“How do you know you believe?”
James 1:2-4 “2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
What do you notice in this passage? Notice how our faith, once we become a believer, undergoes testing. Any product on the market goes thru many tests so that the particular product will #1 Say what it says it will do AND #2 Be able to stand up under most circumstances.
Your faith is tested for that same purpose. When you faith is tested (and you prevail), you develop perseverance. What does perseverance mean? (don’t give up) An athlete who perseveres thru the pain, as more at stake than the one who breezed thru untouched.
James goes on to say, “when you have persevered, you will be mature and complete.” So our faith is tested so that you may persevere so that you may mature and be complete. Do you remember last week when we asked about a club or organization that doesn’t require anything from you just your name on a registrar?
American Red Cross
American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Amputee Coalition of America
Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America
Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States
My personal favorite
Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation
There are thousands of organizations, some worth wile and others worthless. The point is this. Christianity is not another organization. It can become that. When we focus we slip into a repetition of clocking in and clocking out of ‘faith’. We become another social organization and nothing else.
But the problem with that is, that is not the institution God established.
James 1: 22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
James 2: 14-26 “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[e] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
Do you know the kind of person, usually a man, that says something like this, “I don’t have to tell my wife (kids) I love them, they know it.” Now what implication is that statement making? It is saying, “My deeds and actions should show/prove to you that I love you.”
A father that works long, hard hours to provide the best he can for his family –is that a show of love?
A husband that spends Saturday and Sunday afternoons fixing broken appliances –is that a show of love?
A man who denies his own flesh by staying up late to figure out how to pay all the bills and still have enough left over to give his kids nice clothes and toys –is that a show of love?
YES to all three. But the missing element is the verbalization of his love. He doesn’t say it. It seems like if he would go thru that much trouble, saying three words would be easy. But the exact opposite is true for some Christians. We say we love God. We sing about our love for him. But we don’t show it. We don’t do anything to prove our love.
James says, “You love God, good, -now prove it.”
John 14:15 says, “If you love me you will obey me.”
Pretty simple. Pretty cute and dry. How do you show your love? (Obedience)
So what are some things we can do? What are some jobs God has for us? Simplifying James 2:15 –“Help those in need” If you love God than obey him by feeding the hungry. By clothing the naked. And visiting the lonely.
Two ways we can be confident that we believe.
1. We prove our faith by our actions
2. We show our love by obedience
When you leave this building is actually when you go to work. You said you love God, you said you have faith now prove it.
