Well, I invite you this evening to turn one last time to the letter of James. The letter of James, I trust you've learned what that is by now, between Hebrews and 1 Peter. Between Hebrews and 1 Peter, near the end of your Bible, page 1292 in the Pew Bible. We'll be turning to the last two verses, verses 19 and 20 of chapter 5. Now, when we bear in mind that from the get-go, James has been a man of a few words, Very direct and forceful. We ought not be surprised, as some seem to be, that he ends his letter so abruptly. No well wishes, no greetings, no benediction, just a final charge. We remember from our last few sermons that this is a formal conclusion, and the last thing that they're expecting for him to do is to state very clearly for them the purpose for his writing. And I suggest to you that he's done exactly that, but he's done it in such a way that he's urged each of us to join him in that purpose as we'll see this evening. James has written this letter, as we've said before, to churches who are struggling to love one another. They've known the love of Christ, that they're living together, and they're having a hard time of it. And he's written to expose the sins of the saints, That they would not be deluded about their situation. Their sins against one another have weakened the body. That are undermining God's purpose for a flock, a congregation. And he's written to them as saints to turn them back. To turn them back not only toward one another by the confession of sins and the granting of forgiveness as we saw last time. But also to have them turn back together as the body of Christ to know that they function as a body. That the congregation needs to be preserved. That there is no place for lone rangers in the household of God. And he's done this so that the congregation that has been weakened by these sins would be strengthened. He uses the word healed. And that we together would be strengthened in our striving to be doers of the word, not just hearers of the word. And his concluding remarks tonight, people of God are encouraging us to join his efforts at preserving the congregation. Preserving the congregation in unity and in vitality as the body of Christ and for us tonight, people of God, for us here. This is a word of God for all the churches at any time and any place. This word of God comes to us here tonight. And so we give our attention to it. Chapter 5 of James verses 19 and 20. My brothers, If anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. And here ends the reading of God's Word. Short, direct, encouraging, I hope. James' constant concern from the beginning has been for the well-being of the local church. Now, he's written to many, and he has several in mind, but it applies to each one individually. And the well-being of the church as a congregation depends on the members being doers of the Word, not just hearers of the Word, especially the Word, the royal law, he calls it, of loving our neighbor as ourself. He's gone through a great litany of sins against one another, and he's written to us as brothers who are sinning against one another, but who have believed Jesus Christ to be our Savior and who are trusting in Him to bring us home with Him in glory. People who have believed in Him and been joined to His body and therefore joined to a local church. Each one's been baptized in that day, probably at the same time of their profession. And as He's written, He has not urged the church to be evangelizing those outside the church, as important as that is. That's not James' concern. His concern is that the people in the church would love one another in the church. And in verses 19 and 20, he reminds us that the vital role we have in preserving the congregation, preserving the church, requires of us three things. First is that we carefully regard one another. We carefully regard one another. Secondly, that we gently reclaim anyone who wanders. And lastly, that we confidently rely on the gospel in that task. We begin with preserving the congregation through careful regard or careful attention for one another. When James begins, he says, My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, he's not raising a hypothetical that may or may not ever happen. He's addressing an unavoidable eventuality that has happened and will happen in congregations, even this congregation. It's not a matter of if, but when sinners will wander. As we read in the Canons of Dorotheus, he means Christians can and do sin, sometimes grievously, contradicting the truth we profess. and separated from the congregation to which we've been joined. It happens. It's been happening throughout history. It was happening in James' day. It happens today. There's a $20 word for that, apostasy. You might hear that from time to time and don't know what it means. Well, that's what it means. It means to neglect or to refuse to be doers of the word that you've come to hear and to believe. You say you believe it, but you neglect or you refuse to do it, in particular when it comes to the life of the body. You go your own way. God is right to compare His people to sheep. It's all through the Scriptures. I'm prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. We sing that from time to time. And why is that? Why are we prone to wander? Well, we can come up with most any reason. The list is longer than my arm. But here's a few that are common. and I hear them a lot, perhaps you've heard them, perhaps you've had them. Some don't feel like they belong. They're afraid to plunge in, and they're hurt that no one seems to draw them in, and they just really never seem to connect. They seem to bounce off the edges. Some are so preoccupied with themselves that they forget that they belong to something bigger and more eternal than themselves or their own family. They forget that they belong to the church. Some feel drawn by work and other engagements that seem more important, more engaging, more enjoyable than church life. Some want to shepherd themselves. Eager for church benefits, but responsibility is not so much, especially submitting to those who are ordained to lead and being accountable to service other people. Some sin. Some are sinned against. And instead of coming together, as we saw last time, confessing and being forgiven, they deny the gospel and they go their own way. Sometimes because of guilt, sometimes out of shame, sometimes because they're prideful. Some feel pressure from persecution, whether that's real or imagined. And in order to avoid persecution, they just avoid the church. That's a short list, but it covers a lot of people and it's a common list throughout the ages, people of God. But every one of those reasons and every one that we can come up with for avoiding or running away from the church of God to which we have been joined in Christ as it finds itself present in a local congregation. All of those reasons are contrary to the truth. They're deception. They're lies. And whether they come from our own deceitful hearts or they come to us from another, the devil's right there to encourage us to go. Just go. But Jesus and the apostles warn us against it over and over and over again. James earlier says, do not be deceived. Elsewhere, let no one lead you astray. Let no one take you captive. Let no one lead you to fall away from the living God. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Well, James knows when he wrote this letter that until the Lord returns, brothers and sisters in Christ can and will wander. They'll wander toward the margins at first. More and more out of sight, out of mind, until one day they're just gone. Are you aware that some hear are wandering? Are you even aware of who is or who should be here? If you're relying on your memory, it has holes in it. If you're relying on the church directory, it's out of print as soon as we publish it. And if you're relying on your Sunday encounters, well, you're going to miss a lot more than you meet. This takes careful regard. It takes careful attention. It calls for looking up and out. In your mind's eye right now, look around beside you, in front of you, behind you. During worship, during fellowship, throughout this week, look around. Who is here? Who's not here? Who is involved? Who's engaged? Who's been brought near? Who's not? Have you noticed? How carefully do you regard others? Do you know their names? And that's not just new people. Do you know their names? Do you know their story? Do you know where they come from? Do you know what they hope for? Do you know what they're thankful for? Do you know what they struggle with? Preserve the congregation. James presupposes that we are carefully attending to one another. It's one thing to take notice of another person. It's another to care. When your child wanders away from you, even for a moment, how do you respond? Panic? Pit in your stomach? Frantically running until you find them? They may get a spanking later. That's beside the point in the moment you are engaged. when a brother or sister in Christ wanders away from you? For a week? For a month? For years? How do you respond? Well, James says that the appropriate response, the gospel response, is to bring them back. He says it twice. In verse 19, and someone brings them back. Verse 20, whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering, someone, whoever, someone needs to go and bring them back. Someone must gently reclaim them and that's our second point. In order to bring back anybody who's wandered away, somebody has to go out to get them. They've gone. Last time I said it's hard to confess our sins to one another. It's really hard. This is harder. it's no wonder that we talk ourselves out of it who am I to butt in who am I that they should listen to me what do I know what if they reject me what if they revile me what if they accuse me of something somebody else will go somebody else should go who's going to go who's supposed to go who is this someone who is this whoever well perhaps you've heard the story about four people named everybody, somebody anybody and nobody it's cute it's quick but it gets the point across there was an important job to be done and everybody was sure that somebody would do it anybody could have done it but nobody did it somebody got angry about that because it was everybody's job. Everybody thought that anybody could do it, but nobody realized that everybody wouldn't do it. And it ended up that everybody blamed somebody when nobody did what anybody could have done. I think James is that general. This is for all of us. James wants us to know and to be convinced that each and every believer, each one of you and me included, are called and equipped to bring back a sinner from his wandering. We don't need a professional degree. We don't even need to be ordained a special office. We're each called and equipped to this task. In Jesus Christ, we are our brother's keeper. Jesus laid down his life for us. And John says we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. so whatever objection whatever hesitation whatever excuse might come to your mind even to your tongue the facts remain that he or she who's wandered needs your help they need your help even though they may not be waiting for it they may be naively just stumbling along in life and have no idea they're in trouble they may be openly rebellious you don't know but they need your help you're always able to pray for them pray specifically that they would be brought back. We've covered, James covered a couple things about prayer these last few times that as righteous persons, we can ask these things. The prayers of a righteous person have great effect in their doing. It's because they're tied to Christ and we're trusting Him to bring His own back. And they're prayers of faith that we trust God is true to His promises, that no one can snatch His people out of His hand. We pray with that certainty. And if we have that certainty, as we'll see, we'll be willing to go. Now, whether you believe it or not, and I suspect that most of the time we don't believe it, you are able to approach them as a brother. You have all the qualifications. You're a sinner like they are. You've been saved by grace. as they have. You've known the forgiveness of the Lord and like David, you are able then to speak to them about that. You can speak to them about you in order for to help them see themselves. We're able to teach transgressors God's ways and call them back to His ways when we have known that walk ourselves. You've received wisdom. Yes, everyone here has some wisdom if they've had any instruction from the Word of God, they've sat under the preaching of the Word of God at all, there's some wisdom that's been given to you. Enough to go. We're told over and over again how to call back people from their sin in whatever situation we find them. James says earlier in this book, in his letter, he says, wisdom that comes from above is at first pure. It's peaceable, it's gentle, it's open to reason. It's full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. You bring any or all of those things with you to turn back a sinner from his wandering. You have an open door. Such wisdom includes what Paul says in Galatians chapter 6. Great wisdom. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual, you who are empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit, you who are spiritual should restore him with the spirit of gentleness. And watch out for yourselves because you're a sinner just like they are. And wisdom comes from places like Jude 23, who says, have mercy on those who doubt and save others by snatching them out of the fire. Wisdom to know how we need to approach our brother or our sister who's wandering to call them back. And believe me, I know how unnatural this feels. That's why it's so hard. If we could do it in our sleep, we'd all be doing it. It takes effort. It's unnatural to us, and that's part of the point. If we were left to our old nature in Adam with sheep-like habits, we'd be so preoccupied with our own wandering, we wouldn't care about anybody else's wandering. No interest, no desire to go. But in Christ, we're a new creature. And in Christ, we have a new nature. a new nature that's willing and is able to learn and to practice such things as this. Yes, it does feel more natural as you practice it. Because in Christ we have new shepherd-like habits that the good shepherd Jesus will use in us to help shepherd his flock. If sheep are a picture of how we wander, A sheepdog is a picture of how we gather. And I couldn't help but think of our old dog, Snickers. Some of you may have known her years ago. Snickers was a mutt, a mutt from the pound, with enough sheepdog in her that she was eager and able to corral our kids in a moment. And thinking about Snickers and how she did that, we talked about her a lot over the years because she was always attending to them. She was carefully attentive. No matter what else she was doing, she knew where people were. And as long as everyone was staying together, she would just lie down and be at peace and enjoy their company. You wouldn't even know she was in the yard. But if anyone, anyone wandered away, she was on her feet and she was circling around and she would have them corralled back together right away in such a way that was so playful and so skillful and so gentle they didn't even know they'd been corralled and they should go lay down. That's the work we're called to, to bring someone back. Yes, it's unnatural. Yes, it's unpracticed. Yes, it takes effort. Yes, it's hard. But in Christ Jesus, it's a skill that we can grow in. It's a skill we're called to grow in. It's a skill the body of Christ needs. We live in an age when people wander, we just are tempted to think, well, they'll end up someplace else down the road and they'll just be fine. Dangerous thought. Dangerous thought. Well, God gives sheepdogs an instinct. An instinct that drives them and enables them to do this work without any effort, it seems. So what does God give us? What does God give us that will drive us and enable us to bring back those who wander? that will drive us to dare, to try. And James tells us with his final words, from which we take our final point. You and I are driven and enabled by gospel promises on which we confidently rely. When we rely on the gospel, we'll find the drive, we'll find the power to actually start to do this. James writes in verse 20, let him, speaking of the someone who brings a wanderer back, he says, let him know something. That just lacks the punch of what James says here. He's not telling that person, each one of us, to learn something new. This isn't about going back to school. He wants us to remember something that we should already know. In fact, he uses the voice of command here. It's lost in our English. It's a command that the someone who brings back a wanderer must know something. He must know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. When you and I understand and are convinced that these gospel promises are true, we're driven and able to go after anybody who wanders away intent on bringing them back. We want to see the gospel fulfilled in them. And we're confident the gospel is powerful to do so. These are wonderful promises. James has dropped some on us before that when we stop and think it's a little too big to handle. These are wonderful promises that only God can fulfill. Only God can accomplish these things. If these are things that God accomplishes, how is it that one who brings back a sinner from wandering will accomplish these things? And for whom will he accomplish them? Who gets the benefit? We need to pause there for a moment because the words that James uses in verse 20 is almost like a parable, like a proverb, that if we lift it off the page and set it down by itself, we can't tell who he's talking about. The benefit may be for the one who goes, the benefit may be for the one who's brought back, the benefit may be for both, and we can't tell. But, God didn't give us these words on a page by themselves. He gave them as a conclusion to James' letter. And in light of all that James has said, I think the meaning is clear, that these benefits are promised to the one who's brought back. The one who does these for that sinner who's wandered will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. That's the benefit. How then will the one who brings back the sinner accomplish these things? If this is God's doing, what role do I play if I go to bring someone back? To save a soul from death is to cancel the wages of sin. To cover sins is to forgive sins. These are God's works, these are redeeming works that He's accomplished once for all in Jesus Christ, in His coming, His living, His dying, His resurrection, and His ascension. This is the work of Christ for His people. He came to save sinners. We know that's true. So we have to interpret this in light of that reality. James is not saying that the one who goes is adding anything to that, that we're doing anything in replacement of what Christ has done. So we have to leave that thought behind. We need to know that whoever brings a sinner back does not accomplish these things for that sinner who's restored. but he does serve Christ in applying these things to them in their lives. Applying the redemption that Christ has accomplished not only for saving sinners from eternal death, but for the ongoing conversion of saints who continue to struggle with sin. Christ's redemptive work is not only to justify the unrighteous, it's to sanctify the saints. In other words, our trust in Jesus Christ to not only justify sinners but to also sanctify the saints is what gives us the motivation and the power to go. We know that he is not only willing to work, he's promised to work, he's accomplished the work for those who are his to bring them back. That's what we confess in the Canons of Dork. That the saints will persevere, they will be brought back. and here James shows us a piece of how that's possible. Because if we're bringing them back, we're bringing them back where? This is not a nebulous thing. This is a concrete thing. Where are we bringing them back to? We're bringing them back to the church. We're bringing them back to the congregation. We're bringing them back to where the means of grace have been given to feed and to nourish the flock of Jesus Christ to strengthen us for the life that we have individually and as a body. and we bring them back here to where the redemption that Jesus Christ has accomplished for his people is applied again and again through the preaching of the gospel, again and again through the sacraments we celebrate. We bring them back to the feeding trough, if you will. The local congregation is for us in America so foreign, so unimportant in our culture, so unimportant in our flesh, that we miss one of the greatest gifts that God gives us as people is to join us to a flock of people, sinners and saints, to work together, to labor together, to serve one another, to love one another, to care for one another, to watch out for one another until He comes to bring us home to glory. It's the means of grace that God has given to His church that he uses for the saints to persevere. And as we persevere in these means, which we'll celebrate both this evening, we are strengthened to step out into another week full of opportunities for preserving this congregation, this congregation, by carefully regarding one another, lifting our eyes up and out, stepping toward people. Gently reclaiming any who have wandered away. In reliance on the gospel. Trusting that the work of Christ for them is yet to be fully realized when we go after them to bring them back. This is the work for the church. This is our work in the church. We thank God for it and we ask him for the strength to step into it. because we need His grace to do so. Otherwise, we'll just stay to ourselves. Let's ask Him that in prayer this evening. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we do come before you and we thank you for this word that has come to us through James. We thank you for his letter, Lord, that has called to us a congregation of the one true church that belongs to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to call us to awareness of our own sins against one another that we might put them away and to be restored one to another individually but also as the body in which you've placed us here in this place. Help us, Lord, to be mindful of the body, to be mindful of the congregation, to give careful attention to those you place with us, whether they've walked among us for generations, whether they've shown up this week. Help us, Lord, to have eyes to see, mouths to speak, hands to shake, feet to move, words to say. Help us to love one another in a way that we hear another story, get to know your work for them and in them. And help us, Father, to be mindful of those who are drifting before they disappear, that we would circle around gently, skillfully, wisely, prayerfully but persistently, Father, to bring them in, to hold them close, to have them know that they belong to this family of God and that they are members of the body of Christ in this place. And Father, for all of this we pray that we would do so out of confidence for what you've done for us and for all your people in Jesus Christ, not only to justify us in the face of God the Father, but to continually sanctify us and make us more and more conformed to the image of your Son. It's in his name that we pray and ask these saints. Amen.