Let's turn tonight to the book of James once again. The book of James in the chapter 1. We'll read from the verse number 16 and as you turn there we welcome you. Thank you for joining with us via whatever means tonight. We need your prayers and we trust that You'll be on praying ground tonight, even after we come to finish the word for this evening. So James chapter one, and let's read from the verse 16. Do not air my beloved brethren. Every good and perfect gift is from above. and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. We'll end our reading there at the verse 21 of James and the chapter 1. Let's pray. Father in heaven, bless now the preaching of the word, and give help, Lord, in the hearing of it as well. Come and fill me with thy spirit, I pray, and fill this place with thy glory, and every home and car with thy presence. For we seek these mercies in the name of Christ our Savior, Amen and amen. It seems to be that this world is out of control. Now as Christians, we know that such is not the case for we are assured by scripture and in scripture that all things are working after the counsel of God's own will. However, from a human viewpoint, it seems that this world is spiraling out of control. I suppose when the majority of its citizens feel to come under the governance of God, there's going to be a spirit of lawlessness and anarchy in the world. The Christian, however, is to be a much different creature than the worldling. While the worldling out of control, the Christian is to be marked by self-control or to use the Bible term temperate. This self-control is one of the fruit of the Spirit that Paul lists there in Galatians chapter 5 the verses 22 and 23, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance against such there is no law. A person who exhibits temperance in their life is a person who has mastered their desires and their passions by the help of the Spirit of God. One whose life is not out of control but rather one whose life is under the controlling influence of the Spirit of God. A temperate person is one who knows the power of self-restraint. They are one who exhibits self-government in their life. The word temperance conveys the idea of self-restraint. mastery, the capacity to govern oneself in accordance with the teaching of Holy Scripture. It is this self-restraint on the part of the believer that sets them apart from the unbeliever. The unbeliever lives a life of no restraint. Everything and anything goes in the life of the ungodly. But for the believer, like the Apostle Paul, they say, I bring my body into subjection, lest I myself, having preached to others, I myself would become a castaway. And I believe that James here in this section that we have read this evening gives some practical counsel as to what this self-control in the believer's life should look like in our day-to-day living. And so tonight I want to preach a very simple message. My subject matter this evening is self-control in a world out of control. Self-control in a world out of control. for there is where we have gotten to in our studies in this epistle. James sets forth five simple duties that require us exercising self-control as we live in a world that is out of control. And we simply want to look at those five duties and see how God would have us to behave as believers in this world. that would set us apart from those who live in this world without God and without hope, because we are to be a different people. We are to be a peculiar people, a people set apart for God and set apart from the world. Now the first duty that is required of us, we are to be swift to hear. Verse 19, wherefore my beloved brethren, Let every man be swift to hear. We are exhorted to be swift, ready, prompt to hear. But what are we to hear? That's the question. We're encouraged here to be swift to hear, but what are we encouraged to hear? What are we to be swift to hear? Are we to be swift to hear gossip? Are we to be swift to hear slander? Are we to be swift to hear heresy or lies? Are we swift to hear hearsay? Are we swift to hear the latest scandal within the community or within the church? Are we swift to hear that which is unclean, that which is unwholesome? Well, well you know that we would not, and we should not be swift to hear such things. You see, I believe that we are to be swift to hear what James has spoken of in the previous verse. Because in verse number 18, he speaks about the word of truth. This is what we are to be swift to hear. We're to hear what the scriptures Say, there is to be an eagerness, there is to be a readiness, there is to be in our eyes a promptness on our part when it comes to hearing the Word of God, whether that be by our own personal reading of the Scripture, or whether that be when we sit under the preaching of the Word of God. There needs to be this swiftness to hear, a readiness to hear, promptness to hear, an eagerness to hear the Word of God. When we come to the Scriptures, there are some case examples where we find people or groups of people who were swift to hear the Word. And what an example and what a challenge they are to our own personal lives. The first individuals or group of people that I'm thinking about are the children of Israel in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. You turn there to Nehemiah chapter eight and the word of God, I trust you have it there. Nehemiah chapter eight, we're going to read the verses one to three. The walls of Jerusalem have been built and now The people gather before Jerusalem's water gate. Note what it says, verse one. And all the people, all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate. And they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. And so they desired to hear the word of God, the law of God. That's just another term for the Old Testament scriptures. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street, that was before the water gate, from the morning until midday. before the men and the woman and those who could understand, and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. Note that last phrase in the verse number three, and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book the law these this phrase highlights the keenness the eagerness that the people had in hearing and listening to the Word of God being read and then it goes on to say and Ezra opened the book verse 5 in the sight of all the people and he was above the people and when he opened it all the people stood up. Verse 8, so they read in the book of the law distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading. And here we find a people from the morning watch Right to midday, we're talking a period of some three to four, five even hours, that these people were here before the water gate, before Ezra the scribe and those who were helping him, and how they were attentive, how they were eager, how they were swift to hear the word of God. There was a hunger for the preaching of God's word. There was a hunger even just for the word of God to be read. I think of another person. Her name is Mary, a woman this time. The Savior would visit the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus there in Luke chapter 10. And Luke speaks of Mary as the sister within the home who, and I quote, sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. The Savior being rebuked by Martha to call upon him to ask Mary to help her, the Savior replied that Mary had chosen the better part. Unlike busy Martha, Mary was swift to hear the word of Christ, the word of God, on that particular occasion. Lo, what keenness there was, every other issue, every other care, every other distraction that had so occupied Martha had been set aside by Mary because she just wanted to hear the word of the Son of God. She was swift to hear. I think of the church in Troas, who came to hear the apostle Paul preach. In Acts chapter 20, verse 7, we read of that gathering, and upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight. And nobody moved. Everybody sat. And listen to the great Apostle Paul as he preached the Word of God. Here was a company of saints, a church gathered together who were eager to hear the Word of God preached by the great Apostle Paul. They were a people who were swift to hear. swift to hear the word of truth. They didn't give themselves over to idle tales. They didn't decide to listen to hotly disputed issues and subject matters that caused division within the church of Jesus Christ. No, these were individuals who just wanted to hear the pure word of God preached. They were eager to hear the word of truth. Sadly today, We are in a place, within even the evangelical church that Amos spoke of in Amos chapter 8 and the verse 11, where there is a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread nor of thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. A.W. Pink said, God's word is not for our amusement, but instruction and submission. And woe beyond to us if we disregard the same. Nowhere but in the Holy Scripture can we learn the true source of our being, the purpose for which we are made, the destiny awaiting us, and how to be saved. Then how attentive we should be to its counsels, admonitions, and warnings. And so we ask the question, Are we attentive to the counsel and the admonition and warnings that we find in the scriptures? Are you as a Christian one who is swift to hear? Do you feel yourself of every opportunity to hear the word of God preached in order that you might obtain a greater knowledge of your God and also of his divine will for your life? When the word of God is preached, do you give it your undivided attention? Whether that is in the church building, or whether that's in your car, or whether that's in your home, watching in, do you give the word your undivided attention, or do you drift off? Do you start to daydream? Do you even fall asleep? And don't forget, The context in which James is writing these words in verse 19, James gives this counsel and light off the saints' trials and their temptations. When trials do come into our lives, we need to be swift to hear. We want to run to the word of God. where we're going to find the truth of God that's going to help us to meet the trials of life. We want to be swift to hear what God would say, how to deal with the trial, how to deal with the problem, how to deal with the difficulty on a biblical basis. Not using our own wisdom, our own understanding, but going to the word. What does God say about this matter? What would God have me to do? And when it comes to the temptation to sin, is it not the case that the only way to deal with sin's temptation is to hide God's word in our hearts? And how will we ever hide the word in our hearts if we don't, if we're not swift to hear the word of God? We'll have to hear it before we hide it. What did the psalmist say there in that great psalm? Psalm 119 verse 11. Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. He heard the word and he then hid the word in his heart. And this is how we'll meet the trials and the temptations of this life. It's being swift to hear the word. Quickly, the second duty required of us, we are to be slow to speak. Slow to speak, that's what our text says in verse number 19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak. Brethren and sisters, God got the proportions exactly right when he gave us two ears and one mouth. One Greek philosopher said men have two ears but one tongue, that they should hear more than they speak. Someone else said the ears are always open, ever ready to receive instruction, but the tongue is surrounded with a double row of teeth to hedge it in and to keep it within proper bounds. James will go on to speak about the tongue at a later date. But the tongue can charge God foolishly when we are faced with life's trials and with life's temptations. Just glance back there to verse 13 of chapter 1 for evidence of that. Let no man say, Here we're dealing with what he's speaking here, being slow to speak. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. And so in the midst of the temptations, we can charge God foolishly. You know, Job was slow to speak initially when he was tried. We find him there at the end of the chapter 2 of that book there in the Old Testament, how Job sat down. And I think it was for three days. His friends said nothing to him and he said nothing to his friends. He was slow to speak. But then as time progressed, we find that Job felt the need to justify himself before his friends. However, He reverts back to his initial reaction and he once again is slow to speak after he has conversed with God. We read it a few weeks ago in our family worship service. Job 40 verse four and five, behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? Speaking to God, I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer ye twice, but I will proceed no further. Here's a man who learned the lesson, slow to speak, Sadly, we have inverted the order. Instead of being swift to hear and slow to speak, we are slow to hear and swift to speak. I'm convinced if we followed the order set out here by James in James 1 verse 19, there would be less conflict in our homes. There would be less turmoil between us and our relatives. There would be less division within the family of God. There are times when tempers are inflamed and passions run high. In the work of God, in our homes, in our families, in our marriages, and you know what the best course of action is? Holding our tongue. Being slow to speak. That's the wisest course of action. Listen to these words from the man who was invested with the greatest wisdom. Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, Solomon. What did he say? Proverbs 17, verse 27 and 28. He that hath knowledge, spareth his words. And a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise. And he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. Proverbs 21, 23, who so keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles. Is it not the case that your mouth and your tongue has gotten you into trouble on so many occasions, child of God, when you should have followed this instruction, this counsel from James? I should have been swift to hear, but I should have been slow to speak. Ecclesiastes 5, verse 2. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God, for God is in heaven, and thou art upon earth. Therefore let thy words be few, few. What trouble Peter got into when he was swift to speak on the night the Savior was betrayed. How apt we are to feel in this, We open our mouths too quickly before we have all the details at hand. We're quick. Are we not to pass judgment on others? We're rash and thoughtless when we are advising others. We're happy to spout our opinion on social media. Yes, even from a pulpit. Yes, we're quick to send out our opinion without knowing all the facts and without seeking God. How we need to restrain our tongues. We need to pray, as the Psalmist David did in Psalm 141 verse 3, said, a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips. Such a watch. will lead to less, I believe, being said. And what is said will be always with grace, seasoned with salt. Colossians 4, verse 6. The third duty required of us is that we're to be slow to wrath. This entreaty informs us that there needs to be the exercising of self-control when it comes to our temper, Now you would maybe say that this is not necessary counsel for me, for you. You would say that you're a patient, tolerant, long-suffering kind of person, but just let someone pull out in front of you when you're driving. Or just let someone jump the queue in a shop or just let someone criticize you or a family member, or let someone pinch your car parking space at the supermarket, and it might be, you might just think a little differently. This counsel to be slow to wrath is given in a particular context. It is given in the context of hearing the word, the word of truth. You know folks, at times we don't like what we hear. We don't like what we hear from the pulpit. Sometimes it's cutting. Sometimes it's convicting. Sometimes it's revealing. And the natural response is that we go into a fit of rage. And we tear the preacher to shreds. And we, as it were, take the hump with the preacher, and we become angry with him, when all the time it is simply the Word of God. At times there can be a deep resentment to the Word or to the truth of God's Word as it is preached, when there should be a glad submission to it. This is what the Lord says. Now James goes on to give us the reason why we are to be slow to wrath. In verse 24, the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. A wrathful spirit, an angry spirit, a rebellious spirit is a spirit that is most unsuitable for God's child. Such a spirit does not reflect the nature and the character of God. When in wrath we do that which is unrighteous, upright conduct, that conduct that God prescribes and demands of man, that conduct which meets with God's approval is not forthcoming when we are full of anger and whenever we're full of wrath. Robert Morgan said, a holy life never grows out of an angry spirit. A holy life never grows out of an angry spirit. Beloved, when you hear God's word preached, and the sharp edge of that sword is felt deep within, and you sense the bleed as it were of the pruning knife being applied by the great heavenly husband man, don't become angry about it. understand this, what is the overarching theme of the book of James? It is the perfecting of the saints and through the preaching of the word we are sanctified. This is how God shapes us, this is how God perfects us, this is how God brings us to spiritual maturity. He confronts us with our sin, He speaks to us about the inconsistency of our life as the Word of God is read and as the Word of God is preached in order that we might repent of such things and subsequently live a life that is pleasing to God. And therefore, be slow to wrath. Don't be, as it were, making contact with the preacher Because something has been said from the pulpit that well you know is not right in your life. Be slow to wrath. And even if I've said something like that, even that last statement that I've said, and you're saying, there he is, he's getting at me tonight. Listen, you're being provoked there to wrath. You're allowing your feeling of self-importance to override what God is saying to your soul tonight. The wounds of a friend. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. God would have you to be slow to wrath. The fourth duty, we are to lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. It's hard to imagine. James is writing here to brethren. Verse 19, wherefore, my beloved brethren, And now in verse number 21, he's saying that these beloved brethren are to lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. What had happened? What had happened was that they had become relaxed about this matter of self-control. To be living a temperate life, a life controlled by temperance, They have become, thus, the sin. Filthiness refers to anything that really defiles or that which is morally wicked. Superflarity of naughtiness literally means abounding of evil and wickedness. In simple terms, these believers were to put away sin. Put away sin. James is not the only New Testament writer who encourages us to do that. The writer If the book of Hebrews exhorts us in Hebrews 12 verse 1, to lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. It is our sin that will inhibit our fellowship with God. It is our sin that is going to hamper our perfecting, our maturing in the Christian life. And so as we hear the word of God, and sin is exposed, Our response to that word is that we ought to repent of our sin. We must lay it aside. We must endeavor to walk in new obedience. And so, brethren, sisters, all of us, Preacher included have a personal responsibility when it comes to the hearing of God's word. As God deals with us in his word, as he reveals to us our sins, as he exposes to us our deficiencies, we're not to shrug our shoulders and do nothing about it, but rather we are to be proactive. We must put away sin, put it away. If we fail to do so, we'll never profit from the word as God intended us to profit from it. If we fail to do so, our lives will spiral out of control. It is the word of God lived out in the life that enables us to live controlled lives in a world that is out of control. And so lay it aside. Whatever the sin is, lay it aside, brother. Whatever the sin is, sister, lay it aside. Bring it to the cross. Seek cleansing for it in the blood of Christ, and then walk in victory. Go on and forward and upward with Christ. Fifth lay, the final duty required of us is to receive the engrafted word. Note the order in verse 21. There must first be the rejecting of filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness before there is the receiving of truth. James reminds us that we must not only hear the word, but we must receive the word. We must imbibe the word of God in our hearts. It must move from our ears down into our hearts. That's the initial. That's the initial progress of the word as the word of God is preached. We hear it with the ears. There we are, verse number 19. We're swift to hear. We're slow to speak. We receive it as from God. We're not stirred up in anger, or hatred, or aminosity against the preacher. And then, as the word comes, we lay aside our sin, and then we receive this engrafted Word of God. The hearing, the receiving, and then James is going to go on to speak about living the Word of God out in our lives. And we'll come to that, God willing, next Wednesday night. But we must hear it, we must then receive it, and then we must live it out, end the life. The word is described here as the engrafted word, the implanted word, that which becomes part of our being. It's implanted there away from the reach of the wicked one. It's engrafted into our lives. You think of a skin graft. A skin graft attaches itself to the skin around it. It becomes part of the body where the burn or where the deficiency has taken place. It's like part of the person's being. And that's what the Word of God is to be. It's to be part of us. Look how it is to be received, it is to be received with meekness. This is the thought again, back to this, slow to wrath. This thought, I receive it as it is from God. I receive the word with a mind that is open to hear instruction with a heart that is teachable. We humble ourselves under the word meekly and say, this is the Lord. That's what Eli said. The news wasn't good from Samuel. He spoke about his sons and how they were rejected. And Eli said, it is the Lord. It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth good to him. We must receive it. We're not to argue with the word. We're not to twist the word in order that it might conform to our thinking and our situation. We're not to reject it, but rather we are to submit to it and receive it meekly knowing that God desires our best. Now James continues, as I said, to deal with the Word, but that's for next week and how we are to respond to it. But needless to say, as with anything in life, preparation time is never wasted time. How we prepare to hear God's Word, a matter that James is dealing with in these verses, verses 19 through to 21, how we prepare to hear the Word of God will lead to us gaining the greatest profit from it. And so let us exercise self-control in our lives. Let us put away all that would hinder us from receiving the engrafted word of God, because such is able to save your soul, to save our soul from heartache and trouble, if only I had have received the engrafted word May God help us to do these things. And may we live lives that are under the control of the Spirit in a world that is out of control. May the Lord bless His word.