Be Doers of the Word

James 1:22-25
March 7, 2021
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

It is good to be wise for the sake of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus saved you with his wisdom. He saved you with his obedience, his righteousness, his perfect law. Praise the Lord! And now you are growing in wisdom. You are united with Christ. You have a desire to be more wise. And as we go through the book of James, you are being blessed with so much wisdom. This is so good. All of this is God’s good news. Praise the Lord!

Many things can be said about godly and biblical wisdom. But today’s passage brings attention to just one thing. And it’s this. A big part of wisdom is about not deceiving yourself into thinking that you are doing God’s word when in reality you are not. A big part of wisdom is about not being self-deceived into thinking that you are a doer of God’s word when in reality you are just a hearer only.

This is sad and scary and serious. Self-deception is sad because you are doing it to yourself. Self-deception is scary because you don’t even know that you are doing it to yourself. And self-deception is serious because deception is a primary characteristic of our enemy the devil. Highland, please pay careful attention right now and let us be wise in Christ Jesus.

Verse 22 says this. “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

It is wonderful to hear and receive God’s word. We hear God’s word when we worship together each and every Lord’s Day. And we receive God’s word when we read the Bible on our own. Our worship services here at Highland are loaded and packed full with God’s word. And I was so encouraged last month when Patty finished a round of reading through the entire Bible. It is so good to hear and receive God’s word.

But Jesus wants us to do more than just hear and receive his word. He wants us to do his word. He wants us to obey and apply his word. Jesus wants you to fulfill and accomplish his word. He wants you to carry out and work out and execute and achieve his word. What an exciting list of words! Jesus wants you to be a doer of the word - not just a hearer.

This list of words may sound strange to you. It is true: we are not supposed to do God’s word in order to earn heaven and earn God’s mercy and grace and love. In this sense, there is nothing for us to obey.

But make no mistake: now that you are saved, now that you are united with Christ, now that you have the new heavens and new earth and all of God’s mercy and grace and love forevermore, you are to do God’s word. In this sense, there is everything for us to obey. Do not just be a hearer of God’s word. Be a doer of God’s word.

Now let’s talk about self-deception for a moment. Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, “I think I’m pretty decent at being a doer of God’s word.” And perhaps you are indeed - but only at certain parts of God’s word. Yes, we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. But, truth be told, in our struggle to put away our old selves, we like to cherry-pick the parts of God’s word that we like or the parts of God’s word that we are decent at while conveniently avoiding the parts of God’s word that we don’t like or the parts of God’s word that we know we are totally bombing. This is self-deceiving.

We can deceive ourselves when we become proud of our obedience. In James 1:26, you can think that you are religious and feel good and proud about it. But if you do not bridle your tongue, then your religion is worthless. Galatians 6:3 says that if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Because of pride, we can think that we are doing God’s word when in reality we are not. 1 John 1:8 says this: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Self-deception is a big problem.

Wretched men and women that we are! Who will deliver us from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Jesus graciously and lovingly warns us here in the book of James about self-deception. Dear Highland, be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

The Bible commands us to contribute to the needs of the saints and show hospitality. Perhaps you have heard this before from Romans 12:13. But perhaps you are not doing it. You are not contributing to the needs of the saints and not showing hospitality. If so, then please know that you are deceiving yourself. You are not a doer of God’s word.

The Bible teaches us to love our enemies. Perhaps you have heard this before from Matthew 5:43-44 or Luke 6:27-35. But perhaps you are not doing it. You are not loving your enemies. If so, then please know that you are deceiving yourself. You are not a doer of God’s word.

The Bible invites us to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and keep ourselves unstained from the world. Perhaps you have heard this before from James 1:27. But perhaps you are not doing it. You are not visiting orphans and widows in their affliction and not keeping yourselves unstained from the world. If so, then please know that you are deceiving yourself. You are not a doer of God’s word.

And the list goes on and on.

Dear Highland, this is a wake up call. Verses 23-24 says this. “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”

This is a wake up call. Forgetting what you look like is quite ridiculous. Can you imagine taking a selfie with a friend and then your friend shares the picture with you and then you look at the picture and then you point to your own face and ask your friend, “Who is that?” Your friend will think that you are joking. But there is nothing funny about any of this. There is nothing funny about forgetting God’s word. This is an illustration of foolishness. And it is an illustration that is meant to shock you. Dear saints, it is foolish to forget God’s word.

Wretched men and women that we are! Who will deliver us from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Jesus graciously and lovingly speaks to us in verse 25. Verse 25 says this. “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

Dear Highand, do not look at yourself in the mirror. Do not look at your natural face, as if your story, or your birth, your family, your lineage was most important, as if you were most important. Instead, look at the law of God. Look at the perfect law, the law that has been perfectly fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Look at his perfect work, his perfect obedience, his perfect righteousness, his perfect wisdom. Because that perfect law that Jesus perfectly fulfilled has been credited to you. It belongs to you. It covers you. It has saved you once and for all. That is why it is the law of liberty. Jesus has set you free from the bondage of sin and death.

The law of God has been done. It has been obeyed. It has been accomplished. It has been worked out and achieved. Jesus is the eschatological doer of the word. Do not look at yourself so intently in the mirror. Look intently at the law of God. And look ultimately at Jesus.

Jesus contributed to your ultimate needs and showed ultimate hospitality to you by dying on the cross. Jesus loved you when you were his enemy, by shedding his blood for your sins. Jesus visited you in your affliction when you were a spiritual orphan and Jesus visited us altogether in our affliction when we who are now the church and the bride of Christ was once like a hopeless widow. Jesus kept himself unstained from the world for the sake of your salvation - he was sinless, he was the perfect and spotless lamb that was slain.

Jesus did the law. Jesus did a lot for you. Do you see all of it? Isn’t it amazing?

And now don’t you want to do it all too? As a response to Jesus?

Dear Highland, look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and do not forget it. Instead, do it. And persevere. Persevere in your obedience and application of God’s word. Persevere in your fulfillments and accomplishments for God’s glory. Persevere in your love for Jesus. Perseverance is exciting. There is a crown of life waiting for you at the end. God is producing steadfastness in you now. You are going through trials and tests of many kinds. But there is great joy. Do God’s word. Do not forget it. And persevere.

And Highland, if you do God’s word, then you will be blessed in your doings. Blessed is the person who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but that person’s delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law that person meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). That person was first Jesus. And that person is now you. You are blessed as you hear and do God’s word. What a wonderful promise from the Lord!

May the Lord grow you in his wisdom. Do the word.

Soli Deo Gloria