Well, good morning, everyone. It's good to be back with you. As we started last week, we are in the book of Philemon. And we're going to look at the book of Philemon. I've got a series of messages in Philemon. And so we're just going to take our time and just carefully and biblically go through the book here. Last week, we were able to get through the first three verses. So we got the first three verses of Philemon done. And today I'm in hopes that we'll get through verse number seven. So we'll take a look at that this morning. So I'm gonna read all of it from verse one down through verse seven, just so that we keep everything in context, but then we'll be starting today in verse number four. So, but starting in verse number one with our reading this morning, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer. And to our beloved Apphia and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee Brother, let's go to Lord in prayer Heavenly Father Thank you for this opportunity that we have to gather here this morning. Lord, the opportunity we have to open your word. Please, Father, I pray that you would just speak to us today. I pray, Lord, that your Holy Spirit would have that free course to give each one of us that personal message, that thing that we need today to help us in our walk with you. Help us, Lord, to be faithful to You. Lord, I pray that You would guide, direct us in this time here. And Lord, our thoughts, our minds, may they be stayed on You. And Father, I just pray that You would please speak mightily Your Word this morning. In Jesus' name, Amen. As we saw last week, Paul, of course, is the writer here. And he's writing to Philemon. And as we get into this, we will see that the context of the writing is to bring Onesimus, who was a slave, a servant of Philemon's, back to Philemon. What has happened is Onesimus stole from Philemon and ran away. And he finds himself eventually in Rome and by God's grace comes across the path of Paul who's in prison in Rome and he gets saved. And then Paul is going to send Onesimus back to Philemon, and he sends this letter with him. Now, last week we looked at a lot of introduction. We laid a lot of groundwork for the book of Philemon. We know that when Philemon was written by Paul, he also wrote to the Philippians and the Colossians and the Philippians as well. We know that Philemon is a wealthy man of Colossae. Except for Philemon and Apphia, everybody else that's mentioned in Philemon is mentioned in the Book of Colossians. So we know that this is the area in which the letter was sent. We know from the Book of Colossians, we know that the letter was sent by a dearly beloved man by the name of Tychicus. Antiochus and Onesimus are bringing these letters to these churches and to these places. And then the final letter, of course, or this letter to Philemon is being brought. And in our minds, we would have to stop and think, what would it be like to be a wealthy person and have those servants, have those slaves and so forth, have one steal from you and leave? And then one day see him come back, but he doesn't come back alone. He comes back with a fellow believer and he carries this letter from Paul. And this letter is a letter that is full of compassion. It is full of love. We see the word beloved. We see the word love. We see the word bowels. That's a good word. We know that in scripture it's talking about the seed of our emotions. We in our terminology today would use the word heart. And he calls Philemon his brother. He calls Onesimus his brother. He refers to Onesimus as his son in verse number 10. So there's a lot of compassion in this letter to Philemon to restore and to welcome Onesimus, this servant that was a thief at one time, now returning as a brother in Christ. And so last week, as we got down into the verses here, we stayed on verse number three and we looked at grace and peace. And we spent a lot of time looking at those two words. As I was studying this week, I see in verse number five that we have love and faith. But God didn't have me land on love and faith this week. He had me land on something else this week. But we are going to see them here. But in verse number 4, as we pick up with the account, he says, I thank my God, making mention of The Always in my prayers. You know, in Ephesians chapter 6, Ephesians chapter 6 is that great chapter that describes for us the armor of God. In Ephesians chapter 6, You know, Ephesians chapter 6, we see... In verse number 10. That's what starts the armor of God funny story when I was in Bible school They told us always have a message ready to go and they referred to it as your candy stick It's your candy stick if you ever get called on you got this message in your Bible And it's ready to go at a moment's notice and just have this message ready so I had a message ready on the armor of God and I preached that so many times what they were on our way out of a church and Becky says to me she goes listen She goes, I know all these people are hearing it for the first time. She goes, I need something else. You've got to work on another one. Thankfully, the Lord's word is never exhaustive. We always get messages. I'm pleased to say the Lord's given me many messages since then. In Ephesians chapter 6, when we look at the armor of God, A lot of times, verse number 18 doesn't get linked in there. We stop with the helmet of salvation and the sword, which is the word of God. But at the end of verse number 17, you'll notice that that's a colon. The thought is continuing. And it links in, praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And you know, Paul, if you ever take the time to really look at who Paul was praying for, Paul's prayer list was long. It was an extensive list. He lists in different books, Ephesians chapter 1, Philippians chapter 1, Colossians 1, 1 Thessalonians 1, 2 Thessalonians 1, all these places he talks about the people that he's continually praying for. And you know, a lot of times we stop and we think, boy, if I prayed for all of these prayer requests, how much time would that take? Is that a bad thing? Is that a bad thing? I did a message one time, not from Ephesians 6, I did a message one time where I had us start with what the total number of hours are in a week. And then just started, OK, if you work 40 hours, then deduct 40 from that. If you're in the habit of sleeping about eight hours a day, then deduct whatever that is for the week. And go down through, OK, and then we've got this, and deduct that. And then just how many hours do you have left? And I would encourage you to do that at some point. Just kind of map out your week. and see how many hours at the end of that you really have that really don't have anything accounted to them, certainly not anything of any value, and how much time do we give to the Lord? How much time do we spend with the Lord? How much time do we spend in prayer to the Lord? Sad to say it this way, but in one of the classes that I did in Bible school, the challenge one semester was to pray for an hour. And they said, we want you to pray for an hour, and then afterwards, write what God showed you in that prayer time. And so I thought, an hour? I can't possibly pray for an hour. And I wrote down, I had a sheet, and I wrote down everything I could possibly think of. And then I went over to the church. We lived right next door to the church. So I went over to the church, because I wanted to be quiet. And I started to pray. I went through my list. I was done in 15 minutes. I was done. And so now I'm looking at the clock, and I'm praying and praying. And then I got to the point where I stopped thinking about the clock, and I just prayed as God brought things to mind. And you know, before long, that hour was gone. And I've got to say, it was probably one of the sweetest times of prayer I ever had with the Lord, because I wasn't trying to go through a list. And I got to the point where I stopped looking at the clock, and I just spent some time with the Lord. And you know, in this busyness of our lives, it's amazing that in our day, in our generation, we have so many things that are supposed to make our lives easier, and we seem to have less time than we ever did. You know, and to just make sure that we set those things aside and make sure that we take time with the Lord. Here in Philemon chapter 1 and verse number 4, he says, I thank my God, making mention of Thee always in my prayers. Not just once or twice, but frequently. Frequently he's praying. Frequently he's praying to God for Philemon. Mentioning Philemon. I mean, think about that. To know that somebody frequently is bringing you before the Lord Asking God to just help you and deal with whatever might be going on in your life at the time I want you to see something with me if you would turn to 1st Samuel chapter 12 1st Samuel chapter 12 In 1 Samuel chapter 12, this has often been called Samuel's farewell address to the people. And here Samuel is speaking to the Israelites and he's reminding them of all that the Lord has done for them. He's given kind of a summary of what God has done for them. And Samuel encourages the people to follow and serve the Lord and to turn from their wickedness. But then he comes to verse number 23. 1 Samuel 12, 23. Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you, but I will teach you the good in the right way." Isn't it interesting, in verse number 23, Samuel says, not, he says, moreover for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord, how? In ceasing to pray for you. Do you understand, as believers, we have an obligation to pray for one another? And you know what? It's not just when we have the crises. You know? We're supposed to be praying for each other in the good time and in the bad, you know? Wouldn't it be great to have some quiet time with the Lord on Monday morning and go, you know, here's the prayer requests that were shared yesterday, but I want to pray for this person. I don't know if they have anything. And if they don't, then thank you for providing. Thank you for taking care of them. Please watch over them this week and go on, you know. The nice thing about churches is everybody always usually sits in the same spot. So maybe you're just, as you're having your prayer time, think about the church. Think about the rows, think about who's sitting where, and then just kind of work your way through. Are you going to remember everybody? Probably not, but maybe tomorrow you get the people you missed the first day, you know? But just pray. And I found it very interesting that Samuel says, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you. How many times have we really neglected to lift someone up in prayer? Not just, you know, the prayer requests go out and we get the prayer emails and so forth, and that's great, and we go to the Lord in prayer, but on our day-to-day, our prayer life day-to-day, how many people are we frequently bring them before the Lord. How much time are we actually doing that? Or do we come with our grocery list and our emergencies and our crises and then we get those spit out and then we're on our way and facing the day, you know? When we should really just take some time and just spend some time in prayer. Here Paul, in his address to Philemon, is encouraging Philemon in the fact that, hey, you know what? I'm praying for you. And I'm praying for you. I'm mentioning you always in my prayers. And what is it that he is praying about? We see this in verse number five. Hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints. And you know, it's interesting, I hope you understand when you look at your Bible, that the words are in the order that they should be in. You know, that God put them there for a specific reason. When we exercise love and faith, we have to exercise that first to the Lord, then we can do it to others. You understand that? Your relationship with God is going to pour over into others. If I have a good relationship with the Lord, then I'm going to have a good relationship with my wife and my daughter. If I have a good relationship with my Lord, I'm going to have a good relationship with the Christians that I serve with. If I have a good relationship with the Lord, then the other relationships of life are going to benefit from the good relationship that I have with the Lord. If I don't have a good relationship with the Lord, those other relationships will suffer also. Here, Paul is talking to Philemon, and he says, Hearing of thy love and faith, Philemon's love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord, Jesus, and toward all saints. We know that love is very important. In John 13, 34, Jesus had said, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I loved you. that ye also love one another by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another in 1st John if you want to turn over there just a couple books further on in the Bible there but well a few books I don't say a couple a few 1st John in chapter 4 1st John chapter 4 we'll just read a few verses here starting at verse number 7 beloved let us love one another for love is of God And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. In this was manifest the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sons. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. You know, it goes on, and we come down to verse number 14. We love Him because He first loved us. Verse 21, in this commandment we have from Him that he who loveth God loveth his brother also. You know, when we love one another and we show love to one another, we do that because of the relationship that we have with God. Here, he talks to Philemon about the love and the faith that he has shown towards the Lord Jesus and toward all saints. We certainly understand faith. Hebrews 11.1 gives us a definition of faith. Now faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And then chapter 11 goes on to talk about faith that all those Old Testament people showed through the different examples that we have in Hebrews 11. But Hebrews 11.6 says, But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So love and faith are important in the Christian life, just like grace and peace are that we saw in verse number three. Love and faith are things that we show to the Lord, but then outwardly we show those things in our actions to others. In verse 3, he says, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He talks about mentioning Philemon in his prayers, hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast toward the Lord and toward all saints. And then he goes on to further explain that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. There's a lot of meat in this verse. There's a lot in here. So we're just going to break it down for just a moment here. He says that the communication of thy faith, Webster defines communication as the act of imparting, conferring, or delivering from one to another. The communication, so the communication of thy faith, the faith that you have, the faith that you're showing towards the saints, that that communication of thy faith may become effectual. We want it to have an effect. We want it to do something. When we do something for somebody, yes, we do it out of a pure heart and we do it because of the relationship that we have with God, but if we are doing something to someone that doesn't know the Lord, We want it to have an effect, maybe not just the unsaved, that they would come to be saved, but how about the saved, that we do it to them, that it would have an effect. Maybe just encourage them and help them get through whatever it is they're going through that day. So the communication of that faith, the prayer is that it will be effectual, that it will be producing an effect, or the effect desired or intending, or having adequate power or force to produce the effect. So it needs to accomplish something. There needs to be something that it is doing. So the communication of thy faith may be effectual by the acknowledging, that's the confessing, the owning, the knowing, by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Because we know, Romans chapter 7 and other places in the scripture, that in me lieth no good thing. You know, I know that. But the good that is in me, that good, that's from the Lord Jesus. In James chapter 1 verse 17, if you want to turn there real quick, this one is just a couple of books over. Hebrews, James. James 1 verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights. with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. So in verse number six of Philemon, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Matthew 5.16 says this, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. You know, when you do something for somebody and they acknowledge that back, that's our opportunity to praise God that he gave us that opportunity to do that. You know, when you do something for somebody and you get a thank you for that, you know, that is the opportunity of being able to say, God, you gave me this ability. You gave me this whatever it was, the finances, the skill, Whatever the case may be, God, this is from You. I used it for Your service. And someone... I just pray that it has an effect on somebody in the way that it's supposed to have an effect, you know? For the unsaved, hopefully it will bring them to the Lord. For the saved, hopefully it will encourage them and help them in their Christian walk. Because, you know, we all need it. We all need it today. I mean, things are so crazy and upside down in our world, and we, as Christians, trying to hold to a biblical standard, we are becoming more and more the oddity. Well, okay. But let's be odd together, okay? And let's serve the Lord, and let's just encourage each other to keep on going, and to keep doing what we're supposed to be doing. So in verse number 6, as he prays, Paul is encouraging Philemon and talking about the fact that he prays for him continually hearing about his love and faith towards the Lord and towards the Saints and then praying that the the love that he is showing towards the Saints that it has an effect that it is doing something and then in verse 7 he says for we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother." Consolation here is that comfort or that alleviation of misery or distress of the mind. So we have consolation. We have great joy and consolation in thy love. So again, he's pointing back to Philemon's love that he has shown towards the believers, towards the saints. Because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. And it is interesting. Paul refers to Philemon and Onesimus as brothers. Onesimus in verse number 16. I wrote this down. I found it as I was studying this week. He calls him brother. Such ties in the Lord are often more meaningful than even blood relations with those who are unsaved. You understand? The brothers and sisters in Christ in many instances would be closer to you than maybe a blood relation that's not saved. Does that make sense? You have that commonness in Christ. You're heading in the same direction. You're both looking for that final reward. You're looking for that heaven. You're anticipating that heaven. You're looking for that. You're both looking to please and serve the Lord in this present world. If we have unsaved family members, they don't have that same oneness. They don't have that same bond. They don't have that same outlook, the same direction, so to speak. And so a lot of times, the Christian relationship can be stronger and can be more powerful. So in verse number seven, he says, for we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. Again, the bowels, we understand in our terminology today, we would use the heart. It's that place, that seat of emotion. It's interesting, he uses the word bowels three times in Philemon. He talks about that three different times. Again, this is a very compassionate, very encouraging letter for Philemon. But what he's encouraging him here is what he has heard about Philemon in the ministry that Philemon has towards the saints. In the things that he's doing. Isn't that interesting that Paul is paying attention, Paul hears. Now Paul's paying attention from Rome in prison. So word has gotten back to him about the church in Philemon's home and about Philemon and about what Philemon's doing. And he says, brother, what you're doing is awesome. This is great. And he goes, I pray that it has the right effect. I pray that it is doing what it is supposed to do. And he says, and we have great joy and consolation in thy love. We're rejoicing in what we're hearing God doing. Isn't that so true when we read a missionary letter? Or we hear a missionary give an account or an update as they come back from furlough and they start talking about how God is working on those fields and what God is doing. Doesn't that encourage us? Doesn't that give us joy? Aren't we happy to hear what the Lord is doing? How about when we have, I mean, I know that you have times of prayer requests, but you also have times of praise. You know, sometimes, I know I've done this in my life, I'll think about something the Lord did and I'll go, that's not really a big deal and I won't say nothing. But you know, sometimes we need to be giving, not sometimes, we need to be giving God the glory and the praise for the little things as well as the big things. You know, praise the Lord, I had a few extra bucks this week and I was able to get some extra groceries or I was able to fill up my car and I was able to, you know, how many times do we take those things for granted? How many times do we just say, oh, you know, it's just part of life, and we're just doing it. And do we understand that the jobs that we have, the finances that we have, the abilities that we have, they are all God-given. And we need to give God the praise and the glory for it. Here, he's saying, I've heard about all these things that you're doing, and I'm rejoicing in everything that you have done. Now, I want you to turn with me, if you would, to James chapter 2. James chapter 2. This is a great exhortation for works. Now, we looked at last week at the fact that works don't save you. For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We know that we are saved by grace through faith. But then what does that salvation produce? And James lays it out so beautifully for us in James chapter 2. We'll start in verse number 14. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can faith save him? Have you ever known anyone who claimed to be a Christian, but everything in their life said the opposite? Have you ever known anybody like that? I want you to know that our walk and our talk should go in harmony. We shouldn't say one thing and then live something else. So he says, what does it profit my brethren though a man say he hath faith but hath not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Now, if you would keep your finger there, but turn with me to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25 in verse number 31 it says the son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and And before him shall he gather all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. And then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come ye, blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was a hungred, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me in, naked, and ye clothed me. I was sick, and ye visited me. I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungred, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Look at verse 41. Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." We looked at that verse last week, actually, or I gave mention of that last week. That we understand that the everlasting fire is prepared for the devil and his angels. When men do not accept the Lord Jesus, they have to take part in that same place, but it wasn't prepared for them. We know that God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And here we see that everlasting fire, that lake of fire, it was prepared for the devil and his angels. And he says, For I was a hungred, and ye gave me no meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in, naked, and ye clothed me not, sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungred, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, And as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall all go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. You know, if you go back a few chapters to Matthew chapter 7, Matthew chapter 7, in verse number 16, Matthew 7 verse 16, moreover, When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy father which is in secret. And thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. And then look at verses 19 and 20. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." You know, so many times people are living to get everything they can out of this life and to be seen of men and what they're doing in this life. But in the Christian life, when we, specifically Matthew, Chapter 7 here. He says that when you're fasting don't run around telling everybody you're fasting don't look like you're fasting look like you're okay because what you're doing is between you and me and It's not for you to show off to the people around you and then it's interesting that he says they that do it to be seen of men Have their reward. I mean if you're doing it so that men will praise you that's what you're going to get and But if you're doing it because you want to serve the Lord, and you want the Lord to use you, and you want those actions to be effectual, as was the case with Philemon, that's between you and the Lord, and the Lord gets the glory. The Lord gets the praise. So is it important the way that we respond and the way that we act towards others? Of course. Why? Because it shows our faith. It shows that we're saved. It shows that we're children of God. I wrote this in verse 15. It's talking about if a brother or sister be naked or destitute, daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Verse number 17. You know, our persons are justified before God by faith. But our faith is justified before men by our works. Do you understand that? We've often heard the phrase, you might be the only Bible that some people ever read or that ever see. Are people seeing the difference in you? Are you standing out? Are the things that you do being seen, not to be seen of men, but are they being a testimony of your relationship with God? We don't want it to be for man's glory. We want it to be for God's glory. And so when God uses us, that should point people to God, saved and unsaved. Unsaved, that they need to be saved. Saved in the fact that, hey, look what God is doing and encouraging one another in those things. In James, chapter 2, verse 18, it says, Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Now watch what he says here. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Isn't that interesting? Hey, I'm saved. Really? Can you prove it? Say, oh, that's between me and God. True. But your life ought to show something. Because when you were unsaved, your life sure showed something. So your saved life ought to show something. He says, thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. I'm going to turn over there real quick. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. In verse number 3. 1st Thessalonians 1 verse 3 remembering without ceasing your works of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father knowing brethren beloved your election of God remembering without ceasing your work of faith you understand that it's the works that faith produces it's not works that saves us by grace are you saved through faith but then that faith produces works and here in 1st Thessalonians 1 3 as Paul is writing he is encouraging them and he's saying remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience and hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father. If you look at Titus 3. I know I've got you turning all over the place today, but you can go back and listen to it again or write down the references if you don't get to them. Titus 3, verse 8. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men." Isn't that something? So the good that we do, it's profitable. It's profitable unto men. It's profitable unto the saved and to the unsaved. It's profitable. God can use those things. God wants to use those things. Isn't it a humbling thought to think that the God that created it all wants to use you and me? I mean, isn't that a humbling thought? Now look back at James chapter 2. He says, Show me thy faith without thy works, I will show thee my faith by my works. Now look at verse number 19. Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? You know, I like verse number 19. I like to use verse number 19 when I'm talking with somebody and they go, Oh, I believe in God. Well, it's great that you believe in God, but has He changed your life? Have you called on Him? Have you asked Him to save you? Have you called on the name of the Lord so that you can be saved? Because guess what? Verse number 19 says, Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. You know, we can go to the book of Luke. Luke chapter 4 and Luke chapter 8. Don't turn there now for the sake of time. We're not going to do that. But Luke chapter 4 and Luke chapter 8 give us the account of demon-possessed people coming into the presence of the Lord Jesus and these demon-possessed people that were a fear to all around them cry for mercy from Jesus. Can you imagine what it would be like? No, don't imagine it. Let's just... Don't imagine it, but just think about it. Here's this demon-possessed person. that has incredible strength, has incredible abilities, can do these things. And Jesus, the Son of God, walks into their town, into their village, into their presence. And immediately, their response is not, OK, let's fight. It's, please have mercy. Please be merciful. The demons. please have mercy because they know who Jesus is they know what he's capable of they know the power that is in our Savior so you believe that there's a God that's great but has he changed your life there's a lot of people out there that believe there's a God there's not so many of them that actually have trusted him for their salvation have you according to Romans chapter 10, called on the name of the Lord. Have you by grace, through faith, been saved? Has there been a change in your life? I'm not saying can you remember the exact date and time, but can you remember in your history a place where you called upon the name of the Lord to save you and your life has been changed? Can you remember that time? If not, I would ask you to examine it. Are you saved? Search that out. Figure that out. Because the devils know that there's a God, but they're not going to have eternal life in heaven. They're not going to know that peace. The devils know there's a God. You've got to be able to know more than that there is a God. You've got to know God. And you had to know his son, Jesus Christ, that died on the cross for your sins. Verse number 19. The devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? And then he goes back to an Old Testament example. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seeest thou how faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect? Remember that account as Abraham was going to kill Isaac on that altar and then God provided a ram for him? But you know in Hebrews chapter 11, and we talked about Hebrews 11 earlier, but if you turn to Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, In verse number 17, by faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac. And he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. So he's remembering the promise, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Now look at verse number 19. Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure You know what that means that means that when Abraham was willing to offer Isaac his son upon the altar Abraham had enough faith that he knew that even if I kill him God will raise him because God has made a promise about Isaac He had to stand over him, he had to hold the knife. He had to be ready to plunge the knife into his son that was laying on that altar. And then God said, stop. I have a ram prepared. Right here. And we know that there was a ram caught in the thicket by a thorns. And a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus. Crown of thorns on his head and so forth. But you know in that situation when Abraham was going up that mountain with Isaac, God had that ram already prepared. But Abraham didn't know. But he said to his servants as they were getting ready to go up the hill, I and the lad go to worship, and we will come again unto you. So he knew God was going to do something. He just wasn't sure exactly what it was going to be. But through his faith, he put his action to his faith. And he took Isaac up, and he offered him as a sacrifice. And God delivered wonderfully. In James chapter 2, it gives us the example of Abraham and Isaac. In verse number 23, And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. The friend of God, why? Because he had faith and obedience. And through the works that he did because of his faith, God It says, imputed unto him for righteousness. He was called the friend of God. He is referred to the friend of God a couple of places in the Old Testament. 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, there's a few different places that it refers to him as the friend of God. then he wraps it up this way verse number 24 you see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way now watch this in verse 26 so he gives the example of Rahab the harlot as well this is found in Joshua chapter 2 but then he comes to The final verse here, verse 26. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Think about that. What has my relationship with the Lord produced in my life? What have I done with what the Lord has given me? I know that I'm saved. I know that I have called upon the Lord. I know that He has saved me. I know that I have His Holy Spirit indwelling within me. What have I done with it? What have I done? What treasure have I laid up in heaven? How have I been obedient to the Lord in my life? Works don't save us, but works sure show our salvation. How have we lived out? the difference that God has made in our lives. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word this morning. And Lord, it's a sobering passage of scripture. And Lord, in so many of Paul's epistles, he encourages and exhorts the people that he's writing to because of what they have done with their faith, how they have lived, the obedience they've had to the scriptures. Lord, I pray that you would be with us in this time, our time, that Lord, we would be faithful, that we would be obedient, that we would seek those opportunities to act upon our faith for your honor and for your glory. Lord, that an unsaved world would see the difference Christ has made in us and that our brothers and sisters in Christ could be encouraged in whatever way it is that you want to use us and help us in their lives. Father, thank you for wanting to use us. Thank you for your plan for our lives. Now help us, Lord. Help us as we go through this next week to look for those opportunities, to reach out, to do something for your honor and glory, not for ours, not that we'll get patted on the back, not that we'll get praised or recognized, but Lord, that you would be honored and glorified for what you have done through us. Father, thank you for your, your grace, your mercy, your love. Now, Lord, please use us this week in the lives that you bring across our path. Help us to be a bold witness for you. In Jesus' name, amen.