"Trust and Obey"

Intro:

The book of James is basically a reflection of what Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7.

James was both the brother and servant to Jesus, which is a key part of the relationship. Jesus was more than his brother; he was his Lord and Savior.

So it makes sense why we would hear the tones of Jesus’s sermon. James was there to hear it himself.

Now I told you a few weeks ago that the purpose that James is writing this letter is to encourage the churches to walk in wisdom.

Not their own wisdom, but in the wisdom that Jesus outlined in Matthew 7. Let’s read what James had to say. Read: James 1:19-25

James 1:19–25 ESV

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant 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 who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

What we are about to see as we move further into the book of James is that he is imploring the church to build their lives together. He is encouraging community.

Why? Because as they go through trial, temptation, persecution, and the old behaviors of their past, community helps solidify strength as you face all those things.

The early church, much like us today, were dealing with these various things and it threatened the very nature of their faith.

They found themselves trying to handle things their own way instead of listening or hearing for the Lord. This is why James hits so hard so early in this letter.

He is not writing this letter on a beach side condominium, or some lofty vacation getaway, no he is writing this letter from the trenches.

He is doing life with these people, and he is hearing and seeing their stories, and he is concerned at their reactions to these circumstances and is concerned about the genuine sense of their faith.

James is concerned that they have fooled themselves into believing they have built their lives on Jesus, but in reality, they were forming their foundation on the sand as we will continue to see.

The heart of the next few chapters is centered around whether the people that gather at these church gatherings actually have faith in Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Christ.

One of the best statements that I read in a commentary is going to be the focal point of what we talk about today.

We, who are followers of Christ, must realize that having faith carries with it a proper use of His word. Faith is something more than something that we have, it is something that we must do.

In the end we must see that faith obeys. There are three guidelines that we should be following as believers as we deal with the word of God and the first of those guidelines is that we should ...

1. Receive His Word humbly

James has now taken us from this description of being God’s favorite creation, the first fruits he says, to now telling us how to live like that.

What this simply means is, we as believers are God’s first fruits and we are called to live, behave, and do faith a certain way.

James is prescribing that the church should live a certain way. We should want to live a certain way.

So, when James starts out this section notice that he tells the readers to hurry up and listen already, and at the same time chill out. In other words, don’t ready with a defensive mindset.

Illus: When we argue we are not listening to hear, but to have a justification for why we did what we did or think the way we think.

This is so often how we approach the word of God, a “How can I get around this” mentality. This is the very thing that James is addressing with these people.

This has been God’s people since the beginning of time. Instead of listening with humility, we resist it.

One of the problems in the early church that James was addressing here is that they struggled with speaking in anger and not listening and he wanted to help them.

He wanted them to see this was going to hurt them as they tried to work out their anger through their mouths.

One, there was no way that it was pleasing God to speak with or react with anger. Look at how he addresses that. Read James 1:20

James 1:20 ESV

20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Not only does God not approve of this type of behavior, but this just does not bear good fruit. He is telling them not to spoil their witness.

If you’re God’s greatest creation, then do all you can to act like you believe that.

Now let’s be clear he is not only talking about external outbursts, like we do in the heat of the moment, but also addressing that deep seeded anger inside of us. I like the way the Beau Hughes put it.

“He is talking about the deep-seated lusts and fears and entitlements and pride of our heart that creates the outbursts, that energizes the outbursts. It’s where the outbursts come from.

That’s what Jesus said, right? Oh, you say, “Don’t murder anybody,” but you hate in your heart. James is saying the same thing.”

Look I will be transparent with you today. Anger is something that I have struggled with my whole life.

I cannot even tell you how many times that it has affected my life, and there are many here today that can identify with this more than they care to admit.

Probably some here that are even angry today. James is talking to you too. Don’t be enslaved to that anger.

How do you go about working through that? How do you come to a place that your anger does not constantly get the best of you?

It is the continuing of working out our faith through His word and the second of those guidelines is that we should ...

2. Remember His Word constantly

This point walks hand in hand with our last point. Let’s take a look at verse 25 again for this. Read: James 1:21-22

James 1:21–22 ESV

21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant 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.

The phrase, “looks intently” also refers to stooping down and and taking a closer look at something. When Jonah was a little boy, he would take our dog Brick and inspect him all the time.

He would lift his ears and look inside, pull his tail out straight because it curled up. He would even inspect his food to see why Brick would want to eat that. You know how those inspections would go down.

What I think James is telling us here is that we need to take time and gaze on the word of God daily.

Not just read it, but pull its ears up and look inside, straiten its tail out to see why it is curled, and inspect why it tastes the way it tastes.

James is telling them not to be content with just a little bit of the word. Don’t let Sunday define your faith. Dive in and dive in deep, because remember that world out there?

It is a cruel world, and it will tear you apart without the sustenance of God’s Word to carry you through. The idea is to connect every time that you can.

Sometimes that might mean you must sacrifice, with a pure joy, an eager excitement! The language that James is using here is that we are looking “with penetrating absorption” as David Platt says.

The man who absorbs the word of God will not forget the word of God. There is a clear contrast that James paints of that kind of person in verses 23-24. Read James 1:23-24

James 1:23–24 ESV

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

It is a ridiculous analogy, but James is being sincere though too. How many times do we hear the word of God and then just go out and do that thing?

James is reminding the people of God not to forget His promises. God did this in the OT with as we read a few weeks ago. Read Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Deuteronomy 6:6–9 ESV

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

God’s was telling them to do this while they were full, homes were upright, flocks were growing, no longer slaves, and also to remember that He brought them through so much already.

Don’t forget His promises. But before you tell me that you can’t you memorize scripture, let’s remind ourselves of the things that we do have committed to memory. Illus: Sayings and lyrics to complete

We tend to commit to memory the things that are most dear to us. Psalm 19 tells us that the word of God is more precious than gold. Do we value scripture enough friends?

What good is Sunday morning if we are not committing His word to our hearts and minds? Finally this morning we look at the third guideline.

3. Obey His Word wholeheartedly

So here is something that I want you to ponder today. James wrote this letter, not for people who are professing that they are not Christians, but to those who think they’re Christians, and really are not. They are deceived. Read James 1:25

James 1:25 ESV

25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Why does he do this right off the bat and then park there for the next 3.5 chapters? Because there are clearly men and women who have deceived themselves.

They believe that because they hear the word of God, that this makes them children of God. This mean that they hear it, receive it, profess faith in it, and even come to church gatherings.

There are people who can nod in agreement, and sing the songs, and agree with the doctrine, and yet they are bearing no good fruit in their lives.

Their lives look more like they have built their faith on the sand than than on a rock. James makes it quite clear my friends, and look, he is not saying I am looking for perfection here.

No, but he is looking for a life that has changed. Lifestyle looks different than it did when they came to Christ.

This is why James goes here, because all too often we can become satisfied with the bud of hearing the word, without the satisfaction of bearing good fruit.

This is why he is parked here for the next 3.5 chapters. He wants the HS to make the believer pause and take an evaluation.

Today should be a sobering reminder of our walk and for the next 3.5 chapters James is going to help us think through this walk of ours.

What does it look like if we are deceived like James is addressing here? What are some indicators of this life?

How do you know that you have not just heard the word of God, but that you are building your life to submitting to it, not perfectly, but actively?

Today and for the next several weeks, the HS is inviting us to look in the mirror. This is when we hear the word of God, and we recognize that it calls us to live our lives a certain way.

James calls it a life that gives us freedom, and when we continue in that life, we will be blessed in what we do.

To sum this all up today, hear the word of God my friends and do what it says. Hear it with humility, dig into it constantly, and obey it with everything that you can.

I don’t want you to doubt your faith friends, but I do want you to examine it. This message in the end should encourage the right people and challenge others. I will leave that work up to the HS.

I want to trust the Spirit of God to minister to your hearts. I admonish you; I invite you; I encourage you, believe on Christ. He loves you.

This good God, this perfect God, has made a way for you to be loved by him and to become his son or his daughter. He did it by making his only Son the bearer of our scorn, our shame.