Can I Preach What You Practice?

Introduction

Good morning. If you look at James chapter 3, beginning in verse 1, please. James chapter 3. The book of James, chapter 3, beginning in verse 1. Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. Now, I don’t know about you, but that seems a bit troublesome, doesn’t it? Certainly as someone who’s about to teach something about the Bible, hopefully, for the next period of time to conclude the 9 o’clock worship hour. That’s something that I have to take seriously. So I ask as Christians, consider, for what you know of the Bible, do you keep it? Now look with me in Matthew chapter 23. And Matthew chapter 23. We understand this is an important concept because Jesus condemns a certain type of people for their behavior in this regard.

In Matthew chapter 23, beginning in verse 1. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, the scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. So do and observe what they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. Let me ask you from the onset this morning, what’s the big deal about verse three? Not the works they do, for they preach, but do not practice. What’s the problem? Well, the problem is the Pharisees and the scribes knew the law. They knew what it was. In fact, they taught what it was. In fact, very stringently. They held to and specifically held others to every tiny dot of the law. And yet Jesus outright, very plainly and very harshly calls them out and says, Don’t do that because they’re being hypocritical.

We hear that phrase all the time. As Christians, we don’t want to be hypocritical. We don’t want to be told that we aren’t doing what the Bible says. That requires two acts. First of all, we have to know what the Bible says. And second of all, we have to have the self-discipline to do it. So I want to ask you first and foremost this morning how much do you know about the Bible? How much do you know about what God has asked you to do or he expects you to be doing? That’s not the focus of today’s lesson, because today’s lesson is more of a practical, very simple approach. I’d ask you very sincerely and earnestly to examine your life this morning in light of what I’m going to put up on the screen in just a moment and consider how you stack up with this following phrase.

1. Can I Preach What You Practice in Daily Bible Study?

You see, the common expression is you have to practice what you preach. My question is if I examined your lives, and if I was examining my own life, could I preach what I’m practicing? See, all of a sudden that phrase carries a lot more weight and significance, doesn’t it? It hits home a little bit harder. Because if my life was put up on that screen, would it compare side by side with the Word of God that we all attest that we should be emulating? Or perhaps would it look a little bit different, a little more stained, a little more selfish, a little more prideful. That’s what I want to consider this morning. And the first point I’d like to ask is can I preach what you practice in your daily Bible study?

Because I know that I can with some Christians. If you know some Christians who have uh admitted their love for God and they live it, you know that they love studying the word. True Christians, true children of God, love hearing what the Father has to say and wanting to know more about it. You know how I know that? Look with me in your Bibles at Psalm chapter one. I can show you. David did. In Psalm chapter one. The first two verses of Psalm chapter one.

What does it say? Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law he meditates day and night. My question is, can I practice? Can I preach what I practice? Am I practicing what David did? Am I meditating on the law of the Lord day and night? Honestly, do I meditate on the law of the Lord either day or night? Or some of the day? Or twenty minutes of the night? You see, when you start to examine it that way, and if if my study habits were to be on the screen, my question is, would it compare with the biblical examples like David?

Let me look, let me try you with another example. Look at Deuteronomy chapter six. Another man you may be familiar with. In Deuteronomy chapter six. We run into Moses here. Notice what he says in Deuteronomy chapter six, beginning in verse four. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Let me ask you do you meditate on the word that same way? Is it all over? Is it everywhere? Is it like a sign on your hand? Is it like right between your eyes? Is it in your home? Do you talk about it in the car? What do you do with the word of God? Because if I was to get up here and to preach what you practice, how many minutes a day of Bible study would I be preaching? And a more important question, and the most important question we can ask this morning is not what would it feel like or how embarrassed would I be, but what would God think of what I am practicing and what would then subsequently be preached from the pulpit on the day of worship to him?

You see, when we think about Bible study, we think about what we’re supposed to be doing rather than the fact that we can be meditating on God. You see, there’s a difference in making it a chore and making it something that you look forward to and something that as a Christian you really should crave. Because Moses suggested that it should be all over our lives. David meditated on it day and night. If you don’t believe it, read more of the Psalms. Read some of the accounts in the Old Testament. David walked the walk. And yes, he talked the talk, but the point is he backed it up. We say all the time, make sure you practice what you preach. Well, one of two things can happen if we aren’t doing what we should, if we aren’t practicing how we ought.

Either we’re hypocritical, and it’s a black eye for Christianity, and those are far in plenty, and you’ll do great damage to the cause of Christ. Or you have to refrain from preaching. In which case the borders of the kingdom are not being expanded. To use the language of Brother Bill Hart’s prayer this morning. So which one of those do you wish to be doing? Do you wish to be halting the growth of the kingdom or perhaps giving a black eye to the kingdom of God? You see, it’s critical that we start with daily Bible study because if we don’t, what relationship does that mean that we have with God? I want to expand the thought for just a moment longer. Can I practice what you practice?

Can I preach what the Bible preaches in my prayer life? In the times that I talk about God with friends, co-workers, neighbors, Starbucks baristas, I don’t even know. How much do I do that? How much do you do that? Could I preach what you practice with regards to your daily relationship with God? Because if you don’t have one, you’re not going to do daily Bible study. And if you don’t do daily Bible study and learn more about God and you allow God to be further and further pushed away from your mind, you’re going to pray less. And when you’ve prayed less and you’ve studied the word less, what are you doing? You’re getting farther and farther away from the God that you love. And the God that we would all profess and would in this very building this very day that we love.

2. Can I Preach What You Practice in Being a Light?

We would preach that from the rooftops. The question is, do we practice it? And so I want to I want to consider and challenge everyone here that if you aren’t studying your Bible, I’d ask you why not. Do you want to be an effective biblical example? Do you want to be like David and Moses, or do you want to be like the Pharisees who know the law? They can teach the law, but they do not keep the very law that they profess so strongly and ardently. A second point. Can I preach what you practice in being a light for God? If you look with me in Matthew chapter 5, we see Christ using this very illustration, Matthew chapter 5. In verse 13, he says, You are the salt of the earth.

But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. But on a stand and it gives light to all in the house in the same way. Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Can I preach what you practice in being a light to the world? With some Christians you can. With some Christians, you know that the minute they walk into a room, they’re going to talk to you about God.

They’re going to show you through their hard work, their discipline, their submission to their bosses, their love of their spouses, their familial relationship, just their very being, that they are different from the world. And what makes them different?

And if you truly are a child of God, if you truly accepted that and you are living it, you will stand out like a sore thumb. You will be a light put on a basket, and your light will emanate through the room, whether you want to or not, because it’s going to show because it’s different. Because being a light for God is powerful in a world full of darkness. If you look at Philippians chapter 2, please turn with me there in Philippians chapter 2.

If you look at verse twelve. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. And notice verse 14 and 15. Do all things without grumbling or disputing. Why? That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud. I did not run in vain or labor in vain. So as we examine this morning, can I preach what you practice in your daily Bible study?

You see, that’s a critical first step. Why? What is verse 16 says? Holding fast to the word of life. Who does? Among whom you shine as lights in the world. It’s critical that if we’re going to stand up for Christ, we better be trying to act like him. Because otherwise the whole world’s gonna know. When a light’s on in a dark house, you know it. I can say that with assurances because this past Friday evening, my entire apartment complex was in the middle of a blackout. You so much as light a candle in there, and all of a sudden it’s like you can see the whole world again. Until you realize how limited the scope of a candle is. See, lights stand out in darkness. But conversely, darkness is hidden with other darkness, and the world will recognize if you’re just like them, because you won’t stand out.

There is no kind of standing out. You either are different or you are the same. That’s how life works. That’s how Christianity works. Jesus makes that very clear in all of his conversations. You need to be different. You need to stand out, you need to love God. And that’s the biggest component of this particular facet of can I preach what you practice and being a light for God? Because the question isn’t what are you doing? The question is, do you truly love God? Because Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. In John 14 and verse 15. So it’s not just a claim, and it doesn’t matter what you preach, it matters what you practice, because that’s what God looks at, and that’s what the world sees.

3. Can I Preach What You Practice in Your Family Life?

So what type of influence are you being? What type of example to your friends and neighbors? What type of servant are you being to God as a light in the world? Would he be pleased or dismayed? If there was a stamp, if there was a seal of a child of God, would it match your shape and your form? Or would it be would we be too molded into the form of the world? Allowing ourselves to be like everybody else. Can I preach what you practice in your family life? I want to read two passages of scripture, and while I do so, I’d like everyone to examine their own personal life in this front. If you look for me at Ephesians chapter 5, please look with me at Ephesians chapter 5.

Can I preach what you practice? And I want to look at two points. First, in your marriage, and second of all, in your relationship with your parents or your children. So I’m talking about families second. Beginning in Ephesians chapter 5, here’s what the Bible preaches. Beginning in verse 22 wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its savior. Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

Now my question is, if I was up here this coming Lord’s Day and I was taking notes, and it wasn’t from what you told me, it was from what I saw recorded on a video camera. Would I be able to preach what you practice in your marriage? Paul preached that husbands should love their wives as themselves, that wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Is that what would show on the videotape? Is that what show would that show on my video tape if I recorded myself this next week? We gotta be careful that we don’t just know the law and put it to the side. We gotta practice what we know is preached. Because again, it’s not all about what men think, although that is a critical component of Christianity, it’s about what God knows.

Because God is not deceived, God is not mocked, and he knows what we’re doing. And the fact is, as Christians, we should know better than everybody else how we ought to live. We look at the world and we say, Well, I’m better than them. Well, so what? You should be. What it what did Philippians chapter 2 and verse 15 said, We’re in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation? That sets the bar pretty low for us to be better then, doesn’t it? In our family lives, we should stand out and be so different from even a baseline of Christianity that God’s love would so alter us that we love our spouses as ourselves. But let me talk about family in a broader perspective. Look at Ephesians chapter six.

Ephesians chapter six, beginning in verse one. If you are a child, if you have a parent, or if you are a parent and you have children, examine with me. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise. That it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. I’m going to start with children. In fact, as Mr. Rufus has said, I’m prone to do, if you have if you are a child here, if you are under 20 years old, please raise your hand. I did that because otherwise Kashka would have to raise her hand.

She doesn’t like that. Okay? I’m speaking to those people who have hands up. You can put them down now. Let me ask you, when Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 1 says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. Can I preach what you practice? I’m so glad that I don’t fit that description because I could not preach what I practice most of the time. But can I preach what you practice? If the Bible was written, if the word of God, if someone could only see your life and it should reflect the Bible, how closely would it parallel the sacred text? If you aren’t obeying your parents, if you aren’t honoring your father and mother, why not? What’s the holdup?

What influence are you being? What child of God can you be claiming to be? Now, with regards to parents, I won’t ask you to raise your hand if you’re a parent. Father, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. We already looked at Deuteronomy chapter six, talking about your children all the time, teaching them the word of God, always talking about it, inspiring the love of God, bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Are you doing that? Can you honestly say that my example could be preached? My practice is what God has preached for me to do. Because that’s the goal. That’s it. Because if we’re doing right, we could be preached from the pulpit because we would be doing what God has told us to do, and that’s the point, isn’t it?

4. Can I Preach What You Practice in Your Speech?

To please God? What is the conclusion of the matter? To fear God and keep his commandments. For this is the whole duty of man. Can I preach what you practice in regard to your speech? I know that I can with many Christians. If you know many Christians, you should feel ashamed if you were ever saying or at a movie, perhaps that had foul language in it. Have you ever watched something or been around someone and it made you feel awkward or embarrassed because of the language? Perhaps taking God’s name in vain, or perhaps words that have no business being uttered, shouted out and laughed at most loudly in a movie theater? If you’ve ever had that experience, that’s good because that means your conscience is working.

And that means you understand there are some things, newsflash to the world that should not be said. There are some words that are not befitting of human beings, let alone Christians.

But perhaps you’ve been around those words and those phrases and you you weren’t moved. Conversely, why would that be? Consider why would foul language, why would using God’s name in vain not bother you other than I hear it all the time, which means you’re putting yourself in a situation to hear it all the time. What do you do? Could I preach what you practice with regards to your speech and the speech of those who you surround yourselves with? Look with me in Colossians chapter 3. Well, I’ll look at two verses, verses eight and then verse nine. In Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 8. But now you must put them all away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Could I preach the integrity and honesty of your speech? Is your yes, yes, in your no no? If you say something, can I take it to the bank and do it? Because that’s how Christians ought to be. If you talk to me, can I trust that being around you, I will hear only good things, positive things, perhaps even meditations from the law that you’ve been studying? Or will I hear things that make me shudder, close my ears? Or at least should make me embarrassed and cover my ears. You see, Colossians chapter 3 is a list of things that we would consider are pretty vile and poor. Look at verse 5. Put to death, therefore what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetous, which is idolatry.

5. Preach What You Practice About the Places You Go

And in the very same list in verse 8, we have obscene talk from your mouth, and in verse 9, lying. Do you realize it’s a big deal? Now, if I examine your life, if my life was examined, and again, thrown up on that screen, could I preach what I practice? Can you preach to others what you practice? Or would what you live and what you profess be on two different hands and two different lives? And finally, this morning I want to talk about can I preach what you practice about the places that you go? Because there are Christians who wouldn’t find themselves caught dead in a place that is involved with sin, that is lathered in people with bad words, not meditating on the word of the Lord, doing vicious and vile things, invoking in themselves sexual passion, evil desire.

Those places are everywhere. In fact, those places don’t even have the negative stigma that they used to have attached to them. And in fact, I could even add on to this can I preach what you practice about the places you go physically and on your computer screen and in your television and the movie screens that you go and put yourself before. Look at me in 1 Peter chapter 4, though. What’s the big deal? What could you preach? What could you with integrity and honesty and a lack of hick hypocrity teach? 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 3. For this the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. Living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery.

And they malign you, but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. You see, that’s where it all comes down to, doesn’t it? Verse 5, but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. And it’s not just them who will give an account to them, it is us. The question is, will you stand out? Because even 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 4 underlines this. They will be surprised when you don’t join them in their wickedness. They will be shocked. Why? Because it’s different. Doing these things is a vastly different life than the world in which we live in. It causes a change. It causes a difference. So I am begging you this morning, consider your life.

Conclusion

Could I preach what you practice? In all facets, in your daily walk with God, and how you come across to others, and how you are with your family, in the way that you talk, in the way that you walk, and even in the very places that you go to, and you let your mind wrap around. See, common expression is can I? Do you practice what you preach? I think if we spend a whole lot more time just focusing on can we preach what we practice? It might make a whole lot more sense. It might do a whole lot more good. Jesus came to this world. He not only talked a whole lot of talk, but brothers and sisters, he walked. He probably stumbled and fell, carrying the weight of his cross for us.

Why did Jesus die on the cross for our sins?

It was the will of God and love. It was two actions. It was two basic reasons. They all come back to submitting to God. But it’s his love for us. Did he die for us so that we could continue living like the Pharisees and the scribes who preached but did not practice? Did he want us to be like the people that Peter’s writing against in 1 Peter? That are taking part in all types of wickedness? Did he want us to be like that? Or did he want us to be vastly different? And I can tell you it’s obvious and clear. We are to be so totally different that we are like a light set on a stand, and it will shine forth and has no chance but to get rid of the darkness and its immediate surroundings.

Could I preach what you practice this morning? Consider those thoughts. And consider when you reach those times in life where you want to do something, or you want to be a certain way, or you want to respond with a certain word. Is this something that helps the cause of Christ and helps me grow closer with God? Or does it push me farther and mark me with either hypocrisy or silence when I could otherwise be teaching the word of God? Please pray with me this morning. Our dear God and most gracious Heavenly Father, you are great. You are mighty and you are powerful. Oh Lord, thank you for letting us come into your presence. Oh Lord, we recognize that we are nothing, and yet you have elevated us.

You have given us authority over this earth and your creatures. And O Lord, you’ve chosen to love us in every way possible. Thank you for your physical blessings. Thank you mostly for sending Christ to die on the cross for our sins, giving us a spiritual hope. Help us live our lives daily focused on serving you. Help us to learn your word. And help us to learn and love you, and the rest will follow.

And help us to realize the error of our ways. Oh Lord, help our influence to be strong, and help our times of temptation to grow less and less.

Amen.