Sermon 4/04/04 am

Jim Huskey, By the Word of Truth

As we started on our study of the book of James last week, one of the

things we noticed is that James is a very practical book. It's not

so much a doctrinal book; there are some doctrinal things in it, and

one of those things we'll look at this morning, but for the most part,

it is a practical, applied christianity treatise. So when we look at

the book of James we're going to be looking at things that can be used

every day, just as we noticed in our study last week. It involves

dealing with the problems of life; it involves dealing with temptation;

it involves praying, things on a very practical level.

In the first chapter of James, verse 18, James says, "Of his own will

begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of

firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let

every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath

of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all

filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the

engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of

the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 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; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his

way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 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. If any man among you seem to be religious, and

bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's

religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the

Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,

and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:18-27.

"Of his own will he begat us by the word of truth...." Over and over in

much of the religious world today we do not hear language like that

taught. People, we're told, have experiences, and their experiences

are the basis for their salvation. Well, let me tell you something.

That came "out" of the Bible, a play on words, WAY "out" of the Bible.

The Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible teaches that if a person is a

child of God it followed a very basic and natural process. "Of his own

will begat he us (HOW ?) by the word of truth..." Not by an

experience, but by the word of truth. The apostle Paul, writing to

the church at Corinth, said in I Cor. 4:15, "For though ye have ten

thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in

Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." In Acts, chapter

18, the apostle Paul, as he was in the city of Corinth, in verse 11 of

that chapter it is said of Paul, "And he continued there a year and

six months, teaching the word of God among them." Paul said he begot

them by the gospel. What is that? the word of God. "Of his own will

he begat us by the word of truth....." There are not christians where

the word of God has not been preached and taught. In I Peter 1:2223 we

read, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through

the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one

another with a pure heart fervently; being born again, not of corruptible

seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and

abideth for ever." Jesus had said in John 17:17, "Sanctify them

through thy truth; thy word is truth." That's why Paul in the Roman

letter, chapter 10, in describing the process that brought about faith

on the part of some, and unbelief on the part of others, said "So then

faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." But some

hadn't heard. Why? He said it was because there was no one to preach

the gospel to them. At the time Paul wrote that, however, he said

their sound had gone out to the end of the earth. In Colossians 1:23

he said, "....and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which

ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under

heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister." Now that's not necessarily

true today, because we haven't done as good a job of covering the world

with the gospel as the early church did. But without the hearing of

the gospel one just cannot be a christian. The gospel is the seed

that's planted that germinates and produces. Therefore James said,

"Of his own will he begat us by the word of truth..."

Now the above is doctrinal, that particular point. But then he makes

application that is very practical. It applies to everyday christian

living. I've come in contact with an awful lot of folks in my life who

can quote scripture. They know what the Bible says. That's not the

problem. James says, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers

only, deceiving your own selves." Here's the applied part. If you

don't do it, is "ain't" helping you. It's not until its applied. It's

not until it is put into practice that it avails anything. This is

one of the most difficult principles to get people to grasp because it

applies this principles of saying 'Unless you do what you know, it's

not going to help you.' You see, we are with religion like an awful

lot of folks are about going to the doctor. They get sick, they go to

the doctor. The doctor gives them a prescription to take care of their

illness. Well, they'll come home, take a dose or two of it, set it up

in the window and that's where it stays. A lot of folks are like that

with religion. They'll read a few passages in the word of God and

"Well, I think I'll try that." They try that and that's where it

stops. I remember how medicine was once practiced years ago; don't

know if it's this way now. We lived in Haleyville, Alabama years ago

and the doctor we used there, for one thing, did not like to give

prescriptions. If he gave you 25 pills, however, of a particular

medication, he meant for you to take every single one of them like you

were supposed to do. He didn't give you one more than he thought you

needed, so if you just took two or three of them you might get to

feeling a little better in a few days, but you would not be completely

cleared up of the problem for which he was treating you. You can rest

assured of that. If he didn't think you needed but four or five pills

that's all you were going to get. Well, God gave us what he thought

we needed in this book, the Bible. Now if he had thought we just

needed one or two verses to get by on, that's all he would have given

us. That's why some folks will run over "By grace are ye saved through

faith....Well, that's it, that's all there is." NO IT AIN'T !!!

There's more "in the pill bottle" than that, a whole lot more; and he

expected us to use the "medication" to cure the malady of the soul.

It was designed for the whole of man. The whole of it was designed

for that purpose, not just part of it.

In Matthew 7, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus said "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. 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 that name done many

wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you;

depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matt. 7:21-23. Then follows

that familiar story the children learn about real early. "Therefore

whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken

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." vs. 24,25.

Who was that wise person? the man who heard and did. Isn't that what

James said here in James, chapter 1, just in different words? "But be

ye DOERS of the word and not hearers only (what happens when we just

hear and don't do?) deceiving your own selves." Jesus said essentially

the same in Matthew 7. "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 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." Matt. 7:26,27. Why? it was founded on the

sand. Who was that person? He was the person who was foolish, who

deceived himself. "Well, I built a spiritual house just like that

fellow over there." Yes, but upon what did you build it? Something

that won't stand. Something that won't hold up. When you build that

way you can rest assured that you are going to have problems. I've

known of several people over the years who bought property, built a

house, but they did not know all the truth about the property. They

would find out years later when suddenly underneath the house things

began to happen. They were built over a garbage dump, and as garbage

deteriorates, it begins in mass to shrink. Weight crushes it,

compacts it. So over the years I've know of people who had houses

whose foundation began to cumble and they couldn't figure out why.

Then they began to check and found it it was would on a garbage dump.

And I'm afraid a lot of people have built their spiritual house on a

garbage dump, too !!! The same thing is going to happen to it; the

foundation won't hold.

In the book of Romans, Paul said in chapter 2:13, "For not the hearers

of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be

justified." In I John 3:7, John wrote, "Little children, let no man

deceive you; he that DOETH righteousness is righteous, even as he is

righteous."

Then James used a very plain, simple illustration. "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; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his

way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." Jas. 1:23,24.

Let me ask you a question. When you're getting dressed, getting all

prettied up to go somewhere, how many times do you look in the mirror?

Think about it. How many times do you look in the mirror? Most of us

will stand there, look, come back in a minute and look again, to see

if we've changed any, I guess. I don't know; either that, or we're not

sure what we saw the first time. I don't know if we're hoping it's

improved since the first look, or worried that things might have

gotten worse. But isn't that what James said? We're like a man

looking in a mirror and then we forget what we looked like. Sometimes

I wish I could !!! That's the very simple illustration. He said

that's the man who listens then doesn't do anything. He's like the

man who has to keep going back, back, back, looking at himself in the

mirror.

Then in the very end of chapter 1 he said, "Pure religion and undefiled

before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows

in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

This involves doing; this involves action; this involves application;

this involves being a DOER of the word. Some have said that an awful

lot of what James has written is based directly on the gospel accounts,

particularly on the sermon on the mount. That sure is in harmony

with it. In Matthew 25 we find a rather familiar passage. It's the

judgment scene. Let's begin with verse 31. "When the Son of man shall

come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit

upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all

nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd

divideth his sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his

right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto

them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the

kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an

hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye have me drink; I

was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was

sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then

shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an

hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we

thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or

when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King

shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye

have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done

it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart

from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and

his angels; for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was

thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not

in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited

me not." Matt. 25:31-43. What's the difference between the two?

DOING and NOT DOING. That's it. DOING and NOT DOING. Christianity

has to have two feet. It's like the little fellow who said what he

needed to see was love with skin on it. These things the Lord spoke

about in Matthew 25, you'll notice, are no great things with pomp and

circumstance, just simple things that anybody can do, anybody. Why?

because God is no respecter of person, that's why. It's in the reach

of every person who stands in need of redemption. He can apply the

principles that are there. He can do the things that are required of

him. "...be ye doers of the word, and not hearers, only..." Why?

because pure religion involves doing those things. If you'll notice,

there are really two areas here, one involving, according to this

definition of pure religion, our relationship with other people, our

reaching out to other people. The second area involves self. "..and

to keep himself unspotted from the world." We've got to live in such

a way that the world can notice our kinship. The other morning I was

having coffee with a group of friends and some fellow came by. One

of the fellows ask another who the man was. He said, "I don't know

what his first name is, but he's a such-and-such." He gave a family

name then. Well, how did he know that? Well families tend to bear

resemblance one to another, that's how. One of the first questions

we ask when a child is born is Who does it look like? mama or daddy?

When they're first born it's hard to tell, but eventually they'll

begin to resemble one side of the family or the other, or both. Well,

if we're the offspring of God, then our life needs to show that, so

people can look at us and the first reaction won't be 'WELL, that's

got to be the child of the devil, there.' Why? We bear the resemblance

to a family. "...keep himself uspotted from the world." Why? If

you're going to resemble the family of God, you've got to do that.

There are things you can't do, places you can't go. It's just that

simple. You must behave and act as a christian should. It applies

doing what the word of God says. There again, even though we began

with a doctrinal point, people are begotten by the word of God. They

must hear the gospel, it has to germinate, produce faith, then

something must be done with that faith.

"But be ye doers of the word, and no hearers only.." It involves a

practical approach, and the entire book of James does that. Tonight

we'll look at another problem. It's an everyday thing. The first

part of chapter 2 deals with this thing called "respect of persons".

I know we sit back and say "Well, I don't have a problem with that.

That's not me he's talking about." Oh, yes, and by the time we finish

tonight, you'll know it. We have that problem. We may not want to

admit it, but we have that problem, most of us at least, in one form

or another. Again, a practical application of the principles of the

gospel.