Well,

Introduction

as we come to a conclusion of James's epistle here, verses 19 and 20 may seem a bit disconnected, and it may seem 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. 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 them. 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

The Problem of Wandering Brethren

note in the first place the problem of wandering brethren. In verse 19, he says, brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back. Now,

Who Is the Wanderer?

there is a view, John MacArthur holds this particular view, that James cannot be speaking here of a Christian. MacArthur's position is that Christians are never called sinners in the New Testament. I would argue just the opposite. James calls Christians sinners twice in chapter 4 and then here in chapter 5.

The fact that this particular person is recovered, the fact that this person is brought from the error of his way, the fact 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 sinner, 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,

Truth and Conduct Are Inseparable

note specifically the danger involved. Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, You probably hear a lot about the truth in this 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 are 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 its connection to our practice. Look at what James says. The person envisaged 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. In other words, truth and conduct are inseparably connected. You can see this, say, for instance, in 1 Timothy 6.

You can turn there. 1 Timothy chapter 6. The truth that we believe affects our conduct, for good or for ill, if we wander from that truth. Notice in 1 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 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 eight 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 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 is 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,

Anyone May Pursue Recovery

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 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 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 him 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 their attendance upon the means, somebody that isn't living in a manner that is consistent with God's holy word.

Go to that brother and encourage them, 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 will run up to each other and say, you know, I've noticed this, and you need to repent. Don't do that, not at least tonight.

Send them an email tomorrow. I'm just kidding. Text them. That's a brave way.

We'll text you and tell you your fault and 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 bought. 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 prayer, no, go to him.

Tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. Galatians chapter six, you can turn there because it not only specifies the responsibility, but it also gives reasons 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. Now, 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 anecdotes from our lives. 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.

Encouragement to Recovering 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 to know 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 to 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

Instrumental Salvation from Death

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 121. 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. 1 Corinthians 121, 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 believe.

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 and 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.

We, faithfully laboring to recover wandering brethren, 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 those who have been here for any amount of time. Again, we put a lot of premium on truth.

I don't think anybody would say at the back of the church, it's OK to wander from the truth. I really don't think 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 ought 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 1 Timothy chapter 4, this is the way we ought to understand Paul's word to Timothy in 1 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 meant that we could. We are being instruments in the hand of our Father. to go after a wandering brother, to point him back to the truth so that his soul will be safe rather than suffer death.

Covering a Multitude of Sins

And then notice, with reference to the incentives, he says, we'll save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Isn't 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 and 4. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. The recovering brother might point him to that. Or Psalm 25, the logic of Psalm 25 verse 11 is absolutely incredible. For your name's sake, 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 going to say? Absolutely, positively, 100%, no.

You've 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 argument in Psalm 25. Pardon my iniquity.

Why? For it is great. See, the recovering brother is going to point the wandering brother to that text. The recovering brother is going to point the wandering brother to 1 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 incentives involved for the recovering brother. If you go after the wandering one, you point him back to the truth, you save his soul from death, and you will see him receive a multitude of blessing from God. Vis-a-vis, his sins will be covered.

Listen to Manton. This is a beautiful statement. Just going back for a moment to another Mantonism in James chapter 1. Look at James 1 at verse 17.

It 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. There, Manton comments, but God doth 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 6,000 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 6,000 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 1 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, not seeking to, you know, take the rubber hose and beat them down, but to encourage and exhort them so that they will indeed be recovered. So, in sum, James's point is that we demonstrate concern for others. Douglas Moos 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. I think 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 a 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. Therefore, a work so excellent ought by no means to be neglected.

Application

Thus our exposition, I want to conclude with a few thoughts.

The Danger of Defection from God

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 a wandering from the truth.

It is marked by a lack of carefulness, a lack of discipline, a lack of consistency. Another passage is 1 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 a defection from God, the text is clear. 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 ask 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. It's 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 darkness hates the light.

The cockroach, as soon as the light is 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 and the cockroach runs. Well, people that are indulging sin, they don't want truth. It's a light that shines upon their waywardness and their wickedness.

Brethren, take this to heart, the contributing factors. Again, just three suggestions, laziness, indifference, sinfulness. As well, we ought to appreciate that it's subtle. It's subtle.

He wanders from the truth. I love the language that's employed here. He wanders. He doesn't run from the truth.

He doesn't do a 100-yard dash from the truth. He doesn't utterly abandon the truth. He doesn't say, no truth. He wanders from that.

You get that, right? This idea of wandering. You see your kids sometimes 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 wander.

They were misguided. They were lacking sort of direction until your swift judgment fell upon them and directed them back to their room. They wander. See, again, I don't think this happens overnight.

I don't think wanderers from the truth all of a sudden wake up as apostates. Turn to one more passage in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 2. 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, lest we, what, drift away. Not absolutely apostatized, not absolutely defact, not absolutely run out the front door, lest we drift away. And if you notice, these two are enjoined. These two are 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 2.1 sets before us. We must give the more earnest heed to 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.

The Antidote to Defection from God

Secondly, by way of application, the antidote to defection from God. First of all,

Recognize the Value of Truth

a recognition of the value of truth. If we ought to consider the weightiness and the gravity of the stakes 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 or describe 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.

Use the Means of Grace

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 into coming to church. Precisely.

Absolutely positively. I think I said many months ago or a year ago I wasn't going to nag anymore. I'm going to try not to nag like I used to. If wandering from the truth is a bad thing, then be where the truth is preached.

Be where the truth is in your Bible reading and prayer. Do not absent yourselves from the public meetings of Christ's 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 not what Butler is saying. But there's a particular sermon on Psalm 87. Psalm 87 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. I'm not saying don't read your Bible and pray if I emphasize attendance upon the corporate means. But the fact is that Yahweh 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 in 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 in our Bible. You certainly need the Holy Spirit in the Bible, but you also need the gifts that Christ has given to the church.

Didn't we see that a few weeks ago or months ago when we looked at Matthew 28? Jesus ascended on high. He led captivity captive, and he gave gifts to men, according to Ephesians 4. The gifts there are not tongues.

The gifts there are not, you know, helps. The gifts there are not, you know, healing. The gifts are men. Apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers.

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 got to be in the right frame.

My heart's not right. My heart's not warm. I'm not going to read it until 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 run to, I actually love Brussels sprouts, but I may not run to that like I'd run to a mango, but I nevertheless need to take it in. If you wait till your frame is right before you read the Bible or 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 read.

Resolve Not to Depart from Truth

Thirdly, a resolve not to depart from the truth. Turn to Psalm 119. You 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 church and among Christian people today, this sort of resolve. Resolution is a good thing. Daniel resolved not to eat Nebuchadnezzar's dainties. Daniel resolved not to bow down to that idol on the plains of Dura.

Daniel resolved to continue to pray to Yahweh. Resolve 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 1 Corinthians, lest you be hardened, or rather, lest you fall. But in first 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 say, well, you know, it's better to not swear than to make a vow and not keep it. That's what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes. Brethren, at some point, at some level, we've got to deal violently with sin. We've got to 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.

Love for the Truth

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. I know what value, 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 111, your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart. Verse 113, I hate the gobble-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. Isn't that a great attitude and 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

Acknowledge Proneness to Wander

dare I say fifthly, a realization that within our hearts, there is a proneness 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 175 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 400, and one of the lines there by Robert Robinson is, prone to wander, prone to leave the God 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 an 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 in 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 are better let go your honors and riches, your friends and pleasures, and the world's favors, yea, 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.

Closing Prayer

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, cause 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 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. Roman numeral 16 in your Trinity Hymnal. Please stand and we'll sing together. ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ ♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪ ♪ Praise Him, above the heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ 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.

Scripture References

• Psalms 25:11; 31; 87; 119:48; 119:72; 119:92; 119:97; 119:106; 119:111; 119:113; 119:127; 119:140; 119:162; 119:163; 119:176; 130:3-4; 138
• Matthew 1:21; 18; 28
• John 8:31; 8:33; 14:6
• Galatians 6:1
• Ephesians 2:10; 4
• 1 Corinthians 1:21; 10:12
• 1 Timothy 4:16; 6:3
• Titus 1:1
• Hebrews 2:1; 6; 10
• James 1:17; 1:22; 5:13; 5:14-15; 5:16; 5:19-20
• 1 John 1:9; 2:19