Is Your Faith Real? | James 2:14-26 | Pastor John Miller

I'm sure you've all heard the phrase your actions or speak louder than words right you know it well it's been around a long time your actions speak louder than your words and really that's what our passage in the book of James today is all about the topic of our text is the central theme of the book of James if you were to pick out a section of James that basically was the central theme and purpose of the very book of James that would be chapter 2 verse 14 to 26 and the title is does your faith work or is your faith real is that genuine is it authentic you see it's very possible that you can be deceived in thinking that you are a Christian or that you are going to heaven and you're really not that's a false assurance and we don't want anyone to have a false assurance now it's possible also to have eternal life and to be a child of God but to lack assurance and we want you that are in that state to have assurance to know that we have eternal life Satan wants to steal our assurance and I believe the Bible teaches that we can know that we have eternal life and thus the be effective in living the Christian life but as in our day so it was in James's day there were some who claim to have faith in Jesus Christ yet their lives showed no evidence of that faith I've mentioned earlier in my studies and James the children's song if you're saved and you know it then your life will what surely show it if you're saved and you know it say amen amen but if you're saving you know what your life is going to show it and that's what James is actually saying in these verses James is saying examine yourselves to see if your faith is real and there are three questions that we need to ask based on this text three main points that are questions that we need to ask in order to determine is my faith real is it genuine here's question number one ask yourself is your faith just an empty claim is your faith just an empty claim in other words you are a professor but you're not a possessor you have the talk but you don't have the walk notice it with me verse 14 to verse 17 James says what does it profit my brother and though a man may say it notice that the key word in these few verses is the word say if a man say it's his talk that he has faith but he has not works can faith save him or can that kind of faith save him if a brother sister be naked and destitute of daily food verse 15 and one of you say there it is again unto them depart in peace be warmed and filled not what standing you give them those things which are needful for the body again what does it profit question mark even so faith if it has not works is dead being alone anyone can say I have faith I am a Christian but the question is do they have the works to back it up if not it's just an empty profession now empty profession can save no one you can't be saved just by saying these certain things I want you to notice in verse 14 that an empty profession cannot save you go back with me to verse 14 what does it profit my brother and no man say yes faith have not works can faith save him now I want you to notice in verse 14 the key words say matter of fact it appears in verse 14 it appears in verse 16 and it appears in verse 18 so they are professing but they are not possessing they say they have the talk but they don't have the walk and James is asking two rhetorical questions in verse 14 which demand negative answers I don't know if you noticed it but in verse 14 there were two question marks he starts with saying if he has faith and have not works can that face save him question mark so they basically saying no no no no you can't just say that you have faith if you don't have works to back it up your actions are speaking louder than your words I don't know if you've ever read the spiritual allegory by John Bunyan called pilgrims progress how many of you read pilgrims progress great great book you every Christian should read that and in that story it's an allegory of a man named Christian who's leaving the city of destruction and he's on his way to the celestial City so it's about pilgrim the Christian and his journeys on his way to heaven and he encounters different characters that depict different aspects of the Christian life well one of the characters he meets on his journey to the celestial city as a man he calls talkative and what he says about talkative is that his religion is only in his tongue I like that all he does is talk talk talk talk and all of his religion is in his tongue and it's not in the way that he lives so my question to you is does your walk measure up to your talk I'm a Christian I believe in Jesus oh yeah I follow Christ and is your life backing up what you say with your words I want you to notice secondly about this empty profession not only does it not save it doesn't serve it has no compassion it doesn't show mercy it doesn't help other people and so he gives us an illustration verses 15 and 16 are an illustration of the truth found in verse 14 he says if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food so you givemea meet a Christian a fellow Christian a brother or sister in the Lord and it says that they mean naked now King James has naked not best translation it means SCAD lead rest doesn't mean that or just start naked in their birthday suit but it means that they just have raggedy old shabby clothes on and it's cold and they need more to put on they maybe need some coats and they'd be destitute of daily food and here's the point says if one of you another brother or sisters say to them those that are naked and destitute you say to them depart in peace be warmed and filled but you don't give them those things which are needful for the body here's the question at the end of verse 16 what does it profit and you know what the answer is right absolutely nothing big deal so you leave here and you go to in and out for lunch and you're eating a double-double with extra onion and mustard add it with the spread which is the way i order my double-double try it it's awesome and you're eating and you look over and go I saw that person to revival today oh I think and and they're shivering in the cold and they don't have money to buy food and you go hey did you go to revival yeah I'm a Christian oh good to meet you and and you just detect that they're hungry they need some help but you go well god bless you a be filled and I'll see you in church next Sunday and you go away and you go you know what I think maybe I should have offered to buy them something to eat maybe I should have given them my coat maybe I should have helped them out you do you have a place to stay are you okay so basically James saying all of your profession means nothing if you don't back it up with words you don't do good things you don't show benevolence and care to other people remember Jesus said by this shall all men know that you're my disciples if you want if you love one another and what a better place to show love than practically rolling up your sleeves and helping other people in 1st John chapter 3 verse 17 and 18 John says this he said whosoever has this world's goods and sees his brother has need and shuts up his tender mercy and compassion from him how could you say the love of God dwells in him my little children let us love not in Word nor in tongue but in deed and in truth amen so James is saying your your profession is empty and then he says your profession is dead and this is a summary verse 17 even so faith if it has not works is dead being alone if it has not works is dead being alone now a couple of points in my teaching this morning I want to mention this a lot of people are confused with these verses because it seems to counter dict the teaching of Paul which is that we are saved by grace through faith that a man is justified by faith alone that we don't work to get to heaven that God saves us by His grace all we do is trust Jesus and we're forgiven that is indeed what Paul teaches that is indeed what the Bible teaches so how do i reconcile that with James when he says that we're not saved by our faith alone but also by works and many people confuse this and they'll use it to teach that we're saved by faith plus works when the Bible actually teaches were saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone let me let me reconcile it for you they're not fighting one another James and Paul are not against each other they're actually back-to-back fighting different enemies James is talking about justification before men the fruit of our salvation Paul is talking about justification before God the root of our salvation when Paul talks about justification by faith alone in Christ alone he's talking about our initial salvation how our sins are forgiven and God sees our hearts when James talks about justification it's more in the sense of vindication before men who can't see our hearts they can only see our lives someone said that faith is kind of like calories this one really convicted me this week an illustration that convicted pastor Miller you can't see calories but you can really see the effect on your body when you eat calories right you can't actually see a calorie but you can see what it does to you you can't really see your faith but you can see what it does to you how it changes your life so the idea is that Paul is teaching we're saved by faith alone but James is teaching that faith that saves is not alone it will manifest itself in works so this is the conclusion verse 17 as I've already read faith if it does not have works it is dead being alone so you have a dead faith let me ask you the second question from the text where we need to examine our lives ask yourself is your faith in just a kree so number one is my faith just a confession is it just words ask yourself the second question is my faith in a Creed in a doctrine in belief but it's really not in a person Jesus Christ this is in verse 18 to 20 look at it with me in the text he says yea man may say again the key words say thou has faith and I have worked show me thy faith without thy works now you can't do that you can't show somebody your faith without your works faith can only be seen as evidence in our works then he says I will show you my faith by my works and that's how it's done now believe us verse 19 that there is one God thou doest well but the demons they also believe that and they tremble now faith is more than believing a Creed and he as actually in verse eighteen an imaginary objector this objector says when we hear it all the time well I have faith I believe I'm a Christian but you can't back it up with your work with your work your life so James says I'll show you my faith by the way that I live by my works and by the way when Paul uses the word works he's talking about works of the law keeping the commandments to be saved we can't do that when James uses the word works he's talking about philanthropy and compassion and love and action and helping people in time of need a life that reaches out to others that's the mark of the believer so basically he's saying here look your faith can't be just something you say it has to be something that you do Jesus saw the faith of the for man who was a friend of the paralytic and they put him on a mat and they went up on top of the house and they tore the roof off another story and they lowered their friend down on the mat right in front of Jesus he's in a home teaching they ripped the roof off and they lowered this friend down and Jesus Bible says saw their faith don't you love that what did he see he saw them in action they had so much faith that they ripped the roof off they put a hole in there I don't know whose house it was by the way some people think it might have been Peters easing I yeah yeah yeah yeah they're gonna pay for that roof Tara big hole lower their friend down and Jesus saw their faith and here's my question to you this morning can anyone see your faith can anyone see your faith not just hear what you say but can they see it in the way that you live so is your faith just in a Creed and here's the point in verse 19 thou believest that there's one God now that's Orthodox that's accurate the Bible teaches there's only one God there's not a multitude of gods Bible doesn't teach polytheism or pantheism it teaches monotheism one God taken from Deuteronomy six six hear o Israel the Lord your God is one Lord we as Christians are monotheistic we believe in one God and so that's Orthodox belief you have right belief he says thou do us well but then he points up the devil's also believe and they tremble so not only do you have a dead faith but if your faith is in a Creed you have a demonic faith now this is something that can freak people out they don't really realize it but that you can have all your ducks in a row doctrinally you can have everything correct intellectually and you're gonna set to that truth I believe in one God I believe in Jesus I believe you died I believe you rose I believe the Bible's the Word of God I believe all those things but not be saved you can be this close to salvation and still not saved and that close doesn't mean you're saved there's not degrees of salvation did you know that there's no degrees of salvation it's like death you're either dead or alive you're not kind of semi dead so you're either alive spiritually or you're dead spiritually Jesus said you must be born again so he points out that believing correctly is demonic if it doesn't change your life do you know demons believe in one God you know believe they they actually believe that there's only one true and living God they know the truth they know more about God than we do and they tremble it's interesting that they believe that's the mind that they believe in one god that's truth and they tremble that's emotion so you can have the right thoughts and the right belief and you can tremble but not be truly saved I remember before I surrendered to the Lord I was in high school and that whenever I would encounter a Christian someone would witness to me I would come under such heavy conviction sometimes I'd even start to cry and I would just come under heavy heavy conviction but I was running and resisting and fighting against God and I knew Jesus was the Savior I knew the Bible was the Word of God I knew Christianity was true but I hadn't committed my life to it and you can come to church every Sunday and believe everything the preacher says and die and go to hell if you haven't trusted Jesus Christ you can even say Amen when the preacher is preaching and go to hell when you die because you haven't trusted Jesus Christ so it's not enough just to believe with your mind and some facts or a kree it's not enough to just feel it with your emotions to cry and you get sentimental and emotional you must trust with your life that's what it means to be a Christian have you trusted Christ alone Christianity is not a Creed Christianity is Christ Christianity isn't just believing certain things it's trusting a person Jesus Christ and a lot of people get those confused they think well yeah okay I got to be indoctrinated and believe what Christians believe and and that's wonderful but if it doesn't change the way you live you know we exercise faith all the time in a week or so we're getting on an airplane and the hundred of us are gonna go to Israel for a couple of weeks and we're gonna land until it be even but you have to get in the plane to go to Israel you can stand on the tarmac and look at the plane and go I believe I believe that plane can fly me to Israel but unless you get in the plane you're not going anywhere right you can I believe in Jesus I believe he died I believe he rose from the dead but have you trusted him have you put your faith in him jesus said I'm the way I am the truth and I am the what and then What did he say no one comes to the Father except how by me you know Jesus isn't a stairway to heaven he's an escalator I like that don't you thank God for escalators I thank God for those moving runway those moving kind of sidewalks in the in the airport you just tell who you go you know my wife's really into exercise and she wants so goes the stairs and this is like okay I'll pray for you while I go up the escalator she's walking and I kind of wave as I go by but Christianity isn't a stairs that you have to work your way up you just step on Christ and it takes you there so I say oh you Christians Christianity is the crutch no it's a stretcher amen but it gets you where you're going jesus takes you but you must put yourself in Christ you must trust him you must put your faith in Jesus Christ demons have right doctrine but they're not saved they're not going to heaven now here's the third and last question first question is a just an empty claim second question is it a Creed or is it Christ and then here's the third question does your faith produce a committed obedient life so the question is is your life changed is there fruit or evidence of salvation James now gives us two examples of real faith not a dead faith not a demonic faith but real faith and he uses two examples from the Old Testament one is a patriarch Abraham and the other is a prostitute her name is Rahab let's read at verse 21 wasn't Abraham justified when he offered his son Isaac upon an altar see us now how faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect or complete and the scripture was fulfilled which said abraham believed god and it that is his faith or belief was imputed or reckoned unto him for righteousness now he was also called a friend of God you see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only and likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she 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 now what a contrast between the patriarch Abraham and the prostitute Rahab one was a Jew the other was a Gentile one was a man the other woman one was a friend of God the other belonged to the enemies of God but what they had in common was a faith and a belief and a trust in God that resulted in their salvation and a changed life now why would James use these two extremes the very religious Hebrew Jewish man Abraham and the very very wicked ungodly woman Rahab the harlot by the way she was a prostitute she wasn't just an innkeeper she was a prostitute Bible makes it very clear and I believe the extremes are because most people lie in the middle some were there not as good as Abraham they're not as bad as Rahab although I've seen people that are really wicked and sinful get saved and God transforms and changes their lives maybe you are on one of those extremes but it's basically saying that god saves even religious people and wicked so-called people and everyone in between likewise must trust God in order to be saved now let's look first of all at Abraham go back with me for a moment and notice Abraham's faith that's demonstrated in verse 21 when he offered up Isaac upon the altar so was not our father Abraham justified or vindicated before men by his works when he had offered Isaac a son upon the altar now when did that happen it happened in Genesis 22 so back in the 22nd chapter of the book of Genesis God came to Abraham and said offer thy son upon an altar on the mountain that I will show thee of now you can imagine how difficult that must have been for Abraham but faith obeys God in spite of the consequences and Abraham believed that God would raise him from the dead if God allowed him to plunge the knife into his only son by the way I believe the same mountain that Abraham offered Isaac on was the same mountain that god the father offered God the Son to die upon the same Mount Moriah was Calvary where Jesus died for the sins of the world and so he woke up the next morning can you imagine you've got one son God says offer him on a mountain that God knew all the time that he wasn't going to ask Abraham to plunge the knife he was going to stop him but he was testing Abraham's faith to see if Abraham really loved him it could be that Abraham was starting to switch his love and affection to his son and away from God and God wanted to win his love and make sure that he loved God supremely can you imagine how easy it would have been to resist that or to fight against that next morning early he got up saddled the donkey and took off I would have slept in that day I would argue with God I would have resisted God but if you really are a Christian it's going to result in obedience in faith you really want God's will you'll follow God's will no matter what it cost no matter how difficult it might be and the blessings will come so the manifestation of his faith took place in Genesis 22 and it's important for you to note that as far as the timeline is concerned now again even though Paul says Abraham is an example of salvation by faith he says here that it was manifested among men when he offered Isaac upon the altar it also was not only the demonstration of his faith but the vindication of his faith in verse 22 and 23 notice his faith was made perfect verse 22 seeing then how the faith wrought with his works referenced to Genesis 2 to the offering of Isaac and by faith mabye Works excuse me was faith made what perfect meaning complete so the trials and testings of life mature our faith it was perfected you know the evidence of a fruit tree being what it's supposed to be is the fruit when it's born on that tree we have an orange tree I'm thinking of this little orange tree it's only about this tall and it's been that tall for six years as you can tell we don't know how to grow orange trees and we're about ready to tear it out of the ground but it's been it's been about this high for six years and it's never had any oranges on it its professing claims to be an orange tree the tax that Nora tree there ain't no oranges on that sucker now if it had oranges then I would be assured it's an orange tree right how do you know orange trees really an orange tree it gets oranges duh how do you know if Christians really a Christian it gets Christlikeness out of their life God manifest himself in them so Abraham's faith was vindicated because it was made perfect and then also at fulfilled Scripture notice verse 23 the scripture was fulfilled which saith abraham believed god now that's faith and it that is his faith his belief was imputed unto him for righteousness that's teaching that abraham was declared righteous by God simply because of his faith and then he was called the friend of God now when did that happen that happened in Genesis chapter 15 now chronologically Genesis 15 comes before Genesis 22 right and there's a 40-year gap between the two so in Genesis 15 abraham believed God and God did what he gave to Abraham righteousness that's the foundation and the basis on which God's save sinners not by their works but by their faith God said to Abraham come out of the tent one night late Abraham 75 years old and he didn't have any children you don't have kids at 75 not much hope you're gonna have kids unless you adopt them in a very old age and he said Abraham I want you to look up to the sky and those days they could see the Stars outrageous just noelites them weekend the stars and they saw the stars and God said Abraham that's how many kids you're gonna have and Abraham 75 thing I honor you I got to go sit down for a minute just look a little what did you say god you're gonna have kids as many as the stars are in the heavens and the sand on the seashore whoa imagine trying to tell Sarah that get ready sister got some kids on the way but you know Abraham didn't argue with God he didn't question God you know what the bible says abraham said okay i believe it i love that you say i believe it you're able to bring life out of death you can resurrect Sarah's womb you can bring life from where there is no life III believe that and God says okay and you are declared righteous that's the very way that God still save sinners God says my son died on the cross for your sins he was buried he rose again from the dead and if you'll repent of your sins and trust in him I will forgive you and give you eternal life and take you to heaven when you die and what you do is you say I believe it I trust that I accept that and God says okay you're righteous I declare you righteous and he gives us justification so 40 years after Genesis 15 he offered his son Isaac on the altar and his faith was justified or vindicated before men but he was saved by faith alone but his works manifested the reality of his saving faith and he also became as the friend of God I love that can you imagine that God's my friend God calls me as friend we talk and we walk and we commune with one oh that's what Christianity is it's a relationship with the Living God and then the conclusions verse 24 on Abraham you see then how that by by works a man is justified and not by faith only and again he's not counter Paul he's saying that our faith is manifested in works it vindicates our faith and demonstrates the reality of our faith then we moved to the prostitute Rahab verse 25 what about her faith he says likewise just like Abraham was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way the answer to this rhetorical question is yes Rahab by faith hid the spies and sent them out another direction this is recorded in Joshua chapter 2 of the Old Testament and what happened was is these Israelis were going into the land of Canaan to spy it out they were part of the spies so they went into Jericho they crossed the Jordan River they come into Jericho and you know so they wouldn't be detected they go to the place of ill-repute they go to the place where you know a harlot kept her house and they knock on the door but when Rahab opened the door she could tell these men were different they weren't there for the normal reasons and rhea habits you study the account in joshua ray app says we have heard about the god of israel your israelites right yeah we've heard all the miracles and the things that your God has done and then they said she said our hearts are melting we know that we're under the judgment of God that were a condemned people and so she took those spies and she hid them in her home because the soldiers came looking for them she they knocked again on the you said Rahab where are those two men that just came in she goes I don't know what you're talking about they were here but they went thattaway and she sent them off a different direction then she went up on the roof she uncovered the spies and she said now you go that away and you'll be okay but she said this when you come back to destroy the city remember me and my family they said okay we want you to do this once you take this scarlet robe this red robe we want you to hang it out the window and it's going to be our soldiers will see that and we know that that red scarlet rope hanging out of your window indicates that we don't kill you we don't destroy you that we save you alive so she was moved with faith her mind was educated she knew the God of Israel her emotions were stirred we were trembling and then she put it into action she hid the spies protected them and sent them on another way then she dropped the scarlet cord out of her window the scarlet rope which was an act of faith believing the promises that were made to her now the reward of her faith was that she and her family were saved she became part of the nation of Israel and in Matthew chapter 1 verse 5 when you're reading the lineage and the genealogy of Jesus Christ guess who's in it Rahab the prostitute how's that for a rich heritage you're reading the genealogical record of Jesus Christ tracing his genealogy and in the middle of it there's a prostitute Bathsheba is also in that and she was the woman that committed adultery with King David all of both of these women were in the very lineage and the very line of Jesus the Messiah and she's also mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 in the Great Hall of faith you know everybody is all worried about their ancestor we have ancestral com all those commercials I thought I was a German and really found out I was Irish so I had to change my skirt and dance a little differently you know III mean with all sympathy to your nationality that's like who cares what nationality you are you're a sinner who needs to be saved by God's grace amen I'd like to do a commercial where I want to do one of my own commercial I was wondering about my heritage and I realized I was from Adam the first and now I'm a sinner and I'm going to hell I discovered Who I am and I need to get saved that's who we all are we all go back to one person Adam and me two people Adam and Eve right that's where we're from and because of our our our inheritance of Adam and Eve we're sinners and we need to be saved here's the conclusion verse 26 he mentions Abraham mentions Rahab then he concludes for as the body without the Spirit is dead so faith where that works is dead also now he actually closes with another illustration it's a little morbid it's a corpse it's a dead body for as the body without the Spirit is dead by the way this is the biblical definition of death what constitutes death and this is what the Bible says the spirit leaves the body the immaterial part of you leaves the material part of you and by the way everyone someday is going to die every person living will eventually die it's appointed unto everyone wants to die and after this the judgment right and we do continue to live after we leave our bodies will either go to heaven or we'll go to hell depending upon where our faith lies our trust in Jesus Christ but you know as a pastor I've done a lot of funerals in my years and I've seen a lot of corpses and I can't I can't tell you the number of times that I've seen corpses open casket people oh they look so good I'm like for hilly oh they really looked great they figure you know and they can they can do a lot but they're still dead they may look good but no life there and a lot of times person claims to be a Christian oh they look so good but they're dead in their trespasses and their sin now you can have a dead faith which is just your words you can have a demonic faith which is just your intellect you believe the right things but you haven't trusted Jesus Christ or you can have a dynamic faith which actually says God I trust you Lord I put my faith in you I'm gonna go to heaven not because I'm good not because I've been baptized not because I believe the Bible is the Word of God or I'm a Christian and a Christian nation but because I've trusted Jesus Christ as my savior and you know before I closed this sermon this morning I I feel so urgently that I want to give this opportunity then after examining your own heart is your faith dead is it demonic or is it dynamic is it real is it alive then I give you an opportunity if you're here today and you don't know for sure that when you die you'll go to heaven you don't know for sure that your sins are forgiven you don't know for sure that you've really been born again Jesus told Nicodemus a very religious Jewish man he said you must be born again to enter the kingdom of God it's not going to church it's not being baptized is not being good no one's too good no one's too bad we all must be born of God's Spirit and if you don't have that assurance if you don't know for sure there's any doubt or question in your mind I want to give you that opportunity today Jesus died on the cross for your sins and when he died on that cross he paid for your sins and he was buried in three days later he rose from the dead that doesn't mean you're automatically saved you must trust him for salvation you must put your faith in him to be saved and if you haven't done that you need to do right now before you leave Bible says you forgive your sins and he'll give you the hope of heaven and it'll change your life from the inside out if God has spoken to you through this message today and you're not sure that you're a child of God maybe you don't know for sure that if you die today that you would go to heaven you've never really trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior I would like to lead you in a prayer right now inviting Christ to come into your heart and to be your Savior so as I pray this prayer I want you to repeat it out loud right where you are after me make it from your heart inviting Christ to come in and be your Lord and Savior let's pray dear Lord Jesus I'm sorry for my sin I pray that you'll forgive me and come into my heart and make me your child fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to live for you all the days of my life I believe in you I receive you as my Lord and Savior in Jesus name Amen if you prayed that prayer and you meant it God heard that prayer and I believe that God will and does forgive your sins we'd like to help you get started growing in your walk and relationship with Jesus Christ god bless you if you just prayed with Pastor John to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior we are so excited for you and we'd like to send you a Bible and some resources to get you started in your relationship with the Lord simply click on the contact' link at the top of the page and tell us something like I prayed to accept Christ we'll get your Bible and resources mail that to you right away god bless you and welcome to the family of God

Channel: Revival Christian Fellowship

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Length: 40min 45sec (2445 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 20 2018