Download The Purpose of God`s Word

The Purpose of God’s Word
(James 1:21b-25) Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is
able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a
doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he
observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man
he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in
it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be
blessed in what he does.
Sunday after Sunday we come to church, we sit through Sunday
school, discussion, worship through singing, and then preaching. We hear
over and over that the child of God is to be a doer of the word, and we hear
over and over what the purpose of the word is to be to the believer.
James gives us three main purposes of what the Word of God is to be.
1. It is to be a seed
2. It is to be a mirror
3. It is to be a law
Last week, we discussed how to react during trials, and today, we will
be discussing the purpose of God’s word, and what we are to do with his
word.
God’s word is to be a seed
In verse 21, James tells us that God’s word is to be a seed. Now, last
week we discussed this verse in detail, so this morning I am going to briefly
explain what this means.
When we accept Christ into our lives, God’s word is implanted into
our hearts. Seeds when planted are expected to grow. God’s word is
purposed to grow within our lives as we cultivate the art of studying the
word of God.
James says that the implanted word is able to save our souls. Now,
not only is God’s word what causes us to be changed eternally, but God’s
word as a seed implanted within our hearts is also able to save us presently.
The word for save in this passage of scripture means to preserve,
deliver, and protect. Through God’s word, we are preserved. Through
God’s word we can find deliverance. And, through God’s word we find
protection.
As we read in the bible, a story of where the seed of God’s word was
active in all of these area’s is the story of when Jesus was being tempted of
the devil for 40 days and 40 nights.
As Jesus was being tempted, the bible confirms these three aspects of
the seed of the word in Jesus’ heart. First, Jesus was preserved because the
word was in him. The word preserved means kept. Jesus was kept from
giving in to temptation because he had hidden God’s word in his heart.
(Psalm 119:11) Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not
sin against you.
(Psalm 37:31) The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall
slide.
Because Jesus had studied the word of God, and because he had
pondered the word and taken it to heart, the word of God preserved or kept
him from the hands of the enemy.
As we study the word of God, we are to memorize and take to heart
the things that we study so that we too will be preserved during time of
temptation.
Second, Jesus was delivered because of the word. As Jesus was being
tempted, because he knew the word of God, he was able to use the word as a
sword. The sword of the word delivers from the hands of the enemy.
(Ephesians 6:17b) The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.
(Hebrews 4:12) For the word of god is living and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and
spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.
God’s word when applied in faith will cut right through the lies of the
enemy, thereby delivering us from a time of temptation.
Thirdly, God’s word protected Jesus during his moment of trial.
Because of Jesus’ meditation on the precepts of the law of God, instead of
him giving in during the moment of testing, his heart was set on obeying
what God had said in his word. Had Jesus not meditated on the word of God
and known what his word said, Jesus could have plummeted to his death as
Satan told him to jump from the mountain and the angel would protect him
from dashing his foot against a stone.
Jesus was protected from the scheme’s of the devil because he knew
the word of God.
God’s word is a seed that is implanted in our hearts at the moment of
salvation, but we are to cultivate that seed so that it grows into maturity. If
the seed remains stagnant, then we may lose the battles we are faced against.
If the seed does not grow, then we may not be saved in present trials.
The seed of God’s word works out salvation in the believers life not
only eternally but also presently.
James telss us to be doers of the word
v.22-James says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves.”
Before we discuss God’s word being a mirror, I first want to elaborate
on being a doer of the word of God. James goes into detail that we are not to
just hear the word, but rather we are to do the word, we are to work the
word, we are to apply the word that is heard spoken or read.
In our churches we have the same problem that James was
encountering during his day. James was trying to get the people to
understand that being a hearer only is not what God’s word was intended
for. God’s word is intended to transform our lives.
If you do not have a transformed life, then you may need to check to
see if you are just a hearer and not a doer. James goes on further as we will
discuss that if you are just a hearer of the word, then you may not be saved
at all, thereby deceiving yourselves into thinking that you belong to God, but
in reality you belong to the kingdom of darkness rather than the kingdom of
light.
The word is to actively transform our lives. We must not only hear
what the word says, but we must do what the word says to do.
I have a question that I want to ask you. Why do you come to church
to hear the preaching and teaching of the word of God? Is it so that you can
apply what you have heard, or do you come because religion tells you to,
and you are in the habit of doing so because you are in the bible belt.
There are a many of people who study the bible for different reasons,
some study it to prove it wrong, some study the bible to disprove cults, some
study the bible to become experts in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic grammar.
Some study the bible devotionally, others doctrinally, some homiletically,
but we are not to be mere hearers of the word, we are to be doers of the word
we hear.
Simply reading, even studying, God’s word does not profit us if we
don’t do what it says. We learn God’s word not just to know it, but also to
do it.
Story of wealthy homeless man dying
I heard a story of a homeless man a few years ago who had been
found dead on the streets. The homeless man was very frail. As the
authorities began to search the homeless man to find and identity card on
him what they discovered shocked all of them.
Inside the homeless mans pants and pockets, they found thousands of
dollars. If I remember correctly, they found like $15-$30,000. As an
autopsy was performed on the man to determine his death, it was discovered
that the homeless man had died from starvation.
Now one may wonder why in the world would a man who had this
kind of money die from starvation when he could have invested in buying a
food shack.
My answer would be because he was a hoarder but not a spender.
This man was like so many in the church is today. Many in the
church come and hear the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, but
they only hear the word but do not act on what they hear.
If you had a million dollars on your person at this very moment but
refused to use the money, then the money would be useless. It would be
nothing more than cotton in your pocket.
The money only become profitable as you use it. That is the same
way it is with the word of God. Many hear the word but they never use the
word, they don’t apply the word, they don’t work the word, and because
they don’t act on what they hear, the word is useless in their lives.
Many come to church who are unsaved
Countless men, women, and children come to church regularly and
make a strong profession of being a Christian, but whose lives testify that
they are not. They regularly listen to the preaching of the word, claim to
believe it, and discuss it with fellow church members, yet their hearts are
devoid of the saving, transforming grace of God.
Many take advantage of the privilege of hearing God’s word, but they
have no desire for obeying it. These people are called “Sermon tasters who
never tasted the grace of God.”
If a profession of faith in Christ does not result in a changed life that
hungers and thirsts for God’s word and desires to obey that word, the
profession is only that-a mere profession.
Hearers deceive themselves
James goes on to say this about the hearer only. He says that they are
deceiving themselves.
Some may ask, “deceiving themselves of what”, they are deceiving
themselves into thinking that God is their father when in reality all he is up
to this point in their life is their creator.
God only become your father as you become a doer of he word.
When we work the word and actually apply the word to our lives, this is how
we become justified.
When we accept Christ, if we do not have the desire and are not being
doers of the word and actively applying what the word says to our lives, then
we are deceiving ourselves into thinking that we are justified and are on our
way to heaven when in actuality we are not.
(Romans 2:13) For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in
God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
(Luke 11:28) Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and
obey it.
(I John 3:10) By this the children of god and the Children of the devil
are obvious; anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God,
nor the one who does not love his brother.
(I John 2:3-4) By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we
keep his commandments. The one who says, I have come to know Him,
and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in
him.
(John 15:14) You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
(John 14:23) If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father
will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
Jesus just as James makes it pretty clear that we are not to be hearers
only, we are to be doers of the word.
If we are not applying the word of God to our personal lives. If we
are just hearing the word but are not using his word to advance the kingdom
of god, then we may not be saved, thereby deceiving ourselves into thinking
that we are.
The second purpose of the word is to be a mirror
James now moves on and tells us what a hearer is compared to. James
says this, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like
a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself,
goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
I recently read this story compared to the man who is a hearer only:
“A man wakes up one morning, and he takes a look in the mirror, looking at
his face. He sees a day’s growth of beard and a head of messed up hair.
Instead of taking care of his looks, however, he goes into the kitchen to see
what he can dig up for breakfast. The he notices the clock and realizes that
he has overslept and needs to leave right away or be late for work. He
forgets all about his appearance.
He gets to his office, and he sits down at his desk and gets on with his
work. The boss comes in and glances around the office. He stops in front of
the man’s desk. ‘Don’t you have a mirror in your house?’ he asks.
The man replies, ‘Yes, sir. As a matter of fact, I looked in it when I
got up this morning.’ The boss asks, ‘Don’t you have a comb and a razor?’
The man says that he as a very good razor, and he produces his comb form
his back pocket.
The boss gives him a cold look. ‘The next time you look in the
mirror,’ he says, ‘do something about it. That’s my advise to you.’”
This is a good story that explains what a mirror is for. A mirror is to
reflect the image on the other side. The word of God as a mirror not only
shows us our Savior, but it also puts in our heart the desire to be like him.
The mirror of God’s word shows us as we gaze into it, the vision of
what we are, and what we ought to be.
The purpose of God’s word is to of course show us the image of our
Savior, but his word is also to reflect the image that we are to be. As we
look into the word of God, his word shows us the dirty spots that need to be
cleansed. His word reveals to us the wickedness that surrounds. God’s
word reflects our spiritual condition.
The use of a brazen laver
In the Old Testament, the priest, in approaching the tabernacle, came
first to the brazen alter. At the brazen alter he would offer the appropriate
sacrifice. Blood was shed as he realized that he needed a radical cleansing
for sin. As the priest made the sacrifice to make his way into the Holy of
Holies, he had another stop to make. The blood sacrifice covered his sins,
but his cleansing wasn’t complete until he made a stop by the brazen laver.
The brazen lave was a bowl which was made out of polished metals.
The metals that we polished were made so that one could see the reflection
of his image. At the brazen alter before entering into the holy place, the
priest had to make sure that he was completely clean before entering into the
presence of God.
Inside the brazen laver was water. The laver was not only a place of
cleansing, but of revealing. As the priest saw the defilement of blood or dirt
on his body, he would cleanse himself from the same laver.
The brazen laver both revealed and removed his defilement.
The word is much like the laver
The word of God is much like the laver was to the priest, the word is a
source of revealing and cleansing. The word reveals who we are. The word
reveals our sinfulness, but the word also cleanses us.
We need a cleansing of the blood of Christ.
(I John 1:7) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanses us from all sin.
But, we also need a cleansing from the washing of the word.
(Ephesians 5:26) That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the
washing of water by the word.
(John 17:17) Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth.
The word of God shows us sin for what it really is, and the word
searches our hearts to reveal to us any unrighteousness that may be within.
The word also cleanses us as we come to the word, whether it be by hearing
preaching, teaching, or through the reading and study of God’s word. The
word sanctify means to purify, to make whole, to cleanse. Before the priest
could enter into the presence of God, he had to be pure, clean, and whole.
We need the blood of the lamb Jesus Christ to save us, but we need
the word to sanctify us. We are to abide in the word, and the word is to
abide in us in order that regularly we are being cleansed and made whole
through the washing of the word in our souls.
Constant and daily study and application of the word will cleanse us
and perfect us. The bible tells us that we are to work towards perfection
even as the Father is perfect. The word produces this attribute as we apply
and abide by it.
Lastly, the Word of God is a law of liberty
Many people have looked at the bible as being one of bondage, yet the
bible is one of liberty. The truths that are contained within the word of God
liberate us from a life of sin to a life of righteousness.
The word of God can be compared to that of a police officer. Police
officers comprise to make local law enforcement. The police are to bring
peace when they come because they enforce the law.
The word of God is the perfect Law that brings peace into the doers
life. As we hear the word of God, and as we act of the word we hear, peace,
freedom or liberty comes to the man who acts upon the word.
God did not reveal his word simply to be learned, but to be obeyed
and applied. The faithful hearer and doer of the word does not study the
mirror itself, but rather he studies what the mirror reveals, which is God’s
truth.
As we look to that law, it liberates us to forsake sin and pursue
righteousness.
God’s word tells us how to and how not to live our lives. His word
tells us that he will strengthen us, guide us, direct us, and empower us to do
what his word says. As we apply what we hear, we are liberate.