Doers of the Word

We are called by the Word of God to be doers of the Word of God. James 1:22 says, "But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourself." Jesus said in Luke 11:28, "Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it."

There are several thoughts that come to mind when hearing these commands. First, we are already failures at doing the Word if by doing the Word we seek to earn a righteous standing before God. Being a doer of the Word in order to earn salvation doesn't bring God's blessing. It brings the curse of God. So in order to be a doer of the Word and grow in Christ, we must first be clothed in Christ's perfect righteousness. Clothed in Him, we grow in Him as we do His Word.

Second, though, it is a painfully near danger that we can hear the Word and yet deceive ourselves into thinking we are all right simply because we heard it. To put this another way, hearing the Word and failing to do it produces haughtiness at best and hypocrisy at worst. All churches that are strong teaching churches have a constant danger at this point. Constantly learning is a good thing. Our minds are to be renewed daily by the washing of the Scriptures; however, constantly hearing without doing is a minefield of spiritual disasters.

This is why we as a church have as one of our primary objectives to focus on applied, practical Christianity. We want to be doers of the Word; we want to know the blessing Jesus spoke of when he described those who hear AND keep His Word.

This is why you find in your bulletin a sermon notes sheet. Next week we will provide all the adults of the church a Doers Notebook in which to keep your sermon notes. On the back side of the sermon notes is an application page that asks a number of questions . . .

Our desire is for you to diligently make specific applications of the Word of God to your life using the Doers Notebook. And then I want you to do several things:

• Pray about these applications. Ask the Lord to apply the truth to your life and then empower you to do it.
• Return to these applications periodically to see how you are doing. Hold others accountable to obeying the applications the Lord is making to their lives.
• Then speak about these applications to others. Make them a part of your family worship. Speak about what God is doing in your life through His Word. It is easy to talk about football and recipes; it should be equally easy to talk about how God is convicting you and directing your steps.

Most importantly, listen to God in His Word. Listen carefully, and meditate on His truth. Then put it into practice. Be a doer of the Word. By God's grace, this is my invitation to you today.