Reading: chapter 2 verses 14-26
Ill:
Alexander Graham Bell was an amazingly talented person.
• He invented the multiple telegraph,
• The audiometer - which is used to test your hearing,
• The tricycle landing gear you find on planes,
• And a host of other less well-known machines.
In addition to this he was cofounder of the prestigious magazine Science,
• Served as President of the National Geographic Society,
• And spent his life working with deaf people.
• But most famous of all his creations was the telephone.
• It also made his family and his descendents enormously wealthy.
But he almost lost it all.
• You see Bell never seemed to get around to submitting a patent application.
• Finally, his father-in-law, who had financed a lot of the research,
• Got so impatient that he filed the patent on Bell’s behalf.
• The date was the 14th of February 1876, Bell’s 29th birthday.
• And it was a good thing he did, because just a few hours later,
• Another scientist by the name of Elisha Gray;
• Went to the patent office to get a patent on a machine;
• He’d been working on for many years – you guessed it, the telephone.
This story reminds us that sometimes its not enough simply to have great ideas.
• We need to act on them.
• Bell & his father-in-law are a good example of the relationship between faith and works.
• Bell had faith in his telephone but did nothing about it.
• His father-in-law had faith and the works to go with it.
FAITH IS A KEY DOCTRINE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
• The Bible teaches that we are saved by faith (Eph. 2:8-9),
• And every Christian is called to live by faith (2 Cor. 5:7).
• In fact, the Bible says; ‘Without faith it is impossible to please God’ (Heb. 11:6);
(a). Misunderstanding.
Ill:
• It does not take a lot to cause misunderstandings;
• Just listen to these misprints from local newspapers.
• From the Chichester Evening News:
• Miss Hampshire ... is friendly, likeable, and easy to talk to. She has a fine, fair skin,
• Which she admits ruefully comes out in freckles at the first hint of sin.
• Or this from the Dublin Evening Herald:
• Fifteen churches have been closed in Dublin City because of swindling congregations.
• From the Yorkshire Post: Patricia Middleton sang 'Christians dost thou see them?'
• At the close of Sunday night's service. Miss Middleton is a qualified vice instructor.
• Or, even worse, from the Croydon Advertiser:
• Born to Rev and Mrs David Wilson of St James' Church, a git of a son.
This section of James letter (verses 14-26):
• Is the most misunderstood and controversial passage in the book of James.
• Many cults (e.g. the Jehovah Witnesses) completely misunderstand it;
• And it is one of their favourite passages to argue Christians with;
• As they try to prove you have to work your way to heaven.
Question: Why the confusion?
Answer:
• The entire New Testament teaches that we are saved by faith alone. E.g. Apostle Paul:
• "By grace…. through faith and not by works, so that no-one can boast."
• Yet James comes along and says in these verses,
• “It’s not just faith but faith and works.”
• So the question is which one is right;
• James or Paul?
They are both right, because they are talking about different things.
• Context means everything;
• Just think about these two proverbs:
• “Too many cooks spoil the broth”.
• “Many hands make light work”.
• Both are good advice depending on the context they are used in.
• If we were weeding the Church car park “Many hands make light work” is best.
• If we were making coffee at the end of the service;
• “Too many cooks spoil the broth” is the best advice – context is everything!
Both Paul & James are right in what they say, because they are talking about different situations:
• Paul was fighting the problem of legalism;
• People were saying:
• "You’ve got to keep all the Jewish laws and regulations to be a Christian."
• Paul tells them quite clearly; that is wrong we are saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ!
• It is not keeping the law or even our own good efforts that saves us.
• It is faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ alone that saves.
• James in this letter is fighting a different problem to Paul.
• His problem is not legalism but laxity.
• He encountered people who were saying;
• "It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you believe."
• My theology is sound and good, that surely is all that is needed!
• James says; “No!” Where are your works of proof!
Both Paul & James are right in their arguments because they are fighting two different enemies.
• But they both use the word "works" in different ways.
• When Paul uses the word "works" he’s talking in the context of becoming a Christian.
• When James uses it, he’s talking about already being a Christian;
• e.g. lifestyle; acts of love. It’s totally different.
• Paul focuses on the root of salvation -- what happens to me internally.
• James focuses on the fruit of salvation -- what happens on the outside.
• Paul is talking about, “How to know you’re a Christian.”
• James is talking about, “How to show you’re a Christian.”
• Paul is talking about his passages on faith alone, how to become a believer.
• James talks about, how to behave like a believer.
• It is not a contradiction of ideas;
• In fact they compliment each other, rather than contradict each other.
Now in these verses James explaining to us that there are three kinds of faith:
(1). Dead Faith (verses 14-17)
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
When James is defining the different types of faith, the easiest one to define is the dead faith.
• It is a faith that thinks “everything’s okay.”
• It is faith that says, “I believe in God,”
• But never thinks about how that might affect the way I live.
• James didn’t have to look far to find an example of dead faith.
Verses 15-16:
• This may have been a real situation in the Church;
• Or a hypothetical one that could happen at any moment.
• A Christian is standing arm in arm with another Christian.
• They are talking. The one Christian doesn’t have any clothes and is starving.
• The other Christian gives a standard good bye (like our “See you later”).
• “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed.”
Ill:
In one of Charles Schultz’s Peanuts cartoon.
• He draws Charlie Brown and Linus inside a warm building all bundled up;
• And Snoopy’s out in the cold shivering in front of an empty dog food bowl.
• Charlie and Linus are having a discussion on how sad it is;
• That Snoopy is hungry and cold.
• "He’s cold and hungry. We ought to do something about it."
• They walk outside and say to Snoopy, "Be of good cheer, Snoopy."
• I wonder if he got the idea for that cartoon from verses 15-16?
• It fits the verse perfectly!
Quote: The Message:
“Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? 15For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved 16and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup--where does that get you? 17Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”
What has happened with ‘dead faith’ is that:
• The one who ignores the need of others has taken the name of Christ,
• But failed to adopt the character of Christ.
• Often they have said, “I want the benefits of being a Christian,
• But I don’t want any responsibility that comes with it.”
• James says, “It doesn’t work that way. If you have faith, it changes you through & through.”
• Dead faith is the kind that is nothing more than words on your lips.
• It is a statement of faith;
• Without a lifestyle of faith.
• What James is warning us about here;
• Is that that kind of faith which is actually no faith at all.
Ill:
• Think of one of the most well known stories of Jesus.
• The story of ‘The Good Samaritan’ (Luke chapter 10 verses 25-37).
• Now at the time of Jesus the words ‘Good’ and ‘Samaritan’ did not go together.
• It was like saying; ‘There is an honest thief’.
In the story there are three people who could have made a difference to the wounded victim:
• The priest and Levite in the parable each had religious training,
• But neither of them paused to assist the dying man at the side of the road.
• Each of them would defend his faith with the right words,
• Yet neither demonstrated that faith in loving works.
Ill:
• William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army. He said,
• “Faith & works should travel side by side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking.
• First faith, and then works; and then faith again, and then works again;
• Until they can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other”.
• That is the kind of faith that James is talking about in these verses;
• Faith without works is dead.
Ill:
• There is a very telling piece in one of Adrian Plass’ books.
• Where the conversation turns to Mother Theresa.
• And one person (Bible expert) says; “Ah! But is she saved”,
• To which somebody replies; “How many filthy beggars have you washed this week!”
• Both are arguing from extremes;
• One has good theology and the other good works – not either but both!
Quote: John Calvin, wrote,
"It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies can never be alone."
• The word alone in verse 17 simply means "by itself."
• True saving faith can never be by itself: it always brings life, & life produces good works.
(2). Deceptive Faith (verse 18-19):
“But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”
Ill:
On a bitterly cold January day several years ago,
• Five-year-old Jimmy Tonglewicz chased a sled onto the glazed ice of Lake Michigan.
• In a blink of the eye he disappeared beneath the ice.
• The last words his dad heard were: “Save me, Dad!”
• Jimmy’s panic-stricken father plunged into the freezing water,
• But the cold quickly rendered him helpless and he left the scene in an ambulance.
• For over twenty minutes Jimmy remained submerged beneath the icy waters.
• When his limp, lifeless body was pulled from the lake by divers, he had no pulse.
• But he had a lot going for him—especially the cold water!
• Scientists call what happened the “mammalian diving reflex.”
• The shock of the cold water;
• Allowed Jimmy to live without breathing an abnormally long time.
• Slowly he came around, and today Jimmy lives a normal life.
• We could say Jimmy got a shock to the system;
• James in this letter also wanted to shock the system!
James wanted to shock his complacent readers into action:
• So he uses demons as his illustration.
• The shock factor comes when he says; ‘They are spiritually better of than you lot!”
• They too believe in God (There are no atheists nor agnostics in the demon world).
• They too believed in Jesus (just read the gospel accounts).
The big difference between demons and these deluded people was this:
• They believe in their head and think that’s enough.
• Where as the demons believe and ‘shudder’ (verse 19).
• These people with a ‘deceived faith’ were touched only in their intellect;
• But the demons says James; are touched in their emotions.
• In other words their belief affects them more than yours does!
• And that ought to shock you to the core!
James was obviously not suggesting these demons were saved:
• He is simply saying;
• They are more switched on than some of his readers!
Ill:
Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 7 verses 21:
“Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”.
• He then followed up that verse by telling the story of the two builders.
• Point being don’t just listen to God’s word and deceive yourself (bad foundation).
• Put God’s words into practice, apply them;
• Building on a solid foundation.
(3). Dynamic Faith (20-26):
20”Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless?
Ill:
• The true story of A 33-year-old American Larry Walters,
• Who decided he wanted to see his neighbourhood from a new perspective.
• He went down to the local army surplus store one morning;
• And bought forty-five used weather balloons.
• That afternoon he strapped himself into a lawn chair,
• To which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled balloons.
• He took along a six-pack of beer, a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and a BB gun,
• Figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land.
• Walters, who assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in the air,
• Was caught off guard when the chair soared more than 11,000 feet into the sky.
• Where he went smack into the middle of;
• The air traffic pattern at Los Angeles International Airport.
• Too frightened to shoot any of the balloons,
• He stayed airborne for more than two hours,
• Forcing the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon,
• Causing long delays in flights from across the country.
• Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police,
• Reporters asked him three questions:
• “Where you scared?”
• “Yes.”
• “Would you do it again?”
• “No.”
• “Why did you do it?”
• “Because,” he said, “you can’t just sit there.”
James is saying in this section:
• If your faith is real then you can’t just sit there!
• And he gives us two illustrations of people of faith, who demonstrated it by action.
(A). Abraham. (verses 20-24)
21Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete by what he did--by his actions. 23And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: "Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous."[e] He was even called "the friend of God."[f] 24So you see, we are made right with God by what we do, not by faith alone”.
The story is well known:
• Abram and Sarah were desperate for a baby;
• They were unable to have one by natural means.
• God waited until their bodies were as good as dead and then a miracle;
• It wasn’t until Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 that they had a child.
• At last all their hopes and dreams were fulfilled in this child;
• And for a few years everything went well – it was happy families!
But one day Abraham heard God say something incredible to him:
• God speaks to Abraham and tells him to sacrifice Isaac on the altar.
• Literally that meant to offer him up like a bull or a sheep in the common sacrificial way.
• For Abraham the one thing he had waited for & longed for so long;
• Seemed like it was about to be cruelly taken away.
• If you know the story Abraham responds in a remarkable way:
• He loads up all the stuff he needs, and travels with his only son to the place of sacrifice.
• Isaac is placed on the cold slab and with every ounce of energy he can muster;
• Abraham raises the knife in obedience to God.
• Just when Abraham was about to plunge the knife into Isaac;
• God stops the sacrifice and instead provides a ram for an offering.
Abraham had proved by his actions that he is totally submissive to God:
• And as a result, the Bible says:
• “It was credited to him as righteousness.”
• In other words, Abraham was justified;
• He put God first and as a result God richly blessed him.
Ill:
The book of Hebrews (chapter 11) says that;
• Abraham had enough faith in God to believe that even if he did kill his only son.
• Then God would raise Isaac from the dead to fulfil his promise to him about descendants.
• So the whole point of James using this as an illustration is;
• Abraham’s faith resulted in obedient actions.
The word ‘counted’ is a legal or financial term; it means "to put to one's account."
• As a sinner,
• Abraham's spiritual bankbook was empty. He was bankrupt!
• But he trusted God, and God put righteous on Abraham's account.
• Abraham did not work for this righteousness; he received it as a gift from God.
• He was declared righteous by faith.
• He was justified by faith. (Read Rom. 4.)
Ill:
The story is told of an old Scotsman who operated a rowboat to transport passengers.
• On one oar he had written the word Faith,
• While the other bore the word Works.
• The point of the story, of course, is that pulling on either oar alone;
• Would simply make one go around and around in circles.
• Both oars must be used to make any progress at all.
• Both oars – faith and works were needed side by side.
(B). Rahab. (verse 25)
25”Rahab the prostitute is another example of this. She was made right with God by her actions--when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road”.
In his second illustration form the Old testament:
• James could not have chosen a more varied person to Abraham.
• In every way Rahab was on completely the opposite end of the social scale to Abraham:
• Where as Abraham is called ‘Father Abraham’,
• The father of the Jewish race. A Bible giant in every sense of the word.
• Rahab was not an Israelite,
• She was a Gentile.
• A member of a pagan nation that God had commanded Israel to wipe out.
• She wasn’t even wealthy like Abraham.
• She was a prostitute, financially and morally she was a poor person.
• She was even a traitor to her own people!
• The background for her is found in Joshua chapters 2 and 6:
• This is where she finds her moment of fame in Biblical history:
• Joshua sent spies into the land where Rahab lived;
• To find out what they would face when they were going to try to conquer it.
• Rahab recognised God was with the spies and that her city was going to be destroyed;
• And so she decided to help the spies and to hide them from their enemies.
She risked her own life to protect the Jewish spies,
• And she further risked her life by sharing the good news of deliverance;
• With the members of her own family as she tried to save them.
• In the end, Rahab was saved from the destruction of the city.
• James says that in God’s eyes, Rahab was justified by what she did.
Quote: Billy Graham had this to say about faith & works & their relationship to each other:
• "There really is no conflict between faith and works.
• In the Christian life they go together like inhaling and exhaling.
• Faith is taking the Gospel in; works is taking the Gospel out."
• Actually, what James is saying is: you can’t have one without the other.
Pause & Think: When you realize the small amount of information Rahab had:
• You can see how truly marvellous her faith really was.
• Today we have the full revelation of God through His Word and His Son.
• We live on the other side of the cross,
• And we have the Holy Spirit to convict and to teach us the Word.
• Her faith based on what really was so little proof;
• Is an indictment against the unbelief of those of us today who have so much yet do not believe!
AS JAMES CONCLUDES HIS DISCUSSION ABOUT FAITH:
• He ends with an image that he wants to plant in your mind:
• Verse 26:
“Just as the body is dead without a spirit, so also faith is dead without good deeds”.
• James wants you looking at a dead body;
• As an illustration of dead faith.
Ill:
Some years back the Chinese dictator Mao Zedong died.
• When he did some of the Chinese leadership;
• Was afraid of what would happen to this nation without their legendary leader.
• They called in his personal doctor,
• Dr Li Zhisui to do an impossible task.
• They wanted the chairman’s body permanently preserved.
• The doctor didn’t want to do it.
• He had seen the dried up shrunken remains of Lenin & Stalin in USSR.
• He was a doctor. He knew that a body with no life in it is doomed to rot.
• But he had his commands. And orders had to be obeyed!
• Twenty-two litters of formaldehyde were pumped into the dead chairman’s body.
• The result was horrifying.
• Mao’s face swelled up like a ball, and his neck was as thick as his head.
• The pressure of the fluid in his body
• Caused his ears to stick out at right angles and the chemical oozed from his pores.
• A team of embalmers worked 5 hours with towels and cotton balls;
• To force the liquids down into the body.
• Finally the face looked normal, but the chest was so swollen;
• That the jacket had to be slit in the back;
• And his swollen body;
• Was covered with the red Communist Party flag.
• As you gaze on the body,
• You will say that there is absolutely nothing natural about it!
Dead bodies no matter how well they have been dressed up;
• You can put make-up on them.
• You can fix their hair and dress them up in the best clothes money can buy,
• You can prop them up in the most luxurious of settings;
• But there is something unnatural about a body with no life.
• James warns us about people who have a dead faith try to give the appearance of life:
• They may fool us.
• But ultimately they are only fooling themselves!
• And they certainly are not fooling God!
