James - James 5:19-20

Here they are wandering off into lies, into death and destruction, and we need to bring them back. Just remember that he who brings a sinner back from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Gracious Father in heaven, we give thanks for Your word. It nourishes us, it encourages and enlightens us, and we're grateful that today we have the freedom to open the Word of God and study. And now we pray, teach us by Your Spirit. Meet our needs today and help us to accomplish Your will. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

In James 5:13-20, James is introducing us to some of the people in the local assembly to which he sent this letter. Such a variety of people in a local church. James 5:13: some were suffering and some were singing. Some were having difficulty and some were just rejoicing at the good things that had happened to them. And some were sick. And he told them to call for the leaders of the church to pray and to confess their sins that God might be able to answer. What an encouragement this is for us to pray. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much, James 5:16.

But alas, in every church there are those who are straying. We not only have the suffering and the singing and the sick, but we have the straying. James 5:19: "Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins." Now he talks here about ministry. Ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God. He's saying here, uh, we have the obligation to minister one to another. Now we pray for one another; we should also minister to one another and seek to restore those who are straying.

He answers the three questions here. Who does the ministering? Anybody. Someone turns him back. If anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back. Doesn't have to be an Elijah; we don't need a prophet. Doesn't have to be an elder, James 5:14. It doesn't even have to be a, an apostle. Any saint of God has the responsibility of ministering to the other saints. We are members one of another. Who does the ministering? Any believer. How does he minister? By taking that person and turning him back to the truth. The central thing is the Word of God. Why does he do it? To save that soul from death and to cover a multitude of sins.

Who ministers? Any saint. "Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back." That is an interesting statement. It's talking here about conversion. Conversion. Let him know that he who turns—converts—a sinner from the error of his way. Do you mean that a Christian people have to be converted? Yes, because to convert means simply to turn around, to turn back. Jesus said to Peter, "When you are converted, strengthen your brethren," Luke 22:32. Are you in a place today where you can minister to others? One of the great joys of the Christian life is to minister to others. That's why we're here. We are not here just to have other people minister to us. In James 5:14-16, the saints come and minister to a sick man. In James 5:17-18, Elijah prayed for the nation. It's wonderful to have prayer warriors. It's wonderful to have people who will minister to us when we have needs. But what do we do to minister to the needs of others? Now if it's important for us to go and help a sick person get right with God and then get healed, how much more important it is for us to find a straying person and bring that person back to the Lord.

Now how do we do it? Well, we turn him back to the truth. "Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth." You see, this is what causes trouble in the Christian life—wandering from the truth, the Word of God. James has talked about this truth, hasn't he? He's called the Word of God the word of truth. We are born by the word of truth. Each of us has been receiving the blessing of the Word of God. James 1:18: "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth." Now that word of truth is the Word of God. We are born through the word of truth. We live by the word of truth. In James 2:10: "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." All of the Word of God, all of the word of truth is important to us. We do not pick and choose; we follow all of God's truth.

Well, how difficult it is sometimes to walk in the right way. Sometimes we lie against the truth. James 3:14: "But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth." We read the Word of God, but then we lie against it. We say, "Oh yeah, that's right," but we don't do it. We are sinning. "To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin," James tells us that in James 4:17.

So here is a member of the church who has wandered from the truth. He's gotten away from the Word of God, then he starts to believe lies. Now this is a dangerous thing because when you wander from the truth, you no longer have the Spirit of God guiding you, because the Holy Spirit guides through the truth. You no longer have the Word of God protecting you, directing you. It's a dangerous thing. That's why James says you're going to save a soul from death. Remember that careless, backslidden, wandering Christian in your church that perhaps we've been neglecting? That person might be on the road to death. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep—that means they've died—1 Corinthians 11:30. There is a sin unto death, John writes in 1 John 5. What are we supposed to do? Take the Word of God and go and bring that person back to the truth. That's why it's so important that we know the Word of God.

I suppose one of the most difficult things in Christian ministry is right there: going to someone's home, opening the Word of God and saying, "Friends, what you are doing is contrary to scripture." And of course, then they will say, "Well, that's your interpretation." And you say, "All right, give me your interpretation. Here's what the Bible says. Now you read it and you tell me what it means." And then they start beating around the bush and equivocating and arguing, and you constantly hear that same statement, "Well, that's your interpretation." You see, once your mind gets away from the truth of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit cannot fill you. The Holy Spirit cannot guide you. He cannot empower you. In love, we must go to these people with the Word of God and bring them back to God's truth.

Now why should we do it? Who does it? Any believer. You have the responsibility; I do. How do we do it? By turning them back to the truth. Why do we do it? Let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way—notice the contrast. James 5:19: "the truth." James 5:20: "the error." Truth, error. There is such a thing as truth and there is such a thing as error. There is the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error in this world, according to First John. The Spirit of truth is the Spirit of God; the spirit of error is the spirit of the wicked one. And there are many people who think they are believing truth when they are actually believing error. The Holy Spirit works through the Word of God, which is truth, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. The devil works through lies because he is the spirit of error. Let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way—he's talking here about a believer, he's not talking about an unsaved person—will save a soul from death.

James warns in James 1:13-15 about the awful sin that leads to death. "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed"—seduced. "Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." He was writing to Christians. When Paul wrote "the wages of sin is death," he was writing to the Roman Christians. When John said "there is a sin unto death," he was writing to the believers in Ephesus. Now we Christians had better be very careful about this and not tempt God. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. And when we start wandering from the truth and getting away from the Word of the living God, then the spirit of error goes to work and we start thinking not the way God thinks, but the way the world thinks. Not the way the Holy Spirit thinks, but the way sinners think. And this is a dangerous situation to be in.

Now God in His love provides forgiveness. No question about that. If we turn a wandering saint back into the right path again, God will forgive. God will, by the blood of Jesus Christ, forgive us. Love covers a multitude of sins and God's grace covers a multitude of sins, and there is forgiveness and there is restoration.

Now this is serious. I suppose in our larger churches today this must be an impossible task. Uh, these ministers who have thousands of people to minister to, I hope they have a lot of good help, because we're going to have to answer someday for how we have ministered to the saints. We're all greatly concerned about going out and reaching the lost—nothing wrong with that, we have to go out and win the lost and turn them to the right way. But sometimes we have to go out and win the saved. We have to go out and win a brother who has been straying from the truth, and that's a hard job. Constant watching. The shepherd has to be watching constantly as he cares for the flock. By the way, you'd better pray for your pastor and your church leaders, that God will help them to be faithful, not only to win the lost, but also to help win the saved. And you'd better help them. I thank God that in the churches I pastored there were godly people who said, "Pastor, I know brother so-and-so, or I know sister so-and-so. Let me go make a visit. Let me seek to bring them back to the truth of the Word of God." Now that's our job: to pray for and go and search for these who are out of fellowship with the Lord.

That leads me to suggest to you that this kind of personal ministry is desperately needed in our churches today. A preacher can preach to a crowd, but only individuals can touch individuals. The Lord Jesus Christ not only ministered to great crowds, but He had time for individuals. I've noticed some of the pictures of the personal worker in the Word of God. Here's one right here in James 5:20: we have the person going out and saving a soul from death. Beautiful expression here. Saving a soul from death. What are you doing? Trying to bring back a straying sheep? No, saving a soul from death.

Well, in Proverbs 11:30, we have the picture of personal work as catching souls, hunting. Proverbs 11:30: "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise." He who wins souls, he who takes souls, catches souls. It's the picture of the hunter going out and catching the animal. That takes skill, doesn't it? We're compared to fishermen. Mark 1:17: "Follow Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." It takes patience and skill to be a good fisherman.

We are ambassadors. 2 Corinthians 5:20: "Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ." An ambassador is given a commission by his king. The king stands behind that commission. When you and I go out to win the lost, to witness, when you and I go out to minister to others, we are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have authority. We have dignity. We have behind us all the resources of heaven.

Acts 1:8, that familiar verse, reminds us we are witnesses. "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto Me." Not prosecuting attorneys, not judges—witnesses. Too often we as God's people go out into this world and we become obnoxious, and then we start to get persecuted because of this, and we think we are bearing the offense of the cross. We're not; we're just offensive. Don't be an offensive Christian. Now if the gospel offends somebody, that's something else. If the truth of the Word of God offends somebody, you can't help that. But don't be an offensive Christian. Don't be a witless witness. Let the Holy Spirit of God guide you. Witnesses—just telling what Jesus means to you, that's all. I hear people telling others about a wonderful bargain in a store, about a wonderful meal at a restaurant. We're always telling people about good things that have happened to us. Well, why can't we tell them about the greatest thing that's ever happened to us? We've trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior.

Proverbs chapter 24 says that you and I are rescuing people from death. This is the very thing we read in James 5:20. Proverbs 24:11: "Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, 'Surely we did not know this,' does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?" We can close our eyes, we can put our heads in the sand and say, "Oh, we don't know what's going on over there. No, we don't know about brother so-and-so, sister so-and-so. Yeah, we heard that they had strayed off into some false cult, but we don't know much about it." The Lord says, "I'll have to have you answer for that someday." If you know—to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin—we are rescuers. We are rescuing people from death.

In fact, we are firemen. These are people who need to be plucked out of the burning. Zechariah 3:2: "Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?" The same idea is repeated in Jude 23: "But others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire." Now sometimes when you pull people out of the fire, you get burned, but that's all right. We are there to pull them out of the fire. Here they are wandering off into lies, into death and destruction, and we need to bring them back so that they will not suffer the discipline of God.

Just remember that he who brings a sinner back from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. In fact, Daniel tells us in Daniel 12:3: "Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." Pray about it. Maybe there's somebody God wants you to visit—lovingly, tearfully, patiently, in the power of the Holy Spirit of God—bring that person back to walking with the Lord. James ends his letter by reminding us of the value, the infinite value of one wandering soul.

[Interview:]
Narrator: Up next, Warren joins Arnie Cole, CEO of Back to the Bible International, to answer a few questions about his life these days.

Arnie Cole: Warren, what new things are you experiencing and learning from the Lord these days?

Warren W. Wiersbe: Well, the first lesson is how to grow old and stay young. I'm 85, and little by little, as all of us know, we change. We even change our attitudes. And the thing I'm trying to do with the Lord's help—and He is helping me—is to have new experiences, learn new things from the Word of God, but still stay young in my mind and my heart. Now one way I do that is by hobnobbing with the young preachers. Several years ago, I used to meet with a dozen or so young men in the church I was attending, and just prepare them for ministry, ship them off to Moody Bible Institute or some place, and now they are starting churches in various places.

Arnie Cole: That's exciting.

Warren W. Wiersbe: It's a great feeling. I was in the hospital a year or so ago and I opened my eyes one day and here were three of those fellows sitting there waiting for me to wake up, and they've been a great blessing to me. You know, the Bible tells us, Paul admonishes us to pass the word along to others so they can teach others also. That is not a suggestion. But how many churches do you know that do that?

Arnie Cole: Right. Well, I've heard that about you, that you mentor young people even today, is that true?

Warren W. Wiersbe: Yeah, and I say to these young men, "You know, how's the preaching going?" "Well..." and then we get to talking about that. And I have learned so much from others, and I'm trying to stay young while getting old. I have my physical problems, but I think the one word needed today in the ministry is encouragement. Every year thousands of pastors resign.

Arnie Cole: That's right.

Warren W. Wiersbe: Every year churches close up. People need encouragement. Somebody asked me one day, "What is your definition of preaching?" And I said, "Preaching is loving God's people through the Word." That's what it is.

Arnie Cole: Wow, that's pretty awesome.

Narrator: We're glad you could be with us today for Back to the Bible. We have something different in store for you tomorrow. We'll air the full conversation between Arnie and Warren, so be sure to join us, right here on Back to the Bible.

Arnie Cole: Warren, have you written any books or studies lately?

Warren W. Wiersbe: Yes, I'm always writing. Sometimes three books a year have come out.

Arnie Cole: That many?

Warren W. Wiersbe: That doesn't make me a great writer, it just means I've got more time than other people. I enjoy writing, because these books are going to be speaking long after I'm gone.

Arnie Cole: Oh, that's right.