But Be DOERS of The Word! James 1:22-25 (NKJV)

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY EVENING, November 13, 2016 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister TOPIC: Christian Living, Faith But Be DOERS of The Word! James 1:22-25 (NKJV) Please turn with me in your Bibles to James chapter one. And let's read verses James 1:22-25 (NKJV) 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. P R A Y E R ************************************************************

2 I n t r o d u c t i o n The late Vance Havner used to say, Sitting in a church house doesn t make someone a Christian any more than sitting in a hen house makes one a chicken. Many people have been sitting in a Church house for years and years. They have heard hundreds and hundreds of sermons and Sunday School lessons, and perhaps have even sat through hundreds of Bible Study lessons. And yet when you look at the way many professing Christians live their lives, and you see some of their habits, and you hear some of the things they believe, one can't help but wonder what difference, if any has all those years of going to Church made in the lives of these individuals? The truth is, Going to Church every Sunday doesn't always translate into genuinely living the Christian life. The difference between being a true believer and a make-believer all comes down to one critical issue and that is how one chooses to respond to the word of God. The whole point James is stressing in our scripture text this evening is that while listening to and hearing the word of GOD is important, it does us little or no good unless we put God's word into practice in our daily lives. In verses James gives us two very distinct portraits: *In verses we see The Portrait of A HEARER of God's Word *And in verse 25 we see The Portrait of A DOER of God's Word.

3 First, let s look at. I. The Portrait of A HEARER of God's Word vs James wrote this letter to Christian people, or as we might say today, These were good, salt-of-the-earth Church going folks. 2. But obviously many of the Christians in James' day were a lot like many who profess to be Christians today. They were HEARERS of God's word, but NOT doers. First of all notice... (A) The Hearer s Casual Response To The Word verse 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Perhaps some of you are thinking, Why does that verse sound so familiar to me? Well, I'll tell you why. This is the verse that appears at the top of your DISCIPLE MAKER sheet each week. *The NIV translates it this way: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. * In The New Living Translation it reads: But don t just listen to God s word. You must do what it says. Other- -wise, you are only fooling yourselves.

4 The Greek word James uses for hearers in this 22 nd verse is the word akroatai (Uh-crow-uh-tie) which was actually the name the early Christians called curiosity seekers who would sometimes attend their worship services, but would never surrender their lives to Christ and become true followers. So what James is saying is when one HEARS the word of God but doesn't do what it says, he or she is no different than the akroatai...no different than the person who attends Church every now and then, but refuses to give his or her life to Christ. Listen carefully! You may take great pride in the fact that you have made a lot of marks in your Bible, but what matters most is what marks has your Bible made on you? What mark has the word of God made on your habits? your speech? your attitudes? your priorities? And the way you treat people? Notice the stern warning James gives in this 22 nd verse. He says, But be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. That word deceive comes from a mile-long Greek word paralogizimai (para-low-giz-uh-my) which is a mathematical term meaning to make a gross miscalculation.

5 Listen carefully! Coming to Church to hear God's word each week is very important. And reading your Bible each day is important. But to hear God's word and not put it into practice in your daily life is to make a gross miscalculation about one's relationship with Jesus Christ. JOHN 15:10 (NKJV) Jesus says, If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. Remember that Vance Havner quote I gave you earlier? Sitting in a church house doesn t make someone a Christian any more than sitting in a hen house makes one a chicken. To believe that all we have to do is just show up for Church on Sunday and hear a sermon, then go right back to living the same old way without changing or adjusting our lives to the word of God, is to deceive ourselves or to make a gross mis- calculation regarding our standing in the LORD. As we move on to verses 23 and 24 James reveals another detail in his Portrait of A HEARER of God's Word, notice...

6 (B) The Hearer's Careless Remembrance of God's Word 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. ILLUSTRATION: First century mirrors were not made of reflective glass as are our mirrors today. They were made of some kind of reflective metal such as bronze or silver, or gold if one happened to be very wealthy. The metal would be beaten until flat and then polished to a high gloss, and although one could see his reflection in the metal, it certainly wasn't a perfect reflection, like we get with our mirrors today. I find it interesting that James uses the illustration of a man looking into a mirror. You ladies tend to spend considerable more time looking into a mirror than we men. And ladies, if your hair is out of place or your make-up isn't just right, or your eyebrows need plucking, or you have some age spots or wrinkles that need covering, you will probably stand in front of that mirror for as long as necessary to make all the necessary changes and adjustments you need to make. In fact, some of you would never think of leaving the house without everything being just right, would you?

7 We men aren't like that. Most of us men can look in a mirror and if our hair isn't perfect, or we have a little stubble on the chin, or we see a spot on our shirt, its no big deal. We can easily walk away and forget about it. That's the way it is with many professing Christians when it comes to the word of God. When you and I read the word of God and study the word of God very carefully, it is just like looking into a mirror...a mirror to our souls...and a mirror never lies. What James is telling us is that the mirror of God's word reveals the truth to us about ourselves. When we look into the mirror of God's word we see our sins...and our imperfections and our short-comings. Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Ideally, when we look into the mirror of God's word and see things that need to be changed or corrected in our lives, whether its our attitude, or our conduct, or our habits, or our priorities, or how we treat others, we should surrender that area of our lives to the LORD and allow Him to transform us or change us by the power of His Holy Spirit. But, if instead, we choose to just walk away from the mirror of God's word and forget or ignore the truth the word revealed to us about ourselves, we are deceiving ourselves to believe that it will all just go away if we forget about it or ignore it long enough. That won't happen!

8 Well that's The Portrait of A HEARER of God's Word. Now as we move on to verse 25, James gives us... II. The Portrait of A DOER of God's Word vs But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. First of all notice. (A) The RESPONSE of A Doer The Doer's response to the word of GOD is different than the hearer's in two ways: (1) First, the doer responds with careful EXAMINATION. James says, he looks into the perfect law of liberty. The NIV translates it: But whoever looks intently into the perfect law... James uses the Greek word parakypsas (pare- uh-kip-suss) here for intently. Parakypsas means to stoop down to take a close look at something. This is the same term John uses in his gospel to describe how he and Mary looked inside the tomb of Jesus on the morning of His resurrection. They stooped down to take a close look inside the tomb.

9 This is how the doer examines the word of God. Unlike the hearer in v. 22 who merely listens or casually glances into the mirror of God's word once a week during a Church service, the doer intently looks into the mirror of God's word on a daily basis and carefully examines himself. ILLUSTRATION: Think of how an automobile mechanic looks under the hood and carefully examines a vehicle with a trouble-light. Think of how a cardiologist carefully examines the inside of a heart during a heart catheterization. Think of how a gastro-enterologist carefully examines the lining of a patient's esophagus and stomach with a lighted scope during an endoscopy. If you and I are to be doers of the word that is how we must examine the word of God. We must read it, and study it, and pour over to understand what the scripture says, and what the scripture says to us personally. But not only does a DOER respond with CAREFUL EXAMINATION (2) A Doer responds with COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION. verse 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. Remember, the hearer of God's word casually looks at God's word like someone taking a quick glance in a mirror, and then he or she just walks away from God's word without ever changing or correcting anything in their life.

10 A doer of God s word on the other hand, is always making corrections and adjustments and fine-tuning and tweaking his or her spiritual life to line up with the word of God. If the mirror of God s word reveals they have pride in their heart, the DOER will seek to change. If the mirror of God s word reveals they need to do something about that bitterness or that resentment in their heart, the DOER will seek to change. If the mirror of God s word reveals they need to be more caring, the DOER wills seek to become more caring. If the the mirror of God s word reveals they need to be more forgiving, the DOER will seek to be more forgiving. The Prayer of David in Psalm 139:23,24 will be on the lips and heart of every DOER OF GOD S WORD each day: Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Well that's THE RESPONSE OF A DOER OF GOD'S WORD. Finally James tells us about...

11 (B) THE REWARD OF A DOER vs. 25 b this one will be blessed in what he does. The truth here is obvious.. GOD RESERVES HIS RICHEST BLESSINGS..For the DOER, not the hearer...for the ONE WHO OBEYS, not the one who disobeys. For the one who PUTS THE WORD INTO PRACTICE IN THEIR DAILY LIFE, not the one who neglects and ignores God's word. ********************************************************** CONCLUSION Let me share this and I will close. Back in the late 1980 s when I was working at National Spinning Company during the week and preaching on weekends, I met a very godly black man in my engineering department by the name of Bryant Coward. Bryant did not have a Bible College education like me, and yet he taught me one of the most practical lessons I ve ever learned about being a doer of God s word. Bryant told me that each day when he read his Bible he would pick out one key word in the passage he read. For example, if Bryant read a passage about patience, PATIENCE would be his key word for that day. He would pray for God's help to be patient with others and he would pray that God would place him in situations that day that would try or test his patience. That takes courage doesn't it?

12 The next day he might read a passage about LOVE and love would be his key word for that day. And Bryant would ask the LORD to help him to show love to everyone he crossed paths with that day. You see, Bryant Coward took God's word very seriously. Bryant was A DOER OF GOD'S WORD. I want to challenge you to practice what Bryant Coward practiced this week. Read a passage of scripture each day and choose a key word from the passage, and try to put that key word into practice throughout the day. Let's be DOERS of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves.