James chapter 2. And we left off last Wednesday
night, verse 14. And we'll read it again and make
a few comments. James 2, 14. What doth it profit? What doth it profit? Of what
use is it? My brethren, though a man say,
he says, that he hath faith, but he hath not works, can that,
can that kind of faith save him? In other words, the apostle is
saying, what is the profit? What is the use? For a man to
profess, to have faith, to know Christ and to be saved, what's
the use if his heart and life is not changed? If a man says he's in the vine
but he has no fruit, well, we know what happens to branches
that have no fruit. We read that not long ago. They're
cast into the fire and they're burned. What is the profit if a man says
he's in the family of God, but he doesn't love the children
of God? John the Apostle said, he that loveth not his brother
loveth not God. What is the profit for a man
to say he has received mercy if he shows no mercy? Look back
at verse 13. For he shall have judgment without
mercy that show no mercy. Mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Mercy is not afraid of judgment. So what profit is it? What is
the use for a man to say that he loves Christ, he knows Christ,
he's saved, but he doesn't have the works of Christ? He has religion
in word only. And there's much of that in this
day in which we live, religion and word only. And then he illustrates
it in verse 15 and 16. James illustrates what he's talking
about. Let's read the King James Version
here and then I'll paraphrase it, help us to see what he's
saying. If a brother or sister be naked,
destitute of daily necessities, food, clothing, shelter. And one of you say, this is the
word he's emphasizing now, if we say, words only, no deeds. And one of you say to him, depart
in peace, be ye warmed and filled. Notwithstanding you give them
not those things which are needful to the body, what does it profit?
What does it profit? What use is it? Suppose a brother
or sister, a member of the church family, that's who we're talking
about, is without proper clothing or food or shelter, and someone
says to him, this person who says he has faith but no works,
he says to him, well, goodbye. Now you depart in peace and take
care of yourself and keep well, keep warm, be well fed. I wish the best for you. God
bless you. Yet we do not actually supply
the things which he needs. What good have we done him? Will good words warm him? Will good words feed him? Will
kindness put a roof over his head? Of course not. And so a man is foolish to think
that words alone can profit a man in need, and a man is equally
foolish who thinks that words of religion can take the place
of the life of Christ. And especially if we're talking
about brethren, turn back to 1 Timothy. That's what he said,
if a brother or sister be naked or destitute, this is a family
member, And this man says to him, I wish the best for you,
and I want you to have the best. And goodbye, you know. Peace
be with you. Depart in peace. Yet he doesn't
furnish these things. Now listen to what 1 Timothy
5, 8 says. If any provide not for his own,
his own brother, his own sister, especially those of his own house.
And isn't this God's house? And isn't this in faith the family
of God? But if a man doesn't provide
for his own, especially those of his own family, he's denied
the faith, he's worse than an infidel. And then in verse 17, he comes
with this conclusion, even so. As words won't clothe the naked,
feed the hungry, and shelter people, words won't save either. Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. In other words, a faith that
does not have fruit, a faith that does not have works, a faith
that does not have obedience and kindness to back it up, is
not the faith of God's elect. It's dead faith. Now listen to
these four things, and you might want to write this down. I have
it scheduled for the bulletin in a few weeks, but this is things
that I've gleaned from other writers on this subject. Faith, if it doesn't have works
of faith and labor of love and acts of kindness and fruit of
the Spirit, it's dead. It's dead. That kind of faith
won't save. Now here, listen to these four
things. Works without faith are useless. Our Lord said that to
the people in Matthew 7. He said, they said, well, we
did many wonderful works in your name. I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity
so works without faith are useless and Faith without works is useless
You can't have faith without obedience Can't have obedience
without faith That's the first thing faith works without faith
is useless Christ called it works of iniquity Even so, faith without
works is just as dead. Now here's the second thing.
Good works are not the cause of faith. Faith is not born of works. Faith
is a gift of God. Good works are not the cause
of faith. Good works are the results of
faith. Works of faith, born of faith. begotten of faith, the product
of faith. So good works are not the cause
of faith. I don't care how hard a man works,
he'll never, he'll never produce faith. Faith's the gift of God.
Not of works, lest any man should boast, but works are the results
of faith. Oh, here's the third thing. Now man may have some good works
without faith. That's right. I give my body
to be burned. I give my goods to feed the poor.
I speak in tongues more than you all. I have faith so I can
remove mountains. Works, works, works, works. And
have not Christ, it profiteth me nothing. So a man may have
good works, he did have these works, without faith in Christ. But now listen, a man cannot
have faith in Christ without good works. You see what the
author is saying? A man may have, you said there's
plenty of people do good, they do good, I know they do. He can
have good works without faith. But you can't have faith without
good works. There are a lot of honest men who are not saved.
But there's no saved man who's not honest. That's what he's
saying. There are a lot of men who are
good neighbors that aren't saved. But if a man's saved, he is a
good neighbor. There are no saved people who
are not good neighbors. There are good neighbors. They're
kind. hospitable and honest, if they
say. And here's the fourth thing.
Good works are not infallible proof of the presence of faith. That's what we've just been saying.
Good works are not infallible proof of the presence of faith.
But I tell you this, the absence of good works is proof of the
absence of faith. Good works are not the infallible
proof of faith. Like I said, a man may have works
and not have faith. But the absence of good works,
this is what James is saying here, if there are no works of
righteousness, there's no faith. Now that's certain and sure.
So no doubt, verse 17, faith, if it hath not works, Godliness,
and honesty, and truth, and kindness, and gentleness, and meekness,
and these things that love. If my faith is in word only,
a religion of words only, it's dead. It's dead. Being alone by itself. Alright, verse 18. Here's a powerful
challenge. A powerful challenge. Now watch
this, verse 18. Yea, a man may say, now he's
talking, who's speaking here? This is a true believer who's
speaking. And this true believer is speaking to a man that we've
been talking about. Back yonder in that other verse,
a man may say, I have faith and has not works. And this true
believer, he's talking to that man now. You know, I've often
said, I'll repeat it again, who's speaking? To whom is he speaking? What's the subject? And this
is a true believer speaking to a man we've been talking about
who says he has faith, but no works. No labor of love, no works
of righteousness, no works of faith. And this believer is talking
to that man. And the subject is faith without
works is dead. Alright, now watch what he says.
A man may say, now you have faith. You say you have faith. I have
works. Show me your faith without your
works. Let me see it. Show me your faith. I'll show you my faith by my
works. This is what he's saying. This
believer says to this man who religion is in word only, not
in deed, not in truth. He says to him, you say you have
faith? You, a man, say you have faith?
I'm not saying anything about my faith. You're the ones talking
about your faith. I'm not saying anything about
my faith. But it's evident that I worship Christ. I support His church. I help
His people. They're my family. I show mercy
to the needy. I help the weak. I help the widows. I prayed for the children. Now
this is the proof of my faith. This is the evidence of my faith.
Now, show me your faith. Let's see it. Let's see your faith. You say,
he's talking to this religious man whose words, words, words,
that's all he is, is words. He says, you say you have faith. I'm not saying anything. I'm
doing something. which are evidences and proof
that I have faith. Show me some evidence or some
proof that you believe God. I can't see your faith, you can't
see mine. Faith is an inward principle
that cannot be seen by men. Faith is a principle in the heart,
an inward hidden thing, which cannot be seen by any human being,
or known by any human being except one way. What does it produce? Now, God can see it. That's where, you know, when
Peter, when the Lord said, Do you love me? Peter didn't say,
Well, do you see what I've done? No. He didn't say that. When the Lord said, Peter, do
you love me? Peter said, you know all things. You know I love
you. John didn't know it. Matthew
didn't know it. But Christ knew it. And so this
man says he has faith. And that's all the claim he has,
what he says. But he has no evidence. He has
no proof. The believer. who worships Christ,
who reads His Word, who loves His Word, who loves His people,
who helps His people, who reaches down and lends a hand. He's showing
every day He's got faith. He's showing His faith. And you've
got to get a hold of what I'm saying here. You won't understand
anything that goes after this. You've got to understand what
James is talking about. He's saying that Love, and faith,
and kindness, and meekness, and gentleness, and long-suffering,
and patience, and humility, and kindness, and helping others,
and worshiping God, and walking with Christ is evidence of faith
in the eyes of people. God knows it before we open our
mouths, because He's the only one. Men do not know. They've got
to be shown. Faith is justified by works.
The soul is justified by faith. But faith is justified, we'll
see that as we go on. Now here's a strong statement
here, about what we took, verse 19. Thou believest that there's
one God, thou doest well the devils also believe and tremble. Faith without works is the faith
of devils. That's strong, isn't it? This
man who says he has faith but has no kindness and love and
grace, he's got the faith of a devil. He believes there's
one God, so does the devil. He believes Jesus Christ is the
Messiah, so does the devil. He believes that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, so does the devil. Let me read you three
awesome passages of scripture. Matthew 8, 29. The demons cried
out, speaking to Christ, What have we to do with thee, Jesus,
thou Son of God? Have you come to torment us before
our time? That's devil's talking. They believe in the Most High
God, they believe Jesus is the Son of the Most High God, and
they believe Jesus came to bring judgment on them. Listen to Mark
5, verse 7. What have we to do with thee,
Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by God, that
thou torment me not. This is the devil talking. That's Mark 5, 7. Luke 4, 34. These are demons talking. People possessed of demons. And
they cried, leave us alone. Luke 4, 34. Leave us alone. What
have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come
to destroy us? I know thee, who thou art. The Holy One of God. And that's what James is saying
here. Those are words. See, the demons have historical
faith. Historical faith won't save you. You see, they acknowledge Christ.
as the Messiah, but true faith not only acknowledges Christ,
but believes Him. True faith not only acknowledges
Christ, but loves Him. True faith not only confesses
Christ, but trusts Him. True faith not only sees the
glory and return of Christ, but rejoices in Him, anticipates
Him, and longs to sing His praises when He comes. True faith doesn't just talk
about the way of grace, it walks in the way of grace. And so this faith, He says, show
me, you got anything to... I can't look on your heart. If
you got any... Have you got any evidence? Is
there any evidence about you anywhere that you really love
the Redeemer and love His people? Show mercy? You see, my friend, James says,
the kind of faith that is in word only is the kind of faith
that devils have. Now, you do well to believe in
one God, but it won't help you. He'll only condemn you. And then
verse 20, listen. He's addressing that man who
talks of faith without works. And he says, Wilt thou know,
O vain man, do you want proof? Wilt thou know? Will you learn? Do you want proof? Do you want
information that works? Good works? Will you know that
faith without works is dead? Would you know that? Would you
learn that? Would you learn that if there's
life in a natural man, that he moves and he breathes and he
walks? He must be alive, he's breathing.
He must be alive, he's walking. He must be alive, he's speaking.
He must be alive. He shook my hand. And those are evidences that
he's alive. Even so, the life of faith, works
naturally flow from it, like breath, and warmth and movement
flow from a natural life. If he's alive, he walks and talks
and breathes. And Abraham's example, he said,
you want to know, I'll teach you. Verse 21, was not Abraham
our father justified by works? When? He offered Isaac, his son,
upon the altar. Now remember the subject. We're
not discussing the justification of Abraham's soul before God.
We're talking about the proof of his faith. The evidence of
his faith. How his faith was shown and known
and acknowledged. Scripture says he believed God
and was counted righteous long before Isaac was ever born. Let
me show you that. Genesis 15, 6. Long before Isaac
was born, Abraham believed God and was pronounced saved. Pronounced righteous. Genesis
15, 6. Listen. This is back before Isaac
was ever born. And God brought him out there
and showed him. Let's read verse 5. He brought him forth abroad
and said, Look now toward heaven. Tell the stars, if thou art able
to number them. And he said to him, So shall
thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord and
counted it to him for righteousness. This man is counted in the sight
of God righteous. And what he did in leaving his
country, God told him to leave his country. He proved he believed
God. What he did in caring for Lot
and giving him the best land proved he believed God, that
God would take care of him. What he did in turning down the
fabulous wealth of Sodom, fabulous wealth, those kings were going
to give him everything they had, and he said, no, I won't even
take a shoestring. I've lifted my hand to God, and
He'll supply every need." That didn't produce faith. That was
born of faith. He showed he believed God. When
he took Isaac to the mountain to sacrifice him, that's not
when he believed God. He believed God, therefore Isaac
was born. When he took him up to that mountain
and would have sacrificed him, he showed he believed God. He proved he believed God. And
that's what he's saying here. Verse 22. Seest thou, do you
understand that, how faith wrought with his works? And by works
was faith made perfect. You can't separate faith and
conduct. Faith always produces response. If there's no response, there's
no faith. But the response is born of the faith. The faith
is God-given. The faith is first. The faith
is there. The response is always there if faith is there. That's
the proof that faith is there. If there's no response, there's
no faith. For example, everybody, without exception, who believed
God, put the blood on the door. That was the response. They weren't
saved by that animal blood. Nobody in the furthest reach
of imagination can imagine that that animal blood kept the wrath
of God off that home. Animal blood? Smear a sheep blood
up there and keep God's wrath? That's foolishness to think it.
Faith in God. And the Christ too would come.
The Lamb of God would shed His blood. And without exception,
everybody who believed responded. And that's what he's saying here
about Abraham. Abraham's faith was justified
by his works. His faith was proved by his works. His works are evidence that he
has faith. When they walked up and put the
blood on the door, it told the whole world, we believe God.
When Abraham took that boy and strapped him to that altar, he's
saying to the whole world, I believe God will raise him from the dead.
I cannot kill him. He didn't believe Isaac was going
to die. He told the men at the bottom of the mountain, the boy
and I are going to worship God and we'll both be back. That's
what he said. We wait for us. We're coming
back. God knew that. God pronounced
him righteous, clear back under the stars. And all of this was
just trials and trials and trials and trials. And the old man met
every trial. Obey God. And thereby proving
that he believed God. That's what this is all about.
That's what it's all about. By seeing how faith wrought with
his works, if he hadn't had the works, the faith wouldn't have
been there. It's always response to true faith. And by works,
faith was made complete. By words, faith is genuine, faith
is effectual, faith is complete. Do you see? Of course you do. And I do too. And the Scripture
was fulfilled which said, Abraham believed God. And it was imputed
to him for righteousness. And he was called a friend of
God. That's the salvation of his soul, right there. That's
the salvation of his soul. He believed God. It was counted
for righteousness. before he was circumcised, before
Isaac was born, before he left home. That's the reason he left
home, because he believed God. He never took a step until he
believed God. And when he believed God, all
the steps followed. But faith, that's what he was
saved. That's why he was justified. But the next verse, and you see
then how that by works a man is justified, a man's mouth is
justified. His claims are justified. His
profession is justified. His talk is justified. Not his soul, but his profession,
his faith. It's justified. It's deemed true. And not by just
words, not by faith only. That won't get it. Likewise,
I want you to see this before we'll close the next two, but
likewise also, was not Rahab the harlot justified by works?
When she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
This is beautiful. Let's read this together. Let's
turn over there to Joshua 2. Rahab. Her faith. How do we know Rahab believed
God? Well, she obeyed God. Listen to it right here. In Joshua
2 verse 9, she said to the man who spies,
I know that the Lord had given you the land and that your terror
has fallen upon us and all the inhabitants of the land faint,
melt because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried
up the water of the Red Sea for you. That's 40 years ago. that
she heard that. And what you did unto the two
kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan,
Shihon 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 earth beneath. That's before
she ever threw a rag out the window. That's before she ever
had a promise that she was going to be preserved in her family.
That's before she knew anything about what God was going to do
for her. She said, I believe your God is the God of heaven
and earth. And then she asked, listen, now therefore I pray
you, swear unto me by the Lord since I've showed you kindness
that you'll also show kindness to my father's house and give
me a true token. And you'll save a life, my father,
my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver
our lives from death." And those men told her, said, well, when
we come, her house was right there on the wall, you know,
wall around Jericho, and her house had a window outside, a
way facing outside the wall, and a door on the inside. Her
house was in the wall. Because she put that red thread
out the window. And they told her, they said,
now when we come, you get in the house. Don't leave the house.
All your family in the house. In the wall. And put that red
scarlet line down the wall. And you'll be spared. Now don't
go outside. Stay inside. Stay under the blood. Under the
red thread. And that wall fell, but there
was one part of the wall that didn't fall. I know that. Don't
you know that was some monument standing there to the grace of
God? A monument to the grace of God. That wall was completely
obliterated all the way around, and here stood a house. One house
by faith. And that's what our text is saying.
And she, her faith, her belief in God was proven by the fact
she helped these men, protected them, defended them, and sent
them away, and trusted God, and put that red thread out the window.
Verse 26, For as the body without the spirit is dead, that's what
we said a while ago, even so faith without works is dead too. Where there's life in a body,
there's response. That's evidence there's life.
with his faith in the heart. There are all kinds of evidences.
A man doesn't do it to show his faith. He does it spontaneously. I don't stand around and go,
see, I'm alive. I'm breathing. I'm showing you
I'm breathing. No. I just move around a little
and you'll know it. It'll be natural. That's the
way it'll be. Just be natural. Our Father,
we thank You so much for Your Word. What comfort, encouragement,
and consolation is thy word, we believe and assure that thou
art the Christ, O Lord, the Son of the living God. Strengthen
our faith that we may win Christ and be found in Him, know Him,
attain the resurrection of the dead. Our faith may grow. It's stronger. Bless these words
to the hearts of our people and to all who will hear this message.
I pray for Christ's sake. Amen.