Study the Passage: The vital step in preparing powerful sermons...Continued from page 1
Donald R. Sunukjian
• God never pushes us toward sin. On the contrary, His every action is only and always for our good?from His initial choice to give us birth to His final welcoming of us in heaven as the highest of all His creation (vv. 16-18).
• Therefore, don’t become angry with God or blame Him if you respond sinfully in a trial. Instead, “be quick to listen” to the wisdom you asked for and to the “word of truth” within you. Be “slow to speak”?do not accuse God or others of causing you to sin. And finally, be “slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” An angry, accusatory response will never bring the maturity or completeness or crown of life that God intends through the trial (vv. 19-20).
• Instead of being angry and blaming God, get rid of whatever filth or evil caused you to react sinfully in the first place, and then return to the Word of God, which is able to guide you safely through the trial (v. 21).
• When you return to the Word, however, you must obey it and not simply listen to it. You must be a “doer” and not merely a “hearer” (vv. 22-25).
By recognizing this flow of thought through James 1, you will then be able to preach the author’s true and exact meaning in verses 5 and 19.
Flag the Things You Don’t Fully Understand
Once you have a handle on the large flow of thought, you can then more thoroughly probe your specific passage, flagging things that are unclear to you: customs you don’t understand, logical connections that don’t make sense to you, a choice of wording that seems strange, apparent doctrinal difficulties, or anything else you need to pin down more precisely. In other words, you’re asking the questions that your subsequent study must answer before you can truly preach the meaning of the original author.
For example, in James 1:5-8 you might flag the following:
• Why does James assure me that God “won’t find fault”? I wouldn’t have thought that He would. If I’m praying and asking God for wisdom, I would think He’d be pleased. Why does James think I would be worried that God will find fault?
• When I ask God for wisdom, I must “believe.” Believe what? That God will give me wisdom? If I didn’t believe He would give me wisdom, I probably wouldn’t be asking Him for it in the first place, would I? What must I believe? What should I not doubt?
• What does it mean to be “double-minded”? What are the two minds, or contrasting thoughts, that could be present?
As another example, suppose you’re preparing a message on 1 Corinthians 4:1-5:
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.