Faith and Works - Part 2 — Manley Beasley

Faith That Works Through a Right Relationship With Jesus

That's right, and that's what James is saying here. That, and I'm going to put it in my paraphrase, when your faith is right, your works are right. That works could be translated action. When your faith is right, your actions are right.

That's right. Now, I said, you see, we believe that the Bible teaches in a faith that works, not faith and works. And I'm not really trying to play on words, because when your faith is right, your works will be according to your faith.

Your actions will be according to your faith. So when your actions are not right, when your works are not right, you don't come and rededicate your life. You come and repent of your sins and get properly related to Jesus Christ and obey Him and your works follow.

You don't come and rededicate yourself and commit yourself to a work. You come and get right and get properly related to a person. And His name is Jesus. And when your faith is right in Him, then there are works.

See, what does it profit, my brethren, for you to say you have faith and does not have corresponding action? You see, you have corresponding action in that direct proportion to your faith relationship to Jesus Christ.

Grace, Faith, and God’s Work in Salvation

That's right. You see, anything God, everything God commends us to do, we cannot do. Therefore, we have to enter into a faith relationship with Him so He can do it in us and carry it out. That's the reason it's by grace through faith, so it can be of God, not of man.

Amen. Just like salvation. Same way. I was preaching along this line one time years ago. It was one of these businessmen's meetings where, you know, if you aren't worth about a million, you can't get in the club.

Down in Houston, Texas. And it's a good group. It's not the charismatic businessmen group, but it's the more balanced Bible-believing group. I forget the name. Pretty good group. But this old fellow in charge of it was one of the big, big, big members of Second Baptist Church there, multi-millionaire.

And he came up to me. And of course, I didn't know him from Adam. He could have been worth ten cents as far as I was concerned. It didn't impress me because I didn't know him. And he came up to me. I found out who he was after I rebuked him.

And I'm glad I didn't know who he was because he needed rebuking. And his pastor probably never had, so he probably needed it from somebody to get away with it. But anyway, he came up to me and he said, Brother Manly, I understood exactly what you were saying today.

Well, I knew when he had that tone of voice. And he understood exactly what I was saying today because I knew I'd preached a lot of stuff that I didn't quite understand. And I'll tell you anytime anyone says to me, I understand everything you said today, boy, I get a little afraid anyway.

So I was waiting, man. I said, what's going on here? And he said, you know, it's like this fellow who went to a river and then wanted to get across that river in a boat. And there was a boat there and he wanted to get across that river.

And in that boat was two oars. And one of the oars was named Faith and the other one was named Work. And he said, listen, he said, that old boy got in that boat and he got ahold of that oar that said Work.

And he started using that oar and that boat went round and around and around and around. So he finally laid that one down, picked up the one that said Faith, started using it, and the boat went round and around and around the other way.

And said, finally the old fellow decided that if he could just put Faith and Works together, he could get that boat straight across that river. And he said, that's what he did. Well, I happened to have read the same book he read and I knew exactly what he was talking about.

And I said, sir, that is not what I said. Now I'm going to leave you there with him for just a moment. And I'm going to bring you up to last fall. I was at Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile. And I was preaching along this line and a lady came up to me and said, Brother Manley, my mother taught me that there was a man who wanted to cross a river in a boat.

And there was two oars, Works and Faith. And she told her story. Twenty-something years later, I hear, and I laughed. And I said, well, ma 'am, I hate to disappoint you, but your mother did not teach you what the Bible teaches.

And that is not what I'm saying. It's not Faith and Works. It's a faith that works. And when you have a faith that's rightly related to Jesus Christ, it enables Jesus to get in the boat and you don't even need an oar.

Jesus in the Boat: Trusting Christ Instead of Human Effort

You say, where did you get that out of the Bible? The disciples were in the middle of a storm, in the middle of a sea, and they invited Jesus in the boat. And immediately they were at shore. And you can't beat that speed.

Amen? They didn't need an oar, folks. You can say what you want. It gratifies your flesh to do your best. But, brother and sister, it magnifies God for us to be brought helpless, completely at his feet, to trust him.

And then we do not get our best, but his best. We believe in a faith that works. Amen? And when we get our faith right, then our works are right. We get our faith right. Our action is right. So when we look at our lives and our action, our works, all of it's not right.

What we need to do is come back to Jesus, just like we got saved, and repent of our sins. Get everything right with God and fellow man, and right there, as we put our trust in him for salvation, put our trust in him for victory, deliverance, whatever it is that we're finding to be a real issue in our life, just like we got saved.

And then when we do that, you see, then he is able to quicken you, energize you, stimulate you, initiate in you. Remember, I'm taking you back to Sunday night. What he wants. You say, what are you really saying to us?

Paul’s Labor and the Working of Christ Within Him

Well, I think Paul illustrated it beautifully. In Colossians 129, when he says, I labor and I strive. But now watch it. But he says, it is according to his workings which worketh in me mightily. You see, Paul labored.

And Paul literally went through periods of striving. He talks about, if you really know the life of Paul, I would think most of you do. He went through labors of times of striving in prayer. He even indicates that he went through almost like a person giving birth in labor in prayer.

He said that. And not only in prayer, but in witnessing. That verse in Colossians 129 came out of a cell or wherever he was shut up in a house in Rome just before he died. That verse came out of that.

And he said, I labor and I strive. But remember, Paul, it wasn't him trying his best. He said, it's according to his working which worketh in me mightily. So you see, he was in such a faith relationship with the Lord Jesus himself that God could stimulate him externally, internally, and he just cooperated.

Amen. That's right. And his faith, his works were right. His action was right. Because his faith was right. And tonight you can dedicate all that flesh all you want to. It's not going to do any good. But when you and I as individuals get properly related to Jesus by faith, we'll have a faith that works.

And I can tell you how much faith you've got tonight. You say, well, how? By your works. That's what he said. By your works. You see, your experiences are not according, or let me put it this way. Now, if some of you are used to my preaching by now, you realize that almost every night I deal with issues that's very prevalent in the world today in some statements.

Faith Is Built by the Word, Not by Experiences

And I'm going to deal with one right now. And I'm afraid some of you are missing them, so I'm telling you I'm fixing two. So you won't miss it, okay? Your faith is never according to your experiences.

Your experiences will always be according to your faith. So beloved, this philosophy of us having these manifestations of God to build up the fact that God is not dead, but he's alive and he's well and he's God that can heal and do all of these miracles is absolutely opposite to the Word of God.

Because that is building human faith, not Christian faith. Because Christian faith is built by the Word of God and the Spirit of God in the heart of man speaking to man. Amen? And when you have faith, you have experiences that reveal your faith.

You say, why would you say that? Because Jesus said if one was raised from the dead, they wouldn't believe. You couldn't get a bigger miracle than that one. Amen? Where did he say that? In Luke 16? It was, it was.

I know where it was. I was just trying to get you to answer. I know where it was. Amen? That fellow said, listen, if you let one go from the dead back up there and preach to my brothers, they would believe.

He said, no. They wouldn't believe if one was raised from the dead. You know why? Because faith built on that kind of manifestation is not a saving faith. It isn't human faith, but it's not a saving faith.

Repentance, Witnessing, and the Danger of Fleshly Effort

Amen? So what I'm trying to say to you tonight is this. When our faith is right, our works are right. When our faith is right, our action is right. And so if our action, our works, and such, if that's not right in your life tonight, in my life, then my dear friend, we need to come back to Jesus, repent of our sins, and ask him to forgive us and cleanse us, and enable us to trust him like a little child, like we did when we got saved.

Amen? And if you know that, say for instance, you're not bringing people to Jesus as a Christian, and you know that that's God's Word teaches you and me that we're to win people, witness and win people to the Lord.

My dear friends, let me tell you, if you go out there and get one in the flesh, you'll end up with an Ishmaelite. Amen? And he'll raise up to raise your gas prices, and then by the time he gets you living in a false economy, he'll cut it down.

If you knew your Bible, you'd know I was right in order, but since some of you are not responding, I wonder whether or not you really know your Bible. Amen? Right? That's right, brother. My old sister Sarah and brother Abraham tried to help God out, and they brought forth an Ishmaelite, and we're suffering from it today.

They suffer a little bit in that day, but we are really today. The other day I was saying this, and there sat one, but he'd been converted, and I sure was glad. But what I'm trying to say to you, beloved, if your works about winning people is not right, get back to Jesus and trust him right, and cooperate with him, and you'll win them.

That's right. You say, but I thought if you just trusted the Lord, you didn't have to do anything. I don't know who taught you that. Amen? When you properly trust God, it means that you have allowed God to initiate your environment.

It means you have come to the end of yourself in trying to do it, and you are acting in obedience to his word. And my dear friends, that work will cause labor and striving, but it will be in cooperation with him, and actually you rest while you do it.

You rest, you really rest while you're doing it. You see, tonight we need to realize that if we want to really, if we want to really look at our lives, we need to look at our works and see if they're correct.

And if they're not, we need to come back to Jesus and give them the right. The Lord says this all through the Bible. I think I can find a passage real quick, I think I can, that really puts it beautifully in Old Testament language.

Returning and Resting in the Lord

Let me see if I can do it. Give me just a moment to see if I can find that. I reverse things so much that I'm not, I wasn't sure that if it was 30 .15 or 15 .30. This is 30 .15. For the Lord, for thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel.

What's this? In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength, but you would not. See, the children of Israel had gone to Egypt for help. They had gone to Egypt for help, instead of going to God.

And God says, in returning and rest. You see, faith is a cessation of effort. In returning to me and resting that case in me, you would have been saved. And that's what I'm saying to you tonight. In returning to the Lord, repenting, returning, that's repenting, returning to him.

Resting is letting him have it. My dear friends, there's the salvation. Amen. You see, then you are at his disposal where he can work in you, and through you, and for you, to initiate, create all of these things that he wants you to involve in.

And you walk out, you have faith, and there's works that cooperate, there are works that follow, there are works that correspond. That's why he said, hey, you show me your faith without your works. Do you know, I think he's sort of making fun of people.

And he said, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll show you my faith by my works. He wasn't saying, hey, I'll go out here and work and show you I've got faith. That wasn't what he's saying. He said, because I have faith, there's works that will correspond, that will show you my faith.

The Law of Life in Christ Jesus

So it's wonderful tonight to know that when our faith is, our works are not right, it's because our faith is not right. See, no wonder Jesus said, this is the work of God, that you believe on him whom the Father has sent.

Because see, he knew that when our faith was right in him, proper in him, day by day, moment by moment, then there would be the works that correspond, winning the lost, living holy, right relationship with the wife, the husband, the children.

Amen. All of the relationships that, see, would work out. Did you know something? That when man is properly related to Jesus Christ by faith, he fulfills the law unto the degree that the law is made void.

Do you know the law tonight? If they practice it right, cannot arrest me in Oklahoma City. You know why? By living right, I'm making it void. And when I'm rightly related to Jesus Christ by faith, Mr. Law, thou shalt and thou shalt not, in the Bible, cannot arrest me because by the law of life in Christ Jesus.

Amen. Overcoming the law of sin and death enables me to walk in such a way that the law is made void. You see, like the law of gravity, I drop that pair of glasses, it falls. But you know, if I drop that pair of glasses and I catch it with my hand, it doesn't fall.

Even though the law of gravity is still working, there's another law working in my members, stronger and more powerful than the law of gravity. And that law is the law of life in Christ Jesus. Amen. And when I'm rightly related to Jesus by faith, I'm constantly at his disposal, where that law is not restricted, but released to work in my life and give me victory, not only day by day, hour by hour, but moment by moment.

But when I slip from that mooring of faith and start trying to handle it myself, you know what? That law starts operating and brings me in. So what am I saying? If you need to get across the river, folk, don't pick up the oars.

Problems, Growth, and Bringing Jesus Into the Boat

Invite Jesus into your muddle or mess or problem, because any person that's conscious of the economy of God is constantly having problems. If you didn't, then you'd be a robot. There has to be a negative to a positive.

If there wasn't, there'd be no good for the positive. Amen. And so these people, a brother comes up to me and says, we've lived together 50 years. You know what I think? They're lying. And I'll tell you what, if they've never had one, they've never had any fun, have they?

Who in the world wants to live with somebody so agreeable they never disagree? Great. Goodness. I couldn't handle that. I'd never grow. My wife would never grow. And the family would never grow. That's right.

So you've got a problem. If you don't have, you are in real, real, real trouble. God has designed life that way. And you know your works are not right tonight. That's right. You know they're not right tonight.

You get back to Him. Get Him in the boat. Return. Repent. Come back and say, Lord, my life is not right tonight. There's this area and this area and this area. And it's just not right. And I've been trying my best to do all this stuff.

And it's just not right. And here that preacher is up there saying it's not faith that works, but it's a faith that works. So if that's right, then my faith in you is not right. So I want to get right with you.

I want to get right with you. And get it straight. I want to trust you. And, folk, you start trusting Him, not day by day, hour by hour, but moment by moment, just trust Him. In the now, you start trusting Him now.

Jesus Saves Me Now

And what will happen is Jesus will, He's already saved you if you've been born again, but He will start saving you now. I love this. I've never forgotten it. It's four statements. Can I give them to you?

And you may want them, you may not. Now, the one statement is, Jesus saves me now. Jesus saves me now. Jesus saves me now. Jesus saves me now. You see, when you get your faith right in Jesus, now watch this.

The first one is Jesus, underline Jesus. You see, Jesus. The second line says Jesus saves, underline saves. The third line, underline Jesus saves me now. Yeah, see, underline me. And the fourth one, underline Jesus saves me now.

Greetings, friends. It's certainly a joy and a privilege to be with you.