James concludes his epistle in
chapter 5 and verse 19 with these words. 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. If any of you do err from the
truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converts
the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
death and shall hide a multitude of sins. Why did James take the
time to write this epistle to the brethren at Jerusalem? Why
does he write this epistle? Why did Paul travel about suffering
much persecution preaching the gospel? Why did Peter preach
this message even though he was slain in the end for it? Because By leading sinners from error
unto the truth, souls are saved from death. Why do we preach this message?
Because by it, souls are saved from death. Consider the seriousness
what is spoken here that a soul needs to be saved from death
that your soul that my soul needs to be saved from death that ultimately
is the end of this message to deliver us from error and lead
us to the truth Jesus Christ and to life in Christ. To Christ who is everlasting
eternal life, the righteousness of God, to lead sinners from
darkness, from the blindness of their way, from the corruption
of their sin, from the folly of the wisdom
of this world, to lead them from darkness unto Christ, unto life,
unto the light and in so doing save their souls from death. From death. Yes we have a soul
and from the day we're born that soul exists It exists in time
but when our short life upon this world is brought to a conclusion
and we pass from time into eternity that soul continues to exist
without end. It will either spend eternity
in the light or it will spend eternity in the darkness. You and I will either spend eternity
with Christ in glory, in righteousness, or we will spend eternity in
the darkness and the wrath of everlasting judgment. This message is that serious.
It commands our attention. Throughout his epistle, James
has been preaching, declaring the vitalness, the importance
of faith. Salvation is through faith in
Christ. Without faith, we cannot know
God. Without faith, we're in the darkness. Without faith, we're blind and
lost. Without faith we cannot endure
the trials and the tribulations that come in this world. We cannot
make sense of them. They overcome us. But those who
were given faith, those who live by faith, the just, who live
by faith, know Christ. They're in Christ. They're one
with Christ. They look unto Christ. They pass
through time with their gaze set upon him, knowing that this
is brief, it's but for a moment, and eternity awaits. Their souls
in Christ have been saved from death. Why? How? Because in time, Christ
spake unto them. his gospel by his spirit in power
and delivered them from error and led them unto the truth. Where are you? Where are you going? In what
are you trusting? In what do you believe? In what
do you rest? Without the truth, without Christ
left to ourselves, we will die everlastingly. We will spend
eternity separated from the truth. We will spend eternity in error. in the error of our ways, in
the error of our understanding, in the error of the lies in which
we trusted, in the error of our rejection and hatred of the gospel,
of Christ, of the truth. The error we embraced, the error
we loved, the error we would not give up, we will cling to
for eternity. and it will crush us and damn
us. Oh, to be delivered from error unto the truth. The truth. 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 if one comes
with the gospel unto us. If somebody comes with the gospel
and that gospel delivers us from our error, it converts us and
leads us unto Christ. That message, that truth, shall
have delivered our soul from death and shall hide the multitude
of our sins. The multitude. Oh, how great is our blindness. Oh, what a multitude of sins
we have built up. We hate the truth by nature.
The fool have said in his heart there is no God. Others worship a God of their
own understanding. Many pretend to bow the knee
to Jesus Christ. Yet their Christ is an idol of
their own fashioning. He is not the one who came. He is not the one of whom the
scriptures speak. They worship a Christ who serves
them. A Christ who bows to their will
and their decision. A Christ who is there at their
beckoning, but not the truth. How vital to know the truth concerning
Jesus Christ. how vital that God should send
the truth unto us, that he should send one with the truth to convert
us from the errors of our way, the errors of our understanding,
the deception that we're under by nature, the blindness of our
sin, to convert us, to grant us understanding, repentance,
a change of thinking, to give us life, to give us faith, to
see that which was once hidden from us, to give us faith, to
see and behold Christ come in our place, come as our Saviour,
come to die for our sins, come to cover the multitude of our
sins through His shed blood. Oh that God should come unto
us in particular, personally, in his spirit and deliver us
from error unto truth. Oh that he would not leave us
in error, that he would not pass us by. We cling to our own understanding,
we cling to our own beliefs, we trust in our own works, we
trust in our own will, we trust in our own wisdom, we trust in
our intellect, we trust in our own arrogance and pride, we cling
on to these things, and if God leaves us to our own will, we
will be lost. If he gives us what we want,
we will be left in darkness. We want God to leave us to ourselves. We want to have this, we want
to have that, we want him to go away. We want to shut our
ears to the gospel and if he gives us what we want, what a terrible consequence. To be left in darkness, in blindness,
in our sin. with the judgment and the wrath
of God in eternity to come. To be left without Christ, without
the truth, without the love of God shed abroad in our hearts,
without the love of Christ within, without His grace, without His
mercy, without the riches of the Godhead in Christ, to be
left with nothing. but our own miserable wisdom,
which by nature rejects the truth. To be left with our own will,
our own self-righteousness, our own wisdom. You see, many here,
many hear the truth, Many may hear the gospel, and yet never hear. Many see, and yet never see. Many saw the Lord Jesus Christ
in the days of his flesh. Many heard him. Many saw his
miracles, but they never knew him. They heard him, but they
never heard him. They saw him, but they never
saw him. They never knew who he truly was. They saw a great
man, a wondrous man, one that healed the sick, one that made
the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, but they
never knew him. You may declare, well, I don't
believe because I wasn't there. All I hear is a record of it.
But if I was there, if I saw him, if I actually saw these
miracles of which the Bible speaks, if I saw them with my own eyes,
that would be another matter. Then I'd believe. But would you? These saw and never saw. These heard and never heard.
They never believed. They were still blind to the
truth. and we may hear the gospel, which
is as great a thing as to have been there in the days of Christ
and to have heard him preach. We can hear the gospel, the truth,
preached from heaven on high by Christ himself. He can come
and preach the truth to us. And if he doesn't open our hearts,
if he doesn't give faith within, we will hear and not here, we
will see and not see, we'll be left in the darkness. Oh, that
God would not leave us like that. Oh, that he would not leave me
or you to hear this message and depart in blindness, in darkness,
in our sins. O that he would not leave us
amongst those who hear the gospel but never hear, who hear the
words but never understand, who have had Christ preached to them
but never believed. O that he would come in power
and convert us from error and lead us to the truth that our
souls should be saved from death. In Isaiah we read these words,
make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy
and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert,
and be healed. When Christ came in the flesh,
many heard him, many saw him, but he quoted this passage of
Isaiah. Because though they heard and
though they saw, their heart was fat, their ears were heavy,
and their eyes were shut. They did not see, they did not
hear, they did not understand, and they were not converted and
healed. Oh that God would not leave us
in such a place, but that he might open our understanding. As he opened the understanding
of James, as he opened the understanding of these to whom James writes,
oh that he might give us faith to see that all that the world
around us has told us. All that false religion
would persuade us of is only lies, set to deceive,
set to lead astray those who puffed up in their own wisdom,
fueled in their own pride and arrogance, is only there to lead
such. away from that which can save
their souls from death. We need to hear Christ. We need to see him by faith. We need to be converted and healed
because we have a multitude of sins. Our hearts are dark. Our eyes are blind. and we are
guilty before a holy God. As we read in Matthew's gospel,
Christ said, verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Except ye be converted and become
as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven. We need our understanding. enlightened. We need our thinking
completely changed. to see that that which we can
see and touch and feel in this world is that which isn't real,
it's fleeting, it's passing. What we see today is gone tomorrow. The generation of people you
see on the face of the earth today will be gone in a hundred
years and there'll be another generation. And a hundred years
ago there was an entirely different set of people on this earth.
It's constantly changing. We're just blades of grass that
grow up and are gone, and all that the world promises us is
a lie, a delusion. It tells us, lo, here is happiness,
and it isn't. How many there are who are overwhelmed
by depression, by sorrow, by the trials of this earth, How
many discover that there is no joy here that's lasted. They're
forever running around seeking diversion, seeking entertainment,
seeking pleasure. There's always got to be something
new because that which cheered them up yesterday is gone today. How drunken they are with the
delusion of this world. And how soon we grow old. and
that which we sought in our youth, that which we enjoyed when we
were young and able, we cannot grasp hold of, how soon we age,
how soon we see death coming upon us. What a lie it is in this world
that there's happiness to be found outside of the knowledge
of Christ. outside of the truth. We need
to be delivered from that thinking that says, lo, here's the way,
come this way, come on this broad way. There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but it's a way that leads unto destruction.
How we need to be turned in our thinking, to turn to Christ on
a narrow way. and a straight gate, but a way
that leads unto life. To be turned in this way, to
be converted, requires repentance, a complete change, 180 degrees
turn in our thinking from going away from God and away from the
truth. Embracing every lie and every
error that is sent our way to be turned to the truth and to
Christ. A complete change and we can't
do the changing, we can't do the turning. Left to ourselves
we will always go away. There is none that seeketh after
God. There is none that is righteous,
no not one. None of us by nature seek Him. We seek ourselves, our own glory,
our own pleasure. Even if we are caught up in some
religion or other, even if we're brought to some awareness that
this world cannot be all there is and that there is an eternity
to come, even if we seek some sort of everlasting life, by
nature we will always seek it another way. We will always seek
a way that boosts our own pride, that brings some glory unto ourselves. We will get there by our own
strength, our own works, our own righteousness. We'll be rewarded,
we feel, because of what we have done. But we recoil from the
truth that we are nothing. We are nothing. We are but a
multitude of sins. that needs forgiveness. We are
sinners, lost sinners, who need forgiveness, who need saving. We have souls that need to be
saved, saved by another, saved by the intervention of God, saved
by His mercy and grace and love, saved by Him coming unto us in
the Gospel and delivering us from the darkness of our way.
save from ourselves. We need to be turned from believing
a lie to believing the truth and we can't do it, we won't. And we don't. We need to be turned
from our sin unto righteousness, from death unto life, from self
unto God. Oh that God should come. and
speak unto us, and turn us unto Christ, and show us his glory. Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing
shall come from the presence of the Lord. Turn! But we can't
turn. But I can't turn, you say. Nevertheless,
turn! Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and be saved. But I can't, you say. Nevertheless,
believe. You must be born again to believe. Well, I can't. How can I cause
myself to be born again? Nevertheless, we preach you must
be born again. How are we? through the truth, through the
preaching of the gospel, through the preaching of the truth, through
the preaching of Christ. You tell me to do what I cannot
do, but this message is that by which God takes the lost. that by which God comes unto
those who have erred from the truth, that by which God comes
unto us in the darkness and converts the lost sinner and delivers
him from the error of his ways and saves their souls from death. Oh that he should come unto us,
even today that he should have mercy upon us to lead us unto
Christ, to lead us unto the truth, the gospel. James writes, 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 ways shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude
of sins. Well, no man can convert a sinner
from the error of his ways. Then what does he mean? Well,
he means that if you take the gospel, And if you stand for
the truth, though all around you mock and deride you and would
threaten you with persecution and threaten to silence you and
threaten you with death, if you stand for the gospel and preach
the gospel and speak the truth to your brother, speak the truth
to those that you come to, speak the truth concerning Christ,
if you bring this message, that's the message that God will use. in his time, by his grace, to
convert sinners from the errors of their way and lead them unto
Christ and save their souls from death. Why did James write this
epistle? To lead souls from death unto
Jesus Christ, to lead them by faith unto a Saviour. Why do
we preach this message? To lead you unto Christ. Because without Christ you're
dead. Outside of Christ there's nothing
but darkness. Now we can't convert anyone. I can't convert you by preaching
this message, but God can. And God does. He came unto me
with this message and led me as a lost sinner, an unbelieving
wretch, a deceived, blind, arrogant fool. to see that I was nothing,
to see that I was lost, and to see Christ come in my place,
come in my stead, crucified for me, a sinner. Only God can save, but he does
so through the truth, through the gospel, through the preaching
of the gospel, through Jesus Christ, the truth. The psalmist said of the gospel,
the law of the Lord, the truth of the Lord, the word of the
Lord, the gospel, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting
the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. Why do we preach this? Because
by the gospel, through Christ being made known, sinners are
saved from death. Oh, that we should know Christ. It's having faith in him, it's
believing in him that saves a soul from death. Knowing him. having his righteousness, the
righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, having his life. We need our sins to be washed
away. We need righteousness. And that
is found in one place and one place only, in Christ. We need his blood to wash us. We need God to make us the righteousness
of God in Jesus Christ, because he took our sins and made him
to be sin in our place, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. We need righteousness. We need
our multitude of sins to be taken away. We need Christ. This is to be found, this salvation,
this life is to be found in Christ and Christ alone. It's not found
in man's religion. It's not found in that which
exalts the pride and the wisdom of man. It's not found in any
religion that puts salvation in the sinner's hand. to be taken
by his will, his decision, or to be a reward for his works
or self-righteousness. It's not found in the errors
and the lies and the deceptions of men's religion, wherever it
may be. It's not found in freewill works
religion. It's not found in that which
takes a man and causes him to strive by his own efforts to
get to heaven by his own glory. It's found in that which sets
the sin aloe, which puts you and I in the dust, which declares
what we are and leads us unto a saviour who is totally different
from sinful man. Leads us unto a man unlike any
other man, a perfect man, an innocent man, a righteous man,
the man of God, the son of God, Christ who came in the sinner's
place. God made a man that he might
deliver men from their sins, from the darkness into life. As God brought you to see this
man, how will we be turned from our error? unto the truth. How will we be turned from our
unbelief unto faith? How will we be turned from darkness
unto light? From sin unto righteousness? By faith. By God giving us faith
in his son. By God opening our eyes to see
that these are not cunningly devised fables, but this is the truth. By God
giving us that faith which Christ has. the faith of Jesus Christ,
that faith by which Christ lived in this world, that faith by
which he endured the opposition of all men, that faith by which
he endured our rejection of him, that faith which took him to
the cross that faith which caused him to endure the judgment of
God at the cross for the sins of his people, that faith which
took him into the darkness of those three hours upon the cross
when God made him to be sin, when he laid upon him the sins
of all his elect. and judged him with furious outpouring
of the wrath of God when he poured out the fires of his wrath upon
his own son. It's that faith which caused
Christ to endure. Still looking unto his Father
with perfect love for God and perfect love for his own He endured to the end until he
cried out, it is finished. Did he hang upon that cross? Was he crucified? Did he endure
that darkness because of your sin? Did he bear the multitude
of your sins? Did He hang there, rejected and
despised by you? Did He wash that sin away in
His blood? Oh, that God would give us faith
to behold Him in our place, who by faith suffered
death on the part of His people. hanging there in their place
in particular, bearing their sins in particular, O that he
would give us faith to see him in our place, that we might have
the righteousness of God in him, because he took our sins away. Was his blood shed for you, for
me? As he hung in the darkness, as
we despised him, as in our hearts we spat upon him and beat and
bruised him and cried out with the mob, away with him, away
with him, crucify him, we will not have this man to reign over
us. As we despised and rejected him,
did he look upon us, in particular, in love. in mercy, in grace. Did he say unto his father, Father
forgive them, they know not what they do. He came to suffer there for sinners
like you and I. Oh that God would turn us from
the error of despising Him, of serving our own will, of seeking to be saved because
of our own righteousness, of loving self rather than God,
and turn us to see the truth, the truth, Christ in our place. Come as a saviour of sinners,
bearing a multitude of sins. Those sins that he bore, were
they my sins? Were they your sins? Did he suffer
for you? He died that his people should
live. He died to deliver souls from
death. He died to conquer death. Everlastingly, he died to bring
his people into glory. Did he die for you? He was victorious in his death.
Victorious! Paul writes, O death, where is
thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Shall your soul succumb to death
in the end because you breathed your last breath? And you uttered
your last words upon the face of this earth, still rejecting
Christ. Or has God given you faith? Will
he give you faith to deliver you and cause you to cry out
unto death? Oh, death, where is thy sting?
Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God. which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. How will you be
one of Zion's poor children, little children, who God comes
unto in the gospel and brings unto his Son, Jesus Christ? those
children except you be as little children you shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven are you one of those children zions
redeemed that shall be gathered around the throne of the sun
zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness
why because each and every one has been brought by the gospel
by the truth to behold the Lamb of God, to behold the man, to
see Christ upon the cross in their place. They've been told,
look and live. Look unto me, all ye ends of
the earth, and be ye saved. Look and live. And everyone has had God come
in the gospel with the message of his gospel, preaching the
truth unto them to say, do not die. Do not remain in darkness,
in blindness and in error, but believe on the name of Jesus
Christ and your soul shall be saved. from death. 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.