JAMES 1:22-25

FAITH WORKS OBEDIENTLY

FAITH WORKS #6

 

OBEDIENCE

John Kenneth Galbraith, in his autobiography, A Life in Our Times, illustrates the devotion of Emily Gloria Wilson, his family’s housekeeper:

 

It had been a wearying day, and I asked Emily to hold all telephone calls while I had a nap. Shortly thereafter the phone rang. Lyndon Johnson was calling from the White House. “Get me Ken Galbraith. This is Lyndon Johnson.”

 

“He is sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him.”

 

“Well, wake him up. I want to talk to him.”

 

“No, Mr. President. I work for him, not you.”

 

When I called the President back, he could scarcely control his pleasure. “Tell that woman I want her here in the White House.” Published by Houghton Mifflin, Reader’s Digest, December, 1981 http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=982

 

OBEDIENCE

A grown man awaiting surgery in the hospital was talking with his father.  "Dad" he said, "I sure hope I can be home for Father's Day.  I felt awful years ago when I was 10, because I never gave you a gift that year."

 

The father replied, "Mark, I remember that Saturday before Father's Day.  I saw you in the store.  I watched you pick up the cigars and stuffed them in your pocket.  I knew you had no money, and I was sad because I thought you were going to run out of the store without paying.  But as soon as you hid the cigars, you pulled them out and put them back.

 

"When you stayed out playing all the next day because you had no present, you probably thought I was hurt.  

 

You're wrong.  When you put the cigars back and decided not to break the law, Mark, you gave me the best present I ever received." Holwick’s Illustrations

 

OBEDIENCE

All heaven is waiting to help those who will discover the will of God and do it. – J. Robert Ashcroft (1878-1958)

 

All my requests are lost in one, "Father, thy will be done!" –

Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

 

Faith and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God, trusts God; and he that trusts God, obeys God. – Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entries 8087-8089. Bible Illustrator 3.0

 

Obedience – We all like it when those who should obey us, do.  Actually, we even like it when those who shouldn’t obey us, do!

 

Obedience is something we like to receive, but not always something we like to give.

 

We continue our study in James this evening.

Last week we saw that from James 1:18-21 that Faith Works Scripturally

REGENERATION BY THE WORD OF GOD – Vs. 18

RESPONSE TO THE WORD OF GOD – Vss. 19-20

RECEPTION OF THE WORD OF GOD – Vs. 21

 

This week James continues his thoughts on the Word of God by telling us that FAITH WORKS OBEDIENTLY

 

Those who have been regenerated by the Word of God are not only to respond being “swift to hear, slow to, speak and slow to wrath, and by receiving with meekness the engrafted word”.

 

They are to respond in obedience to the Word of God.

If you think about it, the most important thing we can ever do is obey God.

That’s the only way we could have been saved.

God said, “You’re not good enough to save yourself!”

God said, “I’ll send my sinless son to die for your sins!”

God said, “I’ll resurrect my Son from the dead!”

God said, “And to whoever obeys me by simply trusting Jesus Christ by faith, I will give that person eternal life.”

Salvation is a matter of obedience!

 

John 3:36 - He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

 

And if you are saved, by faith you said something like this, “Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner who doesn’t deserve Heaven, but I believe you died for me, were buried, and have risen again. I trust you alone for forgiveness and eternal life. I accept you as my Savior!”

   

Trusting Christ as Savior was the first step you made in obeying God. It is by no means to be your last. Tonight in James we see that Faith works obediently. We see that:

 

OBEDIENCE IS COMMANDED – Vs. 22a

DISOBEDIENCE IS CONDEMNED – Vss. 22b-24

OBEDIENCE IS COMMENDED – Vs. 25

 

OBEDIENCE IS COMMANDED – Vs. 22a

 

James 1:22a - But be ye doers of the word,

 

Not only are we to confess our sins and humbly receive what God has to say according to verse 21, we are also to do what the Word of God says!   

It takes more than listening intently to please God.

 

It takes more than accepting what God has to say.

We must become obedient to God, doers of the Word.

 

You say that you love the Lord Jesus because of what He has done for you to give you eternal life.  Listen to what Jesus has to say:

 

John 14:15 - If ye love me, keep my commandments.

 

John 14:21 - He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

 

Obedience has always been important to God.

1 Samuel 15:22-23 - …Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. [23] For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…

   

To be a “doer of the word” should be a personality trait.

In other words, obeying God’s Word should be our purpose in life.

A “doer of the word” should be part of my identity.

Being a husband is part of my identity.

Being a father is part of my identity.

Being a grandfather is part of my identity.

Being a pastor is part of my identity.

Being a Christian is part of my identity.

Being a “doer of the word” should be part of my identity.

 

We should not obey what we see or hear in the Word of God just when it suits our fancy. We should obedient to the Word of God whether we like it or not, whether we agree or not.   

 

One of my favorite Old Testament characters is King Hezekiah.  Hezekiah was a “doer of the word”.

 

2 Kings 18:3-7a - And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did.  [4] He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. [5] He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. [6] For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. [7] And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

 

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 - And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God. [21] And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

 

   “The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith.  The two are at opposite sides of the same coin.” A.W. Tozer.  Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 4.

   “I have never met a soul who has set out to satisfy the Lord and has not been satisfied himself. - Watchman Nee,  Leadership, Vol. 9, no. 3.

 

The fruit of the Spirit grows only in the garden of obedience.

- Terry Fullam, Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 3.

 

   Perfect obedience would be perfect happiness if only we had perfect confidence in the power we are obeying.

- Hannah Whitall Smith in The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life.  Christianity Today, Vol. 32,  no. 3. All four of these quotes taken from Bible Illustrator 3.0

 

I see a decision to be made here.  Am I, once and for all, going to be a “doer of the word”?

If I am, obedience is to God is to be my goal, and my lifestyle.  Not just obedience when I feel like it.

 

OBEDIENCE IS COMMANDED – Vs. 22a

DISOBEDIENCE IS CONDEMNED – Vss. 22b-24

 

James 1:22 - But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

 

There’s nothing wrong with being a “hearer” of the word.

We should hear the word by listening to sermons, Sunday School Lessons, radio messages and Bible Studies.  We should hear the Word when we read it and study it.  In fact we are told in 2 Timothy 2:15 - Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

We already heard James say in James 1:21, Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

 

But we are to be more than just hearers of the Word.

We are to be doers of the Word.

Someone who is only a hearer is deceiving, deluding, fooling himself!

   

I believe that there will be many people at the Judgment Seat of Christ who are going to be shocked.  They were deceived into thinking that just because they made a profession of faith and/or walked an aisle, they were going to Heaven.   

   

If a person experiences no change in his life, no desire to obey, no desire to live differently because Christ has saved him, that person is in big trouble at Judgment Time.

 

There are many Christians who study the Word profusely, who wouldn’t go to a church unless it had sound Bible preaching, who know the Bible well, but will be in big trouble when they face their Lord.

 

If you think that listening to good preaching and studying your Bible are enough, you are sadly mistaken. You are fooling yourself. Obedience is required.

 

You may think that I mention coming judgment all too often.  However, coming judgment for the Christian and non-Christian alike are coming.

 

2 Corinthians 5:10 - For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

 

Written anonymously on the walls of a medieval castle were the following words: You call me Master and Obey me not. You call me Light and See me not. You call me Way and Walk me not. You call me Life and Desire me not. You call me Wise and Follow me not. You call me Fair and Love me not. You call me Rich and Ask me not. You call me Eternal and Seek me not. You call me Gracious and Trust me not. If I condemn you, Blame me not. Quoted by Bailey Smith, Real Evangelism, p. 138.  http://www.elbourne.org/sermons/index.mv?illustration+1835

   

James 1:23-24 - 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: [24] For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

 

In Bible times they did have mirrors.  They were not made of glass but off shiny metal.  Some were even made of silver or gold.  By careful study you could get an idea of what you looked like. 

 

Imagine someone looking in a mirror, going his way, and promptly forgetting what he looked like. He was forgetful.   

 

A person who hears the word without doing it is like that forgetful person who looks in a mirror.

 

His mirror is the Word of God. As he looks in it he will find the truth about God, about mankind in general, and about himself in particular.

 

He hears what God has to say and promptly forgets or ignores it.

 

The Bible says, “Love thy neighbor” and he forgets.

The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord” and he forgets.

The Bible says, “Pray” and he forgets.

The Bible says, “Forgive” and he forgets.

The Bible says, “Witness” and he forgets.

The Bibles says, “Think pure thoughts” and he forgets.

 

What is the value of a Pittsburgh Steelers game?  It is basically entertainment.  You can watch a game, go your way, and unless something remarkable happened, forget it. No harm done.

 

But if you listen to a sermon or study your Bible the same way you watch a Steelers game, you’re in trouble.

Don’t listen to a sermon or read the Bible just to be entertained or inspired and then go your merry way.

Instead, the response of obedience is required.

Do what the word of God says!

 

When we have the feeling that on some occasion we have disobeyed God, it simply means that for a time we have ceased to desire obedience. Simone Weil in Waiting for God.  Christianity Today, Vol. 37, no. 3. Bible Illustrator 3.0

 

OBEDIENCE IS COMMANDED – Vs. 22a

DISOBEDIENCE IS CONDEMNED – Vss. 22b-24

OBEDIENCE IS COMMENDED – Vs. 25

 

James 1:25 - But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

 

The person in this verse is studying the mirror as well.

But this person is a more avid student.

He takes his studies a step further.

He continues in what he reads. 

He doesn’t forget.

He obeys!

 

Here the Word of God is called the “Law of liberty”.

It is in obeying the principals of the Word of God that one is set free from the bondage of sin.

 

John 8:31-32 - Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; [32] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

 

John 8:36 - If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

 

Romans 8:1-4 - There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: [4] That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

 

Obedience leads to freedom.

Freedom from worry

Freedom from unforgiveness

Freedom from doubt and fear

Freedom from bondage to habits

Freedom from insecurity

Freedom from anger

And freedom from a host of other things

These are just a few of the blessings that come when we become doers of the word and not just hearers.

 

I want to close by reading you some verses from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  These verses underscore just how important being a doer of the Word is.

 

Matthew 7:21-27 - Not every one 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. [22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. [24] 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: [25] 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. [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:  [27] 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.

 

Faith works obediently. We see that:

 

OBEDIENCE IS COMMANDED – Vs. 22a

DISOBEDIENCE IS CONDEMNED – Vss. 22b-24

OBEDIENCE IS COMMENDED – Vs. 25