How Faith Produces Works

If you have your Bibles, please open to James 2. Please open your Bibles to this. I want you to see this. I'm going to be primarily in two portions of Scripture this afternoon.

It's noon. And I want you to see both of these. It's really important that you see these.

Brethren, there is something very noble about being Berean. And the thing is, those Bereans, maybe they heard things that sounded new and strange to them and then they went and searched the Old Testament to see if the things were true. You know what? I'm hoping you have a good biblical foundation and understanding that at least you ought to be asking all the time, is what he is saying is true? So often preachers hear, somebody will come to the preacher and say, you said, now that's true, we're standing in the pulpit and we're speaking, but often times the things that people want to challenge us on are things that all we said was what the Bible said.

And you have to say to them, well, yes, you heard me say it, but actually that's what Paul says, or that's what Jesus says. And so, it's very easy for the preacher to receive the brunt of disagreement or hostility when people have issues with things, and I'm not necessarily imagining that you're going to have issues with this, other than, you know, I think it's safe to say that James 2 has been more than a little object of dispute and disagreement and argument. Now let's pray.

Father, we just cried out to you. Those are not empty words that we sang from that song. Oh my God.

Lord, we trust in you. Keep us, hold us, quicken us by your word. Speak to us, I pray in Christ's name.

Amen. Now brethren, there has been argument. I used the word polemic with somebody just recently, and they said, I think they knew what the word meant, but they said they were going to have to look it up.

You know what that word means? Controversy. Argument. There's been debate about this.

I don't want to do that. You know, a lot of people, a lot of preachers, if you look, they're going to preach on how James doesn't contradict Paul. I don't want to do that.

Why? Because James doesn't make that a big issue. James doesn't come along and say, let me tell you how I'm not contradicting Paul. Probably some of you know that Luther considered this to be a straw epistle.

He didn't like it. He thought it opposed Paul. Some of you may know too that John Piper, not all that long ago, wrote some thoughts on the place of works and justification.

And he was not liked by some people, called a heretic by some. And of course, you can't hardly talk this way. And these non-lordship guys, they get all bent out of shape.

They think that you're adding works to faith alone. So there's all sorts of debate about this. But guys, I just want to deal honestly with what James says.

Let's look at it. James 2, verse 14. I might just read verse 13.

Because the fact is that the subject matter, even though you may have a division in your Bible here, the truth is that James really isn't massively changing the subject. He's really carrying on with what he just said. In verse 13, judgment, this is judgment day for each one of us when we stand there before God.

Judgment for you will be without mercy. God will show no mercy on you if, what? You have not shown mercy. To the one who has shown no mercy.

Mercy triumphs over judgment. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith? Okay, now, I'm just going to stop right here. Jeff said, what did you say? Yahweh was 16 times in 22 verses? You know what he's doing? As a preacher, as somebody who's trying to be faithful in handling the Word, you do want to look for emphasis.

I mean, if you're trying to get to the root of what the original author is intending to emphasize, what he really wants to bring out, you're going to look for the emphasis. And I mentioned this two weeks ago, that this portion of Scripture right here is one of four places in our Bibles that deals extensively with faith. 16 times in 22 verses, that's a lot.

We have faith 14 times in 13 verses. So more than one per verse here. 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.

Strong word. 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? Believe. That's basically the same word group as faith. 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? Or some of your translations say dead.

There is a textual issue there. Verse 21, 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 faith was completed by his works.

And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Exactly the text that Paul loves to quote. James loves to quote.

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.

That's probably the most controversial statement made there, which I'm not going to primarily get to today. Verse 25, And in the same way, just like with Abraham, in the same way, Rahab, 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. Now brethren, again I reiterate, this is one of the greatest treatments of faith in your Bible.

And so you don't want to just casually go over this. Now look, this is not about whether works save us. That's not the point here.

It's about how works, notice verse 22, look at it. It's about how works complete my faith. Do you see that? Faith was completed.

Completed. That's what it's about. James quotes Genesis 15.6 and it says this, The Scripture was fulfilled.

Get that. Genesis 15.6 was fulfilled by what? We say by Abraham believing. The Scripture is fulfilled one way.

How? How? Paul quotes this. Romans, Galatians. This is Romans 4.3. What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, it was counted to him as righteousness.

Galatians 3.6, just as Abraham believed God, it was counted to him as righteousness. But brethren, the thing is, don't think that James 2 is somehow dealing with works saving us. I want to be plain on that right here.

Faith saving us is the issue of James 2. Look at verse 14. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? What does it say? Can that faith save him? The point is, that faith, can it save? Nothing about a man's works saving him. The issue is, can that faith save him? Verse 22 says, faith is completed by works.

Verse 23, only then is faith scripturally fulfilled. Now, guys, I know that often times, when you're reading through your Bible, you come across this. And I don't know how you process this exactly.

But there are many places, what I find is that often times, people almost can't hear Jesus when He says certain things, because He always tells people to do something. And people often just revert to Pauline doctrine. Justification by faith.

When Jesus is telling people to do things all the time, the Old Testament is telling people to do things all the time. And listen, you were saved just as much in the Old Testament, the way that Abraham was, and Rahab was, as anybody was. And yet, isn't it interesting how often the Scriptures just come at us with the doing of things.

And what I want to emphasize to you is this. Listen, this idea that faith, our faith is completed by works, is so intrinsic to the Scriptures, that often times, the works that complete our faith, are put in the place of faith itself. You say, give me some examples.

I'll do just that. Listen to this. You remember, Phineas.

What was he known for? What was he really known for? Anybody know who this guy was? Phineas. I knew James would know. What did he do? Right, you remember the Midianite women.

You remember they couldn't get Balaam to curse the people of God, so basically Balaam told Balak, here's the way you get them. You lure him into idolatry and sexual sin, and that will bring him down. And you remember what Phineas did.

Here comes a guy, and he's bringing a Midianite woman, and Phineas runs in there, and he says he stuck him in the belly. At least her. Remember what her name was? Wasn't it Cosby? Anyway, but listen to this.

Psalm 106.28 They yoked themselves to the bale of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Now listen. They provoked the Lord to anger.

Plague broke out among them. Then Phineas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed. So when he took that spear, and he ran and he thrust through these two.

Listen to what it says. And that was counted to him as righteousness. You ever read that? You have.

Most of you have. That was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever. You know what? How was Abraham saved? He believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.

What did Phineas do? It doesn't say he believed. It says that he took this spear and thrust them through, and it was counted to him as righteousness. It's exactly the same language.

Exactly. So what are we counted? Okay, I could take that and make a case for something here that we often don't like to think. What happens is there is this attempt made all the time to whittle faith down into something that doesn't look like this.

It doesn't look like Phineas. There's a work done by Phineas. Something came out of his life and God counted that as righteousness.

Well, see, the thing is the work itself is put in place of the faith that was behind it. And the Bible does this all the time. You've got the rich young ruler.

Folks, I recognize the man came. What good deed must I do to have eternal life? What good deed? We might think, well, he's not even talking on the right terms there. Good deeds were not saved by our deeds.

We're not saved by works. And yet, isn't it interesting that at the end of that whole account, keep the commandments. Well, he went through the commandments.

But in the end, it's like Jesus doesn't mention faith. He doesn't mention repentance in this. But what does He say? He says, you know what? Take all your riches.

You go sell them. You give to the poor. And specifically, He says this.

He says, you will have treasure in heaven and come follow Me. Now I just ask you this, was Jesus lying to the guy? He was not. If the man would have done what Jesus said, would he have treasure in heaven and be with Christ now? You can bank your own soul on the fact that yes, He absolutely would be.

But see, again, what would it take for that man to go sell all that he had? I mean, don't we read that? Unless you sell all that you have, you can't be My disciple. Unless you forsake all that you have, you can't be My disciple. I mean, that's the way Scripture talks.

And that's basically what... You think about the lepers. It's like you've got ten lepers that get healed. And here's the thing, they had knowledge.

They had the facts. They knew Jesus was this miracle worker. But one guy came back.

And you see, the work itself. And Jesus recognizes that. He recognizes that that coming back.

Or how about this? John the Baptist. The crowds asked him, what do we need to do? Just believe on the Lord. That's not what he said to them.

He said, you know what? You need to bring forth fruit that is meat for repentance is how the KJV says. Or this fruit that is in keeping with repentance. The crowds asked him, what shall we do? Whoever has two tunics, share with him who has none.

The thing about all this is yes, Phinehas went and he was defending the name of the Lord. But isn't it interesting when you get the rich young ruler, it's about helping others. It's about needy.

That's what James was talking about. The work that he has specifically in mind is if you have this world's goods and you see somebody in need, you get John the Baptist. He comes along.

What's he talking about? He says, you know what? If you have two tunics, you share with him who has none. Whoever has food, do likewise. Tax collectors, they came to him.

Teacher, what shall we do? Collect no more than you're authorized. Soldiers, what shall we do? Don't extort money from anyone. Be content with your wages.

Or how about this? You see, the point I'm making is this. Oftentimes, works are put in the place of the faith that fuels the work. And the Bible does that all the time.

And you know where especially it does it all the time? It's with regards to judgment day. You cannot find a text that says that on judgment day, well, you believed and you didn't believe. That's not what you find.

You know what you find over and over? I tell you on the day of judgment, people will give an account of every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. So are we saved by faith? Yes.

The point is though, if faith does not have control of your words, will that faith save you? If your faith is not like that Phinehas that defends the name of the Lord, can that faith save you? If you have the kind of faith that doesn't do the things that John the Baptist told these people to do or the kind of faith that... If you have the kind of faith that the rich young ruler had, is it going to prevail with you on judgment day? Listen, he recognized. He went to the Lord. He fell down before Him.

He asked Him about eternal life. I mean, he had some recognition. There was some acknowledgement of facts.

But in the end, what happens here? Folks, what good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? The question here isn't whether or not faith can save. The question is whether that faith can save. Do I have the kind of faith that bears the qualities that distinguish it as genuine faith? That's the issue.

Look at v. 17. Faith by itself. What do you call somebody when they're by themselves? What if you're by yourself somewhere? What is that? Kind of lonely.

Solitude. Solitary faith. Lonely faith.

If it does not have works, it's dead by itself. You see, defective faith is identifiable by its loneliness, by its solitude. You know what? People often criticize.

We were just a week ago. I went to Haven. And Jake was in a discussion with a guy.

And he was upset that our church doesn't regard all the guys that are at Haven who profess to be Christians as though they genuinely are. He was upset about that. And I would just say this, the thing is, Scripture doesn't accept every profession of faith as genuine, and Jesus doesn't either.

Folks, I want to say this, don't be satisfied at all with anything except that which can save. You don't want to be satisfied. Somebody says, look at verse 14, someone says he has faith.

Listen, is that a sufficient plea when all men and women are brought before the judgment bar of God and they are being damned or saved? Just to say, well, you know, I had a profession. Brethren, I would say this, press this upon your soul as your life depends upon it. Will my faith save me? That's what this is about.

The faith you have. Can I approach judgment day with the boldness? You don't want to be satisfied with anything except that which is going to save you in that day. Brethren, you don't want to be satisfied with anything less.

And what James is doing is he's showing us the reality of this. Now, listen, many of you know this. Turn in your Bibles to John 2. And you know this is a classic place where Jesus Himself sees people believing in Him, and yet He doesn't believe in them.

John 2. And if you look at v. 23, now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed. There's not some mysterious Greek language thing here. Believe is the same word that is used for Abraham believing.

It's the same word. Many believed in His name when they saw the signs that He was doing. But Jesus on His part did not.

The ESV says in trust. It is the same word. Believe.

He did not believe in them. That's the idea. Because He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

Okay, we see this. Maybe this rocks some people. But here's the thing.

Go down just several verses. V. 3 of chapter 3. Jesus answered him, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" Okay, let me ask this. If you're born again, are you going to see the kingdom of God? Yes.

If you're not born again, are you going to see the kingdom of God? Let me ask you this. The people back up in chapter 2, verse 24, are they going to see the kingdom? You think if you have the kind of faith that Jesus doesn't entrust Himself to, are you going to see the kingdom? What's your conclusion? I'll tell you what my conclusion is. You can have something that the word group believe or faith is applied to.

You can say somebody believes, and yet they're not born again. That's the conclusion. You can have a believer who is not born again.

And brethren, the Scriptures affirm this over and over. What James says, you believe God is one. There's people that believe all sorts of things.

You see those lepers. Did they all believe Jesus was a miracle worker and could cure them of their leprosy? They all did. And they went to Him.

And He did. And yet only one came back. That says something.

Brethren, the Apostle Paul talked about the obedience of faith. There is something that just takes genuine saving faith deeper. And it's identifiable.

And that's exactly what James is after. But what I'm wanting to show you here is one of the main points James wants to drive home is the same truth that Jesus right here drives home. There's a kind of faith that doesn't save.

And we could go many other places. You know, the parable of the soils. You get the guy that believes and there's persecutions and trials and whatever and he falls away.

And it uses the same kind of terminology. There's people that make shipwreck of the faith. Same kind of word group.

There's a kind of faith in God that's dead. See, that's what James says. Your faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead.

Can a dead faith save? See, that's the point. Can that faith save? And what's he obviously looking for an answer to? No, it can't. And so, brethren, there's such a thing as non-saving faith.

And so again, I stress, brethren, what we want to do, we want to be honest. You know, it's good to be Berean to where you're able to compare what's being preached to the Word of God. But one of the things in being Berean too is you want to be honest and you want to be able to take the Word of God and compare your own self.

You want to be able to look into this mirror and be honest. Brethren, you know, Spurgeon said, Lord, show me the worst of it. He was of the mindset, Lord, show me the worst of my condition.

That is the safest way. I mean, you go to the oncologist and show me the worst. If I've got cancer, show me.

If I've got stage 4, don't tell me it's stage 1. Be honest with me. If I've got all the marks of cancer on me, don't tell me it's going to be okay with me. That might make me feel good for six months, but it's not going to make me feel good after that.

We need to know the worst of our condition. And brethren, I think it's legitimate to say that just about everybody, every adult in here is going to say, yes, I have faith. You see, that's what James is talking about.

You say you have faith. I think the vast majority of us would say that we do. And yet, I think it's safe to say too that probably some here, though you say you have faith, you will find out on that day that your faith didn't measure up.

And it wasn't as though the marks of it weren't there. And the Scripture speaks to us head on. So what's the character of dead faith? No works.

You see it there. 14. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? No works.

No salvation. But wait, that word for works is ergon. You know what? That basically is a generic word that can mean any deed, any action, any work.

And we all have works. I mean, we all do stuff. We all have a life.

We all have decisions we're making and things that we do. So what are we supposed to do here? James has something specific in mind and he doesn't leave us in the dark. Verse 15 makes it plain what James means by works.

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. Folks, remember the beatitude.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. They alone. The merciful.

The merciful. Go back to verse 13. Remember here in James 2.13? Look at it.

James 2.13. What was the issue? The issue is on judgment day, we're going to find that judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you this.

That professing Christian who dies with tremendous amounts of riches and wealth stored away when there are so many needs in the world. I mean, I recognize, maybe somebody that's got huge reserves has been giving generously from those reserves, but God just gave them so much that they were never able to exhaust all of it. But brethren, a lot of times, you know, typically the more wealthy people are, the less merciful they tend to be.

Mercy is an issue here. Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Now, here's the thing.

Works. Ergon. It's clear, James is using the term very specifically.

He doesn't use it to describe sweeping the floor or mowing the lawn. Unless you're doing that for a widow or something like that. Mercy.

John drives home the same thing. Listen to what he says. By this we know.

This is 1 John 3.16. Don't look at it, but listen to this. But by this we know love, that He laid down His life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed.

That's our word, ergon. Works. In actual works, let us love.

And in truth. Now, you know what? We heard from Jeff about how praising God works towards assurance. But listen to what John says.

By this, by showing mercy like this and love like this, by this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before God. Now think about what this means. Those who hope God is loving and God is merciful and that He won't hold their sins against them, but they won't lay down their life for others, such people, what he says, will not be able to reassure their own heart.

Brethren, I find that in reformed circles there are oftentimes many people who seem to lack assurance. Lacking assurance is pretty predominant. And you know what? People, you can be a Calvinist and you can have all the right doctrine, but if this is missing, there isn't that which reassures our heart.

There's no true confidence. And they shouldn't have confidence. John reveals the main reason why people lack confidence.

And you know what? Inevitably, people with this dead faith that can't save, did you hear what John said? Little children, let us not love in word or talk. Do you know what happens? You know what we're going to find on judgment day? Is the people on the left were full of talk. That is often what describes.

Talk and not action. And so, brethren, you know, I don't think it necessarily grips us as it ought. We tend to have this mindset.

You know, you talk to somebody. Well, I've never killed anybody. A lot of people have this mindset that the acts of commission, the things I do, like sin, they far outweigh the things that I omit.

Let me describe what I mean. We can imagine that sinful deeds committed are greater than loving deeds omitted. But listen, isn't it amazing that Jesus comes along and on judgment day, He says, I was hungry and you gave Me no food.

I was thirsty, you gave Me no drink. You see, those on the left, it's what they didn't do. He doesn't say to those on the left, well, you know, you went to the casino all the time and you gambled and you drank too much and you didn't treat your wife right.

You know what the big issue is? What they didn't do. You know, God created us for good works. What they didn't do.

Listen, listen to how this jumps out. We just think of adultery, murder, robbery, child abuse. They can appear so much more heinous to us.

Listen to this. Ezekiel 16.49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom. She and her daughters had pride.

Excess of food. Prosperous ease. But did not aid the poor and needy.

Sodom? Sodom? God calls out Sodom for not taking care of the poor and the needy? Like that was their main crime? We never think that. Who thinks that? Homosexuality is the bad thing. Trying to rape angels, that's a bad thing.

And yet, isn't it amazing? In God's sight, maybe it's a bigger sin to not be a friend of tax collectors and sinners than many of the other things that we tend to think being so bad. Brethren, when you don't go in search of the needy and the poor, that may be a lot worse than some rift you're dealing with with husband and wife. We don't want to ignore either.

But it's like we just have such a tendency to put, well, you know, if I stole, that would be really bad. But see, so often it's easy to kind of excuse ourselves from the things we don't do because we don't do them. We're not involved in it.

How can I be guilty for the kind of stuff I'm not...? Brethren, apathy. When you think of mercy and that mercy is going to triumph in judgment, what is apathy going to do? It will not triumph. Apathy.

I just don't care. Jeremiah 22.16, Josiah judged the cause of the poor and the needy. Then it was, "'Well, is not this to know Me?' declares the Lord." And I think about this.

What does it mean to truly know the Lord? He says, Josiah, this is what it is to know Me. If you really know Me, God is One who cares for the destitute. God is One who cares for the poor and the needy.

That's what it is to know Him. He stresses that. Oh, but I'm a Calvinist! I know good doctrine! I've got all the Puritans on my shelf.

You believe that God is One? You do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. I just say this, can that kind of faith acquit a man on judgment day? You see, this is what James is after.

This is not me making this up. This is what he's after. And if we're going to deal honestly with what he's saying to us, it's not a question of work saving you.

It's the idea, can that kind of faith save you? That kind of faith that's not accompanied by the kind of things that show that I know the Lord. And what's the answer? It's a resounding no. It's an empty profession according to James' standard.

By John's standard. By Christ's standard. By God's standard.

Are you going to try to convince me that apathetic Calvinists make it to glory? Brethren, I want to talk about something here. I recently heard that somebody here went to a very inappropriate movie. And, you know, I can remember when I was first saved and I was in a singles group at a church and we went to a movie and it was totally inappropriate and I was left absolutely grieved.

And I tried to call out the group and they just seemed oblivious to it. You know the kind of movies. You get this sex and foul language.

It was just dragging God's name through the filth and the dirt. Brethren, you know, I hope the church has some sensitivity to that kind of thing. But brethren, you know what? You know what happens in movies and TV shows? They have a plot.

And they want to draw you in. And what happens when we're confronted by so much that's not real? When we're confronted by so much that is fiction and fantasy? Think about it. You sit in front of the TV.

You sit in front of a movie. And you get exposed to this. You know what can happen? Then we literally expend our emotions on that stuff to where we have no emotions left for reality.

It just guts us. You know what? Those guys that create those shows, they want to produce emotion. You've got the girly movies and they just want to tug at your heart.

And guys, you may not feel that, but you know the thrill of the certain types of action movies. And there's all this intensity and there's all this drama and they like to have heartbreak and all plots and disasters and dilemmas. And you know what? So much of it, we're bombarded that real life just doesn't produce the same kind of effect.

There's no human need or human tragedy in reality that's nearly so dramatic. And you know, you can come out of the movie and you're crying and you're all worked up and then you drive by the poor and needy. You don't even think a thing.

MacArthur told a story about some queen years ago. I forget which queen it was. She went to the stage and she was weeping and all full of emotions and she came out and her carriage driver had frozen in the cold and was dead.

No emotion. Brethren, we can be just the same. And I'll tell you this, biographies can be the same.

And I'm not knocking biographies. I've benefited immensely from them. But you know what? We can hear about Rebecca and the woman in the wheelchair and you can get hit.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! You hear all about these things and how these needs were met. And it's all so glorious and it's all so glamorous and it comes at us at high speed and you can hear 20 other stories in a matter of just minutes. But you know what? Reality is slow.

The thrill and excitement usually aren't there. Meeting needs when it's just in a storybook or it just comes at you in a biography can seem so clean and glamorous and all this. But you get in the trenches.

What happens? It's dirty. It costs you something. People try to take advantage of you.

It'll cost you your life if you get in there. That's the sort of faith that Jesus looks for. Meeting needs when it's not so clean and glamorous.

But okay, brethren. Really, I've been just heading up to this. I ask this, what is it about faith that connects me to works? Good works.

Mercy. What's the dynamic here? I mean, I'm looking for how does this work? We realize there's a kind of faith that demons have that doesn't save. They know God's real.

They know all sorts of facts about Him. But have you ever thought demons are not compelled to show mercy to anyone. So what happens to the guy or the gal who has faith like Abraham? Like Rahab? What happens in them to produce that kind of compassion? I mean, maybe we should ask, just as I'm thinking through all this, like faith, what is faith? What's the object? You know, faith is confidence in things not seen, somebody said somewhere.

Confidence in things. There's a confidence. There's an assurance.

There's a conviction of things not seen. What is the object of saving faith? I mean, the example of demons tell us that the object of saving faith is obviously more than just the facts. The object of saving faith is not merely the factuality of the Gospel.

It goes beyond that. Brethren, I come back here over and over and over again. I met with a brother yesterday and we spent a lot of time just thinking about these verses.

Listen, the perishing, the unbeliever. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. I jumped to 6. For God has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Listen, the object of true saving conviction seems to be the glorious things of the Gospel. Paul says the light of the Gospel, the glory of Christ, shone the light, the glory of God in the face of Jesus. It's the glorious things.

It's a person. It's the face of Christ. It's the glory of the Gospel.

It's the heartfelt embrace of this beauty and glory and excellency of it all. No demon has that. And here's the thing, when we're drawn in by the beauty and the glory of it all, there is a powerful result.

Beholding it is powerful. Now, I'm going to end with this. I want you to go in your Bibles to John 12.

All along I've been telling you that I kind of want to use James as a springboard to go to other places. But I want you to see this. I want you to feel this.

John 12 verse 20. Now, among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. You all got that.

They were Greeks. They were there to worship. These Greeks came to Philip who was from Bethsaida in Galilee and asked him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus.

I don't know if you've ever thought about this sequence of thought, but I hope some things jump out at you. Philip went and told Andrew. Told him what? The Greeks want to see Jesus.

And then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Told him what? That the Greeks want to see Jesus. And Jesus answered them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Is that what you expect? Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies. Wait, he just talked about being glorified. Weren't we on the subject of the Greeks wanting to see Him? How did we all of a sudden get to the Son of Man being glorified? And then when he talks about being glorified, how do we all of a sudden get to truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25, whoever loves his life loses it. Wait, wasn't Jesus just talking about himself? Whoever loves his life loses it.

Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also.

If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Now, folks, I don't know if you see the correlation, but I think this is what brings James to life if we've got eyes to see. The question is this, does Jesus show Himself to the Greeks? Did the Greeks get what they wanted? Jesus just always does things and says things that we don't expect.

What did the Greeks want? Of course, they wanted a personal audience with Him. But instead, what do they get? Verse 23, they get this, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. They want to see Jesus? What sort of answer is this? You know what? It's like Jesus says, here's a truth about Me that matters for any Greek who wants to see Me.

The hour has come for Me to be glorified. I'm going to die for guys like those Greeks. And I'm coming out of the grave and I'm going to pass through the heavens and I'm going to be exalted above the heavens with the glory that I had with My Father before the world began.

It's like Jesus is saying, the Greeks are white and wanting to see Me. You better believe it. They're right in wanting to see Me.

I'm on my way to glory. I'm the King of glory. And they're right to want to see Me.

And I'm going to be altogether worth seeing. They want to see Me? That's a good thing. He then says something that hardly seems to speak of that glory.

He says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. And so, how does He go from being glorified to that? Well, there's only one answer.

This is the path to glory. Christ's whole life was living a life of death to self. Christ's glory is to be seen in His bearing much fruit, doing good for others, serving others, meeting the needs of others, saving others.

Verse 25, then the unexpected hits us again. Now He says, whoever... Wait, Jesus, You were just talking about Yourself. Your glory.

How do we all of a sudden get a whoever loves his life loses it? Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there will My servant be also.

If anyone serves Me... Whoever. Do you see what just happened? The truth in verse 24 morphs into a truth about you and Me. Do you all see that that's what happened? We don't want to miss this.

The significance of this. Here's the question. Do you believe in Jesus? You want to see Jesus? You want to see His glory? Well, Jesus will show you Himself in the same way that He shows Himself to those Greeks.

With a truth about Himself that becomes a truth for you. That's key. Because, you know what? Jesus is the example in all of this.

He's called us to this life of mercy. He's called this the life of looking at others and looking at their needs and not passing by. Brethren, He is the example of this.

He gives us a truth about Himself that He then morphs. That truth about Himself is verse 24. He is the grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies.

And He didn't remain alone. He bears much fruit. But then He morphs this thing in verse 25.

Tell the Greeks this great truth about Me. Tell these Greeks that this truth about Me must also be a truth about them. And you disciples, it must be a truth about you.

Grasp this. You say you have faith. Do you really want to believe in this Christ? Then believe this, Jesus reveals Himself, something of Himself to you.

And you know what happens when Jesus reveals Himself to us? That I'm this grain of wheat that falls into the ground? And what we can't get away from is this, that that revelation of Christ always confronts me about who I am. Brethren, what we have to recognize is this, our faith is in the glory of Christ. And if we're obsessed with that glory of Christ, and we're looking at Him, and we're studying His life, and we're seeing the way He poured Himself out.

Watch Him. His life is this living example of a seed that falls into the ground and dies. He died over and over.

There is death after death. Dying to self. He died to this world's pleasures.

He died to marriage. He didn't go get married. Brethren, He died to the wealth of this world.

He didn't have the things of this world. He didn't live in palaces. He died to that stuff.

He died to a long life. He died to living to self. He died to all that.

And that revelation just... These are simply facts for our head, brethren. Oh, I believe facts about Jesus. No, here's the issue.

Do you Greeks really want to see Me? Does anyone here want to see Him? Well, know this, you can't be a spectator and simply look at Jesus. That's what He's saying. They want to see Me? Well, here's something about Me to see.

But what you see about Me has to be a truth about you. You can't escape that. You can't just be a spectator.

You can't just have facts in your head like James is talking about. You believe God is one? That's great. What are you going to do with this Christ? What are you going to do with His glory and the way He poured Himself out? Believing He died and rose again? And what, that's the end? I've got the facts of the Gospel down? None of that.

What's true of Jesus always confronts you and me with who we are. It confronts us with what we truly believe. That's the issue.

This is where faith is found. Jesus said, do you want to see Me? Then behold Me dying. And as you behold that, we want to be drawn into that reality and prepared to become like Him.

Isn't that precisely what's happening? We can glibly say, oh, I believe. We can go further and claim, we want Jesus all the time. We want revival.

We want a sense of His presence. I want to see His glory. I want to know His glory.

I want to feel His glory. He says, do you really? Do you really believe in who I am? Then your path to glory is going to be no different than mine. That's the issue.

That's why they can talk this way, that mercy is going to triumph over judgment. Why? Because Jesus lived a life of mercy. Jesus gave Himself to the poor and the needy.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls in the earth and dies, it remains alone. If it dies, this is you, folks. If it dies, it bears much fruit.

Whoever loves His life loses it. Jesus makes it plain to the Greeks and to all of us. Whatever you came to see, whatever you might believe about me, make sure you see this.

A Savior who is going to glory. How's He going to get there? Down the lonely path, the hard path of hating His life in this world. If you want to see me and be where I am, then see what He says there.

Then serve me, follow me, die with me. Hate your life in this world with me. Pour out your life for others like me.

Jesus and James are saying the same thing. What Jesus is really telling us is the same thing James is telling us. What that faith looks like that will survive judgment day.

The path to saving your life is having that faith that loses your life. Not ultimately. Just in this world.

Only in this world. Hating your life in this world means what? What does hating your life in this world really look like? What does it mean? It means that you're going to choose to do things that look foolish to this world. Why? Because they're living for this world.

See, for the world, this is all they've got. So if they're going to live it up, the he who dies with the most toys wins. That's the mindset.

But brethren, what you're going to do if you are following Him, you're going to choose to do things that look absolutely insane to this world. You'll deny yourself things. You're going to take risks.

You're going to embrace the path of suffering for the sake of love and mercy and compassion. And I'm telling you, if this sounds foreign to you, it's like that doesn't really describe my life, then I just say, brethren, am I making all this up? Or is this what Jesus is saying? Is this what James is saying? Brethren, embrace the path of suffering for the sake of love and mercy and compassion. Jesus said this is the path that leads to eternal life, not death.

So you're not hating your life ultimately, only in this world. What's at stake? You see what's at stake? Bearing much fruit. Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Anyone who serves Me must follow Me. And where I am, there will My servant be also. The Father will honor him.

You see what's at stake here, brethren? The glory of it all! I mean, this is a glorious path. Who wants to miss out on this? It compensates for all the heartness. The life Jesus is calling is a life that leads to what? Fruitfulness? It leads to being with Christ? Leads to being honored of the Father? We're being called to make the decision to believe in Him, trust Him, follow Him.

Serving Christ. That involves following Him. He's in heaven.

Yes. But He got there by emptying Himself. And does that sound like the way you want to live the rest of your life? The remaining years? How you want to spend eternity? Brethren, I'll tell you this.

This life is not easy. When you talk about dying, it's like I'm going to make decisions. I am going to purposely make decisions that kill everything that the lost man lives for in this world.

I'm going to die to those things. This is where we're at. Jesus wants us to disdain the cheap imitation.

God, help us be rid of demon faith in this place. This is true faith. It won't be easy.

And the truth is not many are willing to consider it. I mean, it's a narrow way. And Jesus said there's few that find it.

Brethren, this is true faith. The true faith is this. There is no more beautiful man, a perfect man than Christ.

He perfectly gave Himself. Perfectly lived for God's glory. He did what was pleasing in the sight of God.

He perfectly loved. The perfection of selflessness is found in this one. May it grab you and draw you in so that you become the glory you see.

It's this beautiful self-emptying allegiance of Jesus to His Father's glory. Brethren, this is what draws forth faith. This is what Paul is talking about.

The veil gets lifted. And you suddenly see a glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And it is beautiful.

And it draws you in. And it's a scene that releases this life-transforming power that produces the works. And I'll tell you, brethren, it's real.

You begin to behold Him. And I mean, things happen within you. This isn't like where you have the same old selfish feelings and desires.

And you just have to bite your lip until it bleeds. And make yourself do something else. This is like as you behold Him.

Something happens. Isn't that what Scripture says? Beholding the glory of the Lord. I mean, there's a transforming work.

The Spirit. It's like our desires change. We begin to look at people and we feel for them.

And I'm just telling you, brethren, don't spend all your emotions on TV, on movies, on what you read, to where you have nothing left for this world. Expend them here. See Christ.

Brethren, you've got to be the seed that falls in the ground and dies. This is the path. This is the path to fruitfulness.

But this is the path to serving Christ. This is the path to being with Him where He is. This is the path to being honored by the Father.

Absolutely amazing He takes sinners like us, takes us and transforms us and works us into this image. And in the end, we're going to be honored by the Father. I think this John account brings us to life in a way that, as I said before, James is killing me.

That's why I need to use it as a springboard to go some other places. James doesn't talk like I wish he talked. But Jesus, I think He brings color to what James is saying in a way that, brethren, you just think about that.

The Greeks. Show me Christ. And Jesus says, okay, here's what you want to see.

A truth that you can't be a spectator with. It just draws you in to where it's a truth for Him and it's got to be a truth for you because we follow in His path. Father, I pray that You'd help us to walk that path, the path of mercy, the path of meeting needs, the path of really having a conviction of things that are not seen, a love for Christ, the love of God within us, that there would be such fruit in our life that would give the kind of reassurance that John talks about.

Father, make us people bold to do good, to lay down our lives. Lord, we know it. The idea of dying to self is not comfortable.

It's uncomfortable. We're being called to do something that naturally, carnally, we have no disposition for. But we don't believe that we're merely men, merely carnal.

Lord, we believe there's a new covenant. We believe that You have taken it upon Yourself to put Your Spirit within us and to write Your law in our heart and to conform us to the image of Christ. Lord, I pray for that.

In the name of Christ, Amen.