Today is the final sermon in our series on the book of James. We have been studying James for almost this entire year. I hope that you have enjoyed the series. More importantly, I hope that by going through the book of James, you have grown closer to the Lord Jesus and learned more about following Him. Thank you for reading the sermon today, and thank you for following along through this series in James.
For our message today, we focus on the last two verses of chapter five which state, "My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins."
There are a couple of points that I would like to make from these verses. First of all. there are people who do wander and drift away from faith in Jesus Christ. I believe that this takes two different forms. There are some people who lose their first love as it tells us in the book of Revelation. These are Christians who still believe in the Lord, but they have lost their zeal for serving the Lord due to some circumstance or sin in their lives. They have stopped practicing spiritual disciplines, and they have stopped following the teachings of Jesus in many areas of their lives. The other form of wandering from the truth are those who were once followers of the Lord, but they have decided to turn away from Jesus. They no longer believe in the Lord Jesus.
In this passage, James is telling us that we should try to bring back those who have turned away from the truth and those who have drifted away from following the Lord. As always, we should pray for those we know who are experiencing spiritual problems in their lives. Whenever we have the opportunity, we should speak to them and try to encourage them to once again pray and study the Word. We need to be examples to others in our own lives of consistently following the teachings and commandments of the Lord. We need to demonstrate to others that having a close walk with Jesus can make the difference and bring peace in a troubled and difficult to live in world.
There are some who have turned away from the faith entirely. In my experience, it is very difficult to help these people reconnect with the Lord. They have just flat out turned their backs on Him. As the Lord gives us the opportunity, we need to discuss with them why they have rejected the faith, and we need to attempt to earnestly contend for the faith with them as Jude has instructed us in his epistle.
If we are able to help a drifting believer to come back to a closer walk with the Lord, we will help to keep that person from drifting into sin and into practices that will further harm their spiritual growth and development. If we can with God's help encourage people to come back to faith in Jesus, we can be a part of helping that person escape eternal separation from the Lord.
It is always our duty as Christians to spread the message of the love of Jesus to everyone. We need to tell those who have never come to faith in Jesus that He loves them and wants to forgive them of their sins. He will not cast out anyone who comes to Him. He wants you to make Him the Lord of your life today.
With that, we wrap up our study of the book of James. Here are a few key points to remember from James.
1. True religion manifests itself in helping those who are most vulnerable in society.
2. We should be both doers and hearers of the Word.
3. Faith without the evidence of works is a dead faith.
4. Controlling the tongue is a mark of spiritual maturity.
5. We should never show partiality and there is no place for racism or discrimination in the church
6. We should not boast about tomorrow.
7. We must help others with our wealth. It is not something to be hoarded. God will judge those who exploit the poor.
8. Prayer is powerful.
Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please remember to pray regarding the situation in Afghanistan. There are still many who need to be evacuated from the country.
Pray for those in Tennessee who were harmed by the floods.
Pray that the fires in the Western US will be brought under control.
Pray that the people of Haiti will get the aid that they need to recover.
Please pray for peace in this world. Let us focus our prayers this week on Chad, Ethiopia and Libya.
Continue to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Pray that the sick will recover. Get vaccinated.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Iraq and Benin. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will begin a short sermon series. I will post the verses on Monday, and I will try to post something midweek. May God bless you all.
No comments:
Post a Comment