Be A Doer Of The Word Of God Take Action And Do What The Bible Says

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for being with us this week. Whether you’re watching or listening, we are thrilled that you have joined us.

This is an awesome sermon that we have been preparing for for several months and have been alluding to throughout our other messages. So, I’m very, very glad if you have been with us for those and have kind of been waiting for this message. If not, if you don’t know what we’re talking about, then feel free to check out our previous sermons, and you will find out that we have been hinting on this one for quite some time.

It is about being a doer of the word. Now, primarily this is focused in James. He was the one who said, “Get out there and do what you say you’re going to do, and do what the Bible says,” – but we’re going to get more into that later. It’s also throughout the New Testament. Jesus also said that: “Go out there and do.” It’s in the books of Matthew. It’s in – Paul was a big proponent of, “Hey get out there and practice what you preach.”

So, today we are bringing you this message. It is very, very important, especially in today’s day and age. You are a Christian; you need to be different. You need to get out there and be an example for the world.

You have to stand out from the crowd, and that is a good thing as long as you’re standing out for the right reasons. You can’t be standing out because you’re flaunting all kinds of sin or living in sin and being proud of it. That’s not right. That is not the way to stand out.

The way to stand out is by doing good works and by being a man or a woman of God – and standing out because of your faith and people looking at you and saying, “Why are they different? What do they have that I don’t, and how do I get it?”

Not like the crazy types that people say, “What are they on, and how do I get some?” But kind of. Someone that looks at you and says, “What are you on and how do I get some? Why are you always so positive? Why has everything always seemed to work out for you? Why does it seem like no matter what happens, you keep your cool? Why does it seem like you never get upset? Why does it seem like XYZ?”

And you can say, “I have the light. I have Jesus.” And you can share Jesus with them. So, be different; be a doer. That’s what we’re talking about today.

God wants you to study his word. Now, if you’ve been with us since the beginning, or for a few weeks, or if this is your first time, we are heavy on the fact that God wants you to study his word. And that’s what our sermons – they’re all based on the Bible.

We preach right from the Bible. And so, if you’re not in the Bible, you’re not reading your Bible, start doing it. Get more involved in the scripture. The word of God is alive, and it is active, and it will speak to you each and every single day.

You could read the same verse every day, and each day you might learn something new. Don’t believe me? Give it a try. God wants you to study his word. He wants you to be active. He wants you to have a personal relationship with him.

Now, I say “wants” because God doesn’t need you. God has everything. God wants you. He chose you. Now some people might say, “No, He chooses certain people.” He chose you. He chooses all of us. He wants all of us.

It’s you that has to make the choice: if you’re going to follow him. He wants you to have a personal relationship with him.

Now, if you’re new here, and you don’t know what that means, it’s very simple. You say, “Dear Jesus, come into my life. I want to live for you.” And that’s it. Ask for forgiveness of your sins, thank him for dying for you, and start living your life for him. Start reading the Bible. Dive into the scripture.

God wants you to be a warrior: praying, reading, studying, learning as much as you can about him, meditating on the scriptures day and night. That means when you read verses, you sit and think about them.

Yes, kind of like the philosophers used to do. They’d ponder these scriptures, and they would think about them over and over, and guess what – yes, Pharisees and Sadducees did the same thing back in Jesus’s time. But Jesus rebuked them because all they did was sit around and talk about this or think about things rather than getting out there and doing it. James has a lot to say about that – which we will get to.

Start doing it. Start thinking about it. Start considering these verses and just, like, “Man I wonder what that means,” or, “Wow this is so amazing.” Think about how, then, it was relevant, how is it still relevant today, and how amazing that is.

Well, it’s because it’s divinely written. It is relevant then, now, and a thousand years from now. It’s alive and active, which means that, as the times change and as things happen, the word of God still applies. If you’ve not read it, start reading it more.

Joshua 1:18 says, “Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

I put a little emphasis there. We’re going to say that again: “You may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

That means if you do what the Lord asks, if you do what God says, what’s going to happen? What does he ask? He asks you to spend time with him. He asks you to get out there and share Jesus with other people. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Now, what is your definition of prosperous and successful? Maybe you say, “My definition would be: to be filthy rich.” Okay, maybe not filthy rich because that sounds bad. Maybe rich. That might not be the definition of prosperous and successful that God has in mind for you because being rich is an earthly thing.

Now, of course in America, around the world, everywhere in this world, when someone says you will be prosperous and successful, the immediate thought is, “I’m going to be successful. I’m going to have a lot of money. I’m going to have a lot of things. I’m never going to have to worry about stuff. If I want something, I’ll buy it. I’ll live in a nice house. I’ll drive nice cars.” All of that.

That’s what we associate as prosperous and successful, but God says prosperity and success are not riches and wealth. He says your riches need to be stored in heaven. And so your prosperity and your success might be something completely different from wealth.

Now I’m not saying God’s not going to give you wealth. After all, look at King Solomon. God said to him, “Hey, anything you want, I’ll give it to you. You name it.” He didn’t even put a limit on it. He didn’t even say, “Half the Earth.” He didn’t even say, “Except this,” or, “Not this.” He said, “Anything you want, it’s yours.”

And Solomon said, “I want wisdom to be able to lead properly.” And God said, “Because you asked for wisdom rather than the death of your enemies or riches, I’m going to give you all of it. You will have wisdom. I will give you riches beyond belief, far richer than anyone else ever. I will give you peace, the death of your en– all of it.”

He said, “There will be no reign, ever, like you experience.” God gave it all to him. So, you could very well be very, very wealthy, and God wants you to be wealthy. He wants you to use what He’s giving you for His Kingdom, to use money, wealth, talents, gifts, your house, your car, whatever you have, for him.

You have an iPhone? Use it for God. How can you do that? Share posts. You have a car? Use it for God. How can you do that? Maybe pick up some people and bring them to church, or bring them somewhere. You have a talent? How can you use it for God?

Always be thinking, “What can you do for God?” And yes, He will reward you. You will be prosperous and successful.

Now, it might be like – Prosperity, what could be the most prosperous thing you could do for Jesus? Bringing more people to Christ. So maybe your prosperity and success will be: every time you go out there and try to lead people to Christ, they’re going to listen. They’re going to follow. They’re you’re going to ask questions rather than you getting shut down all the time.

Maybe you will get shut down, and then you’ll overcome. And that will be your success. It could come in any form, but don’t limit it. Don’t say, “Well, my prosperity is going to be: I’m going to be a millionaire.” No, let God decide and tell you what your prosperity is going to be.

And the only way you’re going to find that out is if you spend time with Him in prayer, devotion. Meditate on his word day and night. Learn the Bible, learn scripture, go to a church and speak with people, fellowship with others, listen to more of these sermons, podcasts, etc., and really dive deep into your relationship with Christ.

You need to do more than studying, though, more than just talking about it or fellowshipping with others or engaging in these theological conversations. You have to do.

Now, you could say, “Well I’m doing. I am studying the Bible. I’m doing by reading. That’s my doing.” No, no, no. It’s get out there and do. Go and do. Look carefully. It says, “You must do everything written in the Bible.” So, if there is something written in here–

Now, of course, can you do every single thing written in here? Probably not. There’s so much in here that, that you, – I mean, it might not even – I don’t even know – If you lived 120 years, would it be possible to do every single thing written in the Bible? The answer is, is no.

I mean, if God wanted you to, yes you could. But there are so many things in here, like being a slave. Can you be a slave? Probably in today’s day and age, even though it’s outlawed. But would God want you to do everything written in here? No, because there are some things written in here that are sinful, that God has given us as an example of what not to do. So, you wouldn’t want to do all of those things.

But you have to do everything that God instructs you to do. So it’s not everything. You can’t just take things out of context and say, “Oh, well the Bible says that I have to kill anyone who sins,” or, “I have to do sacrifices.” Or David and Bathsheba: “Well, I can just go ahead and, you know – if I see someone attractive, there’s no harm in that.”

No, you can’t just go do everything. It’s do everything that God instructs you to do. Don’t take things out of context and twist them for your own agenda. It has to be God’s agenda that you follow. So, He wants you to do what He tells you to do. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

He wants you not only to study His Word, meditate on it day and night. What does that look like? It means that during the day, you’re thinking about the scripture. At night when you go to bed, maybe before bed, you read a passage so that when you sleep, that passage is going on in your unconscious mind while you’re sleeping.

And you are– you are dreaming. God’s giving you thoughts. You’re priming the well, so to speak, so that when you go to bed, you are opening that door for God to come in.

We’ve talked about certain things like this before. You can open doors. If you watch a horror movie or something, one of these paranormal things, before bed and go to sleep and you wonder why you have nightmares, or you wonder why you’re scared. You opened a door. What do you expect?

Open the right door. Let God in when you go to sleep and meditate on it at night as well as during the day. Then start doing it, and you will be prosperous and successful.

Now, let’s go to James. Chapter 2, Verses 14-17. James Chapter 2:4-17. “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?” Now of course, what good is it my brothers and sisters?

I’m still talking to you, you women out there. Men, women, children, “What good is it if you claim to have faith but you don’t have deeds? Can such faith save you? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.”

You have these people; they’re homeless on the side of the road, on the streets. They’re at the homeless shelters. That’s a brother or sister. They may not believe in Jesus yet, so they might not be a brother or sister to you in Christ. But you can bring that, Jesus, to them and introduce them to Jesus and make them a brother or sister in Christ.

Suppose that person doesn’t have clothing. Now, of course, they might have a coat, but they don’t have a wardrobe like you do. They don’t have food. Suppose that.

“Or if one of you says to him, ‘Go. I wish you well.’” You see that homeless guy on the side of the road and say, “Hey man, good luck out there. Good luck brother.” What if you say that? “‘Go, I wish you well. Keep warm and well fed,’ but you do nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” What good is it?

“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Is dead. So, if you go out there and just tell these people, “Hey, good luck out there,” and you don’t do anything, what good is it? I mean, maybe you provided them a little encouragement, but they’re probably, you know, angry at you after you leave cuz you didn’t help.

Or just like if, you know, someone is out there looking for donations, and you’re like, “Yep, I wish you the best.” Missionaries are looking for support, and you’re like, “Good luck. I hope you raise the money you need.” What good is it?

You– you tell me at Social Media Ministries, “Well Spencer, I hope you reach a lot of people,” but you’re not going to do anything to help by liking or subscribing or commenting with encouragement or sharing the posts or donating or any of that– if you don’t do anything, what good is it? What good is it to just simply say, “Hey, good luck out there. I hope– I wish you well.”

James is saying it’s not good at all. It doesn’t do anything. You’re just filling the air with idle conversation, and it means nothing. Similarly, your faith, without works, is dead. So, if you just have faith, you just think about things and ponder on them, but you don’t actually act on the faith that you proclaim that you have– it’s nothing.

That means, if you tell others you’re a Christian but you’re living a life that’s not a Christian, you’re doing a very, very bad thing, a horrible misservice. You’re wearing the uniform of Christ, but you’re leading people in the wrong direction. Then you’re putting a bad name on Christ.

You better look at your life. You better rethink your actions and think about if what you’re doing out there, and the– and the behaviors that you’re modeling are exactly what Jesus would want you to do.

I got to look at my life too. I’m serious. We all do.

Do you drink in public? Do you swear? Are you, in your mind, cursing people? Are you calling people names if something happens to you and someone makes you really angry? Are you wishing them harm? Subtle, little things.

When you see a supermodel walk by, are you like, “Holy moly,” and you lust after them? Do you, all of a sudden, covet what your neighbor has? You see a car and you, “Oh man, I want that. Shame on them. Why do they have that, and I don’t? I can’t believe it. Why would God– why would you bless them with that? Why– why, they’re terrible with money. Why do they have that? Why not me?”

If any– I mean, there, just a few examples. We all need to look at our lives and say, “Are we doing that? Is that what’s going on?” If it is, it’s got to stop. We need, need to be better representations of Jesus Christ. Practice makes perfect. We had a sermon on that. Check it out. It’s actually called “Practice Makes Almost Perfect,” because we are never going to be perfect.

I try every, every single day to not sin, but guess what? Every day, I’m sure I sin multiple times. So do you. So does everyone. We’re imperfect, but we can keep trying. Go on and on. Keep trying, keep the faith, get out there, and do what Jesus wants us to do. You need to be a doer of the word.

Let’s go to James 1, Verse 22 and 23. Verses 22 and 23. “You see that faith and actions were working together. That their faith and actions were made complete by what they did, and scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend.”

So, what is this talking about? Well, we skipped ahead. I really recommend you read this whole chapter, Chapter 2, but for right now this is saying – look it – Abraham had faith. And God said to Abraham, “Take your son, sacrifice him to me.” I want to know that there is nothing in your life more important to you than God.

What is the one thing in your life, what is something in your life that you’re like, “You know what, I have it under control. I don’t need to get rid of it. I’m– it’s fine. It’s not a problem.” Maybe it’s something simple like money, TV, your iPhone, your video games, or alcohol. I really like to have a drink in the evening, three times a week. It’s not a problem.

Can you stop? What if I said, right now, no more drinking? You’d be like, “Whatever man, that– that’s not–” No, it’s not, but what is the one thing? Is there anything in your life that you can’t go without? What? Your dog? Your spouse? I’m serious. I’m not saying you need to give up all this stuff or these people. I’m saying you need to make sure that they are not in the way with your relationship with God.

If God asked you right now, “Stop drinking; stop smoking; stop watching TV forever; no TV. I want you to be different. The rest of the world watches sitcoms that are bad, that are filled with sex, that are filled with debauchery, that are filled with detestable things. I want you never to watch them again. I want you to be different, set apart.”

If God said that to you, could you stop? And if it’s set, if your answer is, “No, I don’t think it’s that important,” then you need to stop because God wants to be the number one thing in your life. Make sure that nothing is coming between you and God. This is so important.

Now, God wants you to enjoy life. He wants you to have pleasures. He created all of this stuff for us. Just make sure that the stuff doesn’t go above God. God’s got to be your center. He will make you prosperous and successful. He’s going to.

Let’s go to James Chapter 1, Verses 22 and 23. I kind– might have messed up a little bit ago, but it was very, very important with this Isaac and Abraham passage. But let’s go to one now, James Chapter 1:22-23.

“Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at their face in the mirror and immediately forgets what they look like.”

We had a whole sermon on this called, “Remember Your Face.” Check it out. You got to remember your face. You need to listen and read what the Bible says and get out there and do it. This is just like anything.

You want to lose weight? Guess what, you need to diet and exercise. You want to try to lose weight and you’re not going to exercise? You’re not going to burn the calories? You’re not going to lose weight. You’re not going to see the results.

You want to be rich? Guess what, you need to work. You got to go work more hours; you need to make more money. You’re not going to see the results if you don’t work more and, and spend less. You want to have a bigger bank account? You want to get a new car? You want to do anything in life; you want to have a child? You got to do the work.

You want to do anything, you got to do the work. God says– You know the Bible. You’re reading it. You’re understanding it. People are telling it to you. Whether it’s Social Media Ministries, another church, somewhere else, people are telling you what the Bible says.

Are you getting out there and doing the work? God’s telling you to put the work into your spiritual life by doing what he says. Then you will be blessed.

Let’s check out two more verses before we wrap up. John 13:17. 13:17 says, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” So, you know that you need to go out there and do the Bible. You have no excuse now. If you’ve listened to this message, or you’ve seen this; you have no excuse. You know what you have to do; get out there and do it.

Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Guess what, all these things are– you want money, you want a house, you want clothing, you want food, you want a car, you want a spouse, you want children, you want a pet– all these things. Seek first God.

The second you put one of those things above God, you start losing everything. Seek God first, and he will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Here’s more. Well done. You’re still seeking me; here’s more. Well done. Here’s more, here’s more, here’s more.”

Look at the people in the Bible: Job, Solomon, David, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus. Look at– look at all– I mean, that’s just a handful. Who else was very, very wealthy in the Bible? Lazarus. All of these people were very, very well off in the Bible. They followed God. They sought God first.

Look at some people who were very well off, and it didn’t go well. Look at Ananias and Sapphira. They were very well off. They kept on to their possessions. Peter said, “Shame on you, thinking you can deceive the Holy Spirit.” Dead.

You don’t want to start putting stuff before God. Keep God first. Get out there and do what the Bible says. He will give you more. Seek first his kingdom. Get out there and be a doer.

Let’s pray. Lord, thank you so much for this message today. I really, really pray that it will have convicted each and every person watching and listening; that they would take a look at their life, that they would pray, seek you, and that they would turn and start doing more of what the Bible says.

And Lord, for those that are – that are already doing – help them to do more and help them to help others start doing. Lord, I ask that the Christian people would rise up and be different. That they would be set apart. That we would unite as one, as the Body of Christ, and show the world that we are different, that we have something special. And that they would want what we have, and we would freely give it to them as you freely gave to us.

I pray a blessing on each and every person, that they would get out there and be doers of the word. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Thank you so much for being with us this week. Click on that subscribe button, follow us, comment below with any questions. We look forward to hearing from you. God bless.