Faith but no works

I have to admit that this article should have been out a while ago, because I have had to speak to so many so called Christians who seem to be experts when it comes to making up excuses and I have been gradually getting more and more tired listening to them. Pretty much all of them seem to think that they are saved by grace and not works, which is true to a degree, but it is strange that I have not heard much of something spoken by James, in church recently, which is James 2:14-26 which says "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." and when you read this you have to wonder how these lazy Christians are going to make it. If I tried to give them the bad news, like James does, then they will usually get upset and start moaning, so I am glad that James has put it the way that he did, so that they will not have an excuse in the end. There is one thing you need to be sure of, going to a church building, singing some songs and then listening to a preacher do not count as works. Neither does repeatedly singing the same song, playing drums or any other musical instrument to the same non spiritual audience count as works. Now if these same people would perform for some sick or homeless people, then I would applaud them for their faith, but they always seem to prefer performing to their own select audiences.

This battle is not for the chickens

The interesting thing about this subject is that things seem to only go in one direction, when it comes to who brings out the scriptures from the Bible. Whenever I go to a church I will usually try to have a Bible in my pocket, so that I am ready to draw it when I see someone who it is worth speaking to. So far I seem to be the only one who goes around and is willing to do battle, while there is only one church brother that I remember who actually tried to do the same thing to me, but even he now seems to be distracted by other things. You might think I am overdoing things by calling it a battle, but lets see what Paul has to say on the matter in Ephesians 6:10-20 which says "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." and when you read this you have to wonder why Paul did not say to just sing loud, listen to a preacher, do your 9 - 5 during the week and then have fun on the weekends, because that seems to be the gospel that the vast majority of Christians are following. If you know of a church where they do things that require the whole armour of God, then please get in touch with me so that I can join them. Note also who Paul says that Christians are supposed to battle against, when you look at the modern church you could easily be fooled into believing that these enemies have disappeared, but we can see this is not the case because of how far the modern church has fallen into the hands of the secular world. Modern Christians seem to have thrown in the towel and are acting as if the things of God are too boring, so they have no choice but to mix in the things of the Devil in order to liven things up. I have written an article, though which shows that this is not true, but it is a shame that modern Christians are enjoying their lives so much that they would not want to put the things mentioned in it into practice.

Burnt chicken on the menu?

Another thing that I have heard some Christians mention is that they do not feel as if it is their calling, to go out on the street, or that they do not feel confident enough to try. Well they should then discuss their motives with the Apostle Paul because in II Timothy 1:6-12 he says "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." and we see that he says that it is not God who has given us a spirit of fear, so all these scared Christians must have received it from someone else. Just in case the scared Christians decide to shrug Paul off, lets see what God has to say on the matter in Revelation of John 21:3-8 which says "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." and it looks as if the fearful and unbelieving Christians might be in for a hot reception if they do not repent from their laziness before that great day arrives.

Simple chickens hate the streets

A lot of the Christians that I have spoken to seem to be skilled in the art of making up reasons to stay sitting in their buildings and being entertained. If I ask them for a Bible quote as confirmation, they will either change the subject or find something in the Bible that they can apply a butchers knife to, so that they can carry on enjoying their life. Finding something in the Bible to counter them is not that difficult, an obvious one is Matthew 22:1-14 which says "And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." and we see at the end that the king sent his servants out onto the highways, while at the beginning he just sent them to the local villagers. Now someone clever might say that the highway is the rest of the world, but the problem that they would then have is how do you bid people to the marriage by just sitting in a building? It is obvious that you would have to go to where a lot of people tend to pass by in order to bid them, while it is difficult to bid anyone if you are hidden inside somewhere. You should note also that it was only the guests who were inspected by the king, while the servants already seemed to be ready, so it looks like it is a lot safer to be one of the servants. We know that King Solomon was wise so lets see what advice he has on the subject in Proverbs 1:20-33 which says "Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." and we see that there was no mention of Wisdom crying in a building with some bored people in it, or of her crying while loud instruments are playing, so it looks as if Solomon is saying that the streets are the best place to get the message across.

God vs the chickens

To put what should be the final nail in the coffin for the chicken Christians, we can read Revelation of John 12:7-12 which says "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." and we see here that the ones who overcame the Devil, by the blood of the lamb, loved not their lives unto the death, which seems to imply that the chicken Christians are not brethren to the angels in heaven. We see the brave Christians mentioned in Revelations again in Revelation of John 6:9-11 which says "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." and also in Revelation of John 20:4-6 which says "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." and I do not see any mention in these verses of any people who sat in a building, while singing with glum faces and being impatient for the preacher to finish. If anyone can find anywhere in the Bible, where God speaks well of His bored, so called, servants then I would certainly like to know where this is mentioned.

Time to leave the coop

Finally we can see that Jesus also expects us to be out there as we can see in Matthew 5:13-16 which says "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." and we can see here that Jesus expects people to be able to see what we are doing, rather that for us to just hide in a building and entertain ourselves. If you are a chicken Christian then now is the time to repent, before God gets the chance to give you the bad news, so that you can join the warrior Christians in the true battle. If you are not a Christian yet then I hope that this article will serve as a warning to you, so that you will avoid any churches that seem to indicate that getting to God's kingdom will be a piece of cake.