Actions Speak Louder than Words
James 2:14-20 – Victory Fellowship
August 15, 2021 - Rev. Roderick Grabski
1) INTRODUCTION:
a) Some 30 years ago Norman Cousins interviewed a Hindu priest named Satis Prasad, who said he wanted to come to our country to work as a missionary among the Americans. Norman assumed he meant that he wanted to convert Americans to the Hindu religion, but when asked, Satis Prasad said, "Oh no, I would like to convert them to the Christian religion. Christianity cannot survive in the abstract. It needs not membership, but believers. The people of your country may claim they believe in Christianity, but from what I read at this distance, Christianity is more a custom than anything else. I would ask that either you accept the teachings of Jesus in your everyday life and in your affairs as a nation, or stop invoking His name as sanction for everything you do. I want to help save Christianity for the Christian." (B. Clayton Bell, in Preaching, May-June, 1986.)
2) RELATING THE TEXT:
a) Here in chapter 2, James continues his discourse on Faith. He points out that an Individual can PROFESS the right beliefs but can LACK true Christianity.
19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
b) Through the years this passage has sparked countless debate about “faith vs works”. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
i) Martin Luther (James at the back of German bible)
ii) In reality, James and Paul agree:
(1) James writes to people whose lack of fruit for the Kingdom distorted the doctrine of salvation by faith.
(2) Paul was writing to legalists who denied the doctrine of salvation by faith when they insisted that the Law of Moses still had to be observed.
APPLICATION: Intellectual vs Demonstrative Faith
Intellectual = saying what you mean (believe)
Matthew 7:21-24 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.
Demonstrative = meaning what you say (doing)
Belief in practice – Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
1st John 3:18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
c) James ends this chapter with the example of Abraham and Rahab, who not only professed belief in God – they demonstrated it by their actions.
21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. 25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
CONCLUSION:
John Wesley said “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.
Christians should without a doubt say what we believe. But we must not overlook doing what we believe. Our actions speak louder than our words.
PRAYER
SONG: What if I Gave Everything?
James 2:14-20 NLT 14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
