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Well, I hope you'll turn with
me in your copies of God's Word to the book of James, James chapter
2. James chapter 2, you can find
that on page 1012. Remember that a couple of weeks
ago when we considered James chapter one, we considered the
theme of trials and how it is that God would have us embrace
trials since he is a sovereign God. We saw that he is able to
use those for our good and for his glory. And James followed
those initial exhortations, which with what might be the thesis
of the whole letter, chapter 122, he says, but be doers of
the word and not hearers only. We didn't consider that verse
itself, but that's really the theme of this whole book, to
be doers of the word. We saw that James is calling
us to be practical Christians. In chapter two, James applies
that thesis that we ought to be doers of the word as those
who claim to have faith in God. In verses one to seven, James
says, in effect, since you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Don't be impressed with worldly glory. He says, you know, if
a poor man comes in and a rich man comes in, don't show deference
to the rich. In verses eight to 13, he warns
his audience that that it's not a small thing to show partiality. It's not a small thing to break
God's law. Instead, that they ought to love
their neighbors by showing them mercy. as those who claim to
have been filled themselves with the mercy of God. I think that's
a good thing for us to keep in mind even later in this worship
as we have a special collection for mercy. That is, those who
received mercy, we ought to show it. And that brings us to our
text, where James considers the relationship between faith and
works, faith and works. And so we'll read the text. Listen
to God's word from James chapter two, verses 14 to 26. God's word says, What good is
it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have
works? Can that faith save him? If a
brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and
one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and filled without
giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it
does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, you have
faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from
your works and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe
that God is one. You do well. Even the demons
believe and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you
foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not
Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his
son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active
along with his works and that faith was completed by his works. And the scripture was fulfilled
that said that says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him
as righteousness and he was called a friend of God. You see that
a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in
the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works
when she received the messengers and sent them out by another
way. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith
apart from works is dead. Amen. This is God's word. And
before we consider it, let's pray and ask for his blessing. Our Father and our God, we thank
you that you have given us your word, and as we consider it this
morning, we pray, Holy Spirit, that you would come down and
minister to each one according to their needs. God, I pray that
you would give clarity, that you would give understanding
to your people as we consider your word. God, let the words
of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in
your sight, for we pray it in Christ's name, amen. Well, as
some of you may know, I am a theological student who's under the care
and supervision of the Great Lakes Gulf Presbytery in our
denomination. And one of the things that that
means is that once or twice a year, I come sort of knees knocking
and heart thumping before 30 or 40 elders, and I am examined
and I answer to the best of my ability theological and practical
questions that they ask me. And I can tell you two things
about those exams. First, during the theological
exams, I can virtually assure you that at some point I will
be asked a question along these lines. How are sinners justified? How are sinners justified? And
the answer that they are looking for is by faith. If I said anything
else, I'd probably get in a little bit of trouble. Faith, according
to scripture, is of the first order of importance, and James
agrees with that. In James 2.1, he addresses us
as those who hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In James chapter 1, he talked
about the blessings of trials because they strengthen our faith. Faith is of the first order of
importance. But I can also tell you that
during those exams, the practical exams, exams of personal godliness
and pastoral gifts, I will not only be asked questions about
what I believe, but I'll be asked questions about my behavior and
how I live. I'll be asked about my devotional
life. I'll be asked about my family
life and how I treat my wife and my child. I'll be questioned
about how I use the Sabbath day. And they'll ask me questions
about victory that I've experienced over sin. And the reason that
they ask these questions is because according to scripture, what
we do, our works, are also first of the first order of importance,
faith, and works, two things that may seem to be opposed,
but both of immense importance. That's why Paul encourages his
young protege, Timothy, keep a close watch on your doctrine,
what you believe and on your life. what you do, faith and
works. And because faith and works are
so important, James takes great care in our passage to show their
relationship, to show how the presence of genuine faith must
result in works and indeed how faith, true faith cannot exist
without works. And so friends, the call of this
passage, what this passage is calling you to is to prove the
genuineness of your faith by a life of loving obedience. Prove the genuineness of your
faith by a life of loving obedience. And we'll consider this theme
from our passage under two headings. First, don't be satisfied with
a dead faith. We'll see that in verses 14 to
20. Don't be satisfied with a dead
faith. And second, demonstrate a living
faith. And we'll see that in 21 to 26. Don't be satisfied with a dead
faith and demonstrate a living faith. First from verses 14 to 20, don't
be satisfied with a dead faith. I wonder if any of you have ever
heard of an athlete who was labeled all airport. It's not all American,
it's not all conference or all city or all state, all airport. I believe that the term was coined
by the basketball color commentator Dick Vitale. An all-airport player
is one who looks really impressive. This guy gets off the plane and
you say, he's gonna be incredible. You picture some sort of six-eight
muscular specimen and you say, this guy's gonna be trouble.
Maybe even in warmups, he throws down a few effortless dunks.
He looks impressive. But then when the game starts,
he's not on the floor. And as the game goes on, he's
not even in the rotation. He's just all airport. He's all
looks. He looks impressive, but he has
no aptitude for the game. He's just looks. Well, in our
text, James seems to be warning his listeners that some of them
are all airport Christians. He says in verse 14, what good
is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith? No doubt,
this someone who James has in mind, they would arrive on time
to church, that they would look effortlessly put together, they
would know the tunes to the songs and sing beautifully. And maybe
even on the second and third stanza, they'd join in with the
harmony. And best of all, this person
is a person who professes to be a man or woman of faith. But just as it doesn't take long
to identify that a physically impressive basketball player
may have no real aptitude for the game, James quickly exposes
a glaring defect with this character. He says, what good is it, my
brothers, if someone says they have faith? And that word says
is important. They only have a claim to faith.
James is not granting that they have real faith. If someone says
he has faith, but does not have works, what good is it? And the
answer is pretty obvious. It's no good at all. No good
at all. And as James describes this dead
faith of this character, he exposes two glaring shortcomings. Two shortcomings. This person's
dead faith demonstrates no love for neighbor, And this person's
dead faith demonstrates no love for God, no love for neighbor,
and no love for God. And we'll consider those two
ideas in turn. First notice, friends, that a
dead faith demonstrates no love for neighbor. You'll notice as
we continue to consider this letter of James, that James always
shows himself the friend and the advocate of the poor and
the needy, doesn't he? In verse 15, James paints a scandalous
picture of this person's behavior. A poor Christian brother or sister
without proper clothing, without daily food, And the person that we're considering
gives them best wishes and a pat on the back, go in peace, be
warned and filled. It's quite obvious what James
is doing. He's showing the utter worthlessness
of words in a rhetoric that have no activity behind it. Imagine our friends, the Kirk's
that Coming this December, they're still in a home that's lacking
walls. And they say, could we could
we bunk with you for a little bit? I've heard that New England
winters are something special. We need some help. And you say,
oh, well, may the Lord keep you warm. I hope you'll be warmed
in your devotions and warmed as you consider his word together.
No, that's not how you show love. That's not how we show love to
brothers and sisters. James is showing us that this
person who we're considering has no interest in doing what
the law of God requires. In Deuteronomy 1511, God, through
Moses, commanded Israel. He told them, for there will
never cease to be poor in the land. And I think that we sometimes
stop there and say, there's never going to not be poor people.
There's there's nothing that we can do about it. That's not
what God says, he says, for there will never cease to be poor in
the land. Therefore, I command you, you shall open wide your
hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in your
land. That's how God expected his people
of faith to respond to the poor. or perhaps closer to the context
of our passage. This person does not enter into
the orbit of fulfilling what James calls the royal law in
chapter two, verse eight. You shall love your neighbor
as yourself. Friends, an individual who professes
to have faith, or a corporate community of faith that has no
heart for poor brothers and sisters, no interest in easing their burdens,
or even in giving a glass of cold water in Jesus' name, this
is a community of faith that is dead. Their faith is worthless,
James tells us. Outside, it may appear sparkling
and beautiful, and dare I say, it may even profess a recognizable
Reformed Orthodox Christianity, but with no discernible love
for neighbor, for needy brothers and sisters, what is it? It may
appear beautiful, But it's just a whitewashed tomb filled with
dead people's bones and all uncleanness. Like Jesus tells us in Matthew
23, 27, a faith that demonstrates no love for neighbor. That's
a dead faith. That's a worthless faith. And
at this point, James introduces a question or perhaps an objection
that someone may raise. Look at verse 18, he says, but
someone will say, you have faith and I have works. James says, this person says,
hold on a minute, James, you're being kind of hard on faith. Aren't you? Faith is wonderful
and works are wonderful and they're both a gift from God. Who are
we to disparage one or the other? God gives one guy the gift of
works and God gives another guy the gift of faith. And that's
probably the best way to understand this question that's introduced,
or this statement that's introduced in verse 18. He's not saying
you, James, have faith and I, the questioner, have works. They're
sort of generic. It's person A has faith and person
B has works. And who are we to judge? And
James responds that the only way to test the genuineness of
someone's faith is to examine their works. He says, verse 18,
but show me your faith apart from works. And of course the
implication is that's impossible. Faith is invisible and we cannot
see it. He says, show me your faith apart
from works, that's impossible. And he says, and I will show
you my faith by my works. That's the visible manifestation
of an invisible faith. James is responding that these
two must go together. Genuine faith is inseparable
from works and works are the only way to demonstrate a genuine
faith. And now James returns to the
issue of a dead faith and its worthlessness. First, we saw
that a dead faith demonstrates no love for neighbor. But notice,
secondly, that a dead faith demonstrates no love for God. Look at verse 19. James says, you believe that
God is one. You do well. He's referencing
one of the great creedal statements of faith that Jewish believers
made. We find it recorded in Deuteronomy
6 verse 4. It says, Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God. The Lord is one. That's a declaration
of faith that Jewish believers would make. They call it the
Shema, which is a Hebrew word that means here. Here, O Israel,
the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And this is the statement
of faith that our person is claiming to make. He says, you believe
that God is one. You claim to believe that that
statement of faith found in Deuteronomy 6, verse 4. And friends, let's
be clear. This is an amazing statement
of faith. That God is one is a statement
that the God of Israel is the one living and true God. It is unquestionably orthodox. You can examine this statement
of faith up, down and sideways, and you will find no error. Friends,
God is one. And this person who we're considering
claims to have this statement of faith as his own. He or she
would say, I believe that God is one. And friends, who's going
to argue with that? In the Greco-Roman world, where
the pantheon of the empire's gods was legion, where even the
emperor himself would come to demand worship from his citizens,
who would shake a stick at such a firm and orthodox confession
of monotheism? I believe that God is one. James takes issue with it. This
person talks the talk. They've said the proper form
of words. I believe that God is one, but
still the glaring problem introduced in verse 14 remains. They have
no works. And James says to this person,
congratulations, you have the faith of a demon. When he says
you do well, it's dripping with sarcasm. He's saying even demons
believe that. The Bible teaches that demons
are fallen angels, and before they fell, they beheld the face
of God. We know that from Matthew 18,
verse 10. Demons are those who have seen God. And James is saying,
guys, demons believe that God is one. And they hate him. and they hate him. The prayer
and statement of faith of Deuteronomy 6, it continues. Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God, the Lord is one. The next verse, you shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your might, with all your inner man and all
your external man. You ought to show yourself as
one who loves this one true and living God, the goal and purpose
of expressing an Orthodox faith is to show a wholehearted devotion
to this God who we love and to be given soul and body to loving
him and worshiping him. And do you see what James is
doing? He's giving us a warning. You can claim to be a person
of faith, but if that is not accompanied by love toward God
and toward your neighbor, You have a worthless faith. You have
the faith of a demon. Almost anyway, James allows for
one little difference. He says, but at least demons
have the sense to shudder. Demons believe in God and they
shudder. But so many professing Christians
claim to have a faith in God and are perfectly satisfied with
themselves, thinking that they're right with the man upstairs. How many professing Christians
are there who congratulate themselves that because they know the Lord's
prayer, that because they've said the apostle's creed, how
many Christians are there who think perhaps because they know
the chief end of man and the other 106 questions in the shorter
catechism, that they think that they must be fine with God? But brothers and sisters, saying
a form of words saves no one. A person who simply agrees that
certain theological truths are true does not necessarily have
saving faith. It's a living faith that saves. Boys and girls, if I were to
ask you, who made you? I hope that all of you would
say, God, if I asked you, what else did God make? I hope that
you'd say God made all things. And maybe you keep knowing the
children's catechism. Why did God make you in all things?
You could say for his own glory. And boys and girls, if you know
that, if you know those three questions, let me tell you, you
know an incredible truth. It's absolutely true that God
made you, that God made all things, that God made all things for
his own glory. But what is it that saves? Then
the next question asks, I think something to the effect of, but
why should we glorify him? Or how should we glorify Him?
By loving Him and doing what He commands. The purpose, boys
and girls, of knowing things about God and knowing things
about what He's done is so that we would love Him. And James
is showing us that by the lack of discernible love for God and
love for neighbor, this person has a dead, worthless faith. It's a living faith that saves,
a faith that expresses itself in love and worship for God and
in love and charity towards our neighbors and our brothers and
sisters. Friends, James is telling us,
don't be satisfied with a dead faith. Don't be satisfied with
a cold orthodoxy saying, here's a list of things that I believe
and confess to be true and not having them influence in any
discernible way your practice and the way that you live your
life. Don't be satisfied with the dead
faith. Instead, demonstrate a living
faith. That's going to be our second
heading, which we'll see, especially in verses 21 to 26. Demonstrate
a living faith. We consider it under our first
heading that a dead faith demonstrates no love for neighbor and no love
toward God. But in our second heading, we'll
see in verses 21 to 26, we'll see just the opposite. A living
faith shows itself in love toward God, And in love toward neighbor,
the reverse is true. And I should note that that sort
of fourfold way of seeing the text, no love for neighbor, no
love for God is worthless faith and precious faith is love for
God and love for neighbor. That was not an original observation
of mine. I'm indebted to a commentator,
Alec Motyer, for showing that. And I just wanted to make sure
that I gave credit to him for dividing the text in that way.
And I think it's really helpful. And so friends, notice first
under this heading that a living faith shows itself in love and
devotion toward God. A living faith shows itself in
love and devotion toward God. If James started off our text
this morning with something of a provocative question, can that
faith save him? That faith that is dead, that
faith that has no works, that was a provocative question. He
doesn't take long to outdo himself, does he? He asks another question
in verse 21. Was not Abraham our father justified
by works. Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? And it's quite clear from the
text that James expects the answer to be yes. And James doubles
down on this in verse 24, where he says, so you see that a person
is justified by works and not by faith alone. This is somewhat
surprising. If you've spent any time reading
some of Paul's letters, especially the book of Romans, you'll know
that Paul seems to have a different take on justification. In Romans 4, verses 2 and 3,
Paul denies that Abraham was justified by works. In Romans 3, 28, Paul writes,
for we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of
the law. Seems like James and Paul are
on different pages. And we ask ourselves, are Paul
and James at odds? Or more pointedly, is the scripture
consistent Or is it inconsistent in how it presents the way to
be made right with God? Friends, the answer is that scripture
is perfectly consistent. And I think if we examine a few
aspects of Abraham's life that both Paul and James used to illustrate
their point, we'll see that Paul and James are in perfect agreement. Remember that in Genesis 15,
God promises Abraham that although he was old and had no son, God
promises him that his children would be as numerous as the stars
of heaven. God told Abraham, go outside
and look up at the night sky and number the stars. If you
are able, so shall your offspring. And in Genesis 15 verse 6 says,
Abraham believed God. Although he was an old man, he
was probably something like 86, 87 at this point in his life.
His wife had been barren for their entire marriage. Abraham
believed God. And the Bible says, and he, the
Lord, counted it to him as righteous. as righteousness. And our text
quotes that in verse 23. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him as righteousness. Abraham was counted as righteous. That's another way of saying
he was justified because of his belief in God and in the promises
of God. In Genesis 15, we can see that
Abraham was justified. But then some 30 or so years
later, God tested that justifying faith. We have that account in
Genesis 22, where God told Abraham to take his son Isaac, the son
of promise, and to offer him on an altar as a burnt offering. And if you know the story, you
know that Abraham set out to obey. He took his son. He bound
him. He laid him on the altar and
he had his knife. We know from Hebrews that God
believed that he would raise, that Abraham believed that if
he did this, God would raise his son from the dead. And so
he set out to obey. Maybe you know the story as he's
holding the knife, the Lord says, Abraham, Abraham, don't hurt
the lad. Genesis 22 verse 11, the Lord
says, Abraham, Abraham, do not lay your hand on the boy or do
anything to him. For now I know that you fear
God. God says, now I know because
you wouldn't even withhold your own son from me. Now I know that
you fear me, that you have a living faith in me. We ask ourselves, how can God
say that? How can God say, now I know? Had God forgotten that Abraham
had believed him 30 years before? No, of course not. But now he
had seen a demonstration of the genuineness of Abraham's faith. Abraham already had saving faith. Abraham had already been reckoned
as righteous, justified in Genesis 15. But it was his faith-filled
activity, faith active along with works, as James puts it
in verse 23, that showed the vitality of his faith, that showed
that it was a living faith. Abraham loved God even more than
his own son, demonstrating a saving faith that predated the testing
of that faith. But you see in our text that
James, he reverses the order of these two events. He says
that Abraham was justified by works when he offered up Isaac. He says that in verse 21. And
he says that the offering of Isaac was a fulfillment or the
fruition of the scripture that said Abraham believed God and
it was counted to him as righteousness. James is saying that belief was
fulfilled and made manifest when Abraham demonstrated his faith
when it was tested. And so we ask ourselves, in what
sense can we say that Abraham was justified by works, as James
says? We cannot say that he was made
righteous by his works, because we saw in Genesis 15 that he
was made righteous because of his faith. But we can say that
the faith he professed was vindicated vindicated as genuine saving
faith by his act of obedience and by his acts of devotion. Throughout our passage, James
has been interested in individual Christians demonstrating to each
other that their faith is genuine. He said, I will show you my faith
by my works. And so we see that faith vindicates
or justifies our claim to faith. The justification that James
is talking about, it's horizontal. It's horizontally saying, I can
show you, I can be justified before you in my claim to faith
by my obedience and by my demonstratable love for God. It's a horizontal
justification where we are justified before each other as those who
have saving faith in God. vertical, it's horizontal. We are showing our faith to each
other and justifying our claim to faith by the works that we
do. And so it was Abraham justified
by works. Without a doubt, without a doubt,
he was justified or vindicated in his status as one who believed
the promises of God and lived a life devoted to his service. Abraham's was a living faith,
an active, vibrant faith that showed his unparalleled love
and devotion for God. Living faith, genuine faith shows
itself in love for God. But notice also that a living
faith will demonstrate itself in love for neighbor. A living faith will demonstrate
itself in love for neighbor. Look with me at verse 25. James
says, and in the same way, was not also Rahab the prostitute
justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them
out by another way? James draws our attention to
another illustration from the Old Testament of faith-filled
works. James is referencing the account
of the spies who were sent to Jericho to spy out the land.
And the welcome that Rahab showed them is she hides the spies from
the king of the city. She sends them out by a secret
way. And she does this because she
tells them that she had heard the report of Israel's God and
of the conquest that Israel's God had won. And so we see that
she had and she says that she had come to fear the God of Israel,
that fear of God led her to show kindness to the spies, that fear
of God led her to seek mercy. She says, you know, show me and
my family mercy since I fear God. And since I've shown kindness
to you. But imagine for a moment if Rahab's
faith were only as good as the person that we considered in
verse 14. She would meet these spies and she'd say, oh, hello.
I want you to know that I fear the God of Israel just like you
do. And they'd excitedly exclaim,
that is wonderful. Could you help us? There are
people hunting us. We will be killed if we're found. But if she had a faith, a profession
to believe in the God of Israel, apart from works, doubtless she
would have responded, oh, I would love to, but I could get in a
lot of trouble. Rahab was a prostitute, she'd
say, I already run something of a nuisance establishment,
and I can't risk getting on the bad side of the king and of his
secretaries. And she'd say, but hey, blessings
be with you. May the Lord keep you in your
goings and comings. That is what a profession of
faith, apart from works, would have looked like. And friends,
would that faith have saved her? No, James is saying that would
have been a dead faith, a faith that is not active, a faith that
professed to love God, but had no love for his people who were
in need. That is not a saving faith. Instead,
we see that at great personal risk, she showed kindness and
love to her two brothers in the faith. She hid them and she sent
them out another way. Her claim to fear the Lord was
justified, vindicated by her costly show of love to his people. Friends, living faith demonstrates
itself in love for neighbor, Abraham and Rahab form something
of an unlikely pair, don't they? We have a man and a woman. We
have a Jew and a Gentile. We have a respectable patriarch
and a disreputable prostitute. Both praise for their works. Fittingly, in scripture, also
both of them are praised for their faith. Just a few pages
back, in Hebrews chapter 11, Abraham and Rahab get their mention,
but not primarily for their works. Hebrews 11 verse eight says,
by faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the
place that he was to receive as an inheritance. By faith,
He obeyed. Hebrews 11, 17, by faith, when
he was tested, he offered up Isaac. By faith, he worked and
he offered up his son. Hebrews 11, 31, by faith, Rahab,
the prostitute, did not perish with those who were disobedient.
Because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies by faith,
she showed love and kindness and welcomed the spies. Friends,
faith and works are not enemies. They are not opposed. Faith inspires works of love
and obedience toward God and acts of love and charity. toward
our neighbors. In those visible works of love
that they justify us, but before a watching world as those, they
justify our claim to be those who have a genuine living faith
in the God of heaven. Maybe you've heard that little
dictum. We're saved by faith alone, but
not by faith that is alone. Faith shows itself. Friends,
faith demonstrates itself. Faith works. Brothers and sisters, as those
who are privileged to worship and serve Jesus Christ, the Lord
of glory, remember that's how James introduced Jesus in chapter
two, verse one, Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, He is worthy of your love. He is worthy of your worship
and worthy of your service and worthy of your devotion. But perhaps I wonder if some
of you aren't a little unsettled by all this talk of works. If we have received so great
a salvation, if we worship and serve such a great and awesome
Savior, we may ask ourselves, well, do my works measure up? Friends, I want to tell you the
answer is no. No, they don't measure up. We are at best unprofitable
servants. Nevertheless, Christ is pleased
to receive and reward even the smallest acts of service done
in his name. No morsel of bread or cup of
water given in Jesus' name will be forgotten or go uncommended. The 17th century Puritan John
Flavel, he offers some words of encouragement to pastors to
be faithful in their discharge of duty. But I trust that his
encouragements will be applicable to all of us, his encouragements
to be faithful in duty. He writes, he writes this. What will it be to hear Christ
say in that day, well done, good and faithful servant? Thou hast
been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many
things. Enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. He's quoting Matthew 25, 21.
What will it be to hear Christ say, well done, good and faithful
servant? He goes on, oh, sirs, we serve
a good master. who is not unrighteous to forget
our work and labor of love for His namesake. He keeps an exact
account of all your fervent prayers, of all your sighs, groans, and
pantings, with every tear and drop of sweat placed like marginal
notes against your labors in His book. Friends, Christ remembers
the smallest act of obedience. He remembers and is pleased to
accept the smallest act of service done in His name or of kindness
shown to His people. The thrust of James chapter 2
is not that we justify ourselves before God by acts. That's impossible. The psalmist says no one can
pay to God his ransom price. We cannot pay by works. We cannot get by works that justification. But we can show favor. We can
show gratitude, however small, however seemingly insignificant,
however tainted with our own polluting sin. We know that Christ
is pleased with them. He accepts them. And he says,
well done, good and faithful servant. And so brothers and
sisters, prove the genuineness of your faith by a life of loving
obedience. Amen. Let's pray and ask for
the Lord's help today. Heavenly Father, you are great.
and greatly to be praised even as we sang this morning coming
into your worship. You are awesome in your person
as the great and high and lifted up, exalted God. You are great
in your works, your works of creation, and especially your
works of redemption. And help us, God, to be a grateful
people. Help us to be a people who show
our love for you by our worship. by our devotion, but by loving
you and showing our love. Help us to be a people that show
our faith by loving your people. God, we confess that our best
acts of obedience, that our best works fall so far short of your
glory. We say with those servants in
Luke 17, we are unprofitable servants. But Lord, we thank
you that you accept even our smallest works, even our most
imperfect works, that you accept them for Jesus' sake, that you
as our loving Father say to us, well done. Well done, child. Well done, good and faithful
servant. And God, as we consider the love
that you have shown us in Christ, I pray that each one here would
be growing in their obedience, growing in the works they do,
not surely as a way to merit favor with you, but as a way
to express thanks and gratefulness for the salvation that we have
received. God, thank you for Christ. Thank you that in him
we can do works pleasing in your sight. God, hear our prayers
for we offer them in Christ's name. Amen.
Faith that Works
| Sermon ID | 7192215321711 |
| Duration | 48:47 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Language | English |
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