WEBVTT 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:08.640 Hello, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning into New Sun Churches Podcast. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:15.359 We're a gospel center church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:18.320 May God bless you today through his life-giving word. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:25.600 A reading from the book of James, chapter 5, verses 13 to 20. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.879 Is any among you suffering? 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:31.199 Should he he should pray? 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:32.799 Is anyone cheerful? 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:34.479 He should sing praises. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:36.640 Is anyone among you sick? 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:44.240 He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:49.359 The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:53.280 For if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:59.520 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:04.400 The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:15.200 Elijah was a human being, as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it should not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:21.519 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the land produced its fruit. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:37.280 My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:38.879 The word of the Lord. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:40.640 Thanks be to God. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:48.959 Brothers and sisters, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:50.400 Let's pray. 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:04.719 Gracious Lord, we pray that you would illumine this text to our understanding by your Holy Spirit. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:10.400 We believe your word had power in its day to transform the hearts of those who first received it. 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:16.159 And we know, Lord, by your Holy Spirit it has power in our day to transform our own hearts. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:34.080 So, Lord, through prayer and through confession, through the power of forgiveness and relying upon you, we pray our hearts would be shaped more and more into the image of Christ, that we would bear great fruit and find assurance and rest and peace in the gospel. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:36.000 All this we pray in Jesus' name. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:36.719 Amen. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:38.159 Please receive it. 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:49.759 Well, let me ask you a question. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:52.400 It's a question I've asked myself before. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:55.840 We talk a lot about the gospel at Newsong, rightly so. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:59.280 We talk about the gospel a lot as Christians. 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:09.439 The gospel, of course, is the good news that God loves the world and offers us salvation through his crucified and risen Son, our Lord Jesus. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:10.960 That's good news. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:23.520 And the gospel as it encounters our hearts, we can expect to see fruit of transformation, of renewal, of revival, of restoration, new creation, that sort of thing. 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:42.960 If we're a gospel-centered church, and if we endeavor to be gospel-centered Christians, I wonder, at least I've wondered for myself, why is it, if all these things are true of the gospel, its power to transform, why is it that I often feel so stagnant in my spiritual life? 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:46.240 Why is it that I often feel such a malaise? 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:50.000 Why is it that I often feel so discouraged? 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:51.360 Have you ever felt something like that? 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:53.360 Have you ever wondered something like that? 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.560 It can leave you feeling like a hypocrite, I think, sometimes. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:11.840 When you come to church and we proclaim these great gospel truths and we read God's word and we see examples and witnesses to the transformation it has in all sorts of lives and saints of old, and yet feel like, what am I doing here? 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:18.399 So there's a story that was shared recently that I've been thinking about a lot, and I want to share it with you. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:22.319 This is about the Korean revival of 1907. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:34.319 So Robert Hardy was a Canadian physician and missionary in Pyongyang, and Hardy was discouraged. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:41.120 He was discouraged by what he saw as a lack of fruitfulness in his ministry, in the mission that he was on. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:45.680 And I don't think you have to be a missionary or a pastor to feel discouraged. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:05:01.600 Robert Hardy is preparing to speak at a conference of pastors, and he's struck by Luke chapter 11, which is, you know, if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more so your heavenly father will give you the Holy Spirit. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:19.600 Hardy's struck by this idea that he's been relying on his own power to accomplish his ministry and mission goals, and he resolves to stop relying on his own ability and instead to turn himself over and begin to rely on God's power. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:23.920 And so the first thing he does is he endeavors to pray. 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:34.639 And then as he gathers together with fellow pastors at this conference, he begins to confess his own sins, all those ways that he's relied on himself and not on God. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:46.800 Hardy's example inspires others to do the same, and there's other gatherings all around the city and around the area where Christians gather to pray and they begin to confess their sins to one another. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:54.079 And there's one example of a man who stands up in one of these gatherings and confesses his hatred for his fellow missionary. 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:57.519 Believe it or not, gospel ministers can feel that too. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:17.680 This man stands up and he confesses his hatred for this missionary, and this missionary reflects on this experience, and he writes this I never had a greater surprise in my life to think that this man, my associate in the men's association, had been hating me without my knowing it. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:24.800 It seems that I had said something to him one day in the hurry of managing a school field day exercise, which gave offense. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:27.839 And he had not been able to forgive me. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:32.399 Turning to me, he said, Can you forgive me? 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:34.639 Can you pray for me? 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:39.040 I stood up and began to pray. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:45.680 Agape, agape, father, father, and got no further. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:55.120 It seems as if the roof was lifted from the building, and the Spirit of God came down from heaven, and a mighty avalanche of power upon us. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:02.079 He says, I fell at this man's side and wept and prayed as I had never prayed before. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:12.399 Another person writing about this experience described the great spirit, the sincere spirit of reconciliation in the air. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.160 Many more go on to confess their sins. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:20.079 Some we might label as trivial, others severe. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:28.959 But through this practice of prayer and confession, tens of thousands in Korea come to know the Lord. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:33.040 And it resonates even to the church in Korea to this day. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:44.160 Do you feel sometimes discouraged, stagnant, a malaise, kind of like Robert Hardy felt? 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:46.480 I feel it sometimes. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:53.360 We've been going through this series on the one another commandments in the New Testament. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:08:00.079 What does it mean to be a gospel or a church that practices the gospel, that puts the gospel into action like a verb? 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:13.920 And we've understood that being a gospel-centered, gospel-actioning church looks like loving one another and serving one another and welcoming one another, forgiving one another, encouraging one another. 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:20.480 Last week we agreed that discouragement is a very easy thing to live in, isn't it? 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:24.480 And spiritual discouragement can be an easy thing to live in as well. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:33.600 And James is writing his letter to a church that's experiencing all sorts of discouragement, all sorts of trials, all sorts of persecutions. 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:43.679 He's writing to a church that needs encouragement, that needs renewal, that needs revival. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:51.279 James is saying to this church, he begins his letter by saying, Count at all joy, brothers and sisters, when you encounter trials of various kinds. 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:52.240 God is at work. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:54.960 He's doing something, he's shaping your character. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.759 Be patient, James says in chapter 5. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:59.840 Don't take matters into your own hands. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:03.840 Instead, pray with faith-filled prayer. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:06.159 And this is what I want us to see today. 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:09.519 This is what James wants his discouraged church to see. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:16.320 And the difference that this can make as we put the gospel into action is true for James's day, it's true for our day as well. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:22.799 A church that puts the gospel into action prays for one another. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:29.039 And a church that puts the gospel into action confesses to one another. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:42.240 So, friends, if we desire a sense of spiritual renewal and revitalization, first in our own hearts, and then in our church family, perhaps we would do well to pay attention to James' words. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:51.440 Perhaps we'll find an answer to discouragement and malaise and see what God can do with the difference that it can make. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:55.840 So open up your Bibles, if you will, to James chapter 5 or your order of service. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:01.440 Let's walk through this passage together and consider these two very important one another commands. 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:03.440 I think very easy to overlook. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:07.360 Pray for one another and confess to one another. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:09.759 Let's start with verse 13. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:14.480 James has a couple questions to ask. 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:16.799 Is anyone among you suffering? 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:18.720 He should pray. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:20.559 Is anyone cheerful? 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:22.720 He should sing praises. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:25.039 Is anyone among you sick? 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:33.120 He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:36.080 So, first off, let's ask James this question. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:37.679 What is prayer? 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:40.480 You're telling us to pray in all these circumstances. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:41.519 What is prayer? 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:46.799 I came across a couple of interesting answers to that that I think James would agree with. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:57.279 Spurgeon writes, Charles Spurgeon, the great 19th century preacher, writes, True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:58.879 It is far deeper than that. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:04.159 It is a spiritual transaction with the creator of heaven and earth. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:11.840 Prayer is not performative, it's engaging in that relationship with the God who has created us, the God who governs heaven and earth. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:13.279 And theologian J.I. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:19.440 Packer says of prayer, prayer is how Christians practice fellowship with God. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.000 We have fellowship with God always. 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:26.639 Prayer is perhaps the most foundational way we put it into practice. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:32.879 Packer goes on to write this: God speaks to us in and through the contents of the Bible. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:38.399 That's why we open up the scriptures daily, why we open up the scriptures together as a church family, isn't it? 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:41.279 We want to hear God speak to us and speak to our hearts. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:49.200 God speaks to us in and through the contents of the Bible, Packer writes, which the Holy Spirit opens up and applies to us and enables us to understand. 00:11:49.519 --> 00:12:00.960 We then speak to God about Himself and ourselves and people in His world, shaping what we say as a response to what He has said. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:09.360 Prayer is a participation and an ongoing conversation with the God of the universe, the God who desires to partner with us. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:12.960 Prayer is practicing fellowship with God. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.159 And then we might ask James, well, when should we pray? 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.159 And he's got a few examples for us. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:19.440 Are you suffering? 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:20.960 Time to pray. 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:22.159 Are you cheerful? 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:23.039 Are you happy? 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:24.559 Are you on cloud nine? 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:25.840 It's time to sing praises. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:33.440 And what's singing praises if not joyfully, you know, lifting up our prayers with a joyful noise, so to speak? 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:35.360 Are you sick? 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:45.200 Well, it sounds like if you're sick enough or the sort of sick that James is describing here, you might not necessarily have the strength to pray for yourself. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:46.480 So what are you supposed to do? 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:49.840 Ask for others to come and pray for you. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:54.399 So the bottom line I said, I think, is this. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:56.240 When is it the right time to pray? 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:58.399 James would say, all the time. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:00.240 It's never the wrong time to pray. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:11.679 He would agree with Paul, who writes to the Thessalonians, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:18.159 I love that verse because if ever I doubt what the will of God is for me in a given circumstance, there it is. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:20.000 Pray always. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:22.960 Give thanks in all circumstances. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:31.039 See, I think it's easy, regardless of our circumstances, it's always easy to find reasons to withdraw from our relationship with God, isn't it? 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:48.799 I mean, suffering seems like an obvious one sometimes because when we suffer and we experience the pain and the grief that goes with maybe it's relational suffering, maybe it's our health, maybe it's something going on in our family, whatever it is, it's easy to feel like God, you must be withholding the good things that I feel I deserve. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:50.480 And that's not fair. 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:55.519 And so therefore our hearts become resentful and kind of callous and we withdraw. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:58.000 It's hard to pray when we suffer sometimes. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:08.879 But it can also be, strangely enough, equally as hard when we feel entirely content, entirely happy, and therefore we lapse into a sense of self-sufficiency. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:15.519 Like everything's going the way I think it should be going, so I don't really feel the need to, you know, ask God for much. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:19.279 He's provided, so I'm just gonna coast, so to speak. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:34.159 Whether circumstances are poor, whether circumstances are desirable, always pray to God. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:35.360 Pray without ceasing. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:40.320 Which doesn't, I think, mean pray 24-7, you know, do nothing but pray. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:54.000 But in whatever we do, let it be an ongoing engagement, practicing fellowship with God, turning it all over to Him, and relying on Him to accomplish His will in us and for us. 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:01.279 If we were to ask James why we should pray, he would say this: prayer brings results. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:06.480 Prayer saves, prayer heals, he says in verses 15 and 16. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:13.120 Whether that's an immediate sense of salvation or an immediate healing, sometimes that happens. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:20.639 What we know from God's word is that we are guaranteed that on the last day we will say, God has truly saved us. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:25.919 God has truly healed us from all that has afflicted us. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:31.360 We will participate in God raising up all things. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:44.559 Whether it's a preview of that in this life, and we experience God's healing in an immediate way, or whether we know for sure that God will heal us on the last day, we go to Him knowing that prayer yields results. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:49.360 And we pray on this principle that faith-filled prayer is effective. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:57.279 It is an active partnership with God that God wants us to engage in, wants us to engage with him in. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:11.759 We pray for one another at all times because prayer practices fellowship with God and it trusts God and his will for all the results. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:19.360 So then we might ask this question why is it then that my prayers seem so ineffective? 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:20.799 Have you ever felt like that? 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:26.080 I've been praying for healing, I've been praying for this outcome, and it just doesn't seem to happen. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:29.600 I see no good reason why God would say no there. 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:42.879 And we could take this passage and if we're not careful, misinterpret it such that it sounds like, boy, if prayer, the prayer of faith is effective, if it's ineffective, I must just not have enough faith. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:47.200 So I need to crank up that faith dial and really go at it this time. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:49.840 Isn't that just a recipe for discouragement? 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:53.120 Maybe we've been there ourselves, maybe we're there right now. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:00.960 This is why James gives us an important illustration, an important example for us to meditate on. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:04.640 What does effective prayer look like when it's lived out? 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:07.519 Verse 17. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:10.559 James reminds us of Elijah. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:14.240 Elijah, James says, was a human being, just as we are. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:16.960 And he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:19.599 For three years and six months it did not rain on the land. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:21.279 That prayer was effective. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:27.039 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the land produced its fruit. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:29.119 So a couple things. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:32.160 Prayer we know is practicing fellowship with God. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:36.160 Well, Elijah was one who practiced fellowship with God. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:44.880 We also know that Elijah was the sort of person who experienced some of the most amazing examples of God working in power and miraculously. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:53.359 I mean, he Elijah was there to see a sacrifice, a caramel, just consumed by flame, if you know that story from 1 Kings. 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:56.480 He saw God do powerful and amazing things. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:03.599 And then in the very next chapter, Elijah's so discouraged he goes out into the wilderness and prays, God, I just would rather die. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:10.319 Maybe we know what that spiritual flip-flop feels like from one day to the next. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:13.119 That's why James wants to remind us. 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:16.160 Elijah was a human being just like us. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:20.240 See, I think sometimes it's easy to put certain saints on a pedestal, isn't it? 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:24.960 Or to put Bible characters on a pedestal and feel like, well, of course Elijah's prayers were effective. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:27.599 He's Elijah, and I'm not Elijah. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:30.160 James's point is exactly the opposite. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:32.559 He's a human being just like you and me. 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:39.920 See, it's not that his faith dial was cranked up to eleven in a way that ours is cranked up to like two and a half or something. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.440 Elijah knew who he was putting his faith in. 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:54.559 And so, having put his faith in the Lord God and in his promises, he trusted God to bring about his will on earth as it is in heaven. 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:57.039 That's what it means to pray in faith. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:08.960 Prayer is a commitment to the will of God, and all true prayer exercises its truest faith in patiently waiting to see what he has determined to do. 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:12.079 That's what one biblical commentator writes. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:14.319 So, how do we pray? 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:18.319 James gives us some instructions, verse 14 to 16. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:23.599 First off, he gives some specific instructions if you're experiencing sickness. 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:30.160 You should call for the elders of the church, they're to pray over you, anointing you with the oil in the name of the Lord. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:35.440 This is a prayerful practice of relying on God to work his healing through us. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:38.240 Now, God works his healing in many different ways. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:49.279 God has providentially given us amazing uh medical technologies and medical treatments that can treat our illnesses and our injuries, and we should give God thanks for those. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:51.519 That's his providential care for us. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:55.920 And we should not refuse those and say, well, no, I'm just gonna rely on faith. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.720 It would be faithless for me not to accept God's goods, gifts in medicine or something like that. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:03.839 No, we receive them as God's good gifts for us. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:06.799 And we engage with God in prayer. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:08.559 We know where healing comes from. 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:16.000 Whether it's through his providential means or whether it's through his miraculous and spiritual means, we always go to God in prayer. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:35.839 And when we are too sick to pray for ourselves or we are sick in such a way that uh we are in serious trouble, it is a good thing, a right thing, a thing that God has given us, a gift that God has given us to call upon the elders of the church to come and pray and to anoint in the name of the Lord. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:43.680 And the word elders here is related to the word for pastor or you know, priest if you're using the English prayer book or something like that. 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:48.079 I don't think it's just priests and pastors who ought to pray for the sick. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.680 James, we should remember, is calling us to pray for one another. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:21:02.559 But this is a particular ministry of prayer that I do think James has in mind is particular to the pastoral office, that a sick person would be anointed with oil in the name of the Lord. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.680 It's not that this oil is a magic potion, right? 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:08.240 But it is a symbol of God's blessing. 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:13.519 And it's a reminder of God's ongoing promise of our flourishing in Him. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:27.119 So to be anointed with oil is to put into prayerful practice that reliance upon God to do only what God can do for us, and that is to bring his flourishing and his blessing to bear. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:40.079 And whether that's anointing in the middle of illness, or anointing right before surgery, or anointing right before death, in all circumstances we know that God in Christ has secured our salvation. 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:42.480 And that's what that is meant to bear witness to. 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:44.400 It's a prayerful action. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:48.079 That's a specific circumstance. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:54.960 Call the elders to pray for you and anoint you if you're sick, but there I think there's some general applications we can find here as well. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:59.599 Because remember, James says pray for one another, it's not just pastors. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:06.559 I think praying for one another requires first and foremost that we ourselves are praying. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:16.720 If we're going to pray for one another, if we're going to practice fellowship with God together, we must first practice fellowship with God ourselves. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:18.960 Do we have a discipline of prayer? 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:34.480 Have we set aside time for prayer in morning or evening or both or whenever that is to make our burdens and our thanksgivings and our confessions and our adorations, all these things to God in prayer, we practicing that fellowship? 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:39.680 If we are called to do it one with another, then we are first and foremost called to do it for ourselves. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:42.960 And friends, I it's normal to struggle with that. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:45.759 Prayer is a struggling sort of thing. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:49.680 It's not always intuitive, it doesn't always seem easy. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:51.839 Sometimes it's hard to know how to get started. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:59.359 I mean, truthfully, I was most of the way through my theology degree, and I had nothing that even resembled a consistent prayer life. 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:00.559 Truthfully. 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:06.480 The thing that was a jump start to my own prayer life was discovering how to pray with the church. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:15.519 And praying with the church in my circumstance looked like discovering this gift called morning prayer in the prayer book, and Compline, which is a kind of bedtime prayers. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:22.000 And these were, it was like finding the words that I've been looking for this whole time, and it started to shape my own prayer life. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.039 It was almost like getting the paddles on your prayer life. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:34.240 If you struggle with prayers, then sometimes we need to rely on the prayers of others, and sometimes those prayers that we receive through the ministry of the church is a gift. 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:38.400 It's praying for one another through time and through space. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:43.279 Pray for one another. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:46.880 That's how we put the gospel into practice. 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:51.359 It is practicing fellowship with God and practicing fellowship with God with one another. 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:57.920 And what is the gospel if not finding fullness and fellowship with God in Christ? 00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:59.759 Pray for one another. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.480 But James gives us a second imperative, doesn't he? 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:05.599 He gives us a second imperative, and I have five minutes. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.759 The second imperative is to confess to one another. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:13.119 Pray for one another and confess to one another. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:19.839 I wonder if in James' mind these things, these two things are so intertwined, he almost talks about them with the same breath. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:24.319 But it's so easy to overlook, I think, this second imperative to confess. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:27.039 What are we talking about when we talk about confession? 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:41.759 Truthfully, when I think of confession, the first thing that comes to mind, uh I've never been there myself, but perhaps you've been there, where you walk into the little confessional booth and you slide the little window and the priest is on the other side to hear your confessions and pronounce absolution. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:45.680 And I do think, friends, there is a there is pastoral wisdom in something like that. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:57.680 There is pastoral wisdom in taking time to make your struggles and your sins known to a trusted spiritual advisor, especially a pastor, and to be reassured of God's forgiveness. 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:11.200 For Anglicans, we do have a rite of reconciliation, but we also, I think, have a great line of wisdom that reminds us it is not mandatory that all can, none must, and some should confess. 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:14.319 All can, none must, but some should. 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:19.359 However, that's not exactly what James is talking about here. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:21.359 He's not talking about a rite of reconciliation. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:33.359 He's talking about a particular means of practicing reconciliation, which is to say, asking for and granting forgiveness toward one another as the body of Christ. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:35.359 In particular ways. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:47.599 John Stott writes this confession must be made to the person against whom we have sinned and from whom we need and desire to receive forgiveness. 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:53.519 There is secret confession to God, because there are secret sins committed against God alone. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:26:05.039 Next, there is private confession, because some of our sins are committed against man as well as God, a private individual, or two or three as such, and must be confessed to the offended party. 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:15.039 Thirdly, there is public confession because some sins are committed against a group, a community, or the whole local congregation, and must therefore be confessed publicly. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:17.039 Do you catch the difference here? 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:31.680 It's not that there isn't pastoral wisdom to taking time to confess your sins privately, but the sort of confession that James is calling us to is the sort that makes a point of going to our brother or sister in Christ and saying, I have been caused for offense. 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:33.279 I have wronged you. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:34.960 Would you forgive me? 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:37.440 That's the sort of confession we're talking about here. 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:43.039 And the church is called to be a community of confession and forgiveness. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:45.599 Why would we confess our sins? 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.799 James tells us it brings about healing. 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:50.559 Verse 16. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:56.880 Along with prayer, James writes that prayer and confession. 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:02.640 Pardon me, verse 16. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:09.519 Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:11.279 James writes. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:27.279 Confession brings about healing, a spiritual healing, a relational healing, where we've put wedges in our relationship, wedges of sin between ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ, or wedges between ourselves and God. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:30.160 Brings about spiritual healing. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:32.559 Brings about relational healing. 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:39.119 I have a friend who practices healing ministries, particularly gifted and called by God to it. 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:44.799 There's a lot I could say about him, but he is an amazing, humble man of God. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:50.480 I asked him once, what's the thing you hear folks need healing from the most? 00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:52.319 And I don't know what I expected him to say. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:55.200 Colds, headaches, back pains, something like that. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:57.680 Without hesitation, you know what he says to me? 00:27:58.000 --> 00:27:59.119 Unforgiveness. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:03.279 That's the thing most people need healing from. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:07.759 Unforgiveness is like a cancer of the soul. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:16.799 And if we are body and soul together, then perhaps that cancer of the soul can manifest itself in our own physical pain in particular ways. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:23.680 I'm not trying to get too over-spiritual here, nor am I trying to say that every example of back pain means you haven't forgiven someone. 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:25.039 Not saying that. 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:38.160 But when we withhold forgiveness, when we withhold confession, we are withholding healing both from ourselves and from the body of Christ with which we are called to fellowship. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:42.880 Confession is aimed towards restoration. 00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:49.200 And that's what verses 19 and 20 are all about, restoring what's been broken and lost in the community. 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:59.599 We confess to one another because confession will restore what sin has taken from us and bring healing and renewal to our souls and to our relationships. 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:05.839 So when it's time to confess, we acknowledge our sin to our brother and sister honestly. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:08.880 We're not trying to make excuses for it. 00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:11.279 We're trying to call it for what it is. 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:16.000 And we ask humbly that that brother or sister would forgive us for it. 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:22.720 And if we are approached, someone is making confession to us, we need to bear in mind that we are sinners too. 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:26.880 And we are not immune from the sort of sin that is being confessed. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:32.079 And we need to remember that as sinners, we are first and foremost forgiven in Christ. 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:36.480 And if nothing else, that will be our motivation to forgive. 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:39.279 That does not mean that what is confessed was okay. 00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:41.200 It doesn't mean that it's overlooked. 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:44.720 It doesn't mean that there aren't consequences to be faced. 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.240 Forgiveness is not the same as deleting past history. 00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:57.920 But it does mean that we surrender the right to hold a grudge or to hold on to resentment and let it calcify in our soul. 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:02.640 We give it to God and we release this person from it. 00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:05.119 That's putting the gospel into practice, isn't it? 00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:10.240 Because isn't that exactly the sort of forgiveness that we receive in Christ? 00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:13.119 Christ who suffers for us. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:18.640 Christ who prays for us at the right hand of God is always interceding for us. 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:20.319 Christ who forgives us. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:26.799 Mike preached a couple of weeks ago on forgiving one another, and he reminded us of Ephesians chapter 4. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:33.359 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:37.599 Jesus is the one praying for us. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:39.920 Jesus is the one forgiving us. 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:49.119 Praying for one another, forgiving one another in the context of confession is putting into practice the very good news of who Jesus is. 00:30:50.559 --> 00:31:15.599 It witnesses to one another and to the world that there is another way to be than to be discouraged, than to be in malaise, than to hold on to resentment and unforgiveness, but to find that God brings renewal and revival as we are willing to open ourselves up one to another to confess our sins and pray for one another. 00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:23.519 I am not promising that if we are to pray for one another and confess to one another, we will experience here what they experienced in Korea in 1907. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:25.119 I'm making no promises. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:37.680 But on the authority of God's word, I think we can rest assured that God will bear fruit in our prayers for one another and in our confessions to one another. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:45.519 He will do good work in our hearts, in our church family, and perhaps even in the community around us. 00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:54.319 If we desire renewal and revival for ourselves and for our community, perhaps first and foremost we need to pray, God, would you start with my own heart? 00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:56.640 Would you incline me to pray for others? 00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:58.880 Would you incline me to forgive one another? 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:03.359 Would you incline me to confess to another when that's necessary? 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.480 Lord, start with me. 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:10.880 Because just as Christ prays for us, we pray for one another. 00:32:11.119 --> 00:32:17.279 Just as God in Christ forgives us, so too we forgive one another. 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:20.160 Friends, let's put the gospel into practice. 00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:25.519 Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:26.480 Amen. 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:30.240 We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today. 00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:35.839 If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m. 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:39.519 If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you. 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:44.559 Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us. 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:50.000 Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:58.319 If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution. 00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:01.279 Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.