Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / James 3:13-18

Transcript

James 3:13-18 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
Good morning, open up your Bibles to James chapter 5.
0:07
Quick confession, I'm a little short of breath this morning, but we're going to be okay.
0:11
! So that just means it might take me longer to get stuff out because I have a smaller airbag
0:18
this morning. So if you have to cut out, feel free. Anyway, let's pray together. Lord, we're
0:25
just grateful for a chance to be gathered together as your people and in your presence to worship you
0:33
through singing, through fellowship, into the hearing of your word and putting your word into
0:38
practice when we leave. So we just offer this time to you and have your way with it. In Jesus' name,
0:45
amen. We're coming to the end of the book of James. Some of you are glad because it's been brutal.
0:52
We've been really convicted by many things that James has said. So at the end of this letter,
1:03
James is sort of doing what many faithful pastors over the centuries have done. I've heard stories of
1:12
particular pastors who would look out over their congregation in the morning and just make eye
1:19
contact with people and just look around simply because, not because they were trying to
1:26
intimidate or scare people, but because they wanted to like see what the eyes told about the members of
1:34
their congregation. Were they broken? Were they not doing well? Were they cheerful? And it seems like
1:41
that's what James is doing here. But at the end of his letter, he's asking that question,
1:46
how is the word of God going to reach the people of God and seeing different categories of people
1:52
that are among them worshiping and hearing God's word. So let's read our passage together. James 5,
2:00
we'll start in verse 13. He says, is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful?
2:10
Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them
2:19
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one
2:26
who is sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
2:34
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.
2:39
The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like
2:48
ours. And he prayed fervently that it might not rain. And for three years and six months,
2:56
it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and heaven gave rain and the earth bore its fruit.
3:05
So we'll stop there. And there's one more message next week that will wrap the letter up. But as I said,
3:15
James is sort of, you can see it punctuated by the use of this word four times. Anyone, anyone,
3:23
anyone, anyone. He's asking the spirit of God to use the word of God to minister to the people of God
3:33
for the glory of God. And so different categories of people that he's addressing in a pastoral way. But
3:42
really simply, this would be point number one. Point number one is the gift of prayer, the gift of
3:50
prayer. So throughout this passage, he mentions prayer or pray at least seven different times.
3:58
So it's very evident that this passage is crystal clear about one thing, prayer. And it can be a controversial
4:05
passage. I know it makes some people in reform circles uncomfortable, which I kind of, you know, can enjoy
4:12
personally. But but it is a it can be a controversial passage, but it doesn't have to be. Let's just take the
4:20
text as it is, is simply saying pray and prayer. So that is the main point. And the point of this is
4:29
to emphasize that prayer and faith are intimately intertwined with each other. You can't separate
4:35
faith and you can't separate prayer from one another. And so James has gone at length to tell us what real,
4:43
authentic, authentic, actual faith looks like. And now he's also saying that real faith is expressed through prayer,
4:52
through a praying life. So both both out of our desire to love God and want to be in his presence. That's one
5:00
reason why we pray, just not because we need something, but because we want to actually be with God. But also, prayer is a
5:07
demonstration of our humble dependence on God in every situation. So our profession of faith should be
5:18
under question if our knees are soft and smooth and from prayerlessness, if we are not praying. Jonathan Edwards,
5:30
my man from back in the day, cool wig, he he said about this, he said, a holy life is
5:37
a life of faith. The life that the true Christian lives in this world. They live by faith in the son of
5:43
God. But who can believe that a man lives by faith who lives without prayer, which is this natural
5:52
expression of faith. Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is to life. And to say that a man
6:01
lives a man lives a life of faith is in every way inconsistent and incredible as to say a man lives
6:10
without breathing. So prayer is a natural expression of faith. And throughout scripture, we are called,
6:20
encouraged, commanded to pray, to have relationship with God. In short, for all of us, just a reminder
6:27
that prayer, that prayer in essence is just speaking with and talking to God as a beloved parent with
6:33
fear and reverence and love and protection. It's a constant communion with God where we exchange our
6:41
thoughts and our desires with one another. Paul wrote in Colossians 4, continues steadfastly in prayer,
6:49
being watchful in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. And 1 Thessalonians 5, rejoice always,
6:56
pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
7:06
Do not quench the spirit. So God affords us every reason and every occasion to pray in the scripture.
7:13
So throughout this passage in James 5, it's a divine call to both personal prayer and corporate prayer.
7:22
So we must pray. Another Puritan that I appreciate, Samuel Chadwick, he said,
7:28
the one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from our prayerless studies,
7:37
prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at all our toil and mocks our wisdom.
7:43
But he trembles when we pray. I wonder why. So that's this number one, the gift of prayer. Prayer is
7:52
mentioned seven times in this passage. That's what we're talking about. So number two is the occasions
7:59
of prayer. The occasions of prayer. And we see this in verses 13 through 16. So if we're careful,
8:10
we have eyes to see here, we'll see that James particularly has four different categories of
8:17
people that are kind of in his head at the moment. So the first one you'll see in verse 13 is suffering.
8:26
Verse 13, suffering. So those who are suffering. To trust God when things are bad, when things are
8:33
difficult, he says, is anyone among you suffering? Assuming that that's what's going on. So it can be
8:42
very in form. It can be physical. It could be mental. It could be relational. It could be financial.
8:50
A great trial that has come your way. To suffer great pain and endure tremendous affliction,
8:58
as many have in our church. It seems particularly over the last couple of years, we've watched that.
9:05
James has given the prophets of old a, as an example of suffering. James 5, 10, he's like,
9:13
as an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
9:21
Micah suffered imprisonment. Isaiah suffered rejection and eventually was martyred.
9:27
Jeremiah was rejected and suffered hatred and opposition. No one listened to him.
9:36
Ezekiel suffered bereavement. He lost people in his life. Hosea suffered marital unfaithfulness.
9:44
And so they suffered because they were being faithful, right? So we tend to think if I'm suffering,
9:51
I must not be being faithful. But they suffered as a result of their faithfulness.
9:57
So, so if you're suffering, how does James counsel those who are suffering?
10:05
Look what he says. He says, let him pray.
10:07
And how many of you are thinking, okay, yeah, yeah, of course, pray. Right, we got it, pray. But what else?
10:16
Like, there's got to be something else. Is that all you're telling us to do? That's kind of like weak
10:19
pastoral advice, James. Like, give us something else to hold on to. And he says, yes, that's what I'm saying.
10:28
Pray. Pray. And if we respond that way, there's possibly just two answers of why we would respond that way.
10:37
Either we've just simply misunderstood James or we've never actually experienced the supernatural
10:44
relational exchange of God and man through prayer.
10:48
And so sadly, if we're not careful to cultivate thankfulness to God for his goodness, we often forget him and slip into self-dependence.
11:01
We forget of our need for him. We're tempted to forget God when things are good very often.
11:09
So suffering is often the very instrument God uses again to get our attention because we have forgotten about him.
11:17
And so, again, quickly, we get back on our knees in humble dependence on him.
11:23
So it's going to happen in this world. It's happened to a lot of us.
11:27
Acts 14, 22.
11:29
Through many tribulations, all of us must enter the kingdom of God.
11:34
So then you may say, okay, like I'm on board. Like let's, let's pray.
11:40
But James, you're not really telling us what we ought to pray for.
11:45
To which he would say, well, I understand you've been reading my letter for months now.
11:49
But if you remember at the back of the beginning of the letter, I said in chapter one, verse two,
11:55
You counted all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.
12:01
For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
12:05
And steadfastness, let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be complete, lacking in nothing.
12:13
That's what we ought to pray for.
12:15
That God uses what he is taking us through.
12:17
That we are able to meet those trials with joy.
12:21
Knowing what he is producing in us as a result of those trials.
12:26
It brings us to that dependency on God.
12:29
So in connecting this to our passage, Romans 12, 12, it says,
12:33
Rejoice in hope.
12:35
Be patient in tribulation.
12:37
Be constant in prayer.
12:40
So that's one category, suffering.
12:43
And then he changes gears in verse 13.
12:45
And then he identifies the cheerful.
12:50
See in verse 13, the cheerful.
12:52
While some Christians are suffering, others are cheerful.
12:58
And cheerful doesn't mean cheer up.
13:00
It doesn't mean just a happy-go-lucky attitude or outlook on life.
13:06
What he's trying to say is, be of good cheer.
13:10
He's in good spirits.
13:12
Be of good courage.
13:14
During Paul's shipwreck in the Mediterranean, the angel of the Lord assured Paul that the Lord was with him.
13:22
And Paul told his shipmates, he said,
13:25
Yet now I urge you to take heart.
13:28
For there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
13:33
And so, hey, we're going to be okay.
13:35
Like, things are okay.
13:36
So take heart.
13:37
Be of good cheer.
13:38
It's actually, I'm pretty certain, a Greek medical language used of a doctor-patient relationship where a doctor may have watched a patient suffer a great deal.
13:51
And then finally, they get to that point where they turn that corner and they're actually getting better.
13:56
They're on the men.
13:58
And the doctor comes in and goes, sees him sitting up in the bed, eating, you know, smile on his face.
14:04
It looks like he got a shower.
14:07
Clean clothes on, smile on his face and watching a Western on TV.
14:14
Gunsmoker, Bonanza.
14:15
So then, he'll walk out and say, he seems like he's in good spirits today.
14:22
That's like what we're talking about.
14:23
Like, you've turned the corner and you're doing better.
14:27
And that's actually a part of what we're told in Scripture.
14:33
When we see Psalm 40, verse 2.
14:38
But when you come through, you say, what are those of good cheer supposed to do?
14:42
Like, what are we supposed to do?
14:43
Well, James says, if you look, he said, let the cheerful, let them sing praise.
14:50
You say, wait a minute, I'm not a singer.
14:52
People don't like my voice.
14:54
I usually just mumble so others don't hear me.
14:58
But James really doesn't care if you're a good singer or not.
15:02
That's not what the point is.
15:03
He's saying, sing as a command for we must thank God when things are good.
15:11
It's not shifting the subject from prayer to singing.
15:15
He's saying that singing is a form of prayer to God.
15:20
Psalm 40, verse 2.
15:22
You'll see this example.
15:23
He said, God drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
15:32
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.
15:38
So a healthy Christian believer is one who sings.
15:41
A healthy church is a singing church.
15:44
And I'm thankful that we have that going here in our fellowship.
15:50
And so it's easy, though, to lose focus in our minds on the things.
15:58
We focus on the good things that are given to us, and we forget the one from whom they came.
16:03
But praise causes us to lift our eyes from those good things to heaven, to God, from where those good things came from.
16:13
That's what praise does.
16:15
It lifts our eyes above just the gifts to the giver.
16:20
And so as we sing, it's adoration to God.
16:24
It's praise to God.
16:25
It's prayer to God, not entertainment for man.
16:28
And in Ephesians 5, 19, characterizes spirit-filled Christians as addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
16:38
singing and making melody to the Lord with their heart.
16:44
And so I ran in some good charismatic circles in my earlier Christian life, gospel-believing, Bible-believing,
16:56
but disagree with them on certain things.
16:59
But I remember in my early Christian life, I was like the really serious-looking John Wayne reserve.
17:10
And I was with them at a Bible study, and they had some music, and I was just doing foot tap.
17:19
Then something was just convicting.
17:21
Like I just wanted to praise God.
17:23
I wanted to sing, and I thought people are going to think I'm stupid.
17:27
But everybody else looks stupid anyway, right in that context.
17:30
So I went from the toe tap to the chair dance.
17:35
Then eventually lifted my hands to the Lord.
17:40
It just kind of happened.
17:40
I wasn't like, hey, I'm going to lift my hands right now so people will see me.
17:43
But the freedom of just crying out to God and expressing to Him my gratefulness for carrying me through.
17:53
So don't hear it as a license just to go crazy.
17:55
I'm just saying like it was, we're told to sing praises to God.
18:00
So there's enough of us here, enough good voices here to drown out your bad voice if you're worried about that.
18:06
So just let it out later on.
18:08
So that's what we're called to do.
18:10
So third category, he says sick in verse, I think it's verse 13.
18:16
No, verse 14.
18:18
Verse 14, is any among you sick?
18:21
So this is a call to an accessory prayer.
18:25
One of the most evident effects of living in a world wrought with sin
18:28
is that our bodies are slowly falling apart, slowly decaying.
18:36
We will one day die.
18:40
It's a sickness, diseases, and infirmities are a reminder that we do not possess life in ourselves as God does.
18:52
We become weak and vulnerable and feeble.
18:55
There's no greater reminder that we are not sovereign and that we are not immortal.
19:02
We are fallen humans made of flesh and will soon vanish like a vapor.
19:09
So sickness befalls us mainly because it's one of the temporal consequences of our sin.
19:17
It's going to happen.
19:18
It's what happens to believing people and unbelieving people.
19:21
Even those who are maybe experienced temporary healing, they're eventually going to fall apart again one day.
19:29
Lazarus was raised from the dead, but as far as I know, he's not walking around again today.
19:32
Something happened where he died.
19:36
So what does James say to do when we are faced with the awful curse of sickness?
19:42
He says, verse 14,
19:46
Let him call for the elders of the church to pray over them, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
19:54
So the elders of the church aren't necessarily faith healers.
19:58
That's not what we're saying.
20:00
But 1 Timothy says elders should be able to teach the Word of God, be men of godly character to lead.
20:06
But James here says that they also should be able to pray and intercede for those that have been entrusted to their care when they are sick.
20:17
So I know that's been a major emphasis in our elder group to start carving out more time, not just to talk about members, but to pray for our members.
20:27
And so if you notice, though, this is someone going to the elders saying, I need prayer.
20:32
It's not the elders going, who are we going to, you know, seek out today?
20:39
So and that doesn't mean that other faithful believers can't pray for healing of the sick.
20:43
It's just by nature of the role of elders, they ought to especially be able to pray for the sick.
20:50
The Bible says the elders should pray for healing, should be anointing them with oil.
20:57
And so even though oil can be medicinal, I think because it's saying in the name of the Lord,
21:04
it's a visible way of setting someone apart symbolically for the Lord's intervention.
21:10
In the Old Testament, we find that anointing with oil was representative of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon a person.
21:18
That's 1 Samuel 16, 13, when David was anointed.
21:23
Oil, therefore, I think is an appropriate symbol or image for God's Spirit.
21:30
Since it is God's Holy Spirit who carries out the work of ministering to others through the believer, including that of healing.
21:40
And so Jesus, when he sent out the 12 to minister in his name, it says,
21:46
They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
21:53
However, though, I don't run too far with this.
21:56
It doesn't mean go nuts about oil.
21:59
It doesn't mean people selling in a market this holy sanctified oil that's going to like somehow do something for somebody.
22:08
Oil itself doesn't heal anyone any more than wet water regenerates somebody at baptism.
22:13
It's just a symbol, a mere symbol, and that's all.
22:18
Oil merely represents the healing power of the Holy Spirit to come upon a sick person.
22:25
So you can write down Psalm 103, 1 through 5.
22:31
But one of God's desires, one of the things that he can do for us, if he pleases, is to heal our diseases.
22:39
And so I think no one will disagree that God does still heal.
22:45
You can leave the gift part of that aside.
22:47
All of us believe that God can and still does heal.
22:51
So by verse 15, he points out the prayer of faith.
22:57
He says,
22:59
The prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.
23:03
So what is the prayer of faith?
23:08
Excuse me.
23:10
The prayer of faith is not some special, wholly set-apart category of prayer.
23:16
It's just simply taking God at his word,
23:21
believing him, and asking him to affect what he's promised to do.
23:25
It's holding on to specific promises that God has given and resting in that.
23:32
If it is his good pleasure, he will fulfill those promises in that particular instance.
23:38
The prayer of faith, again, is not this special category.
23:42
But on the other hand, if we say we love God, we believe in God,
23:46
yet we just utter fancy words in our prayer but don't actually believe anything we are saying,
23:52
James would call us double-minded.
23:56
Earlier on in chapter 1, verse 6, James says,
24:01
Let him ask in faith without doubting.
24:04
For the one who doubts is like the wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
24:09
For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.
24:15
He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
24:20
So hear me.
24:22
Yes, God is sovereign.
24:25
God is all-knowing.
24:26
He works all things after the counsel of his will.
24:29
Ephesians 1.
24:31
However, in God's mysterious providence,
24:34
he has for some reason ordained our prayers
24:36
as a means of accomplishing his good pleasure,
24:40
accomplishing his will.
24:43
But if we just have a lot of theological rhetoric,
24:46
but are faithless in our prayers,
24:49
we should not expect anything from God.
24:53
Jesus once visited his hometown of Nazareth.
24:55
And this is one of the most mind-blowing verses to me.
24:59
He visited Nazareth, his hometown, where people rejected him.
25:04
And check this out.
25:05
This is the Son of God, okay?
25:07
Mark 6, verse 5.
25:08
It says,
25:09
And Jesus could do no mighty works there,
25:13
except lay his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
25:18
And he marveled because of their unbelief.
25:21
So meaning like he possibly could have or would have done more,
25:28
but the people's unbelief, he stopped.
25:33
That's a mind-blowing verse.
25:36
And the writer of Hebrews enforces this,
25:38
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
25:42
Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists
25:46
and that he is the rewarder of those who seek him.
25:49
So, however, if we pray in the Spirit-filled faith,
25:55
it will save the one who is sick,
25:57
and the Lord will raise him up.
25:59
Physical healing,
26:00
when the Holy Spirit functions in that way
26:03
and brings temporal,
26:05
underlying temporal,
26:06
temporal restoration of health
26:09
as a foretaste of the kingdom to come.
26:13
It's just a foretaste,
26:15
a reminder that one day we will be freed
26:17
from our physical weaknesses.
26:20
And it points towards a greater fulfillment to come.
26:23
And so God can heal through medical intervention.
26:27
It's been me.
26:28
I've had more oil dumped on me
26:31
than McDonald's french fries.
26:33
And many godly men and women
26:35
praying for me to be healed.
26:37
But I also have known
26:40
and seen God heal instantaneously.
26:43
I've seen both.
26:45
And I don't know why he chooses to
26:47
in certain situations and chooses not to.
26:51
But if you want to underline
26:52
and remember just one phrase today,
26:54
apart from the Scripture,
26:56
Spurgeon said,
26:58
when you cannot trace God's hand,
27:01
you must learn to trust his heart.
27:05
And if we know God,
27:07
we know he's making the right decision.
27:09
We know that what he's doing is good,
27:12
even though we can't see it,
27:14
even though we don't know
27:15
exactly what he is doing.
27:18
Calvin said,
27:19
prayer enables us to explore the riches
27:21
which are treasured up for us
27:23
by our heavenly Father.
27:24
There is real contact between God and man
27:28
where he may enter the upper sanctuary,
27:31
appear before him,
27:32
and claim his promises.
27:35
So, verse 16,
27:38
there's a possible hindrance
27:41
to prayer here.
27:44
It calls for those,
27:47
it says,
27:47
confess your sins to one another
27:49
and pray for one another
27:50
that you may be healed.
27:53
So, it's possible,
27:55
it's possible because
27:57
one of the verses is falling,
27:58
that someone who is harboring
28:01
unconfessed sin,
28:03
sin that is blatantly evil,
28:04
sin that they're being convicted by,
28:06
and then they go and ask for prayer
28:08
and God doesn't do anything.
28:10
It's possible that
28:12
that very act
28:14
of harboring unconfessed sin
28:17
is a sin itself against God
28:19
and just an act of open doubt
28:21
and rebellion against God,
28:23
even as you're asking for prayer.
28:25
It could mean that,
28:27
but it also could just mean
28:29
that as believers,
28:30
we're still going to fight sin,
28:32
we're still going to struggle with sin,
28:33
and we ought to
28:34
confess those to one another,
28:36
bear those to one another,
28:37
and pray for God
28:40
to sanctify us in those areas.
28:42
And there's hope,
28:43
1 John 1, 9,
28:44
if we confess our sins,
28:45
He is faithful and just
28:47
to forgive us of our sins
28:49
and to cleanse us
28:49
from all unrighteousness.
28:52
And so, remember though,
28:54
that just because you might be sick
28:56
or suffering,
28:57
it doesn't mean that you've committed
28:58
necessarily a particular sin
29:01
that's caused you to be sick.
29:03
It could be,
29:04
but remember John 9
29:05
where they asked Jesus
29:06
about the blind man.
29:07
Was he blind because of his sin
29:08
or his parents' sin?
29:10
And Jesus says,
29:11
neither.
29:12
He's sick so that God's power
29:14
might be displayed through him.
29:16
So, although sickness
29:18
is caused by sin in general,
29:22
a particular sickness
29:23
is not necessarily
29:24
from a specific sin.
29:27
Thirdly and lastly,
29:28
sorry, we're trying
29:29
to land the plane here.
29:30
Thirdly and lastly,
29:31
the example of prayer,
29:34
the example of prayer
29:36
brings up Elijah,
29:39
our man.
29:41
He uses Elijah
29:42
to illustrate
29:43
how a man with a nature
29:45
like ours
29:46
could have a powerful prayer life.
29:48
He was a righteous person,
29:50
not because he was perfect,
29:52
but this idea
29:53
that he had a covenant
29:54
relationship with God
29:55
and was aware
29:56
of God's grace
29:57
and lived in humble dependence
29:59
on God's grace.
30:01
And so,
30:02
a drought was recorded
30:03
in 1 Kings 17 through 18.
30:06
It was a judgment
30:06
against wicked King Ahab
30:08
and the nation of Israel
30:09
for their idolatry
30:10
and their sin.
30:13
And so,
30:14
God sent Elijah
30:15
to speak to King Ahab
30:16
in such powerful words.
30:18
1 Kings 17,
30:19
he says,
30:20
as the Lord lives,
30:21
the God of Israel lives,
30:24
there shall be
30:25
neither dew
30:26
nor rain
30:26
these years
30:27
except by my word
30:29
as judgment.
30:31
So,
30:32
three years
30:32
and six months
30:33
it did not rain.
30:35
And,
30:35
the nation
30:36
shut down.
30:37
Nothing happened.
30:38
No stimulus package
30:39
could fix this.
30:40
It was just dry.
30:43
And,
30:43
it got Ahab's attention.
30:46
So,
30:46
he was an ordinary man
30:47
that God used
30:49
to eventually
30:50
send the rain back.
30:52
But,
30:53
notice though
30:53
that James doesn't say
30:54
that Elijah
30:55
was this super prophet.
30:56
He was this man
30:57
who was carried away
30:58
by a chariot of fire
30:59
into heaven.
31:01
He was not,
31:02
he doesn't draw out
31:03
the fact that Jesus
31:04
met with Elijah
31:05
and Moses
31:06
on the Mount
31:06
of Transfiguration.
31:08
He simply says
31:09
Elijah was a man
31:10
just like us.
31:12
He had a nature
31:13
just like ours.
31:15
And,
31:15
why I think
31:16
he did this
31:17
particularly
31:17
for two reasons
31:18
quickly.
31:20
We're very tempted
31:21
to believe
31:22
that those in scripture
31:23
were extra holy,
31:25
super spiritual,
31:27
and forget
31:27
that they were men
31:28
and women
31:28
just like us.
31:31
Sinful,
31:31
fallen,
31:32
weak.
31:33
However,
31:34
the difference is
31:34
they had a faith
31:35
and a trust
31:36
and a powerful,
31:37
sovereign God.
31:39
So,
31:39
it doesn't matter
31:40
who they were.
31:42
They were nothing
31:43
apart from God.
31:44
And,
31:44
we know
31:45
the story afterwards.
31:46
Elijah just
31:47
falls into
31:48
Great Depression,
31:49
wants to die,
31:51
shows his weakness,
31:52
and in some ways
31:52
he doesn't really
31:53
finish well
31:54
his ministry.
31:56
So,
31:56
James cites Elijah,
31:58
a prophet
31:58
who prayed effectively
32:00
even though
32:00
he had our nature
32:01
like ours.
32:02
He was a mere man,
32:03
same weaknesses.
32:04
We're tempted
32:05
to do that.
32:05
Oh,
32:05
that was Elijah.
32:06
That was Elijah.
32:08
That was Moses.
32:09
That was David.
32:10
That was Paul.
32:11
And,
32:12
we forget
32:12
that they were
32:13
men
32:14
just like us
32:15
with a nature
32:16
just like ours.
32:18
Secondly,
32:19
I think he brings
32:20
this up
32:20
because we're tempted
32:21
to believe
32:22
that the amount
32:23
of prayer
32:23
or the amount
32:25
of faith
32:26
is what causes
32:27
God to act
32:28
in answering us.
32:29
But,
32:30
Elijah was one man
32:31
who prayed
32:32
a simple prayer.
32:33
I don't have
32:35
social media anymore.
32:36
Thank goodness.
32:37
I hadn't for years.
32:38
It's great.
32:38
You ought to try it.
32:39
But,
32:41
remember those
32:41
like prayer things?
32:42
Let's get more people
32:43
to pray
32:43
and maybe God will
32:44
like that little
32:45
prayer things
32:46
that were just
32:46
passed on.
32:48
Doesn't matter.
32:50
One man
32:50
prayed a simple prayer.
32:52
He didn't beg God
32:53
and he just simply
32:54
asked God.
32:55
And,
32:56
here's what I'm
32:56
going to make
32:57
a connection to
32:57
before we're done.
33:00
He didn't just
33:00
make up his own
33:01
judgment.
33:02
Elijah just didn't
33:02
say,
33:02
hmm,
33:03
I think withholding
33:04
the rain will be
33:05
a great way
33:06
to judge Ahab
33:07
and this wicked
33:07
nation.
33:09
Remember what I said.
33:10
The prayer of faith
33:11
is like remembering
33:12
a promise of God
33:13
and asking in faith
33:14
that he would
33:14
affect that promise.
33:17
Elijah knew
33:18
the scripture.
33:19
He knew
33:20
that in Deuteronomy
33:20
28,
33:22
the blessings
33:22
and curses
33:23
that are found
33:24
in Deuteronomy
33:24
28,
33:25
he knew
33:26
that one of the
33:27
curses for idolatry
33:28
is that God
33:29
would shut up
33:29
the heavens
33:30
and not allow
33:31
it to rain.
33:32
So that's simply
33:33
what he spoke.
33:34
God's not going
33:35
to allow it to rain
33:35
until I say so.
33:38
And so he believed
33:39
that promise
33:41
but we are tempted.
33:42
There are groups
33:43
of people out there
33:44
that we all
33:44
would harshly
33:45
disagree with
33:46
that we say
33:47
if there's suffering
33:47
or trials
33:48
or pain in your life
33:49
it's because you
33:49
don't have enough
33:50
faith in God.
33:52
I can count how many
33:52
times I've
33:53
heard that.
33:54
If you just had
33:55
enough faith
33:55
you would be healed.
33:56
It's not God's
33:57
will that you
33:58
have cystic fibrosis
33:59
or if you just
34:01
had enough faith
34:02
God would heal you.
34:04
This is absolute
34:04
nonsense
34:05
and it's telling
34:06
great harm
34:06
and damage
34:07
to people
34:07
in the church.
34:09
How much faith
34:10
did Jesus say
34:11
was required
34:11
to move a mountain?
34:14
That much.
34:15
And that was
34:15
his point.
34:16
And remember
34:17
it's not faith
34:18
that moves the mountain
34:19
it's God
34:19
that moves the mountain.
34:20
Your faith
34:21
is only as good
34:21
as the object
34:22
of your faith.
34:24
And so many ways
34:25
people have faith
34:26
in their faith
34:27
not in the Savior
34:28
of their faith.
34:31
And so
34:31
that little idea
34:32
just a little more faith
34:33
just a little more
34:34
like there's this big bucket
34:35
you've got to fill up
34:36
and God's not going
34:37
to do anything
34:37
until you get it
34:38
all the way up.
34:41
Just not true.
34:43
We believe
34:44
in God's promises
34:45
and we ask him
34:46
to act
34:46
if he desires
34:47
if he wills.
34:49
And remember
34:50
his will be done
34:51
is not a cop out prayer.
34:52
It's not like
34:52
I don't know
34:53
what's going to happen
34:54
so your will be done.
34:55
Like we plead with God
34:56
we believe that he can
34:57
but then we entrust it
34:57
to his will
34:58
because he knows
34:59
what's best.
35:02
So
35:02
are we praying
35:05
in our Christian lives?
35:07
Are we praying together?
35:08
Are we interceding
35:09
for one another?
35:10
Are we praying
35:11
as a church?
35:13
So see this
35:13
as an open invitation
35:14
to God
35:15
to come back
35:17
to have this exchange
35:18
with him
35:19
together
35:20
and corporately
35:21
and pray
35:22
in faith.
35:23
Let's close
35:24
in prayer together.