[Lets open our Bibles to] James 2 (page 1197 of pew Bibles). Were going to read this passage together beginning with Verse 14. What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called Gods friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. Remember that verse. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. Father, we ask You to open our ears to hear, our eyes to see Your Truth this morning. Might Your Spirit enlighten the Word and empower us to live it. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen. Please be seated. Lets dig in today. Do you remember the drought years ago back in the 1980s when it got so bad that churches were actually calling prayer meetings just to pray for rain? Anybody remember that? Not too many of you. Maybe you didnt have that here in Wisconsin; but in Illinois in the mid to late 80s, it got really bad one season, so we called an all-church prayer meeting. Everybody gathered together. Only one person brought an umbrella (congregation laughing). We were praying for rain, and one person brought an umbrella. James would be happy with that guy. James would have high-fived that guy. He would have said, Thats it! Thats faith! James is going to teach us about what faith is. Do you want a guy who has both feed on the ground? You dont have to worry about James being so heavily-minded that he is of no earthly good. James is a practical teacher and theologian, and he believes our faith is to be lived out in the real world; so he is going to offer us some counsel and advice, and sometimes its controversial-like that verse we read, Verse 24, where he says, You see a person who is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. That line, that verse, is controversial because many people feel like it conflicts with what the Apostle Paul taught. Remember in the Book of Ephesians, probably a marquee verse in the Bible, it says, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast, (Ephesians 2:8, page 1157 of pew Bibles). In other words, Paul says your salvation isnt something you earn. In fact, its given to you by grace. In Romans 6:23 (page 1117 of pew Bibles), he says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Those two verses seem to clash. Those two philosophies seem to be at odds with one other. Which is it? Are we saved through our works, or are we saved through faith and not by works? The truth of the matter is they are in harmony with one another. They are in agreement with one another. Simply, it says they are talking about a different starting point, a different beginning point. Paul is talking about a person who wants to come to God. He or she wants to go to Heaven. He or she wants to be righteous. Paul says, You cant do it on your own. You cant do it through works. It has to be by grace through faith. You have to believe and trust God. You dont become righteous on your own. You needed a Savior to come and take your place. If you could be righteous on your own, Christ would not have had to die. Because you could not, God had to send a substitute in your place to bear your sin; and you have received His righteousness because He bore your sin, so hes starting from the point of a new believer, a seeker. James, on the other hand, is starting from the point of a person who has already made a profession of faith. He or she says, I have faith, but theres no evidence of that faith in a life. Theres no proof that theyve made a commitment to Christ. Hes saying, Look, if all you do is say, I have faith, but your life does not make a difference for God, theres no works involved, all that is is lip service. Thats not true faith. True faith always has action. Faith brings an umbrella to a prayer meeting where youre praying for rain. Faith is active; its not passive. Its not just saying words; its doing deeds. You could say it like this, We were not saved because of our works, but because we are saved, we are saved for good works. In fact, in that same Passage, where he says we are saved by grace through faith, Paul says in Verse 10 of Ephesians 2, For good works which God created beforehand that we should walk in them. So Paul is talking about a perversion of the Gospel where somebody thinks they can earn their salvation. James is talking about a perversion of the Gospel where someone thinks all they have to do is say, Yeah, I believe in God, and everythings fine. They dont have to have any evidence in their life and in their deeds. They simply provide lip service, so both are addressing two different perversions of the Gospel, both at different starting points. They are in harmony and agreement with one another, not conflict, and Ill substantiate that in the Passage today. Lets go back through it. Verse 14, What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him… Another way to say that is is such faith real faith? Is that really even faith at all? Then he gives you an example. Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? My son and I were at the PGA this week, at Whistling Straits-a beautiful golf course. Wed been watching from hole 16. You could see the fairway and the green; and then when that hole was done at 17, you just turned around and you could see them tee off at 17. Then the lake was right there. It was going to be 90 degrees and sunny. We had a breeze coming off of it all day long. It was going to be great; but there was a three-hour delay from fog; and we really wanted to see Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker. It wasnt going to happen staying there, so we had to pursue them; so we were following Phil Mickelson around the course, the front 9 being up and down these little hills, this rugged terrain and long grass. Several times people fell down. The grass was a little slick, and sometimes it was hard-especially for folks that were a little bit more advanced in years. Theyd lose their balance, and theyd fall down. I saw that happen several times, and usually people would immediately come and grab your hand. Theyd say, Are you okay? Are you all right? Here, let me help you up. Theyd help them back on their feet. Sometimes two people would grab the person and help them back up. Never once did I see somebody fall down and someone saying, Aw, that looks like that hurts. Well, good luck getting up. Hope you dont fall again. Be careful next time. Bye! I never saw that. People would stop, and they had the means to help, and theyd help. James says, I dont understand. If somebody has a need, and you just say, Aw, that's too bad. If you have the means to do something about it and just go, Well, take care, bye bye. Be blessed, he says, Those are nothing but meaningless words. You have the ability and the wherewithal to do something about the need. Do something about the need. Dont just simply provide lip service. If you are a Christian, you are to be a person of action. In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. Its dead. There is no life there. Its useless. Its pointless. I have an apple tree in my yard that has no apples. Whats the point of an apple tree with no apples? I had another apple tree for pollinating, but that apple tree died; so I used to have these apples that were just small, puny, and disgusting. They said, Well, it takes about five years, and then theyll be good apples. Then the trees mate died-spouse, I dont know what to call it; it died, and then it started producing no apples, so its not a good apple tree if it doesnt have any apples, right? Theres no fruit to it. Thats the gist of what he is saying here. Theres no fruit to it. Jesus talked about fruit. Jesus sounds a lot like James. Remember James is the half-brother of Jesus, so its no surprise when James starts to sound like Him. In Matthew 7, in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord is preaching. In Verse 21, what does He say? Lets look at that together: Matthew 7:20 (page 961). It says, Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them, or by their works or by their deeds. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. So even if someone says, Oh, yeah, I believe in You! Yeah, Youre the Lord! He said, Thats not enough to just simply say that I am the Lord. Are you doing the will of My Father because doing the will of My Father is evidence that you belong to Me. Jesus talked about having faith in Him over and over again, didnt He? He said, Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. For God so loved the world that whosoever believes in Him should have everlasting life. Jesus talked about the importance of faith in Him and His all sufficiency, but He also talked about works. In fact, looking at the end times, looking at last things, its the study of eschatology. He says, In the end times, I will gather the nations and separate them from the sheep and the goats. I will put the goats on my left and the sheep on my right. I will say to the sheep, I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was naked, and you clothed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink. I was sick, and you visited Me. I was imprisoned, and you came to Me and spent time with Me. The righteous will say, Lord, when did we see You naked? When did we see You in prison? When did we see You sick? When did we see You hungry? When did we see You thirsty? Jesus will say, If youve done it unto the least of these brothers of mine, you have done it unto Me. His point is that a believers life will be characterized by action. Faith is a verb. Its not an either/or thing. In fact, hes going to debate with somebody who is not there. Verse 18 (James 2), But someone will say, You have faith; I have deeds, as though you can slice them in two, as though they are separable. James would say, No, theyre not. Theyre inseparable. They are two parts to a whole. James says in that same verse, Show me your faith without deeds. You say you have faith? Go ahead. Show me. How are you going to prove to me that you have faith? He said, Just saying it is believing it. That really doesnt do anything. He says, …I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe there is one God? Good for you! The for you parts from me, but it is sarcastic. You believe there is one God? Well, arent you really a theological giant? Good for you! Do you know who else believes there is one God? The demons believe there is one God! Then they shudder. Ill pat you on the back because you say, Yes, I believe in God. He says, Even the hoards of hell believe in God. He says, Im not impressed. He said, What does impress me is a life thats lived for God, you foolish man. You want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Then he talks about two examples. He talks about one, Abraham, who is an example of faith because he obeys God. He leaves God to go to a country that God will show him. He comes home one night, and he says to Sarah, Sarah, were moving. She says, Where are we moving to? He says, To the land God will show us. Imagine how well that would go over, guys, at the dinner table tonight. I dont know. Were just moving, and Gods going to show us as we move. Then he is called to sacrifice his one and only son, the heir to the Promise that God had given. He said his offspring was going to be like the sand of the sea. He needed to have a male heir. He finally has his boy, and he cherishes his boy; and God says, Sacrifice your son. Of course, He is not at all going to follow through with that, but God was testing him. Abraham passed the test. He says, It was a demonstration of his faith. Then he talks about Rahab, the prostitute. She lives in Jericho, and Israel is going to come into the Promised Land. Some spies are sent to spy out Jericho. They are found, and they hide in Rahabs house. Remember, she puts them on the roof. They come over, and they say, Where are they? We know theyre here. We saw them enter your house. She said, Oh, they went that way. She sends them on a wild goose chase. Then she comes and tells the spies they are gone, Go that way. Stay there for a few days, and then return home. She saves their lives, risking her own neck. James says, That was faith. When you seek to please God, when you seek to live out His purposes, thats faith. Turn back just two pages to Hebrews 11:6. It says, …without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. This is a verb that means youre active. Youre seeking; its ongoing. Faith is active; faith is a verb. James contention is that faith and works are inseparable. One is an evidence of another, just like apples on an apple tree. You must have both, and you must seek to please God. When I was a little boy, maybe 5 or 6, I sincerely believed with all my heart that at the end of a rainbow was a pot of gold. I really believed that! Id seen the Lucky Charms commercials. I maybe watched cartoons or movies, and its the first time I ever remember seeing a rainbow. Im sure there were other times I saw a rainbow, but from my memory, it was like, Oh! A rainbow! Theres a pot of gold there! In my mind at the age of probably 5, the rainbow was survival of the fittest. The first one to the rainbow got the gold. Thats the way I looked at it because I remember this desperation. I remember thinking, I have to get my shoes on. I dont have time to tell anybody what Im going to do. I have to get to the end of that rainbow, and I have to get that gold because if I dont, somebody is going to get it first. Im going to help my mom. Im going to help my family. Im going to be a hero. Remember my father was born in Sweden, so he was an immigrant. He came to America, and he just had to work menial jobs. When he passed away untimely, I was just a little boy; and all we had to live on was social security, and it was tough. We didnt have very much, so I thought, Man, if I can land this gold, am I going to please my mom! Is she going to be happy with me! Everybody is going to think Im great! But I viewed this as a competition. I had to get there first. It shouldnt be that hard because I thought the rainbow came down in our backyard. I was pretty convinced the way that it came down, it was just right there; so out I went. Now, I didnt know how I was going to gather the gold because all I was wearing were my shorts and my shirt. I guess I hadnt thought it all the way through. What am I going to do with this pot of gold once I find it? I guess we worry about those details later. The main thing is to get to the gold. So I got to the end of the block, and it was like the rainbow had moved. It was now down at the other end of the block, so I followed it down to the other end of the block. Now I was at the creek, and I had been taught, You dont go near the creek, but the rainbow came down just past the creek; and time was a wasting. Somebody might already be there pocketing all the gold, and I have to get there fast. So I went by the creek, and I kept hiking. Now, I am at a crossroads. There was this street; Id never crossed the street by myself. Whats more, Id never been over there. I didnt know what was over there. All I knew was a rainbow was coming down right across the street, and the gold was right there. Now I had to make a decision. If I crossed the street, I could be lost; if I crossed the street, I might get hit by a car. I remember turning around and going home feeling so dejected, like such a failure because I had not received the pot of gold. I dont remember a whole lot of details of what had come, but I just remembered coming back like my tail was between my legs like a little whipped puppy. I think I remember saying something to my mom when she asked, Whereve you been? I was trying to get the pot of gold, so wed have money. Thats such a cute answer that you know youre not going to get in trouble. Even if you did something wrong, youd tell your mom, But I was trying to get gold for our family. Awwwww. You cant lose. Friends, that was Biblical faith. That was an example of Biblical faith. I believed that something was true, and I acted upon it. I put feet to my faith, and I walked. I ventured across roads, across the creek, and farther than Id ever gone before because I wanted to please my mom. I wanted to bless my mom. That's faith, Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Were trying to live a life that pleases God. Were pursuing the goal; were pursuing the promise. Were putting feet to our faith. There are a lot of people I could talk about, so if I leave you out, please do not be offended. I want to talk about just a few. We had a woman years ago named Linda Lang who went through our GPS. It turns out that her gifts were compassion and mercy, and her passion was the elderly. She said, I want to plug in to elderly care ministry. We dont have elderly care ministry. Well, lets get it started, she said; so years ago, she started visiting a nursing home. Then she enlisted others to join her. Then she started visiting two nursing homes. A couple years ago, she passed away, but her ministry continues on. You might not know this, but every week, Faith Community Church goes into different nursing homes in our community. We have people who minister to the elderly. Thats gold for them. They just feel the love of God when theyre able to invest in the lives of other people. We have a dear brother in our church named Vic Smith who tragically lost his daughter in a car accident years ago. We had some folks in the church whod lost loved ones, and he said, We have to do something about that. There is a need there. There are a lot of hurting people. They need community. They need the comfort of the Scriptures, so Vic and his wife, Linda, started holding a bereavement group twice a year. Theyve done that for two years now. Its just getting ready to start all over again-not just for people in our church, but anybody who wants to come. Its not just for those who are believers. There have been times when people will come who dont know the Lord. Theyll come to that class; theyll hear the Scripture; theyll spend times with Christians, and theyll say, I have to get to church. Theyll start coming here, and pretty soon, their spouse will start coming as well. For Vic, thats gold. You see a need, and you fill the need. That's what faith does. We have a gal in our church named Kristi Powers. Over 10 years ago, she came to me, and she said, You know, camp was a meaningful part of my life. We dont have any camp in our church. We have some really good leaders, and I think we could start a camp at Sky Lodge and invite a couple other churches to join us. I said, Thats great. Lets form a strategic plan. Lets get to work. Lets make it happen. We just celebrated our tenth year at Sky Lodge Camp; 65 children from our church went and spent the week hearing about the Lord. Many of our adults and teenagers went as well. Thats gold. Kristi was pursuing gold. She said, Theres a need. I have the ability to fill it. Lets make it happen. I could tell you about others. I could tell you about a man in our church named Mark Anderson who saw the need for a curriculum for those who coming through alcohol dependency. They needed a curriculum to make a connection between their alcoholism they were seeking to recover from and their faith; and we started a recovery program for them thats lasted for years. I could tell you about a woman in our church named Gretchen Wolf who had gone through a divorce, and there are others in our church who had gone through painful divorces. She said, You know, I can help with that, so she stared a divorce recovery group for anybody who wanted to come. They meet once a week, and its meeting a need; its gold. So I ask you the question: what does your faith look like? Would we know by looking at the fruits and the proof of your life that youre a believer? Do we see works? Are you a person of action or just a pew-sitter? I guess we dont have pews-a seat-sitter. Does your faith just come out of your mouth, or is it lived in your life? James says, A life that is only with the words and not with the actions is not true faith. True faith is lived out in the real world. Remember the verse that we talked about a few weeks ago in James 2? He said, Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror; and after looking at himself, he goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. He looks in the mirror, and he makes no changes. He takes no action. Friends, it all begins with the individual. It all begins with you and me having the determination to make a change, to seek God. Lets listen to the words of this song (link can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdIUzBoowbQ). I hope that this message inspires you. Maybe you say, I feel like Im serving. Im growing. Im doing what I can; but for others of us, maybe its a good spiritual kick in the pants. Our church is engaged in a lot of things to help others spiritually and physically. Be aware of what the Care Station is doing all the time. Chime in with that and be a part of that. Be aware of what our church is doing. We talked about some of the ministries. Were going to start of the GIFTS Homeless Shelter ministry. Were going to be involved with that again this year. Take GPS; get involved. Live your life with antenna or radar saying, Lord, what is a need that I can meet? What is a need that I can fill? How can I reflect Your glory and make a change in this world? Lets bow our heads for prayer. How many of you would say by a raise of the hands, God spoke to me today, and I want to make some changes in my life? Father, we thank You for those hands, honest hands, saying, We want our lives to be a reflection of our King. You made it abundantly clear when You spoke in the Gospels that its not those who simply say, Lord, Lord, but the one who does the Will of the Father who is in Heaven. You talked to us about what the Will of God is. Paul and James are in harmony and agreement. Though we are saved by faith and grace, evidence of that salvation-proof of our forgiveness-is in our deeds. Its in our works. Sometimes we who name Your name become self-absorbed. Sometimes we come to resemble the world instead of living differently from it. Lord, help us to be the church of God. Help us to be people of action who seek to please You, who follow after the gold to please their Father in Heaven, who believe Your promises, and take steps of faith to make them reality. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.