WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.200 I'd like us just to spend a week while looking together at this passage, 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:13.359 and we're just continuing our study in James that we're doing in our engine rooms at the moment. 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:17.719 And this of course ties in with our theme for the year which comes from James, 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:22.960 where he tells us to be doers of the world and not only hearers. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:27.920 Tonight we come to the passage that we just read in the second half of chapter two, 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:35.840 and here James raises the whole topic of the relationship between faith and works. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:42.240 And in many ways one of the biggest themes that runs through the whole of this letter 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:51.920 is the fact that our relationship with Jesus needs to have an effect on our behaviour in our day-to-day lives. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:57.200 So throughout the letter James refers to various aspects of our conduct. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:02.000 Two weeks ago John was looking at a very clear example of that in the first half of chapter two, 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:03.840 the whole issue of favouritism. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:11.840 And there James made it clear to us that the kind of favouritism that you'd often see in the culture around you, 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:18.799 where people show more politeness and attention to those who are wealthy or important, 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:23.280 that kind of favouritism should not be seen in the lives of these Christians. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:32.280 And it's all emphasising the fact that the fact that they're Christians should have a direct effect on their behaviour. 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:38.280 And later in the letter James looks at other examples, he looks at things like speech and quarrelling, 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:44.280 and even talks about paying others, and the whole idea of employment or paying for services. 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:52.280 But here in the second half of chapter two, James goes from looking at the specific example of favouritism, 00:01:52.280 --> 00:02:01.280 to discuss the wider point that he's trying to make, the fact that our relationship with Jesus should shape our conduct. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:09.759 And he does this by asking a penetrating question in verse 14. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:15.639 What I'll do is I'll just flick back and forth between sharing my screen. 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:21.759 I don't have my trusty assistant Tom with me tonight, so I don't have quite all my screen capabilities, 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:25.759 but we'll just switch between sharing screen and not sharing it. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:32.039 If you look at verse 14, we have this powerful penetrating question, where he says, 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:42.519 What good is it, my brother, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 00:02:42.519 --> 00:02:53.639 That question is targeted at the idea that what we believe can be separated from what we do. 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:58.959 And that was clearly an issue for the people to whom James was writing. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:03.080 It sounds as though there were people who were saying that they had faith, 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:09.280 but that really had little or no effect on the way that they lived their lives. 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:11.840 And of course, that should straight away make us sit up and listen, 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:17.040 because this is still one of the biggest challenges that the church faces today. 00:03:17.040 --> 00:03:24.240 We live in a culture that is massively focused on the individual, 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:28.760 and with that comes a huge focus on the internal. 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:35.079 So my identity, my story, my truth is what matters most. 00:03:35.079 --> 00:03:40.000 And we see that across the whole of society just now, but even with Christians, 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:45.599 we can default to thinking that my inward faith is what matters. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:47.799 My outward day-to-day life doesn't really matter. 00:03:47.799 --> 00:03:54.319 The thing is, I have faith and that's all that matters. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:59.599 And the result of that is that you can sometimes meet people and hear them say things like, 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:03.639 well, yeah, I'm a Christian and they'll say that they are. 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:12.799 But if you actually observe them and look at them, you don't really see very much that's different about them. 00:04:12.799 --> 00:04:20.680 And that's a danger that the church has faced for her whole history. 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:28.720 But I think the thing that we really need to recognise is that the Christians who are possibly most in danger 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:35.280 of falling into this trap are evangelical, reformed Christians. 00:04:35.280 --> 00:04:38.199 In other words, us. 00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:44.040 Because central to our theology is the sovereignty of God, the sufficiency of his grace, 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:47.639 and the fact that we are saved by faith alone. 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:51.039 And we are right to emphasise those things. 00:04:51.039 --> 00:04:52.159 They are all true. 00:04:52.159 --> 00:04:55.759 But because we emphasise the fact that we're saved by faith alone, 00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:03.479 consequently, we can easily fall into the trap of thinking, well, I've got faith, so I don't really need anything else. 00:05:03.479 --> 00:05:07.039 I've got my kind of ticket to heaven. 00:05:07.039 --> 00:05:11.120 I've put myself right with God. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:14.599 No more needs to be done. 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:21.480 And the result of that can sometimes be Christians who go to church on Sunday, 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:27.200 but then just live from Monday to Saturday. 00:05:27.200 --> 00:05:31.480 And in response to that issue, James is asking us a huge question. 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:36.720 He's saying, what good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works? 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:42.000 Can that faith save him? 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:46.279 James then answers that question in the passage that we read. 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:51.120 As he does so, he follows a very clear. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:58.759 Whenever we read a passage in the Bible, it can be good to look at patterns. 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:03.839 You can sometimes see the way the argument is being developed. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:10.319 And especially here in James and in the other letters, 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:16.319 you sometimes look at the structure under which the argument is being put. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:19.800 So, James is here again. 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:25.199 And we'll have a wee look at how James sets out his argument. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:27.439 If you just give me one moment, I'm going to plug it. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:30.600 Make sure that my internet is connected. 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:31.399 That's right. 00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:32.399 Put it in. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:36.000 Second ago. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.039 OK, so I will share my screen. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:40.720 Yeah, that is a. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:42.520 James structures his argument. 00:06:42.520 --> 00:06:45.200 Yeah, it's a. 00:06:45.200 --> 00:06:48.200 State. 00:06:48.200 --> 00:06:50.000 He. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:52.160 At four points, he makes a point. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:56.080 So he makes four big points and after each one, he gives an example. 00:06:56.080 --> 00:06:57.080 So you can see it on the screen. 00:06:57.080 --> 00:06:58.280 But 14 makes a point. 00:06:58.280 --> 00:07:01.480 But 18, 20, 24. 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:04.200 And after each one, he provides an example. 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:10.479 So it's this pattern of point, example, point and then example. 00:07:10.479 --> 00:07:16.279 So verse 14, he makes a point by asking a question about whether faith without works is of any good, 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:18.480 as you can see at verse 14. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:27.719 And then he gives an example of what he means by talking about about the issue of poverty. 00:07:27.719 --> 00:07:33.319 He says, if you see somebody who's poorly closed and lacking in daily food and you say something to them, 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:38.959 but don't actually do anything, what good is that? 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:44.159 Then you have the next point that he makes in verse 18, 00:07:44.159 --> 00:07:48.560 where he raises the. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:54.439 Between faith or work, so you have this kind of almost this sort of choice between you have faith, 00:07:54.439 --> 00:07:58.920 I have works as those kind of one or the other. 00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:04.160 James says you can't do that and he uses the example of demons to say that, you know, 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:08.759 the demons can say I have faith because they believe something as well. 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:15.200 But of course, that's not a saving faith at all. 00:08:15.200 --> 00:08:20.319 Their belief is something that causes them to shudder and it shows that that that faith, 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:26.400 faith on its own is no guarantee of anything. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:30.079 Then you got the next point in verse 20, where he says, 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:32.279 do you not know that faith apart from works is useless? 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:35.519 So he's almost kind of up in the rhetoric as he goes on. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:37.799 This time, his example is Abraham. 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:45.759 And he talks about how Abraham's faith was demonstrated very clearly through his works. 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:49.720 Again, he's saying that faith can't be separated from actions. 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:55.639 It's through Abraham's actions that his faith is demonstrated. 00:08:55.639 --> 00:09:01.279 And then in verse 24, he makes perhaps even the strongest point of all where he says, 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:06.639 you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:11.199 And this time, his example is Rehab, the prostitute. 00:09:11.199 --> 00:09:17.720 And you remember that Rehab avoided condemnation with the rest of Jericho, 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:21.759 not because she said, I believe the Israelites and I believe in their God, 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:26.360 but because the fact that she believed was shown in her actions. 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:30.840 And here again, James is not making a kind of either or between faith and works. 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:35.439 He doesn't say we're justified by works and we're not justified by faith. 00:09:35.439 --> 00:09:43.360 He's saying that we are not justified by a faith that exists in isolation 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.519 and it has no effect on our lives. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:47.840 And he sums it all up in verse 26 where he says, 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:56.759 for apart from the body, the spirit is dead, so also faith, apart from works, is dead. 00:09:56.759 --> 00:10:03.040 So let me just stop sharing my screen again for a second. 00:10:03.040 --> 00:10:08.240 So over the whole passage there, James has started in verse 14 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:11.320 by asking whether faith without works is actually any good. 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:16.160 And then he concludes in verse 26 by saying the answer is no. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.039 In fact, faith without works is not good. 00:10:18.039 --> 00:10:20.399 It's actually dead. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:23.600 And of course, the key point he's making through it all is that faith 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:28.120 that has no effect on our lives is not genuine. 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:30.039 Faith. 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:32.600 Now, I think it's really important that we recognize that 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:38.000 because it's very easy to misunderstand James in this passage. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:40.439 We can easily read this passage and think, you know, 00:10:40.440 --> 00:10:48.160 is James making a contrast between salvation by faith and salvation by works? 00:10:48.160 --> 00:10:58.160 If you look at this verse from Paul in Galatians, he writes, 00:10:58.160 --> 00:11:02.560 we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, 00:11:02.560 --> 00:11:05.160 but through faith in Jesus Christ. 00:11:05.160 --> 00:11:10.000 So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.080 and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:20.879 So he's very clear justified by faith, not by works of the law. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:27.480 But then James says, you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:31.080 And you think to yourself, well, what's going on here? 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:34.200 Is this kind of contradictory? 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:37.639 What exactly are they doing? 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:41.399 Well, the thing that's really important to remember, 00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:43.360 let me just stop shooting my screen again. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:49.480 The thing that's really important to remember is that Paul and James 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:53.000 are addressing different questions. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:59.879 In Galatians 2, Paul was answering the question, how are we saved? 00:11:59.879 --> 00:12:04.279 And the answer to that question is only by grace through faith. 00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:08.159 In James chapter 2, James is answering the question, 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:12.720 what does saving faith actually look like? 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:16.319 And so the key thing we need to recognise is that James is not contrasting 00:12:16.319 --> 00:12:19.519 salvation by faith and salvation by works. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:26.519 The contrast that James is making is between fake faith and genuine faith, 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:31.079 or counterfeit faith and genuine faith. 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:35.480 And we'll maybe see this a bit more clearly if we, it's maybe helpful 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:41.800 if we, when you see the word works in James, to substitute it for the word effect. 00:12:41.800 --> 00:12:43.800 In fact, that actually happens in James. 00:12:43.800 --> 00:12:50.000 In James 1, 4, it says, let steadfastness have its full effect. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:56.640 The word effect there is the same word that's used for works later on in the letter of James. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:01.360 So we could rephrase verse 14 to say, what good is it, my brother, 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:07.439 if someone says he has faith, but it does not have any effect in their lives. 00:13:07.439 --> 00:13:10.840 Can that faith save him? 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:14.639 And the great point that James is trying to make is that any faith 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:19.960 that has no effect on the way we live is a kind of faith in inverted commas 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:25.720 that has got serious questions arising against it. 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:33.960 Genuine saving faith will always have an effect on the way we live our lives. 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:39.680 Now, behind all of this lies a very important theological concept, 00:13:39.680 --> 00:13:43.879 which I want us just to think about for a couple of minutes, 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:48.960 because it's something that I've always found really helpful for lots of aspects of theology. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:51.519 And I hope that it's helpful for this one. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:54.720 It's a concept that lies at the heart of Christian theology, 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:58.480 and it also lies at the heart of our theme for this year to be doers of the word 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:01.160 and not only hearers. 00:14:01.160 --> 00:14:05.560 And so if I just share my screen again, I'll be able to show you this. 00:14:05.560 --> 00:14:11.519 And let me just do this. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:17.960 So that was the example from James 4. 00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:24.560 The theological concept is this, what we could call distinct, but inseparable. 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:29.159 That's a phrase that you've maybe heard or maybe seen written in theological books. 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:35.559 It's a very important theological concept, distinct, but inseparable. 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:42.279 So as you know, Christian theology is full of many, many, many, wonderful truths. 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:48.000 So you've got the Trinity, creation, the incarnation, the atonement, the church, the law, 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:51.639 the crucifixion, the resurrection, the attributes of God, the person of Christ, 00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:54.519 covenant theology, many, many, many more things. 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:57.960 These are all distinct, aren't they? 00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:03.559 So you could buy a book on each of them, a book on the atonement or a book on the person of Christ, 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:08.000 because they're kind of distinct theological topics. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.199 But even though they're distinct, 00:15:12.199 --> 00:15:17.559 they are also absolutely inseparable from each other. 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:20.439 In other words, they all fit together. 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:25.240 And you can't isolate one truth from all the others. 00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:29.800 You can't just pick one on its own as though it had no connection to everything else. 00:15:29.800 --> 00:15:35.600 And so even though you can identify a theological truth in its distinctive role, 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:39.720 that distinction does not mean that you can separate it from everything else. 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:45.120 The truths of Christianity are distinct, but inseparable. 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:48.040 Now, this concept, of course, is not confined to theology. 00:15:48.040 --> 00:15:49.800 We actually see it everywhere. 00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:52.039 A very good example is the human mind. 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:59.719 So if you think about your mind, you have emotions, you have a will, and you have a conscience. 00:15:59.719 --> 00:16:06.240 They are all distinct aspects of our mental faculties. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:10.719 So your emotions will touch on how you feel. 00:16:10.719 --> 00:16:13.919 Your will will express your desire. 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:18.000 Your conscience speaks to you about what's right and wrong. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:23.879 These are all distinct aspects of our mental processes, but they're inseparable. 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:25.320 They're all part of the one mind. 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:29.840 You can't kind of lift your conscience out over here or your will over here. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:32.039 They're all bound up together. 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:39.080 But even with things less profound on the human mind, to take a very, very, very day-to-day example, 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:41.240 this is perhaps the worst illustration I've ever used. 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:46.279 But if you think of a sandwich, a sandwich has got distinctive ingredients 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:49.240 or distinctive layers. 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:53.399 And once they're part of a sandwich, you can still distinguish between the bottom piece of bread 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.639 and the top piece of bread and the ham and cheese that's in the middle. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:01.240 But if you separate them all again, the sandwich is no longer a sandwich. 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:05.399 And so to be a sandwich, they have to be together. 00:17:05.399 --> 00:17:08.759 Even though there's this distinction, they are inseparable. 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:10.759 So there's lots of data to the examples. 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:19.000 The example I like to think about in all of this is of a machine or an engine, 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:25.440 which of course probably comes as no surprise given that that was my job before I became an minister. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:30.599 And then a machine is full of distinctive parts. 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:38.119 But in order for that machine to be a machine and not just a pile of metal on the floor, 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:41.639 these parts cannot be separated. 00:17:41.639 --> 00:17:43.439 They have to be kept together. 00:17:43.439 --> 00:17:47.519 They're distinct, but they are inseparable. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:54.039 Now, so with that image of a machine in your mind, you need to kind of embrace your inner engineer. 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:57.519 You've all got an inner engineer somewhere if you just look deeply enough. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:03.799 You need to embrace that inner engineer because I'm going to show you a picture. 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:05.839 And it's a picture of a machine. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:12.720 Now, as I show you this, I am going to crave your patience, both with my terrible drawing skills, 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:16.519 because I am an engineer, but not an artist at all. 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:18.919 And also with the fact that this is an illustration. 00:18:18.919 --> 00:18:21.759 So please, like it's an illustration. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:23.959 It's not a dogmatic piece of theology. 00:18:23.959 --> 00:18:25.559 It's an illustration. 00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:32.399 But here, if I can just show you this. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:38.519 Here is the gospel portrayed as a machine. 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:41.800 And we're going to look at this machine in a little bit of detail together. 00:18:41.800 --> 00:18:43.400 Now, as I said, this is an illustration. 00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:46.240 It's not a definitive explanation of the Christian gospel. 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.400 It's just an illustration. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:55.880 But let's just look through it together because I hope this will show us a little bit more of the whole idea of distinct but inseparable. 00:18:55.880 --> 00:18:58.720 OK, so first of all, this is you down here. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:00.440 OK, so say hello to yourself. 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:08.960 You're just down there and you are walking a path that leads to death. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:12.759 And that continues all the way down here and off the bottom of the page. 00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:17.279 And there are other people on that path as we're all too aware. 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:18.720 And we find ourselves. 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:20.640 That's the condition we find ourselves in. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:26.400 Every human is born in that condition. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:30.680 But everything changes when the machine kicks into gear. 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:35.240 In other words, when God intervenes in your life. 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:37.480 And there's various key things that happen. 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:40.120 The first is regeneration. 00:19:40.120 --> 00:19:43.759 Now, regeneration can be depicted like a switch. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:49.040 Imagine these big switches that you maybe see on cartoons where they kind of pull down a massive lever and something turns on. 00:19:49.040 --> 00:19:50.120 Have that image in your mind. 00:19:50.120 --> 00:19:53.000 That's what this drawing is supposed to be over here. 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:55.400 It's a big on off switch. 00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:59.880 And when regeneration turns on, something changes within us. 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:04.680 So you'll see that there's kind of supposed to be a light bulb turning on here. 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:09.920 And and regeneration is a kind of on off thing like that. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:17.200 It's it's the moment when the Holy Spirit awakens us and gives us new life in our hearts. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:25.360 We go from being spiritually blind and spiritually dead to being spiritually awakened and alive. 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:29.559 The immediate result of that new birth is faith. 00:20:29.559 --> 00:20:35.240 And we can depict faith in this kind of cradle basket lift type thing that we have here. 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:37.119 So you've got a kind of wire from your switch. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:38.240 You've got a winch here. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:39.159 You've got a rope coming down. 00:20:39.159 --> 00:20:42.759 And this is like a basket, like the kind of thing that you'd be hoisted up the side of a building in. 00:20:42.759 --> 00:20:43.639 OK. 00:20:43.639 --> 00:20:51.439 And God rescues us from this path of death. 00:20:51.439 --> 00:20:53.519 And we don't do anything. 00:20:53.519 --> 00:21:01.200 We just cast ourselves upon him in faith, relying on everything that he has done. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:04.519 And the result of that is that we're saved from the path of death. 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:07.359 We just rest on him and everything that he's done. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:11.920 And we are saved, lifted out of the depths of sin. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:20.359 And we are then enabled to go in a new path, a path of life. 00:21:20.359 --> 00:21:22.680 Our position on this new path of life, 00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:26.960 our position as those who are saved is utterly secure. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.240 And it's secure for two reasons. 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:32.440 One, because of our justification. 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:34.120 Oh, sorry, I keep pressing the wrong button. 00:21:34.120 --> 00:21:36.519 I keep right clicking my apologies. 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:37.759 One is justification. 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:41.720 Let me just clean that line off there, which I've depicted as kind of like a railing. 00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:44.080 So this is supposed to be like a safety railing. 00:21:44.080 --> 00:21:47.480 I know it's an awful drawing, but just imagine it's not an awful drawing. 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:52.279 And the idea is that you can't fall into condemnation again. 00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:54.960 Condemnation is the opposite of justification. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:59.639 Our justification means that we cannot fall again into condemnation. 00:21:59.639 --> 00:22:01.680 We are totally secure because of that. 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.639 And the other reason we are secure is because of adoption, 00:22:04.639 --> 00:22:07.799 whereby we are safe in our father's arms. 00:22:07.799 --> 00:22:10.960 And I know that drawing the arms of God is probably heresy. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:14.160 Just don't tell anyone that I did it. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:16.440 It's again an illustration. 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:20.960 We are secure through our justification and adoption. 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:23.279 But this path of life is not static. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:27.840 We don't just stand there and stay still forevermore. 00:22:27.840 --> 00:22:30.799 It's a path. 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:34.559 It's a journey that we move along. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:39.240 And that pathway is a path of sanctification. 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:42.880 And in our machine, it's portrayed as a conveyor belt. 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:45.480 So I wanted to think of this as a conveyor belt going round 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:48.200 and it's heading up in that direction. 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:51.080 We are being made more and more like Jesus. 00:22:51.080 --> 00:22:55.319 And for that reason, it's kind of an onward and an upward 00:22:55.319 --> 00:23:00.840 direction that we go in as we become more and more like Jesus. 00:23:00.840 --> 00:23:05.640 And while we are on that journey, we are able to serve God. 00:23:05.640 --> 00:23:08.960 And what I've got here, this kind of strange looking thing here 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:12.720 covered in dots, is just imagine that's a giant control panel 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:15.120 where you press buttons to do stuff. 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:19.479 And so you're able to work on this machine and contribute to it. 00:23:19.479 --> 00:23:22.399 And you'll notice that the further along the path of sanctification 00:23:22.399 --> 00:23:24.119 you go, there's more and more buttons. 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:28.519 So here, there's just a few buttons and there's loads of buttons. 00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:32.439 And that's kind of to take the fact that as our sanctification progresses, 00:23:32.439 --> 00:23:35.359 we are enabled more and more and more to die on to sin, 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:38.879 to live on to righteousness, to serve God, to develop our gifts, 00:23:38.879 --> 00:23:42.639 to live for Him, to work for Him, and to serve Him 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:46.520 as followers of Jesus. 00:23:46.520 --> 00:23:50.280 The results of that work goes in two directions. 00:23:50.280 --> 00:23:53.560 First, you have these funnels out the top here. 00:23:53.560 --> 00:23:59.720 And out of these funnels come praise, honour and glory to God. 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:02.360 So as you're working away on the machine, 00:24:02.360 --> 00:24:06.800 praise, honour and glory comes pumping out the top 00:24:06.800 --> 00:24:11.040 towards God. 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:18.319 But at the same time, not only does output go upwards to God, 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:23.559 this machine panel also produces something that comes down here. 00:24:23.559 --> 00:24:26.399 We produce blessings. 00:24:26.399 --> 00:24:31.319 And these blessings come out onto the other people. 00:24:31.319 --> 00:24:35.159 And they may be fellow believers, but very much so, 00:24:35.159 --> 00:24:38.000 they're also going to be people who aren't believers 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:42.400 and who are still on that path to death. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:47.359 And this means that the fruits of our works aren't just honouring to God. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:50.119 They're also of a blessing to others, which of course is echoing 00:24:50.119 --> 00:24:53.160 the Abrahamic covenant that God's people are to be a blessing 00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:55.000 to all parts of the world. 00:24:55.000 --> 00:25:00.039 And of course, the ultimate goal we want, 00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:03.759 the blessings that come out through our works are going to be, 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:07.079 for this person, the light bulb moment over here, 00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:13.279 which puts them onto the same path of salvation as we are on. 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.519 And this process continues throughout our lives 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:19.919 until we are eventually taken to our eternal home 00:25:19.919 --> 00:25:23.639 to be with the Lord forever. 00:25:23.639 --> 00:25:31.639 Now, that is very much a simplification. 00:25:31.639 --> 00:25:35.480 But the key point I'm trying to make is that even though there's all these 00:25:35.480 --> 00:25:41.279 distinct parts of the machine, they are all inseparable. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:48.039 And that's telling us very powerfully that there's an inseparable connection 00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:54.880 between faith here and work up here. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:26:00.079 They are distinct, but they are inseparable. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:07.480 And that means that saving faith here is always going to lead on to works 00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:12.639 that will praise, honour and glorify God, and that will also be a blessing, 00:26:12.639 --> 00:26:16.399 a wonderful blessing to others. 00:26:16.399 --> 00:26:21.720 But the people that James was writing to was trying to separate faith 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:27.960 and kind of keep faith in its own little box down here, 00:26:27.960 --> 00:26:36.039 distinct and separate from all the other aspects of God's saving plan. 00:26:36.039 --> 00:26:42.079 And James is saying, if you do that, your faith is not genuine faith 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:44.600 because faith and works are inseparable. 00:26:44.600 --> 00:26:46.920 Paul was dealing with a different problem. 00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:49.880 Paul was dealing with people who were down here. 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:53.120 Let me just change my colour. So this blue is Paul. 00:26:53.120 --> 00:26:55.480 Paul was dealing with people who was down here 00:26:55.480 --> 00:27:00.839 and they were trying to build their own ladder up here by works. 00:27:00.839 --> 00:27:05.559 Rather than using the lift of faith, they were trying to kind of climb up themselves 00:27:05.559 --> 00:27:09.079 in order to achieve their own salvation. 00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:11.720 And Paul was saying, you can't do that. 00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:16.200 Paul was dealing with the problem of people who thought they could bypass the lift of faith 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:19.039 and just use their works. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:22.519 James is dealing with a different problem. 00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:29.000 I go back to yellow. James is dealing with people who just want to keep faith separate from everything else 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:32.680 and just say, I have faith, but I don't want any of the rest of it. 00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:37.200 I want to carry on living as though I'm on the path of death. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:41.200 And for that reason, people say they have faith, 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:45.799 but if you look at their lives, it looks as though they've just walked up to faith, 00:27:45.799 --> 00:27:49.359 walked in here and walked out the other side 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:54.199 and they're continuing along the path to death with everybody else 00:27:54.199 --> 00:27:57.039 and their life has not changed. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:28:03.679 And the key point that James is making is that you can't do that 00:28:03.679 --> 00:28:08.119 because faith and works, although they're distinct, they're inseparable. 00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:11.639 In other words, our faith should have an effect on the way that we live our lives, 00:28:11.639 --> 00:28:18.119 or as James would say, we need to be doers of the word and not just hearers. 00:28:18.119 --> 00:28:21.239 And all of that makes sense if we go back to the language that James uses 00:28:21.239 --> 00:28:24.599 when he says that faith without works is dead. 00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:32.839 If you think of something that's dead, how do you know it's dead? 00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:38.399 So if you think of a dead mouse, for example, and I'm thinking of a mouse in particular 00:28:38.399 --> 00:28:42.199 because it's my son, John's birthday today. 00:28:42.199 --> 00:28:45.759 And when he was wee, about three years old, 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:50.640 he used to get up really early in the morning and one morning I got up with him early 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:56.319 and he wanted some food and he wanted his breakfast and everyone else was still asleep. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:00.079 And so I took him through to the kitchen to get his food and I said, 00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:02.680 but you have to be really quiet. 00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:08.920 And he said, he said, I'll be as quiet as a little dead mouse. 00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:14.240 And the reason he said that was because he had seen a dead mouse on the road the other day. 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:16.000 Anyway, think of a dead mouse. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:19.599 How do you know that a mouse is dead? 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:24.120 Because it doesn't do anything. 00:29:24.120 --> 00:29:26.799 It doesn't do anything. 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:30.960 How do you know if faith is dead? 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:37.079 If it doesn't do anything, in other words, if it has no effect? 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:42.400 Or to look at it the other way around, how do you know if someone's faith is real? 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:47.519 And the answer is that if it does something, if it has an effect on the way we live 00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:51.560 or to use the imagery of the New Testament, if it bears fruit. 00:29:51.560 --> 00:29:55.600 So this machine that I've drawn is really a fruit machine. 00:29:55.600 --> 00:29:58.160 Now, not a kind of Las Vegas kind of fruit machine, 00:29:58.160 --> 00:30:03.400 but if we kind of mix our metaphors of a machine and a tree, 00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:06.560 a dead tree doesn't produce anything. 00:30:06.560 --> 00:30:09.640 A living one bears fruit. 00:30:09.640 --> 00:30:14.520 And this is where we are being reminded of one of the things that makes Christianity so brilliant. 00:30:14.520 --> 00:30:19.440 Because if I ask that question again, how do you know if someone's faith is genuine? 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:22.080 How do you know if your faith is genuine? 00:30:22.080 --> 00:30:26.280 The New Testament's answer to that is not because they know a lot 00:30:26.280 --> 00:30:29.800 or because they never make mistakes or because they're confident 00:30:29.800 --> 00:30:33.040 or because they're able to articulate theological truth really well 00:30:33.040 --> 00:30:35.080 or because they've done amazing things for the Lord. 00:30:35.079 --> 00:30:39.599 And it's not even because their faith is so clearly strong. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:42.480 The answer to the question, how do you know if someone's faith is genuine? 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:48.480 Is you know because they're bearing fruit. 00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:55.919 And that fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 00:30:55.919 --> 00:30:57.919 gentleness, self-control. 00:30:57.919 --> 00:31:00.960 These are the things that bring honour, praise and glory to God. 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:03.879 These are the things that James appeals for in his letter. 00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:10.960 He doesn't use the same list that Paul uses, but all these things about favouritism, speech, economics, 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:16.480 all that kind of stuff is James is always appealing for that kind of spiritual fruit 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:22.440 that prevents these conflicts and differences. 00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:29.480 These fruit are the things that bring huge blessings to our families, our colleagues and our communities. 00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:33.800 So you think of the machine spitting out blessings on other people. 00:31:33.799 --> 00:31:36.200 You think of going to work tomorrow. 00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:41.919 If you are gentle with people at work, if you show kindness and generosity, 00:31:41.919 --> 00:31:47.599 if you bring joy to the workplace or to a Zoom call, if you are self-controlled, 00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:49.279 is that going to harm your colleagues? 00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:55.960 No, it's going to be an amazing blessing to them. 00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:59.839 And it's an amazing reminder that, you know, when you think of all the shallow, 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:06.240 transient, empty, pointless things that people chase after today, you look at what God is looking for 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:16.480 and you think, wow, thank God, his ways are so, so different. 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:22.559 So just as we close, I've got three applications I want to just leave with you. 00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:30.879 Number one, none of this is being written by James to unsettle you. 00:32:30.879 --> 00:32:36.000 So when he asks these questions about what genuine faith is, about faith that's useless, 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:39.759 about whether someone's faith can actually save them, 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:44.599 that he's not doing that to leave you thinking, is my faith genuine? 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:45.879 Am I really saved? 00:32:45.879 --> 00:32:49.039 Am I bearing good enough fruit? 00:32:49.039 --> 00:32:53.759 If those questions are going through your mind, then that actually is a really good sign, 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:57.240 because no Christian that I know looks at their works and thinks, 00:32:57.240 --> 00:33:00.440 oh, well, I know I'm definitely doing enough, I'm delighted with my output. 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:02.920 None of us feel like that. 00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:07.039 The warning signs are not, you know, am I bearing enough fruit? 00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:14.519 The warning signs are if you start speaking and thinking like the people in this passage 00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:19.720 and say, I don't need to show kindness or gentleness or self-control. 00:33:19.720 --> 00:33:25.599 I don't need works like that, because I've got faith instead. 00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:29.200 Now, I know that nobody in here is going to be thinking like that, 00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:32.720 but that's why I'm saying that this is not to unsettle you, 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:39.519 and I hope that it doesn't unsettle you, because I hope it actually does the opposite. 00:33:39.519 --> 00:33:42.879 And that brings me to the second piece of application that I want to say, 00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:50.000 that if we go back to my terrible drawing of a machine, 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:57.360 if you separate faith and works, if we separate faith here from works over here 00:33:57.360 --> 00:34:05.040 and the outputs that that results in, to do that is to totally underestimate 00:34:05.040 --> 00:34:10.200 how big God's salvation actually is. 00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:16.599 So this machine is a bit of a terrible drawing, but it's a terrible drawing of an amazing thing, 00:34:16.599 --> 00:34:21.319 because the whole machinery of God's salvation to use that imagery, 00:34:21.319 --> 00:34:25.559 the whole machinery of God's salvation is just amazing, 00:34:25.559 --> 00:34:30.559 because you have all of these components working together so perfectly, 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:35.719 piecing it together across all the ages of history, across all the experiences of your life, 00:34:35.719 --> 00:34:40.359 bringing you from the path of death down here all the way to eternal life, 00:34:40.359 --> 00:34:49.239 and God fits all the cogs and wheels and links and conveyor belts together perfectly, 00:34:49.239 --> 00:34:54.439 and it's the most intricate, spectacular, marvellous machine. 00:34:54.439 --> 00:34:58.359 And so if you think that, you know, oh well, I just have faith, that's all I need, 00:34:58.359 --> 00:35:02.519 you're just underestimating it woefully, 00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:11.079 and you're just forgetting just how amazing God's work of salvation actually is. 00:35:11.079 --> 00:35:16.599 And it's also, you know, showing us that God's plans for us are so much bigger than we think, 00:35:16.599 --> 00:35:27.480 because yes, faith is central to our salvation, but we must never forget that God is not looking 00:35:27.480 --> 00:35:33.000 for a church full of believers, he's looking for more than that, 00:35:33.719 --> 00:35:41.000 he's looking for a church full of new creations, because that's what you really are as a Christian. 00:35:41.639 --> 00:35:48.440 You're not just a believer, you are someone who's been transformed by God's amazing, 00:35:48.440 --> 00:35:55.079 sanctifying, equipping grace, and that brings us to the last thing that I want to say, 00:35:55.079 --> 00:36:04.039 that if we draw a distinction between faith and works, then we are going to 00:36:06.840 --> 00:36:13.719 badly on the amazing potential that you have as a Christian. 00:36:14.679 --> 00:36:22.279 If you keep your faith box, which my mouse is gone, it's down here, if you keep your faith box 00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:27.480 kind of down here, like the readers of James are trying to do, and just think, well that's just it, 00:36:28.600 --> 00:36:36.200 if you keep yourself down here, isolated and separated from all the rest of it, 00:36:36.760 --> 00:36:43.080 then you're cutting yourself off from the amazing potential that God has for you all the way along 00:36:43.080 --> 00:36:49.560 here, because as Christians, our good works are not some kind of dull obligations that we have to 00:36:49.559 --> 00:36:57.320 do as part of our religious duty. Our good works are an opportunity to do amazing things. 00:36:57.320 --> 00:37:01.559 If you ask right now, where are you in this machine? You are up here, you are somewhere 00:37:01.559 --> 00:37:08.119 on that board working away, serving, producing glory, honor, and praise to God, and bringing out 00:37:08.119 --> 00:37:12.519 blessings, blessings, blessings in the lives of others, and you might not even be aware of it, 00:37:12.519 --> 00:37:17.799 but you are doing amazing things, or in fact God is doing amazing things through you 00:37:17.800 --> 00:37:25.720 to make you into an amazing worker who can bring praise and honor to him, and bring amazing blessings 00:37:25.720 --> 00:37:36.600 to people around you who desperately desperately need it. When faith leads to works, the potential 00:37:36.599 --> 00:37:48.599 is mind-blowing, and our great prayer needs to be that more and more and more God would enable us 00:37:49.239 --> 00:37:58.920 to grasp just how much he can do through people like you who are hearers and doers of his word. 00:37:59.719 --> 00:38:04.920 And that's the amazing thing about the great machine of God's salvation, is that, you know, 00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:14.599 sometimes when you're an engineer, you can go places and you can see awesome-looking machines, 00:38:14.599 --> 00:38:17.960 and you think, wow, these look incredible, and of course you're not allowed to go near them, 00:38:18.840 --> 00:38:25.880 because only experts are allowed to use the big, expensive machines. This is where the 00:38:25.880 --> 00:38:31.800 illustration of a machine falls down, because God's not like that, and thank God he isn't, 00:38:31.800 --> 00:38:39.320 because for every one of you, you're right at the cold face, right at the heart of that machine, 00:38:40.519 --> 00:38:46.280 ready to serve, ready to work. You're not on the sidelines, and you're not just kept to one side 00:38:46.280 --> 00:38:50.840 as somebody who's not qualified God, is pulling you right into the thick of it, and he's saying, 00:38:50.840 --> 00:38:55.880 you're the kind of people that I'm going to use to bring praise, honor, and glory to my name, 00:38:55.880 --> 00:39:02.119 and to bring blessings in the lives of all the people that you meet. And that's why 00:39:03.960 --> 00:39:10.840 the whole emphasis on faith and works sticking together is just such a cool thing to remember. 00:39:12.039 --> 00:39:13.720 Amen. Let's pray. 00:39:16.840 --> 00:39:21.800 Father, we thank you so much for what your word teaches us, and we pray that your word would 00:39:21.800 --> 00:39:30.039 just shape our thinking more and more. Help us not to kind of just divide things into chunks, 00:39:30.039 --> 00:39:35.720 and to think, well, I've got faith, and that's all I need. Help us to have a much bigger understanding 00:39:35.720 --> 00:39:41.720 of just how much you have done for us in Jesus, and help us also to have a bigger understanding 00:39:41.720 --> 00:39:50.039 of the potential that you have for us as we seek to serve you. We're so aware that our works cannot 00:39:50.039 --> 00:39:55.559 contribute to our salvation. It's only through Jesus, and we thank you for everything he's done for us. 00:39:56.279 --> 00:40:01.480 But we also pray, though, that we would never underestimate just how valuable our works can 00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:08.279 be as your people, as we seek to serve you and live for you. So may our faith grow, 00:40:08.280 --> 00:40:19.720 and may our works just get better and better and better for your glory. Amen.