Implementing God's Word, not Ignoring God's Word

James 1:22–25 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. 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.

We are continuing our series Living Your Best Life. We have been going through the book of James and gleaning practical information about how we can live our best life today as a follower of Jesus Christ. Last week we talked about controlling our anger, and that was linked to how we receive God’s Word into our lives. We were admonished to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger when dealing with others and when receiving teaching from God. As a reminder, says

James 1:21 ESV

21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

We are to cleanse our life from sins and receive God’s implanted Word with meekness. We must have a teachable spirit that is eager to gain wisdom and instruction from God. In our text this morning, James takes this thought one step further. Not only are we to be receptive to the implanted Word of God, we also not to implement the implanted Word of God. Not only should God’s Word not make us angry, but it should affect in us Gospel change. James says that we should not only be hearers of God’s Word, but we should be doers of God’s Word as well. As James is about to give more practical instruction about how to live our best life, he takes time to make sure that this is not going in one ear and out of the other. This is really the crux of the whole book of James. He wants us to have a practical faith. He wants us to apply the Word of God to every aspect of our life. In order to do that, we must hear God’s Word, but we must also implement these things into our our life. This is something that James heard his brother Jesus say over and over again, but perhaps one instance stood out to him.

Luke 8:19–21 ESV

19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

Jesus’s earthly family was trying to get to Jesus, probably to try to get Him to be quiet and come before He got killed, but Jesus referred to those that hear and do God’s word as His mother and brothers. Perhaps at that time James was offended, but now James understood. Hearing and doing the Word is an indication of a true relationship with Jesus. You cannot have a healthy relationship with Jesus and remain unchanged by His Word. God’s Word is an inexhaustible treasury of wisdom, instruction, and morality. describes the Word as a two-edged sword that can discern the thoughts and intents in our heart. tells us that Scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. God did not gift us with his Word just so we can have inspirational stories, or so we can build up some theological knowledge, or so that we can use it as some moral code. God has implanted His Word in us that believe so that it will change us from the inside out. As it said in verse 18, “So that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” The Word should change us to be like the best of all God’s creation, reflecting His image in the world. This can only happen if we implement God’s Word into our lives. We must be hearers and doers. This can be difficult. Some of us may not know what it looks like to implement God’s Word into our lives to the point that it produces change in us. This morning, we are going to to discuss this thought and learn how we can see change as a result of hearing and doing the Word consistently. The message is titled Living your best life is Implementing God’s Word, not Ignoring God’s Word.

Transition: First, if we are going to implement God’s Word we need to act intentionally

I. Act Intentional

James 1:22

James 1:22a ESV

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

As James encourages us to be doers of the word, let’s not minimize the importance of being a good hearer of God’s Word. The Bible says in That faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. It’s essential that Christians hear from God’s Word consistently through church and through our own personal time with God. We just cannot stop with hearing God’s Word. We have to be doers of God’s Word as well. The command to be a doer in this verse is the word poietes. It’s most often translated as doer or maker, but the same word is also translated as poet in Scripture. A poet is one who makes literary art with words. A real poet cannot make a poem on accident. It takes time and effort to develop their thoughts. They work on the their rhyme and meter so that their poem flows with the right rhythm. They have to choose the right words to paint the picture that they want their readers to see. It’s not just something that happens on accident, the best poems were created intentionally. And that’s the picture that we are to get here.

See that problem that many of us have is that we hear God’s Word. We agree with it, but we have no plan for how we intend to implement what we have learned into our lives. When we hear God’s Word, it’s not going to just magically begin to affect change in us. It affects change in us when we intentionally start to apply the truth of God’s Word into our life. I believe that God’s Word always demands a response. When God’s Word I think there is always an action that we need to change or an attitude that we need to adjust. Sadly, I think that most of the time we don’t get much further than saying in a prayer, “God, that was good. I needed that. Help me to be different.” But what is the action? How do you plan to be different? Or during the sermon will nod our heard, say amen or clap our heads in agreement, which I’m a preacher. I like those things, makes it easier to preach, But still there has to be action. It’s very good for us to say a prayer asking for forgiveness for a downfall and for help to be different, it’s good for us agree with God’s Word, but we cut our response to God’s Word short when we have no plan for how this is going to change our life.

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Romans 10:20 ESV

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

Romans 10:19 ESV

19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

At the end of every sermon, I try to give some type of action step that you can implement into your life to help you affect change into your life. And I appreciate that many of you will tell me how much you enjoyed the sermon. I’m highly critical of myself so, I need that kind of thing, it helps me keep going. But probably the I felt after a sermon recently was a few weeks ago when I preached on stability and having wisdom, the action step I gave was to read the first 5 chapters of proverbs and do the HEAR journaling to reinforce the thoughts from that sermon. And after the sermon Miss Kelly came to me over at the Next Steps table and asked how to do the HEAR worksheet. That was awesome because that meant that she was leaving here with the intention to not just hear a good message that may have spoke to her heart, but to start implementing these things into her life.

And that’s how we should approach our response to God’s Word. Yes, it should speak to our heart, but it must move to our hands and feet. That doesn’t usually happen unless we act intentionally.

Transition: If we are going to implement and not ignore God’s Word we must act intentionally and that will help us with our second point, Avoid Deception

II. Avoid Deception

At the end of verse 22 it says that those who are hearing God’s Word, but not doing God’s Word are deceiving themselves. I think this is so prevalent in 2019, Memphis, TN. Because everyone that you talk to calls themselves a Christian. Many will say that they go to church regularly. Some may even say that they read the Bible on their own. Yet, there life in no way reflects what is it taught in the Scriptures. These people are hearing God’s Word, but are deceiving themselves. Many people try to soothe their conscience with religious activity. They go to church to keep grandma happy or so that they will feel better. They are cool with the parts of the Bible that talks about blessings, and being protected by God, not judging others, and forgiveness. But if they come across something from Scripture that requires them to make a change to their lifestyle, it’s ignored.

James illustrates hearing and not doing in verses 23 and 24 saying

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.

Interestingly enough, the people that James was writing to weren’t very familiar with what they looked like. Mirrors were not common, and the ones that were used were made of metal so the image that they saw of themselves was a little distorted. So many of them were not very concerned with what they looked at when they had an opportunity to look into a mirror.It never made a lasting impression. They saw it and forgot it.

Today is a little different, one study said that the average person looks into the mirror about 8 times a day, and we get a clear reflection of what we look like because of glass. For some of us that’s a good thing and some of us…not so much. When we wake up and look into the mirror usually what we see is not a pretty site. I know some of you ladies like to say, “I woke up like this” but we know that’s not true. We look into the mirror and see what needs to be fixed before we show our face to the world. We’ll wash our face, fix our hair, we might need to shave, or put on makeup, pluck eyebrows, whatever…We try to make ourselves presentable. Imagine the looks that you will get if you look into that mirror, don’t change anything, and just go about your day thinking that you look good. People like me will be checkin you all day long because you look all disheveled like you just rolled out of bed.

James says that’s what it’s like when we hear God’s Word, but don’t apply it. We see the things about ourselves in God’s Word that we need to change, but we choose to ignore it and go on about our life forgetting that we are a mess. But maybe we don’t forget intentionally. Maybe it’s just life circumstances that cause us not to apply God’s Word.

Going back to our mirror illustration, I know nobody here has just looked into the mirror and just went out looking like…eew on purpose. But maybe there has been a time when you woke up late, you have two minutes to be at your job that is 15 minutes away, so you didn’t have time to get through your whole routine. You look into the mirror real quick, but you really don’t have time to fix much. You’re in a rush, weaving in out traffic, you get to work,late, and immediately you get busy and because you were in such a hurry, it’s slipped your mind that you didn’t take time to put yourself together this morning. In this example, the person did not intentionally look into the mirror and not change anything, but the business of life and the disruption of their routine caused them to forget what they looked like leaving the house. I think that illustrates how many of us respond to God’s Word. It’s not that we reject it. We look into the Word, we understand what needs to be changed, and it’s not that we don’t want to, but as soon as we close our Bible or soon as we walk out those doors, life starts. And our mind is going 7000 other places of what we need to do and where we need to be and we get so preoccupied that we forget what we saw when we heard from God and never implement it into our life.

But maybe there has been a time when you woke up late, you had two minutes to be somewhere that was 15 minutes away, so you didn’t have time to get through your whole routine. You look into the mirror real quick, try to maybe fix a thing or two then rush out the door. Maybe you feel like you look ok, but it’s obvious to other people that you had a rough morning because you don’t look as put together as you normally do.

The path starts with hearing without acting. Whether they intentionally don’t put God’s Word into practice or don’t understand how to implement God’s Word into their life and won’t seek help from others. For whatever reason, they don’t do God’s Word.

In both examples the person looked into the mirror, saw their condition, and whether intentionally or unintentionally just kept going without making the change. And when someone hears God’s Word and doesn’t apply it, they are deceived into thinking that they are doing ok spiritually, but in reality they are on a dangerous path. The path starts with hearing without acting. Whether they intentionally don’t put God’s Word into practice or don’t understand how to implement God’s Word into their life and won’t seek help from others. For whatever reason, they don’t do God’s Word.

They are deceived into thinking that they are doing ok spiritually, but in reality they are on a dangerous path. The path starts with hearing without acting. Whether they intentionally don’t put God’s Word into practice or don’t understand how to implement God’s Word into their life and won’t seek help from others. For whatever reason, they don’t do God’s Word.

The next step is a hard heart. In says

Hebrews 3:15–16 ESV

15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?

These verses warns us about having a hard heart like the Israelites in the wilderness. They saw God’s miracles, they received God’s word, yet they ignored God and chose to rebel against Him. And that’s the next step for those of us who hear God’s word and don’t put it into practice. If we hear God’s Word over and over and never begin to apply, eventually our hearts will become numb to the God’s Word. The Bible says that we can quench the Spirit of God, and if we keep rejecting Biblical change, our hearts will be hard and the Spirit’s voice will be faint. We’ll be like those that Jesus mention in

Matthew 13:14–15 ESV

14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

Transition: We start be hearing but not acting, then we have a hard heart, and then the final step is hypocrisy.

We can get to the point that we’ll know the Scriptures, we can quote the Scriptures, We can preach the Scriptures to others, but the Scriptures are still not being implemented in our life. I don’t think that anyone sets out to be hypocrites on purpose. But as one becomes so familiar with the Word, yet fail to implement it into their life, and their heart gets hard, and before they know it they are telling others what the Word says, but have no intention of putting into their own life. They can fool everyone, deceive everyone, including their selves. It’s such a dangerous path.

The reason that many people site for not wanting to come to church is because there are too many hypocrites. People who do not put into the practice the Word they claim to believe. We’ve got to get this into our heart. Coming to church and listening to a sermon every week doesn’t make you a good follower of Jesus. If you don’t implement the Word into your life. Reading the Bible every day does not make you a good follower Christ if you don’t take God’s Word and implement it into your life. Don’t deceive yourself. You must be a hearer and a doer of God’s Word.

Transition: To implement God’s Word we must Act intentional, Avoid Deception, and Finally Abide Obedient

II. Abide Obedient

III. Abide Obedient

Transition: In verse 25, James contrasts the one who looks into the word and forgets with one who looks into the word and acts.

James 1

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.

I found it interesting that James uses two different words for look in verses 24 and 25. In verse 24 the word has the idea of taking a hard glance. Looking at something, recognizing it, understanding it, then looking away. The word used in verse 25 has the idea of bending over or stooping down to look at something. The picture is that someone who is only a hearer will look and understand, but keep going about their business. But the person that is a hearer and a doer will take the time to really look into the word.

The same thought is continued when it says that the person who looks into the perfect law of liberty perseveres. Which literally means that they will abide or they will remain around. They stay in the same place. They don’t stray away from God’s Word. They will keep on studying it, they will keep meditating on it, they will not let it go until it becomes part of who they are and what they do because they recognize its value.

They will study it, they will meditate on it, they will not let it go until it becomes part of who they are because they recognize its value.

James calls God’s Word the perfect law. That means it is complete, there is nothing that can be added to it or taken away that will make it better. And James says that it is a law of liberty. I wish the world could get this because most people think of God’s Word as restrictive. They feel that God’s Word is holding them back from things that are fun or exciting. They believe that people that follow God’s Word are just boring, fuddy-duddy people and that there’s is no way that you can live your best life and keep God’s Word. But that’s so untrue. God’s Word, the gospel does not put us into captivity, it gives us freedom. Before salvation we were slaves to sin, but Jesus died and rose again to give us freedom! We are no longer slaves to sin, we are free to live in righteousness. And when we look into God’s Word and it shows us things that we need to change about ourselves when God reveals to us our sinful heart and our sinful actions, God is not trying restrict us from something that is good, rather He is freeing us from something that will place us in bondage. says

Psalm 19:7–11 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; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

David and James both pronounce a blessing on those that hear God’s Word and continuously seek to do God’s Word. The blessing is that God’s Word will change your life. says that we shouldn’t be conformed to the World, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. And when we persevere in obedience to God’s Word it will transforms us from the inside out. We know we are a doer of God’s word when we analyze our life and it starts looking less like us and more like Jesus. Remember James illustrates God’s Word like a mirror, but instead of glass, we see the character of God. There is nothing that God will bless more than seeing our lives transformed to consistently reflect His character revealed to us in His Word. And that blessing will ensure that we are living our best life.

I said in the first sermon in this series that the James reiterates much of what Jesus said in the sermon on the mount. At the very end of that sermon in , Jesus gave this illustration

Matthew 7:24–27 ESV

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

This message is so important Christians. We cannot substitute hearing God’s Word for doing God’s Word, We cannot substitute reading God’s Word for doing God’s Word. We must act intentional. Once you receive truth, have a plan of action of how you will start to implement the truth into your life. Avoid Deception. Hearing without acting leads to a hard heart and hypocrisy. And Abide Obedient. Stay in the Word until the Word of God is being reflected in you. God wants to change us, He wants us to live our beset life, but it will not just happen on accident. We must implement God’s Word to our life.

When we apply God’s Word to our life, Jesus said we are like the wise man that builds his house on a rock. It gives a solid foundation. But the person who does not apply God’s Word is like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand. Both had to endure the storms, but the one who built His house on a solid foundation was able to stand, but the other house was destroyed. As James said, we all have to experience trials, temptations, and situations that make us angry, but those that will build their life on the foundation of hearing and doing the Word of God will be able to stand.

This message is so important Christians. Millions of people will come into church today, Hear the preaching of God’s Word, they get their one hour of therapy, their one hour of comfort, they give God His time, and walk out of the door at the end of the service the exact same way that they came in. Someone in here may do that today. By the time that we say our mission statement at the end of service, your mind has already put God’s Word to the side. We cannot substitute hearing God’s Word for doing God’s Word, We cannot substitute reading God’s Word for doing God’s Word. We must act intentional. Once you receive truth, have a plan of action of how you will start to implement the truth into your life. Avoid Deception. Hearing without acting leads to a hard heart and hypocrisy. And Abide Obedient. Stay in the Word until the Word of God is being reflected in you. God wants to change us, He wants us to live our beset life, but it will not just happen on accident. We must implement God’s Word to our life.

Are you seeing Biblical change in your life regularly? If you are not? What is keeping you from implementing God’s Word into your life. Do you not have a plan? Do you lack understanding? Do you need more accountability? Whatever your issue is, we are here to help, but again you have to be intentional and take the first step.

Maybe you need help understanding

Here is something that I’ve recently started to do to help me with being obedient to God’s Word. As I read my Bible through the week for my devotional time using the HEAR method, I take one major thought. One major application that I will try to implement the next week. So it could be something like I noticed I was being unloving towards my wife, so over the next week I’m going to do something every day to show my wife that I love her. If we can start thinking of actions to go with what we learn it will help us to build these things into our life.

Join a growth group if you have not already. It’s not just for members, anyone can come Sunday morning or Wednesday night and in those groups we dig deeper into the sermon and discuss how these things affect our lives. We also have discipleship groups starting up to keep us accountable to doing the basics of the Christian life, so if you interested in one of those groups stop by our Next Steps table for more information.

And if you are here this morning and you have never began your relationship with Christ. Jesus wants you to be a part of His family. He wants you to experience the liberty that comes with being a follower of Christ. If you realize that you are being held captive by your sin and want to seek Jesus for freedom. I encourage you that when we bow our heads, you slip back to our Next Steps table and someone will meet you there and show you from God’s Word how you can be free.