Keep Faith Alive

Dr. Tony Evans is having faith is an important start.

God wants to know what we intend to do with this if you will you will be celebrating. This is the alternative Dr. Tony Abbott, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oakland Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, president of the alternative. It takes food, water and air to keep our bodies alive today. Dr. Evans talks about what it takes to keep our faith from dying. Let's join them now for this special message for the new year makes a statement in James chapter 2 verse 14 where James says what use is it my brother, but does not have works can say save what James is saying this is going. We have to set the stage clearly. The first thing I want you to. I am speaking to my brother what use is it my brother what is about to say only Christians. So now that we can't find a word spoken to that audience. He says Kim save you. But wait a minute. If you are already my brother and you already say to understand the word slave, which means to be delivered to know the context in which it is.

In order to understand the meaning that it is seeking to convey when talking to non-Christians and you use the words say you're talking about being converted becoming a Christian being born again being forgiven for your sins that the non-Christian use but there is a Christian use of the word say.

In chapter 1 verse 21 receive the word implanted, which is able to save your soul. You sleep when you converted it wasn't your soul that was saved. It was your spirit that was.

I know we talked about save your soul.

But actually, your spirit was immediately quickened a new life was imparted into your spirit. But even though you are now a Christian, your soul still needs to be delivered when you're not a Christian, you need to be saved in order to get to heaven. Once you are a Christian, you need to be say in order to get heaven to view coherent discussion about being say now that he's talking to people already believers is not related to their eternal destiny or else they would be his brethren is related to experiencing God in history. That's why he uses the phrase now to be the point of that verse. What use is the word used means benefit.

What benefit is it to you my fellow Christians. My brother if you have to say and do not have works can that faith by itself, deliver you that I am saying things they are Christians, but undelivered they are Christians, but living in the real Christians, but rarely are experiencing the supernatural in the natural bet on their way to heaven, but they won't know what God looks like till they get because the historical movement of God is not operating in the Bible is clear that a person must be converted by faith apart from works by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, according to works, so that no one should boast. Ephesians 289, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he has saved us so a person gets to happen by faith apart from works, but a person gets heaven.

By faith plus works, what use is it of what benefit is it my fellow Christians, my brethren, to have faith without a partner called works, what good is it to have it without exercise. What good is it to have exercise without diet. You may say progress for a while but it won't last because the two things that need to be combined have been kept separate and so your faith will be of no benefit to you even though you're my brother and I say many of us go year after year and a Christianity that does not work so what James wants to do is to give you a faith that is beneficial. That is useful, but you can do something with any sense for that faith is not enough. It must have a partner called works and if you keep your play without works.

You won't see anything In terms of God's involvement in your life in your year. That's why believers can go year after year and never see anything change even though they got faith. If you are wanting heaven to visit you this year.

It cannot be by faith alone. It must be by faith, accompanied by the right corresponding action is not enough saying amen is not enough coming. The church is not enough. Bible study is not enough agreement is not enough waving a hand in the air like you just don't care is not enough says if you wanted to be a usable faith a beneficial faith. Let's say you want to check the weather out so you turn on your favorite channel to the meteorologist meteorologist says what tomorrow there's 100% of rain chance of rain tomorrow. In fact, this will be toward ramus Corby thunderstorms you listen there and you say amen to everything the meteorologist said oh, ramus, right you only believe them. You tell everybody else is going. The box is for rain tomorrow you you are reciting the meteorologist message then you walked out of the house without an umbrella.

Well, I got bad news for you. You get the wet. The fact that you heard the meteorologist. The fact that you agreed with the meteorologist will not stop you from getting wet because the accompanying action of a number already go to whatever it is not correspond with the message you agreed with.

So what use is it that you listen to the meteorologist. What use is it that you listen to God without the corresponding action and you wondering why my getting wet as a believer because the corresponding response was not you go to the doctor you're sick, something is wrong because you believe the doctor you trust the doctor you trust is technology you trust. This test believe in him or her and you go to the doctor. The doctor does all the tests as if this is what's wrong this is why it's wrong. Here's a prescription and you give thanks to.thank you, thank you for analyzing the problem. Thank you for telling about the problem with little to be the problem. Thank you for the prescription designed to solve the problem you have enough faith to call the document in the faith, go to the document in the faith to receive the prescription you have enough faith to go to the pharmacy to have enough faith to receive the medicine that you do not take what use is it that you believe the doctor what use is it the trip conversation with the doctor. What use is it that you went to the pharmacy to all the fake stuff and it is no benefit because the corresponding action was not connected to it so it becomes useless visit to the doctor and useless visit to the pharmacy and useless receiving medication. Orthodoxy alone cannot deliver you Bible studies alone cannot deliver you sermons alone cannot they can speak you. They can encourage you likely will be filled for can motivate you to do all of that but they cannot deliver. Bring God into your reality on earth can do faith without works is deceased. It just lies dormant. He said let me illustrate my point with one man and one woman starts with the man in verse 21 was not Abraham our father justified by works which claimant when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar. You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of works, faith was perfected.

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says Abraham believed God was reckoned to him as righteousness. And he was called the friend of God, he says, was not Abraham justified by works when the Bible says a man is justified by faith apart from works, but he says was not Abraham justified by works. A man is justified by faith apart from works would have to go to heaven when it comes to you seeing God visit you on earth a man is justified by works based on faith is a different scenario as two different groups of people. If you want to see God in this year operate in you to you through before you with you so that you become useful and beneficial and you see is reality operated says you can just be justified by faith must be justified by works declared righteous by works. Dr. Evans will have some biblical examples of faith in action for us when he returns to continue this message just a moment with us as we turn the page on 2021 hopeful thinking, even though they still uncertainty about what happened with so many reasons to be hopeless in our media craze to sound. You can help bring messages of hope and life with your year-end gift as I thanks will send you a special resource called advanced Tony Evans, 20, 21, 20 most popular sermons from this year on CD and MP3 Evans.org for details on how to get your next Tony Evans.org you one lasting hallmark of the ministry. The alternative is her commitment to offer resources that help listeners like you grow strong in faith, wisdom, and dedication to God's kingdom. To that end, would like to send you all 20 full-length messages from the best of Tony Evans, 20, 21, is a way of saying thanks when you make a contribution to help support Tony's work and for just a few more days will also include a special year-end bonus. It's your choice of one of three popular resources you can get the details on those resources and make your selection@tonyevans.org again that's Tony Evans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 I'll have that information for you again after part two of today's message. Here's Dr. Evans was already a believer in God long before Genesis 22 Genesis 15 it says Abraham believed God, the righteousness God told Abraham to offer up Isaac making the sacrifice is walking with his son is what what initially puts his son on the altar and suffered death makes absolutely no logical sense… A knife to obey God and the Bible says as the knife is about to come down became to love the Lord Jesus Christ of the Old Testament, grabbed his wrist and God makes an astounding statement is now I know you fear me. Now you know he didn't know until now, when you have the mission all-knowing God. God knows everything actual God knows everything potential.

God knows everything that was, is and will ever be.

But this… No, God has not experienced everything he has knowledge about. For example, if you ask God what does it feel like to commit a sin you could answer never had a feeling that committed the sin that Jesus bore our sins, but that what is sent to you and ask God what is it feel like to commit a sin. That is an experience he cannot articulate, because that is an experience. He's never had. Although he knows what's this, the Bible says that God became a man so that he could sympathize with our infirmities. He wanted to feel what you feel knows what you feel, but he wanted to go through it so that he could be your great high priest. The Bible says to the father sent the son so we could talk when God tells Abraham. Now I know I let her put them in everyday language is now Abraham, I feel you because I saw you choose me over the most important thing in your life as far you make me first in your decisions. God just done what was see Warfield so we can say now I know you're for real because he wants me experience of your commitment, not just the knowledge about your commitment and it was in that context that he discovers the name Jehovah Jack Lord will provide the Lord will come out of nowhere and bring a ram caught in the thicket. That was the quiet is ramming history ever caught in the thicket this year. God wants to feel just want to hear a man when you praise the Lord's will to see you read your Bible study your Bible you want to feel and he feels you win the decision is made to do work when he is requested or required.

Now I know now you will see a part of me you've never seen before by his work.

His faith was perfected because he had experience more God because it's with the summary statement in verse 24. Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead. If you try to have faith and works to get to heaven. You cannot be forgiven so that no man will boast God of what you in heaven, what you did to get its faith apart from works but if you want heaven to visit you this year that you gotta not only read your lips.

He's got to see your feet he's gotta see what he says even if it's not perfect faith without works for fees to your body and don't use it for couple of months muscle atrophy and will be unusable will be unusable.

Why, because it was not exercised faith must be exercised in order to build stronger muscles got a courtship that means is the life is questioning whether the body is real, which is saying the body is real but it can't work is a useless body because the life principle that makes it operate.

The spirit is no longer in it so it exists but can't do anything, you may be a Christian that got to do nothing with nothing for because he sees your church attendance decision prayer you open your Bible, but when it comes to implementing what he says talk like a body without the spirit you become a credo corpse, believing the right stuff, saying the right stuff, experiencing nothing is possible for our church in the church to become a graveyard of Christians corpses who love Jesus. Jesus can do nothing for because they would die without exercise. Exercise and diet faith without works. If I were to say to you, your car is dead because original gas you could maybe really just not going anywhere because the life-giving substance is absent in a few the fumes for faith is our work of obedience to what God is requested and required and then God is free to remove the impoverishment of our lives to enter into our circumstances to bring about the transformation. We are looking for freedom up significantly. You contracted Bible whenever God wanted to do something special whenever God wanted to do something out of the whenever God wanted to do something that was crazy.

He told the people they had to do some first people there say without waiting on God, the God which I will await you to do some first Moses said that the Red Sea loathe the Israelites pharaohs, in one way the Red Sea is in front of him and the people wanted complaining about that. There's no way out of this.

Maybe you entering this year and is no way out alone because I'm stuck Moses prayed to God, just as Moses Moses why you stand here talking to me looking praise God wanted complaining you do when you hold out the deals are thrown all of a sudden the waters will back the supernatural into the natural Josh was at the Jordan River across the lawn is God said no you told the principal different machine companies with the water cannot do anything till I see their feet in the water. They put their foot in the water all of a sudden rolled back and not only did they walk across to join the bombs as they walked across on dry land not only rollback the water. The bank so they could get wholesome carts across Net on the Other Side of the Boat. God to Preach This Presentation We Been Fishing All Night and They Do Not Bite so We Know What We're Doing. We Been Doing This We Are Part of Exhibit B Fishing Corporations Know What We Are Doing Here.

So What You're Asking for to Make Sense, but Usually This Is Just As You Will You Will Throw out Mitchell and Wendy Did What He Said.

The Bible Says They Caught so Many Fish in the Boat Was about God Care How Long You Been Doing Dr. Tony Evan with a Look at How to Make Sure Our Faith Is Alive and Active in the New Year Back in Just a Moment with a Final Thought to Wrap up Today's Teaching If You like to Get a Full-Length Copy of This Message to Either Review on Your Own or Pass along to a Friend Including Content.

We Didn't Have Time to Present on the Air. Just Go to Tony Avenue and Start or to Request a CD or MP3 Copy of Keep Faith Alive and If You Visit Us Right Away There's Still Time to Take Advantage of That Special Year-End Package I Mentioned Earlier, the Best of Tony the 2021. Don't Forget We Put 20 of Tony's Most Requested Messages of the Year in a Giant Collection Also Includes an Additional Resource of Your Choosing between the Instructive Children's Book Made by God or the Powerful King Demand Rising Devotional or Tony's Latest Book Kingdom Race Theology. This Special Resource Bundle Is Yours As Our Thank You Gift When You Make a Contribution to Help Support Tony's Work Here on This Station and around the World.

This Special Offer Will Only Be Available for a Couple More Days, so Get All the Details Right Away.

Had Tony up and Start or You Can Also Call Our 24 Hour Resource Center at 1-800-800-3222 Friendly Team Members Can Assist with Your Request. That's 1-800-800-3222. Most of Us Had to Learn Things in School.

We Thought We Had Never Used in Real Life on Monday.

Dr. Evans Will Tell Us about a Kind of Study That's Not Only Useful but Life-Changing As Well. Right Now Though He's Back with His Final Thought.

So the Question Is Not Really about Your Face?

What Are You Not Doing That God Is Ask You to Do That Is Keeping God from Showing You in a Whole Another Level. You Want to Experience God.

You Don't Need More Faith You Need to Take That Mustard Seed and Put It to Works of God to the Alternative with Dr. Tony Bybee Celebrating 40 Years of Faithfulness, Thanks to the Generous Contributions of Listeners like You