WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.360 James chapter 2 at verse 20. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:14.160 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:21.920 ! Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:24.080 ! And so on. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:36.640 Now we'll notice as we moved into chapter 2 of this letter that we are looking at the display of authentic faith in the lives of the people of God. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:45.439 And following on the theme that James has here, the fact that we may claim to have faith, and as we read through this section, 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:50.399 we may claim to have a faith that is nothing more than intellectual faith. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:57.039 It's something that we think and believe in our minds, but at the same time, it doesn't produce fruit in our lives. 00:00:58.239 --> 00:01:04.079 And when I read this section of chapter 2, it does appear that the people whom James is writing, 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:09.439 that we see at the beginning of the letter, they are scattered across various areas near Antioch. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:20.480 And we understand that they have been confused by a perversion of the Pauline viewpoint of justification by faith. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:32.959 And when we read what James is saying here, we need to understand that he is addressing a misunderstanding in their minds with regard to what justification by faith means, 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:37.839 and the place of faith means, and the place of faith means, and the place of faith means, and the place of works in the lives of the people of God. 00:01:37.839 --> 00:01:46.000 So we bear in mind as we look at these verses that James is writing in a different context to the context that Paul was writing in, 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:51.199 and therefore what you read here has to be understood in the light of that distinction. 00:01:52.399 --> 00:02:01.679 When we move on to these verses as well, we see the way in which there is a real connection between what James has referred to as the implanted word in chapter 2, 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:07.280 and the way in which they must be doers of the word as well as hearers, 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:15.760 and understanding that those who actually are doers of the word, that they are blessed in their doing. 00:02:16.480 --> 00:02:21.200 And into this section here, there is the real sense of judgment. 00:02:21.920 --> 00:02:26.560 And in the previous section, there's looking at the perfect law of liberty, 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:34.319 and recognizing what we see in the mirror of the word, and adjusting your behavior in the light of that. 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:40.319 And it seems in this section that those who look to the perfect law of liberty, 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:46.240 in the mirror that they are now to be judged by that same law, by that same word of God. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:51.680 But bearing in mind the distinction between Paul and James in the writings, 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:58.320 we want to think this evening of a case study on the nature of genuine faith. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:04.560 And I want to think first of all of the case study and the declaration. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:07.280 And we're reading the version number 14. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:14.160 What good is it, my brothers, that someone says he has faith but does not have works? 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:19.759 James comes right into the essence of the discussion, 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:27.199 and speaks of the person who possesses faith but does not have works. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:35.199 And the works in particular are works that we think are works in obedience to God's law, 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:38.879 in serving the word of God, and in serving God himself. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:42.960 They are actions carried out in obedience to God. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:49.600 And here is James asking the question, what good is it, what benefit is it, 00:03:49.600 --> 00:03:54.159 if someone says he has faith but does not have works? 00:03:54.800 --> 00:04:02.960 And adding to that the important question that he does ask, can that faith save him? 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:09.120 And we think of genuine faith, we think of the faith that brings salvation. 00:04:09.600 --> 00:04:17.280 And the question here that James is asking is with regard to not salvation that we enjoy now, 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.519 and the grace that brings salvation to us in the day of our conversion, 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:24.159 and the grace that brings salvation. 00:04:24.159 --> 00:04:27.199 And the question here that we think of salvation is that we are saved at last, 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:36.240 and that we are saved at last out of the world into the glory of the new heavens and the new earth. 00:04:36.799 --> 00:04:41.599 So the question is, can the person who has faith but does not have works, 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:46.240 can they expect it to be saved at last at the end of time, 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:52.800 placing the whole discussion into the context of the end time judgment of God? 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:00.480 And adding to that, he gives an illustration with regard to the brother, 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:04.000 he says there is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:10.800 And the one who says to them, go in peace, be warned and filled without giving them the things needed for the body. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:11.680 What good is that? 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.480 So it is saying the right thing, but doing nothing. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:19.839 Faith is intellectual. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:25.519 It is verbal, but it's not practical and it is not active. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:33.439 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:43.600 And it's James pushing them to think of the possibility that they may claim to have a faith 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:46.480 and that that faith does not have works. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:49.839 And therefore that faith is dead. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:56.879 And the difference between being alive and dead, as we read through the Bible and think of the grace of God, 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:01.759 it is to have that fruit bearing sense of the spirit of God being in our hearts. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:03.360 We are alive to God. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:07.439 We are alive to the Lord Jesus Christ and that life bears fruit. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:15.120 But if we have this kind of faith that says the right things, but that does not do the right things 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:20.800 in obedience to God, then James is saying that that faith is dead. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:24.480 And it is a powerful statement. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:28.879 It's powerful coming to ourselves together this evening. 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:31.040 That there is this possibility. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:32.879 It's searching. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:35.199 It makes us ask the question. 00:06:35.840 --> 00:06:38.400 It makes us scrutinise where we are. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:41.920 And it's really important that we always do that. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:49.120 To examine ourselves and as Paul says, to prove our own selves that we are in the faith. 00:06:50.080 --> 00:06:57.600 And there is the focus, the declaration then of the case study in version number 18. 00:06:57.600 --> 00:06:59.520 And there is a question that we have in the Bible. 00:06:59.520 --> 00:07:01.680 But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:04.000 Show me your faith apart from your works. 00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:07.280 And I will show you my faith by my works. 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:11.680 There has to be a visible aspect to faith. 00:07:12.320 --> 00:07:16.560 That visible aspect is the works that faith must have. 00:07:18.080 --> 00:07:20.000 And here is the challenge. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:22.720 I will show you my faith by my works. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:30.400 In other words, this faith, which is the gift of God, that is a faith that is living. 00:07:31.200 --> 00:07:34.480 And it is evident out of its works, we could say. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:37.840 So I have faith and I cling to a faith. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:45.600 And if it is genuine faith, out of that faith, I see that the visible evidence of the life that 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:48.880 there is in faith, and that cannot be hidden in the world. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:55.279 And that's the declaration of the case study that here is a fact. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:59.360 Genuine faith is a faith that is living. 00:08:00.159 --> 00:08:06.719 It's a faith that shows itself by the works that we do in obedience to God. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:09.680 It is not simply something intellectual. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.319 It is something that's hugely practical. 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:18.000 It is something that leaves us serving God as we journey on through life. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:21.279 The case study and the declaration. 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:27.199 Secondly, I want us to think of the case study and definitions. 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:34.399 And I want us to think about this because of the confusion between what James is saying here 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:37.919 and what Paul is saying in the likes of Romans and Galatians. 00:08:39.199 --> 00:08:44.159 And the definition is around the whole idea of justification. 00:08:45.199 --> 00:08:53.519 And in version number 21, where it was not Abraham a father justified by works. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:55.519 Justification. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:55.600 Justification. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:03.679 To be just, to be righteous, is the person who conforms to the norms of the kingdom of God. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:10.720 And I want us to understand that in our definitions, there are three ways in which we can understand 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:12.720 the whole idea of being justified. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.240 And only one of these applies to what James is saying. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:24.000 And the first sense of being justified or being righteous is something that describes our behavior. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:31.680 We see Simeon in the temple, when the child Jesus was in, Simeon was righteous and devout. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:36.480 He lived his life conformed to the norms of the kingdom. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:40.799 He was waiting, expecting the Messiah to come. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:45.839 And he rejoiced on his birth, on his appearance in the temple. 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:53.439 To be righteous describes the way in which we live our lives. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:55.599 Secondly, 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:01.120 to be righteous can be a declaration. 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:07.120 And that's the Pauline idea of being justified. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:12.799 It's having and being granted the status of being innocent before God. 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:19.919 And in most of the letters that Paul writes, he is defending that case firmly. 00:10:20.560 --> 00:10:24.960 He has no patience with any idea of justification on the basis of works. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:30.159 We are justified freely by the grace of God as a gift. 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:34.879 And no one is justified by the works of the law. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:41.919 We are justified by believing in him who justifies the ungodly. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:48.240 So there is the righteousness that belongs to Simeon because he lives his life. 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:56.080 Showing outwardly that he is conforming to the norms of the kingdom, waiting for the promises of God. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:00.240 And that is the righteousness that Paul speaks of. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:05.200 It's God's declaration being justified by faith, apart from works. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:07.520 Works have nothing to do with it. 00:11:07.520 --> 00:11:08.639 It's a declaration. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:22.340 But the third way in which we can understand righteous and being justified is that it refers to God's vindication in the day of judgment. 00:11:22.340 --> 00:11:32.019 That the day will come in the day of judgment when God will judge all that we have done. 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:34.740 Our works, our behavior, our conduct. 00:11:34.740 --> 00:11:35.940 Our work, our conduct. 00:11:35.940 --> 00:11:45.060 And in that day of judgment that we will be justified if we have done the works of the kingdom of God as those who have faith. 00:11:45.059 --> 00:11:49.779 And Jesus speaks with regard to that in Matthew chapter 12. 00:11:51.219 --> 00:11:58.179 I tell you, on the day of judgment, people give account for every careless word. 00:11:59.299 --> 00:12:04.579 For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. 00:12:05.859 --> 00:12:13.219 There's the vindication of God, the justification of God that is based on our works, that is based on what we have done. 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:25.379 And these are the three ways in which we can understand it in the light of what James is here to ensure that we have the right definition and to ensure that we're clear on what James is saying. 00:12:26.420 --> 00:12:35.060 And clearly James is using the idea of justification in the sense of being judged according to our works. 00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:43.739 In parallel with the way in which Jesus speaks in the gospel of Matthew. 00:12:44.619 --> 00:12:53.479 Justification for James is God's judgment of us when we arrive in the last judgment. 00:12:53.480 --> 00:13:11.480 And bearing these things in mind then, we have a declaration of the case study, we have definitions for the case study, and I want us now to think of the case study and the demonstration, the practical explanation of how things do actually work. 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:15.480 And where would we expect James to go? 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:20.480 We would expect him to go to the person who is the father of the faithful. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:24.000 We would expect him to go to Abraham who is the friend of God. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:28.680 We would expect him to go to the same Abraham that Paul uses in his own argument. 00:13:28.680 --> 00:13:32.980 He goes to speak about the life of Abraham. 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:39.980 Was not Abraham our father justified by works? 00:13:39.980 --> 00:13:52.740 And then he refers to the special occasion in which we're going to understand and learn what James means here. 00:13:52.740 --> 00:14:00.680 And that special occasion is when he offered up his son Isaac. 00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:06.439 And the headline in that story is that we read in Genesis 22. 00:14:06.439 --> 00:14:12.379 The headline is that after these things, God tested Abraham. 00:14:12.379 --> 00:14:27.139 And in every day that we open our eyes on the face of this earth as the children of God who have faith in God and his promises, that headline hangs above our heads. 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:33.139 After these things, on this day, God is testing you and he's testing me. 00:14:33.139 --> 00:14:36.899 The same way as he did Abraham. 00:14:36.899 --> 00:14:45.899 And we ought to remember the way in which that headline is at the beginning of every day that we open our eyes as the children of God. 00:14:45.899 --> 00:15:02.659 And against that headline, we see that the test was take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, take him to Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on the mountain that I will show you. 00:15:02.659 --> 00:15:03.659 Here is the test. 00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:04.659 Here is the test. 00:15:04.659 --> 00:15:05.659 Here is the test. 00:15:05.659 --> 00:15:06.659 Here is the test. 00:15:06.659 --> 00:15:07.659 Here is the test. 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:08.659 Here is the test. 00:15:08.659 --> 00:15:13.659 Abraham who has faith, who has intellectually accepted what God has said in Genesis 15. 00:15:13.659 --> 00:15:20.419 What does faith do under this headline on this morning? 00:15:20.419 --> 00:15:27.659 Abraham rose early and went to the place. 00:15:27.659 --> 00:15:32.419 Where do we see the works of Abraham on this great day of God's testing? 00:15:32.419 --> 00:15:35.419 He got out of his bed. 00:15:35.419 --> 00:15:37.419 He didn't argue with God. 00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:41.419 He didn't sleep in or sleep on. 00:15:41.419 --> 00:15:42.419 He rose early. 00:15:42.419 --> 00:15:44.419 There was faith. 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:45.419 There was a test. 00:15:45.419 --> 00:15:53.419 And the response of faith is to move as soon as possible in obedience to God's command. 00:15:53.419 --> 00:15:56.419 There is the movement of faith. 00:15:56.419 --> 00:15:59.419 And we have read through the story. 00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:04.419 And there is that headline hanging over Abraham. 00:16:04.419 --> 00:16:08.419 And he goes off on that journey to that mountain. 00:16:08.419 --> 00:16:11.419 And at each stage he is conscious of where he has come from. 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:13.419 He is conscious of Isaac with him. 00:16:13.419 --> 00:16:16.419 He is conscious of the place that God has shown him. 00:16:16.419 --> 00:16:20.419 And at the appropriate time he leaves the group behind. 00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:23.419 And he and Isaac and all the gear for the sacrifice. 00:16:23.419 --> 00:16:25.419 They go to Mount Moriah. 00:16:25.419 --> 00:16:27.419 And he binds his son. 00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:30.419 And he lays him on the altar. 00:16:30.419 --> 00:16:35.419 And whereas we begin the day with the headline of God's testing. 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:40.419 We arrive in this moment at this high point with a heavenly voice. 00:16:40.419 --> 00:16:41.419 And he says, 00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:46.419 As Abraham takes the knife and is ready to sacrifice his son. 00:16:46.419 --> 00:16:49.419 The angel of the Lord cried out. 00:16:49.419 --> 00:16:55.419 Do not lay your hand upon the lad. 00:16:55.419 --> 00:16:57.419 Why not? 00:16:57.419 --> 00:17:05.420 Because Abraham has passed the test. 00:17:05.420 --> 00:17:06.420 What is the test? 00:17:06.420 --> 00:17:13.420 The test is that God wants to know that Abraham's faith is working. 00:17:13.420 --> 00:17:17.420 And once he comes to Mount Moriah, what does God say to him? 00:17:17.420 --> 00:17:18.420 Why does he? 00:17:18.420 --> 00:17:23.420 Why does the angel of the Lord not want him to put the knife into his son? 00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:29.420 For now I know the vindication, the assessment, the judgment of God. 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:33.420 For now I know that you fear God. 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:35.420 We could say, 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:38.420 Now I know that you love God. 00:17:38.420 --> 00:17:43.420 The whole idea of fearing God and loving God are close to being interchangeable. 00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:46.420 I fear God because I love God. 00:17:46.420 --> 00:17:49.420 I love God and I fear God. 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:53.420 Now I know that you fear God. 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:58.420 Seeing you have not withheld your son from me. 00:17:58.420 --> 00:18:11.420 And so the outcome of this whole testing process in the experience of Abraham is that he has passed the test. 00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:16.420 And God has seen the works of his faith. 00:18:16.420 --> 00:18:20.420 Not to add to his faith, but as evidence of his faith. 00:18:20.420 --> 00:18:26.420 And there, Abraham is justified, says James. 00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:33.420 And we look back to the first chapter in this letter. 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:39.420 And we see the headline in the chapter in this book itself. 00:18:39.420 --> 00:18:41.420 Verse number three. 00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:45.420 Verse number two in chapter one. 00:18:45.420 --> 00:18:52.420 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet various trials of various kinds. 00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:57.420 For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 00:18:57.420 --> 00:19:02.420 Here it produces works. 00:19:02.420 --> 00:19:05.420 The headline is at the beginning of the letter. 00:19:05.420 --> 00:19:15.420 It is here over the example of faith justified by works into the life of Abraham. 00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:23.420 And for ourselves this evening, it invites the question. 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:28.420 When I open my eyes in the morning, and here is the headline. 00:19:28.420 --> 00:19:32.420 Today God is testing me in my faith. 00:19:32.420 --> 00:19:36.420 How will my faith show itself on this day? 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:39.420 In my obedience to God's word. 00:19:39.420 --> 00:19:42.420 In my relationships with other people. 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:44.420 As well as in my relationship with God. 00:19:44.420 --> 00:19:48.420 In my service of God in his kingdom and his church. 00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:51.420 In my service of God outside of his kingdom. 00:19:51.420 --> 00:19:54.420 In my faithful discipleship. 00:19:54.420 --> 00:20:01.420 In this example of social activity and helping those who are in need. 00:20:01.420 --> 00:20:04.420 As Jesus himself said, I was hungry and you gave me to eat. 00:20:04.420 --> 00:20:07.420 I was thirsty and you gave me to drink. 00:20:07.420 --> 00:20:13.420 There's such a long list of the works to be done in obedience to God's word. 00:20:13.420 --> 00:20:20.420 That evidence of a living faith in our hearts. 00:20:20.420 --> 00:20:26.420 And we're asked to think this evening at the end of this day. 00:20:26.420 --> 00:20:28.420 What is the outcome? 00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:30.420 What's the journey been like? 00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:34.420 Have we risen early like Abraham did? 00:20:34.420 --> 00:20:38.420 Not hesitating and going on in obedience to God? 00:20:38.420 --> 00:20:42.420 Have we gone through the day observing carefully. 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:45.420 Everything that God has required us to do. 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:49.420 Have we arrived at this moment. 00:20:49.420 --> 00:20:54.420 And is God enabling us now to bring our works. 00:20:54.420 --> 00:20:57.420 As James referred to earlier on. 00:20:57.420 --> 00:21:00.420 To come to the mirror of God's word. 00:21:00.420 --> 00:21:03.420 And to wait. 00:21:03.420 --> 00:21:08.420 Not to be given the status of being innocent and righteous. 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:12.420 But to hear God's assessment. 00:21:12.420 --> 00:21:17.420 Has my faith been working? 00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:23.420 Is my possession of living genuine faith. 00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:29.420 Has that shown itself in my activities throughout of the day? 00:21:29.420 --> 00:21:32.420 I ask myself the same question that I'm asking you. 00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:39.420 But it is the question that this passage in the book of James leads us to ask together this evening. 00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:41.420 It's a challenging question. 00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:42.420 Here is the example. 00:21:42.420 --> 00:21:50.420 And how do we measure up to what James is being before us here. 00:21:50.420 --> 00:21:53.420 And the example of Abraham. 00:21:53.420 --> 00:22:06.420 James goes on to show the importance of these practical works. 00:22:06.420 --> 00:22:10.420 And the importance is that without them. 00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:15.420 Faith has not reached its intended goal. 00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:18.420 That's what we read in verse number 22. 00:22:18.420 --> 00:22:25.420 You see that faith was active along with his works. 00:22:25.420 --> 00:22:29.420 So I've got the picture of two people working together. 00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:31.420 Two identities working together. 00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:33.420 They are co-workers. 00:22:33.420 --> 00:22:35.420 They are engaged in the same thing. 00:22:35.420 --> 00:22:38.420 But they serve together. 00:22:38.420 --> 00:22:39.420 Together. 00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:44.420 And they serve together together because the one grows out of the other. 00:22:44.420 --> 00:22:46.420 And the one is active because of the other. 00:22:46.420 --> 00:22:52.420 And the works are there because of the living relationship of my faith with my Savior. 00:22:52.420 --> 00:22:58.420 And the way into which that life is revealed in my works. 00:22:58.420 --> 00:23:02.420 Faith active along with works. 00:23:02.420 --> 00:23:11.420 It's a powerful dynamic force through which my faith works in life as a journey on through life. 00:23:11.420 --> 00:23:13.420 And James goes on to say. 00:23:13.420 --> 00:23:20.420 Faith was completed by works. 00:23:20.420 --> 00:23:23.420 Faith was completed by works. 00:23:23.420 --> 00:23:26.420 Not in the sense that faith wasn't complete. 00:23:26.420 --> 00:23:29.420 Faith as the gift of God. 00:23:29.420 --> 00:23:31.420 The gift of the grace of God. 00:23:31.420 --> 00:23:34.420 The gift of God in the day of grace. 00:23:34.420 --> 00:23:37.420 That faith in itself is perfect. 00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:41.420 But it cannot be separate from me as the passion that I am. 00:23:41.420 --> 00:23:43.420 As the child of God. 00:23:43.420 --> 00:23:44.420 And that faith. 00:23:44.420 --> 00:23:45.420 The faith that is working. 00:23:45.420 --> 00:23:48.420 Not the one that doesn't have the works. 00:23:48.420 --> 00:23:51.420 And that faith. 00:23:51.420 --> 00:23:52.420 Is. 00:23:52.420 --> 00:23:55.420 Completed by his works. 00:23:55.420 --> 00:24:00.420 And it is completed in the sense. 00:24:00.420 --> 00:24:03.420 Of reaching its intended goal. 00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:06.420 It's the whole idea of. 00:24:06.420 --> 00:24:07.420 Of maturity. 00:24:07.420 --> 00:24:08.420 And. 00:24:08.420 --> 00:24:09.420 Qualification. 00:24:09.420 --> 00:24:11.420 That Paul speaks of. 00:24:11.420 --> 00:24:12.720 that Paul speaks of. 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:20.259 He speaks in Philippians 3 of him not having already attained or being made perfect. 00:24:20.620 --> 00:24:24.380 In other words, he hadn't reached the intended goal of salvation. 00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:29.480 John speaks about those who love one another. 00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:34.460 And when they do so, the love of God is perfected in us. 00:24:34.460 --> 00:24:43.460 God's love reaches its intended goal when the children of God love God and love the people of God. 00:24:44.600 --> 00:24:52.259 And so here, faith is completed by works. 00:24:54.120 --> 00:25:01.180 And in any kind of project, whether it's a building project, any other kind of project, 00:25:01.180 --> 00:25:03.559 that remains unfinished. 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:10.920 It's an embarrassment to the person who has begun the project 00:25:10.920 --> 00:25:14.360 and hasn't been able to complete it. 00:25:14.600 --> 00:25:19.039 Whatever the reasons are, it's an embarrassment to see an unfinished project. 00:25:19.660 --> 00:25:21.720 And we see it in different areas of life. 00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:25.480 Great ideas, a great beginning, 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:36.079 and yet things just peter out and don't reach the perfection and the completion that was in the original design. 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:43.119 And James is telling us here this evening that our faith should never be like that. 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:54.299 A faith that we find so easy to express and to show itself in the very beginnings of our Christian experience. 00:25:54.299 --> 00:25:59.519 And so often afterwards, we find ourselves toiling. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:04.940 And at the least sense of testing, at the least sense of opposition, 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:09.779 our faith begins to waver and to wane, 00:26:09.779 --> 00:26:15.079 and it comes close to being inoperative. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:21.779 And it becomes the faith that is nothing more than an intellectual faith, 00:26:21.779 --> 00:26:25.619 where I'm taking things in my mind, 00:26:25.619 --> 00:26:28.180 where I'm learning the word of God, 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:31.639 and where I isolate my faith in that sense. 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:37.240 I separate it from the works which it should be showing. 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:40.819 And as we close this evening, 00:26:41.700 --> 00:26:44.559 let's think together of the fact that 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:48.440 there is nothing more important than our faith, 00:26:48.440 --> 00:26:51.059 and of course, we know that. 00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:55.579 But Paul reminds the church in Galatia 00:26:55.579 --> 00:27:03.579 that there is neither circumcision or uncircumcision counts for anything. 00:27:03.579 --> 00:27:09.000 Only faith working through love. 00:27:10.539 --> 00:27:15.220 And if my faith is accompanied by love in my heart, 00:27:15.439 --> 00:27:17.599 as it is with faith, hope and love, 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:23.139 then my faith is one that is working and is doing so through love. 00:27:24.179 --> 00:27:28.740 And because I love my Saviour in whom I trust, 00:27:28.740 --> 00:27:31.439 and in whom I trust as my Saviour, 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:35.220 then my love for him will, 00:27:35.340 --> 00:27:39.259 instead of causing my faith to wane and to falter, 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:42.920 my love for him will increase more and more. 00:27:43.840 --> 00:27:47.400 And so will my works of love increase more and more. 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:51.180 And so that as my faith grows stronger 00:27:51.180 --> 00:27:54.220 in the challenges of life, 00:27:54.220 --> 00:27:59.039 so there are greater evidences of the work of faith. 00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:00.720 They are co-workers. 00:28:01.860 --> 00:28:02.900 They grow together. 00:28:03.259 --> 00:28:04.319 And the greater my faith, 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:08.019 the greater the evidence of the works of faith, 00:28:08.579 --> 00:28:10.980 visible to others in obedience to God 00:28:10.980 --> 00:28:13.799 and in the service of Christ's kingdom. 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:17.200 So let's remember the declaration, first of all, 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:19.240 that he wants to make clear 00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:22.759 that it is only the faith that is accompanied by works 00:28:22.759 --> 00:28:23.640 which is genuine. 00:28:24.620 --> 00:28:26.559 Let's remember the distinctions. 00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:31.299 And let's remember that James is here focusing on 00:28:31.299 --> 00:28:33.980 a justification that's an assessment 00:28:33.980 --> 00:28:37.120 of the work that we have done or not done. 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:40.099 And let's be encouraged and challenged 00:28:40.099 --> 00:28:42.479 to think of our love for our Saviour, 00:28:42.719 --> 00:28:43.559 our faith in him, 00:28:44.239 --> 00:28:49.259 and to think of how our love can be increased more and more 00:28:49.259 --> 00:28:51.459 and learning more and more about our Saviour 00:28:51.459 --> 00:28:53.519 and so that these works, 00:28:54.519 --> 00:28:55.739 that confirmation of faith, 00:28:56.119 --> 00:28:59.419 will show themselves in the kingdom of God, 00:28:59.539 --> 00:29:00.639 in the church of Christ, 00:29:01.019 --> 00:29:03.139 and in the community in which we live. 00:29:03.819 --> 00:29:05.079 May God bless these thoughts to us. 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:10.599 So we're now going to close by singing in Psalm number 37 00:29:10.599 --> 00:29:11.619 in the Scottish Psalter.