SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: I was trying this week to see the brighter side of our negative temperatures, and there's always a bright side to things.
SPEAKER_01: We were away for a day or two, and coming back cleaning out the car, I see a cup on the back seat with a syrupy drink in it.
SPEAKER_01: And I go, oh my, it spilled.
SPEAKER_01: It did spill, but it was frozen solid.
SPEAKER_01: I could just pick it up.
SPEAKER_01: So that's the brighter side to negative temperatures.
SPEAKER_01: When you preach on human frailty, and God somehow always reminds you of what you are gonna preach about because there's not a day that goes by that we are not reminded that we are human and that we are frail humans.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, this week I did some research and I found this.
SPEAKER_01: We are one of the wealthiest economies in the world.
SPEAKER_01: And we should actually be one of the healthiest countries in the world.
SPEAKER_01: We spend, on average,$10,500 per person per year on health care.
SPEAKER_01: But according to the Institute of Economics and Peace, they rank America as one of the lowest in terms of inner peace, a sense of well-being, and personal happiness.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, out of 163 countries, the United States ranks 122nd, followed by South Africa, 123rd.
SPEAKER_01: So I have to include myself somewhere in between the statistics here.
SPEAKER_01: We ought to be the land of the wealthy and home of the healthy, but have we not become the land of the sad and home of the downcast?
SPEAKER_01: Is there something we are missing in everything?
SPEAKER_01: All this money spent on physical and mental health, and yet we are not doing much better than a third world country like South Africa.
SPEAKER_01: Could it be that we might not be thinking about something?
SPEAKER_01: Or we may be barking up the wrong tree, or is there a tree that we're not barking up?
SPEAKER_01: But I would say this.
SPEAKER_01: Have we considered the spiritual aspects of general well-being?
SPEAKER_01: Let's consider our relationship with our Creator God as a factor, as a primary factor in general well-being.
SPEAKER_01: Can we simply ignore the state of someone's soul?
SPEAKER_01: And speaking of the soul, I'm speaking of the soul in a biblical sense, in the sense that the psalmist uses the word soul.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just get us started here with the.
SPEAKER_01: Look at this psalm here.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 42.5.
SPEAKER_01: Why are you downcast, O my soul?
SPEAKER_01: The soul is downcast.
SPEAKER_01: Another translation.
SPEAKER_01: Why is my soul depressed?
SPEAKER_01: That is a more common term that we use.
SPEAKER_01: It was the late Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Martin Lloyd Jones, a preacher and physician from England.
SPEAKER_01: He was a practicing physician and a member of the Royal College of Physicians prior to becoming a pastor, a very well-known pastor in England, and this is what he said.
SPEAKER_01: He said, you cannot isolate the spiritual from the physical, for we are body, mind, and spirit, all separate yet a unity.
SPEAKER_01: And today I want us to take a sobering look at the realities of the human experience and turn to Scripture for a step care plan to address the spiritual side of suffering on the path of restoration and well-being.
SPEAKER_01: As we open our Bibles here, I want us to read from James chapter five.
SPEAKER_01: James chapter five.
SPEAKER_01: James chapter five, and we'll begin there in verse thirteen.
SPEAKER_01: This will remind us about the reality of suffering.
SPEAKER_01: Is anyone among you suffering?
SPEAKER_01: Then he must pray.
SPEAKER_01: Is anyone cheerful?
SPEAKER_01: He is to sing praises.
SPEAKER_01: Is anyone among you sick?
SPEAKER_01: Then he must call for the elders of the church.
SPEAKER_01: And they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.
SPEAKER_01: And if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.
SPEAKER_01: Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
SPEAKER_01: Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain on the earth and produced its fruit.
SPEAKER_01: My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his ways will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
SPEAKER_01: Powerful package, a packed passage.
SPEAKER_01: There is so much in there.
SPEAKER_01: And I turned to Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Martin Lloyd Jones many times and helping to understand this passage because Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Jones was very well versed in the Bible, but he was also, as I said, a trained and qualified physician.
SPEAKER_01: And like here, James is presenting to us a stepped care approach to well-being.
SPEAKER_01: And he wants us to consider the entire person, the whole person, including the spiritual aspects of human frailty and human existence.
SPEAKER_01: Critical in lifting a person out of the doldrums of despair, we must take the step care approach that James is offering here to restore joy to the soul.
SPEAKER_01: So the idea here is the restoration of joy to the soul.
SPEAKER_01: There's three things that James wants us to look at.
SPEAKER_01: First, he wants us to acknowledge the foes of life and give an apt response to it.
SPEAKER_01: He wants us to accept the frailties of being human and seek biblical intervention.
SPEAKER_01: And then thirdly, he wants us to acquire the facts of eternal truths and then apply them to our lives.
SPEAKER_01: I'll walk you through these.
SPEAKER_01: Something that Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Martin Lloyd Jones called spiritual depression.
SPEAKER_01: Spiritual depression.
SPEAKER_01: He spoke of this spiritual depression, which seems to be the thing that James wants to address here, as a heaviness of the soul.
SPEAKER_01: An unhappiness that touches the deepest parts of one's soul.
SPEAKER_01: Let's think about this as we acknowledge the foes of life, the realities of the human experience.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: Is anyone suffering?
SPEAKER_01: My dear friend, you will not go through life, whether you're a Christian or not, without suffering.
SPEAKER_01: Being a Christian does not exempt you from suffering.
SPEAKER_01: But being a Christian does not exempt you from cheerfulness either.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: It says, if any is anyone suffering, let him pray.
SPEAKER_01: Is anyone cheerful?
SPEAKER_01: Let him sing.
SPEAKER_01: There's your friend and there's your foe.
SPEAKER_01: If your soul is cheerful, sing.
SPEAKER_01: If your soul is suffering, pray.
SPEAKER_01: Evil is all around us, we cannot escape it.
SPEAKER_01: We live in a wicked and sin-stricken world.
SPEAKER_01: And we are often caught in the crossfire of our enemy, firing his darts of discouragement to us.
SPEAKER_01: But the the call here, the first line defense is pray, pray.
SPEAKER_01: We can often escape to some extent the evil around us, but we can't escape our temperaments.
SPEAKER_01: Our temperaments are often the source of much trouble.
SPEAKER_01: Our temperaments may lean over to becoming discouraged.
SPEAKER_01: James 5.13.
SPEAKER_01: That word suffering is a very profound and interesting word.
SPEAKER_01: It's a compound word.
SPEAKER_01: It's the word trouble combined with the word passion.
SPEAKER_01: The Greek word is koko patheo.
SPEAKER_01: Kako patheo.
SPEAKER_01: And that the Greek word there is pathos.
SPEAKER_01: We get the English word sympathy or empathy from that.
SPEAKER_01: It's a special word here.
SPEAKER_01: It speaks of troubled passions that is warring within our souls.
SPEAKER_01: James mentions Elijah here, and I go, why?
SPEAKER_01: Why is he mentioning Elijah?
SPEAKER_01: And he uses a very similar word there.
SPEAKER_01: He says there in verse 17, Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.
SPEAKER_01: And that word nature is the word homeopathos.
SPEAKER_01: Homeopathos, and we get the word homeopath, it means similar passions.
SPEAKER_01: So he's saying, you know, you guys have these troubled passions within you.
SPEAKER_01: Elijah, I mean, Elijah was somebody special.
SPEAKER_01: He's a guy who could pray and could stop praying.
SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
SPEAKER_01: He had similar troubled passions.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because in 1 Kings 19, verse 4, he wishes to die.
SPEAKER_01: He is completely spiritually depressed.
SPEAKER_01: He sat down under a broom tree and he asked God that he might die.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Kings 19, 4.
SPEAKER_01: And so James keeps on developing this idea of sickness, but I wonder if he's not primarily referring here to a spiritual weariness, a weakness of the soul that can only be remedied by prayer and intervention of the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: We don't need to go look for troubles and wars.
SPEAKER_01: Trouble and wars will find us.
SPEAKER_01: It's inescapable.
SPEAKER_01: But our response is vital.
SPEAKER_01: Our response is vital.
SPEAKER_01: If the friend of cheerfulness comes to one's soul, we welcome him by singing praises to the God who is the giver of all good things.
SPEAKER_01: If the foe of somberness comes to the soul, we drive it away by praying to the God who ordains both goodness and trouble, Job 2.10.
SPEAKER_01: But when trouble comes in double doses, and it brings a weariness to the soul, James prescribes two things here.
SPEAKER_01: The first line, defense.
SPEAKER_01: For the somberness that brings darkness to the soul is prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Prayer is mentioned here one, two, three, four, five, six times.
SPEAKER_01: Prayer is mentioned here six times.
SPEAKER_01: Now let me tell you, they had doctors in those times.
SPEAKER_01: You could have said, just first line, rush to the doctor.
SPEAKER_01: Go to the doctor.
SPEAKER_01: He mentions prayer six times.
SPEAKER_01: But then he brings in sin and sinning, no less than five times in the passage.
SPEAKER_01: And so something tells me here, this passage is more speaking of a spiritual sickness than physical sickness.
SPEAKER_01: So the first line in the step care approach here is pray.
SPEAKER_01: Giving the right response, pray.
SPEAKER_01: Second response is calling for help.
SPEAKER_01: Calling for help.
SPEAKER_01: James wants the church to come to grips with the frailties of human existence and to be humble enough to seek help from the spiritual leaders in the church.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 14.
SPEAKER_01: Is anyone among you sick?
SPEAKER_01: Then he must call?
SPEAKER_01: For the elders of the church.
SPEAKER_01: If there's a little pause, you you complete the sentence.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Is anyone among you sick then he must call for?
SPEAKER_01: Good.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: We must come to accept the frailties of being human.
SPEAKER_01: And be willing to seek help.
SPEAKER_01: James says, there is anyone among you sick.
SPEAKER_01: He uses a very interesting word there.
SPEAKER_01: Asthenos.
SPEAKER_01: Asthenia is the is a common word used by physicians.
SPEAKER_01: It speaks of a weakness, a weariness.
SPEAKER_01: But the question he is here is he's speaking about a spiritual weakness or a physical weakness.
SPEAKER_01: And I would consult 1 Corinthians 11.30, that speaks of both physical and spiritual sickness.
SPEAKER_01: In 1 Corinthians 11.30, Paul uses those words side by side.
SPEAKER_01: He says, for this reason, many of you are weak, same word as James, and sick, physically sick.
SPEAKER_01: Why are you weak and why are you sick?
SPEAKER_01: Well, there's multiple reasons for that.
SPEAKER_01: Paul could say to you, there's unrepentant sin, there's false doctrine, there's unforgiving attitudes and bitterness, there's unbelief.
SPEAKER_01: All these things will bring you not only sickness to the soul, but sickness to the heart and mind.
SPEAKER_01: Many Bible scholars and preachers do believe James is speaking here of a physical sickness.
SPEAKER_01: But there are a few respectable scholars who believe otherwise, speaking of the discouraged and the depressed.
SPEAKER_01: Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Ronald Blue from Dallas Theological Seminary concurs.
SPEAKER_01: He says, actually, there's no reason to consider sick, the word sick here, as referring exclusively to physical sickness.
SPEAKER_01: It is quite possible then that the author might be referring here to those who have become excessively melancholic and disheartened because of the troubles of life.
SPEAKER_01: Very fascinating.
SPEAKER_01: Find it fascinating that his last name is Blue, and speaking of the blues.
SPEAKER_01: If we consider the frailties of being human, it will remind us of our need for a Savior, which takes us always back to prayer.
SPEAKER_01: There's never a time that we cannot and should not pray.
SPEAKER_01: Prayer is a declaration of our dependence on God, our need of God.
SPEAKER_01: Prayer is a way of saying to God, God, I need you, I cannot cope.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a place in life when we need others to pray with us to restore the soul.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 14 there.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Is anyone among you sick?
SPEAKER_01: Speaking of this melancholic situation, it says there he must call for the elders, and they are to what?
SPEAKER_01: Pray over him.
SPEAKER_01: Interesting word.
SPEAKER_01: That's it a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: But then it says that that prayer offered by the elders in faith with that person will restore.
SPEAKER_01: And that word is a spiritual restoration, not a physical restoration.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord will raise him up there again as a spiritual term.
SPEAKER_01: And bringing in this idea of sin keeps this within the realm of the spiritual.
SPEAKER_01: If he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
SPEAKER_01: That's good news.
SPEAKER_01: And therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.
SPEAKER_01: Prayer is always first line in the stepped care approach.
SPEAKER_01: Prayer is mentioned here three times, sin is mentioned here twice.
SPEAKER_01: The word restoration and raising up is mentioned here.
SPEAKER_01: When the soul becomes wary, that should set off an alarm bell that says it's time to turn to God.
SPEAKER_01: Call God.
SPEAKER_01: He created us, he knows us.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody knows you better than God.
SPEAKER_01: Call him up, but also call the shepherds of the flock.
SPEAKER_01: Then he must call the elders.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure about your translation, but my translation in the American sense is he must.
SPEAKER_01: It's not he should or he could or he might want to consider calling the elders.
SPEAKER_01: It says he must, but they must pray.
SPEAKER_01: It's not like they they should pray or they could pray or they might pray.
SPEAKER_01: They must pray and they must pray over him.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to think about the imperatives here.
SPEAKER_01: The commands.
SPEAKER_01: The one is a humbling command, call.
SPEAKER_01: The other one is a duty that is a daunting task, and that is to pray with the person.
SPEAKER_01: Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Lloyd Jones points out something.
SPEAKER_01: He's in his experience as a pastor, he said this idea of a this occurrence of spiritual depression is far more widespread in the church than we think.
SPEAKER_01: But he says there's always a rush to find the right medicine.
SPEAKER_01: There's always a rush to find the right medicine.
SPEAKER_01: But he says people seldom rush to find the right pastor or the right elder to give medicine to the soul.
SPEAKER_01: I quote, he says, pastors and congregants must swim against the flow of the popular opinion which neglects the spiritual undercurrent of depression.
SPEAKER_01: He nailed it here.
SPEAKER_01: We are often in such a rush to get a quick fix that we forget the spiritual aspects, the undercurrent of spiritual depression.
SPEAKER_01: Neither James, the author here, nor Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Lloyd Jones would ever counsel against calling in a health care professional.
SPEAKER_01: None of them are saying here you should not be seeking medical intervention.
SPEAKER_01: But what Jones and I think James is pointing out here is this neglect of spiritual care.
SPEAKER_01: There is a need to call in spiritual people, namely the congregation and the leaders of the congregation, namely the elders slash pastors.
SPEAKER_01: And they are called to pray.
SPEAKER_01: Richard Baxter was a Puritan.
SPEAKER_01: And he lived in about 1640, that time era.
SPEAKER_01: But he was a pastor and a lay physician.
SPEAKER_01: And he wrote, he says, caring for the person must include spiritual care, for the care of the body requires cure of the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: They are indivisible, if not indistinguishable, components of the same person.
SPEAKER_01: Profound.
SPEAKER_01: He says people must be comforted through the prayers of the pastors and the elders.
SPEAKER_01: Now I want you to take note of that peculiar word.
SPEAKER_01: Why does James say the elders are to pray over the person?
SPEAKER_01: This is like this.
SPEAKER_01: Do you how how does this?
SPEAKER_01: I think what James is saying there, it's not praying for the person, but with the person.
SPEAKER_01: There's a proximity.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, time to confess, Anton.
SPEAKER_01: How many times have I said to people, they come and they pack off?
SPEAKER_01: Oh.
SPEAKER_01: And I go, oh, that's terrible.
SPEAKER_01: I'll pray for you.
SPEAKER_01: And I go away doing my business.
SPEAKER_01: Horrible.
SPEAKER_01: What James is saying is they must pray with that person.
SPEAKER_01: They need to stick around for a while and pray for that person.
SPEAKER_01: And pray for him, meaning with him.
SPEAKER_01: In his presence.
SPEAKER_01: Want that to sink in a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: James says there, we are to pray for one another.
SPEAKER_01: In verse 16.
SPEAKER_01: We are quick to say, I'm gonna pray for you.
SPEAKER_01: But how often is somebody praying with you?
SPEAKER_01: I can tell you statistics.
SPEAKER_01: I'm becoming a buff on statistics.
SPEAKER_01: Five percent.
SPEAKER_01: Five percent of evangelical Christians says that somebody in the past year has prayed with them.
SPEAKER_01: But we always like, oh, I'll pray for you.
SPEAKER_01: I'll pray for your surgery.
SPEAKER_01: Totally forget about it.
SPEAKER_01: Guy comes back lumping.
SPEAKER_01: How are you doing?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I had my surgery.
SPEAKER_01: Totally forgot, didn't pray with you.
SPEAKER_01: Just the thought.
SPEAKER_01: James is calling here for the elders, particular, to pray with the person.
SPEAKER_01: That way they become familiar with human frailties and the frailties within the congregation.
SPEAKER_01: Praying is an elixir to the wary soul.
SPEAKER_01: It's an expression and evidence of genuine care and concern.
SPEAKER_01: Praying over the downcast and praying with the spiritually depressed is a way of showing I care.
SPEAKER_01: And Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Blue once said, elders and congregants don't always have to have the solution and the answers to everything.
SPEAKER_01: They simply have the hotline to God.
SPEAKER_01: Prayer is the hotline to the one who can provide the solution for any need, no matter how complex or impossible it may seem.
SPEAKER_01: Turn to God.
SPEAKER_01: His name is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: But here's a call here, not only to comfort the person, but also to guide the person in unconfessed sin.
SPEAKER_01: There's several mentions here of sin.
SPEAKER_01: And it says there in verse 16, therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.
SPEAKER_01: And Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Michael Lundy, he's a board-cidified psychiatrist and practicing physician, and he cautions here, I think, well.
SPEAKER_01: He says one should not blame everything on sin.
SPEAKER_01: But there is nothing as sickening to the soul as a denial of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to Psalm 32, verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my growing, groaning all day long.
SPEAKER_01: When I kept silent, David is very clear that he became spiritually depressed when he did not confess his sin.
SPEAKER_01: One should not blame everything on sin, but there is nothing as sickening to the soul as a denial of personal sin.
SPEAKER_01: We're having communion soon, and communion is a wonderful time to confess those unconfessed sins and go to the throne of grace where we can get forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: We have to come to grips with the frailties of human existence and acknowledge that we have sinned and that we are sinners and that we all have fallen short of the glory of God and for the rest of our existence that will be a repetitive factor.
SPEAKER_01: We fall short of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_01: If we say we have not sinned and we are not sinners, we call God a liar.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: 1 John 1:10.
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jones says that a person who denies personal sin and sinning, they have never realized the truth about God and the truth about themselves.
SPEAKER_01: We got to come to grips with the truth.
SPEAKER_01: We got to accept the realities of sin and the trouble that sin brings to the soul.
SPEAKER_01: But confession is king.
SPEAKER_01: Confess your sins to one another.
SPEAKER_01: Confess your sins to God.
SPEAKER_01: He is faithful and righteous to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: And when God forgives, he promises never to bring it up again.
SPEAKER_01: As far as the East is from the West, God looks not back to remind us of our sins.
SPEAKER_01: What do we do?
SPEAKER_01: We ponder upon that.
SPEAKER_01: We like, yeah, I know God has chosen not to bring this up.
SPEAKER_01: God has chosen to forget this, but we keep pondering over our sins.
SPEAKER_01: When we forgive or we guide someone through the process of confession, we need to explain to them that forgiveness means that God has chosen to forget this sin.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because it was paid for by his son on the cross, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Elders and pastors are here to be called in as instruments in the hands of the Redeemer to help to restore wellness to the soul.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 18, 12, the lost sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Galatians 6, 1.
SPEAKER_01: Restore the sinning brother.
SPEAKER_01: We think if we speak to somebody about sin, we are taking the Bible and whacking them over the head.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, this just broke.
SPEAKER_01: We think it's all about whacking.
SPEAKER_01: No, it's about restoring that person.
SPEAKER_01: It's about showing the person, look, you out of sync here with God.
SPEAKER_01: Let me let me help you confess your sin.
SPEAKER_01: And we both sinners, and we've got to turn to the God who chooses to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 14 says there, and they must pray over him, meaning with them in his proximity, and they are to anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Honesty, I'm just gonna confess I don't know what that means.
SPEAKER_01: Honest confession.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've read a lot.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think it means that the the pastors or the elders have have uh some trach up their sleeves or some magic potion in their pocket that they pour over a person.
SPEAKER_01: But I think the idea here is that we point them to the one who is faithful and righteous to forgive, namely Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Elders and pastors help in the process.
SPEAKER_01: The congregants are to turn to the elders and call on their help.
SPEAKER_01: And they in turn will turn to the one whose might and power can revive, can refresh, and can restore a downcast soul.
SPEAKER_01: The under-shepherds turn to the chief shepherd and savior who will raise them up.
SPEAKER_01: It says the Lord will raise them up, not the elders, the Lord is doing the work here.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord will raise them up, and that person will say with joy, He anoints my head with oil and restores my soul.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 23.
SPEAKER_01: So we have the assurance that we got God on his side.
SPEAKER_01: We just got a call on him.
SPEAKER_01: But there's always this sober reality of the problem of sin, and we must always investigate and be introspective, not obsessively introspective.
SPEAKER_01: But we sometimes need a second pair of eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Right, men?
SPEAKER_01: We don't see our sins, and then often our wife points the situation out.
SPEAKER_01: And you go, yep, honey, you're right.
SPEAKER_01: Elders and pastors, like I said, is not there to whack people over the head, but to to really help them to come to grips with the problem of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Thirdly, I want to be careful here not to blame everything on sin.
SPEAKER_01: But not mentioning it is also problematic because there is nothing as sickening to the soul as the denial of personal sin.
SPEAKER_01: But I also don't want to blame everything on false beliefs, but not dealing with false beliefs is equally short-sighted.
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, this thing broke.
SPEAKER_01: Could you just advance my slide?
SPEAKER_01: I'm really sorry I broke your clicker ear.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we need a clicker fund.
SPEAKER_01: Number three in the stepped care approach is acknowledging the facts of eternal truths and the application of that truth.
SPEAKER_01: You see, we as human beings, we have this danger and that we make our emotions the ultimate standard of truth.
SPEAKER_01: Who has done that?
SPEAKER_01: Well, I feel you do or don't.
SPEAKER_01: You feel you're you're I mean, you're you are your f is the feelings inerrant inspired?
SPEAKER_01: This is what Lloyd Jones says.
SPEAKER_01: Our danger is to submit ourselves to our feelings and pay little regard to biblical truths.
SPEAKER_01: When that spiritual darkness comes, we need to grapple with unbelief and false beliefs.
SPEAKER_01: Or else our feelings will dictate to us what we think is true.
SPEAKER_01: It will begin to govern us and master our lies and leading us ever more so downwards in a spiral of despair.
SPEAKER_01: Let me give you three truths here about emotions, about pathos.
SPEAKER_01: Our feelings are not the standard of truth.
SPEAKER_01: Our feelings are not to dictate to us, our feelings ought not to control our lives.
SPEAKER_01: Period.
SPEAKER_01: Our feelings are not the standard of truth.
SPEAKER_01: God's word is the standard of truth.
SPEAKER_01: Our feelings are not to dictate to us, the word of God is to dictate to us.
SPEAKER_01: We ought not to let our feelings control ourselves, but the Spirit of God is to control our lives through his word.
SPEAKER_01: The word of God is the standard of truth, it dictates to us and should control our lives.
SPEAKER_01: Why do I say that?
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 19.
SPEAKER_01: If you would please advance that, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, the one who turns him back, parentheses, back to the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
SPEAKER_01: Let him know that he who turns a sinner from error, which means false beliefs, turns him from this way, this erroneous way, will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think he's speaking here about salvation.
SPEAKER_01: I think he's speaking here about death, or maybe premature death.
SPEAKER_01: And the covering of the multitude of sins, I think, is the prevention of more sins.
SPEAKER_01: So James 5, verses 19 and 20 is connected with the troubled emotions.
SPEAKER_01: False beliefs are no different than unbelief.
SPEAKER_01: And Martin Lloyd-Jones says unbelief is the root of all spiritual depressions.
SPEAKER_01: If any one of you strays from the truth, counseling and comfort must always be truthful, and in the truth, we must speak the truth in love to one another.
SPEAKER_01: We always turn the person away from what is true and what is trustworthy, namely the God who created you.
SPEAKER_01: Believing wrongly about God, doubting his character, questioning his promises, will often lead one in a downward spiral to despair.
SPEAKER_01: Wrong thinking about God and thinking wrong about things like the forgiveness of sins that was adequately and perfectly provided for by the death of Jesus Christ and the cross can cause injury to the soul.
SPEAKER_01: If we ponder upon a sin that Jesus already forgave, it will bring injury to the soul and lead us even further downwards into despair.
SPEAKER_01: It is therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, incumbent as frontline caregivers to not only comfort people in praying with them, but also counseling them in what is true.
SPEAKER_01: But also to remind ourselves to apply the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Martin Lloyd Jones says, how easy is it to read the scriptures and give a kind of nominal assent to the truth and never appropriate it.
SPEAKER_01: You can hear the truth.
SPEAKER_01: You and I can speak the truth.
SPEAKER_01: We can say, well, that's great.
SPEAKER_01: That's great.
SPEAKER_01: But oh, I hate that word, but sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: But what?
SPEAKER_01: The apt response to the truth is not nominal assent, but to appropriate it and apply it in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: The word of God is not only the truth, but truths to live by.
SPEAKER_01: Life is hard for the psalmist.
SPEAKER_01: But the truth that David lived by is the same truth you and I can live by.
SPEAKER_01: And these make a difference when applied.
SPEAKER_01: They are transformative truths, and they do bring healing to the soul.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to what Psalm 19 says.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 19, verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love that phrase.
SPEAKER_01: Refreshing the soul.
SPEAKER_01: The word of God can refresh a soul that is weary and downcast.
SPEAKER_01: The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
SPEAKER_01: Wow, the word of God is powerful.
SPEAKER_01: It's a two-edged sword.
SPEAKER_01: It can bring back joy to the heart.
SPEAKER_01: Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Stephen Cole, he says, I have to admit what James is telling us here to do is one of the most difficult things to do.
SPEAKER_01: Namely, that we as believers are responsible to help restore struggling sinners.
unknown: Wow.
SPEAKER_01: He says that we are responsible to Help restore straying sinners to the truth.
SPEAKER_01: That task, he says, is often about as unpleasant as trying to help a wounded dog.
SPEAKER_01: You're probably gonna get bit no matter how gently you try to help.
SPEAKER_01: Jason, how many times have you gotten bitten?
SPEAKER_01: Elders, how many times have you got bitten?
SPEAKER_01: And how many times will you be bitten?
SPEAKER_01: But that's okay.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus got crucified.
SPEAKER_01: It's not that bad.
SPEAKER_01: And this is important stuff we're dealing with.
SPEAKER_01: This is important stuff, fa stuff that is of eternal consequences.
SPEAKER_01: I will get bitten by wounded dogs any day.
SPEAKER_01: But I do know that Christ is faithful to forgive our sins.
SPEAKER_01: Christ is faithful to raise the person up and restore joy back to the soul.
SPEAKER_01: So lastly, let me wrap it up for you.
SPEAKER_01: If you could advance, there you have it.
SPEAKER_01: I think we need to acknowledge when there's a foe at the door or when there's a friend at the door, whether we're cheerful or somber, we must respond properly.
SPEAKER_01: And we need to respond honestly.
SPEAKER_01: The other day I asked somebody, I said, How are you doing?
SPEAKER_01: And the person says, What do you want to hear?
SPEAKER_01: The real story.
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, I'm good with that.
SPEAKER_01: Oh my, that person was so honest, but I was so, so delighted about this honesty.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, let's stop pretending.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just get honest.
SPEAKER_01: If we're not honest with each other, how it's really going, how are we going to help each other?
SPEAKER_01: We end this together.
SPEAKER_01: I heard that somewhere.
SPEAKER_01: Accept the frailties of being human and seek help.
SPEAKER_01: Seek biblical solutions.
SPEAKER_01: Call the pastor, call the elder.
SPEAKER_01: And they must pray with you.
SPEAKER_01: And then thirdly, acquire the facts about eternal truths.
SPEAKER_01: Often what your emotions believe falsely will be corrected by this book.
SPEAKER_01: This book was written by a perfect God for frail humans.
SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, remember to appropriate and apply the truths that lead to eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: Let us thank God.
SPEAKER_01: Your good news, your is hope.
SPEAKER_01: Let's thank him for your word, Jesus, that is so perfect, so clear, yet is so countercultural, just so cross-current.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we do not want to abrogate the value of the professional.
SPEAKER_01: We do not want to minimize the power of modern health care.
SPEAKER_01: But Lord, at the same time, we do not want to neglect the fact that we are spiritual human beings.
SPEAKER_01: And we must not neglect our souls.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Lord, we want to turn to you and ask you for help.
SPEAKER_01: We want to just confess that it's sometimes a struggle.
SPEAKER_01: Life is just a battle at times.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we just want to give up, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to ask that our brothers and sisters here will always be there for us, and that we will also know that when we pray, that you hear us always.
SPEAKER_01: You say that you always hear us.
SPEAKER_01: And so thank you too for your spirit given to us in abundance, so that when we pray, the Spirit intercedes, your son intercedes for us.
SPEAKER_01: And make mentions to God, all powerful, of what we really need in the moment.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you, Lord, for that.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.