Don’t Just Read & Listen; Be a Doer! – James: Faith & Works, part 3
Are you a doer? This message challenges us to avoid deception and invites us to look intently into the word of God and allow it to change us. You will be blessed as you apply the word of God and live according to what the word teaches.
Have you been deceived and don’t even know it? Today’s study warns us from being deceived or deceiving ourselves. Listening to the word is one thing but doing or acting upon the word of God is what is most important.
We need to allow the word of God to take root and grow in our hearts. As the word of God abides in our hearts, we need to read and consciously abide in the word of God and allow the Holy Spirit access to every corner of our hearts and lives.
Don’t be deceived; do allow the word of God to change you by listening and doing.
Who Wrote the Book of James, And Why?
Last week we learned that the book of James is thought to be the earliest New Testament writing, written sometime before A.D. 50. The author of this letter is thought to be James the Just, the half-brother of Jesus, and the leader of the church in Jerusalem.
This letter was written to encourage the Jewish believers in Christ who were suffering and experiencing all kinds of trials because of their faith in Christ the Lord. James is writing from his personal experience. He had firsthand knowledge and experience regarding lessons of faith, trials, testing, and persecution that the people of faith were experiencing. James was keenly aware of the believers’ need to endure the persecution and suffering that they were facing. James is encouraging both those living in Jerusalem and believers who were scattered all around the world to persevere in their faith and to walk steadfast with Christ.
Sin and Temptation Come From a Lack of Doing
In James 1:13-18, we find a truth that none of us can deny. We will all experience temptations, and in these few verses James makes it clear that God cannot and will not be tempted, nor does he tempt anyone. Instead, we are tempted by our own evil desires. We see that when those evil desires come to life, they give birth to sin, and sin fully-developed brings death.
James warns believers not to be deceived. James also goes further and tells us not to just be a hearer of the word, but to be a doer of the word. Sin and temptation come from one’s own sinful desires. Sin and temptation do not come from the lack of hearing of the word, but the lack of doing—the lack of following; the lack of obeying the word of God.
James is quick to point out the difference, the contrast between two opposing paths in life. A contrast between good and evil, life and death, that of shifting shadows, light and darkness, truth and error, listening and doing. One path that leads to sin and death. The other path leads to life eternal.
“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created” (James 1:13-18, NIV).
James is a master in how he places side by side the difference between the path of God and the path every believer should avoid. Do not be deceived, James warns.
Don’t be deceived or deceive yourself; listen to God.
In today’s study of James 1:19-27, we are considering that James once again warns the believer about being deceived. James is a caring pastor and he cared deeply for all believers. He may sound harsh at times, but it is only because James wanted the believers not to be deceived; James wanted the believers to grow in faith and develop a deep trust in the Lord, no matter how difficult the situation.
Spiritually lukewarm faith is extremely dangerous. It is a lifestyle choice that can prove to be spiritually deadly.
In many cases, a person’s faith in Christ was physically a life-or-death choice. For many it was a choice they could not avoid or dismiss if they were to live by faith as a doer of the word and not a hearer only. It is a spiritual choice that revealed itself in living a Christ-like lifestyle or not.
How would you live or act if your life was on the line by living according to Jesus’ teaching? How might you act if you knew that persecution might come your way because you believed in Jesus and walked by faith?
James warns the believer not to be deceived. In other words, do not believe the lie of the enemy. Every good and perfect gift comes from God above, who does not change like shifting shadows. James tells us we can trust what God says because he speaks the truth.
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19).
Now why does James tell the believer they should be quick to listen and slow to speak and become angry? It is because God speaks the truth. God doesn’t lie, and because God doesn’t lie, the believer can always trust what God says. James wanted the believer not just to listen but allow the word of God to sink into the heart and soul of the person and live it. To be a doer of the word, not a hearer only because mankind can often dismiss the word of God and be quick to do as he or she pleases.
Mankind, like Adam and Eve, like young children, desire what they want and ignore any words to the contrary that they hear. Mankind, like Adam and Eve, do not want to take responsibility for their actions.
Anger and excuses stem from not wanting to admit any wrongdoing. It comes from selfish pride and the sin that is common to all mankind. Anger and pride resist humility and rejects the word of God one hears, resulting in not doing, not obeying, not living according to the word of God.
“because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:20-27).
Notice in verse 22 and 26 we find the word deceive. James is saying do not be deceived or deceive yourselves. Listen to God. Stop talking, stop getting angry and pay attention. Do what he says.
Doing and acting upon the word is most important.
In Matthew 21 you will find a story of two brothers. Their father tells them to do something. One of the sons answered no, but later obeyed, while the other son sounded obedient yet refused and ignored the words of his father (Matthew 21:28-30).
‘“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him”’ (Matthew 21:31-32).
Jesus is attempting to teach a spiritual truth. Listening to the word is one thing but doing or acting upon the word of God is what is most important. James would say to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only, deceiving yourselves. The religious person, the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, who heard the teaching of Jesus but did not respond or act accordingly, is like the son who sounds good but refuses to do what he was told. That religious person is deceived and is only deceiving themselves.
Jesus tells those he was teaching that the ungodly tax collectors and prostitutes of his day who heard the word of God and who placed their faith in Jesus would enter the kingdom of God, whereas those who refused to believe, those who sounded religious but refused to act according to the word of God would not. The person who is quick to speak and quick to anger is not truly listening to God Almighty. Pride and anger have blinded, blocked, and denied the word of God’s access to the person’s heart. It has not allowed the word of God to take root in the persons heart and grow. Instead, the seed of God’s word are blown away due to the hardness of the person’s heart, crowded out by the things of the world, or stolen by the enemy of your soul.
James is telling the believer that they must get rid of the moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent in their lives, and humbly accept the word of God that they have heard and is planted in their hearts. The believer is to remove the immoral lifestyle. Turn away from the sin and corruption that is in the world and that is so prevalent in the world and live a life set apart unto God and allow the word of God do its work.
Jesus told many he physically healed or delivered from sin to go and sin no more. To no longer live as they once lived. Rather, to live separate from how they used to live before they had heard the truth of the gospel. They were to live separate from the ungodly beliefs, separate from the immoral lifestyle, separate from their ungodly behavior that they once lived. Instead that believer was to live in the light of God’s word and away from the immoral spiritual darkness that was in their hearts and how they once lived. They were to make a clean break from their old lifestyle and become a doer of the word and not a hearer only. In 2 Corinthians 6 Paul asks the question, what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?
‘What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
17 Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty”’ (2 Corinthians 6:16-18).
The believer needs to stop acting religious according to their own thinking or how the world says they should act and instead be a doer of the word of God and not a hearer only. James is saying stop deceiving yourselves in your own minds and look intently into the word of God and allow it to change you. We need to get rid of the moral filth and wickedness in our hearts and minds and receive with meekness the word of God in our hearts. We need to allow the word of God to take root and grow in our hearts. As the word of God abides in our hearts, we need to read and consciously abide in the word of God and allow the Holy Spirit access to every corner of our hearts and lives.
Understand that the word of God is powerful. Nothing apart from God himself is more important and powerful than the word of God.
We need to focus on Christ and the word of God.
We need to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1-2).
We need to stop deceiving ourselves and look intently into the word of God.
We need to stop allowing the enemy of our soul to steal, kill and destroy our lives (John 10:10).
We need to stop running after what the world deems as being important and focus on Jesus and the word of God, who gives freedom from the bondage of sin and gives life eternal to all who believe.
James speaks of the perfect law that gives freedom. This is not a freedom for you to do as you want or feel. Rather, it is a freedom from the bondage of sin and death. It is the freedom to do the will of God and, by doing so, you are blessed.
When you look intently into the word of God, you will be blessed as you apply the word of God and live according to what the word teaches.
James is contrasting the hearer of the word with the doer of the word. The hearer of the word is the religious person who may hear the word of God but walks away and forgets what the word instructs. This person will hear a sermon on Sunday, feel the need for forgiveness and will repent; but when they step outside the church, they will have forgotten what they had heard and act as they always have. They are deceived into thinking that they are OK, but they only have a form of religion without the change of heart or lifestyle like the religious Pharisees who heard Jesus’ teaching but refused to truly listen, believe, and be changed.
James is saying all the listening we do regarding the word of God will not do a thing for us unless we act and live according to the word of God. James puts it this way in verse 26:
“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless” (James 1:26).
In other words, our actions are to line up with the word of God if the word of God is to be seen to make a difference in our lives. Listening to Gods word is useless unless it is acted upon and brings about a change of heart and lifestyle.
Jesus put it this way at the end of his Sermon on the Mount:
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Matthew 7:24-27).
We need to be more than hearers of the word, but doers of the word. We are to not only listen, but live according to the word each day. James tells his readers that all the religious thinking and time spent listening to sermons and reading the word of God is useless unless it produces a change of lifestyle. James then describes what religion is in verse 27:
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).
Friends, the word of God will change you if you allow it. The believer is called to serve. The word of God instructs the believer to lay aside the old lifestyle of the world and live the life of faith. This is what Abraham, Joseph, the prophets, John the Baptist, the disciples, Paul and Silas, the woman at the well, the man healed of leprosy, king Hezekiah, Billy Graham, Charles Finney, Billy Sunday, and millions of others who have been martyred for their faith did.
Let’s be doers of the word and not hearers only. James is calling the believers to action, to share their faith, to be Jesus’ hands extended, to live by faith and demonstrate our faith by being doers of the word.
You may say pastor, what can I do?
Let me suggest:
Be an encourager to others, be a giver.
Share the love of God and what God has done in your life.
Call or invite that person who God has placed on your heart.
Find someone to serve and don’t be in such a rush that you miss what God has for you to do.
Not one of Jesus’ followers were perfect. You do not need to be perfect to be a doer of the word. All you need to do is be humble and willing, the Lord will do the rest. Let’s be a doer of the word and not listeners only.
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