Happy Sabbath friends! I am sure we have all heard of the saying “actions speak louder than words”. In today’s message, we are going to delve into how God implements this saying in the Word of God, and how it can apply to our day-to-day lives.
Following through with your actions will always speak volumes, as it forms a sense of reliability and credibility to those around you. God calls us to “walk the walk”, not just “talk the talk”. You can see this throughout Jesus’ life as anything He stated, He followed through on each and every thing. That is why we can trust that He will always follow through on the plans He has for each and every one of us.
“Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”
Joshua 21:45 NIV
“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”
Numbers 23:19 NIV
We can trust in the truth that our Heavenly Father will show up for us time and time again. Whatever He states, will come to fruition, all in His perfect timing. Relating this to the aspect of our own lives, our ultimate goal should be to represent a character similar to Jesus. Throughout our Christian walks, we should exude a character that reflects Christ by not just our words, but our actions too.
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
James 2:14-26 NIV
When reading this passage in the book of James, the first thing that comes to mind would be the aspect of “hypocrisy”. Merriam-Webster defines “hypocrisy” as “a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not : behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel”. If we, as children of God, are claiming to be faithful, but our actions are displaying otherwise, then what does that make us? If our actions are contradicting the words that we speak, wouldn’t that constitute us to be defined as a hypocrite? I know for myself, I do not want to be looked at as a hypocrite. I can speak on my own life that over a year ago, I definitely lived a life of hypocrisy. There was a time in my life when I would speak all these things about my “relationship” with Christ, but my actions were displaying otherwise. I can confidently state that where I am in my Christian-walk now is way more aligned to what Jesus calls us to uphold – actions and words aligning to the faith that has been instilled in my heart. When we live a life that involves hypocrisy of any kind, it not only can impact our own relationships with Christ, but it can impact our encounters with those around us who we could be witnessing to. Take a moment to imagine this…if someone came up to you and starting talking about how important it is to go to church and how God highly encourages us to go to church, but then two weeks later, you visit their church that they preached so highly about and you find out from another person at that church that they have not been in attendance for over 6 months…how would you feel in regards to respect, reliability, and credibility towards that person? I know for myself, I would lose a lot of respect for that person, and the reason I uphold a high regard for Jesus is because everything…and I mean everything He stated, ended up being fulfilled.
God calls us to live out our faith through our actions, and there are countless stories of people in the Word of God who exuded this behavior throughout their lives. Because of this action-based faith, it impacted not just their relationships with Christ, but the relationships they built with those around them.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
Hebrews 11:1-40 NIV
I absolutely love how Hebrews 11 ends by stating “they went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect”. All of these characters in the Word of God lived their lives by faith. They may have been persecuted for it, but they continued to live steadfast by faith. Because they lived by faith, they were blessed abundantly by our Heavenly Father.
Our ultimate goal as children of God should be that we get to a point in our lives where our words are followed through by our actions. Our character should align with the character that Jesus Christ displayed, and continues to display throughout His own life.
“Character is power. The silent witness of a true, unselfish, godly life carries an almost irresistible influence. By revealing in our own life the character of Christ we co-operate with Him in the work of saving souls. It is only by revealing in our life His character that we can co-operate with Him. And the wider the sphere of our influence, the more good we may do. When those who profess to serve God follow Christ’s example, practicing the principles of the law in their daily life; when every act bears witness that they love God supremely and their neighbor as themselves, then will the church have power to move the world” (White, 1923).
I pray over all who are reading this message that they may be filled with a Christ-like spirit that is filled with not just fruitful words, but actions that follow through on such words that are spoken. Lord, please transform our hearts, minds, and souls so that we can reflect a character that is similar with Yours.
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV
Amen.
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Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Hypocrisy definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypocrisy
White, E. G. (n.d.-a). Christ’s object lessons. Christ’s Object Lessons, by Ellen G. White. Chapter 25: Talents. https://www.ellenwhite.info/books/ellen-g-white-book-christs-object-lessons-col-25.htm

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