James # 6

“A Living Faith”
James 1:22-27
January 25, 2009
Pastor Ben Fleming

Last week we spoke about receiving the Word of God. If you are going to truly receive the Word of God then there has to be submission in your life. James says that submission is shown in our lives by being quick to hear – slow to speak and slow to become angry. And he writes that you cannot receive the Word of God and have no concern in your life for purity. Some one may hear the Word of God but they do not receive it because they do not have a teachable spirit. I have read the Word of God this week several hours and I have listened to 4 messages on the radio --- I have wondered and thought to myself --- did I really receive the Word of God? Was there submission in my life? Is there sin in my life that I am ignoring? Am I humble? Can I honestly say that I have a teachable spirit? Receive the Word of Truth.

When you look in a mirror do you like what you see?????? Some of us have to look in a mirror to see if we have anything in our teeth. Some of us look in a mirror to shave I think women spend more time looking in a mirror than men and I am thankful for that. What do you think God sees in you when you look in the mirror of your Christian life???? It is not enough just to receive the Word of God but our response and obedience to the Word of God is essential. John Calvin wrote, “obedience is the mother of true knowledge”. You do not really know God unless you obey God. The more you obey God – the deeper your knowledge of God becomes. You can think you know God and you know about God but you only really know God when you obey the Word of God. Bruce Barton wrote a strong statement when he said, “passive Christianity is morally wrong.” When we consistently disobey God’s Word we give evidence to ourselves and to others that we are living a life without the spirit of God within us….. Obedience to God’s Word is the most basic bottom line of what it means to be a true believer – we do not believe just a one time… pray a prayer or stop a sin in your life for a short time but a long term obedience to God’s Word. John 8:31 “To the Jews who had believed in Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples.” Last week James tells the believers that they must pay attention to how they receive the Word of God. How do you hear the truth that God gives to us? James said that you have to receive God’s Word with submission in your life. He said that you and I must be quick to hear – slow to speak and slow to become angry….. Have you been submissive to God’s Word this week??? James says that we must receive the Word of God with purity in our lives. Progress in our spiritual lives cannot be made when we do not see sin for what it really is. We must rid ourselves of anger – rage – malice – slander and filthy language. How are you doing? Purity does not just happen…. it is a pursuit that we must have as a passion. And then James said – we must receive God’s Word with humility. We discovered that the word humility was not the word that James wrote – it was the word prautes – which the best translation of it was a teachable spirit……….. what can you do to cultivate a teachable spirit in your life? A teachable spirit enables you to receive God’s Word. When you genuinely receive God’s Word -- James says there is a response. This is where we are this morning … examining how we respond to God’s Word when we receive it. Stand this morning without your bible open and hear the Word of God. James 1

(Verse 22) James writes – “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” A more literal translation of what James wrote would be “prove yourself” a doer of the Word. Write it in on your outline: Prove yourself = to be continual, keep on striving. Who are you to prove yourself to? Yourself. Be a doer of what you hear. Prove to yourself that you are a hearer of God’s Word. Unfortunately, there are those who sit in churches and hear CD tapes and preaching on the radio and TV who can become so puffed up with their knowledge of God…. they become so self satisfied that they do not live out what they hear. They do not prove themselves. James says that we must be people of God who do and live out what we hear in the Word of God. The NIV tends to take away from the translation “ do not be a hearer of the Word of God”.

James used the word akroates – in Greek it meant someone who sat passively in an audience listening to a singer or a speaker. Today --- when you audit a class in college – you simply listen and attend the class but you do not do any outside work. You do not write a paper or take a test. You are never held accountable for what you hear. So – James is saying – do not be an auditor of the Word of God – he is saying take the test – do the homework – do the study. Put into practice what you hear. Have you been auditing the Word of God????? Obedience to the Word of God is a visible measure of true discipleship. Jesus said in John 15:4 “You are My friends if you do what I command you. 1 John 2:3 “He who does not love Me (Jesus), does not keep My words” and the one who says, I have come to know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in Him.” So --- the question today is…

How do You Respond to the Word of God?
1. You must be willing to respond to God’s Word without deception. (vs.22 - 26) “do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.” If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.’

Nobody likes to be deceived. I recently bought a dryer on Craig’s list – tested it and when I went to install it the dryer seal came right off. I have been deceived by people before and even by Christians but this is not what James is talking about……………………When a professing Christian hears the Word of God. That can come on a Sunday morning – you can hear it on the radio or you can sit down an read it yourself. When you hear it and you do not obey what you hear…… you and I make a serious miscalculation. James says that we deceive ourselves. We are deluded. You may deceive yourself once or you can keep on deceiving yourself.

James says “If anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks into his natural face in a mirror, for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” In New Testament times --- mirrors were made of highly polished brass or bronze – but a wealthy person could buy one made from silver or gold. Those mirrors gave a dim or distorted reflection of the person using them but if you were careful turning the mirror and had the right light you could get a picture of what you looked like. James is saying that we as a believer when we hear the Word God we are seeing what we look like in God’s eyes but when we go and turn and forget what we look like we are deceived. Look what James contrasts that person with in verse 25.

“But the man who looks intently into the perfect law (God’s Word) that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.” The way he wrote the words “look intently” --- meant to bend over and carefully examine something from the clearest vantage point. It meant to have the best seats in the house. Luke uses the same words when he described Peter looking intently into the tomb of Jesus. James is saying that as believers – we are to look intently into the Word of God and when we look intently….. we obey what we see….. And then James says that we will be blessed in what we do. So how do you look at the Word of God? Do you give it a brief glance or do you look intently at it from many vantage points?

James says “do not be deceived in verse 22” in verse 26 – he says we deceive ourselves. How does deception happen in our lives? Some one else does not deceive us – he is not talking about Satan deceiving us. He is referring to how we as humans deceive ourselves. Let me give you a few examples:

A. We deceive ourselves when we refuse to forgive and we attempt to justify holding onto the past even when we were hurt very deeply.

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” We are told to forgive in the same way that God has forgiven us --- when do not we deceive ourselves – we forget what we saw in the mirror of the perfect law – the law of liberty.

In Philippians Paul says, “one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. “ Believers who live in the past – who live in past wrongs and hurts….. never press on toward the goal for which God has called them. They remain deceived because they do not forget a wrong ---- that wrong comes out of their mouth again to the person who wronged them or to someone else or they wall off that person from their life. They deceive themselves.

B. We deceive ourselves when we see no reason to submit to a spiritual authority and obey spiritual leaders instructions – we say to ourselves I can handle it – “that is their opinion and there really is nothing wrong with the way I am doing what I am doing.”
Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” James says that when we do not look at the Word of God intently we deceive ourselves.

C. We deceive ourselves when we think we have to have it . We are not content and we believe we deserve it. We say to ourselves we deserve it and I can make 12 easy payments and there is no interest charges.

Philippians 4:11 “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content.” God wants His people to be content with what they have and not presume material possessions that they cannot afford and they have not saved for in advance. Many many believers have allowed themselves to be deceived in this manner and suffer the pain that comes with it.

D. We deceive ourselves when do not care about spiritual purity. “It is just a lunch, there is nothing wrong with having lunch with her – she is my friend – I do not care what people will think.” And yet the Word of God – the Law of Liberty as James puts it says in:

Ephesians 5:3 “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity…” I believe that most teenagers and young adults battle obeying this command. It is so easy today to justify and rationalize what we do and how dare someone else think that there is a hint of sexual immorality in my life because of what I am doing. James says --- the man or woman who looks into the perfect law – the law of liberty and abides by it will be blessed in what he or she does. Sexual immorality has done perhaps more to deceive believers than any other sin. We overlook – we ignore – we say nothing – we rationalize and justify. I have given you four examples of how believers hear the Word of God and then allow themselves to be deceived by not obeying the Word of God. James gives us one more in verse 26 – which we will spend an entire message on when we get to chapter 3.

E. We deceive ourselves when we do not control what we say. (vs.26) “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”

The tongue is not the only indicator of true spiritual maturity… but it is one of the most reliable. It has been estimated that the average person will speak some 18,000 words in a day – enough to fill a 54 page book – many people speak more than that…. especially women – 1/5 of your life is spent talking. If the tongue is not controlled by God it is a sure indicator that the heart is not. Jesus said to the religious leaders in Matthew.

Matthew 12:34 - 37 “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

What we say and how we say what we say and when we say it is crucial. Every believer has got to become a word smith. Every godly wife and every godly girl has got to become gifted in controlling their words as much as they are looking in the mirror and checking their hair. Every godly man has got to put a pipe wrench on his mouth. How many times this past week have you used a curse word or how many times have you provoked your children to anger by your words? WE MUST RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD WITHOUT DECIEVING OURSELVES.

2. Be willing to respond without selfishness. (vs. 27a) “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..”

During the time of James there were many widows and orphans. James is simply saying that if we are really responding to the Word of God then we have to have a genuine concern for the welfare of others ---- especially those in great need. Jesus says that we have to serve them with love and great compassion. Now – there are some of you in this church family who have caught that. We have a half empty pantry that you all have filled and someone in need was able to benefit from that. We have gotten involved in helping others in our church family with places to stay. It is one thing to go out into the community of Carson City and find a homeless person on the street and give them money or food ---- and I have done that ----- but it is another thing to be actively involved in the lives of those in our church family who are in need. All of this that I do --- I do because of my response to the Word of God ---- this what James is saying. When we look out for those in our church family who are in distress we do it out of our passion for God ------ we do not do it to get anything from God or to prove to God anything. Chapter two is going give us an entire message focused on this issue of faith and deeds. I have to say that twice in the past 6 months ---- an elderly widow in our church family on social security has brought food to our church pantry twice. She has caught what James is talking about here – even though she herself is a widow and should be on the receiving end. BE WILLING TO RESPOND TO THE WORD OF GOD WITHOUT SELFISHNESS

3. Be willing to respond without compromise.(vs.27b) “and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” If we are polluted by the world then we are going to compromise. The Word of God is black and white ---- there are no gray areas in it ----- what I mean is that it does not change according to the circumstances ---- but when we are polluted by the world we will compromise. When we hear the word of God we will bend it. We will make it conform to how we have been polluted. You might not think of yourself as polluted --- the New American Standard perhaps translated James words better. “Keep oneself from being unstained by the world.”

Now – no believer is ever perfect and sinless. This is not what James is talking about. James is telling us if we are going to respond to the Word of God we cannot allow the world to control how we view and apply God’s Word to our lives. How does the world stain us? I believe there are 4 major ways – briefly…

* Money. We view money in light of how the world views it. We use money in light of how the world uses it. We do not see money the way God sees money. We easily fall into credit and become the lenders slave. We easily rob God and find any excuse we can not to be a giver. Its our money – we have bills and we have to pay those bills. We have taken the conditions and promises of God concerning money and we turn them and compromise them. To remove the stain – God’s people have to repent and produce month after month …obedience to God’s Word. How are we stained??

* Sexuality. God’s people have taken sexual purity and put it at the bottom. We compromise and we see gray. God’s see sexuality as black and white. Sex is good and it is created by God for enjoyment within the marriage covenant. To remove the stain – God’s people have got to pursue sexual purity with a passion and repent from their compromising ways. 3rd way we are stained

* Submission verses Rebellion. God’s Word tells us that there is an authority structure in His Word. God’s people are to submit to it. The children are to submit to the parents. The wife is to submit to the husband. The family is to submit to a local church shepherd. The church is to submit to the government and everyone is to submit to God. Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft. It is demonic. It brings compromise into the life of any believer. We have to repent and produce deeds of repentance. What acts of submission have you done or are you doing in your life?

* Rights. The world has certainly stained us here. We believe like everyone else that we have rights and that no one must take them away or treat us a certain and we are going to anything and everything to watch out for our rights ---- but the bible tells us that a believer has no rights. The bible conflicts with our countries declaration of independence – “we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain- unalienable rights.” God’s Word tells us that we have no rights and we are slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote to the church at Philippi in Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. “ We must pray and ask God to give us what Paul told us – we must consider others better than ourselves and we must look out for the interests of others.

Close with video clip: The Word of God works in a persons life. It might not be right away and there might be some pain that a person goes through – but it works – it saves and it changes and it heals. Watch this testimony with me:

Let us pray: Dan