Bringing Back Those Who Wander

“Bringing Back Those Who Wander”
(James 5:19-20)
Series: Living the Faith (James)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

• I invite you to take your Bibles and join me this morning in James, chapter 5 (page 814; YouVersion).

We are at the very end of the Book of James, studying the final two verses this morning, a short text that in many ways stands alone and calls for careful attention. Next week, Lord willing, we’ll do a review of what we’ve learned in the letter of James, with particular emphasis about persevering through hardships and difficulties.

So this morning we are in chapter 5 and looking at verses 19 and 20.

• Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
20 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.

• Pray: Dear God, our heavenly Father, as we study these verses we ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us. Help us learn from these verses, whether we find ourselves in the role of one who restores or we find ourselves to be one who wanders from the truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Introduction:

If there’s one thing we have come to know about the Apostle James, it is that he sugarcoats nothing. He is direct and gets right to the point and. I once knew of a person whose name was Frank. He would say frequently, “My name is Frank, and that’s what I am.”

This is James. He is frank, direct, straightforward, and real. He is blunt, bold, and candid. And I find his approach painfully honest and yet refreshing in so far as he deals with the reality of Christian living.

This is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in these last two verses:

If the Apostle Paul writes of Christians’ having a ministry of reconciliation—and he does—James teaches that Christians are also to be involved in the ministry of restoration, restoring believers who have wandered away from God and the church, restoring them back to the fellowship, going after them and turning them back, turning them from the error of their way, resulting in the saving of their soul from death and the receiving of God’s forgiveness.

So there are some straightforward truths for the church here, truths that surface from the text and I want to share them with you this morning as well as some actions to take as we engage in the ministry of restoration. First, James teaches:

1) It is Possible for a Believer to Wander from the Truth (19a)

James begins verse 19 with, “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth,”

If anyone among you (hands sweeping congregation) wanders from the truth, wanders from the truth of the Gospel, wandering into heresy, or wandering away from living the truth, falling into the sins addressed throughout this letter—sins of being judgmental, sins of the tongue, sins of worldliness.

It is possible for a believer to wander from the truth. We sing of this reality in the hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Remember the line that goes, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” That’s just the reality of the situation.

We may wonder how that is possible given the fact that Christians have a new nature, are born again, and have the Holy Spirit within them.

But before we address the question of how it is that a Christian continues to struggle with sin, we must remember that it is also possible that many persons in the typical church congregation may not be saved. No one knows absolutely for certain who is saved and who is not. I mean, for certain. And that is important when we read the New Testament letters such as James.

When we read the New Testament, the writers do not assume that every person in the church is truly saved. We would hope so, but we don’t know so. I don’t know that every member of Henderson’s First Baptist Church is saved. I hope so, but I don’t know so.

The New Testament writers write the same way we would write if we were writing to our church. We would write to the “brethren,” not knowing for certain that every brother is in fact a genuine brother. We understand that there may be some among us who turn away from the church and turn away from spiritual things and eventually walk a path that leads to hell and destruction. That is simply the reality of the situation.

Jesus warns in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

We can address Jesus as “Lord,” refer to Him as “Lord,” and not be genuinely saved. We can do good works in the community of faith and not be a genuine believer. Jesus adds:

Matthew 7:22-23:

22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

A person can serve in the church and do good deeds and not be a genuine brother or sister in Christ.

In the Apostle John’s first letter he writes of some in the church who left the faith. He writes in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”

I don’t believe that James just takes for granted that every person in the congregation is a true believer. He writes to the “brethren,” without assuming that every brother is, in fact, a brother. His teaching here applies in either case: turning a sinner from the error of his way saves his soul from death and covers a multitude of sin.

Now, having said all of this, we are encouraged to know that all true believers will persevere in their faith to the end. Their lives ought to look like this (hands showing rising 90 degree angle), growing each day becoming more like Christ, rising finally to heaven but, in fact, our lives often look more like this (hands showing the ups and downs until finally reaching heaven).

Christians are saved, redeemed, and justified, but there is the “sin that remains,” the daily struggle with sin, the daily battle of the “old man” or “the flesh.” When we give-in to the tug and pull of the world and the flesh, we are at that moment “wandering from the truth.”

Justification, the moment we trust Christ as Savior and God declares all sin forgiven, justification is a point it time. But while Justification is a precise point in time, sanctification is a process. Sanctification takes a lifetime. God changes us but He does not change us all at once. Much of the change occurs gradually over time, even through the “various trials” mentioned back in chapter 1.

So yes, it is possible for a Christian to wander from the truth. In fact, I find it interesting that the word “wander” in the Greek is the word, “planēo” from which we get our English word, “planet.” That’s helpful as the word conveys the idea of going off course, wandering like a planet out of orbit.

This is why it is vitally important for a Christian to endeavor to walk in righteousness every day, reading the Word, communing with God, praying to Him, spending time with God’s people, attending worship with other believers, sharing the Gospel with the lost. These actions are the “working out” of what God has “worked within us.”

Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

As we endeavor to “do for His good pleasure,” to walk in righteousness, we have the assurance that God will honor our doing so as He is at work in us, so He will see to it that we persevere to the end and arrive one day at the glorious gates of heaven.

1 Corinthians 1:8 says that God “will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 8:30 says whom God has justified, He has also glorified.

So first truth: it is possible for a believer to wander from the truth. Secondly:

2) It is Assumed another Believer will Turn Him Back (19b)

Verse 19, “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,”

There is an assumption here that the church is actively going after those who wander. In the immediate context, this would include prayer—praying for one another, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person, praying for the turning back of an erring one.

But more pointedly James has in mind the actual going after those who have wandered.

Jesus is a good model for us. Remember when Jesus talked about the man with the 100 sheep and one “went astray,” wandered away (Matthew 18:12).

It is assumed that believers love wandering believers enough to go after them. And let me just ask right now, “Do you know those who have wandered out of your Sunday school class?” They haven’t been in weeks. Have you gone after them? Have you called or visited? Do you love people enough to reach out to them in an effort to turn them back?

Someone said, “A real friend is someone who always gets in your way when you are on your way down.”

Who do you need to reach out to this week? Who’s name comes to mind?

Why don’t you just stop for a moment and bow your heads and ask God to reveal to you a brother or sister you haven’t seen in some time. Ask God, “God, who do I need to contact this week?” Who does He bring to mind? If this conveys the spirit of your heart then pray this prayer, “God, give me grace to reach out to my brother or my sister this week, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

It is possible for a believer to wander from the truth and it is assumed another believer will turn him back. Thirdly:

3) It is a Blessing when a Believer is Restored (20)

20 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.

When a sinner is turned back, his soul is saved from death—spiritual death—final death and his sins are covered over—not by the one who turned him back, but by God. Only God can forgive sins.

So when we love people enough to get into their lives and turn them back to the Lord and His church their soul is saved and they receive the forgiveness of God. As a note in the ESV reads, “Only God can cover sin, but Christians can be agents of God’s forgiveness.”

Are you an agent of God’s forgiveness? Are you a believer who loves others as you love yourself? Are you a real friend?—someone who always gets in the way when another is on his way down?

All Christians are to be engaged in the ministry of restoration. I want to share with you:

**Two Actions Required for the Ministry of Restoration:
1) Develop Necessary Character as one Who Restores

Two character qualities:

Humility

If it is possible for a believer to wander from the truth, then the reality is that we ourselves may become that believer. I’ll say it again: If it is possible for a believer to wander from the truth—and it is—then it is possible that we ourselves may become that believer who wanders.

Write down this reference:

Matthew 7:3-5:

3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” Also, he warns in:

Galatians 6:1, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

We must guard against becoming judgmental. Some professing Christians are so judgmental and so self-righteous, so unforgiving as to bring a bad name upon the church.

Don’t ever become so critical of a struggling Christian, a downcast, seemingly defeated brother or sister in Christ, believing somehow you are “above all that.” It could happen to you. Practice humility. Humility.

Second character quality:

Mercy

A genuine loving concern for others, especially those who are beaten down. Write down this reference:

Luke 10:25-37:

Does that sound familiar? The Parable of the Good Samaritan. It’s a wonderful illustration of mercy. Let me read it:

25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.
34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 On the next day, when he departed,[j] he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’
36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Someone said, “A real friend is someone who always gets in your way when you are on your way down.”

Develop necessary character as one who restores: humility, and mercy.

2) Understand the Ultimate Cause of Wandering

We discussed earlier the problem of why Christians with regenerated hearts, new hearts, Christians who know the truth and know the way of righteousness still fail to walk rightly and often do what displeases the Lord. We talked about struggling with sin, but why do we struggle at all? What is it that leads to our falling into sin?

John Piper is helpful here. He says, “The answer is that God does not transform his people overnight. He could. And we often wish he would. But for reasons known better to him than to us he allows us often to stumble in our own remaining rebellion and corruption—probably to show us how utterly corrupt we are without him and to make us desperate for him.”

And that is it, isn’t it? Isn’t that the answer for every problem, that we would become desperate for Jesus?

I shared with someone recently in pastoral counseling. I asked this person, “What do you think sin ultimately stems from?” And I shared what I knew to be true for me personally—and, more importantly—what I knew to be true biblically. And that is that sin ultimately stems from a lack of delighting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I really think that is it. All sin stems from a lack of finding joy in the all-satisfying Lord Jesus.

God conveys something of this in the Old Testament through the Prophet Jeremiah. He says in:

Jeremiah 2:13, “My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

When we forsake the Lord, we stop going to Him in prayer, listening to Him in His Word, communing with him in worship both corporately and privately, when we stop “drinking” from Him, we drink from something else. The prophet says God’s people have made their own cisterns or wells, wells he describes as broken, “broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

A broken cistern is one that is cracked and the water slowly seeps out and the mud slowly seeps in. To drink from a broken cistern is to drink muddy water. Who does that? A thirsty person. But who drinks muddy water from a broken cistern when they could be drinking from “the fountain of living waters?” Who does that? Again, a thirsty person does that, a thirsty person who is trying to quench his thirst with the wrong water, a.thirsty person who doesn’t realize he is trading the clean, clear, and constant flow of all-satisfying living water for a muddy, filthy substitute.

The ultimate cause for wandering is drinking from the wrong well.

When you turn to pornography to make yourself feel better, you are drinking from a broken cistern. When you allow your thoughts to wander into sin and temptation, you are drinking from the wrong well. When you drink alcohol to get a buzz, you are drinking from a broken cistern. When you use drugs to get high you are substituting the living water for mud water and you may not even realize it.

Jesus said to the woman at the well in John 4, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:13-14).”

The ultimate cause for wandering is drinking from the wrong well. Drink from the water, the water of life, given to us to quench the thirsting of our souls.

Conclusion:

I conclude with a hymn that was going through my mind nearly every time I read these last two verses in James. Let me invite you to hear it as a helpful summation to all James is teaching here. It’s called, “Rescue the Perishing.”

Hear this hymn as a call to action given the assumption that we will be involved in the ministry of restoration:

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Refrain:
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.
Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.
Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.

• Stand for prayer.

If it is possible for a believer to wander from the truth, then the reality is that we ourselves may become that believer.

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