Works w.o faith Sermon
Good Morning,
The message this past week has been all about service: service to God, service to this church, service to each other… Service is a good thing. It is the fruit of our relationship with Christ. It is evidence to those around us that we are who we profess to be. Don’t tell me you’re a Christian –show me.
James 2:20 says, “Faith without works, is dead”.
But the opposite is also true. Works without faith is also dead. Is that Scriptural? Heb 11:6 warns, “without faith, it is impossible to please God”.
What am I talking about here – works without faith?
Webster defines works as: “the performance of moral or religious acts, as in salvation by works”. Yeah, Webster actually said that! What he’s referring to is the doctrine of some churches that says you can earn eternal salvation by doing good works. We know that is not true. If we could earn salvation, then we wouldn’t need Jesus.
Back to the definition, works is “the performance of moral or religious acts with or without faith”.
The way I see it, there are 2 types of works without faith:
1. the kind where we do something to get something
2. the kind where we do things but our hearts aren’t really into it.
Let’s look at some Biblical examples.
This week my Bible reading had me in Numbers. Now, Numbers is not exactly my favorite book in the Bible, quite frankly I was there because my reading plan for 2006 took me there. I’m not reading Numbers because I want to, I’m reading Numbers because if I want to stay on the plan, I have to read Numbers this week. Does that make my reading a work? Don’t answer that.
Lets go on, Numbers 16
The Israelites are wandering around the desert. They reach some unidentified place and camp for the night. 2 men from the tribe of Reuben: Dathan and Abiram along with one of the Levites, Korah got together a group of 250 of the top leaders of Israel. That they could amass a group of 250 leaders says that Dathan and Abiram & Korah held positions of authority. At this meeting they revealed that they had had enough of Moses & Aaron’s leadership.
3 They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
In other words, since God had made a covenant with Israel, all of them were equally holy and capable of being leaders. Who were Moses & Aaron to put themselves above every one else?
Sort of sounds like what Brother Charlie was talking about. No one wants to serve anyone else anymore. Everyone wants to be the boss.
But wait a minute. Who were the Levites? The priests.
What was their main function? To work in the sanctuary to perform all of the religious acts, to offer sacrifices, to intercede for the people, to do the work in the church.
And who was Aaron? The high priest.
Ok, follow the thought. Jump up to verse 2 how does it describe the 250?
“well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.”
What was their job? To help Moses lead the people. To act as judges and military leaders for clans and tribes.
And who is the head of the Council? Who appointed them? Moses.
We can infer what this group is feeling: jealousy, pride, arrogance, lack of respect for authority, rebellion.
Does any of that sound like faith? No, of course not.
So what kind of works do you think this group is doing, ones that bring glory to God? Or faithless acts? Now before you answer, consider that a fair portion of this group are Levites, they go to work everyday in the tabernacle, they pray, they recite their history, they offer sacrifices… How can those be faithless acts? Because their hearts are not right.
Moses proposes a test. He tells Dathan and Abiram & Korah and the other 250 leaders to bring a censer or a bowl of burning incense to the tabernacle. Dathan and Abiram & Korah refused and told Moses they really didn’t care what the others did, they would not take part in Moses’ little experiment.
What did God think about their works?
28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: 29 If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.”
31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!” 35 And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
You would think that would be enough of a wake-up call for Israel. It wasn’t. You see, priests and leaders aren’t the only ones called to perform works that bring glory to God, works that show the world we belong to Him.
41 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.
42 But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared.
46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.” 47 So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. 48 He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. 49 But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped.
Don’t miss the point here. Our works are meant to glorify God. When we do things without regard for who He is, when we get flesh into His plans, we challenge His authority. We negate our faith and everything we put our hands to becomes worthless.
Let’s look at another example.
Aaron is dead. His son Eleazar is the new High Priest. Joshua is the commander of the troops. After some more wandering through the desert they asked Sihon, King of the Amorites if they could pass through his land. He responded by bringing out his army. The Israelites defeated them and took possession of their land as well as the lands of King Og another Amorite King. When we get to Numbers 22 we meet Moabites and King Balak.
Balak knows what the Israelites did to the Amorites. He also knows the history of the Israelites. Now, he’s not a follower of Yahweh, but he thinks he knows someone who can help. There is a prophet named Balaam who has a reputation for knowing all about the worship of the Israelite God. It is even said that he can contact God through divination. For a price, he will invoke the power of the Almighty and level a curse on one’s enemies.
You know the story. Balak asks Balaam to curse Israel. At first Balaam refuses, God had come to him in a dream and told him not to go. Balak ups the ante and offers him more money. Again God comes to Balaam in a dream, but this time he tells Balaam to go to Balak and give him a message from God. When he gets there Balaam tells Balak to prepare a sacrifice – an Israelite sacrifice.
23 1 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 2 Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Now you would think that would be a good work – offering a sacrifice. But what was the motive? Balak wanted something from God. He wanted Balaam to curse Israel.
4 God met with him, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”
Balaam wanted something too. See, I gave you a sacrifice, now God you do something for me. Does it work like that? Is that the purpose of good works, to get God to do something for us? No.
Now God does give Balaam a message for Balak but its not the answer Balak is looking for. Jump down to verse 11
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”
And if he didn’t get the message the first time, Balak tries again. Only this time he didn’t wait for the Prophet to tell him what to do.
13 Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will see only a part but not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Balak offered sacrifices. Balak who wasn’t an Israelite or a follower of Yahweh offered what he thought was a proper sacrifice. Again, what was his motive? To get something from God.
What was God’s response? He blessed Israel again. In fact he blessed them to such a great degree that Balak was left to respond. Shut-up!
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!” [Shut-up!]
But Balaam was enjoying himself. How can I say that?
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.” 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.
29 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Let’s do it again. Let’s offer Israelite sacrifices. Let’s play church. Let’s go through the motions even though we know God is not pleased with our selfish motives.
What did Balaam get for his efforts?
24 10 Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times. 11 Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.”
Typical response! We pray and ask God for things out of His will and He says no. Please God let me win the lottery and I will start tithing. Please God, make my boss call in sick this morning. Please God… God is not here to perform for us. We are here to serve Him!
Balaam did what Balak asked even though he knew that God had told him not to. There’s a warning for us here. People will ask you to pray or to agree with them in prayer for things that are against God’s will. Pray that my boyfriend divorces his wife so he can marry me. Pray for snow Mom, then we can have a snow day and I won’t have to finish that report. Pray that they fire my boss and then I won’t be stressed anymore. No, No, a thousand times no. Do not turn your prayers into witchcraft. If you cannot agree with someone in prayer say so! Tell them they are asking you to pray against the will of God. Step up to the plate and show them what the Scriptures say about what they are seeking. You know the Word, put it to work. OK?
At this point in the story Balaam gets ready to storm off and go home. But something interesting happens. Without performing a good work and offering a sacrifice, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Balaam and he prophesies against all the people groups Israel would defeat.
Again there is a lesson here for us. God will give us what he wants to give us. We don’t have to buy his favor. Balak thought he could get God to curse Israel by offering more and more sacrifices. Balaam thought He could use God system of worship to his advantage.
What was the end result?
Balaam: Num 31 7 They fought against Midian, as the Lord
commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
Balak: We don’t know. His name is mentioned 4 more time in the Bible, Joshua, Judges, Micah, & Revelations. Each time it says he tried to defeat God’s plan for Israel with the help of Balaam the prophet yet failed.
One more Biblical example, let’s leave Numbers and head over to Acts. We’re going to look at the classic example works without faith -- Christians who faked their spirituality to impress others.
Acts 5
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.
Earlier in Acts 4:32 we read
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
That does not say that Ananias and Sapphira had to sell the property to be part of the early church. It says that when they were of one heart, they wanted to share everything they had. We will see that this couple did not have pure motives.
5 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
It wasn’t a sin for them to keep part of the money.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
Obviously Ananias had promised to give the Apostles all the profits from the sale, and not just a portion. The sin was not how much he gave to the Apostles. His sin was in breaking his vow to the Holy Spirit and then lying to Peter about it.
4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
The Jews did not embalm, but customarily buried the dead the same day, especially someone who died by divine judgment.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
Does that sound like a rehearsed answer to you? Remember women of the day were not generally consulted on financial matters. The husband controled the purse strings.
9 Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
This passage shows just how much God hates hypocrisy.
Its not about what you do, it’s the motive of your heart that counts. Your heart motive determines whether the works you do are with or without faith and whether or not they bring glory to God.
Let me encourage you this morning to consider the cost before you put your hands to anything. Will what you do bring glory to God? If you get to church early and shovel path is God glorified? Yes, because His house is welcoming to those who enter. Now if you shoveled the snow so that Pastor would publicly thank you during the service, then your work has no eternal reward, it is without faith. Regardless if Pastor recognizes your work from the pulpit or not, if your intent in shoveling the snow was to show love for the congregation then your works are done in faith and you have stored treasure in heaven. Its all about your heart attitude.