Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Here we walk around every single day with the knowledge of the truth with the most powerful message that has ever been preached to mankind. And now God has touched our lives and saved us. He has poured His Holy Spirit upon our lives and He has empowered us to be able to share with people the message of hope.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Thanks for joining us as Raul continues our series in James with an urgent call to share your hope of salvation.

Hesitation is natural when you feel your message might not be well-received, but if you're faithful to testify of God's love and grace, the Holy Spirit can use your words to work in others' hearts. Stay with us for encouragement to be a bold witness of the gospel. Now here is Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: Tonight we are coming to the end of the book of James. And what a book it has been, especially tonight at the conclusion of the book. Last week we shared concerning the power of healing those that are sick, how they need to come to the elders of the church. They anoint them with oil, they pray over them by faith, and then the prayer of faith will save them and heal the sick.

In Proverbs 11:30 it says, "He who wins souls is wise." I was reading the last two verses of chapter five of the book of James. James is so powerful in his words, especially when it comes to writing to believers because he is going to be writing now in closing out the book in his last conclusion. He becomes very concerned for those people that have backslidden, those people that have left the Lord and have gone back into the world. They are living in a world that is perishing and they themselves are perishing with that world.

This is really something that brings about in theology a concern concerning eternal security. I remember Dr. Duffield and Dr. Van Cleave. They were these old saints that taught at the Bible school at Bible Life College for many, many years. As a matter of fact, they were Pastor Chuck's teachers. That's how old they were.

Dr. Van Cleave came and taught here when he was 90 years old. His son was 70 years old. Imagine that. He died at the age of 95 and he was a very good friend of Calvary Chapel and a very dear friend of mine. He really just gave a lot of wisdom when he spoke concerning the word of God.

I remember at one of the pastors' conferences sitting with him, Dr. Van Cleave, and Dr. Duffield. I was asking them concerning this passage in James chapter five, verses 19 and 20 because there are those people that would look at that passage and they will say, "Well, those people never really knew the Lord." But remember he is talking to Christians. He is not talking to non-believers.

It is really important that as we look at the text, we would be open to the Holy Spirit because, again, this is concerning soul winning. I don't know how many of you since you came to the Lord have been able to lead someone to the Lord. That's really important.

The reason I say that is because there are so many people that we come in contact with at the grocery store, in school, outside of the church, at work, wherever it may be. Here we walk around every single day with the knowledge of the truth with the most powerful message that has ever been preached to mankind. God has touched our lives and saved us. He has poured His Holy Spirit upon our lives and He has empowered us to be able to share with people the message of hope.

Jude, another one of my favorites, actually the brother of James, in his epistle says that we have the power as we have an urgency to become soul winners as people are beginning to perish. We have the power to reach down and actually pull them out of the fire before they get to the fire.

So the book to me has been one of the greatest books in transforming my life personally as I have been reading and studying it now for all these weeks. Because of all the great exhortations that James has been giving to Christians—not non-believers, Christians—I can really compare with the actual psalmist in Psalm 119:97 where he says, "Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long."

The beautiful power of the Holy Spirit is working through the life of a believer because of the Word of God. The power of this little book. That's why I wrote in my Bible, "This book will keep you from sin, but sin will keep you from this book." And that is so true even today. It is really important that we understand and remember as we study this great book, that he is writing to a church that has been persecuted by very wealthy people. Not only have they killed some of the Christian believers, but those that were poor in the church were suffering tremendously at the hands of the rich.

Yet I can't get Paul's words out of my mind and my heart. As Paul the apostle was coming to the end of his life and the end of his ministry, he went down for the last missionary journey and came to the city of Ephesus. He called for the elders to be able to share with them a farewell speech. This was one of the greatest farewell speeches that anybody could ever speak to the leadership of the church, especially in the early century of the church.

In Acts chapter 20, verse 22, he says, "And see now that I am going bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me." Imagine what it must be like to know that you are going to go to Jerusalem, you are going to go to Rome, and they are actually going to persecute you and eventually they are going to kill you.

Yet Paul is not afraid because Paul has a great God that he believes in. He knows that he has been through a lot in his own personal life and that God is preparing the way for him. Paul is not thinking, "I'm going to escape this persecution," or "I'm going to go to Greece," or "I'm going to go to another country, but I'm not going to go to Jerusalem and I'm not going to Rome." No, he knew already and he prepared as God's heart was prepared in the heart of Paul to be able to receive persecution and even death.

He goes on to say, "But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish the race with joy, the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus Christ to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." What a powerful word from Paul. Think about the race that we are racing today. We are actually in a race. We are running for all of eternity.

Paul says this ministry which he received from the Lord Jesus Christ is testifying to everyone of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the grace that God gives to each one of us individually that we don't even deserve. God's grace has been given to me. And then he says, "And indeed, now I know that you all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God will see my face no more. No more. This is it folks."

I wonder what it must be like to preach your last sermon and your last words to a congregation that you have loved all of your life, knowing that in a couple of days you are going to be dead and you are going to heaven. You will be waiting in heaven for the rest of that congregation as each one of them will die through persecution, martyrdom, or through natural causes.

One by one, we will enter into the presence of God into all eternity to rejoice with the Lord Jesus Christ for the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been given to each one of us individually because of the grace of God. Paul says, "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men for I have not failed to declare to you the whole counsel of God." I like that.

It is really important. Paul is the only one in the epistles in the New Testament that in Acts chapter 18 and chapter 20, two times he says, "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men." What is Paul saying? Where did Paul get that from? He got it from the Old Testament in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 3, chapter 18, and chapter 33.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Visit somebodylovesyou.com for resources to guide your steps in God's ways. You'll also want to check out the Somebody Loves You worldwide YouTube channel, home of Raul's Straight Talk and a hub of biblical teaching. Now back to more of our study in James.

Raul Ries: It is really important that we understand that here James is coming to the conclusion of his book. Yet he feels like Paul and he feels like Ezekiel, that the Lord has made me a watchman over the flock of God. In that culture in the Old Testament, the watchman was the sentry or the guard. When the gates at night would close at sundown and the merchants would close their shops, they would walk into the city, close the doors, and everyone would go to their own homes with their families.

As the people would go to rest at night, the watchman would climb up into the corner of the city walls with a shofar, with a ram's horn. You would have these sentries on each corner of the city wall looking out into the darkness of the night, looking and watching if an enemy army would be approaching the city or if anybody would try to sneak into the city.

The worst thing that a guard can do in an ambush is to fall asleep and to put the whole platoon in danger and have everyone killed. Imagine the responsibility. Here the prophet tells us that in the book of Ezekiel, Paul the apostle not only felt like he was responsible for the church, but he was responsible for every person that he came in contact with that was a non-believer. If he would not be able to share with them and if they would die without hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul would be guilty of their blood. Pretty heavy.

I want you to realize that every person you come in contact with, you are responsible to share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. Never ever force ourselves upon anybody or actually try to force our theology or religion. No. As the Holy Spirit leads and the Holy Spirit guides, we begin to share our testimony. We begin to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people as they want to hear.

If they don't want to hear, we don't force it upon them. But you know what? I've done my job. I can say like Paul today, if I was to die, I can wash my hands from all men's blood. Why? Because I have not failed to give to you the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not guilty of that. I have preached the gospel of Jesus Christ and I have taught the church well, the word of God, from Genesis to Revelation.

It is really important that we notice that this is a mighty powerful lesson tonight in the coming end of this book of James. It is really amazing because as I was studying the passage, he reminded me in the book of Ezekiel chapter 3, 18, and 33 that Ezekiel was called to be a watchman. Ezekiel came forward and God said to him, "I want you to go and tell my people. And if you don't tell them and they die without a prophet telling them or somebody sharing with them, I will hold you responsible for their blood. But if you go and you tell them and they reject me and they die in their sin, you are free."

They will be responsible for their own blood because they rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ, but at least I did my duty. I told you. I warned you about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We should never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, especially when we have loved ones and friends that are perishing and they are going to hell. In the times that we are living today, it is much more important that we really need to share with people like never before.

People get cold. Think of all the people that have sat where you're sitting tonight and no longer are they here today. They're backslidden. They went back to their old ways and to their old life, which God already had forgiven them for those sins and those lifestyles. Yet those people that have come to the light and have come to the truth of Jesus Christ and then they go backwards and they drift away, they cannot ever enjoy sin ever again the way they did the first time.

It will never be the same. You've been to the light and the light is greater than the darkness. That's what the Bible will teach us. Yet Paul the apostle said, "You guys, I'm on my way. But I am not guilty of any man's blood. Why? Because I have not failed to give to you the full counsel of God." Ezekiel did the same.

Ezekiel goes on to say this. He says, "If the righteous man sinneth, all his righteous works will be wiped away. And if he doesn't repent, he will die in his sin and he will perish. He will perish." Be careful of a false security in Jesus Christ. Be careful of those that are trying to appease your conscience and your mind to make you feel well instead of leading you to repentance and to be convicted by the Holy Spirit in your mind and your heart that you have sinned against God and that you have transgressed the grace and the mercies of God.

This is what James tonight is going to be teaching us as he is trying to tell people to return back to the Lord. Come back to the truth. Come back to the grace of God. Don't be a stranger any longer. Now when James comes to the need of reclaiming those that have wandered from the truth, the verb used in the Greek here, to err, means to wander. It suggests a gradual moving away from the will of God until finally you're completely out of the way.

It would be like on a ship sitting there, you don't put the anchor down and you go down to sleep. The next morning you are not going to be in the same place. You have drifted away and you didn't even know you drifted by night. The current took you. That's what the word is used here. Being taken away by that current of the world where you're standing and you don't even know you're out in the world. You don't even know that you've drifted away from God and you're back in the world doing the same things that God delivered you from. You're doing them again. But this time there is no enjoyment. There is greater accountability, greater responsibility, and greater judgment.

I am warning you. I am warning the church. I am warning myself. It's really important what he says here. That's why I could not close the book last week. There is so much in verses 19 and 20 for each one of us individually tonight, that we need to have a heart for our loved ones and friends that are backslidden. For the lost, yes, but what about the backslider?

Those that have come to the knowledge of the truth and have returned back like the dog going back to its own vomit, like a ship drifting away by the tides of the ocean and not knowing that they're totally backslidden. It is sad to say that in the church there are a lot of people that are backslidden, a lot of people that have left their first love.

Yet when you read about the church of Ephesus, what is the first thing that he says to that church? He says, "Repent and return." He says, "And if you don't, I will go somewhere else and work. I'll leave you alone. You make the choice." God already made His choice to save you, to cleanse you, and to wash you.

It is really important because sometimes a brother is overtaken in a fault. He might be taken in a fault. Maybe he got bitter because of something that happened in the church, so he left the church then he got into sin. Then you have those people that are in the church and they're sinning in the church and there is no conviction in their hearts. You know how many times I've counseled people over the years, old and young?

Sometimes these young people will come in and they'll say, "We've been living together under the same roof for a long time now and we want to get married." I ask them, "Well, are you guys sleeping together? When's the last time you guys had intimate relationship with each other sexually?" As they begin to share, I will tell them that I can't marry them under that condition, that they have to break it off.

They have to separate and they have to get their relationship with God first right on with Him. To wait six months at least and separate and pray and repent and see what God's going to do. If God brings you back in that relationship, then you're coming back in the Lord forgiven. You're coming back in a place where God is going to honor your marriage. But how can God honor a marriage under fornication? He can't. He can't unless there's true repentance. How do you prove repentance? By separating and not touching one another for the next six months.

Proving that there is self-control and that you are empowered by the Holy Spirit and that God is first in my life, not my girlfriend, not my boyfriend. And then you have the married people that commit adultery on their husband or their wives. So sad. They actually break that covenant of marriage as they're tempted or seduced by someone in the office, at the gym, or at the grocery store.

It could be anywhere. Because the husband or the wife had been treating each other bad in such a way that the devil comes along and opens that door of weakness, he brings you that great temptation and you're open for that temptation. You're not strong because, first of all, you haven't been praying and you haven't been in the word. You've been feeling sorry for yourself, you're depressed, you're bummed out, so what happens? The devil knows how to get you good.

Yet we should be able to be strong in the Lord. If you're actually going through a great trial, you should not get away from the Lord. You should draw close to the heart of God where God is going to bless you and help you.

Guest (Male): Well, we certainly recognize that sharing your faith can sometimes feel uncomfortable, but we encourage you to step outside your comfort zone as you consider the eternal work that God can do when you're a willing witness.

You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's lesson from James chapter 5, verses 19 and 20, is available in its unedited form for a donation of $5 or more. Just call us at 800-634-9165. We'd also like to tell you about a resource that explores more of what it's like to live in close relationship with the Lord. Titled *Traits of a Christian*, Raul's eight-part study is available on either CD or USB. Every lesson will motivate you to spend more time in God's Word and in prayer as you ponder the abundance that comes from living with a selfless heavenly purpose.

Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order *Traits of a Christian*. We'll send you this eight-message study on CD for $22 or on thumb drive for just $12. The number again is 800-634-9165. You can also write to Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries is fully listener-supported. Thank you for the partnership of your tax-deductible gifts. You're truly a blessing to us. Next time we'll conclude this series in the book of James with a challenge to stay strong in our spiritual journey. God is looking for those with a steadfast faith who will follow wherever He leads, helping those who are weak and struggling along the way. This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.