Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / How to Handle Straying Saints │ Msg 1616 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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How to Handle Straying Saints │ Msg 1616 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: In my last couple of messages, I've talked about prayer,
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  Speaker 1: the value of consistent prayer. I've talked about how we
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  Speaker 1: do not have answers for the difficulties in our lives
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  Speaker 1: simply because we do.
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  Speaker 2: Not pray as we should.
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  Speaker 1: I run across a great piece by the late Clarence
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  Speaker 1: Edward McCartney while he was the senior pastor of First
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  Speaker 1: Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, many years ago. This piece
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  Speaker 1: is so fitting. Before we move on to the subject
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  Speaker 1: for today, I want to read McCartney's words to you.
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  Speaker 1: Just pause and meditate on these powerful words as I read,
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  Speaker 1: he writes, what is the word that unites far separated
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  Speaker 1: souls around one common mercy seat. What is the word
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  Speaker 1: that brings man's storm driven ship into the haven of
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  Speaker 1: safety and peace? What is the word that turns back
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  Speaker 1: the shadow of death on the face of life's dial.
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  Speaker 1: What is the word that gives songs in the night
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  Speaker 1: and lifts the load of guilt from the conscience smitten heart?
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  Speaker 1: What is the word that puts a sword in our
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  Speaker 1: hand when we face temptation? What is the word that
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  Speaker 1: gives us strength to bear our daily burdens? What is
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  Speaker 1: the word that makes us co workers with God in
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  Speaker 1: the coming of His kingdom. What is the word that
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  Speaker 1: companions the soul in its hours of loneliness, and that
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  Speaker 1: comforts it in the day of sorrow. What is the
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  Speaker 1: word that sets a lamp of forgiveness and reconciliation in
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  Speaker 1: the window for the prodigal and the wanderer. What is
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  Speaker 1: the word that brings the eternal world to view? What
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  Speaker 1: is the word that makes the angels rejoice when they
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  Speaker 1: hear it on the lips of a contrite sinner. That mighty,
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  Speaker 1: all prevailing, god conquering word is prayer. The effectual fervent
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  Speaker 1: prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The effectual fervent
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  Speaker 1: prayer of a righteous man of veileth much. Clarence McCartney
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  Speaker 1: is right. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
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  Speaker 1: availeth much, just as the scriptures read.
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  Speaker 2: As I talked.
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  Speaker 1: Today about how to handle saints who have strayed from
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  Speaker 1: the truth for whatever reason, our most powerful weapon against
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  Speaker 1: the enemy of our souls remains the same. It's going
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  Speaker 1: to be prayer. Remember, the effectual fervent prayer of a
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  Speaker 1: righteous man or woman One avails much. Say, have you
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  Speaker 1: ever rescued someone from drowning? If so, then you know
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  Speaker 1: how victims often fight their rescuers in the process. It's
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  Speaker 1: in the hysteria, it's in that terrifying moment that they
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  Speaker 1: fight back. The same is often true when an attempt
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  Speaker 1: is made to rescue those who were floundering spiritually because
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  Speaker 1: their faith has suffered. My longtime mentor and friend, also
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  Speaker 1: author and teacher, the late Howie Hendrix, tells the story
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  Speaker 1: of a young man who strayed from the Lord, but
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  Speaker 1: was finally brought back by the help of a friend
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  Speaker 1: who really loved him, and I mean loved him unconditionally.
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  Speaker 1: When there was full repentance and restoration, Doctor Hendrix asked
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  Speaker 1: this brother how it felt while he was so far
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  Speaker 1: away from God. His answer was moving. The young man
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  Speaker 1: said that it seemed like he was far out at sea,
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  Speaker 1: in deep water, deep trouble, and all his friends were
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  Speaker 1: on the shoreline hurling biblical accusations at him about justice
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  Speaker 1: and penalty and wrong. But he added, there was one
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  Speaker 1: Christian brother who actually swam out to get me, and
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  Speaker 1: he wouldn't let me go. I fought him, but he
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  Speaker 1: pushed aside my fighting grasped me, put a life jacket
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  Speaker 1: around me, and then he pulled me to the shore.
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  Speaker 1: By the grace of God, he was the reason I
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  Speaker 1: was restored. He would not let me go. Isn't that
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  Speaker 1: a great story? It's great because it's a true story.
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  Speaker 2: James, in his.
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  Speaker 1: Letter to Christians, makes clear that he doesn't want us
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  Speaker 1: to let anyone go. Throughout his letter, he has stressed
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  Speaker 1: the need for a faith that works a hands on Christianity.
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  Speaker 1: If you will, James is saying, if you say you
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  Speaker 1: believe like you should, then why do you behave like
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  Speaker 1: you shouldn't?
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  Speaker 2: Now?
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  Speaker 1: James, at the end of his letter reminds us not
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  Speaker 1: to let go of those who have grown weary and
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  Speaker 1: have strayed away, who have begun to behave like they shouldn't.
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  Speaker 1: With all that in mind, I want to read the
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  Speaker 1: last two verses of this great letter by James. It's
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  Speaker 1: Chapter five, verses nineteen and twenty. I'll be reading from
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  Speaker 1: the Amplified Bible James five, nineteen and twenty. My brethren,
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  Speaker 1: if anyone among you strays from the truth and falls
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  Speaker 1: into error, and another person brings him back to God,
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  Speaker 1: let the latter one be sure sure that whoever turns
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  Speaker 1: a sinner from his evil course will save that one's
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  Speaker 1: soul from death and will cover a multitude of his sins.
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  Speaker 1: That is, procure the pardon of the many sins committed
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  Speaker 1: by the convert. Eugene Peterson, in his inimitable way, expressed
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  Speaker 1: those verses this way in his rendering in the message,
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  Speaker 1: My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered
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  Speaker 1: off from God's truth, don't write them off, go after them,
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  Speaker 1: get them back, and you will have rescued precious lives
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  Speaker 1: from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.
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  Speaker 3: Last September we began a journey that proved to be
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  Speaker 3: very successful in stimulating. The journey has taken us through
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  Speaker 3: the Book of James. We have, in our time working
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  Speaker 3: through these one hundred and eight verses in hopes of
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  Speaker 3: understanding what God has to say to us concerning the
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  Speaker 3: practical Christian life, and a life that has lived for
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  Speaker 3: Christ that is not practical is not really the life
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  Speaker 3: He has designed for his children. James has pinpointed one
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  Speaker 3: issue after another in these five chapters, and we come
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  Speaker 3: to the end of the book and find still another
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  Speaker 3: message that is of crucial importance.
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  Speaker 2: For the child of God.
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  Speaker 3: Before we look at these last two verses in the book, however,
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  Speaker 3: I'd like for you to stop off with me at
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  Speaker 3: the eleventh and twelfth verses of chapter four. And once
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  Speaker 3: you find James four eleven, will you also locate Matthew
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  Speaker 3: chapter seven. I want to compare the words of James
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  Speaker 3: with the words and teachings of Jesus, and then I
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  Speaker 3: want to show you how they fit together, though they
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  Speaker 3: may seem to be something of a contradiction. James chapter
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  Speaker 3: verse eleven, Matthew Chapter seven, Verse one. James writes, do
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  Speaker 3: not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against
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  Speaker 3: a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law
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  Speaker 3: and judges the law. But if you judge the law,
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  Speaker 3: you are not a doer of the law, but a
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  Speaker 3: judge of it. There is only one lawgiver and judge,
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  Speaker 3: the one who is able to save and to destroy.
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  Speaker 2: But who are you who judges your brother?
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  Speaker 3: In verses eleven and twelve, we have a clear case
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  Speaker 3: of slander, and James repudiates such an action.
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  Speaker 2: He says that the Christian has.
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  Speaker 3: No business backbiting and speaking against his brother or sister
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  Speaker 3: in Christ. The issue at stake is not the case
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  Speaker 3: of one helping a brother in need. The brother in
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  Speaker 3: need is apparently absent from the scene, and the Christian
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  Speaker 3: in this case is one who snipes are spread slander
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  Speaker 3: or ugly remarks about the person, and judges him. There
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  Speaker 3: is a tone of condemnation, and the entire evening would
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  Speaker 3: not be sufficient to illustrate times when those of you
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  Speaker 3: here and those that you know, have suffered the brunt
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  Speaker 3: of a sharp and critical tongue. James says, we have
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  Speaker 3: no business judging our brother.
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  Speaker 2: Now.
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  Speaker 3: In chapter seven of Matthew, Jesus underscores that point. He says,
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  Speaker 3: do not judge Chapter seven, Verse one, Do not judge
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  Speaker 3: lest you be judged yourselves. For in the way you judge,
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  Speaker 3: you will be judged, and by your standard of may
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  Speaker 3: it shall be measured to you.
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  Speaker 2: Why do you look.
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  Speaker 3: At the speck in your brother's eye, but do not
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  Speaker 3: notice the log that is in your own eye? Or
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  Speaker 3: how can you say to your brother, let me take
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  Speaker 3: the speck out of your eye, and behold, the log
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  Speaker 3: is in your own eye, you hypocrite.
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  Speaker 2: First take the log out of your.
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  Speaker 3: Own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to
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  Speaker 3: take the speck out of your brother's eye. The Amplified
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  Speaker 3: Bible reads a similar way, but seems to put it
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  Speaker 3: in a way that makes it stick. Beginning at verse three,
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  Speaker 3: the Amplified Bible reads, why do you stare from without
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  Speaker 3: at the very small particle that is in your brother's eye,
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  Speaker 3: but do not become aware of and consider the beam
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  Speaker 3: of timber that is in your own eye. How can
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  Speaker 3: you say to your brother, let me get the tiny
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  Speaker 3: particle out of your eye when there is the beam
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  Speaker 3: of timber in your own eye.
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  Speaker 2: You hypocrite.
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  Speaker 3: First get the beam of timber out of your own eye,
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  Speaker 3: and then you will see clearly to take the tiny
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  Speaker 3: particle out of your brother's eye. There is almost a
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  Speaker 3: measure of humor in the way Jesus expresses himself. You
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  Speaker 3: have a log in your eye, and you're looking for
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  Speaker 3: a speck in your brother's eye. And so he says,
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  Speaker 3: don't carry on such action. Don't judge. The question comes,
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  Speaker 3: but shouldn't a person be concerned about his brother? In Christ?
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  Speaker 3: Qhuen is dealing with a person that is wandering from
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  Speaker 3: the Lord judging.
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  Speaker 2: And when is it restoring?
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  Speaker 3: That's the question, as a matter of fact, I've read
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  Speaker 3: these passages in chapter seven of Matthew time and again,
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  Speaker 3: and I have never seen what God has shown me
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  Speaker 3: as I think about that particular issue, will you notice
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  Speaker 3: that the passage is building toward helping your brother. The
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  Speaker 3: climax of the passage is that once you take care
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  Speaker 3: of your own eye, you will be able to deal
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  Speaker 3: with the speck in your brother's eye. Look at the
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  Speaker 3: last part of verse five. Then when when you've taken
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  Speaker 3: the log out of your own eye, then you will
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  Speaker 3: see clearly enough to take the speck out of your
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  Speaker 3: brother's eye. In other words, there is a place for
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  Speaker 3: taking specs out of our brother's eyes. It is important
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  Speaker 3: to God that we be so concerned about fellow believers
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  Speaker 3: that we notice and help remove the specs that are
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  Speaker 3: in their eyes. But I want to say, before I
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  Speaker 3: go any further into James or Matthew, that we are
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  Speaker 3: talking about something that is extremely sensitive. As a matter
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  Speaker 3: of fact, I think it is significant that Jesus uses
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  Speaker 3: the illustration of the eye. There are a few places
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  Speaker 3: in our bodies more sensitive to touch than the eye.
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  Speaker 3: Some time ago, my son was taking a course in
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  Speaker 3: a summer school on metal working, and in the process
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  Speaker 3: of that course, a small, tiny particle of metal flashed
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  Speaker 3: upon the cornea of his eye, and we didn't realize
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  Speaker 3: it because it was so tiny. But his eye was irritated,
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  Speaker 3: and time passed and it became obvious that there was
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  Speaker 3: a problem there.
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  Speaker 2: So we took him to a nearby ophthalmologist.
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  Speaker 3: And with the care and precision and tenderness of the
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  Speaker 3: skilled physician, he rested his chin on a little instrument
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  Speaker 3: and he deadened the eye, and with the tiniest, smallest touch,
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  Speaker 3: he flicked at that tiny little metal piece. You could
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  Speaker 3: hear the long prong give a little ping, ping, ping
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  Speaker 3: as he was pulling that tiny piece of metal out
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  Speaker 3: of the eye.
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  Speaker 2: I look the other way.
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  Speaker 3: That kind of thing does me in And with that
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  Speaker 3: eye propped open and the tiny, delicate help of that
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  Speaker 3: skilled physician, that.
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  Speaker 2: Speck was removed from the eye. It's a delicate issue.
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  Speaker 3: It's like walking through a field that is charged with minds.
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  Speaker 3: It's explosive this issue we're dealing with tonight. There are
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  Speaker 3: some people who feel called to criticism. That's not what
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  Speaker 3: is before us tonight. We're talking about spiritual eye surgery,
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  Speaker 3: in which we are.
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  Speaker 2: Qualified, and we are ready, and we.
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  Speaker 3: Are called by God in these particular cases to help
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  Speaker 3: the speck in the other fella's eye. Now, I think
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  Speaker 3: that gives sufficient preparation. From James Chapter five, in the
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  Speaker 3: last two verses nineteen twenty of this great book, it's
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  Speaker 3: with almost a measure of nostalgia that we come to
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  Speaker 3: the end of any study, because it's been such a
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  Speaker 3: rich time. In the last two verses of James five,
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  Speaker 3: James writes, my brethren, if any among you strays from
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  Speaker 3: the truth, there's the speck in the eye, and one
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  Speaker 3: turns him back, that's getting the speck.
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  Speaker 2: Out of the eye. Let him know.
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  Speaker 3: That he who turns a sinning one or a sinner
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  Speaker 3: from the error of his way, will save a soul
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  Speaker 3: from death and will cover a multitude of sins. Let
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  Speaker 3: me ask four questions before you this evening, as we
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  Speaker 3: deal with verse nineteen. First of all, to whom is
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  Speaker 3: it addressed. There are those that would teach that it
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  Speaker 3: is addressed to the lost man, and it has to
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  Speaker 3: do with saving souls from eternal damnation.
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  Speaker 2: But that is not true.
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  Speaker 3: Verse nineteen tells you that it's written to the brethren.
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  Speaker 3: It's written to Christians. It's written about those that are
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  Speaker 3: among you. Notice in verse nineteen, my brethren, if any
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  Speaker 3: among you, so we have the body of the Saints.
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  Speaker 3: It is addressed to the Christians, and it has to
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  Speaker 3: do with those in the Christian life, in the Christian family,
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  Speaker 3: in what is commonly called the Christian community.
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  Speaker 2: The second question, what.
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  Speaker 3: Has occurred that would cause James to write this nineteenth verse, Well,
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  Speaker 3: someone has strayed from the truth.
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  Speaker 2: Interesting word translated, strayed. It's the word from which we
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  Speaker 2: get our term planet.
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  Speaker 3: As the heavenly planets move in their orbit and seem
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  Speaker 3: to wonder in that trackless path across the sky. It's
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  Speaker 3: the idea of someone leaving something that they once knew
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  Speaker 3: in an intimate way. Now, an unregenerate man doesn't stray
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  Speaker 3: from the truth.
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  Speaker 2: He's never been in the truth.
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  Speaker 3: If you have a new child in your neighborhood and
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  Speaker 3: he visits in the home with your children, he doesn't
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  Speaker 3: stray from your home when he leaves. He was never
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  Speaker 3: a part of your home. If your child leaves and
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  Speaker 3: is lost, he may have strayed. He's once been a
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  Speaker 3: part of the home. If a person comes to our
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  Speaker 3: service tonight, and is here for the first time, and
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  Speaker 3: then leaves and walks away from the things that he hears.
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  Speaker 3: He hasn't strayed from the fellowship. He was never a
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  Speaker 3: part of the fellowship. He has visited, listened, rejected, and left.
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  Speaker 3: But if one is a member of this assembly and
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  Speaker 3: has given himself to the teachings of the Word, and
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  Speaker 3: has embraced them and taught them and emulated them, then
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  Speaker 3: leaves them, he has strayed from the truth. So that
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  Speaker 3: is the thought in James's mind. We have a Christian
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  Speaker 3: who has left something. He has departed from the truth
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  Speaker 3: he once embraced. Now the third question, what has he left?
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  Speaker 3: James says, he has left the truth that could cover
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  Speaker 3: a whole lot. It certainly would be the truth of
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  Speaker 3: the Scriptures. He has strayed from the truth, the specific
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  Speaker 3: truth known as the body of truth revealed in the Scriptures.
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  Speaker 3: He has wilfully walked away from the truth. It is
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  Speaker 3: suggested here that it is not a passive thing. It
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  Speaker 3: is an active thing. He has consciously made a decision
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  Speaker 3: and left.
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  Speaker 2: I was in the hospital.
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  Speaker 3: I want to illustrate now the fact that one may
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  Speaker 3: leave the truth morally or leave it academically or whatever
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  Speaker 3: made a call him a dear woman this afternoon, who
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  Speaker 3: is a widow of a former pastor who has died
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  Speaker 3: in recent years. And before his death he wandered from
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  Speaker 3: the truth that he once proclaimed, and he morally, in
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  Speaker 3: his own life, gave the lie to the truth that
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  Speaker 3: he had preached so well faithfully for so many years.
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  Speaker 3: As a result, three of his four sons have turned
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  Speaker 3: from the truth which they once embraced. And their departure
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  Speaker 3: isn't a moral one. It's more or less an intellectual one.
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  Speaker 3: They are filled with skepticism and doubt. And there's a
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  Speaker 3: serious problem now that's arisen in the family as a
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  Speaker 3: result of one that separated himself from the truth morally,
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  Speaker 3: and by the grace of God and her own admission,
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  Speaker 3: he came back before his death, but his boys witnessed this,
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  Speaker 3: became disillusioned with the whole idea of the church, and
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  Speaker 3: they've gone. They have no plans to come back. One
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  Speaker 3: is terribly embittered and soured and cynical. They've left the truth. Well,
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  Speaker 3: what should be done? That's the fourth question? The verse says,
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  Speaker 3: one turns him back. Here's the delicate part. Here is
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  Speaker 3: the very sensitive part of the passage the word turns
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  Speaker 3: him back. These words come from one word that has
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  Speaker 3: to do with turning around. It could be rendered convert,
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  Speaker 3: but that would give the idea that a person is
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  Speaker 3: being saved. But it is the idea of going in
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  Speaker 3: one direction and then turning an individual around so that
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  Speaker 3: he's going in the other direction. He was once straying
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  Speaker 3: from the truth, and someone steps in and loves and
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  Speaker 3: cares enough to work with him so that he turns
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  Speaker 3: and is going back with the truth. If we're going
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  Speaker 3: any further, I want to turn your attention to Galatians
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  Speaker 3: chapter six, Verses one, two, and three of chapter six.
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  Speaker 3: I want to emphasize now the proper attitude that is involved.
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  Speaker 3: I want to show you that there must be a
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  Speaker 3: wedding between action and attitude.
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  Speaker 2: It is erroneous.
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  Speaker 3: It is fallacious to think that a person can walk
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  Speaker 3: up rebuke a person who is walking away from the
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  Speaker 3: truth and think that that rebuke is his God given
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  Speaker 3: duty and leave the person alone, walk away and expect
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  Speaker 3: that individual to turn around. There's something much more than that.
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  Speaker 3: In fact, the Lord Jesus did not deal with men
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  Speaker 3: like that. Or are we brethren if any or if
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  Speaker 3: a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual,
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  Speaker 3: restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, looking
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  Speaker 3: to yourself, lest you, too be tempted bear one another's
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  Speaker 3: burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ. For if
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  Speaker 3: anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he
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  Speaker 3: deceives himself. Let me pinpoint from verse one three specific
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  Speaker 3: attitudes that must be a part of the action of
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  Speaker 3: helping a person go back to the truth he has left. First,
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  Speaker 3: if any man is caught in a trespass, you who
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  Speaker 3: are spirituable qualification number one ingredient number one.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: You must be filled with the spirit.
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: You must be walking in dependence upon the spirit of God.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: This is not a fleshly thing.
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: For one believer to do surgery on another believer means
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: that that first believer that does the surgery needs to
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: be qualified. He needs to have his heart so molded
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: and warm and in touch with God that his voice
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: is actually the mouthpiece of God. That's an extremely sensitive matter.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: I didn't take my son to a neighbor, nor did
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: I go and look for someone that was available on
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: a street corner to work on the cornea of his
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: I look carefully, and I probed until I found someone
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: who was qualified to do that delicate task of removing
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: that from the eye. Galatian Sick says that those who
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: are spiritual are the ones that first are qualified, those
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: that have those sins in their lives confessed, and they're
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: walking sensitively with God. Now, second, there must be the
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: attitude of gentleness. Restore such a one in a spirit
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: of gentleness. What a heartwarming term that is. There is
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: no place here for fools to rush in. This is
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: not to be done in haste, nor is this to
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: be done with an angry and impatient spirit.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: I want to add a word here.
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: I found in my years in the ministry that a
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: person who best qualifies for the task of restoration is
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: a gentle person. Because I found that perhaps the most
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: sensitive individuals in the world are the carnal Christians.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: Isn't that interesting?
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: A brother offended is harder to be one than a
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: strong city. Their contentions are like the bars of a castle,
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: says Proverbs eighteen nineteen. When working with one who has
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: been offended, you're working with someone who is extremely sensitive.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: You can't barge in and slap him across the face.
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: And expect him to respond graciously and to come back
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: to God in humility. It takes a gentle spirit, it
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: takes time, often it takes months of loving and caring,
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: and then it says, looking to yourself, lest you too
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: be tempted. The third qualification is, of course, nattitude of humility. Humility.
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: You don't go with your thumbs under your suspenders, thinking, ah,
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: I'm God's gift to you to straighten out your life.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: You go with that sense, all but.
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: The grace of God I would be in your shoes,
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: and you go with the reminder that there have been
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: times in your own life when you wander. I'm deeply concerned, frankly,
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: when we take upon ourselves the ministry of specs in
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: others' eyes. And I think it is in significant ministry
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: that we take it upon ourselves at times with the
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: feeling of delight or this is going to be fine
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: or a pleasure. Frankly, I have found that when individuals
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: work successfully with other individuals, they're very reluctant to say
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: much or do much. They're very hesitant to move in.
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: It isn't something that you love to do the ministry
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: of delivering others and helping others find deliverance is not
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: something that an individual seeks and delights in. We are
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: called to it, placed in that position, and there we
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: do the job. Now back to James five and we'll
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: wrap it up. Five nineteen. We have a person that
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: turns another one back. My how that is needed walking
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: in the spirit with an attitude of gentleness and an
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: attitude of humility. This person, by the grace of God,
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: is used to turn him back.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: By the way, before we look at.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: Verse twenty, Galatians use the word restore such a one.
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: It's a word that suggests the idea of adding something
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: that is missing. It's used for mending torn nets, setting
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: a broken bone, outfitting a fleet of ships, supplying a
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: hungry army with food and ammunition. It's the idea of
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: giving something that is missing but is crucial for there
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: to be success and meaning. Now that's all involved in
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: turning a person back. Now what happens when you have
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: done this the results verse twenty. Let him know, and
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: I take the hymn to refer to the one that
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: turns the other back. Let him know that he who
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: turns a sinner. The word means sinning one. It's the
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: believer who has been in sin from the error of
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: his way, will first save his soul from death, and
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: second he will cover a multitude of sins. First result,
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: he will save the soul from death. It could mean
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: perhaps that if that individual were to have stayed in carnality,
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: he would have died under divine discipline, and this individual
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: that comes to his rescue, as it were, and delivers
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: him from that cardinal state, brings him back so that
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: death doesn't happen. I would lean rather to a broader
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: meaning of death, in the sense that death is the
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: punishment pronounced by God upon sin. The death like condition
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: in which he is living are the words of proverbs.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: The way of the transgressor is hard.
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: You will deliver him from that hard, death like existence,
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: and it's used that way at times in the New Testament.
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: And secondly, you will cover a multitude of sins. It
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: I think means the idea of covering over the multitude
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: of sins that have been in existence. They are forgiven
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: by confession, and covers over those that would have been
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: committed had he not turned covers them completely. Now, there
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: are occasions when we get involved and I would say
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: to you that the motivating factor must be love. One
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: John four eighteen tells us that that love covers a
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: multitude of sins. If you're looking for something to prompt
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: you as to whether you should speak or bring a
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: word of encouragement or relief, or help our deliverance to another,
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: be sure that the prompting comes from a heart of love.
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: You love that person so much you can't keep quiet.
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: One of the things that prompts discipline in the home,
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: especially when our children are small and are to be
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: under the smarting rod of the parent. That which prompts
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: the rod is love. I love him too much to
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: let him get away with that. I love her too
• 30:39
  Speaker 3: much to overlook the wrong the disobedience. Love won't turn
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: the other way and say, well, let it go on.
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: Love prompts involvement. So what can we say. Let's summarize it.
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: First of all, let's understand that there are occasions when
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: we are to be involved in removing specs from other's eyes,
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: helping others who have strayed. The entire process must be
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: under the direction and control of the Holy Spirit. It
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: cannot be a fleshly ego trip. It cannot be something
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: prompted by pride, but rather by humility bathed in gentleness. Third,
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: the motive or the attitude is as important as the action,
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: as we saw from Galatians chapter six. And when we
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: are prompted by the Lord, we should not feel out
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: of place. As is said here, you are to be
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: reminded that you're saving that person from death, and you're
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: covering those sins. One of the less attractive phases of
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: the ministry, and all the men on our pastoral staff
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: are involved in it, and some of those in leadership
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: in our boards. One of the least attractive parts of
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: the ministry is ministering to those that stray. It is
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: not a rewarding minister It is not a popular ministry.
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: It is often not received well. Frequently it leads to
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: misunderstanding when the heart is not prepared by God to change.
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: And we have dealt at times with individuals that have
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: heard the words of concern, and though they were said
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: with that attitude, we've explained this evening, they were not
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: received that way, and the result was an intensely difficult
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: problem for an extended period of time. Maybe one in
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: your home is in this condition right now. It may
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: be your child who is now an adult and has
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: left the things of God. It may be that God
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: would use another person more effectively than you as the parent.
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: Perhaps God would give you wisdom in knowing who to
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: ask to involve in himself in that ministry. I was
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: asked just this morning in confidence, if I would help
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: review a letter that a dear couple in our church
• 32:56
  Speaker 3: plans to write to their child who is right now
• 32:59
  Speaker 3: wandering from the truth, and they want to be involved
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: in restoring this one back to the truth. Maybe a
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: letter is what is involved. Maybe it would involve a
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: trip and a visit this summer. Perhaps it would be
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: a time of investment and discipleship for a period of
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: time with one that was once a room mate, or
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: a close friend, or a fellow classmate.
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: Whatever it may be.
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: Remember that God says you're to be reminded that you're
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: saving a soul from death, and you're hiding multitude ofscinds.
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: I think it's fitting that James ends this way. Frankly,
• 33:36
  Speaker 3: his entire book has been spent an exhortation. If anybody
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: lives up to his word, James has done it. He
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: has involved himself in the most intimate areas of one's life,
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: and he has done it with that spirit that only
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: God could have directed. And I think James is right
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: in coming to the end of it with a serious note.
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: In fact, he closes the entire book with one word, sins.
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: He says, Look, let's take care of these matters, these anchors.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: I've come to your.
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: Rescue with these five chapters, and I have invested my
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: time in giving my thoughts to you in these areas.
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: Oh don't stop.
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: May that process never end, but may it be prompted
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: by love, and may it be bathed in gentleness. He said,
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: is in effect, do as I have done to you.
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: That's what Jesus did.
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: One of the most moving passages in all the book
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: talks about while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,
• 34:38
  Speaker 3: while we were carrying on acts of sin. He came
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: to our rescue. And you know so well, you that
• 34:46
  Speaker 3: have been in the family of God for a period
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: of time, that when you wander the Lord doesn't say, well,
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: nobody's perfect.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: Maybe someday he'll come back. The Scots say, he sets
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: the hounds of heaven after you. He comes after you.
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: And perhaps, using the words of a friend are the
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: letter of a loved one, or a mother or a father,
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: perhaps a close associate, maybe a pastor. You are brought
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: back in line because the spirit of God is pleased,
• 35:15
  Speaker 3: He is grieved when there is friction. That's what the
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: table of the Lord is all about. It is a
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: reminder that He has restored us. David says that in
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: the twenty third Psalm, it's the duty of the shepherd
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: to restore the soul of the sheep.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: Maybe bow together.
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: You've never received the Lord, Jesus Christ, These moments are
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: reserved for you if you've wandered from the things of God,
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: and you know the Lord is touching your life and saying, look,
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: you've wandered long enough, and tonight is for you. If
• 35:57
  Speaker 3: we confess our sins, he is faithful andjust to forgive us.
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Quietly, just deal
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: with your soul, dear heavenly Father.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: As we close our study of this wonderfully practical letter
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: penned by your servant James, we are filled with gratitude
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: for all that we have learned from what he has written.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: Each one of us has experienced failure and the painful
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: consequences of straying far from you and your gracious care
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: each time we are found broken, depressed, disappointed in ourselves,
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: and full of regret. Thank you, dear Lord, for the
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: remarkable transformation made possible by the lifeline of your forgiveness
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: that comes to us through Christ. Thank you, Father, that
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: you've never given up on us or left us to
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: struggle to regain your favor, and still within us the
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: enormous love and courage we need to be rescuers of
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: others who have strayed from You and have lost their way.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: Forgive us for harsh judgments and dishonoring ugly words. Replace
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: all of that with your supernatural, unconditional love that compels
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: us to go to them and gently and graciously restore
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: them to fellowship with You and with your Church. Our
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: only source of relief, and it is an eternal relief,
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: comes from You, and it comes by.
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: Means of your grace.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: Help us to be dispensers of that grace to others,
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: not merely holding it for ourselves. Bring to our attention
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: over and over again these timeless and practical principles of
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: living out our faith in a world that is in
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: such desperate need of an authentic and genuine model of you.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: May your great name be glorified in us and in
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: your Church our Father, through Jesus Christ, forever and ever Amen.
• 38:29
  Speaker 4: The preceding message, how to Handle Straying Saints, was copyrighted
• 38:35
  Speaker 4: in nineteen seventy five, two thousand and three, and twenty sixteen,
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: and the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty sixteen by
• 38:44
  Speaker 4: Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication
• 38:50
  Speaker 4: of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited. Y