WEBVTT

00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:00.640
Amen.

00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:11.039
Well, while you're finding James chapter 5, I did want to mention we are in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 5, this evening for our Bible study.

00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:16.800
And if you would like to come at 6 30, we welcome you to be a part of that lesson.

00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:23.679
And then Sunday morning in our series on the churches of Asia, we go to the Church of Sardis.

00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:28.079
They had a reputation they were alive, but they were dead.

00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:31.679
And he encourages them to strengthen the things that remain.

00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:36.560
And the title of the message Sunday is Will the Real Church Please Stand Up?

00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:44.880
And I I pray that you'll pray that the Lord will bless our time together and use it to encourage our hearts.

00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:47.840
James chapter 5 and verse 13.

00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:50.320
Is any among you afflicted?

00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:51.359
Let him pray.

00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:52.479
Is any merry?

00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:53.920
Let him sing Psalms.

00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:55.359
Is any sick among you?

00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:01.840
Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:08.319
The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:17.200
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:24.799
The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:30.560
Talking this morning about the praying church, the praying church.

00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:38.799
God often does his deepest work in us in seasons we would never choose for ourselves.

00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:47.120
Our conversation with Joy included things that she would not have chosen for herself.

00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.680
Her husband died five months later, she was diagnosed with cancer.

00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:56.719
But that's where God does his greatest work at times.

00:01:57.040 --> 00:01:59.359
Trials drive us to prayer.

00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:06.879
Prayer humbles our hearts, and humility opens the door for God's grace to strengthen and restore us.

00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:19.599
Whether in suffering or rejoicing, here in this fifth chapter, James points us to a faith that depends fully on God, and it walks humbly with one another.

00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:33.199
In a world where people often hide their struggles or carry them alone, James calls the church to be a place of intercession, restoration, and confession and hope.

00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:37.120
He asks a series of questions here, beginning in verse 13.

00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:39.039
Is any afflicted?

00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:40.080
Is any merry?

00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:41.759
Is any sick?

00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:51.039
And he really focuses this whole passage on the subject of prayer, even into the 17th verse, when he speaks about the like passions of Elijah.

00:02:51.199 --> 00:03:01.199
What did Elijah do when he felt the like passions of famine and drought and need and running from a difficult situation?

00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:02.639
He prayed.

00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:09.360
Prayer is our response to God's interaction in our lives.

00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:15.039
Sometimes prayer changes things, sometimes prayer changes us.

00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:25.599
One of my children said, I'm praying about a certain thing.

00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:31.120
And then she said, I'm praying that if it's not God's will, he'll change my desire about it.

00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:31.919
Is that okay?

00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:34.479
I said, That's exactly okay.

00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:38.639
Because prayer is not just getting God to do what we've already decided needs to be done.

00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:47.759
Prayer is often about allowing God to do in our lives what he desires, aligning our desires with God's desires for us.

00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.120
So I want to talk about three perspectives of prayer here in verses 13 through verse 16.

00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.199
First of all, notice the sufferer.

00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:58.719
He says, Is any among you afflicted?

00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:00.159
Let him pray.

00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:02.639
The afflicted are to pray.

00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:07.599
The word here speaks of suffering in difficult circumstances.

00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:21.040
It's the word Paul uses in 2 Timothy 2, verse 9, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound.

00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:30.879
As may not be the case later in our passage, I want you to understand here that this affliction is not due to any sin or chastening in a believer's life.

00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:39.279
Now, this whole passage is going to plumb into the depths of the cause of difficulties in our lives.

00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:43.600
There are times that people suffer in the will of God.

00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:49.519
There are times people suffer because they refuse to do the will of God.

00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:52.319
And wisdom is knowing the difference.

00:04:53.040 --> 00:05:02.560
When Job's friends came to him in his pit of despair, they assumed that something was awry in his relationship with God.

00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:09.600
In chapters 1 and 2, Job teach us that he was suffering as a Christian, suffering in the will of God.

00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:19.839
And so this first question involves those who could look at their suffering as a means of God's enabling his grace and growth in their own Christian lives.

00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:22.720
So let's talk about the sufferer and his prayer.

00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:28.800
First of all, notice that prayer gives us a better option than to compare ourselves with one another.

00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.839
Why do the afflicted pray?

00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:56.480
Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 11, let such an one think this that such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also indeed when we are present, for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise.

00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:06.319
But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.

00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:13.839
Even in this section, verse number nine, James says, Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned.

00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:17.199
Behold, the judge standeth before the door.

00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:25.120
Prayer brings the needy soul to God, and the needy soul meets God in that place of hurt and hopelessness.

00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:26.959
Why should the afflicted pray?

00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:31.199
He's to pray to bring his truest intentions to God.

00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:50.240
One of the things we talked about yesterday, and it stirred up a conversation I had with one of our members on Sunday about seeing great evil in the world and praying as David did, those imprecatory prayers of God's judgment on others.

00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:59.199
But the complaint that we bring to God, bringing your complaint to God, is it okay to bring our complaint to God?

00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:00.959
It's necessary.

00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:13.040
To reveal the true nature of our feelings in times of struggles, because what happens is if we don't take our hurt to God, we begin to judge our hurt based on the hurts of others in their lives.

00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:16.800
And we begin to make unfair judgments about the goodness of God.

00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:21.120
Pastor Sexton used to say that all of us have struggles in our lives.

00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:32.240
And if we, in moments of wanting to trade our struggle for the struggles of someone else, truly knew the struggles they were enduring, we would welcome our burden as a gift of God to us.

00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:38.079
I remember my grandfather was a janitor and used to clean windows.

00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:59.120
And he was at Amber's breakfast cafe in the little community I grew up in, leaned up against his Dodge car, hurting, legs were hurting, body was aching, complaining, praying that God would take this pain away.

00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:13.439
And he says, as he's complaining, a military veteran comes out in a wheelchair, double amputated, and begins to pray, Oh God, thank you for pain in my legs.

00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:21.839
Prayer gives us a better option than to complain or to compare ourselves with one another.

00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:26.879
It was through prayer that we give the true tale to God, not looking at others, but speaking to the Lord.

00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:32.320
It was Asaph who got in that vicious cycle of comparison.

00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:35.679
He looked at his life, the bank account of the rich.

00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:43.360
And the Bible says, when I thought to know this, it was too painful for me until I went into the sanctuary of God.

00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:45.840
Then I understood their end.

00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:53.120
James's vision becomes crystal clear in this moment when he took his deepest feelings to God in the prayer closet.

00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:59.360
Remember the old hymn we sing, tempted and tried, we're oft made to wonder why it should be thus all the day long.

00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:03.519
While there are others living about us, never molested, though in the wrong.

00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:05.679
Can I just say something to us this morning?

00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:08.720
Earth is the only hell I will ever know.

00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:14.480
And for some, maybe your neighbor.

00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:19.440
Earth is the only heaven they may ever know.

00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:24.000
Prayer keeps us from useless comparison.

00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:28.000
Number two, prayer helps us to observe the work of God in our lives.

00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:29.919
Why do we suffer?

00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:37.679
Well, we suffer because trials in our life are often God's means of sanctification and purification in our lives.

00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:56.559
Trials prepare us for eternal glory, for which cause we faint not, Paul says, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

00:09:57.039 --> 00:09:59.919
Prayer teaches us to depend upon God.

00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:14.320
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12 9, he had prayed three times that God would remove his trial, and God said, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:17.039
Trials teach us to depend upon God.

00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:20.879
Trials conform us to Christ, Romans 8.28.

00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:27.679
And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:36.960
For whom he did foreknow, he predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ.

00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:50.960
Trials refine our faith, 1 Peter 1:7, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:57.519
And then trials help us to increase our desire for God and the eternal, if not for a trial.

00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:05.440
We wouldn't look to God, and without a trial, we wouldn't seek for that home way beyond our temporal home.

00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:17.440
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:23.200
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:26.960
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit.

00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:33.039
Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our body.

00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:40.080
And then Paul makes that great statement the Spirit helps our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought.

00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:46.159
But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:50.240
And then thirdly, notice that prayer produces humility.

00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:53.279
Is any among you afflicted?

00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:54.879
Let him pray.

00:11:55.120 --> 00:12:00.399
Through prayer, we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.

00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:02.399
We humble ourselves.

00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:05.840
Lord, would you remove this trial from me?

00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:09.120
Would you vanquish this stronghold in my life?

00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:11.360
Will you conquer this passion?

00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.960
Will you give life to this place of death?

00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:18.799
God, in humility, I'm beseeching you to give me grace.

00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:23.759
Again, Paul says he in three separate occasions.

00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:28.159
I think Paul's talking about three particular seasons of prayer.

00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:35.039
Not three prayers, but three seasons of prayer of agonizing prayer, Lord, please remove this thorn from my flesh.

00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:40.240
And the Lord says, I'm not taking it away.

00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:45.039
Well, what do you do?

00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.879
Well, you humble yourself to the work of God.

00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:54.879
Because the Lord says, My strength is made perfect in weakness.

00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:06.720
And when Paul learns that this thorn is part of his sanctification process, this thorn is not an accident, it's not a bug, it's a feature.

00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:13.759
Thinking not strange the trial, the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing has happened to you.

00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:16.240
No, this is God's work.

00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:24.639
And then Paul gets to the point where he says, Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities?

00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:27.519
The power of Christ may rest upon me.

00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:30.399
Our strength.

00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:33.519
Our strength negates God's strength.

00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:41.679
But our weakness, in weakness we are made strong, because it's not our strength, it's God's strength in our lives.

00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.399
Is any among you afflicted?

00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:46.000
Let him pray.

00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:50.000
He, chapter 4, verse 6, remember, he giveth more grace.

00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:55.039
Wherefore God, he said, he resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble.

00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:57.759
So the sufferer is to pray.

00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.679
Notice number two, the singer is also to pray.

00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:03.440
Is any Mary.

00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:07.679
Let him sing Psalms.

00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:13.360
Well, there's room in the sanctuary for the sufferer and the singer.

00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:23.840
I've often told Ethan in music, one of the amazing things about music is the ability to touch all the emotional points of our lives.

00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:32.559
I love vibrato and crescendo and bombass.

00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:33.679
I love that.

00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:38.320
And that's what Elijah wanted in the wilderness.

00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:42.320
The fire and the earthquake and the lightning crashing.

00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:44.320
That's good.

00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:49.679
But we also need be still, my soul.

00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.559
The Lord is on his throne.

00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:55.440
We need a still small voice.

00:14:55.759 --> 00:15:02.159
And anytime you come into the assembly, you have the sufferer, you have the singer.

00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:04.480
We're both turning to God.

00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:09.919
Let him that gloryeth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me.

00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:14.480
Prayer and praise are twins in the work of God.

00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:26.799
Ezra chapter 3, when they laid the foundations of the second temple, you'll remember that the ancients wept and the young people rejoiced.

00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:32.480
How do you distinguish the sound of weeping from the sound of rejoicing?

00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:39.039
I was thinking about that in just the congregation from this past weekend.

00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:49.679
I thought about being at the hospital on Saturday to hold a brand new baby.

00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:57.039
I had just left a funeral service with the sufferer and the singer.

00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.759
I received news in a Sunday school class.

00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:03.679
One of our young fathers just got a great promotion.

00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:09.679
And after the service, I heard that someone lost their job.

00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.639
The sufferer and the singer.

00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:14.799
Job 35, 10.

00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:21.279
But none saith, Where is God my maker who gives songs in the night?

00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:24.159
Does the sufferer need to pray?

00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:25.279
Oh yeah.

00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:29.200
But does the singer need to pray?

00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:31.919
Enjoy the mountaintop, isn't that?

00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:32.960
It's wonderful.

00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.120
I love being on the mountaintop.

00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:40.159
But it really is down in the valley when we learn of God's grace.

00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:47.840
I told you a couple years ago I was in Jerusalem, and some of us younger guys on the trip, a trip to Israel is wonderful.

00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:56.480
It is sometimes exhausting, but so you you leave about 8 o'clock, they get you back by 5, you change, you have dinner, and most people want to crash.

00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:07.599
Boy, they told us there was a new light rail that goes through Jerusalem, and you could buy a ticket for a couple dollars and go all the way to the through the old city and get to the garden tomb.

00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:11.279
And I thought, wow, got to go to the garden tomb at night.

00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.279
So a few of us guys went out.

00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:21.599
And I was looking for a particular place called the American Colony because one of the stories I'd written was this the writing of It Is Well with My Soul.

00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:27.920
Well, Spafford wrote that on the North Atlantic, but he was actually heading to Israel after the Chicago fire.

00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:31.359
He'd lost his business, he'd sent his family ahead, and he was going to meet them there.

00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:33.359
They were going to live in Israel.

00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:36.400
And of course, he receives the telegram.

00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:39.440
His wife writes back, saved alone, and what shall I do?

00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.799
Their four daughters had died because of a shipwreck.

00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:43.839
She survives.

00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:44.960
He meets her that place.

00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:51.039
They reestablished life in Jerusalem, developed the American colony, began to farm.

00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:52.160
They had two other children.

00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:54.640
His youngest son eventually died of scarlet fever.

00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:56.640
Spafford lived a very difficult life.

00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:08.079
But I was looking for the American colony because I had read that in the lobby there was the original telegram, the Western Union telegram, that his wife had sent to him with this message.

00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:12.720
So I take the rail and we find this beautiful, beautiful hotel.

00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:17.279
Walk in the lobby, and I said, I'm looking for the telegram from Mr.

00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:18.000
Spafford.

00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:19.359
And he goes, We don't have that anymore.

00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:20.559
I said, Oh man.

00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:24.240
He goes, but if you go down the hallway, I think you'll find something even better.

00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:37.200
So I walk down the hallway, and there's all of these relics from Spafford's life, and in glass is from the Brevort House Stationery Hotel in Chicago.

00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:42.880
The original manuscript to the great hymn, it is well.

00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:54.880
And I'm reading this, thinking about this man who's looked over the bow of a ship, he's seen the watery grave of his children, and it's just as we sing it today, with one exception.

00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.559
It's the last verse, the last line of the last verse.

00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:07.599
And Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight, that the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, that the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend.

00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.839
We say, even so, it is well.

00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:14.640
But that's not the original that he wrote.

00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:20.960
Even songs in the night, oh my soul.

00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:24.319
Job 35, 10.

00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:31.359
The trumps shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, even songs in the night.

00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:33.039
Oh my soul.

00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:38.559
There's prayer from the sufferer, there's prayer from the singer.

00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:42.640
And then thirdly, there's there's prayer from the sick and the sinner.

00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:46.400
Now I have to tread very, very lightly here.

00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:50.319
Notice in verse 14, is any sick among you?

00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:58.400
Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:02.000
I was 20 years old until I knew how to say that word.

00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:02.880
All.

00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:16.079
There was a Howard, there was uh some students at Crown College from Michigan, and I used to go to the I used to go to the counter and order a cup of ice and all.

00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:22.160
And they used to say ice, practice ice and oil.

00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:24.960
Okay, just a little free thing there.

00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.279
The sinner and the sick person.

00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:31.119
I want to talk about the reason for the illness.

00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:34.640
Is any sick among you?

00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:43.759
Number one, and this is really important, not all illness is due to the presence of sin in a person's life.

00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:47.359
And before I get into any of this, I want to say this to you.

00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:52.880
It's no Christian's job to know the reason of people's suffering.

00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:57.039
It's the Christian's job to meet someone in their place of pain.

00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:03.119
But James is making a very strong statement here.

00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:07.920
Not all illness is due to the presence of sin in a person's life.

00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:10.000
There was a blind man, John chapter 9.

00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:16.880
Jesus passed by, saw a man which was blind from his birth, and his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who who did this sin?

00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:23.599
This man, his parents, that he was born blind.

00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:29.599
I don't know how a man can be born blind, but yet he's responsible for his blindness because of sin.

00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:30.640
But anyway.

00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:45.440
Not all illness is due to the presence of sin in a person's life.

00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:53.519
Number two, but some sin is.

00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:09.920
For this cause, people that partake unworthily, he says, are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:20.400
John 5 14, afterward, Jesus findeth him in the temple and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:33.839
And then David is writing in Psalm 32 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:45.839
When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long, for day and night thy hand was heavy on me, my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.

00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:46.559
Sila.

00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:59.519
Now we can do an anthropological study on man's spiritual, physical, emotional, psychological life, and recognize there is no distinction between often the spirit and the soul.

00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:07.599
Sins of the flesh have an emotional outcome, sins of anxiety, discouragement, depression.

00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:10.640
I didn't say that thoroughly clearly.

00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:16.960
There are times things going on inside of us can also have a physical outgrowth as well.

00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:22.640
Not all illness is due to the presence of sin in someone's life, but some sin is.

00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:26.480
So we're trying to talk about the reason for this illness.

00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:28.400
Is any sick among you?

00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:39.680
And he takes that up again because he begins to describe in verse 15 notice, the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:43.839
Confess your false one to another, and pray one for another that ye may be healed.

00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:47.920
The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:51.279
Now the word for salvation is soteria.

00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:52.960
We get the word soteriology.

00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:57.279
If you ever hear a preacher say soteriology, that's the doctrine of salvation.

00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:02.079
But one way the word soteria can be translated is healing.

00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:07.200
He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.

00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:09.119
The chastisement of our peace was upon him.

00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:12.880
With his stripes, we are healed.

00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:19.440
So James is making an argument without a strong conclusion.

00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:29.119
Some sins lead to physical illness, and at times illness is God's way of producing Christ-likeness in our lives.

00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:31.519
So that's the reason for this illness.

00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:33.440
But number two, notice the role of the church.

00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:36.799
So we have someone, they walk in, and they're sick.

00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:40.240
Not my job, not your job, not anyone's job.

00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:43.839
To figure out, I wonder if there's some secret sin in their lives.

00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:45.359
Why are they suffering?

00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:47.359
This is God's work.

00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:49.200
God's allowed this.

00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.680
What's our responsibility?

00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:58.160
Number one, not condemnation or accusation, but restoration and intercession.

00:24:58.319 --> 00:24:59.759
That's our job.

00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:05.440
In Matthew chapter 18, Jesus writes that classic passage.

00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:07.200
Fill in the blank for me if you can.

00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:12.720
In Matthew 18, 15 through 20, on church discipline.

00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:14.640
I understand what we mean.

00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:16.000
We've always said that.

00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:19.759
Matthew 18 is really about church restoration.

00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:29.839
Because Jesus says, if your brother commit a trespass against you, you go and tell him his fault, and if he hears you, you have gained your brother.

00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:38.000
But if he will not hear you, take with you two or three the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established, and if he neglect to hear them, tell it to the church.

00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:41.920
If he neglect hear the church, let him be under thee as a heathen man, as a publican.

00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:45.759
And in that setting, Jesus says, where two or three are gathered in my name.

00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:47.839
There I am in the midst thereof.

00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:53.599
So our job is not condemnation or accusation, but restoration and intercession.

00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:59.359
And then the second thing that we're to do in this passage is we're to respond.

00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:04.640
Notice he says, verse 14, is any sick among you?

00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:10.480
Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:12.799
So we respond by coming to them.

00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:24.640
Now, this really throws a really big wrench in the health and wealth prosperity gospel faith healing movement of Benny Hen coming to town and telling all the sick to come to him.

00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:27.759
That is not what James says.

00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:31.920
Don't go down to downtown Birmingham and call all the sick to yourself.

00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:32.400
No.

00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:42.000
This is a person within the confines of a local body who is ill and calls for the elders of the church, and they are to come to this person.

00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:47.359
Anointing with oil was an extremely common thing when I was a child.

00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.440
I've done it once in my whole ministry.

00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:53.359
Actually twice, once publicly, once in a hospital.

00:26:53.519 --> 00:27:02.240
But we're to come to them and we're to pray, we're to pray over them, and we're to anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:12.799
Richardson said that olive oil, according to the Old Testament and Jewish understanding, was prized for its nurturing of human well-being, for its healing properties.

00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:15.519
Thou anointest my head with oil.

00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:19.359
Oil was obviously a picture of the Holy Spirit.

00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:23.039
It was used internally, it was used externally.

00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:27.279
It could be swallowed as to coat, maybe the intestines.

00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:34.000
It was put all over a sheep as to protect him from bugs and pestilence and all of those types of things.

00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:35.519
Healing property.

00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:45.279
So in Jesus' time, olive oil was utilized in the healing of the sick when combined with the preaching of the gospel and a need for repentance.

00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:47.039
Mark chapter 6, verse 12.

00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:54.799
And they went out and preached that men should repent, and they cast out many devils and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.

00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:59.599
The word means to massage, to anoint, an outward application.

00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:09.200
But not just an outward application, but that the Holy Spirit might not just fix the wounds of the body, but might fix the wounds of the soul.

00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:16.559
Our duty is to respond, to be compassionate.

00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:17.920
And then think about this.

00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:21.039
Our duty is to hold one another accountable.

00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:25.839
Now, this is not a verse we hear a lot in a Baptist church.

00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:31.359
Verse 16, confess your faults one to another.

00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:36.720
And pray for one another that you may be healed.

00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:39.359
Now you see the word faults there?

00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:40.720
Verse 16.

00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:43.680
What's a synonym for faults?

00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:46.319
Anybody want to give me one?

00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:50.480
One starts with M and ends with is stake.

00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:58.160
Faults, mistakes, errors.

00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:02.640
Okay, the word here is hamartiah, okay?

00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:03.279
Sin.

00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.400
It's the same word in chapter 1, verse 14.

00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:10.559
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth hamartia, sin.

00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:11.359
Okay.

00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:14.000
Now, you got to be really careful here.

00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:16.400
Confess your faults to who?

00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:17.759
One another.

00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:22.160
He didn't say, he didn't say the father with his collar on backwards.

00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:23.920
No, he's not saying that.

00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:32.720
He's not saying we find forgiveness by necessarily confessing to one another, but we certainly find healing by becoming accountable to each other.

00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:34.160
Can I throw a number at you?

00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:35.839
This is going to shock you.

00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:49.039
If you took the composite of men at Calvary Baptist Church, now this is a national average, you're not ready for this.

00:29:49.920 --> 00:30:01.440
If you took the national average of men, I took a hundred men at Calvary Baptist Church, and I said, how many of them have been or are addicted to pornography?

00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:08.000
Statistically, 75%.

00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:14.720
I was talking to Ethan, his floor at Pensacola.

00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:16.400
He was talking to an RA.

00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:20.240
75 young men on one floor.

00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:23.519
How many are dealing with pornography?

00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:26.559
The RA said 72.

00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:31.039
What's the illustration?

00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:39.839
The illustration is this sin lurks and loves the corners of darkness in our lives.

00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:41.039
It loves it.

00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:43.839
Feeds on it, thrives on it.

00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:46.079
Like a mold.

00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:52.480
And the church has become something that we attend.

00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:55.519
We put our happy face on, we attend.

00:30:55.839 --> 00:31:00.240
We come, we dress the part, we look at the part, we put a smile on our face.

00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:02.480
We don't become honest with anyone.

00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:06.160
We give fair greetings and how are you doing?

00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:07.920
Great, happy in Jesus.

00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:08.799
Right?

00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:10.400
What happens?

00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:13.920
We don't ultimately become accountable to each other.

00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:15.519
And what happens?

00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:23.680
Sin begins to fester and foment and grow in the corners and secret places of our lives.

00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:27.039
And I want to I'll I'll just say I'll say this to you as well.

00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:32.319
My experience is that what I just talked about does not know an age limitation.

00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:37.039
Does not know an age limitation.

00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:43.759
He's talking about being accountable to each other, being vulnerable with one another.

00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:50.160
Confess your faults one to another and pray ye one for another that ye may be healed.

00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:58.640
The most potent thing you can do to sin is bring it into the light of God's word and accountability.

00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:00.880
That's what James is teaching here.

00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:05.200
Now, wouldn't that be a paradigm shift in most of our churches?

00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:11.359
To become extremely vulnerable and honest in the sight of God and each other.

00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:17.359
That's part of our responsibility to each other, is to number four, to pray in faith.

00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:21.359
The prayer of faith, verse 15, shall save the sick.

00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:24.319
There's one weapon my children used against me.

00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:25.440
I hate this weapon.

00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:27.279
I hate this weapon.

00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:30.079
But it always works.

00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:38.640
You said.

00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:44.720
And Maria will say, that's why you can't make promises.

00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:46.160
You said.

00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:48.799
Ethan's been especially good about this.

00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:51.440
You said we are doing XYZ.

00:32:51.680 --> 00:32:53.680
Well, I've got to be a person on my word.

00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:55.759
You said, you promised.

00:32:56.160 --> 00:33:04.400
Someone said the prayer of faith is that which reminds God, Lord, you promised.

00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:08.960
You promised.

00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:12.880
This is the confidence we have in him if we ask anything according to his will.

00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:14.400
He heareth us.

00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:16.240
And we know that he hears us.

00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:20.480
Whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we desire of him.

00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:24.319
And then, just lastly, here, there's the role of the afflicted.

00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:31.519
There's the reason for the illness, there's the responsibility of the church, then there's the role of the afflicted.

00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:32.880
What are they to do?

00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:35.440
Is any sick among you?

00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:38.880
Let him call for the elders of the church and let him pray over him.

00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:45.440
Prayer of faith shall save the sick, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:47.279
Confess your faults one to another.

00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:50.559
He's to call for, and he's to confess.

00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:56.880
To confess before men as to bring about healing of the body and the restoration of the soul.

00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:59.839
Do you remember what Paul said in 2 Corinthians?

00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:02.720
I believe it's uh no.

00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:09.199
1 Corinthians 7, if I'm right about that.

00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:18.320
It's not lawful that a man should have his father's wife incessed at Corinth.

00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:26.480
And Paul says to the church that they are to exercise authority over that leaven, which is a picture of sin.

00:34:27.199 --> 00:34:32.880
They're to discipline this member for this, because they were very tolerant as a church.

00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:38.960
And he says that they're to deliver him over to Satan, that the spirit might be saved.

00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:40.480
The flesh is to be delivered over.

00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:46.719
It would be better, Paul says, for a man to suffer physical destruction than to lose his soul.

00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:53.920
And I think that's what James is tapping into here is to confess our faults one to another.

00:34:54.480 --> 00:34:57.760
Prayer in the church.

00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:04.400
The sufferer, the singer, the sick, and the sinner.

00:35:04.639 --> 00:35:17.039
And then he finally says, as we'll look at next week as we close the book of James here in the next few weeks, that Elijah felt just like we do, but he prayed.

00:35:17.519 --> 00:35:20.480
But the secret of Elijah is not that he prayed.

00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:24.639
It's verse 18 that he prayed again.

00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:26.880
That's the secret of prayer.

00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:27.679
Let's pray.

00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:30.719
Father, we love you and thank you for our time together today and