THE BOOK OF JAMES
WORD OF GOD
DR. JIM DIXON
MARCH 10, 1985
JAMES 1:19-27
Only the Word of God has power to save. 2,000 years ago, the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and he reminded Timothy how from childhood he had been acquainted with the sacred writings, which, he said, “Are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.” The Apostle James in our passage of scripture for today said, “Receive with meekness the implanted Word which is able to save your souls.” The Word of God has the power to save.
On April 10th, 1912, almost 73 years ago, the Titanic made its maiden voyage from South Hampton in England to New York City. The Titanic was a 46,000-ton ship. It was the pride of the ocean and was four city blocks in length and 11 stories high. It was massive. 2,200 people boarded that ship in total confidence because the Titanic was said to be unsinkable. As they were in their deluxe cabins, they thought everything was great.
But four days later, on April 14th, when the Titanic was 1,600 miles northeast of New York City, the phone rang in the wheel room. According to The Washington Post, the officer in the wheel room neglected to answer the phone and the phone rang again and again and again and again. It was said that it took that officer more than four minutes to pick up that phone. When he picked it up, he heard the message from the crow’s nest: iceberg dead ahead. It was too late. That great ship crashed into a massive iceberg and the iceberg ripped a hole in the hull of the Titanic 300 feet long. The hole was the size of a football field, and in two and a half hours that great shift sunk 12,000 feet to the bottom of the ocean. 2,200 people were on that ship and the lifeboats on the ship could hold less than 1,100 people. Obviously there was a problem and some tough decisions had to be made, so they decided to put women and children in the lifeboats and the men simply died. 1,500 people died on the Titanic, most of them men. Three millionaires died. Their money could not save them. One man left $300,000 in his room. He didn’t even think of it. He grabbed three oranges on his way out the door.
One man who died on the Titanic was Reverend Dr. John Harper. It was Harper who founded the Harper Publishing Company today known as Harper Rowe. Harper was a minister. He was the newly-called pastor of the great Moody Church in Chicago, Illinois. He never had a chance to pastor that great church.
Four years later, a man stood in Hamilton, Canada, and gave his testimony. That man was one of the few survivors of the Titanic. As he gave his testimony, he said, “I was floating on the water, holding onto some debris from the great ship. I was afraid and I didn’t know what was going to happen. Many people, many men, were scattered about trying to cling onto pieces of debris. The waves tossed us about. The waves brought one man right beside me. I introduced myself. I asked him who he was and he said his name was John Harper. He was a minister. I told him I was afraid to die. He asked me if I was a Christian and I said no. He quoted to me from the Bible. He quoted John 3:16. He simply said, ‘God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.’ We talked a little while longer and the waves took him away. About 10 or 15 minutes later, the waves brought him back. He asked me again, ‘Are you a Christian?’ And again I said no. He simply quoted the Bible. He quoted John 3:16. A short time later, the waves took him away and I never saw him again. But in the moments that followed, I was convicted by the Holy Spirit and I invited Jesus Christ to come into my life to be my Lord and my Savior. In the midst of death I found life.”
That man went all over the continental United States giving his testimony, saying he was the last convert of John Harper. But that man wasn’t converted by John Harper. That man was converted by the power of the Word of God, because only the Word of God has the power to save. I marvel when I look at all the centuries and see the men and women who have come to know and love Jesus Christ simply through that verse: John 3:16. The Word of God has power to save even in the midst of death. And all of you in this room who believe in Jesus Christ, every one of you are who are Christians, are Christians simply because at some point in your life you heard the Word of God. You heard it preached, you heard it taught, or you read it in the scriptures, and by the power of that Word and the anointing of the Holy Spirit you came to believe. Now you have eternal life.
How much does the Word of God mean to you? How valuable is it to you? William Meyers last year wrote a book called The Image-Makers: Power and Persuasion on Madison Avenue. He tells of the great advertising wars in which giant corporations seek to promote their product with greater skill, greater zeal, and greater effectiveness than their competitors. In the 1970s, the Pepsi-Cola Company came out with a famous 30-second commercial (kind of a tear-jerker) called “Marry Me, Sue.” Some of you remember that commercial. It showed a whole bunch of people from a little prairie town out in the hot summer sun watching a skywriting show, and in the midst of all of the crowds of people—all of whom, in the midst of the sun, were drinking Pepsi Cola—you could see a couple: a cowboy and a young woman. You saw them exchanging shy glances at each other and you knew something very special was going on.
The viewing audience would be shown the skywriting as it began to take shape in the sky. And then the cameras would pan the crowd and you’d see them perspiring as they downed Pepsi-Cola. And finally the cameras scanned the heavens and you could see the complete message of the skywriting: “Marry me, Sue.” Suddenly you saw tears in Sue’s eyes and she looked at the cowboy and she nodded her head “Yes.” The cowboy reached over and gave her a big hug and the Pepsi-Cola theme music that had been playing all the time built to a great crescendo.
Meanwhile, over at Coca-Cola Company, they had word six months in advance that Pepsi-Cola was going to make the “Marry Me, Sue” commercial. They knew they had to come up with something that was moving, so they came out with a famous “Mean Joe Greene” commercial. The all-pro professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers was shown walking in solitude after a football game, tired, but still mean. A little boy goes up to him. This little boy has enthusiasm in his eyes and a Coca-Cola in his hands and he hands it to the football player. Joe takes the Coke, but he doesn’t say anything to the little kid. You can see the kid’s countenance fall and his enthusiasm wane and he begins to feel rejected as he walks away. But with one big gulp, the giant man downs the coke and suddenly he’s transformed. He’s restored to life and he’s moved with compassion and he turns around. He calls the little guy and thanks him. In a loving gesture he takes his jersey and he tosses it to the little boy as a valuable souvenir. It was a triumphant commercial for Coca-Cola.
The cola wars continue. In 1983, Pepsi-Cola Company spent $300 million in the United States advertising their product, and in that same year the Coca-Cola Company spent almost $400 million advertising their product. That’s $700 million simply to get a message out to the world, a message concerning a sugar-based carbonated soft drink, a message that cannot possibly benefit the Earth. They spent $700 million. As Christians, we’ve been entrusted with a critical message. We’ve been entrusted with a message called the Word of God. It is light in the darkness. It is life in the midst of death and it alone has power to save. How much is that message worth to you?
This church exists solely for the purpose of the proclamation of the Word of God. We proclaim the Word of God to non-believers that they might come from darkness to light, that they might find life in the midst of death, that they might receive eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. We proclaim the Word of God to those who believe so that you might grow and be upbuilt in your faith.
How much does this church mean to you and to your families? We’re in the midst of a building program. I honestly believe that we’re building that building simply in order that we might proclaim faithfully the word of God to this community, to all those who by the Holy Spirit are led to join in this family called Cherry Hills Community Church. If corporations can spend $700 million to promote a soft drink, surely we can spend a few million for the sake of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “All flesh is like grass and all of its glory is like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord abides forever.” And that Word is the good news that was preached to you. It has power to save, and our responsibility in this world is to make sure that that Word covers the Earth.
Secondly, we have this teaching from the Apostle James: the Word of God is meant to be obeyed. It demands obedience. This church, I think, is oftentimes thought of as a church that preaches and teaches mercy and grace. We will continue to preach mercy and grace because, quite frankly, without the grace and mercy of God we’d all be in a lot of trouble. But it should never be said that we do not stress obedience to Jesus Christ. A Christian is somebody who has taken Jesus Christ as Lord, and that’s a serious commitment. You don’t enter the realm of grace and mercy until you take Jesus Christ as Lord, and that means you take Him as king. You take Him as sovereign. You commit your life to follow Him all the days of your life and all the days of eternity because He has given you eternal life and He expects you to take obedience seriously.
In the first few centuries of Christendom, the early Christians took obedience very seriously. In fact, they referred to Christian baptism as the sacramentum, a Latin word they borrowed from the Roman Empire. The Romans used the term sacramentum for one purpose. It was the title of their military oath. When a Roman citizen joined the Roman army, he spoke the sacramentum, the military oath. He vowed obedience to Rome. He vowed obedience to the Roman emperor. He vowed obedience to the state and to the empire, and he vowed obedience unto death. That commitment was called the sacramentum. So precious was obedience to the early Christians that they called baptism the sacramentum because they believed that commitment to Jesus Christ—that moment of commitment, that moment of baptism—was a vow of obedience to Jesus Christ unto death.
Perhaps it’s never been more difficult in any generation, in any time, or in any place, to be obedient to Christ. We live in a world of many temptations and of much darkness, but God calls us to come out from among the world and be separate. He calls us to be a special people. The Bible says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who has called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct. For it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
There is an illustration that I’ve told before. It’s a favorite illustration of mine. I think it illustrates perhaps better than any other what God wants of us and what He expects of us. It’s the legend of the Arabian horses. According to this legend, almost 1,400 years ago Muhammed searched the world over for 100 of the finest mares on the Earth. Having found those 100 mares, he brought them home to his native Arabia, and there he trained them to respond to the sound of his bugle. He would blow his bugle and the horses would come.
Having trained them, he placed the horses in a corral on top of a mountain, looking down at a freshwater stream. They could see, smell, sense, and hear the water but they were denied a drink. Muhammed denied them a drink for days until they were ravished with thirst. And suddenly, when their thirst was full, Muhammed opened the gates. There was a great stampede, a great cloud of dust, and those horses thundered down that mountain towards the river with their nostrils flared, their tails flying, and their mouths foaming.
When they were almost to the water, Muhammed took out his bugle and blew it. According to the legend, 96 horses continued into the water and they drank, but four horses dug their hoofs into the earth and they stopped and in obedience returned to Muhammed. It was said that from those four horses Muhammed bred the great race of the Arabian horses.
You see, God is looking for a very special people, people different from the world. He is looking for a people called Christians, a people who march to the beat of a different drummer and respond to a different bugle call. God is looking for a people who will obey the voice of His Son, Jesus Christ. Christians are called to obedience.
God has something special for you. He wants to transform you and His instrument in that transformation as this book: the Word of God. But this book, this tool, is useless—it is worthless—if your heart’s not right and you have no interest in obeying it. He wants to make you a holy nation, a royal priesthood, God’s own people. You know, Beethoven and Bach could look at various and sundry notes and they could see a song—an oratorio, a symphony—just waiting to be released. Vince Lombardi and Knute Rockne could take a group of unskilled, would-be athletes and they could see a powerhouse football team just waiting to be revealed. Michelangelo could take a block of marble and he could see a masterpiece. He could see a sculpture such as his David or his Moses waiting to be unveiled. Leon Uris and James Michener can take a stack of blank pages and they can see an exciting novel just waiting to be written. John Wooden could take a group of skilled but selfish men and he could mold them and form them and transform them into a team capable of beating any other college basketball team in the world.
God looks at you—God looks at the children of men—and He sees children of God waiting to be formed. The moment you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you became a child of God. But that was just the beginning. By the Word of God, God now wants to transform you. He wants to mold you into the very image of His Son. He wants you to begin to share the character of Christ in this world and the power of Christ in the age to come. He wants to transform you, and His instrument is the Word of God.
The Apostle James says the Bible is like a mirror. The Word of God is like a mirror. You look into the Bible, you listen to the Word of God, and you see yourself spiritually. You see yourself as God sees you. You see your spiritual blemishes. You see all your spiritual shortcomings and flaws. James says that for the unbelieving or for the disobedient that mirror called the Word of God accomplishes nothing. James says that the disobedient look into that mirror and they behold themselves, but they walk away and at once forget what they have seen. But it’s not meant to be like that for Christians. For the obedient, as you look at the Word of God, as you read the Word of God, if your heart’s desire is to please Him, it has power to transform you (if you really want to please Him so much that you’re willing to obey).
If you want people to be pleased with you, if you looked into an earthly mirror and see how you need to improve—your hair is all in a mess looking like you got dressed in front of an airplane propeller, you need a shave, your teeth need brushed, there are spots and blemishes needing makeup—looking in that mirror would begin to transform you. In the same way, James says if you care what God thinks of you and you long to please Him (if you long to hear Him say, “Well done, My good and faithful servant”), then when you look in this book called the Bible you’re going to begin to be transformed.
Throughout history (and with this we’ll close) there have been many people who have memorized the Bible. Tertullian and Origen, early church fathers living long ago, memorized half of the Bible. Centuries ago, a man named Theodosius the Younger memorized the entire Bible, and it was said that you could just quote a reference and he’d give you the verse word for word. [Inaudible name] at the age of 80 was able to quote word for word all the epistles of Paul. Throughout history, there have been ministers like Kramer and Ridley who memorized half of the New Testament and half of the Old Testament.
12 years ago, I felt convicted by God’s Spirit that I was to memorize the scriptures, to hide the Word of God in my heart. The Bible says, “Thy Word have I hid my heart that I might not sin against Thee,” and our Lord Jesus said, “If My word abides in you, you will bear much fruit.” In these 12 years, I’ve memorized much of the Bible and I will continue to memorize. Yet I’ve come to understand that the key to a godly life—a life pleasing to Jesus Christ—is not memorization. Some of us are called to memorize, some are not. The key to a godly life is submission and obedience to the Word of God. There have been many people in history who have memorized the Word of God and then have lived lives of moral and ethical confusion. They memorize the scriptures and then live lives displeasing to God. The Pharisees memorized the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, and no group of people were more condemned by our Lord Jesus Christ than they.
You see, what God is looking for is an obedient spirit, someone who comes to His Word and is willing to be transformed. Jesus said, “Why do you call Me Lord and not do what I tell you to do? He who hears My words and does them, I will tell you what he is like. He is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock. And the rains fell, the floods came, the wind blew, but the house stood firm. But he who hears My words and does not do them, I’ll tell you what he is like. He is like a fool who built his house upon the sand. And the rains fell, the floods came, the wind blew, and the house fell down, and great was the destruction of it.” He’s given us His Word. He’s asked us to obey it, and it’s all for the purpose of blessing. Every instruction He’s given is meant to bless you, and that is why the Bible says, “All scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man or woman of God might be perfect and complete, equipped for every good work.” The Word of God has the power to save and is meant to be obeyed. Shall we pray?
Lord Jesus, You are King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Son of God, and Creator of the worlds. You are the Word incarnate. Everything the Father has to say is summed up in You. Lord, we acknowledge that You have left this Earth and You’ve ascended to Your Father, and You are seated at His right hand. And yet You have not left us in darkness because You’ve given us Your Word written. You’ve given us the scriptures, and You’ve placed Your Holy Spirit within us. Lord, help us to be faithful to Your Word. You have made us stewards of Your Word in this world. Help us to share that Word with the world despite the cost, and help us to be an obedient people, serving You from head to toe, faithful in the midst of a world of darkness. Give us strength. We love You Lord, and we pray it in Your great name. Amen.