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Faith at Work. James 1. Faith is the Center of the Christian’s Life. John 20:30-31; Ephesians 2:8. The Epistle of James. Faith must work; faith must produce; faith must be visible Verbal faith is not enough, Lk 6:46 Mental faith is insufficient, Jno 12:42-43
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Faith at Work James 1
Faith is the Center of the Christian’s Life John 20:30-31; Ephesians 2:8
The Epistle of James • Faith must work; faith must produce; faith must be visible • Verbal faith is not enough, Lk 6:46 • Mental faith is insufficient, Jno 12:42-43 • True faith provokes action, Gal 5:6
Faith endures trialsJames 1:2-11 “Trials come and go; faith meets them head on and develops endurance.” • The discipline to remain joyful, Jas 1:2; Jno 16:22, 33 • Faith looks beyond the moment to eternity, 2 Cor 4:16-18 • Testing of faith produces patience, Jas 1:3-4
Faith endures trialsJames 1:2-11 • The discipline to continually pray for wisdom, Jas 1:5-8 • Humility to admit our lack and need, 1:5 • Faith to ask God for wisdom, 1:5 Prov 2:6-9; Psa 119:98 • Faith that God answers, 1:5; Prov 8:17; 1 Jno 5:14-15 • Ask in faith without doubt, 1:6-8
Faith endures trialsJames 1:2-11 • The discipline to know that possessions test faith,Jas 1:9-11 • The poor brother: Glory in the exaltation of Christ, Lk 1:52; 1 Cor 3:21-23 (Eph 1:3; 2:6) • The rich brother: Glory in the humiliation of Christ, Phil 3:7-8 “The Cross of Christ lifts up the poor and brings down the high. It is the great leveller of men.” (A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures)
Faith understandstemptation James 1:12-20 • The blessing of resisting temptation,Jas 1:12 • Approved: Tested, tried and shown to be genuine, Rom 5:3-4 • Crown of life, 2 Tim 4:7-8
Faith understandstemptation James 1:12-20 • Temptation is common to us all,Jas 1:13-16; 1 Cor 10:12-13 • God is not the source of temptation, 1:13 • Temptation: Internal (his own desires), External (enticement), 1:14 • Outcome of yielding to temptation is sin and death, 1:15
Faith understandstemptation James 1:12-20 • Temptation is common to us all,Jas 1:13-16; 1 Cor 10:12-13 • Warning, 1:16. Avoid temptations to sin by… • Remembering the gifts of God, 1:17 • Remembering our birthright, 1:18 • Controlling the heart, 1:19 (Col 3:8) • Producing righteousness of God, 1:20 (Titus 2:12)
Faith obeys God’s word James 1:21-27 • The person of faith lays aside sin,Jas 1:21; 1 Pet 2:1; Col 3:5-9 • Moral filthiness and naughtiness (malice) • Faith does not find pleasure in sin, Eph 5:6-11 • Deliberate decision of faith to meekly receive and implant God’s word, Rom 12:2; Col 3:16
Faith obeys God’s word James 1:21-27 • The person of faith is a doer of the word,Jas 1:22 (Matt 7:21-27) • Vanity of hearing and not doing, Jas 1:23-24 • Blessed by doing the work, Jas 1:25 • Must combine knowing with doing, Jno 13:17
Faith obeys God’s word James 1:21-27 • The person of faith lives pure religion,Jas 1:26-27 • Not one who thinks he is religious due to “the external observances of public worship, such as church attendance, almsgiving, prayer, fasting” -Hatch, Essays in Biblical Greek, 55-57 cited by Robertson, op cit.
Faith obeys God’s word James 1:21-27 • The person of faith lives pure religion,Jas 1:26-27 • A doer of the word who practices pure and undefiled religion (fears God) • Inspects the needs of the helpless and helps (compassion, kindness and love) Micah 6:6-8 • Inspects himself and guards himself from sin (2 Cor 13:5), Matt 6:1-4
Faith is put to thetest every day! Faith at work overcomes the world! 1 John 5:3-4