James 2:19-26 July 18, 1999
“Oh yeah? Prove it!” Part II
Introduction - It is not enough to claim faith; there should be some evidence to prove your claim.
Tomorrow evening, one of the most important events that we will conduct all year will begin at 6:30. That event is Vacation Bible School. In preparation for that event, I and several members of the church passed out flyers at the Benedum festival yesterday. But prior to that, I took some time on Thursday and Friday to hand out flyers in our neighborhood. Rather than putting a flyer in every door, I tried to concentrate my efforts on those houses where children lived. Now I don’t have a map telling me where children live in our community, but their presence is not real hard to spot. All that you have to do is look for swing-sets, and big wheels, and plastic pools, dolls and toy cars. There is plenty of evidence of children’s presence at any home where they live. Whenever you come to my house, you will immediately see that there is definitely no doubt that children live there. Toys are everywhere!
This morning, we have a very special guest with us. Her name is Suzanne Talton, and she is my mother. She lives just to the west of Atlanta, Ga. My mother has told me countless times that she loves me, and in different ways, she has communicated to me that what we are doing here in West Virginia is very important to her. She wasn’t real happy about us moving up here because it put us 8 hours further away from her than we were. But she was willing to make the sacrifice of our company in order that we might do what God wanted us to do. In order to show her love for me and my family, she got on a plane yesterday morning and flew here to spend the weekend with us. The words “I love you” and “What you are doing is important to me” are proved by the fact that she came all this way to see us. Words are proved through actions.
This morning, we are going to once again look at James’ teaching that there should be something substantial in our lives to back up our claim that we have faith in Jesus Christ. Living faith should produce actions of faith in my life. If there are no actions, then according to James, my faith is dead, useless, powerless. And if my faith is dead, useless, and powerless, then I am still bound to my sins and on my way to hell.
Last week, we looked at verses 14-19. We saw in these verses that a false faith is a faith that simply believes the facts. It is the faith of the historian. He accepts the reality of what has happened in the past, but he doesn’t see how that action in the past affects his life today, so he doesn’t do anything about those facts. This kind of faith – a faith that simply believes the facts cannot . . .
I. Simply believing the facts cannot . . .
a. save (vs. 14) – It is not the facts of the Gospel – the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus – that saves me. Those facts tell me who Jesus is, the sinless son of God who died to pay for my sins. Then once I know who Jesus is and what He did for me, then I can place my faith in Him! That is what saves me.
b. satisfy (vs. 15-17) – Knowledge about Jesus will never satisfy. Only a relationship with Jesus can satisfy.
c. show (vs. 18) – Knowledge about Jesus can never change you on its own. But once you place your complete faith in Him, He changes you which produces works in your life. By those works, people can see the reality of your faith.
. . . but it should make you . . .
d. shudder (vs. 19) – The demons know all the facts about Jesus. They have seen all of God’s works up to this point. They know His power and His character. Their knowledge of God and His attitude toward them makes them shudder with fear, but it doesn’t save them. The most dangerous place that you can be in is to know all about God and know how to get saved, but never personally place your complete faith in Jesus Christ.
Trans: These are the limitations of false faith. But then the question becomes, “How do I know if my faith is genuine?” James deals with that question, as he gives us five characteristics or tests of true faith.
II. True faith will . . .
a. cause you to give up everything for God (vs. 21)
- Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, the most important treasure he had on earth for his relationship to God (Gen. 22)
- disciples said that they had left all for Jesus. And indeed, when Jesus called them to follow Him, they left behind their families and their business. (Mat 19:27 Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" (Mat 4:21-22 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
- Jesus said that whoever is not willing to leave everything for Him is not worthy of Him (Mat 10:37-39 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.)
- The value of what we will gain is far superior to anything that we might have right now. (Mat 13:44-46 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
- Why are we so hesitant to give up everything to God? I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that we like to be in control. We like to be in control of our stuff, and being in control of our stuff gives us a sense of control about our lives. When I give up everything to God, my possessions, my family, my abilities, my future, then I put Him in control. That’s when we truly start to show that we love Him with everything that we are and have, and that’s when we prove that we have no other gods before Him.
- Paul, the apostle, knew what it meant to give up control of his life to God. (Phil 3:4-8 If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; [he was in control of his heritage] in regard to the law, a Pharisee [he was in control of his political future]; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless [he was in control of his relationship with God, or so he thought]. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” He gave up control of everything and turned it all over to God.
- What is it that you would have to give up in order to be in right relationship with God? Some people aren’t willing to give up a little bit of sleep or relaxation on Sunday morning to come and worship God and spend time with His people. I’ve heard people say, “Sunday morning is the only time of the week that I get to be lazy, walk around in the house in my pajamas, read the paper, and just do nothing. It’s the only time that I get to myself.” When they say those things, it makes me very afraid for them because if they are not careful, they might soon have all the time that they want to themselves in hell. You this morning have given up time to come to this place, and that’s good, but don’t stop there. There are other things in your life that God wants you to give up. Maybe it’s certain TV shows that you watch or singing groups that you listen to. Maybe it’s alcohol or cigarettes or an addiction to food or gossip.
- What is more important to you than God? Abraham could have said, “But God, he’s my only son, and I love him so! Can’t you take something other than him?” But instead, he cut the wood, saddled the donkeys, and started the journey to where he was going to give up his son because God had told him to do so.
- True faith causes you to give up everything for God.
b. produce obedience (vs. 22)
- not only does it produce sacrifice, but it produces obedient sacrifice. Saul thought that he was doing a noble thing by saving certain animals as a sacrifice to God, but Samuel told him that God has greater delight in obedience than He does in sacrifice. (1 Sam 15:22-23 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
- have everyone inhale and hold it for as long as they can. Eventually everyone will have to exhale. Taking faith in will eventually result in putting obedience out.
- God says > I believe > I do. The faith causes the actions, and the actions give proof that the faith is real. Faith and actions “working together”.
- “Believe” could be rendered “be” + “live”. Something exists inside of me – that’s the faith – and because of that faith, I live a certain way. I live in obedience to God.
- Paul Harvey has rightly said, "If you don’t live it, you don’t believe it."
c. make you acceptable to God (vs. 23)
- Which is it that makes you acceptable with God – works or faith? Look at vs. 21 of James 2: “Was not our father Abraham considered righteous [or justified] for what he did . . .” Then look at vs. 24: “ . . . a person is justified by what he does . . .” And finally look at vs. 25: “ . . . Rahab was considered righteous for what she did . . .” James in this passage seems to be saying that it is works that actually brings about justification.
- Martin Luther had a very hard time with the book of James especially because of the passage that we are dealing with right now. [explain who Martin Luther was]
- Paul, the writer of most of the new testament, wrote words that would seem to be in direct contradiction to what James says here. In Romans 3:28, he wrote “man is justified by faith apart from observing the law”. Those who believe that the Bible has contradictions would seem to have a valid case here.
- But you have to keep in mind that the focus of this passage is proving a person’s claim to have faith. (refer to verse 14 – “claims”) My faith justifies me – or makes me acceptable - before God, but my actions justify me before men.
- In our courts of law, many innocent people have been accused of crimes. They and God knew that they were innocent, but that was not enough. They needed to convince a jury of their peers that they were innocent. The evidence had to brought forth in such a way that the jury could see where that person stood.
- When Paul said, “man is justified by faith apart from the law”, he was speaking against those who try to be saved by deeds instead of true faith. When James says that men are justified by works, he is speaking of those who confuse mere intellectual acknowledgment of the facts with true faith.
- As a pastor, James had seen a lot of shallow faith. In the beginning of the church, the faith of the people had been genuine. He had watched as people gave up all their possessions in order to help take care of the needs of other people within the church. He had seen people die rather than deny their faith in Jesus Christ. But now, near the end of his life, James saw others who claimed to have a relationship with Jesus, but never showed any fruit as a result of that relationship.
- It is faith apart from works that saves you and makes you acceptable to God, but it is faith producing works that proves that you are righteous before God.
d. establish a relationship between you and God (vs. 23)
- Think about your best friend as you were growing up. Maybe during your elementary years, or during high school or maybe even today. How can you tell when two people are best friends? They talk often together, they enjoy one another’s company, when separated, they experience pain, they sacrifice for one another, they listen to one another, they begin to think alike, they dress alike, they talk about EVERYTHING, they cry together, they laugh together, they don’t make plans without consulting together, they don’t keep secrets from one another, they love each other
- Jesus said of His disciples, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what His master is doing. But now I call you friends, because all that the Father has shared with me, I have shared with you.” (John 15:15)
- True faith is not about following a bunch of rules and believing a bunch of facts. It is about having a relationship with God the Father and His Son Jesus. Now I follow a bunch of rules, but I do so because of my relationship to God. I don’t want to hurt Him. I want to please Him. And I believe a bunch of things, but I do so because my Father and Friend told them to me.
- A faith that is only about rules and beliefs is boring. But a faith that brings me into a relationship with God is exciting!
- Do you have a relationship with Him? A relationship that is alive and growing on a daily basis?
e. cause you to leave your past behind (vs. 24)
- Rahab’s story (Joshua 2; 6:22-23,25)
- (Mat 1:5) – Rahab was the great-great-grandmother of King David
- the spies went out a different way, but they were not the only ones that went a different way after that day.
- Zachaeus lived differently after his encounter with Jesus. After Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery, he told her “Go, and sin no more”. John the Baptist spoke of repentance. Repentance deals with leaving your past behind so that you can walk a new pathway with God.
- Rahab showed her faith by risking her life to hide the spies and then by bringing all of her family members into her house on the wall and remaining there even as the rest of the wall crumbled.
- The person who thinks that he/she can get saved and go live that same lifestyle that they were living before they got saved is a fool. It would be the same as a person who continued to live in poverty even after they won a million dollars. Their new standing will cause them to take action and leave their past behind. They’re going to go out and spend money!
- No one has to change their life before they come to Jesus, but coming to Jesus will change their life and cause them to leave their past behind.
Conclusion:
A missionary returning after many years of service was asked, "Rev. Jones, tell me what you found at your station in New Guinea."
"Found? I found something that looked more hopeless than if I had been sent into a jungle of tigers. Those people were so fierce and degraded that they seemed utterly devoid of moral sense. If a mother were carrying her little baby and the child began to cry, she would throw it into the ditch and let it die. If a man saw his father break his leg, he would leave him upon the roadside to suffer by himself. They had no compassion whatever. They didn’t even know what the word meant."
"Well, what did you do for them? Did you preach?"
"No, not at first. I thought it better to show them my faith by my works! When I saw a baby crying, I picked it up and consoled it. When I saw a man with a broken leg, I sought to mend it. When I found people distressed and hungry, I took them in, comforted them, and fed them. Finally they inquired, "What does this mean? Why are you doing this for us?" Then I had my chance, and I preached the Gospel!"
"Did you succeed?"
"My friend," said the missionary, "when I returned home on furlough, I left a church."
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When John Paton was translating the Bible for a South Seas island tribe, he discovered that they had no word for trust or faith. One day a native who had been running hard came into the missionary’s house, flopped himself in a large chair and said, “It’s good to rest my whole weight on this chair.”
“That’s it,” said Paton. “I’ll translate faith as ‘resting one’s whole weight on God.’”
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That’s the question for everyone here today; are you resting your whole weight on God? If so, what evidence can you see in your own life that you have true faith? What evidence can others see?
Challenge:
1. If you examine yourself and find that there is no true faith, then come forward this morning, and place your whole weight on Jesus. Take Him as your savior. Place your complete faith in Him.
2. If you examine yourself and find that there is true faith, but it is not evidencing itself, then I would challenge you to come and seek God’s forgiveness, and give over total control of your life to Him.
3. Two of the easiest ways that you can evidence faith are through baptism and getting involved in this church. If you have been saved but have never been baptized, then I would challenge you to come forward this morning and declare that you desire to be baptized. God is calling some of you to get more involved in this church by becoming members and taking on responsibilities here. You can get that taken care of today too.
