Evening, everybody. If you'd
like to, turn to James chapter 1. That's where our text is going
to come from tonight. James chapter 1. And once you get there, look up at
verse 22. James 1, verse 22. James says this, he says, but
be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves. Now James is talking and addressing
two types of people here. And these two men that he's addressing
here, they share a similarity. Both these men have heard the
gospel audibly, audibly. And it may be that they have
heard the gospel audibly many times and very consistently. But that is where the similarities
end. One of these men is not saved. The Lord has not intervened
on behalf of this man who is a hearer only. The word has not
taken any effect. The Lord has not made the gospel
effectual to this man. unto salvation. And then we have
this other man. This man who hears the word and
he does the word. Now this is the man who is blessed
by God. This is the man where the Lord has taken that word,
that gospel, and he has made it effectual to that man. And
here's what that man does in that new life. He does the word. That's exactly what he does.
I've been reading through James for the last couple of weeks,
and I keep on coming back to that verse, asking myself the exact same
question, which one am I? Am I one who hears only and does
not do the word, or am I one who has heard and who does the
word? I hope we can all answer that
question for ourselves by the end of this message. Now, here's
a question for you. What does James mean when he
speaks of one who hears only, but he does not do the word? What is he talking about? I think
the natural inclination is to think of someone who we'd probably
describe as a gospel weekend warrior, for lack of a better
term. So he shows up on Sunday, right? He sings, he prays, he
listens to the message, and then Monday through Saturday, he lives
in a manner as if he does not know God. There's no prayer,
there's no communion, there's no reading of the scriptures,
there's no seeking fellowship with the Lord's people. He's
religious on Sunday, but Monday through Saturday, he conducts
himself in a manner as if he does not know God. Now let me
say something real quick. That's a terrible thing. And
it is self-destructive. How terrible is it to neglect
such great privileges as prayer? We have this great privilege
in any distress to bring everything before the Lord, before that
one who can actually do something about the problem at any time
we see fit. This blessing of being able to
seek the comfort in his word, this blessing of fellowship between
the brethren, we have all these great blessings and we should
not neglect those great blessings. But I want to say this, that
has absolutely nothing to do with what James is talking about
here. Absolutely nothing. So, the question is this, what
does it mean? What does it mean to be one who
hears the Word and who does the Word? Now, this is one of the
reasons I'm so grateful for the Scripture. Every question that
Scripture brings up is answered by another Scripture. So, I want
to show you another Scripture where the Lord Himself addresses
this thing and He gives an illustration of what it looks like when a
man is a hearer of the Word, but a doer also. Turn over to
Matthew chapter 7. This is our Lord's Sermon on
the Mount. Everybody in this room is probably familiar with
it. But Matthew chapter 7, look at verse 24 and listen to what
our Lord says. He says, Therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them. That's exactly
what we're talking about here, isn't it? hearing the word, and
doing it. Well, he's about to tell us exactly
what James is talking about. Therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a
wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. Now, what's the analogy? What's
the illustration the Lord is giving here? He speaks of a man
who builds his house upon a rock. Who is that rock? That rock is
Christ. That hard, solid, immovable foundation. And what is this thing of a man
building a house on Christ? Well, what do you do in your
house? What do you do in your home? You dwell there. You find peace there. You find
comfort there. And it's the place you always
come back to. It sounds a whole lot like faith
to me. Because that's exactly what this thing of building a
house on that rock is all about. What is it to do the word? It is simply this. It means nothing
more than this. To believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ alone, the rock. That's exactly what it means. And the emphasis here. The emphasis
is not on the house. The emphasis is on the rock. The emphasis is not on our faith.
The emphasis is on that solid rock, Jesus Christ himself. He's
the one who faith looks to. Now for a moment, Paul spoke
in the scriptures about persuading them. persuading men to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And He did that through the Scriptures.
And no man can do that, only God can persuade a man to believe.
But if He's going to do it, He's going to do it through this Word.
What does this Word say about the rock? Now if you want to
turn over to Isaiah chapter 28. Isaiah has a lot to say about
the rock, our Lord Jesus, but so does Peter. Peter actually
quotes this verse several times in 1 Peter, and so I'll add in
some of the things Peter said. He provided a good commentary.
But Isaiah 28, look at verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a rock. a tridestone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation, he that believeth shall not make haste." Now let's
break that down for a second. This whole analogy, this whole
illustration our Lord uses of building that house on the rock,
it centers, it pivots around this thing of Christ being the
cornerstone. the cornerstone of the church,
the cornerstone of his people. Now, what's a cornerstone? I
had no idea. I had to look it up. But I'll
tell you what, here's what it means. Back when they built building
projects back in the day, the cornerstone was the very first
block that was laid. Before anything else was done,
that cornerstone was laid. It was the most important part
of the project. That cornerstone was the building. And here's
the thing with that cornerstone, it had to be perfect. perfectly
level. It had to be perfectly square.
It had to be perfectly flush. It had to be perfect and it was
for this reason it's because every other block that was laid
was laid in reference to that cornerstone. As long as that
cornerstone was flush, and level, and perfect, and square every
other block that was laid was flush, level, and square because
it was laid in accordance to that cornerstone. What does that
speak of? It speaks of the true union that exists between Christ
and His Church. This is what John said, 1 John 4, 17. He says,
as he is, so are we, every sinner. Everyone who believes on the
Lord Jesus Christ, who builds his house on that rock, every
member of the elect, as he is, so are we in this world presently
right now. And if right now you are building
your house, you build your house on this rock, this firm foundation
of Christ and him crucified alone, understand you're doing it for
this reason, because you have an eternal union with Jesus Christ.
One that never had a beginning and never had an end. You were
elected in Christ. You were given to Christ in the
covenant of grace before the world began. And when He went
to that cross He went bearing you on His breast. And He died
for you, put away your sins. And that's why you come and you
build your house on this rock because you share that eternal
union with Him. He is our cornerstone. Now John says, as He is so are
we in this world. How is He? What's He like? Isaiah
says here, he's a tried stone, a tried stone. You know what
that means? It means it's a stone that has been proved. It has
been tempted and it has been proved. This is the scripture
I thought of. Hebrews 4.15, for we have not in high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet, this is the big one,
without sin. This man, Christ Jesus, God,
came in human flesh, and He took on the limitations of a man,
and He did something that no man has ever done before. He
didn't sin. He kept God's holy law perfectly. Satan came and he tempted him
40 days and 40 nights in that wilderness, and he finally just
left him. Why did he leave him? could find absolutely nothing
in Him to work with because He is incapable of sin. He is that
tried stone, that tempted stone. He has been proved, and He has
been proved righteous. God's holy law looks Him over
and says, He's perfect. He has never sinned. He is excellent. He is everything I could ever
desire. And you know what? As He is so are we, a bunch of
tried stones in this world because we have the very righteousness
of Jesus Christ, everybody who builds their house on Him. Not
only is he a tried stone, Isaiah says he is a precious cornerstone. Now, if we wanted to be here
for the next five hours or so, we could talk about the preciousness
of Christ. And we wouldn't exhaust the topic. But if you had to
pick one thing, what's so precious? That's what Peter pricked, right
here. 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19, for as much as you know that you
were not redeemed, with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot." What's so precious about him? His blood
is precious. Why? Because it fully redeemed
everybody he died for. bought with a price. He bore
the sins of His people in His body, the wrath of God came down
upon Him, and when He died He made full payment for all those
He was dying for. That means right now if your
house is built on this rock, understand this, you have no
sin. That is the truth concerning you right now. As He is, so are
we in this world. Is He sinless? Is He perfectly
acceptable to His Father? So are you right now in this
world. Isaiah says he's a sure foundation. I looked up that word sure. I
wanted to see what it actually meant, and it has many definitions,
but I thought this one was most intriguing. This thing of being
a sure foundation, it speaks of something that you can lean
upon, and you can rely upon, and you can put all your weight
on it, and it won't give. It will hold you up. It is a
sure foundation. Who is Jesus Christ? I can tell
you exactly who he is. He's God. Is God sovereign? Is He in absolute sovereign control
of everyone and everything up to including salvation at all
times? He absolutely is. Jesus Christ
is sovereign. Is God omnipotent, having all
power, being incapable of purposing something and not carrying it
out? incapable of failure. Yes, He is. Therefore, Jesus
Christ is omnipotent. He cannot fail because He has
all power. Peter made an addition to this
when he was quoting the Scripture and he said he was chosen of
God. Speaking of that rock, why did
the Father choose Him? Why did the Father choose Him
to be the Savior of His people? Because He cannot fail. Father
had this precious object, the elect. I have to put Him somewhere. I have to give Him a Redeemer.
Somebody has to do the work. I have to trust someone. Who
did He trust? He trusted the only one He could
trust perfectly, Christ Himself, God Himself. Can God lie? Can He tell a lie? Can He make a promise and not
follow through with it, and not make good with it? No, he cannot. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the
exact same. That means all his promises are
yea and amen. They are firm foundations. They
can be leaned on and relied upon. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will, not I might, I will give you
rest. You take that to the bank. You
take that home because it is said and promised by a man who
cannot lie and cannot back out of a promise. He is a sure foundation. And Peter makes this addition
as well. He calls him a living stone, a living stone. Who is
this stone? He's not dead. This stone lives. He died on that cross. He was
put in the tomb. And in three days, you know what
happened? His father raised him from the dead. Why did he do
that? He was raised again for our justification. And the better
interpretation of that is this, He was raised again because of
justification. Because on that cross, He actually
did what His Father sent Him to do, to put away all the sins
of everybody He sent Him to die for. And because He did exactly
what His Father sent Him to do, His Father raised Him from the
dead. Now, we speak of assurance. I
want assurance, don't you? I want to have assurance. I'll
tell you what, if your hope is all in this rock, Christ Jesus,
here's your assurance, here's your sign, here's your seal,
that you are completely and utterly perfect before God right now.
God raised him from the dead. That's my assurance. God is satisfied,
and the evidence of that is he raised his son from the dead.
He's completely satisfied. And Isaiah ends with this very
interesting statement. He says, He that believeth shall not make
haste. I read that a few times and I
thought that's odd because I want to make haste in this thing of
coming to Christ. I want to make haste in this thing of building
my house on Him. But that's not the meaning in
the least. Peter tells us what the meaning
is in 1 Peter 2.6. He says, wherefore also it is
contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. You know what that means? That
means there will not be one sinner who builds his house on this
rock, on this foundation, that when it comes to judgment day,
that he will hear anything else other than well done, my good
and faithful servant. That's it. Won't be one that's
going to be confounded. Not one sinner who will look
to Christ and trust Him completely that will ever be ashamed before
God. He will be completely and utterly
accepted. Now, here's my question. Is this
rock accessible to me? Do I have any right to build
my house on this rock? Because this is a sovereign rock.
This is an omnipotent rock. What right do I have to build
my house on this rock and take all these precious promises of
as he is, so are we in this world back home to me? This is Matthew
21, 44. And whosoever shall fall on this
stone shall be broken. Whosoever. Any broken whosoever. What does it mean to be broken?
You don't work. You're no good. You're worthless. You're nothing
but a sinner before God. Any sinner, any sinning whosoever,
you come and you fall on this rock. You fall down on your knees
and you beg him for mercy. And every broken whosoever who
comes to him like that, they'll have that mercy. If you're a
sinner, you have every right, in fact, you are commanded to
build your house on this great foundation, this rock Christ
and Him crucified. Now go back to Matthew chapter
seven. We just saw what it looked like
to be a hearer of the word and a doer of the word. The one who
does the word, what does he do? He believes on the Lord Jesus
Christ alone. That's what he does. What does it look like
to be a hearer of the word only but not a doer? The Lord answers
that question as well. Look at verse 26. And everyone that heareth these
sayings of mine and doeth them not, that's exactly what we're
talking about, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built
his house upon the sand, And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it
fell, and great was the fall of it." Now, this is the attribute
of this man who hears only, but it's had no effect. He does not
do the word. He builds his house on an unstable
foundation, something else other than Christ and him crucified
alone. I find it very interesting and
very telling in the scripture here. What the Lord's telling
us here is that every man builds a house. Every man to ever live
is going to develop some hope that when he dies, everything's
gonna be okay. In something, he's gonna build a house, he's
gonna trust some foundation. But this man who hears only,
he trusts a foundation that is not gonna stand. I think it's
interesting, even the atheist. Man who believes that there is
no God or has at least tricked himself into believing there
is no God. He has a hope, and his hope is this, that there
is no God. There is no God, therefore there
is no one I am accountable to. Therefore when I die, I'm just
annihilated, I just cease to exist, and that's my hope. I
won't face any type of punishment because I'm just going to go
into the dirt and it's over with after that. But he has a hope.
He builds a house on a foundation. But what this is talking predominantly
about is a man building his house on his works. Free will. I allowed Jesus to save me. All
I'm going to say about this is this. Any God who needs your
permission to save you is no God at all. Works in any way. Anything I've done, anything
I've said, any intention I have. And here's how salvation by works
works. This is how men justify themselves
in this manner. It's always better by comparison. So yeah, I'm not
perfect, right? But I'm doing my best, and I'm
better than 51% of the population. As long as I'm not as bad as
him, I'll probably be OK. God grades on the curve. I'll
do my best. Christ will do the rest. It's
not how it works. That foundation will not stand. I'm going to
show you that here in just a second. Familiar relationships. My mother
and father believe the gospel. I'll probably be just fine. I
had an experience once. I made my peace with God. You
can't make your peace with God. God has to make his peace with
you through the Lord Jesus Christ. Perceive personal growth. I'm
experiencing less sin. I'm starting to get better. It's
a bad foundation. No, you're not. All those foundations
will crumble before that mighty storm of judgment that is coming.
But James tells us something interesting. He tells us why
this man who hears only, why he feels so comfortable building
on this bad foundation. Go back to James chapter 1. Look at verse 23. For if any be a hearer of the
word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a glass, or in a mirror, is what that means. For he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner
of man he was. Scriptures declare who God is
and who Jesus Christ is. They also declare this, they
declare to us who we are. And what this is saying right
here is this, this man who feels so comfortable in building his
house on that bad foundation, that foundation of his works,
foundation of his will, whatever bad foundation it is, he is comfortable
doing that because he does not see himself as the Scriptures
tell him he is. It says a man who passes by a
mirror. That's the analogy that's being given here. You ever had
a mirror somewhere in your house and every time you walk by you
glance at it? It's human nature, it's what we do. There's a mirror
around, we're going to glance at it. You glance at that mirror, you get
a snapshot of yourself, and you go about your business. And that's
exactly what this is saying. He's told, he hears audibly what
manner of man he is, and yet he neglects it. He forgets it.
He forgets what manner of man he is, and he feels comfortable
building on those works because he doesn't remember, he doesn't
see that the Scriptures are actually talking about him. Here's the
person I thought of immediately. It was Felix. You remember Felix? Acts 24. He had asked Paul to
come preach to him, and this is what it says in Acts 24, 25.
And as he reasoned of righteousness and temperance and judgment to
come, Felix trembled for a minute, but not for long, and answered,
go thy way for this time. When I have a convenient season,
I will call for thee. Paul spoke to him of righteousness.
Felix, who is God? He is a God of absolute and utter
righteousness. That is his standard. It is the
only thing he will accept. He will accept nothing but perfect
righteousness, perfect law keeping. To be accepted by God, Felix,
you have to be good as God. And temperance, self-denial.
I know what you're thinking, Felix. You're thinking you can
work your way out of this problem. You're thinking there's something
you can do to make up for what you've done. There's something you can do
to earn favor with God. No, Felix, that's not the way it is. You're
a sinner before God, that's it. And judgment, he is the righteous
judge, Felix. Everybody who doesn't meet this
standard of perfect righteousness, he's gonna judge him. It's not
gonna end well. And here's the question Felix never asked. Is
there any hope for me? Not a one, because I'm sure Paul
would have said, he's right there, Felix. You look to Christ. Whosoever's
broken, any broken sinner who looks to him, he'll find mercy.
He never asked this question. He said this, maybe some other
time. I'm trembling. I'm a little scared.
I don't like what I see here. I don't like the implications
of this, but I'm going to move on. I'll call for you when there
was a more convenient season. That more convenient season never
came. Not once. And what does the scripture declare
about you and me? know these Scriptures very, very
well. Genesis 6, 5, And God saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil, and that continually. That's how
we are born. wicked, evil nature, and it doesn't even address the
works yet. I think that is interesting. Todd brought that out a couple
of years ago. It doesn't. It is just talking about the
imaginations of the heart right now. It is only evil in that
continually, and it affects every facet of our being. This is what
Paul said in Romans 3 verse 10 he says, none that understandeth, there
is none that seeketh after God." Nobody comes to Him. Nobody believes
on Him naturally. Nobody repents naturally. They
are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good, no, not one. And here's the worst
part, Romans 8, 7. the carnal mind is enmity against
God. It is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. The entire being wars against
God. He makes God his enemy. You see
men get mad at election. What is wrong with God withholding
from men what men do not want in the first place? because this
carnal mind that is enmity against God, it does not want to be saved
by grace. It does not want to be saved by Christ because in
that salvation Christ gets all the glory and the man has absolutely
none. And the man says, no, I will
not have this man rule over me and I certainly won't allow him
to save me. What is wrong with the Lord withholding from a man
what he does not want in the first place? Absolutely nothing. All that is great information.
But that's all it is, unless the Lord shows me that total
depravity is not a doctrine, and this isn't talking about
the natural man, this is talking about me. I am totally depraved. All the imaginations of my heart
are only evil continually. I don't do good. I don't understand.
I don't seek God. I'm not righteous. My carnal
mind is enmity against God. This is how dependent we are,
folks, on the Lord for everything in salvation. To even have a
need of Christ, a need at all, he has to give us that need.
By turning this word into a mirror, so we can see that's actually
talking about me. He does it in the most interesting
way though. Man has never come to the knowledge that he is a
sinner before God by someone telling him he's a sinner before
God. He does it by doing this, he reveals Christ to him. He
reveals God to him in all his holiness, in all his sovereignty,
in all his omnipotence. And when he stands in the light
of God's holiness, and God's sovereignty, and God's choosing,
he sees where he's at. He's a sinner before God, and
he's in need of mercy. And what a blessing that is.
I want to say this right. I'm not in any way proud of my
sin. I'm not happy with it in any way. What a blessing it is
to know you're a sinner. Because a sinner is who Christ came to
save. Now, go back to James 1. We'll finish here. James gives
a commentary on this thing of being a doer of the word. And
really just an overview of everything we've talked about to this point. Look at verse 25 of James 1. But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, and continueth therein, being not a forgetful
here, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in
his deed." Now this man who is a doer of the Word, what does
he do? Well James tells us here, he
looketh. That's what he does. It's an interesting word. It
doesn't mean exactly what you would think it would mean. It
means to stoop down. That is the literal meaning of
that word. This man, what does he do? He
looketh, but he looketh from a low degree. This man is a sinner
before God and he knows it and he is looking in one direction
alone. He has only one hope of salvation
and it is in this perfect law of liberty. That's Christ. I
love thinking about it this way. He is our perfect law of liberty.
Number one we find all our perfection in Him. I must be perfect to
stand before God. How can I be perfect before God?
I had it written down. Hebrews 10.14, for by one offering
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. In Him we
find full perfection. In Him we find our liberty. Liberty
from the law. In him, it's satisfied. The law
demands nothing from me. It demanded punishment. I was
punished in Christ. It demands keeping. I kept it
in Christ. The law has absolutely nothing to say to me. And now
I'm free and free from sin, liberty from sin, from the power of it. That's why we believe the gospel.
One day we'll be saved from the presence of it. And we've been
saved from the punishment of it. And I like how he says he's
our law, Christ our law. And here's what I mean by that.
He's not a law that we keep. That's not what I'm talking about
here. What is a law? It is something that is grounded, and it is settled,
and it is unmovable. He is our banner. He is our creed.
Christ and him crucified alone. That is my only hope before God.
That's it. Either he's going to bring me
before the Father, perfect and accepted, or I won't be saved.
But there are no other options. That is a law that is grounded
and that is settled. And here's what he does. He continues
therein. What does he do for the rest
of his days when he gets his first look? He just keeps on
looking. And it's for this reason, because he's caused to look all
the rest of his days. That gift of faith, that's exactly
what it was. It was a gift. That gift of perseverance, it's
exactly what it is. It's a gift. a gift that he keeps
on giving all to the rest of his days, but just to settle
this issue once and for all. He says this, but a doer of the
work. Does that mean what I think it
means? Turn over here to John chapter 6, and this is where
we'll end. John chapter 6 and look at verse
28. Our Lord speaks here. He says,
then said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work
the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto
them, this is the work and make no mistake. I looked it up. That
is the exact same word that James uses a doer of the work. This is the work of God that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. Am I a doer of the word? Am I a doer of the work? Do you believe on him who God
sent? Do you believe that he sent God
himself? Do you believe he was successful
in what he did in completely saving everybody he died for?
Is your only hope is that you are one of those people he laid
down his life for? If that's the case, you are a
doer of the word and a doer of the work. And you are blessed
in your deed. Blessed from the foundations
of the world and blessed till the end of time. I'll leave you
there.