Restoring the Wanderer - Part 12

Recap of the Series

Faith that Works Part 11: Repairing the World - James 5:12-18

1) Don’t be a flake

2) We are called to be imitators of Christ

3) Reliability is the only proof of faith

4) We know that God’s promises are good because of His reliability

5) Do not open the door to despair, but instead pray - Vs. 13

a. Prayer changes the way you see things

b. And more importantly, prayer changes you!

6) Be a prayer warrior

7) The term “cheerful” speaks of courage in the Greek

8) “If you are feeling courageous give thanks”

9) Singing Psalms/Giving thanks:

a. Will keep you strong and focused

b. Will lead through to the victory

10) No matter what, we need to look to the Lord for our strength!

11) Sick = Astheneo, Weak, Feeble, Ill, also can include emotional or spiritual weakness

12) Calling the Elders is an act of faith on the part of the sick person

13) We need a community that stands with each other during hard times

14) The significance of oil:

a. Oil represents deliverance

b. Is associated with joy and the Holy Spirit

c. Represents something being set apart for God/holy

15) Sin can be a gateway for sickness, although not every time

16) The power of confession, it brings healing - Vs.16

17) Be a reliable part of a community that needs your gifts

18) Confession and reconciliation release healing, both emotional and physical

19) True fervent prayer, moves God and moves mountains

20) The Example of Elijah:

a. Elijah was just like us, and God used him to perform supernatural miracles. He wants to use us!

B. Just like Elijah’s prayers healed the earth, so likewise God wants to use our prayers to heal the sick.

21) Tikkun Olam = Repairing the World

Let’s open to James 5:19

Faith that Works Part 12: Restoring the Wanderer - James 5:19-20

James 5:19–20 NKJV

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

1) Let’s talk about the wanderer

The fool wanders: the wise man travels.

Thomas Fuller; Anonymous

2) We all are bent towards drifting and giving up, that’s why we need to build our endurance

A sincere repentance from the heart does not guarantee that we shall not wander from the straight path and sometimes become bewildered.

John Calvin

Weariness maketh way for wandering.

Thomas Manton

James 5:13 NKJV

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.

3) “Wandering from the truth” isn’t just about not having the right beliefs but it can also include not living out the truth

4) The book of James ends with both a warning and an exhortation

a. Warning: Some will wander from the truth

b. Exhortation: If you allow yourself to be used to turn them you will save a soul

5) The Warning Principle - Eze. 33:2-6

Ezekiel 33:8–11 NKJV

8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 10 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?” ’ 11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

6) The Prayer Principle - 1 Peter 4:7-8, Luke 22:32

1 Peter 4:7–8 NKJV

7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. 8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

7) Another way we can be watchful for one another is to use prayer as a preventative tool

Epistrepho = Turn, Same in James 5:20 and Luke 22:32

Luke 22:31–32 NKJV

31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

8) Our duty to the backslider

1. Lovingly rebuke - Rev. 3:19, 1 Tim. 5:1

Revelation 3:19 NKJV

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

Win them over! The point is not to make a sharp divide. People are more willing to receive the truth if it’s lovingly presented.

1 Timothy 5:1 NASB95

1 Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers,

2. Lovingly restore - Gal. 6:1

Galatians 6:1 NKJV

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

9) This is hard to do in a society that says

a. “If you love me you will only agree with me.” - Luke 17:3

Luke 17:3 NASB95

3 “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

b. “If you love me, you will not tell me things I don’t want to hear.” - Prov. 27:5-6

Proverbs 27:5 NKJV

5 Open rebuke is better Than love carefully concealed.

10) Correcting and restoring the wanderer restores them to God and their God-given position in the Body

Examples of rebuking wanderers

11) This is Jesus’ mission

a. Seek

b. Save

Luke 19:10 NKJV

10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

12) God’s heart is for the “one” - Matt. 18:10-14

Matthew 18:10–14 NKJV

10 “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. 11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

13) What happens if they won’t repent?

If you have tried to deal with moral/ethical sin and they won’t repent:

1. Bring it to the “church”/leadership

Matthew 18:16–17 NKJV

16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

If they still won’t repent:

2. Open rebuke before all and expulsion from the community

1 Timothy 5:20–21 NKJV

20 Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear. 21 I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.

14) James ends his letter abruptly with this imperative to repent and watch out for each other as a “mic drop”

May we take his exhortation, watch out for each other and watch out for ourselves!

15) Application: Stop wandering, repent, and be restored!

AMEN!