FAITH AND WORKS
James 2:14-26
V:14. " What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he
has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?"
A. Apostle James
speaks to us, the Church about our walk with Jesus.
1. There ought to
be some tangible evidence that we are following Jesus.
2. We certainly
can talk about our faith in Jesus.
a. When
someone from the outside look at our life,
can they see Christ in
us?
b. When
someone from the outside looks at us, do they see the world or do they
see something different from the
world?
B. We know a tree by
the fruit it produces.
1. Is it an
orange tree, if it never produces any oranges?
2. Is it an apple
tree, if it never produces any apples?
3. Do we have faith, if we never produce any
works?
4. Do we have
faith, if we can't find time to do the good works of Christ? Col
5. Christ started
a good work in us. Phil 1:6.
6. We have been
equipped for good works. 2 Tim 3:16-17.
C. We are saved by
grace through faith.
1. It is grace
that gave us the faith to believe in Jesus Christ.
2. We did not
come to faith in Jesus Christ on our own, it was by God's grace.
3. To each is
given a measure of faith. Rom 12:3
4. The Apostle is
questioning whether our faith is alive.
V:15. " If a
brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food."
A. A living faith
produces works.
1. A living faith
recognizes the responsibility to be a good steward of what God has
given him.
2. A living faith
expresses its gratefulness through compassion for others.
3. A living faith
is not just words, but actions.
B. Notice God
presents us with a situation that ought to convict our hearts to action.
1. We have been
blessed with what we need.
2. The question
is, do we have the heart to share what we have with someone in
need?
need?
3. If we had not
been blessed by God, we would be in need.
C. Notice this is a
brother or a sister who does not have clothes or food for the day.
1. This brother
or sister is destitute and we have been equipped to help.
2. The question
is, do we feel a need to be our brothers keeper?
V:16. " And one of you says to them, "Go in peace,
be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary
for their body, what use is that?"
A. Notice, God does
not tell us how this brother or sister got in this condition.
1. God does not
tell us their life story.
a. They
could have been born poor.
b. They
could have had much, but lost all they had.
c. They
could be out of their minds and not capable of taking care of themselves.
2. How this
brother or sister got into this condition of need is not the issue.
a. The issue is, what is the condition
of your heart?
b. The issue
is, are you living by your faith?
c. The issue
is, are you dead in your faith because you have been save by grace?
d. The issue
is, "I got mine and you got to figure out how to get yours."
B. Because we know the word and we been taught
the word, we know how to
pray.
1. Prayer is
easy. It does not take much of our time.
2. We give them
this prayer, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,"
3. We got the
scripture to back us up, "The prayers of the righteous avails much".
3. Their need is
now, but we tell them to wait on God.
4. The "Church
Of God
C. The Church Of God,
which is us, has access to all the riches of God, but sends the
brother or
sister away with a prayer.
1. The text tells
us this was not a scam, it was a need and we knew it was a need.
2. The text tells
us this was a brother or a sister, not a stranger off the street.
3. The text tells
us that there is such a lack of compassion in us that we will not help
even though
we have the means to help.
4. The brother or
sister came to the place of helps, but we sent them away empty
handed.
a. What we
are saying is that the God in us is not big enough to be God for them.
b. We got the help, the capability, and the resources, but we
tell God
it is
not proper or it is not convenient for us to help.
D. We say we got
faith, but we don't act in faith when God presents us with the
opportunity to
exercise our faith.
1. What the Apostle
is asking, what good is the Word if we don't put the power
behind it?
2. What good are we to God, if we do not follow his will for us?
V:17. " Even so
faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself."
A. An active living
faith produces works.
1. An active
faith has the discernment of God to know a need when it is presented.
2. An active faith acts out of love and
compassion.
3. An active
faith causes us to make a sacrifice for others.
4. An active
living faith does not hesitate to be helpful.
B. It is not faith
if I have to know for sure that something will turn out the way I want
it.
it.
1. It is not
faith if I have an opportunity to do good but neglect the good.
2. It is not
faith for me to tell God to find somebody else to do His will.
3. We got faith,
but it is dead and useless if it is not put into action.
V:18" But someone may well say, "You have faith
and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my
faith by my works."
A. Christian living
requires us to do something for God.
1. Christian
living requires us to be at work for God and not sit on the sidelines
watching
others work.
2. We got the
light, but if we don't let it shine, no one can benefit from it.
3. We got faith,
but others are place in our lives to benefit from our faith.
B. God blesses us so
others can be blessed.
1. God called us
out of the world, so the world can see Him in us.
2. We were called
because we have worth.
3. We were called
because God has a job for us.
4. We were called
so we could store up treasures in heaven.
5. We were dead in
our sins, but made alive in Christ Jesus.
a. We can't
live like the dead, but must live like the living.
b. Those
living in Christ produce much fruit through their works.
6. If we allow
Christ to work in our lives, many will be saved.
V:19. " You
believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and
shudder."
A. Everyone believes
in something.
1. Demons
believe in Jesus
2. Demons hate
Jesus and His works, and have no desire to change.
3. Demons know
the power of Jesus, and are afraid of Jesus, but they will not
change.
change.
B. Believers should
reverence the Lord by following his commands.
1. It is our duty
and obligation to show our gratefulness by actively involving
ourselves in the
works of the Lord.
2. If we have
faith in the Word that belief in Jesus saves, we should have faith in
the Word that
our works are important to God.
V:20. " But are
you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is
useless?"
A. We have to
exercise faith for it to do us or anyone any good.
1. It is the same
as having a car and never using the car.
2. Unless you get
in the car, it can't take you anywhere.
B. At some point in
our spiritual maturity, we must recognize that faith cannot grow
unless it is
active.
1. Unless we
trust God, we
want know what trust is.
2. The work that
God has for us to do cannot be accomplished by our strength
and knowledge
alone.
3. If we can see
our way through, it is not faith.
C. To do work for
the Lord requires commitment and dedication.
1. One of the reason we have trouble doing
the work of the Lord, is we can't fit him
in our schedule.
2. We generally
call on God in faith when we have a need we can't satisfy.
3. It is our
faith that stirs us to do things for God that we can't see how it can be
accomplished.
4. The just live
by faith and not by sight.
V:21. " Was not
Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the
altar?"
A. Sometimes God
works in ways that are strange to us.
1. At 75, God
promised Abraham that his seed would bless many nations.
2. God waited 25
years to fulfill this promise.
a. Abraham
was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
b. Isaac was in his teens when God
commanded Abraham to offer him as a
sacrifice. Gen 22:2
3. God's command
to Abraham was a test of his faith.
B. God tested Abraham
to see if he loved Him more than his son.
1. Abraham did
not hesitate to do as God commanded.
2. Being a father, I am sure that God's
command was a cause for concern.
V:22. " You see that faith was working with his works,
and as a result of the works, faith was perfected."
A. Abraham trusted
God to do what was best for him and his wife.
1. I am sure he
knew the sorrow of being childless.
2. Yet he did not
let his personal preferences rule out God's command.
3. Perhaps he
considered that God gave him Isaac and he could give him another
son.
B. Abraham was
obedient to God because he had faith that God could make
everything work in his favor.
everything work in his favor.
1. He trusted God
with his son.
a. Can you
imagine the look in your son's eyes as you swing a knife to kill him?
2. He trusted God
with his marriage.
a. Can you
imagine having to tell your wife you killed her son as a sacrifice to
God?
God?
3. He trusted God
with his mind.
a. Can you
imagine living with yourself after killing your son?
b. This was one
time when it looked like God was asking too much.
4. The more we
trust God's directions for our lives the more our faith grows.
V:23. " And the
Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED
GOD, AND IT WAS
RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was
called the friend of
God."
A. God rewards the
faithful.
1. It takes
courage to follow God.
2. Because Abraham loved God more than his
son, he was counted as righteous.
B. Because Abraham was obedient to God's
commands, he was called a friend of
God.
God.
1. You cannot have
a better friend than God.
2. Nobody can do
you like Jesus.
3. Nobody can take
care of you like Jesus.
4. Nobody knows
you like Jesus.
V: 24. " You see that a man is justified by works and
not by faith alone."
A. A living faith is
accompanied with works.
1. Abraham was
considered righteous because he acted upon the Word of God.
2. Hearing the
Word, he believed the Word.
B. Believing the Word
of God is action.
1. Jesus died for
our sins.
a. Believing
that He died for our sins is the work of Christ in us.
2. No one can come to Jesus unless he is drawn
by the Father. John 6:44
a. The drawing
is an action by the Father on us.
3. The evidence
of our faith will be good works at some point in our walk
with Christ.
V:25. " In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also
justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by
another way?"
A. Rahab received the
Word from the men of Israel
1. She believed
that the men of Israel
2. She hid the spies in her roof when the men
of Jericho
kill them.
3. She made a deal with Lord that her family
would not be harmed when He
destroyed the
city. Joshua 2:11 - 16...
4. Rahab let the
spies escape through a window of her house which was located
in the wall
of the city.
B. It was Rahab's
faith in the Word of God which caused her to act to save her life.
1. It was God who
sent the spies of Israel
belief of the
Word.
2. Once she heard
the Word, she had faith in the Word which saved her life.
3. Rahab showed
mercy and the mercy was shown to her.
a. Rahab's
faith in the Word caused her to show mercy to the spies which was the
works
which saved her and her family.
C. We heard the Word about the Salvation offered through the
blood Jesus shed
on the cross.
1. Whoever
believes this Word is saved. John 3:16
2. Belief in the
Word of God is the work of God who saves.
V:26. " For just
as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is
dead."
A. The Spirit of God
enters those who are called out of the world by God upon their
confession of
faith in the death and resurrection of the Son of God. 2 Th 2:13
1. God does the
drawing of us to himself, putting a
measure of faith in us to
believe in His Son. Rom 12:3
2. It is God's
love for us that gives us the opportunity to do works of faith.
3. Faith and works go together.
a. Faith will
produce good works.
4. It was Jesus
who began a good work in us. Phil 1:6
B. The giving of the
Holy Spirit to those who believe is a selective work of God.
1. We were
called and given the Spirit which made us alive in Jesus Christ.
1 Pet 1:2
2. The world is
not given the Holy Spirit. 1 John 4:6
THANK GOD FOR HIS SPIRIT THAT PRODUCED A WORK OF FAITH IN
US.
M. Mitchell 2/12/2014
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