James 1:18-21

[Hidden In Him]

Cultivating The Word Of God, Which Has The Power To Save Your Soul



Do you cultivate the growth of God's word within you? The apostle Paul once compared our growth in the word to Christ Himself being "birthed" within us, telling the Galatians, "I travail in labor again, until Christ be formed within you." Similarly, James would now use an analogy to teach that we must allow the "seed" of God's word to be implanted within us, for it is the word which ultimately saves our souls by producing the righteousness of God.

Having wished, He brought us forth through the word of truth, for us to be a kind of first fruits of His creations. Therefore, my dear brothers, let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not cultivate the righteousness of God. Wherefore, having set aside all [spiritual] filthiness, and the excrement of evil, let us receive with meekness the implanted word, which has the power to save your souls. (James 1:18-21)

Most English translations miss this, but James used the Greek word κατεργάζομαι here, which was used regularly of cultivation, and he also appears to have made reference to fertilizer in this passage as well, for he mentioned "filthiness, and the excrement of evil." The word περισσεία was apparently a euphemism for manure, given that a sister noun meant literally "excrement" in Classical Greek (see the alternate rendering of περίσσωμα for περίσσευμα in Liddell-Scott, P. 1387). And the other word ῥυπαρία literally meant "filth." The alternate noun form was used as literal filth in 1 Peter 3:21, while the same word was also used to describe moral filth and spiritual uncleanness in other Biblical passages (see Revelation 22:11, Zechariah 3:3-4).

His numerous allusions to demons in this letter suggests James was thus referring to unclean spirits by these phrases; demons who incite us to anger and strife. When we succumb, it can stand in the way of our receiving the teachings of others because our resentments get in the way. Our anger or bitternesses become like a heavy layer of manure that can block the seed from being implanted within us.

Modern accounts testify to how demons are indeed filthy, and even smell like dung and rotting flesh when encountered in the spirit realm. In some testimonies they are actually covered with it, such as in Bill Wiese's account where he was dropped into a cell inhabited by two incredibly evil spirits.

The creatures weren't animals, but they weren't human either. Each beast resembled a reptile in appearance, but took on human form. Their arms and legs were unequal in length, out of proportion - without symmetry. The first one had bumps and scales all over its grotesque body. It had a huge, protruding jaw, gigantic teeth, and large sunken-in eyes. This creature was stout and powerful, with thick legs and abnormally large feet. It was pacing violently around the cell like a caged bull, and its demeanor was extremely ferocious. The second beast was taller and thinner, with very long arms and razor sharp fins that covered its body. Protruding from its hands were claws that were nearly a foot long... I was extremely nauseous from the terrible, foul stench coming from these creatures. It was absolutely disgusting, foul, and rotten. It was, by far, the most putrid smell I have ever encountered. If you could take every rotten thing you can imagine, such as an open sewer, rotten meat, spoiled eggs, sour milk, dead rotting animal flesh, and sulphur, and magnify it a thousand times, you might come close. This is not an exaggeration. The odor was actually extremely toxic, and that alone should have killed me. (Wiese, 23 Minutes In Hell, P.3-4, 7)

This is not a new revelation but something the church has understood for centuries. Writing back in the 1600s, writers also spoke of demons in similar terms, for the Lord was warning believers of the realities of Hell back then as well.

The prophecy of Isaias will thus be fulfilled: "Instead of a sweet smell there shall be a stench" (Is. iii. 24). Decaying animal matter emits so horrible an odor that no one likes to go near it. But if we imagine not one tainted carcass but hundreds of thousands heaped together, the air for miles around would be so infected that it would cause the death of all in the vicinity... How much worse will it be in Hell, where the bodies will lie close to one another, without any hope of being separated. And as bad as this stench is, it is greatly increased by the presence of the devils, who naturally are far more offensive to the nostrils than the bodies of the lost. We read in the life of St. Martin that an evil spirit appeared to him on one occasion, and the stench that filled the room was so overwhelming that the Saint said to himself: "If one single devil has so disgusting an odor, what can the stench be in Hell, where there are thousands of devils all together?" (The Four Last Things, On the vile odors of Hell, Martin Von Cochem)

Thus, this appears to be why James compared the anger and "wrath" that demons incite us to with the "filth" of excrement. Strife and hatred block the word from being implanted in our hearts and minds, just like hardened and caked on manure blocks seed from being implanted in the ground. Manure was spread directly on fields during ancient times beginning in Egypt, but if there was too much it it has to be moved aside. So, too, does "the wrath of man" have to be set aside if we are to make room for receiving the word of God, and as we shall see, without doing so it is impossible to affect change in a human life.


The Salvation Of Souls

Understanding the Parable of the Sower is foundational to an understanding all the parables, and yet sadly it is sometimes being taught poorly today. Some teach that it is about receiving 30, 60 and 100 times the financial return on one's giving, but this is a misleading interpretation. Others teach that it is about converting as many souls over to Christ as possible through evangelism, but this is in error as well. What the Parable actually teaches is that believers need to continue cultivating the word of God in their hearts and minds until it (i.e. the word of God itself) multiples 30, 60 or 100 times over. When this happens it naturally spreads about in a "harvest" that begins saving souls and instructing others in the word of God. But the principle purpose is complete conversion of the believer himself. When revelation from the Holy Spirit multiplies 60 or a 100 times over, character change will be inevitable, and this is the focus of the parable. The focus is what becomes of the word itself.

And He said to them, "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to them that are without, all these things are done in parables... The sower sows the word. And these are the seeds where the word is being sown by the pathway, and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word having been sown into them. And these are in like manner the seeds being sown upon the rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy, yet have no root in themselves but are temporary. Then, with affliction and persecution having arisen because of the word, immediately they are scandalized. And these are the seeds being sown among the thorns. These are the ones hearing the word, yet the anxieties of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in, choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And these are the seeds having been sown upon the good ground, such as hear the word and receive it, and bring forth thirty, sixty, and one hundredfold fold." (Mark 4:14-20)

The "seed" is the word itself, and revelation concerning the mysteries of the kingdom. But the word could die away, which meant believers had to keep the word growing within them in order to be saved when all was said and done. The birds represented demons, who would inevitably come to snatch the seed away before it had a chance to grow, but the word was growing in the second and third groups, and significantly so. But it grew in the second only until persecution came, and in the third only until thorns rose up and choked it. These believers received the word and it was growing, yet because they didn't make sure that it continued to grow, it ended up dying away. This is why true Biblical salvation is not in reality a one time decision but a lifetime choice that must be lived out. It's why Paul said we must continue to "work out our salvation with trembling and fear."


The Light Has Come

The need to grow in God's word was stressed in His next parable as well, where Jesus told the disciples that the Light of the world had now come, and He had no intentions of being hidden away in darkness. And He would send the Holy Spirit that they might become cities set on a hill as well, so what they needed to do was apply themselves to receiving as much Light as possible:

And He was saying unto them, "Is a lamp brought that it may be put under bushel basket, or under a bed, and not that it may be placed on a lamp stand? For nothing is hidden which shall not be made manifest, nor is anything kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. (Mark 4:21-23)

 

[Hidden In Him]

Because true Light had now entered the world, mysteries of the kingdom which had formerly been kept secret from mankind were now being revealed (1 Corinthians 4:1, 1 Corinthians 13:2, Colossians 1:26, 2 Thessalonians 2:7, Revelation 17:7). So Christ's message was that He wanted the disciples seeking God for revelation concerning all things, for the only limits on how much they could receive would be the ones they placed upon themselves, which became the point of the next parable.

And He was saying unto them, "Give attentiveness to what you hear. With whatever measure you use it shall be measured to you, and unto you that hear shall more be given. For whoever may have, to him shall be given. But whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even what he has." (Mark 4:24-25)

Jesus taught this same thing in Matthew 13:12, where He again told the disciples it was both an honor and a responsibility that they had been given which had not been given to others, and they needed to grow in it.

And having come, His disciples said unto Him, "Why do You speak unto them in parables?" And having answered, He said, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whosoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have an abundance. But whosoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken from him. (Matthew 13:10-12)

This is what the Parable of the Sower taught. If they allowed persecution or worldly concerns to choke out the word, it would die out within them, so how much it grew depended entirely on them. If they set the measure high, they would receive an abundance of understanding in the word. But if through laziness they set the measure low and didn't seek Him for much, they would receive only what they had sought Him for, and it would be no one's fault but their own.

This again illustrates how fully cultivating the word of God within us is what leads to true salvation of the soul. All men can receive forgiveness for their sins and enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ in an instant, but to "endure until the end," it necessitated continuing to seek God for greater revelation until the word grew to the place of yielding a 30, 60, or 100 fold return within them.


Until The Harvest

In His final two parables in this extended teaching, Jesus prophesied to them about how revelation would grow within the entire church, and that when it grew to the fullest extent that the church was fully capable of casing it to, then the end-time harvest would finally come, and again it would be a harvest of the word, not simply souls.

And He was saying, "Thus is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and arise in length, how he does not know. For the earth brings forth fruit of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full wheat seed within the head of grain. And when the fruit delivers itself up, immediately he sends in the sickle, for the harvest has come." (Mark 4:26-29)

His statement that "the earth brings forth fruit of itself" again suggested that the responsibility rested with the church. Jesus as the Lord of the harvest was planting seed in the earth, after which He would "sleep" for a few thousand years waiting for the earth itself to bring forth "the full seed within the head of grain." Again this was a reference to 30, 60 and 100 fold of seed within a head of grain. Once the time finally came where the word had grown to its fullest extent after the church besought Him for it, He would send in the sickle and reap what was originally sown, now having reached its full potential. And the last parable taught essentially the same thing. The Word was now being planted "in the earth," yet by the time it was done growing, it would arise to such an extent that even "the birds of Heaven" would be lodging underneath its branches.

And He was saying, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we compare it? It is as a grain of mustard seed, which, when it has been sown on the earth is less than all the seeds on the earth. Yet when it has been sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all the herbs, and produces great branches, such that the birds of Heaven are able to lodge beneath its shade." (Mark 4:30-32)

When Christ was crucified He became a "seed" sown in the earth, which as far as kingdoms go appeared to be the smallest of seeds sown. But the Spirit of God was poured out, and suddenly the kingdom of God began growing at an alarming rate, and by the Middle Ages Christianity had grown into a sprawling empire that covered the entire Western world.

So who then are the "birds" who will lodge in its branches? Earlier in the Parable of the Sower He used "birds of the air" to identify demonic spirits, who would come to steal the word away from those who did not believe. But here He qualified the phrase by adding the words "the birds of Heaven." This is because in this final parable He was talking about the angels of Heaven, who will be increasingly present amidst the body of Christ by the time the harvest is approaching. Not only will they be increasingly present for protection, but there is the suggestion that the end-time church will be growing in revelation from God in an unprecedented manner after the Spirit of God is poured out (Joel 2:28). That this is what is referred to is confirmed by the fact that the early church was receiving all kinds of revelation from God - revelations concerning the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, Christ's teachings and prophecies, and how He was the long-awaited Messiah, that the gospel would be preached to the Gentiles, and a whole host of other things - and even the angels of God were receiving teachings on these things through the church, which is the point the apostle Paul was making in Ephesians when he said:

To me was given this grace to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles, the incomprehensible riches of Christ, and to bring to light what the administration of this mystery is which has been hidden in God from previous ages... so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known even unto princes and authorities in the heavenlies through the church, in accordance with the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ephesians 3:8-11)

The word "princes" here was elsewhere used of angels (see Romans 8:38), only here the context appears to have been positive, and the thrust was that all things should now be revealed in Christ. Thus, in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the teaching was that the church would continue to increase in revelation until the end of the age, when the tree - that is, the church, His body in the earth - would finally reach its greatest height, and the angels of God would again be receiving revelation from her by lodging in her branches.

The point to this series of parables our Lord taught was that we should allow nothing to hinder us from continuing to increase in the revelations of God. The Spirit has been sent to lead us into all truth, and that is still the case today. We the church should be growing in it until the word is so full in the earth that the Lord finally puts in the sickle and harvests what we cultivated through our service and devotion to Him.


Questions And Applications

1. What if anything jumped out at you in reading this teaching?

2. How much would you say church at large is cultivating the seed, and growing in the word of God today? How much are they receiving genuine revelation, verses simply handing down traditions from one generation to the next; things that while they might be true don't have much spiritual life in them?

3. The practice during New Testament times was that when a church came together, scripture says they each had "a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, an interpretation" (1 Corinthians 14:26). In other words, everyone was bringing something to the service which they had been receiving from God. Do you think it is important for members to participate in the growth of the word during services, or do you think the one-person monologue is still better? Or maybe do you think both should be practiced? What are some potential problems with each?

4. Some teach that God has already revealed everything He desired to thought and in His written word. Do you agree with this? If not, how do you counter this argument?

5. To satisfy a curiosity, have you ever heard anyone teach the following on what Peter meant by saying the angels longed to understand what God had revealed through the prophets? (please read through the first page in the study provided below).