Day 2132 – James – Wisdom is Faith in Action 14 – Patience In Correction – Daily Wisdom

Published: April 13, 2023, 7 a.m.

Welcome to Day 2132 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom James – Wisdom is Faith in Action 14– Patience In Correction – Daily Wisdom Putnam Church message – 01/16/2022 James: Wisdom is Faith In Action – Patience In Correction Today is the fourteenth and final message in our series on the Proverbs of the New Testament, better known as the letter of James. Last week we continued in James 5:13-18, focusing on Patience Through Payer. As we conclude this section on patience, we want to learn how to have Patience in Correction. So please turn with me in your Bibles to James 5:19-20, or join me on page 1885 in the pew bibles as I read the Scripture for today. Just two powerful verses as we conclude this letter from James.  I would recommend keeping this passage open as we go throughout the message today: James 5:19-20  My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.   Lifeguards who have rescued swimmers from drowning, know better than most, that victims tend to fight their rescuers in the hysteria of that terrifying moment. They will even pull their rescuers under the water in an uncontrollable panic. Logical reasoning should tell them that if the lifeguard goes under, so does their only hope of surviving. But a drowning person isn’t thinking reasonably. Unfortunately, the same is often true when a believer attempts to rescue those floundering spiritually because their faith has suffered a shipwreck, and they have gone overboard.   The late well-known Professor Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary, tells the story of a young man who, after straying far from the Lord, was finally brought back by the help of a friend who loved him unconditionally. When he was fully restored, Dr. Hendricks asked him what it felt like when he was straying from God.   The man answered, “It seemed like I was being pulled farther and farther out to sea, into deep water. And all my friends were standing on the shoreline hurling accusations at me about justice, condemnation, and sin.” Then he added, “But one Christian brother swam out to get me, and he wouldn’t let me go. I fought him, but he withstood my fighting. Finally, he grasped me, put a life jacket around me, and pulled me to shore. By the grace of God, he was the single reason I was restored—the man refused to let me go.”   James doesn’t want us to let anybody go, either. Throughout his letter, he stresses the need for the faith that works. For example, he asks, “If you say you believe as you should, why do you behave like you shouldn’t?”   Now, at the climactic conclusion of the book, James instructs us on how to deal with those who believe like they should, but behave like they shouldn’t.   James has developed the theme that real faith produces genuine patience for the last several verses. But genuine patience is different from passive permissiveness. Under the excuse of “patiently waiting on the Lord,” Christians frequently stand back and “patiently” watch a fellow Christian sink deeper into sin. But, don’t forget that genuine patience is...