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“Hear and Do” This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Today as we continue our journey through James, these studies although all tied together under the theme of growing in our faith, seem to be a series of topical studies on how Christian should interface with their fellow man, living in harmony with others, by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the past few weeks we have considered - how we grow through trials by having an eternal perspective. We looked at the way temptation comes and how to overcome it. Last week we pondered the need to control our tongues, and today we will look at another practical portion of scripture. Today we will consider how the word of God when applied to our lives can change us and mold us into the man/ the woman that God desires us to be. How blessings from God come from obedience to his precepts. Ps 119:11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Letting the word of God live within our hearts will keep us living and walking in the ways of the Lord. So lets read our text today as we consider, how we are to “Hear and do!” READ THE TEXT JAMES 1:22-27 HEAR AND DO! Be not just hearers of the word of God but doers. Application of God’s precepts into our lives is not just knowing the word, but being immersed by the word, letting it become part of your life and your nature. Consider the difference between a strong and a weak cup of tea. The same ingredients water and tea are used for both. The difference is that the strong cup of tea comes from the tea leaves’ immersion in the water longer, allowing the water more time to get into the tea and the tea into the water. The longer the steeping process, the stronger the cup of tea. In the same way, when we spend time we spend in God’s Word, we get into it and it gets into us. This is the message of today’s text. Let the word of God penetrate your heart and not just tickle your ears. That is when we become doers of the word. Ezekiel the prophet face a people in Israel that were only listening to the word of God and the Lord spoke to them. Ezek 33:31-32 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. Four things I would like us to glean from our text today.
Again I think it is vital that we do not read this wonderful book of James as a list of things to do and don’t do, rather it is just like we read, we look into the mirror and we see the truth looking back at us. As we do that we find the word of God becomes the tool for self examination. It becomes the benchmark for what the Holy Spirit is telling the church. The book of James, like all the bible is telling us what faith looks like. When we see certain things in our lives we know, we are heeding the leading of the Holy Spirit, we are doing - because He is guiding. When certain things are missing from our lives, we know that something is wrong. We sense that the Spirit is convicting us, he is guiding us, he is leading us, into where and how our faith should act. So today as we consider this portion of text, the challenge for all of us is simply to listen to the Holy Spirit and hear what he is saying to you as an individual. He may speak to me in a totally different area then he does you, he may encourage one, and convict another, but know this, it is the Holy Spirit doing the work. First we see.
Last week we read how we are to be quick to listen, in the home, to our neighbors, and mostly to the word of God, and that is what James is expanding on here, don’t just hear the sounds. Don’t let the word of God, go in one ear and out the other. I can remember when I was a kid, I was not very good at hearing what my mother said. She would tell me to be home at a specific time, and I acknowledge her words but would wander in at whatever time I choose. I would get punished, and then the next day, I would do the same thing again. Why? Because although I heard some sounds, I did not heed the direction she was giving me was. So when God speaks to us, be that from the pulpit, or from a brother/ a sister, / or be that from his word, the bible, listen to the word. Don’t just let it go in and out, but hear what is being said. Hear the message and not just words. When you only hear words and phrases you are.
When you listen without heeding, you are hearing sounds but it is not sinking in. So what do we do? The word of God is powerful, we considered some of that last week. It is alive, and active, and living, Paul the Apostle tell us it is useful in our lives. 2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. God’s word is from his own breath, I believe this book the bible is the inspired word of God, and in its original languages it is 100 % perfect, inspired to men, by the Holy Spirit, Paul simply says it is “God-Breathed” (kjv= “inspired by God).” Not only is it inspired, but it is useful, for teaching, or doctrine. The learning about God. The doctrines of our faith. Doctrine is very important. We have the doctrine of salvation, we are lost without Christ, we are saved from our lost state by faith alone, in Christ alone, by Grace alone. We have the doctrine of the trinity, God manifested in three separate, persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, one God, three separate manifestations of him. God’s word the bible is good for teaching/ doctrine. It is good for rebuking, that’s one thing the book of James does well, it rebukes me of where I fall short. We all fall short of God’s glory, all of us like sheep have gone astray, but the word of God will show us even more than that, it will show us how we can walk in a manner worthy of the high calling in our lives. Peter says, 1 Peter 1:15-16 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." God’s word can teach us, rebuke us, it can correct us, not only show us where we fall short, but show us what true faith looks like. Show us what we should do in our service to the Lord. Correcting us like a correction made to a ship that is off course. That is what the word of God does. If a space ship bound for the moon is off course by just two degrees, by the time it goes the distance required to get to the moon it will be hundreds of thousands of miles off course and have no chance of return. We are often drifting away from our course, and we need correction to help us stay on course. Like we read last week, “Keep your eyes Jesus”, he is our navigation tool, and he keeps us on course. The word of God is able to teach, rebuke, correct and to train. That is another point of James epistle, to train those who desire to walk in the ways of the Lord, just how to live out your faith. Or as I have said throughout these studies, “Just how - the just live by faith.” God’s word trains us for righteousness, and equips us for every good work that God has for us to do. The good work of how to run your business in an ethical way, the good work of how to love your wife, how to respect your husband, how to get though trials, or how to minister to others, this is the power of the word of God. It becomes the right equipment we need to live for the Lord, it trains us for righteousness, and every good work of God. So what do we do? Do we just listen to the word and hear it, and ignore it? I know many people who say they are Christians and yet you would never know it by their lives. They know the word, they can even present theological arguments, but look at their lives, and if they do not line up with what the word tells us, if their lives are not a testimony to the fact that Jesus is their Lord, then they are sadly just listeners of the word, and not doers. What about you? What about me? Does my life, does your life - say, that we are hearers only, or doers of the word of God. So first James tells us Do not just listen. Then he says.
The New American Standard version say. (James 1:22) But prove yourselves doers of the word…. Prove by your actions that you are a doer of the word of God, prove out you faith. Do you have faith? If you do, it will be proved out by you actions, when you act on what you hear, taking to heart what God is speaking to you, be that directly, from his word, or from another person. Be quick to listen to what God is saying, and then act on what you hear, “prove yourself to be a doer of the word.” Jesus said. Matt 7:21" Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. When you hear the word and it has no affect on your life, you have only acquired information, but when you hear the word and it penetrates you heart then you have application. Application is putting the word of God into practice. It is recognizing when to bit your tongue, when you control your anger as we talked about last week that is the guiding of the Holy Spirit. Application is knowing that the virtues that Paul set for the elders of the church should be the same virtues that shines in all believers lives. 1 Tim 3:2-3… (they must be) temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. What does a Christian look like? Here are the virtues that the Holy Spirit has laid out for the leaders of the church, and know this, the Lord is doing this same work in all of his disciples, he is molding us into his likeness. The result of hearing the word of God and putting it into practice is the message James has for us. He speaks about this man looking in a mirror. The mirror we look into is the mirror of the word of God.
We have in our text a most famous portion of scripture, where the Lord tell us that those who hear the word of God but do not act on it are like a man/ a woman who looks at themselves in a mirror and forgets what kind of person they are. When you look closely into a mirror you see all the defects and imperfections in you flesh, you see the marks of time - wrinkles, and blemishes, you see the scars that came throughout your life. You see some stubble missed shaving, or unwanted facial hair for ladies. James tells us that when we do not act on what we hear from God’s word, we are like someone who looked in a mirror and chose to see what they wanted to see. Like a Madison Avenue or Hollywood photograph, they are touched up and made to look better, but it’s not reality. It’s like looking in a mirror with selective memory. Charles Spurgeon the great preacher of the 1800s, once told of sitting in a nice restaurant. As he ate he kept noticing a rather angry looking man across the dining room who scowled at him every time he looked his way. Finally Spurgeon decided to go over and speak to the man to see what his problem was. However, as he stood he realized that what he had been seeing was his own reflection in mirrors that lined the walls across the room. We may not always like what we see in the mirror of God’s Word but what we see there is always the truth and always the best! God has his great mirror of his word, it reflects back to us what we are. Like reading this powerful little book of James, we see a book of more than just do’s and don’t. We see a book that describes how faith works, and functions every day. When we honestly consider the things in God’s words, and it reflects back to us what the Lord is speaking to you and me as individuals. God’s word is alive, it is sharp, it is able to change and conform us into the image of his son, Jesus Christ. But it takes getting into the word of God, so the word of God can get into us. Its not tough to understand but it must be applied every day. When you read the bible, pray before read, “Lord show me what you have for me today.” Simple prayer, but be honest that whatever it is, a teaching, a rebuke, correction, or training, I honestly want to know what the Holy Spirit is speaking to my heart. Trusting in the Lord, means looking in the mirror of God’s word and seeing what it exposes, then acting on what he is showing you . Mark Twain once said. “It’s not the parts of the Bible I don’t understand that bother me, it’s the parts I do understand.” Billy Sunday: " The bible will always be full of things you can not understand as long as you will not live according to the things you do understand." Don’t just hear the concepts, do them, put the word into practice and the entire bible tells us exactly what faith looks like. Ps 119:4 You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Ps 119:18 Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. Ps 119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. Don’t just listen, do listen and act.
Look into the perfect law that gives freedom, (kjv)= liberty, but what is this perfect law? We know that the commands of God are perfect. Paul calls the ten commandments, spiritual and good. But that law, the commandments only condemn us, they do not give freedom, they don’t bring us liberty. So what is this perfect law? It is the perfect will of God, it is all the precepts of his word, it is found in and born of the perfect gospel, that Christ died once for all, the just for the unjust, that we might have the righteousness of God. Then it is the perfect law becomes written on the hearts of those who follow the Lord, when they die to their old nature. Rom 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. Looking intently means to look deeply with consideration, to bring your eyes closer, bend your back and stoop down so that you might see it with the best possible vantage. Long before James wrote this God spoke a similar word though the prophet Micah. Mic 6:7-8 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. God was never interested in the abundance of offerings, he is looking for obedience, Micah sums up the Lord’s precepts well when he says, live in justice, mercy and humility. Jesus went on to sum it up even more, live in love, love God and love your neighbor, this is the whole law of God. It was said long ago: "There are four kinds of men who visit the synagogues,
The first two are indifferent characters; the third is the righteous man; the fourth is wholly evil." When we look into the perfect word, the perfect law that gives freedom, and act upon it we are blessed. Ps 119:1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. We have considered that we are not just to listen, but to listen and act, and then look intently. Finally you are to.
Prov 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. James gives us the way that does not lead to death. He gives us a test of what is right in the sight of the Lord. Do you consider yourself religious? Do you think you are pious, or a worshiper of the Lord, do you think you have a pure religion that is directed toward God? If that is what you consider yourself to be, test your heart, by looking at your actions. Isaiah faced ministering to people who looked religious and yet were not really walking with the Lord. In the first chapter he speaks to them from the mouth of God about what they are doing wrong in their worship of the Lord. TURN TO ISAIAH 1:15-20The people are spreading out their hands to the Lord, and the Lord is not listening to them. Why? Because their hands were bloody, bloody with hypocrisy. So the Lord tells them to stop it, learn what is right, seek justice, encourage those who are down, help the widows and orphans. Reason it out with the Lord, he desires to forgive, but we must humble our hearts before him, turn from all our evil ways and seek the Lord. Quit leaning on our own understanding, and lean on the everlasting arms of Jesus Christ. How do we do that? He lists three practical areas where we need to examine our lives to see if we are walking in the ways of the Lord.
We talked about that a great deal last week, if you missed it I suggest you get the tape. But to control your tongue is more then biting your lip, it has to do with listening to and being led by the Holy Spirit. When the urge to explode is upon you, it is the Spirit within you that will help you. And of course as we considered last week, and as Jesus spoke that it is from the abundance or overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks. If you mouth is fowl, wash it out, not with soap, but with the water of the word of God. Then watch what you put into your mind, renew it, and what will come out is what you are putting in. Ps 39:1 I said, "I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence."
The second way that we being to examine our hearts is to look at our charity, do we give, are you hospitable? James says, a religious person will look after those who are in need, the widows and the orphans. Do you have practical benevolence in your life? Are you reaching out to others who are in need? They may be an orphan, a widow, or anyone in need. This is the example we see from God. Ps 68:5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. Examine your life by the mirror of God’s word is to see if you have a charitable heart. Is giving and blessing second nature to you? If not let the word of God reflect what you are like and let the Spirit of God begin to change you.
The final way that we allow the testing of our hearts is in the area of personal holiness, personal piety. To keep yourself from the world and its pollution. This world is not our home, for those who are born again, who have trusted in Jesus Christ, we should not be attracted to the things of this world, we as Christians are to be strangers, in this world. Pilgrims, people who are just passing though, I fear too often, we are so in love with the things of this world there seems to be little difference between Christians and unbelievers. Barry shared last Wednesday evening and challenged us with not being like the world. The Apostle John hits us hard when he says. 1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. Look at the social sins of our society, alcoholism, drug abuse, pornography, sexual promiscuity, the love of money, the pursuit of power, these are the manifestations of the world. What fellowship does a Christian have with these things? James leave us with a powerful point of self examination, not to condemn us, but most certainly to cause us to reflect upon what the Holy Spirit is saying to each of us as individuals. Gal 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. The Apostle Paul writing about communion says. 1 Cor 11:28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. So as the guys come forward to serve the table of the Lord, and Luise plays, what better time for self examination then when we partake of the communion. Series: James -Through the Bible |
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