Let's turn now to the second
chapter of James. I'm so thankful for Brother Wembley. Already the blessings that he
has been to me and to this congregation. And I hope you'll avail yourselves
of these Bible studies tomorrow morning and tomorrow night. He's
an excellent student of the Word and an excellent teacher. in
the Word of God, and I hope many of you will come to these studies. The men will meet in my study
tomorrow night. They're having a get-together
over in the dining hall tomorrow evening, so we'll have the Bible
study over there or out here. Now let's read verse 14 again
and verse 17. What does it profit, my brethren,
Though a man say he hath faith and hath not works, can faith
save him? Verse 17, Even so faith, if it
hath not works, is dead, being alone. And then verse 24, You
see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith
only? I know one thing beyond a shadow
of a doubt. It was never James' intention
to contradict the gospel. I know that whatever James is
saying here, that it was never his intention to contradict what
Paul wrote in the book of Romans, because the Holy Spirit does
not say one thing in the book of Romans and another thing in
the book of James. The Holy Spirit does not say
one thing in one place in God's Word, Something opposite in another
place and we know that the scripture says he that believeth on the
Son of God hath life Before our Lord went back to glory He gathered
his disciples about him and he said go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel and preach it to every creature He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved he that believeth not
shall be damned We know that our Lord said, he that believeth
on the Son of God hath life, and he that believeth not the
Son of God shall never see life. And we know when the Philippian
jailer came and fell trembling before Paul in silence, that
Paul, and asked him, what must I do to be saved? Paul said nothing
about works or righteousness or merit. He simply said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So let that
be settled. James, whatever he's saying,
He's not saying that men are justified by works. Whatever he's saying, he's not
saying that men are justified by obedience to the law. Whatever
he's saying, he is not saying that a man is justified by keeping
the commandments. The Word of God does not teach
that. Job said, if I justify myself, my own mouth would condemn
me. Paul said we're not justified
by works. No man is justified by works
in the sight of God. It is evident that just shall
live by faith. That's all the way through the
work. Whatever James is saying, he is not saying that salvation
is by works. I know he's not implying for
a moment that there's any merit in our works. Let's stop and
think about this a moment. James is not implying that there's
any merit in our works. If we have any works, there's
no merit in them. First of all, listen to this.
Any duty and any work that I do is only what I ought to do. A man is not congratulated for
paying a bill that he owes, is he? A man is not praised when
he works for his employee and does what he's paid for. A man
is not praised and exalted for rendering to God what already
belongs to God, is he? So any work that we do or any
deed of righteousness is only what we ought to do. When I've
done everything God commands, I've only done what I ought to
do. I'm only paying what I legitimately owe. So there's no merit there,
there's nothing to brag about there, there's no reason for
me being praised and me feeling exalted when I do what I ought
to do, but I don't do what I ought to do. I fall far short of the
glory of God. And then think of this, any spiritual
grace or fruit which is evident in my life, suppose there is
some love evident, or suppose there is some some joy, or some
patience, or some faith evidence. Suppose there is some kindness. Well, Paul said, it's not I,
it's Christ that lives in me. It's not a product of my nature.
It's a product of His grace. It is the fruit of His Spirit.
I cannot take any credit or any praise for what He's put in me. If there's any love in me, it
was shed or brought in my heart by the Holy Spirit. It wasn't
a product of my nature. So James is not implying at all
that we are to receive some credit for what we do. Because when
we do everything God commands, we only do what's expected of
us. and what we legitimately owe
God. He has a right to everything. It's His. It's not ours, it's
His. And then think of this. If we
talk of acceptance with God on the basis of merit, if we speak
of acceptance or salvation on the basis of works, Paul said
that's ignorance of God. And Romans 10, he said, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. I bear them record. They have a zeal for God, but
not according to knowledge. For they are going about to establish
their own righteousness and have not submitted themselves to the
righteousness of God because they are what? Ignorant. They're
ignorant. And this is not only ignorance,
it's blasphemy. So when I read this scripture,
and I know that I read it a moment ago, I thought, now some folks
are going to say, well, that's contrary to what Paul's writing,
that's the opposite. A man is justified by works and
not by faith only? Can that faith save him? Well,
let's establish this to begin with, whatever James is saying,
we're going to try to find out what he is saying, but whatever
he's saying, he's not contradicting the Apostle Paul. He's not contradicting
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not contradicting the Scripture
from Genesis all the way to the book of Hebrews. Whatever he's
saying. Here's what he's teaching. Here's
what James is saying. James is saying that faith saves.
The just shall live by faith. But he's saying that this faith
that saves, this faith by which we're justified, is faith of
a certain kind. It's a certain kind of faith.
It's not just any faith that saves. It's faith of a certain
kind. Now that's what he says in verse
14. Let's look at it again. What does it profit, my brethren,
though a man say he hath faith, and hath not works? Can that
faith save him? Can that kind of faith save him? Can that kind of faith... Nearly
everybody talks about faith. Nearly everybody has some sort
of faith. But it's a certain kind of faith
that saves. It's not just any kind of faith
that saves. For example, no man is saved
because he believes some historical facts about God. I don't imagine you could find
many people in this town who do not believe there's one God.
Most of them do. Most people in this town believe
that, to some extent, the Bible is the Word of God. Most people
in this conservative town believe that God created the heavens
and the earth. Most people believe that there
is a heaven and that there is a hell. I have no doubt that
most people believe what we call those orthodox and fundamental
truths. But this is the very thing that
James says over here in verse 19. He says, you believe there's
one God? You believe there's one God?
The devil, the devils also believe and tremble. In other words,
the devils believe the facts of revelation. So a man is not
saved by a faith that only accepts historical facts. I can't remember
a time in my life, and I don't know whether this is true of
you or not, but I believe it might be, I don't remember a
time in my life when I did not believe the Bible was the Word
of God. I can't remember a time in my
life when I did not believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross.
I don't remember a time in my life from my youth, from the
time I was a little boy, that I had any doubts about the fact
there is a God. One God who rules heaven and
earth. I believe that. But I can't say
that I've always had saving faith. I've not always been saved. I've
not always been redeemed. I've not always been justified.
being orthodox as far as the historical events and facts are
concerned, and even being a fundamentalist, the blood, the book, the blessed
hope, all of these fundamental facts. Saving faith is not a
belief in facts, no matter how true these facts are. Now, the
Pharisees who crucified our Lord were orthodox religionists. They
believed in one God. They believed that in the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, they believed the
commandments. They believed the creation. They believed these
things. They believed all the historical, all the fundamental,
all the orthodox facts. Solitarsis. Think what a religionist
he was. Think how orthodox he was. Think
how exact he was in every feast day and holy day and in every
ceremony and every ritual, and think how exact he was in the
Old Testament Scriptures. He was a brilliant, he was a
brilliant student of the Scriptures. And yet he did not have saving
faith. So, that faith won't save, and
then take this faith. Now, you hold on to your You
pew there, men. I may shock you a little bit
here, but don't fly off the handle now until I finish what I'm going
to say. James says, can that kind of
faith save? Well, historical faith can't
save. And then I'm going to say this, and I want you to listen
to me now, don't leave me. No man is saved simply because
he believes Jesus Christ died for him. I beg your pardon. A whole lot
of folks believe that in this world who are not saved. Who
are not saved. Now listen to me, no man is saved
because he believes that Jesus Christ died for him. That may
or may not be true, as he understands it. There are preachers all over
this town who preach, now listen to me, and who believe sincerely
that Christ died for them, but they preach Aaron and he died
for everybody. So therefore he died for them. See, that's the
way they understand his death. They understand his death as
being a universal act, a universal offer. And so they believe since
he died for everybody, then he died for me, naturally. I'm somebody. I'm part of the everybodies.
And if he died for everybody, then he died for me. That kind
of faith won't save you. And then there are sovereign
gracers who believe He died for the elect. They're sure He died
for the elect. They're positive He died for
the elect. And they're just as positive, they're one of the
elect. So therefore, if He died for the elect, then He died for
me. Let me say something here. No man has a right to believe
that Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, died for him until he
has some evidence of that truth in casting himself on Christ,
trusting Christ, and experiencing the presence of Christ in his
heart in a living relationship. Then he can have some understanding
or faith in the fact that Christ died for him. Now this thing
of being saved, and I hope you'll listen to me because I feel like
this is a vital part of the message of the gospel. When I come When
I come to receive Christ, I don't receive Christ as my personal
Savior. I receive Christ and bow to Christ
as the King and Lord of the universe. The sovereign King, the Lord
of Lords and King of Kings. He may or may not be my Savior,
but He's still the Lord. You see what I'm saying? He may
or may not be my Savior. It may be that God will not show mercy
to me, but I'm still supposed to bow to Christ and submit to
Christ. The Scripture says, and this
is vital, the Scripture says every knee should bow and every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The thief on
the cross had no knowledge whatsoever of Christ as his personal Savior,
but he recognized and honored and submitted to Christ the Lord. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. When Saul of Tarsus was smitten
on the road to Damascus, he had no understanding of Jesus Christ
as his personal Savior. That sounds a little selfish
to me. That sounds just a little bit pride, like pride to me. But Saul of Tarsus said, Who
art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus of Nazareth,
whom thou persecutest. Lord, what will you have me do?
Lord, your Lord, whatever you do with me. So this is the beginning. Instead of trying to get your
friends to accept Jesus as their personal Savior, thereby doing
Him a favor, bring your friends to submit to the Lordship of
Christ. to the sovereign power of Christ,
to the royal, as Barnett said, the royal claims of King Jesus. Lord, do what you will with me,
but you're still the Lord. I hope you'll show mercy. The
hymn writer says, I'll to the gracious King approach, who sent
their mercy giver. He has mercy. He may give mercy. Who knows, the King of Nineveh
said, the King of Nineveh said, put on sackcloth and ashes, fall
down in repentance. Who knows? Maybe God will show
mercy. It may be that He'll show mercy.
He doesn't have to, but it may be that He'll show mercy. Out to the gracious King approach,
whose scepter mercy gives, perhaps He will admit my touch. Perhaps
He will receive my touch. And then the sinner lives. I
can but perish if I go. I am resolved to try. But if
I stay away, I know I shall forever die. But mercy is in the hands
of the King. Grace is in the hands of the
King. We come to the Lord for grace, but remember He said it's
a throne of grace. We come before the throne of
grace. Grace is enthroned. So I'm not
pressing people to accept Jesus as their personal Savior or to
bring themselves to believe that He died personally for them.
But I'm trying to bring people to see that they're sinners,
helpless, ill-deserving, hell-deserving, undeserving sinners, rebels,
traitors. And the gospel message for this
day is not that Christ came down here to cure our ills, and Christ
came down here to solve our problems, and Christ came down here to
make us happy. The gospel message is to rebels,
bow down! Lay down your arms! Surrender! Submit! Christ is King! That's the message. That's the
message the disciples preached. They started at the throne and
worked back to the cross. They started with the Lordship.
Peter said at Pentecost, Christ, God hath made this same Christ
whom you, this same Jesus whom you crucified, Lord. And they
said, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? He said,
you better repent. You better repent and be baptized. He didn't say, you better accept
Him as your personal Savior. He said, you better come down.
You better bow down. You better surrender. You better
repent and call on God for mercy. The faith that saves is not a
historical faith or a faith in a historical fact. The faith
that saves is not to be convinced that when Christ died on the
cross, He died for me personally. Let me tell you something. That's
a little hard for me to believe, Bob, after 30 years. Now I tell
you, that's just a little bit. He died for me. Him and God emptied
heaven of its most glorious jewel that God gave the son of his
bosom, of his love, and he came down here and suffered all of
these horrible persecutions and blasphemies and was spit upon
and nailed to a cross and died there for me? I know he died
for sinners and I know he died for somebody, but for me? Can
it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's name? Depths
of mercy, can there be mercy for me? Boy, you find me that fella that's
convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christ died for
him personally, and I'll show you a proud, cocky religionist
that may have missed the gospel. And that's a fact. You mean,
preacher, you want us to cast some doubts upon the death of
our Lord? No, sir. He died, and I know He died.
God said He died. And I know He died for sinners,
and I know He's going to accomplish God's purpose, and I know the
pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand, and I know He'll
bring many sons to glory. But me? That's what I'm talking
about. But me? Well, I'll tell you,
sink or swim, I'm going to go to Him. If He takes me to glory,
I'll praise Him. If He sends me to hell, He's
worthy of the praise for that too. If I made an object of His
grace for the glory of His grace, I'll praise Him. If I made an
object of His wrath for the glory of His justice, I'll praise Him
then too. I'll praise Him then too. And
I know the only way that a man will be saved is for Christ to
die for him, and Christ to give His blood as an atonement, and
Christ to intercede for him. But my friend, if you're here
tonight and you're an honest person, And you've had difficulty
bringing yourself to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered
and died for you personally. You're not in bad company. You
go back and read some of the old timers. And they didn't take
that position dogmatically. They cried for mercy. Lord, if
you will, you can make me whole. The faith that saves. This is
what James is saying. He's saying the faith that saves.
It's not just faith in a historical fact. It's not just faith in
the death of Christ for me personally. It's not just a faith in miracles. It's a faith that produces works. It's a faith that produces praise. It's a faith that produces love. It's a faith that changes the
heart. It's a faith that changes the
attitude, the life, the direction, and the conduct of a man. And a faith that does not change
the heart, and a faith that does not change the attitude, and
the life, and the direction, and the conduct of a man, James
says it's false faith, dead faith, and it will not save you. No
matter how orthodox, no matter how zealous, no matter how fundamental,
verse 20, wilt thou know, O man, O vain man, that faith that does
not produce works is dead. Compare these scriptures. Let's
look at them and turn with me to Romans 4. Romans chapter 4. And this is what I'm teaching,
and I'm teaching as strongly as I know how to teach it. Faith
is faith that saves. For by grace are you saved through
faith. That just shall live by faith. Thy faith hath saved thee. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
But this faith that saves is faith of a certain kind. Faith
of a certain kind. It's faith that has certain characteristics
and certain evidences. So that if a man is blessed with
this faith, he'll know it and some other folks will know it.
In Romans chapter 4, let's look at verse 2. Romans 4, 2. Now if Abraham were justified
by works, why, he hath whereof the glory, but not before God. For what saith the Scriptures,
Abraham believed God. It was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of death. but to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." Now this scripture teaches emphatically
that Abraham was not justified by works. That Abraham was justified
by faith alone. He believed God. It was counted
to him for righteousness. All right. What does that mean
over there then in verse 21 of James 2 that we read a moment
ago that says, was not Abraham our father justified by works?
when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar. Let's go
back and think about the story a minute. God told Abraham to
leave his father's house and go to a land He would show him,
and Abraham did just what God told him to do. He didn't know
where he was going, he believed God. He didn't know where, but
he believed God. And then God came to him and
told him he'd have a son. He was nearly a hundred years
old, and he believed God. He didn't know how, but he believed
God. And then God came to him when
that son was about 14 years old and told him to take his son
up on the mountain, Moriah, three days' journey, and kill him,
and put him on an altar and sacrifice him to God as a sin offering.
And Abraham, believe God, not knowing why, and he set out on
that three days' journey and went to that mountain. And he
took his son on top of the mountain and bound him and put him on
the altar and would have slew him, but God stopped him. Now
here's what Paul is saying. Paul is saying that Abraham's
soul was justified by faith. He believed God. The justification
of his soul. Before God, his soul was justified
by believing. By believing. Believing God. And James is saying, he's writing
of the justification of Abraham's faith. Abraham's soul was justified
by faith. That's what Paul's talking about.
But James is talking about that kind of faith that Abraham had. Paul said Abraham had faith,
and it was justified by it. His soul was. And James comes
along and shows you what kind of faith it was. It wasn't a
phony faith. It wasn't a lip service. It wasn't
just mouth service. Well, how do you know, James?
I know it because of what Abraham did. His works justified what His
mouth said. Abraham said, I believe God.
Well, there are a lot of folks saying, I believe God. Well,
Abraham said, I believe God can do everything He says. There
are a lot of folks that say that who don't have saving faith.
But we know Abraham had saving faith because he proved it by
acting on that faith. That's what James is saying.
Abraham believed God. His works prove it. Noah believed
God. God said, no, I'm going to destroy
the world. Well, how do we know Noah believed that? Noah believed
that. How do we know he believed? He built an ark. Rahab. James says, how do we know Rahab
really believed God? Rahab said she believed God.
How do we know she believed God? Her work show it. How do we know
that Daniel believed God? His work show it. That's what
James is saying. It's grace that saves, but it's
grace applied. and grace active. It's faith
that saves, but it's faith that is obedient faith and loving
faith. It is Christ that saves, but
it's Christ trusted and Christ enthroned and Christ living within. And that's what James is saying.
James is saying that a faith that's all mouth and a faith
that's all lip service and a faith that's all just claims is not
saving faith. But saving faith is that faith
that produces the fruit of the Spirit and the works of righteousness. All right, what kind of works?
Look at verse 14 again. What does it profit, my brethren,
though a man say... You see, this is the key here.
We say we have faith. It doesn't say the man has faith.
It says he says he has faith. But if he has a faith, it does
not produce works. That kind of faith cannot save
you. That's what he's saying, that
kind cannot. And then down here in verse 18, he says, a man may
say, thou hast faith, I have works, show me your faith without
your works. How could Abraham show that he
believed God? Only one way, and that's by his
works. How could Rahab show that she
believed God? Only one way, by works. You show
me your faith without your works, it can't be done. I'll show you
my faith by my works." Look at verse 20 again, "...wilt thou
know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead." Alright,
what kind of works? What kind of works are necessary
to prove that our faith is saving faith? Let me give you about
four or five. And these are the... The sources
of other graces. What I'm going to give you now
is the foundation grace of other graces. First of all, this is
a necessary work if a man really has saving faith. You know what
it is? It's repentance. It's repentance. The Scripture
says, except you repent, you'll perish. Except you repent, you'll
perish. Now listen to me. It is wrong,
totally wrong, to tell a man that he must repent before he
can believe on Christ. That's wrong. It's wrong to tell
a man he must repent before he can trust Christ. But it's equally
wrong to tell a man he can trust Christ without repenting. He
can't do it. He can't do it. You see, faith
and repentance are born together. There's no such thing as an impenitent
believer. It can't be. It just can't be. So I don't go up to a man and
say, now in order to be saved, in order to trust Christ, you've
got to repent. But I equally wouldn't say to a man, you believe
on Christ, it doesn't matter whether you repent or not. That's
impossible. There's no impenitent believer.
He who loves sin and excuses sin and who speaks lightly of
sin, as if sin were a trifle, a man who does not grieve over
his sin, who has not experienced a godless sorrow for his sin,
who does not seek to walk in righteousness, may have a faith,
but it's not the faith of God's elect. Because God's elect hates
sin. They hate sin in others, but
they hate sin more in themselves. They grieve over sin. They weep
over sin. You see, turn to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55. And let me show you something
here about repentance. Isaiah 55. Somebody said repentance
is a change. It certainly is. Oh, what a change. Somebody said, Repentless is
a turning. Yes it is, but oh, what a turning. Isaiah 55 verse
6, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him
while he's near. Let the wicked forsake his way. Now that's a change of manners,
isn't it? My way, I forsake my way. Well, whose way do I latch on
to? God's way. I turn from my way to His way.
That's a change of manners. Let the unrighteous man forsake
his thoughts. That's a change of mind. I changed
my mind about something. I changed my mind about my rights.
I changed my mind about my righteousness. I changed my mind about my merit.
I changed my mind about the things of this world. I changed my mind
about Christ, who he is, what he did. I changed my mind about
God's right to reign. I changed my mind about a lot
of things. That's repentance. And let him return unto the Lord.
That's a change of masters. So repentance is a change. It's
a change of manners, my ways. It's a change of mind, my thoughts. It's a change of masters. Let
him return to the Lord and God will have mercy on him. Now that's
the first fruit of faith. John the Baptist said, bring
forth fruits, meat for repentance, evidence of repentance. So this
faith that James is talking about here, and I hope you understand
what I'm saying, Paul the apostle is talking about the justification
of the soul before God only by faith, only through Christ, only
by his blood, works with totally passive, totally inactive As
far as any works are concerned, I'm reconciled to God by the
death of His Son. I lay hold on Christ by faith. Whether I never lift my hand
or heart or voice or anything else, I'm justified before God
by faith. But now, I say, well, I've got
faith. I do believe. How do I justify
that claim? How do I prove both to myself
and to you? that my faith is real and genuine.
That's just one way, John. And that's my works. That's just
one way. And the first work is the work
of repentance. And then secondly is love. In 1 Corinthians 16, and some
fellow told Brother Jay not long ago he's sick and tired of hearing
about all this love all the time. Want to hear what he said? Oh,
bless his heart, he needs to hear two or three more sermons
on it. He sure does. Whatever I'm sick and tired of
hearing, I need a good dose of it every day. 1 Corinthians 16
verse 22, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him
be anathema, maranatha, what does that mean? Let him be accursed,
the Lord's gonna come. Let him be accursed if he doesn't
love Christ. Boy, I tell you, if I love Christ,
I love His will. The love of Christ constraineth
me. If I love Christ, I love His Word. Thy Word is a light
unto my feet and a lamp unto my path. If I love Christ, I
love all things pertaining to Him. Peter said that faith will
be precious, those promises will be precious, that blood will
be precious, and those trials will be precious. Everything
pertaining to Christ is precious. That's love for Christ. And a
faith that does not produce love for Christ is not saving faith.
You can talk about being orthodox, you can talk about believing
he came to the earth and died and was buried and rose again,
but if I don't love him, if I don't love him, and I mean love him
more than I love my mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife,
or my own life, let him be accursed when our Lord comes. Christ will
not be He'll not play second fiddle in anybody's orchestra.
He's going to be Lord of all and not Lord at all. I mean love
for Christ. Love Him more than the comforts
of home. Love Him more than the security of your country. Love
Him more than the material things of this world. Love Him more
in health or happiness. Love Christ supreme. Love Him
with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. You say, I can't
do it. You can shoot at it. You can shoot at it. And I'll tell you another love,
turn to 1 John 4, and that's love for one another. This is
what Jay preached on down at Bobby's place the other night. In the formation of that church
down there, and he couldn't have picked a better, let everything
be done in love. In 1 John 4, verse 7, it says,
Beloved, let us love one another. Love is of God, and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God, and he that loveth
not knoweth not God. That's just plain, isn't it?
Verse 20, if a man say, I love God and hates his brother, he's
a liar. That's awful plain. Let me give you an illustration. In 1 John 3, 10, let's look at
that scripture. In this, the children of God
are manifest. This is evidence. This is how
you know that a man is a child of God. Whosoever doeth not righteousness
is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. evidence. Say there's a tree out here in
my yard. I've got an apple tree and a
pear tree, a couple apple trees and a pear tree. Now, suppose
the spring, when all this snow goes away and springtime comes
and my wine's out, apple tree out there, I stand out there
one day and I look at it, it's got no leaves on it. And weeks
pass, still no leaves on it. Weeks pass, still no leaves on
it. No fruit, no leaves, no nothing. What are you going to say? Well,
I might I might hesitate and not want to cut it down, but
you'll come to see me, Cecil will come over there and say,
Cecil, what do you think about my tree? He says, dead. I said,
don't jump to any conclusions. He said, I'm not jumping to conclusions. The tree doesn't have any leaves
on it, it's dead. There's no use fighting it, no
use arguing about it, it's dead. The leaves, I say, well, if I
put some leaves on there, will it be alive? No, you say, the
leaves don't give it life. The leaves are the result of
life. The life comes from the root. And it's dead. And I say this to you. Life is from the root. But the
absence of leaves and fruit is proof that the tree's dead. And
the absence of the fruit of the spirit in a man's life is evidence
that he's dead. That's so. He's dead. He may have the form, just like
that apple tree has the limbs and he has the form and it looks
like a tree and all that. In the wintertime, you can't
tell the difference. But boy, I'll tell you, in his time, when
his fruit is produced, you can tell the difference. And if that
man does not have fruit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, patience,
gentleness, kindness, temperance, all these things, if that man's
life does not have to some degree, I don't say one tree has as many
leaves as another. I don't say one tree has as many
apples as another. I don't say one tree has as good
apples as the other. I don't say one tree has as big
apples as the other, but they all got leaves if they're living.
That's so. And that's what I'm saying, this
kind of faith. This faith that saves, James
says, is a faith that produces repentance, continual repentance. And it produces love, and that
love grows, and that love doesn't give life, it's the results of
life. The fruit of the Holy Spirit
does not give me the life of God, it's the results of the
life of God. And it's the evidence of the
life of God, and its absence is evidence that the love of
God is absent. The life of God is absent. All
right, here's the third word. And that's repentance, love,
worship. Worship. Now you notice I'm not
telling you how many chapters to read every night. And I'm
not telling you how many times to pray every day. I'm giving
you the basics. I'm not telling you how many
tears to weep. I'm not telling you how much
money to give to the preaching of the gospel. I'm not telling
you how many people to witness to. I'm giving you the fundamentals,
the basics of this life of faith. These other things will be produced
as God enables you. But I'm talking about worship,
and worship is divided in two parts, twofold. Private worship
and public worship. If a man has saving faith, he's
going to worship. If a man has saving faith, he's
going to repent. If a man has saving faith, he's
going to love. If a man has saving faith, he's
going to worship God. The first part of worship is
secret, private worship. God says, listen briefly, my
son, give me your heart. Keep your heart out of the issues
of life. Man looketh on the outward countenance,
God looks on the heart. These people worship me with
their lips, but their hearts are far from me. John Bunyan
said, you might as well say that a man is alive when he has no
breath, as to say that a man is spiritually alive when he
does not pray. For prayer is the breath of spiritual life.
If a man does not pray, he does not praise God, he does not read
God's Word, he does not walk in communion with God, he does
not think upon things which are righteous and holy, he has no
life in him. Private, personal, secret devotion. That's the first part of worship.
That's the first part. And that's something that preachers
can get folks to come to church by giving away green stamps and
having contests. They can get them to come to
church by having all kinds of special attractions and entertainments. But there's only one who can
cause a man to worship, and that's the Holy Spirit in the heart. And brother, let me tell you,
when you leave this place and you're out there at home and
on the job and in the car and on the street, sitting alone
in your room or in your study, and there's only one thing that'll
cause you to call on God, and that's saving faith. And if it's
there, you'll call on God. And if you don't call on God,
it's not there. That's what I'm saying. And that's
what James is saying. That's what he's teaching right
there. He's just simply saying that the faith that saves is
a faith that produces personal piety. I'm not talking about
a holier-than-thou attitude and a, I'm better than you and I'm
more righteous than you and I read my Bible more than you. I'm not,
that's hypocrisy. I'm talking about a genuine fellowship. John said our fellowship is with
him. And then the second part of worship
is public worship. And here are three words having
to do with public worship. There's identification. You say,
I have to go to church to worship. No, but I find most folks who
worship go to church. Well, I go out in the country
and worship. I notice most people going to the country to worship
have a boat on the back of their car, Jay, and some fishing rods
on top and some golf clubs in the back seat. That's most folks
that I see going to worship. That's the way they're going.
Or a shotgun over their shoulder. If a man loves God, he'll worship
God with God's people because he'll want to be identified with
the things of God. You know what I want to be on
this? I want to be identified with Christ. If Christ is being
attacked, I want Him to attack me. If His gospel is being questioned,
I want to be questioned. If my Lord David said, your enemies
are my enemies. I hate them that hate you. That's
what David said. Now is David saying that he has
a vengeance against men and a hatred for men? No, sir. He's saying
when men are shooting at God, he wants them to shoot at him
because he's God's son. Wouldn't it be something if Bob
and I were walking down the street one day and a fellow walked up
and said to me, I don't like what you believe. I don't believe
what you believe. Bob says, excuse me, I believe.
No, he'd roll up his sleeves and say, well, you better take
on me, too, because I believe what he believes. And I want
to be identified. If they're shooting at the Lord,
I want them to shoot at me. If they're shooting at a particular
addiction, I want them to make me their main target, because
I believe it. And I believe anybody here. I
used to have folks, we'd have Bible conferences here, Jay,
and some folks went to other churches in this town and they'd
show up for the Bible conference. They didn't come to hear me preach.
They'd come to hear some of the visiting speakers. because they
didn't want to be identified in Ashland, Kentucky with the
13th Street Baptist Church. They could come to that Bible
conference and hear some preaching and not be identified with the
shame of what we call sovereign grace. I wouldn't give you a
snap of my finger for that person's faith. Wherever the battle is
raging, that's where the true soldier wants to be. Wherever
the honor of Christ is questioned, wherever the people of God are
being You know that some people back in the days of the martyrs
came to the people and asked to be martyred? They were ashamed
to live. When their pastors and deacons
were taken out and burned at the stake, they were ashamed
to still be living. They came to the fellow and said,
I believe, burn me. They used to do that. Don't let
me live, put me in jail. I don't want to live out there
while my friends are suffering, put me in there with them. Folks
might think I don't believe. Folks may think I'm not one of
them. That's public worship. That's right. I'm telling you
the truth. I don't want anybody to believe me now, but I'm telling
you the truth. Christ said, if you confess me before men, I'll
confess you. How am I going to confess him
before men? Get with those that confess him. Be identified with
them. He said, be baptized. Come to
the Lord's table. Show forth my death. The Lord
and His disciples met together. They stayed together. They lived
together. They walked together. They worshipped
together. Identification is mighty important. Mighty important. I'll tell you
something else about public worship and that's edification, the preaching
of the Word. You need it and I need it. We
need it. We need these Bible studies.
That's the reason we're trying to have them again. We need these
Bible classes. We have Bible classes here on
Sunday morning. Some of you never come. You ought
to be ashamed of yourself. You don't know that much about
the Bible. You're not that smart. You need to be back there listening
to the Word taught. You certainly do. You're not
that smart. We need to desire the sincere milk of the Word
that we may grow. And the reason maybe some of
you are not growing, you're not availing yourself of the opportunity
to hear God's Word every time it's preached, every time it's
taught, every time it's read, you be there. That's right. And I'll tell you another word,
identification, edification, and exhortation. We need to exhort
one another. Oh, how we need to exhort one
another, he said, especially as the evil days are coming.
I'm telling you something, turn to Hebrews 10 in just a moment.
Hebrews 10. Now listen to this carefully.
We need to exhort one another. We need to talk about the things
of Christ. We need to encourage one another. In Hebrews chapter
10, he says, verse 24, let's consider one another to provoke
unto love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together as the manner of some is, but exhort one another. And
so much the more as you see the day approaching. What day are
we talking about? Well, let me tell you something. I'm 54. 20 years, I'll be 75. I just wonder how much interest
I'm going to have in studying when I get 75. What I better
do, John, I better study now, haven't I? That's what he's talking
about. The day of death is coming. The
day of getting senile and the day of getting indifferent and
the day of getting tired and the day of getting weary. It's
coming fast. And I'll tell you, like a lady
sat there in her living room, I went to visit in Charleston,
West Virginia. She's 80 years old. She's surrounded
with wells. She owns this huge apartment
building. And I didn't know that, and I
went to see her. I thought I was going to see a colored lady.
The letters I get from her, she talked like she was a black woman
in a in a little apartment in Charleston, very poor and just
scribbled, you know, and I got there and it was a mansion, you
know. She owns a whole kit and caboodle, 30-some odd apartments,
you know, and I went in there. She's tickled to see me. She
said, I watch you every Sunday. She said, you know my only regret?
She said, my only regret is I didn't see you when I was younger. She
said, I just can't grasp these things. See, she said, I didn't
start watching you just a few years ago. She said, I was in
a Methodist church, and I was so tired of what I wasn't hearing.
And she said, I was tired of what I was listening to, and
I just quit church. And I went home, turned on the
television. She said, there you were. But
she said, it's just I'm too old. I'm too old. Well, one of the
most encouraging signs is when people have a hunger
and a thirst for the Word of God. And the time to do it is
when the evil days come not, when you say, I have no pleasure
in these things. That's what he says in Ecclesiastes 12. Serve
the Lord in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not.
And you say, I have no pleasure in these things. You young people,
you need to really get interested in the Scriptures and reading
these books Bob's got back there. Finding out as much as you can
about the Lord. And then here's the fourth, and
I've got to quit. Before it works, there's repentance,
there's love, there's worship, and there's perseverance. Turn
to 1 John 2. Perseverance. This saving faith
is faith that repents, it's faith that loves, it's faith that worships,
and it's faith that keeps on. Keeps on. Perseveres. Oh, John said in 1 John 2, 19,
they went out from us, they left us, but they were not of us.
They didn't have saving faith. Why, John? Well, if they'd been
of us, they'd have had saving faith. They no doubt would have
continued with us. But it went out and it was made
manifest that they were not all of us. No doubt about it, he
says, we dare not contend for an eternal hope on the basis
of preservation only. but on the basis of perseverance
also. You see, preservation and perseverance,
like repentance and faith, cannot be separated. God says, I won't
leave them, but He says they won't leave me. He says we are
kept by the power of God through faith, not apart from faith,
but through faith. God keeps me, but I keep looking
to Him. God holds me, but I still hold
Him. And I know that the religion
of this world calls for what we call a once for all decision
to settle this matter of a man's eternal welfare. But I can't
find that in God's word. Rather than God's word, I find
folks departing from the faith, turning into apostates, going
back like the dog to its vomit. Turn to Hebrews 10 again. Here's
another scripture I want you to look at. And I find our Lord
teaching that saving faith continues. He says in Hebrews 10, 38, now
the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, oh,
there's a danger, is there? Yes, sir. Yes, sir, there is. I've seen a lot of them, haven't
you? If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in
him, but we're not of them who draw back unto perdition. but
of them that believe for the saving of the soul. Don't quit,
because if you do, it's an evidence that you never knew Christ, because
saving faith is persevering faith. Now this is what the whole message
of the book of James summed up and summarized in this one thing. He is talking about what kind
of faith saves, Charlie, that's what he's talking about. Paul's
not dealing with that. Paul's dealing with justification
of the soul before God, and that's by faith alone. And James is
coming along because there's a lot of people running around
saying, well, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe in Jesus.
And James says, I'm going to put a question mark on your faith
until I see some evidence of it, of works. And those works
are repentance, and it's a state continually. I have repented,
I am repenting, I will repent. I have believed, I am believing,
I will believe. And love. John says, you don't
love your brother, you don't love God. And it's worship, worship,
worship. And it's perseverance. Old Brother
Barnard had a way, a quaint way of saying things. A dear lady
came up to him and said to him, you think I'm saved? He said,
honey, you see me about 30 years and I can tell you better. If
you're still hanging around, there'd be good evidence that
you are. That's what is perseverance. Well, I believe saved people
can't be lost. No, saved people can. But the question is, am
I a saved person? I believe faith. I believe if
a man has faith that he'll be in heaven. I do, too, if he has
faith. Well, what kind of faith? Saving faith. Saving faith. And the question marks not on
his work, Question marks on me. Our Father in Heaven, teach us
and we'll be taught. Oh, deliver us from a mechanical
religion. Deliver us from simplifying the
great mysteries of the gospel. Deliver us, oh God, from making
a mold for you to fit people and things into. Give us a hunger
and thirst for a revelation of the Word of Thyself, of Thy glory,
of Thy Son, mysteries of redemption, I want so desperately to be taught
and to be able to teach. And we want so desperately as
a people to hear from Thee, not to have sermons and go through
our systematic theology and rehearse our creeds and catechisms, but
oh, to grow in grace and the knowledge
of the living God, or to feel the presence of the Lord God
in this place. For men and women around this
country to tune in and come out and get the taste because we're
saying something for the glory of God and for the good of their
souls. We pray it. We do earnestly beseech
thee. If you're willing to use these
vessels of clay, we offer them. We do offer them. We say, but
oh Lord, we're not sufficient. Through Christ we can do all
things. Though we're nothing, you've been pleased to use nothings
before. And we want to be used for thy
glory. For Christ's sake, amen.