Visible Faith Part 1 Series

Visible Faith – Part 1

Scripture: Second Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:1, 6; James 2:14-26

Good morning Strangers Rest. The title of my message this morning is “Visible Faith.” If you recall from my message last Sunday, I talked with you from the topic of “A Time for Faith.” In that message, I spoke about the seasons of life that we experience and how the presence of God’s Word in our lives and exercised on will guide us through them. I reminded you of what is recorded in Second Corinthians 5:7 which say, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” I also reminded you that Romans 10:17 say, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” My point last week was that we are required to walk by faith and the only way we can do that is to have faith which comes through the word of God. This morning, I will be building on this thought as I share with you how our faith, real faith, is visible to others. W. H. Griffith Thomas wrote, “Faith commences with the conviction of the mind based on adequate facts; it continues in the confidence of the heart or emotions based on the above conviction; and it is crowned in the consent of the will, by means of which the conviction and confidence are expressed in conduct.” Faith requires something of us and that something is action.

Remember what is recorded in Hebrews chapter eleven about what faith is? I want to read this verse from the Amplified Bible because it will further support what we are going to be reading in the book of James. It says, “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality--faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” (Hebrews 11:1) In thinking about our faith being visible to others, the writer of Hebrews explains how this happens. He says faith is our assurance of things we hope to receive. The writer further states that it is the evidence of things not yet seen but having conviction that they do exist. Do you see the connection here? Faith is visible because we believe the promise from God that something exists that has yet to physically manifest itself. This is what others see in us when we believe God for something before we receive it. They witness our faith in action. It is our actions once we believe something that gives proof to our faith. This is why Hebrews 11:6, again from the Amplified Bible, says, “But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.” When we say that we believe God exists then our faith is evident in how we act. We “act” like we believe God exists and we begin to seek out what God has to say about how we choose to live. Are we living for ourselves or are we choosing to live for Him because of our professed faith in Him? This is the point that James brings out in his book. Our foundation Scripture will be James 2:14-26, and we will crisscross through the Bible to further explain the examples that James uses.

But, before we read what James wrote, I want to first remind you of who he was because understanding this will add another level of understanding as to how he reached the conclusion that he did about faith. James was the half-brother of Jesus. He was the son of Mary and Joseph and had other brothers and sisters. James was initially skeptical of Jesus's claims, and we see this recorded in John 7:3-5 which says, “(3) His brothers therefore said to Him, ‘Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. (4) For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.’ (5) For even His brothers did not believe in Him.” Here is something to consider, it’s interesting to me that Jesus did not do the works to gain a following or to gain recognition. His works flowed from His heart of simply doing His Father’s will. But we don’t see that today in some of our Church leaders. They want to be followed. They want recognition. But they don’t have Jesus’s heart for people. Just something to think about. After Jesus’s resurrection, James became a believer and an Apostle. He also became a leader in the Church and played a prominent role in the Jerusalem Council. So, this James, who authored the book of James, became a believer, a man of faith, after Jesus’s resurrection. Strangers Rest, this is the man who wrote about faith being visible to others. Now let us read what he wrote. Please turn to James chapter two and we will begin with verse fourteen. Again, James will be the foundation verses that I will keep coming back to with the other examples in Scripture.