My text tonight is James chapter
1, verses 21 and 22. James chapter 1, verses 21 and
22. In the fourth chapter of the
book of Hebrews, God the Holy Spirit tells us about a great,
great multitude of people. who for 40 years, for 40 years
heard the gospel preached even as we do, for 40 years. God himself spoke to Moses and
Moses to Aaron and Moses and Aaron to the people. God gave
his law at Sinai. God gave the tabernacle, the
priesthood, and the sacrifices, and God gave his word. Christ,
the rock, followed them through the wilderness for 40 years. The light of the glory of God
lit up the heavens by night and stood as a pillar of cloud by
day for 40 years. They heard the gospel preached.
Even as we do, God fed the manna from heaven every day for 40
years. They walked in the presence of God for 40
years. And then the Holy Spirit tells
us, what is almost, were it not written
in the book of God, it would be indeed an unbelievably sad
thing about those people. He says, but the word preached
did not profit them. Imagine that. Imagine that. Hearing the gospel, hearing the
gospel with miraculous signs and wonders every day for 40
years. But the word preached did not
profit them. That statement rings in my soul
as an alarming sound to which I pray God will cause me to pay
attention and by which I pray he will teach me and teach you. What woe they must suffer in
hell, who have heard the gospel preached, of whom God the Holy
Ghost declares, but the word preached did not profit them. It didn't do them one bit of
good. It didn't help them at all. It
was of no benefit to their souls, because they didn't believe God. With that as an introduction
to my message, hear the instruction God gives us in James chapter
1, verse 21. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness. and receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye
doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. As God the Holy Spirit will enable
me, I want to talk to you as bluntly as I possibly can once
more about hearing the word of God. The title of my message
is found in our text, Receive with Meekness the Engrafted Word. Receive with Meekness the Engrafted
Word. Do you sometimes wonder why you
get so little from the worship services you attend? Do you wonder
why the message preached seems to be so impressive at the time
you hear it? and then it's so quickly forgotten,
just escapes you. Do you want to get more, get the greatest possible benefit
from the word of God, from the worship of God, from hearing
the gospel of God's grace? Do you sometimes wonder why it
is that God seems so profoundly to speak to others and doesn't
speak to you? God the Holy Spirit answers these
questions for us in our text. And he tells us plainly that
if we don't profit by the gospel we hear, if we don't profit by
the gospel preached to us, if we don't profit by the word and
worship of God, the fault is entirely our own. So, but brother Don, we depend
on God to speak to us. I know that. If God doesn't speak,
we can't hear. I'm fully aware of that. But
God makes it plain. God makes it plain that if we
do not profit by his word, by his worship, by his ordinance,
the fault is entirely our own. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted word which is able to save your souls. But be ye
doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Nothing this side of heaven,
I have told you many, many times, nothing this side of heaven,
is of more importance to your soul than the public ministry
of the word. Nothing. As I was preparing this
message last night and today, I had my mind a good bit on preparation
for the ordination service for Brother Frank Hall down in North
Carolina in just a few weeks. God has sent his word to that
place. I'm going to do everything I
can everything I can to try to persuade my nephews and their
families to come hear the gospel. They live right there. They live
right there. Oh, what a privilege. God sent
right next door to them and has established right next door to
them the light of the gospel of his free grace. What a privilege. privilege. Nothing compares with
it, for it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. Now let me make five statements,
five statements with regard to this thing of gospel preaching
and faith in Christ. Nothing new, but statements that
need to be remembered, need to be emphasized, need to be understood. Turn to Romans chapter 10, Romans
the 10th chapter. These are matters of absolute
certainty. These are matters of absolute
certainty. Number one, anyone in the world who calls upon the
Lord Jesus Christ in true faith is saved. Anyone. That means
if you call on him, you are saved. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. You see that verse 13? Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. The word
means to worship God. Whosoever worships God in Christ
Jesus, worships God as he's revealed himself in this book in his son,
that person is saved. All who do. Number two, no one
can call upon Christ in true faith unless he believes the
record God has given of his son in this book. Now let me emphasize
that. I can't say it with enough force. I can't say it bluntly enough.
I can't say it plain enough. No one can call upon Christ in
true faith unless he believes what God has said in this book
about his son. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? You can't trust an unknown Christ. You can't trust a God you don't
know. Faith is not a leap in the dark. Faith is walking in the light.
How shall they call on him whom they have not believed? Those
who are born of God, taught of God, believe the truth of God. I know people say, well, Brother
Fortner says, All these folks are lost in all these other churches.
Brother Fortner never said any such thing. Never said any such
thing. What I have said is that all who are born of God believe
the record of God concerning His Son. And you conclude, well,
my sister doesn't believe that. Well, your sister's lost then.
And you made that conclusion, not me. Well, my daddy doesn't
believe that. Well, your daddy's lost then.
You made that conclusion, not me. Well, my wife is lost then. You made that conclusion, not
me. The book of God declares, the book of God declares, how
shall they call on him whom they've not believed? Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ, he's born of God. There are certain
things revealed in this book. Men and women who are born of
God all believe. We believe that Jesus Christ
is God. God incarnate, God who came here
on this earth and accomplished redemption for His people. God
who sits in our flesh on the throne of glory and soon shall
come again who rules all things and will judge all things according
to His Word. Number three, no one, no one
can savingly believe on Christ until he hears the Gospel of
Christ. Look at verse 14. How shall they believe in him
of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? Rene, that's pretty plain, isn't
it? That's pretty plain. You can't
believe until you hear. And you can't hear without a
preacher. I know people have the idea that somehow you can
bypass this matter of preaching. And folks say, well, you limit
God when you say God saved men by the preaching of the gospel.
Oh, no. No, no. God has revealed what God's going
to do. And God has revealed to us that
the way He saves His people is by the preaching of the Word.
And He doesn't save them some other way. The Lord God Almighty
is absolutely sovereign. He gives life to whom He will.
He saves whom He will. But He saves sinners as He will
by the gospel as He has ordained. Now the scriptures are abundantly
clear, abundantly clear that Ethiopian unit was riding back
from Jerusalem after going up there at the feast and is reading
Isaiah 53. Now Isaiah 53 is pretty plain,
isn't it? It's pretty plain. It is if you
can read. The problem is most folks can't
read. It's plain as sun if you've got eyes to see. The problem
is most folks are blind. That fellow is reading audibly
the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. And as he's reading, the time
appointed by God when he should be converted had come. Well,
how's that going to happen? There's nobody there to tell
him about it. But God miraculously sends an evangelist down there
by the name of Philip. And he's walking along. He's
walking along beside that chariot. And here's that fellow reading
from Isaiah chapter 53. And Philip looked up at that
eunuch and he said, do you understand what you're reading? And he said,
how can I except some man show me? You can't understand this
book. You can't know this book. from
God revealing it to you and teaching it to you by the faithful exposition
of His Word through the faithful preaching of the Gospel. That's
how important this is. I believe a fellow can be saved
if he just reads the Bible or if he's just sincere and he goes
out on a riverbank and he thinks about God. God can save folks
that way. God can't. He can save you by
shooting you between the eyes if he wanted to. That's not the
way he ordained to do it. God saves sinners by the preaching
of the gospel. Number four, no one can ever
hear the gospel without a preacher. Look at verse 14. How shall they
hear a preacher. And how shall they preach except
they be sent? What a blessing when God sends
the Gospel to you. When God causes you to hear the
Gospel of His grace. Sitting back here in the office
but Bobby got here a little bit earlier tonight talking about
his wife Judy God took her at 59 years old, took her with cancer,
and she did everything right. Your words. And that's right.
She ate good food, healthy food. She kept her weight off. She
exercised. She didn't smoke. As far as I
know, she didn't drink. Don't drink anything. Maybe have some cough syrup when
she needed it. I don't know. But did everything right. 59
years old, died of lung cancer. Her point of time. Her point
of time. He said, I have often thought
we're all leaving here when our work is done and Judy's work
was to bring me here to hear the gospel. Because I didn't know You can't believe God. You can't trust Christ. You can't be born of God apart
from the preaching of the gospel. And fifthly, no man can truly
preach the gospel. No man can truly preach the gospel
in the power of God the Holy Spirit unless God sends him. How shall they preach except
they be sent? How shall they preach except
they be sent? I'm fully convinced that's not
just talking about initially sending a man out. Send our brethren out preach
the gospel. You send me out to preach the gospel. I come here
to preach the gospel It's talking about every time a man stands
to speak for God He can't do it unless God sends him sends
him with his word and his message for that hour But if a man is
sent of God you can be sure this he preaches He preaches and he
preaches the gospel One of the first comments Brother
Merle Hart made to me that I remember, one of the very first he made
to me that I remember, after listening to a fellow talk about
preaching the gospel for nearly an hour, everybody else was gone,
just Merle and I standing here, he said, Brother Don, I thank
God you don't talk to us about preaching the gospel, you preach
the gospel. It was a big difference. The
man who is sent of God preaches, and he preaches the gospel, and
he preaches it with boldness. Boldness. If you... I sometimes ask, you wouldn't
preach like that over there, would you? Come and find out. Give me the opportunity. Just
make the opportunity. If you want to see a fellow preach
with boldness, put John the Baptist before Herod and find out what
happens. You put Nathan before David and see what happens. You
put God's servant with his back against the wall with a bunch
of folks who flat despise the Gospel of God's grace and I'll
tell you what you'll hear, you'll hear a man speak God's Word with
boldness. And he preaches, he always preaches,
he always preaches effectually. God's going to do something tonight.
If He sent me here, if I speak by Him, He's going to do something
tonight. He's either going to cause His
Word to be to you a savor of life unto life or a savor of
death unto death. In this day called the end of
the age, the Lord God sends His angels out into His vineyard
to gather in His wheat into the garner and to bind up the tears
for the burning. And the gospel always does one
or the other. I repeat myself deliberately,
nothing this side of eternity is more important, nothing more
vital to the souls of men than the preaching of the gospel.
Look at verse 15, as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things. 17 so then faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God Now let's look at our text. I'll
wrap this up By showing you three things that God the Holy Spirit
tells us to do That we may profit by the hearing of the Word All
right, look at our text James chapter 1 verse 21 If you would
receive benefit from the preaching of the gospel You need to make
preparations to hear the message. There's something to be done
before you hear the sermon. You need to make preparations
for it. James says, wherefore lay apart all filthiness and
superfluity of naughtiness. It seems to me to be the very
height of folly and presumption. to suppose that we can come to
worship God and hear the gospel of His grace with no preparation. I pray that God will keep us
from that. I say it is the height of presumption
and the height of folly, but oh my God, I confess to you how I practice
that presumption and that folly. Do you? Let us remember who he
is in whose name we come together. Surely, if we do, we won't rush
in without thought. Let us remember who he is that
we claim to worship. And we won't rush in like folks
running to see a fire, or teenagers going to a party, Folks, go into
a ball game. We've come here to worship God. That's why we're here, isn't
it? We've come here, Mother Mark just prayed that God might speak
to us by his word, show us himself, show us ourselves, show us his
son. That's why we came here. Surely then, We ought to prepare
our hearts and our minds to worship Him. The saints of old prepared
themselves for worship. Read the Old Testament scriptures
and before they went to the house of worship, before they kept
the feast, before they brought sacrifices to God, folks were
required to bathe themselves, to sanctify themselves. Those
ceremonial purifications portraying for us our necessary preparation
for worshiping our God. We should do what we can to make
ourselves ready to hear the word, ready to receive the blessings
God is ready to bestow. When we spend time preparing
our bodies, preparing our clothes to wear to the worship service,
Is it not reasonable that we should prepare our hearts? James tells us that in preparing
to hear the word of God, look at your text there, there's some
things we must lay aside. Lay aside, he says, all filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness, the filthiness of sin. the superfluity,
the boiling over of covetousness. For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also. The naughtiness of malice, ill
intent. The wrath of man, he tells us
in verse 20, worketh not the righteousness of God. Over in
the fourth chapter of Ephesians, the apostle urges us to walk
in the Spirit, not to grieve the Holy Spirit. And the way
he urges us to do that is this. He says, let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth. And he's not talking about cussing
folks out. That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about
talking bad about folks, gossiping. I hate to say this. I just got to tell this. Brother
Charlie, you know what Bill said? You know what he did? Don't grieve the Spirit of God
with filthy communication. This is what it says. But that
which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to
the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye
are sealed to the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice. And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children. The word followers is imitators. Imitate God. Imitate God as his
dear children. Like a son imitating the father
he admires in love. And walk in love. Christ also
hath loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savor." In a word, this is what James
is saying, put aside the corruptions of your heart and the cares of
the world that you may receive God's Word. Why must we do that? Why must we put them aside? The
answer is so obvious it doesn't need much comment. You can't
hear God while you're absorbed with other things. You can't
hear God while you're absorbed with malice, or while you're
absorbed with carnal ambition, or while you're absorbed with
the cares of the day. How often these men lead us in
prayer and pray God take our minds at least for this hour
away from all the care of the day. Take our minds away from
that at least for this hour and let us hear from heaven. You
can't be absorbed with the world and be absorbed with divine truth
at the same time. People ought to take care for these
things are like suckers on a plant. They draw out strength and energy
from the plant. Perhaps you're thinking, well,
Brother Don, how can I put those things out of my mind? I can't
give you a magical answer. I can't give you any absolute
answers. I can tell you what helps me.
I can tell you what helps me. Confess your sins. You have no way of knowing what's
going on in my mind when I'm sitting here, except I tell you. I look out over your congregation,
I look into your faces, and I call your names to God in prayer.
And I beg God for grace from his spirit to help me preach
the word. And I confess and confess and
confess and confess my sin. Not once in a while, Lindsay,
every time I enter this place, just right now, right now, confess
your sin. If you're going to hear God's
word, bathe your soul afresh in the blood of Christ. Seek
the Lord. before you come here, when you're
preparing. And I know, like tonight, you
folks have all come from a hard day's work and you have to rush
to get here. On your way here, ask God to
speak to you. Ask God to take your mind off
of the other things and speak to you by his word. Jeremiah said, then shall you
call on me and you shall go in praying to me
And I will hearken unto you, and ye shall seek me, and find
me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." Come
early to the house of God. Settle in where you are. speak
to one another about the word. Sunday mornings pick up the lessons,
the bulletins, read the articles, go over the hymns, read the scriptures,
and try, try to seek the Lord. Ask him for grace to seek him.
And when you're listening, if you have trouble keeping your
mind on what's being said, take notes. Whatever you have to,
to remember the word that's preached. Look at verse 21 again. The word
wherefore refers to that which immediately precedes it. James
tells us every good gift comes from God. Of his own will he
begot us with the word of truth. Then he says in verse 19, Wherefore,
beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, and slow to
speak, and slow to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh
not the righteousness of God. Wherefore, in the light of these
things, Lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. The filthiness and superfluity
of naughtiness, James tells us to lay aside, has to do with
that pride, that arrogance, that self-righteousness that causes
men to be stirred up in wrath against God's Word. and against
the things of God. It causes people to speak rashly
against the gospel of God's grace. The text might be read this way.
On account of this, having put aside all filthiness and overflowing
evil in meekness, receive the implanted word, being able to
save your souls. This is what James is saying
to us. Since you've laid aside The filthiness of the flesh.
The superfluity of naughtiness. Receive with meekness the Word
of God that's been implanted in you. The Word that's able
to save your souls. Filthiness refers to the filth
of our nature. Put it aside. Put it aside. Don't
pretend it doesn't exist. Put it aside. Say no to the lust
of the flesh. The superfluity of naughtiness.
John Gill suggests, and I think he's right, has a specific reference
to the Old Testament ordinance of circumcision. Strange that
James, who pastored the Jews, should write to the Jews and
make reference to circumcision and talk about the superfluity
of naughtiness. He's talking, he's telling us
to put aside that superfluity of self-righteous works religion. Just as a man circumcised in
the flesh is circumcised and cut away that which is filthy,
that which is unneeded, that which is meaningless, so in the
circumcision of the heart, God circumcises the heart and cuts
away all sense of worth before God. all sense of personal righteousness
before God, and you and I must lay aside every proud, arrogant,
high thought we have about ourselves and our righteousness. Before
the sermon, as we prepare to come to the house of God, let
us come to hear the gospel, laying aside, laying apart all filthiness,
and all proud self-righteousness. Second, if we would profit by
the word, we must receive the word as it is preached while
we hear it. James says, receive with meekness
the engrafted word. Now understand this, you cannot
receive the word preached until you have received the Word by
the implanting of grace. Until the Word of God has been
planted in your heart, you can't receive it. In John's Gospel,
chapter 1, our Lord said to as many as received Him, to them
gave He power to become the sons of God. That word means to receive
like that glass received water. And that's how you first receive
the Word of God. God puts the seed of life in
you. First Peter chapter one, verse
23. We're born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible
by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. And when
God puts the word of life in you, when God puts in you the
engrafted word, then you receive with meekness that engrafted
word. That word, the word that's used
here in James is this word. I'm about to receive some water. That involved, Merle, a thirst,
a desire, and a taking. A thirst, a desire, and a taking. James is saying to us then, we
in whom God has planted his word, beg of God to give you a thirst
for, a desire for, and a taking of this engrafted word. Yet James
tells us that we must do it. We must receive the word or we
won't profit by it. The gospel is a feast to be eaten,
wine to be drunk, medicine to be swallowed, a refreshing shower
to be soaked up. Receive with meekness the engrafted
word which is able to save your soul. I love to preach to folks who
just soak up the word, just soak it up. Solomon said, the full soul loatheth
a honeycomb. Folks who are full, they don't
care to get anything else to eat. I feast at the table most sumptuously
prepared all the time. My wife, man, she can cook. Man, she can cook. Last night
we had some of her bacon pasta with alfredo sauce and I ate
and ate and ate and ate till I didn't want any more of the
pasta. If she picked it up and said,
do you have another bite? I said, honey, I don't want it because
the full soul loatheth the honeycomb. Doesn't matter how good or how
sweet it is. And so there are many who fake themselves full,
and they despise the Word of God, and despise the preaching
of the gospel, and they make light of the fellow who's doing
the preaching, and they yack and carry on, and they find fault
here and there. But the hungry soul, to the hungry soul, every
bitter thing is sweet. To the hungry soul, Just give
me some food. I don't care how bitter it is.
Receive God's Word with meekness. If the preacher declares God's
Word to you, hear him. If he doesn't declare the Word
of God, you shouldn't be listening to him. You're not to judge the
Word or analyze the Word or criticize the Word. We're to receive it. Accept you be converted and become
as little children. You cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. What does that mean? If God by
his word reproves you, receive it with meekness. If the word
shocks you, receive it with meekness. When the word gives you pain
and hurts, receive it with meekness. When it baffles your understanding,
receive it with meekness. When the word of God crosses
your will, Bow to it and receive it with meekness. When the word
of God goes against your religious notions, customs, and traditions,
bow to it and receive it with meekness. The book of God, this book alone,
is our rule of life, our creed. This book alone is our standard
of faith. All scripture Scripture, profitable
to our souls, given by inspiration of God, and profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for instruction, for correction and righteousness.
Profitable for everything our souls need. The book is. Everything our souls need. If
you would obtain the blessing of grace, you must receive the
gospel of God's grace. And if you're a disciple of Christ,
You do. We receive the word of God in
its entirety. We receive the book of what it
says about God, about ourselves, about redemption and grace and
salvation. And we ask God to speak to us
by his word. Speak, Lord, for thy servant
heareth thee. I've told you about a little
boy who sat right on the front pew in front of Mr. Spurgeon
at the tabernacle. leaned forward and put his hands on his knees
and listened just like this. And he put his elbows on his
knees and hands behind his ears and listened just like this.
And Spurgeon was concerned about it. So he met him at Doe one
day and he said, son, are you having trouble hearing me? He
said, oh no, Mr. Spurgeon, oh no. He said, I noticed
you holding your hands like this and leaning over like you're
just having trouble hearing me. He said, oh no. He said, mama
told me, mama told me, that if God speaks to me, he's going
to speak to me through your voice, and I don't want to miss God's
voice. Oh, God give me grace to hear the
word that way, and God give you grace to hear his word that way.
Receive with meekness this word, this engrafted word that's able
to save your souls. In order to graft one tree into
another, you've got to make two cuts. One in the original stalk
and one in the branch to be put in, grafted to it. Even so, the
Word of God does its work when the bleeding heart of a wounded
sinner is united to the believing Savior. When the bleeding heart of the
wounded sinner is united to the bleeding Savior. Oh, my God,
give me grace. So to receive your word, which
is quick and powerful, able to save your souls. One last thing. After the sermon, be ye doers of the word and not
hearers only. Doers of the Word. Not just listeners. Believe it. Embrace it. Obey it. I've given
you some things to do. Hopefully to draw your hearts
to the Redeemer. Hopefully to set you setting
your face heavenward. Be doers of the word. Believe
the gospel. Obey the gospel. Live by the
gospel. I've been thinking a good bit
about the quote from Mr. Bush. Actually, a quote from
Francis of Assisi, a papist. And Liz and I discussed it when
he first read it. We were reading the biography
of Bush 41. At the same time, his favorite
quote was, Preach the gospel always when necessary, use words. Well, really, impressive as that
is, you can't preach the gospel by the way you live. That can't
be done. That just can't be done. That
just can't be done. You can only preach the gospel
by telling it out. But you can live by the gospel
for the glory of God. Live honorably to God. honorably
in this world, blamelessly before men. Be ye doers of the word
and not hearers only. Believe it and obey it. Set this
book, this book as the rule of your life. Our Lord Jesus tells us in his
parable about people who were in his house. He walked in their
streets. He preached in their streets.
He performed miracles in their midst. And they will say to him
in the last day, didn't you dwell where we dwell? Didn't you walk
in our streets? Didn't you preach in our streets? In our synagogue? Didn't you
preach here? And the Lord Jesus takes from
that this lesson. Strive to enter into the kingdom
of God. Strive to enter in. Because the
master's gonna rise up soon and shut the door. And there'll be
no entering in. There'll be no entering in. Don't
be content to sit and hear. Don't be content to sit and practice
religion. Hear and do. Hear God's word
and obey God's word. Hear it. Receive it. obey it,
hear it, believe God, trust his son, follow him, walk with him
by faith for the glory of his name. Amen.