A very good morning for myself. It's great to be here. Thank you so much for the invitation
to join you in fellowship. We were here a couple of years ago as a family for one of
your morning services and we're greatly blessed at that time. I've gotten to know John a bit
over the years through various gospel activities and it's been a great blessing to make that
connection and have that friendship with John. As John said, up until the end of last year
I was working at Greenview Evangelical Church that we have some connections with. Delighted
to take all responsibility for Neil, who's such a great servant of the church as the rest
of his family are in Greenview. I was working there until last year and then during last
year I was approached by FIEC, which is the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches,
about taking on a role for them in Scotland as their kind of Scottish worker and coordinator.
and after a lot of prayer and consultation we were delighted to take up that offer. So
for the last six months or so I've been working for FIEC, going around Scotland, supporting
the various churches that are part of that network, encouraging them, trying to get to know them
and just being a bit of a flag waver really for that movement. Very briefly, I'm not here
to do a missionary report on FIEC, but very briefly for those who don't know anything about
it at all. It is what it says in the tin, it's a fellowship, not a denomination, it's a network
of independent churches. We believe that churches are best run by the people who are in them,
of evangelical churches, that those that are committed to a very strong body of gospel truth
to the biblical gospel that's historically received and passed on by the church and churches like this
one. And a network that we can encourage each other and things like pastoral support for church leaders,
church planting and mission and training, and also in some practical ways, some legal services and
others that the network provides. So if you want to know more about FIEC, then do speak to me at the
end. I'd be delighted to share more about that. But it's been encouraging that it's a growing
network. There's over 500 churches now across the UK are part of the FIEC family. And in Scotland last
year, we were delighted, actually in Edinburgh, that Charlotte Chapel, just up the road, and Nidre
Community Church, both affiliated. And just this week, Harper Memorial Baptist Church in Glasgow
has voted to join FIEC. So it's encouraging times for the movement. Let's turn to God's words now.
That's why I'm here. That's why we're here. And the main is to gather around God's word and to hear
what God would say to us this morning. So if you have a Bible, I know there's some round about. If
you turn to James chapter 2, that would be really helpful. And just to keep that open as we look at
this passage from scripture today. James chapter 2, and we're going to read verses 14 to 19. And the
title I've been given, which is very appropriate and fits with the passage, is Faith Acts. So let's
hear God's words. James 2 and verse 14.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith
save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to
them, go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what
good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say,
you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith
by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. May God
bless you as a reading of his precious and inspired words. Coming to that part of James this morning,
which I suppose has made the book of James so controversial through the centuries over the years.
You'll be aware, if you know a bit about the book of James, that it was a New Testament letter that
Martin Luther, the great reformer, described as an epistle of straw. And the reason that Martin
Luther struggled with James, why it bothered him, was in large part because of the kind of things that
we have just read this morning. It's a section that seems to jar with the great emphasis of Martin
Luther and others on faith alone as the basis of our salvation. For Martin Luther, Romans was the book.
That was the life-changing book for him that just gave him that great revelation of the way to get
right with God, to be accepted and forgiven by God. Romans has that great declaration, doesn't it,
of salvation through faith alone. Full stop, nothing more to be added. The truth that became the heartbeat of the
reformation and is the heartbeat of our own evangelical faith today. The great truth that no one can be saved.
No one can get right by God or win God's favor by their good works, by law-keeping, by moral performance.
But that only and entirely in Jesus, in the sacrifice that he made for sins, and in receiving his righteousness,
can any individual man or woman, girl or boy, be forgiven and received by God and welcomed in
to God's family, be made just in the eyes of God. It is a gift of salvation that is to be taken hold of
and received entirely and simply and exclusively by believing.
The gospel message of faith alone that is so liberating, freezes from the treadmill and the insecurity,
even the occasional pride of trying to earn God's favor.
The gospel message that gives all the praise and glory and credit to Jesus Christ.
This isn't a joint endeavor. A pat on the back for me and a pat on the back for Jesus.
The gospel that invites us to rest on the knowledge that Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross
has dealt with our sins completely.
Our debt, our guilt, the due punishment of our sins, cancelled forever.
So what a shock.
What a swerveball to pick up James' letter and read words like verse 17,
faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Verse 20, faith apart from works is useless.
What kind of heresy is this?
Call the elders.
Brother James needs a visit.
Have you seen Paul's email?
He's going through the roof.
Is James contradicting Paul?
Is he undermining him?
Presenting some kind of alternative gospel?
A gospel of getting right with God that requires good deeds.
A Jesus plus kind of Christianity in which what we do becomes an essential component of getting right with God.
Well, let me say very simply, no.
I don't think James is proposing or suggesting anything of that kind.
Rather, he is a pastor, as John has reminded us this morning,
who is dealing with real people in the real world
and sees that there is a danger of them using faith in a way that abuses the gospel.
In this regard, I think James is actually very like Paul in the kind of provocative statements he makes in his letter.
Remember how in Romans, how Paul outlined the absolute bankruptcy of law-keeping as a way to find salvation.
Romans chapter 3.
You might just want to flick back to it.
I don't have PowerPoint this morning.
It's just like the old days.
Romans chapter 3.
These are well-known verses, but they're important.
Paul writes,
And then he goes on in Romans in chapter 5 to explain how futile law-keeping is.
In fact, the law actually only really served to provoke and to increase sin in the world.
But that God in his mercy through Jesus Christ has overcome all that sin
and provided grace in Christ to be forgiven.
In fact, he says in chapter 5 that Christ's work in dealing with sin
is all the more glorious when you consider just how much sin there was to be overcome.
But Paul's not stupid because he's a real pastor speaking to real people
and he knows exactly what his readers are going to start to think at this point
as they read through his letter.
Someone has said,
You know that you're understanding Romans as you read it
when you get to one of Paul's rhetorical questions
and it's what you were starting to think yourself.
You know you've been following his line of argument.
He knows where our thoughts inevitably will start to lead
when we're told those kind of things.
And so in chapter 6 verse 1,
he preempts his readers
and he cuts off the error
which is the big danger that we're going to fall into.
Chapter 6 of Romans verse 1,
What shall we say then?
Are we to continue in sin
that grace may abound?
You know if sin just actually shows us and displays in some way the greatness of Christ
and trying to not sin can't save us,
then is this not just a ticket, an invitation for us to sin away to our heart's content?
In fact, we're making Christ look even better the more that we sin.
We're making his sacrifice all the greater.
And Paul, of course, goes on in chapter 6 to say,
No means, God forbid, was the old AV translation.
By no means, don't you know,
that those of us who have been made dead to sin
can no longer continue in it?
That Christ and his sacrifice has died
so that you might die to sin
and live with him that resurrection life of righteousness?
To think that you would carry on sinning
just because Christ is the only way to deal with your sin
would be to misunderstand the gospel,
to misunderstand the very reason that you have been saved,
the very life that you have been brought into
by grace, by Christ.
And this is exactly what James is doing in chapter 2 of his letter.
He is tackling the issue of what does faith
properly understood look like?
You see, it seems very clear, doesn't it, in verse 14
that even for James to pose the question,
can faith save him, can that faith save him,
presupposes that among his readers
there was the assumption
that it would or it could save them in that sense
that faith was the basis of their faith?
You see, James is writing to well-taught evangelicals, I think.
People who rightly saw faith as the basis of salvation.
Unfortunately, just like Paul's readers in Romans,
they were in danger of thinking
that saving faith was something
that could be of no consequence
to then how you subsequently lived.
Let me put it like this.
If Paul's question in Romans is,
does faith mean
that sinning doesn't matter for a Christian?
James' question is,
does faith mean
doing good doesn't matter
for a Christian?
And in verse 14,
the opening question, of course,
of our text today,
it very much assumes that it does.
It does.
What good is it, my brothers,
if someone says he has faith
but does not have works,
can that faith save him?
Now notice that this is about a profession of faith.
If someone says he has faith.
So we have a claim to faith here,
but a claim which seems to be detached
from any practical demonstration of that faith.
It's the kind of claim to faith
that we would say today is,
all talk,
fine-sounding words,
but devoid of substance.
It's the kind of faith profession
that James wants us to know
in our lives and the lives of others
should be a big concern to us.
After all,
when a person becomes a Christian,
when a person genuinely trusts in Jesus Christ,
when they bow the knee of their heart
and they open their heart
to the lordship of Jesus Christ
and repentance and faith,
the Bible is very clear
that they become,
in that moment,
a spirit-filled child of God.
That they become a new creation.
There begins a renewal of heart and mind.
There is a change,
a spiritual realignment,
an adjustment.
So we would expect to see
some kind of effects
being manifest in their lives.
Character, attitude, desires,
relationships, priorities.
Now some things might be gradual,
they might be faltering,
they might be embryonic,
but we would expect to see them
in some measure,
in some way.
Remember at the beginning
of 1 Thessalonians,
Paul writes to that
New Testament church
that he had had to leave
so hurriedly
and is rejoicing and hearing
that they have continued
in the faith.
And he reflects back
on his visit to them
back in Acts chapter 16.
And he says
in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1
and verse 4,
he says,
For we know,
brothers loved by God,
that he has chosen you,
because our gospel came to you
not only in word,
but also in power
and in the Holy Spirit
and with full conviction.
You know what kind of men
we proved to be among you
for your sake,
and you became imitators of us
and of the Lord,
for you received the word
in much affliction.
See, Paul's writing
and he says,
We know that the gospel
we preached to you
was effective
because it had effects.
Because you started to change.
We know that the faith
that you embraced was real
because actually we can see
and hear about
what has happened in your life
since that would be evidence
of the reality of it.
But for the person who says,
I believe,
I have faith,
but nothing changes,
James' question is,
what is the nature of that faith?
Can that faith,
can such faith save him?
Or in other words,
is that kind of faith,
is that profession
really saving
genuine biblical faith?
And in verse 15,
James gives us an illustration.
James is great,
gives us an illustration,
saves a lot of work
for preachers.
And he gives an illustration
of meeting a destitute
fellow Christian,
a brother or sister.
And there they are
and they're shivering
in their lightweight jacket
and it's the middle of January.
Or they're hungry.
What do you do?
Well, if your faith
is no more than just
a linguistic formula,
then you can pat them
on the head
with a few pious words
and say,
go in peace,
be warmed and be filled.
Verse 16.
Sounds really spiritual,
doesn't it?
Oozing with faith.
Unfortunately,
James wants us to know,
it's a very unbiblical
understanding
of genuine saving faith.
Because it makes faith,
Christian faith,
into some kind
of magical spell.
Whereas real Christian faith,
James wants us to know,
acts.
For example,
how do we know
that God loves us?
How do you know that?
I mean,
every Christian would say
that was true.
What's the reason
for our confidence
in believing
that God actually loves us?
Well, it's interesting,
again,
we won't look to it
for the sake of time,
but you go back
to Romans chapter 5
and Paul makes
that great declaration
of God loves us,
but he doesn't say
he loves us
just because he told us so.
Although,
because that's God,
that would be enough.
But actually,
he gives an example
of that love.
He says,
we know that God loved us
because while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
That God's love
is not just a platitude,
but it was demonstrable,
it was evidence,
it was worked out
in history
in a very practical way
in the giving of his son.
Now,
there's another point
in James
in this section,
and it may be
the main one,
actually,
of these particular verses.
And that is,
considering this example
of this destitute,
hungry,
shivering brother or sister
in the faith
and our response to them,
James is raising the fact
that we are not
to delegate back to God
the responsibilities
that he has delegated to us.
Somebody has said
that God never does anything
that, first of all,
he can't get people to do.
That is,
God, of course,
could preach the gospel
directly from heaven.
A sort of speaker system
coming down from the clouds.
But he has delegated
that to you
and to me.
God could plan
or organize churches
directly from heaven,
but he has delegated
that to us.
God could send
an angel
to visit
old Mrs. Jones,
but he has given
that responsibility
to us.
There's a great
little example
or window into this
in Mark chapter 5.
Remember that well-known
story of Jairus' daughter
being raised from the dead.
Amazing miracle.
And Mark notes
at the end of that incident
that after she is raised,
Jesus tells the people there
to give the girl
something to eat.
It's a kind of curious detail,
isn't it?
Why didn't Jesus
just raise her up
fully energized,
fueled up for the day,
complete in every way
in that moment?
Why did he wake her up,
bring her back from the dead
and she's actually hungry?
Maybe he feels a bit faint,
needs a bit of nourishment.
Don't know,
maybe it's just
a little example
in Scripture
that God will do
what we can't do,
but what we can do,
he will leave to us to do.
So when people come to us
for help
or we see a practical
or physical need,
we're not to send them off
hoping for a miracle
down the road.
What good is that?
Verse 16.
But as we are able,
we are to meet that need
ourselves.
That will be a demonstration
of real biblical faith.
You see,
verse 18.
James is very clear,
isn't he?
You have faith
and I have works.
Show me your faith
apart from your works
and I will show you
my faith by my works.
In other words,
if you've got real faith,
show me the money.
Because biblical faith
is never abstract theory.
Believing in Jesus
is not an academic
pastime.
One of the examples
we sometimes use
in explaining
about Christian belief
to people
in our Christianity
explored courses
in Greenview
is we talk about
the difference
between believing
on the one hand
in something like
the Loch Ness Monster
and saying you believed
in, say,
the Labour Party
or Barack Obama.
On the one hand
with the Loch Ness Monster,
you're just saying
that you think
there might be
some kind of
odd creature
swimming about
in that water
up there
in the north of Scotland.
But it's just a kind
of statement
of possibility
if you like.
But when you say
I believe in the SNP
or I believe in
David Cameron
or Barack Obama,
you're not saying
you believe
they just actually
physically exist.
You're saying something
more than that,
aren't you?
In that sense,
you're saying
that you have
a confidence.
You have an investment.
You have a sense
that these people
can deliver
and do something
and provide something
and enable something
in your life
or in your country
that you think
would be beneficial
and that you
would be supportive of
and that you
would look to
in a very positive way.
That's the difference
between believing
that Jesus exists
and believing
in Jesus Christ.
Because for the Bible,
any belief
in Jesus
that doesn't
affect us,
that doesn't
change us,
that doesn't
have some impact
on who we are,
the decisions
we make,
isn't really,
from the Bible's
point of view,
real biblical belief.
It's just
the possession
of data.
Now, of course,
verse 19,
that data might be
impeccably
orthodox.
You believe
that God is one,
you do well.
Even the demons
believe
and shudder.
You see,
the demons
cannot be faulted
in their doctrine
of God.
But it's not
of any profit
to them.
Their profession
is not one
that will bring them
any comfort.
It's one
to make them
shudder.
I think it may
be very significant
that James
is using
this particular
doctrine,
the doctrine
of God's
oneness,
in this
place.
Just turn with me
back to
Deuteronomy
chapter 6
and verse
4 and 5
where that
great declaration
of God's
oneness
was first
made to
Israel.
Verses that
every Jew
will have
memorized,
have them
pinned to
their door,
will touch
them when
they go
into their
house.
Hear,
O Israel,
the Lord,
our God,
the Lord
is one.
You shall
love the
Lord with
all your
heart,
with all
your soul,
and with
all your
might.
And these
words that I
command you
today shall
be on
your heart.
See, it's a
great declaration
of God's
oneness that
God is
whole, he
is unified,
he is
complete,
he is
exclusive.
But the
implication,
the follow-on,
the application
there from
God's
oneness is
therefore you
should love
God with
your whole
being.
You should
be one
in your
devotion and
love and
approach to
God.
And of
course I'm
sure you've
covered this
already but
one of the
great themes
of James is
double-mindedness.
You know the
person that is
half this way
and half that
when it comes
to faith and
belief.
And this is
another example
of don't be
double-minded.
Don't have the
faith compartment
over here and
then their life
compartment over here
and never the
twain will
meet.
Every part,
every facet of
you should be
given to God
because he is
one, he is
exclusive, he is
whole and
therefore you
should be
absolutely whole
and united in
yourself in
terms of that
relationship and
how you respond
and follow and
love God.
There's not just
bits of you that
are to respond
to God.
Faith and
works are both
to respond to
God.
there should be
an integrity
and a oneness
in our faith.
Christians are
not people who
have been
forgiven, can
call God their
father and look
forward to the
joy of eternal
life and a
renewed and
sinless creation
because they do
good works or
for that matter
are just nice
guys.
that's how we
started and I
want to make
that point again.
You will not
get to heaven,
you cannot get
to heaven because
of your good
deeds.
Christians are
people who are
simply trusting
in Jesus Christ,
believing that
when he died on
the cross he
took the punishment
they deserved
for the rejection
of God that in
and through Jesus
alone everything,
everything,
capital E,
in bold,
underlined,
necessary for
them to be
accepted by God
has been provided
and to which
they can add
nothing when it
comes to getting
right with God.
Your best efforts
cannot save you,
your good works
cannot keep you,
your good days
and your purest
moments cannot
make you any
more loved than
you already are
by God.
We are called
to rest in joy
and be thankful
in Christ
for that salvation
completely and
entirely provided
for us.
And James and
Paul want us
in resting
and enjoying
and thanking
God for that
salvation
to live the
life that we
were saved
for.
to love,
to care,
to show
kindness,
to serve,
to provide,
to comfort,
to show others
the kind of
mercy and
blessings that
we ourselves
have received
from God
in Christ.
Christ.
And let me say
this morning
as we finish,
if that's not
your heart,
if you are
a professing
Christian this
morning,
if you are
somebody who
would say,
I have faith
and that's
not your
heart,
that kind
of call
to live it
out,
to love
and to care,
to demonstrate
it,
just leaves
you kind of
cold.
if faith
in Christ
for you
is just
a set
of
statements
or a
prayer
that you
made
many
years
ago
a
weekend
away,
if it
doesn't affect
you,
if faith
has just
become an
excuse for
sin in your
life,
just a get
out for
not making
an effort,
then it
might be
that you
have faith
that is
dead,
faith that
can offer
you no
assurance,
faith that
is not
saving,
and if
so,
ask God
to open
up and
soften your
heart this
morning,
ask God
to work
again in
your heart
and in
your life
so that
what you
know will
show,
let's
pray,
let's
pray,
let's
pray,
let's
pray,
let's
pray,
let's
pray,
let's
pray,
let's
pray,
Heavenly
Father,
we thank
you for
the gospel,
we thank
you for
the gospel
of salvation
by faith
alone and
Christ
alone,
we thank
you that
our confidence
is entirely
upon the
Son of
God who
loved us
and gave
himself for
us,
and Father
we thank
you that
in receiving
Christ and
following
Christ we
are brought
in to
that new
resurrection
life,
to the
life of
faith,
the life
that enables
us to
be a
blessing,
to work
out in
our lives
the kind
of care
and love
and compassion
and gentleness
for others
that you
have shown
to us
in overwhelming
measure.
So Father
may these
words of
scripture come
and just
find a place
in our
heart,
may you
search us
out and
may we
be people
of faith,
of that
exclusive
trust in
Jesus and
yet people
who go
forth from
this place
to live
it out,
to show
it,
to demonstrate
it,
that in
every part
of our
lives you
might be
fully glorified
and we
ask these
things for
Jesus'
sake.
Amen.
.