Generated by whisper.cpp

[00:00] We are finishing out chapter 2. We had done verses 1 through 13 a few weeks ago, and so now we are on 14 through 26.
[00:11] Interesting passage. I think as I was preparing, and I think I even talked to some of you about this, it was like, you know, I read it, and I read it, and I read it, and I kept thinking,
[00:21] I don't know, easy passage, just to read and just, you know, figure out, right? And I told somebody, I think I said, you know, my plan at one time when I was reading, I said, "Maybe I'll just read it,"
[00:35] and then say, "Okay, go and do," and that's it. That's the message, which, you know, wouldn't really be that bad, right? You're like, "Yeah, it'd be a lot better than the hour sermon that you were preaching."
[00:44] No, it won't be an hour. I promise, Chad. It'll be 55 minutes. So anyway, but then I was like, all right, there's more to it than just, you know, and I think you can still get it.
[00:55] Don't get me wrong. I think if you read it, you understand it. But as I read it, and there's basically, it's a whole passage, right? That is, James is basically giving us a warning, right?
[01:09] And he's saying, "Listen, be careful." And you say, "Okay, well, what is that warning?" Right? The warning of having a faith that is not real, that is false, right?
[01:22] And if you think about it, right, it's kind of like scary. I mean, three times in 13 verses, he makes this warning very clear. In verse 17, he says, "Faith by itself is dead."
[01:37] And in verse 20, "Faith without deeds is useless." In verse 26, he says, "Faith without deeds is dead."
[01:48] He's just that alone, right? Now, I will say, you know, if you come from a legalistic background like myself, this could be like your dream passage.
[02:00] And you're saying why? Because you like works. And you're like, do things because you think you're earning favor with God, you know? So you're like, "Yeah, yeah, works, works, right?"
[02:08] You won't say that out loud because, you know, deep down, we know that that's not right. But, yeah, there's a part of us, old legalists, right?
[02:15] That likes the works because it's easy. And we understand it, right? If we do something, then we earn favor. If we don't, then we don't earn favor, right?
[02:22] Grace is like just the idea of grace, undeserved favor, and kindness just doesn't, you know, when you grew up in a system of, you know, legalism, you know, grace doesn't really make a lot of sense to you.
[02:32] It takes a while to get overcome that, right? But either way, this is a serious warning.
[02:42] And it's, you know, James, remember, is the half-brother of Jesus. And, you know, he sounds similar to Jesus and what Jesus says in this passage.
[02:51] I mean, if you were to turn to look at Matthew, Chapter 7, and Jesus is, you know, basically a Sermon on the Mount, and he says this in verse 16.
[03:05] He says, "You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, so every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
[03:15] A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into a fire.
[03:23] Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." Now, I will say he was speaking specifically to a group of people, kind of what he called wolves in sheep's clothing, you know, false prophets, those kind of things.
[03:34] But if you continue to read Jesus' words, you see that the theme of works is still, you know, still there.
[03:43] And sometimes, you know, I've really struggled with this in the sense that there are people, I did a funeral for a young woman, right, who was drug addicted and she overdosed.
[03:57] And, you know, and I remember her grandfather was some kind of preacher, I don't even know, but I remember he and I had a conversation before and after the funeral, you know, it's not how you, you know, it's not how you end, you know, it's how you start.
[04:09] And he kept saying, it's not how you end, it's how you start. And I don't know, and I'm not here to judge people's spiritual condition in their heart, but only God knows that.
[04:16] And he is the great judge and he will decide and it will be a perfect decision, you know, whether you are truly saving faith or not.
[04:25] But I always struggle because, you know, and I get it, you know, when people are, you know, past from this world and especially, you know, anybody that does love one, we want to always believe the best, right?
[04:35] And maybe they are. But if you read James and there's no history of works, right, you can say all you want about faith, but if there's no history, there's nothing.
[04:46] James has some warnings for you, you know, and I've had people come to me and say, you know, I don't know, like, do you think my, you know, this loved one, do you think they are in heaven?
[05:00] And I say, well, I don't know them or, you know, I mean, I may know of them and know what they did, but I said, ultimately, like, for my words, it's always God is the judge and he will determine.
[05:09] It's not for us to look at others, but it is for us to look at our own heart.
[05:13] Okay. And what I hope will happen in this passage is that you will examine your own life, your own heart.
[05:21] You know, we talked on Easter about meditation, meditating on God's word, right, confession and meditation.
[05:29] And I think this passage is one that warrants some strong meditation, meaning reading and asking God to help you see and help you examine your own heart and your own life.
[05:41] And see if there be a real faith.
[05:47] Second Corinthians thirteen five says, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.
[05:53] Test yourselves.
[05:54] Or do you not realize this about yourself that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you fail to meet the test?
[06:01] Right.
[06:02] And here's what I want you to also understand.
[06:04] This isn't for you to start doubting your faith because you're like, oh, no.
[06:08] All right. This isn't perfectionism.
[06:10] This isn't going, oh, well, you know, I don't I don't do works every day or I don't know.
[06:13] You'll see that's not what he's talking about.
[06:15] He's just saying that your faith should show evidence.
[06:19] Your ever your faith will show evidence of works if it's a true faith.
[06:23] Right.
[06:24] He's not giving a number of works.
[06:25] He's not telling you how often the words have to be.
[06:27] He's just saying we should see it.
[06:29] And as we mature in our faith, that's going to look different.
[06:31] Right. It might even look more.
[06:33] And I don't want you to go away here going, oh, am I safe?
[06:40] Right.
[06:40] C.J. read a great verse on Easter.
[06:44] Right.
[06:45] About salvation and how about how to how to confess with your mouth.
[06:49] And then you will be saved.
[06:52] That's it.
[06:53] Right.
[06:54] And so faith is the key to salvation.
[06:57] Faith and faith alone.
[06:58] It's funny because this this this and Jacob, you might have studied this
[07:04] more than I have way more in seminary.
[07:05] But obviously, Martin Luther and, you know, did not like the book of James.
[07:10] And we've talked about that before.
[07:11] Did not like it.
[07:12] Right.
[07:13] And he definitely didn't like it because he felt like he couldn't square it with
[07:16] the apostle Paul.
[07:17] Right.
[07:18] Because the apostle Paul is very clear.
[07:19] That is, you are justified justified before God by faith.
[07:24] And then Martin Luther goes, well, James kind of says the opposite.
[07:28] And we'll get to that later.
[07:29] And I'm saying, and I think others have said before me.
[07:33] Right.
[07:35] For me to say Martin Luther is kind of crazy on that.
[07:38] But he is crazy on that idea.
[07:40] Because if you read the whole passage and in context, you can't there's no way around
[07:47] thinking, OK, yes, faith is works are important, but it's not doesn't get you to God.
[07:53] And so, you know, as you read this, it's not to doubt your faith.
[07:58] It's that it's to say, no, I know I have faith.
[08:01] But, you know, what does that look like?
[08:04] And some of you, maybe you don't have real faith.
[08:05] And I've been praying this morning that God would convict you.
[08:08] You've never really, truly put your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
[08:14] And so, you know, as we read, just, you know, just say it, be praying.
[08:20] God, you know, show me because I'm convinced that most of us in this room,
[08:25] based on what I know and based on what I've seen, right, are true believers.
[08:29] Like you have put your faith in God.
[08:32] And so, but even all of us should do a hard examination at all times.
[08:37] Right. And especially when a passage is so clear about what God wants for us.
[08:45] All right.
[08:46] So let's read.
[08:46] We're in chapter two, verse 14 through 17.
[08:52] We're going to read more, but that's where we're going to start.
[08:54] It says this.
[08:54] What good and it's interesting because most of you know this passage.
[08:57] Read it and you're going to be like, well, I've heard that before
[08:59] because it's one of the most popular passages of all time.
[09:01] I don't know why that is, but I mean, I heard this when I was a child.
[09:05] I'm here now.
[09:06] I just, I know people that aren't saved that I can quote this passage.
[09:09] So anyway, it says this.
[09:10] What good is it?
[09:11] My brothers.
[09:12] If someone says he has faith, but does not have works.
[09:16] Cannot faith save him rhetorical question, by the way.
[09:22] If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food.
[09:27] And one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and filled.
[09:31] Without giving the things they need for the body.
[09:34] What good is that?
[09:35] So also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead.
[09:40] Dead.
[09:42] Now, obviously you have to rhetorical question.
[09:46] Can that faith save him?
[09:47] The answer is no.
[09:48] Someone has faith, but does not work.
[09:51] Can I pay save him?
[09:52] No, because what he's saying again is that works will show the face.
[09:57] That you have.
[09:57] Right.
[09:59] And then he uses just this example.
[10:00] He kind of gives us illustration, right?
[10:03] If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food.
[10:06] One of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed or filled without giving them anything.
[10:09] Right.
[10:10] What is that?
[10:11] Right.
[10:12] Right.
[10:14] It does nothing.
[10:15] Right.
[10:15] And he's using that to say that that's what faith without works is.
[10:19] That's what faith without works is.
[10:22] And so, um, the bottom line is if, if faith is real, evidence will be shown.
[10:29] Right.
[10:31] Evidence will be like, it will be seen.
[10:34] Now, when you have real faith, right?
[10:40] We understand that we are true sinners in need of a savior.
[10:47] I was thinking about this the other day, because lawyer will have, um,
[10:52] you know, sometimes she doesn't love it, but it's probably the only Christian station.
[10:55] I think Caleb on and Caleb has a special kind of theology.
[10:58] Right.
[10:58] And I call it special because it's it's trash.
[11:03] I'll put it that way.
[11:05] Right.
[11:05] And I'm sorry if I fed you, if you're a Caleb listener, the music is fine, whatever.
[11:09] I, I'm just saying that I don't know that again, I don't know what they believe or anything,
[11:12] but you know, they don't ever use the word broke.
[11:15] They don't ever use the word sin for the most part.
[11:17] Right.
[11:17] I mean, very rarely do you hear, I've never heard it,
[11:20] but I don't listen to it that often.
[11:22] So maybe they've said it, you know, that you are a sinner desperately in need of a savior.
[11:27] They don't say that.
[11:28] They'll say you're broken, you're hurting, you know, those kinds of terms.
[11:32] Now, um, we were a friend of ours that used to be in our Bible study.
[11:36] Um, student had texted us a couple weeks ago and said, Hey, I'm, she's in Wilmington.
[11:41] She goes to a church in UNC Wilmington.
[11:42] It's where she goes to college and she goes, I'm getting baptized, you know,
[11:45] on Thursday night or Tuesday night this past week.
[11:47] You know, I'd love for you to come down and see it.
[11:49] And we were like, well, I can't go down, but she goes, it's a live stream.
[11:51] So if you want to watch it, I'd love for you to watch it.
[11:53] I said, we'll watch it.
[11:54] Right.
[11:55] So we put the live stream on and, uh, the pastor comes out and he's a college
[11:59] and career kind of pastor, you know, really great speaker and, you know, a good guy.
[12:03] But, you know, I'm noticing as he's speaking that again,
[12:05] he he's talking about broken people and hurting people and he never uses the word sinful people.
[12:09] And I'm always like, okay, we know, whatever, you know, I know that I could be a little,
[12:14] you know, judgmental in that fact, you know, so I try to, okay, whatever.
[12:18] So they're baptizing 41 people.
[12:20] And I'm like, I didn't know that when I said I would watch it.
[12:22] You know, so I'm like, oh, we're 41 people.
[12:24] Right.
[12:24] I'm like, but don't watch it.
[12:25] So I got to watch it.
[12:26] Right.
[12:26] So 41 and not only that baptizing, they each have a little testimony to give.
[12:31] Right.
[12:31] And so I'm like, oh, this is, this is going to be like 17 hours.
[12:34] Right.
[12:34] So we're watching and they did it well.
[12:36] And they had done it long enough that this was, you know,
[12:38] there's a huge college ministry, you know, for a thousand people there,
[12:41] you know, so they, they know what they're doing as far as, you know, getting things done,
[12:44] but they all go through their testimony.
[12:46] 41 and she's on with the girl.
[12:47] We're watching is like third to last.
[12:49] Right.
[12:50] You know, as far as we're done, I'm like, really?
[12:51] That's great.
[12:52] You know, comes trying to scan where she killed my man.
[12:55] I don't want to watch all these people, but it turned out to be pretty good because
[12:58] every person.
[12:59] Right.
[13:01] 41 people, not one mentioned their sin.
[13:03] Not one mentioned their sin.
[13:06] They said, you know, again, I'm broken.
[13:09] I, you know, I've hurt.
[13:11] I've, you know, done some bad things.
[13:13] And then their motto in their, in their group is Jesus changes everything.
[13:16] Which is a truth.
[13:17] Right.
[13:18] Jesus does more than that.
[13:21] Right.
[13:21] When he saves you.
[13:22] I mean, like I heard this.
[13:25] I think RC scroll said this, I think.
[13:27] So you guys can look it up and tell me the wrong hand.
[13:29] Um, people will say, you know, Jesus is like, you know, like a, um, a life preserver.
[13:35] He throws out a life preserver and saves us from drowning.
[13:39] And RC's program.
[13:40] Now you're already drowned.
[13:42] You're at the bottom of the ocean.
[13:44] Dead.
[13:44] All right.
[13:45] Bones.
[13:45] Basically just your, your dead bones on the bottom of the ocean and Christ.
[13:49] God through Christ raises you up and breathes new life into you.
[13:53] Through Christ and his work on a cross.
[13:56] Right.
[13:57] Because you are a sinner and you are dead to your sins.
[14:01] Right.
[14:03] Like the reason why that's important to understand.
[14:05] Right.
[14:06] And not just say, oh, I'm broken or hurting or, you know, I say, no, I,
[14:11] I was a sinner dead in my trespasses and sin.
[14:14] And now I am alive because of Jesus Christ is because when we understand
[14:19] that and we understand the work of Jesus and the work of the spirit, once we get
[14:23] saved, right, then we understand that, yeah, it would make sense that if I was
[14:28] that dead and now I'm alive based on nothing I've done, except for the work of
[14:32] Jesus, then how can I just sit and do nothing?
[14:35] How can I have a life full of nothing?
[14:39] Just saying, yeah, I got faith.
[14:40] I believe.
[14:43] Doesn't make sense, right?
[14:45] Just in a, just naturally in a human aspect, that makes no sense to me.
[14:49] That we can just go, oh, I was dead to sin.
[14:53] Right.
[14:54] On my way to hell under the wrath of God, the righteous wrath of God.
[14:58] And on based on nothing I did, except the faith that I put into work with
[15:04] Jesus Christ, I'm saved.
[15:06] I stand before God now righteous and I've done nothing to deserve it.
[15:12] And so I want to, I want to say that because it's important for us to
[15:18] understand and we just had Easter and so it should kind of be on our mind, you
[15:22] know, that what Jesus did, but sometimes, you know, when we get into James, we
[15:26] forget again, you know, like, we're like, oh, yeah, and to remember what God did
[15:30] through Jesus Christ and saving us.
[15:32] And we were dead in our trespasses, dead in our sin, right?
[15:39] And now we're alive, right?
[15:42] I would say amen and amen.
[15:43] And so when he goes, when he says, faith by itself, if it does not have works is
[15:52] dead, we get it, we should get it.
[15:55] We should say, oh, yeah, that's what Jesus did.
[15:59] And I had the spirit within me.
[16:00] How can I not, how would I not, how would I not have works unless it was a dead
[16:07] faith? All right, let's keep reading anyway.
[16:10] Let's go to verse 18 and we'll kind of, you know, we'll kind of read and talk a
[16:14] little bit about this, says, but someone will say, all right, make kind of this
[16:18] imaginary person that he's just you, you have faith, I have works.
[16:21] It says, show me your faith apart from your works.
[16:25] And I will show you my faith by my works.
[16:28] You believe that God is one, you do well, even the demons believe in shutter.
[16:33] All right, we all know that verse.
[16:35] Everybody kind of, I've heard that quote a million times.
[16:37] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is
[16:41] useless, was not Abraham, our father justified by works when he offered up
[16:46] his son Isaac on the altar.
[16:47] You see that faith was active along with his works and faith was completed by his
[16:53] works and the scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God.
[16:57] It was counted to him as righteousness and he was called a friend of God.
[17:01] You see that person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
[17:05] And in the same way was not also Rahab, the prostitute justified by works when
[17:09] she received the messengers and sent them out of enough, sent them out by
[17:12] another way for as the body apart from the spirit is dead.
[17:15] So also faith apart from works is dead.
[17:17] Okay.
[17:17] Lots of that.
[17:18] I mean, I think it could be a month of messages, but it's not going to be
[17:23] relatively short.
[17:24] I promise.
[17:24] Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that.
[17:27] We know that trick.
[17:28] So let's, let's start there.
[17:30] He's using this person.
[17:32] He goes, yeah, some of you are going to say, yeah, yeah.
[17:34] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[17:34] You know, you have faith.
[17:35] I have worked, I have worked, you have faith, whatever, right?
[17:38] And James goes, yeah.
[17:40] Okay.
[17:40] Except I will show you my faith.
[17:42] You will know that I have faith by my works.
[17:46] Right.
[17:48] So you can say, um, you know, that you just have works that means nothing.
[17:53] And we know that to be true, right?
[17:56] Even today, right?
[17:57] There's lots of, lots of people who don't believe in Jesus.
[18:00] Don't even, it might be atheist.
[18:02] Even if God even exists, they do a lot of good things.
[18:06] There's a lot of human, human, what's the word?
[18:08] Humanitarians.
[18:10] Thanks, Chad.
[18:11] Right.
[18:12] A lot of those people.
[18:13] They got the works.
[18:17] They're missing the faith.
[18:17] Well, they have a faith.
[18:21] Just not in what they should believe in.
[18:23] And James is saying, show me your faith apart from your works, right?
[18:28] Which they can.
[18:29] But I will show you my faith by what I do.
[18:33] And then, right?
[18:35] He kind of makes this interesting comment, right?
[18:37] He says, you believe that God is one, right?
[18:40] Isn't that interesting?
[18:41] You believe that God is one.
[18:43] Good for you.
[18:44] The demon shutter, da da da da.
[18:46] Right.
[18:47] Remember, he's talking to Jews, right?
[18:50] He's talking to Jews and the Jews kind of believe and they still do to this day.
[18:55] Right.
[18:56] They have a, uh, I guess it would be called a creed that they read or that they sing.
[19:01] Um, in Deuteronomy six, four, um, I think it's called, uh, what's that?
[19:07] Sherma or Sherma was it?
[19:08] Sherma.
[19:09] Yeah.
[19:09] Sherma.
[19:10] Um, and in Deuteronomy says this hero Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one.
[19:16] And it's more detailed than what I'm giving you, but that's the basics of it.
[19:19] Right.
[19:19] The Jews, but well, they believe that then this is what then they still do it today.
[19:22] The, you know, some of them anyway.
[19:24] Um, Orthodox Jews probably, but, um, and so he, James is commending them.
[19:30] He said, all right, good.
[19:31] You know, you have an Orthodox faith, right?
[19:34] You believe there's one God good.
[19:35] But even the demons believe that and they shudder.
[19:39] So they might even have a, like a kind of a deeper faith in a way
[19:43] than some of the Jews who just say it and they don't shudder.
[19:45] Right.
[19:46] The demons believe it and shut it.
[19:47] And we know this to be true.
[19:48] It's not just something James says and say, okay, no, we saw it in Mark.
[19:52] You remember that in Mark chapter one passage that Jesus is in synagogue.
[19:56] And he, this guy comes and he has that evil spirit.
[19:59] Right.
[20:00] And the evil spirit says, you know, what do you want with us?
[20:03] Jesus of Nazareth.
[20:06] What do you want with us?
[20:07] It's the spirit, the demon.
[20:09] Have you come to destroy us?
[20:10] He didn't say that because he wasn't afraid.
[20:14] He said, cause he thought this might be it.
[20:16] Right.
[20:16] It might be over for me.
[20:18] That's the day I'm done.
[20:19] He's shuddering.
[20:21] He says, we know who you are.
[20:23] The holy one of God.
[20:25] You remember that?
[20:25] I don't know if you remember that in Mark one, right?
[20:28] We're right in that passage.
[20:32] We see the demons theology.
[20:35] They believe in God and they shudder.
[20:38] They know who Jesus is and they shudder.
[20:41] And yet they're evil beyond you.
[20:45] I mean, I was finding fascinating that demons, you know, have pretty good theology.
[20:54] And that says something, right?
[20:56] That you can have really good theology and yet have a false faith.
[21:02] You can have all the right answers.
[21:07] You can read through scripture and know all the right things
[21:10] and still have a false faith.
[21:13] And so, you know, he says you have this Old Testament understanding
[21:20] of who God is,
[21:22] but you're not doing any better than the demons are.
[21:27] All right.
[21:28] Why?
[21:29] Because your faith without works is dead.
[21:33] And so he says, all right, you fools.
[21:38] Listen, I'm going to call him some big dogs.
[21:40] I'm going to call him some witnesses, right?
[21:42] Look at what he says here.
[21:43] He says, do you want, do you want to be shown verse 20?
[21:47] Do you want to be shown you foolish person?
[21:49] That faith apart from works is useless, right?
[21:52] And so he's going to call in some witnesses.
[21:54] The first one he's going to use is like the father of our faith, Abraham,
[21:57] in the Old Testament.
[21:58] And remember Abraham, you know, the story with Isaac and God says, you know,
[22:02] Hey, you got to sacrifice your son and he goes to sacrifice his son.
[22:05] And God said, no, you know, you've shown your faith and he provides,
[22:09] uh, you know, the sacrifice for him there.
[22:11] And, you know, the son then comes out of the altar and you think about that story
[22:15] and not saw that it's just crazy.
[22:16] But anyway, um, you know, okay, dad.
[22:21] Um, but he uses Abraham as an example of faith and works.
[22:27] Why?
[22:27] Because it earlier, much earlier, right?
[22:31] Look what it says here.
[22:33] It says Abraham believe this is verse 23.
[22:35] Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness
[22:41] and he was called a friend of God.
[22:42] He believes that God's promise of a covenant with Abraham
[22:46] and is going to make his descendants like the stars in the south sky.
[22:49] And even though Abraham was like, you know, I'm not having a kid, but I believe God.
[22:54] I believe that, uh, you know, what you say is true.
[22:58] And that was counted to him as righteousness,
[23:01] meaning that God's viewed him now as righteous before God.
[23:04] Right.
[23:05] So he had this faith in God and his belief.
[23:07] And you think, okay, there's the faith part.
[23:10] He believes what God is saying.
[23:11] God later on, they have a son.
[23:14] It's miraculous, right?
[23:15] Because his wife is like, you know, 500 years old and he's like,
[23:18] a hundred years old and I don't know their ages at the time, but they're old.
[23:21] And even Abraham and Sarah were like, we're, we're too old, right?
[23:24] They have kids, but they have a kid.
[23:26] They have, they have a son, God promised son in Isaac.
[23:29] And then God says Abraham go sacrifice your son to me.
[23:35] But you, you promised me that he was, that this was, uh, I was going to be,
[23:45] you know, my descendants were going to be like the stars in the sky.
[23:48] Or, you know, and no, they didn't.
[23:51] He goes to sacrifice the son for God.
[23:55] Why?
[23:56] Because he believed what God was saying.
[23:59] You said it.
[24:00] I don't know how this is going to play out God, but I believe in it.
[24:03] So I'm going to do it.
[24:04] I believe in you.
[24:06] And so I'm going to do it.
[24:08] And obviously God had no intentions of, you know, doing it,
[24:13] having him do anything to his son.
[24:14] Afterwards we see that, but Abraham didn't, you know,
[24:17] he just believed God.
[24:18] I know.
[24:19] I can trust you, Lord.
[24:20] That would be a tough one.
[24:23] So James is saying, look at, again, he says Abraham believed.
[24:30] He talks about Isaac and what he did and the scripture was fulfilled
[24:33] saying Abraham believed God.
[24:34] It was counted to him as righteousness and he was called a friend of God.
[24:37] And you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
[24:40] Now that passage, lots of people get hung up on that one, right?
[24:46] Which makes sense because it looks confusing.
[24:49] It sounds confusing because if you know what Paul says, right?
[24:53] So let's look at what James says again.
[24:55] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
[25:01] What does Paul say?
[25:03] For by grace what?
[25:04] Are you saved through what?
[25:05] Through faith and not of works.
[25:10] Ephesians two, eight, nine.
[25:15] So Paul says, wait, you're saved by faith and not of works.
[25:18] And he says it again in Romans three 20.
[25:22] He said, for by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight.
[25:27] So what's Paul saying?
[25:29] Paul's saying there's no, there's no being justified before God based on your works.
[25:35] Oh, you think you can earn your way to God?
[25:38] Guess what?
[25:38] You can't.
[25:39] But then James comes along and goes, you see that a person is justified by works
[25:43] and not by faith alone.
[25:45] This is where Martin Luther goes, James sucks.
[25:47] I don't know.
[25:48] We're not, we're not going to read him anymore because you can't square that with all Paul said.
[25:52] I think that's wrong.
[25:53] Because I mean, I think if you take this whole passage in the context of James
[25:57] and in the context of the whole Bible and in the context of Paul, right?
[26:01] He's specifically saying not that, oh yeah, you, you know, only faith to God.
[26:06] Only, only way to be justified before God is by works faith and works together.
[26:12] It's not what he's saying.
[26:14] And we understand who their audiences are, right?
[26:17] We understand that Paul, when he is talking about this justification, right?
[26:24] Not by works.
[26:25] He's talking to people who are legalists, who think they can work their way to heaven, right?
[26:31] Whereas James is talking to people, right?
[26:35] Who think they can just say, I have a faith with not that shows,
[26:40] does, shows nothing, does nothing, and is worth nothing.
[26:42] And so he, what he's saying in simplistic terms, right?
[26:48] Is that works are evidence that saving faith is present in a person's life.
[26:56] And so he's fighting against this false faith.
[27:00] And he's saying, listen, I'm going to look at you and I can justify whether you're saved
[27:05] or not based on what I see.
[27:07] It shouldn't be that difficult, brothers.
[27:09] If you're a brother and sister of Christ and I'm looking at you and I see your life,
[27:12] I shouldn't say, yeah, your life's not self-centered.
[27:16] You know, you've claimed a faith and now your work show it.
[27:19] And let's face it, right?
[27:22] I mean, it's a little harder now because we live in a more spread out kind of environment.
[27:28] I don't know, you know, nobody knows back.
[27:29] You know, obviously James knows more what's going on in people's lives.
[27:32] But this is the warning to us.
[27:37] Is your faith a true saving faith?
[27:39] Or do you, you talk about faith, but nothing backs it up.
[27:47] You know, and by the way, I keep mentioning this word, legalism.
[27:53] And I just, you know, most of us know what that is.
[27:56] But if you don't, it's just basically belief that you can earn your way to God.
[28:02] Right.
[28:03] By good works.
[28:04] That's what, that's what legalism is.
[28:06] Right.
[28:06] And that's a very simplistic definition, but that's basically what it is.
[28:09] And I can earn my way to God.
[28:10] I can earn a righteousness before God by, you know, what I do, you know, what, doing good works.
[28:16] And so I, you know, I go volunteer and, you know, the crazy parts of Africa where nobody,
[28:22] they don't have any running water or anything.
[28:24] And I go do that because I think, man, I can really earn some points with God if I do this.
[28:28] Right.
[28:30] And so when Paul is fighting against legalism, that's kind of what he's fighting against,
[28:33] saying people thinking that they can earn their way to God.
[28:36] And you go, no, by faith and faith alone.
[28:39] And if you read all of James in the context of James and read James in the context of the whole
[28:44] Bible, you cannot come to any other conclusion that James also is saying, yes, faith is the way
[28:52] to God.
[28:53] But without works, it shows that you don't have a true faith.
[28:57] Does that make sense?
[28:58] Might make it sense.
[28:59] I hope so.
[29:00] Okay.
[29:00] If not, just ping me after, I don't know what you're talking about.
[29:03] Um, so he brought up Abraham and then he says, in the same way was not also Rahab.
[29:09] We're in verse 25.
[29:10] And in the same way, it was not also Rahab, the prostitute justified by works when she
[29:15] received the messengers and sent them out by another way.
[29:18] Now, great, fascinating story.
[29:20] And Josh, what that chapter two, right?
[29:22] If you, uh, actually, I'm going to read a little bit just because I want you to know
[29:25] kind of what's going on, right?
[29:29] She says she is in the city of Jericho and they're going to, Israel is going to, she's
[29:34] not a Jewish person.
[29:35] She's, you know, a Gentile and the Jews want to, you know, they said, okay, we're going
[29:40] to Joshua and there and the people of Israel are going to take over the city based on what
[29:43] God has said.
[29:44] And I'm again, I'm very, you know, simple, I find the story ridiculous up.
[29:49] And, you know, they're going to do it, but they, they just back then all those, you know,
[29:54] they said spies in check out the city.
[29:56] You know, Israel sends these spies in.
[29:58] And the city kind of the people kind of know that there's spies in the city.
[30:01] Wait a minute.
[30:02] We see these guys, right?
[30:03] What's going on?
[30:04] And so they see, you know, the spies hanging with Ray, this prostitute in, in, uh, the
[30:09] city.
[30:10] And so they go to her and go, Hey, you know, what's up with these spies that you got?
[30:14] I don't know what you're talking about.
[30:16] Okay.
[30:16] Now she has no loyalty to them.
[30:18] You think she would just, you know, sell them out and say, here you go.
[30:22] So here, here's what she says.
[30:23] Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them,
[30:28] I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on
[30:33] us.
[30:33] So that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.
[30:36] We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the red sea for you.
[30:40] When you came out of Egypt and what you did and say on the odd, the two kings of their
[30:44] Amorites, east of the Jordan, who you completely destroyed.
[30:47] When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone's courage failed because
[30:50] of you for the Lord, your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.
[30:57] Right.
[30:57] So she's making a declaration of faith.
[30:59] I believe in your God.
[31:01] Right.
[31:02] She has this.
[31:03] That was interesting because I'm not going to get into all the history of Rahab and all
[31:07] where she fits in the Bible.
[31:08] Fascinating.
[31:10] Studied on your own.
[31:11] All right.
[31:11] She's a prostitute and she is now putting, showing her faith in this living God of
[31:16] Israel.
[31:16] Now that would be great if they, she said, okay, uh, but you're in my city and I'm going
[31:23] to tell you, I'm going to rat you out and you're going to be killed.
[31:26] You know, but she has a faith in God.
[31:28] So how does, how would that play out?
[31:29] No, her faith, her proclamation, her faith, right?
[31:33] She's saying, okay, this is what I believe in.
[31:34] Now here's what I'm going to do.
[31:35] And she says, uh, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family
[31:43] because I have shown kindness to you.
[31:45] Give me a sign that you will spare the lives of my father, mother,
[31:47] my brother and sisters and all who belong to them.
[31:49] And that you will save us from death, her family.
[31:52] She knows God's taken the city.
[31:55] Cause she believes in who God is now, right?
[31:57] She understand.
[31:58] And they say our lives for your lives.
[32:01] The men assured her.
[32:02] If you don't tell us what we are doing, if you don't tell them what we are doing,
[32:05] we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.
[32:08] And anyway, make a long story short, short.
[32:10] She, you know, they kind of make this deal.
[32:12] She has a tie like this, you know, ribbon thing.
[32:14] So they know whose house it is.
[32:15] They, she, they go out looking and she tells them, hey, they went this way.
[32:18] You know, they went that way.
[32:19] And then she lets them out on a rope out the city and they go the other way and wait
[32:24] three days and all this other stuff.
[32:25] And they get, they get away and then they save her at the end.
[32:27] Fascinating story.
[32:29] But all that to say, right, she shows her faith and then what sits on it.
[32:35] Oh my God.
[32:38] Yeah, we believe in him and then nothing.
[32:42] No, she not only, right, did something, she risked her life.
[32:47] That's how strong her faith became.
[32:49] And now she's mentioned multiple times in the word of God.
[32:52] As that kind of a, a hero of the faith.
[32:59] And so James goes, she uses Abraham, right?
[33:05] Who is like the father of our faith and then uses Rahab, the prostitute to show the same point.
[33:10] And this is what he wraps up with.
[33:13] For as the body apart from the spirit is dead.
[33:16] So also faith apart from works is dead.
[33:20] I don't know if you've ever, and I don't, I don't really want to make you feel like,
[33:24] you know, sad if you'd be down there or whatever, but this came to my mind as I was thinking this.
[33:28] I'm going to say, uh, if you've been around somebody dying, you know, maybe it's a loved
[33:33] one and somebody asks you to come in and, you know, be with them and somebody's dying.
[33:37] And you know, maybe you're even holding their hand as they're, you know,
[33:41] like taking their last breath and it's very difficult.
[33:44] It's very hard.
[33:45] But what is very interesting, and I've done this many times with, you know,
[33:49] in different, different situations.
[33:51] Is that when somebody like they're there, even when they're sick, but they're there,
[33:55] you see them and then they're dead.
[33:57] They're not there.
[33:58] Right.
[33:58] I mean, it's like the spirit is gone and they're just a shell.
[34:01] And then you're just staring at a shell.
[34:04] Now it's still sad.
[34:06] I don't get it wrong.
[34:07] There's a person's not there.
[34:08] But what I'm trying to say is like the spirit of what brings that right.
[34:11] It's the life in them.
[34:12] And when the spirit is gone, it's just a shell.
[34:16] Nothing. And you're going to, you know, bury that person or whatever,
[34:19] you know, and in the days to come, there's nothing there and bury the shell.
[34:24] And he says for as a, for as the body apart from the spirit is dead.
[34:30] There's nothing body.
[34:32] It's just a shell.
[34:33] So his faith apart from works is dead.
[34:37] The saving faith will always produce works.
[34:46] Why? We have the spirit within us.
[34:47] How can we not, how can it not God's power within us?
[34:53] How can it not produce work?
[34:54] It would be blasphemous to say otherwise.
[34:56] That our action, right, indicates our faith.
[35:08] Now there's no, there's a, probably a message in here that says,
[35:13] okay, what does that look like?
[35:15] That's called application.
[35:16] And I struggled to say whether I should put in things, right?
[35:24] Well, it could look like this or it could look like this.
[35:26] And I'm like, I don't think so.
[35:29] I don't want to, I don't, I don't think that's the right way to go.
[35:31] Right? Because obviously, you know, maybe you're in a place and you're,
[35:38] well, I could say Catherine and Chris, right?
[35:41] They are taking care of Chris's mother, putting a lot of time and effort,
[35:46] a lot of pain and suffering, a lot of tears.
[35:49] And most people don't know, you know, outside,
[35:54] probably they don't, they don't know what they do, how much they have to put in.
[35:57] But for them, right, to me, watching them and hearing about what's going on, that is,
[36:06] right? Faith-based works. Like, I, we love Christ.
[36:11] We know what he's done. We have the spirit within us.
[36:13] And we're going to take care and love a person who needs it.
[36:17] Yes, she's our mother, our mother-in-law, but we're going to do it and do it well.
[36:21] Right? So to give examples, right, is kind of weird, right?
[36:26] Because that, and don't get me wrong, I don't know all their lives.
[36:30] And so they sure they're doing other things, but I know that.
[36:36] And some volunteer, some do other things, some help, you know, man, you see a need
[36:40] and you're always right there, right, to help. And nobody knows that you do that,
[36:43] but you do it. You're always there to help somebody, whether financially or physically.
[36:47] You know, we've asked in this church many times for money, right, for different reasons.
[36:52] Hey, can you not just tithe, obviously, but outside of that.
[36:55] Hey, can you give to this cause? Can you give to this person?
[36:58] Can you get, and every time I'm always like, man, people are givers, right?
[37:04] That's part of it, right? That's part of it.
[37:07] It's got a spirit that wants to do, right? I mean, Jesus says in Matthew 5, 16,
[37:15] in the same way, let your shine, let your light shine before others so that they may
[37:21] see your good works and give glory to your father who was in heaven.
[37:25] If you live up, you say, I have faith, but your life is very self-centered
[37:32] and selfish, right? I'm not, I'm not calling you out for anything.
[37:37] All I'm saying is that you need to do some self-examination, right?
[37:42] Because that, that goes against what James is saying in the word here, right?
[37:47] The faith and works go together, right? And works, and really, if you, even if,
[37:55] you know, if you go back to chapter one, let's go back to chapter one real quick at the end,
[37:58] verse 26, it says this, if anyone thinks he's religious and does not bridle his tongue,
[38:03] but deceives his heart and his person's religion is worthless, religion that is pure and
[38:07] undefiled before God, the father exists to visit orphans and widows in their affliction
[38:10] and keep one, oneself sustained from the world. And we already talked about this,
[38:14] but it's the same idea that when we are saved and we have saving faith, it'll change our behavior.
[38:20] It'll help make us care for things that we probably may, may not have cared about before,
[38:24] make us do things that we probably wouldn't have done before.
[38:28] Like, and so he's saying like, you're gonna, you're, you're gonna speak differently,
[38:31] right? When you have true faith, when you, you're going to care about things that, you know,
[38:37] like orphans and widows and all kinds of things that you may not have cared about before,
[38:41] but you will now because your faith is going to make ensure that.
[38:44] And then your faith is going to say, listen, I know what the world is offering and I don't want it.
[38:55] I don't want it. I want what God wants. And so when he says to keep one unstained from the world is
[39:02] saying, I'm not putting what the world is offering on, I'm putting the new self on what God wants on.
[39:07] And then you can, you can kind of read about that in Galatians, um, 19 through 25,
[39:18] chapter five verses 19 to 21 will give you some, you know, ideas of what we put on and off.
[39:24] But I want to wrap this up. Right.
[39:26] Because I would say, I don't want you to go away thinking and doubting your faith. That's not
[39:32] what we're trying to do. And if you, you, you have put your faith in Christ, you know,
[39:37] that's it. Right. I mean, you don't have to doubt that. But sometimes we forget and we need reminders
[39:44] that our, their works need to go with our faith. Right. We need that. And there's some people who
[39:49] didn't never put, truly put their faith in Christ. And so I hope you then are convicted.
[39:55] And so it's self-examination is, is basically going, you know, what kind of like, think about
[40:04] your life for you, where God has placed you and who he has put around you and all that stuff that
[40:08] goes into it. Man, do I have a saving faith? Right. And does my life show it? Right. My life show it.
[40:23] Works is just a byproduct of our faith in the one true King. That's it. Right. You can't help it.
[40:33] That doesn't mean you don't get tired. Again, it doesn't mean it's every day. It's we're not
[40:37] looking for perfectionism. That's not, you know, that's not who we are. We're, we're, we're fallen,
[40:42] but we're saved. And so sanctification we talked about all this time is this day by day idea of
[40:48] becoming more Christ-like. And I look at my life at 52, almost 53. And I am way different than I
[41:01] was 10 years ago. I'm way different than I was 20 years ago. And I don't mean just, you know,
[41:06] I can't walk and I have a bum knee and I have her back and I'm, you know, overweight and all this
[41:10] other stuff that too, but I'm not spiritually. God has grown me step by step. And so I can say
[41:17] with, I think it was John Newton something, and I'll butcher this quote too, but something that I,
[41:21] I am not, I am not who I was once was. I'm not yet who I want to be. Right. But by the grace of God,
[41:30] I am what I am. Meaning like I have grown, I have learned, right. And what I do now. And so I want
[41:37] you to take encouragement in that. Some of you got, we have a young, a lot of people, young people in
[41:40] our church, man, don't get discouraged. It's not perfectionism. God is working in your life. It's
[41:46] just to remember, Oh, I'm a city on a hill, right? I need to be shining my light. Like God gets glory.
[41:54] And when I look at my life and I'm being selfish and I'm being self-centered and everything's about
[41:58] me, then works is not showing your faith, right? It's showing something else. Faith and works go
[42:06] hand in hand. And I hope as you go through this week, you'll think about that, right? Maybe you're,
[42:11] maybe you're, you know, a person doing all works, but your faith is weak, right? Because you think
[42:17] your works is getting you someplace. And I'm like, well, it's not. Jeff Bridget or Jerry Bridget says
[42:25] this, you can never be so bad as to be beyond grace's reach. And you can never be so good as to be
[42:31] beyond grace's need, right? But whatever side you're on, if you're on the phase without work side,
[42:39] grace is there for you. Jesus is calling. If you're on the legalism side, grace is there for you.
[42:49] You don't need to earn your way. Jesus has already done the work as we saw last week.
[42:54] So would you this week examine your heart and think about where am I and say, Lord, show me,
[43:07] teach me. I don't want to be who I am. I want to be who you want me to be.
[43:15] We're going to sing a song and it's not, you know, a work or faith song necessarily.
[43:19] It's a song about Christ being our hope in life and our, in our death. Because I think ultimately
[43:29] when we understand who Christ is and who our faith is in and what we've been saved from,
[43:35] we can't help it. Can't help but say, yes, Lord, let me shine for you. Let's pray and then we'll
[43:43] say, Father, just thank you for your word. These are convicting words. It's easy to say we have faith
[43:52] but help us to put faith in action together.
[43:58] Help us to be the shining light so that others may see our works and give you the glory.
[44:11] You are worthy, Lord. And for those of us who, who tend to be more legalistic,
[44:17] but we want to do good works, but simply because we want to earn favor with you, Lord. May we
[44:26] remember, may it be impressed upon our heart that the work was already accomplished by your son,
[44:32] Jesus Christ on the cross, that we stand righteous before you. Father, as we, as we go through this
[44:41] week, as we leave here today, Father, just help us to examine, convict us in those areas and help us
[44:48] to improve in those areas. Ultimately, Father, help us to love you more. May your word draw us nearer
[44:56] to you. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.