Practicing The Word Of Truth – A

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Today on Real Life Radio.

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Because he’s saying a person who hears and does not do is just an auditor to the Word of God. And it means this, they agree with it, their hand goes up and their head bobs with it, but they don’t do it. They do not say, God, this message I heard today, I’m going to put into life.

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This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible. What if today was the day that Jesus returned? Well, that’s the life-changing perspective explored in One Day Nearer by Steve Miller. And it’s this month’s featured resource from Pastor Jack. Now, this inspiring book helps you focus on the hope that Jesus is returning. And this book offers practical encouragement to live each day with faith, purpose, and joy. One Day Nearer by Steve Miller, available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series now called The Book of James with the message titled Practicing the Word of Truth. Now, before it became one of the books of the New Testament, James was a letter sent to those Jews who chose to follow Christ. And as new believers, James doesn’t want them to be ignorant when it comes to the Word of God. You see, in spite of trials, in spite of testing, in spite of temptation, we must do more than hear the Word of God. We must do the Word of God. To be hearers only is to be in danger of being deceived. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that when we only hear the Word of God, we make the fatal mistake of observing ourselves in the mirror and then walking away, forgetting who we are, by leaving our conscience and our Christianity behind. Now with his message called, Practicing the Word of Truth. Here’s pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

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Are you a Christian this morning? Huh? Some head bobbing going on? Huh? Why don’t you raise your hand if you’re a Christian this morning? Okay. Put your hand down. Boy, are you in trouble now. That’s exactly what James is talking about. That’s exactly what he’s talking about. Oh, I’m a Christian! Hand goes up, head bobs up and down. You ever see those little dogs in the back of retired people’s windows? Huh? The little dog with the head bobbing in the back of the car. Oh yeah, that dog never goes anywhere. Doesn’t bark, do anything. His head just goes up and down. He looks like a dog, but he’s not a dog at all. He’s just a stuffed piece of whatever. His head’s just bobbing. And in fact, is not a dog. And a lot of people, maybe in the sanctuary, I hope not. Maybe this is for people at other churches. You can get the tape and take it to them. But there are people, oh, you betcha. I’m a Christian. The head begins to bob up and down with agreement. You bet. Hand goes up. Yeah, put me in that camp. Yeah, put me in the camp that the word means Christian. The definition of it is, in this world, I’m just like Jesus. Yeah, I got my hand up. My head’s bobbing. You can count on me. I’m a Christian. I’m a little Christ Christian in this world. So, yep, hands up, heads bobbing. We’re all… in this together this morning. This is serious stuff. He’s going to say to us in several points that we need to be doers of the Word of God. If we are not doers, then we have in fact deceived ourselves. And listen, it doesn’t matter how long you say you’ve been a Christian. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been coming to church. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve sat on that seat that you’re in right now. It just doesn’t matter. The fact of the matter is what are you doing and what am I doing? And we’re not even going to ask the ushers to keep the doors closed today. There will be people streaming out as the message goes forward because I don’t want to hear this. None of us are going to want to hear this. Do we teach James 1, verses 1 to 21, skip, get on over to verse 26? You can’t do it. I’ve tried. You can’t do it. It’s not the way it goes. First of all, in your note-taking, and you’re going to want to take notes today because we don’t want to be a forgetful hearer. In our note-taking, we need to jot this down. Regarding trials, regarding tests, and regarding temptations, the things we’ve been studying about in the Christian life, listen, Jesus tells us this in Matthew 7, verse 24. Jesus says, “…whoever hears my sayings, my words, and does them, I will liken unto him as a wise man.” Don’t you want God to say, he’s a wise man? Well, then listen, Jesus says, to the words he says. He’s like a man who built a house on a rock and the rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew and El Nino came and beat on the house, but the house did not fall because it was founded on a rock. Now everyone who hears the sayings of mine and does not do them, does not do them, he will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. It’s like Einstein to figure out what’s going to happen here. And the rain descended and the floods came and the El Ninos blew and the house fell in and it was a great, great fall. Why? Because one person who heard the word of God said, I’m going to build on it. I’m going to put it down. I’m going to stand on it and I’m going to do it. And another person said, I’m going to listen to it. I’m going to build a house. with it. And I’m going to assent to the fact, listen, I agree with those construction plans, I agree with concrete, I agree with rebar, I agree with plumbing, I agree with all this stuff. They can agree all they want to, but the fact of the matter is, the foundation is sand versus the other who built on rock. And it’s spoken to the believer. Who are we? Are we, in fact, Christians? Well, in this room, there’s not one non-Christian, non-believer in here, is there, today? Everybody’s hand goes up. And listen, it comes right back at me as well. And Jesus is going to ask, James is going to ask the question, well, if your hand goes up, then you must be a doer of the word. And here’s the great two questions. If that’s true, if we raised our hands, then here’s the questions that are most important to us. Number one is, what I’m doing in my Christianity… What I’m doing in my Christianity is it promoting the going forth of God’s word. You have to answer that question. You don’t have to answer it to me. In the silence of your own heart, ask yourself this question. Really, what am I doing in my life to promote the going forth of the word of God? You say, well, Jack, why are you asking that? Well, because Jesus said to all Christians everywhere to go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples of all men, baptizing them in name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Is that an optional verse? How many of you have heard that verse before? Raise your hand. Some of you are getting smart and you’re not raising your hands. Listen, Jesus said that to the believer. So A, I’m either a goer, could be a week, could be two weeks, could be a month, could be a lifetime. Or B, I’m a sender. I’m either a goer or I’m a sender. I will send somebody to go or I will in fact go. So which is it for you? You raised your hand. I raised my hand. What am I doing? You see how pointed this is? See how direct this is? God wants to know what are you doing? James is saying, don’t be a hearer only of the word, but a doer. And you won’t be deceived. What’s implied in the Greek language about deception here in verse 22 is that we are, in fact, deceiving ourselves if we are not doing what we know to do. Example. You ever bought something and it says, assembly required? Personally, I hate those kinds of boxes that say such things. Not because I don’t want to put something together. I don’t have the time. to put it together. So if I don’t have time to put it together, do I have the time to read the instructions? Guys? There’s two things guys cannot do. Read instructions and ask for directions. It’s genetically impossible. They have found a chromosome that… No, we can’t read the instructions. I can put it together faster. I’m a man, I can figure this out. So we buy Junior a bicycle at Target. We bring it home. And we pull this thing out of the box and it’s his birthday. And so we start to put this thing together. And maybe the wife walks by and goes, what is that? I thought you were buying him a bike. It is a bike. From here, it’s a bike. From my angle, it’s a lawnmower. From Junior’s angle, he walks in and he goes, what is this? It’s like a barbecue. Depends on what angle you look at it from. Well, I put it together. I want it to be such a bike without looking at the instructions that I justify it is a bike. Look at it, it’s a great bike. In fact, I put it together better than the instructions would probably suggest it be put together. But depending upon what vantage point you have, the wife might think it’s a lawnmower and junior might think it’s a barbecue. See, it’s all mixed up. You can’t even tell what it is. And a lot of Christians are that way. They listen, they don’t do, they in fact have deceived themselves, and nobody can figure out what they are because they haven’t done it according to the instructions. What, somebody might say, are you? Somebody might say, who are you? And that’s what James is going to address this morning. He is talking about everybody in the world today that is able to pick up the Bible and say, I know God. John tells us in 1 John, to those who say they know God and love him and do not do the things he says, they are in fact a liar, the Bible says, and do not know him at all. Do you know anybody like this? Or in our own lives, do we do this? I know God. I love God. And then I do not do what he says to do. Jesus says, why do you call me Lord? And you don’t do the things I’ve asked you to do. The Lord sits over his kingdom and says, I want everybody to be filled with joy. And somebody in the crowd goes, no, Lord. You can’t say no, Lord. It’s no, I’m rebelling against you. Or no, I don’t like you. Or no, I don’t care what you say. But you can’t say no, Lord. With that title, Lord, you can never say no to the Lord. It has to be, yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, Lord, to whatever he commands, or else he’s not Lord. So the question James is asking us this morning, is he our Lord? Now watch, a lot of people want him as their Savior. Oh, save me. Save me now. But don’t ask me to do anything you say. A lot of people might have that concept because they’re just arrogant and they’re proud. And no one’s going to tell me what to do, including God. We had somebody recently in their deathbed tell us, I don’t want anything to do with God. I’ll do it my way. I’ll do it my own way. Can you imagine? Take Jesus and that Bible and get out of my room. Now, unless there’s a radical change in that person’s life, that person has a horrible life. eternal life ahead, which is in fact an eternal death. That’s tragic. Yes, Lord, is the response that we’re to be making if we’re Christians. Hey, all of our hands went up. Hey, all of our heads are bobbing. So what are we doing about it? This is what James is talking about. First thing, verse 22, first point, practicing the word of God, all of us need to right now roll up our spiritual sleeves and get into it. And that is this. Verse 22, but be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. And so the word be right here, be doers, the word be is a fantastic word. It means to arise, to get up, and to do because you are empowered or you can do it. It’s not a command which you and I cannot do. God will never ask you to do something, by the way, you can’t do in him. Listen, the Bible says in Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ. Are you ready? Here comes another test. This whole day is filled with tests. Do you believe Philippians 4.13? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And Bob goes the head and up goes the hand. And we say, I believe it. Why, it’s the word of God, brother. And I say that’s true. Okay, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Where does our strength come from? Christ. We can do what? All things. Is there any excuses in there for anything? Well, I’m timid. Okay, I’ve only got one leg, so I can’t go door to door. Okay, God’s got a work for you to do. I can’t sing. Join the club with me. I mean, think about it. Generate your excuse with your hand raised and your head bobbing and say, God, Lord, this is why I can’t do what you’re asking me to do. You know, Moses did that. I’ll follow you everywhere. I’ll lead these people out. Go talk to Pharaoh. And Moses says, let me tell you, Lord, why that ain’t going to work. And then God had to tell Mo, listen, didn’t I make your tongue? Didn’t I make your mouth? I’ll take care of your mouth. And guess what? I mean, Moses just wouldn’t do it. Eventually it happened, but drug his heels. Listen, many of us are dragging our heels. God wants to do something radical in our life. He wants us to be doers. But you know what? We’re just sitting right now being hearers. We’re going to find out how dangerous that can be to those who bob their heads and raise their hands. To all of us.

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You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.

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And so when he says be, it’s a word that means we can do. In fact, it’s the very same word found in John 1, verse 14, when it says there concerning Jesus, that Jesus being the word became flesh and lived among us. The word became. He became flesh and lived among us because he had the power to do it. We can be doers of the word of God because guess what? We have the power to do it. If you are not practicing the word of God in your life, you have in fact lied to yourself. You are in fact a hypocrite. You’re saying, I believe in the word, but I’m not going to do the word. The Bible says to have peace. I am not going to have peace. I’m in fact going to worry because this is my way of having control of the situation. I am not going to go and tithe my money so people can hear the gospel and lights can be on and air conditioning or heaters can be turned on because I want to keep it to myself. Then you can’t call him Lord. You can’t say, Lord, save me. I want you as my Savior. But you can’t call him Lord and not do what he says. And so to be a doer is to do the things that God wants. Now, Christian, listen. God wants you to do what his perfect plan is for your life. Are you listening carefully? That perfect plan is awesome for your life and my life. The thing is, we don’t have to often believe that. Last Wednesday night, if you were here, was one of the most awesome worship times I’ve ever had with the Lord and in this Wednesday night service. It was tremendous. If you weren’t here, boy, did you miss something. It was great. And it was sweet. And we’re singing and all of us in this room and it was packed and we’re just praising the Lord. And man, this song was, I was listening to the song that Michael and the group were singing and I was really, really being touched by it. And I said in my heart, Lord, you just take all of me and do whatever you want. Put me wherever, send me wherever you want me to go. I’ll do anything you want. And then I thought, As long, Lord, as it’s not below or near the equator south, because I hate the heat. And so my hands are up. I’m standing right about over here, right here. Lord, send me wherever you want, except south of the border, south of the equator. I’m not into that. I don’t like bugs. And I’m sitting here talking to God in my head, telling him, my Lord, you’re my Lord. You can have all of me. You can have most of me. You can have a lot of me. But whatever you do, don’t send me where there’s big bugs, snakes, things like that. And you know, have you ever thought that or is that just me? Lord, take my life. Just use me. As long as it’s in the areas that I approve of. Listen, the funny thing is this. God is so kind that he will embed into your heart the very thing he wants you to do. It will become a desire of your heart. He’s not mean. He doesn’t say, okay, Jack, I got you. What is it, Lord? What is it? Detroit. You’re going to Detroit. No, God, not Detroit. Anywhere, Lord, but Detroit. Please, Lord, I’ll do that. He won’t do that. You know what? One day I’m going to wake up or after a couple of weeks or months, you know what? I don’t know why, but I can’t get Detroit out of my mind. I’m making this up. I’m not thinking about Detroit. Oh, Lord, you know, what’s happening in Detroit? What’s going on in Omaha? What’s going on in these places? And you get a burden, and all of a sudden you want to go there. That’s how God sends you. He’s not going to say, now that you’ve yielded your life to me, I’m sending you to Bangladesh. Well, he’s going to send you to Bangladesh because you want to go. You put it in your heart. So don’t be afraid. Just say, Lord, take all of me, and then hang on for an e-ticket ride, friend. This is going to be wonderful. It’s going to be so exciting. The option is, no, I just want to hear the message. Will you just leave me alone, Pastor? I just want to hear the message, will you? I want to do my Christian time, put in my hour and 25 minutes, course of the week, appease my conscience, and do my own thing. The Bible says you are deceived… And there’s a high risk that you may not know God at all. And these are words to empty a church. And it’s not popular to say. The word to be a doer is the word poetis. Does that ring a bell? Po-itis. Poem. That’s where we get the word poem. Be a poem of God. By doing the word, we’re a poem of God. In Ephesians 2.10, the Bible says, for we are his poem created in Christ unto good works. A poem. The word is to perform the script, poetis, to perform the script, to do what you’ve been commanded or to do what’s in the heart to do. You are a poem. Every Christian that raises their hand and bobs their head at a verse or a message is a poetis in the hand of God. You are a poem to the world. And that’s why he sends us out. Maybe it’s down the street or around the world. And people look and they say, he must be a Christian. going to agree with this. Not all of them. They may be even angry at our witness. But they will have to say, they’re a Christian. Why? It’s God’s poetis in the world. God’s poem. And he says, we are his workmanship created in Christ for good works. The works of God that he’s made us to do. And the question is, here comes another quiz. You got a few of them during the message. Is what has God called, past tense, you to do? What are you doing? Don’t answer. Just talk to God about it. You know, you see somebody’s name, Dr. Johnny Johnson, M.D. What does that mean? It means he’s a doctor of medicine. In between is his name. Okay? Concerning your name and my name, Johnny Johnson Usher? Johnny Johnson Usher? cleans the church, traffic guard, pastor, priest, pope. What? What are you? Behind the name of every Christian who raises their hands and bobs their heads should be Johnny Johnson, the gift of encouragement. You see how convicting this is? What are we? You can’t raise your hand and bob your head and not know what you are. We are to be doers of the word of God. There’s enough people in this room to change the entire course of the world. If 12 people turn the world upside down, what can all the people in this room do if we determine in our hearts to do the Word? And by the way, I’m wondering, did anyone in their bulletin this morning see something that we’ve started from this day on forevermore? In the bulletin is a memory verse for the week that you’ll take out and you’ll cut it out of your bulletin and you’ll put it on your dashboard or on your refrigerator or wherever you spend more of your time in front of, the refrigerator. And we’re going to memorize this verse. And next week we’re going to have a new verse. And you’ve got seven days to memorize this verse. Be doers of the word and not hearers, only deceiving yourselves. Why? Because when you have the word of God in your head, that’s still not good enough though. It’s in your head. Could be in your heart even. Are you doing, building, you’re building on sand or on a rock? To build it on the rock is to stand on that verse and say, I’m going to memorize it, but that’s not enough. What are you supposed to do with it? Do it. You’re supposed to do it. That’s what we’re going to start doing. And from now on, we’re going to start asking each other, hey, you got that verse down last week? If we see each other on Wednesday night, now watch, nobody will come. Hey, what’s the verse from Sunday? James 1.22, be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves. All right. Now, what do we do with it? We go do the doing part. What does that mean? Hey, it could be as simple as this. And it’s fun, mind you. And this has already been tested, so I know it works. Next time you’re standing in line, you’re thinking, what can I do? You’re standing in line at Albertsons, or no, you’re standing in line at Chapel Creek Book and Coffee with all of your Christian paraphernalia books and coffee drinks. And you’re going to buy them and you’re standing there. And you see somebody, because there’s a lot of non-Christians that are coming in and out of that bookstore. And you’re standing there and you see somebody, or you’re at Albertsons, or wherever you’re at in the world, and you might say, you know what? That guy’s obviously sick. He’s coughing his head off, or that lady’s crying, or somebody’s upset. Hey, you know what? Listen, all of us. We’re all Christians. Remember our heads bobbing? We stop and we say, I’m going to go tell that person I’m going to pray for them. Well, Jack, is that even legal? Yeah, it’s legal. It’s very legal. But it certainly violates our comfort zone, doesn’t it? You know what people do when you do that? Try it. Do it. Watch what happens.

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Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Practicing the Word of Truth. We’re glad you are with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Book of James. It’s a series on being doers of the Word of God and not just hearers only. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

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Everybody, brand new year, listen to this. What a promise. Psalm 6511, God there announces that his paths drip with abundance and he makes his way prosperous. So listen, draw close to God, enjoy the new year in Christ, celebrate him every day and everything that you do. Listen, let God’s work in your life be an incredible witness to other people. Bring them along. Bring them along with you into the kingdom of heaven. Love on them. Listen, the people in your life who are not Christians, start treating them like a Christian. Watch what happens. Share the joy of the Lord because you can. And exalt in his liberty and freedom because he’s given it to you. Let’s have an awesome new year in Jesus Christ together. Amen.

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This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.