Three Important Ways We Can Demonstrate Good Works

Well, recently we began a series of sermons about personal responsibility and choice in preparation for the Passover and the Spring Holy Days, the days of Unleavened Bread, this year. And we had some sermons. Our first one was the Law of the Harvest. And in that, we studied the understanding that we reap in life what we sow, what we think about we eventually become. So the thoughts and the actions that we are sowing right now, this coming year, as we prepare for Passover, will become a harvest in years to come. And that's why it's so important for us to be thinking abundantly, thinking positively, using God's Spirit in an abundant mindset and mentality rather than one of scarcity. The very next sermon was comparing a scarcity mentality with an abundance mentality. And we saw that, contrary to the human race, God has an abundance mindset. And that's what we need to emulate. That's what we need to have. Creative thinking and living abundantly is pictured by the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. And it represents an outlook filled with possibilities and potential and sharing and giving and ingenuity. By the way, do you know what you call an outlook filled with possibilities, potential, sharing, giving and ingenuity? You call that Christianity. That's what you call it. The next sermon we had was growing towards spiritual maturity. And it talked about the essential importance of our role in growing towards spiritual maturity, what God's promise is, the gift of His Holy Spirit, and the fact that we bring pleasure to God, that part of His plan gives Him joy, as He calls us, as He works with us, and He sees our lives, and He sees us growing and progressing. All of that brings Him great pleasure. Today I'd like to conclude this series with a biblical discussion on the final end result of these things, the law of the harvest, having an abundance mentality and growth towards spiritual maturity. And that's a demonstration of good works. The righteous things we do honor God and help us to develop the mind of Christ and prepare us for an eternity of service. As John wrote in Revelation 22, verse 12, he was quoting Jesus Christ, who said, And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give each one according to his work. We're going to see that good works is the reason we exist. There's a reason we came out of the baptismal tank, and we had hands laid on us, and we continue to breathe in and breathe out.

And that reason is that we were created to produce good works. That, too, gives God great joy and great pleasure. So let's begin this study of the importance of good works by going to Matthew 5 and verse 14. See something that Jesus Christ himself said in Matthew 5, beginning in verse 14.

Matthew 5 and verse 14. Jesus said, When something's on a hill, you have to look up to it. And at nighttime, it's lit. It's glowing. And we live in a very dark world. We were reminded of that, as some of the statistics Mr. Mango gave us in the sermonette. And we are the only hope this world has. Have you ever considered that? Jesus said that he would allow this world to totally destroy itself, except for the elect. God will intervene. For their sake, God will intervene in future events and save this world from destroying itself. You know who the elect are? The elect are you! Exactly! So this is how important we are to God's plan and what God has prepared for us. We are the light of the world. We are the messengers that he is bringing to this earth. Continuing here, he says, Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand. Why? Because the higher you put something, whether it's a city on a hill or a light on a lampstand, it throws a greater light.

It throws a light at a longer distance. It brightens up a greater path.

And it gives light to all who are in the house. Verse 16, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works. And why is all this important? And glorify your Father in heaven. So when we do good things, when we do good works, it gives God glory. We don't do it for ourselves. We don't do it to save ourselves. We don't do it to give us a pat in the back. We don't do it to draw attention to ourselves. We do it because it gives our Father whom we love glory and honor. I have things on my refrigerator for my grandchildren. All kinds of little drawings. They do that because it gives their grandpa joy and happiness. To write a stick figure of him. Say, here, grandpa! And I put it on the refrigerator. I'm proud of that. That's awesome! And God is the same way. When we do good works, we give glory to our heavenly Father. This word works comes from a Greek word ergon. And it means to toil, to act. It means doing a deed, labor, or just downright work.

Because oftentimes, good works require sacrifice of our time. Sometimes we have to redirect something we were going to do and not do that in order to perform a good work. So that's why Paul uses that particular phraseology. Our full-time occupation is to give God glory by how we live and as an example that others in the world can see in this very dark world for us to stand out as truly something refreshingly different and unique.

Do our lives show that we're harvesting good fruits or bad fruits? Do we demonstrate an abundance mindset or do we demonstrate a mindset that everything and everybody's insufficient?

That everything's defective? That's not an abundance mindset.

Do we stand out as a mature Christian and a shining example or have we become immature 21st century Pharisees judging everything and everybody? What kind of an example, what kind of light are we talking about here?

I want you to notice what Jesus said. He said here, Let your light so shine before... Church brethren? No? Not what he says. Let it so shine before men. That's humanity. Let it shine before everyone. Not just people who worship with you every week on the Sabbath day.

So today I'd like to explore the purpose and the reason for good works.

As I think we know, good works don't earn salvation, but they do reflect the natural result of a good harvest, of abundant thinking, of God's Spirit working in us, which is why the sermons before we got to this point were so very, very important. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1.

Griptor very applicable for the Passover.

Beginning in verse 1, And you he made alive. You see, we were dead to our sins. We had no hope. We needed a Savior.

And because Jesus Christ was willing as the Lamb of God to shed his blood for our sins, we are now alive. He says, And you he, referring to Jesus Christ, made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the power of the air, the Spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. We were slaves to Satan, slaves to sin, and most people don't even realize that because they're just doing what comes naturally. And if you don't have your own personal mission statement in life, there was a mission statement by default created for you the day you were born.

And immediately you were influenced by Satan's huge Wi-Fi network. And you don't even need a password to get on it. It's automatically connected to our brains. The moment we came out of the womb and went, waah! That connection was made. And that is the default that most people live by in this world. Verse 3, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

So there was a time when we were exactly like everyone else in this world, who still has blinders on, whom God has not called. He loves them, and He will call them at His time, but they haven't been called yet. And before we understood God's way of life, we were like everyone else. Verse 4, but God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love by which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved. Again, not anything that we could do, but by the grace of God. And raised up together, Jesus Christ came out of the tomb. We came out of that baptismal water, as a new creature in Christ, raised up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. His reward is with Him, and He'll be returning the earth with our reward.

That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It has nothing to do with the good works that I'm going to talk about today. It has everything to do with God's grace and our faith of accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, as our Passover sacrifice.

And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. So it's nothing that we could earn. Not of works, unless anyone should boast, for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I think I read this scripture a couple of weeks ago, but I believe that repetition is the key to learning. So I wanted to read verse 10 again. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

So what's our purpose? Why are we here just to take up space on planet Earth? No, not at all. We are here to give glory to our God and Father with our lives through our good works. Paul uses an interesting word here when he says workmanship, for we are His workmanship. It comes from a Greek word poema, and it means a fabric.

Originally, the original root of the word meant making something with a fabric. You could also say a product or something that's made. And I find it just very interesting that Paul, the tentmaker, would use a Greek word that shows, like a beautiful fabric, God is weaving us into His masterpiece. That reflects His character and reflects His quality. Very interesting that Paul would have used that word.

So today, I would like to highlight three important ways for us to demonstrate the kind of good works that Jesus Christ and Paul were referring to. Why are these works important? Because they're not about us. They glorify our Father. Now, by doing the good works, some great things happen. We develop self-discipline, we develop character, we begin to develop the mind of Jesus Christ because He lived all three of these types of good works. So we're going to talk about that. So that's why these things are very important. All three are essential, but I'd like to give them today an order of priority and significance.

Now, that does not mean that number three isn't important. It doesn't mean number two isn't important. But you know what? If we want to model our lives after the living example of Jesus Christ, all three are important because when He walked on this earth during His ministry, He personally demonstrated, displayed good works in all three of these areas. So let's take a look at the first one. Certainly the most important, the most significant, and that is good works toward God. Do you realize that we can demonstrate good works towards God? Let's go to Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 15 and take a look at that. Good works towards God. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 15.

It says, therefore, by Him, referring to Christ, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name, but do not forget to do good and to share. For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. So the author of the book of Hebrews here tells us that doing good and making a sacrifice of our time, maybe a sacrifice of our money, whatever is valuable and whatever might be important to us, whatever we have, that making those kind of sacrifices pleases our Father. So what are some of the ways that we can share? Well, we share our lives with Him in prayer. We say, you're so important that I'm taking time out of my day to connect with you today, Father, to share a few words of what's going on in my life and how I feel. Another way that we offer sacrifice is through studying the Word of God. It's through meditation. We share our time with Him throughout the day. We think about God. We ponder God's way of life. Another way that we share is we come to Sabbath services. We share our lives with His other children. Do you realize that's very important to God? Now, the second point I've probably let the cat out of the bag. It's serving the Church. But regarding point number one here, good works towards God, doesn't it make sense that we would share our lives with other children that are important to God? Other brothers and sisters in Christ whom He has called, that we would take that time out to love the same people He loves.

And that's our brethren. When we do that, we show good works towards God. We show that we love Him and we respect what He respects. We love what God loves. We want to spend time with people that He spends time with. That's so very, very important. Let's see an example of a man God called simply because this man did good and he shared. Just like Paul mentioned here in the book of Hebrews, we'll now go to the book of Acts and see how God, because of the qualities that that man had that impressed God, that God decided, I'm going to call this man now, even though he's a Gentile, even though he serves in the military, even though he knows nothing of a Jewish background and the Jewish law, so to speak, I'm going to call him right now rather than waiting at another time in history because I like this man. He does good and he shares what he has with others. Acts chapter 10 and beginning in verse 30. This is the story, of course, of Cornelius, and we're going to break into the story here. Peter has shown up. Peter was told to go and see this man. He was a little bit reluctant himself because this would be a breakthrough for the church that was primarily composed of Jews or those who had converted to Judaism. So this is a real breakthrough. And so we're going to pick it up here in verse 10. So Cornelius said, and he's explaining to Peter what got him to the point of inviting Peter to come to his home. And Cornelius said, four days ago, I was fasting until this hour. And at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard. It's a praying man, praying to God. And your alms are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging the house of Simon the Tanner by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you. And continuing, Cornelius says here, verse 33, So I sent you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, his entire household. Everyone's ready to hear this message. Everyone in his household is ready to listen to what this man has to say. What an example.

He says, continuing here, that Peter opened his mouth and said, in truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. What an interesting phrase.

Whoever fears him means has a tremendous awe of God, and works righteousness is accepted by him. This word works is just the verb form of Ergon that we mentioned before. Jesus talked about the importance of good works. This is Ergadzomahii, and it just means a verb form of Ergon, or of doing good works.

Verse 36, the word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. So Peter comes to understand it doesn't matter what your skin color is, doesn't matter your ethnicity, doesn't matter what language you speak, doesn't matter what occupation you're in, doesn't matter your previous pagan background.

What matters is that you are an individual who has an awesome respect for God, that you're humble, and that you obviously are doing everything you can to provide good works and to share your life with others. Verse 37, that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good. So what did Jesus Christ go about doing? Just talking a good game? Making big promises? Saying, well, someday, no, it says, He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Peter's telling Cornelius that God respects anyone who demonstrates a humble heart, who loves God, wants to know God, and shows good works. In Acts chapter 10 here, going back to verse 2, it said, He was a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always. Looking back at verse 2, that's what it says about this remarkable man. Because of those qualities, God said, you know, I can call him now. I can work with that Gentile right now in his lifetime. God accepts all people who come to him demonstrating a respect for his law and his commandments and who want to know God. Let's take a look at one of Paul's writings, the book of Titus, chapter 2, verse 11. Paul writing, Titus 2, beginning in verse 11, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Looking forward to the Second Coming, looking forward to Jesus Christ returning to earth to establish that kingdom that we talk about and we celebrate during the fall holy days. Verse 14, Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed. Again, what a beautiful connection to the upcoming Passover. Jesus Christ redeemed us. He purchased us with his own blood. So we no longer have the shame or the stain of sin in our lives because someone else, that's Jesus Christ, paid the price. That he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people. So does God think we stink? Does God think we're not very important? No. God thinks we are his own special people. Zealous for good works. And why should we be zealous for good works? Because that gives glory to our Father. Good works is the reason we were born. The reason God called us at this time and in this age. Zealous for good works. Speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you. I'm going to read verse 14 from the translation God's Word for today. It says, He gave himself to us to set us free from every sin and to cleanse us so that we can be his special people who are enthusiastic about doing good things. And the quote again, that's from the translation God's Word. Are we enthusiastic about doing good things? The Father wants us to be excited about producing good works. Not in order to save us, but because we have been saved. And because it reflects a spiritual harvest of conversion. It's a natural byproduct of the conversion process that we will produce good works. And hopefully, as time goes on, more good works and greater works. And the kind of works to the point where people, our neighbors, our co-workers in the world, at work, wherever, even in our family, if we have members in our family who aren't part of the faith, can look at us and say, there is someone who is refreshingly different, who has a different mindset, a different reason for living.

That's the kind of example we want to set. Jesus stated in Matthew 18.3, He said, Assuredly, I say unto you, unless you are converted and become like little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Have you ever looked at little children to notice again how they want to please their parents? They are at that certain age. They want to color and give it to their parents. They want to pick a flower. Look, Mommy, I picked you a flower. They want to give pure delight and please their parents. And you know what they do when they make a mistake? They first get up there and they are going to try to walk. And they fall down. You know what they do? They get up again, don't they? They try to roll over. They are trying to learn how to roll over. They get all rock a little bit, but they keep going back. Did they quit and say, all right, that's it. I'm going to be 80 years old and still trying to roll over. No, they don't do that. They keep rocking until they roll over and then their eyes jump out. Whoa! A breakthrough! Did you see that, Mom and Dad? That's the attitude that little children have. And you know what? If they do something wrong and they get their little bottoms warmed by Dad, I think you know what I mean by that. Little children don't brood about it for the next 20 years. They don't write a book, Daddy Dearest.

Little children get over those kind of hurts really fast. And you know what they do? They get back to exploring life. Because life is one big, exciting exploration and adventure.

And that's what God wants of us. As Jesus said, unless you become converted and become like a little child, you will by no means enter the kingdom of God.

Let's take a look now. Titus chapter 3 and verse 8. Hopefully I have this correct. If I gave you the wrong scripture here, just look up at me. Smile. I realize Mr. Thomas is really getting old. He's almost as old as Mr. Graham. So cut me a little slack. Show me some love and mercy and tenderness here. I believe it's chapter 3 and verse 8. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want to affirm constantly. Am I in the right place? All right, good.

These things I want to affirm constantly. That those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.

So he wants to affirm that we maintain good works. Not, okay, let's see. I know it's April. It's good works month.

I'll do some good works today, and the next April I'll do another one. That's not what he's saying here. He says that you should be careful to maintain. That's something consistently that we're producing in our lives. These things are good and profitable to men, but avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and useless. We have to have balance. I received an email from a woman, and I'm sure she's very sincere, but she said, I want to come to your church.

She says, well, actually, I want to fellowship with people who understand the truth that the New Moon Day is more important to God than the Sabbath and the Holy Days.

And I wrote back to her very patiently, but I said, I'm sorry, I don't buy into that. You see, the Sabbath is part of creation. The Sabbath is mentioned in the Ten Commandments. Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath. The Sabbath is listed in Leviticus 23 as the first of the festivals. On the other hand, the New Moon Day is not in the original creation. It's not one of the Ten Commandments. It's not listed in Leviticus 23, except to introduce one Holy Day. And Jesus Christ himself never observed, mentioned, by example, or a statement, the New Moon Day. So I appreciate your desire to understand truth, but I can't buy that.

So we have to be careful to avoid being pulled in to disputes and contentions and strivings about what God's law is, because as he says here, they are unprofitable and they're useless. They don't really make us the kind of people that God wants us to be. But what's Paul tell us? What does he want us to constantly affirm? That we should maintain good works because they are good, because they're profitable. Good works give our Father glory. They include obedience to Him, deep respect for Him, and a genuine love for God.

Some of the good works that we can display before God include praising Him on a daily basis in our prayers, and obviously collectively as the congregation of God. It includes worship, and that's a major part of our services, each Sabbath. Obedience, loving God's laws, God's values in His way of life. Fellowship, because again, we should love what God loves. We should honor what God honors, and that happens to be our brothers and sisters in Christ. Prayer is a great way that we can show good works towards God, because we're saying that you're so important I'm taking time out to talk to you one-on-one and directly and sharing my life with you.

The same with the study of God's Word, opening up the Bible and reading some Scriptures every day to study His Word. Taking time out through meditation as we walk through the day, and maybe we ask God for help, or we do a short prayer when we're facing a stressful situation or something's coming up. Meditation is a great way for us to show Him that He is on our mind. Commitment, how about faithfully coming to Sabbath services?

Committing ourselves to God throughout a lifetime. It's He who endures to the end, not He who rocks it for the first ten years and then disappeared. So, commitment. Faithfulness to Him, being a person of faith. Not when church people were one way, but when we work all week, we're using four-letter words, and we're known as Mr. Grouchpuss, and we're a whole different person at work than we are at church. We want to be faithful to God's values and way of life. Consistency. Again, not hot and cold, hot all the time. Not lukewarm, hot all the time.

Zealous for good works. Spiritual maturity. Personal growth. These are all ways that we honor God, that we display good works towards Him. So, that was number one, good works towards God. Number two is good works towards God's church. Also very important. Matthew 12 and 48. Statement that Jesus Christ made. That is very significant. Obviously, he was talking about it from a spiritual perspective, but that's good.

Matthew 12 and 48. Someone came to him and said, Hey, your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They'd like to talk to you. And he said, Who is my mother and who are my brothers? And he stretched out his hand towards his disciples and said, Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother. So, you see, loving our spiritual brothers and sisters is another thing that brings honor and glory to God, the Father of us all. And this does not mean that he neglected his physical family.

He always also remained connected to his physical family. His mother was there by the cross when he was crucified. He was such a good example that his half-brother James rose to leadership and significance in the early church. He didn't neglect his family. He didn't say, Okay, I now have a spiritual family.

I'm going to ignore the other one. No, that's not the example he set at all. He now had a physical family to love and a spiritual family to love. That's his point. It's not one or the other.

It's not divorcing in our minds our physical family just because we understand God's way of life or the faith. That isn't what he was teaching or by his example at all. John, chapter 1 and verse 3, let's take a look at a scripture that John wrote in the later part of his life, perhaps around 90 years old. 1 John, chapter 3 and verse 14. He makes a very bold, dogmatic statement here. I guess when you get to be a certain age, you don't care anymore, right? You don't worry about tact or being nice.

You just tell it like it is. I have a stepfather who's like that. He's at that point in life where he's not going to sugarcoat anything anymore. He's going to tell you how he feels. 1 John, chapter 3 and verse 14. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. That's short and sweet. That kind of does it succinctly, doesn't it?

We pass from death being unworthy of God's love and way of life and not being called at all to eternal life because we love the brethren. We love whom God loves. He called all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. As I've said before, some of us are prickly, some of us are cranky, but there's still brothers and sisters. You don't get to choose your brothers and sisters. You didn't get to choose your physical brothers and sisters.

They just showed up. The stork brought them. Well, no. The stork didn't bring them. But they just showed up and they are who they are, and you didn't get to choose features and benefits. You didn't get to fill out a survey in advance of the kind of brother and sister in your physical family that you wanted. The same is true of our spiritual family. God calls those whom he desires. And we're different, and we're at different levels of growth and spiritual development.

Again, we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Very powerful statement. By the way, this is one reason why causing church splits is a sin. You don't love the brethren by ripping families apart. It's exactly why church splits are a sin. Now, let's talk about spending time with one another. You can't love someone if you aren't part of the family and attending family functions. You know, where many of God's family functions are listed, they're listed in Leviticus 23, including the weekly Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath and the Holy Days are some of God's many times when all of his children come together and honor Dad.

Have a special celebration to honor their spiritual father. When you love someone, you know what you do when you really love someone, you spend time with them. When you really love someone, you invest time with them. If you really love someone, you look for ways to help them if you can. God does not believe in love from afar. That's a human excuse to avoid being with people. I'll try to manage my inner child here. Obviously, I came from a broken home to kind of hold Mr. Menko mentioned in his sermonette. Thankfully, my mother did remarry when I was a small child, and that did pull us out of poverty.

I had the blessing of seeing the example of my stepfather, who was a very moral man and had a great work ethic. But if my biological father would have said, I love you, that would have been a joke. I couldn't find him. He was nowhere in my life. He was off of far. Those are just mere words. Talk is cheap. When you love someone, you look for ways to help them. Think about it in our own lives. Did you know that God is constantly present in you? He gave you the gift of his Holy Spirit. God doesn't just love you from afar. Again, that's a human concept. It sounds so sentimental. It just sounds so romantic, doesn't it? What does it mean? It means nothing. It means you're not important enough for me to be there. That's really what it means.

But God loves us, and he has given us the gift of his Holy Spirit. It's that same spirit. The Father shares, the Son shares, and they gave it to us. So they are constantly showing love and being in our lives. Let's go now to 1 John 2 and verse 6.

1 John 2 and verse 6.

It says, We want to say that we're disciples of Jesus Christ. We need to follow his example, is what John is saying here. We need to walk just like he walked. He walked and lived and demonstrated good works in all three of the areas that we're talking about today. Verse 7.

I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have heard from the beginning. By the way, that old commandment is in Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 17. It says, Leviticus 19 and 17. That's the old commandment. He says, The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Verse 8. Again, a new commandment I write to you. It's not only old, but it's also new. Especially since very few people listen to it or obey it. It's also new, I write to you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he's going because the darkness has blinded him. So again, love goes beyond talk. Talk is cheap. You can say anything. That doesn't mean you mean it. Genuine love is love in action. Genuine love is when the person you're expressing love to feels loved. It's not just mere words. It goes far beyond that the person that we claim that we are expressing love towards should feel like they're loved, respected, appreciated, honored. That's very important. James 2 and 12, scripture that I'm sure many of us are familiar with. But let's take a look at James 2 and 12.

James says here, beginning in verse 12, You know, God's commandments provide liberty. They actually provide freedom. They're not a burden. They provide freedom because they give you God's values, and they give you perimeters where if you stay within those perimeters, you will have a happy, productive life with a lot fewer stresses, aggravations, and negative things to deal with if you understand that the law is there for a purpose and it provides freedom. But he reminds us that we will be judged by the law of liberty, for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Mercy is more important, is a higher spiritual quality and attribute than judgment. Verse 14, As I said, talk is cheap.

Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to him, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give him the things that are needed for the body, what does it profit? This also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Verse 18, My works, James says, He's saying, believing in God isn't enough. What's the action in your life? Even demons believe in God? Big deal! You have a Gallup poll, and 80% of Americans believe in God. Big deal! What does that mean? Nothing! That means they just wanted to appear religious to the surveyor. Yeah, yeah, I got nothing to lose. I'll say I believe in God. Yeah, sure. Do they do anything about it? No. The things that are needed for the body, that James talks about here, include warm clothes and nourishing food. It includes safe shelter and health. You know, we're more than just a physical body. Our bodies also include a physical mind, and it needs hope and encouragement, and it needs respect. You know, that's one of the things Jesus did as he preached the gospel to people who were hungry and poor. And you know what? For the rest of their lives, they would be hungry and poor. But he gave them a message of hope and encouragement, because he knows that part of the body is the human mind, which also needs dignity. And it needs to be encouraged. The reason I mention this is sometimes, some of the qualities that James mentioned here are lacking in our brethren because of past sins or poor life choices or limited opportunities. So when they come our way, let me ask you a question. Are we going to offer them mercy or judgment from the law of liberty? When Jesus Christ, on that day of judgment, opens up that book of your life and mine, but he opens up that book, and he looks at all of the wicked things we ever thought, all the perverse things we ever did. All these stinking attitudes that we ever had. And he looks that over. Let me ask you a question. Out of the law of liberty, do we want to receive mercy from Jesus Christ? Or do we want to receive judgment from Jesus Christ? I think, probably universally, we want to receive mercy, don't we? And that's the point that James has here. As we encounter brethren and brothers and sisters who are struggling with things in life, let's offer some mercy. Let's help them where we can rather than judge them. 1 Peter 3, verse 8, Peter talks about what our conduct should be like towards each other. Again, we're talking about showing works to the church, showing works to our brethren. The church is in a building. The church are the people whom God has called. 1 Peter 3, verse 8. Finally, all of you be of one mind having compassion for one another. When someone's struggling, when they've made a really bad mistake and they're down, are we showing them compassion or judgment? Having compassion for one another. Love is brothers. Be tender-hearted, even when you're not treated by that person in a tender-hearted way. Set the right example. Raise the bar. Be tender-hearted. Be courteous. Even if they treat you rudely, if they snub you, you respond with courteousness. Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing knowing that you were called to this. We were called to demonstrate compassion and tender-heartedness and courteousness because those are the good works that God wants us to demonstrate because they give Him glory. Even when we are not being treated in that way. These are the kinds of good works God wants us to exhibit one to another.

This is different from judging, inferring, imputing motives on those who are struggling with problems and issues. That is a scarcity mentality.

Paul also mentioned in Romans 12 and 10, he said, Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love and honor giving preference to one another.

I hope you can see and understand that good works toward the church, towards the brothers and sisters that God has given us, is very important to God. Some of the good works that can be displayed to the church include our participation.

We have activities. Participate in those activities. Be there. Not just love from afar, but as much as possible if you are healthy.

If you are within a 1,000 mile radius, be there.

Fellowship, obviously. We mentioned that earlier before. But God calls a family meeting every Sabbath.

We have a reunion. We get to fellowship with all of our brothers and sisters. They are scattered all over greater Cleveland. Some even as far as Columbus.

But we love them all, wherever they are from. Scattered all over the place. Because they are God's people.

We pray for the church. We give financial contributions to the church. We have a commitment to the church.

I am going to be part of the church this week. Next week I am going to check someone else out. Next week I am going to check someone else out.

Next week I am going to check someone else out.

I have decided I am going to bloom where I am planted. And I am going to take advantage of the good things that God gives me here.

A sacrifice of your time, like the work party will have on Sunday.

That is a great way to show love towards your brothers and sisters.

You serve the building and you serve them by participating in work parties.

This includes serving the elderly, widows, orphans in our congregation, which are mentioned by James himself.

Time is getting away from me.

The third good works I wanted to mention is the one that is usually most neglected.

And surprisingly, it is one of the things that Jesus Christ himself, by his example, was most active in.

That is good works toward the world.

Good works toward the world.

Let's go to Luke 6 and verse 31.

Luke 6 and verse 31.

And if you lend to those whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?

For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.

In other words, what's in it for me?

Even sinners lend things out, saying, I'm going to get some benefit from this.

Jesus goes on to say here in verse 35, But love your enemies.

Now here, he's talking about true enemies, someone who despises us.

I hope we don't think that everyone in the world or outside of the church is our enemy, because that is not true.

And in context, that's not what Jesus Christ is talking about here.

He doesn't label people who have not yet been called his enemies, but he's here specifically talking about people who would hate his followers.

He says, love your enemies.

Do good and lend. Hoping for nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.

For he is kind to the unthankful and evil.

It even reigns in the neighborhood and in the yard of unthankful and evil people.

The sun, believe it or not, the sun even shines in the yard of evil and unthankful people.

God is gracious and gives certain gifts to everyone, and Jesus said that's the way that we need to be.

Verse 36, therefore be merciful.

Just as your father is also merciful, judge not, and you will not be judged.

Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.

What do we want on that day? The law of liberty? Do we want mercy? Do we personally want mercy?

Or do we want judgment?

Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give it, and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be put into your bosom.

For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

So he says, do the right things and you will receive blessings so great, it's like they've been compacted.

They've just overflowing, punched down, packed into that container. There is not a smidgen of air or wasted space anywhere. The blessings are so abundant, so many and so rich, that they overflow in your life.

I think this is really important to mention, because in some dysfunctional and selfish cultures, I've heard the attitude, well, the need is so great, don't do anything. The suffering in the world is so great, don't do anything.

And you know, brethren, this attitude is anti-Christian. It's anti-Christ. It's against Jesus Christ, what he did in his physical ministry.

It's against what he did in earth. It's against what he taught. And it's against what he expects his disciples to be doing.

It's a scarcity mentality to be so cheap and selfish that we say, oh, I have mine. Too bad on everyone else.

That's not a godly attitude. That's not what God wants in his church. That's not what he wants from his disciples.

Let's go to Luke chapter 10 and verse 25 and see a very clever lawyer in a discussion with Jesus Christ that he thought he found a way to get out of his responsibility to care for a neighbor.

Whatever that neighbor's needs may be. Luke chapter 10 and verse 25, And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said to him, what is written in the law? What is your reading of it? And so he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.

And he said to him, Jesus said to the man, You have answered rightly, do this and you will live. You'll encapsulate it all. You'll love God, which means you'll keep his commandments, and eventually you will accept his Son for the forgiveness of your sins. You will appreciate what the Passover, the Messiah, does for you, and you will love your neighbor. You will encapsulate the life of the Ten Commandments in the way that you conduct yourself, and eventually that will result in eternal life. Verse 29, But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, Who is my neighbor? Then Jesus answered and said, So he tells this story. A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wanted him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now, by chance, a certain priest, someone who had a religious office, who was supposed to be religious, a certain priest came down the road, and when he saw, he passed by on the other side. He didn't even pass by closely. He went out of his way to pass by on the other side.

Continuing here, verse 32, Likewise, a leave-light. This is none other than a temple priest, someone who knows the law, the Old Covenant, forward and backward, a temple priest. And he arrived at the place, and came, and looked, and he also passed by the other side.

Verse 33, But a certain Samaritan, the most despised people in their culture, they were considered pagan, because, frankly, they had taken some Jewish things, and they had blended some of the law with the pagan religion that they brought with them, when they were sent there from the exile in their own homeland, and they worshipped it a different place, and the Jews, tactfully I'll say, the Jews despised them.

As a matter of fact, a religious Jew would not walk through Samaria. They would purposely walk around it. That's how much they hated the Samaritans. A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.

And he went to him, and he bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and he sent him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him on the next day.

When he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, Take care of him, for whatever more you spend when I come again, I will repay you.

By the way, just as a sidebar, he did not bring the man to his home. He wouldn't risk his own family, the danger and the security of bringing a stranger into his home. He took him to a shelter.

He took him to a place where he could stay and be cared for, and even offered to pay, if needed to be, for this man to be cared for somewhere else. So he didn't bring the man to his home. He said, I will come again and repay you. So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?

Mr. Lawyer, whose career is to study the Scriptures and to make interpretations of what the Scriptures say, and he said, He who showed mercy on him, that Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise.

So Jesus tells the lawyer that his neighbor is anyone in humanity, not simply someone who looks like him, who thinks like he does, who attends the same synagogue that he does, but someone who is part of humanity. Christ had a deep love for the poor and suffering. Now, yes, it wasn't his time to end it or to change the world. We don't see where Jesus ever went into a leper colony and healed everyone in the leper colony. He didn't do that. But he did what he could as he went about his life in his ministry, as he ran into people who needed a message of encouragement, who needed help in some way. In his case, because he was literally the Son of God who could physically be healed, he helped wherever he could.

Isn't that something to think about? What is our approach to the struggling in this world? Is it scarcity or is it abundance? The truth is that this pagan Samaritan put the so-called religious people to shame by his example, by his good works, compared to these religious people.

Galatians 6, verse 7. See what Paul says in the book of Galatians. He says, He says, I think I quoted the scripture a few sermons ago. Verse 9.

As we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Yes, certainly our preference, our first form of action, is to those who are brothers and sisters in Christ. But he says, let us do good to all. He doesn't say, quit your job and do it full-time. He says, as we have opportunity, as you run into situations in life, people, and you hear about something, have that level of compassion and mercy to say, maybe there's something that I can do. Maybe I can help out in some way. I want you to notice Paul's encouragement not to get tired of doing good things for others. He says, do not grow weary of doing good. We will reap a bountiful spiritual harvest if we just keep doing good. Remember, good works is the reason that we were called. And Paul also reminds us that we should do good to all, yes, specifically, especially those who are in the household of faith, but to all. Paul didn't have a dislike or disdain for people who weren't in the church. Yes, he despised the evil that many people demonstrated in the world, and he condemned the evil and the evil acts of people who were in the world. He certainly did that. But he did not despise people themselves. When a need and an opportunity arose, he had a desire to do good because it brought greater glory to God. In Galatians chapter 2 and verse 10, it says he visited the apostles to make sure that his mission was in concert to what their mission was. It says, and they had a great meeting, and they agreed that Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, and they just made one statement to him. He records in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 10, he said that they required of him, quote, that we should remember the poor, the very thing he says which I was also eager to do. So that shows us Paul's attitude, similar to the attitude of Jesus Christ, regarding those who are struggling, regarding those who don't have hope, who have scarce physical possessions because we live, unfortunately, in Satan's world, a world of scarcity that's all around us and immerses us. That's why we have to fight back against it with an abundance mindset. So what are some of the things that we can be doing to serve the world? Well, first, let's talk about us together as a congregation. As a congregation, we do give regular giving to local charities. We have a few charities that we rotate on. Every month, on behalf of the entire congregation, we give a small donation to a number of charities. Month after month, we've done that consistently for years. We've also been involved in various service projects. We did food packs for seniors when their Social Security check would run out. We had put foods in bags, and we worked with another organization so that they would have peanut butter and other things to get them through the rest of the month, as some people only have their Social Security checks to live on.

We have had backpacks for underprivileged children, so the first day of school, they had a brand new backpack to wear. We've been involved in Project Linus, which makes blankets for children in hospitals. We've supported LifeNets, which is part of the United Church of God, to have boreholes in Africa and in a village when they create a borehole so that that village, first time in its history, has water. It isn't intended just to serve the few church brethren in that village. Everyone in that village benefits from that borehole. That's why they're done. And we'll continue to do more things. I always welcome any ideas that any of you have. We even have a committee that works on, within balance, as we have opportunity to be able to help from a congregational-wide basis to help those in the world who are struggling to demonstrate those good works. But what are we doing on a personal level? You know, we all have a responsibility on a personal level. As Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 12, May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, that He may establish your hearts, blameless and in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and all of His saints. So what are we doing personally and individually to have good works towards the world? Because we don't need the Church's permission. We don't need to get approval from anyone to individually do something good in our community, to do something good to help someone else. Some of our good works that can be displayed to the world or to our community can include the donation of our time. There are a lot of great organizations who just need volunteers. They need someone to come and stuff bags when they're ready to give away some food to those who have suffering from food scarcity and need help, and you can go there and volunteer and just put food in bags so they can be distributed. There are people in hospice who need someone to come around and say, Would you like a library book today? We've got these books. Is there something you'd like to read?

There are people in nursing homes who could use some encouragement or serving them in some way. There are literally hundreds of ways that we can serve in our lives, and the key is you can't do it all. And we should do those things which we are inclined by our talents and our interests to do. Not try to do it all, but as Paul said in Galatians 6, as we have opportunity. That's not an excuse to never do it. That's not an excuse to put it off, but it's an understanding that we do have a responsibility, personally, each and every one of us, to demonstrate good works to this world.

We can do things like help people with personal care items, providing food. We can serve our neighbors. I know some of you want a snowy day. You get out your snow blowers, and you blow your elderly neighbor's sidewalk. Boy, what a big help that is! If you're 80 years old, you don't look forward to grabbing that shovel and going out there and lifting all that snow off your sidewalk. I know some of you help out in food banks. Many of you help out financially in a lot of great organizations. And that's good, and it's personal, and I don't need to know about it. All I'm asking you to do is to realize that this area of good works was personally demonstrated by Jesus Christ. It was important to him, and for that reason, it should be important to us. We can also participate in community organizations. Many of them need board members. They need people who can help in one area or another. 1 Peter, our last scripture, actually today, 1 Peter 2 and verse 11.

Peter wrote, Beloved, I beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims. We are ambassadors for Christ. This world today isn't really our world. We're just sojourning in it. We are pilgrims in a very evil and dark world, waiting for God's kingdom. I beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims abstained from fleshly lust, which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works, which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. So do our good works, first of all, are they observable? Can people see them in our lives? Can they see that we live lives of purpose and fulfillment? Or do they see something else? Do we realize that our good works give glory to our Father? It's really not about us. But it's the reason that we were born, and the purpose for which we continue to exist. Brethren, we've been called to a life of good works. They don't save us, but performing them requires sacrifice, self-discipline, a deeper love for others. It leads ultimately to character development when you're doing these things. Perhaps most importantly, our good works give glory to God and fulfill the purpose for our existence. As we prepare for Passover this year, let's consider the personal example of Jesus Christ, who himself demonstrated good works in all three of the areas that we looked at today. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, set an example for us in his physical ministry. Every aspect of his life was good works to bring glory to God, either his good works towards God, his good works towards his disciples and those whom he was working with personally and calling into the faith. The fact that he healed, fed thousands, and gave a message of hope to the world. Very important qualities. In our own way, as we have opportunity, we can do the same. Let's remember the very words of Jesus Christ in Matthew, chapter 5, that we started out with today. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Have an awesome Sabbath day!