Jesus, your name is power, breath and live in water,
such a marvelous mystery.
Holy, holy, holy, son of God Almighty,
the one that lives in the air so long.
In God's creation I sing,
right to the kingdom came.
You are my everything,
God will adore you.
Holy, holy, holy, son of God Almighty,
the one that lives in the air so long.
In God's creation I sing,
right to the kingdom came.
You are my everything,
God will adore you.
A question for you to ponder as we go to the text today.
Are unseen dangers the more dangerous kind?
I submit to you that they are, at least for two solid reasons.
The first one is that those unseen dangers attack from advantage.
So if you would stand against an enemy,
unseen dangers obviously attack with advantage.
And if you want to bring into play your shield of faith or the word of God,
it might be more challenging if something is coming at you sideways
or worse from behind or certainly in any case from out of view.
But I submit to you there is a secondary reason why unseen dangers are the more dangerous kind.
And it is because they show, they slow, my apologies,
but they slow or even halt the advance by creating false threats
or danger that seems to be virtually incessant, nonstop.
And so in other words, if you're standing there sword and shield at the ready
and you start thinking it could be coming from anywhere,
I just saw a little snippet of a movie, I didn't actually watch the movie,
a little snippet of a movie, a military movie, it looked like it might actually be pretty good,
but I don't know anymore about that, I'm not naming it.
So about this convoy in like Afghanistan, wherever, is headed into an area
and they began to, the interpreter with them began to suspect they were headed into an ambush
and conflict erupted and they stopped because the interpreter was trying to say,
we're heading into an ambush, we're heading into an ambush.
And the other guy was saying, no, we're not heading into an ambush, everything's fine,
why are we stopping?
And they were arguing back and forth and to the point it almost went to violence.
Meanwhile, they got a drone up overhead, got looked down the way, it's about five miles,
and sure enough, guess what was there?
A kill box ambush.
And they said, okay, we're turning around and going back to base.
But the point is they had to slow or halt their advance while they were looking
at whether an unseen danger lie ahead.
And why?
Because you can present a strong front then, but the enemy will attack from advantage.
In fact, Sun Tzu says, never attack an enemy that has an advantageous position.
You will wind up on killing ground and probably wind up dead.
Okay, so unseen dangers are more dangerous not only because they attack from advantage
but also because they slow down your forward movement or sometimes even halt your advance
by creating false threats or danger that seems incessant.
If you are always wondering, is it coming?
Am I going to get hit right now?
Do I need to keep my shield up?
Do I need to keep my shield up behind my head?
Do I need to spin in a circle as fast as I can hoping to parry any blow that might come against me?
All of that makes any advance virtually impossible.
James understood this truth and was laying it out for us very clearly.
If you'll grab your Bibles and go with me to the book of James, chapter 5.
Thank you very much.
Those of you who are with me, excited about God's word today.
It's a short passage of scripture and we will only kind of refer to a couple of other places throughout.
And so the verses themselves are going to go by fairly fast.
It's James chapter 5 beginning in verse 19 as you see up there.
And it says as follows, my brethren.
So in other words, before I go any further, who are we writing to?
We're writing to the church.
We're writing to those who profess the name of Jesus.
When a person becomes a follower of Jesus, they become a child of God.
That makes them your brother or sister.
I understand that there are people in the world who claim to be Christians.
They may or may not qualify.
Depends.
And if you know that they do qualify, then what we're about to learn, you would have to apply.
But if you do not know for sure, then you do not for sure have to apply what we're about to learn.
However, inside the church, in the local church, these are your brothers and sisters in Christ.
And by inviting them by say, yes, we want you to be members of the church, you are accepting that they are children of God.
You must be a Christian to be a member of New Heights.
That is a requirement.
So when we vote them in as a body, we've accepted them, which means what we are about to read applies.
OK, he says, my brethren, if any among you straight away,
if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back.
OK, so the first verse, 19, is setting the scene.
If you will, these are the circumstances in which what we're about to read applies.
A brother in Christ, a sister would be the same, a brother or sister in Christ.
If anyone among you, in other words, in the church known to be Christians, known to be followers of the Lord in your circle, in your influence, turns back.
Let's say, for example, just we'll get very specific about let's say R.J. turns back.
Then the rest of us, what we're about to read applies.
Let's say Michael turns back or Amalia turns back.
And the rest of us were about to read.
This applies certainly within the church.
And if you believe that person is a Christian, you have every reason to believe their profession.
Then this applies even if they would not be in the same local church.
Although the phrase among you is making that very clear.
But the other thing that we're talking about is the church local.
For my brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back.
So in other words, if somebody steps in and says, OK, please come back to Christ, come back to do what's right, walk away from that falsehood that you're now believing, walk away from that falsehood that you're now following.
You think you don't have to do that, but God, you know that God told you to do that.
Right.
God told you to do that. Now I'm telling you, and then they turn back.
OK, so that's all of verse 19.
The whole scene is if we've got someone there strays from the truth and someone turns them back from straying from the truth.
OK, that's the scene.
Twenty, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
So who are we letting know?
That's going to be the first question.
What you got a pronoun there, the him is not God.
It's not a capital H. It's the person who turned him back.
So this is what you understand.
If somebody is walking away from the Lord or going in a direction that they should not go, we as a body community are called to turn them back, turn them back to the right course.
Please come back.
Are we talking about Matthew 18 accountability?
No, that's another thing.
OK, we're talking about somebody who is walking away from the truth.
So what walking with the truth sounds like in a minute, what it looks like.
We'll come to that in a second.
But the bottom of talking about somebody who is they believed something that isn't quite accurate.
They're acting on something that doesn't fit the body of truth that is Jesus, that is the word of God, living and written word of God.
And then someone comes to them and says, come on, turn back.
Let's go back and do this the right way.
Let's go back and do what God would have us to do.
Then that person who went to them and turns them back will save his soul.
We've got to verify whose soul we're talking about from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
So what has happened when that person turned them back?
Someone's soul was saved.
Now, all my research, I found two almost 100 years old, but I found two commentators who actually believe that the person whose soul might be saved from the death is the person who is hauling them back.
If RJ is the one who's walked away, walked away from the truth, then I go and bring him back.
Then there's a guy who says, well, it could be my soul that's being saved rather than RJ's soul.
Or if I sin and RJ calls me back, then it could be RJ's sin that's being saved.
But almost all everybody, all the theologians, and I think looking at the basic reason, I'm not a theologian per se, but studying it, it's pretty clear that the person whose soul is saved,
and I'll kind of explain that logic in a second too, is the person who was walking away from the truth.
If the truth is what saves, and the truth is Jesus Christ, the living word of God, and he is who saves,
and so if the truth is what saves, then if you walk away from the truth, you're walking away from salvation.
I got it. Everybody's going to go, wait a minute, does that mean you can lose your salvation?
This passage of scripture literally has nothing to do with that.
He's not talking about that, and I'll show you how I know that in a moment.
He's not talking about somebody losing their salvation.
You do realize we're all going to die. The Bible even says that there is a sin unto death,
and that same sin unto death could theoretically be perpetrated by a believer.
There could come a moment in time at which you would no longer be useful to God.
If you have a calling to God, you're calling to God from God, and God tells you do this, and then you don't do that,
and God says, okay, I told you to do that, now don't do that.
At some moment in time, God says, okay, well he's clearly not going to do what he's supposed to do, so I'm just going to take him out.
It'll be the most glorifying to me and the best thing for him if we just don't let him keep living in sin.
He'll have less of a long list when he stands before me later.
So there is a sin unto death.
This is not necessarily talking about you sinning to the point that you will die physically.
It could be, that would be included, right?
But it's more likely talking about a spiritual death.
Wait a minute, didn't you just say I can't lose my salvation?
Salvation is life with God. I get that, I understand that.
Spiritual death is a barrier between you and God.
So if one of my children needed to move home, and they were living in my house, and things were going okay after that,
maybe they were paying a little bit of rent, if they were adults I would probably encourage that, pay a little bit of rent, whatever,
I'll pay expenses, that kind of thing.
There's no barrier between them and me now. We're living in the same house.
But as soon as they go again, get back on their feet, get strong enough, and they move out, now there are at least walls.
But there's still no barrier if no peace was broken, if there was no sin against me, if we didn't have a major conflict between us.
There's still no barrier between me and them, just physical walls.
Death is like, physical death is like a physical barrier between you and the other people in your life.
But it is not a barrier between you and God, unless what?
Unless you're not saved, right?
So if you're not saved, you die, you go to the next life, and it is not going to be a pleasant experience,
unless you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
So what would spiritual death look like for a person who is still saved?
James is saying that there could come a moment in time at which you are following an untruth.
At that point in time it's as if my young person moved back in my house,
they're paying rent, everything is going well, and I come home and they're having an orgy in my living room.
Or they're doing drugs, maybe leading my other kids to do things they shouldn't do, or whatever.
Stole all my valuable belongings and left.
That would never happen in my household, praise God, but it has happened in a lot of people's households.
At one point in time I took a survey at the Life Station over 45 days or so,
and like 15 clients out of the 30 that I asked had had a 20-something move back in their house
and steal everything valuable to spend it on drugs.
That's crazy to think that that number was true, but it is.
So lots of people have experienced that. I submit to you at that one time there is a rift between them and their child,
between them and the one who abused them.
Even though the walls physically are there, now they can lock the doors and lock their child out.
That is a physical death.
You can't come in my house without an invitation because you stole all my stuff.
So that's a physical death to the relationship.
But on top of that, there is a spiritual death.
I'm going to have to work out the fact that you stole my TV, my computer, and all my stuff,
or that I came home and this was happening.
And without forgiveness, without a massive movement of compassion, that's not going to be overcome.
So is it possible for a Christian, heart still beating, brain waves still in place,
to sin against God and break fellowship with the God of the universe who has saved their soul?
James would say, yes. Am I trying to get into deep theology or doctrine here? No.
But what we know is that throughout his entire book, the entire five chapters,
James has been calling us to righteousness, to righteousness.
James believes that righteousness and right living is the natural outpouring of faith in God.
I believe in God, the channel is open. I believe in the way that God will make, the channel is open.
Grace comes in and he saves me. I don't do works to get saved.
I don't pray a certain prayer to get saved. Faith, grace, I'm saved.
Now because of that, I'm free. Because I'm free, I should not use my freedom for evil.
And if I do use my freedom for evil, then I am using the great gift that I have been given
by the great Father in heaven, paid for by the blood of his son to do evil.
And you better believe that's not pleasing to him. But people do it.
So James is pointing to a death, a spiritual disruption of the relationship between a person and God
where the soul of that person is essentially disconnected from the God of the universe,
not necessarily unsaved, but disconnected for the life giving flood, the living waters of God that God provides.
It's as if you went to God and he poured out the living water.
And because you have believed some falsehood of man, some idolatrous belief,
you've gotten into some sinful behavior, you've walked away from being dependable to God, being faithful to the Lord,
you put your raincoat on. So God's still wanting to send the living water,
yet your soul is raincoated from getting wet by it.
Without that living water, I grow tired. Without that living water, I have a hard time keeping a straight course.
Without that living water, I have a hard time seeing my real enemies.
One enemy leads to another and I am able to take that enemy, take that blow.
And I think, well, you know, I'm just suffering because life's like that and I just keep on going and I'm suffering more
because life's just like that and I just keep on going and I'm suffering more because life's just like that.
And I'm not realizing that God is trying to turn me back to the course to which I belong.
I was once an object of wrath. I've not become an object of wrath. That's not my identity. I am a child of God.
But facing now my going forward in a direction that God does not want me to go, God is repelling that.
God is stopping me from going forward in a direction that he does not want me to go.
And what's expected then is the community, and I want to get ahead of myself,
but the community, individual brothers and sisters, are supposed to turn us back from those mistakes.
And having done so, they can know that the one who turns back a sinner from the error of his way
will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
I love the fact that this ends with, will cover a multitude of sins,
because you know what else the Bible says will cover a multitude of sins, right?
Somebody? Yes, Jesus, of course. Love, right?
1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, covers a multitude of sins.
And so the bottom line is this, if you love them, how could you possibly let them continue to stray into difficulty?
How could you possibly let them walk away from the truth?
Sinners walking away from the truth need to be first and foremost invited to have a relationship with the truth.
And through that relationship, you have the responsibility to turn that person back
from whatever lie it is that they have believed,
or whatever lackluster faith they have in the truth that they have believed,
to a path of righteousness. They are exposed.
If you went to the store and saw one of our church members running around in the Walmart completely naked,
butt-hanging out, right, you'd be like, that ain't right. That's not right.
That's not right and the ball what's gonna call the police you got take my shirt take my jacket
Let's get you out of here. How did this even happen? What is going on? And they say well, I think in America
I should be allowed to do this. I'm protesting listen. You're a follower of Jesus Christ
This is an inappropriate protest to say the least right wouldn't you step up?
Well, that's exactly what's going on with somebody who says they love the Lord following the Lord and is bought into an untruth
They are exposed they have put down the shield of faith
They have turned aside the sword that is the Holy Spirit's the truth the Bible
They are not living the way that God would have them to live
So then that brings us essentially to our points. The first one is to realize that God's people
can
stray
It ought not to be so I
Mean if you're really delving into who the Lord is and what he's doing and you're thinking about it all the time and you're
Reading your Bible and you're praying you hear God say, okay now do this you start to go to do something
God says don't do that and so on you'd be like that should never ever ever happen that God's people would stray
But the truth is
God's people are humans, right? God's people are not dogs
God's people are not demons
God's people are not angels
God's people are humans. And so we only have that ability that has been stowed in us
That's why of course the word says God knows that we are but dust and the fact is we can stray and God has designed a program
for that a
plan of action a
Tactic if you will you say well, yeah, he seals my soul. I cannot lose my salvation. Yeah, that's true. That's absolutely true, right?
That's another doctrine altogether. Holy Spirit comes in regenerates and seals your heart. That's very true
But this is not talking about this is talking about when you stray from the course that God has laid out for you
What is the plan of action that God has?
Instilled and it is that a brother or a sister or if you're a young person a mother or a father
Right will intervene to turn you back to the right course. They will say look, this is just not right
Now does it happen and I've had it happen way too many times that you go to somebody and say look
I just I just don't think this is right. I can even show you in scripture. I don't think it is right and so on and
They ignore you
They're unwilling to be turned
sure
It happens
Does that free you up from trying to turn them back to the right course?
It does not because if you manage to turn them back to the right course
You will save their soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins
People can stray it happens
Secondly people can and should help them if they are straying who's the them well that would be me
That would be you
That would be us the them is us
Okay, so when people are straying and they can and I would I hate to say it this way
But they will right and people stray
Other believers are supposed to help them
Turn back to the right course
There is no one I don't care what respect you have to them
Or how much they've shown up you may know that they fast or pray or serve or outreach
Or win souls more than anybody there is no one that does not qualify as the them
In fact, I will say this
If you are waiting around for someone to turn you back from your wicked course from the truth that you
Collected if you will the excuses that you've made for yourself
Whatever if you are waiting around for someone to turn you back it is probable that you have been
Moved to inability to turn anyone else back because you're waiting for someone to come and tell you that this course of action that you're on
Is not correct never getting around to realizing right, but isn't it so much easier?
Let's just be really transparent for a moment isn't it so much easier to recognize everyone else's faults than your own
It sure is it's easy to be hurt. It's easy to be mad. It's easy to recognize it
It's easy to call it out. It's easier to find a verse that says somebody else can't do what they're doing
That it is to find a verse that can that confronts you about what you're doing because that's a fun task
It's like a little mystery or a puzzle. Oh, that doesn't seem right. I think that's not right
Let me think about oh, yeah, I thought of a verse. I'm gonna look that up. Yep. Sure enough. They're wrong
Gosh, I wish they were here to hear this sermon today so they could know that they're wrong and repent and change their ways
What am I describing? I'm describing a person
Who is missing the whole point of what it means to be a believer?
Yes, you can recognize other people's weaknesses and you're not supposed to wait until you don't have any or until you have no sin
Before you go and confront them guess what actually usually happens you go and you say to them look
It's pretty I'm pretty sure
That what you're doing is not right and you should repent of that and turn back to God
To which they usually say I would say about about 40 percent of the time
When I do it, which is not often enough. I admit that's part of this sermon speaks to me, too
About 40 percent of time they'll say what about you you did this
How can you be the one that's going to tell me what I'm doing wrong I see you doing wrong
Right and it becomes a conversation about what both of you have done wrong
So guess what the math of that is based on these verses
You go to that person and you say look, I think this is wrong you to run it repent of it and do it right
And they say back to you. Well, yeah
Well, I saw you do this need to repent of it and do it right
And the truth is if both people will take the feedback and both people repent and turn back to God both people have
Wait for it saved each other's soul from death and cover a multitude of sins
So if your fear that someone's gonna have something against you is your reason for not doing it
Correcting their bad behavior or behavior that is contrary to what God would want not behavior was contrary to what you would want
But behavior to what is contrary to that God would want then you realize that again you have been moved to a place of immobility
Oh, by the way, what would that be called?
If you have sin in your life that you're afraid that someone will confront you about
When you go and confront them about the sin in their life and you don't want to go and confront them because you know
You have sin in your life and you're not getting past that. What would that be called?
That would be called death
That's a living death
That's the death part of it that James is talking about you could be in a position where you're not able to go and confront
I'm I'm not worthy
I can't be the person to go and talk to somebody about what they're doing wrong because I know i'm not perfect
Because I know I have mistakes that I'm making so I can't talk to anybody. I probably won't do it
Right. I won't say the right thing. I can't control my temper, right or they've helped me and I don't want to offend them
Casey they'll help me again later. I don't want to confront them because they might leave the church
Right. I'm not very confident about that
I might leave the church, right? I'm not very good at this
All of those excuses that we make about why we can't go and confront a brother and sister are all our own sin
Which leads to a death of the soul
That's exactly what he's saying
Your soul will be disconnected from the god that you think god doesn't want you to go and confront somebody when they're insane
I mean now you could go to matthew 18, right?
And jesus clearly said if a brother sins against you if you're knowledgeable of a brother's sin that you go and confront them, right?
Now it's all meant to be done in love and restoration
So if all you're going to do is go cuss them out you probably shouldn't
You know, that's really not helpful on the other hand if you did go and cuss them out at the very least
They could say back to you. Look the way you're handling this right now is clearly sin
Let's let's you repent and turn back to god and then let's get to the bottom. Why do you really why are you offended?
What did I do? I'm okay with hearing from what I just not okay with being cussed out
And then they can repent about being cussed out and you can repent about whatever it was that you did or vice versa
And we can at least get there but those who allow themselves to be cramped allow themselves to be tightened down and not do the things that
Then there is no saving of the soul from death. There is no love that covers a multitude of sins
People can and should god ordains it and requires it help those who are straying from the truth
The truth I just be frank if you don't like the truth. It is the most annoying saying in the world
Jesus said be like this do this walk with me be a different kind of come out from amongst them
Right be called out of the darkness
I've hauled you up out of the cesspit and made you a clean alive living person be free
Be free to speak up be free to be yourself be free to be developed into the unique individual that you are and be
Ready to confront others who are straying from this truth
Also notice it's very clear in here that if they turn back in response to that effort
We should rejoice a soul is saved and a multitude of sins covered
James as I said throughout his book has made a point of talking to us about
Righteousness flowing out of faithfulness
If you believe you should be right
And if you believe and you're not right get right repent keep going back to god keep confessing what is wrong
Keep receiving that cleansing
Jesus is standing there he doesn't run out he doesn't get old he doesn't have not enough
Gas in the tank or not enough blood in the bucket to cover you keep going to god through jesus and being forgiven
But people don't eventually they go oh you know I have to go to the church
And being forgiven but people don't eventually they go oh you know I already three times I repented this three times
I went to god three times he forgave me and cleansed me of all unrighteousness and three times
I've gone back and done it again and four is too many
Or five or a thousand. I'll tell you what's too many one time not going back one time not coming back to the love of jesus
James wrote it this way in chapter 1 verse 25
He said but one who looks intently at the perfect law the law of liberty i'll come back to that phrase in a moment
And abides by it not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer this man will be blessed in what he does
So he's talking about the word of god the only law they had right it had the new testament
He at the time of his writing the testament did not exist yet
Right so he's talking about the old testament which pointed to a way that god would make all the bible is about jesus and his salvation
All of it all the bible beginning to end that's what's so amazing 40 plus authors wrote and there is one theme
Salvation through the son of god what set one theme salvation through jesus and he would be a suffering servant bleed and die
To pay for sins that he himself did not commit
But one who looks intently into the bible into the law genesis through malachi
And i'll come back to that phrase the law of liberty moment and he says and abides by it
Not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer this man will be blessed in what he does in other words
If you look at the bible and it tells you to do something do that
If it tells you not to do something don't do that
That's really actually very easy when you think about it following the lord is made pretty simple there except for one little snag
Because the word that is the law genesis through malachi is no longer the law of the law
It's now the law of liberty
So you have to say two things about it to be abundantly clear
The first one is when you look into genesis genesis through malachi and you see there what's wrong with us
What we need to change how we need to be affected where we need to grow where we need to reach where we need to stand
Where we need to take a fall if necessary right?
When we look at that we need to realize that it's we can do that because we are free to do that first of all
We are free to look into the law and see that it says there
So thou shalt not bear false witness and to examine our false witness and realize that it does not line up with that
And to repent of that turn to god be forgiven and be cleansed of all unrighteousness
We are free to do that to discover in the law ourselves falling short
And then repent and turn to god and allow him to deal with what it is that we are
straying through
Therefore it is the law of liberty
A person who does not know the lord
I'm going to be very simple about this
A person who does not know christ may look into the bible and see there that it says not to do that thing
They may not be free to assess that they are doing it
They may not be free to understand what it says that they should not do
They may not be free to turn from it even if they discover they are doing it
They may not be free to walk a course that is more godly than the one that they are
on even if they should read their bible and discover that they are not on a godly course
Because it is the law of liberty
Secondly then to notice with the law of liberty is that it is now no longer the law of law
Right no one will be saved by the law this does not say that if you look in there
And are not a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer you will be saved
Doesn't say that you get saved through jesus
You get saved through jesus jesus is the culmination of all the law
I will submit to you that if you were a follower of the law not of jesus and you did everything perfectly from beginning to end
You would still go to hell
That doesn't make any sense. I will have never sinned against god. How can that be true?
Because according to the bible the original sin
Of adam and eve carries through all mankind until now that doesn't mean that a baby is born with sin per se
But at the moment that they are old enough to understand and are no longer innocent at the age of
accountability
right at that moment in time
they
Must believe or otherwise they will be condemned by what they have done with the son of god
See jesus was sent to be the salvation of all men if you will not believe in jesus. You will not be saved
end of story
Therefore when one looks into the law they have that possibility
The law of liberty they have that possibility of seeing christ and they can legitimately be free
Hear me now
And this will step on some people's toes if you're really kind of like into exactly what it says
Okay, when the bible says thou shalt not bear false witness
It does not by any means mean only that you cannot bear false witness
See because if it did in the original text in the in exodus
When you read that exodus 20 when you read that it says thou shalt not bear false witness talking about testifying in court against your neighbor falsely
So that's all you can't do if you just can't testify
In court against your neighbor falsely then when you get to the new testament and it clearly says put all lying away from you
That would be an expansion
of the law
Thou shalt not commit adultery does not only mean that you can't have
Misuse of sex outside a proper marriage relationship
Although that's what adultery is it does not only mean that right or if it only meant that then jesus himself would have been sinning
When in the new testament he says i say to you a man who lost in his heart after a woman has committed all the adultery already
You see we understand that there is a living law that goes
Transformatively through your life and it leads you to so much better why because we don't follow the law
That's not the goal should we follow the law sure wear your stinkin seatbelt right? Okay fine
We follow the laws of men but I submit to you that outside christianity outside the church
That's all genesis through malachi becomes it becomes the law of the jews and the rules of the law
The law of the jews and the rules that must be followed in order for you to be a proselyte to the judaism religion
Which frankly isn't going to do you a whole hill of beans if you become a jew today you'll rot in hell for eternity
And that will still be true even if you are supposedly a christian and then turn and become a jew
Because clearly you are not a christian if you turn and become a jew
Understand so we don't follow the law that way rather. We understand that jesus is the living
Word of god and he in us leads us to a way that we can go
He is the way he governs your steps
He guides you if you reach out for it with your hand and jesus says don't take that and you still take it
You are not following jesus
So when we look at the old testament all the commands and we see them all pointing to jesus and and we see
Abraham declared as righteous because he believed in faith god
We realized we are supposed to believe in faith god. This is why the word of god beginning to end is all useful for rebuke
And teaching and doctrine and it goes on even though it's about an army that gets a hail of stones down their head
And you're like, oh, that's pretty cool. But what's that got to do with me? It's all got to do with you
Because the word is living and active and able today
And so we read it. Yes, and we don't walk away from it without allowing us to allowing it to change us
Lest we may as he says elsewhere forget even what we saw there who we were like a man who looked in a mirror saw himself
And then went away and forgot what he looked like
But peter then says it this way in chapter 2 verse 16 of first peter. He writes this
act as free men
Do not use your freedom as a covering for evil
But use it as bond slaves of god now. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
so
There was a thing a bond slave a slave is somebody was owned
And a master had a couple of laws about why he might have to give up his slave
Or he might just say, you know, my slave's been really loyal to me and I want to give up my slave
But let's say for example, and a slave gets the word. Okay, you're free. You can go you're not gonna be my slave anymore
I'm giving you your freedom, but what if the slave doesn't want to go?
So there were rules laws that were developed if the slave doesn't want to go
He could put a piercing through his ear and he could say i'll never be free. I choose to be your slave
Then that person becomes a bond slave because they've committed their life to the person to whom they were a slave
Now they were made free and in their freedom
They choose to be a bond slave and I submit to you that a bond slave is better than a slave
They're always going to be more loyal always going to be more with you always going to be more for you
Always going to be more useful and so on so a slave master might say, okay. Yeah, i'll take you
That sounds good to me. You can be my bond slave
And that is what our freedom is for that. We might go to god and say okay god. I submit myself to you
How does this all come together?
Because at a moment in time a person may say in my freedom in christ I submit myself to you god
But then the world comes along teaching distractions attacks of all kinds and they might say I know I submit myself to you god
But right now I don't want really want to work in your best interest or in mine
I want to take this thing that has been made available this opportunity. I want to indulge this distraction
Whatever it might be
Even though it looks like a good thing it could be anything and if in that moment you're turning a little even a little
Yeah, you ever heard the old thing like a slightly altered truth. What do they call that? What's a slightly altered truth?
A lie, right? And so I have committed myself as a bond slave. I submit to you that if a bond slave committed themselves their master
And then went contrary to their master's belongings. They are subject to
The same penalty as if they were a slave, right?
You think
Or is it worse?
It could be worse because
You submitted yourself back into slavery. You said okay. I'm free. I'm a free man
Now I submit myself to you
Master, I'll be I'll be with you for the rest of my life. Then I say oh well
I said that but I really only said that so I could get my way in the moment at the time or blah blah blah
I held these things away from him that kind of thing and then go in the direction that the master doesn't want
You could be subject to the extreme penalty
Which is
death
And now you see how it all connects together. Yes, you don't have to abide by the law
Yes, we choose to abide by the law not because it is the law
But because it is the perfect law the law of liberty
Everything that you do by God's exact instruction will always work out exactly the way God wants it to
In fact, there is only one way to get outside the will of God and it's only accomplishable for an instant
If in an instant you choose not to do what it is that God wants you to do in that instant
You are outside the will of God, but a moment later don't think God is not sovereign
Don't think God is not omnipotent. Don't think God knew that you were going to do that
And the moment later you'll be right back in his will you'll be subject to wrath. You'll be course-corrected
You'll be subject to accountability
You'll be failing at what you attempted or failing at what you desire
Because sin against God does not have the results it pretends to have that brings us to our conclusion
I just want to wrap through this little bit of the lesson that I want to share with you
Our conclusion I just want to wrap through the three points for a second
First of all, people can stray people can and should help them if they are straying from the truth
If they turn back in response to that effort rejoice a soul is saved and a multitude of sins are covered
In our conclusion
As much as the world doesn't want to accept it one course really is better
In all of life wherever you live whatever you've been through whatever decisions you've made
One course really is better. It is the course that Jesus picked for you
It is the course of your life. God says I know the plans I have for you not to harm you
But plans to give you a hope in the future. God has a plan for you and that course really is better
Yes, it takes into account the fact that you're a butt head
Yes, it takes into account the fact that you're weak in your spirit to choose the right thing
Yes, it takes into account that your mind is polluted by society
All of that is taken into account and the course that God has laid out for you really is better
According to these verses community provides help in time of danger
It is a job that must be done
So let's do it
According to what James says let's be it according to the calling of the church
Be alert to pushing away be alert to being willing to forego this duty in light of feelings or
Inconvenience etc. We are the church and when we disagree there is a reason
Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus if we disagree there is a reason
Someone is wrong and it doesn't matter that someone is wrong it only matters that we all end up right
Because right goes with righteousness and righteousness comes out of faith
If it's your opinion be prepared to let it go
Because the other person may conclude and show you that your opinion is wrong
Are you prepared to have your opinions?
Abated in order to find peace in the people of God. Well, you had better be because if you aren't
There may be no multitude of sins covered for you or for someone else
Are you prepared to step out to expose your weakness so that the strength of the Lord may be seen clearly?
At least some of the time
At least some of the time this danger that we are talking about
This danger that we are talking about is both imminent and unseen I submit to you
When you turn on the tv, the danger is imminent whether or not it's unseen. I cannot say that's up to you
I submit to you when you listen to music the danger is imminent whether or not it's unseen
I cannot say that's your situation you have to decide when you manage your money. The danger is imminent if you're
The pursuit of money or the control which is included of money
Begins to take up residence in your life. Then you need to understand the danger is imminent. The question is is it unseen?
It's imminent
When you go to work on your job and work alongside of people or your boss says can you do this?
The danger is imminent anytime anyone has any sway over your life over your thoughts over your
Decisions whatsoever. The danger is imminent now whether or not it's unseen that's up to you
But I submit to you that at least some of the time the danger is imminent and unseen
If the danger is imminent and unseen
You need a brother
You need a sister
Whenever the danger is imminent and unseen you need a second party
Because while Ty stood here with sword and shield in hand and I handed the sword and shield to Tim behind him
If there was somebody else standing there that didn't have a blindfold on in that moment
They could have easily stepped in the way or simply said Ty turn around quickly put your shield up
Because the danger was imminent and unseen and nobody spoke up
He was easily struck
Now nobody was supposed to it's okay don't feel bad
But the bottom line is that's the picture of somebody facing these imminent dangers that are often unseen
And nobody steps up for them
I'm going to be quite frank
I am tired of going into a situation where I can see the danger is imminent and I don't have anybody to call
And I typically when I do the out call on Deacon Tony he's my go-to guy
But sometimes Deacon Tony is not available or it's the middle of the night and I'm facing dangers and if I sin I want to know that there is somebody there that's going to haul me back from the brink
Now the United States of America a small part and I submit to you it is a very small part but it's pretty public part of Christianity is reeling because Pastor Tony Evans who's the pastor of a huge church really it's like multi, multi, multi churches
This week went into essentially resigned at least temporarily if not permanently and he has spoken at conferences all over the United States of America and other churches and visited and done all kinds of things
And he indulged in a sin, not a public sin, not something everybody knows about, he indulged in a sin and he went to the elders of his church and they said well you have to go through restoration just like anybody else would
So you have to step out of doing what you're doing for the Lord and get yourself under control, make sure this is dealt with and then step back in and do what you're doing
Now I'm not saying I agree with their process, that's their process, but I'm using it as an illustration to show you there's a man that everybody would say
Do you remember that guy Moses in the Bible? Was he not the holiest of all the Israelites?
Do you realize that when the holiest of all the Israelites could possibly have been leading his people into the promised land, God said instead that he would die?
In fact, if you read the literal Hebrew translation of that text there, it says that Moses was there with God on the mountain
And wait for it, God spoke him dead and then God buried his body himself somewhere where no one knew where it would be because he didn't want the Israelites to worship Moses
You got that? Doesn't matter how holy you are dad, doesn't matter how holy you are pastor, doesn't matter how holy you are teacher
You need a brother or a sister in Christ and frankly I need a brother or sister in Christ and we are counting on one another
If it's in your family dad, you're required to be that person when no one else is
But you darn well better subject yourself both to your wife and your children because a good part of the time the imminent to you danger will be unseen by you
One pitfall that comes out of this is a crippling fear of ambush when we're not prepared
But I submit to you that if community provides an added layer of safety against a very real enemy, then there is no crippling fear
If you can trust that if you go into sin and you start to move away from the Lord, obviously the Lord is going to oppose that
But you may or may not realize what's going on because a lot of the time the danger is imminent but unseen so you don't realize that you're going
And a brother or sister steps up and talks to you as long as you're open, as long as you're willing, as long as you're following this text
Then you realize that you will be safe, you will be hauled back, you will be called, you're a multitude of sins forgiven
And then you can perform the same duty for someone else
If community provides an added layer of safety, then that crippling fear of ambush can be dismissed
Faithful community provides an unmolested advance and a well-protected flank
We can go forward and do what's crazy to do for God
We can stick our necks out there financially, we can stick our necks out there physically, we can stick our necks out there
Because we know that a brother or sister will not let us fall
We were having a little trouble at the house with yellow jackets, we thought they were bees and that's a different problem
But they were yellow jackets and I had to go to a conference and while I was out of town they got out of control
And they started coming down the stairs a couple dozen at a time
And yellow jackets are mean, so my wife's like, it's not good, gotta do something
So what she did was she called Brother Tony, Brother Tony came and he treated as best he could
And he put up plastic on the stairs so the yellow jackets would not be coming down while they're sitting in the living room trying to watch TV
Or in the dining room trying to eat dinner
Or somebody step on it, walk around the house barefoot, the ladies in our house are typically barefoot
And they walk around and step on a yellow jacket, that really hurts, well Brother Tony took care of it
While I was at the conference
And because of that I didn't have to get an earlier flight home and take care of it myself
Because of that my wife didn't have to take care of it and get irritated with me or possibly irritated with God
That the problem had arisen at that moment in time
You've got to have somebody to call
You have to
And it can't be just somebody that loves you so much that they're not going to say anything when you do something stupid
It's got to be somebody that's going to say, I don't think that's a good idea
It's got to be somebody that says, let's talk this through and figure it out
It's got to be somebody that loves you enough to want to see your sins covered
To want to see your soul alive in Christ
And I submit to you, that is the kind of church we said we were going to be
And often it is the kind of church that we have been, but not always
Not always
Don't you sweep your brother's sins under the rug
Don't you do it
Because if you do it
That's a sin yourself
And when a brother is in sin and we're trying to bring him back
We do have to be careful that we don't also slip into sin
It's easy to judge a person and say, well they're only suffering because of their sin
Which also would be a sin
We must be willing to step up for each other in accountability
We must be willing to depend on each other to do so and advance crazy powerful fast
So that nothing stands in our way to advance the Kingdom of God
I submit to you, I want to be able to stick my neck out and so do you
Knowing that there's somebody there to cover your back
Realize this is the antithesis of arrogance
If you think you will not fall
If you think you cannot fall
If you think you are probably right in everything you're currently doing
You, my friend, are arrogant
And you need a brother or a sister because you don't see it
On the other hand, if you think, I keep screwing up all the time
I can never get this right
No matter what, I couldn't do what he's talking about because it's too hard for me
Because I keep sinning all the time
You, my friend, have damaged self-esteem
And you need a friend, a brother or sister in Christ to help you step up
And be the man or the woman that you are supposed to be
We have no place for any arrogance or any damaged self-esteem or any false humility
Because we are depending on each other to call us back
And we are depending on each other to be willing to be called back
These are the realities of life which James concluded in his letter
There is truth to be followed
There is death to be avoided
There is ministry to give to each other
James has called us to serve both God and sinners
This quote comes from a commentary about this very passage
And I submit to you, we are sinners
And we have been called to help one another
If you're not going to be the church
If you're not going to be the people that God has called to follow him
If you're not going to be the followers of Jesus
Then what are you going to do?
I submit to you, whether it's immediately or shortly or a little while from now
You're going to experience the death of your soul
A soul that is blocked off from the life giving water of the Lord
That is what has happened to so many Christians who are not part of the church
So many Christians who are not part of the King of advance
Out there on their own doing it the best they know how
And that ain't bad, but it certainly ain't good
Isn't it awesome?
I remember the courageous quote, final illustration
The courageous quote he said, statistics are finally bearing out
The numbers are proving that a dad is needed in the home
It's part of the women's liberation movement
We've basically taught women that they can do everything
And that's not entirely untrue
They can do almost everything
The one thing that they cannot do is be a dad
And modern movements are attempting to disassemble that by a variety of ways
So that if God's truth does not reign supreme in 10, 20 or 50 years
It'll be believed that women can be dads
Studies have shown that youths in father absent homes have the highest odds of being incarcerated
They go to jail
It doesn't matter if they had a good dad or a bad dad
Because these statistics don't take that into account
Youths in father absent households have higher levels of behavioral problems in school
Youths in father absent households are more likely to be suspended from school
A father's absence increases antisocial behavior such as drug use
A father's absence reduces a child's chance of employment
A father's absence, children have lower self-esteem
And a father's absence, children have a greater risk for mental illness and suicide
And a father's absence, children have an increased risk of depression
Shall I go on? I don't think I need to
Except I want to clarify one thing
You can be there and still be absent
Don't sweep your child's sin under the rug
Don't neglect to call it sin
Don't sweep your husband or your wife's sin under the rug
Don't neglect to call it sin
If you say, I don't want you to do that
They should honor that because that's your opinion
But if you say God says we should not do that
Then assuming they agree
They should do it because God said so
Don't be absent
Don't be absent because you don't think you're enough
Don't be absent because you don't think it's worth the effort
Don't be absent because you don't think they'll listen
Don't be absent because you're too busy fighting your own fight
Don't be absent because you think you're doing alright
Arrogance, low self-esteem, be present
The church is the only answer to follow this households across the United States
For those who are tuning in online, listen to this podcast later, or Facebook
I'm going to say it, I'm going to say it twice
If you don't have a dad in your home, get in church
Get with the church
Because we have people here, brothers and sisters in Christ
Who will call us back when we fall to imminent unseen danger
And I submit to you, imminent danger is often unseen
If you think you will always see it, you are just plain wrong
If you think somebody else sees it and should have already turned, you're wrong
While that might be true, they may not see it, or they may see it
And be trying to turn from it, and they just need you to step in and cover, with your love, a multitude of sins
Let us commit ourselves to be God's people, and to step up for one another
Let us lock our shields of faith together and swing our swords true
And advance the gospel knowing somebody's got our back on this earth
Now God's always got your back, and if you're saved you'll never be unsaved
Except Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior today, and be saved
And if you've already done so, subject yourself to God, submit yourself as a bond servant
And say, okay God, whatever you want, and one of the things that God wants
Is for you to be willing to be corrected, and for you to be willing to correct others
Ask the praise team to come forward at this time and lead us in our final song
If you're here today, and you're accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior for the first time
Just drop in and make a public decision and say to everybody, I'm written for Jesus today
If you're here today and you say, I have made that decision, I am written for Jesus
But I know that I'm not taking the next step, whatever that is
Either you're not willing to participate as we've been talking about today
Or maybe you've not been that time, or you're not going to local church
You just can't bring yourself to read the Bible or whatever it is
And you want to repent of whatever it is that you're not doing
And turn yourself over to God to do that today
As we sing this song and come forward publicly
We're going offline now, those of you out there who make a decision
Send us a message, but we're going to deal with our business here privately
Or at least privately, publicly amongst us, as a small group
Would you stand with me and sing this song, and if the Lord is speaking to you, then you respond
Say that I'm your friend
You were hiding behind
Whether singing or meditating on that song, if the Lord is bringing something to mind
You need to repent of, and repent of it and turn back to God today
If you need to do so publicly, we'll get our meeting back in a moment
If there's nothing else to do, you need to make a public decision
Come
You're the one after young and gray
Help me find my way
Bring me back to you
You're all I want
You're all I ever needed
You're all I want
Help me find my way
To all that goes to you
You never let me go
I've made it all up around you
To hear you say that I'm your friend
You are my desire
You know what else we'll do
If there's nothing else we'll take away
Please don't feel the warmth of your embrace
Help me find my way
Bring me back to you
You're all I want
You're all I ever needed
You're all I want
Help me know you are here
I'm going to pray to God that this time this is going to conclude our services today
But I'm asking you to be present
I'm asking you to be aware
I'm asking that the eyes open
Not only hearing about what imminent danger you yourself might need to detect
Because there is a teaching that will come against you
There is a prodding, a temptation that will come against you
God doesn't send it, but the enemy and the world are very proficient in sending it
God asks us to overcome
He says for he who overcomes I will allow him to sit on my throne with me
As my father allows me to sit on his throne with him
And that's our goal, we will overcome
But not only for yourself, but also for others who are around you
I'm not giving you any permission to be rude or anything like that
And we wouldn't want to do that
We love each other, it should be done in love
But I am telling you, we need to be willing to speak up for one another
We need to be willing to call somebody back
We have had folks walk out of our midst and have left following the truth that this was not real
Pretty small number overall, but we have had people believe the truth that this was not real
At least I can think of one page
And I personally did talk to that person as they were going to say, look, that's not true, that's not right
I tried to call them back
But by way of conviction, no one else did
So this is a call to all of us
I am not the solution
We are the solution
God is the solution to our salvation
Loves us and will lead us in guidance and good in us
But when God tells us to do something, we've got to do it
And that means we have to be prepared to call one another back
I'm going to pray at this time, is there something you want to say?
I guess that we have encouraged him, maybe, I guess taken however you want
But something that I think is important with what Dan's saying is
When someone comes to you and says, hey, I think what you're doing is wrong
You need to understand that no one is perfect
So when someone comes to you and says, hey, I think that is wrong
At least my response is I automatically feel offended
How poor are you to tell me what I'm doing is wrong?
So that's my usual go-to response is I feel offended that you're trying to tell me what I'm doing is wrong
But instead of feeling that way, we need to understand that
If another Christian brother or sister is coming to you and loves telling you, hey, I think what you're doing is sin
You should be able to have a conversation about it
And understand that the person coming to you also has their own flaws too
And it should never get to the point where, oh, you do this and you do that, you do this
It should be a conversation of, hey, let's find out how we can fix this so we both can better serve God
Alright, let's go ahead. God in heaven
Even though our country has declared this a holiday, we know that there is much pain surrounding the sinful nature of men who might become dads
And this looks a lot, it looks all kinds of different in our world than what it is in reality
But we know your word calls us to be present and to care about one another
And we can stand in, we can be the body of Christ and make sacrifices for each other and care about one another and go the extra distance
And Lord's souls are at stake
Not just souls for salvation, that they might go to hell and that's really horrible
In the world there are lots of folks who don't know you or at least part of them know you
Sometimes we share the gospel, we find people who do know you and yet their soul has been cut off and they repent and turn back
And man, it really, the team advances so powerfully in their life and things are changed and they are growing and it's amazing
I know that these spiritual struggles, they are around that you have the distinct ability to see very clearly
That you can see very clearly all that we're talking about and we're just trying to understand, just trying to submit to you
And so we take these commands and we know that even these commands are given in liberty
Liberty that we can see them, freedom that we can see them, freedom that we can choose to do them
And that if we do do them, we will experience more and abundant freedom to act on your behalf, to advance the gospel, to overcome challenges
It's amazing
It's one thing to know that there's a bomb
Another thing to know to be able to defuse that bomb, yet another thing to know when you're not able to defuse that bomb, how to call a bomb technician
And it's still another thing that supports the bomb technician while he does his work
You are our God, you love us and you want to take care of this for us and we want to be part of any solution that you came up with
Any plan that you put into place
Father, I ask you, I read that statistic that says that 26% of children are currently growing up in the United States of America
26% of children are currently growing up in a home that they don't have their father or their mother in their home
Their biological father or their mother
Moms and dads need to step up for these kids or otherwise we can pretty much guarantee that a huge percentage of the next generation is going to struggle in a way that's just evil
That's just wrong, it should not be allowed
And then the church, think about the church that I read about and actually had a pastor come down to Parishburg and I sat in under their teaching and they said
The first thing we did in our church before it took off, people on social media come, the first thing we did was we made a rule that no one could talk to anyone else about anything they were doing wrong
Actually made their rule, they said and overnight our church grew 300 because nobody was worried about anybody else looking at them and saying what they were doing wrong
And when I don't believe in gossip, I don't think we should be talking to each other about what somebody else is doing wrong
I don't believe in slander, the word says that's not appropriate, it's not what you want, it is a sin
I don't believe in being trapped outside the bounds of the protections of accountability either
God help us, help us stand firm as men and women and young men and women in Christ let us do what you called us to
To stand together, to bear a shield of faith not only for ourselves but for our brother, our sister on either side of us
To bring the full armor of God into a situation where somebody else's armor has been somehow penetrated
Let us call one another to the pursuit of our God, to believe without falling down and to get back up when we do fall down
To be men and women of God, Lord I ask a blessing upon every household, I pray for the mercuries that they're going through
A difficult situation now that has, certainly has imminent and I don't think unseen but possibly unseen danger
As they keep this young man, young boy in their house who is basically being abused
That didn't have a parent present and now they've got to find a way to help him see you, help him move beyond
This horrible experience that they've been through, provide a healthy home for him if it's only for a while
But I know that there are foster children in the United States of America who need parental figures
And even though many of us have raised kids or have kids who have been through it, maybe we need to step up
And provide a home for children so they can see that God does not want them to be cut off
The Lord desires for no one to perish outside them, we know this
So Lord help us to speak up in every situation, stand out for what's right, we fully expect we will be persecuted
We fully expect that we will not always be received well and we might not even be good at it for a long time
It may take a long time before we're good at it, if ever in this life
But let us be the people that speak what's right, even when we're terrified
Some of us are like I'm never terrified to speak out
But Lord even when we're terrified or even when we're doubtful
Doubtful that we know you, doubtful that we know who you are, doubtful we know what the Lord says
But there is no doubt in sin because it's not a faith, so we trust in you Lord
And if you bring it to our attention, then Lord help us speak out
We pray for those who are absent, we pray for those who are hurting, we pray for those who need help in their specific situation
And we don't know what it's all about, we pray that you'll be God and we'll be your people
We pray always that you do the same, Amen
Thank you very much, this concludes our services
Go ye therefore and be the church