WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:05.759 James 5, verses 13 through 16, Lord willing. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:07.280 Let me read it for us. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.400 James says, Is any among you suffering? 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:12.160 Let him pray. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:14.000 Is anyone cheerful? 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:15.759 Let him sing praise. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:17.519 Is anyone among you sick? 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:22.960 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. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:27.920 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:30.399 And if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:35.119 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:40.000 The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:52.799 In the early 1900s, the renowned missionary Amy Carmichael, serving in India, had one of her co-workers, Panamal was her name, stricken with cancer. 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:57.679 Now, if you're familiar with Amy Carmichael's story, there's exceptional biographies about her, by the way. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:01.920 Elizabeth Elliott has one, Ian Murray has one, the Ian Murray one I think is in her bookstore. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:16.079 It's an incredibly gripping story about this lady who left the world behind to pour out her life in India and uh rescue people from trafficking and just unspeakable acts of evil that were happening there and the way she brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to that corner of the world. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:17.519 It's an incredible story. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:28.079 One of her most trusted coworkers, Panama, stricken with cancer, Amy Carmichael, was familiar with the passage we just read and wanted elders to come and pray over Panama. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:33.439 But again, if you're familiar with the story, you know that Amy didn't have really a church that was there. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:45.359 She wasn't a pastor, she wasn't an elder, obviously, and so she had a hospital, she had medical workers there that could diagnose her, but she didn't have elders that could pray for this woman. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:46.959 And so she began praying. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:49.200 The Lord would provide elders to pray for Panama. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:59.359 One of her friends, uh, who was an elder did take uh a train down there and was able to come and pray uh over this faithful worker. 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:04.959 The description of this event is uh provided by Elizabeth Elliot in her biography of Amy Carmichael. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:05.840 Let me read it for you. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:08.479 It was a solemn meeting around the sick bed. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:13.919 The women were dressed as usual in their hand-loom sorris, but white ones for this special occasion. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:25.919 They had laid a palm branch across Panama's bed as a sign of victory, and they accepted whatever answer God might give, certain that whatever it was to be, physical healing or not, he would give victory and peace. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:35.120 This was an extreme act of faith, but certainly accompanied by anguish of doubt and a desire which had to be brought again and again under the authority of the master. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:40.319 Yet from the end of that meeting forward, Panama grew worse. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:41.759 The pain increased. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:51.840 Her eyes grew dull as she lingered for days in agony and pain until she reached her limit and her warfare was accomplished. 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:56.080 Here's a scenario that is well known in church history. 00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:07.599 Amy couldn't have followed the uh procedure laid out in James 5 any more accurately than she did, and yet the person the elder prayed for and anointed with oil and gathered around died. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:10.319 What are we to make of that? 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:17.360 Is that an example of unanswered prayer, or is that an example that James 5 doesn't mean what it says, or how do we assimilate this? 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:32.719 And we understand all the way back from James chapter 1 that it's not always God's will to heal, that sometimes it is God's will to bring people through difficulty, through trials, through suffering for the purpose of sanctifying them for his glory and our good. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:37.840 Sometimes it's God's will to heal people that are afflicted, and sometimes it is not. 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:43.759 And the difference between those whom he heals and those whom he not doesn't heal is not the faith of the one praying. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:44.639 We understand that. 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:46.159 It's made clear from James 1. 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:48.000 Rather, it's the will of God. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:56.400 And yet in James 5, you come across this description that seems to indicate if there is someone who is sick, let the elders gather around him and pray for them. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:59.439 And if the prayer is made in faith, the person will be healed and raised up. 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:08.479 In fact, uh, charismatics in this passage would teach that if you pray with faith, the person will be healed, and if the person's not healed, it means you lacked faith. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:14.080 I know some Christians that even say from this passage that you should claim healing in every circumstance. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:21.439 Whenever you pray for a sick person, you should claim that they're healed because your words now have the faith and the power that James gives you here. 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:27.519 In Catholicism, they take this verse to teach uh final unction, the seventh sacrament. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:30.879 Last rites, we're anointing the dead with oil. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:37.199 So they get, they get work around the whole idea that the person will be raised up in this life and say it's speaking of the next life, of course. 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:39.759 What are we to make of this passage? 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:41.839 How come two people can be sick? 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:48.879 Both can have the same group of elders pray for them with the same amount of faith, and one is healed and the other not. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:54.480 And I hope by the end of this morning that you have a new appreciation for this passage because I think this is a very profound passage. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:05:01.600 I think it's a very complex passage, and it teaches some very substantial spiritual truths that will encourage all of you. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:06.560 And there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye at the first reading. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:13.360 And you have little markers of this that this is a complicated passage because at first blush it doesn't seem to fit in with this context. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:19.759 Its context is about being patient and suffering, its context is about restoring sinners to their crooked way. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:24.240 And then in the middle of this is a paragraph about the sick being prayed for and healed. 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:30.000 So I hope this morning at the end of our time you'll have a new appreciation and new application of this passage. 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:32.720 This passage begins just with a brief outline. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:34.720 Three times in life to pray. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:36.480 There's three times in life you should pray. 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:39.680 Now we know from other Bible passages that you should pray at all times, right? 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:44.160 Paul says the Thessalonians, uh, pray without ceasing. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:50.800 Let your prayers and supplications be known to God, he tells the Philippians, with all of your requests being brought before him. 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:53.680 So you're supposed to always pray. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:57.279 But in always is three specific examples of always. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:05:59.759 And those are the examples James gives here. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:02.240 First, is anyone among you suffering, he says. 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:05.040 This word suffering, it speaks of external circumstances. 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:08.879 It speaks of things outside of you weighing down on you. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:11.519 This is a word that's used elsewhere in the New Testament. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:14.079 It means in other places, just to suffer misfortune. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:19.439 For example, in 2 Timothy 2, verse 9, Paul uses it to describe being bound in chains. 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:25.439 Paul's put in prison, he's bound in chains, and he says the gospel's not chained, and you should take encouragement from that. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:32.000 You can throw missionaries in jail, you can throw evangelists in jail, you can throw pastors in jail, you can't throw the gospel in jail. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:38.079 You can handcuff the apostle, put him in the clink, but the gospel still goes freely around the world. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:41.519 And that's the word here for being in hardship in jail. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:44.240 2 Timothy 4, verse 5. 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:47.360 Paul says, be sober-minded, endure hardships. 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:48.319 That's this word. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:50.480 It's just the normal part of a Christian life. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:54.959 There will be difficult things that come your way because of your faithfulness to Christ. 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:55.839 That will happen. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:01.040 You're supposed to endure them patiently, sober-mindedly, think clearly about them. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:06.560 And here in James, he says, when it happens to you, you are supposed to pray. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:12.160 When persecution and opposition come your way, you bring them before the Lord. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:13.439 You pray. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.639 A second time you're supposed to pray is when you're cheerful, he says. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:18.000 Is anyone cheerful? 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:19.279 Let him sing praise. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:23.439 I know it's not the word for pray, it's the word for singing praise, but who are you singing praise to, huh? 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:26.480 I mean, this is another form of praying. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:28.720 If you're suffering, you pray. 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:31.040 And if you are rejoicing, pray. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:33.040 If you're facing hardships, pray. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:36.160 And if you don't have hardships in your life, celebrate that. 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:40.879 Be happy about it, be cheerful about it and sing praises to God. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:44.720 If God has seen fit to lead a trial into your life, pray to him. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:47.040 Ask him for wisdom, James says. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:49.120 Ask him for wisdom and faith, and you'll receive it. 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:55.600 If God hasn't brought a trial into your life, you should be thankful and sing your song of praise to him. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.360 That word for cheerful literally means courageous. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:01.519 Elsewhere in the New Testament, it's translated courageous. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:05.839 So if you have, if you're in chains for the gospel, give thanks to God. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:09.199 And if you have courage in the gospel, give thanks to God. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:11.279 Sing songs to him about it. 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:13.680 And then you get your third time you're supposed to pray. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:16.399 Verse 14, is any among you sick? 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:18.000 Any among you sick? 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:19.360 And that seems kind of out of nowhere. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:21.439 We haven't been talking about physical sickness. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:26.160 We've talked about patience and suffering earlier on in chapter 5. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:29.279 We talked about persecution from the rich earlier on in chapter 5. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:32.720 We've talked about the dangers of worldliness and of pride. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:34.960 Sickness is kind of out of left field. 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:37.759 And so I want to look at this word a little bit more carefully. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:39.840 The word sick is astheno. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:46.960 And astheneo is the Greek word for strength, for power, for energy, for being strong. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:48.320 It's a muscle word. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:50.240 Incredible hulk. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:51.519 That's astheneo. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:55.919 And in Greek, when you add an A in front of the word, it means not that. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:59.600 And so the word for strength, you know, be strong and courageous. 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:01.440 This is the not in front of that. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:10.879 So when you don't have strength, when you lack physical strength, when you lack spiritual courage, and that's why this word can mean sick or it can mean weak in spirit. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:12.720 It certainly means physical sick. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:14.639 It's used that way in the New Testament. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:21.279 I think most often, for example, in Luke's gospel, Luke the physician, it's the word he uses to talk about sick people Jesus healed. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:25.600 And 2 Timothy, Paul uses it to describe Trophimus, who was left sick on an island. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.480 Lazarus was sick, John says, and about to die. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:29.840 That's all this word. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:33.759 But this word means so much more than physical sickness. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:38.879 And so I want, bear with me for the next five minutes because I'm going to give you a tour of how this word is used in the New Testament. 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:48.480 And it's not just to give you a word study, it's because I want you to get a full picture of what James means when he says you should ask the elders to pray for you. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:52.559 Through most of the New Testament, this word means worn down. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:10:01.759 It means I think the best English word is beleaguered, that you feel attacked and you don't have the internal strength to stand. 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:09.440 Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 12 a false teacher who's infiltrated the church and is tormenting him. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:14.000 And Paul says the lesson from that, he prayed for God three times to remove that false teacher. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:18.720 And God told him, No, I want you to learn that my strength is sufficient for you in your weakness. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:19.840 That's this word. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:28.879 2 Corinthians 12, verse 10, Paul says his takeaway from all this is that he should be content whether in weakness, insults, calamities, or persecution. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:30.720 That's this word again, weakness. 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:34.720 To keep him humble, the Lord gives him this affliction. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:41.120 Later he tells the Corinthians that Christ is not weak in dealing with us, but powerful. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.519 It doesn't mean Christ isn't physically sick when he deals with us. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:46.080 It means Christ has moral turpitude. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:50.080 Christ has moral strength, conviction when he deals with us. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:56.879 Although he says, 2 Corinthians 13, verse 3, that Christ was crucified in weakness, raised in power. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:10:59.919 That's the same word again. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:02.240 Christ was crucified in his asthenao. 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:07.840 He was crucified when he was lacking the physical strength, so to speak. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.799 And of course, he had the wearing down on the inside. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.039 He's praying for this cup to pass from him. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:17.679 He was sweating drops of blood with the anguish he had. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:18.960 That's this word. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:22.879 Of course, Paul's enemies accused him of this. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:24.799 They said, hey, don't listen to Paul. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:27.919 Because his letters are strong, but his physical presence is weak. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:29.039 Again, this word. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:33.360 They said, Yeah, he'll boss you around with his pen, but he shows up and he's weak sauce. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:34.639 Don't listen to him. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:40.399 2 Corinthians 11, verse 29, Paul says, okay, who among you is weak and I'm not weak is a pastor. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:42.639 There's people that feel beleaguered in the church. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:45.840 It weighs the pastors and the elders of the church down. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:53.120 If any among you, and of course this isn't physical sickness because it doesn't mean if you're sick, I'm going to catch it. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:58.720 It means as elders, if there's people in the church that are feeling beleaguered in the faith. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:00.480 They're weighed down. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:01.840 The elders feel that. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:07.039 2 Corinthians 13, Paul says, I am glad when I am weak because then I'm strong. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:09.120 I'm glad when I'm weak. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:16.559 He tells the Corinthians that the wisdom of man, it's more foolish than the wisdom of God. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:22.159 In fact, he says the foolishness, the weakness of God is the word, is stronger than the strength of man. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:25.279 The weakest point of God is stronger than your strongest point. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:25.919 Do you get that? 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:28.399 It doesn't mean that God literally has a weak point. 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:35.519 He's making the point that take all the attributes of God, what you think the weakest part of God's attributes are, it's stronger than you. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:38.639 Romans 14. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:47.840 Paul says, describing a new convert, he should be able to eat any food he wants, but he doesn't have the spiritual maturity to make an ethical distinction. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:52.879 So there's food offered to idols, and he doesn't know if he should eat it or not eat it, or he doesn't know if it was offered to idols or not. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:54.480 He doesn't know how to handle the situation. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:13:01.440 So Paul says the strong Christian can eat all foods, but the weak Christian might eat only vegetables. 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:06.720 That's not a diss on vegetarianism, although feel free to make your own implications. 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:12.399 He doesn't say if you eat a carrots and vegetables-only diet, you'll be physically weak. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:13.279 That's not his point. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:20.480 It means if you say, I don't want to eat this kind of food because it's unclean, that's a demonstration of spiritual weakness. 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:23.840 And so what are you supposed to do with that kind of spiritually weak person? 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.960 You know, eat a pork chop in front of him so he learns? 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:30.639 And the answer is no in Romans 14, verse 1. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.919 Rather, you welcome the brother who is weak in the faith. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:35.120 That's this word. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:37.840 Romans 8, verse 3. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:39.679 The law was weakened by the flesh. 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:43.200 I mean the law couldn't give you the strength to obey it. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:45.519 It was weakened because of the flesh. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:47.200 Second Peter. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:53.679 Peter commands husbands to live with their wives in an understanding way as with a weaker vessel. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:54.320 That's this word. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:14:03.679 It's translated weaker there, and I think the better understanding, I don't think it means that wives aren't as physically strong as husbands, although that is generally, generally the case. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:05.279 I can think of a few exceptions. 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:06.720 I won't name names. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:15.120 But it means the woman is more precious, like the glass vase as opposed to the pot. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.799 You put the glass vase at the front door, not the pots at the front door. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:27.519 So Paul says, husb Peter says, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, because she's a more precious vessel, weaker in that regard. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:28.799 That's this word. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:30.399 That's how it's used in the rest of the New Testament. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:32.879 I have other examples too, but I think I've made the point. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:34.399 But I've got a few more anyway. 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:36.159 Hebrews 7, verse 8. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:39.840 The first commandment of the Old Testament was set aside because it was weak. 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:45.200 Or Jesus to his disciples in the garden who couldn't pray. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:49.360 The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:54.320 So this word certainly includes physical sickness, of course. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:06.000 But generally it includes the person who is worn down, the person who is beleaguered, the person who feels overwhelmed by the world. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:09.600 And that is often connected to physical sickness, isn't it? 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:21.279 When you think through your own lives, and you I mean, you know how you feel physically when you have the flu or you've got the cold, you're curled up in a blanket, and you want to go to sleep, and you want tea and you want the door closed and the blinds closed and you want quiet. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:23.600 Those wretched birds. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:29.600 That's how you feel when you're sick and you're angry at the world because you're sick. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.519 And sometimes you feel like that spiritually. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:37.759 And you don't have the strength to endure. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.840 Often that is brought about because of physical sickness, isn't it? 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:44.480 But often it's not. 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:49.600 This is what Paul James means here in verse 14. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.240 Are there any among you in that category? 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:55.440 Do you feel beleaguered by the world? 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.000 Do you feel beaten down? 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:00.000 Do you feel worn out? 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:02.799 Do you feel weak? 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:06.080 Let me give you a great practical example. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:07.120 From the book of James. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:08.480 James chapter 1. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:10.000 You're going through a trial. 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:14.480 You know that the trial is from the hand of the Lord for your good and for his glory. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.559 You know that because he says it. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:25.679 You know that if you respond to the trial by self-pity and complaining and by sinning, then it is no longer a trial, now it is a temptation. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:27.679 We talked about this at length back in chapter one. 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:31.440 So the same, let's say sickness, the same sickness comes to you. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:32.159 Okay? 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:46.480 If you receive it as from the Lord, you receive the cancer diagnosis as from God to sanctify you and strengthen you spiritually, to cause you to value the important things more importantly and the unimportant things to discard. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.759 It's purifying you, it's persevering you in your faith. 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:54.879 If you receive it that way, it is from God, it is a trial for his glory and for your good. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:03.360 On the other hand, you get that same cancer diagnosis and you respond to it by complaining and grumbling and being angry at God and saying, why me? 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:04.079 I don't deserve this. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:05.200 I prayed for it to go away. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:06.240 Why, why, why? 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:07.440 This is not fair. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:08.880 It is no longer a trial. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:13.759 Now it is a temptation, and it is leading you to sin, and you cannot say that it's from God. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:16.160 Because God doesn't tempt anyone. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:17.759 He himself isn't tempted by evil. 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:19.279 He wouldn't tempt you. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.680 You're tempted when you're lured away by your own desires. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.920 And so you have to back the car up. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.599 You know, back the car up, so to speak, and go back to the starting point and say, you know what? 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:32.240 This is not going to be from my sin. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:34.640 My own desires aren't going to cause me to sin in this. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.720 I'm going to receive this as being from the Lord. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:39.440 And then it is back from a temptation, back to a trial. 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:40.880 You have to have that difference in your mind. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:44.160 Trials refine you, temptations weaken you. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:47.519 Trials lead you to Christ-likeness, temptations lead you to sin. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:50.400 Trials give you confidence, temptations give you doubt. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:56.240 So it's the same external circumstance, the same chains, the same cancer, the same sickness. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:03.200 But one is from the Lord and one is not, and the only distinguishing feature is how you respond. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:08.000 And I hope you remember that from James 1, because it's a huge part of the book of James. 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:10.160 So you get that. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:10.720 Okay? 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:16.319 The phone call comes, cancer, or your friend has died unexpectedly, or whatever the bad news is, whatever the trial is. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:19.680 So you know I want this to be a trial, not a temptation. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.440 But is it ever that simple? 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:37.200 I mean, you receive the diagnosis and you say, okay, I know this is from God, and I'm gonna receive it as from him and be sanctified by it, and then the days go on and the weeks go on, and it starts to slide into being a temptation. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:44.319 And you start to question God's goodness, and you start to question what he's doing, and you start to doubt his wisdom and doubt that he's hearing your prayers. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:49.119 I mean, at what point does it go from temptation to trial or trial to temptation? 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:50.000 Is it black and white? 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:51.279 Is it a light switch on and off? 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:53.759 Now I'm receiving this as a as a trial. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:55.839 Well, now I'm receiving it as a temptation. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.160 It's not cut and dry. 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:01.440 You know, day two. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:04.960 Like, I'm golden. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:07.359 This is entirely a trial. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:09.119 Zero percent of temptation. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:09.680 Okay? 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:10.960 Week two. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:14.880 Alright, it's 80% a trial. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:17.200 20% a temptation. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:19.119 Month two. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.039 More like 50-50. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:26.079 I mean, it's never that clear-cut. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:30.240 And over time you feel beaten down. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:34.240 You feel like the foundations of your faith are eroding away. 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:40.640 They're being battered by this trial, and the sand is being taken out to sea, and you don't know what to think. 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:42.400 You feel weak. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:46.240 What are you supposed to do? 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:50.400 Just flex and be strong? 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:53.680 If you're weak. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:57.359 James verse 5-14. 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:00.400 Call the elders of the church. 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:03.200 Let them pray over him. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:06.960 Notice that, James, a couple observations real quick before we keep going. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:10.079 I want to try to get through this passage, but a couple observations from this real quick. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:12.720 First, the burden of this is on the sick person. 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:14.079 It's on the weak person. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:15.759 The weak person should call. 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:18.960 The elders don't know what's going on inside everybody. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:20.079 We don't know. 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:24.880 We can guess, we ask how you're doing, we can guess, but we don't know. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:33.279 And if you feel like this is you, if you feel like your faith is being eroded, if you feel weak when it comes to facing the world, you have to ask for help. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:39.359 The person who is weak, they're the ones that call for the elders of the church. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:42.160 Another interesting observation, this is interesting to me. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:44.000 James is the oldest New Testament book. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:48.000 It's the first New Testament book written, other than maybe Matthew. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:54.799 And in this, James is already operating under the assumption that Christians will be part of a church and there will be elders. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:56.400 He takes it as a given. 00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:58.960 This is before 1st and 2 Timothy, before Titus. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:04.480 James already has a worldview, likely from his brother's teaching in Matthew 16 and Matthew 18. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:08.960 He already has the worldview that there will be churches and they will be led by elders. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:12.079 But here it's a little window into this. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.079 This is all James says about elders right here. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:15.519 They should be praying. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:24.480 And this matches what you see in the book of Acts, where the elders say, we can't go, for example, take care of the widows who need food because our ministry is one of the word and of prayer. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:26.960 And you see what that looks like fleshed out here. 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:37.200 If you're spiritually weak, or if you're physically weak with sickness or spiritually weak for whatever reason, and you're you feel beleaguered, ask the elders to come pray. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:38.880 And they'll pray over him, it says. 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:45.599 This is the same word in the Septuagint from Elisha who prays over the boy who's died on the bed, who covers his body. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:49.200 And this lets you know when you're coming to the elders for prayer, they lay their hands on you. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:52.079 They surround you, they put their hands on you. 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:53.839 We do this at Emmanuel. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:57.680 The person sits down and the elders lay hands on them, and we're standing around them. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.759 That's this kind of image here that their elders. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.759 Are praying over you. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:06.160 And there's this phrase, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:09.920 This is the anointing him with oil is what commentators call a contemporaneous verb. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.240 In other words, simultaneous to the prayer, the person's being anointed with oil. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:22.319 Now, this word anointed, it's not the word, it's not, there's a Greek word for symbolically anointed with oil, like a dab of oil on your head to symbolically set aside a king or a priest. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:23.359 That's not this word. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:27.279 This is the word for covered or washed with oil. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:34.160 A burn, somebody who's burned or beat up with open wounds, like the story of the Good Samaritan. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:38.480 You got these open wounds the person takes and anoints them with oil. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:41.119 You cover the wounds with the oil to treat them. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:45.359 Jesus says, if you're fasting, anoint your face with oil. 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:47.839 Cover yourself with oil, so people can't tell. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:49.119 It's this washing. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:56.640 It's the in the Greek world, after you got out of one of the high-priced bathhouses, you would be anointed with oil, covered with oil. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.599 Lotion would be our American analogy for this. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:03.200 A runner after a marathon would be rubbed down with oil. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:06.240 This word in the New Testament is often translated washed or whitewashed. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:10.640 It's the word for whitewashed, totally covered and cleaned with the oil. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:14.400 To be bathed in it. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:22.240 The woman who came to Jesus and broke the pound of ointment on him and anointed him with oil, a pound of it. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:23.279 That's this word. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:25.920 It's the word for anointing Jesus' body. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:32.079 So the idea here, I think, is not that the elders are covering you with oil in a literal sense while you're praying. 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:41.599 But I think the image James is going for is the elders gather around you, they lay hands on you, and their praying for you is covering you like being washed with oil. 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:44.000 So church was snowed out last week. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:46.079 You you heard me talk about that. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:52.079 My kids, I threw them out of the house, as any good father would do on a snowy day. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:54.240 Our backyard has this massive hill in it. 00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:56.079 They go sledding in our backyard. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:57.200 Super fun. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:23:58.240 It was so much fun. 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:03.200 They go down the hill and they launch and we built ramps and we sprayed water on the snow. 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:04.319 Some of the dads are out there. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:05.440 We made this insane. 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:06.400 Insane. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:13.200 The safety inspectors definitely would have shut this down, but government was closed. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.160 What can you do? 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:18.880 So it's so much fun for like an hour. 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:21.519 Hour number two, it gets a little hairy. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:23.599 A couple kids launch into the creek. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:27.519 They go off the thing and splash into the creek, soaking wet, snow clothes in the creek. 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:35.279 Geneva saves herself from going to the creek by steering towards a tree and aiming for the tree, and you know, she was going like 10 miles an hour and the drop-off was this high. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:51.039 But in her mind, she was like 90 miles an hour about to fall off a six-story building and rescued herself from the so all the army of kids are coming inside, all the neighbors' kids and everything, you know, streaming inside our house and frozen to the bone, and there's tears, and it's like the fun tears, though. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:52.640 You know what I'm talking about on the snowy day. 00:24:52.720 --> 00:25:03.279 And so we put them in front of a fireplace, and we take off their soaking gloves and their soaking wet hats, and we give them all hot chocolate as they cuddle up in front of the fireplace. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:05.759 That's my analogy for this. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:11.920 You feel beat up and frozen and soaking wet from the world, and you come to the elders for help. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:19.440 And we don't have the anointing for oil concept so much, as much as when you come to the elders for help, it is encouraging to you, it's uplifting to you. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:24.720 It's like taking off the wet gloves and the wet hat and sipping hot chocolate by a fireplace. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:26.559 That's the best analogy I have for you. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:28.480 If you have a better one, let me know between services. 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:31.920 But that's what James has in mind here. 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:39.279 Come to the elders and they pray for you, and it is like that kind of feeling, that kind of encouragement. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:45.039 Sometimes when we pray for people, we do dab oil on their head. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:53.599 We do so to represent this kind of passage, to represent this teaching, not because the oil gives them that, but it is a very tactile experience. 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:58.160 So we're trying to encourage them, let them know we're covering them with prayer. 00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:04.400 What's the person's response going to be to that experience? 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:08.960 Do you think that would be encouraging for a person who's beleaguered in the faith? 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:13.359 To have the elders of the church lay hands on them and pray for them? 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:15.440 Notice what it says in verse 15. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:18.079 The prayer of faith will save the one who's sick. 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:19.839 That word save is the Greek word sozo. 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:21.440 It means keep them safe. 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:23.200 It will protect them. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:28.640 The one who's weak and asked the elders to pray for them, this prayer will strengthen them. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:33.920 It will guard them from the evil one, the evil one who is who is wanting to sift Peter, for example. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:36.400 And Jesus said, I will protect you. 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:38.400 That's this happening. 00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:41.039 The elders praying for you, it's strengthening the weak. 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:42.400