Lifeguards We Are James 5:19-20

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.

James 5 · chapter mention

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.

James 5 · chapter mention

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.

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

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