Add line breaks, correct punctuation and capitalisation where it makes sense so that this transcript it reads like a sermon transcript. Do NOT – I repeat – do NOT under any circumstances, change any of the words in the original transcript.
Add line breaks, correct punctuation and capitalisation where it makes sense so that this transcript it reads like a sermon transcript. Do NOT – I repeat – do NOT under any circumstances, change any of the words in the original transcript.
Add line breaks, correct punctuation and capitalisation where it makes sense so that this transcript it reads like a sermon transcript. Do NOT – I repeat – do NOT under any circumstances, change any of the words in the original transcript.
Add line breaks, correct punctuation and capitalisation where it makes sense so that this transcript it reads like a sermon transcript. Do NOT – I repeat – do NOT under any circumstances, change any of the words in the original transcript.
Add line breaks, correct punctuation and capitalisation where it makes sense so that this transcript it reads like a sermon transcript. Do NOT – I repeat – do NOT under any circumstances, change any of the words in the original transcript.
as we are studying through the Book of James we have come to James chapter 2:4 to 20 one of the key verses in the Book of James is James chapter 2: 20 faith without works is dead because of that some people think that James teaches salvation by works they feel that the Book of James and the Epistles of Paul contradict each other because Paul's emphasis was always salvation by faith alone but nothing is further than the truth they did not contradict each other rather they complement and supplement each other James did not teach salvation by works one important theme that runs throughout his book is perhaps summarized in this one statement true faith is a faith that works it has nothing to do with earning salvation through works as taught by the Roman Catholic Church however some pastors still deliberately steer away from this particular book because of this misconcept ception basically James was teaching if your faith is real then this Faith must work practically in your life James was not the only person who emphasized this doctrine that true faith is a faith that works listen to the words of our Lord Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven Matthew 5:16 the inner light that the Lord gives to his people is the true saving faith and it will shine outwardly in the form of good works in Matthew 7: 211 Jesus said not everyone that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven so this true saving faith that you and I have will lead us to do the will of our father in John 3:31 Jesus said if he continue in my word then are ye my disciples indeed as Disciples of Christ we have this true saving faith and we will obey his word in Matthew 13:23 Jesus said but he that receive seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it which also beare fruit and bringeth forth Psalm 100f Psalm 60 Psalm 30 true saving Faith should and will produce spiritual fruits not just some fruits but much fruits to the Pharisees Sadducees and scribes John the Baptist said oh G Generation of Vipers who have warned you to flee from the Wrath to come bring forth therefore fruits meat for repentance and thing not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to Our Father for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham in other words if you have true saving Faith you will not rely on your heritage however great it may be you will only rely and trust in God and then you will repent from your sins producing the fruits of repentance and live a righteous life to summarize a true saving faith will do the will of God obey God's word produce spiritual fruits produce the fruits of repentance trust God and this is not even exhaustive it must also lead to worship to serve God to pray fervently to give cheerfully to love God and our neighbors to exercise spiritual gifts that he has blessed us with and so forth all these activities are included in the works of righteousness that the True Believer will produce in his or her life is it possible for a person to profess faith in God and yet he is a false believer most certainly how can a person know if his faith is real or not through his Works what we do we reveal who we really are a true profession of faith is a life and it will produce works of righteousness on the other hand a false profession of faith is dead and it is incapable of producing works of righteousness the title of our message is show me your faith and I will show you mine our first point is true saving faith will not make empty professions let us begin with verse 14 James chapter 2 what doth it profit my brethren though a man say he have faith and have not works can Faith save him remember James was writing this letter to the Jews who were dispersed throughout the world outside Palestine they had identified themselves as Believers of the Christian faith many of them were persecuted and suffered greatly however like most churches Even in our modern times some of them were True Believers and some were not so here James was writing to the church at large made up of true and false Believers what is the useth Breen he said even though a man May profess that he has Faith but if he does not have Works can that socalled Faith saved him take a moment and consider this can a faith that has no impact in our lives actually be used as the instrument to redeem us from sin sin death and eternal damnation can such a faith really bring you to Heaven Can a faith that is simply a verbal profession oh I have faith I have believed in Jesus Christ I've said the Sinners prayers I've called on Jesus as my Lord and my savior avior but it is just paying lip Services no life transformation it does not lead me to a life of worship obedience love trust and devotion for Christ can that faith that kind of profession of Faith actually saved me essentially that was what James was saying can just any kind of Faith save you can empty words can empty professions of Faith save you surely not most of us are familiar with Ephesians 2: 8 and 9 maybe you can turn with me to this portion of scriptures for by Grace are ye Sav through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works less any man should boast most certainly salvation is by faith alone not of Works in that we do not trust in what we have done but we trust in what our lord Jesus has done for us but that faith is not empty what kind of faith is that it is a kind of faith that produces something most people when they read these two verses they would just stop at verse n many of them would memorize these two verses but they should continue to read verse 10 as well if you look look at verse 10 for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God have before ordained that we should walk in them God who has ordained for us to be saved by faith he has also ordained for us to live out that faith in good works that is the kind of faith that saves not an empty profession of Faith dear friend if you have true saving faith it means that God's Sovereign Grace has reached down into your heart and regenerated you to cause you to be born again and transformed you from a sinner to a Sint and God will create in your soul the desire to forsake sin to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and obey his word it does not mean that as a newborn believer you and I automatically and immediately know everything thing we should and should not do no those things will come as we grow in the knowledge of God's word and Through The Wonder workking of the spirit of God but at the point of our conversions as new creatures being born into God's family there will be this immediate spiritual orientation this turning away from our old sinful ways this change of Direction allow me to give you one classic example in the Bible and that is zakus the text collector the moment he believed in Jesus there was this immediate spiritual turning away he said this behold Lord the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation I restore him for full Luke Chapter 19:8 he was not an empty profession of Faith true saving Faith begins with this immediate spiritual orientation this turning around this change of Direction and then it will grow to produce more and more spiritual fruits is this the kind of Faith you have or is it just an empty profession of faith our second point is true saving faith will have true compassion let us move on to verse 15 if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food it does not mean that the brother or sister was naked or dying of starvation but that brother or sister was so Pro that he did not have sufficient clothes to weather the coal he lack the daily normal food to nourish his body some people believe that James was just giving an example to illustrate his point but I believe he was speaking of a real life scenario remember the Believers at that time were being persecuted and so they were deprived of shelter food and clothes so there were many believers who did not have sufficient clothes who did not have sufficient food so James said verse 16 and one of you say unto them depart in peace be ye warm and filled notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful of the body what does it profit here the implication is that they were able to give but they did not the phrase depart in peace means go in peace in our modern day language it is like saying God bless you he will take care of you that was a most heartless foolish and empty statement do you know why it was heartless because the person was totally indifferent and and disinterested to help in any way his heart was void of love if he had true Faith he would have loved his neighbor like the way he loved himself
Add line breaks, correct punctuation and capitalisation where it makes sense so that this transcript it reads like a sermon transcript. Do NOT – I repeat – do NOT under any circumstances, change any of the words in the original transcript.
remember the Second Great commandment thou shal love thy neighbor as thyself he would have felt the pain and suffering of the brother or sister he would have at least provided a blanket or fed them with a meal but he did not he was heartless he was foolish because if that needy person had the ability to warm himself with clothes and be filled with food he would have already done so therefore in a way he was being sarcastic by saying go keep yourself warm and be filled knowing for well that that person was incapable of doing that it was empty because if his words were sincere if his words meant anything it must lead to action those so-called words of comfort were meaningless as far as meeting the person's need imagine yourself meeting a beggar in the street and then you say to that beg God bless you go keep yourself warm and eat well the beggar will be looking at you pass it but how too your words mean nothing to him James went on to say in verse 17 even so faith if it have not works is dead being alone just as our words of comfort must be backed by our actions our faith must be backed by our works it cannot stand alone what lessons can we learn from here sometimes when we see a person in desperate need and we have the means to help yet we say to the person dear brother I will pray for you that God will provide for you we have failed to understand that God has allowed us to see this need so that we will be his instrument to meet that need there's a time when we should stop praying and just give stop praying as in stop asking God for sending someone else because we will be that instrument to provide for the need a story was told of of an European Queen several centuries ago who attended a drama show in a theater it was winter time and freezing cold she left her Coachman sitting on her carriage while she went into the theater the drama was so heartwrenching that the queen wept and soed throughout the entire performance but but after the show when she returned to her carriage she discovered her Coachman had frozen to death and she did not shed a tear a moment ago she was deeply moved by the drama but now she was completely untouched by the real one happening in front of her isn't it true that sometimes people can be so detached from reality people can watch a movie or hear a song and become so emotional they can cry when they see the tragedy Injustice and poverty that the actors had performed and yet they have no concern or compassion for the plight of the one standing right in front of them in reality they are crying for the actors who had performed their roles very well but they are driving fast cars living in big mansions that is what we mean by being detached from reality you know our hearts are moved with what is unreal and then and Untouched by what is real right before us what we see in the internet in a movies in a television becomes more meaningful than reality how sad believers who have a true saving faith will never behave like that they will have the spiritual discernment to know what is real and unreal they will have a heart of compassion because the indwelling holy spirit is a god of compassion and he will cause the believer to do everything he can to help and to provide for those needs which are real in Acts chapter 2 after Pentecost the early Believers saw those poor Believers the moment they saw those poor Believers their hearts were overwhelmed that some of them started selling their properties and possessions so that they could share with those poor Believers those Believers had true true saving Faith dear friend when you hear news about our brethren in the myamar mission churches going through a most difficult time being caught in the midst of the intense fighting between the military government and the opposition groups the whole country is in a political upheaval losing their jobs having their children being forced to fight in the battlefield facing the threat and Prospect of losing their lives is your heart not stirred up those are real life situations not the movies you watch on television do you have a heart of compassion the Apostle John said for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he has not Sinn and this commandment have we received from him that he who loveth God loveth his brother also 1 John 4:20 true saving faith has true compassion and this is the Wonder working of the Holy Spirit the god of compassion our final point is true saving faith has true conviction Verse 18 yeah a man may say thou has faith and I have Works show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my Works James was not boasting about his own faith or his faithfulness he was speaking to anyone who oppose the truth he was declaring about true saving Faith to all those people who say I don't need anything I don't need to show anything I don't need to obey God I don't need to produce spiritual fruits in my life I don't need to serve in the church to give and support the gospel work all all I need is Faith James will say to them that kind of faith is not Faith at all certainly not saving Faith show me your works or show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works I will let my Works do the talking so to speak some people remember their conversions very clearly they can share with you their testimonies how they experience the conversion how they confess their sins and receive Jesus Jesus into their lives even to the point of remembering the date and the place but that in itself is not a proof of their salvation the only reliable proof is the life we live after making that profession Jesus himself repeatedly warned us against the false confidence of Salvation the devil wants us to believe that we are safe but in reality we may not the devil wants us to cling onto this false Fai false Faith false profession of Faith empty so Jesus said why do you call me Lord Lord and do not what I say I'm not your Lord because you do not do what I say verse 19 thou believest that there is one God thou doest well the Devils also believe and tremble faith is about believing in God and the god whom you and I believe in is one the trium God God the Father God the son God the holy spirit this is the center of everything we believe in therefore James was saying you say God is one you have done well that is good to theology that is right theology God is one then he made this shocking statement but even the Devils also believe and they tremble to tremble is to be struck with extreme fear to be horrified in Mark chapter 3 the demons believe that Jesus was the son of God in Luke chapter 8 the demons believed that there was a place of punishment and Jesus he was the judge he was able to send them to this place of punishment and they pleaded with him not to send them there in other words the demons have good theology in the sense of knowing and understanding those truths about God they believe as in the right Theology and they trembled but they did not have true saving faith it does not mean that theology is not important what James was saying is that theology in and of itself was not enough good theology is not an end in itself it is a means to an end it must lead the person to have faith in Christ there must be a radical change in the way he lives his life otherwise theology though it is good is useless to the person as far as his salvation is concerned if it does not lead him to have faith in Christ if it does not lead him to live a life transformed by the spirit of God it is useless it is just hate knowledge a person may know all the facts and truth about Jesus Christ and the gospel but yet does not have true saving Faith he may attend all the Bible study programs he may be knowledgeable he may debate in things hard to be understood he may dot all the eyes and cross all the thes in the Bible and yet does not have true saving faith how do we know by watching his life is there a connection between his Theology and his life is his knowledge leading him to live a transformed life producing works of righteousness if not then it is empty it is a false con fiction finally James said in verse 20 but will thou know oh vain men that faith without works is dead in other words you foolish men who rejects the truth that true saving faith will produce works of righteousness are you willing to recognize now that faith without works is dead dear friend do you have faith is your faith Dead or Alive does your faith lead you to do the will of God obey his word produce spiritual fruits produce the fruits of repentance Trust TR in God lead you to worship serve God pray fervently give cheerfully love God and your neighbor exercise your spiritual gifts and so forth if not something is terribly wrong you may be Clinging On to an empty profession now this is not to Target anyone it applies to everyone including myself as the old preachers used to say you are just Clinging On to a horse hair once you swing into eternity it is too late come Judgment Day it is too late
Add line breaks, correct punctuation and capitalisation where it makes sense so that this transcript it reads like a sermon transcript. Do NOT – I repeat – do NOT under any circumstances, change any of the words in the original transcript.
repent and truly believe the Lord Jesus Christ and that true saving faith will produce the works of righteousness if your faith does produce works of righteousness praise God then you will be able to say like James not in a proud sense but for the purpose of declaring to all your loved ones all your friends relatives and the people around you who may be clinging onto empty professions clinging onto false faiths you are declaring to them through your life show me me your faith and I will show you mine you can only do that through a transformed life producing the works of righteousness otherwise you will never be able to say like James show me your faith and I will show you mine let us pray Our Father in Heaven indeed it is so important for us to know that the Apostle Paul his emphasis was about salvation by faith alone James did not contradict him he was teaching this essential doctrine that true faith is a faith that works it is not empty it produces something it produces the works of righteousness today there are many people many churches that teach that all you have to do is just have faith just call out the name of Jesus and you are safe but we learn from the scriptures today that true saving faith is not an empty profession it will produce works of righteousness through saving faith will have true compassion because the indwelling h holy spirit is a god of compassion he will cause us to have compassion and true saving faith is also a true conviction it is not just having good theology in our minds and not live out in our lives it will lead us to live a transformed life there will be a radical change oh Lord remind us and help us always to examine thy scriptures and then to examine our hearts if we are True Believers or not for we do not want to live a life that is vain we do not want to make empty profession we do not want to be void of compassion and live our lives without conviction oh Lord May thou remind us and for those who still have not beli in thee May thou cause them to experience what it means to be safe through the convicting work of the holy spirit that they will be convicted of their sins to turn to Jesus the only one who can save them to be regenerated made spiritually alive born again and then live alive producing spiritual fruits for thee and we all know that the first fruit that anyone will produce is the fruit of repentance we thank the for reminding us and we pray all this in Jesus name Amen Let