 We'll turn to James one James one and we're going to look at a few verses here as we think about doing the word doing the word You know ladies we can come and we've had a a few sessions that have just been practical We've had a few that have been Expositional but if you leave here, and I see all of you are leaving already so they've already had enough but if you leave this afternoon and you don't take the things that you've been instructed in this week that are biblical and Put them into practice then might as well have not come we talked about that last night There's really no point in you coming just to learn more knowledge, right? We want to do the word that's what false teachers do right? They just get more knowledge or more of this but they don't do the word so we want to do the word so by way of opening I want you to imagine Then I'm the owner of a rapidly growing company and that you are my assistant And I want to expand our company overseas But in order to do that I've got to leave and I'm gonna go to Europe for about six months and Do some work over there to expand the company and I'm gonna leave you in charge of the company while I am gone And I take my family over there and I tell you I'm there I'm gonna be send you know calling you sending you emails on what you are to do while I'm away and I'm leaving you in charge of the company while I'm gone And so I do I go away for six months and I come back and in the meantime I've been sending you all these letters about what you're supposed to do to keep the company back here in America going and So I come home and get off the plane and take my wife and kids home and or my husband and kids home But so that doesn't sound very good. My husband and my children home and I come to the office And I'm driving to the office and as I approach I'm stunned as I pull into the parking lot Because grass and weeds have grown up all in front of the building I noticed a few of the windows have been broken. No one's repaired them And I walk into the receptionist room and she's doing her nails chewing gum You know listening to her favorite Pandora station and I look around I noticed the boys baskets look like the three And Debbie's in my hotel room this morning as we were leaving they were overflowing with stuff I'm like, how could two women have this much trash in two days and Nobody in the office seems concerned that I've returned the owner of the company And so I asked the receptionist I say hey, we're we're so-and-so the one that I've been sending these letters to well I've been gone So she goes hey down there down the hall, you know, he's in he's in the room where they're playing cards So I I go in there and I'm I look at you and you guys are playing poker and I'm like What what is going on here and you go? What do you mean boss? What do you mean? What's going on here? And I said just look at this place. Are you have you seen the trash cans? Have you seen the yard? Have you seen the windows? Nothing's been done. Well, I've been gone to Europe for six months Didn't you get my letters? Yeah, yeah, yeah boss. We got every one of those letters as a matter of fact boss We've had letter study every Friday night since you've left We even divided all the personnel here into small groups, and we've discussed those things you wrote Some of those things are very Interesting You'll be pleased to know boss that even some of your employees even committed to memory Some of your sentences and some of your paragraphs In fact one or two Memorized an entire letter There's great stuff in that in those letters boss, and so I say okay, okay You got my letters you studied them and you meditated on them and discuss them But what did you do about them? Do uh We didn't do anything about them now ladies That behavior would be professional suicide, wouldn't it that'd be the end of that company But are we not just as absurd spiritually when we hear god's word without The slightest inclination to obey the letters he's written to us That is spiritual suicide in fact james puts it this way in james 122 But be you doers of the word and not hearers only for if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer of the word He is like a man that beholds his natural face in a merry beholds himself Goes his way and forgets what manner of man he is But whosoever look us into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it He being not a forgetful hearer of the word but a doer of the word This man will be blessed in what he does Now you just have two points here to this outline We are going to look at the danger of being a hearer only And then we're going to look at the delight of being a doer Always again, we're jumping in the middle of a text, which is not my favorite thing to do But here we are and if you will notice James has just been talking about the word of god and the responses We are to have for the word of god. In fact, this verse is often taken out of context We're to be slow to speak slow to wrath Did you know that that is court towards the word of god? A lot of people will use this as in relationship to each other Wherefore my brethren let every man be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath for the wrath That man does not produce the righteousness of god and then he talks about putting away all sin So you can receive the the engrafted word with meekness the word that is able to save your soul And so he's been talking about the word of god But ladies as we consider the fact that each of us that know christ have been implanted with the genuine word of god We have to consider that if we are implanted with the genuine word of god as james has just mentioned We should have more and more of a desire to have a practical Obedience to the word of god that has been implanted in our souls. That's why james says But be doers of the word in the greek. It means make sure that you are Make sure you are I appreciate that question that was asked. What if these sessions are making me feel like i'm not saved? Well, I would say what james says Make sure that you are it indicates that some In james day just like some in our day they regularly listen to the word of god, but they're not real disciples They were interested in hearing the old testament scriptures and the new testament apostles doctrine But they lacked obedience And ladies this is not a new idea to the jewish reader that james is is writing to And it shouldn't be a new idea to us in fact if you would turn over to deuteronomy 28 Deuteronomy 28 The lord warned the nation of israel about this through moses deuteronomy 28 verse 58 If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book so that you can fear this glorious and awesome name The lord your god Then the lord will bring upon you and your decedents extraordinary plagues great and prolonged plagues serious and prolonged sicknesses Moreover, he will bring back on you all the diseases of egypt of which you were afraid They will cling to you every sickness every plague Which is not written in the book of this law will the lord bring upon you and till you are destroyed You will be left few in number whereas you were as the stars of heaven and multitude Because you would not obey the voice of the lord your god And it shall be that just as the lord rejoiced over you to do good and multiply you So the lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing And you will be plucked off the land which you go to possess Did you notice what he said? If you do not carefully what? Do observe these things Then what's going to happen? I'm going to come and destroy you ladies Doers of the word do not refer to the person who sporadically obeys But the one who habitually Regularly obeys the word of god now obviously no one in here is perfect Nobody in here right now has not gone. It's 110 now. You have not gone this day without sinning And if you have well, we need to talk A doer of the word is not in perfection But there should be a consistent Obedience to the word of god a desire In fact the way james says this he says do the word Do the word it's a kind of a person that we should be it's not an act we perform We're just we just do the word we're just doers of the word In fact paul mentions this idea in the letter to the romans. He says for not the hears of the law are justified in his site But what the doers of the law? Hearing does you know good right? It's got to be the doing It's just like you might give your child a command go clean up your room They can hear that command all they want, but if they don't do it they have an obey right In fact one of my children I would tell them to go clean up the room and 20 minutes later I'd go upstairs and hadn't been done and they said I forgot Well, guess what you're still gonna be disciplined. I gave you command. You didn't obey we can hear all we want But we need to do Jesus said it this way my sheep hear my voice And I know them and they what? Yeah, they follow me. What does that mean? They do the word Ladies it's one thing to run in a race. It's something else to be a runner, right? It's one thing to teach a class, but it's another thing to be a teacher It's one thing to bake a cake. I can bake a cake But it's another thing to be known as a baker I remember when I took a cake baking class with my daughter and daughter-in-law long long time ago They were taking the class so they could be bakers and they make beautiful cakes I took the class so I could be with them and eat the icing That was the whole reason for it. I admit it And I am not known. I mean, I love to bake, but I don't make beautiful cakes like my daughter and daughter-in-law do Runners are known for their running teachers are known for their teaching bakers are known for their baking Likewise doers of the word are known for what? Doing the word would someone say that about you if I ask your husband or your parent Does so and so do the word would they say yeah for the most part she does she's a doer of the word Ladies the direction of our life should be obedience to the lord not sporadic obedience Not partial obedience But a doer of the word Well, james continues his warning that we should not be hearers only in the greek a hearer refers to one who audits a class You know what auditors are right? Have you ever audited a class? Some people go to college and they audit the class and you know when you audit a class You go to the class and you hear the lecture, but you don't have to do the homework. That sounds like fun, doesn't it? So they listen, but they don't receive any credits for their class. They're just auditing That's the greek word here Ladies people who listen to god's word, but never obey it. They're spiritual auditors They delude themselves by thinking that hearing the word is all that god requires of them Ladies hearing the word is essential But our obligation doesn't stop there and I fear I fear that many in our churches today are auditing the word of god My husband and I see him all the time They come to church. They listen to the same sermons. I listen to every sunday But their lives never seem to change They're auditing Church they're auditing the word of god In fact, I heard a story. It was true story About a pastor came to church He had it was first sunday in the pulpit new minister there And he preached a sermon the people loved him that it was great Next sunday came around he got it preached the same sermon And the uh people that had called him Came up to him said uh pastor. I think maybe something's wrong You just preached that sermon last sunday. Why did you just preach the same one? He said well when you obey the first one, we'll get on to the second one And uh, I thought well, that's pretty good, you know Once you get that one down, we'll move on to the second one. Maybe that'd be a good rule for our churches Now ladies listen to what james is saying if you hear the word only but you don't do it notice what he says you deceive yourself You deceive yourself the greek word means you are beside yourself. You have miscalculated yourself You have reckoned wrongly Now what have you deceived yourself about what have you miscalculated about yourself? Well again according to the larger context and we don't have time to get into all of james But this man this woman has deceived themselves into thinking that all they have to do Is hear the word have a superficial encounter with it the larger context this What james is saying you've deceived yourself about your salvation Right in that what paul says not the hearers of the law that are justified. It's the Doers of the law. It's a frightening statement Ladies you're not deceiving god He knows and you're not deceiving the people around you In fact, I didn't deceive my husband the first 11 years. In fact the night before we got married almost called the wedding off Because he began to wonder if I was a genuine christian And then you know I've told you before I told tore my house down brick by brick and he used to say he's going to put On my tombstone. She did it her way. So I wasn't deceiving my husband He knew in fact when I got saved and baptized for the last time I wasn't even deceiving my parents because when I called them to tell them I was going to be baptized for the fourth and final time My mom said I'm not surprised. I've seen the change I wasn't even deceiving my own parents. So we can think we're You know deceiving people But ladies your closest friends your family, they'll know they know if you're just a hearer of the word And not a doer of the word Remember what charles haddon's virgin says what you are at home is what you are, right? So the people around you know whether you live the word out or not Jesus says what you'll know them by their fruits. In other words, you'll know true believers by what they do not by what they claim I'm a christian. I've been saved well What does that look like? Ladies the new nature from god manifests in a new life of obedience. You can't fool people for very long They will know if you are a doer of the word In fact in the sermon on the mount, what did jesus say? Not everyone that says lord lord will enter into the kingdom, but only those who what? There again it is do Do the will of my father who is in heaven many will say to me in that day lord lord Did I not prophesy in your name? Didn't I not cast demons out in your name and haven't I done many wonderful works in your name lord? I did all this You know who's going to say he says I will declare unto them. I never knew you depart from me you workers of Iniquity ladies as jesus concludes this most profound sermon in the least obeyed as martin. Lloyd jones says He says it's a frightening thing That people have a mere profession of christianity But they don't possess it It doesn't come into their life and change their life and he says not everyone that says to me lord lord It's going to enter the kingdom heaven only those who do the will of my father in fact the greek there for most most Is is a greek word that means a lot mega Mega in fact when jesus says in another place few there be that find it, you know what the greek word there is puny Puny not very many few there be that find it Ladies, it's not simply a verbal profession of jesus christ as lord, but it's an obedience obedience Jesus gives a chilling warning here frightening in need well By the way, it's interesting to note that the word many as I said in verse 20 in jesus's sermon on the mount is the word most most will say to me in that day James goes on to say in verse 23 for if anyone is like a here and not a doer He's like a man He observes himself in a mirror beholds himself and goes what way and forgets what manner of person he is It's interesting That this man is not glancing verse 23 at himself in a casual way But it's engaging notice. It's a careful cautious observant Stare So here we see a man or a woman. They're taking a good look at themselves They're examining themselves with careful scrutiny Ladies listen very carefully. Here's of the word are not necessarily superficial or casual in their approach to scripture They can be serious students of the word And yet the fact is as chilling as it is some sunday school teachers some pastors Some pastors wives Are not true believers I know I was one of them Some even write biblical commentaries or books Ladies our response to the word not our depth of study Is the issue with god, right? Can study the bible you can memorize the bible, but if you don't do the bible What's the point right Jesus says james says you're deceiving yourself Faith without works is what? Dead dead faith John says he that says I know him doesn't keep his commandments is a what? Liar Secondly the truth isn't in him. He's not genuine In fact turn over to ezekiel. I'm having you turn to some Old Testament passages, but this is good, right? I love the Old Testament Read ezekiel look at verse chapter 33 Beginning in verse 30 very sobering passage He says also son of man The children of your people are talking against you by the walls and in the doors of the houses And they're speaking to each of each other everyone to his brother and they're saying come I pray hear what the word that comes forth from the lord And they come to you ezekiel as the people come and they sit before you as my people And they hear your words, but they will not do them For with their mouth they show much love But their heart goes after covetousness And lo you are unto them as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice And you can play well on an instrument For they hear your words, but they do not do them And when this comes to pass and lo it will come to pass They will know That a prophet has been among them evidently ezekiel had a very popular following among the people they recognized him as a prophet Hey, let's go listen to ezekiel. It's great. It's like going to a rock concert You know, he's got a great voice. He sounds like a beautiful instrument like a flute or a harp Don't you love listening to ezekiel? He's so great God says they love to listen to you, but they will not do what you say and ezekiel was a prophet prophet of the lord God says there's going to come a day ezekiel when they would realize a prophet was among them and it's going to be too late That's exactly what james is saying You listen you might study you might memorize But you don't heed Now he talks about this man that looks into a mirror, which is interesting in fact Back sunday when my husband was preaching. I don't know why I got on the topic of mirrors, but Oh, I know he's he's in romans and he was talking about how how narcissistic our world is has gone from postmodern To being narcissistic. It's all about me. You know selfie selfie And he said by the way go and destroy all the mirrors in your house of course, there's a lot of chuckling from the women in the church, but Mirrors in biblical times They were very different from ours and I agree with my husband. We have mirrors everywhere I don't know if you've noticed everywhere you walk you see a mirror But the mirrors in the biblical times were made of bronze or copper or tin so they weren't Like perfected like ours in fact the people i'm going to africa with he's already warned me They don't have mirrors in africa So I guess I you know need to bring something so that can put my contacts in But the biblical mirrors they did reflect they had some image It did reflect light, but if they weren't like ours But ladies just like a mirror gives physical reflection of our faces The word of god is a spiritual mirror That gives a reflection of your heart. That's what james is saying Well after this after the man looks himself in the mirror notice what james says in verse 24 So he looks at his face in a mirror. He looks at himself He goes his way And he immediately forgets what manner of man he is he forgets what he looks like Despite the here's lingering look in the mirror He fails to respond And the image reflected in the mirror soon fades away Ladies james is giving us an illustration that we all can relate to I mean how many times do we look at ourself in the mirror, you know Then we go away in a physical mirror and forget what we look like right and You know I'll go ran had a that's why I was late had to run to the bathroom get back in here I took a glance in the mirror. Oh, you look pretty bad. Just get up there, you know But you come up here and you forget what you look like. I forget i'm 63 years old And i'm sagging in all kinds of places and I have gray hair and you just you forget right You forget what you look like We forget those defects the same it is with the word of god It's like a mirror that has been held up before us this weekend, right Several of you have come to the book table. I'm convicted. I've been really convicted it hurts I'm hurt too man debbie says how do you live with yourself? We see We see our sins, right? We see our defects This weekend and maybe you think you know what I really need to make some changes I need to make some changes. You might have even been emotionally stirred this weekend But I know that some of you are going to go out that door in just a few minutes And you're going to forget every word that you've heard this weekend Going to go home going to turn the tv on you're going to have a conversation with your husband You're going to you're going to forget everything you've heard However, if you are a doer of the word you will endeavor to remove Those things that the holy spirit has been convicting you of this weekend And bring yourself to the conformity to what god requires by the help of his holy spirit ladies Sometimes our behavior when we look into the mirror of god is absurd when we think about it. Why do we come to church? Why do we come every sunday? Why do we come to ladies bible study? Is it just knowledge? We just want to learn or do we want to socialize, you know, or what what is it? If we're not going to go and do the word How many of you can remember last sunday sermon at your church And if you can remember Was your conscience stirred? What did you do about it? Did you make any changes? And by the way Uh, you know sometimes when I uh go to speak at these places and I get up in the morning I look at myself and I'm like oh my goodness, you know You need to do quite a bit of things before you go speak to these women like, you know Maybe a shower wash your hair, you know do something And just like that benefits you you know for me to get up here and you know be look halfway decent while I'm teaching That may be halfway or three fourths or one one fourth But just like my showering benefits you You know So does my hearing and doing god's word it benefits those around me, right? Well, james says he goes away. He immediately forgets what kind of man he was the going away here is a departure that was a settled condition He did not return to the mirror for a second look He didn't follow up with repeated inspections the look into the mirror produced no result Waste of time waste of effort Ladies if you don't take action on what you see in the mirror, then why bother looking in the first place, right? Why do we look in the mirror? Why do we look in the mirror? Hopefully to you know got to fix our face or do something blow our nose or whatever, you know Get the lipstick off your teeth or spinach that's coming out. You know, why do we to make some changes, right? Now I agree sometimes our physical appearance is so bad. We don't want to go back and look in the mirror a second time, right? And spiritually too you might not like what the word reveals about your heart this weekend, right? So you really don't want to return to the word of god for a second look Or maybe some of you are sitting there saying you know what I have been convicted this weekend But you know I got to get through this weekend I got to get back home check on things and I'll take care of that issue Monday, you know I'll take care of that issue Monday or next week. What's the rush? Some of us will turn on the television will get involved in busy work and we drown out our convictions So what is the danger of being here only you've deceived yourself James now turns to the delight of being a doer always look at verse 25 as we close but In contrast to those who here and don't do we have this person in verse 25 Those who look into the perfect law of liberty and continue in it They're not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work This one is blessed in what he does Verse 25 the greek word look into there means to look down lean peer with care And precision it's a penetrating look It's the same greek word used remember mary came and told the disciples that jesus had risen from the dead And peter and john are running together to the tomb and remember john outruns peter He looks in the tomb and you know goes back out but not peter Peter he's always the funny one. He goes in and he I mean he's like what and he's in there for a long time He looked intently. He's like you got to be kidding. What do you mean? He's risen from the dead That's what james is saying. This person looks intently. They they go out of their way to study its pages bending stooping What do I need to change lord? They look intently in fact the looking into and the greek implies humility with a desire to clearly see Scripture and what it reveals about your own spiritual condition. So it's not just an action that you're doing It's an attitude You're not just coming for more knowledge as you peer into the word of god. It's like lord. What do I need to change? I want to obey give me a heart to obey James is describing the doer is one who has such an intense interest in the word that he goes out of his way to study And bend over its pages with a heart of humility to change Does that describe you? Interesting james calls the bible the perfect law of liberty Why does he call it that? Well, it's perfect because it's complete, right? I believe the bible is complete. I believe it's sufficient That's what james is saying. It's without error. It's perfect Unlike an imperfect poor metal or silver mirror. The word is perfect It's also perfect because it's god's law, right? And he is perfect And in addition to calling it the perfect law of liberty What else does he call it the law of liberty perfect law or excuse me the perfect he calls it a law of liberty Now that may sound paradoxical to you Because we tend to think of law and freedom as opposites But ladies that's not true Do you know as you look intently into the word the holy spirit enables you to apply The principles to your life and therefore it frees you from the guilt and the bondage of sin I remember when god saved me that was one of the most life-changing things Was the the weight of my sin and the guilt was gone that had never been before And so it's the law of liberty seems opposites But it's not as we yield ourself to what the lord wants us to do It's liberating. I remember when I started submitting to my husband I wasn't a very submissive wife. No one was going to tell me what to do And when I got saved and I realized what the bible said about my role as a wife And I started doing the word You know what I found I found out submitting to my husband was liberating It wasn't binding. It was the most liberating thing ever Ladies god's word is not binding. It's liberating It frees you from the guilt and bondage of sin and enables you to live to god's glory. That's freedom That's true freedom So a doer of the word will look into the word they continue in it and they abide in it, which means they stay by it They continue in it. It's like what we were talking about in our last session habitually gazing daily discipline It's like the psalmist. Oh, how I love your law. It's my meditation all the day Ladies The psalmist was not just a sunday learner. He was a persevering learner The one who looks and continues to look is not a forgetful here Notice what james says as he closed. He's not a forgetful here, but he's a doer of the work Ladies, we don't forget what we hear. I know the older I get I've noticed that there's sometimes I forget stuff Deville said, you know, don't you remember so-and-so from last year? I go. Nope. Don't remember that Don't you remember this? Nope. Don't remember that and sometimes I'll say to her Don't you remember the color of that hotel room? We stayed in last year. It was yellow. Nope Don't remember that. So the older I get I'm like, I don't remember everything anymore But I hear a doer of the word determines beforehand. She's not gonna forget what she's going to hear Ladies we should not come to hear the word of the lord And say I'm gonna forget what I hear the doer of the word knows that god's word is is unlike any natural mirror Shows us our sin shows us how we can be right with god And we want to conform to his standard. So a doer of the word does the work They go out and do the work and then notice what happens. Here's the big bonus This one will be blessed in what they do Not just the here but the one that does Blessing here is in the very act of obedience Ladies the blessing is not in the hearing but in the doing Just like the blessed one who endures under a trial you will be blessed in the very act of keeping the law What does psalm 1911 say? Moreover by them talking about the word of the lord your servant is warred and in keeping of them. There is what great reward great reward The psalm of steven says that in psalm one the the one who meditates day and night They're like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season their leaf doesn't wither whatever they does prosper They're blessed. They're blessed Ladies there's a blessing in the doing in the obeying Obedience always brings blessing Disobedience always brings Cursing if you don't believe me read Deuteronomy 28 sometime very motivating portion of scripture So what is the danger of being here? A here only you've deceived yourself Into thinking you're saved Are you a here only of god's word? What is the delight of being a doer of the word of god? You will be blessed Are you a doer of the word? When is the last time You did the word? That you were a doer of the word Ladies these verses are a call to examine ourselves. I know it's not popular But we should examine ourselves Make sure that we are in the faith Letters lord. Oh, yeah I've got 66 of those letters As a matter of fact lord the ladies of our church participate in a letter study every tuesday morning We've divided all the women into small groups and we discussed those letters you wrote Some of those things are really interesting You'll be pleased to know that a few of us have actually committed to memory some of your sentences and paragraphs Some of us are working on memorizing an entire letter That one from james. There's great stuff in that letter Okay, you got my letters You've studied them You've meditated on them and you've discussed them and memorized them But what are you doing about them? Let's pray Father as we close out this conference of being a woman of the word I pray for my dear friends here at cornerstone church And the other churches that are represented here This weekend lord that you would Give them a delight in your word a desire for your word diligence in your word But more than that father that they would be doers of the word I don't want any of them to be deceived into thinking that All they needed to do was to come this weekend and here but lord, I want them to Know that they must go out now and be doers or they are just like that man that looks and forgets What do you look like? Wasted weekend lord without doing And obeying the things that your spirit has convicted them of so father We know we can't do this without your dear help But we do pray that by your spirit and by your people By your word That we would Make those necessary changes and we thank you that we can be transformed glory from glory to glory Even as by your spirit I do pray that you'll bless the churches that are represented keep them faithful Oh how our hearts are grieved even by hearing of this one who Is making a poor choice another one lord it just it's so frightening and I pray that you will Keep these churches pure keep them in your word Keep them faithful to the end. May we be steadfast For Christ's sake and for his glory. Amen