Date: 8/10/17
Text: James 2:14-26
Title: Put some life in your faith!
Place: Rhema
File: James 2b
Preacher: Stephen Taylor
A guy was coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door ready to shake his hand. Well anyway this preacher grabbed the guy as he was leaving by the hand and pulled him aside. And he said to him, "Hey, brother, you need to join the Army of the Lord!" The man replied, "I’m already in the Army of the Lord, preacher."The preacher said, "Well how come I don’t see you except at Christmas and Easter?" The man looked around and then whispered back, "I’m in the secret service.”
There are many people whoclaim to be Christians but who seem like they are trying to keep it a secret, who claim to be men and women of faith but whose actions don’t back up that claim. And so in the second chapter of his book, James wants to tackle this subject head on. How do we know that we have real faith? What does God want to say to us today about our faith?
Because faith is a word that we bandy around all the time. George Michael sang, “You gotta have faith.” The Monkeys told the world that “I’m a believer!” But what sort of faith are they talking about? And what really do we believe in? There are few words more misunderstood than the word faith. But there are few words more important than the word faith.
So James will talk in the next few verses about deadly faith, demonic faith and then dynamic faith. And if I could summarise this passage in just one short sentence I would say this, “We are saved by Faith Alone - but the Faith that saves is never alone!” (Repeat)
- Faith without actions is dead.
So James’ first point is that faith without actions is dead. And this is almost the main point of this passage. So important is it that he says it three times. Look with me at verse 17, “in the same way faith by itself if not accompanied by action is dead.” Then go down to verse 24, “You see a person is justified by what he does and not be faith alone.” And he concludes the chapter by saying, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
James goes on to say if we see someone who is without clothes and hungry and we don’t help them and instead say “She’ll be right!” It is not that our faith is sick, or it may be in trouble. But it is dead, certifiably so, the coroner has come in, the doctor has written out the certificate and there is no life in our faith what so ever, for it is three foot underground!You see faith without actions is dead. Faith without actions will not save us. Faith without actions means we might talk the talk but if we are not walking the walk it will do us no good.
Can you imagine that? The next time we come across someone in need it is a test to see whether your faith, my faith is real or not. The next time we see a homeless person it may show the people around us whether wehaving saving faith or not. The next time we hear about drought in Africa or floods in America. The next time we see on our TV screens war in Syria orpoverty in India, will we just say to the needy, the hungry, the war torn. She’ll be right. I’ll pray for you. Or will we actually do something about it?
This is a message that echoes through the Bible. In Isaiah 58, we hear God speak to his people about fasting, how they are doing their religious duty but not touching the people around them. He asks is not real fasting“to share yourfood with the hungryand to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothethem,and not to turn away from your ownflesh and blood?”
Jesus says in the parable of the sheep and the goats that whenever you helped the sick, visited the imprisoned, even when you gave a cup of water to a needy person, whenever you did that to the least of one of my brothers, you did that to me. And in the first letter of John, this teaching comes together when John says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brotheror sister in need but has no pity on them,how can the love ofGODbe in that person?18Dear children,let us not lovewith words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
Faith without actions is dead. Doctrine without good works is dead. A confession of faith without a conversion to faith is no good. So belief is not enough. Faith is not enough. For James goes on to talk about someone who believes, fully believes but who will not be saved.
The demons he says, they believe in One God, they believe in the one true God. Now that's an interesting thought. The Demons believe in God, they probably believe in the Trinity, in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, because they are always working against them. They believe in his power. But what do they do about it? Nothing. In fact they do what God says not to do. And so their faith does them no good.
For it is not good enough to just believe in God. For if the demons who believe in God are under God's judgement, then those people on this earth who just believe in God will also go to that very same place of judgement.
Friends that means we need to have a long, hard look at ourselves in the mirror. What does our faith look like? What actions have we taken today, this last week which are a direct result of our faith? Now I am not asking you if you are a good people. If you do good works. Before I became a Christian I honestly believed I was a good person because I was brought up by two good parents, who taught me well. What I am asking you is what are you doing for others because of your faith. Because of what you read in the Bible yesterday. Because that person came into my head when I was praying the day before. Because God has saved me by grace, have I now become an agent of grace, God’s grace to the people all around me?
- Faith without actions is dead and secondly James says Faith is proved by our actions.
We can say you have faith, I have actions. Or I have faith, you have actions. Butthat will not cut any ice with God. James says you show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do. You might put it this way “faith without works, doesn’t work!”
Look at Abraham, the father of faith, James continues. In Genesis 15:6, we hear the Bible say “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Abraham had faith. He left his home country and went to a place that God showed him. He lived in tents because he believed the word of God. He trusted that God would give him a son even when he was nearly 100 years of age and Sarah was nudging 90. Here is a man of faith. Here is a man who has the
right belief.
But what proves beyond doubt that he had saving faith? His actions. In particular one action where he put God before his family. He put the one who loved him before the one he loved more anything else on this earth. So Abraham was willing to forgo God’s promise of land, descendants and blessings in order to have God Himself. And he did that when God asked him to do something terrible, something horrible, something immoral. To kill his own son Isaac.
It made no sense, no sense at all. It made no sense for God to tell Abraham to sacrifice Isaac when God had clearly said that he was the one who through whom his descendants will come. Isaac is the one who will realise the promise that Abraham has lived for. But Abraham knew that if he obeyed God He is able to even raise Isaac from the dead if necessary in order to fulfil his promise to him.So he collected the wood, he tied down his son down, he picked up the knife. Before God yelled out,Stop!
“Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son”. Abraham had put God before his son, his family, his future. His faith had been proven by his actions.
"When Hudson Taylor first went to China, he was in a ship that had been sailing very close to the shore where there were known cannibals, when this ship was caught in a calm, and it was slowly drifting toward the shore and the savages were on the shore eagerly anticipating a feast.The captain came to Hudson Taylor ...... and sought him to pray for the help of God.
'I will,' said Taylor, '...... provided you set your sails ...... to catch the breeze.'The Captain didn’t want to make himself a laughing stock of the crew by unfurling the sails in the midst of a dead calm.Taylor said again, 'I will not undertake to pray for the vessel unless you will prepare the sails.'And so it was done.
So Taylor went down to his room and began to pray until he heard the Captains voice some time later, 'Are you still praying for wind?''Yes.' ..... 'Well,' said the captain ...... 'you better stop praying .....for we have more wind than we can manage.'"
Faith is like the prayer. Setting the sail is like the actions. Getting down on your knees is a way of showing you believe in God. Setting the sail is showing that you believe God is going to do something. Our faith and our actions must work together. Our faith is proven by our actions.
Now many people have seen an inconsistency between James and the apostle Paul on the nature of faith. James says “faith without works is dead.” But Paul says in Romans 3 that we are saved through our faith. While James says it is through faith and works. Are they contradicting each other? No, not at all. It is all about timing. Paul says that works done before faith does you no good. James says works done after faith shows your faith was genuine. Paul wants to make clear that only faith gets you into the kingdom. James wants to say that once you are in the kingdom you must show faith’s genuineness by what you do.
So Demons believe in God but don’t do anything about it. So their faith is dead. Abraham shows his genuine faith by putting God before family, before fame, before his future. So we can’t say to one another. You can have faith. I will actions. Or I have actions but I will leave you to have your faith. We must have both. We must believe in Jesus Christ dying for our sins. We must turn from our sins and show that in how we live. We must be able to confess our faith and we must live out our faith. We must talk the talk and walk the walk.So faith without actions is dead. Faith is proved by our actions & lastly
- Faith is completed by our actions.
Look at what James says aboutAbraham in verse 22, “You see that his faith and his actions were working together and his faith was made complete by what he did.” Abraham’s faith was a working faith, an active faith, a faith that changed his life. A faith that made him complete.
You see the aim of faith is not just salvation but transformation. Not just getting to heaven but living the righteous life that God requires. For the goal of faith is not really about us, but about God and how he wants us to live. Our aim in life if to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. And we can only do this through faith. So as our faith and actions work together we become more obedient to God’s will. We change and become more holy, more like Jesus. And so bit by bit become more like the people that God made us to be. Perfectly faithful followers of God.
So Abraham’s sacrifice of his son, helps complete his life of faith. Abraham has believed for decades but he is often put himself before his wife, his needs before God’s needs. But here, in this one example we see that he is willing to put God first. No matter what. Even if he loses the thing that is the most dearestthing to him in all of his life, his son.God comes first. His faith is made complete by his actions.
And James then talks about another example, Rahab. Rahab goes out of her way to protect the Israelite spies at great risk to herself. If she had been detected by the authorities of her city she doubtlessly would have been put to death quickly. But she was willing to put her life in God’s hands. She risked her family, her house, her resources, her future because she believed that God had given the Israelites the land to possess. Her faith was backed by her actions.
But her actions completed her faith as well. For by the mere fact that she saved the spies lives, her own life was saved. And she ended up marrying an Israelite and was in fact the great grandmother of King David. You see her faith brought her into the people of God. It shaped her life and her future. Her faith and actions brought her life and a future not death and destruction. Her mind knew the truth, her heart was stirred by the truth and her will acted on the truth. She proved her faith real by her works. Her actions in turn perfected her faith.
Two very different people, Abraham and Rahab – opposites in fact. Abraham is a man. Rahab is a woman. Abraham is Jewish. Rahab is a Gentile. Abraham is a patriarch. Rahab is a prostitute. Abraham is a somebody. Rahab is a nobody. Abraham is a major character in the Bible. Rahab is a minor character. But James uses both these people to say, it doesn’t matter who you are as long as you’ve got the important thing. They only had one thing in common -- their faith in God. And that faith in God led them to actions.
Slide 20
So what about us. Do we have faith? Have we stood up sometime and declared our faith in God as our heavenly Father, in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord and in the Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier? Have we walked forward at an outreach activity? Have we professed our faith at the front of our Church? Do we believe in the Christian God? That is good. That is necessary. That is vital. But that won’t save you. That won’t change you. That won’t complete you.
You must add actions to your faith. Faith alone saves but the faith that saves is never alone. Which is why James will go on to talk about our need to watch our tongue. Because our tongue can shipwreck our faith. It can be used to hurt not to heal. To tear down not to build up. And if we don’t watch what we say, it might prove to ourselves and others that our faith is not real.
We need to care for the needy. James talks about looking after orphans and widows. We must go out of our way for the vulnerable. We must make sacrifices for the needy. So when was the last time you visited a hospital, a jail, a nursing home for someone other than your family member? When was the last time you fed someone who was hungry? Stepped in for someone who in danger? Abraham put God before his family. Rahab put God’s people before her future. Likewise our faith needs to reflect God’s character. Our love needs to be like his love. And so if we don’t do these things, it is a sign that our faith may not be real. Faith alone saves. But faith can never be alone.
Slide 21
David Livingstone was a pioneer missionary to Africa.When H. M. Stanley went to Africa in 1871 to find and reporton him, he spent several months in the missionary’s company, carefully observing the man and his work. Livingstone never spoke to Stanley about Jesus, but Livingstone’s loving and patient compassion for the African people was beyond Stanley’s comprehension.He could not understand how the missionary could have such a love for and patience with the backward, pagan people among whom he had so long ministered. Livingstone literally spent himself in untiring service for those whom he had no reason to love except for Christ’s sake.
Stanley wrote in his journal, "When I saw that unwearied patience, that unflagging zeal, and those enlightened sons of Africa, I became a Christian at his side, though he never spoke to me one word."
Friends, faith without actions is dead. Actions without faith is misdirected. Only when the two come together are we made complete. As one preacher has said, “Faithis not just somethingyou SAY, not just something you FEEL, not just something you THINK, andit’s morethan just something you BELIEVE. James teaches faith is also something you DO”.