Faith is more than just Profession

Welcome to this week's message from the Church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

I want you to turn with me this morning in your Bibles to James chapter 2.

James 2 · chapter mention

And man, I have thoroughly enjoyed so far our study in the book of James.

I love studying the book.

You love studying the book?

Can I get an amen?

You shall know the truth and what?

The truth shall set you free.

Let's say that again.

You should know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

Free from what?

Free from sin.

Free from bondage of sin.

Free.

Hey, liberty.

There's liberty in Christ.

Jesus died so that we could have liberty.

Men of our country and women of this country and the armed forces died so that we could have liberty.

So thank God for the liberty, liberty that we have in Christ.

In fact, the school that I graduated from, a little school there in Virginia, now over 100 plus thousand students, called Liberty University.

And it was taken from now, from the verse that says that we now have a where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

And that is so true.

Well, you know, last week, we, and many of you, and by the way, we had over 220-something people hit last week on Facebook.

Benji, that thing's just unbelievable.

And start watching us.

So again, we want to welcome all our Facebook watchers, as well as those that are streaming on our app and on our website.

Thank you.

We have a lot of people tuning in and watching us and following us online, and I thank the Lord for that.

I really do.

And uh we here at CCW Believe in this book.

Remember when we first started, and I can't rem I can't believe that Rose Marie hadn't urged me about.

You remember when we said, what do we do about this book?

One, what?

We love it, we learn it, we live it.

Let's say that together.

We love it, we learn it, we live it.

Again, we love it, we learn it, we live it.

Study to show thyself to approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

So in James chapter 2, in verses 1 through 13, we looked at last week, and we dealt with a subject, and I had a lot of people text me, and many of you, as we were walking out, said, Thank you for preaching that message.

James 2 · chapter mention

Because what many of you said, I've studied James, I've read James, I've been in churches, and I've never heard a message preached on showing partiality and favoritism to the extent that we heard last week, not because I preached it, but because the word teaches it and it's there.

Amen.

And a lot of times preachers will jump that passage, or they'll jump real quick to what I'm about to preach today.

Faith without works is dead.

But they don't do the partiality part because most of the time they know that they're gonna rub some of their people the wrong way.

So, thank God for a church that you're gonna hear the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help us God.

Amen.

We will teach the truth, and it shall set us free.

Well, the second temptation in this chapter, the first temptation was to show partiality.

The second temptation is now to claim that you are a Christian, but your works do not add up to what you claim.

Hello.

In other words, I call it you are a professing Christian without possessing the Lord Jesus Christ.

Without you are a professing Christian saying that you're saved, but you really have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Oh, you've said a prayer, you made a profession, but your life didn't change.

Hello.

Amen.

Now, hey, all my ameners are gone today, so I need some help.

Okay?

Tammy's gone, Darren's gone.

I mean, we need I need a little help today.

But so today we're gonna be looking at uh what James titles, I think, faith is more than just a true profession.

Faith is more than just a profession.

And we're gonna look at three important truths about this faith.

In fact, have you ever heard the expression action?

Uh hey, speaks louder than words?

Say that with me.

Action speaks louder than words.

You can tell your children to do right, but if you don't do right, they're not gonna do right.

Hello.

Amen.

You're just really being a hypocrite.

Sorry.

Okay?

So it's not what you say, it's what you do that matters.

So action always speaks louder than words.

Simple declarations of faith means nothing if your actions do not back up, hey, your profession.

Amen.

If you say you're Christian and you don't live it, folks, it ain't gonna work.

Just not gonna work.

And James deals with that.

They had that same problem.

In fact, we see right here, faith is better seen.

I wrote this to myself.

Faith is better seen than spoken.

Hmm, come on.

Faith is better seen than spoken.

The Bible calls us to a faith that is visible, a faith that is acted out.

Can I get an amen?

So, as we begin today, I want us to look at real faith is more than just a verbal profession.

Real faith is more than just knowledge, head knowledge, and faith is more than just a positive attitude.

Those are the three things we're gonna be looking at.

A cartoon in a modern magazine that I've, when I was doing my research for this message, pictured a large conventional-looking church with a huge billboard advertising its ministry.

And here's what the sign read.

Are you ready?

The light, L-I-T-E church.

The light, not the L-I-G-H-T church, the L I T E church.

The light church.

20% fewer commitments, home of 7.5% tithers, 15-minute sermons, 40 that wouldn't work here.

You can forget it, don't even think about it.

45-minute worship services, and only eight commandments, and they are your choice.

And just three spiritual laws.

Everything you want in a church unless.

Wow.

Today people want to call themselves Christians without conforming to its truth.

Most people, but now it's getting less, and I told you that here a few weeks ago.

Most people in the Bible belt would say you a Christian.

Oh yes.

And then you say, Well, what does that mean?

Then they stutter.

They don't, well, it means I joined church.

It means I've been baptized.

It means I go to church.

It means my parents are Christian.

No, here's the one you hear all the time.

I grew up in a Christian home.

Amen.

Now that's getting less and less as the world's getting worse and worse.

It's getting less.

But those are cliches that we know.

Here's what, now, I when I was when I was doing this, God gave me some three or four statements just to me, but I want to share them with you.

Here's what it is.

Here's what Christianity is today.

Christianity, people want a relationship with Christ without a responsibility to Christ.

Huh?

Let me repeat that.

A relationship without responsibility to Christ.

Secondly, they want a community with Christ without a commitment to Christ.

They want a community involvement, but they're not willing to commit to make it happen.

And the reason they usually aren't willing to make it, hey, the commitment to make it happen because it's not there.

It's not real.

It's not real.

And then the third thing the Holy Spirit taught me was this.

They want acceptance within the community without the accountability of the community.

Woo! Man, that hurts.

In other words, you want to be accepted, but you want to be accepted on your terms and do it your way.

Hello?

You can't judge me.

Okay?

You with me?

You okay?

I think if I knew I was preaching this, that's the one they're not here today, but that's okay.

They'll get it anyway.

But, but this is, hey, this is not a new problem.

When James wrote this book right here, there were also individuals who spoke the language of Christianity, but their life didn't back up what they said they were.

It's not new.

It's everywhere.

It's everywhere.

The lesson he presents here is very clear.

If we say that we have faith in Jesus Christ, then there needs to be evidence in our life that we have a relationship and a responsibility and a commitment of, hey, love and action to Christ.

Can I get an amen?

And that's it.

That's why the older, and I'm getting, I'm not, I know I'm done, I don't look that old, but I'm getting a little older.

But after 30 something plus years, I've got to say it.

Nobody else is gonna say it.

Amen.

So I'm gonna say it.

But hey, I'm convinced, I'm convinced, everybody that says they're a Christian, most of the time, maybe, well, I won't say most of the time, that's the general direction that I shouldn't say, but a lot of times they don't understand what a Christian is.

Christians are, hey, sold out to the Lord Jesus Christ with a responsibility and commitment to be the best, hey, example and lighthouse they can be for the glory of God where God plants them.

Now that's what, and if your light's not shining, you're not helping him at all.

You're not fulfilling what God wants you to do if your light's not beaming where you're planted.

All you are is a something on the wall.

That's it.

So, with that said, you gotta realize James is saying, I want a faith.

Hey, hey, I want a faith with integrity.

So, number one, let's look at it.

Real faith is more than just a verbal profession.

Look at verse 14 and 15.

Real faith is more than just a verbal profession.

What doth it profit?

In other words, what good is it?

My brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works.

If a man professes to have faith and yet his actions do not correspond, hey, well, what he says he is, is it any good?

My brothers, what is the use of anyone declaring that he has faith if he has no deeds to back up his faith?

That's exactly what he's saying.

Then notice that these are two powerful questions.

And then he says, Can faith save him?

Can that faith save him?

Can such faith save him?

Now, he's not talking about, now, if you miss, most people miss this, and if they again I gotta quit saying most.

A lot of people miss this and they get their doctrine messed up when they miss this.

Because, see, they start saying that James is contradicting what Paul says in Romans.

Because Paul teaches in the book of Romans that salvation is totally, absolutely, completely by faith and faith alone.

Can I get an amen?

Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.

So, in fact, Romans talks about the existence of faith.

But James talks about the evidence of faith.

There's a major difference.

In other words, what happens here, and you'll see it, I'm gonna take my time, it's gonna be plainly spelled out right in your notes for you.

It's he see what you got here, you got you got a writer, and people misinterpret what he's talking about, faith, and they think now that faith comes through works.

In other words, to be saved, you gotta work your way to heaven.

And then they go over to over to Romans and they say, well, listen, in Galatians, they say faith is just, you do nothing.

You don't do anything.

It's all just faith.

Faith in Christ, as long as I believe in Christ, I'm okay.

And they go and live like the devil.

No, that's not right.

They're both wrong.

You can't have one without the other.

Faith is the evidence.

Hey, I mean, faith is the, hey, the action that you place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and if it's a real trust, you accept him for who he is on his standards, not yours, then your life changes.

Therefore, if any man be in Christ Jesus, he's a new creation.

Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new, and it's evidence through your actions and your attitude that you're a Christian.

That makes sense.

So really, they complement each other.

They don't, hey, they don't uh uh cause problems with each other if you understand it.

They've done it with a good word, they don't compete, they're together.

In fact, it says it right here: you can't have one without the other.

It'd be like trying to separate light from a fire or heat from a fire.

Can't do it, they're both one.

You can't separate faith and works.

Can I get an amen?

You gotta understand that.

That's the whole premise of this foundation.

You can't separate them, they go together.

If it's real faith.

So, God sees the existence of faith.

Hey, God knows if you're real, God knows everything.

When you say God, say this with me, God knows I'm real.

God knows I'm real.

If you are.

God knows I'm real.

He knows that, he knows the existence of faith in you or me.

But guess what?

I don't.

I don't know if David's saved.

Not in his heart.

The only way I know David Wilson's saved is by his actions.

Visible evidence.

He can tell me all day long he's saved, but you know when I really have confirmation?

When I see him living a righteous life.

Well, now you so you're saying works.

That's not what I said.

It's not his works, it's the evidence of his relationship which happens to be his works.

Hello?

That'd be like me saying I'm married to Susan, but you never saw me with Susan.

Hello?

I'm madly in love with my wife.

Well, where is she?

I don't know.

Have you seen her lately?

No, no?

Well, I I saw her a few weeks ago.

Oh, no, I saw her at Easter.

I saw her Christmas.

Had something to do on Memorial Day.

That's a joke.

That's a joke.

No, but that's what he's talking about here, folks.

When a person is saved, there's a real evidence.

Notice what he says.

It's powerful.

It's so powerful here.

Verse 15, James refers to what people say about their faith.

He points out several reasons for the failure of a singular verb here.

Notice what he says.

Number one, A, verbal faith does not save.

Verbal faith will not save you.

Now, see, that's the contradiction.

And I said that on purpose.

Because now you say, oh, he's preaching heresy.

Faith doesn't save you.

I said verbal faith doesn't save you.

There's a difference in real faith and the verbal faith.

Can I get an amen?

Are you with me there?

I don't want you to run out of here and say I'm preaching heresy.

Do you understand that?

Real faith is different than a profession faith.

Real faith is action faith.

Whoo, that's good.

And you can't separate them.

That's what he's talking about right here.

Exactly.

James uses two rhetorical questions.

And the question presumes a negative answer.

Notice what he said in verse 14 again.

He said, can faith, first of all, he says, faith without.

He says this.

What does it profit from brethren the man say that has faith not words?

And then look the second question.

Can faith save you?

Can that kind of faith save you?

Here's what he says.

Emphatically, absolutely, can that kind of faith save you?

No.

In other words, a faith that doesn't have evidence is not a real faith.

And that kind of faith, that professing faith, cannot save you.

Do you understand that?

Please tell me.

Did I explain that okay, honey?

Are you with me?

You gotta get it.

If you get this, you will not have problems with James ever again.

I'm gonna show you a key verse.

And the and and the way that the King James could have done a little better with the with the article there.

In one verse that really causes a lot of trouble.

Okay, now, with that said, verbal faith does not save.

Absolutely no, it cannot save.

I wrote this down to me.

You may want to write it down.

I always give you extra nuggets.

Genuine belief in the truth, genuine belief, write this down, in the truth, genuine belief in the word of God, oh, that's good, will produce a genuine behavior of the truth.

Woo! Now, if I was here, he'd say that's good, preacher.

Genuine belief in the truth always produces a behavior of the truth.

Always.

You should know the truth.

Amen.

John 8, 31, 32.

So that's so important.

In other words, a faith that does not demonstrate its genuineness in works is not genuine.

Look at verse 26.

That's the end of the verse, the chapter, but look what he says.

He gives another example.

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

James is simply saying that if one has been truly born anew, his life will be changed, and it will be evidence of that change through his actions.

No change, no salvation.

Say that with me.

No change, no salvation.

Just a profession.

No change, no faith.

Say that with me.

No change, no faith.

It's just a profession.

And now do you understand why?

Hey, point number one right there, when I made that statement.

Real faith is more than a verbal profession.

Makes sense now, doesn't it?

Sure it does.

Now, woo! Let's go.

You gotta see it.

Jason, go to Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

I'm gonna make it so simple for you.

Go to Ephesians 2, 8 through 10.

I want you to watch this.

Now, I want you to get ready to answer some questions.

We're in school today.

Number one, here we go.

By what have we been saved and through what?

According to verse 8.

By what and through what have we been saved?

For by what?

Grace or what?

You're saved.

By grace and through what?

Are we what?

And that not of what?

So, pretty straightforward, isn't it?

Look, by what have we been saved?

Through what?

Grace and faith.

What have we not been saved by?

Uh, right.

It's the gift of God.

Wait, verse 9.

What have we not been saved?

Not of what?

Lest any man should boast.

And lest any man's pride should swell up.

Lest any man should take credit of his relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, it's totally, absolutely true salvation by faith.

There's nothing you can do to earn your salvation.

Can I get an amen?

Do you get that?

That way you cannot go out of here and say, I was preaching a work salvation.

I've been accused of that before.

Because you know why?

They said, well, Pastor Danny thinks when you leave church you ought to go visiting, you ought to tell people about Jesus, you ought to read your Bible, you ought to pray.

Duh! He just thinks it's all works.

And my question then, so you just get saved and just keep living like you're doing?

Well, if I want to.

I said, well, see, that's the problem.

If you really get saved, you want to changes.

That's right.

Hello?

If any man be in Christ, he's a what?

Of what?

All things of what?

And because all things.

Not some, all.

Guess what?

The Greek word for all is all.

Hello?

Amen?

So, notice again.

Powerful statement.

By what have we been saved?

Through what?

Grace and faith.

What have we not been saved by?

Works.

What is our salvation?

Where did it come from?

Verse 8, a gift of what?

God.

And why is our salvation not of works?

Look at verse 9.

Powerful.

Why?

So we can't take credit?

Excellent.

Verse 10 says that we are what then?

After that, after we get saved?

What are we?

For we are his what?

Now what?

It's fixed to get good.

We are his worksmanship.

Created in who?

Christ Jesus.

Holy Spirit comes, takes up residence with us.

He's dwelling within.

We take on his attitude.

We take on his attributes.

And guess what?

We then guess what?

Then we are created in Christ Jesus for what?

Say it again.

For what?

See the progression.

You get saved totally, absolutely by faith and faith alone.

But once you are real in Christ Jesus, woo! You're gonna work for him.

There will be evidence of your salvation.

That we, by the way, you don't have a choice.

You know, we used to say, well, you have a choice.

No! I'm gonna tell you, I preached it wrong.

I used to say, well, you know, you get saved, then you have a choice.

That's not true.

You really get saved, you don't have a choice.

Look, you want predestination, you want the real truth of what it means to be predestinated.

Once you get it, hey, once you whoo, I'm about to have a running spell.

Once you get saved, you are predestinated to what?

Walk in good works.

Woo, yes.

There it is.

That's what it says.

Which God hath what?

Before ordained.

Before your salvation, before the creation, he already knew who you were.

He knew when you were gonna get saved, and he knew what he had created you and gifted you and what he was gonna do so that you could be planted right where you are and used greatly by God to carry out his work for his glory.

Man, that's good.

That's predestination.

Amen.

And by the way, you can't have it both ways.

You can't decide that God saves you.

Hey, he predestines to save you, and then you have a choice whether or not you're gonna work for him.

I got a Greek word for that.

Bologna.

Amen.

Amen?

You're ordained.

You're not your own.

Whoo, that's good.

We are created.

For what purpose?

Created in Christ Jesus for good works.

When was this purpose prepared and why?

Before our salvation, that we should work for him.

Let's just give God a hand for that truth.

Man, that's good.

Man, that's good.

That's so good.

So, A.

Real faith?

It's more than a profession.

Verbal faith cannot save us.

Look at the second thing it can't do.

Verbal faith does not serve either.

Look at verse 15 and 16.

If a brother or sister be naked, nothing but this.

Don't look at all.

Ray Stevens, I'll be in to Georgia.

Y'all remember Ray Stevens?

He's got nothing but his tennis shoes on.

That's not what he's really talking about there.

If a brother or sister be naked, that means needs clothing, needs clothing, that's what it really means.

And one of you say, verse 16, wait, and destitute of daily food.

In other words, he has no food, nothing to eat.

Let me tell you something about our love feast every Sunday.

It's a good place to bring that up.

Jesse, Melvin, Russell, Darren, Adrian, all these that Susan, uh the ladies that work, Terry, everybody.

Uh Miss Wanda, Bessie, all of everybody.

We do that for a purpose.

1 Corinthians 11 calls the love feast.

But let me tell you another reason we do it.

Because we know in our community there's some people, and I've had them tell me this.

And I don't tell you this a lot because I don't I just want to keep, you know, don't let your left hand know what your right hand's doing.

But sometimes you need to be exhorted and think because of the way you give and help, that it's not in vain.

A lot of people I've had several people tell me this is the best meal they get all week.

So there's another purpose.

It's for fellowship, but it's for meeting people's needs.

Can I get an amen?

So don't ever think you're giving that you put in that offering plate doesn't help meet people's needs.

And then we go and we give people food, we we make sure they have clothing, we make sure their lights are on and they have heat and cooling.

We do that.

And that's what he's talking about here.

You know, some people, and by the way, he's talking about now, watch what he says, and if you say unto them, well, let's go back to verse 15, if a brother or sister, that's important.

Let me tell you why.

Let me tell you why that's important.

He's not talking about people out here that go from church to church trying to con churches.

We're pretty good at that.

And we're pretty good at not letting them do us that way.

Old policeman in me, I'm pretty good at that.

And not only that, our association that we work with, Shelby Baptist Association, they have a record of everybody that comes in for help and they know, they counsel with them and all.

So most of the time, instead of us, now a lot of times we'll meet it personally, or we'll take them down there, or we'll send them down there after the fill up Tabbit and I will, and they get taken care of, they can get clothes, they can get whatever they need, as long as they're recommended by us, and I sign off on it as the pastor of the church.

We can help them in anything they need.

Can I get an amen?

In fact, we've helped some three or four people this past week, and they wrote me that one lady came up and said, Pastor, you're awesome.

I said, No, I'm not.

Jesus is awesome.

Yeah, but you're meeting the need.

I said, No, I'm not.

Jesus is.

And I know what they mean.

They're not trying to, they you gotta teach them.

It's not, I have some, I have a lot of people say, Pastor Danny saved me.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I did not save you.

I shared the gospel with you, the Holy Spirit saved you.

Amen.

Jesus saved you.

But I just the instrument.

So you so anybody ever says that, even though you know, just make sure you correct them so they'll understand the terminology.

Can I get an amen?

You want them to know that?

I'm just an instrument.

That's I'm just a no-good, rotten sinner saved by grace, ambassador for Christ.

And you know, every place I go every morning I get up, God, wherever you place me, and I meet somebody new, or hey, if I meet somebody new, let me share the good news with them.

If I meet somebody I know, let me encourage them.

That's my job every day, and I try to do the best of my ability with that.

That's why I don't do budgets.

I let David and the council do that.

I made a promise.

I ain't doing that anymore.

Didn't I have my share as a president, I promise you.

Not going there anymore.

Now watch.

This is so good because here's what he's saying.

Brothers and sisters, these are people that you know.

These are people that are in your congregation or in the family of God.

Does that make sense?

Say amen.

You got to understand this.

We are held accountable to help one another.

Can I get an amen?

This church, for every one of them, I got a covenant member, uh, page to uh somebody joined the again, filled out their covenant.

We got a covenant.

We are held accountable for our covenant members.

And hey, we are.

Now, for you that hadn't joined yet, that's okay.

We're still held accountable for you.

If you're you're coming regularly, you're part of our family, and we'd love for you to join the uh go through the covenants class and be a covenant member, but you're still part of our family.

You're part of us, who we are, and we're responsible for you.

Now, if you don't like that kind of, and by the way, we want you to be responsible to us.

That means if you miss three Sundays, I'm coming to see you.

All right, actually, you're gonna hear from me before then.

But I may have to come get you and put you in the car and bring you to church.

If I have to do that, I'll do it.

Dennis?

I love you, man.

I do.

I told you.

Amen.

Now, does that make sense?

All right, now watch.

Notice verse 16.

This is so good.

And what if you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give not those things which are needful to the body?

Hey, hey, needful to them.

To them.

Let me tell you what, let me give you a 20, uh updated.

Man, I'm hot.

Let me get, yeah, but I'll be sweet.

I'm taking it off.

Man, I'm hot.

Hey, hey, did we pay our power bill this week?

Hey, listen, listen, here it is.

Are you listening?

Here's what it means.

Somebody shows up, you show up today, and you come up to me and you say, Pastor Danny, I don't have any clothes, or I need, we don't have any food, blah, blah, blah.

And then I turn around and look at you and say, Well, God bless you, brother.

Come here, let's pray.

Oh, dear Heavenly Father, all my brother and sister and family have a need, and I ask you to meet that need.

Hello, make them warm, fill the bellies, put clothing on the back in Jesus' name.

And everybody said, Amen.

Now leave.

Hello! That's what they did.

That's what James is using an analogy.

I'm coming, we love you, we're praying for you.

God's gonna provide.

Yeah, God put them right there for you to provide.

You don't need to be praying for God to meet the need.

God's already put them in your path for you to meet the need.

Quit praying and do something.

Woo! Amen.

You hear me?

It's like the guy that said, Well, I prayed God to help me.

And he drowned and went to heaven.

He said, God, you didn't save me.

He said, I sent a boat, I sent an airplane, hey, and I sent uh um whatever else it was, and you didn't take either one of them.

Amen.

Hey, you're not an accident.

When people come into your path, you know as a Christian, what we're supposed to do, one of two things.

Meet the need, lead them to whether it's salvation or service, and then encourage them.

If they're enough, they're just you either serve or encourage.

One or the other.

We had a guy show up yesterday on our boat, on our pier.

Next thing I know, Trent's running down there hollering, hey, he's got a hook through his finger.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

And I said, Uncle Danny's MT or WAZ, he'll take care of it.

And I said, Okay, we're good.

I said, Yeah, I guess I can.

Then the first thing we're I see Micah back there.

Don't hear it, close your ears.

I said, Well, I'm sure we got an emergency kit.

First aid kit.

We hadn't, we didn't have a clue.

We didn't have one.

So would somebody make sure we have a first aid kit going down to the lake today?

Okay.

All right, just thought.

Just thought.

So I said, well, next best thing, I guess, is my toolbox.

Y'all laughing, but hey, you know what I'm thinking?

If I gotta pull that hook out, I need some good pliers, maybe some that can cut the hook, then pull it out.

Been done that, hey, it's not my first rodeo.

Been there, got scarred to prove it.

So end up, you know, for about 20 minutes he comes over there with his little son, and we just talk about Jesus.

He's a born-again Christian, he's a fireman, has a cross, and we're talking and we're talking, and I'm looking at that sucker and I'm saying, mm.

And then I said, Well, let me ask Susan.

I say, honey, come here.

Because it had four little panes that was through it, and I knew if I didn't come straight up or it could be bad.

So anyway, Susan comes over there and she's looking at it, and I said, get the cooler.

You always have to have ice with you.

I don't care what happens, have ice.

Because it numb everything, especially if you're fixing a jerk a hook out.

Numb it.

I meant numb that sucker.

So I'm going to get the ice, and Susan's looking, and she's got the pliers I'd given her, and she's looking like that.

So he starts talking to me like this.

And by the time he's talking, we're talking, and all of a sudden, Susan went, He went, woo! He said, Hallelujah! Now, that was not a coincidence.

Folks, because I pray every day God puts somebody in front of me that has a need that I can meet to be an ambassador for you.

And this happens, Trent's been with me a lot lately.

That happens every time.

We are at a at the gas station getting cut uh gas for the boat, and guy comes up and tries to sell me a CD.

Thank you.

They're going around.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, he was trying to sell me, hey, a C D and I wasn't paying a bit of attention.

I started telling, hey, I said, hey, I got something better than what I got doesn't cost you 10 bucks.

His name's Jesus.

Do you know Jesus?

Are you a Christian?

He didn't send that guy for me to buy a C D.

God sent him for me to tell him about Jesus.

He took off.

Oh, yeah, he didn't stay long when I started talking about Jesus.

No.

Hey, you want to get rid of somebody?

Just start that, hey, hey, just start talking about Jesus.

Or one or two things they'll say, God bless you.

Yeah, uh-huh.

Or they'll stay and y'all have a great fellowship like we did with the firemen.

Hello?

But there's no middle ground.

He knew two things.

One, he I wasn't gonna buy a CD and he didn't want to hear about Jesus, so he's gone.

So, amen.

Is that not so good?

So, hey, faith doesn't serve.

It's not worth, hey, real quick, 1 John 3.

Watch this.

Watch this.

I'm giving you so many good.

Go to 1 John 3, verse 17 through 19.

1 John 3:17–19

But whoso hath this world's good and sees his brother hath need.

Okay?

Now let me explain what world's goods mean.

Material things.

Clothes and food.

See how that fits with James?

Clothes and food.

Okay?

And his brother has need and shuts up his bowels.

Now let me tell you what that means.

That's one of those King James phrases that you gotta understand.

It means you have a cold, hard heart.

I'm gonna make it simple.

You shut up your heart toward the people.

That's what it means.

You don't have compassion for it.

Now watch what he says next.

How dwelleth the love of God in him?

In verse 18, my little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

If your faith is not a professing faith, but a real faith, you will, what he says right there.

Hey, my little children, that's born again, that's us, the family of God, our brothers and sisters.

Let us not love in words.

You won't pray for them and send them away.

Okay?

But in deed and in truth.

In other words, truth, you have compassion in your heart.

You know the word of God, that the word of God says, look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others.

So you have compassion and you meet the need by your deeds.

That makes sense.

Say, uh-huh.

And Jesus then goes over to John 13 and says, By this ye shall know that you're my disciples.

By their love, by their deeds, by their compassion.

Make sense?

Isn't that good?

Isn't that good?

And then number C verbal faith does not survive.

It won't survive.

Look at verse 17.

Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone.

In just the same way, faith, if not followed by actions, it's dead.

By itself, it is lifeless.

That's what he's talking about right there.

That's what he means right there.

And what he's saying is, if there's no actions, there are no fruit, it never was alive to start with.

Amen.

I've been doing this 35 years in the ministry.

The call.

I've seen people come and go.

You've been here.

Are you faithful when you see people come and go?

The question is always, why do they do that?

One or two reasons.

One, they're lost.

But they still say they're saved.

I understand that.

Don't get me wrong.

Hear it all the time.

But you gotta remember, does it add up with the word of God?

Is there fruit?

If there is, and sometimes there is, and sometimes God moves people to other ministries.

And to God be the glory.

Can we give an amen?

Amen.

When somebody really comes to me and says, God has really told me it's time for me to go to this church and move or do this or that, I just say, can I pray with you?

I'm excited for you.

I am not going to try to keep somebody at this church.

Hey, hey, at this church, when God's told them they need to move, if they do, we're going to have problems.

And we have enough problems without trying to keep them.

Oh, that didn't sound right.

I don't mean that they were a problem.

That didn't sound right.

If God's sending them somewhere else, I'm grateful for their ministry.

Amen.

Trust me.

I know.

More than once.

So, hey, it doesn't survive.

Notice what he says.

Oh, I love this.

Look at Matthew chapter 7, verse 20 and 21.

Matthew 7:20

James says here, we have the right to see the evidence that a person's faith is genuine.

We have the right to see that.

That's why part of the covenant class is so important.

Because here's what we do.

For you to be a covenant member, we ask you to go through these four principles that we do, our four key core values.

And then, hey, so you'll know what we are accountable and responsible to you as the leaders of the church, as your shepherd and as your caretakers, and that's all we are, shepherds and caretakers.

That's all we are.

Nothing important about us.

We're just a caretaker.

But God's called me to be a caretaker.

I didn't ask for this job.

In fact, let me tell you something.

Susan's reading this book by Jimmy Draper.

He waited till he's been almost 60 years in the ministry.

He's writing a book about finishing the ministry.

And he has said, he, you know what he said?

The first thing he said if you're not called, don't even start, because this is not a profession that you can survive in and finish if God doesn't call you to be a shepherd.

And that is so true, folks.

It's so true.

That's why a faithful shepherd does have a crown.

1 Peter 5, he has a crown one day.

One day, if I've been faithful, I will be able to kneel and have Jesus reward me for being a faithful shepherd.

That's why I love you.

That's why I call you.

I go by and talk to you when I don't see and you're not here.

Because one day I will stand before an awesome God and give an account of my example to you and how I fed you, how I led you, how I took care of you.

And God knows my heart.

I want to be the best I can be at what God's called me to be.

It's not a prideful, egotistical.

Let me tell you, this is not an egotistical position.

It's a loving position.

Can I get an amen?

So, notice what he says.

He is pleading for real, hey, for reality in Christianity.

Look at what Jesus said.

Wherefore, by their fruits.

Uh-oh.

Now Jesus is speaking.

Read this with me.

Wherefore, by what?

Whose fruits?

Your fruits, my fruits.

You shall what?

Why?

All right, look at verse 21.

For by their fruits, wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.

And look at verse 21.

Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but watch, but that he, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

In other words, if you don't bear evidence of good works and good fruits, hey, you are not going to enter the kingdom of God.

Now, if you didn't hear the foundation of what I've been preaching, you would think what I just said was a work salvation.

But you know it's not.

Can I get an amen?

Does that make sense?

Please tell me it does.

Did I I hope I you understood that, right?

Because that's where everybody misses it, right here, and they use these verses right here because of it.

And James.

And they miss it.

And it's a work salvation.

No, it's not a work salvation.

In fact, it isn't as impossible to separate works from faith as it is to separate burning and shining from fire.

That is so good.

He says, I know that you are.

And then verse 18.

And boy, he lamblasts it.

You got to see this.

Here's where it originated.

One says, Okay, good.

You believe in faith, I believe in works.

It's okay, we're all going to the same place.

Have you ever heard that?

It really doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe because we're both all going to the same place.

No, it does matter.

You can't work your way to heaven.

But if you're going to heaven, you'll be working all the way to heaven.

Make sense?

Sure it does.

And he just said, James Lamb blast him.

He said, wait a minute, you want to say you show me, hey, I'll show you my faith by my works or my works by my faith.

He said, You're missing it.

It's not just one and the other, it's both.

You can't separate them.

Makes sense, does it?

So see if all these years all you have had, or if all I have had, is a profession without evidence in my heart, in my life, in my actions, in my attitude.

I'm just a professing Christian.

Not a possessing Christian.

Really, I'm not a Christian at all.

Is that not good?

This is about as clear salvation as you can get in understanding the difference.

There it is.

There it is.

Number two.

I know what you're thinking.

We're gonna spend that much time, we won't ever make it to the lake.

As David says the last two or three points are real quick.

I lay the foundation, baby.

Really, that was a message in itself.

I understand that.

Real faith is more than just head knowledge.

Look at verse 19.

Thou believest that there is one God.

Thou dost well.

The devils also believed and trembled.

Woo! But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

I'm gonna tell you something.

This is illuminating.

James's second point about faith is this real faith is more than just mental ascent to a system of facts.

Now watch this.

He uses the demons as his example, for there is, hey, there are no atheists in demons.

For you atheists, you by yourself.

The demons believe that there's one God.

And they tremble and fear at the God.

No atheists.

With demons.

You thought you were something thinking you're an atheist.

The demons won't even hang out with you.

Because they know you're foolish.

They know you're stupid.

Ooh, excuse me.

Not smart.

Hello.

Isn't that what it said?

I didn't make that up.

That not good?

Somebody said that's good.

They trembled.

Simply believing in God is not merely enough.

See?

Now you understand that.

Don't you understand why just believing's not merely enough.

You with me?

I didn't say that, you know, you gotta have works.

That's not what I said.

Simply believing in God is not merely enough.

The enemies of God, look at this.

Who worked against him believe in him.

Woo! That's good.

That's good.

They believed in him and spared him.

So therefore, shouldn't those who believe in God, trust in him, work for him, and give everything we've got for him?

Amen.

Woo! It's Romans 12, 1 and 2.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Be not conformed to this world, but be ye metamorphoses, literally transformed, a new creation.

Woo! That's good, preacher.

I want you to go and read today, Titus chapter 2, verses 11 through 15.

Titus 2:11–15

I'm not going to take time to exergetically go through that.

It's plain and simple what you're to be after you really get saved.

Godly.

You're not going to lust after the world.

It's awesome.

In fact, it was the only church that God really bragged on.

It's simple.

That's what you're supposed to be.

You want the test?

Take 1 Timothy.

I meant for uh Titus chapter 2, verses 11 through 15.

Titus 2:11–15

Throw it up there real quick.

Let me just read through it.

I won't speak.

Yeah, you gotta hear it.

For the grace of, hey, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation, has appeared all men, not just a certain few.

Teaching us that denying ungodliness, worldly lust, we should live right soberly, have our priorities in order, righteously and godly in this present world.

Look, looking for the blessed hope.

Woo! He's coming soon, folks.

And the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, the rapture of the church who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself.

Hey, whoo, there you are, there you are, a peculiar people.

See, I'm right.

Y'all think I'm crazy?

I'm peculiar and zealous of good works.

These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority.

Let no man despise thee.

Woo! Is that not good?

Now that's the church we want to be like.

That's who we want to be.

That's who we want to be.

Thank you, Lord, for not letting me read it.

Skip that.

Number three, and I'm through.

I'll finish preaching on the water.

We'll see who can walk on water today.

We're gonna sink.

Real faith is more than a positive attitude.

Verses 21 through 26.

I'm gonna sum it up.

Here it is.

I'm not gonna.

It's pretty simple.

Abraham gives two examples.

He gives Abraham the patriarch and Rahab the harlot.

I was thinking about the great job Susan did with these women and all the oh, it was just phenomenal on Mother's Day.

Let's begin first of all with Abraham the patriarch.

James verses 21 through 24 tells us.

Hey, he uses the example that God told Abraham to go sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah.

Abraham did not hesitate.

He went even to the point of building the altar, getting ready to ask, getting ready to put Isaac on the altar.

Even when Isaac said, Dad, we've got the wood, we've got the fire, but where's the sacrifice?

And the most powerful, prolific word spoken when he said, Isaac, God will provide.

That's faith.

Trusting absolutely, even if it means you're dead.

He was, I'm totally convinced when he raised that knife, that he was convinced in his heart that if God, hey, if he ran that dagger through his son's heart, that God would raise him from the dead.

But an angel stopped him.

And you know what he said?

I see now.

He had faith.

His faith was evidence.

Can I get an amen?

Can I get an amen?

And then, hey.

Rahab.

She saved the spies.

She took them in.

She gave her life to hide those spies.

And they said, Why if you do this?

She says, Because I believe in your God.

She had believed in Jehovah.

And because she had believed in Jehovah, there was evidence of her faith in Jehovah.

Oach, you can claim to be a Christian.

But if you have no evidence, I suggest and I encourage you to examine yourself whether you'll be into faith.

Prove your own self.

1 Corinthians 13, 5.

You said, well, I was for a little bit.

A little bit.

Hey.

What did I say a while ago?

True faith doesn't quit.

It doesn't quit.

Oh, there'll be bumps.

Maybe a little prodigal there, a little bit, but it won't be long.

They'll come home.

That's pretty good.

It won't be long, they'll come home.

Is that not good?

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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We hope you have a wonderful day, and again, God bless you.