Remember the Mirror

We’re in James 1 this morning. In your groups you will study and discuss vv. 19-27. My focus over the next 10 minutes will be vv. 22-25 but I’m going to read vv. 19-25 for context.

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.

Prayer

Introduction

How many of you looked in a mirror this morning? Everyone? How many of you left the house and went about your day exactly the way you saw yourself in the mirror this morning? No one, right? It would be crazy to do that. When you see something that needs to be addressed, you act on it. We’re going to see in these next few minutes how that is James’ point when it comes to being exposed to the Word of God. The Main Idea for this message is:

Main Idea: Hearing the Word of God must result in obedience to the Word of God.

As I begin today I want to review a couple of foundational points when it comes to James’ letter. First, we must remember who the letter of James is written to.

Look back to James 1:1 “1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion…”

James is writing to Jewish people who have embraced the reality of Jesus as the Messiah. They have seen and heard about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection from the dead and James’ audience is those who have repented and believed in Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

This is reiterated in v. 18 - “18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth…”

Us … he’s talking about those who have trusted in Christ and been born again through the Spirit. We have to remember who James is writing to.

Now, the second foundational point of James’ letter: his repeated use of the term or concept of “the Word.”

Just in chapter 1 we see reference to “the word of truth” in v. 18, “the implanted word” in v. 21, “the word” in vv. 22 and 23, and then he shifts the term slightly in v. 25 when he calls it “the perfect law, the law of liberty.”

When James uses these terms, he’s referring to the same thing. He’s referring specifically to the gospel of Jesus Christ, but more broadly he’s referring to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments that reveal the gospel to us. This is God’s Word.

We must have a proper understanding of God’s Word as we approach hearing and doing it. You could spend a lifetime just talking about God’s Word, so I want to very briefly highlight a few major truths as it pertains to our study of hearing and doing God’s Word.

Point 1: God’s Word is inspired, authoritative, and transformative.

Inspired

2 Timothy 3:16 tells us “16 All Scripture is breathed out by God…”

Yet, it was written by the hands of men. 2 Peter 1:21 tells us “21 … men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Scripture was written by men under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Authoritative

As God’s inspired Word, it has the authority to tell us what to believe and how to live.

Transformative

God works through his Word to bring about transformation in the lives of his people.

Listen to a couple of verses of Psalm 19

Psalm 19:7–8 ESV

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

God’s Word gives life, wisdom, joy, and knowledge.

Look again at how James refers to the law in James 1:25 “25 … the perfect law, the law of liberty…”

This is the gospel message that frees us from the guilt and shame of our sins.

One author says:

James Explanation of Text

… this law does not trap, bind, or weigh one down but is characterized by freedom. (Blomberg)

Paul says in Romans 6:22 of those who have been freed through the gospel:

Romans 6:22 ESV

22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

The “perfect law, the law of liberty, sets us free to live for God and enjoy his blessing. This is he transformative work of the Word.

Transition: Now that we have a little better understanding of what James means we he talks about “the word” we need to consider what it means to hear and do the word, which brings us to our application.

So What? Am I a doer of the Word and not a hearer only?

James says:

James 1:22–24 ESV

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.

We hear the Word all the time.

We hear the Word when we sing and hear sermons in worship, we hear the Word when we come to Growth Group, we hear the Word when we read and study in our quiet times.

We are regularly hearers of the Word, but are we doers of the Word, as James says?

Consider James’ mirror illustration and my question from the beginning: How many of you looked in the mirror this morning and walked away, not addressing anything you saw in the mirror?

Listen, I have bad bed head - when I get up in the morning, I have to do something about it before I leave the house. If I didn’t people would think I was a crazy person going out of the house like that.

And that is exactly James’ point in comparing God’s Word to a mirror. Like a mirror, God’s Word reveals our sins and our failures. It also tells us how to act and how not to act.

God doesn’t intend for us to just gain head knowledge from His Word, but first, for our hearts to be changed and made new, and then for our lives to be changed as well.

In your groups and in the coming weeks in the study of James, you’ll continue to talk about what it means to be a doer of the Word. It means to take action and not just talk about it. [This is kind of a sidebar, but having good intentions to act and actually acting are not the same]. For now I will just appeal to the two groups of people in the room: those who have trusted in Christ and those who have not.

If you have not yet trusted in Christ for salvation, don’t hear this as: you have to do good things to earn the blessing of salvation. That will never save you. You’ll never do enough good or for the right reasons. If you haven’t experienced the freedom of the gospel, I encourage you to turn to Christ who can set you free from sin and death through the power of his life, death, and resurrection.

If you have trusted in Christ, I encourage you to heed James’ words here and not only hear the Word, but do it. Put away worldliness and persevere by being a doer of the Word. James says, the one who does will be blessed in his doing.

Let’s pray.