Ok, James chapter 5, beginning
in verse 19. 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 James is speaking to brethren
about true brethren. If any of you do err from the
truth, believers are the first to know we err from the truth. But we're often the last to know
we have erred from the truth. The Lord gives us brethren to
help one another. And he says, if any of you do
err from the truth, this conversion is that of a believing brother
or sister who has erred from the truth, from the error, moved into the error of his way
from the error of truth, from the way of truth which is Christ
the way. Well, James has shown us the
way that this is to be done. And he's spoken to us about the
spirit in which this is to be done. Peter mentions fervent
charity above everything else, fervent love for brethren. And that's what James is talking
about here. He's shown us this way that this
is to be done. And I know I've reviewed this
quite often with you as we've gone through this study. Because
James starts out, he talks about it, then he goes a little further
and he talks about what he already talked about. So we've gone back
and forth in this, looking at this. But the three major headings
that He's given us that everything falls under here is, first of
all, this is done by the gospel of Christ Jesus. Now, turn back
to James 1.17 again. Remember this, every good gift And every perfect gift is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is
no variableness, neither shadow of turning. And of His own will,
it gives the example, of His own will begat He us. He birthed
us, conceived us, and birthed us through this word of truth
by His own will that we should be a kind of first fruits of
His creatures. He says, verse 21, wherefore
lay apart the excess and receive with meekness. the engrafted
Word. You receive it with meekness
in how He's instructing us to help erring brethren. And He
says to the erring brother, you receive this Word with meekness
when one of your brethren brings it to you. You receive it with
meekness which is able to save your souls. So the first thing
He said was through this Gospel. through the gospel. The second
thing he said was through prayer. James 5, we saw last time in
verse 16, he says, confess your faults one to another and pray
one for another that you may be healed. That's what's going to help us
deal with one another in love, brethren, is knowing our own
faults and knowing what sinners we are, when you come to another
who's erred, is to become in that spirit of submission and
that spirit of humility to one another and pray for one another
that you may be healed. The effectual, fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much. Really praying when you pray.
And then the third thing that he said was, wait on God to do
the work effectually in the heart, like the farmer. Look at James
5, 8. Like the farmer, be ye also patient,
establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
He's always near, and He's coming, drawing near to establish your
heart, to establish the heart of your erring brother, to deliver
from this trial, to protect you, to guide you, to settle you,
to comfort you, just as He's returning one day in the end. Now, I can think of no better
example of converting an erring brother. Who do you think of?
I think of Peter. first in the way the Lord dealt
with Peter. Turn over to Luke 22. Luke 22. Now, Christ Jesus is the righteous
man. He is the righteous God-man. God our Savior in human flesh. Simon Peter was a believer. He
knew the Lord. He trusted the Lord. He'd been
given faith to believe on the Lord, and he believed the Lord.
And he is erring from the truth to his own way. Peter's thinking
he can stand on his own. He's thinking he's got strength,
he'll never forsake the Lord, and he's making a boast of what
he'll do. Now Christ Jesus converted him.
James said, if one convert an erring brother, the Lord Jesus
Christ converts him from this error. Let's see how he does
it. James said, first of all, set forth the Word. Now Christ
is the Word. He is the truth. Christ Jesus
is the Gospel we preach. And he both told Peter that He
alone would save him. He had told Peter all along that,
and He told Peter again that, that He alone would save Peter.
And Christ made Himself known to Peter. He's the Word, He is
the Word that we're setting forth. We're not just saying words,
we're setting forth a person. Christ is that person. Now, he
did that for Peter. James says, pray for the erring
brother. Look at Luke 22, 31. And the
Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you
that he may sift you as wheat. Now, he told him, didn't he?
He told him he was in error. He told him. But now watch what
he does. But I have prayed for thee, that
thy faith fail not." Now, think of this, really think of this.
James said, pray for your erring brother. Here's the Lord, he's
the pastor of Peter. And Peter is a brother. in Christ and to Christ. And he could have spoken right
then and turned Peter right then. He could have spoken the Word
into his heart and turned him immediately and spared him of
all of that. But in order to teach Peter his
need for Christ, you know what Christ Himself did? He waited. He waited. James says, declare the truth to him. pray
for him to the Lord, to make an affection on his heart, and
wait on the Lord to do it. Wait on the Lord to do it. Now,
our Lord did that. He's the Word. And He spoke the
truth to Peter. And He prayed for Peter, and
He waited. And He said, verse 32, and here's
why He waited. And when thou art converted,
when you've gone through this trial of your faith, And it's
been proven to you that your faith's not dependent on you,
Peter, it's dependent on me. When it's been proven to you
that all your salvation is the Lord, that He's put away your
sin, that He's covered your iniquity, that He intercedes for you, that
He upholds you by His grace. When you've been brought through
this trial and you discover that, then He says, strengthen thy
brethren. Strengthen thy brethren. That's
why the Lord teaches us to be patient and wait on the Lord.
Wait on Him to do it. It's a trying of the faith of
the unerring brother to wait on the Lord to do it. As much as it's a trial for the
erring brother who's in a trial himself. But the trial is to
strengthen both of you. It's to strengthen both of you
so that when you're converted, when you come through it, you
might be able to strengthen others. Now James says here, he says, Brethren, if any of you do err
from the truth in one converting, let him know that he which converted
the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
death and shall hide a multitude of sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
by the wise manner in which He dealt with Peter, He saved Peter
from death. Not only bearing his sin in his
own body on the tree and putting away his sin, but by teaching
Peter not to trust himself, and not to look to himself, and not
to put confidence in his flesh, he saved him. And not only that,
he hid a multitude of sins, not only in purging his sin and covering
his sin by the shedding of his own blood, but by teaching Peter
this way. and instructing Peter this way
when he said, now when you're converted, Peter, now you strengthen
my brethren. He came to him later and he said,
Peter, do you love me? And Peter said, Lord, you know
I love you. And the Lord said, feed my sheep. Now, in doing
that, you know what Peter did as he went forth? Having gone
through that trial and having experienced the way the Lord
dealt with him, and how the Lord turned him like nobody else could,
how the Lord interceded for him, and how the Lord patiently waited
and allowed Peter to go through this trial. himself being in
charge, having all power in heaven and earth. But he, as it were,
as the servant of God, submitted to the Father and waited for
Peter to go through this trial. And by doing so, he converted
Peter so that Peter could go forth now with this bread and
with this edification and teach other sinners. That's how you
deal with sinners. And in doing so, it makes That
sinner had a multitude of sins by being able to deal with other
sinners that way. And the other brother had a multitude of sins
by being able to deal with brethren that way. And the other by being
able to deal with brethren that way. So that it's sort of like
the old saying, feed a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but
teach him how to fish and you Feed him for a lifetime. He taught
Peter this gospel experimentally in his heart so that not only
did he just save him right there immediately, but he taught Peter
how to feed others this gospel and how to deal with others that
are in error by preaching the gospel, by making intercession
to them through prayer, trusting Christ the intercessor, the Holy
Spirit, and by waiting on God to make it effectual in the heart.
In that way, Moore learned it. and more brethren treated each
other this way, and a multitude of sins were covered. Not just
Peter's sin right there, but more and more this is the way
of the gospel. It spread and it taught others.
Let me show you that now. First Peter, turn to the right
there to chapter 5. I want you to hear this. I want
you to hear what Peter learned through this
trial And as we read this, I'm going to read quite a few verses
here, but as we read this, I want you to notice that what Peter
says is exactly what James has been teaching us all through
his epistle. Now watch what Peter learned.
1 Peter chapter 5. He's been talking about you fervent
love towards one another. This will cover a multitude of
sins. He's talked about not concerning,
it's a strange thing concerning the fiery trials you're gonna
come into. But look what he says now concerning
these things. Just as James has been dealing
with. Watch, James, 1 Peter 5.1. The elders which are among you
I exhort, who am also an elder. and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed,
feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight,
not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of
a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage." Isn't
this what James has been saying? Feed with the word of God. Don't
show respect to persons. Don't do this for treating a
rich fellow one way and a poor fellow another way. Treat all
men the same. Feed them, not for filthy lucre,
and not as being lords over them. Don't be many masters. Feed them. But being examples to the flock.
That's how the Lord dealt with him. That's how the Lord dealt
with the Lord, who had all authority. That's how he dealt with Peter.
And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown
of glory that fadeth not away." He's saying, be a shepherd like
the chief shepherd. And when he appears, he'll give
you a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Now, likewise, ye younger,
submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all be subject one to another,
and be clothed with humility. Isn't that what James has been
saying? For God resisteth the proud,
James said, he giveth more grace. Peter says he resists the proud,
he gives grace to the humble. James said the same thing. You
know why? They're speaking by the same Spirit of God, and they've
been taught by the same master, the same shepherd, and they've
been through similar trials, and they know this is how God
saves sinners. Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.
Isn't that what James said in James chapter 4? Humble yourselves,
He'll raise you up in due time. The due time is His time. It's
His time. Casting all your care. All my care includes all my personal
care and all the care of my brethren. That's all my care. It's my own
personal care and my brethren. That's all my care. He said cast
it all. Where? Upon Him. For He careth for you. He's the
one that's doing the providing. Be sober, be vigilant. Now watch this. Be on your guard. On your guard. Why? Because your adversary the devil
as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. He's looking for that lustful
spirit that He can feed on, that He can entice, that He can crack
in the dam, that He can turn into a full-fledged break in
the dam. That's what He's looking for.
Whom resists steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same
afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world. The same thing your brother falls into error
and he gets a little haughty in spirit, be vigilant, be sober
now. Don't turn from this way back
to the lust of your flesh and deal with him contrary to what
Peter and James are teaching us, what the Spirit of God is
teaching us, contrary to the way the Lord has taught us. Why?
Because that's what your adversary the devil is looking for. He
can get you to be haughty in your spirit. Now you got two
folks being haughty in their spirit with one another. And
you know what's going to break out? A big old fight. Division. Separation. Both thinking they're
righteous. And the devil's won the day.
That's what he loves. That's what he's desiring to
have. Resist steadfast in the faith, knowing the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the
God of all grace..." Now, this is where the grace is going to
come from. "...the God of all grace, who hath called us unto
eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a
while." It's going to cause some suffering. That's what James
started with. When the trial of your faith comes, be patient. To the end, wait on the Lord.
And Peter says here, after that you've suffered a while, you
may deny the Lord three times and turn away and say, I'm going
back fishing and leave everything. But the Lord, He said, I'm telling
you from experience, you deal with a brother like that with
patience. Give him the word of the Lord. Lay it on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Trust the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ask the Lord to provide for him, to protect him. And Peter says,
and I can tell you from the experience, after you've suffered a while,
the Lord will make you perfect. He'll establish you. He'll strengthen
you. He'll settle you. He'll come
to you and He'll settle the matter in your heart. To Him be glory
and dominion forever and ever. His is the glory. Now, that's
what James has been teaching us. Now I have a question for
you, and I've kind of been saving this. Do we know of a trial that
James may have faced that wherein the Lord taught him like He taught
Peter? You know, we haven't gone in
a few midweek services, we haven't been in the book of Acts. I've
been studying for quite a while now this account of James and
Paul and what took place at Jerusalem when Paul came to Jerusalem.
I'll just give you some points on it, some highlights. James,
his Jewish brethren, true believers there, were zealous for the law
of Moses, their weak brethren. And they had heard Paul, that
Paul preached against the customs that he told the Jewish brethren
in the Gentile lands to forsake Moses, not to circumcise their
children, to forsake Moses, not walk after the customs. And they
were in error in what they had heard. They had been informed
incorrectly of what Paul was teaching. And they were in error
in their zeal for the law. Christ is the end of the lawful
righteousness to everyone that believes. But in seeking to convert
them from this error, rather than simply encouraging Paul
to preach the gospel of Christ to them. Just come in and preach
the gospel to them like you would anybody else, Paul. Rather than simply praying for
God to bless the words of their heart and convert them from this
error and multiply them, increase them in the faith. When Paul
came to Jerusalem, rather than waiting on God to do it, when
Paul came to Jerusalem, James said he asked Paul to purify
himself and to be at charges with four men who had put themselves
under a Nazarite vow. In my study on it, I don't believe
that James even asked him to take a vow. A vow is voluntary.
A man has to be willing to take a vow voluntarily. And there's
some other reasons. We might look at that in detail
more later. But I believe what he was asking
Paul to do was, they were suffering from financial difficulties in
Jerusalem. Paul had taken up that collection
from the Gentiles and gone up there with it. And these men
had obviously come under this vow, in their zeal, probably
rejoicing in Christ, but in their own ignorance and zeal, they
put themselves under this vow, and they couldn't pay. They couldn't
pay what they owe to get out from under the law and get out
from under the vow. And James asked Paul to purify himself
and be at charges with them that they might shave their heads
and be free from the law and be clear of their vow. That's
what James asked him to do. And he said, and by this, all
will know that you don't walk contrary to the law. Brethren,
that's what Christ Jesus did for his people. He sanctified
Himself. He separated. He was higher and
separate from sinners. There's no sin in Him. And He
sanctified Himself. He purified Himself, as it were,
that He might be made chargeable for us that were given to Him
by God the Father who couldn't pay what we owe. And He, by being
made sin for His people, purged His people of their sin. He freed
us from the law and redeemed us, bought us out from under
the law so that we're free from the law. And when the Lord laid
down His life, when He did that and cried out, it's finished,
the veil in the temple rent from top to bottom right in two. He
declared to all, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. To the Jew and to the Gentile,
Christ is the way into the holiest of all, into the presence of
God. He's that new and living way,
Christ Jesus. This is the truth of the gospel,
which James is instructing us not to err from. He's saying,
this is the gospel. This is how you were begotten.
Don't err from this truth. Don't turn from this word of
truth. And this is the gospel. Christ is the way. Christ is
the truth. Christ is the life. Christ is
the resurrection. Christ is the one to whom all
power is given in heaven and in earth. And He alone is the
Word that speaks life into the heart, that speaks and turns
sinners from the error of their way, that makes this Word effectual
in the heart through the Holy Spirit. That's what that renting
of the veil declared. And not only this, but He knows
the infirmities of our flesh. He knows when we grow impatient. He knows the feelings of our
anger against unrighteousness and against that which we know
is in error. He knows those tempers. He knows
those feelings. He was touched with those feelings.
But there again, Because He does know them and because we've been
washed, not with that purification in the temple, not with that
water, that symbol, but with the Spirit of God, we've had
our conscience purged by the blood of Christ and our bodies
washed with water. We have boldness to enter. We
had come to Him to find grace, to help in time of need, in every
time of need. Over and over, James has told
us to do that. He said, don't turn from this
Word and pray Him. You have access by Christ. Enter in and ask God to do this
work and wait on Him to do it. That's what was declared when
that veil went from top to bottom. And now, when He laid down His
life, that's what happened. But you know what happened whenever
Paul took James' advice and went in and was going to do what James
recommended for him to do? It wasn't allowed to happen.
It ended before it was completed. The Lord didn't allow it to end.
But by the providential hand of the Lord, when Christ said
it's finished and he laid down his life, that veil ran in two,
said, you have access now. You don't need this way anymore.
You don't need to use these methods. This means anymore. But whenever
Paul went in, you know what happened? All the city was moved, and the
people ran together, and they took Paul and drew him out of
the temple, and for with, the doors were shut to the temple. Two different things happened.
When Christ died, entrance was opened into the holiest of holies,
into the presence of God. But when they attempted to do
things this way, that temple door was slammed shut. The Spirit of God never records
that one person was converted from the error of their way through
what Paul did, what James recommended. But I'll tell you what it did
cause. It caused much suffering for Paul. Do you reckon it caused
James, his brother, any suffering when he saw that multitude grab
Paul and go to beating him? Do you reckon he second-guessed
that and said, you and I will be used as instruments
of God to convert erring brethren by continuing in the perfect
law of liberty, by setting forth the glorious good news of Christ,
by petitioning God on behalf of our brethren, and by waiting
on the Lord to give the increase." That's what Peter wrote after
he was converted. And if you read this whole epistle
of James, isn't that what James is saying? He doesn't mention
any of what he mentioned to Paul and what he tried to do there
in Jerusalem. He's talking about what the Spirit of grace works
in our heart. This is it. This is how sinners are turned
from the error of their ways. Now he says here, back in James
5.20, Let him know that he which converteth a sinner from the
error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude
of sin." This is the opposite of what he said earlier. Look
in James 1.14. He says, Every man's tempted when he's
drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And then when lust hath
conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it's finished,
bringeth forth death." Here he says, if you stick with this
way, you'll convert a sinner from the error of his way, save
a soul from death, and hide a multitude of sins. Just the opposite, isn't
it? Every man's tempted when he's
led away. The fruit of the Spirit is love, it's joy, it's peace,
it's long-suffering, it's gentleness, it's goodness, it's faith, it's
meekness, it's temperance. There's no law against these
things. It's of God. That's what James is teaching
us all through this book. Love. Forgiveness. David said, there's
forgiveness with thee. that thou mayest be feared."
That's the oil, that anoints a sinner. There's forgiveness
with God. Not the condemning, yoking, binding,
but the forgiveness of God. This is what the Lord said, the
temple of God is built not by power, not by might, but by my
strength, but by my Spirit, said the Lord of Hosts. And He says,
Who art thou, O great mountain? He says, I'll make you a plain.
I'll make you flat. And he'll bring the headstone
crying, grace, grace unto it. That's what James is teaching
us. That's what Peter's teaching us. That's what I'm trying to
convey to you now. I know this. I know this for
a fact. The harder you stiffen up your
neck and try to Convert a sinner from error, the worst error you
get into and the worst sin you get into, and you uncover sin
and create a multitude of sins rather than hiding any sin, rather
than putting away sin. It results in more and more of
that. And this is the fruit of the
Spirit. Brethren, and where this is absent, where these works
of faith are absent, James says, as the body without the spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Natural religion
can't do this. And I guarantee you'll never
hear natural religion preaching through the epistle of James
and saying these things. Because natural religion can't
do this. Don't understand it, it can't do it. Because they
have a form of religion, but they deny the power of God. The
power of God. These are the works that are
effectually in wrought, worked of God. They're the works with
God as foreordained that his children shall walk in. And they
all do. They all do. And these are the
works we delight in and the works for which we thank our God, because
it's all to the praise of the glory of His grace. I hope that's
been helpful to you.