Turn with me this morning, if
you would, to the epistle of James, chapter one, James chapter
one. Look at verse 22. It's a scripture
that's very familiar to many of you. In verse 22, James writes, be
ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves. James here speaks of two classes
of individuals. We've talked a lot about that
lately, the natural and the spiritual, the lost and the saved, the chosen
and those that are passed over. lost sinners, saved sinners. And now we see that there are
doers of the word of God and those who are hearers only. James here encourages the church
of God to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Now I want
to ask you a sincere question. What comes to your mind when
you think of a hearer only? Do you think of one who hears
the gospel to no avail, one who hears the word of God preached
with no effect to their heart and soul? Do you think of one
who comes to hear on Sunday or maybe even Wednesday but gives
no mind to the things of Christ the rest of the week? Do you
think of one who hears and shakes their heads up and down when
they hear the scriptures proclaimed, the gospel proclaimed, and yet
shake their heads left or right in their hearts? Is that what
you think of? Do you think of one who doesn't
keep the commandments of God? Or has no interest or concern
in being obedient to what God's Word says? If that's what you
think, you wouldn't be alone in your thinking. That's the
common thought of most. But I'm telling you that those
things have nothing to do at all with what James is talking
about or saying. Matter of fact, if that's what
James means concerning being a doer of the word and not hearers
only, then when you peel away all the outward so-called righteousness
of man, all of us would be nothing. but hearers only. I was a bit
surprised in reading many of the commentators who I often
read and have great respect for, who took a hearer only to be
just those things that we just mentioned. And I'm beginning
to understand the same that I've heard many times over the years,
and that is that scripture is the best commentary on scripture.
The truth is that scripture, like the one that we had before
us here in James, Chapter 1, verse 22 is only really understood
when truly the gospel is understood. Look at the text with me one
more time. James 1, 22. James says, be ye doers of the
word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. What is it to
be a doer of the word and not hearers only? I know this much,
to be a hearer only is to deceive myself. James says that right
off the bat. I don't want to be deceived.
Do you? No, I don't. I don't want to
be deceived by somebody else, and I certainly don't want to
deceive myself. To be a hearer only and not a
doer of the word brings about self-deception. That's what James
is saying. So I want to truly understand
what being a doer of the word is and what a hearer only really
means. Stick your marker here in James
chapter one and turn with me to Matthew chapter seven, if
you would. Matthew chapter seven. As I said
a moment ago, Scripture sheds a lot of light on Scripture.
The Lord had just said that many will, in that great day of judgment,
call Him Lord and remind Him of all the things that they had
done in His name. He had just said those who claimed
Him as their Lord, who claimed to do His work in verse 23, He
had just said, I never knew you. You depart from Me, ye that work
iniquity. It's a great surprise to many
that these things that men call works of righteousness are nothing
but works of iniquity in the eyes of the Lord. But then in
verse 24, our Lord says these words. He said, therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken
unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock. And the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon
that rock, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And
everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not,"
he's dealing with hearers and doers. Everyone that heareth
these sayings of mine and doeth them not, 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 please believe me when I
tell you that there's a very important lesson to learn here. A doer of the word is not a self-righteous
law keeper. A doer of the Word is one who
builds his life, his faith, upon Christ alone. A doer of the Word
is one who is considered to be a wise man. Why? Because he's built his house
upon Christ the Rock. Verse 26, And every one that
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand.
And the same heavenly rain of adversity falls from above, and
the same floods of trouble come from Satan below, and the winds
and storms of life blow against this hearer and his abode. And when they beat upon his house,
it will fall. Not only will it fall, but the
Lord says great will be the fall of it. So, first we must see
that a doer of the word of God and not a hearer only has something
to do with building a place to dwell in safety. If you desire
to be wise, you will build your dwelling upon Christ. The solid
rock. We sing that song, the solid
rock. We sing the song, How Firm a Foundation. Both of those songs
speak of Christ. He is the sure foundation. Look
back at verse 21. Our Lord said, not everyone that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.
Well, what is the will of God? That would be a good place to
start, wouldn't it? Our Lord told us in John chapter
6 verse 40, He said, this is the will of Him that sent me,
the will of God the Father, that everyone which seeth the Son
and believeth on Him. Everyone that sees Him and believes
on Him may have everlasting life and I'll raise Him up at the
last day. This is the will of God. You've got to see Christ.
Only God can show Him to us. We must believe on Him, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Only God can give us hearts to
believe. Only God can raise us up at the
last day. It sounds to me like a doer of
the word, trust only in what Christ has done for them. Do
you see that? Oh, I pray that God show you
this marvelous truth. It'll save you so much heartache
and heartbreak and disappointment. Look at verse 28 here in Matthew
chapter 7. And it came to pass when Jesus
had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his
doctrine. For he taught them as one having
authority and not as the scribes. The scribes and the Pharisees
and the Jews were all about the law, keeping the law, doing this,
not doing that. But our salvation has nothing
to do with our keeping, our doing of the law. For the law could
not save us because Paul said it was weak through the flesh.
And that's speaking of our flesh. Our salvation is found in God
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. condemned sin in the flesh. And we call this substitution.
There's no salvation apart from Christ taking our place. There's
no salvation apart from Christ keeping the law perfectly for
us and appeasing the divine justice of God. And only Christ has the
authority to teach us what it is to truly be a doer of God's
Word. Turn back a couple pages, if
you would, to Matthew chapter 5. Look at verse 17. The Lord Jesus
said, think not that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets. I'm come not to destroy, but
to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law till all be fulfilled." God's law is going
to have to be fulfilled for you and I. Our Lord did not destroy
or put away the law of God. I hear people say all the time
things like, well, in the Old Testament, people were under
the law. And in the New Testament, people
are under grace. That's not so. That's not so. Every sinner is still under the
law of God. We just read it. Our Lord Himself
said, till heaven and earth pass, not one jot, not one tittle,
not one dot of the I, not one crossing of the T shall pass
from the law. Every sinner is under the law
of God. God's law requires perfection. Sinners cannot provide what God
requires. God's law is not destroyed. It's got to be fulfilled. Only
God's elect are under grace. And only those for whom Christ
fulfilled the law will be saved. Only those for whom Christ satisfied
divine justice for will be spared. Look at verse 19. Whosoever therefore
shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach
men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called
great in the kingdom of God. Whosoever shall what? Do, be
a doer of the word and teach others what Christ has done for
his people shall be called great in the kingdom of God. Look at
verse 20. This should be of great importance to us. He said, for
I say unto you that except your righteousness. Now, if you think
that salvation has something to do with you being good, pay
attention to this word. For I say unto you that except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter. and to the kingdom
of God. Now, we need to understand that
the scribes and the Pharisees were experts at doing and keeping
the ordinances and all the ceremonies of the law of God. They were
the most moral of men. Oh, I'm telling you, people respected
them. They said, oh, there goes a Pharisee.
He's a man of God. They were the most conscious
of the laws, do's and don'ts. They knew the law forwards and
backwards better than all the rest. They knew that they could
eat this, but not eat that. They knew that they could do
certain things on certain days, but not on the Sabbath. Many
times they accused the Lord of many vicious things because he
healed someone on the Sabbath or did something that they thought
was against the law. And the scribes and the Pharisees,
they went to great lengths to keep the outward law. But they were like the sepulchers,
Christ said, those ornamental tombs found in the cemetery.
which indeed appear beautiful outward, Christ said, but are
within full of dead man's bones and all uncleanness. And the
key word here is outward. They were beautiful, they were
faithful, they were obedient. Outwardly. But inwardly, Christ
said, you're dead and you're full of all uncleanness. You
see, our righteousness has to exceed theirs. That's a tall order. Outwardly,
they had some very high standards. But the keeping of the law is
an inward thing. That's what our Lord's teaching.
Look at verse 21. You've heard it said, You've
heard that it was said by them of old, thou shalt not kill.
And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, remember
he's got all authority. He said, but I say unto you that
whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger
of judgment. I've never murdered anyone physically. But I'm telling you, I have certainly
been angry with a brother without a cause. Where does God write
his law? Within and on his people's heart. This is an inward thing. That's
what our Lord's saying. Sayeth the Lord, I will put my
law in their inward parts and write it on their hearts. Look
at verse 27. You have heard that it was said
by them of old, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto
you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already. How? Where? In his heart. In his heart. It's an inward
thing. You see, being a doer of the
word is an inward thing. It's not an outward thing. So
we see that this is, we find the true wise man in this. He
builds his house, his life, his faith upon Christ and him crucified. You show me a man, a woman who
trusts in Christ alone for salvation and I'll show you one who's truly
wise. I'll show you a doer of the word.
And a fool is just the opposite. He builds his house upon the
sand. To put any credence, to put any
acceptance, trust in the work and doing of our flesh is to
build upon sand. That's what the Lord's telling
us here. To do that is to build upon a sinking foundation. And this is crucial. I'm telling
you, friends, it's crucial. Every hearer only has one thing
in common. You know what it is? None of
them see themselves as the Bible describes them to be. Let me repeat that. Hearers only,
none of them see themselves as the Bible declares them to be. How does God's word describe
us? Totally depraved. totally corrupt,
degenerate, and immoral, totally unable, totally incapable of
providing what God requires from man. And you'll always be a hearer
only if you do not hear the gospel as a depraved, incapable sinner. Let me say that another way.
You'll never be a true doer of the Word until you see that you're
incapable of doing what God requires and trust only what Christ has
done for you. So are you still with me? Okay.
People say that salvation's not by works. It most certainly is.
But it's the work of Christ alone, not my work. But He is. Not by works of righteousness,
we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. And if
God enabled you to be, to truly hear as a sinner, oh, what a
wonderful gift that is. If God would enable us to truly
hear as a sinner, you'll hear differently than one who's a
hearer only. I can assure you of that. Matter
of fact, I can prove that from the Word of God. Turn back with
me to James now, chapter 1. James, chapter 1. Again, verse
22. Be ye doers of the Word, and
not hearers only, deceiving your own self. For if any man be a
hearer of the Word, and not a doer, He is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass. That's talking about a mirror.
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway
forgetteth what manner a man he is or was. Now there are great
lessons to be learned here. Are you interested? I hope you
are. The man, the woman, the sinner that is a hearer only.
The man, the woman who is not a doer of the Word. They are
one who looks into a mirror. They look into the mirror of
God's Word. That's what this is talking about.
That's what God's Word is. It's a mirror. It reveals to
us ourselves. The mirror shows us what we are. We look into this glass, this
mirror of God's Word, and we see what we are. What do we see? Oh, we see that there's none
righteous. No, not one. We see that there's
none that understands. We see that there's none that
seeks God. We see that we're all gone out
of the way, our way. We see that we're a sinful nation. We see that we're a people laden
with iniquity. We see that we're evildoers.
When we look into this perfect law of liberty. We see that we're
children that are corruptors, ones who have forsaken God, ones
who have provoked the Holy One of Israel into anger. We see
that we're completely sick. Like Isaiah, we see that the
whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. From the sole of
the foot even to the head, we see that there's no soundness
in it. Has God shown you that? When you look into God's Word,
has God shown you what you are? Just wounds, bruises, and putrefying
sores that are unbound and unclothed, unsoothed with ointment. And
we look into God's Word and we see what we are and we cry that
we're undone. We declare that we're men and
women with unclean lips. We see that everyone around us
is in the same condition. We dwell in the midst of a people
who are like us, unclean, for we have seen the Holy King, the
Lord of hosts, Isaiah 6-5. That's what we see when we look
into the mirror of God's Word. We look at this world and we
see what God saw concerning the wickedness of mankind in the
days of Noah. You know the passage 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 continually. Not only evil, but only evil
continually. You see, hearers only look into
the mirror of God's Word, and two sad things happen. He beholds,
he looks upon himself, and the scripture says he goeth his way.
He goeth his way. There's a way that seems right
unto man, but the end thereof is the way of death. And secondly,
he straightway forgets what manner of man he was or is. Now I know that we all got eagle
eyes when it comes to seeing the faults and the sins of others. But we possess elephant memories
when it comes to remembering the faults of ourselves. Oh my, when we look into the
mirror of God's Word, it doesn't lie. We see that we're depraved,
incapable, and unwilling. And hearers only, through their
own personal negligence, go their way. And they forget what manner
of men and women they are. It becomes meaningless to them.
They deceive themselves. They forget that in their flesh
there dwells no good thing. And friends, when you hear the
gospel as a true sinner, you'll hear with great personal need. You'll see that grace is a necessity. You'll see that you need redemption. You'll see that you need an atonement. You'll see that you need God's
holy justice to be appeased for you. When you hear the gospel
as a sinner, you'll see that it's not just a doctrine. It's
a necessity. It's a matter of life. It's a
must. You see that you must believe
in a substitute. You'll see that you must be born
again from on high. You'll see that Christ must be
lifted up. You'll see that you must look
to Him to live. These things are a must. You'll
see that Christ must increase, as we talked about in the first
hour. And you'll see that you must
decrease. You'll see that you must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. And look at verse 25. But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, and continueth therein. Oh, that's an important
phrase right there. And continueth therein. He being
not, what, a forgetful here, but a doer of the work, this
man shall be blessed in his deeds. Did you know that the Greek word
here for looketh means to stoop down? To stoop down. You cannot see Christ from a
high and lofty position. You must stoop. We've got to
decrease. The way up in the kingdom of
heaven is always down. Pride goes before destruction
and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16, 18. And our Lord
said, for whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Well, where does
the one who stoops down look? Well, he looks, James said, into
the perfect law of liberty. That's the gospel. That's exactly
what that is. The gospel is the perfect law
of liberty. Now listen, if you don't know
this, I hope that you'll learn it today. In Christ, you're perfect. Perfect. We're not perfect by
our work of righteousness. We do. All our work is imperfect. Matter of fact, it's filthy rags. God accepts only perfection. Do you remember what Hebrews
chapter 10 verse 14 says? It says, for by one offering,
he, Christ, hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. How
did he perfect them forever? Putting away their sin. How did
He put away their sin? He put away their sin by the
sacrifice of Himself, Hebrews 9.26. And you know, I've heard,
you've heard people say, I'm not perfect, but, and usually
what they go on to say is, I'm not perfect, but I'm not as bad
as those hypocrites down at Bible Baptist Church or something to
that effect. I remember someone telling my
friend Todd Nyberg once that they weren't perfect, and before
they could get butt out of their mind, Todd said, I am. He said,
I'm not perfect. Todd said, I am. And they looked
at him kind of funny. He said, Christ has perfected
me forever. That's the way the child of God
needs to think. Not that we think we're... something
in and of our own right, but I'll tell you what, I think I'm
pretty special if Christ died for me. Not in a haughty, arrogant
way, but in a very humble, submissive way. That's what the blood and
sacrifice of Christ does. It perfects forever them that
are sanctified. Oh, I wish that I could truly
get a hold of that like I want to. You see, the gospel is the
perfect law. Now listen, it's not a law that
you keep. It's a law that you possess. It's a new law of nature. It
becomes your nature to believe the gospel. You cannot not believe
the gospel. You know what I mean, child of
God. Nothing else makes any sense. You cannot not believe it. It's
the believer's new nature to be in a constant state of repentance. It's now the child of God's nature
to have constant holiness and to have a constant hatred of
sin. Isn't that what Paul said in
Romans chapter 8 verse 2? He said, for the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of
sin and death. Believers are under a different
law. We don't decide to believe, we're
given a new nature, a new life to believe. We're new creatures
in Christ Jesus. We don't make a choice to love
God. We're given a new nature that loves God. You see the difference? It's not a work of doing. It's
a gift that we were given. This is a gift. This is a law
that's written in our hearts. Out of the heart proceeds All these things. James is telling
us that this is the perfect law of liberty. This is the perfect
law of freedom. That's what that word liberty
means. Are you interested in freedom? That's what the word
liberty means. There's nothing more liberating
than the gospel. Do you know what I find liberating? Not giving me something to do
in order to be saved. That's so liberating. There's
so much freedom in that. It's liberating for me to know
that salvation is all of grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. If I can do something to obtain
salvation, then I can certainly do something to lose it. And I don't find any liberty,
I don't find any freedom, no liberation in that. Do you? There's
no liberty in obtaining redemption by my works if I can lose my
redemption by my works. What great liberty, what great
freedom is found in knowing that there's not one work, not one,
not one work that I'm called upon to do that will accomplish
my salvation. Isn't that liberating? That's true freedom. And I say
it every week. Christ has provided for me all
that God requires of me. That's freedom. That's freedom. The gospel is the perfect law
of liberty. I hope you never read that verse
and think of it the same again. Anything given to the sinner
to do to obtain salvation by a work of the law only brings
about bondage. The doer of the Word is free
in Christ Jesus. That's why Paul said this, he
said, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us
free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Don't
be tangled again with it. You're free in Christ, there's
liberty in Christ. Well, let me close with what
is the key to being a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.
Again, verse 25. But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, the first thing we see is in continueth therein. The doer never quits. He perseveres. He doesn't go
anywhere else. He never graduates from being
a sinner. He or she always continues in
the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. They continue to trust in the
work of Christ and nothing else. Now, isn't that liberating? The second thing is, whosoever
looketh into the perfect law of liberty, being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work. Do you remember what the work
of God is? This is the work of God that you believe on Him who
He has sent. We're right back to faith in
Christ. This is the work of God that
you believe on Him whom He has sent. And this is the will, this
is the work of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth
the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life, and
I'll raise Him up at the last day. Now, the doer of the word. believes that Christ is who He
said He is. Believes what Christ did for
sinners and believes that Christ did what His Father sent Him
to do. And that's it. That's what our Lord said. If
thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Romans 15, 13 says, Now the God
of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. That's where joy and peace is
found in believing that you may abound in hope through the power
of the Holy Ghost. Someone might ask, well, how
does knowing that you're totally depraved and totally incapable
and totally unwilling, how do you find any joy, peace, and
hope in that? Answer, in believing. In believing. and believing that Jesus Christ
is all my righteousness. I have none. My righteousness
is filthy rags. I have nothing to offer God that
He will accept. Christ is all that I have to
offer God, and He's accepted. Oh, I'm accepted in the Beloved,
that being the Lord Jesus Christ. How am I in believing that Jesus
Christ is my only means of satisfying God's law and justice? In believing
that Jesus Christ is my prophet, and He's my priest, and He's
my King. According to verse 25, this is
a man, woman, that shall be blessed in his or her deed. Do you have
a marginal Bible? Mine says, in his doing. That's
a paradox, isn't it? We are blessed in what we do
when we don't do anything. We're blessed in what we do when
we can't do anything. Remember, we're incapable. But
we're blessed in what we do only when we believe who Christ is
and what He's done for us. He's blessed in His doing. You know why that's such a blessing?
Because Christ's doing is now considered my doing. Right? Christ's doing, His righteousness,
is now considered mine. He was made to be sin for us
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. We simply rest
in what Christ has done for us. That's what being a doer of the
Word is. This is why our Lord says to
us, well done, thy good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the
joy of the Lord. Shout of God, Christ has well
done for you. I hope you now see what it means
to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. Only in Christ. Only in Christ am I a doer of
the word and not a hearer only. Amen.