Good Listeners, Pt. 2

Are you a good listener?

I asked this question last week, and I’m starting with it again because God is driving this home in James 1.

Illustration: My dad used to say to: “You’re hard-headed. You don’t listen!”.

He would tell me the right thing to do and the right way to do it.

I’d try to do it my own way—either half way or completely wrong.

FCF: Have you ever struggled with knowing the right thing to do but not doing it?

We are notorious for knowing not to eat the fruit but taking a nibble anyways.

Main Point: The Lord’s transforming work makes us good listeners who obey His Word.

I. Listening v Doing (v. 22)

Our Text: James 1:22: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

James is not speaking against hearing God’s Word.

It’s a good thing to hear God’s Word read, taught, and preached. Faith comes by hearing.

We live in a day and age where people don’t know their Bibles. Deceivers come with clever ideas and arguments against Christ.

We get to read and receive the Word of God regularly so we can know God, love Him more, and follow Him more closely.

We also MUST read and receive God’s Word regularly so we can defend our faith against the lie we encounter.

James is speaking against merely hearing God’s Word.

Be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Some people are content to simply read or hear a sermon and walk away without doing anything with it.

Why are we tempted to be hearers only?

It’s easy. Matthew 7:13–14 “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many…”

It’s not costly. Luke 14:28–30 “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?…

We get comfortable with sin. 1 John 3:4 “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”

We are distracted by worldly cares. Mark 4:19: “but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”

Some have no spiritual ears to hear. Jeremiah 5:21 ““Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.”

Many are caught up in cultural Christianity and religiosity. Matthew 15:8 ““ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;”

Idolatry is at the heart of being hearers only.

The idol of approval might keep us from obeying the Word when others won’t like it. We will do enough to get pats on the back, but shrink back if people disapprove of us.

The idol of control might keep us too busy controlling our lives to obey God. We are focused on diet, exercise, work, or self-improvement to give energy toward obeying God.

The idol of independence might keep us so focused on what WE want to do that we ignore God’s commands and do what WE want.

Application

Prayerfully search your heart to see what might be keeping you from obeying God’s Word.

Recognize the idol at work keeping you from obedience.

Repent and seek grace to turn from sin and turn in obedience.

Ask for the strength and power to walk in obedience.

II. Bad listeners are forgetful listeners. (v. 23-24)

Ill: Describe being tired and waking up late. You may glance in the mirror, but not pay too much attention. Later, when you’re fully awake, you realize there’s a stain on your shirt or you forgot to brush your hair. This is what James is describing.

The worst listeners don’t want to hear the word at all.

The Scriptures describe the fool or the scoffer as someone who says there’s no God.

The most foolish person is the person who refuses to know or listen to God.

Some bad listeners hear the word in a forgetful way.

James’s illustration is a person who looks in the mirror but walks away and forgets his appearance.

This illustration points us to negligence or distraction.

Later he says not to be a hearer who forgets. If we don’t stay focused and constant in the word, we will be forgetful.

Why do we listen in a forgetful way?

We have a wrong view of God and his word. We either don’t view the scriptures as the voice of God. Or we don’t value God enough to listen attentively to his word.

We are too busy with worldly cares. In Jesus’s parable of the seeds, he talks about how the word gets choked out by the cares of the world. This is houses, cars, work, etc. This is a real threat.

We are too distracted by less important things. We find things to get into that steal our time from looking deeply into the Word to meditate and apply it. Phones, TV, hobbies, etc.

We are too content with our religious duties. Sometimes we show up but we aren’t all the way engaged. We already know the stories and can predict the sermon, so we read it, but not intently enough.

Gospel Reminders

For some, we need a fresh reminder of the value of hearing God’s voice. 

Take special notice of what it says about God’s Word. Pray that you can value God’s word like that!Spend some time reading Psalm 119.

Set aside time this afternoon to open your Bible and hear from God. Pray that you’ll linger and walk in obedience!

For others, you need a new heart. 

If you don’t have ears to hear the Word, you won’t hear it. You won’t value the Word because your heart can’t. 

And we can’t fix the appearance of sin we sin ourselves!The scripture is like a mirror of our souls. It shows us how we really look.

If you call on Jesus’s name, you can be saved. You can hear His Word for what it is! You can obey God’s Word!But that’s not end of the story.

III. Good listeners are obedient listeners (v. 25)

Ill: If you wanted to get good at managing money, you’d benefit from reading a book on finances from someone like Dave Ramsey or Rich Dad, poor dad. But you’ll only benefit when you study and put it into practice. It’s the same with scripture.

The gospel gives us spiritual eyes and ears.

James describes the faithful Christian as a person who looks with focus into the Word.

Paul, to the Corinthians, says that spiritual things are spiritually discerned. We need spiritual eyes to look into the word and see it the way God sees it.

When we have spiritual eyes, we won’t just treat the word is something to put on the back burner or ignore.

The Gospel makes us good listeners!

Good listeners persevere in the Word.

The Greek for persevere here means to continue in or stay in.

In other words, we don’t graduate from God’s word! We are students who are mastered by the word rather than thinking we have it mastered.

God’s Word is described as the perfect Law of liberty. God‘s holistic instruction in scripture gives us freedom when we view it through the lens of the Gospel. 

God doesn’t give us his word to enslave us. He gives it to lead us and shepherd us.God’s guidance sets us free!

It’s our privilege to hear and meditate on God’s holy word.

Just as perseverance is blessed, so is obedience.

James says hearing + doing = blessed living.

The Pharisees were good hearers of the word, but they did not do the word.This is a reminder of the need for heart change.

We will always be blessed while walking in obedience to God’s word.

How do we read more obediently?

We read the Bible prayerfully. We depend on the Holy Spirit to show us the truth and how to apply it. We are a people dependent on God.

We read the Bible from a gospel lens. When we see a command to obey, we obey from love, not to earn it. We know we are already approved by God.

We read the Bible with faith. We know our lives are better we submit to God’s Will instead of our own.

We read the Bible with focus. We have treasure in our hands, and we prize Scripture for what it’s worth!

Conclusion: Obedient Christian living is blessed Christian living.

In our day and time, obedience sounds like taboo. But a biblical perspective shows us that obedience vital for our joy and spiritual flourishing.

Gospel-driven obedience requires that we look away from ourselves and look to Christ!

We have a Savior we can look to. Jesus is the ultimate good listener.

His entire life was devoted to his Father’s will, even to the point of death on a cross.

From a young age, he grew in wisdom and stature. He often was at the temple, listening and discussing God‘s word.

Throughout his life, he was perfectly obedient, never sinning one single time.

He gave us his perfect opinions and exchange for our cursed disobedience!

As we behold this glorious Savior, we will become like Him! Seeing His life and hearing His voice in Scripture will transform us from the inside out!

Challenge: Read the gospels and see Jesus. As you see Him, repent where you’re convicted and pray for strength to obey.

As you do this, ask the Lord to show you your sinfulness and his will for your life. Ask Him to show you what faithful obedience looks like and then pray for the ability to do it. Continue in the Word like this for the rest of your days, and I guarantee you’ll be a doer who acts.  living.