Hearing and Obeying God's Word
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A small-town farmer, his wife, and his son went to visit the big city for the first time.
Ma went shopping in the big department store and Pa and Son walked across the street to the skyscraper. They went inside and saw an elevator for the first time. They had no idea what it was so they stood there watching. An old woman stepped into the elevator and the doors closed. Only a minute later the doors opened and a beautiful young woman stepped out.
Pa looks at Son and said, “Boy, Go get your Ma!”
As I get older, I’d be very happy if I could find a machine that would make my body younger! If we are being honest, there are things in our lives that we’d like to change. Sure, physical things, but more importantly, spiritual things.
When we read through the book of James, we can’t help but to see our own spiritual condition. He points out areas in life that need a diet or a workout or even just a look in the mirror to make some adjustments.
James is writing to give believers practical ways to walk with the Lord. His is reminding us of the wisdom found in proverbs and the words spoken by Jesus.
Last week we talked about how trial and temptations can be endured and will produce in us faith that can’t be moved.
I was jogging recently and listening to Tony Evans preach a message about waiting on the Lord. He said something that I wanted to share with you because it really resonated with my heart and is right on target with what James wrote.
He said that God allows the wilderness in our lives to produce reliance on God so that when we walk into the promise land we don’t forget that we need God.
Katie needed a dress altered one time. I took her to the tailor, got it all measured, and I asked how much it would cost to have it altered. Can you believe it was $150! I about fell over, but I bit my cheek and told the lady to get it done.
On the way home Katie was telling me that one day she would have a job and wouldn’t need me to pay for her stuff. I told her that it was my pleasure to take care of her and that she should enjoy this time without having to work.
God is our provider! Issue come up when we start working and think that WE are the ones who have provided our promise. The truth is that everything comes from God.
Sometimes, before we learn this lesson, God allows us to go through difficulties to teach us that we are dependent on Him. Then when we walk in the blessed times we won’t think it’s because WE are so great. We will praise Him for what He has done. In the good times and the bad times.
We have also learned that God cares for us, and we should blame God for the bad things in life. God will allow us to be tempted and to go through difficulties, but He’s not the one who brought sin into the world. WE are sinful. No one in this room can raise their hand and say they have lived a perfect life.
Sin brings difficulty because it will always lead us to destruction. It’s God’s great love and grace through Christ that has set us free from that great destruction.
17 As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people.
18 Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right,
19 and they are so greedy that they do all kinds of indecent things.
20 But that isn’t what you were taught about Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and you heard about him and learned about him.
22 You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits.
23 Let the Spirit change your way of thinking
This message is going to be all about Dirt.
You might say, I didn’t read anything in our assigned reading about dirt! I’d say, you missed it! It was right there in verse 21.
Let’s read the scripture together:
James 1:19–27 (CEV)
19 My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry.
20 If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things that God wants done.
21 You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead be humble and accept the message that is planted in you to save you.
22 Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it.
23 If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror
24 and forget what they look like as soon as they leave.
25 But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget.
26 If you think you are being religious, but can’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and everything you do is useless.
27 Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil.
Now, there is a lot of information in the portion or scripture, but the overall theme is that we need to Hear and Obey God. Simple, but difficult.
He says we should:
Listen more
Stop Speaking all the time
Keep our temper in check
Don’t do immoral or evil things
Be humble
Give to the needy
Stop being influenced by the World
If you’re like me, I like to make a list and try to tick the boxes. Is that what James if telling us to do here?
Short answer is yes, we need to do all of those things, but the real questions are Why and How?
James tells us the answer in verse 21. It’s not anything we have done or can do apart from the Word of God that has been planted in us to save us.
So, is James insulting us? Is he calling his readers DIRT?
Let’s make it more personal and ask the question:
Am I dirt?
Am I dirt?
21 You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead be humble and accept the message that is planted in you to save you.
In the Bible we see the theme of Sowing and Reaping so many different times. It makes sense, because God made the world and He is obviously fond of things being planted which will eventually produce something else.
The answer to the question, “Am I dirt?” is easy: YES!
7 The Lord God took a handful of soil and made a man. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing.
There it is, we are all dirt.
During creation, isn’t it interesting that God said everything was good expect for one thing? Remember what it was?
Day one: Light = Good
Day two: Water = Good
Day three: Land = Good
Day four: Sun, Moon, Stars = Good
Day five: Fish and Birds = Good
Day six: Animals = Good
Later on Day six: Man = Good…kinda, remember God had to make an alteration. In Genesis 2:18
18 The Lord God said, “It isn’t good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him.”
I don’t know what Adam did, but apparently He needed a little more than all of creation did in order for God to stamp the “It is Good” seal on him.
It took a woman to complete Man.
But even that wasn’t enough to make Humans “Good” From the beginning, humanity has been causing problems that even a woman couldn’t solve.
All that to say, we ARE dirt because we come from dirt. None of us are clean. We need the cleansing power of the Blood of Jesus to wash us clean.
Maybe we could say that James is saying we are all dirt, and that the a “message” has been planted in our souls to save us.
What is the message that we need to humble ourselves to accept?
It’s the Good News of Christ. Jesus has the power to turn dirt into something beautiful. He has lived the perfect life that you and I could never live and He offered that life on the altar as a sacrifice to atone for ALL sin once and for all.
8 The Law teaches that offerings and sacrifices must be made because of sin. But why did Christ mention these things and say that God did not want them?
9 Well, it was to do away with offerings and sacrifices and to replace them. That is what he meant by saying to God, “I have come to do what you want.”
10 So we are made holy because Christ obeyed God and offered himself once for all.
11 The priests do their work each day, and they keep on offering sacrifices that can never take away sins.
12 But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. Now he is sitting at God’s right side,
13 and he will stay there until his enemies are put under his power.
14 By his one sacrifice he has forever set free from sin the people he brings to God.
Sin required a blood sacrifice. The blood of Christ was greater than any other sacrifice and it makes those who HUMBLE themselves in faith right with God.
Jesus took our punishment on the Cross. That’s the message. That’s what’s been planted in our hearts.
What James is reminding the readers of this letter is that we are all dirty. We must confess Jesus as the Lord and accept Him as our Savior. He goes on to say that when we do, our lives are changed spiritually and physically. We hear the message and because we believe we OBEY. Our lives are changed.
How can you go on living like dirt if you’ve been washed clean? He says obey God’s Word. It’s planted in you. Let it grow. Let it transform you.
What’s interesting is that James might be referring to the Parable of the Sower that Jesus spoke in Matthew 13.
Personally, I think this is exactly what James is referring too. Because the principles are the same. Let’s read the words of Jesus and compare it to the words of James.
3 Then he taught them many things by using stories. He said: A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field.
4 While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds.
5 Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn’t very deep.
6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough roots.
7 Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked the plants.
8 But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants produced a hundred or sixty or thirty times as much as was scattered.
9 If you have ears, pay attention!
In this parable the Seed represents the Word of God, and the Soil represents the different kinds of hearts.
So, what’s our take away from this parable and the words of James?
We must recognize that we are dirt and as dirt whatever we ALLOW planted in us will produce a harvest.
James is saying that if you are good ground the proof will be a harvest of obedience to God.
22 Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it.
Jesus is saying that the harvest is directly related to how receptive a person is to the Word.
This leads us to examination. The harvest in our lives is directly related to the dirt of our soul!
What kind of dirt are you? Let’s look at the different kinds:
Road Dirt : A hardened heart
Road Dirt : A hardened heart
As the Sower sowed, some of his seed fell on the hard packed pathway. This seed was never allowed to get into the ground where it could germinate. It lay there exposed and was eventually carried away by the fowls of the air.
The picture here is of that person who hears the Word of God, but refuses to allow that Word access into his heart. It isn’t that this person can’t receive the message, rather, it is that he won’t! He has hardened his heart against the call of God for repentance and salvation. And, just like the birds in the parable, Satan is more than willing to help this person go forward in their hardness by stealing away the unheeded Word from their hearts.
This is a very serious condition in which to find yourself! A heart that is hardened against the Gospel is a heart that, if unchanged, will eventually find itself in Hell! God’s advise to the hard hearted is this:
12 Plow your fields, scatter seeds of justice, and harvest faithfulness. Worship me, the Lord, and I will send my saving power down like rain.
If you have allowed your heart to become hard, please listen afresh to the call of Jesus. He loves you and died for you. He desires, more than anything, for you to be saved. If you will open your heart to Him, He will give you eternal life and He will save your soul, washing every sin away forever!
Are you hard hearted? Open yourself to the wonderful truth that Christ is waiting with open arms to receive you.
How can we identify a hard heart? This type of life produces no fruit! Nothing is changed when they hear the word that has been planted.
Rocky Dirt: A shallow heart
Rocky Dirt: A shallow heart
There is no depth here. The seeds fall on the shallow, rocky soil and quickly germinate. However, before they can produce fruit, the sun beats down upon them and because there are no roots which can tap into a source of life, they die.
This type of soil pictures the heart of a person who hears the Gospel, understands it and desires the benefit of it, yet they are shallow in their commitment and never truly believe Jesus for Salvation.
It seems that they respond not out of conviction, but from some other motive. Maybe it is a desire to belong, or just wanting to bear the name of Jesus thinking that it brings some benefit or the other.
Whatever the motive or reason, the results are the same! When the sun rises, that is when persecution or trouble comes into this person’s life, he/she will flee from their profession and will go back to the world.
This is a common event! There are many who start out gung ho, but never make it to first base. The reason? They never really got saved!
You can’t tell how much gas is in the tank by how loud the horn honks! It’s only when the gas pedal is applied and the car starts moving that we know what’s powering the car.
Rocky dirt is sad because they profess Jesus, but when hardships come, they abandon that initial faith.
Can you see yourself here? Have you wavered when difficulties come? You see, James is saying the same thing:
22 Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it.
23 If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror
24 and forget what they look like as soon as they leave.
Listening isn’t enough. If you only hear the message it’s like planting seed in rocky soil. It might start to grown, but it won’t stand the test of difficulties. You’ll be like a man who forgets what they look like as soon as they turn from the mirror.
Don’t be Rocky Dirt today. Turn to Jesus and plant the seed of His word down deep in your heart. Trust Him. Don’t allow the issues of life to persuade you away from the truth.
Next Up:
Thorny Dirt: A heart full of weeds
Thorny Dirt: A heart full of weeds
This type of dirt is promising, but it fails every single time.
There is ground here, and the seed is received and germinates, but as soon as the plant begins to grow, the weeds overpower the plant and destroy it.
This soil represents the type of heart that responds to the Gospel in a positive way and gives every indication that it is sincere and valid.
However, it isn’t long until the desires of the flesh or the cares of the world cause this person to turn from their profession and to return to the world they were to leave behind.
This is the type of person who claims Christ, but demonstrates no change of life. Again, this is a life of an unbeliever, there is absolutely no fruit being produced for God!
So many people fit into this category. They come to church each and every week. They come in, come down to the altar, make a profession and than they hang around for a while, but after a time, you look around and they are gone.
It becomes abundantly clear that they love the world, or their pleasure, or their money, or their freedom, whatever their excuse is, more than they have ever loved God.
In truth, they do not and cannot love God because they do not know Him. They are still dead in trespasses and sins and a dead heart loves only dead things!
Jesus tells us and James tell us that we must reject the sinfulness of the world. Our lives must be different. You should be able to look at a Christian and tell that they have surrendered to Christ.
There’s a verse that can’t be forgotten.
15 Jesus said to his disciples: If you love me, you will do as I command.
Well, this sure makes sense, right?
What if a man gets married, makes a vow to his wife to be faithful and true, but then bails on the honeymoon to be with another woman?
Um, first of all, this man won’t be alive much longer, and second of all he confessed something but his actions didn’t prove the confession.
If we confess Christ but we don’t repent, turn from the sinful world, then we are like a person with a thorny heart. It might be a little sin growing that we haven’t weeded out that will eventually grow up and overtake our soul.
We must root out the things that are not like Christ.
And the last type of Dirt that Jesus mentioned is:
Good Dirt: A broken heart
Good Dirt: A broken heart
This is soil that has been broken up, plowed under and tilled in preparation for the seed. When the seed lands in this type of soil, it finds a fertile place in which to germinate.
There are no hard spots, they have all been broken apart.
There are no rocks, they have been removed and the soil is deep.
There are no weeds, they too have been plowed away in readiness for the coming of the seed.
When the seed germinates here, it produces a plant that grows strong and one which in the end, produces abundant fruit. This is the kind of soil every farmer longs to plant his crop in.
This soil represents that person who’s heart is soft and yielding to the call of the Spirit of God. This heart has seen the vanity of riches and the flesh life. This heart responds because it wants to be right with God. It comes because it knows it is wrong and the only way to be right is to yield to God. When the Gospel enters this heart, there is a life change and there is an amazing difference. This life produces fruit in abundance. This is the life of a saved individual!
Does this type of soil picture what your life is like? Are you truly saved today? Now, I am not trying to make anyone doubt their salvation, but I am trying to get you to be absolutely certain of where you stand before the Lord. Are you good soil today?
21 You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead be humble and accept the message that is planted in you to save you.
Why is James telling us to stop living like the world? Why is he reminding us that we have a message planted in the soil of our hearts?
Because each and every one of us has a purpose. We are to bear spiritual fruit in our lives. Being a follower of Christ is WORK. Our work doesn’t EARN us our salvation, but it is a result of a surrendered life. And the work of our lives will produce fruit. Either good or bad. It reveals what we truly believe.
Jesus says the same thing:
23 The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and understand the message. They produce as much as a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was planted.
They produce fruit.
Now you may wonder what spiritual fruit is. If you are really saved, there will be some things that will be evident in your life.
This message is being brought to you today to give an opportunity to look at your heart. What kind of dirt are you?
If you have allowed you heart to become calloused and hard, then you need to let God do His work in your life.
If you have made a shallow profession in the past, but have never brought forth fruit and you know you are still lost, then come to Jesus and receive Him into your heart.
If you made a profession and never really turned lose of the world or the flesh and you stopped short of a total commitment to Jesus, now is the time to come to Him and get that settled today.
If you are found to be good soil, then thank God for the saving grace of Jesus and come before Him with a praise and worship.
However God has dealt with you, I encourage you to respond to His call. He will meet your need today. How well do you know your heart?
Don’t be sad. We have a hope in Christ.
He has paid it all, and is calling us to Him.
Listen to what Jesus said:
9 If you have ears, pay attention!