DEALING WITH SIN IN THE CHRISTIANS LIFE.
James 5:16-20 (NASB)
(16) Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that
you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
{17} Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might
not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
{18} And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
{19} My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back,
{20} let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his
soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.
INTRODUCTION TOPIC: Conversion INDEX: 835 SUBTOPIC: Examples of DATE: 11/1990.19
The following is the account of the conversion of Ty Cobb, that all-time great who played ,033 games and for 12 years led the American League in batting averages. For four years, he batted over 400.
On his death bed, July 17, 1961, he said, "You tell the boys I’m sorry it was the last part of the ninth that I came to know Christ. I wish it had taken place in the first half of the first."
Everyone must deal with the sin in their life. It is imperative for a person to come to Christ for salvation like the story of Ty Cobb. But what about a Christian, and their sin. This text speaks to the subject of a Christian dealing with sin. They must be ones who are:
1. Confessing Sin. v 16-18
2. Converting Sinners. v 19-20 a
3. Covering Sin. v 20 b
1. Dealing with sin . . The Confession of Sin. v 16-18
(16) Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that
you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
{17} Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might
not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
{18} And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
A. The . . Proclamation related to the confession of sins. v 16 a
1. confess 5:16
Strong’s # 1843 exomologeo (ex-om-ol-og-eh’-o); from 1537 and 3670; to acknowledge or (by implication of assent) agree fully: KJV-- confess, profess, promise. ***. exon. See 1832.
Phil 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (KJV)
Contrast Homologeo
(Rom 10:9-10 NASB) that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; {10} for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
2. faults KJV sins NASB 5:16
Strong’s # 3900 paraptoma (par-ap’-to-mah); from 3895; a side-slip (lapse or deviation), i.e. (unintentional) error or (wilful) transgression: KJV-- fall, fault, offense, sin, trespass.
Strong’s # 3895 parapipto (par-ap-ip’-to); from 3844 and 4098; to fall aside, i.e. (figuratively) to apostatize: KJV--
B. The . . Pathway related to the confession of sins. v 16 b
". . . to one another, and pray for one another, . . . "
1. Story of three preachers confessing their faults. On e was a gossip and couldn’t wait to tell
C. The . . Promise related to the confession of sins. v 16 c
". . . so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
1. healed
Strong’s # 2390 iaomai (ee-ah’-om-ahee); middle voice of apparently a primary verb; to cure (literally or figuratively): KJV-- heal, make whole. (DIC)
2. effectual
Strong’s # 1754 energeo (en-erg-eh’-o); from 1756; to be active, efficient: KJV-- do, (be) effectual (fervent), be mighty in, shew forthself, work (effectually in). (DIC)
Strong’s # 1756 energes (en-er-gace’); from 1722 and 2041; active, operative: KJV-- effectual, powerful. (DIC)
Strong’s # 2041 ergon (er’-gon); from a primary (but obsolete) ergo (to work); toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication, an act: KJV-- deed, doing, labour, work. (DIC)
3. prayer of a righteousness man. v 16
Strong’s # 1162 deesis (deh’-ay-sis); from 1189; a petition: KJV-- prayer, request,
Strong’s # 1189 deomai (deh’-om-ahee); middle voice of 1210; to beg (as binding oneself), i.e. petition: KJV--
4. Accomplishes Much. availeth
Strong’s # 2480 ischuo (is-khoo’-o); from 2479; to have (or exercise) force (literally or figuratively): KJV-- be able,
avail, can do ([-not]), could, be good, might, prevail, be of strength, be whole, + much work. (DIC)
Strong’s # 2479 ischus (is-khoos’); from a derivative of is (force; compare eschon, a form of 2192); forcefulness
(literally or figuratively): KJV-- ability, might ([-ily]), power, strength. (DIC)
D. The . . Proof related to the confession of sins. v 17
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might
not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
1.. v 17 prayed "pros" toward and wish
Strong’s # 4336 proseuchomai (pros-yoo’-khom-ahee); from 4314 and 2172; to pray to God, i.e. supplicate,
worship: KJV-- pray (X earnestly, for), make prayer.
Strong’s # 2172 euchomai (yoo’-khom-ahee); middle voice of a primary verb; to wish; by implication, to pray to
God: used 5 times 3 times, wish KJV-- pray, will, wish.
2. v 17 Prayed is used again and translated earnestly. Pray, Pray.
ILLUSTRATION TOPIC: Confession TITLE: A Surefire Way to Draw People Close
A famous psychiatrist was leading a symposium on methods of getting patients to open themselves. The psychiatrist challenged his colleagues with a blatant boast: "I’ll wager that my technique will enable me to get a new patient to talk about the most private things during the first session without my having to ask a question."
What was his magic formula? Simply this: He began the session by revealing to the patient something personal about himself -- a secret with which the patient might damage the doctor by breaking the confidence. However questionable we may regard the doctor’s manipulation, it had its desired effect: It released the patient to talk.
TOPIC: Sin INDEX: 3350 SUBTOPIC: Destructive DATE: 10/1991.21
London held its breath in June 1987. While working on a building site, a construction foreman thought his workers had hit a cast iron pipe while using a pile driver. After picking up and then dropping the huge object, they realized the pipe looked like a bomb. It was -- a 2,200-pound World War II bomb, one of the largest the Germans dropped during the blitz which killed more than 15,000 Londoners. After evacuating the area, a 10-man bomb disposal unit worked 18 hours before deactivating the seven-foot device.
Unconfessed sin, like an unexploded bomb, can rest in the heart of an individual -- or in a church. Unless it’s deactivated through forgiveness, it can detonate and cause great damage.
-- Moody, 5-5-91
APPLICATION
We Christians need to confess our sins. Do you have a friend to whom you could go and relate to them about the sin in your life?
2. Dealing with sin . . The Converting of Sinners. v 19-20 a
{19} My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back,
{20} let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his
soul from death,. . . "
A. Convert the sinner from their . . Drifting. v 19 a
My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, . . . "
1. Strays. v 19 err
Strong’s # 4105 planao (plan-ah’-o); from 4106; to (properly, cause to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue): KJV-- go
astray, deceive, err, seduce, wander, be out of the way. (DIC)
Strong’s # 4106 plane (plan’-ay); feminine of 4108 (as abstractly); objectively, fraudulence; subjectively, a straying
from orthodoxy or piety: KJV-- deceit, to deceive, delusion, error.
Strong’s # 4108 planos (plan’-os); of uncertain affinity; roving (as a tramp), i.e. (by implication) an impostor or
misleader; KJV-- deceiver, seducing. (DIC)
(1 John 4:6 NASB) We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
(Mat 18:12 NASB) "What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?
B. Convert the sinner from their . . Destruction. v 19 b -20 a
". . . and one turns him back, {20} let him know that he who turns a sinner from
the error of his way will save his soul from death,. . . "
1. Turn Back. convert
Strong’s # 1994 epistrepho (ep-ee-stref’-o); from 1909 and 4762; to revert (literally, figuratively or morally): KJV–
come (go) again, convert, (re-) turn (about, again). (DIC)
Strong’s # 1909 epi (ep-ee’); a primary preposition; properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etc.), as
a relation of distribution [with the genitive case], i.e. over, upon, etc.; of rest (with the det.) at, on, etc.; of direction
(with the accusative case) towards, upon, etc.:
Strong’s # 4762 strepho (stref’-o); strengthened from the base of 5157; to twist, i.e. turn quite around or reverse
(literally or figuratively): KJV-- convert, turn (again, back againselfself,, about). (DIC)
Strong’s # 5157 trope (trop-ay’); from an apparently primary trepo (to turn); a turn ("trope"), i.e. revolution
(figuratively, variation): KJV-- turning. (DIC)
(Luke 22:32 KJV) But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
B. (Continued)
2. v 19 err
Strong’s # 4105 planao (plan-ah’-o); from 4106; to (properly, cause to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue): KJV-- go
astray, deceive, err, seduce, wander, be out of the way. (DIC)
Strong’s # 4106 plane (plan’-ay); feminine of 4108 (as abstractly); objectively, fraudulence; subjectively, a straying
from orthodoxy or piety: KJV-- deceit, to deceive, delusion, error.
Strong’s # 4108 planos (plan’-os); of uncertain affinity; roving (as a tramp), i.e. (by implication) an impostor or
misleader; KJV-- deceiver, seducing. (DIC)
(Heb 5:2 NASB) he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness;
3. Save his soul from death. v 20 b
ILLUSTRATION TOPIC: Conversion DATE: 3/1988.7 TITLE: Our Potential
It’s interesting to me how Jesus looks at men. He does not only see what a man is; he also sees what a man can become. He sees not only the actualities in a man, he also sees the possibilities. Jesus looked at Peter and saw in him not only a Galilaean fisherman but one who had it in him to become the rock on which his church would be built. Jesus sees us not only as we are, but as we can be; and he says: "Give your life to me, and I will make you what you have it in you to be."
Once someone came upon Michelangelo chipping away his chisel at a huge shapeless piece of rock. He asked the sculptor what he was doing. "I am releasing the angel imprisoned in this marble," he answered. Jesus is the one who sees and can release the hidden hero in every man. -- William Barclay’s Commentary on the Gospel of John
APPLICATION
The story of a special 3 foot platform on the Chicago platform. Only place of safety.
It is called the A Fools Catcher.
3. Dealing with sin . . The Covering of Sin. v 20 b
". . . and will cover a multitude of sins."
A. The Love of . . Christ will cover. Rom 4:7 KJV
Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
1. v 20 cover
Strong’s # 2572 kalupto (kal-oop’-to); akin to 2813 and 2928; to cover up (literally or figuratively): KJV-- cover, hide.
Strong’s # 2813 klepto (klep’-to); a primary verb; to filch: KJV-- steal. (DIC)
Strong’s # 2928 krupto (kroop’-to); a primary verb; to conceal (properly, by covering): KJV-- hide (self), keep secret,
B. The Love of . . Christians will cover. v 20
(1 Pet 4:8 NASB) Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers
a multitude of sins.
(Prov 10:12 NASB) Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions.
ILLUSTRATION TOPIC: Sin SUBTOPIC: Deceptive DATE: 4/1987.15 TITLE: Playing With Sin
The words of Dag Hammarskjold -- Secretary General of the UN in the mid and late 1950’s throb with wisdom:
You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal,
1. You cannot play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth,
2. You cannot play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind.
He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn’t reserve a plot for weeds.
APPLICATION
1. Confessing Sin. v 16-18
2. Converting Sinners. v 19-20 a
3. Covering Sin. v 20 b
