James 5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
Oh Friends, contrary to popular opinion, winter isn’t over in my neck of the woods as yet, because there’s snow on the ground. Steups! Bah Humbug! (smile) It’s not really that much, but snow is snow, and it’s enough to cause problems with traffic and old people like me having to shovel it. But with the Lord’s help, we’ll come out of it with shining colours! We always do. So let’s offer up some thanks and praise for His continued goodness. And I have an interesting quote to share, one attributed to John Vance Cheney. ‘The soul would have no rainbow, Had the eyes no tears.’ Isn’t that beautiful, both poetic and a good analogy? Analogous to the saying that a rainbow appears when the skies cry no more. Well Friends, tears do the same job for our souls. They wash our souls clean, take away whatever was hurtful and made us cry, then leave our souls clean and fresh, bright and sparkling, with a rainbow of happiness surrounding us, enabling us to continue fighting the good fight. So don’t be afraid or ashamed to cry because it’s good for your soul. Now don’t cry over every little disappointment or adopt the silly macho tendency that men ought not to cry. That’s foolishness, for crying serves a very useful purpose, to cleanse our souls, else the Creator would not have made it a part of our lives. Some people can cry at the drop of a hat, while others can’t shed a tear if their lives depended on it. I’ve found that sometimes when I want to, or feel the need to cry, no tears will come, but when I think they shouldn’t, hn, they flow like rain. I guess it depends on the specific situation, plus the amount of hurt and sadness already built up inside that triggers the crying. Anyway, don’t overdo it at either end, for you can cause irreparable damage to your soul. (smile) That brings us to our Bit. But first, let’s look at the previous verse. ‘Brethren, if any of you do err (wander) from the truth, and one convert him (turns him back); (James 5:19) Our subject today deals with believers who stray from the faith, but thankfully are brought back, restored to the straight and narrow path by other believers. Then we ought to ‘Let him know that he which converteth (turns) the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death.’ Now Friends, that’s an important fact that all believers should know and keep handy at the back of their minds. Why? Because all believers are human, thus liable to stray to the broad and wayward path of temptation and sin, and if we happen to encounter a fellow believer going off track, it’s our duty to try and help them see the error of their ways. In that way we’ll be helping them save their soul from death, for remember a backslider is considered worse than an unbeliever. According to the scholars, that death that James talks about here is physical death that God sometimes uses to punish disobedient believers. But whether it’s physical or spiritual death, the important point is that the believer is saved from it. We have a perfect example of this when Jesus tells Peter of his upcoming denial. ‘Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted (you have turned again), strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.’ (Luke 22:31-33) Hn! Peter was full of talk, like many of us, but we know later on he couldn’t walk it, just like us, and ended up denying Christ, then felt terrible, and cried his heart out. Note the use of tears for the cleansing of Peter’s soul. But later his faith was restored and he finally became the pillar of the church, the true rock, the sure foundation upon which Christ had promised to build His Church. Ah Friends, we all know it’s not easy to trod the path our Lord has laid out for us, so in effect we are our brothers’ keeper, and must help each other when we can. Now that brings us to the thin, red line between intrusiveness in the person’s life and not doing our Christian duty. We have to be very careful how we go about trying to correct their errors and save their souls, for believers, more so than unbelievers, resent others telling them how to live their lives, or what’s wrong with them. For some unfathomable reason, every believer thinks that they are the epitome of Christian living, when in actual fact none of us are. As opposed to unbelievers, we’re just godly sinners with numerous faults and flaws like all humans. Thus, our saving of those souls from death, also ‘shall hide a multitude of sins.’ Yes Friends, our care and concern for straying believers shall also cover up many sins, those we’ve already committed, and also those we won’t commit by returning to the Lord’s way. For as Sol declares: ‘Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.’ (Prov.10:12) And isn’t that the awesome truth my people? And Friends, when we talk and think of LOVE, there’s no better treatise ever written on the subject than that by Bruh Paul: 1 Corinthians Chapter 13; ‘The way of LOVE.’ Just listen to some of it: ‘LOVE suffereth long, and is kind; LOVE envieth not; LOVE vaunteth not itself (does not brag), is not puffed up (arrogant), Doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no account of evil). Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth.’ (1 Cor.13:4-6) Oh Friends, if you’ve never read that chapter, please do so soon, because it’s not only Bruh Paul’s best piece of writing, it’s also one of the best in the Good Book. And here’s the best part of it: ‘And now abideth faith, hope, LOVE, those three, but the greatest of these is LOVE!’ (1 Cor.13:13) Amen mih people! And again I say, Amen! So Friends, let’s go out into the world and practice it nuh, then we’ll be doing our bounden duty, for God is LOVE, and LOVE is of God. Much LOVE!…there’s only one rule in a believer’s rule book…the message of LOVE…
Oh Friends, contrary to popular opinion, winter isn’t over in my neck of the woods as yet, because there’s snow on the ground. Steups! Bah Humbug! (smile) It’s not really that much, but snow is snow, and it’s enough to cause problems with traffic and old people like me having to shovel it. But with the Lord’s help, we’ll come out of it with shining colours! We always do. So let’s offer up some thanks and praise for His continued goodness. And I have an interesting quote to share, one attributed to John Vance Cheney. ‘The soul would have no rainbow, Had the eyes no tears.’ Isn’t that beautiful, both poetic and a good analogy? Analogous to the saying that a rainbow appears when the skies cry no more. Well Friends, tears do the same job for our souls. They wash our souls clean, take away whatever was hurtful and made us cry, then leave our souls clean and fresh, bright and sparkling, with a rainbow of happiness surrounding us, enabling us to continue fighting the good fight. So don’t be afraid or ashamed to cry because it’s good for your soul. Now don’t cry over every little disappointment or adopt the silly macho tendency that men ought not to cry. That’s foolishness, for crying serves a very useful purpose, to cleanse our souls, else the Creator would not have made it a part of our lives. Some people can cry at the drop of a hat, while others can’t shed a tear if their lives depended on it. I’ve found that sometimes when I want to, or feel the need to cry, no tears will come, but when I think they shouldn’t, hn, they flow like rain. I guess it depends on the specific situation, plus the amount of hurt and sadness already built up inside that triggers the crying. Anyway, don’t overdo it at either end, for you can cause irreparable damage to your soul. (smile) That brings us to our Bit. But first, let’s look at the previous verse. ‘Brethren, if any of you do err (wander) from the truth, and one convert him (turns him back); (James 5:19) Our subject today deals with believers who stray from the faith, but thankfully are brought back, restored to the straight and narrow path by other believers. Then we ought to ‘Let him know that he which converteth (turns) the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death.’ Now Friends, that’s an important fact that all believers should know and keep handy at the back of their minds. Why? Because all believers are human, thus liable to stray to the broad and wayward path of temptation and sin, and if we happen to encounter a fellow believer going off track, it’s our duty to try and help them see the error of their ways. In that way we’ll be helping them save their soul from death, for remember a backslider is considered worse than an unbeliever. According to the scholars, that death that James talks about here is physical death that God sometimes uses to punish disobedient believers. But whether it’s physical or spiritual death, the important point is that the believer is saved from it. We have a perfect example of this when Jesus tells Peter of his upcoming denial. ‘Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted (you have turned again), strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.’ (Luke 22:31-33) Hn! Peter was full of talk, like many of us, but we know later on he couldn’t walk it, just like us, and ended up denying Christ, then felt terrible, and cried his heart out. Note the use of tears for the cleansing of Peter’s soul. But later his faith was restored and he finally became the pillar of the church, the true rock, the sure foundation upon which Christ had promised to build His Church. Ah Friends, we all know it’s not easy to trod the path our Lord has laid out for us, so in effect we are our brothers’ keeper, and must help each other when we can. Now that brings us to the thin, red line between intrusiveness in the person’s life and not doing our Christian duty. We have to be very careful how we go about trying to correct their errors and save their souls, for believers, more so than unbelievers, resent others telling them how to live their lives, or what’s wrong with them. For some unfathomable reason, every believer thinks that they are the epitome of Christian living, when in actual fact none of us are. As opposed to unbelievers, we’re just godly sinners with numerous faults and flaws like all humans. Thus, our saving of those souls from death, also ‘shall hide a multitude of sins.’ Yes Friends, our care and concern for straying believers shall also cover up many sins, those we’ve already committed, and also those we won’t commit by returning to the Lord’s way. For as Sol declares: ‘Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.’ (Prov.10:12) And isn’t that the awesome truth my people? And Friends, when we talk and think of LOVE, there’s no better treatise ever written on the subject than that by Bruh Paul: 1 Corinthians Chapter 13; ‘The way of LOVE.’ Just listen to some of it: ‘LOVE suffereth long, and is kind; LOVE envieth not; LOVE vaunteth not itself (does not brag), is not puffed up (arrogant), Doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no account of evil). Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth.’ (1 Cor.13:4-6) Oh Friends, if you’ve never read that chapter, please do so soon, because it’s not only Bruh Paul’s best piece of writing, it’s also one of the best in the Good Book. And here’s the best part of it: ‘And now abideth faith, hope, LOVE, those three, but the greatest of these is LOVE!’ (1 Cor.13:13) Amen mih people! And again I say, Amen! So Friends, let’s go out into the world and practice it nuh, then we’ll be doing our bounden duty, for God is LOVE, and LOVE is of God. Much LOVE!…there’s only one rule in a believer’s rule book…the message of LOVE…
SCRIP-BITS 