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James 5:19-20, My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 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.
SEARCH AND RESCUE
James ends this epistle with a call to the ministry of spiritual search and rescue. We’ve all followed harrowing news reports about people lost in disasters, whether hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, the 9/11 attack, airplane crashes, coal mine collapses, and then the grueling search and rescue operations that followed. It’s been just four years since the Thai soccer team was stranded by rising flood waters for two weeks in a cave chamber two and one-half miles from the mouth of the cave. It was a truly heroic feat as professional divers from various countries made their way under water with ropes and air supplies to search for and rescue the entire team. There was great joy as they were brought to the cave opening.
James says there’s a more important search and rescue operation. That is when a Christian goes after a professing believer in Christ who has strayed from the truth, and turns him back to Christ. This is not easy to do, but amazingly, God uses people like you and me to do this noble work.
PRONENESS TO STRAY FROM THE TRUTH
James 5:19a, My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth…
God assures us that some will probably err from the truth – “if any among you.” There may be some in this group who somewhere down the road will be tempted and very well may err or wander off the track of truth. They may stray over into a sinful way of living or they may stray from the faith itself. Hebrews 3:12 warns us about the potential of having an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. Somehow a sheep has wandered away from the flock into enemy territory. They’ve gone astray from the truth.
This is a flashing warning light to all of us. We’re all “prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” And we need to add, “Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.”
Truth is the most valuable possession you have. Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy the truth and do not sell it.” In Pilgrim’s Progress when Christian and Faithful went through Vanity Fair with its worldly glitter and fleshly appeals, the merchants cried out, “Buy this. Buy this.” But the Christian travelers didn’t fall for it and responded, “We buy the truth.” I love that. “We buy the truth.”
Always keep your heart tethered to the truth of God. Prov. 4:23 says, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” We have a potential to stray from the truth we once professed. What is the truth? Truth is not what you feel about God. Truth is the core, the non-negotiable facts at the heart of Christianity. James is talking about straying and turning away from the truth of the Bible. Bible truths include the trinity, the creation of the heaven and the earth, the creation of man and woman by the direct act of God, Adam’s fall into sin, Jesus Christ as God who became a man through the virgin birth so that now He is fully God and fully man, that His death on the cross made atonement for sinners, that His physical resurrection from the grave conquered death, that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father and there is no other way, and that there is an eternal heaven and an eternal hell.
To err from any of these truths is to deny biblical Christianity. Second Thessalonians 2:10-13 talks about those seduced by Satan’s power. Notice the importance of truth, your love for it, and your belief in it.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-13, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
Today there are some who seem to boast in “deconstructing” their Christian faith. Got Questions website says, “Deconstructing almost always means adopting views palatable to the unbelieving world, moving away from biblical positions on sexuality, gender, salvation, sin, hell and other positions. The vast majority who claim to be deconstructing move with the flow of their surrounding culture, not against it.”
They have “strayed from the truth.” We were saddened to hear when Josh Harris, who had pastored a mega-church and wrote good books, left Christianity. Now he is selling Deconstructing Starter Packs teaching others how to deconstruct their faith. Another professing believer even pastored Evangelical churches in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan for 25 years, then left the ministry in 2005 and Christianity in 2008. He now identifies as a humanist and atheist and affirms the LGBT movement, as does Josh Harris. These are sad cases and warnings to all of us. Stay in the word and prayer so you can stay close to God. When you feel prone to wander, spend time with God by opening the Bible and saturating your mind with His truth. Keep your heart tethered to the truth of God every day! We’re prone to wander.
Remember this. When you stray from the truth, you are straying into a world of lies. There is no salvation truth apart from the gospel given in the Bible. Every worldly philosophy and cult is a lie. Every religion not based on the Bible is a false religion and is a lie. Liberal Christianity that denies the truths of Scripture is a lie. Pop culture is a lie. Cultural Marxism, critical race theory, the notion you can chose your own gender are all lies. To stray from the truth of God is to stray into Satan’s world of lies.
PERSUASIONS TO STRAY FROM THE TRUTH
James 5:19, My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth….
Why do some stray from the truth of their faith in Jesus Christ and confidence in the Word of God? Romans 1:18 and 25 says people suppress the truth in unrighteousness and they exchange the truth of God for a lie. In 2 Timothy 4 Paul counseled Timothy to faithfully preach the Word, in season and out of season, knowing the time will come when people want their ears tickled and will turn away from the truth and be turned to myths. Here are several reasons why people stray from the truth.
- Some join a church or Christianity like a religious club. Maybe their parents were religious, but they really aren’t convinced about the truth of the gospel. They’d like a little religion to feel good, but when they hear the truth claims of Christ, they slip away.
- Many leave because they just don’t like the call to discipleship. They don’t want to deny self, to take up their cross and follow Christ. They don’t like God’s call to holiness and heart change. If they could be Christians and just do whatever they liked, that would be fine. They want both the comforts and promises of heaven and their own way. When they find out they can’t have both, they choose their own way. These are the wide-gate, broad-path travelers.
- Others are seduced by the world’s viewpoints of their friends, professors who ridicule the Bible, the voices of the culture that assure them all religions are serving the same God and heading to the same heaven. Often these voices are assuring and seem loving.
- Others simply lose interest. The truth of Christ was never rooted into their hearts. They are the wayside, stony path, or thorny soil hearers who finally turn away. First John 2:19 says, “They went out from among us because they were not of us.” They were impressed by church for a time, but they never came to true conviction of their sin, their utter lostness before God, and their desperate need of Christ as Lord and Savior.
- Some blame God for a tragedy, a death or terminal disease. And when they really need God and to be in church with God’s people, they turn away.
- And then there are those disgruntled church people, someone offended them, didn’t shake their hand, or said something that caught them just the wrong way. Now their excuse is that the church is full of hypocrites so they decide, “I can worship God just as well at home (probably at St. Mattress) as I can at church. I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”
- Your flesh will lead you to stray from the truth. Sin will dull your love for Christ and over time, unless you repent of your sin, your heart will harden to the point of resenting God’s truth. Sadly, people who stray can influence others in the body. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
All of these and more are reasons why people stray from the truth. Now you may ask if this person was a true believer or not? And the answer in brief is “maybe.” We can’t read hearts; we can only see fruit. In vs. 19 James says he was “among you” and in vs. 20 he is a “sinner.” The Bible uses the word “sinner” for people who are not Christians. But in 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul applies “sinner” to himself, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” In this context James is probably assuming that whether he is or isn’t a believer, a search and rescue operation can bring him to genuine faith. Jesus told Peter that Satan wanted to shake him. “But I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail; and you, when you have turned back (same word as here in vs.19) go strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:32)
So James could be speaking of a true believer or just a professing Christian, but either way, they have strayed off the path and need a search and rescue operation!
PURSUING THE ONE STRAYING FROM THE TRUTH
James 5:19b, and one turns him back,
First, to whom is God speaking? To you! “One” means any believer. Not just the elders or other leaders. You are a Christian who loves Christ and you love His people and don’t want others to stray from truth. But how do you go about doing this? It isn’t easy, but the love of Christ constrains you.
You need a Galatians 6:1 attitude. If anyone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Matthew 7:1-5 says first take the log out of your own eye before you try to restore this erring brother. Speak the truth in love. Pray, pray, pray because you know only God can change a heart. You go with a gentle, humble spirit committed to sincerely wanting to help this person get back on God’s track. You have the picture of the shepherd going and lifting that wayward sheep and bringing him back on his shoulders rejoicing! And it is wonderful when God uses you to win people back to the truth of Christ.
2 Timothy 2:25-26, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
Let’s see this search and rescue operation in action in the Bible. God went after Adam and Eve using a question, “Where are you?” When Nathan was sent by God to rescue David, he told David a story to win him back to the truth (2 Samuel 12). In 2 Kings 5, Elisha confronted Gehazi with a question when he erred by lying to the Syrian Naaman. Listen to this. When Gehazi came back to the house, Elisha asked him a question, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” “Your servant went nowhere.” Parents have heard this. “Where’ve you been?” “Nowhere.” “Doing?” “Nothing.” “With?” “No one.” I’m surprised Gehazi didn’t say, “Whatever!” But sadly Gehazi paid for his lies; he became a leper to his death! Paul rescued Peter from straying from the truth of the gospel and the grace of God (Galatians 2:2:14). Barnabas took Mark under his wing so that Mark became a fruitful servant of Christ, even writing one of the gospels.
PROMISE OF A SUCCESSFUL SEARCH AND RESCUE
James 5:20, 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.
We honor those firemen who run toward the blaze to rescue a child or a policeman who risks his life as he runs toward the shooter. Here you are rescuing a soul from hell or if the sinner is a believer, maybe from God’s disciplinary action. You have accomplished two things.
First, you have saved this person from death. Now we know it is God who does the saving, but He is glorified by using people. God used Ananias to minister to Paul, Peter to Cornelius, Philip to the Ethiopian. What is this death? It is probably eternal spiritual death. God uses people to bring other people to a genuine faith in Christ. But it could be physical death. God chastens his people and in 1 Cor. 11 He had removed some from this world early through death. First John 5:16 says, “There is a sin leading to death.” If a Christian refuses to return to the way of truth, God well may take him to heaven early. One way or the other, the joy here in search and rescue is that you’ve had spiritual and eternal influence in this person’s life.
Second, you cover a multitude of sins. We know only God can forgive sins, but God uses people to bring people to the cross of Jesus Christ for forgiveness. And notice it is a multitude of sins. Regardless of what this person’s sins were or how guilty he is before God, God has no problem covering a multitude of sins, hundreds of thousands of sins, millions of sins. God is ready to forgive through His Son. Psalm 32:1 says, “Blessed is the man whose sin is covered.” The issue isn’t will God forgive. The issue is will you repent, return, bring your multitude of sins to God, and receive His forgiveness through His Son Jesus Christ. God delights to forgive the vilest, filthiest sinner who comes to Christ. This glorifies His grace, and that glorifies God. That’s what Christ came into this world to do, to save sinners of all kinds.
SO WHAT?
Let’s apply this to our church. We are here to win you to the truth of God’s Word and the gospel. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners and we all qualify! Have you run to Him by faith? All of us who are trusting Christ for our salvation are called by the grace of God to this gospel ministry of search and rescue and we are blessed to see God work and restore His people.
Spurgeon somewhere pictures a grand parade of the redeemed. I can picture it too. I’m calling it the glorious Grace Parade rather than a Pride Parade. What a beautiful picture! There is Paul with his Timothy and Titus! Barnabas with his John Mark. Luther with his many university students who drank in the teaching of justification by faith alone. Calvin’s disciples in Geneva who sat glued to the exposition of the Word. Zwingli’s disciples who said their hair stood on end as they heard Zwingli preach the Word. Whitefield’s coal miners with those white gutters on their coal-blackened cheeks, Brainerd’s praying Indians, Moody’s multitudes, Lloyd-Jones’ military and college students who sat gripped by his doctrinal teaching of Ephesians and Romans, MacArthur’s millions turned to Christ through books and sermons. And Sunday School and VBS teachers and their students, and you with those you have influenced to know and follow Christ and stay firm on the track of truth. And at the very front of this Grace Parade goes the Great Shepherd of the Sheep who bought all of them with His blood. What a joy! Will you be in that glorious Grace Parade? John said, “I have no greater joy than to hear my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 4).