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We had a large truck patch behind our house where we grew corn, tomatoes, lima beans, string beans, onions or scallions, red beets and green peppers. Every spring dad had someone spread manure on the field and then he fired up his Farmall Cub. He plowed the field, disked it, and made rows. We’d plant the seeds or little tomato plants, or onion sets by hand. We had to pull some weeds by hand. By mid-summer we were picking these vegetables and Dad took them down to Philadelphia to the Reading Terminal Farmers’ Market, where he sold his crops to his customers. God promised back in Genesis 8:22 that while the earth remains, there will be seedtime and harvest.
In James 1:21, your heart is the field and God’s Word is the seed. He gives us a sure-fire process for growing a spiritual harvest in your life for His glory.
James 1:21, Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
Have you ever complained, “I just don’t get anything out of the Bible? I read it but nothing happens.” Maybe you’re not following God’s instructions for spiritual growth. Or maybe you’re one of those people who just doesn’t believe in the power of God’s Word, that it is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and able to totally change your life. (Heb. 4:12) Maybe you aren’t aware of how much you need God’s Word in your life. Don’t expect to grow if you aren’t planting God’s truth seeds in your heart. John MacArthur in his little book Why Believe the Bible writes, “When believers aren’t growing, it can usually be traced to failure to be in God’s Word. They go to church and sit. They take along their cups and fill them up and then spill them on the steps as they leave.” People fill their lives with all kinds of diversions and claim not to have time for their Bible. Their hearts are all overgrown with weeds that choke the Word.
James calls us to change all this. We need to break up the hard soil of our hearts and get busy growing a good spiritual crop. God gives us three steps that are absolutely essential for spiritual growth: Pull the weeds, prepare the soil, and plant the seeds. That’s it. Pull, prep, and plant. Got it? There is one more issue we’ll look at next week. You can’t just be a hearer; you’ve got to be a doer, but that’s for next week.
STEP ONE: PULL THE WEEDS
“Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness…”
Whenever you see a “therefore,” find out what it’s there for! What did God just tell us in verse 18? You’ve been born again by God’s word of truth – the gospel. So be quick to hear it, slow to speak and slow to anger. Since God gave you new life through His Word, He now wants you to continue in it and grow a harvest of Christlikeness.
Interestingly, Peter follows James exactly, reminding you that your new life came through the Word.
1 Peter 1:23, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
The source of your new life is “the living and enduring word of God.” Then Peter calls you to grow in that word.
1 Peter 2:1-3, Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
Both James and Peter say you’ve got to get busy pulling the weeds out of your heart. They both use the same word, “putting aside,” which has the idea of tearing off dirty, stinky, clothes. And you must pull all of them. Anything that would hinder the free flow of truth in your life or keep God’s Word from taking root has to go. Both James and Peter use the little word “all.” God never says get rid of some filthiness or wickedness. No, He expects us to do a thorough job pulling out all the weeds. Your spouse wouldn’t be pleased if you got rid of just some or most of your mistresses. It’s all got to go. And as Calvin says, these noxious weeds will continually sprout up. You have to keep pulling heart weeds all your life. Like those wild onions I keep pulling out of our garden! It seems I pull one and three more appear.
James calls them “filthiness” and all that remains of “wickedness.” Filthiness is all that is morally defiling. Don’t expect to profit from God’s Word if you are indulging in sensual thoughts, movies, or pornography. It is filthy, dirty, stinky. It clogs up your heart and stinks to God. Your soul will stink like you walked in dog do-do. If you expect to produce a good harvest of godliness, pull out all the filthiness you’re aware of, and keep pulling them whenever they appear.
Not only that, but James says get rid of all that remains of wickedness, or malice, malicious thoughts about others. ESV says “rampant wickedness.” Peter identifies malicious thoughts for us in 1 Peter 1:1. These are poisonous weeds that will kill your spiritual growth. They need to be ripped out. Peter lists them for us.
- Pull out all malice – all evil thinking toward others. You can’t hold on to bitterness or resentment and expect God’s Word to take healthy root in your soul.
- Pull out all deceit – all lying or cheating. When the cashier gives you too much change, what do you do? Do you keep it and “thank God” for some extra cash?
- Pull out all hypocrisy. This is a real killer. The Jones family lives like the world all week long. The Bible never comes out. Sunday morning comes and Mr. Jones is in the car beeping for his wife to get all the kids ready for church. They finally pour into the car and Mr. Jones is angry they’re late. Mr. and Mrs. Jones argue all the way to church, but when they get out of the car they march through the front door of the church holding their Bibles high shouting, “Praise the Lord. Doin’ great, brother. How you doin’?” That’s hypocrisy.
- Pull out all envy. Not only jealous of what others have, but wishing they didn’t even have it and resenting them for it. Envy is a selfish, ugly, poisonous root as you sinfully compare yourself with others.
- Pull out all slander. Here’s a toxic weed that will just destroy your soul as you spread stuff about another believer, attacking their character behind their back.
Pull them all out and keep pulling them out when they appear again, which they will. Gardeners know pulling weeds is an endless fight. Even though you’ve been born again by God’s Word, you still have a superabundance of potential evil stuff down there. Make sure your heart is as tender as possible to receive God’s truth. That’s why you need to pray as you go to God’s Word,
Psalm 139:23-24, Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
How do you kill them? You spray the weed killer of repentance over them by admitting you’ve got weeds, identifying what they are, and hating them as enemies and poisons to your soul. They are a stench to God. Remember these are the sins that spit on God’s Son, beat and mocked Him and pulled out His beard, whipped Him to a bloody pulp, hammered nails through his hands and feet, hung Him on that cross to suffer in agony. Realize that God transferred all your filthy sins to Jesus and then poured out His wrath, the hell you deserved, on His own son whom He loved. Jesus bore the vileness and filth of every one of your sins if you’re a believer. Repentance means abhor your own sins before God. And it may include asking others to forgive you.
STEP TWO: PREPARE THE SOIL
“In humility…”
The soil amendment here is one word: humility. Humility is that attitude that breaks up that hard, clumpy ground into loamy, fertile, prepared soil, ready to receive the seeds of the Word. This is the good soil Jesus talked about that bears fruit. It’s a heart submitting to God’s will, like the new-born babe sweetly drinking in the milk. (1 Peter 2:2)
Thomas Watson wrote, “He is spiritually meek who conforms himself to the mind of God and does not quarrel with the instructions of the Word, but with the corruptions of his heart.” Humility says, “Whatever you say God. I’ll confess where I’m wrong and I’ll stop defending myself or making excuses. I’m willing to change even if it is hard and a struggle.” Instead of resenting what God says or arguing with the Bible, we humbly say, “God, you’re right and I’m wrong. I’m not the boss anymore. I don’t call the shots. I need Your wisdom in my life and whatever the Bible says I accept.”
Humility is absolutely essential as you approach God’s Word. This is that quick to hear, teachable spirit that prepares the soil of our hearts with humility and submits to the authority of God’s Word with eagerness. Jeremiah illustrates this humility, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word became to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name.” (Jeremiah 15:16)
STEP THREE: PLANT THE SEEDS
“Receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”
James uses two beautiful word pictures here. First, receive or welcome the word. Throw open the doors of your heart and let the Word come in and make itself at home. The same word is used in Acts 17:11 where the Bereans “received the word with great eagerness.” Spurgeon said these words in a sermon on James 1:21.
“I do love, when I read the Bible, or hear the word, to throw the doors of my soul wide open; ay, and to open all the windows of my heart. My soul cries, “Come in, most blessed Spirit; come in, divine Life. Thou shalt not say there is no room for thee in the inn; come, take possession of every chamber of this house of mine, and be thou Master of it henceforth and forever…. Receive the word. Many men are not profited by the word, because it does not penetrate them, but is like water flowing down a slab of marble. Truth must soak into the heart if it is to bless the heart.”
The second word picture in verse 21 is the little phrase “the word implanted” or as the KJV has it, “the engrafted word.” It may mean engraft it like a shoot of a tree engrafted in good root stock, in which both are cut and joined together for a better tree.
Or it may mean rooted firmly into your heart. Either way, you engraft or plant each truth into your heart by receiving it, then pondering it, chewing on it, meditating on it, rooting those truths deeply into the soil of your believing heart! We all greatly need to know the truth that only God’s Word teaches us. Where we came from, who we are, why we’re here, where we’re going. Who is God? What are His attributes? How are we saved? How can we please God personally, in our married lives, as parents, as workers, as citizens? How do we overcome our sins and handle suffering? Who is really in control? Learn these truths and plant them firmly in your heart.
Thomas Manton put it perfectly: “In the Word there is the hand of God’s bounty reaching out to comfort and counsel us.” In humility, welcome the Word of God into your heart to take root and bear fruit in your life.
How does James close this verse? “Which is able to save your soul.” One day a zealous evangelist asked R. C. Sproul if he was saved. Typically for R. C., he replied, “Now do you mean have I been saved, or am I being saved, or will I be saved?” James isn’t telling us how to get saved here. James means as you engraft or place God’s Word into your heart, it is living and powerful and able to transform your mind and life. That transformation for a Christian is called progressive sanctification, which means you grow in becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.
God’s Word given in the Bible has the saving power to deliver you from the destructive consequences of sin. Is there a sin you’re struggling with? The Word of God implanted by the Spirit of God in your heart and applied by you in your life has the power to free you from any sin. God will use His Word to free you from anger, worry, pride, love of this world, gender confusion, substance abuse, you name it. Jesus said, “If you continue in My Word, then you are truly my disciples, and you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) This is what James is talking about.
SO WHAT?
Pull the weeds of sin, prepare the soil with humility, and then plant those seeds of God’s Word in your life. Have you experienced the power of God’s Word changing your life? Is this Bible precious to you? Do you throw open your heart every day and welcome His Word into your life? Are you resisting anything you know God’s Word teaches? Do you see the fruit of the Spirit growing in your spiritual garden?
Why should I spend or invest time reading and listening and planting God’s Word in my heart? Let’s finish with our answers to this question.
- Because true believers want to grow, just like that baby wants the milk. Where there is life, there’s growth.
- Because God’s Word gives you strength to stand for Christ in a godless age.
- Because God’s Word gives you discernment in a world full of lies and false teaching.
- Because God’s Word equips you to serve and love others.
Next week we’ll find out how to be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. The main reason God’s word doesn’t change people’s lives is because they are dead spiritually. They don’t have spiritual life that desires the Word. What about you? Do you have that life that wants to feed on God’s truths? Have you been born again? Have you seen your own sin against God and received Christ as your Savior and Lord?