The video of the sermon preached from the following text can be viewed at:
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Since the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, there has been a lot of talk from both Republicans and Democrats about “lowering the temperature” of the angry and hateful rhetoric that each side has been spewing forth. It is a plea long overdue. But, it is not a plea that hasn’t been made before. When looking to the Epistle of James, we are told not only to “dial back the rhetoric,” but we are also instructed in the way to do this. Listen now to what James has to tell us beginning in James 1:19—
19 “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the Word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:19-25 (NIV)
If the people of this country want to pursue harmony, instead of hate, they need to heed these words of James. In a few short verses, he gives us the secret to this age-old problem. So, let’s analyze each verse to glean his full meaning.
First, in verse 19, James advises that: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” This kind of warning against angry speech is found throughout the Bible. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes lets us know how foolish it is not to follow James’ advice regarding displays of anger: “Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.” Ecclesiastes 7:9 (NLT2) Solomon’s wisdom, as found in the Book of Proverbs, reveals: “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.” Proverbs 15:1 (NLT2) The warnings of the New Testament are even more direct. The Apostle Paul directs us to: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.” Ephesians 4:31 (NLT2) More importantly, Jesus warns: 22 “But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment!” Matthew 5:22 (NLT2)
Moving on to verse 20, James states why ridding ourselves of anger is a necessity for Christians. The reason is this: “For man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” Anyone claiming to be a follower of Jesus Christ betrays their Christian status if they habitually display anger toward others. Instead, God wants you to live a righteous life. Righteousness and anger don’t mix. Yes, it is true that there is such a thing as “righteous anger.” But, righteous anger, as displayed by humans, should be our reaction to sin itself—not our response to people personally. The Christian organization, Got Questions Ministries, explains on its website that: “Righteous anger and indignation are justly expressed when we are confronted with sin. Good examples would be anger toward child abuse, pornography, racism, homosexual activity, abortion, and the like.”[1]
So, if you want to please God, then He not only wants you to “lower the temperature” on anger, He wants you to “dial it back” completely when dealing with others. If someone’s behavior is sinful, we must recognize it as such and remain steadfast in acknowledging it as contrary to God’s Word. In that regard, sin should make us angry because we know it displeases God. But, hate and anger must not spill over to toward the sinner on an individual level. If we allow that to happen, it will inevitably result in our judging that person and seeking to wreak vengeance upon him. It is not our position to do that—for the LORD reserves judgment and vengeance solely unto Himself. Paul reminds us of this in no uncertain terms when proclaiming: “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the LORD.” Romans 12:19 (NLT2) But, there is something else we need to remember that is equally important.
We must remind ourselves that if we love sinners (as we are called to do), then we must not fail them by pretending that whatever lifestyle or sinful choices they may have made are acceptable. Rather, we can show them a true act of love by compassionately and respectfully directing them to what God’s Word has to say. It is not an act of anger, hate or judgment to inform a person of their sin.[2] On the other hand, it would be unloving to stand by and watch them sink deeper and deeper into the depths of sin. Rather, as Paul reminds us, we are to “speak the truth in love.”[3]
As James starts verse 21, he says: “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent. . .” In other words, if we want to be rid of our anger, then we need to start by “getting rid” of the “evil” in our lives. In the Greek wording that James uses, the phrase “to be rid of” is actually used with respect to “taking off one set of clothes and putting on another.”[4] James is telling us figuratively to “take off” the clothes stained with the muck of hateful, anger-filled speech and all such related evils. Instead, we must put on the spotless love of Jesus Christ. Paul advises us along the same lines when he says: “The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.” Romans 13:12 (NLT2) Both James and Paul are describing what Jesus meant when He told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.”[5] It is the radical change in our lives that comes when we experience the new birth and the new creation that we are in Christ![6]
After telling us to put on a clean wardrobe, James continues by urging us to “humbly accept the Word planted in you.” This is a metaphor similar to the one used by Jesus in His Parable of the Sower. In this parable, Jesus spoke of the “seed” that was planted on some very “hard soil”, on a very “shallow soil,” on a “weed-infested soil” and, finally, on the “good soil.”[7] Jesus went on to explain that the “seed” represented God’s Word, and the “soils” represented the differing states of human hearts and their varying responses to His Word. So, here, James is encouraging us to be the “good soil” that is receptive to the Good News of Christ and to receive the Gospel with humble hearts.[8]
Now, why is this important? What is the benefit of these “clean clothes” and those “hearts with fertile soils”? Well, at the end of verse 21, James gives us the answer. It is an extremely important answer because if you put on those “clean clothes” of Jesus Christ and tend the “soil” of your heart properly, James assures you that you will be SAVED! The flip side of his message is that salvation cannot come to angry hearts. But, those who allow Christ into their hearts will be empowered to change their filthy rags for a spotless wardrobe washed clean by His blood. And, His blood will fertilize the soil of their hearts allowing God’s Word to produce an amazing, heaven-bound crop.
Let’s continue to verse 22 which tells us: “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” This is one of James most straightforward statements. It won’t do any good to listen to God’s Word, if it goes in one ear and out the other. James’ elaborates on this in verses 23-25 by giving what may sound like an odd illustration. To reiterate, James stated: “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:19-25 (NIV) At first reading, this doesn’t seem to make much sense. How could anyone look in a mirror at themselves and later forget what they look like?
Let me explain James’ illustration by giving you an illustration that’s a little closer to home. Let’s say we have another meal in the fellowship hall. But, the only thing that is served to drink is chocolate milk. And you say, “But, when I drink chocolate milk, I sometimes gulp it down and that leaves a milk ring above my lip, right on up to my nose.” And I respond, “Don’t worry, there’s a hand mirror beside every glass of chocolate milk, so you can check to see if you have a milk ring when you have finished drinking.” So, you drink the milk and pick up the mirror and glance at your face. Sure enough, there’s a big, ole’ milk ring right under your nose. And, it looks awful. But, you don’t immediately take a napkin and wipe your mouth. Rather, you put the mirror down and start talking to someone. Soon, you forget all about the unsightly milk ring. You walk out of the fellowship hall and drive off in your vehicle. For the rest of the day, everyone you come in contact with will see that ugly chocolate milk ring and think to themselves, “Wow—what a rube!” And, this was all a result of you forgetting just how bad you looked when glancing in the mirror.
That’s what James is describing here in his illustration. He is giving us a picture of people who “glance” at the Bible, but fail to remember how badly their sin-filled lives appear when exposed to what God’s Word demands. They have these gross milk rings of sin all over their upper lips. The mirror of God’s Word is provided to them in Church and has brought those ugly milk rings to their attention. But, when they walk out the church doors, they quickly forget about what they saw in the mirror. Why?—because a casual glance into the mirror is so easily forgotten—especially when one’s mind is preoccupied with the things of the world. The same thing applies to the Scriptures. James says you need to gaze into God’s Word. In so doing, you must study it, meditate upon it and remember it, if you are ever going to do anything about the sin in your life. A mere glance into the Scriptures a few minutes on Sunday isn’t going to cut it.
As I mentioned earlier, what James is saying here matches well with Jesus’ Parable of the Sower: The “seeds” of God’s Word planted in human hearts did not grow or mature when the “soils” were not well tended. The hard and rocky soil could have been plowed and disked so the Gospel seeds could have grown in their hearts. Those seeds would not have been lying on top the ground for Satan’s birds to consume. The weed-filled, thorny soil could have been hoed and weed-killer could have been applied. If this had been done, those worries of life would not have acted like weeds that choke out the faith of potential Christians. The shallow soil could have been dressed with additional top soil to provide a good place for the seeds of God’s Word to take root in their lives. But, the owners of these three soils were lazy. They didn’t do any of the things that a prudent and industrious farmer would have done to tend to the soils of their hearts. They just sat there with a milk ring of sin stamped prominently on their upper lips. And so, they deceived themselves into thinking they were good farmers—just as many Christians today deceive themselves into thinking they are true followers of Jesus Christ. Those who hear God’s Word, but do not act upon it in a manner that it is lived out in their lives have deceived themselves into thinking they are already “good people.”[9] But, Jesus said no one but God is good.[10] So, if none of us are “good” people when it comes to getting into Heaven, then all of humanity would be headed to Hell—but for one infinitely important thing. And, that one thing is the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross for all of us. Those who repent and are willing to allow Jesus to wipe that milk ring of sin from their faces can take advantage of the blood of Christ. It is only His blood that can wash us clean and make us “good” in God’s sight when it comes to entering Heaven.
But, you have to accept Jesus into your life to take advantage of His sacrifice on the Cross. The longer anyone waits to address the sin in their life, the more apt they are to forget about doing anything about it whatsoever. Pastor John MacArthur put it well when he said: “Unless professing Christians act promptly after they hear the Word, they will forget the changes and improvements that their reflection showed them they need to make.”[11] So, why would anyone wait? Why would you keep wearing dirty rags when you could exchange them for spotless, white linen? And, why would you want to remain being useless soil when you could be “good soil” instead? James urges you to wear the clean robe—be the good soil. That is why he concludes this section by saying in verse 25: “The man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”
The “perfect law” of which James speaks is comprised of the moral and ethical mandates of the Old and New Testaments. The perfect law that sets you free is not a law of inactivity. It is the law written on the hearts of Jesus’ followers which compels them to strive in all the things they do to become more like Him. Again, what James is saying here is reflective of what of his half-brother, Jesus, tells us as well. Jesus explained that your actions provide evidence of your saving faith. Pointing to His Second Coming and the subsequent judgment of the world, Jesus said:
31 “When I, the Messiah, shall come in My glory, and all the angels with Me, then I shall sit upon My throne of glory. 32 And all the nations shall be gathered before Me. And I will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and place the sheep at My right hand, and the goats at My left. 34 Then I, the King, shall say to those at My right, ‘Come, blessed of My Father, into the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you fed Me; I was thirsty and you gave Me water; I was a stranger and you invited Me into your homes; 36 naked and you clothed Me; sick and in prison, and you visited Me.’ 37 Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Sir, when did we ever see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You anything to drink? 38 Or a stranger, and help You? Or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit You?’ 40 And I, the King, will tell them, ‘When you did it to these my brothers you were doing it to Me!’” Matthew 25:31-40 (TLB)
So, what does Jesus mean by this? He means this: If you serve others who are in need of help, you are serving Him as well. These are activities that naturally flow from your faith in Jesus. Later in his letter, James explains this by saying that faith without works (in other words, without “good deeds”) is a faith that’s dead.[12] On the other hand, a faithful life engaged in sincere Christian activism will be blessed by receiving eternal life in Heaven. But, if you go through life failing to serve others, then one day you’ll have to give an accounting to Jesus for all that inactivity. Now, having said this, there is something you must understand that is extremely important: Your “good deeds” toward others must be a product of your faith in Christ, and not be merely a stand-alone effort to gain “brownie points” with God. Jesus will see right through that. For as Paul reminds us: 8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) In summary, you need faith in Christ; you need “works” that are produced by your faith; and, you must remove anger from your life in order that your faith and service to others can thrive.
So, if you now find yourself deficient in any of those areas, then you must do two things: First, you must repent and have faith in Jesus Christ by submitting to Him as your Lord and Savior. Secondly, you need to look into that mirror James spoke of and genuinely ask Jesus to start changing the image that’s staring back at you. If you come to Him in complete submission, Jesus will be faithful to do exactly that. That face in the mirror that was once twisted with anger, or contorted with worry, or downcast with loneliness, or wracked with insecurity and hopelessness—is a face that will gradually take on a new look. That image in the mirror will daily start looking more and more like Christ. And, as that process moves further along, you not only will view the image of yourself in the mirror differently, but you will begin to view the world around you differently as well.
For example, maybe you are a Republican whose identity was, first and foremost, bound up in the platform of the Republican National Committee. But, after coming to Christ, your primary focus is upon God’s plan for your life—all other worldly agendas take second place. When the Joe Biden’s, Kamala Harris’ and AOC’s (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) of the world are staring at you through the TV screen, you will no longer grit your teeth in anger and swear hateful words calling for their downfall. Or, if you are a Democrat who has come to Christ, the face of Donald Trump and his running mate, J. D. Vance, will no longer cause your blood pressure to rise nor will you feel compelled to angrily declare them to be threats to American democracy.
And, while you may not agree with what your opponents have to say, your response to them will be markedly different. You will be “quick to listen”, “slow to speak” and even “slower to become angry.” There will be a radical difference in you when the love of Christ becomes your new wardrobe, and the rags of anger and hate that are definitely in fashion in this world are cast in the garbage bin. The change will be so dramatic that you will become like a little child in the sense that your anger, hatred and pessimism will be replaced with a childlike love, joy and optimism. It’s one of the reasons Jesus said that if you want to enter the Gates of Heaven, then you must change and be like a little child.[13] One day soon, Jesus is coming again. Those who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, and have served Him by serving others, are going to rule this world with Him.
And, oh, what a different world it will be when the anger of Satan is replaced by the LOVE OF CHRIST! “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” Isaiah 2:4 (NIV) “In that day the wolf and the lamb will lie down together, and the leopard and goats will be at peace. Calves and fat cattle will be safe among lions, and a little child shall lead them all.” Isaiah 11:6 (TLB) As a follower of Christ, strive to see that child in your mirror starting today!
Let us pray.
Darvin Satterwhite, Pastor
Forest Hill Baptist Church
July 21, 2024
©2024 All Rights Reserved as follows:
Anyone is at liberty to use this sermon or any portions thereof for educational or religious purposes, with or without credit. The pastor believes the material presented herein to be true to the teaching of Scripture, and desires to further, not restrict, its potential use as an aid in the study of God’s Word. The publication of this material is a grace ministry of Forest Hill Baptist Church in Louisa, Virginia.
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[1] “How can I know for sure that my anger is righteous indignation?” Got Questions Ministries, accessed July 16, 2024, [https://www.gotquestions.org/righteous-indignation-anger.html].
[2] “Are we to love the sinner but hate the sin?” Got Questions Ministries, accessed July 16, 2024, https://www.gotquestions.org/love-sinner-hate-sin.html.
[3] Ephesians 4:15 “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.” (NLT2)
[4] Gary Holloway, James & Jude, ed. Jack Cottrell, Ph.D. and Tony Ash, Ph.D., College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, Missouri: College Press Publishing Co., 1996), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 46.
[5] John 3:3 “Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.’” (NLT2)
[6] Gary Holloway, James & Jude, ed. Jack Cottrell, Ph.D. and Tony Ash, Ph.D., College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, Missouri: College Press Publishing Co., 1996), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 46.
[7] Mark 4:3-9 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” 9 Then [Jesus] said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” (NLT2)
[8] Gary Holloway, James & Jude, ed. Jack Cottrell, Ph.D. and Tony Ash, Ph.D., College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, Missouri: College Press Publishing Co., 1996), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 46.
[9] Ibid, 47.
[10] Mark 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good.” (NLT2) [Of course, the implication of this verse is that Jesus is good and, therefore, is divine.]
[11] MacArthur, John F., Jr. The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. James 1:25 fn. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006.
[12] James 2:26 “Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.” (NLT2)
[13] Matthew 18:3 “And [Jesus] said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’” (NIV)
