The Companion of Faith - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, April 29th. Faith and works are both important to God. How do you know if you have things in the right order? Stay with us for part two of The Companion of Faith. Now think about this for a moment.

When you trusted Jesus as your Savior, and He began to live on the inside of you, and He gave to every single one of us the responsibility of being a sounding board to people around us about who He is, what He does, how to receive Him as our personal Savior. Think about this. It would be absolutely totally unthinkable and unbiblical, unscriptural to think that Jesus Christ would live on the inside of you and me and be quiet about Himself.

It doesn't even make sense. He came to live on the inside of us because He says the church is the body of Christ, that is, His hands, His arms, His feet, His eyes, His heart, His ears. That's who we are. We're the sons and daughters of God. We have become the body of Christ.

He's seated at the Father's right hand and He is living on the inside of us in the presence of the Holy Spirit. So having given us the responsibility of sharing with the world who He is, why He died on the cross, His resurrection, His coming again, it would be absolutely unthinkable for Jesus to live on the inside of you and be quiet. So therefore, we too should be the sounding boards of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the office where you work, in your home, among your friends, among your pleasures, among your laborers.

He says sounding boards for the gospel of Jesus Christ. So when we think about our faith, for example, let's think about it in this light. And that is oftentimes because of the emphasis we place on faith.

And it is a very strong emphasis and it is an emphasis that is legitimate. We place a very strong emphasis on our faith because we say we do not want anybody to be misled, misled into thinking that you can go to heaven and be accepted by God by doing good works. And so we place great emphasis on the fact, for by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves, not of works, lest any person should boast. But we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Now, listen, faith has a companion and that companion is works. That is, we're not to work to be saved.

We can never work that hard, that long, that much. But because we are saved, we have a personal responsibility to be sounding boards of the truth that transformed our life, sounding boards of the gospel. Listen, vessels of God, tools of God, channels of God through whom He can express His goodness, through whom He can help those who are in need, through whom He can help those who are poor, through whom He can help those who are sick, through whom He can help those who are discouraged and depressed. We are the body of Christ. He's left us here in order to live His life through us and to do through us for others what He knows they need. And He's chosen us as the vessels through whom to do it.

And because you're saved, you have positioned yourself to be a vessel and a channel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I want you to think about this in the light of that. What should be our attitude? Well, I want to mention three things that you might jot down. Then I want to give you a long list of things in a few moments.

But think about this for a moment. Whether I give you a drink of cold water in the name of Jesus, or give you five hundred dollars in the name of Jesus, or pray with you in the name of Jesus, or give you or buy you a dinner in the name of Jesus. In other words, whatever we do, whatever good deeds out there, listen, whatever those good deeds are, we do them in the name of Jesus. What does that mean? Well, it means a minimum of three things. It can mean a lot more than that.

But it simply means this. Number one, what I'm doing is in harmony with God's revealed will. This is what I believe God wants me to do at this time. To do it in His name is to do it in harmony with.

You and God are, listen, you all are in agreement about it. To do it in harmony with Him. Secondly, to do it in subjection to His will.

That is His authority. I do it His way in His timing. Whatever good deeds should be in His way, in His timing, under His authority.

Waiting for His timing, do it His way. Because certainly that is the best way and the most profitable way to do whatever God calls us to. Thirdly, naturally, is independence upon His power. Whatever we do, we do it in His name.

Independence upon His power. Which says, God, I can't do it apart from you. I can't, but you can. Somebody says, well now, doesn't that sound sanctimonious? You don't have to say it out loud, but the truth is I can tell you.

You and I can't do anything in our own strength that's going to be fruitful, bearing a real lasting fruit. Lots of people can make an impression. Godly people make an impact. So what you have to ask is this, do I want to make an impression on somebody? Or do I want to make an impact for the gospel? Am I doing this for myself? Am I doing this for Jesus sake? In the name of Jesus, I'm doing it because I believe it's His will. In the name of Jesus, I'm doing it in His timing, in His way. And in the name of Jesus, I'm certainly going to do it. Depending upon His Holy Spirit, and certainly also I'm going to do it with thanksgiving. So think about this. If all the works we do, whatever we do for somebody, in the name of Jesus, whatever we do. If it's in the spirit of thanksgiving, if it's in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, if it's in subjection to His authority, His timing, His way. If all of this is true, you know what, whatever we do, God will make profitable.

And I'm going to show you in a few moments why that's so important. God will make profitable. And so the spirit in which we are to engage in good works, that spirit is to exalt Him in it and to do it in His name. But likewise, to do it motivated by love. Here's the way you can find out whether what you do in the name of Jesus, what you do, for example, for others, what you do in service to God, whether it is motivated by love or not.

So I want to give you a list and you can just check yourself out to see where you're coming from. Number one, I think certainly if I'm engaged in any good work, motivated by love, I'm going to be highly motivated. If love is what's behind it, I'm going to be highly motivated. Secondly, I'm going to be enthusiastic about it. If it's love doing it, I'm going to be enthusiastic about it. A third thing is this, I'm going to be energized. When you love somebody, listen, when you love somebody, you get excited. When you love somebody and you want to do something for them, you're energized. You want to get it done.

You want to make it happen. And there's a sense of energy that flows through us when love is flowing through us. It makes all the difference in the world in having to and because love is pumping it out in your life. Another thing is simply this, and that is if we do it because of love, we'll make time. Somebody says, well, you know, I just don't have the time. Let me ask you a question. Can you imagine Jesus saying, I don't have time to forgive you today, sorry.

You know, I've never come to Him and He said, sorry, too busy. When you and I are motivated by love to serve the living God, something awesome is absolutely going to happen in our life. And I think one of the things that you'll also feel is you'll feel very fulfilled when you and I are serving the Lord. And we know that our motive is right. We are pouring our lives into other people. Here's what happens.

You're going to feel fulfilled. When I think about people who always got problems, always feeling bad, everything is wrong and everything is depressing and everything is discouraging, human and all along they go. And sometimes you don't even want to be around them.

You know what? If they get their eyes off themselves and onto somebody else, they get well. Listen, their countenance would change. Their conversation would change.

Their conduct would change. God does not intend for us to live capsule lives, but listen, He intends for us to live like spraying the garden. I mean, get it everywhere. The life of Christ within you, no matter what's going on, pouring yourself into somebody else and it'll cure you of more stuff than you realize.

Find somebody who is in need and give yourself to them. You're going to feel a great sense of fulfillment. You know what happens? Physiologically it's going to affect you. Because listen, your whole nervous system, your whole physiological being is affected by what?

Well, the Bible says, you know, a heart that is discouraged and down, happiness enjoy a good medicine. What happens? Something happens to a person physically, physiologically, something can happen. You start pouring your life into somebody else.

Here's what happens. You begin to sense that you have a purpose in your life, that your life can make an impact. You can make a difference in somebody's life.

You can make a difference in somebody's eternal life. When you're motivated by love, likewise, you will take whatever sacrifice is necessary, you'll sacrifice when you love somebody. You'll sacrifice the time. You'll sacrifice the money. You'll sacrifice the effort.

Whatever it might be. If you love somebody, you don't count pennies. If you love somebody, you don't count minutes.

If you love somebody, it's not a matter of what somebody else thinks. You know what? You pour your life out into them. Let me ask you a question. Can you name anybody today in whose life you're pouring your life? You're sharing Jesus with them. You're sharing your experiences with them. You're sharing them things that happened to you in the past. You're sharing things that are happening in the present. You're telling them how God's answered your prayer. You're sharing them how God has met your needs.

Do you realize that there's so many people who are so hungry? They want to find somebody in whose life they believe God is real in her life. God is real in his life.

The world doesn't believe that God is real. They need to see it in us, feel it among us. They need to sense there's something real going on in us they cannot explain. And what will happen is you won't worry about the sacrifices. Likewise, if we are motivated by love, we're going to have a joy about what we're doing. There's going to be that little extra spark within us that we don't even have to explain it. It's love. Listen, when you love somebody, you go the second mile, tenth mile, hundredth mile, thousandth mile. And you know what?

All the way. You don't count the miles or how much it costs you to get there. We live in a world that knows little and nothing about true, genuine love. You give yourself away. Listen, you're not worried about what they think, how they're going to react, how they're going to respond. What you're going to get has nothing to do with it. And most people today, when you express love toward them, here's the first thing they think.

What does he want? You know why they think that? That's exactly the way they think.

If I give you something, I want something in return. That's not the way Jesus thought or thinks. That's not the way true, godly people think.

You see, when you think about all the ways that genuine love is going to express itself, you're going to do what you do with gratitude for the privilege. When I think about asking someone to serve the Lord in some way, they say, Well, you know what? I just don't have time for that. You know what?

I'm busy, la-da-da-da-da. You know what? You ought to thank God for the privilege, for the awesome privilege of being able to serve the living God. If I love Him, I will not question what He requires of me. If I love Him, I'm going to acknowledge that He knows what's best for me. I'm simply saying to you, Jesus Christ is living on the inside of you and He expects you and me to be a sounding board of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He expects us to live as a way of life to be giving ourselves to other people and pouring out ourselves to other people and stop thinking about ourselves and poor little old me and my this and my that and I don't have this and I don't have that. And what is He saying? He says, Look, my hands, my feet, my eyes, my arms, my heart, it's you. And He's waiting for us to become available to let Him do what He wants to do in our life.

Should I not thank Him and praise Him without complaining and give Him my best? Absolutely. Now, one last thing. Now watch this carefully.

Let me ask you a question. What is the judgment of God all about? There'll be two judgments, the judgment of the saints and the judgment of the lost, people who die lost. What's the judgment all about? The Bible says it is important to man once to die and after this the judgment.

What's that all about? If I'm already saved, is that all about my salvation? Is Jesus going to take another look at my salvation to see if it worked? No. What about the judgment of the lost? Is He going to give them another chance?

No. Then what is the judgment of Jesus Christ all about? The judgment of Jesus Christ is all about one thing. It's about, listen, it's about our works. That's, listen, that's why it's so absolutely important. It's about our works now. People say, well, I'm in, you know, I'm saved and that's all that matters.

That's not all that matters. Now I want you to turn to some very sobering passages. Second Corinthians chapter five. Look at that. Second Corinthians chapter five.

Listen to what he says. Verse ten. He says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may be recompensed or rewarded for his deeds in the body, according to what he's done with the good or bad. What's the judgment all about? It's about rewards. For what?

For works. Second thing I want you to notice here. I want you to look, if you will, in the 20th chapter of Revelation, verse 11 through 15. Somebody says, I don't read that book because I don't understand it.

You're going to understand this part. Verse 11. John says, Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away.

No place was found for them. I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their what? According to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it.

Death and haze gave up the dead which were in them. They were judged, every one of them, according to their deeds. That is, the judgment is all about our works on earth now. Go to the 14th chapter of Revelation. Back to the 14th chapter for a moment and look, if you will, at this verse. You see, our works are very important to God. When we stand before Him in the judgment, the issue is not our salvation.

The issue is your life on earth. What we did. Look at this. Chapter 14 verse 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, write this. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. That's those who are saved. From now on, yes, says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labors and their deeds follow with them.

Somebody says, when you die, can you take anything with you? Absolutely. Our works. Will they make a difference in your salvation? Absolutely not. Make a difference in your reward?

All the difference in the world. That's what the judgment's about. Now think about how Satan has deceived so many people. Well, just so you get saved, that's all that matters. That is not all that matters.

Now watch this. This is how deceitful Satan's been and how successful he's been. Having people think that the only thing that matters is as long as you get saved and get in, that's it. He says for all eternity, our life in heaven is going to have a relationship to our life on earth. He says because our rewards will determine what God gives us to do in heaven for all eternity. We're not going to be sitting around, flying around like angels, hooping it up and just simply saying praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord.

There'll be work to be done. Now the question is, are you going to get there? Not without Christ you're not. And if you're willing to ask Him to forgive you of your sins, based on what He did at the cross at Calvary when He paid you a sin debt in full with His blood, the moment you ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to save you, surrender your life to Him, save by the grace of God. You say, what about all these years of life I've wasted?

They're wasted. You say, is there any hope for me? Absolutely. You trusted Jesus Christ, there's hope. Yes, more than hope, absolutely blessed. Listen, irrevocable assurance from God.

Now the issue is what are you going to do with the rest of your life? Think about this. When you and I stand before Him, listen, we may be busy in this life and we may think that a lot of things is life important, this life is so short and eternity is so long. And Satan has deceived us into thinking, squeeze out all the happiness, squeeze out all the joy, squeeze, get everything you can get in this life because it's going to be short. And he's right about that short part. He's very deceptive about the squeezing part. What would Jesus say?

Here's what He said. He wrapped it all up in one verse. He said, he who saves his life for himself shall lose it, but he who gives his life away to others will save it. You know what pleases the Lord most? That His vessels, you and I, that trusted Jesus as our Savior, that our lifestyle is pouring our life, which is His life, into the lives of others. Good deeds, good works, not because we want to get saved by them, but because we love Him and couldn't do less for a God who's done so much for us. Thank you for listening to Part 2 of The Companion of Faith. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.