I want to draw your attention just for a short time this evening to James chapter two. James chapter two. And as we come to this chapter, we want to take us our text, verse 24. You see how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. You see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith on him. James is here referring back when he says, you see then, he's referring back to what he has just said in the verses from verse 14 onwards. We see that he is speaking here about works. Now last prayer meeting, we considered the book of Romans. And when we looked at Romans chapter five, it was all about justification by faith and the fruits of that justification. One of the great cardinal doctrines, if not the core cardinal doctrine, point of the Reformation was justification by faith alone. It was the very cornerstone of the Reformation. Martin Luther and other reformers discovered that they could not be justified by works. They couldn't be justified by works, no matter how they tried. Many of these Roman Catholic priests at that time, like Martin Luther and others, and John Knox and so on, they were some of the best priests in the Roman Catholic Church. They were examples as priests. Yet, for all that they did, they could not find peace with God. That was the ultimate. They could not find peace with God. They could not find salvation. Works could not bring them salvation. James here, as he speaks, he's speaking about works, but he now says that, you see then how that by works am I is justified and not by faith only. As we saw and mentioned last week, many have tried to bring different answers to that, to the difference between the two of them. But really it's not that difficult, is it? Paul is answering one question and James is answering another. They're addressing two completely different questions. Paul is addressing the whole question of how can a sinner be saved? How can a sinner be right and justified before God? How can this person be justified before God? When you go back to Romans, you discover that that's the whole argument that Paul is making. It's how can one be justified? Because we are all sinners, because mankind has fallen in Adam and receives the guilt of Adam's first sin, and also actual sinners, and even the believer, because all that we do comes from a sinful heart. It's all sinful, and we need to repent. We saw that, I think, at the weekend. But Paul is asking, then, how can you be justified before God? And he comes to the conclusion that we are justified by faith. That is the principle that he argues to the church of Rome. That is the principle that he argues to the church of Galatia. there were those who were wanting to go back to the works of the law to find justification. But Paul is answering that and says, no, it's faith alone. James is answering a different question. Here are ones that are saying it's faith, but nothing else. Such a faith that It doesn't matter what you do, how you live. It doesn't matter what you are. Faith in itself is all that you need. Faith in Christ is the only thing that is necessary for salvation. And in terms of works do not matter whatsoever. And in terms of justification by faith, that is true. But James here is asking the question, what kind of faith is saving faith? Now that's very important, isn't it? Because it's not just any faith that saves. It's not just any faith that saves. We know that from other religions. You can have faith in Mohammed, you can have faith in all manner of things, and we know that they are not saved. But he's speaking here even to those within the church. That there is a saving faith, and there's a different faith altogether. Some people in fact divide this, will divide this into, Pope Paul is speaking here about two, three different kinds of faith. He's talking about the faith that is dead faith, He's talking about the faith, which is the faith of the devils. You see how he speaks about the devils. You say you have to pay faith. Well, even the devils believe. And then there is the faith, which is the living, saving faith. But I think that when you look at this, I think what you will discover, what we discover is that Paul is speaking really just about two kinds of faith. He's speaking about the faith that saves and the faith that doesn't save. It's the only faith that saves you, but it is a particular faith that saves you. And it's a faith that James here brings out for us. So what are the two kinds of faith? Well, a faith that, a faith, he says, without, works. A faith without works cannot save. See how he says that. What doth a prophet, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith? Not that he doesn't have faith, but he says he has faith, and have not works. Can faith save him? Can that kind of faith save him? Can that kind of faith save him? The James here is identifying a kind of faith that can't save him. It's a faith that doesn't have words. It cannot offer to him. He says, what does it profit? There are those who have given mere assent to doctrines, the doctrines of grace even. They may give assent to that. but it has no impact on their lives. They can say their own amen to the doctrines of grace, faith alone, the Bible alone, grace alone, Christ alone, they can put their own amen to that. But what does it profit them? If it has no impact, that truth has no impact upon their lives. That's what Paul was saying, he hoped of the profit. Now it may indeed profit in that, it may profit in the eyes of the world. When I was in Laird in the Department of Agriculture, as I've maybe mentioned before, the Office of the Eldership went, the local Church of Scotland, to the local bank manager, to the department, senior officer in the Department of Agriculture in the village, went really with the post because it profited. It was, gave some standing in the community. It gave some respectability. But what James is saying here, what does it really profit in? What does it really profit in? You can profit and gain the whole world and lose your soul. And unless it is a faith that profits you, it's really of no use. And what is the profit? He says, what is the profit? Can that faith save you? That's the profit. It's a faith that either will save you or it won't save you. And he says, what is the profit of a faith, even that faith that gives assent to doctrines and whatever else? What profit is that unless it saves you? What profit is Christ unless he's your savior? What profit is the Lord Jesus Christ to our congregation unless he is preached as the savior? the one in whom we must come and have that faith that casts itself upon him, rests upon him, trusts in him, that casts all our sins upon him, seeking our justification from him. Unless we have that kind of faith, any other kind of faith won't really save us. And therefore, James says, what's the profit of it? It doesn't have a profit. What does it profit, he says? My brethren, though a man say he have faith, and he doesn't have what? In other words, unless that faith impacts and has a work associated with it, then it really is unprofitable because it won't save. He goes on and speaks more about it. He says, if it's not, what kind of works is he talking about? Thy brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say, go in peace. You're my brother, go in peace. Be warmed and filled, but you don't do anything to achieve that. Then what kind of work is that? That is a work that is just in speech and in word, but not in action. Faith, through saving faith, will be accompanied and will be in action. It is working faith. It is looking to a brother. It is seeking to do that which is needful for the brother. If you don't, then what is the profit of it? True saving faith wants to contribute, for example, to the body of Christ. True saving faith wants to work for the glory of Christ. True saving faith is drawn after Christ. And now look how Christ, when they came to him, he gave food to the hungry. He fed the 5,000. He gave the blind their sight, the deaf could hear. He came to them, he showed pity upon them, and he did for them what the tribes and the Pharisees could not do. Well, he says, if a brother or a sister, if one of your Christian friends needs something, needs help, whatever it is, it's no use just saying it unless you do it because faith will reach out and seek to become passionate and to do for his neighbor. Otherwise, what's the profit of the words? See how before, it's what's the profit of this faith if it doesn't save you? And if that's a faith that speaks, what's the profit of the words if it doesn't do? Even so, faith, if it hath not words, is dead, being abode. should never be isolated on its own. That's the whole point isn't it? Faith is never alone. You think of at the communion time we always Most times, anyway, certainly I always, in fencing the table, take us to Galatians chapter five, and we see there the fruit of the Spirit. It's like a tree. And that tree is sprouting up, and there's fruit. The believer should have fruit. And it's not just one piece of fruit, faith. If you come to a tree and there's just a piece of fruit there withering and wilting on the vine, it's not a good sign. But listen to this, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against which there is no law. You see, against they which are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections they must. True faith, true saving faith is not on its own. It reaches out to your brothers and sisters, recognizes that you're part of the body of Christ. You're not on your own. And that faith is never on its own. It's accompanied by the other, fruit of the Spirit, and the other fruit of the Spirit. Otherwise it's dead. Look at what he says later on, he says, for as the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. You ever see a body, a dead body, without the Spirit? In other words, the soul has gone. What are you left with? a mere carcass of a body. That's all that's left. The spirit has gone. There is no life there. It's cold. The body is cold. The body is dead. It's not breathing. There is no life. So says James here, faith ought to have life. Faith ought to be breathing. Faith ought to be warm. Faith ought to be up and doing and walking, not lying like a dead body. Because faith without wants is dead also. It's just like that body lying there, not doing anything. But there's nothing, it's dead. So that's what he's talking about here. And he says, thou may say thou hast faith. He's not really faith here, he's not. He's saying that he has faith. And yet without his works, he may boast. In fact, he is boasting in his works. Thou may say, he says, thou hast faith. There he is, he's boasting of his faith. He's boasting that he knows all about Jesus Christ. He can tell you the Ten Commandments. He can do the Catechism. Thou may say that his faith, but look what he says, I have works and I have words, show me thy faith without thy words and I will show thee my faith by my words. I won't boast in my faith. I won't boast in what I have of Jesus Christ. I may not even know as much about the doctrines of Jesus Christ as you do. You boast in what you believe and what you know I don't need to, and I won't, but what I will do is show you by my faith, I won't boast now, but I'll simply show it by my words. Now can I just stop for two seconds and ask each of us, how often do we boast of faith where we should actually let the words boast of the faith itself? You know what God says? Thou believest that there is one God. See, this is where some make, here's another type of faith, and in one respect it is another type of faith. It's the faith of the devils. Here is a dead faith. Now he brings in another faith, which is that thou believest that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe, and they claim, well, there's some other type of faith if you want. And that's the faith of the devils. And what he's saying here is that ultimately, the faith of the devils and dead faith, at the end of the day, there's no difference. The devils will be cast into hell. They believe there's a God. Well, you believe there's a God. You're not like the heathen. You're not like an atheist. You believe there's a God. You may not even be like a pagan idolater. You believe in the God. There's one God, not many Gods. You believe that, well done. But so do the devils. Always. Impresses, doesn't it, when Jesus comes and the evil spirits are there, the spirits of, you know, when they meet him, we know who thou art. They knew him. They testified. They knew more about who Jesus was than many of those that were there in Gadara. They knew who he was. Thou seest that there's one you do with. You're not like an atheist. You're not like the idolaters who have two or three different gods. You believe in one God. But so do the devils. Now, when he comes now to, he's saying there that the dead faith The faith that is simply ascending to certain truths, I never like to say you've got it in your head but not in the heart. I've said that before, I don't like to say that. Because if you have true faith, it's in the head and the heart. Man's not two creatures. He's one creature, he's one soul. And he either has it in the head, he'll have it in the heart, or he doesn't have it at all. But he can give a scent to certain doctrines of the gospel, certain doctrines, certain truths, but they don't impact his head, his mind or his heart. They don't impact him at all. He believes them, he believes there's one God, but so do the devils. But now Paul James here gives us two examples from the Old Testament of those who had true saving faith. Two wonderful examples of those who had true saving faith. Abraham is one and Rahab is the other. in verse 21 through, and in verse 25, Rehab. Now in these two, just before we look at each of them, if you want, just slightly, what you notice with each of them is they're two completely different kinds of people. Abraham is the father of the faithful. And he offered up Isaac. He was justified when he offered Isaac, his son, upon the altar. What a wonderful testimony Abraham had. But what about Rahab? Rahab was a harlot. She was completely different. A woman, completely different to Abraham. Abraham, if you like, is up here. Rahab the harlot is down there. She's not even one of God's people in this room. And she's a harlot. But that didn't matter. The difference was, or the thing was, that while they had these great differences, they had this great similarity in that they both had a living, saving faith at work. That's what united Abraham on the one hand Rahab the harlot and the other. Two completely different types of characters. You could hardly get in the Old Testament two completely different kinds of character between Abraham, the great father of the faithful, and Rahab the harlot. And yet the one thing that united them together is the fact that they did not have dead faith. They had a living faith. A living faith. A profitable faith. Because they were saved by it. Can faith, my brethren, what does it profit if you have faith? Though a man say he have faith, but it can't save him. Here's a faith, here are two examples, two completely opposites, and they're united with the fact they both have a living, saving faith. Abraham, our father, he's, you see how it's almost as though it's highlighting the fact, Abraham, our father, and then you go down there and then you go to Rahab the harlot. Abraham, a man, our father, father of Israel, and then you go Rahab the harlot. So you have Abraham, our father, was justified by works. Abraham wasn't justified by works, he was justified by faith. But when he offered up Isaac, his faith was proven to be living, saving faith. In other words, his works justified his faith. Was not Abraham our father justified by us when he had offered up Isaac his son upon the altar? His faith there was shown to be a true living, saving faith. The Covenanters gave their lives for the cause in this country. by the cause of religion for Christ's crown and Christ's kingdom. They showed that they had a true living faith in Jesus Christ. You go down to, I can't remember where it is, in the Ayrshire, in Fenwick, go into the graveyard. And all the graves where the Covenanters, they've all got a symbol on them. You don't know which ones they are because they've got the Covenanters sign on them. solemn when you go to one grave and there's a father and beside him the son, two of them covenanters, the father and son giving their lives. Why? Because they had a true living faith, a living faith. Abraham was willing to offer up even his son Isaac upon the altar. Why? Because he believed that God would raise him again. How he would do it? He wasn't sure, but his faith rested in the promise that God had given to him that he would raise him again. And see how faith rocked with his works and by works was faith made perfect. In other words, He's not speaking here about, as Paul is elsewhere, about being justified by faith. He's saying, this is faith that's made perfect. This is the type of faith that justifies. Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. He was called the friend of God. There's his justification. In the previous verse, How works, by works was made, works was faith made perfect. Faith was tried and his faith was made perfect because he believed God, he trusted God. It was his faith that justified it. Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. Why? Because he had that kind of faith. would offer up his own son. So see then how by his works he's justified, not simply by his faith but by that faith, by that work that works with his faith, worked with the works together and his faith is made perfect and that is how he is justified. Likewise, the harlot, justified by worse, she received the messengers and had sent them out another way, at the risk of her own life. God had revealed to her, this is my people. These are my people. These are my people that are coming and they will be needy. They will need What would it profit if a brother or a sister, destitute of daily food, needing your help, and you say, depart in peace, and you didn't do anything for them. Rahab didn't sit back. She, in fact, received the messengers. and had sent them out another way, at the risk of her own life. Why did she do that? Because by faith, she trusted in God. By faith, she trusted and she had a living faith, a working faith that trusted in the Lord. And then he really rounds it up by saying, well, you look at Abraham. And you look at Rahab, were they like dead bodies? The body without the spirit is dead. Faith without works is dead. Did these two, Abraham and Rahab, did they have dead works? No, not at all. They prove this problem, that it's not just by faith, not just by faith, which James is addressing here. They're saying, I've got faith in Jesus, that's all I need. I know all about him. Faith in Jesus. No, he says it is not. And he himself has addressed others. They're saying it's just by works. Faith is nothing. We have justified by works. Paul says no. You know what the scripture is telling us? It's not by faith and it's not by works alone. It's the two coming together The faith wrought with his works by works of faith is made perfect. In other words, faith is justified. Not the person, but that faith is made perfect. And that's the faith that justifies the sinner. So then what we have to do this evening is really ask ourselves, what kind of faith do we have? Is it that faith that has compassion upon the brother or the sister who's needy? And we don't just say, oh, that's right, you need that, fair enough, on you go. You actually go out of your way for the brother or sister because you have saving faith. Abraham believed, Rahab believed, the true believer believes. And it's a faith that's not dead but once. How many a man have we seen in our own time, who before they converted, knew an awful lot about God, knew an awful lot about the Bible, had been brought up under the Bible, brought up to know all about Jesus Christ. But when the truth of the gospel comes home to the heart, and a living, saving faith is wrought in the heart, what a change, what a change. We're not just going to give lip service to the person, a brother or sister, that comes naked and tests you for taking food. We're not just going to give lip service to them. We're not just going to say, depart in peace. We're going to say, come, and I'll feed you. I'll look after you. Why? Because faith works. Faith works. And when it comes to the congregation, is it not that faith? that we desire for all the people in our congregation. Is that not what the preaching of the gospel is about? I think that was mentioned before in one of the prayers, about preaching in the congregation for the saving of souls. What is it that we look for in our adherents? What is it that we look for in our families? What is it that we look for among our people and the denomination? is saving faith, a saving faith that labours and works. That's the faith that we look for this evening and that's the faith that we desire for ourselves and for all our congregation. Let us join together in prayer. Let us have a word of prayer. Most gracious and ever blessed Lord, we thank thee that faith is never alone. It is accompanied with love, joy, peace, long-suffering gentleness. It is a faith that works, and it works not for its own glory, does not boast in its own faith, but leaves the works themselves to testify. We pray and ask, O Lord, that we would give that fruit of the Spirit, that evidence that we have that saving faith, that we would pray one for another, that we would uphold one another at the throne of grace, that we would love one another, that we would esteem one another better than ourselves. Lord, we pray that thou would give us the faith that Abraham had, a faith that would even offer up his own son that Rahab had when she received the messengers at her own risk and led them away safely. She had faith, a living, saving faith. Lord, we pray that thou would bless each one of us this evening. Bless us, keep us safe, we pray these. The storm comes and we're warned of it. We pray that thou would keep us all safe. Lead us and guide us, bring us to the Lord's house, we pray thee, if we are enabled, on the coming Lord's day. And the praise and the glory shall be thine, for we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen.