Being a Doer of the Word
By Pastor Matt Black
26 March 2006
Lord's Day evening
James 1:21-25
Introduction: Open your Bibles to the book of James chapter 1. We are going to read verses 21-25. The title of our message this afternoon is “How Can We Hear God?”
James 1:21-25
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
We come to our text, and James here is demanding that we take action on what God tells us. I guarantee if God were to descend physically into this room and you were to see Him in all His glory, whatever he said you would do!! That’s the weight we need to feel when we read the Scriptures. That is what James is telling us! He is telling us to lay aside all our excuses and do battle royal in our lives against sin. Fight against sin and cling to the Word of God so tightly that it begins to take root into our very souls. How can this happen. We as Christians talk so much about doing right and living right, but a lot of the time I fear it is all puffed up words and nothing more. Christ told us not to accept mere the empty words of sinful men, but told us to examine each person. “By their fruits you will know them,” he said (Matthew 7:20). James in our text doesn’t care about the “buds of hearing” but demands the “fruits of obedience.”
I. If you want to be a doer of the Word, then you need to SEPARATE from sin!
21a Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness,
A. Separate from sin by Holding it to account. “Lay apart” In order to lay apart sin, you must first identify it. You must hold yourself to account. Have you thought through how you have offended God today?
B. Separate from sin by Hating it! “lay apart”. We are more concerned with putting out our best clothing for church than laying aside sin in our lives. By looking at you, I can see that each of you took time and care to prepare yourselves to come to church. You all look like a million bucks! You all seem to look like nice godly joyful people. But did you take time to see yourself the way God sees you? How is your heart clothed this morning? Is it clothed in filthiness and sin? Hate your sin! Take
C. Separate from sin with a Heart broken “filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness” Where does sin come from? This filthiness comes not from what you put into your mouth, but what comes out of your heart! What’s in your heart this evening? Is your heart filthy? Is your heart cluttered with the cares of this world? Take up your cross, die to yourself, hate your life, relinquish all ambitions in your life. Put away all your goals. Everything now is nothing. Come to God with nothing but a heart that has been ripped clean of every sinful pleasure and every earthly ambition. That heart will be a broken and contrite heart longing after God alone. That’s the only way to come to the Word of God.
You also can have a broken heart by rooting out all self-righteousness. Do you think you are not as bad as other people? Do you think that? Do you excuse your sin that way? Well, I have this problem, but it’s really nothing compared to some other sins that I’ve heard Christians commit. Are you making excuses for your sin? Have you ever rationalized sin in your heart? Those are the signs of self-righteousness. You will never begin to grow or be changed until you face your sin and hate it! Your heart should be broken over it! That brings us to our next point.
D. Separate from sin by Halting sinful habits “superfluity of naughtiness…” Here he is not talking about a one time falling into sin. Superfluity means a habit—something that is fluid—it conforms to you over and over and over again. It may not be the same circumstances, but it is where sin is wrapping itself around you in many shapes and forms, but you are entering into the same sin again and again and again. Is that you? Is there an overflow, a superfluity of wickedness in your life? Put it away from you. Be radical! Do you hate it? Has your heart been stripped and broken over it?
II. If you want to be a doer of the Word, you need to SUBMIT to the Word of God.
How can we do that??
21b and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
A. Through meekness. What is meekness? It is strength under control. Essentially you are able to reject God’s way, and that is your nature, but by the grace of God you yield the control of your life to God!
B. Through meditation. “engrafted Word” it is IMPLANTED! You need to look at God’s Word face to face! You need to read it and let it have all it’s consequences. Let’s do an exercise right now.
Psalm 101:3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
C. Through transformation “which is able to SAVE your souls”
III. If you want to be a doer of the Word, you need to SUBMERGE yourself in the Word of God.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
A. Notice the path of ACTION.
22 But be ye doers of the word
We need to be doers of the and not just hearers only. We think we are fine because we know a lot about the Word of God. Knowing does not make us more acceptable before God, it makes us more guilty! We are more accountable to God.
Luke 12:48 For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
We have been moved by God’s Word, but unless we act on it, it does not matter. That is why we have tapered down the use of an invitation. It is good to come forward, but there are churches where the whole emphasis of the preaching is geared to have you come forward at the end of the service to pray. That is not the emphasis of our church. We don’t want you to be simply emotionally moved—we want you to grow and change!!
Psalms 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he DOETH shall prosper.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that DOETH the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Essentially, your obedience to God is the ultimate sign of your regeneration. It is God who is constantly working in you.
Philippians 2 says it perfectly.
Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
1. A Doer of the Word has DISCIPLINE. The doer of the Word makes hard changes in his life.
2. A Doer of the Word daily DECISIONS. An obedient life is made up of thousands of little decisions every day. Doer of the Word makes himself accountable to people. You need to read your Bible and be changed by it daily. You need to have answered prayer. Who is holding you accountable in your life for these basic disciplines? It takes an interconnectedness to be a doer of the Word. It’s so easy to be in our own corner of the church and never get to know people intimately, but we need it if we are going to be a doer of the Word.
B. Notice the path of APATHY. The hearer only of God’s Word is really a sincere hypocrite. He hears God’s Word, but he does not obey it: he thinks he wants to do right, but he does not know what’s stopping him. What are some things that hinder us from obedience?
1. We do not obey immediately.
We hear the message, and we are convicted of sin, but we immediately get caught up right back in the world. You must obey immediately! If you have a hard time reading God’s Word, get up immediately after this service and find a friend that you can be accountable with. But instead we go home and turn on the television. We struggle until the next Wednesday or Sunday, and we never change! We need radical amputation! We need to put off the old man and
2. We do not want to be inconvenienced. We’ve got our comfort zone—We are like the builder in Luke 6 who did not dig deep for a sure footing. He did not bother about the extra expense and time necessary for a solid foundation. He took the easy way out. Many of us are like that. We are willing to follow Christ if it is convenient. Like giving someone a ride. As long is God is going in the same direction that you are ok with God.
Are you digging deep in your own life? Are you putting down a sure footing in your family?
Matthew 7:24-27
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
3. We do not look ahead. This man who built his house on the bright sand never once thought about the fix he would be in once the autumn rains began. He never thought about the future. Instead of looking at the present, we need to take the long view of things. Once day we will stand before Christ. We will given an account. We must not make decisions that will make us happy for the moment, but that will please God for eternity.
IV. Then if you want to be a doer of the Word, you need to SURVEY YOUR LIFE.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
The mere hearer of the Word is proud. He things his life is alright. Let’s take a closer look.
A. His sin is revealed. v 24 “He beholdeth himself”
B. He becomes self-righteous “and goeth his way”
C. His conscience becomes seared “and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
A. Look at the pattern of his life.
1. He diligently looks into the Word of God. “looketh into the perfect law of liberty”
The word “looketh” here has the idea of a man stooping down, going out of his way to look in this mirror. We all know how hard it is to have a consistent walk with God, but have you stopped and paused and considered to evaluate your life?
2. He has a determined lifestyle “and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work”
B. Look at the promise of his life.: Blessing NOT burden “This man is blessed in his deed!
Conclusion: Where are you at today? Are you obeying immediately? Are you inconvenienced by the Word of God, are you looking ahead?
Closing Hymn: 333 Open our eyes Lord