19 This you know…know what
…in how we should approach sin and temptation
…the dangers of being deceived
…how God works in the giving of His perfect gifts including salvation
…that all good gifts come from God
James then writes…I want to add to that…
everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not bring about the righteousness of God.
We have spent the first 18 verses of James talking about how a believer handles trials…troubles…and temptations…advice that seems to go against everything logical… BUT as Christians that is exactly what James is saying…we should be:
• Joyful during times of adversity
• Trusting in times of dismay
• Glorying in times of hardship
• Enduring through life’s difficulties
• Discerning of their purpose
You can tell quite a bit about a person’s faith simply in how they respond to life’s difficulties.
How we respond to life’s difficulties…has an impact on the two beliefs that have the most effect on our lives…how God sees us…and how we see God…it is those two beliefs which in turn determine our future and how we live.
In both of those beliefs…how we see God…and how we think God sees us…is revealed in God’s predetermined plan He established before the creation of the world.
Two Things Concerning God’s Predetermined Plan.
1) God has always had a predestined plan regarding His Son
Before the world was even created…God had a plan to provide salvation to all people through His Son Jesus Christ….for all who would believe…that is how God sees us…no longer as ‘converted sinners’ but as saints because old things have passed away [2 Cor. 5:17]. Don’t call a butterfly a converted caterpillar.
2) God has a predestined purpose for His people
A plan just for you…a plan that was purposed before the foundation of the world…God loves you enough to give you a place in His plan [2:10].
Before the world began God purposed a plan for everyone who chooses to become a Christian…it’s a plan that is in accordance with His will…God gives us opportunities for service…it was never God’s intent that once we become
Christians we just sit around and wait to go to heaven.
BUT TWO THINGS…
FIRST— Salvation is conditional
A gift that you have to receive…It all begins when we make the determined decision to be saved by grace through faith in God’s Son as Lord and Savior …a faith that you have to accept… it’s not just automatically given…nor should it be automatically assumed…that’s a misunderstanding in how God works in the lives of people.
It’s God’s ‘desire’ that all would come to a saving knowing that Jesus is Lord… [1 Tim 2:4] but in the Greek that word ‘desire’ doesn’t mean it’s going to happen just because God would like for it to…just because God desires something doesn’t mean it’s going to happen…God desires that there be no sin…but there is.
It’s God desire…His wish…that all be saved…but it’s a desire that can be turned down…you have to make the determined decision to accept eternal life.
Then when you do…James says all believers in this Church age are considered to be ‘kind of first fruits among His creatures’ [1:18].
This statement has to do with the resurrection…and more specifically the order of the resurrection….Bible makes reference to 14 different resurrections.
BUT…Scripture says Christ was the ‘first-fruit’ from the dead [1 Cor. 15:20]. This means that Christ was the first person to ever rise with an immortal body…as a result…all who trust in Jesus by grace through faith for salvation will also be a kind of first fruit among His creatures [18]…also with an immortal body.
We are living between two resurrections…theologians call it the church age… first was the resurrection of Jesus…the second…will be the resurrection of the redeemed…the Bible speaks in what order the resurrections are to take place.
First
Christ’s resurrection — He is the first fruits.
Second
The resurrection of believers between Pentecost to the Rapture.
Two stages…those who have died and those who are alive.
— First the dead in Christ shall rise [1 Thess. 4:16]
–Second is the transformation of all Christians who are alive on the earth at the Rapture.
Then we who are alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we be ever with the Lord [1 Thess. 4:16-17].
— Then the resurrection of the tribulation saints along with the resurrection of O.T. saints at the end of the Tribulation.
https://www.gotquestions.org/millennial-kingdom.html
Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum… suggests that death in the Millennium will be for unbelievers only. Nowhere in the Bible does it speak of a resurrection of Millennial saints. This may be why the resurrection of the tribulation saints is said to complete the “first resurrection” (Rev 20:4-6). From the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34, it would seem that there will be no Jewish unbelievers in the kingdom; all Jews born during the Millennium will accept the Messiah before their 100th year. Unbelief would be among the Gentiles only ,therefore, death would exist only among Gentiles
Third
The resurrection of the unrighteous who will be raised at the end of the millennial [John 5:29].
Secondly – like salvation…God’s predestined purpose for your life has to be received…we discover that purpose only when we make God our reference point.
James then concludes with something he mentioned earlier…before continuing on in a new topic…in [19] James focuses on another area that we can be deceived in…James offers up some practical advice…giving three commands…what’s interesting about the book of James is that in only 108 verses he identifies 54 commands…here’s 3 more.
Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger
That’s just good practical advice, I don’t care who you are…it’s just human nature that we’re all poor listeners from time to time…we like to share our own thoughts and opinions but rarely do we want to listen to what others have to say…SO…
First, “be quick to hear” …No shortage of outlets for sharing…giving or expressing your opinion…sites like Facebook…Snapchat…Twitter… Instagram… and TikTok all provide a means for us to share our thoughts thru an online platform many times without first proofreading our comments.
Whether it’s something we’ve written or when speaking the idea is that we should be eager to understand the message that others (including God) is trying to communicate to us before we respond.
Ever been around someone who all they want to do is command the discussion
…no matter what is being said they have an opinion…and many times their opinion is less than accurate.
To be quick to listen means that we’re checking all of our blind spots…things we’re unfamiliar with…areas we need to grow in…things we know nothing about and maybe things we don’t even realize about ourselves.
Secondly James says, “. . .be slow to speak” …meaning we should be eager to listen more often than we are to speak.
To be slow to speak means we’re slow to make excuses…slow to contradict… slow to defend ourselves…and slow to give our opinion.
It’s not that we should never speak…but we should not say the first thing that pops into our minds because it might not be true—it might not be kind—or it might not be the need of the moment.
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth but only such a word as is good for the edification according to the need of the moment. (Ephesians 4:29).
Here’s the importance of being quick to hear and slow to speak:
…it means letting the other person express themselves without interruption.
…it means holding your thoughts to give them time to finish.
…it means to be slow to share your opinion or thoughts.
…it means listening to people instead of just speaking your opinion.
…it means allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us before we speak to others… giving the Spirit time to prompt us on what to say.
It’s been said there are 4 ways to be quick to listen and slow to speak.
FIRST – Ask clarifying questions
At times we think we hear one thing but what was actually said was something completely different…ask clarifying questions.
SECONDLY – Define terms
Some words mean different things to different people.
THIRDLY – Be comfortable with silence
Resist the temptation to ensure every moment has noise.
FOURTHLY – Pause before you speak
Avoid the temptation to respond immediately…give the other person’s words a moment to settle.
Then James says it’s good if we adopt an attribute from God… ‘be slow to anger.’ [Ps 145:8].
It’s been said that anger has two main purposes:
…first is to secure our safety and survival…we respond with anger when we are threatened…anger is a kind of built-in protection.
…Second purpose is it motivates us to improve ourselves and create peace and harmony in our lives…I don’t think James is referring to that type of anger.
When you think about anger on a national level and people’s response to situations in ways that seem to be teetering on what some call a revolt…that our country is in the early stages of a revolution with full blown rioting…burning and looting in the streets.
Trust in the government has declined significantly over the past 60 years…in 2016 only 20% of Americans said they trusted the government.
https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/mad-as-hell-how-anger-diminishes-trust-in-government/
When you think about anger on a personal level…how many marriages could be saved…how many prison sentences avoided…how many altercations averted… and how many hurt feelings could be avoided if people would control their anger?
Understanding why we should be slow to anger is one of the most valuable lessons we can learn in the Christian life because God is slow to anger.
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. [Prov 15:18]
Examine almost any conflict and you’ll find the root cause is someone who could not control their temper…even in how we deal with everyday issues…like when the car won’t start…our favorite team loses…or when our spouse or children are less than accommodating.
Here’s the thing about anger…it’s more than just a minor irritation…it’s not as simple as being impatient or frustrated…anger is often mixed with egotism …selfishness…jealousy…revenge…the potential to degenerate into ill-will.
An angry person desires some degree of revenge and thus hopes that another will suffer some measure of harm…that’s why Satan loves to exploit anger because he can deceive you into thinking that it is somehow justified…when it isn’t.
There’s been given a lot of advice about anger…we hear endless contradictory advice about how to handle it:
- Anger is weakness.
- Anyone who is angry is a bad person.
- Husbands and wives should never go to bed angry.
- A good parent never gets angry at their child.
- Happily married people never get angry.
- Explosive anger is a sign of strength.
- Don’t hold it in…express it and get it out.
Read an article by a doctor who’s an anger management specialist…he recommends something I’ve found to be a pretty much common-sense approach to curbing anger.
- Turn off the news…I personally don’t watch or listen to the news…I don’t even watch the weather…news outlets design the news to raise your anxiety level… wanting you to engage angrily with the person or situation they’re reporting on…many times with ‘breaking news’ that’s not substantiated or factual…just hearsay…opinions…or ‘maybes’…and you walk away angry.
- Refrain from heated discussion…we’re all guilty of saying to someone ‘You make me so mad’. When you find yourself in that situation don’t debate…move on.
- Don’t engage on Social Media over hot topics…I personally don’t do social media for that very reason…social media is a place where people feel free to express their anger with words they’d probably never use in public.
So let me ask you…is it ever OK to be angry at God…ever been angry at God?
This question typically arises in times of great suffering…the result of a death… a divorce…a job…financial collapse…all can have the effect of causing us to be angry at God.
SO…is it ever right to be angry at God…NO…NEVER…anger…whether at another person or at God Himself is always unacceptable…WHY…as I mentioned earlier…it always involves ill-will.
To be angry at God implies you believe He has committed an injustice…or He has done something unacceptable…or that He’s guilty of some mistake.
At times…we can certainly be confused by what God does or permits…we can be frustrated by it…we can be bewildered and saddened by it…we can feel deep emotional pain and hurt from it…and we can certainly weep over it.
BUT…to be angry at God implies that God is in the wrong…that He has erred, that He has somehow in some way committed a sin or done something wrong.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t suppress your feelings or deny that you are angry and hurt…in fact…tell God how you feel…He wants to know.
BUT… NEVER NEVER…stick your finger in God’s chest and demand that He give you an answer to anything He does as if He owes you anything…because He doesn’t.
James then tells believers why they need to have these attributes…because making the habit of being quick to hear…slow to speak…and slow to anger will produce in our lives the kind of behavior that is pleasing God.
Notice I didn’t say…to earn God’s approval because there is not enough you could ever do…or do enough…to earn God’s approval.