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welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God you can turn in your Bibles to psalm 119 for our call to worship psalm 119 the last section verses 169 to 176 let me cry let my cry come before you O Lord give me understanding according to your word let my supplication come before you deliver me according to your word my lips shall utter praise for you teach me your statutes my tongue shall speak of your word for all your Commandments are righteousness let your hand become my help for I have chosen your precepts I long for your salvation O Lord and your law is my delight let my soul live and it shall praise you and let your judgments help me I have gone astray like a lost sheep seek your servant for I do not forget your Commandments amen well please take your Trinity hymnal and turn to number 119 hymn number 119 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] well let us pray our God and our Father it's a joy to gather in the house of the Lord again on the Sabbath day we confess that you are Most High sure glorious and wondrous and worthy to be praised as the psalmist asks or as the prophet asks rather who would not fear thee O king of the nations for indeed it is they do you are the great God who made this world and all things in it you are the God who does what he pleases from his throne in heaven and you are the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has saved us who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ how we thank you that you've displayed your majesty in the works of creation and Providence and redemption how we praise you that you have dealt so kindly and graciously and mercifully toward us we know God were not saved because of anything worthy in us there was no good deeds there was no obedience to the law but you and your grace and in your kindness have brought us to yourself how we thank you for the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for his life of obedience to the Father for his death at Calvary for his resurrection the third day and we praise you for the current session where he's enthroned at the right hand of the majesty of God on high and we do look forward to that day when he comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead we pray father that all those we know and love those that we have testified to would be clothed in his righteousness and ready to meet him on that great day we ask our Father that you would look with favor upon our children and young people that they by grace would come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in their youth may they like godly Josiah seek the Lord while they are young may they remember their Creator in their youth and may they by grace live in a manner that is consistent with Holy Scripture all their days we ask our Father that you would receive glory as we gather together tonight that as we sing and pray and look to Holy Scripture you be enthroned upon the praises of your people here do forgive us for our sins and our transgressions we thank you for what scripture says concerning your benevolence your kindness with reference to forgiveness and we thank you that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared we see your law and it's a revelation of who you are we see ourselves relative to God and we see our waywardness and our sinfulness and our wretchedness we have transgressed and we have lacked conformity unto that law so please cleanse us now in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ for any and all who've come here tonight Unforgiven those who have yet to come to Christ we pray that today would be the day of salvation that you'd open their eyes and hearts to their desperate condition before a holy God open their eyes and hearts to behold the glory of the Redeemer even our Lord Jesus Christ in whom there is redemption we would pray that you would constrain sinners to come by the power of your Holy Spirit according to the truth of your gospel we pray for other churches in our community thanking you that we're not alone here in this town we ask that you would bless those who are upholding the truth of God's Word we pray that you would prosper them and cause them to be a people that does fear the Lord Most High we pray for this nation as a whole that your Holy Spirit would be poured out in a great way upon the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ but certainly we live in a in a godless time and a godless generation may your people be faithful may your people hold forth the word of truth may your people be a prayerful people on behalf of the sinners in this land god we pray that in your wrath you would remember mercy and that you would turn a great multitude from their idols to the true and living God and cause many to come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we pray for our brothers and sisters that suffer for the cause of God and truth in other countries and other nations where there is oppression where there is godlessness on a level that we have yet tasted here we pray for those in prison those who have displaced from homes and businesses and we pray that they would be given grace from on high to persevere in the midst of such sorrow and trial and difficulty be with your people wherever they find themselves Lord God and may you encourage their hearts and strengthen them with might and the inner man and cause them to know the nearness of God as their good we pray father for your blessing upon our brethren that are serving in the mission field we thank you for their labors we thank you for their efforts to reach lost sinners and we pray that they would know your goodness as they endeavor to to cease see disciples made to see local churches planted and to see the people of God thrive and flourish and grow we ask as well that you'd be merciful to those in high places in terms of civil government the Apostle tells us to pray for kings and all who are in authority and we do that God knowing that it's a difficult situation a difficult position to be entrusted with such power we pray that you'd grant wisdom to our civil leaders we pray that you would grant grace that they might believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and govern according to the righteous law of God Almighty we do pray ultimately that you would restrain them from continual acts of transgression from legislating those things which are godless and evil we pray for a day when abortion and sodomy and euthanasia and these things that are that are so openly promoted would one day be criminalized we don't look to politics ultimately we look to the God of heaven and earth into the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of your Holy Word continue with us father now and bless those who are unable to be with us again we pray for the new Feltz asking that you would look with favor upon them that you would strengthen them physically and grant them grace in the midst of these trials to grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ to be still and to know that you are God to realize that you ordain whatever you will according to your purposes for the good of those who love you to those who are the called according to your purpose we bless you and we thank you for this time together and we praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well please turn with me again in your Trinity hymnal the number 580 580 will stand as we sing together [Music] well you can turn in your Bibles to the Prophet Amos for our scripture reading this evening Amos chapter 9 Amos chapter 9 remember he's a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel prior to its destruction under the hands of the Assyrians they had broken covenant with God God brought the curses of the Covenant to bear upon them in 722 BC as often is the case however in the prophets in the midst of prophets ease of judgment there are nevertheless promises of God's blessing and here specifically act Amos chapter 9 is one of those passages it looks beyond the coming destruction to the New Covenant in fact specifically verse 11 is cited by James in the Jerusalem Council in the book of Acts in Acts chapter 15 verses 16 to 18 James appeals to Amos here to show that Gentile inclusion in the Covenant promises of God are consistent with Old Covenant Scripture so beginning in verse 1 of Amos chapter 9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar and he said strike the doorposts that the thresholds may shake and break them on the heads excuse me on the heads of them all I will slay the last of them with the sword he who flees from them shall not get away and he who escapes from them shall not be delivered though they dig into hell from there my hand shall take them though they climb up to heaven from there I will bring them down and though they hide themselves on top of Carmel from there I will search and take them though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea from there I command the Serpent and it shall bite them though they go into captivity before their enemies from there I will command the sword and it shall slay them I will set my eyes on them for harm and not for good the Lord God of hosts he who touches the earth and it and all who dwell there mourn all of it shall swell like the river and subside like the river of Egypt he who builds his layers in the sky and has founded his strata in the earth who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth the Lord is his name are you not like the people of Ethiopia to me Oh children of Israel says the Lord did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt the Philistines from calf door and the Syrians from kir behold the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful Kingdom and I will destroy it from the face of the earth yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob says the Lord for surely I will command and will sift the house of Israel among all nations as grain is sifted in a sieve yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground all the sinners of my people shall die by the sword who say the calamity shall not overtake nor confront us on that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David which has fallen down and repair its damages I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of all that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by my name says the Lord who does this thing behold the days are coming says the Lord when the ploughman shall overtake the Reaper and the Treader of grapes him whoso seed the mountains shall drip with sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with it I will bring back the captives of my people Israel they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them I will plant them in their land and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them says the Lord your God we see the wisdom of James citing this particular promise in the Prophet Amos notice in verse 11 on that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David which has fallen down and repair its damages I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of all we'll see as we move through our studies in the book of Acts in Acts chapter 2 the Apostle Peter links the resurrection and ascension with Christ of Christ with his sitting on the throne of David so he occupies that throne inconsistent with the promise in 2nd Samuel 7 that a son of David would rule over the kingdom of God and his rule would have no end so James interprets Gentile inclusion in the promises of God according to what the Old Testament scripture had always stated that in Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed as a result ultimately of the seed of Abraham even our Lord Jesus Christ will let us pray our Father we thank you for the promise of Amos 9 we thank you for its fulfillment and the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and we thank you that as Gentiles we have been included in the promises of God that we have known the mercies of God Almighty through our Lord Jesus Christ that we are subject to him who sits on David's throne and whose kingdom will have no end how we praise you for the minute of the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ how we praise you for redemption through his blood how we praise you for forgiveness and all of the blessings that you have covenant 'add toward us we have been richly blessed in in receiving these good gifts from you continue with us we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen before our final hymn you can turn in your hymn book again to number 704 hymn number 704 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] we can turn in your Bibles to James chapter 5 James chapter 5 our focus this evening is on verses 19 and 20 I'll back up and read beginning in verse 13 James 5 beginning in verse 13 as anyone among you suffering let him pray is anyone cheerful let him sing songs is anyone among you sick let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins he will be forgiven confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit brethren if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins amen will let us pray father we thank you for the written word again we pray for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit it gave us the word we ask God that you would bless our time together caused us to reflect upon the nature of the particular problem in this passage and guard our hearts and our minds keep us from wandering from the truth cause us to be vigilant and cause us to be disciplined cause us to be consistent as good soldiers of our Lord Jesus Christ we know that it is truth that binds us together it is truth that brings us into saving union with our Lord Jesus Christ it is truth which provides stability and protection and defense so grant us the grace to supremely value your truth and we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well as we come to a conclusion of James's epistle here verses 19 and 20 may seem a bit disconnected and seemed a bit of an odd way for James to end his epistle however it is not random there is a particular sort of construction utilized by James in this last section that shows us that it's closely joined together notice in verses 13 14 and 19 is anyone among you verse 13 verse 14 is anyone among you verse 19 if anyone among you so James is dealing with the local church James is dealing with our responsibilities toward one another as well if you look at the sort of thematic connection between the previous section and this section it ought to be obvious in verses 14 and 15 we see there is sickness with the possibility of sin in the background the specific sickness of sin is treated in verse 16 and the reality that persons may be slipping away into sin and death is treated here in verses 19 and 20 so in other words it is connected there is flow there is rhyme there is reason and James wants us to receive this word and in short we are not only to be doers of the word according to James 1:22 but it ought to concern us that our brothers and sisters are also doers of the word not in some legalistic Pharisaic way where we are the measuring rod and we hold down everybody that comes into contact with us but rather we ought to be looking out for one another we ought to in the language of the book of Hebrews exhort one another daily while it is called today lest we be hardened with the deceitfulness of sin we need in many respects to be our brother's keeper we need in many respects to look out for one another we need to be faithful in order to help brothers and sisters to depart from sin to embrace and hold on to the truth and to live as God the Lord would have that the whole passage verses 19 and 20 is an encouragement I mean it may seem a bit discouraging but it is an encouragement the person who engages in this mission of recovery ought to be encouraged so that's the emphasis in verse 20 but we ought to notice first the problem of wandering brethren in verse 19 and then secondly the encouragement to recovering brethren brethren who go after brethren who seek to recover those who are wandering but note in the first place the problem of wandering brethren in verse 19 he says brethren if any one among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back now there is a view John MacArthur holds this particular view that James cannot be speaking here of a Christian MacArthur's position is is that Christians are never called sinners in the New Testament I would argue just the opposite James calls Christians sinners twice in Chapter four four and then here in Chapter five the fact that this particular person is recovered the fact that this person is brought from the error of his way the fact is is that this is indeed a professing Christian it is somebody within the context of the local church somebody among you not a raw pagan center probably not even the one that has no faith whatsoever in the Lord Jesus Christ but most likely it is a person that has made the good confession has at some time given a good evidence or demonstration of that faith in the Lord Jesus and now is departing wandering from the truth the reference among you indicates it is one in the church one that has professed saving faith John Gill says for this is to be understood of one who has embraced the Christian religion become a member of a church and has walked in the path of truth and holiness but now has fallen into error either in principle or in practice or both now note specifically the danger involved brethren if anyone among you wanders from the truth you probably hear a lot about the truth in the Church because the truth is absolutely crucial it is the truth of Christ that differentiates us from unbelievers we are not going to heaven because we're good we're not going to heaven because we obey God's law we are not going to heaven because we are laden with merit we are going to heaven because of Christ and what brings us into saving contact with Christ is faith grace through faith in the truth concerning our Lord Jesus Christ it is truth that is absolutely crucial with the Christian or for the Christian notice the truth and it's connection to our practice look at what James says the the person envisage in verse 19 is one who wanders from the truth verse 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way so when we reject truth or we wander from the truth it affects the way that we live towards truth and conduct are in separate inseparably connected you can see this say for instance in 1st Timothy 6 you can turn there 1st Timothy chapter 6 the truth that we believe affects our conduct for good or for ill if we wander from that truth notice in 1st Timothy 6 3 he says if anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words even the words of our lord jesus christ and to the doctrine which accords with godliness so you see the truth that we believe the doctrine that we hold to Accords to godliness notice in Titus 1 Titus chapter 1 at verse 1 Paul a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness now obviously this is consistent with our Lord's words in the upper room or on the heels of the upper room when he prays his high priestly prayer Jesus says to the father sanctify them by thy truth thy Word is truth in other words our growth in Grace our sanctification our progress in holiness is directly connected to our hold on the truth we're not holding the truth we're not going to grow in grace we're not holding the truth we're not going to be holy we're not holding the truth we're not going to be faithful in our conduct and in our practice and so James is serious with reference to this particular situation if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back turn one more place to John's Gospel John chapter 8 to hear again from our Lord on how important it is to abide in the truth John 8 at verse 31 then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him if you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free again when we consider all that the Bible says positively concerning the truth why is it that we are not more diligent in our study of the truth if we see that our safety our comfort our blessing our privilege is directly connected to our hold on the truth why are we not in the truth more and more than we are verse 32 or 33 they answered him we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone how can you say you will be made free jesus answered them most assuredly I say to you whoever commits sin as a slave of sin and a slave does not abide in the house forever but a son abides forever therefore if the son makes you free you shall be free indeed the son and truth intimately connected there in terms of the believers good position back to James we see the recovery highlighted and this is an amazing thing verse 19 brethren if anyone among you wanders from the truth so there's the that the problem of wandering brethren and someone turns him back it's a real indefinite term there we know the church had elders because if anyone is sick among you let him call for the elders of the church but here it's not the elders it's not you know that particular body of men given charge to govern the church and to teach and preach it's anyone it's someone it's probably persons that are connected to that individual that is wandering from the truth they don't need to be reported to headquarters they need to be dealt with they need to be talked to they need to be prayed over they need to be exhorted and encouraged and loved and helped that is the emphasis of James in this particular passage if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone again not the elders it could be elders they certainly ought to be doing this also but if someone turns in back brethren be on the lookout again not as a Pharisee not as a judge not as one who is shaking their fingers at everybody that is below them on the scale of sanctification but rather if you see somebody that's been absent from church somebody that's been neglectful in there and their attendants upon the mean somebody that isn't living in a manner that is consistent with God's holy word go to that brother and encourage then exhort them daily while it is called today lest you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin this is an everyman responsibility in the context of the church now having said that I'm always afraid that after a sermon like this everybody to run up to edge each other and say you know I've noticed this and you need to repent don't don't do that not at least tonight sent him an email tomorrow I'm just kidding text to them that's a that's a brave way well we'll attach to you and tell you your fault in your sin you get the point it's not just for elders the church is more than elders the church is the church it's the people of God it's the blood bots it's the redeemed it's those who have been set apart by God's grace for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and as a result we look after one another we help one another we exhort one another we encourage one another we seek to recover one another when one starts to wander from the truth other passages that obviously speak to this Matthew 18 if your brother sins against you what are you supposed to do talk about him avoid him offer him up for prayer at the next print no go to him tell him his fault between you and him alone if he hears you you have gained your brother Galatians chapter 6 you can turn there because it not only specifies the responsibility but it also gives reason for it Galatians 6:1 brethren if a man is overtaken in any trespass you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness a spirit of gentleness ought to be part of the way that we go to one another and then note he says considering yourself lest you also be tempted whatever he means this much we absolutely positively know that none of us are sinlessly perfect none of us go to an erring brother as if we were Jesus we go as one that is riddled with our own sin with our own tendency and proclivity to temptation but we come in a spirit of gentleness seeking to restore the brother who has been overtaken by a particular trespass so back to James we see that this man goes a wandering from the truth we see that someone anyone within the context of the local church seeks to bring him back someone turns him back what should we infer or imply he is being turned back to if the danger was he wandered from the truth what ought to be our goal as recovery minded brethren to turn them back to the truth it's not our therapy it's not our counseling it's not our sort of experience that is going to fix our brother it's the truth now certainly we can open scripture and read scripture to them we can illustrate with you know anecdotes from our lives that that might be helpful but it's the truth ultimately that is going to help the brother who has wandered from the truth so that's the problem of wandering brethren notice secondly the encouragement to recovering brethren in verse 20 he says let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins he wants the recovering brother - no he's incentivizing us is what he's doing he's incentivizing us to action he is saying that when you engage in this particular activity I want you to know what the ramifications are I want you know what the blessings are I want you to understand all too well what's in view when you go on this mission of recovering a wandering brother this is a beautiful thing he says let him know now there's some that would interpret this as a command know this others as an indicative here let him know either way the end is the same we are to know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins so the exhortation the incentivization and now specifically the content he says you will save a soul from death now we are reformed in this church we often celebrate the reality that God saves sinners we often rehearse Matthew 1:21 it is he who will save his people from their sins now James is saying or suggesting to us that we have the power to save a soul instrumentally not efficiently God saves sinners God chooses to use means 1st Corinthians 1:21 we read for since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God it pleased God through what through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believed in other words God doesn't just snap his cosmic fingers and people pass from death to life God has raised up in the first place apostles God sent them out to Jerusalem Judea Samaria to the end of the earth to make disciples in plant local churches from thence he raises up elders in the context of the local church he saves multitudes of sinners knowing that those multitudes of sinners are going to go witness and they're going to testify and they're going to point sinners to Jesus Christ it's in that way that we save a soul by directing persons back to the truth of God's Holy Word that's where their safety lies we don't have the power to change the heart but we certainly do direct them to the one who has the power to change the heart faithfully laboring to recover wandering brethren point the pointing them to the truth it is said that we will save a soul and notice the stakes involved from death you see wandering from the truth is not a good thing I don't think any of us would say it is a good thing especially you know those who have been here for any amount of time I again we put a lot of premium on truth I don't think anybody would say at the end you know the back of the church it's okay to wander from the truth I really don't think any of us any of us would say that but I'm not sure we felt the gravity and the weightiness of wandering from the truth you will save a soul from death that's what's in view here this mission of recovery is most important and this is our this art to motivate us to be on the lookout to be helpful to our brothers and sisters as I said God saves and he does so through means Matthew Poole said the work is his Ephesians 2:10 but often is ascribed to the instruments acting under him and using means appointed by him and by which he works John Gill says in terms of the salvation rendered not efficiently but instrumentally and then notice in 1st Timothy chapter 4 this is the way we ought to understand Paul's word to Timothy in 1st Timothy chapter 4 at verse 16 Paul writing to Timothy says take heed to yourself and to the doctrine continue in them for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you again Paul's theology does not permit the interpretation that Timothy in Ephesus has the power to save sinners Paul made it his aim to preach Christ and him crucified Paul made it his aim to preach the centrality of Christ and what Paul knows is that Jesus alone saves so for Paul to employ this language and for us to get hung up and say but wait a minute we can't save people we ought never to think Paul or James met that we could we are being instruments in the hand of our father to go after a one brother to point him back to the truth so that he'll his soul will be safe rather than suffer death and then notice with reference to the incentives he says say I will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins that beautiful kind of goes along with Peter stood up isn't our God beneficent isn't he gracious you got this wandering brother that departs from the truth you've got a recovering brother that goes after him and points him back to the truth and what do we find when he comes back his sins a multitude of them are covered again not by the recovering brother but through the blood of Jesus Christ a reminder a refresher a pointer to that reality represented to us say in psalm 130 verses 3 & 4 if now Lord shuts mark iniquities O Lord who could stand but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared the recovery breath recovering brother might point him to that or Psalm 25 the logic of Psalm 25 verse 11 is absolutely incredible for your namesake pardon my iniquity for it is great think about that go to your bank tomorrow and say can you please loan me money because my poverty is great what are they gonna say absolutely positively 100% no you got to have money in order to borrow money you can't just borrow money if you're poor well this is precisely the psalmist's arguments on 25 pardon my iniquity why for it is great see the recovering brother is going to point the wandering brother to that taxed the recovering brother is going to point the wandering brother the first John 1:9 if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness you see the benefits involved the incentive his incentives involved for the recovering brother if you go after the wandering one you pointed back to the truth you save a soul from death and you will see him receive a multitude of blessing from God visa vie his sins will be covered to Manton this is a beautiful statement just going back for a moment to another Manton ism in James chapter one look at James one at verse 17 says every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning they're mounted Manton comments but God does not change there is no wrinkle upon the brow of eternity the arm of Mercy is not dried up nor do his bowels of love waste and spend themselves now back to James 5:20 listen to Manton concerning this covering of a multitude of sins he says for these six thousand years God hath been multiplying pardons and yet free grace is not tired and grown weary I think that's a great morsel for a sinful soul we need to be reminded of that for these six thousand years God hath been multiplying pardons and yet free grace is not tired and grown weary now again that's not given so that we'll go out and sin that grace may abound but when we do sin we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous the recovering brother is going to point the wandering brother to that reality in first John chapter 2 you see there is incentive here for the people of God to look out for their brothers their sisters their husbands their wives their children their parents brethren in the family is probably the first place we ought to be applying this particular passage who knows the spiritual declension of a husband or wife better than the husband or wife who knows of a decline in their spirituality or a desire for the things of God better than a wife or a husband with reference to their spouse again not judgmentally in a spirit of gentleness seeking to restore not seeking to browbeat seeking to you know take the rubber hose and beat them down look to encourage and exhort them so that they will indeed be recovered so in some James's point is that we demonstrate concern for others Douglas mu says not only should the readers of James do the words he has written they should be deeply concerned to see that others do them also it is by sharing with James the conviction that there is indeed an eternal death to which the way of sin leads that we shall be motivated to deal with sin in our lives and in the lives of others John Calvin comments on the blessing involved in this mission of recovery he says nothing is better or more desirable than to deliver a soul from eternal death we'd all agree with that you know there's a certain joy in commending a new restaurant to a brother or a sister and say you know when you're in such-and-such a town visit that buffet it's quite delicious doesn't compare to saving his soul from death does it what ought to drive us and motivate us what ought to fire us up it ought to be that we see wandering brethren turned back he says and this is what he does who restores an erring brother to the right way there for a work so excellent ought by no means to be neglected thus our exposition I want to conclude with a few thoughts first we ought to appreciate the danger of defection from God not appreciate like admire it but understand it if you want more on this particular theme I suggest the book of Hebrews two chapters in particular chapter 6 chapter 10 deals with what's called apostasy a full defection from God and typically apostasy doesn't happen overnight persons don't go to church on Sunday and then wake up on a Monday having committed apostasy it is typically gradual it is marked by ink wandering from the truth it is marked by a lack of carefulness a lack of discipline a lack of consist see another passages first John 2:19 they went out from us but they were not of us because if they had been of us they would not have gone out from us there is such a thing as apostasy and the people of God need to take heed we need to guard our hearts we need to guard our minds in terms of the manifestation of the defection from God the text is clear verse 20 our verse 19 if anyone among you wanders from the truth that's the manifestation that's the evidence that is a demonstration that somebody is on the road to defection from God now I would suggest there are some contributing factors to this some contributing factors why is it we asked the question do persons wander from the truth I don't have an exhaustive list but I have three suggestions that we ought to contemplate I would suggest in the first place laziness why would persons wander from the truth because they don't want to spend time in the truth so laziness might be a contributing factor to defection from God another one is indifference again we don't see the gravity we don't see the weightiness we don't see the value and we don't prize truth as we ought we are indifferent to it and then there's just good old-fashioned not good in the good sense but sinfulness sinfulness it's often the case that persons want to sin it's often the case that persons want to indulge a particular lust so often the case that persons want to have their secret pet sin and one of the things that they will not do while they're indulging that particular sin is to stay in the truth because you know as well as I do the the darkness hates the light the cockroach as soon as the latest flipped on runs from the kitchen not my kitchen thankfully we never had them I haven't seen a cockroach here in BC I'm sure they might be somewhere but they're a problem in Southern California and one of the things that happens you flip the light on in the cockroach runs well people that are in bit that are indulging sin they don't want truth it's a light that shines upon their way and their wickedness brethren take this to heart the contributing factors again just three suggestions laziness indifferent sinfulness as well we ought to appreciate that it's subtle its subtle he wanders from the truth I love the language that's employed yet he wanders he doesn't run from the truth he doesn't do it you know 100-yard dash from the truth he doesn't own early abandon the truth he doesn't say no truth he he wanders from that you get that right this idea of wandering you see your kids sometimes so sort of wandering aimlessly you say go clean your room and they sort of wander from place to place without going to the room I mean they didn't run out the front door they didn't say no way I'm not cleaning my room but they wandered they were they were misguided they were lacking sort of direction until you're your swiftie judgment fell upon them and and directed them back to their room that they wander again I don't think this happens overnight I don't think Wanderers from the truth all of a sudden wake up is apostates turn to one more passage in the book of hebrews hebrews chapter two different verb different word is utilized but the same sort of concept here hebrews chapter two notice therefore verse one we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard last week what drift away not absolutely apostatized not absolutely the fact not absolutely run out the front door last we drift away and if you notice these two are enjoined these two are inextricably inextricably tied if we are not giving a more earnest heed then we will be drifting away see our Christianity is not conducted in a vacuum if we are not earnestly seeking after God we are drifting away if we are not earnestly seeking after truth we are wandering from it that is the exclusive position that Hebrews tous - once that's before us we give the more earnest he do the things we have heard lest we drift away and we ought to appreciate with reference to the danger of defection from God the end the gravity the weightiness the stakes are high you will save a soul from death so that's the danger of defection from God secondly by way of application the antidote to defection from God first of all a recognition of the value of truth if we ought to consider the weightiness and the gravity of the states in terms of death as far as antidotes go we ought to recognize the value of the truth again we're reformed we all believe this but I think we all need to be reminded this is a defining sort of characteristic of God Psalm 31 the psalmist calls upon the Lord God and he calls him Lord God of truth Psalm 138 tells us that yahweh magnifies his word above his name now the name of god is supreme in scripture isn't it Jesus taught us to pray in the first place hallowed be thy name there's a commandment that is given to protecting the name of our Yahweh but God says that he magnifies his word above his name we see Jesus define our described to us himself in John 14:6 I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me so I would suggest an antidote to defection from God is in the first place to recognize the value of truth secondly a use of the means for the reception of the truth now this is where everybody's going okay here it is again he's going to nag us and to coming to church precisely absolutely positively I think I said many months ago or a year ago I was going to nag anymore I'm gonna try not to nag like I used to if wandering from the truth is a bad thing then beware the truth is preached beware the truth is in your Bible reading in prayer do not absent yourselves from the public meetings of Christ Church do you realize the Puritans that we celebrate the heroes of the faith that we just love put more emphasis on the corporate means of grace than on the private now before you say well Butler says we don't have to read our Bibles in private anymore that's how a butler is saying but there's a particular sermon on Psalm 87 so all maybe 7 says that Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob what's that mean God doesn't hate the dwelling places of Jacob just like I'm not saying don't read your Bible and pray if I emphasize attendance upon the corporate means but the fact is is that y'all wait loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob the Sermon is that public worship is to be preferred over private again this strikes us as odd and our hyper individualistic age it strikes us as odd that anybody would ever say to us it's absolutely crucial to come to church for the reception of the truth I can do it on my own I have my own Bible I don't need Christ's Church now whether we speak that out whether we verbalize it whether we actually blog it that is oftentimes sort of an underlying practice in the hearts of God's people at least in North America the spirit of Independence obviously in the United States of America there's a spirit of Independence in Canada as well we don't think we need preaching we don't think we need teaching we think all we need is the Holy Spirit and our Bible you certainly need the Holy Spirit in the Bible but you also need the gifts that Christ is given to the church didn't we see that a few weeks ago months ago when we looked at Matthew 28 Jesus ascended on high he led captivity captive and he gave gifts to man according to Ephesians 4 the gifts there are not tongs the gifts there are not you know helps the gifts there are not you know healing the gifts are men apostles prophets pastors teachers but I'm sorry prophets apostles apostles prophets evangelists pastors teachers and the threefold purpose of that is indicated by the Apostle Paul so never miss that place where God's Word is preached and certainly read your Bible every day like do we keep needing to have this convo I mean just read it please it's a good thing it's not a bad thing it's a great thing and don't be led by that well I gotta be in the right frame my heart's not right my heart's not you know warm I'm not gonna read it until I I really feel it brethren the Bible can be likened to food in a sense sometimes it comes to us like a mango we can't wait to dive in other times it comes to us like a Brussels sprout it may not be that which we are specifically craving but we know there is a bounty full of nutrients in that Brussels sprout so we eat it I may not Rhonda I actually love Brussels sprouts but I may not run to that like I'd run to a to a to a mango but I nevertheless need to take it and if you wait till your frame is right before you read the Bible you pray or you come to church you will never do those things ever well you know you just don't know what it's like my heart just isn't throbbing for God none of us have hearts that are throbbing for God that's why we take our hearts to the Bible and it's there that God throbs the heart you see don't listen to the devil that you have to be in the right frame before you use the means how about you just use the means it's a beautiful thing just Reid thirdly a resolve not to depart from the truth turn to psalm 119 can't talk about truth and not think about psalm 119 it's a celebration of god's truth but a resolve not to depart from the truth I think this is something lacking in the Christian you know in the Christian Church and among Christian people today this this sort of resolve resolution is a good thing Daniel resolved not to eat Nebuchadnezzar's dainty's Daniel resolved not to bow down to that idol on the plains of duro Daniel resolved to continue to pray to Yahweh resolved in the Christian life is a good thing now there's obviously a line that we shouldn't cross and get proud and arrogant needing to remember first corinthians lest you be hardened or rather lest you fall but in 1st psalm 119 verse 106 notice I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep your righteous judgments and I think we read passages like that and I said we said well you know it's better to you know not swear than to make a vow and not keep it that's what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes the brethren at some point at some level we got a deal violently with sin we got a deal aggressively with sin and some resolution and resolve in our life might go some way to helping us I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep your righteous judgments fourthly and still here in psalm 119 there ought to be in our hearts a love for the truth again if it's not something we you know my heart's not throbbing for it it's not warm for it it's not you know I'm approaching it like say a Brussels sprout nevertheless I love it and I know what what value what what supreme value it holds forth to me notice the psalmist's appreciation for the Word of God psalm 119 verse 48 psalm 119 verse 48 my hands also I will lift up to your commandments which I love and I will meditate on your statutes verse 72 the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver verse 92 unless your law had been my delight I would have been perished in my affliction 97 oh how I love your law it is my meditation all the day verse 1 11 your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever for they are the rejoicing of my heart verse 113 I hate the double-minded but I love your law verse 127 therefore I love your Commandments more than gold yes than fine gold verse 140 your word is very pure therefore your servant loves it is that a great attitude of disposition verse 162 I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure the psalmist considers God's Word the way you and I might consider finding a bag of money on our way home tonight and then verse 163 I hate and abhor lying but I love your law so an antidote to defection from God first a recognition of the value of truth second our use of the means for the reception of the truth third a resolve not to depart from the truth fourth a love for the truth and dare I say fifthly a realization that within our hearts there is a proness to wander from the truth you see I think we need to know our enemies isn't it intriguing the way the psalmist ends psalm 119 you've got a hundred and seventy five verses of celebration concerning God's wonderful law verse 176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep seek your servant for I do not forget your Commandments we sing hymn number 401 of the lines there by Robert Robinson is prone to wander prone to leave the I love I think we ought to realize that the seeds are in the heart and realizing that we seek to fight against it we seek to love the truth rather than engage in this proneness to wander from the truth a passage from Thomas Brooks's precious remedies against Satan's devices I think underscore these points concerning and antidote to defection from God he says all souls have you not found truth sweetening your spirits and cheering your spirits and warming your spirits and raising your spirits and corroborating your spirits have you not found truth a guide to lead you a staff to uphold you a cordial to strengthen you and a plaster to heal you and will you not hold fast the truth has not truth been your best friend and your worst days has not truth stood by you when friends have forsaken you has not truth done more for you than all the world could do against you and will you not hold fast the truth is not truth your right eye without which you cannot see for Christ and your right hand without which you cannot do for Christ and your right foot without which you cannot walk with Christ and will you not hold fast the truth Oh hold fast the truth in your judgments and understandings in your wills and affections in your profession and conversation you are better let go anything than truth you were better let go your honors and riches your friends and pleasures and the world's favors yay your nearest and dearest relations yes your very lives than to let go of truth Oh keep the truth and truth will make you safe and happy forever blessed are those souls that are kept by truth amen brethren let us see the danger of wandering from the truth let us see the necessity of loving the truth and let us as the people of God be looking out for one another exhorting one another daily while it is called today lest we be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin and in all things let us prize supremely our Lord Jesus Christ that one who is the way the truth and the life that one who came on a recovery mission that one who came to turn us back that one who came to save us from our sins that one who in his life and his death and his resurrection made the way to heaven for us praise God Almighty for our Lord Jesus Christ and praise God Almighty for the truth well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for the truth and I pray that you would keep us from wandering from it caused us to love it to prize it to value it to see its importance in our own lives and in our own hearts grant us grace to resolve that we will not wander from the truth grant us Grace and the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us on that that narrow way and give us grace to be of encouragement to one another in the context of our families and in our local church go with us now cause your face to shine upon us in this coming week cause us to rejoice in the goodness and in the kindness of our great God and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well why don't we stand and we'll close our service this afternoon with the doxology [Music] the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen please be seated you