INTRO.- ILL.- On July 2, 1982, Larry Walters, a 33-year-old man who decided he wanted to see his neighborhood from a new perspective. He went down to the local army surplus store one morning and bought forty-five used weather balloons. That afternoon he strapped himself into a lawn chair, to which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled balloons. He took along a six-pack of beer, a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and a BB gun, figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land.
Walters, who assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in the air, was caught off guard when the chair soared more than 15,000 feet into the sky -- smack into the middle of the air traffic pattern at Long Beach Airport. Too frightened to shoot any of the balloons, he stayed airborne for more than two hours, forcing the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon, causing long delays in flights from across the country.
Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions:
"Where you scared?" "Yes."
"Would you do it again?" "No."
"Why did you do it?" "Because," he said, "you can’t just sit there."
Brothers and sisters, some people can just sit and take life easy but most don’t. However, not many people are as daring or as crazy as Larry Walters was.
It’s spring time as of Friday, March 20th. What should we do? When spring comes most people spring into action. They start planting gardens, playing ball, getting outside more, mowing their grass, fishing, hunting, etc. Winter slows most people down, but spring comes and we are ready to do and go. And that’s not bad.
Activity is good for us as long as it is good activity and doesn’t hinder our relationship to the Lord. However, any activity that leads us from Christ and from serving Christ is not good, no matter how good it may seem to be!
James 2:26 "Faith without works is dead." If a person’s faith doesn’t do something positive or it isn’t active, then it isn’t faith by God’s rule.
ILL.- Elizabeth Boulter said: My mother taught for 11 years at a day-care center. One winter afternoon she was trying to show a young boy how to zip up his coat. "The secret," Mom said, "is to get this piece of the zipper to fit in the other side before you try to zip it up."
After struggling with the zipper for several minutes, the boy sighed and said, "Why does it have to be a secret?"
Brothers and sisters, there is nothing secretive about God. His will is clear in scripture. And His Word is very clear and especially, in this text. God is not secretive about how He wants us to live.
PROP.- Our text tells us that we must "spring" into action for our faith to be meaningful.
1- Be quick to listen
2- Be slow to speak
3- Be slow to anger
4- Be quick to rid
5- Be quick to act
1. BE QUICK TO LISTEN
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.
ILL.- Two cowboys come upon an Indian lying on his stomach with his ear to the ground. One of the cowboys stops and says to the other, "You see that Indian?" "Yeah," says the other cowboy.
"Look," says the first one, "he’s listening to the ground. He can hear things for miles in any direction."
Just then the Indian looks up. "Covered wagon," he says, "about two miles away. Have two horses, one brown, one white. Man, woman, child, household effects in wagon."
"Incredible!" says the cowboy to his friend. "This Indian knows how far away they are, how many horses, what color they are, who is in the wagon, and what is in the wagon. Amazing!"
The Indian looks up and says, "Ran over me about a half hour ago."
Brothers and sisters, some things are learned in life the hard way. We either get run over or beat up by them. However, there is a better way to learn about life and even the dangers in life AND THAT IS BY LISTENING TO THE WORD OF GOD.
James say, "Be quick to listen." The meaning is, of course, BE QUICK TO LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD.
ILL.- The sermon dragged on and on. Finally, the preacher said, "What more can I say?" Someone from the back of the church hollered, "Say Amen and let’s go home!"
ILL.- One preacher said: Giving a sermon one Sunday, I heard two teenage girls in the back giggling and disturbing people. I interrupted my sermon and announced sternly, "There are two of you here who have not heard a word I’ve said." That quieted them down.
When the service was over, I went to greet people at the front door. Three adults apologized for going to sleep in church, promising it would never happen again.
Listening to a sermon may not be the best or the easiest way to listen to God’s Word. You may endure listening to a sermon every Sunday but THE BEST WAY TO LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD IS TO READ IT FOR YOURSELF. (Ii Tim. 2:15)
Be quick to listen to God’s Word.
2. BE SLOW TO SPEAK
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
ILL.- A lady named Betty said: Our manager at the restaurant where I worked was a much beloved, jovial man. But there was one subject you didn’t dare discuss in front of him -- his height. Or, should I say, his lack of it. One day, he stormed through the door and announced angrily, "Someone just picked my pocket!"
Most of my fellow waitresses and I were speechless, except for the one who blurted out, "How could anyone stoop so low?"
Be careful with caustic or sarcastic remarks. They can hurt people and mar or hurt relationships.
Proverbs 10:19 "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."
Proverbs 10:32 "The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse."
Proverbs 11:12 "A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue."
It appears that we do more damage in life or cause more trouble with our speaking than by any other means.
ILL.- Two women boarded a jet plane. On the plane, one said to the other, “Do you know this plane travels faster than sound?”
The other was quite alarmed about this and when they were settled she said to the captain: “I beg your pardon, sir, but does this plane travel faster than sound?”
Proudly he said, “Yes, ma’am, we fly faster than sound.” “Well,” replied the lady, “please slow it down a little, for my friend and I want to talk.”
Brothers and sisters, if we talk to others or ABOUT OTHERS, let’s make it good stuff!
Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
If you think of something bad or negative to say, BE SLOW TO SPEAK.
3. BE SLOW TO ANGER
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
ILL.- At President Obama’s news conference on Tuesday evening, March 24th, he said these words in regard to those AIG people who received $165 million in bonus money after receiving $180 billion dollars from the government: "You know, there was a lot of outrage and finger-pointing last week, and much of it is understandable.
"I’m as angry as anybody about those bonuses that went to some of the very same individuals who brought our financial system to its knees..."
One news commentator said, "The President didn’t act like he was angry." That’s what I thought too.
If a person is truly angry you can generally see it or sense that anger in them and the President didn’t act like he was angry.
Brothers and sisters, some anger is ok with God. Most is not but some is good.
Romans 12:9 "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."
I’ve heard it said that if you don’t hate what is evil in life then how can you have a passion for what is good? SOME ANGER IS GOOD. We should be angry at all the dishonesty, crime, corruption, abuse, etc. that is happening in our world and country.
But often we are simply angry because things didn’t go our way. And this anger is wrong. Selfishness is wrong. Selfish anger could be very wrong. BE SLOW TO ANGER.
ILL.- A lady named Lesley said: My younger brother, I explained to a friend, had quite a temper as a boy. Our parents had tried extra love, attention and patience on him, with little success. Then, in the middle of one of his tantrums, they simply handed him a shovel, pointed to the backyard and instructed him to go out and dig and not come back until he had control of his anger.
"Apparently," I said, "the therapy worked, because he’s turned out very nicely." "What does he do for a living?" my friend asked. "He builds in-ground swimming pools."
How do you control your anger? Do you dig holes? Do you count to ten? Do you go for a walk? Or do you scream and holler? Perhaps there is a better way to overcome our anger. We need to let the Lord do His work in us. We need His Spirit of peace to invade us and control us and that way we will be slow to anger.
4. BE QUICK TO RID
21Therefore, 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.
ILL.- Did you hear that the 61 year old late night talk show host, David Letterman, finally got married? David Letterman swapped vows with longtime love Regina Lasko on a Thursday afternoon in a no-frills courthouse ceremony. The newlyweds are parents of a 5-year-old son, Harry.
Letterman said, "Regina and I began dating in February of 1986, and I said, ‘Well, things are going pretty good, let’s just see what happens in about 10 years.’ I had avoided getting married pretty good for, like, 23 years, and I—honestly, whether this happened or not—I secretly felt that men who were married admired me…like I was the last of the real gunslingers...."
I’m glad that David Letterman finally married the mother of their 5 year old son, but Letterman probably needs to do more than that. More than likely, he needs to do some cleaning up of his life in other areas, AS ALL PEOPLE NEED TO DO.
ILL.- I have a problem that I need to rid myself of: It’s called eating too much food. Do you have that problem? Now that might not sound like a real serious problem but it is a problem because it’s affected my health. I’ve gained weight from eating too much food and that extra weight hurts my back. It’s also slowed me down in being able to function and I don’t like that.
I think if I’d lose 20 lbs. or so of bodyweight my back might not hurt as much and I’d have more energy to work and serve. I might even preach stronger and more passionately with more energy! SO YOU SEE, I HAVE A PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN CARE OF. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that were the least of our problems in life?
Frankly, all people deal with some problems and the worse of those problems are sin problems. James calls them "moral filth," which sounds pretty bad.
ILL.- For example, Rod Blagojevich has a problem or two. Some of those we may not be sure about but one is his filthy mouth. And if any person claims to be a Christian and talks like he does, that person needs to rid themselves of that moral filth.
ILL.- The infamous Bernie Madoff has another kind of moral filth problem. IT’S CALLED STEALING and his problem is being and will be taken care of in prison. Although, Elaine’s brother Joe said that Madoff probably owns several prisons. But stealing is a moral filth problem or sin that needs to be dealt with.
Col. 3:5-8 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."
Whatever the sin problem we have, we must be quick to rid ourselves of that sin and with the Lord’s help through prayer and commitment.
5. BE QUICK TO ACT
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But 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.
Do what the Word says. BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, as the old KJV puts it.
ILL.- Thomas Edison, the inventor, knew the secret of youthfulness. He was still inventing in his eighties.
In the 1920s Henry Ford and Thomas Edison visited the California home of their mutual friend Luther Burbank. Burbank kept a guest book where his visitors would sign in. Beside the name and address spaces was a space marked “interests.” Ford watched Edison write in that place, “Everything.”
Edison was interested in everything. Any person who is interested in everything is going to be a DOER.
ILL.- Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm.” “Every great movement in the annals of history,” said Emerson, “is the triumph of enthusiasm.” George Wilhelm Hegel (German Philosopher) said, “We affirm absolutely that nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.”
Romans 12:11 "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."
I have done a few things in life and have tried to do them well. I figured that if God gave me the interest then I should pursue it the best I could and USE IT FOR HIS GLORY. That’s the real key to passion for any pursuit in life. DO WE DO IT FOR HIS GLORY?
I Cor. 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
ILL.- I have a friend who is the Gen. Manager of the Trees ’n Trend stores. They have fourteen stores in various states so he is a very busy man, BUT HE IS ALSO A BUSY MAN IN ANOTHER WAY. Care to guess? He preaches at two different churches every Sunday and then goes to at least one nursing home every week and maybe two. I’m sure he probably preaches the same sermon at both churches because he goes from the one church right down to the other church.
He is also involved in other church activities; youth, etc. But what about these nursing homes? He doesn’t just visit one or two people in these nursing home. He goes to every person in every room and offers to either read scripture or pray with them.
Do you know what I think? I think he puts most of us to shame as far as Christian service is concerned! Not everyone can preach or even teach a Sunday School, but everyone can serve in some form. WE MUST FIGURE OUT WHAT WE CAN AND BE QUICK TO DO IT! Otherwise, we are self-deceived and our faith is in vain.
BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD AND NOT HEARERS ONLY!
CONCLUSION-------------------------------
ILL.- Zuizendorf said to a Moravian brother, “Can you go as a missionary to Greenland?” “Yes.” “Can you go tomorrow?” “If the cobbler has finished my shoes I can go tomorrow.” That was a quick, willing-hearted response. And one convert said, "Send us men with hot hearts."
Do you have a "hot" heart for the Lord? If so, then be quick to listen, quick to act, quick to serve, but slow to sin. We all need to spring into action for the Lord. Our time is going fast. Only what is done for Christ will last.
