James chapter 2, I titled the message, Faith, Dead or Alive. Faith, dead or alive. It is one or the other. It's
either a living faith that God has given, and if God has given
it, it's living. active or just a dead, empty
profession. Now, James is going to deal with
this living faith and the evidence of it, the evidence, and this
dead faith and the lack of evidence of it. There's no life. There's
no love. There's no activity, not in the
heart, nor in the life. Faith that is alive is evidenced,
and we'll see this as we go along, it is evidenced by good works.
I'm not afraid of that word. I'm not afraid of it. We know
that good works are of God. It's the work of God in us. God
has brought all our works in us. If something's alive, there's
evidence of it. There's evidence of life. There's breathing, talking,
working. There's evidence of it. But if
something is dead, there's no signs of life. It's dead. It's dead. When Paul spoke of
faith and being justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
he was speaking of the justification of our soul before God, how we
are justified before God through the blood and the righteousness
of Jesus Christ alone. Paul is opposing a legal spirit. Here, James is talking about
the justification of the profession
of our faith. And he's opposing carnality.
That's what he's doing. He's setting forth faith that
not only justifies, but is directly connected to sanctification. You see, Paul talks about the
work of Christ for us in justification. James talks about the work of
Christ in us for justification. And they go together. They go
together. You can't separate them. Paul forbids that legal Pharisee
spirit, and James is forbidding antinomianism. Now, he says here in verse 14, What doth
it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith? He says
he claims to have faith. that he believes in God and have
not works, can faith save him? What advantage is it to say that
I have faith and have not works to back it up? What advantage
is it? We can say a lot of things, can't
we? People can say a lot of things. Say a lot of things. And he says
here, what's the profit, what's the advantage of saying that
you have faith if you don't have anything to back it up? Can that
faith save him? And here's what he's saying,
can that kind of faith, can that kind of faith that has no works,
that has no labor of love, can that kind of faith save him?
Absolutely not. Absolutely not. A dead faith
cannot save anyone no more than a dead body can. James is telling us, how the
profession of our faith is justified. And that's by works. By works. Works of faith and labor of love. That's what he's telling us here.
But here's a word of caution before I go on. Works are not
infallible proofs of faith. They're not infallible proofs
of faith. Look over in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. You know this one. Works are not infallible proofs of faith. We need to establish
this before we go on. This is what Paul says here in
1 Corinthians 13. Do I speak with the tongues of
men and of angels, and have not love? I must become a soundly
brass and tinkly cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though
I have all faith so that I can remove bounties and have not
love, I am nothing. I am nothing. And though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to
be burned and have not love, charity, and prophecy, I am nothing. So, works are not infallible
proofs of faith, but true faith, true faith, always. always has good works. Always. It always has good works. There
are people, there are people that I know and you know, that
we would call good people. There are some people I know
that I would call, what we'd esteem as good, but they don't
believe the gospel. They don't believe the gospel.
But there is no one who believes the gospel, no one who believes
the gospel, that does not have good works. No one. Let me give you this quote. I
heard Henry give this quote some time ago. He said, works are
not infallible proofs of faith, but the absence of works is the
infallible proof of the absence of faith. It is an infallible
proof of the absence of it if there's no works at all. Then
he gives us an example. If a brother or sister be naked,
and destitute of daily food, and one of you saying to them,
Depart in peace, be you warmed and filled, notwithstanding you
give them not those things which are needful to the body." What? What does it profit? What does
that kind of faith profit? What good came out of that? What
good came out? Who received anything out of
that? A brother or sister comes to
you. And they ask for help. And you say, they come to your
door, and you say, be warm. It's a cold evening. You say,
will sister be warm today? They may be hungry. You say,
be fed. Words, words alone Do not feel
the hungry. Words alone do not clothe the
naked. There has to be an activity.
There has to be action. There has to be a reaching forth.
There has to be a doing. There has to be. Solomon said
this, withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it
is in the power of thy hand to do it. He said withhold it not. And he's saying here, if one
comes to you and you say, well, be warm, depart to peace, I'll
pray for you, God bless you, and you don't do anything to
help them, they say, what kind of faith is that? What good is
that? That's nothing but dead, empty
faith. It's a dead profession. That's
all it is. Even so, in the same manner, even so, faith, If it
hath not works to back it up, if it hath not works to back
it up, it's dead. It's useless. It's empty. It's not of God. It's not of
God. Being alone, being without any
works of love, being without any kindness, any show of kindness,
and I'm not talking about just a word of kindness, but I mean
an actual show of kindness. A dead faith will be of no good. to him who has it. It will receive
no joy, it will receive no comfort from the Word of God, nor will
it give any joy or comfort to the brothers and sisters. It
won't do it. They just say, well, be warm,
be fair, go ahead, leave it, and do nothing for it. He said,
that's dead faith. He said, that kind of faith is
not of God. It's dead. Dead faith reads the Word of
God like any other book, historically. It receives the historical facts
of Christ, but does not know Him. It doesn't know Him, or
love Him, or enjoy Him, or find peace and rest in Him. It's just
a dead, dry faith. He said, Yea, a man may say,
James is speaking here like he's having a conversation with another
person. A man may say, Thou hast faith.
And I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." You say you
have faith. Show me your faith without your
works. That is an impossibility. It
is absolutely impossible for me to show you my faith apart
from any works. Faith is not something you can
see. Faith is a principle of that new nature. It's like love. You can't see it. You can see
evidence of it. You can see evidence of love,
but you can't see it because it's a principle of that new
heart. You cannot see faith. You can't see my faith. I can't
see your faith. But what we can see is the evidence
of it. And that's works. That's good
works. when we believe in it. No, you
can't see it. You cannot see it. The only way
that faith is evidence, true saving faith is evidence, is
by works. Good works. You cannot see love, but you
can see the effects of it. Our Lord said, I was hungry.
And what did you do? He says, you fed me. I was sick
and you visited me. They said, Lord, when did we
see you like that? He said, as much as you did it to the least
of these, my brethren, you've done it unto me. Listen, for
God so loved the world. How do we know that He really
loved the world? How do you and how do I know that God really
loved me and loved you? How do we know that? First of
all, it says, He gave His only begotten Son. He didn't just
say, I love you. He did something about it. God
so loved the world, and that speaks of Gentiles and Jews,
that He gave, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believes on Him may have everlasting life. Love not in word only,
says over in 1 John 3. Love not in word only, but how?
In deed and in truth. That's the evidence of true saving
faith. He says here, thou hast faith. You say, well, I believe. But
there's no works to back it up. You say, I have faith. Well,
a hypocrite has nothing to show for his claim to faith. That's
why James says you have nothing to show for. There's no evidence
of it. There's no evidence of it. But I'll tell you this, a
believer, a believer doesn't have to go around saying, well,
I believe. I believe God. A believer does not, and a believer
doesn't go around saying that. I'll tell you what, a believer
goes around doing. A believer goes around helping,
loving, giving. That's evidence. of faith. See,
the man who just has an empty profession has to go around all
the time saying, well, I believe. I don't believe. I believe. But
a believer goes around doing something. Active. Showing love. Love one another is His commandment,
as I have loved you. And they do. And they show it. Acts of kindness, love, help,
visiting the sick, James said over here in verse 27, pure religion
and undefiled before God, here it is, is to visit the fatherless. It's not just a profession, it's
to do something. It's to visit the fatherless
and the widows in their affliction. Our Lord came into this world
as our substitute, took our sins upon Him. He did something about
it, didn't He? He proved His love by His conduct.
He proved His love to His Father and to His people. Now, what
he did for us. Thou believest that there is
one God. You say you have faith. Thou hast faith. Claim to have
faith. Thou believest that there is
one God. Thou doest well. Well, here's a powerful statement.
This is a powerful, eye-opening statement. The devils also believe
and tremble. I believe that there is one God.
You believe there is a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but the
three are one? You believe that Jesus Christ
is the Messiah? You believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God? You say, I believe. And I've
had people tell me this. They say this to me, and I know
they didn't believe the Gospel, but they say, I believe that
He is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Messiah. He's the Son of God. You believe
that God chose a people? You believe that? Well, the devil
does too. He said the devil believes the
same thing. And they tremble. They tremble at God's majesty.
God's holiness. They tremble at it. Let me show
you some scriptures over here in Matthew chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8. Look in verse... In verse 29, our Lord casting
out some devils here. Verse 28 of this person. And, behold, they cried out,
saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus? Listen. Thou Son
of God. They knew who he was. Thou Son
of God. Art thou come hither to torment
us before the time? Look over in Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5, verse 7 and verse
6, And when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with
thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee
by God, that thou torment me not. He said, uh, you believe there's
one God? You believe that Jesus is the Christ?
He's the Messiah? He's the Son of God? You believe
that? Well, the devil does too, and he's not saved. That's nothing more than the
faith of devils, if that's as far as it goes. If it's as if
it is that, it's nothing more than the faith of devils. But
wilt thou know, or understand, or be enlightened, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? O vain, empty, useless professor,
don't you know that faith that is void of good works, faith
that is void of love for the brethren, a true love to God,
which is demonstrated by the love for the brethren. And it cannot save anyone. It's
not the faith of God. It's not of God. And now he uses
Abraham. He uses Abraham here as an example.
Was not Abraham our father justified by works? And they said, oh,
hold on there a minute. That doesn't sound right. You
know Martin Luther rejected this book for several years until
he got into his older life. Then he finally came around to
see it. He struggled with this book right here, the book of
James. He had a real struggle with it. And finally he came
around and understood it. But he's saying here, was not
Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered
Isaac his son upon the altar? Now we know, we know by the Word
of God, that Abraham was justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. We know that every soul that is justified before God
is justified on the grounds and merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. His blood, His righteousness,
faith in Him, He's the object of faith. We know that. But His
faith was justified. Abraham's faith was justified
by his works of obedience when he offered up Isaac, his son.
His faith was proven to be genuine. That's what he's saying. His
faith was proven to be genuine when he did what? When he offered
up Isaac. That was a tough trial. God proved his faith. God gave
him three days to think about it. When he told him to go off
for Isaac, they took a three day journey. He had three days
to think about this. Day and night, day and night,
day and night. Three days. And when he got to
that place, Abraham proved that that faith,
which is just that faith in God, that belief in God, was real. It was genuine. It was genuine. And Abraham, now listen, Abraham
believed God long before Isaac was born. He believed God long
before Isaac was born. When God told him to leave the
land where he was living, he got up and left. He proved he
believed God when he got up and left. And when God told him to
offer his son, he got up and took his son and headed for the
mountain. His faith was justified. His profession was justified. His profession of faith in God
was justified. Then he says here in verse 22,
"...see'st thou how that faith his works in union. You see how
they go together? That's what James is saying here
to his brethren, to us. You see how faith and works go
together? They go together. And by works was faith made perfect,
proved to be genuine. You see how his faith expressed
by his works was seen and proved to be real. And the Scripture was fulfilled
which saith, Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him
for righteousness and he was called the friend of God. Righteousness was imputed when
Abraham believed and proven when he obeyed. That's what James
is saying, proven. You see then how that by works
a man is justified, not by faith only. And what he's saying here is
this, there is no saving faith that is without works, obedience,
love, kindness, graciousness. We have to be careful that we
do not pick certain things and exclude others and say it's not
needful. Everything about salvation. Everything about salvation is
essential if God has ordained it. Thou hast wrought all our
works in this. Over here in Ephesians chapter
2, everything, if God has ordained
it, it is essential. For we, in chapter 2 of Ephesians,
verse 10, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before what? Ordained. God has ordained
that we should walk in them. And if God has ordained it, it's
necessary. And it's going to happen. It's going to be there. The work
of the Father, the work of the Son, the work of the Spirit,
the new birth, good works, they're all They're all ordained of God. They're all essential. All of
them. All of them. Then it gives us here another
example. And it goes to the opposite end. First it used Abraham, father
of the faithful. All the Jews looked up to him.
Now he turns to a hermit, Rahab. Likewise, in the same manner
also, was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, by what she
did? Her profession was justified.
When she had received the messengers and had sent them out another
way, Jane goes from the patriarch to the harlot to demonstrate
that God-given faith is the same in all of God's children. It
produces the same effect, good works. Now watch what he says
here. He says that when she had received
the messengers and sent them out another way. He uses Rahab
here, and I want you to look at this over in Joshua chapter
2. I want to read you this story over here in Joshua chapter 2. It might be a little lengthy.
That's a pretty long story. You know the story though. It's
in Joshua. When you go home, you can read
this. This is pretty long. I was going to read all of this,
but I won't read it. And Joshua, the son of Nuns,
sent out Shittim, two men, to spy secretly, saying, Go, view
the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into
Harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was
told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men, and hitherto
night, of the children of Israel, to search out the country. And
the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the
men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house.
For they be come to search out all the country. And the woman
took the two men, hid them, and said, Thus there came men unto
me, but I wish not which they were. And it came to pass, at
about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that
the men went out. Whether the men went, I know
not. Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them. But
she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them
with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the
roof. And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan and to
the fords. And as soon as they which pursued
after them were gone out, they shut the gate. And before they
were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof, and she said
unto the men, I know that the Lord," now listen, here she's
going to start her profession. She's going to confess what she
knows. Listen to her. And she said unto
them, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that
your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the
Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you. That was about
forty years ago. About forty years had gone by.
And she said, And when ye came out of Egypt, and what ye did
unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of
Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed, And as soon
as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither
did there remain any more courage in any man because of you. Now
here's her confession here. For the Lord your God, He is
God. He is God. In heaven above and
in earth beneath. Now therefore I pray you, swear
unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you
will also show kindness to my father's house and give me a
True token, and you know the rest of that story. You know
how the rest of that story went. They came in and marched around
the city, and that wall fell. And marched
around, the walls came down. And they told her, they said,
you take and put a scarlet line out the window. And when we see
that, and you get your family, And you bring them in here. You
bring them into your house. You keep them in there. And as
long as they stay in that place under the flood, as long as they
stay there, nobody will be harmed. But you keep them there. Because
if they go out and they get killed, we're not responsible. So she
did. She did what they told her to
do. They marched around that city. And that wall fell. But one section, one section
of that whole wall, that wall I see was walled all the way
around. And that whole wall came crumbling down. Now she believed
before anything happened, before anything was done. She said,
God, I know that your God is the God of heaven and earth.
I know that. And when that wall fell, she
hid it. She put the scarlet light out
just like they said to. There stood one section of that
wall that did not fall. You know that scarlet light represents
the blood. Right there stood a monument
to the grace of God and a testimony to her faith in God. To her faith. She believed. She put that thing out the window,
didn't she? She put it out the window and it didn't fall. She
was not destroyed and her family was not destroyed. All of them
were saved and they stayed in her place there. When it all
fell down, that one section stood up as a monument to the grace
of God. He says here, for as the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Useless. No good. For there are
no works of love, He said, that's not faith. That's
not faith. True faith will always be attended
by good works. By good works. Let me give you
this story I heard. I heard Henry tell this in a
sermon once. He said there was a city in France.
It was called the city of dead swamps. One of the kings, I don't know
if it was King Louis, but one of the kings there, they would
use that place and do their campaigns going over into the Holy Land. And there was a wall all the
way around that city, all the way around it. And on that wall
there was a big tower. At the top of the tower was the
soldiers' quarters. They'd have a light up there
that they would guide ships in and out. through the waters there,
but in that tower was a dungeon. And they would keep and imprison
Protestants there. And there was a woman there named
Maria Duran kept in that tower, in that dungeon
as a prisoner. Her dad was a Protestant preacher.
She was a Protestant. And there was other ones there.
They put her there in prison when she was 15 years old, because
she would not deny the faith of Christ. She would not deny
Christ. So when she was 15 years old,
they put her in that dungeon. And when she was 50 years old,
they let her out. 35 years. She sat in that dungeon,
looked out that little, there's a window there, what I heard. She'd just look out, you know,
at the ocean. But for 35 years, she stayed in that dungeon. All
she had to do was renounce her faith in Christ. That's all she
had to do. At any time, she could have said,
I'll accept their doctrine, their orthodoxy, and all that their
church had going on at that time. But for 35 years, she sat there,
and shortly after she was released, she died. But in that dungeon,
in that dungeon where she sat every day, that's 35 years. I couldn't imagine when I heard
that. 35 years went by. This is a 15-year-old
girl sitting here and growing old in this dungeon. You know how, back then, that
was terrible. I mean, a terrible situation.
Terrible. But there was a stone there where
she sat in that one little area, in that one little dungeon. There
was a stone there and engraved, she had engraved on that stone
this word, resist. Resist. Resist giving in. Resist denying Him. Resist. And
for 35 years she sat there. Faith without works is dead.
But faith that is of God is always attended by works. Always. Okay, Mike.