James 1:19-27 “Hearers AND Doers of the Word”
(Preached at Cross of Christ Fellowship in Naperville, Illinois on 6/29/25).
Intro: ‘I could never become a Christian; there’s too much hypocrisy in the church!’; How do we respond?
-Jesus was also against religious hypocrisy; James, Jesus’ half-brother, was against religious hypocrisy
-This portion of the letter exposes religious hypocrisy and calls us away from it.
-Don’t just be a hearer of God’s Word, do it, or else you might just be might a pretender.
-How do we avoid being religious hypocrites?
-James shows us the way…
- BE A HEARER OF GOD’S WORD! (19-21)
We must not be MERELY hearers of God’s Word, but don’t miss this fact: It is vitally important to hear God’s Word!
-Properly hearing—receiving—God’s Word is a VITAL step away from religious hypocrisy
–KEY THOUGHT: v 21b:“receive w/meekness the implanted word”
-FIRST, some instructions from James, our brother in Christ (19-20)
-James writes to fellow Christians, and as Christians we are part of the family of God: “beloved brothers”
-When you become a Christian, you enter into the family of God!
-This does happen naturally, we need the new birth spoke of in James 1:18
-3 instructions for Christians: “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”
–Quick to hear=Eager to genuinely listen to each other (friends and opponents)
–Slow to speak=Not speaking to quickly, but patiently speaking at right moment
–Slow to anger=Not losing our cool and flying off into rage at smallest infraction (traffic, child’s spill of milk)
-Ungodly Anger’s Leads to… “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
–QUESTION: How might you and I put some of this into practice this week?
-PUT AWAY AND RECEIVE (21)
-PUT AWAY: Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness
–Reframes how we think of sin with STRONG & VIVID LANGUAGE: all filthiness and rampant wickedness
-Examples: impatience; using God’s name in vain; gossip; porn; self-righteousness
–Very practical: In the power of the Holy Spirit, put it away! Say no to it and turn away from it.
APPLY: Use this verse this week in your fight against sin and temptation!
–My own experience: it was helpful.
-RECEIVE GOD’S WORD: receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
-“Implanted word”= God’s Word (Scriptures), which we believe and take root in our hearts.
-“Receive”= Hear it, believe it, read it, memorize it, embrace it.
–MOO: James calls his hears to “allow the word to influence them in all parts of their lives”
-Opening your eyes again to see the truth of about God’s glory, love, and greatness
-Challenging and redirecting your motivations and desires
-“With meekness”=posture of humility and openness
-REASON WHY THIS IS NECESSARY: “able to save your souls.”
-Power and Deliverance of God’s Word in the life of a Christian.
–SAVE YOUR SOUL: Gospelà God, Sin, Christ, Response
-3 Tenses of Salvation: PAST (Eph 2:8); PRESENT, AND FUTURE (Rom 5:9)Salvation.
-DAILY POWER FOR DELIVERANCE FROM TEMPTATION AND SIN
-Christian tempted with jealousy; Receive implanted Word, let is shape your thinking & feeling
APP: A key part of avoiding religious hypocrisy is being a faithful hearer of God’s Word—receiving it in our hearts.
–Daily RECEIVE: Open your Bibles; read/memorize/think much on God’s Word
–Josiah Queen: “Dusty Bibles”=we’ve got dust on our Bible, brand new iPhones, wonder why we feel this way.
2 We Must not be Merely Hearers of the Word, but Also Doers (22-25)
ILLUSTRATION: Self-deceived small business owner: Not enough to just hear, we must do, or we may be a pretender!
-Don’t Just hear the word, do it! (22a) But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
-Christianity is a religion of believing and DOING
–DANGER: If we ONLY hear, but never DO IT, we deceive ourselves (22b)
–WARNING: Some people do deceive themselves, and James does not want that for us.
MOO: “People can think that they are right with God when they really are not. And so it is for those people who “hear” the word—regular church attenders, seminary students, and even seminary professors—but do not “do” it. They are mistaken in thinking that they are truly right with God. For God’s word cannot be divided into parts. If one wants the benefits of its saving power, one must also embrace it as a guide for life. The person who fails to do the word, James therefore suggests…is a person who has not truly accepted God’s word at all.”
-A hearer but not a doer is like A MAN WHO LOOKS INTO A MIRROR…(23-24)
`-Looks intently, but then goes away and forgets what he looks like
-We’re like that is we hear God’s Word, but then fail to put it into practice
-We forget: Who is God? Who are we? What is life all about?
-A hearer who is also a doer is blessed (READ 25)
-Hearer of God’s Word: “looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty”
-Perseveres and acts: Puts God’s Word into practice
-RESULT: “he will be blessed in his doing.”
-It works out well! Doesn’t mean your life will be easy, but you will experience God’s blessing.
TRUST AND OBEY by John Sammis
1 When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will, he abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain: Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2 Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross, but is blest if we trust and obey.
Refrain: Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
3 But we never can prove the delights of his love until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows, for the joy he bestows, are for them who will trust and obey.
Refrain: Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
4 Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet, or we’ll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do, where he sends we will go; never fear, only trust and obey.
Refrain: Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
*APPLICATION: Are you a hearer AND a doer? Or just a hearer?
-God’s Word challenges us to be those who hear AND obey the Word of God.
-Non-Christian, begins with placing your faith in Jesus and REPENTING of your sin.
-Believer: God’s word exposes our hypocrisy and graciously calls us to be hearers who do God’s Word!
-CLARIFICATION: none of us is a perfect ‘doer’ of the word—only Jesus.
-God’s Help: James 4:6 ‘he gives grace to the humble’
- 3 Ways we Can Be Doers of the Word (26-27)
-If anyone thinks he is “RELIGIOUS”: Christianity is a religion, set of beliefs and practices about God.
-Not all religions are right or are pleasing to God
-Religious hypocrisy is “worthless” (26)
-3 KINDS OF ‘DOING’ we can put into practice as Christians
1. BRIDLE OUR TONGUE: Keep our tongues under control
-Not giving way to gossip, slander, complaining, bitterness, rage, perverted speech
2. VISIT ORPHANS AND WIDOWS
-ORPHANS: Feed My Starving Children; and those that God puts into our lives
-WIDOWS: Barbara and Susan
-Pray for them, regularly ask how you can help them
3. KEEP ONSELF UNSTAINED FROM THE WORLD
-Turning away from worldliness in our attitudes and actions.
CLOSE: What do we do with our own religious hypocrisy?
RECEIVE God’s Word in our hearts; Hear the call to not only be hearers but doers of God’s Word; by God’s grace
and the Holy Spirit empowering, live out God’s GOOD and BEAUTIFUL design for our lives.
