James: A Faith That Works (8)
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(Nun story — “Now that’s what I call faith!”)
So far, James has taught us that “A Faith That Works” is a Faith that —
— allows itself to be built through enduring trials
— seeks God’s provision and grace in prayer… daily!
— understands that our “riches” are not in this world
— turns to God for everything
— does not discriminate, but loves unconditionally
You see… A Faith that Works —
— changes lives!
Today… James shifts his attention to this question: “What is saving faith?”
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?
Let me ask you: What does your faith cause you to do?
I think this is the biggest struggle for Christians in America.
We tend to think that faith is a personal thing… that it is something reserved only for our private lives, and that it has nothing to do with the rest of our lives…
We tend to think that it is all about our beliefs ABOUT God, and nothing else…
BUT, that couldn’t be further from the truth!
FAITH — true Faith — is about how we live our lives… It’s about how we do things, and what we do… True Faith — Saving Faith — A Faith that Works — is a Faith that produces ACTION!
A Faith That Works… A Faith That Saves… is a Faith that PRODUCES action!
There is a tightrope walker named Blondin, from the late 1800’s, his story gives us an amazing illustration of Faith in Action.
— Blondin lived from 1827-1897, and first appeared in England.
— He owed his celebrity and fortune to his idea of crossing Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
— He made history on June 30, 1859, when he walked above Niagara Falls on an 1,100 foot long, 3 inch wide rope, and carrying a 40 lbs balancing pole…
— In total, the crossing took 20 minutes…
— During that summer, Blondin made 9 crossings of Niagara Falls, including one on August 19th, where he carried his manager, Harry Colcord, on his back…
— 6 times during the crossing, Harry had to climb off his back so that he could rest and gather his strength…
— One of the most told stories of Blondin is of a time when he crossed pushing an empty wheelbarrow… When he made it across, he asked the audience if they thought he could do it with someone sitting in it.
— the response was a resounding “Yes!”
— Pointing to one of the men in the audience who seemed the most enthusiastic, Blondin said, “Okay, since you claim you believe I can do it, why don’t you get in the wheelbarrow?”
Needless to say, that man made a quick exit!
There is a great difference between the faith we say we have, and the faith we really have.
James says “It is not about our “TALK”… it’s about our “WALK”.
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?
What is Faith?
Hebrews 11:6 (NRSV)
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Ephesians 2:8 (NRSV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NRSV)
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
23 But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
So, What is Faith?
— Many say: “Believing in things unseen.” (Ok, let’s consider that.)
— James says, “Can Faith save anyone?” (2:14)
James 2:14 (NRSV)
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?
This could be better stated as: “Can BELIEF save anyone?”
— There is a difference between “Faith” and “Belief”…
— We can “believe” in something without it ever changing our lives!
Look at verse 14 again…
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?
Notice that James DID NOT say that the person in question has faith, but just that the person CLAIMS to have faith.
— This is a person who says: “I believe.”
— This is a person who “talks” about having faith, but what they really have is “basic Belief” at best…
This is a person who knows all the right things to say to make you think — or even convince themselves — that they have faith, but their actions speak otherwise…
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?
17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
You see… Belief says the right things, BUT has no follow-through!
— Belief knows the truth… BUT… the “WALK” doesn’t measure up to the “TALK”!
There are a lot of people in our country who fall into this category… They claim that they have FAITH, if asked, they will claim to be devout Christians…, but they have no deeds that reveal it.
In 1991, James Patterson and Peter Kim took a survey of America, they published their findings in a book titled: “The Day America Told the Truth.”
What they found in dealing with American religious beliefs is that 90% of the people, when questioned about God, said they truly believed in God.
Of those who claimed to believe in God, 50% had not been to church in at least 3 months, and 30% had not been to a service in the past year!
George Barna claims that “4 out of 5 Americans claim to be Christians, yet what they say they believe has very little to do with how they live their lives.” — Barna
Think about it:
How can 4 out of 5 of people be Christians, yet we struggle everyday with drugs, adultery, pornography, and crime?!
The truth is: The stated faith of the majority of Americans is not positively impacting their lives!
— Sure… many blame “organized religion”, BUT… could it be something else?
— Could it be that we have not really understood what faith really is?
— Could it be that we have not really learned what it means to “LIVE as Christians”?!?
Jesus warned us:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Not everyone with a Christian bumper sticker… or one of those “fish” symbols on their car… has “saving faith”.
— What they really have is “belief”…
Belief — “an acceptance that a statement is true, or that something exists.”
— Belief doesn’t have to change our lives!
Belief is purely INTELLECTUAL…
— Belief is only in the mind.
— Belief does not submit to Christ as Lord.
— Belief is empty words that do not lead to works — to action.
Can this kind of Faith save?
NO!!!!
3 times, James says, “faith without works is dead.” (James 2:17. 20. 26)
Let me tell you: “Knowing about Christ does not mean that you KNOW Christ!”
(I’m the perfect example of that…)
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.
Do you BELIEVE in God?
Good! So do demons!
— Demons believe in God.
— Demons even believe Jesus IS God.
33 In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,
34 “Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”
35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm.
36 They were all amazed and kept saying to one another, “What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!”
11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!”
12 But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
— Demons also believe in the existence of a place of condemnation, which Jesus CAN send them to…
31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
— They believe that Jesus is the Judge!
28 When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way.
29 Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
Let me tell you: “Simple ‘Belief’ plays on your mind (rational thought) and your emotions (feelings).”
Christianity in our time is really into emotions… emotions should be a part of our religious experience, BUT… understand this… Saving Faith is not about emotions!
— We can be emotionally moved in worship… or in our interactions with others… and still never act concretely or positively on our emotions…
— We can go to church and get “goose bumps”… but NEVER make a difference because it does not result in action!
Can that kind of faith save?
NO!!!!
James tells us that the demons “believe and tremble”… but their faith — demonic faith — still does not move them to action!
We can KNOW Christ with our mind and be emotionally moved, but still not be a Christ FOLLOWER!
True saving FAITH involves something more… something that can be seen and recognized… A CHANGED LIFE!!!
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.
Being a Jesus follower — a Christian — involves TRUSTING IN and LIVING FOR Christ!
15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?
17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Who here likes PEANUTS? You know Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the whole gang…
In one of the classic cartoons, Charlie Brown and Linus are shown all bundled up warm and cozy inside, while Snoopy is outside, cold and shivering…
Charlie Brown and Linus discuss how cold Snoopy looks, and decide that they need to do something to comfort him…
So, they walk over to Snoopy and say: “Be of good cheer, Snoopy! Yes, Be of good cheer!”
Snoopy responds with a big question mark and a look that says “How does that help me?!?”
Where in the world did Charles Schultz come up with the idea for this comic strip?!?
Saving Faith is more than sympathy or empathy.
It is Faith in action… healing … providing for… acting on… the needs of others!
I wonder… How often have we been like Charlie Brown and Linus?
How often have we left people we encounter with a “Big Question mark”, wondering how that helps them?!
How much does it really help to say to someone: “I really feel for you, man!” … “That sucks, I’ll put you on my prayer list!”… “I know God will provide for you!”… if we then walk away without doing anything about their need?!?
Saving Faith is not just something we FEEL… or something that we think…
Faith is not an intellectual exercise…
— It’s not just something to be studied, discussed, or debated…
Faith is something to be LIVED OUT!
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.
Saving Faith is more then just “belief in”… it has to be demonstrated… practiced… in our daily lives!
Faith that is only intellectual or emotional, is like that of the demons.
— They believe in God, and it causes them to shudder… but that’s about it!
— There is no change!
There are a lot of people out there — both inside the Church and outside — who have strong beliefs ABOUT God and the Bible.
— They can recite creeds and catechisms… they can talk about doctrine… but what they think or believe doesn’t change their lives!
Look at the Samaritan woman at the well…
— she was well-versed in the spiritual controversies of the day when Jesus met her, but she was living an immoral life.
How often are we like that?
Let me tell you: The devil and his cohort of demons are NOT atheists!
— They believe in God in an intellectual sense…
— They are great theologians…
— They know the Bible… and even try to use it against us!
James says that “they believe and shudder”
— The Greek word “shudder” means “to be extremely afraid”…
— — It is the kind of fear that makes our hair stand on end… The kind of thing that happens when we read a Stephen King novel… or watch a horror movie… or tell scary stories around the campfire…
Let me ask you: What kind of story scares demons? What can make them “shudder” with fear?
Is that who we are? Is that how we are operating? Do we think about God … about who He is… and just “shudder in fear”, but then just keep living our lives?
Or, Does His Love and Grace drive us to action?
Saving Faith is NOT just about what we SAY, FEEL, or THINK…
It is something we DO!
Saving Faith is not about what we SAY, FEEL, or THINK — it is something we DO!
In verse 18, James said: “Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith BY my works!”
— Pastor David Owens said: “Faith is like calories, you can’t see them, but you can see their results!”
— You can’t see electricity, but if you grab a 220 volt wire, you’re gonna know it! It’s gonna make you do something!
There is no way we can be truly connected to the God of this universe and not have it show in our lives!
Saving Faith leads to action!
17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Add to it verse 26:
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.
The Greek word translated “dead” means “dead, lifeless”… it refers to being “really dead”… like corpse dead!
The body without the Spirit is merely an empty… useless shell.
In the same way, faith devoid of works is empty and useless.
Unfortunately… many people who have a dead faith… try to give their faith the appearance of life…
— They go to church, either regularly or sporadically…
— they place a Bible on the coffee table… or carry it in their car…
— If you ask them about their faith, they say that their family has always been Christian and “gone to church”…
But…
Faith That Works… Saving Faith… is not something we say, or think, or feel… It is something we DO.
James gives us two examples, straight out of Israel’s history:
20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren?
21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works.
23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road?
Abraham and Rahab… He couldn’t have chosen two people who were anymore of a contrast!
— Abraham was a man… Rahab was a woman
— Abraham was Jewish… Rahab was gentile
— Abraham was a major character.... Rahab, barely a mention
— Abraham a patriarch… Rahab a prostitute…
Through these two, James is saying: “It doesn’t matter who you are, as long as you have one thing — a Faith in God that leads to ACTION!”
A Faith That Works leads to Action!
We don’t have a lot of time left to spend on these two stories, so we will just touch on each of them briefly...
40 years before God tested Abraham… God called him to follow Him… and when he did, God promised him that through his descendants, “all nations would be blessed.”
— His offspring would be as numerous as the sky
Abraham believed God (Gen. 15:6)
— The problem was, Abraham didn’t have any children…
— 25 years later, Isaac — the promised son — was born…
— everything seemed to be coming together… the promise was coming true… God was doing what He said He would… but…
Then God gave that command… Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac… he was to sacrifice the promise… the one whom God had given him… the fulfillment of the promise he had trusted God for…
— now… Isaac was probably about 15-16 years old when God told Abraham to take him to a certain mountain and to sacrifice him there.
I don’t think anything could have been more troubling and confusing for Abraham… But he believed God… he had Faith in God… so he immediately obeyed Him.
— Abraham built an altar… placed wood on it… he bound his son… and placed him on the altar…
It wasn’t until Abraham raised the knife to kill his ONLY son, that the voice of God stopped him.
12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
Abraham’s faith was demonstrated by his action.
Let me ask you: What is your Isaac?
What is that thing that is so precious to you that it would hurt you deeply … that it would bring you to the very end of yourself… if God demanded that you sacrifice it to Him?
As you consider that… look at Rahab…
Rahab did not have a long history of Godly living… she was a Gentile prostitute…
Yet when she found those two spies hiding in her home… she was prompted by something…
She acted on that tiny bit of faith… hid them… helped them escape… and in doing so, saved them and her entire family…
Rahab did not just talk about faith… she acted on it.
And in doing so… in acting on that tiny fraction of faith in those men’s God… she became part of God’s story.
— Many people miss this… Rahab was part of Jesus’s lineage!
(but that’s a whole other sermon)
So, what’s the point?
What’s our “take home”?
“Talk is cheap. Put your money where your mouth is. If you believe in Him and in His Son, then prove it!”
Our Faith is demonstrated by our actions…
Actions speak louder than words… Our behavior shows what we really believe.
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
(look at the NRSV)
Ephesians 2:10 (NRSV)
10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
There are good works for us to be doing… they are not the basis for our salvation… but… they are the evidence of it.
A Faith That Works is alive and active.
Are we demonstrating True Faith?
Or, Are we just paying it “lip service”?
What is my Faith prompting me to do?
— What is my Faith prompting me to do in worship?
— What is my Faith prompting me to do in service?
— What is my Faith prompting me to do about fellowship?
— What is my Faith prompting me to do about sharing my faith?
— What is my Faith prompting me to do in financially giving to the Lord?
— What is my Faith prompting me to do about holiness… about character… about love?
May God help us ALL to find a “saving faith” — a dynamic and active faith — a Faith that Works!