Faith without works
Key Passage: James 2:20-24
Date: June 7, 2024
Turn your Bibles, if you would, to James chapter number two, James chapter two, in God’s Word. We are kind of resuming after Thanksgiving with just a short study on verses that are misused in the Bible. We are doing that to the end of the year. I believe the first Wednesday, a couple of Wednesdays of January, we will talk about a dirty word. It is called fasting. A lot of people do not like it, but God blesses and uses it biblically. We will spend just a couple of Wednesday nights on that and then get into the minor prophets. We will probably spend most of next year in the minor prophets in study about that.
But tonight, James chapter number two, James chapter two, and misused verses. This is really a misused phrase in the Bible: “Faith without works is dead.” We want to study this thing out and find out what God means by that. So, James chapter number two in God’s Word, if you would, please. Aren’t you glad I have the Bible? Man, what a blessing that is, and praise the Lord for it.
Do pray, and some of you have, I appreciate it. Even before I sent out the email, I had texts from many of you saying, “Hey, let us pray about that.” That is wonderful. It is going to be months before the decision is made and we know about it. So you will be praying about all that time. Some have said—and I do not know this is true—but some said it will be June before, probably June before we learn the decision. I do not know. But let us just pray in the meantime, as it will be going on for a good, good while. Let us just keep praying about that thing. What a huge thing.
Wouldn’t it be just a breath of fresh air for our Supreme Court to make a right decision and return it back to the states? Twenty-one states already have abortion laws in place ready to go, and it would just be a great, great victory. I have believed God might bless those states that make the right decisions, and so I pray the Lord [blesses] Tennessee as one of those. We are very thankful for that. But keep praying about that, and that would be great.
Tonight, it is James chapter number two, and we will use our Bibles a little bit more than typical at the beginning. Of course, Wednesday night, we try to have a Bible study. Isn’t it a shame using a Bible in church? My goodness, what is the world coming to, you know?
I was amazed when we had a guy, maybe six months ago. He was walking in Sunday morning—there was a visitor carrying my Bible—and he said, “Man, it’s just good to see a pastor carrying his Bible.” I thought, “Well, shouldn’t that be standard?” He said, “I have been visiting some of these crazy churches, and you do not see it much anymore.” What a shame.
Now, I have to confess, I almost messed up tonight. I was in a hurry to get down here to go pray before service started, and I forgot my Bible; I left it in the back. So I was almost like those other guys. I had to run back and get it real quick. I cannot leave—I am going to [go] out without a knife, you know. What is going on there?
But let us stand, if you would please. I will read God’s Word, if you are able, just to show it some respect, if you would please. James chapter number two. We will start in verse number 20, James 2, and verse number 20 of God’s Word.
“But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God. You see then how that by works, amen, a man is justified, and not by faith alone.”
Would you pray with me that God would help us to rightly divide His Word tonight? Would you do that?
Father, Lord, we come. We want to make Your Word just as clear as can be. Father, You told us over there in Corinthians that if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, the people do not know what to do. So, Lord, I pray to You to help us to make a very clear sound tonight and rightly divide Your Word. And then, Lord, would You apply it to our hearts and let us go out of here being better Christians for You because of it? We are asking for that, Father, in faith, because of the name of Jesus. We pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
If I had just read those passages, those verses that I just read, and I had not read anything else or known anything else in the Bible, then I would think works is part of my salvation. I mean, it sounds very clear from those passages: you must have works.
Now, I have a little problem with it. Does anybody else out there have a problem with anybody? Got bells going on? What is going on here? Now, can that be? You know a lot of these verses here. Look over in Titus chapter number three real quickly. Titus chapter three. Many of you have probably got it memorized. Titus 3:5, a great verse about salvation. Titus 3, verse number 5. We just read over here in James, “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, not by faith alone.” We just read it; it is the Bible. Look over here in Titus chapter number three, if you would. Look at verse number five. He says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Now, wait a second. It says you are justified over there by works, not by faith alone, but now it is saying not by works of righteousness which we have done.
You know this. If you know it by heart, let us just quote it. I think a lot of you know Ephesians 2:8-9. You know it; many of you have been through Foundations class. We have tried to get you to memorize that. Help me out. Here we go. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Wait a second. He says over here in James, “works.” But [Paul] said, “Not of works.” Paul is going to go around bragging if it is works. What is going on here? Look over in Romans, if you would please. Romans chapter number 11. Romans chapter number 11, if you would please. In a great verse where the Bible is putting works on one side and grace on the other. It clarifies you cannot mix the two. Romans 11 is a great verse about salvation and grace and works. Romans 11:6, if you are there, would you say amen?
You are cheating. You are reading ahead. I see you out there. You are reading ahead. I caught you, Miss Dunlap. I have seen that over there now, you know. But here we go. Here we go. Verse number six. Romans 11, look at verse number six: “And if by grace, now what is grace? Grace is us getting something we do not deserve—God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” And if by grace, then is it no more of works? Otherwise, grace is no more grace. Do you get that? My switch is the other side. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. Very clearly, he is saying you cannot mix the two.
So what is going on here? James: “Faith without works is dead.” And, “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith alone.” But now it is saying by faith, it is a gift, it is grace; you cannot mix works into it.
Look at one more place. If you look over Romans chapter number four, if you would, Romans chapter four. This would be what I would call the parallel scripture, if you will, the great comparison of scripture to James chapter 2. It is found in Romans chapter number four. If I am just out somewhere and someone asks about James 2—and, boy, I have had Jehovah’s Witnesses and many others say, “Well, you have to have works,” citing James 2, “Faith without works is dead,” and so on—this would be the scripture I would go to to explain more of what God is talking about, very clearly.
Look at Romans 4 and verse number 1. “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory.” Well, that kind of reminds me of Ephesians 2:9: “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” He said, look, if Abraham was justified by works, he could glory. Look at me! I offered my son, willing to—
Here is a key phrase. We will not really talk about it at the moment, but just very key. I have an underline in my Bible: that last part of verse number two. Watch what he says: “but not before God.” That is very important. Not before God. Let us keep going. “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” (That is Genesis 15:6, by the way.) Did you notice Abraham did not work? He believed. Abraham did not get baptized. He believed. Abraham did not get everything right. He believed. Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Verse four: “Now, to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” Kind of sounds like Romans 11:6. See, they have a mixture of works. Let us keep going. “But to him that worketh not.” Okay, we have no works here. “Worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
Now, wait a second. We have James over here saying, “It is not by faith alone; there has to be works.” Now Romans is saying, if you do not work at all, but you have faith, it is counted for righteousness. What is the deal? It seems like a contradiction. By the way, the old devil always wants to try to point out what he calls contradictions to us. Well, there is always an answer to it for you. Always is, always is.
Look in verse number six. “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness.” What are the next few words?
“Without works.” That God has blessed. God imputed into him righteousness. What is that? Jesus—your sin put on Jesus’ account, imputed over there—and His righteousness imputed or put on your account. Blessed is a man without works. Praise the Lord for that.
Let us keep going here. Verse number seven: “Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” You said, “Pastor, what in the world is going on? It seems like such a contradiction. What are we supposed to get out of this thing here?”
Can I just say a word or two about it before we get to the conclusion? Satan is always trying to add our works into salvation. Now, if I put any of my works in there, the best I can do is filthy rags. You check out religion in our day and time and in the past; he is always trying to bring works into salvation.
Now, just—let me say this: If there is a contradiction in the Bible, and there are many verses—let us take, does baptism save or not? There are many verses that say Jesus saves. But I will be honest with you, there are probably four verses, if I just read those verses alone, I would think baptism saves. You take the matter: can you lose your salvation? Many verses say you are secure in Christ: “He shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand,” and “None shall cast them out”—just verse after verse. But there are probably three or four, Hebrews 6 and a couple of other places, that if I just read those, it would look like I could lose my salvation.
So here is the thing: If you have a Bible truth that is just very clear in the Bible, and yet you have maybe one verse or a couple of verses that are maybe a little obscure, and they disagree with the rest of the Bible, you better study those one or two or three or four verses out.
Look over in 2 Peter chapter number one. We use this verse a lot in the Foundations class. It is a great verse as far as Bible study. And I am going to try to explain the difference between Romans 4 and James 2. But 2 Peter 1:20 is just a cardinal verse when it comes to Bible study. You cannot leave this verse out. 2 Peter 1:20 is just paramount when it comes to Bible study because pretty much every false religion in America knows that they need a little Bible in there. And so this is how they get their false doctrine out of the Bible. Second Peter 1:20, look at that verse, would you please?
He says, “Knowing this first”—this is very important—“knowing this first,” he says, “first of all, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” No prophecy of the scripture, no foretelling of the truth, no getting doctrine, no getting truth out of it, is of any private interpretation. In other words, I cannot take one verse out and really interpret it privately without putting it in context, and it has to fit with the rest of the Bible. Now, preaching often, we will take a verse or a truth and preach on it. That is nothing wrong with that as long as it fits back in with the rest of the Bible. And so it is very important that if I find a verse that looks like it is contradictory to much of the Bible, I better study that verse out.
You remember the Old Testament when they were going to have a trial? They said, “Look, that witness will not be established unless it has more than one witness.” Some want to build a whole huge doctrine off of one verse. You better have another verse somewhere on the line that can back that up. We need more than one witness there for it to be established.
So with those thoughts, let us go back over to James chapter number two, if you would please. We looked at James 2 and verse 24 and some of those later verses. We are going to start back up in verse 14. In the meantime, we have seen a lot of verses. Romans 4 and others say, “Hey, without works, but with faith, you are accounted for righteousness,” and “Blessed is a man imputed righteous without works,” and so on and so on. So what is the deal here?
Look back over in James chapter 2, if you would, please. James 2. Look in verse number 14. James 2, verse number 14. Do y’all want me tonight? Amen? I do not hear anybody snoring quite yet. That is a good thing. I mean, Jason is on the front row, and I do not hear it, so praise the Lord, we are doing good tonight. I will tell you what, you know.
James 2, look in verse number 14, if you would. Verse number 14, I appreciate him; he has been a good sport about it, J.C. Verse number 14, he says, “What doth it profit, my brother?” Now notice here he is talking to my brother. He is speaking out here to these people. What does it profit? What gain? Just looking out here amongst the people: “What doth it profit, my brother, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?” Or Romans says it would. James looked like it would not.
Verse number 15: “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,” so they have no food, they have no clothes, they need help—
Verse number 16: “And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body. What doth it profit?”
Let me just stop for a second there. Do you get what he is saying? Down South, we are pretty bad about it. You know, “Well, bless your heart.” We can say or do anything we want to as long as you say, “Well, bless your heart.” And a little bit along that line, somebody who has no food, who has no clothes—you say, “Well, bless your heart, God bless your brother,” but you do not have a bit [of help] in the world. Well, listen, your faith to them? No profit at all.
Now, let me just kind of explain here briefly what is going on. Romans, you remember that key phrase that man underlined? “Not before God.” You see, Romans over there is talking about before God. He said before God, your faith without works—that is what you need right there—because your works are going to mess it all up anyway. But James, the whole book of James, is talking about before man. “My brother, what profit is it? Look, your faith in that guy is not going to do him a hill of beans because you said, ‘Well, God bless your brother,’ but you did not do anything for him.” James is talking about the sight of man. Romans is talking about the sight of God.
Let us keep reading. Let us just let it kind of explain itself, if you would please. Verse 16: “God bless you and all that, but you do not give me anything. What does it profit?”
“Even so faith,” verse number 17, “even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone.” Watch this: “Yea, a man may say, ‘Thou hast faith, and I have works.’ Show me.” You are not talking about God. You are not talking about showing God. “Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee”—not talking about showing God—“I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devil also believeth and trembleth.” But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Now, James is all about you showing your faith to mankind. Romans is all about before God. Of course, God is the one that deals with your salvation, friend.
Look over, and I would not plan on using this, but I say Brother Marley and Mr. Stacy and Brother Ted, their neighbor. Look, if they would have said, “Boy, we are good Christians. Man, we have it together. Look at Marley and Stacy, we have it together,” you know, and they did all that, but they never lived out their faith and invited their neighbor to church—see, if they did not put any works to their faith for that man right there, their faith without works would have been dead. It would not have done him a bit of good. That is what the book of James is talking about. It is all about you and I living our faith out before mankind. Romans is all about before God.
Look down verse number 19. Well, we already read it. We already read it there. Can I just say this? This whole world is in need of Christians that live their faith out by their works. Man, that is what the book of James is all about. Look for him. If you are never living your faith out, what good is it to your coworker? Your faith without works is dead at work. And your coworker, when they have their aunt or their uncle that is on life support in an ICU and they need a Christian to go to and pray, because you have never worked and you have never lived for the Lord in front of them, your faith without works is dead to them. They have nowhere to go to. Why? Because faith without works is dead.
What about your classmates? We are going to have too many—we have a couple of young folks in here today. But is your faith without works dead? What about when we just saw our relatives at Thanksgiving? About to see them again at Christmas time. Is your faith without works dead to them? See, if I am never living it out to them, friend, it is dead. It does not do any good to them. That is what the book of James is all about. Hey, but I must live it out. Why? Because my faith without works is going to be dead. It is going to go no farther.
Bill Gillespie—no real testimony to him, but Bill Gillespie is a testimony to him. After he had his stroke, and he really just for a while could not get out and do anything pretty much, and he is probably watching online—hey, Brother Bill, he is. Brother Justin gives a thumbs up. But I would see him walking after his stroke, and, boy, he had just struggled just to walk. And he had walked down the streets of our neighborhood trying to get where he could move and walk in different things. It is just amazing to watch him work at it so hard. And I will be honest, the Holy Spirit told me more than once, “You need to talk to that man.” But if I had just said, “Well, okay, all right,” but I never worked out my faith to Bill Gillespie, it would have been dead.
But the Lord just kind of worked it out one day. He was coming down our street—maybe twice, I am not sure—but I went out, and the Lord kind of pushed me out. And I went out and I said, “Hey, I see you walking in the neighborhood,” so on and so on. And we struck up a conversation. And I said, “I can’t help it. I just got to ask: If you died, do you know for sure you go to heaven?” And I cannot remember the exact words, and Bill told me all the right things. He had been in church somewhat in the past. And maybe we would talk twice, and after that we would always wave and maybe say hi to each other, but I would talk to him about his salvation.
And I do not know, maybe a year later, he had stopped walking the streets of our neighborhood, but about a year later, he walked all the way down to our house. It is about a mile from his house because God was working on his heart at that time. And he knocked on our door. I was not there. My wife was there, and she answered the door. And Bill said, “Hey, is that preacher guy here?” And she said, “No, but I will tell him about it.” And, boy, I had the privilege a day or two later to go by his house, and Bill was so ready to ask the Lord Jesus Christ to be his Savior because God was working there.
Now, here is the thing: But if I had not worked out—if I had just taken my faith as well, “That is good enough, I am going to heaven, praise the Lord”—how do I have to go to help? If I had left it there, my faith without works would have been dead to Bill Gillespie. That is exactly what the Bible is teaching for. But when you begin to work out of your—that is what Romans 2:10 says: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” Once I am saved by faith alone before God without works, then I am supposed to start living for it so I make a difference in this world, so your neighbor will see it and others will see it, and God can use you to make a difference in people’s lives. Boy, this whole world is dire. America is in need of Christians that are living it out. That is a great need.
Let us keep going over here, James 2. Let us just keep going a little bit here. Let us just find out a little more of what he said in James 2. Look in verse number 21, if you would please. James 2, verse number 21: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by his works faith was made perfect?”
Now, that “perfect” has to do with mature or complete. You see, when I begin to live for God and my faith begins to live out in my life, that means my faith has become perfect; it has become mature. I am a grown Christian. I am living for the Lord now. That is what he wants, and that is what happened to Abraham.
Verse number 23: “And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness,’ and he was”—here is a very key word—“he was called the friend of God.” Why? Yeah, by the new man, that over there, he was willing; he was willing to lay his son down. And that man right there, he was called the friend of God because his faith had been lived out into works.
“You see then how that by works a man is justified, not by faith alone.” I am talking about before God, he was called a friend of God. People knew that man over there; he is just not talking it; he is walking it. And I believe that man right there, he knows God right there; he is a friend of God.
Would those people inside your home say, “You know what? He lives for the Lord at home. She knows God. I know she does. I see her. I see her walking with God.” Would people say, “Hey, you know what? Those people over there, they are a friend of God. They are different. They are living it out. They are working their faith out.” They are going to say, “Hey, man, that person over there, they are living it. They know God.” That is what the book of James is talking about.
It is a sad thing when we have Christians mimicking the world. What a sad thing. Sometimes I think, do they think that Christians are second-rate citizens? Friend, I am not trying to be mean to the world; they need the Lord Jesus Christ. But, friend, hey, we are a child of a king. We are going to heaven, friend. We know how we got here, who made us what we are supposed to be doing here. We are going to go one day. They are all mixed up, friend. Why in the world should I try to act like them? Hey, when I begin to work out my faith—
I thought about this. They do not know I am going to use it. I hope they do not mind too late. They can get mad at me later. It is easier to ask forgiveness than permission, you know. I am teasing, of course. But I think about Brother Chip and Ms. Tammy when they were in school, and of course, they could tell the story better than me. I am preaching, so I can elaborate on it, make it real big, you know.
That is something along this line. He saw Ms. Tammy, and, well, she seemed a little different. And so he was—but he thought, “Well, she is pretty, though,” you know, so I think I will go check her out. I will talk to her a little bit. And so he was going over there trying to impress her or just trying to find out where she was and began to tell her all about his groups that he listened to, his music, and that was the world’s music, rock and roll music. And here is the thing: He was shocked. She did not know any of them. And she was almost trying to keep him from feeling too bad, you know. But the honest truth is, he could figure it out. She did not know what in the world he was talking about. And in his mind, he said, “Hey, there is something different about her. She is not just talking it; she lives it.”
And praise the Lord, the Lord used her to get him a little bit closer to the Lord. He is already saved, and they have been married all these years and have good, godly children. But why? A lady, she said, “My faith, I do not want it just to be faith alone; I want works.” Not for the Lord—the Lord [saves] by faith alone—but before other people. See? And if she would not have been living it, her faith without works would have been dead. That is what James is all about.
Oh, it is such a need in our day and time for people to live out, to have mature faith—that is somebody that is living it.
They say there was an African prince and leader. And he heard the missionary preach. And somebody said, “What do you think about that?” And he said, “Well, I cannot read his book.” He said, “But I have been watching that missionary for two years. He said, ‘They have never lied that I can see one time in two years.’ So when they told him what that book is from God, I believe it because they have never lied. And I am going to follow their Savior, Jesus Christ,” because somebody was living it. Faith without works is dead. Oh, how we need people that are living out their faith.
Look at verse number 25 here. Verse number 25. We will not be much longer here tonight. But verse number 25, you would there in James chapter 2. Are you all there? Verse number 25, James 2, verse number 25? Boy, Brother Patterson, he is the only one. Anybody else there? Good, all right, good. Here we go. “Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and sent them out another way?”
Time out for just a second. You know it. You probably know it already. Remember, they sent in the spies, and over there in Jericho, just two there at that time, and they sent them in. And Rahab the harlot said, “Hey, you guys are from Israel, aren’t you? Well, I believe you are God, Jehovah God; He is a real God.” And then when they started looking for those Israelites, she said, “Hey, come on up here, and I have got some hiding spots up here. Let me hide you.” Remember, then she let them down by that thread. And later on, she said, put the scarlet—a wonderful picture—the scarlet thread later on. But that is what it is talking about here.
Let us keep going here. I am sorry. Go back to verse number 25, if you would please. “Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers and sent them out another way?” Now, what is it saying here? Look, that lady was a sinful lady, a harlot. We are all sinful, but you understand what I am saying—Rahab the harlot. But I believe she got saved, and there was an obvious working out of her faith. I do not know that because, hey, “Guys, go up there and hide on the roof. You go out this way down by the wall, and you go that way, and I will tell them so-and-so.” And so her faith with works proved to those men, “Hey, she is truly a born-again Christian. She is saved. She believes in Jehovah God now by her works. We know it.”
And so when they marched in there, they took everybody in the city besides her and her family who was in the house. Why? Because her faith was shown by her works. Now look, it is a great testimony when someone gets saved. Man, their life ought to change. It ought to be something different about it. You say, “Hey, they are different now.”
My father got saved. I am so thankful when my mom got saved. She was the first one saved in our whole family. And my dad did not want to get saved; he did not want anything to do with it. And you know the thing that got my dad? It was not some great doctrine that somebody told him or this or that or the other. I have heard him say this. He said, “Man, she was different.” I mean, he said—he said, “Just, we were getting fights before, and we would just fight it out, tooth and nail, you know. I mean, I had a tooth for a tooth for a tooth—that is Bible, you know. Amen, come on.” But he said she was just in the middle of it. She would just say, “Hey, I am sorry. I will leave it alone.” Dad said, “Wow, something has changed in her.” And she started going to church and living for the Lord and living right. And she made a little fire out in the back and burned her immodest dress. My dad said, “There is something different about her.” And he said, “Maybe I ought to go to church and check it out.” And you have heard me talk about it many times. Praise the Lord, he got saved.
Why? Because when she got saved, she began to work. “Created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” That is all the book of James is; he just keeps going back: “Man, you ought to live it out. And when you get saved, it ought to be something different in your life.” That is what the book of James is talking about.
Go back up, if you would, to verse number 15. James 2, verse number 15, if you would, just real briefly here. We started here; we are going to kind of end here. But James 2 and verse number 15: “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, ‘Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled,’ notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body. What doth it profit?”
Kind of reminds you of Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Praise the Lord for our Love and Action ministry. All you that participate in that ministry—Ms. Barb has been heading it up, doing such a good job for the last year—and Brother Justin, when we had the funeral here, Ms. Tabitha had passed and all that, you know. And he had family come in from… Oh, Indiana, I think, Illinois, Missouri, maybe—just had about 100 people here. They have never been in our church before. They do not know anything about our church. But they have seen our ladies working. I mean, they had green beans. And those green beans, they put a little lard or ham hocks in there or something; they made it good. Come on now, you know. Put a little bacon in anything and make it good, you know what I am talking about? I mean, they had rolls, and they had some fried chicken—amen, Baptist bird, got to have that, you know. They had some sweet tea back there, and they had—for the young folk, got to have mac and cheese. Come on now, you know. Is that right? The two Emmelines say, is that right? Yeah, that is—the young folk got to have some mac and cheese, you know. They had mac and cheese. Just a little bit of everything. And then, praise the Lord, desserts are coming. Amen, right there. Hallelujah for desserts. I mean, marriage shepherd of the lamb, I am going to eat all desserts and never gain a pound. It is going to be a good day for it, you know. Excited about that.
And you know what? They were saying—they said, “You know, if I lived in this area, I would probably come to this church right here.” Some of them were telling Brother Justin, “Man, you are blessed to have a church like that.” I guarantee you a whole lot of it was—a whole lot of it was—their faith was shown by their works. Man, it was a great testimony to our church. And who knows, some of them got saved at the funeral. We have the gospel out at it.
Same thing. We just had the funeral when Jacob preached it down there, Tammy Woodard’s dad there, and, boy, our ladies made a big old spread. Many of you—I do not know who all of us—and they went over to one son’s house of the old eight, and, boy, Miss Tammy said, “That made an impact on our family.” Why? Faith with works made perfect. God uses that. But if we had just said, “Well, we will be praying for you, Brother Justin, hope you make it all right,” you know, never worked our faith—well, that works is dead.
I remember Brother Stephen Evans. Remember Stephen Evans? Some of you do. Brother Stephen Evans used to be in our church years ago, and he had worked with a guy named Mike, and he was just burdened about Mike. Brother Stephen, you know, he has moved away, but he has kept contact with this guy named Mike, his coworker. And he did not think Mike was saved because for a while Mike was bitter and hardened, and Mike had cancer. And the cancer came back on him very, very strong. And Stephen was able to talk to him, and Mike said, “I have been saved before.” He gave him a testimony and different things. And the couples class got together and got an offering for him and his wife because he is to the point he is so susceptible, he cannot work anymore or whatnot with his cancer. It does not look like he has much time.
And here is the thing: So he said—Mike said—“But his wife is not.” And Stephen said when the wife found out that we were going to just send them a check for some groceries, she started crying. She said, “Those people do not know us. Why are they doing that? They do not know.” Mike will never be able to come to their church. Probably a good chance she will never come. But faith without works is dead. And she started crying when she said, “Those people at that church, I do not even know them, they do not know me, but they are sending us some offerings for groceries.”
All this old world, they need to see Christians that are living it out. And our neighbors, our coworkers, the people we live around, our relatives—they need to see our faith by our works. No, not to be saved, but to profit in this whole world, this messed-up world. But when they see there is something different about them, they are living it out, there is profit. That is what the book of James is teaching.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes please?
You are here tonight. You say, “Preacher, I want my faith to be shown to the world. I want people to see it. I want people to see my faith by my works, and God will use that in their heart in the life’s gospel. I want people to see it.” If that is you tonight, just lift your hand to the preacher. That is me. I want people to see it. I am with you, friend. I want to see it. Yes, that is her job to make our Heavenly Father look good. That is her job. God bless you, many, many hands. God bless you.
Maybe you are here tonight and you say, “Preacher, you know, there are some things I need to change. I mean, there are some things in my life. I am not living out my faith by my works. I need to stop or start. I need to make some changes so there will be more profit in this old world.” God spoke to my heart about it. I need to make some changes so I will show my faith by my works. God spoke from my heart about that actually tonight. I need to make some changes. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. It was wonderful. God bless you. It is wonderful.
I think it was the old Moody who said when you go to church, you preach the message a mile long just to be in church. That is great. Wonderful to be here Wednesday night. Would you please stand tonight? Would you please stand? If the Lord is leading, would you just be obedient? Come spend some time. Lord, let me be a light for You. Maybe you have a relative in mind for prayer. Let it be a profit; let them get saved. Lord, You will work in their heart. We will not be long. As soon as we say amen, God spoke to your heart. You just be obedient. You will be obedient to the Lord’s leading in your life.
Father, thank You so much that Your Word is clear. Thank You, Lord, You gave us eternal life; it is a gift. But help us to live it so others will receive the gift. Help us to shine brightly for You in this old world. Bless our people these few minutes here; help us to draw an eye to You and be obedient. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Would you come as we sing? We will not be long. Would you come?
I remember over at Windsor Downs Apartments—how many of you know where Windsor Downs Apartments are over here in Smyrna? We were there. We were out soul-winning, trying to win some souls. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were there. And, of course, we were saying, “It is just Jesus.” And they said, “No, no, you have to have some works cited there. You have to do this. It is not just Jesus; you have to do some things.” And, of course, they brought up James 2: “Faith without works is dead.”
And praise the Lord, we said, “Oh, wait a second. What about Romans 4 before God? Hey, your faith alone counted for righteousness.” James 2 is before man—big difference, big difference. Do not let the devil add any works into your salvation; it will mess it all up. And just Jesus, He is the way, not part of it; He is all of it; He is the way. And let us live it out. Amen. Glad you are in church tonight. Praise the Lord, the roof is still holding up. We are doing good, and I am teasing with you. J.C. has been around here for years, and I appreciate him. Good to have him tonight. That is great. Good to see you all. That is a blessing. Brother Patterson, what do you think, brother? What a [relief] it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission there, too, huh? Amen. I should not have said it.
We are not going to have anybody here on the Wednesday night to the beginning of the year. We will talk about fasting. You know, it would be—where did everybody go? But we are glad you are here tonight. Appreciate you being in the House of God. That is a blessing. Praise the Lord. Amen. Brother Bill is going to help us with our buses. He has been—he said, “Don’t, don’t”—but he has been a diesel mechanic, and he is going to help us. And I have been praying for that for years. That is a blessing right there. Praise the Lord for it. And what a blessing. Brother Bill, would you dismiss us with a word of prayer, please, brother?
Original File: Misused Verses- James 220 Faith without works - Pastor Paul Chisgar Wednesday Evening 1212021