Confronting the Pandemic (pt. 2)

If you would, take your Bibles
and turn to James chapter 5. I alluded to that sweet story
a moment ago. We were at the Shepherds Conference
with Rebecca’s dad, Robert. He made this prayer request and
then all of a sudden came to us a little bit later and shared
with us the great news of that birth. And in my haste last week,
last Lord’s Day, with communion and trying to get everything
in, I neglected to rejoice in the birth of little Reagan. James chapter five, we come again
to the end of this book, and in really an incredible study,
a very timely study for us, where we have seen James pour out his
heart to the church, but he’s also done so for us, and really
for every saint throughout history, those before us, those who will
come after us, a living appeal. to examine our faith before Almighty
God, to search diligently for the precious fruit of righteousness. And if it’s found lacking, to
the degree that it’s found lacking, the plea is to turn again to
Christ in repentance for salvation. The connection we looked at last
week, it’s a fitting connection to the verses that immediately
preceded it, verses 13 through 18. The picture there of the
loving, caring, and praying saints who are caring for their friends
in circumstantial prayer and intercessory prayer, confessional
prayer, and even perseverant prayer. But all that leads into
this particular verse. Of these loving and caring saints
having to do one of the most most delicate things that a Christian
ever has to do in life, and that is to to confront a brother in
sin. But we also saw that this particular
passage versus 19 and 20 is also a fitting cap to the entire book. Here in this passage, we basically
see the inner workings of the process that brought a brother
to repentance. The situation that you see described
in verses 14 and 15 is very different. The sick man there essentially
calls the elders to his bedside. It doesn’t talk about a confrontation.
He may already know of his sinfulness, And yet he’s brought to repentance
and to confession for his sin. But here, this individual may
be out of stubbornness, may be out of cluelessness. He doesn’t
even recognize the precarious situation that he finds himself
in. And so it is a fitting conclusion
to that discussion as well. James chapter five, verses 19
and 20. My brethren, if any among you
strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know
that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save
his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. I
did something this past week that I never do. It was kind
of in a haste last week that I came up with the title, Eradicating
the Pandemic, and we’re never going to eradicate sin, and we’re
not evidently going to be able to eradicate this thing very
easily. And so I altered my title. I even went on Sermon Audio and
tweaked the title that was placed there last week. And so I adjusted
it to confronting the pandemic because that’s more appropriate
for both of these situations. We want to deal effectively with
life’s most deadly virus. And I’m not, again, trying to
make light of the coronavirus, COVID-19. We don’t know how bad
it is. We know that it is bad. We don’t
know how many will be infected. We don’t know how many will die.
Scores, hundreds, thousands have already died. We don’t know how
our economy will be affected. We know that it’s already significant. We don’t know what kind of social,
political upheavals there may be. But the situation is serious. And even with the CDC’s very
worst case scenario outlook, 160 million Americans who will
contract the disease, 1.7 million who will die, it really isn’t
all that bad. Not when you consider that there’s
another disease that has already infected every person ever born,
and that is the disease of sin. And so my one question that I
began with last week, if we are making an all out effort in mitigating
an outbreak of a physical disease, a virus, shouldn’t we be infinitely
more concerned with a spiritual disease with which we know has
already infected all of humanity? We began last week, as you will
recall, with Dealing with this life’s most deadly disease in
just beginning to look at the symptoms of the disease We see
that in verse 19 where? James said my brethren And here
again, we see James’s love and affection for these saints, more
than just a flock of sheep to him, more than just parishioners,
more than just converts or attendees, they are family to him. They
are beloved members of his spiritual family. And in his closing words
of this great epistle, it’s just so appropriate that he would
use these words at the heading, in his appeal to his brothers.
But look at it again, if you would. My brethren, if any among
you strays from the truth, it’s a hypothetical situation if He
doesn’t have anything particular in mind, but he does know human
nature. He does know the prevalence of
sin. He does know the temptations
of the world. He does know the inclination
of the human heart. He does know the assaults of
the devil himself. And he does know that sin is
inevitable. And so it’s not entirely hypothetical. James says, my brethren, if or
when any among you strays from the truth, we discussed last
week whether this is a believer or an unbeliever. And I suggested
to you that this is a wayward, wandering, ungrounded professor
of Christ. He’s made a profession of faith,
but he’s ungrounded. He has claimed to have placed
his faith in Christ. He might even still claim to
be a Christian, but his life has begun to betray his confession. And this is what James here is
referencing. My brethren, if any among you
strays from the truth, this is a church going individual. He
looks the part, he fits in, he talks the talk. It’s just that
his life doesn’t match his testimony. His life betrays his profession
and James sees that there is something that is seriously out
of place in his life. This isn’t an occasional slip.
This is a man who is drifting and wandering from the faith,
something completely out of character, something completely incongruous
with his profession of faith. He’s strayed from the truth. James looks out over the congregation
and this horrible situation catches his eye. Perhaps this individual
is converted under James’s ministry, baptized not long ago, and he
sees this man drifting, wandering away. He’s straying and we were
reminded of that very familiar image from scripture of a wandering
sheep. And so James notes that he’s
being led astray, even deceived. And. we posed the question, was
he simply deceived by someone else or did he wander away on
his own? We noted that that was somewhat of a hair-splitting
question because either way, the deceived and the deceiver
are responsible. A person has to have an inclination
to go astray in order to hear deception and listen to it and
heed it. And so look again at 19 where
it says, that he wanders away from the truth, not just from
the fold, not just from the church, not just from fellowship, but
he wanders away from the truth. It isn’t an intellectual slide. It’s moral and it’s spiritual. It’s hedging on the glorious
truth of the gospel. It’s not complete apostasy, not
here, not yet. But some particular of the faith,
this so-called brother is hedging. He’s second-guessing. Maybe even
he’s second-guessing his faith. Maybe he’s actively doubting
or questioning some key element of Christianity, the body of
truth that is the gospel, the sinfulness of humanity, the nature
and character of God, the doctrine of the church, Christ’s bride,
the doctrine of the deity of Christ. All of those really form
the foundation in which our Christian life is to be established. So
the waning of the Christian character that is supposed to be the natural
fruit of Christianity itself. Theological truth, Christian
doctrine is supposed to be the very foundation of a godly life. We noted last week Robert Johnstone’s
explanation that according to the whole tenor of scripture,
he says, the whole Bible teaches us this, that the knowledge and
belief of certain grand truths are absolutely necessary to produce
holy affections. He says, if you want to be a
godly Christian, it’s got to be firmly grounded on the truth
of God’s word. As Christians, we’re supposed
to love the truth. We’re supposed to proclaim the truth. We’re
supposed to live the truth. And so the error that James is
addressing here is error of a most serious kind. It’s not only creed,
but conduct. The individual who departs ultimately
departs morally, theologically, doctrinally, spiritually, and
ethically. It’s a departure from the path
of righteousness. This is a serious situation.
And as we begin to look at the symptoms of the disease, we see
a dreadful situation. This individual is going to die. He has the virus. It’s a worst
case scenario that James is presenting here. But there’s a treatment. As we begin to look at dealing
effectively with life’s most deadly virus, James does present
a treatment. He does give us hope. Look at
verse 19 again. My brethren, if any among you
strays from the truth and one turns him back, the situation
is not helpless. The sick individual is not quarantined. from his brother who loves him.
He has a friend. He has a true friend, one who
will come to him and come alongside of him and show him his sin. Such a person is the best of
friends, not an enemy. He loves and he cares for the
soul of his friend. One pastor said of all philanthropists,
the zealous, loving Christian is the greatest. Richard Baxter
in a quote that I never even had to write down. The first
time I heard it, I memorized it. Pretend not to love them
if you hate not their sin and seek not their salvation. It’s
the most loving thing that you can do to confront a brother
or sister in Christ in their sin. In fact, the way Richard
Baxter says it, don’t even call it love if you’re not willing
to do that. We’ve heard a lot this week about
social distancing for this current virus affecting our world. We’re
cautioned to limit our interaction, to sit far apart from each other,
to keep our distance from other people because of this virus. But the disease of sin is not
limited. And it’s not eliminated by social
distancing. In fact, James urges us to draw
near, not to distance ourself. He says that we should draw near
to a sinner in such a condition so as to turn them away. To turn
them away from sin, to turn them back to God, to turn them back
to the path of righteousness. We’re supposed to draw near.
But I want you to look at this. Look at just how utterly generic
this is. If any among you strays from
the truth and one turns him back. It’s completely generic there.
Who this is, who the identity of this individual is. It’s someone. It’s in direct contrast to the
call of the sick man in verse 14. This case is not assigned
to the elders exclusively. It points to a believer, any
believer, any Christian who loves and cares for this wayward individual,
anyone. James doesn’t provide even the
faintest hint of a prerequisite for serving Christ in this regard.
We’ll come back to that in a moment. But this is the brotherly response
of all Christians. Any Christian who knows the situation
and who cares enough goes. A lot of people have this attitude
that it’s none of my business, right? Who am I to judge? Or like Cain, am I my brother’s
keeper? The biblical mandate is you are
your brother’s keeper. John Gill, Spurgeon’s predecessor,
put it this way, one brother may be an instrument of restoration
to another by showing him and settling before him the evils
of his errors, whether in principle or in practice, and by reproving
him in meekness according to the rules of Christ and by praying
for him. Well, that’s what we see in the
gospels, isn’t it? Jesus was hosting all kinds of friends,
sinners, spiritually sick people hanging around him, tax collectors,
sinners. And he was castigated and criticized
by the religious elite for doing so. Well, that led to one of
the most remarkable chapters in all of scripture. Lost sheep,
lost coin, lost son. And Jesus says, which of you
with a lost sheep would not go looking for it? Which of you,
if you lost a coin, would not, which of you, if you lost a son,
would not seek him out? There’s infinite value. Matthew 18. captured in a single
line. If your brother sins, go show
him his fault in private. 1 Corinthians 5, in fact, followed
up in 2 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 5 presents a gross
situation of immorality in the church, and Paul admonishes the
Corinthian church in the strongest terms, that they already should
have confronted this individual in sin, and then they do such
a great job at it. Paul says, ease up, you know,
in 2nd Corinthians, enough is enough. Galatians 6, 1, Paul
addresses this same issue. Brethren, even if anyone is caught
in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one
in a spirit of gentleness. First Thessalonians 514, we urge
you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the faint hearted,
help the weak, be patient with everyone. In second Thessalonians
3, regarding a lazy man, we are to admonish him as a brother.
In Hebrews 3, take care, brethren, that there be not any one of
you in an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living
God, but encourage one another. Day after day. Hebrews chapter
12 verse 15, see to it that no one comes short of the grace
of God. That’s our job. That’s what we’re called to do
in the church. One of my favorite studies of
scripture is the one another’s of study, that grand scope of
all the responsibilities that we have to one another as believers. Romans 5, 15, 14 says that we
are to admonish one another. Robert Haldane, the Puritan commentator,
said that we are to put in mind of duty, especially when it is
transgressed. We’re supposed to go to our brother
when we see him falling short of God’s calling in his life.
We’re supposed to go to him and to admonish him, warn him, encourage
him in the way of faith. Hebrews 10.24 essentially echoes
that same great truth. Let us consider how to stimulate
one another to love and good deeds, encouraging one another. One Puritan said here that Christians
as members of one body, they are to attend to each other’s
wants, infirmities, temptations, dangers, and to administer suitable
assistance, advice, caution, admonition, consolation. We’re members of one body. I
don’t know about you, but if I sit just crooked just the right
way, the wrong way, my foot falls asleep, right? What good is the
entire rest of my body? I can’t get up and ambulate across
the room and do anything with my hands if my foot isn’t working. How are we to do this when we
go to a brother and confront him in his sin? You know, what’s
interesting here is James doesn’t elaborate at all. He just tells
us to go. He just speaks of it as literally
being done. He turns him back. He doesn’t
tell us how the process works, but the rest of scripture does. The rest of scripture gives us
many Key points here, Jesus tells us to go after we’ve dealt with
the log in our own eye. He doesn’t tell us not to go.
He doesn’t tell us not to go deal with the speck in our brothers.
In fact, he says, after you’ve dealt with the log in your own
eye, then go deal with the speck. Paul tells us in Ephesians that
when we go, we are to speak the truth in love. And second, Timothy,
he says that there are going to be various cases that we deal
with in life, depending on the particular case, reprove, rebuke,
exhort, different means, different methods for dealing with the
same thing. Galatians, which verse we just
read, each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Which
led one pastor to say, it must be right. to do all that is possible
to bring back from the way of death those who are walking in
it. We don’t judge them. We don’t
hand them over. We don’t determine that God is
done with them. We don’t know. We don’t know
that our going is by God’s providential design and that our going is
going to turn him back to the way of righteousness. It’s right. to turn them around, to believe
that we are His children and yet act as if the bodies and
souls of others who are equally His children are in no degree
in our keeping? That their condition is no concern
of ours? This is to have that faith which
is, apart from works, dead. There’s something fatally wrong
about us if we have no strong desire to bring back sinners.
to God. As we noted from the outset,
this particular situation is hypothetical. But as such, James
is likely building off of activity that was commonplace in the Christian
community. He had likely observed some relatively
unknown brother reaching out to a wayward friend And here,
James commends this very behavior. It’s only naturally, he says,
for a Christian. This isn’t a command to come
alongside a brother for the purpose of turning him around spiritually.
In fact, there isn’t a command anywhere in these two entire
verses. And that tells me that James
basically assumes, he assumes that this is something that believers
would only naturally do. By God’s grace, if they observed
a brother wandering from the fold, I speak to our church, our church
confession. You’ve already agreed to this.
If you’re a member of this church, we’ve probably even queried you
on these very words. We do promise and endeavor by
God’s grace to watch over each other’s lives and to not allow
sin upon one another so far as God shall reveal it to us and
to stir up one another to love and good works, to warn, rebuke,
admonish one another in gentleness according to the rules left to
us by Christ. We promised to do that. You promised
to do that for me. And I promise to do that for
you. We promise to do that for one another. The membership requirements
is equally clear. We have been joined to Christ
by faith. We are members of this church,
members of one another. With this privileged relationship
come particular responsibilities, not the least of which is this. We must mutually oversee each
other, faithfully admonish and encourage one another. It’s our
job. It’s our calling as believers. Look at the passage once again.
My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one
turns him back. So this brother, like a good
brother, is watching over the lives of his fellow saints. How
horrid it would be To consider that this is that this is just
a sheep. Or this is yes, it’s one of our
sheep, but it’s not my sheep, it’s not my responsibility. The
truth is, it’s one of Christ’s sheep. So this brother, like
a good brother, is watching over the lives of his fellow saints.
And having noted something amiss, having obviously prayed about
it, having obviously searched his own heart and emptied his
eyes of any misplaced logs, he goes to his brother and get this,
he turns him. He turns him back. His friend
has wandered, his back is to the flock, his back is to the
church, his shepherds, even God himself. But his brother turns
him. And I love James’s simplicity
here. That his friend has turned him back, has turned him back
to the truth. He was in error. His way was
false, but now he’s turned. He’s turned back to the way of
truth and sincerity and reality. So this turning back, is this
the man’s initial repentance? I don’t know. Is this his salvation,
his moment of salvation? I don’t know. It’s not an easy
question to answer. It’s been a longstanding question.
Is this an unconverted man, as we talked about last week, or
is he just a wayward Christian? I don’t know. I gave you my opinion,
but his dear and beloved friend comes to him because by all evidence,
he looks as if he’s not a Christian. He’s living as if he’s not a
Christian. And so his dear and beloved friend comes to him,
he enters into the ministry of reconciliation. Do you know we’re
all called to that ministry? To reconcile others to Christ. It’s the redirecting of a wayward
individual. This word is frequently used
in the context of gospel ministry. It refers to the act of being
turned by God himself, converted. And in that sense, it is the
language of conversion. This is a divine about face. It’s used in the book of Acts,
a call to repentance, turn every one of you. In Acts 9.35, they
turned to the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 1.9, they turned
to God from idols. 2 Corinthians 3.16, whenever
a man turns to the Lord, the word is used negatively as well.
of turning to sin, Romans 3.12, they all have turned aside. 1
Timothy 1.6, they turned aside to fruitless discussion. 1 Timothy
5.15, they’ve turned aside to follow Satan. But here, here
in these verses, as I’ve explained, he isn’t necessarily talking
about this wayward man’s initial conversion to Christianity, but
rather a turning back to Christ. back to the path of righteousness.
In what must be considered a parallel passage, Paul in Galatians 6,
which verse we just read a moment ago, clarifies when he says,
you who are spiritual, restore such a one. I would submit to
you that you can’t restore someone to anything that they haven’t
already enjoyed. You can’t turn anyone back to
something that they have not already known. And James also
says that he’s one of you. He’s part of the Christian community.
He’s part of the church. He may well be just a professor
of faith in Christ. And in time, he may well be found
to be a false professor. But he’s at least that. Or at least he did at one point
profess faith in Christ. Remember, one of the reasons
that I believe we’re talking about a wayward believer here.
Is because his friend turns him back. Only one who had been in
the fold who had at some point been facing the right direction
can truly be said to be turned back. There’s no conflict with
the latter reference in verse 20, identifying the man as a
sinner, because that’s exactly how he’s living. He’s living
a sinful life. We’re confronting the pandemic,
dealing effectively with life’s most deadly virus. We’ve seen
the symptoms. We know the diagnosis of this
disease. We know what we’re supposed to
do. Is there any hope of recovery? We basically get the discharge
report in verse 20. The benefits of reconciliation.
is the salvation of a wayward individual. Look at the passage
in its entirety. My brethren, if any among you
strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know
that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save
his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. As
I said a moment ago, James has likely practiced this very care
and observe this same care of an erring brother. And so he
commends this practice most highly. And he does so here by basically
giving the hospital release report. There’s good news to be shared. But it’s not good news of a reward
of faithfulness. to this faithful friend who came
to his wayward friend. God doesn’t promise such. The blessing of a life turned
is reward enough, isn’t it? But James does want to place
in perspective the value of such a turning. It’s a blessing not
only to the one who is turned, but it’s also for the one whom
God used to turn him. When James says, let him know,
he’s talking to the good friend. He’s talking to the one who faithfully
came to his wayward brother. He came in faithfulness and God
used him. And now because of that, his
brother is on the road to recovery. James wants all such reconcilers
to know the value and importance of this work. The work of turning
a sinner is significant, it’s substantial, it’s life changing. Jesus said it just so simply
in Matthew 18. If your brother sins, go and
show him his fault in private. If he listens to you, you have
won your brother. Victory. You’ve won. His wayward brother has been
restored back to Christ, or as Paul puts it in Galatians, restored. He’s restored to Christ, he’s
restored to the church, at times he’s restored to his wife and
to his family, he’s restored to his friends. It’s sweet victory.
As one faithful shepherd put it, the reclaiming of such sinners
is one of the noblest tasks which a Christian can undertake. To
save one immortal soul from eternal death is worth the labor of a
lifetime. To lead one soul back from death
is to share Christ’s work by blotting out from God’s sight
the sins which cry for punishment. What’s the detail here in the
hospital report? Look at the end of verse 20.
He will save his soul from death. Now you say, I thought you said
that this man was a Christian. And that Christ has overcome
death for us all. Let’s pause because I said that
he was a professing Christian. But given the initial condition,
Of his life, there was good reason to wonder as we looked and observed
the general nature of his life gave us good reason to doubt
his profession of faith. There’s a sad reality recorded
in our 22 year history as a church. We know some. Several, in fact, who have left. left our church and gone on to
abandon the faith entirely. While they were among us, there
were symptoms, and we saw them and addressed them. There are
always symptoms. And you know what? Even in the
best, the most godly of us, there are symptoms. We address those
every day, don’t we, in confession? There’s always a wandering, a
straying from the truth, a flirting with unbiblical ideas, unchristian
thoughts, ungodly attitudes, impure speech, worldly influences. There are always symptoms, and
if left unchecked, the virus will take our life. Sin will
beget other sin, and ultimately, sin brings death. That’s where
James started, right? James chapter one, let no one
say when he’s tempted, I’m being tempted of God. For God cannot
be tempted by evil. He himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when
he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust
is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished,
it brings forth death. If that straying from the truth
is an indicator of this person’s unbelief, then yes, death, eternal
spiritual death awaits. The man was not a Christian.
He wandered because he was not saved. He didn’t love the truth. He didn’t love Christ. He didn’t
love God’s word or God’s people. And so when we see a person wandering,
all sorts of alarms should go off. They’re giving indications
that they are not saved. Regardless of what a man says
in the reality, his soul is still in peril. A Christian loves the
truth and lives the truth. But by all indications, this
man was headed for spiritual peril. And if not for his friend
and God’s grace in turning him, he’s lost forever. Now, whether this is in reality
the very moment of this individual’s initial salvation or just a true
indicator that he was saved all along is debatable. He came to Bible study. He attended
church. But did he know Christ? Was he
truly saved? The bottom line, he’s back on
track. He has repented. He’s manifesting himself to others
as a true Christian who loves and lives the truth. His soul has been saved from
death. But there’s another blessing. Look at the end of verse 20.
He will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of
sins. I want you to note the value
of what this good and loving friend has done. That’s what
James is doing here. Not only has he saved his friend from
death, but there is an echo here in these two statements. He has
saved his friend’s soul from death, and he’s done so by covering
a multitude of sins. In a very appropriate comment
for our day. Sin is a contagion, is a disease,
a virus that spreads rapidly, but the returning wanderer need
not despair that his case is hopeless. The multitude of his
sins has been covered, handled. But let’s please be very clear
here whose sins are covered. James is not talking about the
sins of a faithful friend, the reconciler. He’s talking about
the sins of the wayward one, the sinner. It would be utterly
absurd, even blasphemous, to think that we can absolve ourselves
of a single sin, let alone a multitude of sins, just by restoring a
sinning brother. And yet, this very week, I saw
this little article, Vatican City. The Catholic church Friday granted
forgiveness under certain conditions for the sins of the faithful
struck by the novel coronavirus. It goes on to say that relatives
who care for their sick family members may also be forgiven.
The conditions include the sick saying a certain number of prayers,
following important celebrations from a distance. They must read
the Bible for at least half an hour. I thought at least that’s
a good thing. But the general idea is blasphemy. It’s not the sins of the reconciler. It’s the sins of the sinner.
It’s the sins of this wayward brother that are multiplying
by the moment. A little sin here, a little sin
there. And unless a faithful friend
should come and turn him back to Christ, now it’s a bigger
sin. It’s more and more sins. It’s a multitude of sins. I love the way Robert Johnstone
characterized this for you and I. In every case, these sins
are a multitude. However morally correct the outward
conduct of the unregenerate man may be, however noble in some
respect his aspirations, yet to love God does not hold sway
in his heart, and thus he is constantly disobedient to the
first and great commandment. In other words, he says, an unregenerate
man has no hope of living a godly life. But to you and I, he says this,
but the regenerate man too, though the love of God is supreme in
his heart, yet he is guilty of many shortcomings and slips in
his father’s service. And all of us, it is a multitude
of sins. So in what sense are these sins
covered in our wayward brother? We understand the significance
of the blessing of saving the soul from death, but what does
it mean to cover sin? We cannot take cover over in
the sense of hiding these sins or keeping them secret. Let’s
not even mention them. Sin cannot be hidden from God,
to whom it matters most, so that idea does nothing for anyone.
Instead, it’s better to understand this covering in the Old Testament
sense as securing their forgiveness. Psalm 32.1, how blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Psalm 85,
too, you forgave the iniquity of your people, you covered all
their sin. Psalm 103, 12, removing them
as far as the east is from the west. Isaiah 43, 25, remembering
their sins no more. It’s covered, it’s handled, it’s
forgiven forever. Sin isn’t hidden from anyone,
especially not God. Jesus Christ, however, has made
full atonement for sin. No matter how horrid those sins
are, no matter how plentiful they are, God has made provision
to cover those sins for forgiveness. God has provided a covering for
our sin in the blood of his own son, the Lord Jesus. And for
any and all who come to him in repentance, Repentance from sin
and faith in Christ’s atonement. His sin is covered. He is forgiven. And whereas this
wayward man’s sins were multiplying quickly. Becoming a multitude
of sins. Now they’re gone forever. Covered
by the saving blood. Of the Savior. Puritan John Flavel. urged each one of us with these
words. Oh, that I might live to see
the day when professors shall not walk in vain show, when they
shall please themselves no more with a name to live, being spiritually
dead, when they shall no more, as many of them now are, be a
company of frothy, vain, and unserious persons, But the majestic
beams of holiness, shining from their heavenly and serious conversations,
shall awe the world and command reverence from all who are about
them, when they shall warm the hearts of those who come near
them. So men shall say, God is truly in these men. This ends our study in the book
of James. Would you join me in prayer?
Our merciful King, we humble ourselves in your glorious presence.
And we thank you for these words, reminders to us, reminders once
again to examine ourselves, Reminders again to examine ourselves in
this particular practice of watching out not only for our own lives,
but for the lives of our friend. And Lord, we see that in this
life’s most deadly virus, not only did you tell us how bad
this virus is, but you told us the remedy and you speak of its
cure. Lord, God, grant us grace in
the days and weeks to come that we might. Be able to enjoy observing
your work of grace in other believers. Use us for your glory in that
regard, help us to watch carefully and graciously and gently. Over
the lives of our dear and beloved friends. Who are infinitely more
dear and beloved to you. Lord God, we lay these things
before you. We pray for your grace as we
go out. Be glorified, we pray, in Jesus’
name, amen.