Let's turn together to the book
of James. Most seem to think that this
book of James was the earliest of all the New Testament epistles
to be written. I say that because I think it's
important for you to realize, and for me to realize, that as
we read through the scriptures as God has given them to us,
God has providentially arranged the order in which they are given. It's useful, and I try to make
myself aware of the historic backgrounds and the dates and
so forth when scripture was written. But it can also be a great hindrance
to fail to recognize that God has given us the revelation of
holy scripture in the specific order in which it is arranged
providentially. The book of James was written,
one of the earliest of the epistles, but it is given to us, one of
the later epistles, following the book of Hebrews, probably
in God's order, because this book, too, is addressed to the
twelve tribes who were scattered because of persecution, because
of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 1, James
1. James, a servant of God and of
the Lord Jesus to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,
greeting." And that's all the salutation he gives. In these
five chapters, James addresses those to whom he is writing as
brethren, fifteen times. He calls them brethren, my brethren,
beloved brethren, in these five chapters. Brother H. Mccullough
and I were Discussing this very book just the other day, he was
asking me about what I planned to preach from this book. He
said, It's the only book in the New Testament that was written
to unbelievers. I said, What? He said, Well,
it calls us adulterers and adulteresses, and that's not like that anywhere
else. I said, Yes, but James is dealing with what we are.
He's telling us what we are by nature, and he's telling us what
we must avoid. Fifteen times in this book, he
addresses himself to brethren. He's talking to you and I, men
and women born of God, people who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, folks everywhere, in every place, who are washed in
the blood of Christ, robed in his righteousness, born again
by his grace, who believe on the Son of God. And his purpose
in writing these five chapters is to give us divinely inspired
instruction about how we are to live in this world for the
glory of our God. If you listen to the religion
of the age and the preachers you find on radio and television
and the popular things that are going on in the religious world,
you say, Well, the book of James is a real popular book. It would
probably amaze you to find how seldom those folks who are always
talking about practical Christianity refer to the book of James. How
seldom those folks who talk about what they call practical godliness
refer to the book of James, because they invent for themselves what
godliness is, and seek to impose it upon you and I, and seek to
make us conform to their traditions and call it godliness. James
doesn't do that at all. James does not write as a good
counselor, telling us things that he would advise us to do
for the glory of God. If you could read these five
chapters in the original language, over one-half of the verses that
are written in these five chapters are given in the imperative.
Over half of them. James isn't offering advice,
he said, do this. do this. He speaks as one who
speaks with the authority of God himself, because he is giving
us that which is inspired by God, and telling us how we are
to live in this world for the glory of God. He begins in chapter
1, verse 2, talking about our trials. In verses 2 through 12
of this first chapter, James tells us that we are always to
look upon our trials in this world. Those things that try,
test, and prove the reality of our faith, we are to look upon
them as tokens of God's mercy, his love, and his grace for us. Those things that give us heartache
and trouble, those are the experiences that we have in this world. which
give us evidence not of God's anger and wrath and judgment,
but rather they are evidences of God dealing with us as with
children, as we are told in Hebrews 12, verses 5-14. This is particularly true when
the things that we suffer are a direct result of our faith
in and faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly this
is what James has in mind. when he writes to these twelve
tribes who are scattered abroad. Turn over to Acts 8. Pick up in the 2nd sentence of
the verse. Saul is persecuting the Church. We read in chapter
8, verse 1, that at that time there was a great persecution
against the Church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were all
scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria,
everybody except the apostles. Then in chapter 11 we're told
that those persecuted people were scattered as far as Phoenicia
and Cyprus and Antioch, and that they went everywhere preaching
the word. And for this reason they were
persecuted. You remember what our Savior
told his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount? Blessed are they
which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are ye when all men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Now, he's not talking about just
folks who act like horses' rears and get treated that way. He's
talking about folks who seek the glory of God. He's talking
about folks who, for the gospel's sake, are abused and persecuted. Folks who, because they believe
Christ and because they confess Christ, they are persecuted for
righteousness' sake. He says, "...rejoice and be exceedingly
glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted
the apostles which were before you." James seems to have those
very words that our Lord spoke in Matthew 5 in his mind as he
writes this first chapter. He gives us in this chapter an
urgent call for us to count it our honor as the children of
God to suffer anything at the hands of wicked men for the gospel
sake, for the honor of Christ. If men get upset and blaspheme
God and call you wicked names because you preach the gospel
of God's grace, don't let it be any more than water off your
back. Just ignore it. Just ignore it. One of the preachers at the conference
this week, we had a little bit of time to sit in fellowship
a little bit, to tell me some things that folks had said. He
said, You must have a tough, tough heart. I said, No, no. I just don't pay any attention.
I just ignore it. Well, how can you do that? Because
it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It just doesn't
matter what men may say. Now, if I incur the anger of
people because of my bitter personality or because
I'm a whiner or a griper, because I do like other folks do in slander
and gossip, that's a different story. But if men abuse us, this
pastor, this congregation, you who preach, you who confess Christ,
if they have evil things to say because of the message we preach,
because of the gospel we believe, totally ignore it. Our Lord said,
count it an honor, rejoice and be exceedingly glad. And James
puts it this way, verse 2, My brethren, count it all joy when
you fall into divers temptations, knowing that the trying of your
faith worketh patience. Verse 12, Blessed is the man
that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive
the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love
him. William Cowper put it well. He
said, God in Israel sows the seeds of affliction, pain, and
toil. These spring up and choke the
weeds that would else or spread the soil. Trials make God's promise
sweet. Trials give new life to prayer. Trials bring me to his feet,
lay me low, and keep me there. So don't murmur against God when
trials come. even when they come from wicked
men, even when they come because of abuse that others may give. The word temptation, as it is
used in these first 12 verses, refers to a test, a trial, something
by which our fidelity is proved, something by which our faith
is proved. Not to God, he doesn't need the
proof of it. To us. by which God proves to
us the reality of our faith. And the only way you ever know
whether a ship will sail is if you put it in the water. You
can't find out any other way. The only way on this earth you
ever know whether something works is if you give it a try. And
God Almighty puts our faith to test in his wise providence And
he uses Satan and wicked men to do it. And the Lord God here
tells us, now you count this a blessing, and you rejoice.
God's teaching you patience. He's teaching you patience. And
he does it wisely, a little at a time. We take our children,
and we do not expect a child six months old to behave quite
the way we do one who's two years old. And we don't expect one
two years old to behave the way we do one at six years old, and
we don't expect one sixteen to behave like one through six.
We gradually teach them, giving them different responsibilities
and tasks, demanding different things of them, punishing them
in different measures in order to teach them to grow and mature. And God in his wise providence
gives us this little trial, and that little trial, and another
little trial, and teaches us thereby to be patient, patient
in his providence, to trust him, to live in this world in the
unruffled peace of faith in God Almighty. Oh, God do teach me
patience. God do teach me patience. Someone
said just recently, better not ask God to teach you to be patient,
he just might. I want him to teach me to be
patient before him. Whatever it takes to teach me
to be patient before him, to submit to him. But the word trial, as it's used,
or temptation, as it's used in verses 13 through 17, It is the
same word, this word tempted. It's the same word. The meaning
is the same, but it has a variation of meanings if you look it up.
Here the word tempted refers to an enticement to do evil. It's not talking about our faith
being proved, but rather it's talking about us being enticed
to wickedness, enticed to murmur, enticed to complain. enticed
to fight against God, enticed to do some evil thing. Our trials
are ever to be ascribed to the work of our Heavenly Father and
his great goodness. They are always blessings of
grace and favor. Our temptations to evil we must
ever ascribe to and blame on ourselves alone. Now, Bubba,
that's tough to do. That's tough. When we mess up, and I'm talking
about when we really mess up, when we really mess up, and we're
just as contrite as we know how to be with each other, after
we got done confessing that we oughtn't to have done what we
did, we oughtn't to have said what we did, we oughtn't to have
behaved that way, we start to excuse it. It's just our nature. It's just
our nature. And we start to blame something
other than ourselves. And we're taught to do so. We're
taught by everything in society, don't blame yourself. It's your
husband's fault. It's your wife's fault. It's
your mother's fault. It's your daddy's fault. It's
the way you went through this, the way you went through that.
It's your fault. That's all. That's all. Well, if it hadn't gone through
this, it's your fault. It's your fault. Let's see if
this is what it says. Look at James 1, verse 13. When we can't find anybody else
to blame, we try to blame God. Say, well, I believe in God's
sovereignty. This is in purpose of God. And find some justification
for our ungodliness in God's purpose. Look what it says. Let
no man say when he is tempted, I'm tempted of God. For God cannot
be tempted with evil, God cannot be enticed to evil, neither tempteth
he, neither enticeth he any man. But every man is tempted," now
watch this, when he is drawn away, not by something outside
him, drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then lust, when
lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is
finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren."
God sends us trials to teach us patience, to cause us to grow
in grace and in faith, but he doesn't ever tempt anyone to
sin. Yes, God ordained from eternity all things that come to pass
in time. Ephesians 1.11 says so. Our great God does graciously
and wisely work all things together for good, for his people, according
to his purpose. Romans 8 says so. Yes, thank
God he does graciously and wisely rule and overrule all things,
even the evil deeds of men and devils, for the good of his people
and the glory of his name. Psalm 76 says so. But the Holy
Lord God cannot be tempted with evil, and he does not tempt any
to do evil. When we sin, we have no one to
blame but ourselves. Let us never seek to excuse our
sin by attributing it to God's sovereign purpose. We are tempted
to evil when we are drawn away by our own wicked lust. It is
our lust and nothing else that is to be blamed for our sin.
Do not err, my brethren," James says. Your sin is your fault,
no one else's. Your responsibility, no one else's. Now look at verse 17. In verses
17 through 25, James tells us that God's work is good. He tells
us that every good thing in this world comes down from our Heavenly
Father, just as all the evil there is in this world. just
as all the evil there is in this world comes out of our hearts.
Now let that settle in good. All the evil there is in this
world comes out of our hearts. Just as all the evil in the world
comes out of our hearts, as our Lord said in Mark chapter 7,
so all that is good in this world comes down from the Father of
lights in It is the gift of God's bountiful goodness and grace. Look at verse 17. Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from
above. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above. Good gifts and perfect gifts. What on earth is he talking about?
Oh, gotta raise and pay, that's a good gift, that's not what
he's talking about. I have a real talent for music,
that's not what he's talking about. He's talking about a good
gift, and a perfect gift. He's talking about the word of
God, and the faith he gives, whereby our hearts are made perfect
in his love, and stand assured of his love. every good gift,
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh, continually
cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
no shadow of turning, immutability, no possibility of change." Brother
John, are you sure that's what he's talking about? Let's look
and see. In verse 18, he tells us that by the work and good
gift of God's omnipotent grace, chosen redeemed sinners are born
again, and born again by the good gift of God. Look at it.
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should
be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Oh, what a blessed
good gift! The word of truth is what a blessed
good gift. The other day I was talking to
Brother David Pledger. There was a church 20, 30 years ago
in Pasadena, Texas, a huge congregation, for a grace church, a huge congregation.
Had a Bible college. Brother David Pledger, Brother
Walter Gruber, Brother Milton Howard, all of them graduated
from that Bible college. Just a few years, it blew to smithereens. Folks got to despising the gift,
and God took it away from them. Another in Memphis, Tennessee,
where I met a good many of the preacher friends I have to this
day. Large, thriving congregation. I'm talking about overnight,
gone. Just like that. Oh, what a gift
when God gives you his word. Cherish it. Protect it. Ask God to keep it. What a gift
when he gives you his word and speaks to you by his word. And
I went out to rescue I had the responsibility of doing a lot
of preaching, but oh how I needed to hear God speak to me. And I came home every morning
after the services and gave thanks to God that he still speaks to
my heart by his word. What a good gift. Now watch what
James says. Of his own will. How is it the
sinners are born again? Of his will. It's not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth
mercy. Of his own will begat he us, the wind blows where it
listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth.
He begat us according to his will, sovereignly, without any
indication of what he was going to do, he gives life to whom
he will, with the word of truth. Faith comes by hearing. hearing
by the word of God. We are born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Now watch this. Of his own will
begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind
of firstfruits of his creatures. Why on earth did the Lord tell us that? You
remember the firstfruits? The firstfruits and the Old Testament
were regarded as the best. The firstfruits were that by
which God required all the house and all the field to be dedicated
to God. They were dedicated to him alone.
You can have the second crop, the firstfruits belong to God.
The firstfruits were the pledge of the full harvest. God Almighty
has given you faith. because God Almighty deems you
the best of his creation, worthless in yourself, sinful,
in God's eyes, precious. God Almighty has taken you out
of this fallen mass of humanity, my dear brother, my dear sister,
and dedicated you, sanctified you, devoted you, consecrated
you to himself. And having done so, having given
you faith in Christ, he assures you of everlasting glory. Now, how are you going to live
in this world? Are you a little interested in
honoring him? That's what the rest of the book
of James is about. He begins to talk to us about the power
of godliness as he goes through this chapter. You see, the word
of truth, the whole volume of sacred which is the revelation
of Jesus Christ and redemption, grace and salvation by Christ,
the word of truth is the whole revelation of God in the volume
of scripture, the whole gospel of God's free grace in Christ.
This is the power of God under salvation to everyone that believeth,
and this is the power of godliness which folks deny who have only
a form of godliness. If we would live in this world
for the glory of God, in the exercise of true religion,
our lives must be guided and governed by the gospel of God's
free grace, by the word of truth, by this book. Let's see, James
1 verse 19. Let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh
not the righteousness of God, never has and never will." You get upset and say, I'm going
to do something. Nah, you'll mess it up. The wrath
of man doesn't work the righteousness of God. Verse 21, And wherefore
lay apart all filthiness, and superfluity of naughtiness, that
is, lay apart your filthy thoughts and your pride, and receive with
meekness the engrafted word," this word right here, you've
got it in your hands now, which is able to save your soul. from a child thou hast known
the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation."
This book right here. And be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers only. Because if all you do is hear
the word, and you don't do what you hear, you deceive yourselves. Whenever we come to the house
of God, It should be with an intense desire to hear God's
word. Thomas Matten made this wise
observation. If we were as swift to hear as
we are ready to speak, there would be less wrath and more
profit in our meetings. Usually I find that when men
don't profit from the ministry of the gospel, it's because they
practice exactly the opposite of what James here urges in verse
19. They are slow to hear, and swift
to speak, and swift to anger. Such men seem to come to church
for no other reason except to find some point of disagreement,
something with which they can argue and fuss. And they can
hardly wait for the preacher to sit down and shut up so that
they can pop off and say what they want to about what he point
out his errors. Such men are a constant source
of strife and division, and never accomplish any good. I don't
care how smart they are, I don't care how educated they are. I
had the privilege, our friend, Brother Bob Miller, the Battalion
Church out of Nacumba, he said this to me every time
I've seen him. since you started getting up
there, I said, Bob, go out there and ask God to speak to your
heart through that pastor to show you something of the beauty
and glory of Christ. And I suspect if you go looking
for it, that's what you'll get. And if you go looking for a fellow
who used the wrong word, that's what you'll get to. He said,
I'm so thankful you told me to go looking to hear God speak
to me. And you know what, Don? He always
has. Be swift to hear. And then don't
talk about too much. Don't, don't, don't, now I'm
not sure I, let me, there's something wrong with that. it, hang on
to it, be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to take offense. Take the word to yourself. As you come to the house of God,
prepare to come to the house of God. Pray that God will speak
to you by his word. Pray that God will enable this
man who is responsible to speak to your heart, to speak to your
heart by his word, that God will give me a message for you, or
whoever is preaching for you, and hear what God has to say
to you." And then James describes true religion, beginning in verse
26. And it goes all the way through
chapter 5, verse 7, describing true In verse 26, he says, If
any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his
tongue, he deceiveth his own heart. This man's religion is
vain. Pure religion and undefiled before
God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows
in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. He shows us that true religion
involves the bridling of the Torah, caring for your neighbor
and keeping yourself unspotted from the world. In chapter 2,
he begins by telling us that true religion involves caring
for one another, particularly caring for our poor and needy
brethren. Now, there is no need for me
to spend a great deal of time talking to you. about the fact
that there is no contradiction at all here when James speaks
of us being justified by our works. Don't ever, listen to
me, you men particularly who teach and preach and discuss
these things, and you ladies as well, don't ever be afraid
of using the very language Holy Scripture uses. Don't be afraid
of it. You say, well, folks won't understand.
You ain't going to make them understand by trying to explain
it different. Don't ever be afraid of it. James speaks of being
justified by our works. There's nothing wrong with that.
He's talking about us justifying our professed faith before one
another by what we do. So that we claim to be believers?
This is what he's saying. Bobby Estes, you claim to be
a child of God? Act like it. And if you don't act like it,
your profession is a farce. That's just exactly what James
was saying about justification. We claim something? If a fellow
claimed to be a millionaire, and he walked around with bitches
that were shiny and worn out, and he drove a car that wouldn't
hardly get down the road, and he didn't smell real good, and
he ate just stuff he could get out of a garbage can, most folks
wouldn't pay much attention to him. They'd say, he's just blowing
wind. He's just wanting to make you
think he's something he's not. That's exactly what James is
saying. We were justified by God's decree in eternity, justified
by the death of Christ at Calvary. We were justified in our own
conscience when Christ gives us faith in himself, and we're
justified before one another. That is, we profess faith, we
came into the waters of baptism, claim to be the sons of God,
claim to be believers. Walk now, as many women who believe
God. And the essence of that is this,
love each other. When the Word of God talks about
good works, when the Word of God talks about good works, you
know, people think they do good because they don't go to the
picture show, because they don't wear this or don't wear that,
and they say, oh, I'm such a good fellow, I'm such a good woman,
I don't talk like this and don't talk like that. Well, those things
are fine, but that's got nothing to do with good works, not in
the context of this book. Good works always have to do
with love and care for those who need. Our Lord said, I was
hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me
some water. I was in prison and you came to visit me. And the
disciples said, when did we do that? When you did it to my brethren. And I'll tell you something else
about good works. The fellow performing them never talks about
them. He's even unaware. Our Lord said, I departed from
you cursed, I was hungry and thirsty and imprisoned. You didn't
feed me, didn't give me water, didn't come visit me. When didn't
we do that? Self-righteous religious folks
presume they're full of good works. Folks who believe God
perform the good works and don't have any clue that they have
really cared for anybody. that they have really ministered
to anybody, that they have really gone out of their way for anybody. They do so just because it is
the nature of grace to be gracious. And it is the nature of grace
to understand what I've done for you, if God lets me do anything
for you, is so utterly insignificant that it can't be spoken of as
anything gracious or good when I consider what God Almighty
in the gift of his darling son has done for me. True religion
is take care of each other, take care of each other. James tells
us that true religion necessitates the bottling of our tongues.
Let's see, I've got ten more minutes. I better not say too
much about this. Bottle your tongue. Bottle your
tongue, because it's a world of iniquity. Folks say, well,
say one thing about Brother Don. He says what he thinks. Oh, I
better not say what I think. If I say what I think, I'm not
exercising true religion. Not when I'm angry, upset, want
to strike out. Just got to say something. Just
got to say something. No. Do with yourself, ask God
Almighty to do with you what you would do with a wild ass's
coat. Put a bit in your mouth and bite
on your tongue. Because once you've spoken, You
can't get it back. You can't get it back. I had
a very dear friend. He's with the Lord now. He is
a dear friend. The old man, he said to me one
time after he had scalded somebody pretty good, somebody in his
family, he said, he said, well, I don't hold a grudge. I just,
I just say what I got on my mind and I get it off my chest. I
scooted over closer to him and I said, brother, let me tell
you something. If you throw scalding water in
my face, you might get over it right now, but I'm scarred the
rest of my life. Bridal your tub. Bridal your tub. True religion necessitates it,
because you don't want to hurt. You don't want to offend. You
don't want to injure. You want to care for your brother.
It's called true religion. You profess that you're justified,
believing on the Son of God, bridal your tub. Then beginning
in chapter 4, James tells us that if we would exercise true
godliness, if we would live in this world for the glory of God,
if we would do all things for Christ's sake, we must keep ourselves
unspotted from the world. Now, what on earth does that
mean? Keep yourselves unspotted from the world? Well, don't rub
shoulders with them. Well, don't, but that's not what
it means. Don't spend your time with them. Don't! But that's
not what it means. Don't choose for your companions
the ungodly. Don't do that, but that's not
what this means. That's not what this means. Keep yourselves unspotted
from those things that continually show the corruption of the ungodly. Don't act like them. What's he
talking about? Drink from the right fountain.
You want wisdom? Get wisdom that comes from above.
Don't pay any attention to the fellow who has got his degree
in philosophy. Don't pay any attention to the
fellow who thinks he's wise about how to get one up in this world.
Don't pay any attention to the religiously wise who would tell
you how to take care of your financial affairs. Ask wisdom
from above, drink from the right fountain, Christ Jesus the Lord. That's chapter 3, verses 13-18. If we would keep ourselves unspotted
from the world and avoid the wars and the adultery and the
murders among us? What a strange way to talk to
Lindsey Campbell. Which come these wars and fighting
and murders among you? Murders? You have to get angry
at a brother. It's the same thing. You lust
after another. It's the same thing. Don't forget,
your worst enemy ain't outside you, but inside you. Your worst enemy is not your
brother, it's you. Your worst enemy is not your
sister, it's you. And if you ever come to grips
with this, and keep on coming to grips with it, It will cause
you to bridle your tongue about one another. It will cause you
to say, No, I just ought not to think that about Sally Ponson,
much less say it. I just ought not to. I just ought
not to bridle your tongue. That will put an end to warring
among ourselves, and resist the devil, submit to God, Guard against
gossip and slander, so that you protect one another in name and
in character. This dear lady sitting here,
there's no human being alive who's ever heard me say an evil
thing about that girl. Never. It's not going to happen. How come? Because I love her. I love her. That's all. If I've
got something to say to her, she'll not take care of it in
private, in a civil way. But I love her. You know, I bag
on her everywhere I go. This congregation, not one of
you has heard me speak an evil about another. Ain't gonna happen.
Ain't gonna happen. How come? Because I love you.
I love you. And I bag on you everywhere I
go. Everywhere I go. How come? Are those folks perfect? No, they're just like me, only
not quite as bad. That's all. They're believers,
God's people, and they're to be treated as such. It's called
true religion and undefiled. And then James wraps this thing
up, still pressing us to this matter of true religion. He says
in chapter 5, verses 7 through 12, he says, is, brethren, be
patient. Be patient. God's going to set
everything in order. Be patient unto the coming of
the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience
for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be patient.
Be patient. And then in verses 13 through
18, He says, Brethren, pray for one
another. Anyone afflicted, let him pray. Any married, let him sing. Any
sick, let him call for the elders of the church and let him pray
over him, anointing him with the oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall
raise him up. And if he has committed sins,
they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another.
It doesn't mean stand up here and talk about all the evil going
on in you, or, you know, oh, Brother Don, I've got to tell
you, I've been having some real hard thoughts about you lately.
Man, don't tell me, I don't want to hear it. Confess your faults,
recognize that you're just sinners, weak flesh, nothing else, one
to another, and pray one for another that you may be healed. The effectual, fervent prayer
of a righteous man. accomplishes a heapsight more
than you'll ever imagine, it availeth much. And then he says,
seek to restore one another. Verse 19, Brethren, if any of
you do err from the truth, from the truth, what's it all about?
The word of truth. Any of you do err from the truth,
and one convert him, one convert What's that mean? Turn him around.
That's exactly what it means. Oh, you got to explain that picture.
Somebody will think that you mean that one sinner saves another
sinner. If that's what you think, go
ahead and think it. I ain't going to fuss with you. Convert him. You see your son running into
error. It's going to ruin his life.
You do everything in your power. You grab him by the nap of the
neck and say, Stop it, boy! Pay attention to me! And if your
brother errs from the truth, you seek to turn him from his
error. Turn him in the right way. And
you do it simply by pointing him to the truth. You convert
him, let him know, he which converteth the sinner from the error of
his ways, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude
of sins. I turn to Galatians 6, and I'll
give you an inspired commentary on that passage. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a thought, ye which are spiritual, restore such in one in the spirit
of meekness, remembering ye are cut out of the same bolt of cloth.
Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted, bear ye one
another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man
think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth
himself." So don't have such a high opinion
of yourself that you're willing to lose your brother. No, no. Pick him up. And when
he falls again, pick him up. And when he falls again, pick
him up. And when he falls again, pick him up. And when he falls
again, pick him up. It's called true religion and
undefiled. It causes a man to bridle his
tongue, to care for his and to live for God's glory among God's
people in this world.