Doers- Not Hearers Only

Intro:

This morning we are jumping back into our series Faith in Real Life. This series is an in depth study of the book of James. In week one of the series I shared with you about counting it all Joy when you fall into various trials. Trial and tribulation are not only part of the Christian experience, but they are also avenues by which we are perfected and matured.

They produce in us both patience and perseverance. In trials we need to seek wisdom from God by faith, and with a heart that is quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. These qualities will lead us into righteousness.

As we begin, I want to remind you that the aim of our faith is not simply a better tomorrow. The essence of our faith is not merely behavior modification to make us a better person. The sole aim of our faith is to know Him and be known by Him.

It is living with the understanding that one day I will stand before Him face to face and give an account of my life. Those who have surrendered to His ways will enter into His reward, and those who have rejected him to eternal damnation.

The instruction of the word aids us in surrender and how we are to approach God. We must remember that even though God has made a way through Jesus for us to come boldly to the throne of grace He is still Holy, High, and Set apart. The instruction of the word and the nature of the christian life is to prepare to be with Him in the end.

Today’s portion of scripture centers around being a doer of the word and not a hearer only. In reading it today we must understand that the instruction of James isn’t merely about behavior modification, but the salvation of our souls.

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Submit:

Open your bibles to James 1:21-27, here we find James completing his thoughts about trials and counting it all joy. As he has expressed the need to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath because the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. He continues with more instruction.

He begins by saying, James 1:21 “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

James says we are to lay aside filthiness and the overflow of wickedness. The phrase lay aside is means to change or turn. This is speaking of the process of repentance. Turning away from the impurities of the flesh and turning to righteousness.

The overflow of wickedness speaks to a lifestyle of filth and wickedness. The overflow is a result of the lifestyle that has led to the perversion of virtue and morality resulting in evil. We are to lay it aside.

What are the outward deeds of the wicked or carnal life? Colossians 3:8-10. Galatians 5:19-21.

Colossians 3:8–10 “But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,”

Galatians 5:19–21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

How are we to turn away from evil and perversion? Hebrews 4:12.

By receiving with meekness the implanted word. Hebrews 4:12 says, “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.”

The word of God received and planted in the heart is the only way we change. The word alone has the power to deliver us from nature of the flesh. Good intentions, hopes and dreams do not bring transformation. Only the word of God.

The resulting power of the word is the salvation of our souls. It changes us in the here and now while simultaneously preparing us to be in God’s presence later on.

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Apply:

James continues in James 1:22–24 by commanding us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 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; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”

Let’s think about this for a minute.

He basically says, doing and hearing are not the same. If we think they are its deception. He gives us the example of the hearer only being like a person who observes their face in a mirror and then after they walk away from the mirror they immediately forgets what kind of man He was.

What does He mean by this?

He is talking about retention. There is no retention of something without repetition and practice. Retention is about absorption and possession.

In life, church, sports, education, etc. we hear all kinds of instructions. Much of which can be extremely helpful, but how many of you know that you can hear the instruction and two minutes later not remember a single thing the person teaching you said?

When I was in middle school and high school I learned how to play the trombone. I was decent at it. I played in concerts, marched at football games, and played at band tournaments. My junior year of high school I had to make the decision to play football because of an opportunity to be a starter, or play in the band. I chose football because I could hit people. From that time I have not played the trombone.

Do you know what has happened? I have lost most of the knowledge I gained through repetition and practice. I no longer possess the skills to play the trombone. I no longer remember how to read bass clef music. I could pick up a trombone today and produce a tone, but it is not going to be very good. I might be able to play a basic scale after a few attempts, but my once decent skills and understanding are gone.

Why? because a lack of use has caused me to forget how to do it. This is what James is trying to convey. If we hear the word only and do not put it into practice we will 100% forget who we are.

What does that look like practically?

Let’s take love for example. 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

When I hear but don’t put into practice I become the opposite of what God desires for me to be. Instead of being kind I am rude. Instead of being content with what I have I am envious of others. I am become prideful instead of being humble, I become all about myself and lose sight of how I can serve others.

I become touchy and easily provoked and angered. My mindset can become evil in thinking of how I can get back at people instead of having mercy.

Hearing the word is vitally needed, but putting into practice is what helps you to retain it and be transformed by it.

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Closing:

James in the remainder of the chapter doubles down on the outward evidence of the word in action. He says, James 1:25–27 “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. (Why are they blessed? Because the word produces fruit in us.)

vs. 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. 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.”

Once again we see the need for authenticity in serving Jesus. We are to look into the word and do what it says. My challenge to you this year is that as you read the word, put into practice what you are reading. Don’t allow it to simply be head knowledge.

Applying the word to your life will bring transformation like never before! Let’s run after everything that God has for us in 2024!

Pray.

Salvation

Holy Spirit empower us to hear and make the decision to obey.