That'll Preach.

Introduction

James 1:20–27 NKJV

20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 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. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Pray

Point 1: That’ll Preach

In the sea of phrases Christians encounter regularly—what I refer to as “churchisms,” there is one phrase in particular that so often floats to the surface. It can be considered a nod to a sermon that is impactful, but many times it can reveal a common pitfall—appreciating the message but missing the point.

James, the brother of Jesus gets right to the heart of the matter telling us not to deceive ourselves by hearing it but not living it.

James 1:22 NKJV

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

The Bible actually has a lot to say on the matter. In fact, this is all tied in to the spiritual law of reaping and sowing. I will show you.

Galatians 6:7 NKJV

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

If you are not sowing, you will not reap and you are only deceiving yourself. Do you see how the word deceived is used in both? This is a pattern that goes on and on.

Oftentimes people will see something and say, “That’ll preach,” they will hear something and say, “That’ll preach,” but the word says be doers and not just hearers and we can imply that it also means be doers not just seers.

However, it must be noted that once you hear the word, you are obligated to obedience. You cannot plead ignorance.

Your endorsements WILL NOT get you into heaven, neither will your amens. You can sit here and amen every single thing I preach, never miss a Sunday, and still bust hell wide open if you aren’t living it. We are to be doers.

Does this mean we get to heaven by works?

I feel like I can not adequately preach this text without getting into some basic Christian doctrine. So let’s ask a question, “Does the above mean that we get to heaven by our works?”

Let’s see what the Bible has to say about it.

Romans 10:8–10 NKJV

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

The terms of salvation are made clear. If you confess with your mouth and believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved—so no.. works will not get you into heaven. In fact, Paul makes it very clear in Romans 3 that all have fallen short of the glory of God.

Let’s look at what James has to say:

James 2:21–22 NKJV

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?

Faith works together with our works. In fact, faith leads to good works.

This is what we mean when we are talking about sanctification. We are justified or made right with God through the blood of Christ (that is salvation) and when we have made Jesus Lord, the Holy Ghost comes into our lives and the sanctification process unfolds. Sanctification is a progressive process. Don’t get hung up on the word perfect. Perfect in the Bible simply means mature.

Those who are in Christ are new creations as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, the old things have passed away and all things are made new. This is regeneration.

So we have seen three doctrines:

Progressive Sanctification, Salvation, Justification, and Regeneration. These are fundamental doctrines upon which our faith rests.

Point 2: The Vine & The Branches

Remember John 15—The True Vine? What did Jesus say:

John 15:1–2 NKJV

1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

God is the source and if we are in Him, we are to bear fruit.

How can you be in Christ and not bear fruit?

You aren’t going to sit there and take in the soil, take in the sun, take in the word and not produce nothing. You are to produce fruit and the Vinedresser will make sure you produce MUCH FRUIT.

Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Many of us here understand that most anything can be a poison if you take too much of it. The same salt that is a preservative can eventually poison you. The Tylenol that cures a headache can also kill you at a certain dose.

The same is true of habits. It is great to exercise, but when we become obsessed with only exercise around the clock to the point where it affects our regular life, it becomes a problem. However, there is something interesting that Paul says here about the fruit of the Spirit.

LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONG SUFFERING, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS ARE DIFFERENT. You cannot love too much, you cannot have too much joy and peace or longsuffering, you cannot be too kind, you cannot show too much goodness, you cannot be too faithful… in fact, you can do these as much as you want and if you let the Holy Ghost and patience have it’s work in the sanctification process, you will have MUCH FRUIT.

People will look at you in the middle of your circumstance and say, “How does he have joy?”

That person who cussed you out but you prayed for them will say, “That’s different. Why were they so kind and long suffering?” Do you see the benefit of fruit?

Point 3: Disciples are Doers

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.

Leonard Ravenhill said, “It’s easier to wear a cross than bear a cross.”

All throughout the Bible we see that if we are to truly see the fruit, we have to work. We have to be doers and not hearers only.

John 14:15 NKJV

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Conclusion

Call to action. What can we begin this week from everything we have learned the past 3-months. What can we put into practice this week?