Faith Acts

A very good morning for myself. It's great to be here. Thank you so much for the invitation

to join you in fellowship. We were here a couple of years ago as a family for one of

your morning services and we're greatly blessed at that time. I've gotten to know John a bit

over the years through various gospel activities and it's been a great blessing to make that

connection and have that friendship with John. As John said, up until the end of last year

I was working at Greenview Evangelical Church that we have some connections with. Delighted

to take all responsibility for Neil, who's such a great servant of the church as the rest

of his family are in Greenview. I was working there until last year and then during last

year I was approached by FIEC, which is the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches,

about taking on a role for them in Scotland as their kind of Scottish worker and coordinator.

and after a lot of prayer and consultation we were delighted to take up that offer. So

for the last six months or so I've been working for FIEC, going around Scotland, supporting

the various churches that are part of that network, encouraging them, trying to get to know them

and just being a bit of a flag waver really for that movement. Very briefly, I'm not here

to do a missionary report on FIEC, but very briefly for those who don't know anything about

it at all. It is what it says in the tin, it's a fellowship, not a denomination, it's a network

of independent churches. We believe that churches are best run by the people who are in them,

of evangelical churches, that those that are committed to a very strong body of gospel truth

to the biblical gospel that's historically received and passed on by the church and churches like this

one. And a network that we can encourage each other and things like pastoral support for church leaders,

church planting and mission and training, and also in some practical ways, some legal services and

others that the network provides. So if you want to know more about FIEC, then do speak to me at the

end. I'd be delighted to share more about that. But it's been encouraging that it's a growing

network. There's over 500 churches now across the UK are part of the FIEC family. And in Scotland last

year, we were delighted, actually in Edinburgh, that Charlotte Chapel, just up the road, and Nidre

Community Church, both affiliated. And just this week, Harper Memorial Baptist Church in Glasgow

has voted to join FIEC. So it's encouraging times for the movement. Let's turn to God's words now.

That's why I'm here. That's why we're here. And the main is to gather around God's word and to hear

what God would say to us this morning. So if you have a Bible, I know there's some round about. If

you turn to James chapter 2, that would be really helpful. And just to keep that open as we look at

James 2 · chapter mention

this passage from scripture today. James chapter 2, and we're going to read verses 14 to 19. And the

James 2 · chapter mention

title I've been given, which is very appropriate and fits with the passage, is Faith Acts. So let's

hear God's words. James 2 and verse 14.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith

save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to

them, go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what

good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say,

you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith

by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. May God

bless you as a reading of his precious and inspired words. Coming to that part of James this morning,

which I suppose has made the book of James so controversial through the centuries over the years.

You'll be aware, if you know a bit about the book of James, that it was a New Testament letter that

Martin Luther, the great reformer, described as an epistle of straw. And the reason that Martin

Luther struggled with James, why it bothered him, was in large part because of the kind of things that

we have just read this morning. It's a section that seems to jar with the great emphasis of Martin

Luther and others on faith alone as the basis of our salvation. For Martin Luther, Romans was the book.

That was the life-changing book for him that just gave him that great revelation of the way to get

right with God, to be accepted and forgiven by God. Romans has that great declaration, doesn't it,

of salvation through faith alone. Full stop, nothing more to be added. The truth that became the heartbeat of the

reformation and is the heartbeat of our own evangelical faith today. The great truth that no one can be saved.

No one can get right by God or win God's favor by their good works, by law-keeping, by moral performance.

But that only and entirely in Jesus, in the sacrifice that he made for sins, and in receiving his righteousness,

can any individual man or woman, girl or boy, be forgiven and received by God and welcomed in

to God's family, be made just in the eyes of God. It is a gift of salvation that is to be taken hold of

and received entirely and simply and exclusively by believing.

The gospel message of faith alone that is so liberating, freezes from the treadmill and the insecurity,

even the occasional pride of trying to earn God's favor.

The gospel message that gives all the praise and glory and credit to Jesus Christ.

This isn't a joint endeavor. A pat on the back for me and a pat on the back for Jesus.

The gospel that invites us to rest on the knowledge that Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross

has dealt with our sins completely.

Our debt, our guilt, the due punishment of our sins, cancelled forever.

So what a shock.

What a swerveball to pick up James' letter and read words like verse 17,

faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Verse 20, faith apart from works is useless.

What kind of heresy is this?

Call the elders.

Brother James needs a visit.

Have you seen Paul's email?

He's going through the roof.

Is James contradicting Paul?

Is he undermining him?

Presenting some kind of alternative gospel?

A gospel of getting right with God that requires good deeds.

A Jesus plus kind of Christianity in which what we do becomes an essential component of getting right with God.

Well, let me say very simply, no.

I don't think James is proposing or suggesting anything of that kind.

Rather, he is a pastor, as John has reminded us this morning,

who is dealing with real people in the real world

and sees that there is a danger of them using faith in a way that abuses the gospel.

In this regard, I think James is actually very like Paul in the kind of provocative statements he makes in his letter.

Remember how in Romans, how Paul outlined the absolute bankruptcy of law-keeping as a way to find salvation.

Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

You might just want to flick back to it.

I don't have PowerPoint this morning.

It's just like the old days.

Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

These are well-known verses, but they're important.

Paul writes,

And then he goes on in Romans in chapter 5 to explain how futile law-keeping is.

In fact, the law actually only really served to provoke and to increase sin in the world.

But that God in his mercy through Jesus Christ has overcome all that sin

and provided grace in Christ to be forgiven.

In fact, he says in chapter 5 that Christ's work in dealing with sin

is all the more glorious when you consider just how much sin there was to be overcome.

But Paul's not stupid because he's a real pastor speaking to real people

and he knows exactly what his readers are going to start to think at this point

as they read through his letter.

Someone has said,

You know that you're understanding Romans as you read it

when you get to one of Paul's rhetorical questions

and it's what you were starting to think yourself.

You know you've been following his line of argument.

He knows where our thoughts inevitably will start to lead

when we're told those kind of things.

And so in chapter 6 verse 1,

he preempts his readers

and he cuts off the error

which is the big danger that we're going to fall into.

Chapter 6 of Romans verse 1,

What shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin

that grace may abound?

You know if sin just actually shows us and displays in some way the greatness of Christ

and trying to not sin can't save us,

then is this not just a ticket, an invitation for us to sin away to our heart's content?

In fact, we're making Christ look even better the more that we sin.

We're making his sacrifice all the greater.

And Paul, of course, goes on in chapter 6 to say,

No means, God forbid, was the old AV translation.

By no means, don't you know,

that those of us who have been made dead to sin

can no longer continue in it?

That Christ and his sacrifice has died

so that you might die to sin

and live with him that resurrection life of righteousness?

To think that you would carry on sinning

just because Christ is the only way to deal with your sin

would be to misunderstand the gospel,

to misunderstand the very reason that you have been saved,

the very life that you have been brought into

by grace, by Christ.

And this is exactly what James is doing in chapter 2 of his letter.

He is tackling the issue of what does faith

properly understood look like?

You see, it seems very clear, doesn't it, in verse 14

that even for James to pose the question,

can faith save him, can that faith save him,

presupposes that among his readers

there was the assumption

that it would or it could save them in that sense

that faith was the basis of their faith?

You see, James is writing to well-taught evangelicals, I think.

People who rightly saw faith as the basis of salvation.

Unfortunately, just like Paul's readers in Romans,

they were in danger of thinking

that saving faith was something

that could be of no consequence

to then how you subsequently lived.

Let me put it like this.

If Paul's question in Romans is,

does faith mean

that sinning doesn't matter for a Christian?

James' question is,

does faith mean

doing good doesn't matter

for a Christian?

And in verse 14,

the opening question, of course,

of our text today,

it very much assumes that it does.

It does.

What good is it, my brothers,

if someone says he has faith

but does not have works,

can that faith save him?

Now notice that this is about a profession of faith.

If someone says he has faith.

So we have a claim to faith here,

but a claim which seems to be detached

from any practical demonstration of that faith.

It's the kind of claim to faith

that we would say today is,

all talk,

fine-sounding words,

but devoid of substance.

It's the kind of faith profession

that James wants us to know

in our lives and the lives of others

should be a big concern to us.

After all,

when a person becomes a Christian,

when a person genuinely trusts in Jesus Christ,

when they bow the knee of their heart

and they open their heart

to the lordship of Jesus Christ

and repentance and faith,

the Bible is very clear

that they become,

in that moment,

a spirit-filled child of God.

That they become a new creation.

There begins a renewal of heart and mind.

There is a change,

a spiritual realignment,

an adjustment.

So we would expect to see

some kind of effects

being manifest in their lives.

Character, attitude, desires,

relationships, priorities.

Now some things might be gradual,

they might be faltering,

they might be embryonic,

but we would expect to see them

in some measure,

in some way.

Remember at the beginning

of 1 Thessalonians,

Paul writes to that

New Testament church

that he had had to leave

so hurriedly

and is rejoicing and hearing

that they have continued

in the faith.

And he reflects back

on his visit to them

back in Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

And he says

in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1

1 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

and verse 4,

he says,

For we know,

brothers loved by God,

that he has chosen you,

because our gospel came to you

not only in word,

but also in power

and in the Holy Spirit

and with full conviction.

You know what kind of men

we proved to be among you

for your sake,

and you became imitators of us

and of the Lord,

for you received the word

in much affliction.

See, Paul's writing

and he says,

We know that the gospel

we preached to you

was effective

because it had effects.

Because you started to change.

We know that the faith

that you embraced was real

because actually we can see

and hear about

what has happened in your life

since that would be evidence

of the reality of it.

But for the person who says,

I believe,

I have faith,

but nothing changes,

James' question is,

what is the nature of that faith?

Can that faith,

can such faith save him?

Or in other words,

is that kind of faith,

is that profession

really saving

genuine biblical faith?

And in verse 15,

James gives us an illustration.

James is great,

gives us an illustration,

saves a lot of work

for preachers.

And he gives an illustration

of meeting a destitute

fellow Christian,

a brother or sister.

And there they are

and they're shivering

in their lightweight jacket

and it's the middle of January.

Or they're hungry.

What do you do?

Well, if your faith

is no more than just

a linguistic formula,

then you can pat them

on the head

with a few pious words

and say,

go in peace,

be warmed and be filled.

Verse 16.

Sounds really spiritual,

doesn't it?

Oozing with faith.

Unfortunately,

James wants us to know,

it's a very unbiblical

understanding

of genuine saving faith.

Because it makes faith,

Christian faith,

into some kind

of magical spell.

Whereas real Christian faith,

James wants us to know,

acts.

For example,

how do we know

that God loves us?

How do you know that?

I mean,

every Christian would say

that was true.

What's the reason

for our confidence

in believing

that God actually loves us?

Well, it's interesting,

again,

we won't look to it

for the sake of time,

but you go back

to Romans chapter 5

Romans 5 · chapter mention

and Paul makes

that great declaration

of God loves us,

but he doesn't say

he loves us

just because he told us so.

Although,

because that's God,

that would be enough.

But actually,

he gives an example

of that love.

He says,

we know that God loved us

because while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.

That God's love

is not just a platitude,

but it was demonstrable,

it was evidence,

it was worked out

in history

in a very practical way

in the giving of his son.

Now,

there's another point

in James

in this section,

and it may be

the main one,

actually,

of these particular verses.

And that is,

considering this example

of this destitute,

hungry,

shivering brother or sister

in the faith

and our response to them,

James is raising the fact

that we are not

to delegate back to God

the responsibilities

that he has delegated to us.

Somebody has said

that God never does anything

that, first of all,

he can't get people to do.

That is,

God, of course,

could preach the gospel

directly from heaven.

A sort of speaker system

coming down from the clouds.

But he has delegated

that to you

and to me.

God could plan

or organize churches

directly from heaven,

but he has delegated

that to us.

God could send

an angel

to visit

old Mrs. Jones,

but he has given

that responsibility

to us.

There's a great

little example

or window into this

in Mark chapter 5.

Mark 5 · chapter mention

Remember that well-known

story of Jairus' daughter

being raised from the dead.

Amazing miracle.

And Mark notes

at the end of that incident

that after she is raised,

Jesus tells the people there

to give the girl

something to eat.

It's a kind of curious detail,

isn't it?

Why didn't Jesus

just raise her up

fully energized,

fueled up for the day,

complete in every way

in that moment?

Why did he wake her up,

bring her back from the dead

and she's actually hungry?

Maybe he feels a bit faint,

needs a bit of nourishment.

Don't know,

maybe it's just

a little example

in Scripture

that God will do

what we can't do,

but what we can do,

he will leave to us to do.

So when people come to us

for help

or we see a practical

or physical need,

we're not to send them off

hoping for a miracle

down the road.

What good is that?

Verse 16.

But as we are able,

we are to meet that need

ourselves.

That will be a demonstration

of real biblical faith.

You see,

verse 18.

James is very clear,

isn't he?

You have faith

and I have works.

Show me your faith

apart from your works

and I will show you

my faith by my works.

In other words,

if you've got real faith,

show me the money.

Because biblical faith

is never abstract theory.

Believing in Jesus

is not an academic

pastime.

One of the examples

we sometimes use

in explaining

about Christian belief

to people

in our Christianity

explored courses

in Greenview

is we talk about

the difference

between believing

on the one hand

in something like

the Loch Ness Monster

and saying you believed

in, say,

the Labour Party

or Barack Obama.

On the one hand

with the Loch Ness Monster,

you're just saying

that you think

there might be

some kind of

odd creature

swimming about

in that water

up there

in the north of Scotland.

But it's just a kind

of statement

of possibility

if you like.

But when you say

I believe in the SNP

or I believe in

David Cameron

or Barack Obama,

you're not saying

you believe

they just actually

physically exist.

You're saying something

more than that,

aren't you?

In that sense,

you're saying

that you have

a confidence.

You have an investment.

You have a sense

that these people

can deliver

and do something

and provide something

and enable something

in your life

or in your country

that you think

would be beneficial

and that you

would be supportive of

and that you

would look to

in a very positive way.

That's the difference

between believing

that Jesus exists

and believing

in Jesus Christ.

Because for the Bible,

any belief

in Jesus

that doesn't

affect us,

that doesn't

change us,

that doesn't

have some impact

on who we are,

the decisions

we make,

isn't really,

from the Bible's

point of view,

real biblical belief.

It's just

the possession

of data.

Now, of course,

verse 19,

that data might be

impeccably

orthodox.

You believe

that God is one,

you do well.

Even the demons

believe

and shudder.

You see,

the demons

cannot be faulted

in their doctrine

of God.

But it's not

of any profit

to them.

Their profession

is not one

that will bring them

any comfort.

It's one

to make them

shudder.

I think it may

be very significant

that James

is using

this particular

doctrine,

the doctrine

of God's

oneness,

in this

place.

Just turn with me

back to

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6

and verse

4 and 5

where that

great declaration

of God's

oneness

was first

made to

Israel.

Verses that

every Jew

will have

memorized,

have them

pinned to

their door,

will touch

them when

they go

into their

house.

Hear,

O Israel,

the Lord,

our God,

the Lord

is one.

You shall

love the

Lord with

all your

heart,

with all

your soul,

and with

all your

might.

And these

words that I

command you

today shall

be on

your heart.

See, it's a

great declaration

of God's

oneness that

God is

whole, he

is unified,

he is

complete,

he is

exclusive.

But the

implication,

the follow-on,

the application

there from

God's

oneness is

therefore you

should love

God with

your whole

being.

You should

be one

in your

devotion and

love and

approach to

God.

And of

course I'm

sure you've

covered this

already but

one of the

great themes

of James is

double-mindedness.

You know the

person that is

half this way

and half that

when it comes

to faith and

belief.

And this is

another example

of don't be

double-minded.

Don't have the

faith compartment

over here and

then their life

compartment over here

and never the

twain will

meet.

Every part,

every facet of

you should be

given to God

because he is

one, he is

exclusive, he is

whole and

therefore you

should be

absolutely whole

and united in

yourself in

terms of that

relationship and

how you respond

and follow and

love God.

There's not just

bits of you that

are to respond

to God.

Faith and

works are both

to respond to

God.

there should be

an integrity

and a oneness

in our faith.

Christians are

not people who

have been

forgiven, can

call God their

father and look

forward to the

joy of eternal

life and a

renewed and

sinless creation

because they do

good works or

for that matter

are just nice

guys.

that's how we

started and I

want to make

that point again.

You will not

get to heaven,

you cannot get

to heaven because

of your good

deeds.

Christians are

people who are

simply trusting

in Jesus Christ,

believing that

when he died on

the cross he

took the punishment

they deserved

for the rejection

of God that in

and through Jesus

alone everything,

everything,

capital E,

in bold,

underlined,

necessary for

them to be

accepted by God

has been provided

and to which

they can add

nothing when it

comes to getting

right with God.

Your best efforts

cannot save you,

your good works

cannot keep you,

your good days

and your purest

moments cannot

make you any

more loved than

you already are

by God.

We are called

to rest in joy

and be thankful

in Christ

for that salvation

completely and

entirely provided

for us.

And James and

Paul want us

in resting

and enjoying

and thanking

God for that

salvation

to live the

life that we

were saved

for.

to love,

to care,

to show

kindness,

to serve,

to provide,

to comfort,

to show others

the kind of

mercy and

blessings that

we ourselves

have received

from God

in Christ.

Christ.

And let me say

this morning

as we finish,

if that's not

your heart,

if you are

a professing

Christian this

morning,

if you are

somebody who

would say,

I have faith

and that's

not your

heart,

that kind

of call

to live it

out,

to love

and to care,

to demonstrate

it,

just leaves

you kind of

cold.

if faith

in Christ

for you

is just

a set

of

statements

or a

prayer

that you

made

many

years

ago

a

weekend

away,

if it

doesn't affect

you,

if faith

has just

become an

excuse for

sin in your

life,

just a get

out for

not making

an effort,

then it

might be

that you

have faith

that is

dead,

faith that

can offer

you no

assurance,

faith that

is not

saving,

and if

so,

ask God

to open

up and

soften your

heart this

morning,

ask God

to work

again in

your heart

and in

your life

so that

what you

know will

show,

let's

pray,

let's

pray,

let's

pray,

let's

pray,

let's

pray,

let's

pray,

let's

pray,

let's

pray,

Heavenly

Father,

we thank

you for

the gospel,

we thank

you for

the gospel

of salvation

by faith

alone and

Christ

alone,

we thank

you that

our confidence

is entirely

upon the

Son of

God who

loved us

and gave

himself for

us,

and Father

we thank

you that

in receiving

Christ and

following

Christ we

are brought

in to

that new

resurrection

life,

to the

life of

faith,

the life

that enables

us to

be a

blessing,

to work

out in

our lives

the kind

of care

and love

and compassion

and gentleness

for others

that you

have shown

to us

in overwhelming

measure.

So Father

may these

words of

scripture come

and just

find a place

in our

heart,

may you

search us

out and

may we

be people

of faith,

of that

exclusive

trust in

Jesus and

yet people

who go

forth from

this place

to live

it out,

to show

it,

to demonstrate

it,

that in

every part

of our

lives you

might be

fully glorified

and we

ask these

things for

Jesus'

sake.

Amen.

.

.

.