James 1:23-27 Check Yourself Proposition: Only by putting God’s Word into practice will we find its true value Introduction Bible Trivia – Leonard Sweet The prince of Grenada, an heir to the Spanish crown, was sentenced to life in solitary confinement in Madrid's ancient prison. The dreadful, dirty, and dreary nature of the place earned it the name, "The Place of the Skull." Everyone knew that once you were in, you would never come out alive. The prince was given one book to read the entire time: the Bible. With only one book to read, he read it hundreds and hundreds of times. The book became his constant companion. After 33 years of imprisonment, he died. When they came to clean out his cell, they found some notes he had written using nails to mark the soft stone of the prison walls. The notations were of this sort: Psalm 118:8 is the middle verse of the Bible; Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except the letter J; the ninth verse of the eighth chapter of Esther is the longest verse in the Bible; no word or name more than six syllables can be found in the Bible. This individual spent 33 years of his life studying what some have described as the greatest book of all time. Yet he could only glean trivia. From all we know, he never made any religious or spiritual commitment to Christ. He simply became an expert at Bible trivia. – Leonard Sweet, Your Church in Today's Fluid Culture (Group Publishing, 1999), p. 59 James exhorts us this morning to use God’s Word as more than a book of trivia Only by putting God’s Word into practice will we find its true value Principle: Check Yourself with the Word (vv. 23-24) Foolish The Man who does nothing with the word 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. The man who hears the word but does nothing with it, Is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror, but immediately forgets what he sees What good is the time spent gazing into the mirror, if it never brings any improvement? Jesus calls this man a fool in Matthew 7 The foolish man built his house on the sand The rains came and the floods rose & his house fell What do we do with these kinds of people? Do we just cast these people aside? Ezekiel 33:30-33 "But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, 'Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.' 31 "They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. 32 "Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. 33 "So when it comes to pass-- as surely it will-- then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst." The word faithfully proclaimed is A witness against them A critical part of our putting the word into action Blessed is The Man who puts the word in action 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. The one who looks intently at the perfect law The Law is Perfect The Word of God is exactly what we need (sufficient) It reveals who God is without error and without omission Every one of His attributes is made known His glory, holiness, righteousness, grace, mercy etc. It reveals who we are without error and without omission Our failings and need for a Savior is exposed Our great hope is revealed in Jesus Christ The Law brings liberty Those who do not understand see the Word of God as a book of restrictions and prohibitions They see God as a cosmic killjoy and taskmaster Those who have matured in Christ see God’s Word as a gift of God’s provision and deliverance We see God as a loving father The one who abides by this Law Is not a forgetful hearer Those who do not live out the provisions of God’s Word quickly forget what they have read and heard How long does it take to forget what you have read from the Bible? How long does it take to forget what you have heard from the Sunday Sermon? But an effectual doer The truth and freedom of God’s Word is found only through experiencing its truth by putting it into practice Some things can only be tested by action Jesus calls this man wise in Matthew 7 The man who hears His words and acts upon them is like the man who built his house on the rock The rains fell and the floods rose, but his house stood firm Practical: Two Easy Means of Measuring Check Your Tongue (v. 26) 26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. Do you think you have it all together spiritually speaking? If you do not control your tongue You deceive your own heart Your religion is worthless What do the words you use say about you? Does the content of your speech honor the Lord or yourself or others or no one? Does the content of your speech show integrity and honesty? What does the manner of your speech say about you? Do not discount the value of how you say things Tone of voice and body language communicate at least as much as our words Do speak the truth with love or with the sword? Are your words winsome or divisive? Check Your Religious Practice (v. 27) 27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James gives two examples of pure and undefiled religion Pure = “one thing” (pure gold or pure water) Undefiled = Not dirtied, sullied or polluted Religion = Practices performed to please the person we worship (i.e. God, self, idols etc.) External: To visit orphans and widows in their distress What personal advantage is to be gained by ministering to orphans or widows? Do they generally have position, power, wealth, influence etc. Ministry to those who can give nothing in return allows us to honor God without the temptations of personal gain Internal: To keep oneself unstained by the world Remember James has been exhorting us to put the Word into action True religion is acting on the Word in the midst of the unregenerate masses without becoming corrupted by the world It is not Monasticism – withdrawal from the culture at large We cannot actively take the Gospel to those with whom we do not engage on a daily basis It is not Syncretism – consecrating and adopting cultural norms and standards This is the error of taking pagan ideas or objects and calling them sacred This is the danger the church faces as we face pressure to cave into cultural standards on sexuality, marriage, sanctity of human life, war, politics, economics etc. This is a truly fine line to walk, but a necessary one Actively engaging with our culture without compromising our commitment to honor the Lord Therefore: Only by acting on the Word of God will we find its true value Religion Doesn't Equal Faith – Mark Galli – Christianity Today "One can love religion like anything else in life: sports, science, stamp collecting. One can love it for its own sake without relation to God or the world or life," wrote Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann in his journals. "Religion fascinates; it is entertaining. It has everything that is sought after by a certain type of person: aesthetics, mystery, the sacred, a feeling of one's importance and exclusive depth, etc. That kind of religion is not necessarily faith." – Mark Galli, "The Thirst of the 24/7 Fan," Christianity Today (3-28-05) Are We Addicted to Negative Words? Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Words That Hurt, Words That Heal, has lectured throughout this country on the powerful, often negative impact of words. He often asks audiences if they can go 24 hours without saying any unkind words about, or to, another person. Invariably, a small number of listeners raise their hands, signifying "Yes." Others laugh, and quite a few call out, "No!" Telushkin responds: "Those who can't answer 'yes' must recognize that you have a serious problem. If you can't go 24 hours without drinking liquor, you're addicted to alcohol. If you can't go 24 hours without smoking, you're addicted to nicotine. So if you can't go 24 hours without saying unkind words about others, then you've lost control over your tongue." Mark Mitchell, "The Life-Giving Tongue," Qoheleth blog (11-15-13) The Terrible Price of Sin In his book Finishing Strong, Steve Farrar sums up well the terrible price of sin: "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you're willing to pay." Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois; source: Steve Farrar, Finishing Strong (Multnomah, 2000), p.