, say that it's because our works do not save us. We know that. But I know that we are Christian when we are involved. Because we were saved through faith for good works. That's how the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2. Faith has saved us, but it has not just saved us to be, you know, like living carelessly, but it has saved us to do good works. And you may say, Okay, how can I be helping the... I mean, I'm also, you know, like, I'm a poor... James is not talking to Christians who are living in Santon, who are having, like, millions of dollars, of lands. He's talking to the Christians, remember? Those who have, you know, like, gone away because of persecutions? Okay, they are living in places like Santon, and in Alexandria, or... No, no, no, I'm saying, like, Soweto, Alexandria, these... underprivileged areas. He's telling them to say, you need to help the poor. So that excuse to say, OK, because I don't have anything, then I cannot, it doesn't work. We still need to, we can help in one way or the other. It's not just maybe financial aspect of it, but we need to be concerned with the lives of these people. In our prayers, even, do we offer our prayers to say, God, please, may you help people who are struggling. But here, we need to understand that social justice must be rooted in what? In the gospel. We cannot just be part of social justice helping. Somebody, I was teaching Christian ethics yesterday and he said there is a church that is just involved with like painting the prisons and cleaning the markets and do all this stuff, but they do that without even preaching the gospel. What a shame. So, Genesis is not talking about that. You need to do these things. That's it. But he says, As you are Christians, this should not be absent in your life. This should not be absent in your life. Social justice must always be rooted in the gospel. Acts of service must be accompanied by the proclamation of the gospel. And lastly, it says, keep yourself and stand by the world, 27B. So to keep oneself and send from the world, this is what true religion is. While we are called to be, you know, to help or to save others, we need to be careful not to be shocked by the worldly values. The world promotes selfish ambition, materialism, and moral compromise. James urges us to live in the world, but not be part of it. 1 John 2, verse 15. He says, we as Christians, we should not be part of this world. And James is going to pick up this later in the subsequent chapters, where he's going to talk more about this, to say that as Christians, yes, we are called to be participating in social justice and all this. But we should not be identified by the world. We should not allow the world to stain us. In conclusion, for what I've shared with us this morning, James chapter one, verse 19 to 27 challenges us in these three areas. Number one, I want us to see and just to reflect on this. Are we quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger? Are we doers of God's words and not just the hearers? And lastly, are we living out our faith through godly speech compassion, and holiness. These are the questions that we're going to reflect. Let us ask God for the grace to be obedient, humble, and faithful in our work with Christ. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this word this morning. And thank you for Jesus Christ, our high priest, who understands our weaknesses, Lord, whenever we fail to obey you. But at the same time, Lord, we acknowledge that you have given us the spirit within us that helps us, Lord, in our weaknesses, that gives us power to live the life that you have called us. So we pray this morning that through the sharing of this word, may you help us, Lord, in the areas that we are not obeying you. May we be convicted by this word and that we can be humbled and ask for your spirit to help us. You can be honest enough to say that this area, I'm not obeying God, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, I can manage to live according to what he has called me. So we pray, Lord, that help us. We pray that you continue speaking to us through the spirit. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.