Big Picture Theology - [James 1]

Bethlehem Bible Church

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we start a new series this morning big picture theology i've called it and that is we're going to start going through a few books the bible not verse by verse but chapter by chapter it's a wonderful thing to take a bible and study it like we did in hebrews with a hundred and twenty nine messages and just ring out every bit of gospel nutrition that's a good thing to do it's also good to stand back a little bit and see a survey and uh...

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watch the progression of salvation through books and get kind of a big picture idea and that's what we're going to do today so if you take your bibles and turn it to the book of james the letter of james the epistle of james we're gonna do a chapter every sunday for five weeks to get kind of an overview and i think what you'll probably end up doing is you'll say you know what you briefly went over a part of that and i think i'd like to study it on my own to try to find a little bit more about that in the book of james and so that's a good thing i encourage you to get a commentary or two on the book of james to dive as deep as you'd like to dive big picture theology chapter by chapter james chapter one today you might be asking yourself the question i wonder if you could actually do it i want you to know that i did it at the first service remember years ago we did this with the book of romans we did sixteen chapters sixteen weeks to give you again the idea of an overview so that you might say you know what's the big picture here as god the divine author has progress to his revelation we start off even back in genesis chapter three with this initial flicker of the hope of the gospel and we see the great consummation in revelation chapter twenty two and where does james fit what is he saying why is it important james is a great book you probably have turned to it regularly it's punchy right he's very direct and you would expect the leader of the jerusalem church the pastor to be very direct uh...

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it is very persuasive it's very convicting and it just reads quickly because it's probably a sermon that was preached or several sermon extracts put together to be delivered in a very public fashion in kind of a preaching fashion and that's why when you read it it feels like you're listening to a sermon it seems like it to use a biblical metaphor one man said james is quick and powerful sharper than any two -edged sword that's exactly how you'll see the book of james just a little bit of background since it's in our first verse james a servant of god and of the lord jesus christ to the twelve tribes in the dispersion greetings now if you do your studying you'll find out that different books of the new testament were written at different times and this is probably the earliest new testament book written probably in the mid forties or something it's the very first book like in the old testament probably joe was the first book written here we have james written and and this preacher you can tell he he's got kind of a a way of preaching that he expects to be heard he expects to be obeyed because he's declaring not his own words not his own wisdom but the very words of god himself when you come to this book you're gonna feel like you're gonna sense i'd like to have a nice outline because after all it's an epistle it's a letter and paul very easy to outline peter pretty easy to outline hebrews easy to outline but with james since he's preaching do you see the text to the twelve tribes in the dispersion to jews he's gonna have kind of a jewish way to go about things and a jewish outline isn't really a b c d it's not kind of you know math stuff it's it's it's a word that's literally a string of pearls and so the way he preaches is one pearl after another it's all in the same chain they're related they're not separate pearls but it's one necklace a bunch of pearls all related as he's kind of telling this story so if you understand the way he puts this together it'll be easier for you because our tendency is to want to kind of do a pauline outline some don't like james uh...

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some will say you know what it doesn't seem to make sense to me because of chapter two and we'll get into that a little bit later who is james how many jameses are there in the bible quite a few the word means jacob why is he named james here or maybe he could have been named jake for that matter we don't really know uh...

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could it be that king james desired to see his name in english i'm not sure but that is one of the ideas well you say there's lots of jameses in the bible is this james son of zebedee the one that was killed by herod agrippa no this was james the half brother of jesus of course jesus was the firstborn right and he had uh...

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mary as his mother and joseph with his stepfather but now joseph and mary come together they have a son his name is james and it's fascinating because when james was younger he thought jesus was out of his mind you say well that's a little exaggeration i think james was in mark three when his family heard about this they went to take charge of him they had to make an intervention for jesus for they said his family said he's out of his mind who is this john chapter seven even his own brothers did not believe in him yet after jesus dies on calvary is raised from the dead he appears it actually says in first corinthians fifteen then he appeared to james then to all the apostles so now we have james the just the half brother of jesus going to write an epistle for us and what does he call himself notice the text i'm the leader of the jerusalem church i'm a pillar of the church i'm an apostle i'm the lord's brother i was in the same womb as jesus does he say that no but very much like his older brother who made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant and found an appearance of a man he humbled himself james to the half brother of jesus simply calls himself i'm a servant i'm a servant of god and uh...

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look at the terms of deity and humanity here when we talk about jesus lord jesus christ he's the king of kings he's truly human and he's truly divine he is the messiah and he writes to a bunch of people who are getting persecuted who are going through trials what happens when people get persecuted they scatter right so you take a fruit and you take your fist and slam your hand down on that fruit and everything just goes different directions right if it was a watermelon you smash it all the seeds fly do they still have seeds in watermelon okay pomegranates and they they're dispersed and so so what do you tell these people who are suffering james knew a lot about suffering uh...

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we'll talk about how he his life ended maybe next week so we come to the book of james very simple introduction he says greetings are joy literally and now before we dive into the rest of the chapter i want to remind you of two simple things that if you get these things you'll understand james if you don't understand these two simple things you might approach it from a legalistic fashion you might approach it from a uh...

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kind of a works fashion here's what i want you to understand about james very simple the first thing i want to understand is about law and the second thing i want to understand is canon law and canon when you come to this book you have to get your arms around law why because in a hundred and eight verses there are fifty four commands did you get that one hundred eight verses fifty four commands every other verse essentially is a command so how you perceive law is important because james is a book of law the reformers helped us and they had three functions of the law the first function of the law was an unbeliever sees the law of god which reflects the holy nature of god his righteousness his justice his purity and when you see the law as an unbeliever and god requires in that law to love him to love neighbor you realize i'm undone that mirror shows you i could never live up to the law it shows you i'm a sinner and i need a savior augustine said the law bids us as we try to fulfill its requirements and become wearied in our weakness under it to know how to ask the help of grace the first view of the law is to show you your sin but james isn't using the law here to show unbelievers their sin what's he doing he's using the law and what we call the third use of the law to guide christians remember god for you dear christian and the recipients of this letter is not a law giver and a judge in a courtroom where you're gonna have your eternal destiny decided no no that's already happened jesus has died for you he's lived for you he's been raised from you you're a child of god and so now you stand before god not under the first use of the law judge do this perfectly or you're gonna go to hell no now you stand underneath god's law that reflects his nature as a guide as direction here's how a christian lives a christian lives this way that's how you understand the book of james when it comes to law we don't have to obey this to say saved we don't obey it to get saved but because out of gratitude and honor we obey so that's the first thing i want you to be reminded of because if you take this book and say these are all the tests do you measure up that's the first use of the law this is a dad who says to his children this is what we did with our children when they went to los angeles we have two simple rules for you when you go to college number one we want you to go to grace church number two no dating as a freshman why did i say that because i was a mean dad no i love them why did kim and i say that because we knew what was best and what if they would have went to another church on a sunday we would have kicked them out certainly out of the family yes no that would be the first use of the law the third use is this is a guide we love you we've always loved you we're trying to help you we know what's best and so here's how you're guided that's how you understand the book of james secondly if you understand canon law and canon okay get this this is this is i just steve knows i love talking about this and and regularly do first book of the bible in the new testament written was james let's just say forty five a .d

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what happened earlier in thirty a .d what happened in thirty three a .d

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matthew mark luke and john their accounts have happened they haven't been written yet they will be written but they have occurred jesus has been on the earth and he has healed lepers he's talked to centurions he's made blind people see he's cast out demons he's made bread for ten thousand people he's walked on water he's hushed the seas he's raised lazarus from the dead he's washed disciples feet he's died for sinners he's been raised from the dead and all that's happened the gospel of jesus the good news of jesus according to matthew the gospel of jesus according to mark luke and john that's all happened all the good news has happened so now you can tell christians are probably thinking to themselves so how do i live in light of the death burial resurrection of jesus that's the book of james so the first book written helps christians to learn how to live in light of jesus the savior that will help you because otherwise you come to the book of james and you go no death of jesus no burial of jesus no resurrection of jesus yes he's called lord here yes he's called the glory in chapter two god's called compassionate jesus is called the judge in five but how do i live in light of my salvation that's the book of james so every one of these imperatives needs to be read in the shadow of the cross in the shadow of the father who out of love for his son and love for his chosen bride sends the son to go and redeem them this is how redeemed people live you don't do this because you have to do it to stay in you do it because you're in so if you remember law it's a guide and you remember canon chronologically where does it take place everything's open ups you'll never say like luther did this is a straw epistle it just doesn't seem to make sense because there's no jesus in it yes jesus is in it in the sense because you're living in light of that shadow does that make sense law and so when we come to all these imperatives you dear christian should come and say to yourself for every one of these things that i've ever disobeyed jesus has paid those in his body on the cross he has borne the curse that i deserve at calvary no more satisfaction for my sins needs to be made jesus the only way my sins can be taken care of jesus did that he died for me my old man with jesus was crucified slain buried dead and now i'm raised in newness of life with the lord jesus i don't have to worry about anguish and torment in hell forever i get to go to heaven jesus has earned that for me his resurrection is my pledge of my resurrection the judgment of god has been removed the pleasure of god is now upon me because i'm in christ jesus he's my advocate in heaven interceding for me and now i come to these laws and i'm free because i'm assured show me a christian that's doubting their assurance and i'll show you somebody that's very tepid in their obedience show me somebody that knows for certain while though i'm still sinful i'm justified and i can obey god because i'm sure of my salvation that's how you should look at the book of james how do we outline chapter one homiletically for today super simple we're gonna talk about trials and tests in verses two through eighteen and we're gonna talk about how do we respond to the word verses nineteen through twenty seven when christians walk in light of the cross by faith what's it look like what do you tell suffering people what do you tell christians that are going through trials james is gonna say this is how you're gonna deal with the trials two to eighteen this is how you're gonna deal with the word nineteen to twenty seven both of these are in light of who jesus is how do my trials seem in light of the cross and jesus the incarnate word talks i would listen how do i listen to the written word that's the book of james so let's take a look at how christians face trials and temptations verses two through eighteen if you are under the persuasion that two to eighteen is a bunch of random proverbs not connected don't forget about that pearl of wisdom of uh...

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string of pearls idea and also you won't see this in your bibles but there's a lot of connecting words at the beginning of verses putting all these words for all these verses rather together so this whole section two to eighteen has to do with trials both external and internal and we call those internal trials temptations well the first way christians face trials found in verses two through four counted all joy since trials are inevitable trials are inescapable how should a christian son or a daughter in christ in light of the cross how should he or she deal with them and he says right away counted all joy my brother i mean out of the gate you're kind of like you just gave your greeting and then now this counted all joy it's like a bugle call right from the very beginning in light of who jesus is and what he's done for you how can i assess a trial well this is a different way than i used to do before i was a christian here he says counted all joy he says i want you to use your mind assess think logically think mathematically start using your mind and don't just say well i don't feel joy i don't enjoy no no you counted all joy with a deliberate evaluation careful judgment and you're knowing in light of who jesus is if the cross the worst thing that could ever happen the most in the most heinous thing that could ever happen a sinless person getting condemned if you could take sin and make something good come out of it that is our salvation than any trial the same thing could happen he doesn't say well que sera sera i'm gonna be a stoic person i'll just be resigned to whatever happens no no you're gonna be surrounded by trials you're gonna be encountering trials just like with the good samaritan he fell into the hands of robbers you're living your life one day seems going well all things happening everything's lining up and out of nowhere you're like i didn't even get myself into this it just came upon me like surrounded like in a wagon train or something all of a sudden there's enemies everywhere i look this could be persecution this could be suffering this could be afflictions this could be accidents death criticism it could be all kinds of trials health finances and he said living in light of who jesus is you say to yourself you know i'm going to count this all a joy why verse three the lord's doing something in you he starts to work he keeps working knowing that the testing of your faith produces what endurance or steadfastness he tests you for a reason not to break you but because he loves you and he's working on your steadfastness and your maturity and your endurance if god didn't spare his son won't he freely give us all things with christ jesus including he wants the saints to be mature you have children and you want them to grow don't you you want them to mature don't you of course many times the way they do it is through handling troubles and trials god in fact does cause all things to work together for what for good this is part of that mental calculation to those who love him and those who are called according to his purpose i've already got faith now he's strengthening faith it's not a matter of will every time i i i i am in a trial i don't count it all joy how could i call myself a christian that's not it at all god wants you to have a spiritual stamina and staying power like job's perseverance in chapter five second corinthians four says for momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison like yeah but i just want to get out of this i do too but god's working verse four let endurance have its perfect result or let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing the idea is god's perfecting maturing growing helping you to endure and it's not just well you know it's a three second deal on that'll work even athletes know it takes a lot of training to build up to something you sit down and you want to try to bench press you know four hundred pounds you don't start by just putting a bunch of you know you know uh...

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i i i i used to lift i don't even know what to call it anymore a bunch of forty fives up there twenty kgs and just line up like eight wheels on both sides that's what i was looking for wheels because i want you to think i know what i'm talking about you don't just start with four hundred pounds you start off you know and you've got like you know twenty five pounds on each side and you know you're trying to lift the weight and all of a sudden you learn and you grow he doesn't want us to be infantile when it comes to our growth he actually look at the text he doesn't want us to lack in anything when it comes to that what good father would similarly because of that he now says besides count it joy here's how christians face trials and temptations they also pray for wisdom the context is trials what do you do in a trial god get me out of it no you ask for wisdom if any of you lacks wisdom that's a nice way of saying you lack wisdom i lack wisdom and notice even the way he does it verse four lacking in nothing now if you lack wisdom he's tying everything together it's all related we're in a trial we don't know how to handle it we're supposed to have joy we know he's working in us what do i do god i need wisdom it's a present tense i keep needing wisdom help me learn from this trial by giving me wisdom lord i'm going through this ordained trial i should pray you know when things are going great you don't pray but when you're in a trial what happens you pray more what do you pray for like solomon he could have asked for anything but it honored the lord when he asked for discretion and wisdom we need wisdom it's important i with you i'm certain too all too often we say we'll handle it on our own we'll just get through it on our own we won't cast our burdens on the lord we'll just do it ourselves we have resources we have credit cards yet wisdom is better than strength ecclesiastes it's better than the weapons of war proverbs is more profitable than silver more precious than rubies lord i need wisdom and what do you think god does well you earn it no the text he should ask god who gives generously to all without approach and it will be given to him can you imagine you ask the lord and he just gives everything's in light of who jesus is and what he's done in matthew mark luke and john that's the god you're dealing with who didn't even hold his son he he sent his son and the son who didn't say you know what i don't know if i want to go do that father gladly freely went one writer said in the physical realm god never charges for anything the sun nor the rain he really is the giver of everything we eat and wear by disease or operation we may lose a lung or kidney or half of our liver and live with little apparent ill effect other organs such as gallbladder appendix tonsils may be still entirely moved and we get along we may lose an eye and still see or an ear and still hear half of our teeth and still chew this is true of most everything in nature half the blossoms on a tree may freeze and the tree will still bear a good crop of fruit and that's just common grace that god gives and gives and gives how about to his children that ask daddy i i i need bread here's a stone remember that in matthew chapter seven no that's not how god he's good therefore he gives generously freely the word generously means simply out of generosity no duplicity psalm eighty one open your mouth and i will fill it says the lord god god doesn't say you know what you ask me for wisdom in a trial like i ask and you know what i'm gonna snub you i'm gonna humiliate you i'm gonna put my nose up and not answer your questions i'm gonna make sure i prayed all your sins in front of you again and uh...

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we're gonna just really scrying you to the ground the lord wants to help you stands ready ask for wisdom what a thrilling promise asking it will be what given freely you don't need to know latin you don't need to have incense you don't need to go to the pastor you freely go you have an intermediary the lord jesus christ for six let him ask in faith without doubting no doubting for the one who doubts is like the wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind what language you get that idea back and forth to and fro for that person must not suppose he will receive anything from the lord he's a double -minded man unstable in all his ways as the surf and the waves and the sea of a storm are just all unstable washing back and forth fomenting raging the person that says you know what i'm gonna ask the lord for wisdom but i don't really think he's gonna give it to me no that's not how we do things a father would teach a son this is not what we do the lord doesn't give to that kind of person double -minded god wants single -mindedness we need a proper perspective to be counted all joy in trials we pray for wisdom in trials and we keep a proper perspective in trials this is not just randomly put here verses nine through eleven are in the context of trials and you can imagine if you've got things and you're getting persecuted you're gonna lose them and if you're rich now you're poor and if you're poor you're even more poor how do i analyze life if i'm losing things you have a right perspective let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation think about his spiritual blessings even the poorest person on earth is rich in the heavenly places is rich in heaven is rich with all the graces in christ jesus and the rich in his humiliation don't trust your riches rich person because like a flower of the grass he will pass away for the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers with the grass its flower falls and its beauty perishes so also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuit when there's humbling circumstances you have to think the right way and it's not about my resources on earth whether i have a lot or i have a little i have to think properly and in a heavenly perspective and he gives you this great promise there does he not in verse twelve this great encouragement blessing the payoff the promises of god are true blessed is the man certainly it's true for ladies as well and boys and girls who perseveres under trial of course i think about the lord jesus immediately but it's true for us as well for once he's been approved tested he will receive the crown of life which the lord has promised to those who love him the temporal blessings are yours the eternal blessings are yours blessed we've earned curses we get blessings because we're god's children in the old days you got a crown for lots of reasons when you were super full of joy you got a crown when you were a king you got a crown when you won the olympic games and you got a crown when you had dignity and honor and here this is not a literal crown it's the crown of what life eternal life eternal security no matter what goes on in your life you will persevere you'll make it to the end and god gives you the crown of life even jesus said in revelation be faithful even to the point of death and i will give you the crown of life but i have internal temptations not just external trials what do i do with those i'll tell you what to do verses thirteen through eighteen never blame god for anything never blame god for anything verses thirteen through sixteen let no one say nobody that's the idea firm don't you ever ever say when you're tempted i'm being tempted by god for god cannot be tempted with evil he himself tempts no one but each person is tempted when he's lured and enticed by his own desires desire then desire when it's conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it's fully grown brings forth death and it's easy to be deceived therefore he writes in verse sixteen do not be deceived my beloved brothers i'm in this temptation and i've fallen and uh...

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you could have kept me out of this you could have given me enough strength to obey you could have given me different parents you could have given me a different spouse you could have prevented me from marrying her you could have given me more kids you could have given me different kids you could have given and the list goes on and on and on blaming god for failure and james says in light of the cross in light of who god is in light of his kindness and mercy to you and full forgiveness freely you're going to blame god some people do it directly adam said the woman you put here with me she gave me some fruit i ate it if you didn't give me that woman i wouldn't have done it but there's an indirect way of blaming god too you know what god's sovereign over all these things and in his sovereignty i'm going to somehow blame god don't do that look at his character he cannot be tempted by evil remember he's holy he's good he's the lord he doesn't tempt people he's not baiting them to try to go and disobey god is holy he's just he cannot tolerate wrong his eyes are too pure to look on evil

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Habakkuk 1 .13 don't run around saying you know what you know what i just don't feel good i i i uh...

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what if i had better health what if i had this what if i had that what if i i wasn't born with this kind of hereditary that makes me have this kind of temper all these other things i was going to say my italian temper but you can't talk that way anymore because you get cancelled right we've all got tempers well then who's to blame then when i'm in temptation and i fall answer verse fourteen to quote my old professor you made you do it he was a professor of theology not english you made you do it but each one is tempted when by his own evil desire unlike who god is is dragged away and enticed amazing language by james dragged away like a lioness in her prey and enticed like bait and you take a treble hook and you put some bait on it and you throw it out and the fish sees the bait it sees something good and tasty and it bites and then after it bites that thing that looks visibly good and smells good there's the hook to catch that's the idea when it comes to sin we don't blame other people we take the blame yeah but what about the twinkie defense and what about the environment and what about i didn't feel good and what about this and what about that i just can't take it anymore i'm only human jesus said from within out of men's hearts come evil thoughts sexual immorality theft murder adultery greed malice deceit lewdness envy slander arrogance and folly all of these evils come from god may it never be from inside and make a man unclean the world hates personal responsibility and ownership and therefore we as christians in light of who jesus is and while we're getting persecuted we might have a lot of blame on things you know lord i did that i confess it i acknowledge it confession means i agree with you god and then proverbs twenty -eight says for those people that forsake and confess there's mercy to be found i think it is fair to say at this point every thing that glitters isn't gold so be careful when you're tempted just because you're tempted you've got a desire and you've got an opportunity that's not sin but when you act on that desire and opportunity that's sin and by the way when you do you think about conception and babies and all that this births but it births a death verse fifteen after this kind of desire has conceived it gives birth to sin what gross language and when sin is fully grown it brings forth death or as nes says it gives birth to death the wages of sin is death so dear friends don't be deceived it's easy to be misled don't be duped make no mistake about the evil origin of sin and by the way if you think of god what's he do is god associated with sin in any way shape or form i'll tell you what god does verses seventeen to eighteen glad you asked what does god do every good gift and perfect gift is from above god gives good things perfect things not sullied things evil things sinful things coming down from the father of lights we're talking about purity and holiness immutability he never changes with whom there's no variation he's not gonna just be really good for a while and give you jesus and then later say well you know i'm gonna change that up now no variation shadow due to change none of that you wanna know how good god is out of his own will his own free will what does god do on his own free will he brought us forth he makes us born again the language of first peter chapter one he makes us he causes us to be born again you don't bury yourself it's done to you and here he says i bear you forth how how do people get born again by the word of truth that we should be kind of the first fruits of his creatures generally god's good don't blame him verse seventeen specifically god's good don't blame him he saves people every good giving in every perfect gift is from above comprehensive inclusive everything in between god creates things and it's good perfect complete thomas man said he's originally good good of himself which nothing else is for all creatures are good only by participation but god is essentially good not only good but goodness himself the creatures good is super added in god it is his essence he is infinitely good he is eternally good he's immutably good for he cannot be good for he cannot be less good than he is you're a temptation you might change but god doesn't change people think verses seventeen and eighteen might be a hymn if it's not it probably should be when we think about trials and temptations let's make sure we have a right view of god where he of his own works saves us with compassion and care and he redemptively saves why would we blame him for sin that's not of his character the greatest gift we get is salvation not by participation not by cooperation not by dual giving but god made us alive no contribution from us except sin through the preached word so the events of matthew mark luke and john that they've recorded about jesus on earth have happened from his birth to his ascension now these people scattered all around are getting persecuted and they want to live in light of that they want to live by faith what do i do well i need to handle trials rightly now found in verses nineteen through twenty seven i need to respond to the word rightly how do i deal with the word jesus handled temptations a certain way i'd like to live in light of that now i would receive jesus and his word from himself like james in fact did when he saw him raised from the dead and was a he jesus appeared to james should christians receive the word of god less than the word of christ no so we want to see what james tells the brethren in verses nineteen through twenty seven and it's simple receive the word and do the work receive the word and do the work verses nineteen through twenty one by the way if you read this whole section nineteen through twenty seven you'll see the word word w o r d mentioned in verse eighteen twenty one twenty two twenty three and twenty five that will help you with your interpretation because it's all about the word and just like that string of pearls he's using the word word for this entire section because if you don't know that you'll you'll come to this first section in verse nineteen this first verse know this my beloved brothers let every person be quick to hear you're gonna go yep that's right proverb says make sure you listen true but the context here about the word is make sure you listen to the word when the word is preached you listen to it by the way this congregation excels in this a love for the word quick to listen the context is to the word slow to speak the context is with the word he will say in james three will he not not everybody should you of you should be what teachers right just don't get up and start teaching people without being trained the context here in this section is all about the word so he says be quick to hear the word slow to speak the word and slow to anger what's he mean by slow to anger well i don't know about you but you ever heard a preacher preaching you get mad in the old days uh...