The lesson this morning will
be taken from James chapter 5. James chapter 5, verses 11 through
20. I titled the lesson this morning,
Saving a Soul from Death. You find that in the last two
verses of this chapter. It's kind of the way James ends
this chapter and having to do with a brother who's aired from
the faith. Let's read the text together.
James 5, beginning with verse 11. Behold, we count them happy
which endure. Endure what? They endure in the
faith. trials, they endure persecutions,
they endure all things. And we count them happy which
endure. You've heard of the patience
of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is
very pitiful and of tender mercy. But above all things, my brethren,
swear not Neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither
by any other oath, but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay,
lest you fall into condemnation. Is any among you afflicted? Let
him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing songs. Is any sick among you? Let him
call for the elders of the church. Let them pray over him. with
all in the name of the Lord, anointing them with oil. And the prayer of faith shall
save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he hath
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults,
not your sins. Confess your faults one to another,
and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elijah was a man subject to like
passions as we are. He prayed earnestly that it might
not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three
years and six months. And he prayed again, and the
heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren,
if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let
him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of
his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude
of sins. Now that last statement that
he makes, doesn't just have to do with doctrinal, some kind
of doctrinal error, but an error in his understanding of what
faith is. His error in not understanding
what true faith is, what trials are, he errors in the faith. Faith is not all doctrine. If
your faith is all doctrine, you miss faith altogether. That's
the whole point of James is to show you the difference between
a professional faith and real faith. And faith without works, he said,
is dead. If this faith has no effect on
you, has no effect on those around you, then you don't have true
faith. Faith without works is dead.
It's dead. It's just an empty profession.
And the key to understanding these verses, I believe, is found
in verses 19 and 20. A brother who has erred from
the truth. There's a way, Solomon said,
that seemeth right unto a man. Seems right. Seems logical. Seems reasonable. But the end
thereof is destruction. We have no information on God,
how God works, what means God uses. We have no knowledge of
this whatsoever apart from scriptures. It has nothing to do with how
you feel or what you think. It has to do with what God said. If you want to know something
about true faith, we don't look within. We look to this book
that God's given us. And the theme of James is to
set before us the faith of God's elect and how that faith is justified. How God justifies that faith
as given to you from him. And the book of James is written
to show us the source of saving faith, the means of faith, the
attitude of faith, and the fruit of the faith of God's elect.
I have several things I want us to see this morning. And the
first of these is this. True saving faith comes from
God. Not out here. It comes from God. By grace. Now listen to this. You can go over to Ephesians
2 and look at verse 8. Most of you know it and have
memorized it. He said, by grace are you saved
through faith. And that, that what? That faith,
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest
any man should boast, for worth his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, and faith is a good work, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in. True saving faith comes
from God. And this divine act alone establishes
four things. We're talking about the gift
of faith. Faith comes from God. And four
things are established. The first is this. What comes
from God is always in harmony with the character of God. Our
faith is holy faith. That means it's in harmony with
the character of God. It doesn't come by any kind of
compromise on God's part or any kind of compromise from the Word
of God or of the preaching of the Gospel. It's in harmony with
the character of God. It's holy faith. It's unchangeable
faith, divine faith, righteous faith, just faith, merciful and
gracious faith. And any faith that's not in harmony
with the character of God is a fraud. Not of God, it's a fraud. And secondly, he establishes
this, this faith coming from God. What comes from God is brought
to the sinner by whatever means God is determined to use. He doesn't leave it up to you
to choose some means or some way Or just take some experience
and make that out to be the beginning of faith. What comes from God
is brought to the sinner by whatever means God is determined to give. There's a verse over in 2 Samuel
chapter 14. If you like, you can turn over
there. 2 Samuel chapter 14. And verse 14. Now here's what I just stated
to you. Here it is in Scripture. For
we must needs die, and are as water spilled on the ground,
which cannot be gathered up again. Neither doth God respect any
person, Yet doth devise means that his
banished be not expelled from him. Means. What kind of means? Preaching
of the gospel. Well, God didn't save me that
way. Then God didn't save you. Well, I was just in my closet
playing with toys. I was only ten years old. The
Lord revealed Himself to me. You're a liar. You're a liar. Let God be true in every man
of life. God divides with means. The means is as much a part of
our salvation as the Son of God. God has ordained both. You can't
have one and not have the other. Listen to this. It pleased God
through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Well,
whose idea was that? God's. God's. God determined this. And this
is what God uses. These gifts, every good gift,
every perfect gift coming down from the Father of lights with
whom there's no burdens, neither shadow of termination. He never
will change. Wasn't he preaching around there? Imagine that. Any preacher around
here in Munich either, but God sent him one. And then thirdly, what comes
from God is effectual. I had faith and I lost it. You
never had it. You never had that faith. Scripture said none can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Does God give faith? I've just read you several scriptures
that says he did. And Paul was always giving thanks
unto the Father who made the believer meet to be a partaker
of the inheritance of enlightened saints. Who did? God the Father. Jews murmured when Christ said
he was a bread that came down from heaven. He said, don't murmur,
don't murmur. No man can come unto me except
my Father draw him. There's a growling involved in
this. How does God growl sin? Through His providence. His providence
lays out before us certain circumstances, certain times, certain means,
certain ways. It's all determined by God. He was always giving thanks unto
the Father. And then, fourthly, what comes
from God is not to be ignored. You ignore this, God will send
you to hell. Is that plain enough? Huh? Can you make good on that
preacher? Yeah. Go into all the world and
preach the gospel. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not, what? Shall be damned. How are you
going to escape if you neglect so great salvation? True faith comes from God. And then secondly, James establishes
that faith creates in us a godly attitude. The object of faith
is God as He's revealed in Christ. We have no way of knowing God
apart from Christ. God was manifest in the flesh. Let me show you that description.
Peter said, we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 1 Peter 1.20,
who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you. You who, now watch
this, who by him do believe in God. And the other way too. No other way to believe. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. That's what the Lord said. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. God reveals Himself in His eternal
appointments. He reveals Himself In His eternal
provision that He made for us in His Son, God reveals Himself
in the incarnation of Christ being manifest in the flesh.
God reveals Himself in Christ's representative obedience and
death on the cross and the works that He accomplished while He
was on earth. He said, if you don't believe
Me, believe in Me by the works, which I do. I'm doing this thing
right before your face. I'm doing this thing right in
your presence. God reveals Himself in the resurrection
of His Son from the dead, declaring His acceptance of all that He
did. And God reveals Himself in the
ascension of Christ, His coronation and reign, as He sits at the
right hand of the Father in glory. And God reveals himself to the
chosen sinners by the sovereign grace of God in the exercise
of the gifts given to his elect. Believers don't just trust in
the finished work of Christ, but they submit themselves to
his authority in his ongoing work. If your faith doesn't do
that, you don't have faith. And I said all that to say this,
those who truly believe react to things differently than those
who believe not. They look at things with a different
perspective and they act and talk contrary to this world. And so James both identifies
true faith And he encourages those who will listen to do these
things. Don't do this, do this. Read the epistles. Every one
of the apostles who wrote epistles to the churches, every one of
them said, do this, don't do this. He encourages them to listen and
do these things, all right? What things? to look on those
men whom God has identified as true believers and follow their
example. Now let me tell you something. We've been together in this place
for a long time. Most of us here. We've been meeting
together for a long time. We get to know each other. We
get to know our faults as well as the faith that God has given
to us. And we've got every reason in
the world to question, to question one another. But let me tell you something.
God has preserved in that book, saint after saint after saint
after saint. And he tells us to use them,
use them as examples of these things. Learn from them. Learn
from them the things that God will accept and the things that
God won't accept. The attitude that God will bless
and the attitude that God will curse. You have these men for
examples. That's what he tells us. These
old saints. I don't have to wonder if he's
a saint. God said he was. That's good enough for me. Consider
gold. That's what James said. You want
an example of suffering? Check out gold. Examine his life. Huh? What did he do? He patiently endured. Patiently
endured. Wife's friend sat around and
accused him of everything on the sun. He endured. Use him. Here's an
example of true faith. Abraham. Here's an example. Moses. Moses, he left Egypt not fearing
the king. Oh, you've got every reason in
the world to fear Pharaoh. And on and on and on the list
goes. It's full of examples of these
things. So we're to look on these men whom God has identified as
true believers and follow their example. And we exercise patience
under trials. Trials are given to prove faith,
not destroy it. You can't destroy what God gives,
it's effectual. And it's to separate the dross
from the pure gold. And we see that in the suffering
of the saints from the beginning of the world, and especially
in those whose examples preserved in the Scriptures. And James
would cultivate that inner working of God in the attitude of the
believer. It's important. You don't sweep
it aside. Well, God saved me. Well, see
me in about 20 years. James would cultivate the inner
workings of God. And James would have every believer
know that there is a real hope for real sinners. And that this
hope doesn't leave God's children in the bondage and oppression
of a wicked ruler. When he saved Israel out of Egypt,
he brought them out of Egypt. He didn't leave them there. He delivers him. He gives him
provision. He attends his way with his presence,
teaches him how to worship, and reveals his son to him. Did God
do that with Israel? He sure did. He sure did. He establishes that hope, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. And if everything I have is the
gift of my loving Father and comes to me by sovereign grace
in Christ, shouldn't there be a change in my way of thinking?
I was never told to do that in religion. Never. Never. Shouldn't there be a change in
my attitude? A change in my conduct? Is this not the plain teaching
of the Beatitudes? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Are you poor in spirit? God blessed
you. He blessed you. Blessed are they that mourn.
They should be comforted. Blessed are the meek. They shall
inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness. They should be filled. All right,
does it not follow then that those who are not poor in spirit,
who don't mourn over their sins, who are not meek, and who do
not hunger and thirst after righteousness, are not peacemakers, are not
persecuted for righteousness' sake, have no place in the kingdom
of God? Truth is, that which when truly
believed, sets men and women free. It sets them free. Let me point out a few things
in our text concerning the things that I've just said. Patience
under trial. Our Lord arranges every detail
of the providence that opens each day before us It's not like
all of a sudden something escaped his eye and it comes on us and
he wasn't aware of it and now we have to deal with it. It came
our way on purpose and there's a good and loving purpose behind
all that we do, all that we experience in this life. And then secondly,
we're to engage our mind and heart before we put our mouth
in gear. Good idea. Good idea. Be careful how we express ourselves
in grief or joy. That's why he's talking about
this swearing thing. Above all things, don't swear.
Don't swear. Swear not, neither by heaven,
nor by earth, nor by any other oath. And this thing's not talking
about legal oaths or pledges. There's a place for such things.
This is talking about swearing. Turn with me over to Matthew
chapter 5. Years ago, I pastored a small
church down in Louisiana, and one of the several Cajun expressions
was, I guarantee, I guarantee, I've heard it a thousand times.
He's telling us don't do that. Don't do that. We have nothing to add to the
efficacy of God's Word And God worked. Look here in Matthew
5 verse 33. Again, you have heard that it
hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear
thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thy oaths. But I say
unto you, swear not at all. Swear not at all. Neither by
heaven, for that's God's throne, nor by the earth, that's his
footstool. Neither by Jerusalem, that's
the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy
head, because thou canst make one hair white or black. But let your communication be
yea, Yes. Nay. No. Yes or no. Yes or no. Yes, I believe that.
That's sufficient. No, I don't believe that. That's
sufficient. Plain truth is that we have nothing
viable in us or around us to swear by. It doesn't belong to
us. It belongs to Him. And we're
quick to take something that don't belong to us and swear
on it. Huh? Now, here's the evil of
it, now you've involved the name of God in this matter. Not about
you anymore. Now it's about Him. And to forswear
yourself, that means to condemn yourself. That means to perjure
yourself. We don't want to do that. So
don't swear. Just don't do it. We have no power in us to make
anything come to pass. Huh? So don't swear. Don't swear. Our trust is in our sovereign
God and in His Son who sits at His right hand. Now here's the
attitude of faith. Any of you afflicted, let him
pray. That's attitude prayer. Ask God. Who else gonna do anything about it? Is any married? Let him sing songs. Let him rejoice. Let him understand and know where
it came from and sing praises unto his God. Is any sick among
you? Let him call for the elders of
the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with
oil in the name of the Lord. Now, before I finish up, I want
to deal with this anointing with oil. This is written in the days
of the apostles. The Holy Ghost was put into men
by the laying on of hands. That's supernatural. Isn't it? The anointing with oil is the
same thing. The speaking in tongues is the
same thing. And all of these things, that
day is past. The full canon of scripture is
now written. The way of grace and the way
of Christ is already established and we don't need these things.
And besides that, the oil didn't save the sick. The prayer of
faith saved the sick. You see what I'm saying? The
prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise
them up. And if they have committed sins, they shall be forgiven. Here's our hope, Christ in us. Teaching, interceding, ruling,
forgiving, ordering all things. This is what sets the attitude
of faith and makes us willing and able to be led. I trust him more than I trust
myself. I've already seen what myself can do. You know, I told
you before there was a meeting Brother Henry Mayhem was at.
He was down in Louisville. And this guy had graduated seminary. He had a master's degree in theology
and a doctorate. And I've forgotten his name now,
but anyway, they were going, Henry was going back to his room
and the pastor was going with him and they got on an elevator
and this drunk comes in. He can't hardly stand up. And
he wobbles his way into the elevator and he looks over there at Brother
Mahan and he said, I know you. He said, You preach those chosen ones,
those chosen ones, like that. And they looked over at Dr. Magruder
and he said, and I know you, he said, you saved me 20 years
ago. And Dr. Magruder looked at him
and said, it looks like some of my work. You see what I'm saying? If a brother errs from the truth, errs from the truth, he goes
contrary to what God says faith is and what God establishes as
His gospel and what God establishes as salvation in His Son. When
he goes contrary to that, he's erring from the truth. If he
denies the attitude and the ongoing preservation of faith and perseverance
of the saints. He's aired from the truth. And
you may not be able to do anything about it. You may not. But if you do, James
said, you've saved a soul. You've delivered him from death. And you've hidden, you've covered
a multitude. How do you do that? Under the
blood. Believers are such that should
show forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness
into His marvelous light. His praises. Believers love the
brotherhood, they fear God, and they honor the King. They all
know the truth. They know how valuable it is. They know that they actually
know it. And how disastrous it is to err
from it. And when one errs from it, another
will try to convert him. If he can. And if he can, he
saved a soul from death. and hid a multitude of sins.
The scripture says all men have not faith. And some are so close
that it's difficult to say one way or the other. But the sure
evidence of faith is that sin, as some will, he can and will
be converted. Because we're not of them who
draw back to perdition. We're of them who believe to
the saving of the soul. Now that's what this whole book
of James is all about. He's not going to have you believe
in this one-time profession of faith and you make
it and it's all over. So you can just live any way
you want to, do anything you want to, say anything you want
to. You're already stamped and sealed. Oh no. There is a beginning
of the work. There is. But what God has begun,
He's going to continue to do until the day of Jesus Christ.
That's what He's going to do. All right. Thank you.