I would say that James chapter 2, at least in my experience, at least the conversations I've had,
is the most misunderstood chapter of the Bible. You know, just in my dealings with different
people. James chapter 2, probably the most misunderstood chapter. Let's start there in
verse number 20. James chapter 2 verse 20. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without
works is dead? The title for the sermon tonight is faith without works is dead. Faith without works
is dead. Now the reason James chapter 2 is so misunderstood, at least what I've observed,
is that people just strip it out of the context completely. You know, people will turn to James
chapter 2 to teach you, well, you know, salvation by faith alone on Christ's finished work is not
enough. You've got to have the works or the works prove that you're saved. And they'll use this
teaching and then they'll turn to James chapter 2, forgetting completely that there's a chapter
that came before it. James chapter 1. And so before we get into James chapter 2, I want to
just get back to James chapter 1 very quickly and build ourselves from there. Let's have a look at
how James chapter 1 kind of ended in verse 127. James chapter 1 verse 127. It says pure religion
and undefiled before God and the Father is this. To visit the fatherless and widows in their
affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world. So what are we learning? We're learning
that if we're going to have this pure religion that is seen for the eyes of God, we need to,
yes, keep ourselves unspotted from this wicked world. Absolutely. But also to care for the
fatherless, care for the orphans, care for the widows that are in our church that suffer
affliction. And this is the perfect religion that God wants us to have. And this thought then
continues in verse number 1, because as we start reading from James chapter 2, we're talking about
the poor. Okay. And you know, obviously in the times of the Bible, the fatherless, the widows,
these were poor people. They did not have the father who goes out and works a job, provides
for the family. A widow is without her husband that's providing her needs. You know, when we
think about the fathers and widows from God's perspective in the Bible, especially in this time
of age, they were poor people, which makes sense why we get to verse number 1. And let's keep going
there. My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect
of persons. Now, should we have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ? Absolutely we should, but not
with respect of persons. Okay. So the Bible's saying, look, if you're going to have the faith
of Christ and we all have that, we've all been saved by grace through faith, then we ought not to
then respect different people. You know, whether they're not fatherless or whether they are
fatherless, whether they're widows or whether they're married, whether they're poor or whether
they're rich, you know, we should not elevate one person's status above another. We should not look
at one person and say, well, you know, you're so much special because of your status in this world
and not, you know, thumb our noses towards those that are poor, widows or orphans. All right. Now,
this idea of respect of persons basically means you respect their person. You respect their
position, their riches, their status, et cetera. I'll just give you a quick few verses. Acts 10
verse 34 says, then Peter opened his mouth and said, of a truth I perceive that God is no
respecter of persons. God does not respect. It doesn't matter what you've done in this world,
brethren. It doesn't matter how much you've achieved. It doesn't matter how respected you
are in this world. No matter how much money you have in your bank account, the Lord does not look
down and respect those things. The Bible also says in Romans chapter two, verse 11, for there is no
respect of persons with God. There is no respect of persons with God. You see, salvation is not
based of any achievements that we've done. You know, what's wonderful about salvation
is that it is the same for everybody. It doesn't matter how, you know, wealthy you've been born
into this world or how poor you are. We can all receive Jesus Christ through faith. God does not
respect somebody's achievements above someone else. Okay. Salvation is free and equal to all.
And so if this is how God looks at mankind, he does not elevate one person above another
because of their status. God does not play favoritism. Okay. God is not a racist. He does not
prefer one person's race above another. If that's how God is, then this is how we ought to be. If we
have the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, we should not be respecter of persons either.
Get into verse number two. It says, for if they come unto your assembly, so someone comes into
our church, a man with a gold ring. There it is, brethren. You can tell that I'm a wealthy man
because I've got a gold ring right there. So he's wearing his gold ring, right? Man with his gold
ring in goodly apparel. There it is. I'm wearing my nice jacket and my tie here. And there come
also a poor man in vile raiment. Let's say someone else walks off the street. Okay. They've got no
gold ring. They're looking a bit shabby with their clothing. All right. And then verse number three.
And if you have respect to him that where of the gay clothing, the gay basically means the
expensive clothing, right, in that context, the gay clothing, and saying to him, sit down here in
a good place and say to the poor, stand out there or sit here under my footstool. So you have
Pastor Kevin turns up with his gold ring. And then you have, you know, some guy coming off the street
looking a bit shabby. You'll find out he's fatherless. So you see, you know, a widow walks in
and she doesn't have all that much. Pastor Kevin comes in. Oh, man. Yeah, there it is. Right. You
know, here's a special seat for you, Pastor Kevin. But for you, that's coming a little bit shabby.
You know, you can just stand in the corner over there. You know, we don't know and no one wants
to have a look, you know, stand over there or you can be my footstool. Right where I'm resting my
feet. You can sit right there where I'm resting my dirty smelly feet. Okay. I mean, some look,
some people I know I'm kind of mucking around here. Right. I'm joking around. But some people
are this way. You know, they'll look at someone, you know, all dressed up expensive, looking all
the part and we make sure we got to give that person honor. And someone might come in looking
shabby in the in the church or doesn't know how to behave and doesn't know how to speak. You know,
within a church environment, and people would thumb their nose and look down at that person.
But if you have that attitude, brethren, it says in verse number four,
are ye not then partial in yourselves, and become judges of evil thoughts? Okay, so you're passing
judgment. You say, man, I got to give honor to that guy that's got the riches and looks the part
and that other person that's all poor, you know, I'm going to judge and they're worthless to me.
Well, then you're a judge of evil thoughts. You're judging them with wicked intentions. You've got a
wicked heart if you honor one person above another, because of how they appear on the outside. Okay.
You know, this is why you know, I've been in church. And look, I'm not saying this is a bad
thing necessarily, where people dress up and people look wonderful and look nice. And I think
we should, we're coming to the house of God, you know, we shouldn't look shabby, we shouldn't,
you know, just, you know, not wear shoes and just, you know, and just look filthy and disgusting.
We should, you know, we're going to be, you know, in God's house, we're going to be in the presence
of our brothers and sisters and Lord, we should try to look presentable at the very least. Okay.
But I've been in church where people are very hyper presentable. And again, there's nothing
wrong with that in of itself. I'm pretty presentable right now. And then other people
walk into the church who are might be lost. No idea that they're coming. They just they
have a desire to know God and I'm just going to go to church. They don't know how to speak.
You know that they might speak profanity when they speak and they might not, you know,
look all that part and you know, they just don't look the part for church. And I've been in church
brethren where the believers in the church building will look and go, why is this person
even here? You know, what is this person doing? Why are they dressed like that? You know, I never
want to be a church like that brethren. I never want to look down on someone that just walks up
the street, just seeking God, seeking church, just trying to find some answers. You know,
we ought to give that person as much of a welcome as anybody else that we have in this church.
You know, our visitors, let's give them attention. Let's give them time. Let's make sure they,
you know, they feel blessed to come in the house of God and find out whether they're saved. And
if they're not saved, then we give them the best news, salvation, a free gift in Jesus Christ.
So we ought to be partial in ourselves. If we mistreat people because of the way they look
or how rich they are or whatever, then we're being judged of evil thoughts. We're judging people
wickedly. Okay. And this is the idea, you know, of favoritism, favoring some person over others.
And you know, we need to also be careful when we come to the house of God that we don't just,
you know, create cliques. You know, I only just talk to my friends. I only just talk to my
buddies. You know, we're here, brother and sister of the Lord. We ought to be, you know,
respectful of everybody's time. You know, not just, I'm here just for my people and that's it.
Oh, who are you? I don't like you. You know, I'm not going to have any part time with you.
I'm not going to bless you. I'm not going to edify you. Otherwise, you are once again,
respecting your friends over those that you don't count your friends. Now, when I think about this,
let me just share some experience that I've had as a part. I'm not going to go into any great detail
because I don't know whether what I'm going to say to you if people had evil intentions or not,
okay? But there have been times where, you know, someone might, you know, because someone might be
dressed up, like I said, they're looking for favor. They're looking for preference, aren't they?
And there's been times when I've dealt with people and I'm not going to name any names because again,
I don't know whether they've had some evil intentions or not, where they might be stuck
in a jam. They might be stuck in an issue, a conflict, a problem. And, you know, they come
to me and I understand sometimes people come to me and seek advice and seek some guidance and,
you know, I do not favor one person over another. You know, if there's an issue in the church
between two people, I'm not going to favor one over the other. You know, I'm not going to look
at who gives more money to the offering over the other and I'm going to make sure I side with the
guy that gives most of the offering. You know, that is not me. That is not me whatsoever.
And there have been times that I've spoken to people and they're in a tough position or
whatever and it's kind of like, oh, by the way, what's the church bank account details? I want
to make sure I go and deposit, you know, some money into the church bank account. And I'm just
thinking, I mean, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. If you need church bank details
to do, you know, if you want to give your offering that way, that's perfectly fine. But I find that,
you know, I get a whole bunch of red flags, right? When someone's in a tough position and I
must feel like this person wants me to favor or look at things from this perspective and support
them and get behind them and then they're saying, oh, church bank account. You know, I'm thinking
about giving a little bit money to the church this way. What do you reckon? How should I do it?
Should I put it into the offering box? Or should I put it in the bank account? Oh, I've lost the
bank account details. Can you send it to me once again? And the reason I get all these red flags,
brethren, is because it's almost like, here, Pastor Kevin, I'm dangling some money to give
to the church. I'm in a tough situation right now. I'm dangling you some money. So, you know,
hint, hint, you know, get behind me. No, brethren. And, you know, when I've looked at, and again,
I'm not saying that these people had bad intentions. I don't know. All I'm saying to you,
it's just raised a lot of red flags for me. Okay. And it's sort of like, do you want me to be a
respecter of persons? Like, do you think how much you give to the church is going to sway my
decisions? Or I'm going to get behind you and encourage you maybe in a sin or encourage you
in a bad way. You know, and when I look back at that, you know, I can think of three examples
where this has happened. And I look back and every time this has happened, I realised these people
don't know me very well. You know, they might be new out to church, etc, etc. And they don't know
me very well. Okay. I did not get into the ministry for money. Okay. I did not get into the ministry
for that whatsoever. All right. And how much people give is not going to sway my decision.
But, you know, some people think like that. They think, you know, it's just to dangle some money
in the pastor's face. And, you know, he's going to, you know, prefer me. And listen,
that stuff happens in some churches. 100%, it happens in some churches. I can't remember who
I was speaking to recently. Who was I speaking to? I can't remember. It doesn't really matter.
I was speaking to someone recently, and they shared with me that somebody in the church
was definitely not saved. They were really messed up on some doctrine. And they went to the pastor
and said, look, this family so and so that they're messed up on this doctrine. You know, I don't
believe they're saved, etc, etc. And the pastor said, look, it doesn't matter to me. I'm just
trying to get bums on the seats. You know, I'm just trying to get people in the church. I'm just
trying to crawl the church. I'm just trying to make sure there's enough money coming in. And
people are giving their tithes and the offerings. That's what I care about. No, that's a horrible
way to pastor. You know, if that's your heart to get into church, don't get into it. You're just
going to destroy your reputation. You're going to destroy the people that want to come and learn
God's Word. You know, and I think, you know, this church knows me, I'm not driven by money
whatsoever. You know, don't think if you dangle a little bit of money in front of me that somehow
I'm going to get behind you. It's not going to happen. Okay, it's not going to happen. I, you
know, I try very hard to be very careful not to be a respecter of persons. I hate cliques. I hate
little secret groups that get together and we're just best buddies and we don't talk to anyone
else in church. I hate that kind of behavior and, you know, I definitely don't want that at New Life
Baptist Church. Let's keep going. Verse number five. Harken, my beloved brethren, have not God
chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which have promised to them
that love him. So it says, harken, brethren, listen to me. Has God not chosen the poor? Why? Because
they're rich in faith. You know, generally speaking, the poor, aren't they more receptive
to the gospel? You know, when someone's downtrodden, they haven't got a lot in this world.
This is why you like to go to Nambour. It's a little bit more beaten up than the the beachy
areas. Why? Because people are more receptive. Okay, the poor are more receptive to the gospel
and if they're saved, brethren, they might be poor on this earth but they're rich in faith.
They've got the faith of salvation. They're able to now lay up treasures in heaven and so many of
the poor in this world which are saved are richer, obviously richer, than those that are rich in this
world, okay, but are lost and going to hell and so if that's how God deals with the poor, you know,
they're more receptive, he rewards them in heaven, they've got great riches in heaven, then we should
not judge people based on how rich or how poor they are. We should not prefer people because
of how much they make. Verse number six, but ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you?
Who oppresses us, the poor? No, the rich. They make our lives hard, right? The politicians,
they're the ones shutting down the businesses during COVID but you know what, they're making
their income. You're still paying taxes, aren't you? You know, businesses have been closing down
because of the COVID pandemic, whatever it is, right, and people are paying less taxes but hey,
doesn't matter, the politicians will give themselves the pay rise if they can, okay.
They're the ones that oppress us, it's not the poor. Why do we despise the poor? Do not the rich
men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name
by the which ye are called? So it's the rich, they blaspheme the Lord, okay. It's the rich
that lobby for their self-interest. It's the rich that push our laws into our nation that are
contrary to God's words. Can you please keep your finger there and turn to Mark chapter 12.
Turn to Mark chapter 12.
Mark chapter 12 and verse number 41 please. Mark chapter 12 and verse number 41.
And we're looking at a familiar story of Jesus Christ here in Mark chapter 12 verse 41.
It says, and Jesus sat over against the treasury. So God sits there, Jesus Christ, you know,
goes into the temple and he's watching, you know, the giving toward the temple of God,
giving toward the work of God. Jesus sat over against the treasury and beheld how the people
cast money into the treasury and many that were rich cast in much. Wow, the rich are given a lot,
right. They're given hundreds of dollars for example. And then look at verse number 42.
And there came a certain poor widow. Isn't that what James chapter 2 is about,
caring for the widows. Understand that some people go without their poorer and there came
a certain poor widow and she threw in two mites which make a farthing. I don't even know what two
mites are. It's probably like two cents, okay, which make a farthing. I mean two cents is so
little we didn't even use those coins anymore, right. Two mites which make a farthing. And he
called unto him his disciples and said unto them, boy that widow should give more. Is that what
Jesus Christ says? No. Said unto them, verily I say unto you that this poor widow have cast
more in than all they which have cast into the treasury. Wow, do you notice that? The rich can
give their hundreds and thousands of dollars to the house of God and the poor widow can just give
her two mites and Jesus Christ says she's given more. She's given more. Why? Because Jesus Christ
God, when he looks at our giving, he doesn't count how much was it. He counts how much did
it cost you, okay, and usually we have the rich. It doesn't cost them all that much because they've
got so much to live on. Let's keep going there. In verse number 44 he says, for all they did cast
in of their abundance. So Jesus Christ is saying the rich have given of their abundance. You know,
it's not even what they need. It's just too much. So let's just give this to the house of God.
It's not costing them really anything. It's not hurting them to give of their riches. Then he
says, but she of her wants did cast in all that she had, even all her living. Wow. Could you
imagine, you know, when Jesus Christ comes back and rewards his servants and we think about the
great crowns of glory, the riches in heaven, you know, we're going to stand before that judgment
seat of Christ and there's going to come that poor widow that we just read about and she's going to
be one of the riches of all because she's gave all. I can't even say that I've given everything
to Jesus, but this poor widow had. She gave all that she had and it was just too much.
It was just too much. And so if we can understand how Jesus Christ looks at the rich and looks at
the poor and we put ourselves in that position, you know, we don't favour one over the other.
You know, again, like I said to you, I don't favour who may give more in this church over
others that might be poorer and can't give all that much. You know, give of what you can.
You know, when we give to the church, you're not given to pastor Kevin. Again, I'm not being swayed
by how much you give. We're given to Jesus Christ. We're given to the work of God. You know, as we
give of ourselves to the work of God, we're also once again laying up riches in heaven. All the
work that we do will be rewarded for us. We're given back to us abundantly in heaven. Back to
James chapter two, verse number eight. James chapter two and verse number eight. Then he says,
if you fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, thou shall love thy neighbour as
thyself. So what is the royal law? The passage says here, love thy neighbour as thyself. Ye
do well. You know, this is a good commandment to keep. Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself.
You might say, yes, I strive to love my neighbours. I strive to get along with my brothers and sisters
and the Lord. I strive to get along in my community, verse number nine. But if you have
respect to persons, if you have favourites, if you play favouritism, okay, it says here,
ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. Jesus Christ says, if you have,
if you're a respecter of persons, if you favour the rich over the poor, if you play favouritism,
you know, if you prefer someone's race over another person's race, then you've broken this
very commandment. Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. You're not keeping the royal law,
okay? And we don't think about that, do we? We don't think about that in that sense. We think,
as long as I'm treating others in a good capacity, no, if you show favouritism, one over another,
you're actually breaking this law, okay? You've transgressed that law of God. And so, as I said
to you, brethren, you know, we should strive to extend our hand of fellowship to every brother
and sister in the church, okay? If you say, I'm just going to extend my hand of fellowship to
these people because they're my buddies and not to these people, you're transgressing the law.
Love thy neighbour as thyself, okay? Let's keep going then. Verse number 10, James chapter two,
verse number 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point,
he is guilty of all. For he that said, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill.
Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
Some people misunderstand these passages. They think that if you just break one commandment,
one law, then you're just as much of a murderer as someone that actually has gone out and committed
cold-blooded murder. That's not what this is teaching, okay? This is not teaching that all
sin is equal, all right? What this is teaching is that all the commandments that we read about,
all the commandments that we're striving to follow, fall under that category of the whole
law, okay? You can't pick and choose which commandments am I? I'm going to follow these
commandments but I'm not going to follow these commandments, okay? No, here's the thing. If you
don't follow certain commandments and you break them, you've broken the whole law, okay? You've
broken the laws that consist the commandments that say do not commit adultery. You're breaking
the law that consists of the commandment that says do not kill or thou shall not kill,
all right? Now let me just quickly get you to turn to a passage. Turn to Matthew chapter 22.
Turn to Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22 and verse number 37, please. Matthew chapter 22
and verse number 37. Matthew chapter 22 verse number 37. We know that the Bible is filled with,
I don't even know the number, 600 and something commandments. It's rough. I don't even know.
I don't know if anyone really has the exact number, okay? But it's some 600 plus commandments
and generally speaking, those 600 plus commandments can be summarised into the
10 commandments. Well, Jesus Christ then summarises those 10 commandments into
two commandments. In Matthew chapter 22 verse 37, Jesus said unto him, thou shall love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first
and great commandments and the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
That's what we read there in James chapter 2 but verse number 40 is really interesting. It says
on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. So every commandment that has to
do with our service, our worship toward God fits that commandment number one. You know,
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind.
Now when it comes to all the other commandments that deal with our daily living as far as,
you know, treating one another, dealing with one another, it says and the second is like unto it,
thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, okay? So all commandments can be summarised
into that commandment, okay? So all commandments dealing with mankind, our dealing with man,
can be summarised into that one commandment. So yeah, you might say, well yeah, I've never
committed adultery. You might say, I've never killed anybody. You know, I'm doing pretty well
for myself. I've not committed some of these major sins. Yeah but have you been a respecter
of persons? Because if you've been a respecter of persons, you've broken the same commandment
that harbours, that is the umbrella of thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not commit adultery,
okay? It's not saying these sins are equal but you've broken the same laws, you've broken the
same commandments if you're a respecter of persons, all right? So this is a big part of
what James chapter two is about, is not treating one person more favourably over another just
because of their status or their riches or whatever, okay? Let's go back to James chapter
two verse number 12 please. James chapter two verse number 12.
So speak ye and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. All right,
so the Bible says we're going to be judged by the law of liberty. This phrase, the law of liberty,
came up again in the previous chapter. Let's just remind ourselves what it said there.
Go back to James chapter one verse number 25 and again the law of liberty of course are the
scriptures, it's the word of God but it says here in James chapter one verse 25,
So if we look at the perfect law of liberty, God's word, and we do what we've read, we do what gets
taught, the Bible says that we're going to be blessed in our deed. We're going to be blessed
in doing the things that God wants us to do. All right, so if we understand that it's hearkening
back to chapter one, back to James chapter two verse number 12, it says so speak ye and so do,
okay? Do the commandments is what he's saying, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
The Lord God judges us by the same book that we're learning God's truth from and that we're
walking in accordance with, okay? So depending on how well you're walking in accordance with the
law of liberty, that's how much God is going to judge you, all right? Do what you've read,
don't be just a forgetful hearer, be a doer of God's word because God is going to judge you
in accordance to his word. You say pastor Kevin is this how we get saved? God judges us by how
we walk, how we do his commandments. Of course not, we know that salvation is based upon the
finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord, okay? It's not based on our good merits or our works
whatsoever. The Bible is saying here that God would judge us on the Bible. So as we walk in
our lives, as we try to follow out the commandments of God, God is judging us. You know whether we're
doing righteously, he judges us and he rewards us in heaven if we're doing that which is right.
We're walking in the spirit, we're walking in his ways. But brethren if we break his commandments,
if we're a respecter of persons, if we commit adultery, if we commit murder, etc, etc, then
we're going to be judged by the same book. But don't you think that judgment's going to be a
little bit different? Instead of being rewarded, God's going to of course chastise us. He's going
to correct us if we don't walk in his ways. Now it's important that we get to verse number 13
here. It says, for he shall have judgment without mercy that have showed no mercy. So when we talk
about showing mercy, obviously we show mercy to other people. Again what's the context here?
Showing mercy to the poor. You know, don't beat them down. Showing mercy to the fatherless,
showing mercy to the widows, as we saw toward the end of chapter number one.
Okay, we ought to show mercy one toward another and brethren if we show no mercy,
it says in verse number 13, for he shall have judgment without mercy that have showed no mercy.
So if you're just not a mercy, if you've got no mercy to the brethren, you know when people make
mistakes, all right, and you've got no mercy for them, you just shoot them down. You know,
you just criticize the brethren. Well when it comes time where you've done wrong and God judges
you in his perfect word, God's not going to show you mercy either. Okay, God will show you mercy
if you show others mercy as well. Again this has nothing to do with salvation. This has to do with
God judging our walk as we walk in the paths of his word. All right, and then it says at the end
of verse number 13, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. So look, if I've done something wrong,
right, and you know we sin all the time, we sin every day don't we? Well I can expect that God
be merciful toward me if I've been merciful to those that are downtrodden, if I've been merciful
to my brethren that have made mistakes, if I've been merciful to the poor, if I've not been a
respecter of person, I've shown mercy to other people. Well when it comes to my time of judgment
and you know instead of facing the full brunt of his chastisements, God will show mercy to me and
I can rejoice. Yes, I didn't have to face such a heavy brunt of God's chastisement. He showed me
mercy because I showed mercy toward others. Okay, that's what it's saying here. Let's keep going
there. Verse number 14 now, verse number 14, and this is where people really start to you know pull
the passages that we're about to read out of context. They start teaching this is about eternal
life, this is how you go to heaven, etc, etc, when really it's about God judging us according
to the perfect law of liberty. God judging us whether we've been merciful to the brethren,
whether we've been a respecter of persons, etc, etc, whether we've loved our neighbors as we've
loved ourselves, this is about that. This is not about how do you get to heaven, how to have
everlasting life, but then people start looking at these verses and start saying well this is
how you get saved or this proves that you're saved, etc, etc. Let's keep going there. Verse
number 14, what doth it profit my brethren though a man say he have faith and have not works can
faith save him? Can faith save him if you don't have the works? So is this teaching you know in
order to be saved to go to heaven and have your sins forgiven that you must have the works if you
just have the faith it's not enough. Is that what this is teaching? But that's what the false
prophets will teach. That's what the false pastors and preachers will teach that you've got to have
the works or you're not really saved or you haven't reached salvation. Is that the context
that we just read? All right before I explain to you what verse 14 is saying let me just quickly
read actually please turn there keep your finger there and turn to Romans chapter four. Turn to
Romans chapter four for me please. Romans chapter four. See I'm not used to walking around. I've got
so much space here. Bless it up at the church. It's very tight okay to make room for others.
So I'm walking around with this but I've got so much room I'll put that in my pocket. I just
got to get used to preaching here again. I'm out of practice. Okay you guys to turn to turn to
Romans chapter four please. Romans chapter four and verse number two.
I'm not going to spend any great time on these passages. I believe they just speak for themselves
and I've taught them this so many times anyway but Romans chapter four verse number two.
For if Abraham were justified by works. Was Abraham justified by works? No but if he were
okay if it says he have where of to glory if Abraham was justified by how much he works
how much good deeds he does he'll glory about himself right but not before God. Verse number
three for what saved the scripture Abraham believed God that's faith and it was counted
unto him for righteousness. So how was Abraham made righteous before God? He believed God. He
had his faith upon the Lord God. Okay verse number four. Now to him that worketh is the reward not
reckoned of grace but of debt look at this but to him that worketh not let me read that again
but to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted
for righteousness. So in order for our faith to be counted for righteousness we must have no works
have no trust in the works not be relying on works whatsoever it's on faith alone. Let's keep going
verse number six. So that was true for Abraham. Abraham was before the old testament before the
old covenant we know the old covenant came with Moses okay well how about people that were under
the old covenant verse number six even as David that's king David also describeth the blessedness
of man unto whom God imputed for righteousness without works there it is again without works
saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered
blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. So how was king David saved without
works he believed God he had his faith on the Lord God how was Abraham saved before the old covenant
without works he was justified by God because he believed in the Lord God. Salvation is so clearly
by faith without works. Just some other passages that you all know about Titus 3 5 not by works of
righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the holy ghost. So not by works of righteousness which we have done
that does not give you salvation. Ephesians 2 8 and 9 for by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast yeah
if it was by works we would all boast man yeah I've been you know loving my neighbor as myself
isn't that what they do when you go door to a soul winning you know do you believe you go to
heaven yep you know I've done the best I can they're boasting of themselves where salvation is not
by works. What else Romans 3 20 the first part says therefore by the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight you cannot be justified in the sight of God by your
deeds by your works by keeping the deeds of the law the works of law impossible brethren.
Romans 3 28 therefore we conclude this is the conclusion of the matter therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. I mean the bible can't be any clearer
can it okay and look you know I wish I don't have to spend time going through this like I rather
just teach on what it's about rather than having to you know take down false doctrines out there
but you have to because this passage especially gets taken so much out of context and those that
are false prophets they love to preach from this trying to tell you that salvation is by works or
you can prove that you're saved whether you have the works or not okay now you say well what does
verse 14 mean then you know if we go back there in verse uh James chapter 2 verse number 14
well again you know when it comes to the bible brethren we just need to keep it in the context
keep it in what we just read there okay what let's look at it again verse number 14 what doth it
profit my brother what's it going to profit you brothers though a man say he have faith we all
have faith that's us and have not works can faith save him or save him from what isn't that the
question isn't it save him from from hell isn't this teaching how to go to heaven and have
everlasting life no verse did you just forget verse number 13 I'm not saying you guys but they
just forgot verse number 13 didn't they okay verse 13 had the had the answer let's look at it again
verse number 13 for he shall have judgment without mercy that have showed no mercy so what are you
saved from if you have works if you love your neighbor as yourself what are you saved from
you're safe from judgment without mercy that's what you're saved from okay you can be saved
from judgment without mercy if you've got the works and you love your neighbors and you do good
and you're not a respecter of persons and you love the widows you show you know honor to the
followers etc etc to the poor then you're you know god when he sees you showing mercy to others
then god will show you mercy when he judges you in accordance to the perfect law of liberty okay
you save yourself from judgment without mercy okay again this has to do with our life as we live out
our christian life as we show love toward our brothers and sisters in the lord let's keep going
there verse number 15 and you'll see it just keeps going it's it's the same topic verse number 15
if a brother or sister be naked or destitute of daily food and one of you saying to them
depart in peace be warmed and filled notwithstanding you give them not those
things which are needful to the body what doth a prophet so saying what what profit is there
if you've got a brother in the lord or sister lord that's hungry that's cold right they need
to be warm they need to be filled and you say oh you'll be fine pat you on the back you'll be all
right she'll be right mate i mean and you do nothing to satisfy the needs you know you're
able to help a brother you're able to assist them in a time of need and you just pat them on the
back you'll be all right there is no profit it profits nobody okay could you imagine if this
was about salvation could you imagine like right right now one of our brothers maybe someone's
hungry right now maybe someone's cold right now they need to be warmed and filled that's it none
of us are saved until we feed them until we clothe them and warm them up now we can all be saved
is that what it's teaching of course not it's teaching how do we profit other people obviously
if we go and we help them out we satisfy the needs give them their food give them their
their warmth whatever it is that they need is there profit of course there's profit there's
profit for them they're now faring better and brethren there's profit for you because you've
shown mercy to others well now god's going to show you mercy god's going to bless you as you
love your neighbour as yourself and then let's keep going there verse number 17 james chapter 2
verse 17 even so faith if it hath not works is dead being alone so faith and we all have faith
from the lord but if we don't have any works we don't love our neighbours if we don't show mercy
brethren then our faith is dead because it's alone doesn't say that you have no faith
it doesn't say you have no faith you know it says that it's just dead it's alone
it's missing the works to be saved no to show mercy to profit other people that god
will be merciful to you what you when he judges you as you walk in your christian life
and so you know it doesn't say it doesn't say here faith without works is not real faith is
that what it says no it says that faith without works is dead so instead of having a dead faith
where we're just saved and we just care about ourselves instead of what's the opposite of dead
living hey we should have a living faith if we add works in our christian life we now have a
living faith okay the opposite of dead faith is living faith god wants any brethren that are doing
no works for him to go hey look you've got the dead works get onto the living works sorry the
living faith okay it doesn't say this is this is how you get saving faith because that's what
the false prophets do they'll say well the opposite of dead faith is saving faith no
the opposite of dead faith is living faith that's faith where you add works and when you can show
where you can love your neighbor as yourself where you're showing other people mercy whether they're
poor downtrodden widows orphans etc etc not being a respecter of persons that's what it means to add
works to your faith okay serving the brethren loving the brethren doing things that you ought
to do to satisfy the needs of others that is faith that is living okay but it's not saying that's what
saves you it's not saving faith no it's just living faith it's not alone you've added works
to your faith look at verse 18 yea a man may say thou hast faith and i have works show me thy faith
without thy works and i will show thee my faith by my works and again this is another verse number
verse number 18 of how many times have i heard false prophets use this to say see it says here
at the end of verse 18 and i will show thee my faith by my works they say see you've got to have
the works so you don't have the faith or the works proves that you're saved and that you have faith
and if you've got no works that proves that you don't have faith is that what it's saying
because the false prophets love they forget the first they forget the part that just came before
let's have a look at verse 18 yea a man may say thou hast faith so let's say i'm that man and
and uh brother Caleb can i get you up here all right now i'm the guy that has works with my faith
all right brother Caleb he has got faith but no works his faith is dead okay his faith is dead now
i come to to brother Caleb a man may say that's me okay thou hast faith and i have works but then
he says this show me thy faith without thy works so he's got no works but he's just showing me his
faith he is without his works does that man have faith yeah but i'm going to show you my faith by
my works you see whether you have works or don't have works we still both have faith okay we both
have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ it's just that one shows that without works and one shows
it with works that's it it's not just saying the only faith that's legit is the one that has works
no even the other faith that has no works is legit because it says show me thy faith without
thy works how can you show something if it's not legit okay he's definitely showing faith
without works you can sit down thank you brother
all right so let's not miss the point of what's happening here okay
whether your faith has works or not it's still faith okay it's just dead faith it's just by
itself it's alone okay but listen whether your faith is dead or whether your faith is living
as long as you're trusted in Christ finished work alone you are saved you will go into heaven but
you don't profit anybody and you don't profit yourself if you don't show mercy if you don't
add works then you're not profiting yourself when God judges you as we go through life you're going
to face the full brunt of God's chastisement when you mess up that's what it's about okay
let's keep going there verse number 19 they'll believe us that there is one God they'll do us
well the devils also believe and tremble and again this is another verse that the false prophets love
oh just faith alone on Christ alone don't you know the devils also believe
what are you saying that the faith that we have on Jesus Christ they're saying the devils have
the same faith as us and if the devils aren't it's not enough for the devils to get saved
then how can it be enough for you to get saved as far as going to heaven that's not what it's
teaching okay what does it say let's have a look at it again verse number 19 thou believest that
there is one God thou doest well is that salvation brethren what must I do to be saved well you got
to believe there's one God is that salvation of course not you know the Roman Catholics believe
there's one God even the oneness Pentecostals believe there's one God the Jews believe there's
one God you know the the Islam Islam teaches there's one God are they all saved is that how
you get saved you I believe in one God therefore I'm saved of course not this is not about the
salvation of the soul this is not about going to heaven this is not about eternal life okay this
is about adding works to our faith all right thou believe us that there is one God thou doest well
hey this is good all right you started that knowledge you've learned there's one God
you've got faith in that Lord God thou doest well this is good that's a good step number one
but it's not really that great because the devils also believe in tremble of course the
devils believe there's one God the devils know because they're fallen angels or whatever they
are right they know there's one God so yeah okay it's good that you've learned there's one God
it's good that you've got faith in that one God but listen the devils also know that
okay there's something superior that we can do that the devils cannot do
and the other reason this is so stupid to say this has something to do with our eternal life
our home in heaven is the fact that Jesus Christ never came and died for the devils you know when
Christ came and shed his blood on the cross it wasn't for Satan it wasn't for the devils it
wasn't for the evil spirits it was for man okay let me just quickly read to you first Corinthians
15 verse 21 it says in first Corinthians 15 21 for since by man came death by man came also
the resurrection of the dead so we know that one man brought in death that was Adam but then
there's one man that came and brought resurrection from the dead who's that man Jesus Christ then it
says in verse number 22 for as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive
so brethren who can be made alive in Christ or anyone that died in Adam you've got to be a
descendant of Adam and have died that spiritual death as it were because of our sinful nature
to be able to receive salvation to be able to have resurrection in Jesus Christ the only people that
have resurrection unto life brethren are descendants of Adam if you believe on Jesus
Christ okay so to say that your faith alone on Christ on God is not enough because the devils
believe Jesus did not die for the devils this is not a passage about how to go to heaven okay I
mean just like the ridiculous people things that people throw at this passage to teach a
workspace gospel it's ridiculous it's about loving your neighbor it's about being merciful to those
that are downtrodden how do people turn this around and say now you're going to have works
to be saved to go to heaven it's ridiculous you're saving yourself from judgment without mercy
that's what you're saving yourself from in this passage if you show mercy toward others
let's keep going there verse number 20 it says but will thou know
oh vain man that faith without works is dead so the same teaching right you need to understand
faith without works is that you can do better than the devils you believe in one god great
they'll do us well so do the devils but you can do something that the devils can't do add some
righteous works to your faith okay the devils they can't do the works they can't do any righteousness
for god okay but we can okay we can add that and that that'll cause our faith not to be dead but a
living faith a faith that profits ourselves a faith that profits others verse number 21
then it says was not abraham our father justified by works or there it is he got saved by his works
oh they'll say when he had offered isaac his son upon the altar now it's interesting now those that
teach what this teaches here that abraham was saved by works what they struggle to teach or
comprehend is that this happened the justification by works happened when he had offered isaac his
son upon the altar okay now we know that abraham lived a very long life okay how old was he when
he had a um isaac does anyone remember i can't remember it was it was over 100 okay it was over
100 when he had i think was he 100 when he had isaac i can't really remember right now i think
i'm getting confused with the circumcision but anyway you know we know the story of abraham
that he left his former place god caught him into the promised land okay and abraham was saved many
many many decades maybe 40 50 years before he even offered up isaac as a sacrifice i mean it
took them a long time to even have the son isaac right he had ishmael first you may remember the
story right ishmael was i think 13 or he was a young lad when when isaac was born i'm starting
to get confused by the time frame right right now okay but to say this is when abraham got saved
no no no abraham believed god before okay much before that he had his faith in the lord god
righteousness was already accounted to abraham okay many many decades later he then offered up
his son isaac okay and now he's being justified by his works now again if people are teaching
this is when he got saved then brethren you know i mean abraham is a pretty great man the bible
says he's the father of faith you know if it took 40 years 50 years to prove that abraham even got
saved then what chance do you have i mean i don't know okay of course this is not teaching that okay
but we'll have a little what does this i mean i understand these are challenging passages okay
but again who messes up these passages the lost the false prophet why because they're not saved
why because they don't have the spirit of god living in them okay so of course they're
going to mess it up the natural man cannot receive the things of god's you know something
you need to understand you know again understanding the core doctrines of the bible then you come to
this passage and yet it is challenging james the book of james is quite a challenging book
overall okay but what do we learn there it says in verse number 22 seeest thou how faith wrought
with his works and by works was faith made perfect so faith had a completion in abraham's
life he was his faith was made whole in a sense when he offered up isaac as a sacrifice he was
only able to offer up a uh isaac which is a work as a sacrifice because he had his faith he was
the working of his faith and that brought forth the works to be able to offer up isaac but the
bible does say he was justified by works there so what does that mean let's keep going there verse
number 23 and the scripture was fulfilled which saith abraham believed god and he was imputed
unto him for righteousness and he was called the friend of god now if you go back to the scriptures
in genesis i'm not going to go through that right now okay because i've done this before
but when he believed god in his cannon frames for righteousness this was decades before he offered
up abraham sorry isaac as a sacrifice okay decades before all right so again what is
this teaching this is teaching that his faith that he had in the lord god was perfected he
was no longer alone he showed some great works and the greatest work that abraham produced was
to be willing to offer up his son to show that he loved the lord god and the commandments even more
than his own flesh and blood so you can see that the faith of abraham was perfected in a sense he
was made whole okay not for salvation okay we don't need to make our faith uh perfect for
salvation because salvation has already been perfected in jesus christ okay so what are we
perfecting we're perfecting our works as we continue in our walk of faith for the lord god
let's keep going there verse number 23 verse number 24 see then how by works a man is justified
and not by faith only all right now let's keep going verse number 25 likewise so here's another
example likewise also was not rahab the harlot justified by works hey when was she justified
by works when she had received the messengers those are the spies that came into the land
and had sent them out another way rahab lied to the soldier that came looking for the spies
she protected them okay and she received them and this was the justification of her faith
she already had faith in the god of abraham isaac and jacob she already had faith in the gods
the god of israel okay and you read about this when you go through the book of genesis
you know that she already heard about the lord god her faith was already on that same lord
okay but now her faith has been perfected because she's shown great works she's risking her own life
by taking these spies these these israelites protecting them lying for their protection and
this shows that her faith produced this great work and her faith was perfect in that sense okay
she had mercy to those to those spies okay she showed that she loved her neighbor as herself
and let's keep going there in verse number 26 for as the body without the spirit is dead so faith
without works is dead also so obviously if our bodies in the grave what is death
death is when the soul and spirit leave the body okay now is this saying that the body is not a
body without spirit you know when someone passes away and you you you bury that body is that not
a body it's still a body it's just dead you know faith when it doesn't have works it's still faith
it's just dead it's just alone okay it's missing an important component
you know a body that is dead is missing the spirit faith when you're not doing anything
you're not showing mercy you're not showing love to the neighbor it's missing the works and it is
dead also okay so what do we learn here we learn that in order to be justified before god let me
just quickly read to you once again romans chapter 4 verse 1 what shall we say then that abraham our
father as pertaining to the faith have found for if abraham were justified by works meaning he
wasn't he aware of to glory but not before god for what say the scripture abraham believed god
and he was accounted unto him for righteousness so what do we learn we learn that when we compare
romans chapter 4 we're justified before god that's our eternal salvation that's our home in heaven
we're justified before god on faith alone on the finished work of jesus christ but how do we
justify ourselves before man to our fellow neighbors when we've shown ourselves when we
show the works when we show mercy when we show love when our neighbor is going without and we
step in we provide for their needs we are now justifying ourselves before the eyes of man okay
our works helps others see our faith but as we saw earlier a man can have no works and still show his
faith it's just that his faith is dead okay so brethren what is the conclusion of the matter
what's the whole point of this chapter add some works to your faith that's the point do something
show mercy so show some love to your brother and sister in the lord hey find the person that is
despised the most in the church find the person that is the poorest find the person that struggles
the most and say you know what i'm going to show them some mercy i'm going to show them some love
i'm going to appreciate them i'm going to find if there's a place a way that i can help that brother
or sister in the lord and i'm going to show the mercy is there a widow is there someone that is
fatherless i'm going to show them love i'm going to show them appreciation get some works show
some love don't have your faith alone which hey it's enough to save you but it's not enough to
profit you in this life you know god will not show you mercy when he chastises you
if you've not shown mercy to others let's pray