从迷路上转回 Bring someone back from wandering

雅各书 James 5:19–20

News

Hook

Pick a sport you know well.

Is it important to know the rules of the game?

What happens when you play the sport but don’t know the rules?

What happens when you know the rules, but don’t follow them?

What we’ll learn today

1. Just like knowing the rules of a game, knowing biblical doctrine is important.
2. Just like following the rules when you play a game,
   it’s even more important to follow biblical doctrine in our everyday lives.
3. Just like on a team, we (the church) have a responsibility to watch out for sin.

Passage

雅各书 James 5:19–20

Section 1 我的弟兄们 My Brothers

Passage

James said “my brothers,” which means he’s writing to brothers (and sisters) in Christ. I.e., he’s writing to Christians, not to unbelievers.

In fact, the entire book of James is aimed at Christians (we can see from James 1:2 “我的弟兄们…”).

This also means whatever we see in today’s passage (as well as in the the whole book) is directed to Christians.

Section 2 失迷真道 Wanders from Truth

Passage

In order to wander from the truth, you have to be in the truth first.

But not only that. Truth isn’t just knowing the Bible and what it says, but practicing what the Bible says. Look at some example passages:

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Lessons

1. “The truth” is what God revealed to us, the contents of the Bible.
2. “Someone wanders from the truth,” (we’re talking about a Christian): it’s not out of ignorance.
3. Truth is not just head knowledge, but also practice.
   If we’re not living it out, it’s useless (just remember the Pharisees).

Section 3 使他回转 Brings Him Back

Passage

Bring the person back to the truth, back to the Bible.

Whose responsibility is it to bring this person back?

1. Elder, pastor?
2. Deacons, other church leaders?
3. The congregation?

We (whether leaders of the church or not) all have responsibility to bring this person back.

In Paul’s letters, the functions of mediating between God and human beings are shared by the entire Christian community; “He never says that these responsibilities belong to any one person or group.” ^[1]NIVAC, quoting from Robert Banks, Paul’s Idea of Community, 139–41.

As individual Christians, we have to watch out for sin, both in ourselves and in other Christians (but NOT in a judgemental way; we can’t go around every Sunday pointing out all the things that we see other people doing wrong!)

As a congregation (a church), we have the same responsibility. This is what Jesus taught in Matt 18:15–17 (especially Matt 18:17).

Lessons

1. Bringing a fellow Christian back from “wandering” is every Christian’s responsibility,
   it’s also the responsibility of the Church.
2. We all have the responsibility to recognise sin,
   and the responsibility to bring back the wanderer. Some well known examples of hiding sin:
   • Roman Catholic Church: For centuries, even now, they refused to officially admit wrongdoing
   • Southern Baptist Convention (Wikipedia article here) [Newspaper articles in 2019 revealed >700 victims of sexual abuse by almost 400 SBC leaders, pastors and volunteers, over a period of 20 years. There’s currently accusations flying back and forth that they’re using the controversy of installing women pastors as a way to move attention from the sexual abuse accusations.]

Section 4 救灵魂不死 Save Soul from Death

Passage

Jas 5:20 “Let him know”: The “him” is the person who brought the sinner back to the truth.

“Sinner”: The sinner is the person who wandered from the truth.

Note that this sinner is among us, he or she is one of us. We’re not talking about unbelievers or people who has never heard the gospel. We’re talking about people in the church, who professed believe in Jesus, and who has now wandered from the truth.

Some people say “save his soul from death” (Jas 5:20) is talking about physical death. So the sinner dies, but his or her soul still goes to heaven. But that’s not what James is talking about; he’s talking about eternal death. This death has eternal consequences. It means NOT going to heaven, eternally separated from God (no second chance).

Lessons

Section 5 遮盖罪 To Cover Sin

Passage

“A multitude of sins” is straight-forward. What does “cover” mean?

Look at 2 passages:

So what do you think “to cover sin” means?

Lessons

1. To cover sin doesn’t mean to ignore it or to sweep it under the rug.
2. To cover sin = atonement, the forgiveness of sins.
3. Only God can forgive sins,
   but we all have the responsibility to point it out when a believer wanders from the truth.

So What?

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1. Never just be content with the right doctrine. We need “right practice” to go with “right belief.”
2. Sin is a problem both personal and corporate.
   Each of us can sin, and the church as a whole (usually by ignoring sinful behaviour) can also sin.
3. When we see denial of biblical truth in society, we might not know what to do, or might entirely helpless. But within the church (an embassy of God’s Kingdom on earth), it’s not negotiable. Our job is to care and to rescue (bring back from wandering).
4. Covering for sin isn’t just ignoring it or sweeping it under the rug.
   It means atonement.
   Jesus already paid the price for sin. We are thankful that through faith in Jesus, we can be right with God again.