In today’s episode of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack Hibbs dives into the final message from the Book of James, urging believers to look out for those who have wandered from their faith. Through personal anecdotes and biblical insights, Pastor Jack emphasizes the importance of bringing back those who have strayed from the path and the eternal significance of doing so.
James says in verse 19, Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know, verse 20, he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sin.
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This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible. Did you know there’s an easy way to stay informed on the latest biblical events shaping our world today? Check out the Happening Now section at jackhibbs.com. Now, these live events feature Pastor Jack Hibbs alongside special guests diving into current events, cultural shifts, and how they align with biblical prophecy. It’s a unique blend of Bible teaching and real-time analysis that helps you make sense of today’s headlines through the lens of Scripture. Happening Now is not just about information. It’s about equipping you with the truth and encouraging you to stand firm in your faith, no matter what’s happening around you. Now, these discussions are eye-opening, they’re thought-provoking, and they’re a great way to stay spiritually grounded in a rapidly changing world. Whether you watch live or catch up on past events, Happening Now will help keep you connected to God’s Word and what’s going on in the world today. Visit jackhibbs.com and click on Happening Now. Don’t just watch the news, understand it from a biblical perspective. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues with his series now called The Book of James and a message titled, It’s Time to Come Home. You know, before the Book of James became one of the books of the New Testament, it was simply a letter that was sent to the Jews who chose to follow Jesus Christ. And as new believers, James, in his final encouragement, tells them to go, to share, and to do all things that they have learned. You see, as true believers in Christ, this world is not our home. That’s the truth. So we need to be ready for Jesus to return to take us to our final place called heaven. But in the meantime, we need to share the good news of God’s love and take as many as we can with us. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that in these last days, many will wander away from the Lord. But if we help someone to turn back to Christ, well, we help to save their soul from death. Now, with his message called, It’s Time to Come Home, here’s pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.
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You grab your Bibles and turn to James chapter 5 this morning. And we find ourselves at the close of this book that we began so long ago. James 5, verses 19-20. The end of James’ incredible and passionate plea to the believer. He began with this theme way back in chapter 1, verse 22. Exhorting us to be doers of the Word, not just hearers only, lest we be deceived. James would tell us finally, in this great wrap-up of encouragement, James would say to the believer this morning, I want you to go now from this place and do all the things that you’ve learned. To not just receive and to… Put it in some kind of a chronological order or some kind of an archive system. No, I want you to take it and dust it off the shelf of your heart and put it into action. I want you to be a Christian that actually does what the Bible says. And so this morning, James is going to wrap it up in verses 19 to 20, James chapter 5. He says, Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back… Let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. I don’t know what these words do to you, but when I thought about it and what I see here James making the plea for, These words ring in my heart, and the words and the title, in fact, the message is, it’s time to come home. Now, you and I growing up, quite possibly, all of us heard those words, it’s time to come home. My mom would often say, it’s time to come home. I would hear my name, or my dad, he just would nickname me, I don’t know where he got this from, but he would say, Jackson! Jackson! Time to come home. Well, I knew if my dad said it, I better get home quick. If mom said it, I could kind of… You know, any five-year-old boy knows how to handle mama. But daddy was another thing. Come on home. And I grew up, and maybe you did too, being able to decipher just what those words meant. It’s time to come home. If those words… were spoken, say on a Friday afternoon, it’s time to come home. Then in my mind’s eye, I see the car at the curb at school, and my mom saying, it’s time to come home, come on. And I would say goodbye to my friends, and there’d be a smile on my face because why? It was Friday afternoon. The weekend was here. Man, I got to play G.I. Joe and Matchbox Cars and Tonka Trucks. The weekend had arrived. It’s time to come home. Oh man, that was great. But if those same words were said on Sunday evening, it’s time to come home. That meant the weekend had come to a conclusion and guess what follows Sunday? Monday and Monday meant school and school meant chagrin and unhappiness. You know, it’s time to come home. How do those words sit with you? Jesus told us over and over again in Scripture to be ready, to be watching, because soon, and Andre Crouch reminds us, soon and very soon. We’re going to see the king. We’re going home. And for the Christian, it’s like, all right. For the non-believer, for the non-Christian, it’s lunacy to think, what? You guys are going home? Yeah, you crazy Christians. Always talking about this sweet by and by, this place in heaven. But what about the person who’s in between? The person who is a Christian, but who’s not walking with the Lord. James is talking to that person this morning. It’s time to come home. Maybe in your life you have been wandering away as a Christian. You came to Christ at some point in time. And things aren’t so exciting for you anymore. Your Bible reading’s not so enthusiastic. Your life is not so meaningful. In fact, there’s a demand on your life now that has pretty much quenched or pulled away the wonderful things of God that once occupied your life. And there’s no excuse, you know that, because… You were the businessman or the businesswoman. Or you were the very busy keeper of the home or whatever the case might be for you. And you made time then for Jesus. You made time to be in His Word and to walk with Him. And nothing could separate you and your relationship with God. Nobody could come in between you and Him. You got up early or you stayed up late. You did whatever you could just to be with God. It’s as though that He actually possessed you. And now due to the demands of life and due to the pressures of Christianity even, you’ve kind of folded a bit and you’re not so passionate about the things of God. And you begin to wander away. Now granted, if somebody would interview you, you would not say, well, you know, I just turned in a moment. I was hot one day and the next I became cold. No, it didn’t happen that way. We’ll see more about this in a moment. You find yourself today not as intense for God as you once were. If you and I can look back and remember a time when, then that’s an indictment against our growth in Christ. Can you look back and say, oh, I remember when I used to pray for my community. But now that I’m older, more mature, I don’t have time for those things anymore. What’s happened? I’ll tell you what’s happened. You’ve kind of grown up instead of grown down to where you belong. You need to become like a child again and be dependent upon Him again. James in his message this morning is saying, it’s time to come home. And you might hear those words this morning saying, all right, yes, it’s time to come home. It’s like a Friday afternoon. Amen, Jesus. It’s time to come home. Or it may sound like a Sunday evening to you. rather convicting, putting a chagrin on your smile or on your face and causing you to frown. You haven’t been walking with Christ. This is who James is speaking with today. Not only this person, but to every one of us in the hearing of this message, to those of us who this morning would raise our hands and say, yes, I’m a Christian. James would say to us, then you, my brethren, you, be on the lookout. For a brother or a sister who is wayward from Christ. Why? So you can smash them and stomp them and put them into the ground. No. So I can take my Bible and my concordance and beat them up both sides of the head. No. Oh, so I can find that Christian that is sinning and condemn them. No. Not that. Not that. James is saying to all of us who are believers, find those who are of the household of faith. Those Christians that you and I know. They once walked with Christ. They were with you in prayer. They were with you in evangelism. They were with you in church. They read the bulletin. They read the Psalms. They read the Scripture. They lifted their hands in praise. They were right alongside us, and they’re gone now. Where are they? They have fallen away. We all know them. James says in verse 19, Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth… And someone turns him back. Let him know, verse 20, he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sin. The first thing we see here is James is talking to the Christian. Take it in your Bible or in your notes. Mark it well. Get your highlighter. It’s to the brethren. Those of us who are Christians, brothers. Those of us who are here listening now, you’re awake, you’re alive, and I’m trusting you’re walking with Christ, you’re growing with Christ. James says, hey, all of us together right now this morning who find ourselves here, he goes, I want to say something to you. If anyone among you is wandering, this word wander means to slowly step away. They slip. This word translated in the Old Testament means is the word you know called backslidden or to backslide. It’s to slowly back away. From what? Mark it. From what? From fellowship with the brethren. I had somebody tell me, Pastor Jack, we don’t need to go to church as much as we once used to because we’ve been Christians for about 30 years. And… We pretty much got it down, and so we kind of go to church when we feel like it, maybe once every other month or so. I had somebody tell me that. I need to tell you without, I’ll never say the name. That family fell apart. In Hebrews 10, verse 25, the Scripture demands of us. In fact, turn there for a moment, if you would. Hebrews 10, verse 25, very important passage of Scripture. We quote it often, we talk about it, but look what it says. Hebrews 10.25 says that we are to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. The ecclesia, the church. As is the manner of some. That means some are slipping away. Some are slowly backing away, and it starts with, I don’t think I’m going to go this Wednesday night. I’ve got too much to do. Doesn’t that sound innocent enough? We all have too much to do on Wednesday night. We all have too much to do on Sunday morning, don’t we? I know I do. I’m supposed to be home painting my daughter’s bedroom right now, you know? But it’s Sunday. I’ve chosen, you’ve chosen, the more needful thing to do. Oh, we’re all Marthas, but we need to be more like Mary. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. Martha, she’s in the kitchen clanging the pans. She’s cooking the omelet. And God knows we need Martha’s to cook those omelets and to bake that roast and all that stuff they do. We need Martha’s. But Martha’s must also be like a Mary who sits at the feet of Jesus. Be careful that we do not forsake the gathering together. Do you and I know Christians this morning who have chosen to stay home? I’m not shooting arrows at them. I just want you and I to be so accountable to each other that if your seat is missing next Sunday, that those who sit around you begin to wonder, where is Joe? Where is Becky? Becky. You see? Now, don’t tell me you wouldn’t recognize me. You guys are funny. We’re all the same. I remember when I sat at Costa Mesa, I got there at a certain point because I wanted my seat right there, third one back from the front of the aisle and about a couple seats in. That’s my spot. I sat there for 10 years. That’s my spot. None of your names are on the chairs, but you would think your whole life is on that chair. You’re in my seat. That’s my seat. Somebody new comes to church and sits down in your seat. Isn’t that funny? Well, you know, there’s a lot of carnality maybe about that, or it could be the air conditioning system freezes me over here, or it cooks me over here, or the roof is leaking there, or whatever the case might be. But the fact of the matter is, and the good thing about it is, you guys sit in the same spot more often than not, and people around you begin to see your face, and they begin to wonder, where’s Joe? And I want to encourage us as a church. I don’t care how big we get. I was at a church that boasts 25,000 members. Listen, when Joan wasn’t there, we knew it. We’d call her up afterwards. Are you okay? I got sick today. We noticed you weren’t there. How does that happen in a church of 25,000 people? By turning around and greeting one another and knowing each other. Let’s, for crying out, stop being so afraid and stop being so protective of ourselves. Get to know somebody. Memorize their name. Know them.
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You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.
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In Hebrews 10, 25, he says, some have chosen not to fellowship anymore. He says, but exhort one another. And so much more, look at this, as you see the day approaching. What day? The coming of Christ. We’re living in the last days. People, hear this loud and clear. There have never been more temptations now to pull you and I away from walking with Jesus than ever before, I believe, in our lives. Things pulling, pulling, pulling. I tell you a great example. This last month in England, people didn’t want to hear about Jesus. They have rings, diamonds, all of the wealth of the empire. Boy, these people are doing so well, doing so good, and they were just resisting Christ. And then we go to Mexico, and the people are in poverty, and they wanted Jesus. They didn’t have much else. They wanted Christ, and they wanted him simply. All of the veneer was stripped away from their lives. How is it for us? Many of those that we met in England, I have to confess, our existence of living here in America would probably be middle class or a little bit less compared to the high class in London. And those people wanted nothing to do with God because they had their own agenda. And yet the people in Mexico, they didn’t have an agenda. In fact, you order a Coke and it takes 45 minutes for the guy to go to the kitchen to get you a Coke. There’s no agenda. Nobody’s in a hurry. Life goes on. Your focus, where is it? Are you excited about the things of God? I’m warning you in the love of the Lord, if you’re not, you better get excited. Well, how do I do that? Are you ready for this? It almost sounds like blasphemy to your heart. Get in, kind of hard to say even, volved. The carnal response that we all suffer, I don’t have time. That is a lie from the pit of hell itself. I had somebody come up to me yesterday and say, this trip has changed my life. I have been a Christian more years than I’ve been almost alive. And for the first time in my life, I forgot my name. I forgot my problems. I forgot my concerns. I poured my life into this woman who had the little baby four-week-old daughter who… Twin died at birth, and this woman in her pain and her poverty, she had her little kid not knowing where she was going to sleep. I forgot who I was. I poured my life into this lady. I gave her my money. I gave her love. I gave her my hot tears off my cheek. It’s changed my life. They said to me yesterday, I don’t ever want to think about myself again. They found what Jesus said. If you forget your life, you’ll find it. If you give it up, you’ll find life. Brethren, he says, if any of you wander or have wandered away, it suggests, James is suggesting, the Christian is prone to wander. I know that’s a great revelation to you. But we’re prone to wander away. From what? From fellowship? Yes. But look what he says. Go back to James 5. to wander away from the truth. This word truth is the word that is used for the truth, the salvation truth, saving faith. Oh, does this mean a Christian can lose their salvation? Absolutely not. What James is saying is, the Christian who has wandered away, you ought to know who they are. James is saying, go after them and love them to death. They’ve wandered away from the truth of their salvation, the hope of it all, the joy of it all. They’ve wandered away. I’ve said this many times before, but it’s almost comical. Have you ever seen a backslidden Christian? They’re great to see. They’re the most miserable people on earth. They can’t do anything right. They met some new friends at work, or maybe they’ve got into the party happy hour crowd. Everybody’s happy, but the backslidden Christian, he’s over there. He’s got a vodka, tonic, whatever thing, and he’s sitting there, and he’s trying to drink this thing. He’s like, why isn’t this making me happy? And God, the whole time, God’s going, hey, you shouldn’t be doing this. You need to come home. I know who you are. He’s saying, I know you. You’re hiding out here in this little happy hour thing. Music’s really loud. The music could be ear piercing. You could be bleeding out of your ears and you still hear God inside your heart going, psst. It’s time to come home. Now, listen. This is what you hear in your mind like I hear in my mind when we backslide. The enemy begins to whisper, you can’t go back home. You’ve been too bad. You’ve been so bad, God won’t accept you back. Jesus set the record straight on that when the prodigal son had gone away and spent all of his living, all of his wealth, all of his future, spent it on wild women and wild times, and he wound up eating with the pigs. And he said, my goodness, my father’s servants eat better than I do. I will go back home and just beg him to make me a servant of his. By the way, the whole entire parable that Jesus gives regarding the… The prodigal son does not have the word repent in it. Did you know that? The word does not appear. It doesn’t have to appear. Repentance is built into the story. He said, I will come back home and just beg my father to make me a servant. No pride, no arrogance, humbleness of heart, contrition of spirit. Oh, Lord, forgive me. And that son comes back home. And what do you think? The Bible says there, Jesus says, in fact, the picture is the father in heaven and Christ himself looking, looking. The father is searching the horizon for his son. And he’s looking. And he sees there’s a little figure faint on the horizon. Could that be my boy? Oh, I don’t know. There’s been many strangers come over that hilltop and turn out to not be my son. Could it be? And yet the father looked. He’s been waiting. God told Moses and the nation Israel, you wander, you’ve forsaken me, you’ve left me. And he said through Moses, he says, you tell the people I will never leave them. I don’t care how far you have fallen down.
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pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called, It’s Time to Come Home. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Book of James. It’s a series on true Christianity and how it creates a whole new way of living. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. The cross, for a lot of us, it’s just a symbol that we wear around our necks, right? Display in our homes or maybe hang from the rear view mirror. But what if instead of being a decoration or accessory, the cross motivated and shaped the way we live every single day of our lives? What if it wasn’t about hiding or minimizing our sin, but actually crucifying it in order to move forward in the freedom that Christ offers? Born Crucified. It’s a book by Ellie Maxwell. In this book, you’ll discover what it truly means to live in a cross-centered life. This short but very powerful book is a classic for every Christian’s library. It reminds us that the cross isn’t just a symbol. It’s the key to victory over sin and the power to serve God effectively. Now, if you’re ready to experience the freedom and purpose found in a life centered on the cross, this book is one that you should get. Born Crucified. It’s available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio.
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You know, the Apostle Peter in his letters to the church urged his fellow Christians to keep on learning and growing in the faith, in spite of their suffering and pain. Unlike today, however, resources were scarce. Still, they persevered, and Christ followers were growing in both strength and numbers. Now, there’s no limit of ways to access quality materials on Christian living, including Pastor Jack’s website. When you go to jackhibbs.com and click the media icon, you’ll find not only real-life radio episodes, but real-life podcasts, real-life TV, real-life basics for Christian growth, and even news updates. There’s also specific verse-by-verse studies from books of the Bible and so much more. So, head on over to our website at jackhibbs.com and click on the media tab. That’s jackhibbs.com.
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This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
