again this evening. It is a blessing to be in your midst, a blessing to be here. We have enjoyed our fellowship thus far, enjoyed our times with some of you thus far, getting to know who you are, and I've been wanting to say something about this before the first evening. But it was brought to our room, to our little cabin over there, a basket with goodies in them. I want to thank the church for that. When I'm studying, I'm not one to be snacking too much, but I've been doing a little of it. So yeah, we want to thank you for that. Thank you for all the meals thus far and the fellowship. So we thank God for each of you and wish you the Lord's blessings. And I trust that your hope, your faith and ours as we focus upon God, that we can focus, have a forward focus and recognize that in God lays our only hope. Last night, I spoke on grace. And today, the title of the message is Faith and Works. And so, when I mention Faith and Works, what comes to your mind? Faith and Works. And for a basis for this scripture, let's turn our Bibles to James chapter 2. Maybe before we go into this, I would like to read something. I had it here last night and I failed to read it, but I think this that I have to read here is something that relates to grace and it relates to faith and works. So I'm going to read this before we go into the message. I did tell a couple of you last night about this, and this is a story. about Joseph Scriven. Some of you may know about Joseph Scriven. Back in the 1800s, Joseph Scriven was a young man. I believe he was a godly young man. I believe his mother taught him godly principles and godly truths. He was engaged to a beautiful bride. They were to be married the next day. As she was going through a stream on horseback, the horse spooked, threw her off into the creek. Her head hit a rock, knocked her out, and she drowned. Joseph Scriven came along a few moments later, and he found her there. He looked on the face of the one he was to marry, and the bottom of my world, he says, fell out. Not long after, in 1845, he moved from Ireland, outside of Dublin, he moved to Canada. In Port Hope, Ontario, he was faithful in serving others. He served the widows and the poor for about 40 years, helping only the people that could not pay. He met Elizabeth Roche in 1854. They were to be married in the spring of 1854. I'm not sure it's in the 1800s where they met. It says here 1854, they were to be married in the spring. Elizabeth Roche was struck with pneumonia and died. So he sought refuge in God. As I trust that we Seek refuge in God in times of duress and stress. And he wrote home to his mother in Ireland, the poem. What a friend we have in Jesus. And that's where that song comes from. from a man that had experienced such heartache, such disappointment, and yet, even in all this, I believe he was faithful to the calling of God. Now let's begin Let's go back to James 2. I'm going to read the whole chapter, but the text is taken out of verses 17 and 18. Even though faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say thou hast faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works. Now let's read the whole chapter. My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring and a goodly apparel, and there come also a poor man in vile raiment, and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, sit thou here in a good place, and say to the poor, stand thou here, or sit here under my footstool, are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, have not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called? If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scriptures, thou shalt love the neighbor as thyself. You do well. But if we have respect to persons, ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point is guilty of it all. Guilty of all. For he that said, do not commit adultery, also said, do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art becoming transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment. What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he have faith and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body, what does it profit? Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God, thou dost well. The devils also believe and tremble, but wilt thou know, o vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac and his son upon the altar? Seeest thou how faith wrought with works, and by works was faith made perfect, and the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called a friend of God? See then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. I kind of lost my place here. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when he had received the messengers and had sent them out another way. For as the body without spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead. And so brothers and sisters, I want to ask you something. If you claim to have faith, shouldn't you have works as well? Faith and works go hand in hand. And so, if I claim to have faith but have no works, that means my faith is vain. Because it is what I do that, how would I say, that brings validity to my testimony. It is what I do that makes my testimony valid. But you know, there are many a people in this world today that say they believe, and their works do not point to that belief as being valid. But I would like to point something out. The Bible says, is it only human beings that believe? The Bible says the devils also believe and tremble. They believe there is a God. They believe that they know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And many a time when Christ met people with devils, you know, what would they do? The devils would cry out, Jesus, the Son of God. And so the devils knew Jesus Christ. And let me ask you, challenge us here today, would the devils know us if we are confronted by people with satanic spirits? And I'm made to think of something that happened just a few years ago, actually in Costa Rica. I don't know how many of you would have read some of those accounts where there was this one young man His father was in the occult, in a satanic cult. He was the leader of the group. And this young man was supposed to take the place of his father. He came to one of the ministers of the church there. And he wanted relief and release from these demonic spirits. He was full of demonic spirits. The minister prayed the spirits out of him. He would foam at the mouth. But it seemed like he would, just every so often, they had to work with these demonic spirits. And even so far as, This brother would go to his house. I believe the mother and sister were a part of the church, if I remember right. And one thing that made an impression upon me as it relates to these demonic spirits looking to Jesus and confessing that He is Lord, This demonic spirit, one time this brother needed help. He brought other church members with him, the other ministry. And this young man, when he saw them drive in the lane, he proclaimed, there come the people of God. And so, Would a demonic spirit testify to our faith and the things that we do as relates to God and the power of God? We cannot underestimate how works and faith go hand in hand, because I believe that the power of God is revealed not by faith, but by works. We can say what all we want to, but if works are not supported by what we claim our faith to be, it is vain. And I do not believe that demonic spirits would profess as they did to Jesus and as they did to this man, that there come the people of God as they were driving in the lane. And that to me made it more plain and made it more, how would you say, made it more real to me. Where we are living in a time more than ever before where the kingdom of powers of darkness and the power of God are in contrast to each other. And it seems like it is the powers, the division is greater than ever. It has always been a division there, but it seems like we as a Christian people need to stand firm and steadfast in our resolve to follow God and not compromise with the truth at all. We find too many people compromising the Word of God. Compromising the truth. And it seems like here, in the book of James, that the writer is somewhat reproving them for something here, for being somewhat naive in their understanding of faith and works. You know, they were being... What is the word? When you prefer one man over another. I can't even think of the word now. But anyways, but some people lift up their works as an aspect of their salvation. Like when asked what you need to do to be saved. What do we do to be saved? What do we need to do? Well, some people look at their works for salvation. Is work salvation now? That faith and works are very important in a Christian walk? Can we now have works without salvation and be saved? No. No. All the good works that you can do in life will not save you. And there are people that do all kinds of good deeds expecting Brownie points with God, if you please. That is not what God wants of us. First of all, God wants a heart. God wants a heart. And then he expects us to work and to labor in his vineyard, in his kingdom. And it blesses my heart when I see churches like some of you here. I know that some of you have gone to the mission fields and have gone to Hillcrest, have gone different places. Brother Conrad helped us down in Georgia a number of years in teaching school. We appreciate that. It blesses my heart to see that there are people that care and they go out and work in labor in the vineyard, in the field. Many people exploit their good works. Could I say something here? Our culture, okay? Our culture often times exploits people's good works. And I'm talking about even in the Mennonite churches, if you please. Could I give you an example? It happens in Montezuma, Georgia. You know, we have school sales. You know, we have supper. We have pancake supper for our school. And there's hundreds of people that come in for this supper. And then we have an auction. And a $30 cake will go for $200. And when the cake is sold, everybody claps. So-and-so bought a cake for $200. How does God look at that? I don't know. It goes for a good cause. But I've often wondered, how about the poor man that's sitting there and cannot buy a cake for $200? Why don't we just put $200 in the offering box or in the school fund and buy a cake for $30? It happens at the Hades sale. And this is exploiting. I have a feeling that we are exploiting our wealth and our ability to do these things. Why don't we just put... Anyways, enough said. Let's turn our Bibles to Matthew 19. Before we read this, my mind just went to another scripture, and I would like to point out something. In Matthew chapter 25, before we read this, I want to go to Matthew 25, verse 31 on, he talks about the sheep and the goats. And what Jesus told these people, let's notice here. The Lord said, when we saw the, excuse me, let's begin reading in verse 35, verse 34. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, this is the sheep on the right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was in hunger, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. And I was a stranger, and ye took me in naked, and ye clothed me. I was sick, and ye visited me. I was in prison, and ye came unto me. And then shall the righteous Answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee unhungered, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? When saw we thee sick in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. So you see, the people of God, the works that they do, are not done. for brownie points with God, if you please. They are not done for any self-glory or any honor. But they are done because there was a need. And the people of God are willing to stoop down and help. Whenever I talk about this, and I don't want any honor or glory, but there was a man, we stopped at a filling station one time, there was a man there, had both legs cut off. He was sitting there, had prosthesis. He begged for a little money. I gave him a little money. And every time I think about that is just, you know, we need to be willing to help these poor people. But it is not for any honor or glory to self. It is only to God that gives. And these people, they said, when do we see you in all these situations? Now let's look at the last part here. Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was in hunger, and ye gave me no meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in. Naked, and ye clothed me not. Sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, When saw we the unhungered, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to the least of these ye did it not to me. And these shall go astray into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. So it seemed like the one sect of people, the ones that went to the right hand, meaning they went into the kingdom of God, to the glory of the Father, you know, they were doing their works. They were doing the common, how would you say, they had the common Christian mentality. But there were those that went to the left and they were like, We didn't know anything like this existed. When did all this happen? And we didn't minister unto thee. Now let's go to Matthew chapter 19, verses 16 through 22. Behold, one came and said unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good, but one that is God. But if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments. And so he was like, which? You know, they had lots of commandments. So the man asked Jesus, which? So Jesus told him, Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And then the young man said, well, all these things have I kept from my youth, from my youth up. What lack I yet? This is the answer that Jesus gave him. If you will be perfect, Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor and thou shall have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. But the young man heard this, when he heard this saying, he went away sorrowfully for he had great possessions. Now, I am not here to say that God is asking us to sell everything that we have and give it away. But I believe that we as a Christian people are willing to share the blessings that God has given us to an extent that a worldly person does not. And maybe that's why God blessed us like he has. So that we can share and supply the needs of the people around us. And that is works. I trust with faith. But the man went away sorrowful. There's one thing I would like to notice here as well. I didn't look up the scripture of where it is, but you know the story of the widow that put in the two mites? What did Jesus say about that widow? Jesus told, as he was explaining this to his disciples, you know, there was these rich men that were putting in all their money and it was tinkling as it went into their bowl. You know, the top has kind of a top shape, you know, it kind of with a neck and kind of falls out as I picture. And the money kind of rolled around and around and kind of went down into the neck, you know, and all this. Here come this poor widow. She put in two mites. I don't believe she made that money tinkle around, go around and around in this bowl before it fell in. I think she just put it in. But Jesus gave a lesson here. He told his disciples, said, did you see that poor widow that put in two mites? What did Jesus say about that widow's offering? She done what? More in than what? than all the rest. She put more in than all the rest. Well, we know mathematically that didn't figure. What was Jesus talking about? Jesus was talking about the heart and the intent of the heart. She put in all her living. Her offering meant more to God than all the rest because she did it with a good heart. She did it with purpose and reason, not exploiting, not with any exploitation of what she had. The right response is the exaltation of Christ, not ourselves or what you can do. What do we have that God did not give us? Let's turn our Bibles to Titus chapter two. Titus chapter two says, in all things, turn it here, verse seven. Here is the exhortation to young men to be sober minded. And then it says, in all things, showing thyself a pattern of good works in doctrine, showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned, but he that is of contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. So you see where faith and work leads us to. Believing is a command of God. Believe. Faith. Believe. Faith. Believe. I believe what God is asking us is to believe. What do we need to believe? Who has an answer for the question? What do we need to believe? In Him. That's right. And our faith in him produces the works that we should do. Abraham, because of his faith, God gave him many promises. And when I think about Abraham, he was way off in Haran and God told him, leave the land of Haran and go into the land that I will show you." Did God even tell him where he was sending him to? I don't think he did. I don't remember that he did. Abraham's faith produced works because God said, go, Abraham went. And God brought him into the land of Canaan. And the world has been blessed ever since the faith of Abraham produced his following of God. And the world has been blessed. And even today, we have many people going to the land of Israel. I thought there was somebody here that was with us in Israel. Don't seem, you know, James's were. One of the young girls over here with us, there was two sisters that were with us. It was a blessing to go to Israel and see. And it was because Abraham believed God and God chose him and his descendants for his people because Abraham believed. In Matthew 23, verse 32, it says, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Why? Because they believed the promises of God. Now let's go to another character. Let's think about what Moses did. Who was Moses? What was Moses' beginnings? The children of Israel were captive in the land of Egypt for how many years? 430 years. You think about it, how long is 430 years? It's a pretty long time. America had not been established for 430 years. In fact, about 100 years minus that, I believe. Maybe over a hundred. But God had given Abraham a promise and to his seed forever. And here was Moses. He was taken from the river because of an edict that Pharaoh gave. And his daughter saw Moses in saw this bulrush, this basket made of bulrushes and took him to her house. And she raised, no, she took him and then gave him back to his mother to be raised. I'm not knowing it was his mother. I don't believe she knew, but I don't know. But Moses was trained in all the training that the Egyptian universities could give. Moses became a top general in Pharaoh's army and fought and beat the Ethiopian army when other generals could not. This is according to Josephus. The other generals of the Egyptians could not defeat the Ethiopians, but Moses did. And I read some of the escapades or whatever you call it that he did. It was amazing what Moses did as a general. Let's turn our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11. Here it talks about Moses. In verse 23 through 28, By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the King's commandment. By faith, Moses, when he has come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather, listen to this, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Now all the fame and power and the glory of Egypt would have been his, I believe. But it says here that he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Now, how committed are you and I to the cause of Christ and of God? Moses was a prime example of commitment. and of sacrifice, and of faith. It says, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured it, seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them." And the life of Moses was a life that was full of a man that trusted God, and God worked mightily through him. But what strikes me more than anything is how that he was willing and able to forsake all the pleasures and all the power and all the glory of Egypt to follow a people that was to be persecuted. Moses chose to leave all that. Now let's go to, let's go to verse one. of chapter 11. Here it basically says what faith is. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtain a good report. Now, is he talking about us here? If we would put our name in here, would that fit in? As our profession of faith in the power of God. For by it, the elders obtained a good report. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. So things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. And it goes on and it gives us a number of examples of faith. But these were people that didn't just live by faith. They acted upon that faith. And so I believe that we also, and I believe this is here to challenge us in our day and time that we should act upon our profession of faith and not be ashamed of it because it is the power of God is a salvation to everyone that believeth. And the Bible says to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And then let's go to verse six. You want to please God? What does verse six say? Without faith, it is impossible to do what? To please God. That is a very simple statement, but it is a profound statement. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him." Diligently. Thank you. I left that out on purpose. Diligently seek Him. In the Christian walk of life, brothers and sisters, it takes diligence. A casual living, it takes diligence, not a casual spirit. We need to walk by faith and do the works that God is calling us to. By faith, Noah, being warned of God, of things not seen, yet moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is of faith." You think about Noah. Noah was the architect, well, God was the architect of the ark. But let's put things in perspective. Who built the Titanic? Pardon? Men. They were trained men. They were educated men and they figured everything out, didn't they? And here we had an uneducated man that built an ark that did not sink. So what was the difference? The difference was here was a man of faith that followed God and did not boast about his production. I believe if you look at the people that built the Titanic, I think there were some people that were kind of boastful of their production. And the statement was even made that not even God could sink this ship. Faith is the doing, daring, of the soul that goes farther than the natural eye can see. Faith is a doing daring of the soul that goes farther than the natural eye can see. Mark chapter five, I'm not gonna turn to that. Verse 25, we have a woman that had that issue of blood. Why did she touch Jesus' garment? Because of faith. Because of faith. And there was another, another man in Mark chapter 10, that I would like to read, Mark chapter 10. We have a blind man. And I am always intrigued about this man. Here we have a blind man. We have Jesus walking down the street. And this man was, let me see here, Mark chapter 10, verses 46 through 52. They came to Jerusalem and he went out of Jerusalem talking about Jesus with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway, sighed begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out saying, Jesus, our son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace, but he cried the more a great deal, our son of David, have mercy on me. And I'm intrigued by Bartimaeus. This man, he was blind and somehow he knew about Jesus. And when Jesus come walking by, this man had faith and he believed that God could heal him. That Jesus could. And he did not give up. How determined are we to catch the attention of God? He did not give up. And Jesus says here, he stood still, in verse 49, and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man, saying unto him, be of good comfort, rise, he called, he calleth thee. And he casted away his garments. See, he was excited now. He cast away his garments. And he came to Jesus. And Jesus said, what wilt thou that I should do to thee? Of course, it was obvious what he was wanting, but Jesus wanted him to profess and to confess his needs. He said that I might receive my sight. And now let's see what Jesus said. And Jesus told him, go thy way. Your works have made you whole. Is that right? No. Go that way, thy faith hath made you whole. Now, I'm not advocating that every time we are sick or have some issue of some kind, that faith is going to heal us. I would advocate more that if we are sick, whatever the issue is, we pray to God and say, Lord, heal me if it is your will. But our faith in Him does not waver in spite of the circumstances that we face. Sometimes God heals and sometimes He doesn't. And we say, Lord, Thy will be done. It doesn't change our faith in Him and the works that follow. In 1 John chapter 5, I'm going to turn to that quickly. 1 John chapter 5, the first five verses. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that loveth him that beget loveth him also that is begotten of him. But this we know, that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our Faith. It doesn't say works. It says faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God. And in closing, let's turn our Bibles to Romans chapter five. And when I think about faith, when I think about the disciples, when Jesus was up on the Mount of Transfiguration, what were the disciples trying to do? A man brought his son that had demons and the disciples could not cast him out. And then after Jesus cast him out, the disciples were like, why couldn't we cast him out? And Jesus said, look, just putting my own words, this kind of power does not come but through prayer and fasting. So may I suggest that sometimes maybe our powerlessness is because of not enough prayer and fasting. to make that connection to God. And if you want to know what fasting is about, read Isaiah chapter, I think it's 58. And there it gives you the right kind of fast. Romans chapter five, I'm gonna read the first 10 verses. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into his grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope. And hope make it not a shame because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, but the Holy Ghost, which is given to us. by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet, preadventure, for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we should be saved by his life. And so as we face life, the circumstances that are brought our way, may we continue to fight the good fight of faith, And let's make sure that our faith is not just a profession from the mouth, because devils also believe. And as they met Jesus, thou art the Son of God. But that works will follow.