DO THE WORD
James 1:22-25
1) What are the dangers of being a listener only?
• We are deceived (Vs. 22). We are deceived if we think that following God’s demands are optional. We are deceived if we think it’s no big deal if we remain a hearer and not a doer. Talk is cheap. We can talk about doing what’s in the bible but until it actually gets done what profit is there? Vs. 22 correlates with 2:14-19 in that those who claim to have faith without deeds are those that are deceived into thinking they could be a hearer of the word only and be okay. James says that a faith without deeds is a dead faith. But I can be deceived into thinking it’s all the faith I need to be saved. Matt. 7:24-27. “Hears my words and does not put them into practice”. This “homeowner” thought that what he did was good enough. He was deceived into thinking that what he built his house on would stand the storm but he was wrong. This is the danger of thinking I can build my house on the shaky foundation of just hearing the word without putting it into practice. I will not stand the test if I’m not putting the word into practice. I am on dangerous ground if I am a listener only. I’m deceived if I think just knowing is enough.
• We are forgetful (vs. 23-24). I’ve asked people shortly after the Sunday service what the message was on and they can’t remember! Why? Could be because they weren’t really listening in the first place. Their minds were on something else while the word was being preached. The message to them sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher. Either way, they walk away with the word going in one ear and out the other quickly forgetting what they heard. If I don’t intently listen to the word I will have the tendency to forget it. It will not register; it will not become lodged in my heart and mind. When we just glance at the word we don’t allow it to go deep. We don’t meditate on it. We don’t allow the word to do its work in us that is necessary for our spiritual growth and development. So, when a situation happens and we need that specific verse to draw help and strength from we draw a blank. We are also forgetful regarding our condition when we are one who doesn’t look intently into the mirror. Adam Clarke’s commentary: A man wishes to see his own face, and how, in its natural state, it appears with all its blemishes and imperfections. He is affected with his own appearance; he sees deformities that might be remedied; and impurities that might be removed. On going away he soon forgets what manner of person he was, because the mirror is now removed, and his face is no longer reflected to himself; and he no longer recollects how disagreeable he appeared, and his own resolutions of improving his countenance. The doctrines of God, faithfully preached, are such a mirror; he who hears cannot help discovering his own character, and being affected with his own deformity; he sorrows, and purposes amendment; but when the preaching is over, the mirror is removed, and not being careful to examine the records of his salvation, the perfect law of liberty, or not continuing to look therein, he soon forgets what manner of man he was; or, reposing some unscriptural trust in God's mercy, he reasons himself out of the necessity of repentance and amendment of life, and thus deceives his soul.” Without the continued looking into the perfect law of God that highlights what is perfect and showcases myself, who is not perfect, I will “forget” what imperfections need to be worked on and deceive myself into thinking it’s all good. When we glance in the mirror and go away we don’t see that our hair is messed up. We don’t see that we have dirt on our face. We don’t realize that there are stains on our shirt. We go out the door thinking we look okay but we’re not. Everyone sees us and easily spots all these things. When we don’t look intently into the perfect word of God but just skim through it we forget the word and we forget what manner of person we are because our intent is not to look intently. Our intent is to glance and be just a listener; not a doer.
2) What are the benefits of being a doer of the word?
• Freedom (vs. 25a). “the perfect law that gives freedom”/”the perfect law of liberty (kjv)” John 8:31-32. The law truth; the Gospel. It is a law that gives freedom from the guilt and power of sin; and it is perfect, providing a fullness of salvation for the soul. Rom. 8:1-4. The law couldn’t save us but that doesn’t make it imperfect. The law is spiritual it is us who are not (7:12, 14). If we were to follow the law perfectly then we would be perfect. But that didn’t happen. However, our failure to keep the law does not render the law imperfect. Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Psalm 19:7-11. The Psalmist understood the freedoms in submitting to the perfect law. Through obedience we are free to experience joy, wisdom, trust. We are free to see their value, free to reap the rewards. Looking intently into the perfect commands of God gives freedom.
• Remembering (vs. 25b). “Not forgetting what he has heard”. Isn’t it great when you have the scripture at the ready? Isn’t it wonderful when you’re facing a situation and that scripture comes to mind and you react to it by doing what it says? There is no way we will do the word of God if we can’t remember the word of God. And there is no way we will remember the word of God unless we decide to look intently into it and meditate on it. How are we going to turn away wrath with a gentle answer if we can’t remember Prov. 15:1? If we don’t remember that Prov. 3:5-6 tells us to not lean on our own understanding but rather trust in the Lord and acknowledge him then we will not benefit from the wisdom and warning of this passage when we’re faced with the temptation to go by our perspective. We won’t be encouraged by the boat story if we don’t remember the boat story. When we experience these passages in our life they become more etched in our minds. They have a depth of meaning that can’t be there as merely a listener. We will not only remember the scriptures but the events in which we applied those scriptures. Those who are simply hearers and not doers can’t really understand. The saying goes, "I hear and I forget, I see and I remember; I do and I understand." When we are doers, when we actually experience the word we come away with a much better understanding of the implications of the principle expressed in the passage. The more we do the more we will remember.
• Blessedness (vs. 25c). This is not to say there isn’t a blessing in knowing the word but true blessing comes in doing the word of God. John 13:12-17. This blessedness does not lie in knowing, but in doing the will of God. Why? Because only through the experience can you achieve the warmth of seeing the joy in someone’s eyes when you’ve helped them. Knowing the principle of washing feet provides knowledge of the principle. Going out and performing the act provides the true blessing. The recipient is blessed in receiving the favor and the provider is blessed in seeing the satisfaction from the recipient and he also is blessed by the joy in knowing he has actually done, not just known the will of God. Psalm 1:1-3. The person is blessed because he has put the word he has meditated on into practice. He experiences the blessing of spiritual fruit, the result of being a doer.
3) What’s going to help us to be a doer of the word?
• Meditate. How is it that when we do read, we often come away feeling just as spiritually cold as when we started? The Puritan pastor, Thomas Watson, spoke of this when he stated, “The reason we come away so cold from reading the Word is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation.” We must look intently into the word. The Greek word is parakuphas. It means to ’carefully investigate.’ Some synonyms for “intently” are, ‘closely’, ‘attentively’. We need to become fixed on the word; we need to become absorbed with the word. This requires us to meditate on the word. Psalm 119:96-105. What we see here is that in order to truly meditate it’s going to require a love for God’s word. We will meditate on God’s word when we decide that it is sweet. When we meditate we are processing. We are dissecting, we are trying to gain all that there is to gain from it. So that we will have wisdom and understanding. So that we will be directed by that wisdom and understanding and keep our feet from the path of evil. So that we would maintain our obedience and prevent a departure from God’s law. Loving and meditating on God’s word will help us to do God’s word.
• Continue to do it. It can be a struggle sometimes to continue to look intently into the word of God and do something with it. One of the reasons for this is when we look intently into the word of God we are going to see things about ourselves and we may not always like what we see in the honest mirror of God’s Word. But working on all my flaws and defects will require continued effort and discipline. But sometimes we get discouraged and we don’t want to continue to work on me. It would be like looking into that mirror and realizing that there’s a huge black mark on your face but you say, “Gee, I don’t know. I’m going to have to go and get a wash cloth and then I’m going to have to wet it and then I’m going to have to get the soap and rub it into the washcloth and then I’m going to have to scrub my face and that won’t feel too good. And besides, as soon as this one is gone another might pop up in its place so I’ll have to repeat this whole process. Forget it; it’s just not worth the trouble. So we walk out with this huge black mark on our face. Then, after time, we convince ourselves that it’s not that big, it’s fading on its own, it’s not that big of a deal. We learn to live with the big black mark because we decided it was too much trouble to go through the cleaning process. We can become discouraged when our efforts seem to be having no effect. We try and we try but it seems it’s to no avail. What’s the use? I might as well go back to being just a hearer because all this doing is too draining and frustrating. Gal 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” If we will continue to put into practice what we are finding out when we look intently into the word of God we will be blessed and we will reap that harvest. This can help us to continue to be a doer of the word.
CONCLUSION: We need to be obedient doers of the word. A true follower is a servant, not a sitter. They’re a doer, not a snoozer. Jesus is looking for followers, not fans. He wants servants, not spectators. If we do the word we will be stepping up and stepping out. A Baptist pastor named Peter Miller, from a small town in Pennsylvania who lived during the American Revolution. And there was another man who lived there named Michael Wittmann, an evil-minded sort who did all that he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor. He made his life miserable. One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die. At first, Peter Miller thought, "Well, thank goodness the Lord took care of that guy. I didn’t know how much more I could take!" But then he remembered the part of the Bible from Matthew 5, which said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." And he was like, "Oops! I guess I blew that one, Lord." And he decided to travel seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor. He approached General George Washington with the request. And Washington said, "No, Peter. I cannot grant you the life of your friend." The old preacher said, "My friend? This guy’s not my friend. "He’s the bitterest enemy I have!" "Washington said, "What? You’ve walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts things in a different light. I’ll grant your pardon." And he did. Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home, no longer an enemy, but a friend. By his act of love, Rev. Peter Miller showed us the difference between merely hearing the word of God and doing the Word of God.
