My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)
Introduction
Today we conclude the book of James. It has been a great blessing to me personally, and I hope it has for you as well and will prove fruitful in your lives to the glory of Christ. We have met with much timeless wisdom from above throughout this letter that teaches us how to view our trials and how to practically live out the Christian life amongst our brothers. My ultimate desire is that we have not just heard all about these things, but as James instructs us, that we would be doers of the Word.
My Brothers
James ends this letter in the same fashion in which he began this letter, addressing “the brothers.” What a privilege to be called a brother, and to have James speak to us in the same way, as we share in the same faith, and endure our trials, to attain the same crown of life as James and these first century brothers. To see them and their struggles addressed gives us comfort and encouragement in the midst of our struggles, many of which are so much like theirs. Human nature has not changed in all these centuries. We deal with many of the same things they did. They were not a special class or golden era of Christians. In that, we can be helped to keep going, and not think that things are so much worse, or that we are so much better. Each generation must face challenges of their own, deal with sins of their own, and live the Christian life in their time. We cannot be transported into a better time in the past or the future; all we have is the time, place, and people we’ve been given. We are to live it now before the Lord. And James, as well as the entire Scriptures, speaks to us from centuries past with evergreen encouragement and exhortation. Lord willing our grandchildren and their grandchildren will go through the book of James in their churches and find the same exhortation and encouragement we have found, that they may meet us around the throne of God one day. We are one generation in the midst of many. The baton has been handed to us, and we have but a short time to run, and then to hand the baton off to the next runner.
Brothers Sometimes Wander
The next thing to notice about our text today is that sometimes brothers wander. James says, “MY BROTHERS, if anyone AMONG YOU wanders from the truth…” Wandering from the truth is certainly not something that is okay. It is not something that we want to do. But it is a reality of Christian fellowship. Sometimes brothers will wander away. We all know this in our own lives. There may be times where you have wandered from the truth, whether you were going off into a sin or following down the course of some doctrine – and then you turned from that and look back and see that you strayed and wandered from the truth. So it is not something we want to do, but it is possible that a brother may wander from the truth and yet still be a brother.
Wander from the TRUTH
James tells us what it is they are wandering from, and it is a wandering from the truth. Particularly these are the truths which James has set forth in this letter. Think of all the things James has instructed us in. Maybe someone isn’t counting it all joy; or is not remaining steadfast; or they are being hearers but not doers of the word; or they are quick to anger; or they do not bridle their tongue; or they show partiality; or their faith is lacking works; or they are judging without mercy; or boasting about tomorrow; or lacking in patience…they are wandering from the truth.
And notice that truth is something that may be wandered from. Truth does not change or wander away from us. The Word does not fade. There is no variation or shadow due to change in God. It is we as humans who shift and change and wander. We are to conform to the Word, it does not bend to our shape. We are to be like Christ and follow Him. And thus, James’ great admonishment in this letter helps us with this – the encouragement to be steadfast. The more we mature and grow, the more steadfast we become, and thus the less we wander from the truth. Wandering from the truth is the opposite of being steadfast. It is the opposite of enduring, which James has called us to do. Christ is steadfast like a rock, as the rock of our salvation. He is the firmly planted tree by water. He is immovable, as we are to be in Him, like a tree planted by water – not one who wanders to and fro.
Wandering Brothers Can Be Brought Back
Notice also that wandering is something that we can be brought back from. Brothers can be brought back from wandering. This is one way that we endure and we keep going, by being brought back when we wonder from the truth. This is one of the reasons we need each other and we need the church. We can save one another when we wander and stray. A lone ranger Christian has no one to alert him and warn him when he begins to drift and stray, and he could be quite far by the time he realizes how far he has wandered.
Wandering brothers can be brought back, but they need to be among other brothers so that they are surrounded by mercies to save them. The church is one of God’s most important means of preserving his people and keeping us from wandering off into death. This means we must be willing to bring someone back, rather than just cast them off. It also means we must be willing to be brought back, instead of continuing in our wandering ways.
God uses brothers as instruments of mercy
Notice also that God uses brothers as instruments of mercy. God uses people as a means through which others are brought back and saved from destroying their life and their soul. This is really how we should view others in our lives in most circumstances. We should view them as being sent into our lives by God in order to teach us something, or test us in something, or challenge us, or encourage us; or they are in our lives for us to serve them, or help them, or encourage them. Do you view the people in your life, especially your church family, as sovereignly placed there by God, and placed there for some good reason in your sanctification? God gives us one another for our sanctification. It’s very easy to be selfish and self-centered in how we view others in thinking of what people can do for us or add to our lives. But we must walk with humility in this life and remember we are a small part in God’s story of history; and the different characters that He has placed in the story, at the same time and place as us, are certainly there on purpose and for a reason. Are your eyes open and watching and thinking of others in that way?
God uses Christians to bring back a wandering Christian from death. I love stories of courage, valor, and heroism where someone intervenes in a dangerous situation to save the life of someone else. It’s an honorable thing to have the wherewithal to act in a moment of need and save someone’s life from danger. How much greater of an honor is it to bring back a wandering brother and save his soul from death – save his spiritual life?
This is exactly what Jesus does for us. We were lost in our trespasses and sins, enemies of God heading for eternal judgment. God was angry with us and Jesus Christ intervened. He interposed. And He put Himself in our place. He took the wrath of God for our sins, satisfying divine justice, and He turns to us with welcome, and our soul is saved from death.
And Jesus works throughout our lives, to keep us from stumbling, through the means of His Church. When the people of God bring back a brother from sin and he repents and is restored, that is the continued work of Christ in the world to save sinners. And we are a part of that as God’s servants. And when others bring us back from wandering, we should look upon those means and realize that that was Jesus all along bringing us back and saving our soul and our lives from destruction.
Boys and girls, as you all grow up, and maybe some of you already have experienced this, there are going to be times when you think you know more than mom or dad. They are going to tell you not to do certain things and warn you about going down a certain path; and you, in your flesh, are not going to want to listen to them. But you must listen to them in the Lord. Because God has given you parents, and Christian parents at that, as a built-in means to keep you, and bring you back from wandering, so that your soul is saved from death. As hard as it sometimes is to see in the moment, you’re going to grow up, and sooner or later you will see that your parents were right; and you’re either going to regret disobeying them, or you’re going to be so thankful that you did, and you’re going to praise God for giving you godly parents. That’s what the book of Proverbs is – the wisdom of a king calling out to his son to listen; and also the voice of his mother is seen in Proverbs instructing her son in wisdom.
Salvation and covering a multitude of sins
The text says that bringing someone back from his wandering will not only save his soul from death, but that it will cover a multitude of sins. What a wonderful phrase. This is the core of the Christian faith.
Christians are not those who are without sin. Christians are not those who have everything together in life. We stumble and fall; limp and we crawl. We are called to be strong, but we are not as strong as we think we are. Christians have a multitude of sins. We sin a lot. If anyone thinks himself above and beyond this fact, I have great concern for that person. We have a multitude of sins. They are called a multitude because they are too many to count. We don’t even know how many times we have sinned, we are such great sinners. This is not an excuse for sin or a justification for wandering, it is just the reality of our fallen nature.
But in this dark reality of the sinfulness of man is the central bright light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that His blood covers a multitude of sins, for a multitude of sinners. We sin a lot and Jesus forgives a lot. If this were not true, there would be no point. If Jesus just covered part of my sins, and then I had to cover the rest, there would be no point. It would not be possible. We sin so much, but our sins can be covered. And the only sufficient One to cover all the great multitude of our sins is the Son of God who gave Himself up to do just that.
I love what Thomas Manton says, “Many sins do not hinder our pardon or conversion. All these thousands of years God has been multiplying pardons, and yet free grace is not tired out. Free grace can show you large accounts and a long bill, canceled by the blood of Christ.”
Do you have many sins? As long as you keep them you will be filled with fear and anger and wander into death; but you can bring them to Jesus Christ. He stands ready to pardon, ready to forgive. Abundant sins require abundant mercy, and Christ has that. He is an ever flowing fountain of mercy, a well of life that never runs dry. You are tired of sinning, but Jesus is not tired of forgiving. Come to Christ and be saved. Stop wandering and return to the Lord.
There is no Christianity without this. There are no good works without this. There is no enduring through trials of various kinds while counting them all joy without this. There is no bridling of the tongue without this. There is no slowness to speak or slowness to anger without this. There is no patience or faith or prayer or healing without this. There is no book of James without this. There is no James, servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ without this. The fundamental problem we have is that we have a multitude of sins against a holy God. And even as Christians, having received His mercy and His grace, yet we still wander and accrue a multitude of sins, even in the face of that mercy and knowledge of the truth. But this fundamental problem is answered in the fundamentals of the gospel: Christ and Him Crucified, the perfect, spotless, Sinless One, gave His life and shed His blood to cover our sins – past, present, and future – all the sins we think, say, and do; the ones we know we did and the ones we don’t know we did. We can’t count high enough to count all of our sins. We may all be sinning right now, thinking sinful thoughts, chewing on a grudge we have, or stirring up bitterness in our minds, or dwelling on impurity. You couldn’t live enough lifetimes to count your sins. But neither could you live enough lifetimes to count or measure the grace of God by which our sins are covered. We’ll have all eternity to dwell upon His forgiveness of our sins, and we still will not reach the bottom of His mercy.
How could we not then live as James calls us to live? It’s just for a short time. And in this short time called “our lives,” we have received more mercy from God in Christ than could fill up eternity. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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