Sermon Tone Analysis

Today we are going to continue with our verse by verse Bible study series through the book of James.

And as you can see up on our video screens, the focus of our Bible verses today in James Chapter 2 is:

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EXAMPLES OF FAITH THAT WORKS!

Because in our Bible verses today, we are going to be taking a look atTWO DIFFERENT EXAMPLES of Old Testament believers that had FAITH THAT WORKS! (INTRO SLIDE #1)

But speaking of examples, that reminds me of the story of the Father that was trying to USE AN EXAMPLE, to teach his lazy teenage son a lesson.

This Father told his lazy

son…“son, when Mr. Tom was your age, he was studying, he was working hard at a job, and he helped out his parents!”

The Father continued… ‘

“but all you do son is lay around the house, watch TV, and complain”

The lazy son answered his father and said

“that might be true dad… but when Mr. Tom was YOUR age…He was president of a Fortune 500 Company!”

But examples are important for us to learn from.

(INTRO SLIDE #2)

Now to help us understand these examples in our Bible study today, I need to remind you of what our main topic was last Sunday.

Last Sunday James taught us about the important connection between FAITH AND WORKS in the life of the believer.

We learned that every true believer will have good works or fruit that will be an outward sign of their true inward Christian faith.

(INTRO SLIDE #3)

And for those that claim to be Christians but have NO WORKS to prove it, James described them this way in…

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James 2:17 “…Faith without works is dead”

But in our Bible verses this morning, James is going to bring up two well known Old Testament believers that were examples of FAITH THAT WORKS.

Both of these Old Testament believers are so WELL KNOWN, that they are found in the famous

Hebrews Chapter 11 - “Hall of Faith”

Now let me tell you who these Old Testament believers are!

Our first example of a believer with a FAITH THAT WORKS is Abraham, who was the very first Jew and the Father of the Jewish nation!

The 2nd believer that James is going to use as an example was very different, she was a GENTILE PROSTITUTE named RAHAB.

But both of these believers who had a FAITH THAT WORKED are presented to us AS HEROS OF THE FAITH!

Now there is ONE FINAL BELIEVER that we are going to talk about today that is also an example of faith that works.

And that is YOU AS A BELIEVER!

As a Christian, the Bible points TO YOU as a believer with a faith that works, and that makes you a hero.

Now we all know that we don’t always act like spiritual super heroes do we?

But as a Christian you my friends, are also examples of FAITH THAT WORKS!

So let’s get started and please open up your Bibles with us to the book of

James Chapter 2.

And we will begin where we left off last Sunday, by reading verses 20 to 22.

James Chapter 2, and we will begin by reading verses 20 to 22 together.

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James 2:20-22 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made [perfect?

As we get started, keep in mind that James has been bringing this topic up in an effort to get us to examine our own faith.

DO WE have a living faith that is listening to the Holy Spirit and daily walking with Jesus, or do we have a dead empty faith that doesn’t make any effort to walk in the good works that God has prepared for us?

And last week we saw James prove to us that a true living Christian faith will always be shown through good works done for Jesus.

So getting to our text here, James begins this section by asking us an important question.

We see that question right here in verse 20…James asks…

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20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

And in the following verses, James answers this question by proving this is true by bringing up an Old Testament believer named ABRAHAM.

Now all of us know the story of Abraham, he is one of the main characters in the entire Old Testament!

And we find… The Story of Abraham OVER IN…

(The Father of the Jewish Nation) - Genesis Chapters 11:27-25:11

And after bringing up Abraham, James brings up a story from his life that shows us an example of Abraham’s FAITH THAT WORKED!

Listen to this story with me again here in verse 21…

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21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

Now this is actually one of the most amazing stories in the Bible.

In this story, Abraham and his wife Sarah had supernaturally conceived their first promised child at the advanced ages of 90 and 100 years old.

And God had promised Abraham that the long Promised MESSIAH (who we know is Jesus) would come from the family line of this child named Isaac.

But then in Genesis Chapter 22, God came to Abraham and said…

“Abraham, take your only son Isaac whom you love and go up to the mountain and Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering to Me”

I don’t know about you, but if a voice came into my head that said, take one of your children and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to me, I would say, “Get behind me Satan”

But not Abraham, he knew the voice of God, and he was ready to do whatever good works it was that God wanted him to do, so Abraham prepared to go and obey and DO IT!

Now we do find out later in the story that God was only testing Abrahams faith, and God DID NOT allow Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

But for everyone of the many GOOD WORKS that Abraham did, he did them all because of his FAITH IN GOD!

Let me read you an example of that from the HALL OF FAITH found here

in…

(SLIDE)-

Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.

And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

We also see the Faith of Abraham found in this same GOOD WORK of being willing to sacrifice his son just a few verses later in the FAMOUS HALL OF FAITH of HEBREWS.

And in Hebrews Chapter 11, we are also told WHY Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son.

Listen to this in

(SLIDE)-

Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Abraham was willing to go through with this great work, because he HAD FAITH in God that God would resurrect Isaac from the dead if he had too.

And did you notice what James says about how the Faith of Abraham worked right here in verse 22?

Verse 22… You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

We will see James continue to talk about the faith and works of Abraham as we continue on by reading verses 23 and 24 together.

(SLIDE)

James 2:23-24 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

And he was called the friend of God.

24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

So here in verse 23, James quotes the Old Testament book of Genesis to show us the important MOMENT that Abraham was saved.

Verse 23 is taken from…

(SLIDE)- where we read…

Genesis 15:6 ​​And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Abraham’s moment of conversion happened probably 50 years BEFORE those good works that Abraham did with his son Isaac.

So the first thing that we learn here is that the author James understood that it wasn’t the good works that saved Abraham, but he was saved by faith alone.

And that is why James quotes this KEY VERSE in regards to salvation right here.

Abraham is thought of as the Father of the faith for the Jews, Christians, and even the Muslims and the Bible is crystal clear on how he(AND EVERYONE ELSE) can be saved.

All people can be saved by believing, by faith!

This is how Abraham was saved, this is how you as a Christian were saved, and this is how EVERY OTHER NON BELIEVER that you know can be saved today!

So for Abraham, he was saved by faith and faith alone!

But all of the good works that Abraham did AFTER HIS CONVERSION EXPERIENCE although it didn’t save him, those good works or good fruit proved that his faith was real.

So Abraham was saved by faith and faith alone, and that salvation began a brand new relationship for him with God.

Look at what God called Abraham at the end of verse 23?

At the end of verse 23 we read that Abraham WAS CALLED GOD’S FRIEND!

Do you know WHO ELSE IS CALLED GOD’S FRIEND IN THE SCRIPTURES?