James 5:19-20
~15 mins
💭 Consider this: Who are the non-Christians that God has placed in your life? How are you reaching out to them with the Gospel and what more can be done?
TRANSCRIPT
I greet all of you in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Today, we have come to the concluding part of the Book of James. As we consider this last section, I would like to draw your attention to the theme of this book: it is about true, genuine faith, and it is the opposite of a false, professing faith.
If you remember what James had discussed throughout his letter, he talked about many needs: the need to understand trials and how to deal with them; the need for wisdom to deal with trials; the need to understand how to speak and how to respond to the Word of God; the need to understand how to treat the people in the church, not to show favouritism; the need to control the tongue; the need for heavenly wisdom as opposed to earthly wisdom; the need to draw near to God and not to be a friend of the world; the need to respond to the will of God; the need to understand that life is short — it is like a vapour that “appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14); the need to speak the truth at all times. But to someone who is still outside the kingdom of God, these are not his greatest needs. His greatest need is salvation. It is his greatest need because he is in the greatest danger — the danger of losing his soul. This is what we want to learn from today's passage in James 5:19–20.
The title of our message is "The Value of the Soul."
I. The Danger Of Apostasy
Our first point is: the danger of apostasy. Apostasy means a falling away from the truth. Let us begin with verse 19: “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth.” Here, James was dealing with two groups of people. The word “brethren” is a reference to the genuine believers. “If any of you” is a reference to those who profess salvation but were not genuine believers. It indicates a possibility most likely to happen. These people were amongst you in the church; they were in your fellowship. They could even be baptised members, but they had erred from the truth.
The original Greek word for “err” is from where we get the English word ‘planet’. Just like a wandering planet which has strayed away from the orbit, this person has strayed away from the truth. “Truth” refers to the Word of God, primarily the Gospel of salvation. In other words, he has wandered away, or fallen away, from the truth which was once delivered unto the saints. When a person strays from God's saving truth, he enters into a path of sin, which verse 20 calls "the error of his way."
Here, it does not mean that the person is saved and then loses his salvation. A true believer will never lose his salvation. Jesus said, ‘No man can pluck you out of my hand’ (John 10:28). It takes someone greater than the Lord Jesus Christ to snatch us out of His hand. The reality is that this person is not saved in the first place.
Remember Jesus shared about the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. The sower scattered the seeds: some seeds fell by the wayside - the birds of the air came and devoured them; some seeds fell upon stony places, they sprung up very quickly but there was no soil and they died; some seeds fell among thorns, and they were choked by the thorns; and finally some seeds fell on good ground, and produced much fruit — a reference to genuine believers.
The person who errs from the truth is like the first three kinds of seeds. He had a heart that was hard, where the gospel could not penetrate, and Satan snatched it away. A heart that was shallow where there was no foundation; for a while he professed his faith in the gospel, but when tribulations and persecutions came, he quickly denounced his faith. A heart that was choked with the cares and riches of the world.
Tragically, we do have these kinds of people in the church today. Some have attended the church for years, listening to hundreds — if not thousands — of sermons, but their hearts were so hard that the Word of God could not penetrate through. Others would profess their faith and show some signs of enthusiasm; they were excited about spiritual things, they were active in the church but only for a while, and then they disappeared. Yet others would remain in the church, but their hearts were not interested in the things of God—only in the things of the world.
Dear friend, are you such a person? How can we tell the difference between a true, genuine faith and a false, professing faith? By the way the person lives his life. He may be able to hide it for a while, but eventually, he will show his true colours through his actions, his words, his behaviour, his lifestyle. His false profession of faith will be revealed in the path he takes.
As James describes it, the one who errs from the truth will be revealed from the error of his ways. To err from the truth has to do with doctrines, and error from his ways has to do with behaviour. Eventually, both these two things will meet: good theology and good behaviour, sound doctrine and godly living. They go hand in hand. You reject one; you reject the other. When you reject God's word, you also reject the principles of godly living.
Remember our Lord Jesus, who said ‘Why do you call me Lord, Lord but do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). The person may mouth the name of Jesus Christ, but his actions will reveal that he does not really believe because he does not do what Jesus said. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus said: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Again, why is his calling "Lord, Lord" not genuine? Because he does not obey the will of the Father which is in heaven. Similarly, the Apostle John writes: “ He that committeth sin is of the devil… Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” (1 John 3:8-9).
It does not mean that the believers are perfect and we will no longer sin. That is impossible. As long as we live in this mortal body, we will still be molested by sin. We will still sin from time to time. He was speaking about habitual sins. Sin will not habitually, continuously, be the pattern of a believer's life. It will not characterise his life. However, the sinner, on the other hand, is someone who continuously and habitually practises sin. The danger of apostasy is the threat of eternal death.
II. The Threat Of Eternal Death
This brings us to our second point. Every human being, whether believer or unbeliever, has to die once. Unless our Lord Jesus comes in the clouds for the rapture, and we who are believers will then be caught up to meet Him in the air. Otherwise, all of us sitting in this room will have to die once.
This is the second death: eternal death — where the soul will be cast into the lake of fire and be tormented for all eternity. A place where, the Bible says, the fire never stops burning. Some people get so offended whenever the preacher speaks about hell. ‘Why must the preacher always talk about hell?’ Do you know that our Lord Jesus spoke about hell more than He did about heaven? The danger of hell cannot be overstated.
Dear friend, what is the most valuable thing in this world to you? What would you say it is? Perhaps some people would say it is wealth. Others would say it is good health. Yet others would say it is relationships. Though these things may be necessary and important, none of them can be considered the most valuable thing. The Bible says our days on this earth is about 70 years, if by way of strength, it may be 80 years and then we die. Our wealth, our health, and all our relationships are only good and effective as long as we live on this earth. Seventy or eighty years — that’s it. Our soul is most valuable because it is that part of us that will last forever.
Oftentimes, we tend to value the wrong thing, like the illustration I used to give:
On their wedding, a man presented his wife with a beautiful box, and inside the box was a diamond ring — the wedding ring. The man spent everything he had to purchase that ring.
Some years later, one day, the wife said to her husband, ‘Dear, do you know that I’m still keeping that beautiful box you gave me?’
The husband replied, ‘Oh, that is great! But what about the ring that was in the box?’
The wife said, ‘Oh, that funny little thing? I threw it away. I just love the box.’
That may sound foolish and ridiculous, but that is exactly how people tend to value the wrong thing. They value the box and throw away that which is valuable.
By way of illustration, the box is this thing we call the body. We pamper it, take all kinds of vitamins to protect it, we exercise to keep it, we put on cosmetics to beautify it. We spend all our time and money working on this body. The body is just the box. The soul is that which is valuable. Yet, we would take the things of this body — whether it be our minds, our attitudes, our ideas, our feelings, our emotions, our energy and strength — to override the most important possession we have, and that is our soul. We throw our soul away and never value it.
This attitude and behaviour is so pervasive; that is why we have the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel — to keep us focusing on the box, the body. When you lose your soul, you lose everything. One life to live, and people are willing to spend all their time trying to make more money and accumulate more things in this world, build bigger houses, drive expensive cars, eat, drink, and be merry to make this physical life a little bit more comfortable.
Some even claim that ‘Well, after all, God is the one who blesses us with all these things.’ But at the same time, they will not come to church, they will not worship and serve Him because they are too busy with those material things. They simply do not understand that at the end of the day, the only thing that really matters is for the soul to be made right with God. If your soul is not right with God, it doesn’t matter how much you have accumulated in this world — you have lost everything.
When you lose your soul, it is a terrible loss because it can never be replaced. When you buy something from the supermarket or shopping centre, you break it and you bring it back. Sometimes you can still have it replaced, but you have only one soul. It cannot be replaced; it cannot be reversed. Once you die in your sin, you cannot reverse back and cry for another chance, another sermon, another minute, or another opportunity. You have only one chance, and it is this life.
Dear friend, if you want peace, you can have it. If you want mercy, you can have it. If you want forgiveness and salvation, you can have it. But the key is, you have to have it now. You will never get it on the other side of the grave. Once you draw your last breath, you have lost that opportunity. The pain of eternal hell, eternal death, cannot be measured.
Have you ever been really sick in the night and you wonder ‘When will the early morning sun ever come up?’ Time seems to go by so slowly. An hour goes by quicker when you are enjoying yourself than when you are suffering great pain and affliction, right? You take the worst pain you have ever experienced in your entire life. Imagine that pain - never, ever getting relief. It never leaves you; it continues forever. And then consider this: the pain the Bible describes when the soul meets God unprepared it goes beyond anything you and I have ever experienced.
Most of the pain that we experience, we experience with the hope that one day it will go away. Mothers, when they go through childbirth, it is excruciating pain. But they know that, on the other side of childbirth, comes the blessing of the child, and they endure the pain. Pain lasts for a little while and then it stops. But the pain in hell never stops. It goes on forever and ever. It cannot be measured.
When the unbelieving soul ends up in hell, he has no one else to blame but himself. There will be no excuse. The gospel has been preached to you. You may not like the way the gospel was preached or the way it was presented. You may try to destroy the arguments. You may try to mock the claims of Jesus Christ. But one thing you need to know: come judgment day, you will never be able to look back and say, ‘They did not tell me how I could be saved. They did not give me a gospel tract to read. They did not tell me that I could repent of my sins and believe in the only Saviour of the world. That is why I’m lost.’ There will be no excuse.
III. The Blessing Of Conversion
Our final point is the blessing of conversion. The soul is so precious and valuable; therefore, James says: ‘If anyone of you has erred from the truth, living in the error of his ways, you - the believer - must convert him.’ To convert is to turn him back to God. As Jesus said: “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3, KJV).
The only way to convert a person is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Tell him that there is a consequence for sin. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) — not just the physical death, but the eternal death. For it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
But our soul is so precious and valuable to God that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into this world. He lived a perfect life. He was without sin. He kept all the laws of God on our behalf, which we cannot keep. He suffered. He was crucified. He died, shedding His precious blood on the cross of Calvary. Not for His own sins - He had none - but to pay the penalty of our sins. Jesus died to redeem us from the pit of hell. But death could not consume Him. On the third day, He rose again from the dead. And Jesus said: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”(John 11:25).
Only His precious blood can wash away all our sins. Only His precious blood can cover all our sins, as James calls it, ‘hide the multitude of sins’ (James 5:20). One single sin can send us into eternal damnation. One single sin is sufficient. How much more throughout our entire lives we have accumulated these multitude of sins? It is a weight that will pull us into hell. Who can save us? Only Jesus Christ.
Today, there are many wars being fought on many fronts — between Russia and Ukraine, between Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah, in Myanmar, and so forth. Often, we hear of heroic stories of people saving the lives of others in such times. That is a noble thing. But to be a part of saving a soul from eternal death is the greatest thing that one human being can ever do for another. When you save a physical life, you save the person to live his life perhaps for another 30 or 40 years. But when you save a spiritual life, you save his soul forever. A million upon a million years, he will still be alive in heaven.
That is why James said, “Let him know” (James 5:20). This is the greatest thing you can ever do; when you share the Gospel to convert someone, to turn him back to God, to save his soul from death, and hide the multitude of his sins. It is the greatest thing one human being can ever do for another.
Some years back, a great biblical scholar and theologian died. Throughout his lifetime, he had written many Bible commentaries which influenced thousands and thousands of pastors and Bible students, including myself. I often would read his writings.
Just before he died, he wrote: ‘For many years, the greater part of my life has been devoted to the study and interpretation of the Bible. I regard this as a most worthwhile and rewarding occupation. But there is one form of ministry which I would rate higher than this, and that is the work of an evangelist, to which I have not been called.’
Though it is true that some people are specially called to be evangelists full-time, however all believers are called to preach the Gospel — whether it be to our unbelieving grandparents, parents, children, colleagues, friends, or the person we meet in the street. We evangelise and share the Gospel, which is able to save the soul from death and hide the multitude of sins. That is the greatest work.
Dear friend, if you are an unbeliever, still lingering outside the kingdom of God, and you realise that all these years, ‘I have just been professing my faith outwardly, but inwardly I do not believe — inwardly, I’m not transformed’ — today is the day to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Him. He is able to save you.
You must realise that your soul is so precious and valuable. That is why God sends Christians by the millions to testify to you the love of Jesus Christ. If that is not enough, God plants churches all around the world to remind you that He loves you. If that is not enough, God calls preachers. Preachers would die, and He will call others to minister to you. If that is not enough, God would raise up hymn writers to write songs to captivate your attention. And then God will bring you to a worship service like this, where the Gospel message is preached to you.
Why did God do so much for you? Because He loves you. He wants to save your soul. Once lost, you will be eternally lost. Today is the day of salvation. Come and believe in Jesus Christ before it is too late. Don’t be like those people who say, ‘Perhaps tomorrow.’ Because tomorrow may never come. For all you know, tonight may be your last day on this earth. Reject Jesus Christ, you reject the only way.
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, indeed Thou hast been with us in our study of the book of James. How we have learned valuable lessons about many needs. Indeed, we need many things, especially when we face trials and sufferings and we have been ministered by the study of this book. But Thou hast taught us that the greatest need is salvation.
Indeed, our Lord Jesus said: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). The soul is that which is most valuable. It is that part of us that will last forever and ever. Teach us to value our souls. Even as we live our days on this earth, we want to build up our spiritual life. We want to be strong. We want to live our lives for Thee.
For those who are still lingering outside Thy kingdom, rejecting the Gospel of Christ, O Lord, be gracious, be merciful, and be patient. May the Spirit of God convict their hearts, that they will realise there is no other Saviour. Only the One who died on the cross, shedding His precious blood, can cover the multitude of our sins. Convict their hearts so that they will cry out to Jesus: ‘Come, Lord Jesus! Save me! I need You. Be my Saviour and be my Lord.’
We pray that Thou wilt continue to use this church, whereby the Gospel of Jesus Christ will always be preached in all its purity, and we will not shy away from it. We want to be sharing the Gospel with our unbelieving loved ones and friends. It is the greatest thing one human being can ever do for another — the saving of souls from death.
We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
THE BOOK OF JAMESFacing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]James 1:1-4
Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]James 1:1-4
The Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialThe Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialJames 1:5-8
Trial Is No Respecter Of PersonsTrial Is No Respecter Of PersonsJames 1:9-12
How To Deal With TemptationHow To Deal With TemptationJames 1:13-15
Remember Who God Is And Who We AreRemember Who God Is And Who We AreJames 1:16-18
Be Receptive To The Word Of GodBe Receptive To The Word Of GodJames 1:19-21
Doers of the WordDoers of the WordJames 1:21-25
Be Responsive To The Word Of GodBe Responsive To The Word Of GodJames 1:22-25
Are You Transformed By The Word?Are You Transformed By The Word?James 1:26-27
The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 1]The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 1]James 2:1-4
The Sin of PartialityThe Sin of PartialityJames 2:1-13
The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 2]The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 2]James 2:5-13
Show Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You MineShow Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You MineJames 2:14-20
Faith In ActionFaith In ActionJames 2:21-26
A Warning To Want-To-Be TeacherA Warning To Want-To-Be TeacherJames 3:1-2
Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)James 3:1-13
The Power Of The TongueThe Power Of The TongueJames 3:3-6
The Taming Of The TongueThe Taming Of The TongueJames 3:7-12
The Danger Of False WisdomThe Danger Of False WisdomJames 3:13-16
The Blessing Of Heavenly WisdomThe Blessing Of Heavenly WisdomJames 3:17-18
Dealing With Conflict In The ChurchDealing With Conflict In The ChurchJames 4:1-6
What Constitutes True SalvationWhat Constitutes True SalvationJames 4:7-10
Speak No EvilSpeak No EvilJames 4:11-12
God’s Plan Or My Plan?God’s Plan Or My Plan?James 4:13-17
Physically Rich But Spiritually PoorPhysically Rich But Spiritually PoorJames 5:1-6
How To Be Patient In Times Of TroubleHow To Be Patient In Times Of TroubleJames 5:7-11
Simply Speak The TruthSimply Speak The TruthJames 5:12; Matthew 5:33-37
What To Do When It HurtsWhat To Do When It HurtsJames 5:13-18
The Value Of The SoulThe Value Of The SoulJames 5:19-20
