A. INTRODUCTION
1. Only faith in Christ saves us. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
a. Faith is turning to God from idols. (1 Thessalonians 1:9), which is repentance.
You can’t be saved by repentance alone.
You can’t be saved without repentance.
b. Peter preached “repent” (Acts 2:38), Paul preached “repent” (Acts 17:20; 26:20).
2. After the first wing, salvation, the second wing, is faith-walking. “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
3. Second wing, obedience, prayer and using principles for God and practical methods.
4. The division of labor. God does what only God can do; we do what only man can do. “We are workmen together with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:1).
5. Review. Faith is relationship walking with God. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
B. JAMES 2:14-20, 26 EXPANDED AND APPLIED
“How effective can the Christian fly who has the wings of faith, but not the natural wings of human effort? Can his faith-wing make him fly? If the [one-wing believer] sees a needy Christian and only blesses him in faith, has he done any good? No, his Christian friend is still needy. So a believer with only a faith-wing without a practical wing can’t fly. A believer can’t say, ‘I have [faith Christianity] but you only have [practical Christianity]. If they first tried to show faith without practical actions, they will not get off the ground. If the second demonstrates his faith by the things he does, he can fly. If you have a faith only wing and believe in God, what good is that; the devils also believes in one God, but they do something about it; they tremble. You are dumb if you think faith without being practical will work. As the body without the spirit is dead, so your faith is dead if it doesn’t practice practical application.”
Conclusion: A bird with one wing will never fly off the ground, and if it loses a wing while flying; it will crash.
1. Your works are empty without faith. “Faith without works is dead” (v. 17).
2. Your faith won’t fly without works (v. 20).
3. Both needs both. It takes your works to manifest your faith (v. 26).
4. Faith that flies must have God’s life, God’s presence, and God’s blessing.
5. Practical works make your faith flyable. Your faith won’t fly until your actions back up your desires.
6. Application:
a. You pray best for money when you work hard for a raise, promotion, or commission. The Old Testament Jews didn’t only pray for financial prosperity, they worked hard.
b. You pray best for conversions when you share the gospel, invite people to hear the gospel, and evangelistic visitation.
c. You pray best for church growth when you visit, invite, advertise, plan for visitors, and work for new members.
d. You can’t pray for the church attendance to grow if you don’t have parking, pews, space, prayers, etc.
C. HOW FAITH AND WORKS COME TOGETHER
1. Commit yourself to practical ministry to exercise your faith.
2. Take a leap of faith to let God work, when you are willing to also work.
3. If you begin by faith, make sure you continue in faith.
4. It will never work if you do half the work and depend on God to do the other half.
5. The Division of Labor: You work as through it all depends on you. You trust God as though it all depends on Him.
6. You work with God from beginning to end.
7. By faith follow a burden God gives you.
8. By faith follow the dream God gives you.
9. By faith saturate yourself in the Bible.
a. Bible command.
b. Bible principles.
c. Bible life.
d. God speaks to me through Scriptures.
10. By faith saturate your work with prayer.
a. Seek His presence.
b. Seek His will/plan.
c. Seek His priorities.
d. Intercession.
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
Dr. Towns’ email is eltowns@liberty.edu.
Video presentations of the PBC are available online at trbc.org/pbc
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