And I didn't really break my wife. Even though I was actually trying to make a little joke out of it, I didn't really break my wife. She did, uh, but she is, she is broken. And, um, so if you would continue your prayers, uh, for her and she greatly appreciate it. And, um, she couldn't, she crawled to bed last night, but she was walking this morning. So, um, so continue to pray for her. This week, after this morning's service, we are observing the Lord's table, and this is a special week for the church. This is the way that the Lord Jesus himself has ordained that we would remember his death until his return. And because of the solemnity of this ordinance, we'll be slightly changing the order of service. And this is not because we're trying to be rude to others, but we're But what we're trying to do is we do this out of reverence and respect unto the Lord. So after the morning service, after our closing hymn, that those who wish to stay, just if you would please stay seated. And those children who wish to come and sit with us are welcome to do so at this time. And those who cannot stay or don't wish to stay are welcome to leave at this time, may do so. And we practice open communion here in Fairland Baptist Church. And that means that everyone is welcome to this ordinance. This is the Lord's table. This isn't Joe's table, and this isn't Ron's table. This is the Lord's table. And if you're saved and you know the Lord Jesus, we encourage you to partake because it explains in scripture that these things are a blessing, and it builds up our hope and our trust in him. But the scriptures do give a warning to those who partake and don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, And we're, but we're instructed to let you examine yourself and judge whether you should partake or not. And therefore we should not, nor we nor shall we judge others who decide not to partake. We do restrict the Lord's table, uh, from children partaking in it because It takes a certain amount of maturity to understand the symbolism of the Lord's body, but they are welcome to come and sit with us and observe and have parents explain to them the solemnity of this service. If you have any questions, you can come and see me after the morning service. I will stand at the back and I will, those who wish to leave, I'll wish you, I'll do like I normally do, I'll shake your hand. If you have any questions, you can ask me at that time about the service. And with that, with our scriptures opened up to the epistle to James once again, let's seek the Lord once more in a brief word of prayer. Father, we do ask that you would bless us, oh Lord. We need your blessings. We ask that you would open blind eyes and unstop deaf ears, that we might see your goodness and that we might hear these words of love. And so Lord, we also ask that you give us understanding hearts, that we might understand some of these hard sayings of scripture and help us to lay hold of them and cling to them and make them our own. So Lord, bless us, oh Lord. Bless us with your spirit. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Have you ever been on a job and someone just wasn't doing their part at a job? Have you ever been there and someone just wasn't holding up their end? And for those of us who have seen that and have been there, is there anything more aggravating? Is there anything more aggravating? I grew up on a farm. And on this farm, we had a solution for hay hands who didn't want to do their share of the work. And we would threaten to throw them in the water tank. And unfortunately, or if I say fortunately, I've never had to do that, although my dad has, so when he was younger. And I don't know if he did that out of a spirit out of joy or out of a spirit of regret, but we'll leave that up to you all to take into that. But a scripture text here has something to say about people who are not doing their part as well. James 2.17 in our scripture that we read, even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone. Now this scripture seems to be filled with contradictions. It appears to contradict with what Paul preaches in Romans 4. Paul would say, but to him that worketh, but believeth on him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. And that's Romans 4, 5. And it appears what we have here in our scripture reading today appears to directly contradict with what churches have taught for years, that believing the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Yet our scripture here indicates something quite different here. What the scripture here is describing is dead faith. Dead faith. Not saving faith, but dead faith. This is faith that doesn't bring salvation. Can you imagine such a thing? Why would you even call it that? Dead faith or faith that doesn't bring salvation. One commentator, he brilliantly sorts out these two issues when he says, we're saved by faith alone, but our faith is never alone. It's accompanied by obedience. A saving faith that produces obedience. And the Lord Jesus, he would go along with this and he would say, if you love me, keep my commandments or do good things. Do the good things. And our Lord Jesus, he also gives us a perfect example out of Matthew, chapter 21, where the Lord Jesus, this is here, when the Lord Jesus saw a fig tree in the way, and then he came upon it and he found nothing thereon but leaves only. And he said unto it, let no fruit grow on thee henceforth forever. And presently the fig tree withered away. Now, let me ask you a question. What do you call a fig tree that doesn't grow figs? Is it a fig tree anymore? If it doesn't grow figs, what is it? If an apple tree doesn't grow apples, is it really an apple tree? If an orange tree doesn't grow oranges, is it really an orange tree? If a Christian doesn't produce good works, is he really a good Christian? Is he really a Christian? That's the question. And then what do you do with such a person? You know, for the fig tree, there must be something missing in the fig tree that it doesn't produce figs. You ask my wife, my wife is a master gardener, and she would say, well, it's not getting enough water. It's not getting enough sunlight, or it's not getting enough nutrients. There's a problem. There's something missing. And it's the same way with the person who has dead faith. dead faith. Something is missing from this person who claims to have faith, but they don't produce good works. Something is missing. And we'll see in here in our text today that there's specifically three things missing from the person who claims that they have faith in Christ. that there's something missing, that they're missing understanding, they're missing love, and they're missing a desire to help others. That's dead faith. That's dead faith. You say you have faith, but yet you have no understanding, you have no love, and you have no desire to help others. Something missing in their lives because they're not doing their part. They're not doing their part. and then struck them of their errors, James here produces, he shows us three kinds of faith here in these scriptures that we just read to the brother Ron has read to you today. We deal with dead faith and that is dead faith that they have no understanding, that they have no love and that they have no good works. And then the next example James gives of dead faith is of a demonic faith or a demon. And the next one is faith without love or faith without good works. And then the last example that James gives is saving faith. And that's faith that has understanding, that has love, and that has good works. So the first issue that we'll talk about here, the first type of faith that James gives here is dead faith or faith without understanding, faith without love for others. or neither does it have good works. James 2, 14-17, where he would say, What profit it, my brethren, though a man say he have faith, and hath not works? Can faith save him? Like the fig tree. If you say you're a fig tree, but you don't produce figs, does that make you a fig tree? If a brother, verse 15, if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of them say, depart in peace, you'll be warmed and filled. Notwithstanding, you give them not those things which are needful to the body. What does it profit? Even so, faith, hath it not works, is dead being alone." Did you see here this first example of dead faith? Did you see this first example? What's if someone comes and is destitute of food and is naked? They don't have food or clothing. And if someone says, oh, depart in peace and be warmed and be filled. But they don't give them anything. You know people like that? You know people like that? You know, they're all talk, right? You know, does anyone know anyone that's all talk and no do? See, on the farm, we've seen lots of boys that come who are all talk. Dad could tell you all about them. And one such young man that I went to school with, he came and he boasted that he did so much work for other farmers, and he did this, and he did that. And he just came over, and he helped us put up hay for one day. And that was it. And then after that, we never seen him again. And probably because we put up a thousand bales of hay that day. Well, we worked and we worked hard. And this boy that was all talk, well, we never seen him again. This is dead faith. And this is faith that does not save. Notice how this person, notice how this dead faith reacts to someone in distress. This is the person, this is what dead faith does. Notice how they react. Here's a brother or sister who's naked, who's destitute of food, and they say, oh, depart in peace. Be warmed and be filled, like your words can do something, like words fills your belly, like words put clothes on you. Sounds like politicians, doesn't it? But have you ever heard of someone who's refused to give clothing or food to others? Have you ever heard of such a person when they need it? Well, the Bible describes someone like that. The Bible has a word for someone like that, and it's called Pharisees. It's called Pharisees. If you would turn in your Bibles to Mark 7 and verse 10, where the Lord says, for Moses said, honor thy father and mother, and whoso curseth father and mother, let them die the death. But ye say, this is the Pharisees, this is the Lord Jesus talking to the Pharisees, but you say, if a man shall say to his father or mother, it is korban, or that is to say a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest to be profited by me, he shall be free. and ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother, making the word of God none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered, and many such like things do ye." So to the Pharisees, they had a little law. They had a little thing that they could say, oh, they could say korban. They could say, just say korban, and they would say it's a gift. God has given me this gift that I don't have to take care of my mother and father anymore. It's not my responsibility. Well, who wouldn't want to take care of their parents? Probably someone who doesn't understand the scriptures, probably someone who doesn't love their parents. You see a Pharisee, he can swear by the temple or he can swear by the gold of the temple and his obligation to care for his parents is removed. Now that's not God's law. That's an invention of man. They've invented that. They've invented that. And we've been talking about this as we go through the gospel of John. In Sunday school class, you hear, you see time and time again that the Pharisees have lifted up their own law. They've invented their own law. so that they don't have to do things that they don't want to do. And the Lord Jesus one by one comes along and he destroys this man's law and replaces it with his law. We see this one by one. And here in this case, here with these Pharisees, the Lord Jesus points out their wickedness. and their clever oaths. But see, and this is what James says, that they have no understanding of scripture, that they have no love for their parents and these Pharisees, and they fail to do the will of God. They fail in all these three things. This is dead faith. This is dead faith, James 2.17. Even so, if it hath not worked, even faith, It hath not works is dead being alone. It's not accompanied by understanding It's not accompanied by love and it's not accompanied by good works Their faith is alone. It's meaningless It's meaningless saving faith when we're saved by the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ saving faith that affects us and it gives us understanding in our hearts and it will change your will and It'll give you understanding of God's word. It will give you love for others, especially your family, and especially the people in your church. We love each other here just like we would love our own families. Don't we? Don't we? And we'll give you a desire to help others. Have you ever asked someone how they're doing? Have you ever asked someone how they're doing? What's the usual response when someone asks you how you're doing? You say, I'm fine. I'm fine, right? Everybody's fine, right? In truth, we're probably not fine. We're probably not fine on the inside. We're probably, something's bothering us, something's aching. And what's our program response to someone like, what's our program response? Is I'll pray for you. When we ask someone how you're doing, what's our program responses? I'll pray for you. Well, the response we should have is what can I do for you? What can I do for you? Years ago, there was a man that asked me how I was doing. And at the time, our family was going through some financial hardships. And his response to me was, well, you should have saved your money. You should have saved your money. And I'm, well, if I would have had money, I would have saved it. That's hence the financial problem. If I had money to save, then I wouldn't have a financial problem, right? But this is dead faith. This is dead faith. They have no understanding of God. They don't have understanding of scriptures. They have no love for others, nor do they want to help others. Like the fig tree, they don't produce figs. But what's a fig tree for? It doesn't produce figs. To our Lord Jesus, it's fit for destruction. It's no good. A fig tree that doesn't produce figs isn't a fig tree anymore. A Christian that doesn't produce good works and love others and understands the scriptures is not a Christian anymore, is he? Their faith is dead and so are their souls. Let's look at the second type of dead faith that James describes here. And it's the faith that the demons have. Believe it or not, the demons have faith. And I'm calling this demonic faith because it's the example that James gives us. James 2, verses 19 and 20. Thou believest there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. See, the devils have faith. They believe and they tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? See, I listened to a sermon years ago where the preacher explained that there were two kinds of Christians, that there was thinkers and that they were doers. See, those who were the thinkers or those who were intellectual by nature and who studied most of the time, and there were the doers who would do the week-to-week tasks that needed done. And the implication is that the thinkers did the thinking, and the doers did the doing, and neither of the twain met. And I couldn't decide whether I should be offended or complimented by that statement. But see, saving faith isn't just intellectual. You will have understanding. And that's what James is saying here in verse 19. Thou believest there is one God, thou doest well. It's good to have understanding, but that's not the only thing in saving faith. It's not just understanding. So those who have this kind of dead faith, they may have a working knowledge of God. They may believe that there's one God. They may believe in the Trinity. They may believe that God is three persons in one Godhead. They may believe in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit even. And they may even understand the natures of Christ, which is one person and two natures, the divine and the human. They may know these things. They may understand these things. But James explains that understanding the scriptures isn't saving faith. It's not saving faith. Or James says in 219, thou believest there is one God thou doest well, because the devils also believe and they tremble. See the demons, they know who God is. They were always the one who would know Christ immediately. When the Lord Jesus walked this earth, they would say, what that doest here thou son of man? What hast thou to do with me, O son of God? They would say these things. They knew the Lord. They know who God is. They know who Christ is. They know that there'll be a time of punishment and that they know that they will be condemned. They know these things. They know these things, but yet, That's not saving faith, it's dead faith. In the book of Exodus, after seeing the devastation of all of Egypt, and after seeing their herds and their crops destroyed, and after seeing the Lord had killed all their firstborn, after all this, do you think the Egyptians believed in God after seeing all this? I think that they not only believed in God, I think they were terrified of Him. They believed and they were terrified just as the demons in our text. They knew God and they were terrified of him. But yet they could, the Egyptians, they couldn't wait to see God and Israel leave their country so that they could continue on in their sin and their misery. They believe God, they've seen his works, but that doesn't mean that they're saved. How many of the Egyptians left with the children of Israel? I don't know. Maybe a few, not very many. But how many Israelites stayed behind in Egypt during the Exodus? How many of the Israelites stayed behind? I suggest none, none stayed behind. And this is the kind of faith that claims to know and believe all these things, yet that's not enough for salvation. They don't have a love for others, and they don't have any good works. The demons don't love others, and the demons don't have any good works, and neither do those who claim to know God and have a knowledge of God. That's not saving faith. And the last kind of faith that James deals with here is saving faith. That's the last kind of faith. This is faith that's accompanied by understanding, love, and good works. And the example James gives is Abraham, James chapter 2, verses 21 through 23. And was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Sayest thou have faith wrought with his works? And by works has faith made perfect? 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. See, saving faith, it has these effects upon us. It affects the mind, it gives us an understanding of God and the scriptures. Faith, it affects the heart, and it gives us a love for Christ and a love for others. And saving a faith, it affects our will. It gives us a desire to obey God and to help others. That's what saving faith does. It helps us, but it also helps others. It's not selfish. Charity is not selfish. Charity is kind. And you could summarize James's point by saying faith is not just believing where there is no evidence, Faith is obeying in any circumstance. That's saving faith. God called Abraham and told him to leave the godless people of Ur, where he lived, and he built a nation, and that he would build a nation from his seed in a far country. And Abraham believed God. And when God promised Abraham and Sarah their son in their old age, They believed God. They believed God and they obeyed. And when God told him to offer his son as a sacrifice, he believed God and he obeyed. If you read the account in Genesis 22, where the Lord commands Abraham to take his son and offer him as a sacrifice, Abraham told the young men that escorted them, he said, we will be right back. We'll be, stay here. We'll be back. So in a sense, Abraham believed God would raise Isaac from the dead. Stay here, we'll offer the sacrifice and we'll be right back. Abraham believed that God would raise his son from the dead. Just like the Lord Jesus Christ, he believed in the resurrection. Now Isaac is that promised son, Abraham, knew the Lord. Abraham loved the Lord. Abraham obeyed the Lord because Abraham believed the Lord. Abraham believed God. Abraham had saving faith. He had saving faith. And here in our text today, James, and you can see this throughout scriptures. You can see this example throughout the scriptures. Paul emphasizes knowing and understanding Christ as evidence of our faith. John emphasizes loving Christ and everyone else as evidence of saving faith. And here in our text, James emphasizes good works as the evidence of saving faith. Yea, a man may say thou has faith and I have works Show me thy faith without works, and I will show thee my faith by my works Faith is not alone. We're saved by faith alone, but faith is never alone it produces Good works it produces love and it produces understanding Now I had a friend had a friend that his whose wife was a nutritionist and And, uh, and I think that's a fancy word for a cook, but had a good friend whose wife was a nutritionist. And, uh, and I asked him and he didn't, and he was wanting to know the difference between faith and works. And so I, so I asked my friend, I said, why does your wife go to work? He said, well, she goes to work because they pay her well. Okay. When she comes home, because I know she was a very good cook, and so she would cook him supper every night for when he comes home. I said, well, what does your wife get for cooking you supper when you come home? You pay her well for that, too? No, I don't pay her at all. See, her motivation to go to work was money, and that's works. But her motivation when she came home was love. That's the difference. That's the difference between works and grace. That's the difference between works and grace. The person who tries to earn salvation by their good deeds, that's works. But if you do something out of love in your heart, that's grace. That's grace upon your heart. And how many of you pray for others in this church? How many of you pray for others? We all pray for others. We all do it. But why do you do it? Do you pray for others because God will reward you and give you a crown in heaven? Or do you pray for others because you love them? We pray for others because we love them. And that's God's grace. That's God's grace upon us. See the Lord Jesus, he's earned salvation for you. on His cross because He loves you and He's freely given it to you who believe on Him. Now that's grace. James is merely instructing us to be like our Savior, to show our love by our deeds. No greater love hath anyone in this than someone who dies for their friend. And that's what our Lord Jesus has done. We're saved by faith alone. Our faith is never alone. It's accompanied by obedience. Yea, a man may say thou has faith and I have works show me thy faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works. Amen May the Lord bless this word to your souls ask Isaac to come and we're gonna leave and we're gonna end in two stanzas of amazing grace and And then we'll finish with two more stanzas of amazing grace after the Lord's table. So keep your, keep a place marked. And then after we have the closing hymn, there'll be no closing benediction. After the closing hymn, just stay seated for those who remain, and those who wish to go may do so after the closing hymn. Two stanzas of amazing grace. Go ahead and do stanzas one, two, and then amazing grace. 487? Yeah, 487. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour Let's close in prayer Lord, we thank you for your goodness and your blessings today we ask that you would still abide with us these few moments as we as we gather around your table or Lord and We ask that you would bless us in these few moments. We pray in Jesus name. Amen