I'd never heard two of those
verses before. That was really good. I didn't
know those were there. Back to James chapter two. Faith alone is never alone. Verse 17. Well, let's start reading
in verse 14. What doth it profit, my brethren?
Though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith
save him? And in the original, the definite
article is there, literally, can that faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked
and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them,
depart in peace, be warmed and filled. Notwithstanding you give
them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth
that profit? Even so faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. Yea, 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. Thou believest that there's one
God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble,
but wilt thou know O vain man, that faith without works is dead! Was not Abraham our father justified
by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works
was faith made perfect? 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. You see how then, how that by
works a man is justified and not by faith only. Likewise also
was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she'd received
the messengers and sent them out another way. For as the body
without the spirit is dead, So faith, without works, is dead
also. Needless to say, this is one
of the most misunderstood passages of scripture in the word of God,
but I could say that about every other passage too, couldn't I? Faith alone is never alone, I
hope that you'll give me your very careful attention to this
message. Faith alone is never alone. When we speak of the five, called
the solas of the Reformation, scriptures alone, Christ alone,
grace alone, faith alone, and the glory of God alone. When we call those the five solas
of the Reformation, we're not accurate. These were true way
before the Protestant Reformation. I've heard the term reform theology,
and you have too with regard to these things. The truth never
needed reformed. That's a bad term, reformed theology. The truth never needed reform.
Reform from what? Scriptures alone. It's always
been that way. Christ alone. Faith alone. The glory of God alone. Now these all stand or fall together.
If you believe in scriptures alone, you really believe that
the Bible is the word of God, our only source of truth. Do
you believe that? Do you really believe it? If
you do, you'll understand that salvation is by Christ alone.
It doesn't have anything to do with your works. You'll understand
that salvation is by grace alone. You believe that. If you believe
the scriptures alone, you believe grace alone. You believe from
election to glorification and everything in between, salvation
is by grace, the grace of God. You believe that. You believe
in faith alone. Not faith and. Faith alone. If it's faith and it's not faith.
Do you hear me? If it's faith and it is not faith
and the glory of God alone, God says for his own glory and that
gives him a reason to save and he gets all the glory and salvation.
You believe that? Now I want to talk for a few
moments about faith alone. Remember the title of this message
is Faith alone is never alone. What is meant by faith alone?
Please listen very carefully. I hope I'm going to tell us from
the scripture what faith alone is. If I know this, if I don't
have faith alone, I'm not saved. If I have faith and I've missed
Christ. Faith and is anti-Christ. Do you hear me? It's giving something
in the stead of Christ. That's what Antichrist means.
It doesn't simply mean this big beast that we're scared to death
of, Antichrist. Although we are scared to death
of him. But anti means in the place of Christ. In the stead
of Christ. If I have faith and, that means
I've got something instead of Christ alone. And I don't want
to have anything to do with that. What is meant by faith alone. Faith alone is you look to Christ
only. You do not have anything else. Would that be your state right
now? You look to Christ only. as everything in your salvation,
and you have nothing else. He is all you have. Paul put it this way in 2 Timothy
1, 12, I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed to him. What'd you
commit to him, Paul? Everything. If he did not do
it all, I have no hope. I'm completely dependent upon
him being all in my salvation, that God looks to him for everything
he requires of me, faith alone. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Faith alone. Listen to the words
of this song. Should I to the gates of heaven
appear to answer the challenge? What claim hast thou here? What
hast thou to offer? Yea, what is thy plea? With blessed
assurance my answer would be, All that I have is Jesus. All that I claim is Jesus. All that I want, all that I need,
all that I please is Jesus. Of all earthly treasures, nothing
I brought. No great deeds of merit have
I ever wrought. Though vile and unworthy as mortal
can be, I've nothing to offer, but this is my plea. All that
I have is Jesus. All that I claim is Jesus. All that I want, all that I need,
all that I plead is Jesus. My sins, they are many. My virtues
are none. The blood of my Savior will carry
me home. When Christ took my place on
Calvary's tree, hallelujah, that opened God's heaven to me. All that I have is Jesus. All that I claim is Jesus. All
that I want, all that I need, all that I plead is Jesus. Somebody once asked this question,
if all you have is Christ, is that enough? It is if he's all you got. If he's all you got, yep, that's
enough. That is what is meant by Christ
alone. The straight gate is so narrow
that if you have anything other than Christ, you can't get through. And do you understand that? The narrow way is so narrow that
if you have anything other than Christ, if you have your experience
and your works and your, you'll fall off. All you have is Christ. I think it's all summarized by
this. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Bring it on. It's God that justifies. Who is he that can condemn? It's
Christ that died, yea, rather that's risen again, who's even
at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us,
who shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. That is to have Christ alone. The introduction of the word
and takes away the truth and you're left with soul damning
error. I say that cautiously, but I
know it's so. Christ alone, faith alone, you
look to Christ only, you have nothing else. You're not looking
to Christ in your experience. You're not looking to Christ
and when you first fill in the blank, You're not looking to
Christ and what you intend to do. You look to Christ alone,
always and only. Faith alone. Faith alone is never alone. Now somebody says that almost
seems contradictory. Well, read the word of God, verse
17. James chapter two, even so faith, if it hath not works is
dead. Being alone. Now, I don't know how many times
over the years I've tried to speak with somebody concerning
the gospel and they say, what about James chapter two? I've
heard that. I can't even think of how many
times. What about James chapter two? You talk about salvation
by being great by about grace without works, faith alone. What about James chapter two?
It says, if you don't have works, you're not saved. What does that
mean? Is James in contradiction with
Paul? Turn back to Romans chapter three
for a moment. Faith, if it hath not works,
is dead, being alone. Now what about Ephesians chapter
2, 8 and 9? For by grace ye are saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. Is this in conflict? Romans chapter
3, where Paul makes these statements. Verse 28. Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Look back in verse 19 of the
same chapter. We know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before
God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe and have
works, no, to them that believe. For there is no difference. Look in chapter four of Romans,
verse five, but to him that worketh not. Do you hear what that says? to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness." Now, is that in conflict with what James says
in James chapter 2, even so faith, if it hath not works, it's dead,
being alone, is that in conflict? Verse 14 of James chapter 2,
what doth it profit my brethren Though a man say, now that's
the key word. That's the key word. That's the
operative word. What does the prophet, my brethren, though
a man say he hath faith and have not works, can that faith save
him? If a man say. A man can say he's been forgiven
of his sins. I believe I've been forgiven
of my sins. I believe Christ put them away. I believe I've
been forgiven of my sins. A man can say that. What if he refuses to forgive
others? The Lord said if you forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive
you your trespasses. Now if a man says my sins are
forgiven, but he refuses to forgive, what do his works say? His works say he has not been
forgiven. Now those are the Lord's words,
not mine. Somebody says, you mean I won't
be forgiven unless I forgive? If you've been forgiven, you
will forgive. And if you've not been forgiven,
you won't forgive. The evidence of being forgiven
is first because Christ died for you and you look to him only.
But if you've been forgiven, you will forgive. And if you
refuse, if I refuse to forgive, my works say I have not been
forgiven. Now that's what James is saying. Just to say you have faith, well,
here's the example he gives. What doth a prophet, my brethren,
though a man say he have faith and have not works? A man says,
I've been shown mercy, and yet he refuses to be merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. If I've been shown mercy, I myself
will be a merciful person. And if I'm not merciful, I know
nothing of the mercy of God. That is what James is saying. Now look at this example he gives
us in verse 15. Here's what I'm talking about.
If a brother or sister be naked, cold, destitute of daily food,
And one of you say unto them, depart in peace. Let's say they
come knocking on your door. And you open up the door and
there they are. And you see that they're without sufficient clothing. It's cold out there. They have
nothing to eat. You open up the door and see
them. And you say, depart in peace. Be ye warmed and filled. Notwithstanding, you give them
not those things which are needful to the body. What's a prophet? You knock on my door, cold, hungry. I open up the door, I say, depart
in peace. Be warmed, be filled. God loves you and I do too. And
I slam the door. What's that say? What's that
say? That's the example James gives. Faith without works, just like
that person who slammed the door on that person's faith. They didn't love that person.
You see, faith, according to Galatians 5, 6, worketh by love. There's no such thing as faith
without love. Faith worketh by love. In Christ Jesus, neither
circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision. Somebody
says, well, I've done my best. What's that avail? Nothing. Well,
I understand that's not right. You ought not believe that. What's
that avail? Nothing. What does avail with
God? Faith. Faith alone which worketh
by love. Verse 17. Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. Verse 18, yea, a man may say.
There's that word again. You know, John uses that word
quite a bit. If we say we have fellowship with God and walk
in darkness, we lie. We do not the truth. I have fellowship
with God. I speak to God. He speaks to
me. Yet I walk in the darkness of salvation by works and free
will. What am I doing? I'm lying. I don't have any fellowship
with God. He doesn't hear me. I've never
heard from him. Well, John or James is using
the word in the same way. If we say, yea, a man may say
thou hast faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works. I'll show thee my faith by my works. And here's a simplistic illustration
Two men, two men, say, I believe the gospel of God's grace. I
believe Christ is all in salvation. I love the fact that God elected
a people. Christ died for the elect. God
the Holy Spirit gives them life. I love the gospel of God's grace
that gives him all the glory and gives no glory to men, a
sure and certain foundation. I love that. Two people make
that profession. One continues to go to a church,
I'll use church loosely, a religious organization that doesn't preach
that, that preaches something else. And one man identifies
with the church that believes salvations of the Lord, that
Christ is all. Now, by their works, which one
really believes? You can't tell me a man believes
if he's okay with going to a place where Christ is denied, grace
is denied. I don't believe that for a second.
He can talk all he wants about believing this, but if he goes
to a church where this is not preached, he does not believe. That's what his works say. Here's a man, here's two men,
both of them say, I need to hear the gospel. One's here, another stays home.
Which one do you believe? Which one do you believe? This
is what this is talking about. What do their works say? Two people say, I love Christ.
I love him. I really do. One gives to the
cause of Christ. The other does not. What do their
works say? It is that simple. That's what
James is talking about. Faith only is not real. Now, he says in verse 19, thou believest there is one God.
Well, there is only one God. Hear O Israel, The Lord thy God
is one Lord. Monotheistic. We're supposed
to be that way. There is only one God. There's
not two gods. There's only one, the God of the Bible. He is as
he reveals himself to be. All the character and attributes
of God are revealed in this book. This is why we read this book.
This is why we preach this book. God tells us who he is. He tells
us how he saves sinners through Christ. Thank God for the Bible. There's one Lord, the God of
the Bible. You believe there's one God?
Yeah, I do. He says, congratulations. The devil believes the same thing.
And they tremble. Why do they tremble? Because
they don't love this God. They shudder at the thought of
Him being God because they have no love for Him. They don't trust
Him. They don't love His character. They tremble in fear. They hate
Him. That's why. But they know there's one God. We know thee, the demons said
this, we know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And they
were afraid of him. They couldn't make one move without
his permission. Sufferers to go into the herd
of swine. They knew they couldn't even go unless he led them. Are
you gonna here to torment us before the time? Don't make us
go back into the abyss. You know, demons have a whole
lot more accurate things to say about the Lord than most religious
people do, don't they? I mean, you think about what
they said. but they had no love for him. You believe there's
one God, you do well. The devils believe the same thing,
they tremble. They have no love for him. Now he gives us two
examples of what he's talking about. And this is the meat of
this message. Pray for me that I'll be able
to say this as it ought to be said. I hope we can understand
what James means from these two examples of Abraham and Rahab. He gives two examples of what
faith with works means by Abraham and Rahab. Now let's look at
verse 20. But wilt thou know, vain man,
that faith without works is dead? It's just plumb dead. It's not saving. It's not the
gift of God the Holy Spirit. It's dead, graveyard dead, dead
in trespasses and sins. And remember, faith alone is
never alone. Now he shows us what he means
with these two examples, Abraham and Rahab. Verse 21, was not
Abraham our father justified by works? When he had offered
Isaac his son upon the altar, See is thou how faith wrought
with his works, and by works was faith made perfect or complete,
and the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed
God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness, and he was
called the friend of God. You see how that by works a man
is justified, and not by faith only. Turn with me for a moment to
Genesis 15. We can't understand what he means
if we don't look at this passage. Genesis 15. Verse one, after these things,
the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision saying, fear
not Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord, what wilt
thou give me? Saying, I go childless, and the
steward of my house is Eleazar of Damascus, a servant. I don't have any children. And
Abram said, behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one
born in my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be. And he brought him forth abroad
and said, look thou toward heaven and tell the number of stars
that thou be able to number them. And he said unto them, so shall
thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord. What God said, he believed. Now that's what faith is. It's
believing God. I've heard that phrase, God said
it. I believe that that settles it.
No, no, no, no, no. God said it. That settles it. Faith is believing what God says. You see, you only believe him
when you know him, you know his character, you know, he cannot
lie. You know, if he said it. It must
take place because he said it. Faith is believing God. Abraham didn't have any physical
evidence of this. He had a very old wife who had
already gone through that time of life to where she could not
bear children anymore. He saw himself to be a very old
man. But he believed God because God
said this would take place. He didn't have any evidence,
no physical evidence. All he had was the Word of God.
Now, turn to Genesis 22. This is what James refers to,
this event in Genesis chapter 22, and it came to pass, verse
one. After these things, that God did tempt, test, try Abraham. And said to him, Abraham? And
he said, behold, here I am. Now every time God called Abraham's
name, something difficult was getting
ready to happen. And I'm sure when he heard his
name called, he kind of winced. Here I am. And he said, take now thy son,
thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the
land of Moriah and offer him up there for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. Now God
had promised the Messiah is coming through this boy. In this boy,
Isaac, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. The only
hope anybody has of being saved is because of this one. Now,
after God made this promise, he said, take him and kill him.
Offer him up as a burnt offering to me on a mountain that I'm
gonna show you of. Now, every one of us have thought
Could I do that if God told me to take one of my children that
I love and slit their throats, put them on an altar, and burn
them? Could I do that? If God told you to, you could. If he told you to. You see, when
he tells you to do something, he gives you the grace to do
it. But here's the point. Abraham believed that God would
raise this boy from the dead. He really believed that. God's
true. He cannot lie. He cannot lie. He said, the earth will be blessed
through this boy. So if I do kill him, God will
raise him from the dead. And he believed that even then,
because look in verse five, Abraham said unto the young men, abide
ye here with the ass. I and the lad will go yonder and worship.
and come again to you. I'm gonna kill him, and God's
gonna raise him from the dead, and we're gonna come back to
you. And Hebrews 11 says that he accounted that God was able
to raise him from the dead. Now here's the fact of the matter.
Abraham knew, I'm gonna kill this boy in obedience to God,
and God's gonna raise him from the dead. What if he would have
said, if I kill him, God's promise won't come to pass. If I kill
him, that'll mess up everything. I know God said that the Messiah
would come through this boy. But if I kill him, it's not going
to happen. God's promise is not going to
take place unless I do my part to keep it going. I need to preserve
this boy's life. I can't do this. You know what
that would have meant? He didn't believe God. He did not believe God. He thought God's promise, there's
some scenario in which God's promise would not take place. And he had to do his part to
keep it going. If I don't kill him, then the
Messiah will be able to come through him. Now that's called
salvation by works. God's purpose. won't be done
unless I do my part. If Abraham would have said that,
I can't kill him. God's purpose won't be done.
I've got to preserve his life. All he would prove by that is
he did not believe what God says must come to pass. That's it. So what proved he really believed
what God said must come to pass? When he was ready to kill his
son knowing that God would raise him from the dead because God's
purpose must come to pass. What were the works that proved
Abraham really believed God when he lifted up the knife to slay
his son? And you know the rest of the
story where the Lord said, don't touch the land. And there was
a substitute ram for him. Such a beautiful story, but his
works proved the reality of his faith. Verse 23, or verse 22,
seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works
was his faith made perfect. His faith would have been alone
and proved that he didn't really believe that if he wouldn't have
done that. Verse 23, and the scripture was fulfilled, would
saith Abraham, believe God. That's faith. Just believe in
God. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. He's called the friend of God. Do you know if
you believe God, God counts you his friend right now. The God
of glory counts you his friend. Isn't that amazing? That's true
of every believer. Friends. of God. And this is what God would say.
This is not just me name-dropping. I'm God's friend. This is God
saying, He's my friend. Verse 24, you see then how that
by works a man is justified and not by faith only. You see, faith
only is never alone. Let me give you an example right
off the bat. The moment you believe, you have
the Beatitudes. That faith that's alone is poor,
mourns over its sin, is meek before God, hungers and thirsts
after righteousness, is merciful, pure in heart, the heart he gives,
a peacemaker, persecuted for righteousness' sake, his righteousness'
sake. Faith alone is never alone. It always has the beatitudes.
It always has the fruit of the spirit. Faith alone is never
alone. Now he gives us another example.
Verse 25, likewise also was Rahab the harlot justified by works
when she had received the messengers and sent them out another way.
Turn with me to the book of Joshua, right after Deuteronomy, Joshua
chapter 2. Now, these two spies from Israel
had come under her roof. Remember, they were checking
out Jericho. They were going to see what the
weaknesses were and how they could defeat it. God told them
to do this. Now, in verse 8, and before they were laid down,
that means she was going to cover them with flax up on her roof
to protect them from the men of Jericho. She came unto them
upon the roof, and she said unto the men, I know that the Lord has given you the
land. There's no way we can defeat
you. I know that. The Lord has given you the land. We're toast. We don't have a
chance. I know. She believed the Lord, didn't
she? She believed his power. His ability. I know the Lord
has given you the land and that your terror is fall upon us,
and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of
you. We're scared to death, for we've heard how the Lord dried
up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt,
and what you did to the kings of the Amorites, and that were
on the other side of Jordan, Sihon, and Og, whom you 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, for the Lord your God
He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now therefore
I pray you swear unto me by the Lord since I've shown you kindness
that you'll also show kindness unto my father's house and give
me a true token. And you know the story of the
scarlet line that was put in her house when they came back.
That's the gospel right there. That's a gospel message. But
here's the point. She said, we know that you guys are gonna
win because the Lord is your God. I'm receiving you because I know
the outcome. What proves she really believed
what she said she did? Because she received those spies.
Her works proved she really believed what she said she believed. Likewise, verse 25, back to James,
likewise also was not Rahab the harlot? You know, that's interesting. Remember what she is. She's a
harlot. There's not a whole lot good you can say about a harlot,
is there? I mean, she was a harlot. Likewise, also, was Rahab the
harlot justified by works. when she'd received the messengers
and sent them another way. For as the body without the spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Now we're going
to close by looking at one other scripture. Turn to Revelation
chapter 14. Verse 13, and I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, write. I'll write this down. Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord. From henceforth, yea, saith
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their
works do follow them. Now this is true of every single
believer without exception. Their works do follow them. They don't come out front as
the cause of salvation. They don't walk along the side
as a ground of assurance. If you can look at, I must be
saved because I did this or I did that, you've missed Christ. If
you think I'm saved because I did this or I did that, you've missed
Christ. But the works follow them just like Abraham's works
followed him. That proved he really believed
what he said he believed. The harlot Rahab's works followed
her and proved she really did believe what she said she believed. Now, this is not teaching faith
and works. You gotta have faith and you
gotta have works. That's the double-minded man. It's only
faith alone. Not faith and, faith alone. But if you believe, there will
be evidence that you really believed what you said you did. And if
there's not, it's dead faith, being alone. Let's pray. Lord, I ask in Christ's name,
that you would bless this message. Deliver us from this dead faith. Give us that glorious faith alone,
in thy son alone, that's never alone. Lord, we will confuse
this and mangle it apart from your grace. We ask that you would
be our teacher for Christ's sake. In his name we pray, amen.