ALL COMERS WELCOME . . . FOREVER! – John 6:36-40

INTRODUCTION:

As World War II in Europe was drawing to a close, the allied armies gathered up many hungry and homeless orphans, placing them in camps where they were well-fed and cared for. Despite the excellent care, the children slept poorly at night. They seemed nervous and afraid. Finally, a psychologist came up with an idea. After a large evening meal, each child was given a piece of bread to hold after he was put to bed. The children were told that this particular piece of bread was to be held and not eaten. They were to hold it until the next morning. The piece of bread produced wonderful results. The children slept soundly because, after so many years of hunger, they finally had the assurance of food the next day. It was right there in their hands!

In John 6:35, Jesus told the crowd, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” He’s telling them that He is the permanent answer to their spiritual hunger and thirst for God, just as He was the temporary source of their previous physical hunger. His purpose is to focus their attention away from their physical needs and direct that attention to their spiritual needs. The Lord Jesus is also telling them, in that short statement, that He alone is the source of life; He alone is the source of salvation. This is the first of seven “I AM” statements made by Jesus, and recorded only here in the Gospel of John. In the next five verses, Jesus elaborates on the meaning of that statement and how it applies to them.

I. SEEING WASN’T BELIEVING (verse 36)

Jesus begins by referring back to something He showed them previously. That’s what He’s doing in verse 36 when He says, “But I said to you, that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.” It’s “show and tell” time again! He showed them, the previous day, the miracle of the multiplying of the loaves and fish, and they responded by saying, in verse 14, “This is of a truth the Prophet who is to come into the world.” However, they didn’t really believe their own words because on the following morning they ask Jesus how He could have gone around the lake in such a short time (John 6:25). They don’t believe that He could have done so in a miraculous way. In verse 26, He chides them because they are following Him around, not because of the signs, but because of the food. There has been a lack of understanding and a wrong motivation on their part. I don’t sense anger on the part of Jesus, but rather, sadness because they are so earthly-minded and self-centered. So He reminds them again, in verse 36, of their unbelief in Him.

Jesus is using a teaching method that has been used on all of us many times in the past and a form of instruction that we have used many times as well. It’s called “repetition” or “reinforcement”. Not only in the passage of Scripture we are studying (John 6:36-40), but throughout the rest of his conversation with this crowd, Jesus is saying basically the same thing over and over again from different perspectives. The focus of His teaching is going to be on the process of salvation. In response to their unbelief, Jesus is now going to be making some very profound statements.

II. JESUS’ ROLE IN SALVATION (verses 37-38)

In spite of their unbelief, Jesus says to the crowd, in verse 37, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me”. In view of the situation, I think that part of what Jesus is implying, by those words is: “I’m not here to argue you into the kingdom of heaven, nor force you to believe Who I am and what I say.” He tells them that the Father has given Him those who are to be saved, and all of those whom the Father has given Him will come to Him in faith. Isaiah 53 is the prophecy of the Messiah as the suffering servant, and in verse 11 it says, “As the result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied. By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities.” Jesus will see the fulfillment of His labors and “the many” will be saved. Jesus has stated that His Father is in control, and has chosen those who will be saved.

This concept of election was nothing new to the nation of Israel. Of all of the nations that have ever existed, the nation of Israel would have no problem understanding that God makes His choices based on His own sovereign will. He does what He pleases and no one can change it. We find this truth in God’s promises to Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and others. The nation of Israel was His “chosen people”. We find that restated in the Psalms and the prophets, especially the prophet Isaiah. We see it also throughout the history of the nation of Israel, as recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures. God performed amazing miracles to show the nations that He was the true God, and that He was with His people Israel.

Jesus’ words, in verse 37, also include man’s responsibility. Those who are given to the Son by the Father will come to Him. There is an act of the will on their part, just as there is an act of the will by those who refuse to come to Him. In the remainder of verse 37, Jesus tells them what will happen to those who come to Him when He says, “and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” He is speaking of each individual believer and letting them know that each person’s salvation is secure in His arms. There is a true story that describes this sense of security.

When the evangelist, George Needham, came to preach at a town in England, he was the guest of a gentleman who had a beautiful home surrounded by towering trees. One day, while walking in the shade, meditating on the things of God, Needham heard a fluttering sound and the startled cry of a bird. Glancing upward he saw a lark being chased by a hawk. The little songbird dashed wildly through the branches, screaming in fear. Close behind were the fierce eyes and sharp talons of its enemy. The bird continued its frantic flight until it seemed exhausted and about to give up. Then it saw the evangelist below, and in an instant flew directly into his folded arms and nestled there. It seemed conscious of perfect safety. Do you think that evangelist would pick up that little bird and cast it to the hawk? Certainly not! He would defend it at any cost to himself. Do you feel safe in the arms of the Lord, no matter what might come your way?“

Almost two centuries ago, John 6:37 became a very significant verse of Scripture in the life of a woman in England. When you hear the words she wrote down, I think you will recognize them immediately. Charlotte Elliott learned an important lesson about Jesus one sleepless night in 1834. She was an invalid, so when her family held a bazaar in Brighton, England, to raise money to build a school, she could only watch from afar. That night she was overwhelmed by her helplessness and could not sleep. But her sadness was turned to joy when she realized that God accepted her just as she was.

Her experience inspired her to write these well-loved words: “Just as I am, without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me, and that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!” When she published the completed poem in The Invalid’s Hymn Book, she included with it John 6:37. I wonder how many times that song has been sung, at Billy Graham crusades and elsewhere? And they haven’t finished singing it yet! Her song is a reminder that no one who comes to Jesus will be turned away.

Jesus continues the conversation by telling the people His reason for coming to earth. In verse 38 He says, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” During His entire conversation with this crowd, Jesus uses the phrase “I’ve come down from heaven” six times. He’s telling them that His one and only purpose for leaving His throne in heaven is to do the Father’s will, and all that it entails. Their response to Him will not change His course of action, nor His commitment to His Father.

III. THE FATHER’S WILL IN SALVATION (verse 39)

In verse 39, Jesus describes the Father’s will from His perspective. He says, “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” He is stating to them that it is His responsibility to protect and provide for all that the Father has given to Him and entrusted to His care. Jesus is part of the divine plan and is “under orders”, so to speak, from His heavenly Father. Those orders include raising them up on the last day as the final fulfillment of that plan (I Thessalonians 4:14-17). Verse 39 is an assurance of salvation to all whom the Father has given to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ because Jesus will fulfill all the responsibilities given to Him by the Father so that the Father’s will might be fully accomplished.

IV. THE RESPONSE AND THE RESULTS (verse 40)

In verse 40, Jesus now describes this same process of salvation from a human perspective, applying it to every individual. This time He says, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

Do you enjoy a good mystery? Do you read mystery novels? Have you watched mystery programs or mystery movies? There is a library where I live and I noted that there are almost as many mystery novels as there are romance novels. and many more mysteries than westerns. Good mysteries tend to have high viewer-ratings on TV, and there are mystery movies galore. Even many of the romance and westerns have mysteries within them. People enjoy trying to solve mysteries before the solution is given. The Bible contains many mysteries also. There is the “mystery of the kingdom of God” (Matthew 4:11), the “mystery of His will” (Ephesians 1:9), and the “mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19), among many others. As you can see from the three I’ve mentioned, many of these mysteries in the Bible are tied to each other.

In this passage of Scripture, John 6:36-40, we are faced with a mystery: God’s sovereignty and human responsibility in salvation. It’s important for each of us to know what the Scriptures say about this mystery, even though our finite minds cannot completely comprehend these truths. Since Jesus is going to be talking about this subject again in John 10 and 17, I’m going to try to stick to the information and concepts that Jesus is addressing in this Scripture passage.

In verse 40, Jesus describes the Father’s will in terms that we can understand. When He says the words, “everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him”, Jesus may, once again, be using an illustration from the Old Testament scriptures that He communicated to Nicodemus In His conversation with him in John 3:14. Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” He was referring to the bronze serpent that was placed on a pole (a standard with a cross-beam for holding a banner) and lifted up by Moses. Looking up to that serpent on the pole was an act of faith, humility, repentance, and obedience. Only then would those Israelites be saved from physical death, after having been bitten by the fiery serpents. Jesus is saying to the crowd in verse 40 that individuals aren’t saved because they are chosen by the Father and given to Him. They are saved because they have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and their changed lives are evidence that they are His. This eliminates the false conclusion that “If I’ve been chosen, I will be saved, so it’s useless for me to do anything on my part.” That’s looking at the wrong side of salvation. Our responsibility is to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This also rules out the theory of double-predestination – that God has chosen those who will be condemned. The Scriptures tell us that people are responsible for their choices. No one is going to be compelled to go to heaven against his will, and no one is compelled to go to hell against his will. That’s what Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:18 when He said, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the only begotten Son of God.” That’s the human side or perspective of salvation.

Dr. H.A. Ironside had these words to say: “Are you willing to come to Jesus? He will in no wise cast out. Whoever you are today, if you will come to Him, He will take you in. You do not have to settle any question about predestination before you come to Jesus. And when you come, He receives you; and having come, you may know that you are one whom the Father gave to the Lord Jesus Christ.” Let me add that before you “come”, you have to “leave”, right? In order to come to a person, or to another place, you have to depart from where you are now. Jesus Christ is the Lord of heaven and earth (Philippians 2:9-11). Coming to Him in faith means leaving the things that are controlling our lives in order to give Him His rightful place as the Lord of our lives. Let’s make no mistake that we can have genuine faith in Him without repentance. They are the two sides of the same coin.

If you are a Christian, please be careful not to try to solve God’s side of the mystery of salvation. Let’s leave salvation in God’s hands. That’s where it began; that’s where it belongs, and it couldn’t be in better hands.

Let me share with you two illustrations that each give a picture of the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. These illustrations have helped me see it from a human perspective, and yet cause me to realize that there is a divine perspective. The first is a diagram showing two lines going up to heaven. One of the lines is labeled “God’s sovereignty” and the other is labeled “man’s responsibility”. the lines are not parallel but are slightly angled toward each other. As the lines go up to heaven you can see that the lines are going to meet eventually, but they pass through a cloud and then meet on the other side out of our view. The cloud is labeled “human understanding”, and the lines meet on the other side in God. The illustration points to the fact that both concepts are given in Scripture, so there must be an explanation. For the time being, we need to accept that by faith and God will explain the mystery when we see Him. The other illustration depicts a sign on the gates of heaven, and the sign reads, “BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU SHALL BE SAVED” (Acts 16:31). After you pass through the pearly gates you notice that another message is written on the other side of that sign. It says, CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4). Those are the human and the divine sides of salvation. I hope those two illustrations will be helpful and useful to you.

As we reflect upon the mystery of God’s plan of salvation, may we be filled with praise, adoration, and thanksgiving for His sovereignty and grace. May we be reminded of God’s words to Isaiah in Isaiah 55:8, where God says,

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

CONSTRUCTION SITE: COMPLETED

Thank you for visiting this completed sermon on John 6:36-40. May this year be a joy-filled and challenging year for you. As the apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14, “. . . but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The race is on for this year! I hope you are one of the contestants, not one of the bystanders.

THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR UNBELIEF – John 5:41-47

Bible sermons, faith, God, Gospel of John, hypocrisy, John 5, John 5:41-47, love for God, motives, New Testament sermon, Sermon on John's Gospel, sermons

INTRODUCTION:

The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a World War, she served until she was retired and anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California. During the conversion process, her three massive stacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years.

After healing the invalid at the pool of Bethesda, the Lord Jesus went into great detail to substantiate His claim to be the Messiah, the Son of God. He described five witnesses that couldn’t be refuted; and there were hundreds, even thousands who could attest to the truth of what they saw and heard. He had built a structure that was strong and lasting, incapable of being torn down and destroyed. Now, in verses 41-47, the Lord Jesus directs His attention toward His accusers, who are standing around him in their elegant robes and with their pious countenances, and He starts chipping away at their paint!

I. EMPTY OF LOVE (verse 41-42)

Jesus has been appealing to their minds by giving them proof of his deity. Then He appealed to their wills, exposing their stubborn refusal to believe Him. Now He’s going to get to the heart of the problem. In verse 41, Jesus gives them a brief description of His own attitude as a basis for comparison to theirs. He says, “I do not receive glory from men.” He is not seeking the applause of men. Rather, His motivation is that of doing the will of the Father out of love for the Father. He is filled and controlled by His love for His Father. (John 5:19-20, 30).

By contrast, he says to them, “but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.” Can you feel the sharpness of His rebuke? “But I know you”, He says. They are not going to pull the wool over His eyes! He sees underneath the paint! Now He’s going to be chipping away at it, and revealing to them what He sees!

The first thing he reveals to them, in verse 42, is that they have no love for God. In their hearts they don’t really love God. It’s just “external paint” that they have applied to themselves so that others might see it and admire them. I think Jesus is also saying, “You don’t really believe in God, and you are unwilling to believe in Me, because you don’t love God. I can envision the anger on their faces and can almost hear the murmuring and threats they are making. I think Jesus had to raise His voice in order to be heard above their murmuring and complaining.

II. FILLED WITH PRIDE (verses 43-44)

In order to affirm what He has just told them, and give them the underlying reason for His statement in verse 42, Jesus reiterates what He told them earlier. In verse 43, Jesus begins by saying, “I have come in My Father’s name, and you did not receive Me”. What He means by those words is, “I’ve already proven to you that I’ve been sent by God and have His authority, yet you refuse to accept Me for Who I am and obey Me. You refuse to show me the honor and worship that I deserve.”

I believe that the words that follow are used by Jesus to point out the irony in what they have been doing. He says, “if another should come in his own name, you will receive him.” Jesus is making a true statement about what the leaders of the Jews have done many times in the past. During the time of Jesus there were two schools of thought based upon the teachings of two rabbis: Shammai and Hillel. The scribes and Pharisees spent much time debating with each other regarding which one of them was right on various issues and doctrines, rather than studying the Scriptures themselves. Later on, Jesus tells them, in Mark 13 and Matthew 24, that many other false Messiahs will come on their own authority and draw many astray.

Jesus didn’t fit their own description of the Messiah. Jesus was too humble, poor, and plain. They were looking for a Messiah whom they considered to be worthy of being followed – a Messiah who would come in royal robes; a stately figure with awesome physical and political power who would crush the power of the Roman Empire. They wanted a Messiah who would recognize their devotion to God and their leadership abilities, and Who would put them in positions of authority in His kingdom on earth. Jesus was the total opposite of what they had in mind.

In verse 44, Jesus rebukes them again by asking them a pointed question: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another. and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” He faced them with the true cause of their unbelief – their own personal pride and conceit. The word “glory” is a translation of the Greek word “Doxan”, which comes from the verb “dokeo”, which means “to think”. The scribes and Pharisees had a very high “opinion” of themselves; so high that they even argued among themselves as to who was the most famous. You might say that there was even a battle going on to form a “pecking order” among the proud, and nobody wanted to give in to the others. They were so busy glorifying themselves that they had no interest in seeking the glory of God that could be found reflected in Jesus Christ.

On the French Riviera, it is such an important status symbol to have a balcony on an apartment, that it is quite common to see balconies painted on the walls of apartment houses. People even painted wet laundry hanging on the clothesline, just to give it a touch of reality! In the same vein, there was no limit to what these Jewish leaders would do in order to give their own lives an imitation “touch of reality” that might cause others to “look up to them” and be impressed by what they saw.

III. THE CONSEQUENCES (verses 45-47)

The Lord Jesus has been chipping away at their exterior paint. Now He is going to hammer away at their foundation so that it crumbles like the stacks of the Queen Mary. He says, in verse 45, “Do you think that I will accuse you before the Father”? He’s saying, “Do you think that I am going to follow your example?” They have been accusing Him of doing miracles on the Sabbath in violation of the Law of Moses (John 5:10,16). The Lord wasn’t the One who would be gathering the information and pressing charges against them. He continues by saying, the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.” The men standing around Jesus claimed to be disciples of Moses. That statement of Jesus must have raised some eyebrows and evoked some angry responses. They’ve put their hope in the wrong person because Moses is not going be on their side!

In verse 46, Jesus gives the reason for His statement: “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me.” Where did Moses write about Jesus? Moses does not use the name “Jesus”, but he refers to the Messiah in several places using a variety of names to describe Him. In Genesis 3:15, Moses wrote down the words that God said to the serpent in the hearing of Adam and Eve after their disobedience: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between her seed and your seed; He shall bruise (crush) you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heal.” The “seed of the woman” is the Messiah. He will be a descendant of her.

In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses refers to the Messiah as a prophet when he says, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.”

In Genesis 49, Jacob summoned all his sons to gather around him before his death and prophesied concerning each of his sons. In his prophecy concerning his son, Judah, Jacob says: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” (Genesis 49:10). This is the only place in the Bible where Shiloh refers to a person rather than a place. Shiloh is the Messiah, and He has already come to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ. So why does it say that the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes? History gives the answer. In 70 A.D. the nation of Israel was conquered and its people scattered throughout the earth. The scepter was removed from Judah, but it is still retained. Jesus was the last Person from the line of David, on both His mother’s and his father’s side, who had the legal and spiritual right to assume the throne. He still retains that right and will be returning to bring that prophecy to fulfillment.

Jesus closes His rebuke with the words “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words.” Jesus was saying to them, and He says to us today also, that belief is not just a matter of the mind, but also of the will. They knew those Messianic texts, but they were unwilling to ascribe them to Him. They refused to obey Moses, and they refused to obey Christ. There was no valid excuse for their behavior. They loved themselves to the exclusion of a true love of God, and in their pride they chose to be their own gods, doing their own will instead of God’s.

The same is true today. There is no acceptable excuse for not believing and obeying God and His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no excuse for not searching after God and asking Him to reveal Himself to us. There is no excuse for not responding to the truth that we have, the truth God has given to each of us. The only thing that holds us back is our own foolish pride in ourselves, the original sin of Adam and Eve, the temptation that Satan wants us to give in to. Don’t let pride separate you eternally from the One who loves you sacrificially and wants you to experience the joy of submitting yourselves to Him as your Lord and King; a joy that will change your life forever, giving you a new purpose for living as you enjoy doing His will and experiencing His power and presence. Let’s “remove the paint” and “be real” in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Fellow Christians, let’s review each day and ask ourselves who is getting the glory in our lives. Even when we are serving the Lord and living in obedience to His Word, it’s always tempting to take the glory to ourselves rather than put the focus on the One who loves us, inspires us, empowers us, and has gifted us to serve Him and be witnesses for Him.

“I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.”
Psalm 34:1-3

CONSTRUCTION SITE: COMPLETED

May the Lord Jesus be the One who holds your life together, and gives you joy, peace, purpose, and meaning each day. May He also receive the glory that He alone deserves.

EQUAL IN GIVING SPIRITUAL LIFE – John 5:24-25

Bible sermons, John 5:24, saving faith, saving faith - what is it?

INTRODUCTION:

When we talk about the quality of physical life, we often use phrases like “in the prime of life”, “the good life”, “barely alive”, “in the peak of health”. When we answer the question, “How are you?”, we may have responded with words such as “fine”, “OK”, “still kicking”, “so-so”, “could be better”, “could be worse”, “hanging in there”, “not very well”, “fantastic”, “doing well”, and a host of other descriptions. There are many possible and reasonable answers to that question.

When we speak of physical death we sometimes use phrases like “deader than a door nail”, “deader than a doorknob”, “deader than a doormat”, “as dead as can be”. But think about that logically. When you’re dead, you’re dead, right? You can’t get any deader than that! If you’ve ever watched the movie, “The Wizard of Oz”, you may remember that Dorothy’s house fell on the wicked Witch of the East. After the Munchkin coroner examined her body, he gave his professional conclusion very clearly and succinctly.

“As coroner I must aver,
I thoroughly examined her;
And she’s not only merely dead,
She’s really most sincerely dead.”

I think he got the point across very clearly, don’t you? There aren’t degrees of physical death because it’s not a comparative term; it’s a once-and-for-all term, with a few rare exceptions given in the Scriptures. A mortician/embalmer may do such a masterful job of preparing the person’s body for viewing that everyone at the funeral service believes that the dead loved-one is only sleeping. But even a “total makeover” is not going to bring that person back to life.

This passage of Scripture we are studying deals with spiritual life and spiritual death. There is a basis for comparison here. A spiritually lost sinner is as spiritually lifeless and helpless as a dead person is physically. He cannot save himself and he cannot give himself spiritual life. In this passage of Scripture, the Lord Jesus is telling His listeners that He not only has the power to give physical life, but He also has the greater power to give spiritual life with all its benefits, and to remove spiritual death with all its consequences.

I. SPIRITUAL REGENERATING (verse 24)

Verse 24 begins with the words, “Truly, truly, I say to you.” Jesus is once again telling them that He is speaking from personal knowledge and experience, therefore what He has to say is true. To put it into our manner of speaking, Jesus is saying something like “Pay close attention to what I am about to tell you.” “It is very important information.” He continues by saying, “he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” This verse of Scripture has a lot to say to us.

The phrase “He who hears My word” is often misunderstood. In this case, as well as in many other New Testament scripture passages, the word “hear” conveys the idea of listening, being receptive, and responding in obedience. There were many who heard Jesus speak, in the sense that they were in “earshot” of Him and heard the words He said. There have been many over the centuries since that time who have “heard” the gospel message with their ears, but with no concern or response. It was “in one ear and out the other” so to speak. When correcting a child, a parent might sometimes use the words, “Do you hear me?”. Does the parent mean, “Did you hear the words I pronounced to you”? No! When I’ve heard those words spoken, the parent meant, “Are you going to do what I just told you or are you going to face the consequences!

There are some Old Testament scriptures that may give us a better perspective on this phrase, “He who hears my words”. You will find that I often go to the Old Testament to seek a basis for the words of the Lord Jesus Christ: how He said them, where He said them, to whom He said them, and why He said them. There is a reason why I spend a great deal of time seeking answers to those questions in the Old Testament scriptures. I am personally convinced that the Lord Jesus is often tying His words to the words God spoke to His people through the prophets. He is thus reminding them that this isn’t the first time that similar words have been spoken to them, He’s also implying that He is the “Prophet who is to come” – the Messiah. I think we miss much of what Jesus is saying to His people if we fail to make that connection.

In this case, when the Lord Jesus says, “He who hears My words”, scripture passages galore should have come to the minds of His listeners. Jesus is in Jerusalem, speaking to the leaders of His people, the Jews. Do the words, “Hear the Word of the Lord” sound familiar to you? If they do, imagine how familiar and convicting they would have sounded to the Jewish leaders standing before Him. Moses, the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and Micah, used those words when prophesying to the people of Israel and Judah, and usually those words were an indication of an impending judgment by God upon His people.

Here in verse 24, however, we have participles instead of verbs in the Greek text. The beginning of the verse is literally saying, “The one hearing My word and believing the One having sent Me”, and the result is positive rather than negative. It’s as if the Lord Jesus is showing them a contrast between those words of impending judgment, spoken by the prophets to their ancestors, and the words of pardon and eternal life that He is about to offer them.

Jesus refers to His Father as “the One who sent Me“. He used that phrase several times while He was on this earth. Does that sound impersonal to you – to refer to His Father in that way? It did to me at first, but after doing some research, I think I understand why Jesus uses those words at times when referring to His Father. Whom did God “send” in the Old Testament scriptures? He sent Moses to lead the people of Israel and be His spokesman. He sent the prophets to declare His words to His people and speak of things to come. He also sent “the Angel of the Lord” to protect and defend His people. Earlier in his Gospel, the apostle John said, in chapter 3, verse 17, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” The apostle Paul says in Galatians 4:4, “In the fullness of time God sent His Son . . .”. By using the words “Him who sent Me”, Jesus is telling His listeners: “You can’t believe the Sender and not believe the One who was sent.” To put it another way, “You can’t believe in the One who sent His Son without believing in the Son Whom He sent.”

The Lord Jesus is telling His listeners, and each of us, the relationship between hearing and believing. Both knowledge and faith are involved in salvation. The apostle John’s thinking about faith is unique to the New Testament. Faith is based on the testimony of historical witnesses. At that particular point in time, Jesus was giving a testimony about Himself, and that testimony was authenticated by the Father. Eternal life was the result of listening to that testimony and choosing, by God’s enabling, to believe Him by putting their trust in Him as their Messiah, the Son of God, sent by the Father. At that moment eternal life began. The focus of Jesus Christ in verse 24 is on the object of one’s faith. The Lord Jesus has just been telling them that He is equal to the Father in working (verse 19), in knowing (verse 20), in resurrecting (verse 21), in judging (verse 22), in honor (verse 23), and now in regenerating (verse 24). They have received Jesus’ testimony concerning Himself. Now He is inviting a response from them. Only faith in Him as the Son of God and the Father’s Representative results in “eternal life, no judgment, and passing from death to life”. No One else and nothing else can bring those gifts as a result. Only Jesus Christ is equal to the Father in regenerating – giving spiritual life. As Jesus said in John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand”. “Following” is the outward evidence of genuine belief.

You and I have saving faith when we understand what the Bible says about Jesus Christ, and when we act upon that truth by putting our trust in Him as our Lord and Savior. When that happens, events occur in heaven and in your lives. It will be a life-changing event, as the Lord Jesus begins to conform us to His image and as we take delight in spending time with Him in His Word and prayer. So the words “eternal life” also refer to a change in the quality of our lives while we are on this earth.

Dr. H.A, Ironside, the famous Bible expositor and pastor of Moody Bible Church in Chicago a generation ago, said that a friend of his preached on a similar passage of Scripture, John 3:36. At the close of the meeting, his friend went down to the church door to greet people as they were leaving. A lady who was troubled about her soul came by the door and the preacher looked at her and said, “Well, how is it with you tonight? How is your soul; have you been born-again? Are you saved?”

She said, “I don’t know, sir. I hope so.”

He said, “Well let me go over that text with you again. It says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Do you believe in the Son?”

She said, “Oh yes, I do sir. I believe in Jesus Christ.”

He said, “Well, do you have everlasting life?”

She said, “I hope so.”

He said, “Well, let’s look at the verse again: he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Do you believe in the Son?”

She said, “Yes I do.”

“Do you have everlasting life?”

“I certainly hope so.”

“Well, read it again”

And so they went through the same thing again, and finally he said to her, “You know, when you were a little girl they spelled very differently from what they did when I was a boy.”

She looked at him and said, “What do you mean; I’m not so much older than you.”

He said, “Well, evidently when you were a girl, H-A-T-H spelled hope. When I was a little boy, H-A-T-H spelled hath.”

She said, “Oh! I see it! He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life!”

It makes you wonder how many truly born-again Christians are still hoping for something that they already have! I say that because, on the night I believed in Jesus Christ, after having the Gospel message presented to me, and all my questions answered, I memorized several verses on assurance of salvation, including John 5:24, before going to bed that night. The concept and the promise were so amazing to me that I needed to go over and over that realization in my mind so that I could remove all doubts and enjoy what was now mine.

The promise of the Lord Jesus in verse 24 not only includes the free gift of eternal life which we do not deserve; it also removes the judgment that our sins really deserve. The believer “does not come into judgment”. A poll conducted for the Times Mirror Company in 1993, revealed that more than four out of every five Americans agree that “we all will be called before God, at judgment day, to answer for our sins.” I was surprised to find that figure to be so high, only because I wasn’t expecting people to be so honest and willing to admit their own accountability to God.

Dr. H.A. Ironside said that one of the first illustrations that ever made a real impression upon his young heart was a simple story which he heard a preacher tell when Harry was less than nine years old. It was of pioneers who were making their way across one of the central states to a distant place that had been opened up for homesteading. They traveled in covered wagons drawn by oxen, and progress was necessarily slow. One day they were terrified to note a long line of smoke in the west, stretching for miles across the prairie, and soon it was evident that the dry grass was burning fiercely and coming toward them rapidly. They had crossed a river one day before but it would be impossible to go back to that before the flames would be upon them. One man only seemed to have understanding as to what could be done. He gave the command to set fire to the grass behind them. Then when the space was burned over, the whole company moved back upon it. As the flames roared on toward them from the west, a little girl cried out in terror. “Are you sure we shall not all be burned up?” The leader replied, “My child, the flames cannot reach us here, for we are standing where the fire has already been!”

What a picture of the believer, who is safe in Christ!

“On Him Almighty vengeance fell,
Which would have sunk a world to hell.
He bore it for a chosen race,
And thus becomes our Hiding Place.”

The fires of God’s judgment burned themselves out on Him, and all who are in Christ are safe forever, for we are standing where the fire has been.(H.A. Ironside, Illustrations of Bible Truth).

Verse 24 ends with the words, “but has passed out of death into life”. The Lord Jesus is saying that those who believe in Him immediately pass from spiritual death and judgment into spiritual life, never to be condemned. The only way this could be possible would be for Jesus to be judged in our place and pay the penalty Himself, which He would accomplish on the cross of Calvary (Philippians 2:5-8). For those of us who have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, our judgment is now in the past, paid-in-full, and God the Father has signed off the debt. It’s written in blood – the blood of His Son. A change of reservations was made. Your reservation for hell was immediately canceled and your reservation for heaven was immediately written down in the book compliments of the Owner (your Heavenly Father). You have first-class accommodations awaiting you, and you will be treated like family forever because you’re a child of God!

Looking at verses 24-29, I personally observe five resurrections mentioned by Jesus. In each case, the resurrection came to pass as a result of the words of Jesus. In verse 24, we have already looked at the first resurrection – the spiritual regeneration and resurrection of all who hear Jesus’ words and believe. At the moment of genuine belief in Him as Lord and Savior, one has eternal life, release from the condemnation for one’s sin, has passed from spiritual death to spiritual life, and has a changed life. The second resurrection is given in verse 25. I believe that Jesus is referring to the physical resurrections from the dead that He is going to perform while on this earth. At that point in time the Lord Jesus hadn’t performed any resurrection miracles yet, but they were soon to come. There were three of them recorded in God’s Word, and in each case, the resurrections occurred at the voice of Jesus. The third resurrection is given in verse 26, and I believe that Jesus is referring to His own physical resurrection from the dead in fulfillment of His words. The fourth resurrection, in verses 27-29a is the resurrection of life – the call of believers to the judgment seat of Christ. The fifth resurrection, mentioned at the end of verse 29, is the resurrection of unbelievers to judgment and condemnation. In this sermon, we are studying the first two resurrections and will save the other three for the next construction project. There is much yet to learn from verse 25.

II. RESURRECTIONS TO PHYSICAL LIFE (verse 25)

In verse 25, the Lord Jesus makes the same oath again, saying “Truly, truly, I say to you”. I take those words to mean that Jesus is about to say something different; that He is attesting to something else that He is going to do. He says, “An hour is coming and now is.” There are things that are going to be happening, and they are just about to happen. What is it that’s about to occur? The Lord Jesus continues, “when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live.” My conclusion is that Jesus is talking about those people whom He is going to physically raise from the dead while He is here on this earth. He has not performed any physical resurrection-miracles yet, but it’s going to start happening very soon.

Before we look at the resurrection-miracles of Jesus, let’s first look at the physical resurrection-miracles in the Old Testament so that we can use them as a basis of comparison. In I Kings 17, the son of the widow at Zarephath dies, and we see Elijah’s response and God’s answer: “Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this child’s life return to him’. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived.” (I Kings 17:21-22). The restoration to physical life came as an answer to prayer. God was the One Who resurrected the child, not Elijah.

The second resurrection-miracle is found in II Kings 4:32-35. The Shunammite’s son dies and Elisha’s response is similar to that of Elijah. “So he entered and shut the door behind them both, and prayed to the Lord. And he went up and lay on the child . . . and the flesh of the child became warm . . . and the lad sneezed seven times and the lad opened his eyes.” Once again God restored life in answer to prayer.

By contrast, when Jesus raised the dead, He didn’t pray or apply “life-saving techniques”. He spoke or gave the command and the person was instantly restored to life. “Talitha Kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” (Mark 5:41). “Young man, I say to you, arise!” (Luke 7:14). “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43). They came back to life as a result of hearing His voice. God alone can do that – give life and restore life by just saying the word! In the account of creation in Genesis, we find God saying, “Let there be” , . . “and there was”. Psalm 33:6 says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.” The patriarch Job said, “The breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Jesus’ resurrection-miracles, and the way in which they were performed, were irrefutable proof that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. The people who watched those miracles occur could come to no other rational, logical, or Scriptural conclusion! They already believed that God is the Creator, and the only Creator and Controller of the universe. Therefore Jesus Christ must be God.

The Jewish leaders, as well as all of the Jews, revered Elijah because of his amazing miracles, especially the raising of the widow of Zarephath’s son. But as you can see, the Lord Jesus is infinitely greater than Elijah, and Elijah would wholeheartedly agree.

CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION:

Jesus claimed the power to raise people from the dead. Did you notice that the dead always responded to the voice of the Lord? What about the living? How did they respond? That’s a different story, isn’t it? Very few of those who heard the words of Jesus and saw His signs, even His resurrection of people from the dead, responded in faith, and followed Him. But did that stop Jesus from continuing to declare Who He was, or from explaining God’s plan of salvation? Not at all!

I may have shared a principle with you before, but it bears repeating because I have observed that Jesus followed this principle during His ministry on earth. Here is the principle: “Expose people to as much truth over as long a period of time as they will allow you.” It’s important that we understand the first word in that quote. The rest of the words are evident. The word “expose” means to communicate, not only by our words but also by our lives. People are looking for truth, and most of them not only want to see it in writing and hear it spoken but also to observe it being lived out in a person’s life. People want truth that will set them free from their hopelessness and emptiness, and bring purpose, meaning, joy, and direction into their lives. If we are truly Christians, indwelt and empowered by the Spirit of God, our lives will be evidenced by a love for God and His Word, a love for people, a hope for the future, and joy in spite of circumstances. Is that a description of you? If so, don’t become discouraged in your witness. Keep growing in your walk with the Lord and faithfully being a witness for Him by word and by life. The Spirit of God is working in the lives of people. Many of those who may be silently watching you and questioning the things you are saying, may later want what you have and be ready to know the Giver of life eternal. Nothing we do in obedience to the Lord is without reward in this life and the next.

If you are not a Christian, are you willing to give more thought and consideration to the One who raised the dead by just saying the words? If Jesus Christ can have such power over physical life and can give eternal life, imagine what He can do in your life if you put your trust in Him.

CONSTRUCTION SITE: COMPLETED

There are also over 100 completed sermons on this website and it’s always “Open House” here. Please take a look around the block! There are sermons from Philippians, James, Jonah, the Gospel of John, and other seasonal and assorted messages. Thanks for taking a look, and may the Lord bless your time in His Word.

THE RIGHT KIND OF FAITH – James 2:14-26

Bible sermon, dead faith, demonic faith, demons - do they have faith?, Epistle of James sermon, evidence of your saving faith, evidence that you are a Christian, Evidence that you are going to heaven, Faith - which kind do you have?, God's' Word explained and illustrated, good works - why are they necessary?, hell, James 2:14-26, kinds of faith, resurrection of Christ, saving faith - what is it?, sermon on James, Uncategorized

INTRODUCTION:

Someone has said that faith is not “believing in spite of the evidence, but obeying in spite of the consequences”. When we read Hebrews 11, we meet men and women who acted upon God’s Word, no matter what the price they had to pay. Faith is not some kind of feeling that we work up, but a confidence that God’s Word is true, and that obeying it will bring God’s blessing. What kind of faith really saves a person? Is it necessary to perform good works in order to be saved? How can a person tell whether or not he is exercising true saving faith? James answers these questions by explaining to us that there are three kinds of faith, and only one of them is true saving faith.

I. DEAD FAITH (verses 14-17)

In verses 14-17, James talks about dead faith. People with dead faith substitute words for actions. They know all the right words to say during times of prayer and testimony, and can even quote the right verses from the Bible, but their actions do not measure up to their talk.

James gives a simple illustration: a poor believer came into a fellowship without proper clothing and in need of food. The person with dead faith noticed the visitor and saw his needs, but he did not do anything to meet those needs. All he did was say a few pious words: “Go in peace, be warm and be filled.” But the visitor went out just as hungry and unclothed as he came in!

In verse 14, James is saying, “Can that kind of faith save him?” What kind? The kind of faith that is never seen in practical works. The answer is “No”! Any declaration of faith that does not result in a changed life and good works is a false declaration. What kind of faith is dead faith? In verse 17, James says “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” True saving faith can never be by itself. It always brings life, and life produces good works.

In a Decision Magazine article, missionary Patrick Harris tells of his son David, who was brain-damaged. When David was very young and his family was home on furlough, many people told them, “We are praying for David.” Patrick and his wife were grateful. But one woman said, “I have Wednesday off. Give me the privilege of taking David out that day to relieve you.” Harris said, “That was what was needed – not only prayer but practical help!” An important part of praying is a willingness to be part of the answer.

II. DEMONIC FAITH (verses 18-19)

Only God can see “faith” in the heart of a person. People see our faith only by our works. Faith is like a seed planted in the ground. It is hidden from view, but if it is a living seed it will soon manifest itself by pushing its stalk up through the soil for all to see. Out of the war comes a story of faith in action. A godly chaplain in the army found a dying soldier on the battlefield, and being anxious about his salvation, he took out his Bible and said, “Shall I read a portion of Scripture for you?” But the soldier replied, “No sir, I am thirsty and need a drink of water.” At the risk of his own life, amid bursting shells, the chaplain went in search of water, and having found some, gave it to the wounded man. Then he asked again, “Shall I read some Scripture to you?” But the man replied, “No thank you, I am so cold. I am almost freezing,” The chaplain removed his own coat and wrapped it around about him, and once more asked with shivering and chattering teeth, “Now may I read to you?” Again the reply was, “No sir, I am too uncomfortable on this rough ground.” The chaplain gently lifted him up and placed him across his knees with his head in his arms and once more asked the same question. “Yes sir”, he replied, “for if what you are going to read can make a man willing to risk his own life like this to ease a dying stranger, I want to hear about it!” And there on the battlefield, he was told about Jesus who died that he might live. This is the gospel in action! This is what the world is looking for today!

Then James says in verse 19, “the demons also believe and shudder.” It comes as a shock to many people that demons have faith! What do they believe? For one thing, they believe in the existence of God. They are not atheists. They also believe in the deity of Christ. Whenever they met Christ when He was on this earth, they bore witness that He was the Son of God. They also believe in the existence of a place of punishment. They live there! Not only that, but they also recognize Jesus Christ as the Judge, and they submit to the power of His Word. Yet, knowing all that, they still rebelled against God and were condemned to hell.

In verse 19, the word “shudder” or “tremble” meant to be “rough on the surface”, “to bristle”. It has the idea of making your hair stand on end and goosebumps to appear. That’s the way the demons respond to God and to His Son, Jesus Christ!

III. GENUINE FAITH (verses 20-26)

Dead faith touches only the mind; demonic faith involves both the mind and the emotions, but genuine faith also involves the will. The whole person plays a part in true saving faith. The mind understands the truth, the emotions desire the truth, and the will acts upon the truth. Faith and works go together.

Pastor John MacArthur says it very clearly in his sermon entitled “Living Faith”. Preaching about James 2:21-26, Pastor MacArthur says: “There is a faith in God, there is a faith in Christ, there is a belief of Scripture, there is a belief of the gospel that does not save from hell. . . . It is possible to believe in God, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to even believe that what Christ did He actually did, to affirm the cross and the resurrection and never be delivered from sin and never be given eternal life. This is what James would call ‘dead faith’.” That’s what he called it in verse 17, and now he says it again in verse 20 and again in verse 26.

In verse 20, James responds to the unwillingness of his readers to recognize the connection between faith and works. He says: “You foolish fellow”. The Greek word can be translated “empty” in the sense that they are “without spiritual life”. James goes on to say, “Can’t you see that faith without works is useless”? The Greek word “arge” means “barren”, “unproductive”. Faith that fails to produce genuine works motivated by willing obedience from the heart is a dead faith. It demonstrates that it has never been alive because there has been no external evidence sufficient to remove any doubt. Righteous behavior is an inevitable result of genuine faith.

In verses 21-25 James proves his point by giving two examples of true living faith from the Old Testament: Abraham and Rahab, described as “our father” and “the harlot”. The evidence for Abraham’s genuine faith was his willing obedience to God’s command to offer up his own son, Isaac, on the altar. Because of his obedience, Galatians, chapter 3, teaches that Abraham is the spiritual father of all true believers..

James 2:22 reads, “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.” The Berkeley version says it this way: “You see how his faith cooperated with his works and how faith reached its supreme expression through his works.” Abraham’s works made his faith complete. In verse 23 Abraham is called “the friend of God”

On the opposite end of the social and moral spectrum, James now chooses Rahab as an example of true living faith. Even though Rahab was a Gentile and a prostitute, James says “Likewise also”, telling us that the illustration of Rahab teaches the same lesson about faith as the illustration of Abraham: “God saves, not because of one’s righteousness, but because of one’s faith.” Remember: only God can actually see our faith. We see genuine saving faith only by works. Rahab demonstrated her saving faith by her words to the spies in Joshua 2 saying, “… the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below”, and by her willingness to hide the spies at the risk of her own life and the lives of her family members. Joshua 6:25 and Matthew 1:5 tell us how God blessed Rahab. She was grafted into the nation of Israel, became the wife of Salmon, and was an ancestor in the line of David and the Lord Jesus Christ. She is also mentioned in Hebrews 11 as a woman of faith.

CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION:

In verse 25, the apostle James states his conclusion one more time: “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” Do you have living faith? Do you have saving faith? Is it evident to those around you? Is it evident to you? You may have been baptized, you may have made a public or private profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You may be attending a church at the present time. You may be in the choir or teaching a Sunday School Class. You may be on the deacon or elder board. You could even be a pastor and not have a saving faith that manifests itself in a deepening walk with Jesus Christ and increasing joy in serving Him and obeying his Word. I’m not saying this to point the finger at anyone or embarrass anyone. I just want you to be sure if there might be any doubt. Good works are the proof that Jesus Christ is living and reigning in your life. As Jesus said in Luke 6:46, “And why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

May our faith be genuine and evident to the world around us, and may we enjoy the privilege of being children of God through faith evidenced by works (Ephesians 2:8-10).

SURVEY OF THE EPISTLE OF JAMES

Bible sermons, faith, James, Uncategorized, works

INTRODUCTION:

If we were asked the question, “Which book of the New Testament was written first”, I imagine that many of us might guess that it was one of the gospels since they talk about the birth, life, and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was personally surprised when I learned that the first book of the New Testament was the epistle of James, in all probability. It was written possibly as early as 45 A.D., and as late as 50 A.D. That’s approximately fifteen to twenty years after the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is important to realize that the arrangement of the books in the New Testament is a topical arrangement rather than a chronological one. If the books were arranged chronologically by the dates that they were written, James would probably appear first. It’s interesting that in the book of James, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ only appears twice. His cross is never mentioned, nor is His resurrection. The Holy Spirit is not mentioned either. James is not a doctrinal book but a practical book, encouraging us to live our Christian faith.

I. THE AUTHOR

Who was the author of the book of James? Obviously, it was James, but which James? There are five men in the New Testament who are called by that name: James, the father of the apostle Judas; James, the son of Zebedee; James, the son of Cleophas; James the Less; and James, the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ and the son of Mary and Joseph. It is generally agreed that James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, was the author of the book.

The Scriptures tell us that during the time Jesus was growing up to adulthood, and even during His earthly ministry, His brothers did not believe that He was the Messiah. In fact, Jesus experienced opposition from them at times. And yet we find that James was a leader in the church in Jerusalem after the Lord’s ascension into heaven. We are left to conclude that it was after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ that James came to the realization that Jesus was the true Messiah. After Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He appeared to various groups. I Corinthians 15:7 states, “after that, He appeared to James; then to all the apostles.” It was probably after Jesus’ appearance to James after His resurrection that James placed his faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.

Since James was not a believer in Jesus as the Christ during His earthly ministry, James was not one of the twelve apostles. But after he became a Christian, James became one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. He is mentioned as one of the speakers at the council in Jerusalem in Acts 15, and his suggestion was accepted by the whole assembly.

III. THE EPISTLE OF JAMES

The epistle of James has been called the “Proverbs of the New Testament” because James goes from one topic to another. The epistle is also very practical, and very convicting. In the 108 verses of this short letter, there are 54 commands. That means that half the verses are commands. Someone has described James’ style as “a string of pearls”. In a string of pearls, there is a basic relationship of one pearl to the other, and yet each pearl is unique and different.

While James was still an unbeliever, he must have paid attention to what Jesus taught because his letter is very much like Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We’ll see this comparison more clearly as we study the book of James in detail over the next several months.

The book of James has been misunderstood and condemned by many because of its emphasis on good works. Martin Luther called the epistle of James an “epistle of straw” that ought to be burned. He and several other leaders of the Protestant Reformation felt that the Epistle of James should be removed from the Bible because of its emphasis on good works. But they misunderstood its meaning. The epistle of James is saying that “genuine faith produces genuine works”. Or, to put it another way, “the person who has genuinely found the Way, walks in it”.

The problems that James discusses have a common cause: spiritual immaturity. The Christians mentioned in his epistle were not growing spiritually. Spiritual maturity is one of the greatest needs in our churches today. The five chapters of James suggest five marks of a mature Christian. In chapter one, a mature Christian is patient in trials and temptations. In chapter two, a mature Christian practices the truth. In chapter three, a mature Christian has power over his tongue. And in chapter four, a mature Christian is prayerful in the midst of troubles.

Christian maturity is something we must work at constantly. So, don’t give up, because mature Christians are happy, useful Christians, Christians who help to encourage and build up others. As we study this epistle of James together, with God’s enabling we will learn together and mature together, and our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will become even more evident to those around us.