Preface To James

Q: What does the Bible say about justification?

Justification is a divine act where God declares a sinner righteous through faith in Christ, apart from works. The Bible teaches that justification is a foundational doctrine of the Christian faith, primarily found in the writings of the Apostle Paul. In Romans, Paul emphasizes that justification is by faith alone, not through the works of the law. For example, Romans 3:28 states, 'For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.' This means that our righteous standing before God is based solely on the merit of Christ's atoning work, rather than anything we can do. In contrast, the book of James discusses justification in the context of how one's faith is demonstrated through works to others, rather than the basis of salvation before God, creating a complementary view rather than a contradiction.

Q: How do we know sovereign grace is true?

Sovereign grace, emphasizing God's unconditional election and irresistible grace, is grounded in Scripture's teaching of God's sovereignty in salvation. The doctrine of sovereign grace asserts that God, in His sovereignty, has chosen certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world. This is clearly illustrated in Ephesians 1:4-5, which states that God 'chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.' Moreover, the doctrine of irresistible grace affirms that the Holy Spirit effectively calls those whom God has chosen, ensuring that they will come to faith. This understanding is supported throughout the New Testament, highlighting God's complete authority and power in the salvific process. Therefore, one can affirm that sovereign grace is true based on its firm scriptural basis and the historical affirmation of Reformed theology.

Q: Why is faith without works important for Christians?

Faith without works is important as it highlights that true faith naturally results in good works as evidence of one’s salvation. The Apostle James asserts that faith without works is dead (James 2:26) because it illustrates the essential relationship between genuine faith and its outward manifestation. While we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, this faith is never alone; it expresses itself in love and good works as evidence of true regeneration. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul emphasizes that we are created in Christ for good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in. Thus, the importance of this concept for Christians lies in its role as a resilient assurance of salvation—if our faith does not result in repentance and transformation, it prompts us to examine the genuineness of our faith.

Q: What does the Bible say about the doctrine of election?

The doctrine of election teaches that God sovereignly chooses certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world. The doctrine of election is a central tenet of Reformed theology, asserting that God has chosen certain individuals to be saved based on His grace and mercy alone, not on any foresight of their actions or decisions. Ephesians 1:4-5 states, 'He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.' Furthermore, 2 Timothy 1:9 adds that God 'saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace.' This doctrine assures believers that salvation is entirely God's work, offering immense comfort in His unchanging character and purpose.

Anybody didn't get a copy of
these. About. That. get a copy of what Perry's got
there. I'm not sure how it is. Let me sing the chorus with him. King Jesus died on Calvary Yes,
He died for you and me And what He is to me I know But I cannot
tell how much I owe How much I owe of love divine How much
I owe since Christ is mine And what He is to me I know But I
cannot tell how much I owe My sins were more than I could bear. I wondered if He heard my prayer. My record now is clear I know
And I cannot tell how much I owe How much I owe of love divine
How much I owe since Christ is mine And what He is to me I know
But I cannot tell how much I owe I love the Lord cause I am free
But I didn't love Him till He first loved me He saved me from
the pit of woe And I cannot tell how much I owe How much I owe
of love divine How much I owe since Christ is mine And what
He is to me I know But I cannot tell how much I owe Electing
love has been my theme Since my soul's been washed in that
bloody stream He put his love down in my soul And I cannot
tell how much I owe How much I owe of love divine How much
I owe since Christ is mine And what he is to me I know But I
cannot tell how much I owe And when I reach that other shore,
there I shall dwell forevermore. Ten thousand years will come
and go, but I'll never tell how much I owe. Sing it out. How
much I owe of love divine. How much I owe, since Christ
is mine. And what He is to me I know,
but I cannot tell how much I owe. But I cannot tell how much I
owe. That's a good song. Scars Up the Hill. Which one did I give you? Ransom
was found? Amen. Ransom was found. The Lord God of heaven looked
on sinful men. They were nothing but sin every
way. But he chose a number as the
sands of the sea. His son said, there's sin that
I'll pay. Ransom was found, yes, ransom
was found. I paid the price on Calvary's
mound. Judgment was made, and we're
lost at his time. And mercy was born when a ransom
was found. Sing it. The Lord Jesus broke
down my heart for ten days. Ten days I thought I would die. But he left me a child and started
this world. Thirty weeks for a ransom is
mine. A ransom was found. Yes, a ransom was found. But paid the price from Calvary's
mouth. Judgment was made and law satisfied. And mercy was borne when a ransom
was found. As poor, wretched sinners, no
God and no hope It seemed there was no one to help But God in
His mercy's salvation supply Emptied heaven and He came down
Himself Cause a ransom was found Yes, a ransom was found But paid
the price on Calvary's mound. Judgment was made, and the lost
that is found, and mercy was borne where ransom was found. You can have all the mansions
in glory You can have all those streets of pure gold For my eyes
will be scanning the heaven Looking for the one that saved my soul
I'll be looking for stars up in heaven Stars that love held
on the tree I will find him upon my Lord Jesus. But there, because of my blames,
was from them His blood flowed so freely. To cover my guilt
and my shame, I'll be looking for stars up in heaven. Stars
that love held on the tree. Stars that turn judgment to mercy. For a hell deserving sinner like
me. I know who I'll see, Moses and
Lazarus. Old Daniel and Samson I'll meet. But I'll not have much time to
linger Looking for the ones that died for me I'll be looking for
stars up in heaven Stars that love held on those trees Stars
that turned judgment to mercy For a hell-deserving sinner like
me When I find him I'll be so contented To sit there with nothing
to do But to praise him and thank him forever For keeping those
stars on I'll be looking for stars up in heaven, stars that
love held on the trees, stars that turned gentlemen to mercy,
no one hell deserved me still like you. Thank you. When this passing world is done
When I sit beyond glaring sun When I stand with Christ in glory
Looking old life's finished story Then Lord shall I fully know,
but not till then, how much I owe. When I hear the wicked call, on the rocks and hills to fall. When I see them start and shrink
on that fiery day to break, then Lord shall I fully know, but
not till then, how much shall I know. When I stand before His throne Dressed in beauty not
my own When I see thee as thou art Loved thee with an unsinning
heart Then, Lord, shall I fully know Not till then, how much
I know. Chosen not for good in me, awakened
from the rest to flee. I was hidden in the Savior's
side by His Spirit sanctified. Teach me, Lord, on earth to show
by my love how much I owe, how much I owe. And how much it hurts Before we, tonight, what I'm
going to do is just give a preface to a book
that we're about to study. We've, in our Bible studies,
Sunday mornings, we've gone through Romans, Galatians, going through
Peter now. And Sunday night we went from
John 13 through 17. so-called paschal discourse,
and I'm just firmly persuaded that this is the way to preach
this expositional verse-by-verse preaching study. Let God's Word
speak for itself. And we're right now on a threshold
of a new year, and I believe the course that we are going
to take in the next several months, God willing, was, I hesitate
to say this, but I felt strongly impressed by, in my mind and
heart anyway, but I believe it was given to me the other night. The Lord used to speak to men.
in dreams. Before we had the Word of God,
He spoke to men in dreams. And they wrote as they were moved
by the Holy Spirit. And I've read many autobiographies
and biographies of men that I hold in high esteem, gospel preachers
who the Lord impressed. Now, God doesn't speak anymore
in dreams and visions. He speaks, isn't it, on He doesn't speak new revelations,
yet he can speak in a dream or a vision through this book right
here. He can impress you. You've been
reading John Warburton, and that's the one thing that impressed
me about him. The Lord spoke to him, and he said many times
as if he had spoke out loud to him, but it was always a verse
of scripture. Whenever he spoke to him, it was always bringing
scriptures to mind. And I woke up about four o'clock in the
morning the other night, and it wasn't just bad pizza, but I
couldn't get back to sleep. And a verse of Scripture kept
running through my mind, Hebrews 1, 2, how that God in sundry
times and different manners spoke unto our fathers by the prophets,
but he hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. And
that kept running through my mind, son language. He's spoken
by his son. spoken unto us by his Son." I
couldn't get it out of my head. And so I thought, and I've been
wanting to go through the book of Hebrews for some time now. So probably very soon we'll start
going through the book of Hebrews, perhaps Sunday after next. I've already
got this Sunday morning's message, but perhaps Sunday after next
we'll start on Sunday morning. The book of Hebrews is such a
clear revelation of the person and the work of Christ that I
want everybody to hear it, not just family. Generally, on Sunday
nights, you just have church family here, and Wednesday nights
especially that way. But Sunday morning, I think,
we'll go through Hebrews, and it's such a clear study of Christ
and his work, and I want everybody to be able to hear it. And last
week, you may have seen that scale model tabernacle downstairs. I brought that home. I've always
wanted to do a study with that scale model of the tabernacle,
a study through that. So probably beginning Sunday
night, probably not this Sunday night, but the next one, we'll
begin going through a study of that if Deborah will return my
information on the tabernacle. They've been going through it
in her class. And so I need that. But that would be such a possible
study. I think you've probably been
through it before, Brother Jim. And we'll just put that thing
up on an easel and look at that. I want to talk to you a little
bit right now, just to kind of pave the way for what we're going
to do, hopefully, Lord willing. What I feel impressed to do,
some things are on my mind. And I've been carefully weighing
the thought of doing something different around here. We're such creatures of habit
and tradition. Such creatures of habit. And there's nothing worse to
get into than this spirit of lethargy or dull everyday same
over and over again due to habits and commonplace thing. In other
words, we go on for years doing the same things as far as set
times, order, ways, habits of worship, and we become like religious
robots. We come shuffling in and out,
sit down, open hymn, sing number. We've sung it a thousand times.
We probably don't hear the words we're singing and so forth. And
if I were to I tested this on my wife, and she passed tonight. I expected her to fail. But if
I were to ask everybody in here, one by one, my text last Sunday
night—that's just three days ago—most of you would probably
struggle to recall my text. She told me right off. I couldn't
believe it. But, you may be able to tell
that Sunday morning, if I ask you Sunday morning's text and
the message, it'd almost be a virtual impossibility to remember. The
Bible study now, just unless the Lord really impressed something
upon you, it's hard to remember. I have, I've had fellas call
me before and, what'd you preach on? Sunday. I have to grab my
notes and go through. Now that's due to thinking about
what I'm going to preach again. There's still no excuse for it. But we're all this way, even
me. And the fact is that we are unable
to retain very much of what we hear. It's sad, but it is the
fact of the matter. We're unable to retain very much
of what we hear all of us myself included and I think part of
the problem is. We get too much. We get too much
I've got a young man or you know I sit down there and study and
for hours and research and look up references and this and that
and the other and I just up, put down material after material
on paper, and it just, when it's all done, I hate, don't know
what to leave out. I just got so much, I think it's
so good, and I want to tell it all, tell you everything I know
in one message, you know. Scott said, you ought not to
preach that word. He said, hold something back. Hold something
back. But at any rate, I believe we
get too much. I've been talking to a lot of
men, a lot of preachers, a lot of pastors, and Every single
one I've talked to agrees with me, especially the older ones.
I believe, perhaps, it's not so much too much preaching, necessarily. It's too much at one time. Too
much at one time. And I have a hard time condensing
it, and we're wordy. We're wordy creatures. I believe,
perhaps, if we redistribute it dispersed some of this teaching
and preaching a little bit differently. We might be a little more, a
little fresher and a little more receptive and benefit a little
more, benefit from rather than be bombarded by things. Now you say, what are you getting
at? All right. I won't shock you, but I've been
thinking about this very strongly. I've talked to a lot of men about
it, and I'm just getting your input on this. It's not going
to be law right off the bat. But I'm thinking about replacing
Sunday night services with some different meetings at different
times. I want you to listen to some
of my reasons before I shock you and before you get all up
in arms over this is what our fathers did for 20 years, you
know. Listen to some of my reasons
and proposals, and I think you may even get excited about some
of this although I won't dare do this if there's any opposition
whatsoever. You remember when I started to
change the time and services. Some people didn't want to do
this. We're not going to do it. I just forget any opposition
whatsoever. Any negative reaction not going
to do it at all. Not at all. Don't have to. Don't have to. But here's some
of my reasons and proposals about this. We'll get into the message
here in a moment. I want you to be thinking about
these things. Some reasons for this is that we're so prone,
so inclined to duty worship, religious traditions, rituals,
and habits in worship. And these things ought to be
avoided like the plague. Ritual and worship ought to be
avoided like the plague because you reach the point where Like
Christ quoted, they draw near with their lips. They're going
through the motions. Their heart is so far from them,
they'd rather be someplace else. It's sad, but that's just the
way we are. And if you're honest, you will
have to admit that much of the time you come in here, you catch
yourself reading, singing, hearing, coming here out of duty and habit
rather than a real need and a real desire to worship God. Am I right? And everybody in here now is
going to have to agree about that. He included this man. Including
this man. Why are we this way? Why are
we this way? Fleshly weakness. We're flesh. And though we're getting around
it, God knows that. He remembers our frame. He knows we're flesh.
He knows we're just dust. He knows. Our Lord never preached
a message over 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes at the most. You can read that message in
Matthew there, Matthew 23 and 4 and 5 and about 15, 20 minutes. We're flesh. The scripture says
much studying is weariness to the flesh. It is. It's a weariness
to the flesh. And Christ himself said the spirit
is willing, but the flesh is so weak. It's so weak. And, not
only fleshly weakness, but because of our mental incapacity, we
don't have a mind. I was talking to Terry about
this. It used to be, people, a hundred
different generations ago, a couple, three decades ago, people weren't
so bogged down and taken up with this old world. People were studious,
they were readers, they were listeners, they were Not so now. Not so now. We're so busy. We
don't have five minutes out of the day to sit down and calmly
contemplate and reflect and especially read and study. So we ain't got
the mind. We haven't exercised this little
pin head. It's about that big now. It's
flabby. It's mine because we haven't
exercised it. And we're dull of hearing and
weak of brain and mind. Those are a couple of reasons
why that we get into this form of worship, this form out of
habit. And secondly, another reason,
another reason for wanting to change things a little bit is
because too much of one man at one time mesmerizes people. I don't care who it is. It could
be the most dynamic man, preacher on the face of the earth. One
voice will, after you hear one voice over and over again, it
will lull you to sleep. your wife you know. You hear
her talking but you're really not listening. I'm kidding. I listen to you. No it is so
though. You know what I'm saying. One
voice over and over again. Spurgeon had this problem. Spurgeon. They called him the
prince of preachers. I've read him quite a bit. And
he had trouble with people falling asleep in his service. One time
in fact one time he was preaching and He's preaching. Finally,
he stopped preaching and went over and sat down like this. And he said, he said, I think I'll take a
little nap myself. He said, if y'all want to sleep, I will too. I'll wake up refreshed and go
on. That's what he did. And I look
out invariably and somebody out there, because I just, my little
voice anyway, lulls you to sleep, mesmerizes Another reason, I
have you in mind. Most of you work long and hard
hours. You do. Some of you six days a week.
And you have very little free time. And very little family time. Many
of you, if not most of you, have very little time. Perhaps Sunday
may be the only day of the week that you have to spend with your
family. And I think there's a premium
to be placed on family time. If you be honest, you admit you
don't spend enough time with your children, with your wife,
your husband, and personal rest and relaxation and so forth.
Sunday may be the only day off for many people. And I really
believe you need a little extra time with your family. And like
I said, these are just It's my personal way of thinking, and
it's not going to be long necessarily, and it may be some time if I
get all the input from everybody, a positive response about this. But here's what I—here's a proposal
in place of every single Sunday night. In place of that—now this—I
think this could just be wonderful. If we could have some special,
informal, intimate gatherings. with one another around the word,
and I believe it might be more profitable and enjoyable than
a formal service. For example, like the women,
we could just have women's only Bible study on, say, a Saturday
night or whatever night would be best for the ladies. I was talking to Mindy about
it. Midweeks are tough for you ladies to get things go on and
get over here, maybe a Saturday night, one or two Saturday nights
a month, just the women get to get me, with me leading it, a
Bible study and fellowship together. And then on another Saturday
night, the men get together for a Bible study and fellowship.
And then perhaps, and I mentioned this when I first came down here,
never done it yet, but occasionally on a Saturday morning we could
have a a Bible study, a women's Bible study, or everybody together
for that matter, a Bible study and coffee and doughnuts and
fellowship afterward, but real informal and meet downstairs
and get together. I think it might be enjoyable. If we don't decide this, maybe
we could do it anyway sometime, but I don't have to tell you
how tough it'd be on me to take on too many extra things. But I'm not proposing this out
of laziness, because I want to replace the Sunday night with
something else. But like I said, after talking
to older and experienced men that have been in this thing
a long time, I just think we get in a rut, and they do too,
that we get in a rut of religion. That same thing over and over
again, rather than a spirit of worship. We, whether you know it or not,
we are one of the very few congregations that have Bible studies plus
two worship services. I only, personally, I only know
of, let's see, Danville, Fairmont, Ashland, and here. But the GM, I think, does. But
out of some 20 some odd churches I know, we're the only ones that
have three services every Sunday. That's a lot. It's a lot. Tim
James, in his message down in Danville, he said, he said, there's
something about, he said, worship. He said, you come in here and
you worship and you sing, and then your man preaches the gospel,
and the Lord really anoints him. It blesses your heart and just
emotionally and spiritually and just blesses you and lifts you
up so high and you get drained after it's all over. He said,
after it's all over, something about it. He said, something about
worship. He said, when you go, after it's all over, you just
want to go home and go to sleep. Just go to sleep. Where is he at?
And it's true. And some people take that nap
on Sunday nights rather than Sunday afternoon. But it's like
Scott Richards at one time. I remember talking to him. I
overheard him talking at a Bible conference one time. It was about a four-day Bible
conference, and there'd been preachers, two preachers in the
morning, two preachers in the evening, and the next morning,
two preachers in the morning, two preachers in the evening,
and the next morning. And old Scott, he's sitting around, he
said, well, Alice, you know how he talks? He said, I've had about
all the preaching I can stand. Now, be honest. You're the same
way. you get the same way. But I think
we ought to be more open to the Spirit's leading rather than
do things because that's the way we've always done it. That's
the way we've always done it. And so I want you to think about
these things and pray about them with me. I'm not going to make
any hasty decisions about it. And like I said, if I get any
negative response at all, we won't do it. But this brings
me to Wednesday night. I talked about, I want to go
through for the next several weeks anyway, start going through
Sunday night on the tabernacle down there, and then Sunday morning
go through the book of Hebrews. And Wednesday night, these Wednesday
nights, I wouldn't take anything for these Wednesday nights. Nothing. Nothing. I love these services
here. They're probably my favorite
services, other than perhaps Sunday morning Bible study. But
these are special. I think they're intimate. I think
everybody who wants to be here makes a special effort to be
here. And they're a blessing to me in preparing them and preaching
them. And I believe they're an oasis
in the middle of the week for you. But we deal with things
here on Wednesday night that we would not or don't on Sunday
morning. The emphasis is the same, the
gospel, the gospel of Christ, but the approach And the language
that we use is a little bit different on Wednesday night because of
the people that are here. I look out here and I don't see
anybody that hasn't been here at least a dozen times or so. Most are members here. We deal
with things here on Wednesday night a little more practically. The practical aspects and applications
of the gospel in the lives of believers because, like I said,
most people in here profess to be believers. The Rick and Jenny
were over visiting us the other night, and we talked about some
things. I get the messages that I prepare. I try to prepare them
with you all in mind after hearing, over hearing conversations, just
thinking, praying about what we need around here. We need
the gospel every time I stand up here. But after talking, there's
different approaches to be taken, different things, different needs.
We were talking. the other night over at our house,
and we started talking about this thing of sovereignty, God's
sovereignty in salvation and our responsibility. We talked
about faith, true faith in Christ, and what that faith produces,
the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We talked about Christ's work
for us, and we talked about Christ's work in us. And nothing Confuses
us now forget about everything. I don't be thinking about all
those things. I just meant I just brought that
up now. We're getting into the study here Nothing confuses us
and troubles us and perplexes us more than thoughts like these.
I Believe Christ I hope I Believe Christ, I believe I love him.
I hope and the gospel And yet, the word of God tells me that
I am to have such and such characteristics. But yet, I just don't feel like,
so much of the time, most of the time, I don't feel like I
have those characteristics. Do these thoughts plague you,
Nancy? Nancy? I believe I love Christ
and his gospel. I believe I know him and love
him. I hope. I have to always include that. Yet the Bible tells me that there
are certain characteristics, evidences, fruit of the Spirit
in the life of every believer. And yet, I just, so much of the
time, if not most of the time, I just don't feel those characteristics.
I just don't see those things in myself. Does that plague you,
these thoughts? And this is the reason. There's
no book in the Bible, and you ask yourself, after thinking
about it, you ask yourself, am I deceived? Am I just deceiving
myself? You know, Scripture says the
heart's deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know
it? Am I deceived? Is my heart deceiving me? Am
I a child of God or am I not? Am I saved? Then why am I thus? Why don't I do this? So, in thinking about that, that's
what we were talking about, I began thinking about various books
in the Bible. to go through, and one book kept coming to my
mind. No book in the Bible, in my estimation,
balances and explains the necessity and the correlation of faith
and works of God's sovereignty and our responsibility more than
the book of James, the book of James. And for this reason, we're
going to start doing a series of messages through the book
of James on Wednesday night. And this message right now is
going to be just a preface to that book, an introduction to
it. And many thought, I'm not going to have you turn to James
right away, but other scriptures, many people thought and think
that Paul and the Apostle Paul through his epistles, and James
contradicted one another. Paul talked about, through Romans,
as clearly and boldly, as forcefully, emphatically, as dogmatically
as you can possibly prove in English, justification by faith. Justification by faith without
one single work of the flesh. Acceptance with God Almighty
by faith in Christ and Christ alone without one work, impossible. The works of the flesh, no man
shall be justified in God's sight. And Paul preached on that and
dealt with that through Romans very clearly. Then James, you
go over the book of James. James is talking about something
else. He's talking about justification
by works. And people get confused about
it. But and then they think that they contradict one another.
Not so at all. Not so at all. They're using
different emphasis and they're speaking on different subjects.
Now, listen to me, the apostle Paul, he's talking about justification
of the soul. Before God Almighty. He's talking
about salvation of our souls. For how God saves sinners, period. That's what the Apostle Paul
is talking about. Justification. That is, God declaring us holy,
righteous, unblameable, unreprovable in His sight. Accepted. How is
that done? Not by one single thing we do. Nothing. Nothing that we do enters
into that. One iota. Only what the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself did. Only what he did, he and he alone.
We weren't even around when that transaction took place. We weren't
even around. Nobody was around. This took
place before the foundation of the world. A transaction between
God the Father and God the Son, who's called the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. And Paul deals with that all
through the book of Romans and then in Galatians. Justification
of our souls before God. Our standing Our salvation before
God Almighty has been in Christ and Christ alone, apart from
anything we do. It doesn't enter into it, what
we do. James now, on the other hand,
James begins talking about the justification of our profession
of faith in Christ. Let me repeat that. James talks about the justification
or the revelation of our profession of faith. in Christ before men. In other words, our profession
of faith in Christ before men being revealed or being clearly
evidenced by works that we do, by outward truth, by faith and
love and so forth. Both are necessary. The Bible
deals just as much in one area as it does in the other. Yes,
it does. Yes, it does. and responsibility. There's no
salvation apart from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ. He is salvation. He is life. He is eternal life. Because he
lives, we live eternally. No salvation apart from Christ.
There's no evidence, no proof, no reason to believe someone's
saved apart from fruit of the Spirit. in the life. The scriptures deal with this,
deal with it so very clearly. Turn to Ephesians chapter two
with me. Ephesians chapter two, this is how the apostle Paul
and how this Paul can say, I've not shunned to declare unto you
all the counsel of God. All the counsel of God. And it's
all, and we're not trying to separate it. We don't say a man
believes in Christ, but he works. It's, they go hand in hand. Man
believes Christ alone for salvation and the Holy Spirit creates a
new person in him. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2,
look at verse 8. Look at this. The Apostle Paul,
now, lest we say that James and James alone talked about these
things. Look at the Apostle Paul's writing.
So, so clear. By grace you're saved through
faith. And that, even faith is not of yourself. Faith is not
a work. Faith is not something you drum up, or faith is not
something you're going to be able to plead before God and
say, well, I believe. I accepted Jesus. No, you didn't. You didn't believe. You were
without God, without faith, before God the Holy Spirit came to you
and said, believe, trust, look to Christ. That's a gift. It's
not your work. God didn't look down through
time and see who was going to believe. No, he'd have to reward
them for faith. That's what they're making an
election, John. They're saying, God looked down
through time, see who's going to believe, and on the basis
of them believing in the future, he elected them. That doesn't
even make good sense. First of all, it makes me want
to scratch my head and say, what? Run that by me again. But what
that is, is rewards. That's works. That's a man earning
salvation is what that is. And that's what they're saying.
We accepted Jesus. But ain't no flesh going to glory in His
presence. Not even to say, well, I believed. I didn't do anything,
but I believed. No, you didn't either. It's the
faith of Christ. The faithfulness of Christ. And
the faith that you have, the only reason you acknowledge God,
the only reason you believe in Christ, look to Christ, believe
in Him at all, trust Him at all, is because God gave you the faith.
It's a gift. It's not our work at all. It's
a gift. That's what Paul says here. By grace you're saved. It's a gift of God, faith. Faith's
a gift of God. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast, because we're His workmanship. Nobody preached
this any more clearly than the Apostle Paul. We're His workmanship,
and we've been created, we've been created, regenerated as
new creatures in Christ. Walk in, walk in. We walk by faith in Christ and
we walk in works of service to him. Look over at, let's see,
look over at 1 Timothy. Now this is what I'm talking,
what I'm speaking of tonight is good doctrine, sound doctrine
in preaching like Paul said to Timothy which cannot be condemned. Can't say a word after I read
all these scriptures. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 1.
Now this is the apostle Paul. We're comparing Paul with James
and they're in total agreement because the same spirit led both
men. 1 Timothy 1 verse 5. Now he says the end of the commandment,
the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart and
of a good conscience. and of faith unfeigned faith
unfeigned unfeigned pure heart love out of a pure heart good
conscience faith unfeigned from which some have turned aside
and the vain jangling he's talking about faith here faith some have
turned aside the vain jangling and rambling and got off on tangents
and so forth everything but the gospel of Christ Desiring to
be teachers of the law, understanding not what they say, or whereof
they affirm. But we know now, look at this,
verse 8. But we know now that law is good. David said, I love you, law.
His word, his precept, whatever you want to call it. And Paul says the law is good
if a man uses it lawfully, if he uses it rightfully, if he
has proper discernment. Knowing this, Though that the
law is not made for a righteous man, a man in Christ is not under
the law, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly,
for sinners, for unholy, profane, for murderers of fathers and
mothers, murderers of mothers, manslayers, whoremongers, them
that defile themselves with mankind, men-stealers, liars, perjured
persons." Now, he says, if there be any other thing that is contrary
to sound doctrine, he's including all these things in doctrine. according to the glorious gospel
of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. Look over
chapter 6 of 1 Timothy. Chapter 6. Look at verse 3. 1 Timothy 6 verse 3. Paul says
to young Timothy here, he says, now if any man teach otherwise
and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to
godliness, There it is. He's a proud man. He knows nothing. Doting about
questions, strife of words, and so forth. Perverse men, and so
on. Look at 2 Timothy 2, a couple
of pages open. 2 Timothy 2, verse 19. 2 Timothy
2, 19. Now he says, The foundation of
God stands sure. What is the foundation of God?
Who is the foundation of God? Christ. That solid rock upon
which believers He stands sure. He is our surety. He stands,
no, he's seated in the heavens. He's seated by the right hand,
the right hand of God Almighty. He's the foundation of our faith.
He's the cornerstone. He is the rock of ages. He is our foundation, the foundation
of our faith. And he is sure. He is steady. And the foundation of God has
his seal. And the Word of God, we can include
the Word of God as our foundation of faith. The Word of God, not
only the incarnate Word, but the written Word. The Word of
God is the basis for everything that we believe. We believe why?
Because God said it. Where do we resort for answers?
God's Word. It's the foundation of everything
we believe, everything we say. The foundation of God stands
sure. It has this feel. The Lord knows them that are
His. Boy, I like that. Don't you? That's the foundation
of my faith. The Lord knows me. Not that I know Him. Not that
I love Him. The foundation of my faith and
my assurance is not that I know Him, not that I love Him, but
that He first loved me and He first knew me. Right? That's the foundation of my faith,
is that He first knew me and loved me before the foundation
of the world and chose me and placed my name in a substitute
And he came down here before I was ever around, and lived
for me, and died for me, and shed his blood, and paid for
my sins. And now he goes back to the Father,
and he's seated there interceding for me. And I'm going to get
the glory, and behold his glory someday because of him. And that's
my foundation, that he knows me. The Lord knows him that are
here. Now look at this, and. There's no period there. The
other's a period, but he says, and. Let everyone then that nameth
the name of Christ as their hope, as their Savior, as their substitute,
as their Lord and Master depart from iniquity. Right? Right. Depart from iniquity. Now go on. In a great house there
are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood
and of earth. That's in a church. There's some people that profess
to be believers. Most of them do. There's some
that are and some that aren't. Sheep and goats and wheat and
chaff. Some to honor, some to dishonor.
Now, if a man therefore purged himself from these, then we don't
do this. We're purged by being washed
by being purged by the Holy Spirit. We do appropriate the blood of
Christ ourselves, though, in a sense. That's how we purge
ourselves. by looking to Him or trusting
in Him. If a man purge himself from these,
he'll be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the Master's
use, prepared unto every good work." And he goes on, "...flee
youthful lust." I don't know about you, but I want to. Tired
of this old fellow plaguing me. Follow righteousness. We know
that's Christ. Charity love peace with them
that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. All right Now look
at chapter 3 on down verse 14 Paul tells young Timothy says
now you continue in the things which you've learned and Been
assured of no one of whom thou has learned them. That is the
Holy Spirit What things have you learned? I've been talking
about Salvation by blood and the righteousness of Christ alone.
That's what we've learned around here. Christ has been set forth
so evidently to this congregation for so many years now. You continue
steadfast. You rest in Christ and Him alone. Walk in faith in Christ. Walk by faith in Christ and Him
alone. Paul says, continue. In the things
you've learned, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, The Holy
Spirit revealed this gospel to you and from a child you've known
the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Now if I had a text this
would be it right here. All Scripture, all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for all these
things, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction. for instruction
in righteousness." Now look at this, that the man of God may
be perfect, perfect in Christ, as a bifold meaning right here,
and mature believer, walking. Not babies anymore, not even
young men, but mature believers in Christ. Throughly furnished,
perfected, my margin says, unto all good works." Good work. Now, one more passage of Scripture. Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. Verse 16. Titus chapter 1. This is a powerful
portion of Scripture. Paul says, Now there are some
that profess they know God. Verse 16. Titus 1, 16. Some profess that they know God, but in works
they deny him. They're abominable, he says,
disobedient unto every good work, reprobate, void of judgment and
understanding concerning these things. But he says to young
Titus, he says, now you speak the things which become sound
doctrine, things which become sound doctrine, down verse 9.
You exhort servants to be obedient unto their masters, to please
them well in all things. You talked about, we've read
all these other things before, to men, to women, husbands, wives,
so forth. Let's get through it here, down
to verse 9, that to please your masters in all things, not answering
again, talk back, not purloring, that's stealing, showing all
good fidelity. That one, what's the purpose?
that you may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all
men." That's a verse right there that proves that he's not talking
about universal salvation. The grace of God hasn't appeared
to all men, but not just Jews only he's talking about. But
the grace of God has appeared, the grace of God that brings
salvation. plainly, salvation by grace. It's appeared to us, and it teaches
us, verse 12, to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, that we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world,
looking for that blessed hope, that glorious appearance of appearing
of the great God and of our Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself
for us, that he might redeem—why did he do that? Why did he give
himself for that? To redeem us from all iniquity. To save us
from sin, not in it, from it. From it. Redeem us from all iniquity
and purify unto himself a peculiar, purchased people, zealous of
good works. Now he says to young Titus, you
speak and you exhort and you rebuke with all authority. Let
no man despise you. All right? So James, the book
of James, is an excellent balance of this thing of sovereign grace
and responsibility. Now listen to this quote by Thomas
Manton. I think Thomas Manton is one
of the one of the old writers. He's one of the most Christ-centered
of all the old writers. Him, John Newton, John Gill,
Thomas Matten. I just don't read anybody any
better on any portion of scripture. Listen to this very carefully.
You have to listen to it. I'll try to paraphrase it. He
says, all of us are apt to divorce comfort from duty. And I don't particularly like
the word duty in reference to what God tells us to do, although
it is our duty to serve our God. Paul said in Romans 12.1, didn't
he say, present your bodies a living sacrifice? Why? It's your reasonable
service. It's reasonable service, duty.
He says all of us are apt or prone to divorce comfort from
responsibilities and duties, and to be content with a barren
and unfruitful knowledge of Christ, as long as we're saved. As if,
he said, as if all that God required of us in this world were cold,
inactive apprehensions or understandings of the person and work of Christ. and go on about your business.
He said we're all supreme to that as if all God, all Christ
required of us is a mere mental apprehension of the person and
work of Christ as if all done for us and nothing remaining
to be done by us. Now remember now, I've clearly
told you, described, don't misconstrue, and he's not talking about salvation
at all. Not at all. All in salvation
has been done for us. It has. But James says this is
not so. This is not to be so. The clarion
cry of the book of James is what? Can anybody sum up the book of
James in one verse of scripture through the book of James? The
clarion cry would be this. Faith without works is That's what James talks about.
That's what he's talking about. We can't dismiss it from the
scriptures. Neither do we want to, right? No child of God wants
to. It's all scripture is possible. Adoption, reproof, correction,
structural rights and so forth. Can't dismiss this from the scripture,
don't want to. Faith without works is denied.
Now I recognize I recognize something of the subtlety of this thing
of legalism, a little bit. Oh, what's his name? William Romaine. Boy, he really
dealt with that well in Life of Faith and some of these other
writers. I recognize a little bit. He doesn't know it all.
No man does. The subtleties of Satan and making
us a self-righteous Pharisee. Legalism. I recognize a little
bit. about the subtlety of legalism.
We dealt with that very clearly in the book of Galatians. In
our study of Galatians, I said that if I don't describe justification
by faith clear enough to where somebody called me an antinomian,
I hadn't said it like it is. But I recognize something of
the subtlety of legalism. I don't want to be a legalist,
and I don't want anybody in here to be one. Not in one being. But I also tremble at the subtleties
of sin in my life. I tremble equally as much at
the thought of being a lawless, ungodly professor of
religion. Sin is sin. I don't care if it's
in doctrine or if it's in practice. It's sin, isn't it? Sin is sin. And it's to be guarded against
and be considered as against God and against His Christ and
utterly odious and detestable to God Almighty. Whether it be
a sin in doctrine or a sin in practice, it's still sin. Sin
is sin. I don't care if it's self-righteousness
or open wickedness, it's sin and it's going to be punished.
Now consider, like I said, all this to be this preface to the
book of the Book of James. We don't even have time to get
into the Book of James. But this is what we're going
to deal primarily with in the Book of James. This is what he
deals with primarily. How's a man saved? The summary
is all this. By faith in the person and the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. No other way. A man is saved,
a woman, a young person is saved by God the Son coming down to
earth and taking a body, a body of flesh and living like God
demands of us. This is salvation. Christ coming
down and taking a body of a man and living according to God's
holy law to perfection just like He tells us we've got to do if
we're going to be accepted by Him. And Christ did that. And then by some supernatural
mystery, some supernatural act of God Almighty, God took that
life that Christ lived and imputed it or charged it or switched
places with all of God's chosen elect people. He gave them this
perfect life. And now God looks at me as if
I'm the one that did that. I didn't do a thing. In Christ
I did. Imputed righteousness is called.
And then Christ, by taking my sin on me, Christ actually made
him sin, as if he rolled all the sin from every believer,
from Adam all the way to the last sheep that's going to walk
on this earth. All of those sins, rolled it up in one big ball,
one big weight, and just laid it on Christ the man, laid it
on his shoulders, and then God hung him on that cross. Men did
it, but they did what God determined before it could be done. And
God killed sin. He put away sin in his body on
that tree. Killed it. Put sin down in hell,
down in the grave. And when Christ came out of that
grave, sin was gone. All the sins of God's elect people
from the foundation of the world are gone. Gone. No more. And Christ went back to heaven.
and sat down pleading his blood and his person for all of those
people. And therefore all people are
saved by virtue of what Christ did. That's how people are saved.
That and that alone. That work of Christ. That and that alone. Faith in
the Holy Spirit comes in time and tells us that. Just what I said. It tells us
that and points us to Christ. Salvations of the Lord. Loving
us and choosing us, Christ coming, living and dying for us, the
Holy Spirit convicting and convincing us, it's God's work. How does
a man say? God's work. He does the choosing,
the saving, the keeping, the changing, the sanctifying. He's
got to do the works for us. Without him, we don't take the
Holy Spirit at all out of this thing of work. Christ said, I
sanctify myself that they might be sanctified. He said, without
me you can do nothing. We can't do one good work in
and of itself. of ourselves. It has to be sanctified
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith, faith is even
the gift of God, like we said. It's just the result of what
Christ has already done. Faith just agrees with God. That's
what faith is. It agrees with God. Now, how
does one know, and I've got to hurry, how does one know he has
this saving faith? And this is what James is dealing
with. How do you know that you have this saving faith? Now, saving faith is assured. Listen to this. This is important. Saving faith is assured in us. Saving faith, we have assurance
of our faith in Christ by, first of all, being convinced of the
gospel. Being convinced of the gospel. Being given a love for and a
thirst for Christ and his gospel. That's the first evidence. by
God taking His Word and convicting us of who we are, and showing
us who Christ is, and making us come to Him by faith. Clinging
to Him is our only hope. That's how He first bears witness
with our spirit. Faith starts in the mind, the
heart, and the affection for Christ, for His Word, for His
Gospel. Like old Newton over here. He said, if I pray or hear
or read, he says, sin is mixed with all I do. You that love
the Lord indeed, tell me, is it so with you? Yet I mourn my
stubborn will. I find my sin a grief and a thrall. Should I grieve for what I feel
if I did not love at all? Now, if you ever cease to grieve
over your sin and your shortcomings and so forth, take alarm. Take alarm. He says, could I
enjoy to meet with His saints to meet, choose the way that
I once abhorred and find at times the promise of the gospel sweet
if I did not love the Lord? So this is the first evidence
of saving faith in someone. You've got good reason to hope
that you know Christ and love Him if these things be in you.
A hatred of your own sin and self and a love the highest estimation
on earth for Christ and his gospel, and a desire, a hunger and thirst
to hear it more and more. Look into Christ and Christ alone.
And faith always, and this is what James is talking about,
always manifests itself or reveals or proves itself in the outward
life. Let me ask you, right here, how
quick, from the outset, Do you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Do you believe that he is your
only hope of salvation? John, ask yourself. Do you believe that he is the
Christ, the Son of the living God, the only Messiah, the only
hope of salvation, the chosen one of God, the only man approved
by God Almighty? Do you believe that? The Son
of God, equal with the Father in all power, the Lord our righteousness,
able to save you. Do you believe that? Yes? OK. Do you want to know more about
him? Do you want to hear more about him? That's what you prayed,
Terry. That's the reason I believe that you did. You prayed to hear
more about him. Do you? Do you want to hear more
about him? Is that what you like to hear? The old, old story of
the gospel. Do you want to hear more about
him? See? Okay. Well, are you in love
with Him and so enamored with Him that you want to be like
Him? You want to be like Him? Are
you tired of you and want to be like Him? Hmm? Or can you say with David, I'm
not going to be satisfied. till I awake in his likeness."
Huh? Do you? Can you say that with
all your heart? It's good evidence. Then, therefore,
with that in mind, with those things in mind, we're going to
go through the book of James, because that's what it deals with. If
you can say that from your heart, that you trust Christ and Christ
alone, You want to know more about him, you want to lean upon
him, trust him, and you want to be like him, whatever it takes. Like Paul said over there, he
said, by all means, if by any means, whatever it takes that
I might attain under the resurrection of the dead. He said, not as
though I've already retained it. I haven't arrived yet. I
want to forget my past, forget everything. He said, I want to
be conformable to the death of Christ. I want to die daily. I want to be made like Christ.
I want to be created a new creature daily in Christ. These are the
desires of a regenerated heart. Well, you can't fake this. It's
in the heart. You can't fake this desire to
be like Christ, be done with self, and be like Christ. And
that's what we're going to do. We're going to go through the
book of James that deals with these things. And I request your prayers because
I need wisdom and understanding because it's a difficult book.
It's difficult, for one thing, to keep from pointing us to ourselves,
to keep us from looking at ourselves and not looking to Christ alone
and not mix this thing up, make it faith and works. It's difficult.
It takes some discernment, it takes leadership to keep from making us look to Christ and
not, or look to self and not to Christ. It's a difficult book,
but it's very convicting. And personally, I need it very,
very much. Very profitable. So I request your prayers. I hope I've made the gospel very
clear tonight, preached Christ, and whetted your appetite about
these things concerning our walk of faith. I'll be thinking about
the things that I mentioned to you earlier, too. And I want,
I really do want your input. I want your opinions. What are
you going to do? You can't do that. All right,
I won't do it. You don't have to. Anybody says
whatever, I value, I'm not going to be mad at anybody. Speak your mind. Speak now or
forever hold your peace. But I want your input because
this is our, these are our services and you're the ones really that
I've got mine about this thing. I was telling Mindy that really
it's difficult. Humanly speaking, it's difficult,
to say the least. It's difficult to preach once,
let alone twice, but three times in one day. My dad has done it
now for several years, and he says it's too much. It's too
much on one person. But it's difficult, to say the
least, to do that. But in a sense, I kind of get
it over with, get it all in one day. So it won't be any easier
on me to disperse this thing out to another day, Saturday
night study or whatever, necessarily, except maybe that I might be
a little more rested. And I tell you, this happens
invariably, that if the Holy Spirit, it seems, Me personally,
if God blesses me to preach, like in the Bible study, I can
just about count on not having any liberty in the morning message.
If He does, I'm just thrilled. But if He does it twice, I know
I'm not going to have any liberty Sunday night. It's just, humanly
speaking, it's just so hard to get your mind. This thing is
draining. It's draining. But you be thinking
about it, and I will. We'll do whatever is your wish. Your wish is my command. All
right, stand with me.

Preface To James

What does the Bible say about justification?

How do we know sovereign grace is true?

Why is faith without works important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about the doctrine of election?

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Preface To James

What does the Bible say about justification?

How do we know sovereign grace is true?

Why is faith without works important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about the doctrine of election?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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