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On Jul 12, 2009: James 5:12-20 · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. This morning I'm excited, and that's one of the things that happens when I get excited. I get caught up in the things that God is saying and the things that God is speaking, and I start to speak fast, and so I hope I don't lose any of you. But try to keep up, because there's a lot of good things that God wants to speak this morning. And James, as we've been studying this book... We've been seeing so much practical application. James just hits the things that we need to do, tells us how we need to live our lives. As Christians, we're not called to just have some philosophical ideas, but we're called to live differently than the rest of the world. We're called to be like Christ, to make decisions and choices on the basis of things that the Word tells us and to live our lives according to what the Bible says. And so James hasn't been teaching a lot about doctrine or those types of issues, but he's been teaching a lot about this is how you are to live. And genuine faith, true faith is shown and demonstrated by the way that we live our life. And the Apostle Paul, as we've been studying his books previously for the previous months and years, we saw that when he ended his books, he ended with, you know, some exhortations, but also some, you know, hey, tell this person I said what's up, and tell that guy I said hello, and greet the people in that house, and he... had a lot of blessings and may God bless you and grace to you. James is interesting. He doesn't conclude the book that way. He's practical, practical, practical all the way to the very end. And his very last point, he doesn't even say goodbye or grace to you or anything. He just says... Well, that's my last point and that's the end of the letter. That's basically how he ends it. And so we have some awesome things packed in here, six different points that I want to share with you this morning on things that we can put into practice in our lives, things that we're called to live out and the way that we're called to respond to what the Bible says. And so the first thing I want to point out with you this morning in our portion here in James chapter 5 is found in verse 12. And the first point this morning is do not promise. Do not promise. Look at verse 12. James says, James starts out this last portion and he says, here's what I want you to do, or actually here's what I don't want you to do. I don't want you to swear. Now when he's talking about swearing, he's not talking about profanity or cursing. He's talking about making promises. He says, do not swear either by heaven or by earth. As there's a saying that is around in our day and age where we say something like, I swear to God or I swear on the Bible. The same way they had these types of oaths or promises that they would make. They would say, I swear by heaven or I swear by the earth. And they would do this to affirm the things that they were saying. And as we look at this this morning, I would challenge our hearts to say, do we believe what the Bible says? Do we believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that it instructs us in how we're to live? Because here James says something that is probably contrary to what is normal for us, and that is, do not swear. Don't make promises by heaven or by earth, or he says, or with any other oath. Because promises are real. The promises that we make and the oaths that we take are real and they mean something. And if those promises are broken, there could be real consequences to breaking those promises. And so James says, do not swear oaths. Lest you fall into judgment for breaking those promises. Yes. Now there is appropriate times for these types of promises and oaths that we can make. And we see examples of that in the scriptures. There's appropriate times. For example, at weddings, a bride and groom, we gather them together, we witness them promising to one another to be devoted to one another until death they part. Lasting covenants and legal things of that sort, there is an appropriate time and appropriate place for promises. What James is saying, though, is don't be a person who swears, who promises, who has to make these promises in order for their word to be believed. He says, look, instead, let your yes be yes and your no, no, lest you fall into judgment. Instead of making promises, he says, just be true to your word. Just be faithful to what you say. Just believe. Be a person whose word can be trusted. It's not appropriate for us to be making promises either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. Now, in the Bible, we do see that God makes promises. We do see that God makes and takes oaths. We saw that in the book of Hebrews. God swore they will never enter into my rest. He made a promise. They are not going to enter in, in Hebrews chapter 3 and 4. God made a promise with an oath that Jesus would be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. He made these promises. But here's the difference between... You and God. You can obviously see there's a big difference between you and God, right? So God, He knows the future. He knows exactly what's going to happen. Not only that, but He has all wisdom and He has all power. And so He is able to make a promise with complete confidence, without question. He will be able and faithful for that promise to bring it to completion, to fulfill it, and it will not fail. You and I, we are not in that same position. We don't know the future. We don't have all wisdom and all power. And there are many promises that we make that we're not able to keep for things that are out of our control. God, He doesn't have that problem. Nothing is out of His control. And so it's not our place. It's not really appropriate for us to be going around promising and swearing and taking oaths because we are not in control and there's a very good chance we will break those promises and fall into judgment. Now, if you need to make promises because your word is not trustworthy... You know, people don't believe you. You say, well, I'm going to be here at this time. Well, that's what you said the last 20 times and you're always 30 minutes late. Okay, well, I promise I'm going to be there at this time. You're making a promise. You're taking an oath in order to affirm something that's usually not the case for you. And the chances are you're going to break that promise because you're already in the habit. It's already your lifestyle. That's already who you are. It's the habits you've developed. And so if you have to make promises because your word's not good enough, well, that's the real problem that James is dealing with. He says, no, instead of that, let your yes be yes. Just be faithful to your word. And when you say that you are able to do something or you're going to do something, then be faithful and do it. And don't be wishy-washy in your commitments. Jesus taught the same thing in Matthew chapter 5. There on the Sermon on the Mount, he says, look, don't make promises. And he said very much like James is saying here. Don't swear, you know, on the temple walls. Don't swear on the altar. Don't swear on these different things in heaven or earth. Jesus said, don't even swear on your own head. Why? He says, well, you can't even change the color of one hair. You have very little control. And so it's not appropriate for you to take those types of oaths and to swear by those types of things. He says in Matthew 5.37, But let your yes be yes and your no, no. For whatever is more than these, Jesus says, is from the evil one. So Jesus says, a little bit even more than James is saying, he says, look, to say more than that, to say more than yes or no, to have to make these promises and take these oaths so that your word can be trusted, that's not from the Lord, that's from the enemy. And you need to stay away from those things. And so here we have some very basic, some very real practical application. You ready to put the word of God into practice? Don't make promises. Don't be a person who needs to make promises. Let your yes be yes and your no, no. Point number two. We find in verse 13, here James says, pray in hard times. He says, is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. You know, in difficult times and hard times, as we suffer hardship, we're commanded to pray. James says, is anyone among you? And I want to just focus on that for a moment. He says, among you. When he says, among you, he's speaking to the brethren. He's speaking to the church. He's saying, listen guys, inside the church... Brothers and sisters in the Lord, there's going to be those who are suffering. And those who are suffering are to pray. As we look at James chapter 5, there's a lot of things that James is dealing with that relate to things within the body of Christ and within the gathering together of the church. Within the church, there will be those who are suffering. And there's a lot of churches, there's a lot of teaching that's false and That goes something along the lines of every Christian, if they are right with God, and if they have faith, and if they're not in sin, they will not suffer. But that is not biblical. The reality is, James says, look, there's going to be people among you, people within the body of Christ, who are suffering. The word suffer means to endure hardship or trouble. Is anyone enduring hardship? Is anyone going through difficulty? Is anyone facing trouble in their life, James is saying? And I think many of us, we could testify to this and we could say, yeah, I am in this situation. I am enduring hardship and things have been more difficult recently for me than they have in many other seasons of my life, we could say. And so James gives us some instruction, again, some practical application. What should we do? We're facing hardship. He says, you must pray. It says, let him pray, but it's imperative. It's a command. You must pray. When I first was reading through this, preparing for this morning, I thought, well, that's kind of obvious. You know, a lot of times in difficult situations, well, that's the only times we pray sometimes. You ever been like that? You ever have those seasons in your life? You know, the only time you really go to God is, well, because I have this really big problem on my hands and I'm trying to figure out what God wants me to do. Sometimes we only pray when we're facing hard times. Now, that's not the way that God wants us to be, but sometimes that's the way that it is. And so it seems obvious then that, hey, if we're suffering, then we should pray. But you know, sometimes I found in my own life that I'm so busy trying to figure out what to do with this difficult situation that that I forget to pray. But I'm so consumed with the problem and I'm so consumed with the situation and all the variables and all the choices and decisions and all the things that I'm incapable of changing even though I worry about them. I'm so consumed with those things that I forget to pray. Or perhaps I've been enduring for a while and so I prayed at the beginning but because it's been going on for a while, well, now I just have forgotten that to pray. James says, look, if anyone is among you and they're suffering, here's what they need to do. They need to pray. You know, we see this happen sometimes. People come in and they share a difficult situation that they're going through. They say, you know, Pastor, I'm in this tough spot. Here's the situation and it's been going on for this amount of time and here's, you know, what I'm facing and the decisions I need to make and what should I do? And What we encourage them to do is to pray. To pray, to go to the Lord, to ask God. And many times the response is like, well, I did that already. Or like, we'll pray together and it's like, okay, good, now we prayed. Okay, so now what's the real solution? But here's what James is saying. That's the solution. You need to pray. It's not, well, I did that already. You know, now what's the real thing? No, pray and keep on praying until God tells you something else. When Moses was with the children of Israel, they were heading out of Egypt. They came up to the Red Sea and there was mountains on either side. The Red Sea was ahead of them and Pharaoh's army was coming up behind them quickly. They were suffering. They were enduring hardship. They had this difficult situation. And there Moses cries out to the Lord. In Exodus chapter 14 verse 15, the Lord responds to Moses and He says, Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. Here's the time. They're enduring hardship. They're in this difficult situation. Moses goes to pray and God says, now is not the time to pray. Here's what you need to do. And he gives them the instruction for what needs to happen. And I suggest to you that that's a model for us. Are you suffering? Well, pray. Well, I did that already. Well, keep on praying until God gives you the next instruction, until God gives you the next step. And when he tells you, stop crying out to me, now go do this, then go do that. In the meantime, is anyone suffering? Let him pray. So do not make promises. Pray in hard times. Number three, praise in good times. Someone who's facing difficulty and hardship, well, they're to pray. Well, someone who's facing good times, someone who's cheerful, he says, is anyone cheerful? Let him sing songs. Is anyone cheerful? Now, Then also, by implication, by looking at the inverse of that, there's some times that we're not cheerful because we're suffering. And there's the balance to the Christian life. You know, we're not supposed to have these plastic smiles on all the time and just faking it and pretending that we're always cheerful. There's some times that, man, there's just, God has blessed us and we're cheerful. There's this great joy that God has given to us. And there's other times that we have joy for the joy set before us. We endure the difficulty of the day. But But it doesn't mean that we have to pretend to be cheerful all the time. Hey, if you're cheerful, if you're in a state where you're just blessed right now, if God's just blowing your mind and pouring out blessings and doing great works and you're rejoicing over your salvation or other things that God is doing, that is awesome. And that's a wonderful state to be. And so James says, for you, here's some practical application. Sing psalms. Praise God, essentially, is what James is saying. Praise Him. Sing to Him. Sing worship songs. Sing praise songs. Sing out thanksgiving to God. Sing to the Lord and rejoice in what He is doing. Now again, we could think, well, isn't that obvious? And again, we could say, sometimes we only praise when it's In the good times, when we're cheerful. And that's not really good either. We need to be able to praise God in the difficult times and in the good times. But at the same time as we could talk about those things, again, I find myself sometimes so busy enjoying the cheerfulness, the good times and the blessings of God that I forget to praise him. Or worse yet, I take credit for it. I take the glory for it. I just think how wonderful I am and I forget to praise God for his goodness and for what he is doing. And so James gives us some more practical application here. Look, are you cheerful? Are you having a good day? Are you blessed today? Sing songs. Sing out to the Lord. Praise Him for His wonderful works. Number four this morning. James says in verses 14 and 15, he says, we need to call the elders when we're sick. He says, call for the elders. Verse 14, is anyone among you sick? 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. Call for the elders if you're sick, James says. Now there's been a lot of weird doctrines that have come out from this verse and the following verses. There's been a lot of confusion about what James is saying here, but I want to keep it pretty simple this morning. And I think that it's meant to be so, that we don't have to get very complicated, but just to take at face value what James is saying. He says, look, is anyone among you sick? Now, again, I'll take the opportunity to point out, he says, among you. And there is a doctrine, there is a teaching that says, hey, if you're sick, it's because you lack faith or it's because you're in sin. And if you don't get healed, it's because you don't have faith and you're not right with God. There is a teaching that says that and it is absolutely wrong. James says, look, among you, there are going to be people that get sick. Just like people get sick outside of the church, people get sick inside of the church. Even those who are serving God and responding to His call and being obedient to Him, they get sick. People like missionaries and evangelists and pastors and teachers, they get sick, they suffer illness, they face life-threatening situations, and sometimes that illness takes their life. We would say prematurely, but God would say, no, it's in the perfect time. In 2 Timothy 4, verse 20, the Apostle Paul is... telling Timothy, you know, where the different guys are. This guy's over here. This guy's over here. And he says, this guy Erastus, he stayed in Corinth. But Trophimus, I have left in Miletus sick. Sick. So there was this guy, Trophimus, that was with Paul. He was alongside of Paul. He was serving with Paul. Paul the Apostle, I mean, you know the stories in the book of Acts. God used him miraculously, and he healed many people. There was great works of God and evidence of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul, miraculous works and healings. But this guy who was with him, he left back... In another city, because he was sick, he was unable to make the journey. He was unable to accompany Paul any farther because of his illness. And so we see that there are those who get sick and that's biblical and it's normal and it's not because of sin necessarily. And it's not because of lack of faith necessarily. It's not because of some iniquity or some deficiency in a person when they are sick. Paul says, or James says, is anyone among you sick? There are those among us who get sick. And that is normal. It's a part of life. This word sick that he uses is a word that means to be weak or feeble, without strength or powerless. To be powerless or without strength. Now, every time that this word is used in connection with a specific person in the New Testament, it's... Always or almost always, there might be one exception. I can't think of one or find one, but there might be. So I say almost always. Almost in every case, it's in connection with a person who has a fatal illness, who, if God doesn't intervene, they will die because of that sickness. Every time. Think about the centurion servant in Luke chapter 7. The centurion's servant, he had the servant that was dear to him. He sends to Jesus. He says, you know, hey, can you come heal my servant? His servant is described as being sick in this way with this word. You remember in John chapter 4, the nobleman's son. There was this nobleman and he goes to Jesus. My son, he's sick. He's dying. Could you come and heal him? And while they're on the way, the servants come and say, hey, don't bother him anymore. He already died. Actually, that was the centurion. That's back in Luke 7. Forgive me. He was on his way. He already died. Don't bother him anymore. Jesus raised him from the dead. He brought him back to life. The nobleman's son in John chapter 4, he believed Jesus. He went away and his son was healed at that same hour. But for both of these guys, the word sick is the same word that James uses here. Here's one you'll know. John chapter 11, the man Lazarus. His sisters Mary and Martha send to Jesus, Hey, this guy Lazarus, our brother and this one you love, he's sick. The same word that James uses here. We know that Lazarus ends up dying as a result of that sickness, that illness. Jesus comes and raises him from the dead, but not before that illness took his life. In Acts chapter 9, we have the account of Tabitha, also known as Dorcas. And she died of a sickness, and Peter resurrected her from the dead as well. And so we have these examples when we see it used of a specific person, we see it's always a fatal illness. Now, I'm not suggesting that this only applies to those types of sicknesses, but I point it out to say, hey, it specifically includes those types of sicknesses. Is anyone among you sick? That doesn't just mean do you have a cold, that means are you facing life-threatening illness? And he says, let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him. You know, we have a big God, a very big God. And for him to heal a life-threatening disease is not more difficult than for him to heal a headache. For him to restore a limb that is gone is not more difficult than for him to clear up our sinuses. We have a big God. He is able. He is almighty. He is all-powerful. He is not limited when it comes to healing. These aren't big obstacles for Him. We sometimes think, well, it's really a difficult one. I love how Pastor Chuck always gives the example. He says, look, hey, if you have a headache, I'll just take a pill. Oh, you have cancer. Oh, we really need to pray. For a headache, we'll just kind of pray a little bit and take a pill. But for cancer, oh, we got to like change our voice and we got to, you know, we got to be all intense. And for God, it's no different. It's not, one's not more difficult than the other. God is fully able. There's no limitation as far as he is concerned. And they're not big issues that he worries about. And so he says, is anyone among you sick? Whether it's simple, whether it's something that you would consider little, or whether it's life-threatening and you're on your deathbed, he says, let him call for the elders of the church. Now, who are these elders of the church that James is referring to? Well, the elders of the church, as we see throughout the New Testament, the elders are a group of men who have authority within the church. And they are called together to make decisions about resources and direction and the way things are to go and the direction that God is leading. We have the example in Acts chapter 15 of the apostles and elders coming together to consider the issue of Gentiles within the church and what is going to be required of Gentiles. Do they got to become Jews? Do they have to be circumcised? Do they have to keep the law? And so the elders of the church gathered together to seek God, to discuss and And find out what God would have the church do with those Gentiles who are coming in to the church. This famous Jerusalem council was a gathering together of the apostles and elders who were the ruling body of the church. Elders mentioned elsewhere throughout the New Testament always indicating that they have authority within the church. But Paul also acknowledges that not all elders are pastors or teachers. In 1 Timothy 5, verse 17, Paul says, Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. So elders are to be counted worthy of double honor. They have this role that God has given to them, this responsibility within the church, but not all elders labor in the word. The pastor says, The teachers, those that God has raised up for that role, they're a part of the group that is called the elders. But not every elder is a pastor in that sense of a teacher. So let me kind of sum that up for you. Elders... are always used in the context of the church. It's always plural. It's a group of men with authority within the church. The elders include, but are not limited to the pastors. And the elders rule and have authority, but are not necessarily teachers of the word. And so we have here at Living Water, we have a board of directors that fits this description. It's a ruling body of men that seeks God, that gathers together regularly to seek the Lord, to make those decisions and face those issues that come up within the church. And so James says... Now, why do you think God would say, call the elders of the church? There's lots of reasons that we could make up that would not be accurate, that would not be right. You know, it's not that the elders are more spiritual or holy than everyone else. That's not what God is saying. It's not saying, call the elders because, you know, they are the most spiritual of the whole church. And so that's why you need to call them because they're so spiritual. You know, with our group of guys, there are some of you who have more experience in the Lord than they do. Some of you are more involved in events and activities and studies than some of our elders are. Some of you are, maybe you could say, more spiritual or holy. Maybe there's some of you who are more gifted than those who serve as elders here at Living Water. People do not serve as elders because they're the most talented, most gifted, most holy, most spiritual. It's a matter of calling. In the same way that the pastor is not picked by determining who can teach the best. You know, we don't have a teaching competition, right? Living Water's next top pastor. And we have all these people come in and teach and then you get a vote and whichever one teaches the best, well, that's the new pastor of Calvary Chapel Living Water. Now, that's not the way it works. The way it works is God calls and He raises up and He directs And this is his church. And according to his instruction and the way that he works, men are raised up and called by God. And he gives the direction. He speaks and he shows. And so the elders are not necessarily the most spiritual or the most holy, but they're the ones that God has called. So why the elders then if they're not the most spiritual, if they're not the most holy? Well, I would suggest to you That it's God's way of making sure that there's not this superficial hierarchy within the church that doesn't need to be there, that really does not exist. I think God is basically saying this, those who are making decisions need to be in contact with those who are in need. Those who have authority within the church, they need to be involved with the body, they need to be amongst the body, and they need to be praying for those who are in need. They need to have contact with those who are in need to keep them as servants to the body, not as some ruler and great authority, and you have to have all this reverence. No, no, no, it's not about that. The elders are those who serve the body, just like the pastor. Why the elders? It's not about a formula, but it's about family. It's God's way of bringing us together. He calls us to pray for those who are in need. He tells those who are sick. Now, notice what he says. He says, is anyone among you sick? He says, let him call for the elders. He places the responsibility there upon the one who is sick. It's not that the elders are supposed to go out and look for sick people and start a healing ministry or that they have the gift of healing. But it's that the person who is sick is to call for the elders and say, Hey guys, I'm sick. I'm suffering with this issue. I've got this weakness, this lack of strength. I'm powerless with this medical problem, with this emotional problem, whatever may be going on. I've got this issue that I'm facing now. And they're to call the elders of the church to themselves. In the Greek, the word means literally to call to oneself. It's very clear that you're to bring them to you so that they can pray over you. It's really an act of faith by the person who is sick, saying, I want you to come and pray over me in obedience to what God has said in his word. And so when the elders are called to To this sick person, he says, let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Now again, there's been a lot of strange and various doctrine that's been taught out of this verse throughout the course of church history. But let's keep it simple. The elders here are to pray over the sick. They're to pray over the sick. They're to anoint them with oil and pray for them in the name of Jesus. It's as simple as that. To anoint means simply to apply olive oil. Apply olive oil. Now, there are those who suggest that when he says anoint them with oil, that he's not talking about what we typically think of. We take a little vial of oil, we put it on their forehead. There are those who suggest, well, that's not really what he's talking about, but actually what James is saying, that it's a medical practice. You can look at Luke chapter 10 and the parable of the Good Samaritan for maybe an example of this. There the Samaritan, he came along, there was a guy who was beat up, he was wounded, he was bruised, he carries him off, he puts him in, he treats his wounds. And how does he treat his wounds? Well, in Luke chapter 10, verse 34, it tells us that he applied oil to his wounds. It was a medical practice of the day, a way to treat those wounds and those injuries that he had suffered. And so they look at that and they say, well, that's possibly and probably, you know, James is telling the elders to, you know, apply some medical practice to those who are sick. And they use it to teach that it's okay, you know, to go see a doctor. Now, I agree with the point that it's okay to go see a doctor. In fact, if you've got physical things, if you've got some illnesses, some sickness, go see a doctor. That's important. That's good. I don't agree that this is the best passage to teach that from, but it's a possibility and you can take it or leave it. We also have the example, though, of the anointing of oil in the scriptures in Mark chapter 6, Verse 13, the disciples, the 12 disciples are sent out by Jesus. And it says that they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. And so they went out, they were casting out demons, they were doing miracles, they were doing the work of the Lord. And they anointed with oil those who were sick and they were healed. We find oil throughout the scriptures as a picture, as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. As seen in Zechariah chapter 4, where he has the vision of the olive trees coming upon the lamp, and it was the vision of the Holy Spirit. The message from that vision was, not by power, not by might, but by my spirit, says the Lord. The oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. We also see in Exodus chapter 40 and other portions, that oil was used for consecration. When they were setting up the tabernacle and putting everything together, they were to anoint it with oil. As the priests were beginning their service, they were to be anointed with oil. It was a matter of consecration that they would be holy or set apart unto the Lord. And so when we talk about anointing with oil, we're simply talking about applying oil to a person in agreement with their desire to be set apart, to be consecrated to the Lord, submitted to His will, and filled with the Holy Spirit. There's nothing mystical or magical about oil. It's not anything like that. James is not saying anything in that regard at all. He's simply saying it's a way for us to come alongside to agree with those who are sick that they want to be set apart to the Lord. They want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and submitted to His will. Verse 15. He says, and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. This is another verse that has produced a lot of weird doctrines. But again, let's just look at it simply. He says, the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. The prayer of faith will save the sick. What is the prayer of faith? Is the prayer of faith the prayer that you pray when you have no doubts? Is the prayer of faith the prayer that you pray where you claim the healing and you claim to receive it and you don't have any question and you make sure not to question whether or not you received. You have to confess and say, oh yes, I've been healed, whether or not you know you have been or not. And that's the prayer of faith according to some. But understand here, as James is talking, he's not saying that this is some magic formula. You have to pray this prayer of faith and you have to have this certain attitude when you pray and this certain tone of voice. You know, he doesn't say call the elders together to pray this prayer because, you know, the elders, well, they're really spiritual and so... We can't teach this prayer to everyone, but we can teach it to the elders. There's this prayer, and they have the right prayer, and the right words to say, and this incantation that they pray, and they know how to use the right tone of voice so that this prayer is prayed appropriately, and it's the prayer of faith. If you use a different tone of voice, it's not the prayer of faith. No, no, no, no. It's nothing like that at all. It's not some weird mystical thing, some special wording or tone of voice. You know, it's not about the shape of the oil that you apply. You know, like, well, I do a cross or I do a dove or I do the whole figure of Jesus. You know, I do a whole artwork there as I'm applying. No, it's not. It's just putting oil on someone. It doesn't matter what shape it is. It's not anything like that. What is the prayer of faith? Well, the prayer of faith is a prayer that is prayed according to the will of God. The prayer of faith happens when our will is aligned with His. We see that in 1 John 5. In 1 John 5, verses 14 and 15, John tells us, here's something that we can be confident in. Here's something we can know for sure. If we ask anything according to His will, that He hears us. If we ask anything Anything that is according to God's will, He hears us, John says. And he goes on to say, and if He hears us, well then we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. The things that we've asked for, if they're according to His will, we know that He's heard us. And if we know that He's heard us, then we know that we have the things that we have asked for. And so the prayer of faith, as we often say, faith is obedience to God at His word. It's obeying God. It's being submitted to His will. The prayer of faith is a prayer that is according to the will of God. And the hard thing that we don't like to face is it's not God's will that everyone be healed immediately. Every believer will be healed eventually. Because this body will be put to death. This body will be done away with. And we'll get a new body that will never be sick, that will never have infirmity for the rest of eternity. That's the ultimate healing. And every believer will be healed in that way eventually. But it's not God's will for every believer to be healed immediately. Not every believer is healed immediately. For the example that we used before with Paul and that servant, Trophimus, who was with him. He was serving the Lord alongside him and Paul left him back in Miletus because he was sick. He wasn't able to make the journey. What? Paul didn't know the prayer of faith? Paul, don't you know? All you had to do was put oil in pray and he would be healed. No. No. It wasn't God's will. For whatever reason, that's a whole other message in itself. Whatever God's will and the way he uses those things. But the bottom line is it's not God's will for everyone to be healed immediately. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, we have the account there of the Apostle Paul. And he had this affliction. He called it a thorn in the flesh. And he beseeched God. He prayed three times. He brought it to the Lord. And God said, my grace is sufficient for you. God said, it's not my will that you be healed right now. In the meantime, though, my grace is enough for you. And you can continue to do what I've called you to do. You can continue to live the life that I've called you to live with the grace that I've given to you. And so God has his will. He has his purposes. He has his plans. The prayer of faith is a prayer that is prayed according to the will of God in submission to the will of God. And so now it begs the question, well, how do we know if it's God's will to heal or not? And that's the wonderful thing about prayer. You know, you don't have to know the answer before you pray. You can pray the prayer without knowing what the answer is. You can pray the prayer. In fact, here's what we do know. We know this is God's will. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call the elders to pray for him and anoint him with oil. That's God's will. It's the instruction he's given to us in his word. It's what he wants us to do. It's what he's commanded us to do. That's God's will. The rest, we leave up to him. And we're submitted to his will. We're not trying to force our own will. We're not trying to persuade God. We don't have to plead and convince God. Look, he wants what's best for us. And his will is what's best for us. We don't have to arm wrestle him to submission. Okay, fine, I'll heal him. Man, if you wouldn't have put up such a fight. No, he wants to bless. He wants what's best. All he's calling the elders to do is to gather together and say, Lord, is this your will? We pray in obedience to your word. We know it's your will for us to pray, for us to gather together, to lay hands, to anoint with oil. That's your will, Lord. That's what we're doing. We're praying for this one who is sick. Lord, do you want to heal them? Now, there is the issue. There is something that we need to consider. In James chapter 4, James is talking about things that we want but that we don't have. And he says in James 4 too, sometimes that we do not have because we do not ask. And so there is the issue sometimes that we don't have the fullness of what God wants to give us because we don't believe Him at His word and we don't ask. And so we miss out on some of the things that God wants to do by not seeking him, by not seeking his will, by not asking him what he wants to do in our lives. And so I want to encourage you. Let's live out the word of God. Are you sick? Is anyone sick? Call for the elders. Let them pray for you and anoint you with oil. He concludes the verse, there verse 15, by saying, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. And this has led some to teach that sickness is the result of sin. And that is wrong. Notice the word if. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Sickness is not always a direct result of sin. Now there is some sickness that happens that are consequences of sin. But being in a state of sickness is not an indication of not being right with God. Being sick is not an indication that there's some hidden sin that you haven't confessed. Being sick does not mean that you are in rebellion against God or that you have something to confess. Listen, we have the whole book of Job as an example of this and yet there's so many who believe this way. Job, the whole point of Job is that he was righteous. There was no one like him. He was blameless. And yet, look at what he suffered. Look at what he endured. He had those boils on his body. He had sickness that he endured. And it wasn't because of sin. Although his friends accused him through the whole book. Job, there's some sin. Look at the condition you're in. Look, Job, you're sick. Look at how horrible things are for you. You must be in sin. You have to repent. There's something you've done. There's something you're rebelling against God in. They would tell him over and over and over again. Poor Job. But it still happens today. Listen, sickness is not a direct result of a person's sin. The elders here are not forgiving this sin either. He's simply saying, look, if there is sin involved, sometimes there is. Sometimes God chastens us, he rebukes us, he disciplines us so that we get right because he loves us and wants what's best for us. So he says, look, if there is sin involved, if it is a matter of rebellion that this person is afflicted in this way, hey, the person will be forgiven. Not because of the elders, it's not the elders are forgiving him, but because this person is submitting to the Lord. They're obeying God. They're calling upon God and trusting in Him. Hey, that's called faith. Believing in Jesus Christ. That's where the forgiveness of sins is found. And so as they call the elders, as they call out, hey, if there is some sin that they've been involved in, if there is some rebellion, this is them turning back to God and they are forgiven. They're new in Christ. Those sins are washed away. And so if there is some connected sin, if it is as a result of rebellion against God, James says, they will be forgiven. Again, I want to encourage you, challenge you. It's practical application. Let's put it into practice. At the end of the service this morning, we'll have an opportunity to do this, for you to come and have the elders anoint you with oil and pray for you, because we want to apply the word of God. We want to live it out. Let's move on to the next point, though, as we wrap up. Point number five says, confess and pray for one another. So we're to call the elders when we're sick, but he goes on to make sure to point out this is not some priestly role that can only be fulfilled by the elders. Look at verse 16. He says, confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. After he says all this about the elders, he uses a different word here now. He says, confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another. One another is not a specific group of elders or leaders. One another is other brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. One another throughout the New Testament is, it's a wonderful study to look at all of the commands that were given to, that were to complete or that were to do towards one another. This is how we're to relate to one another. It's not a specific group of leaders, but it's all believers in general. And so he says, confess your trespasses to one another. confess your trespasses. Now this gives nobody the authority and the right to come up to you and say, hey, you need to confess your trespasses to me. This is not confession in the sense of the Catholic Church where you have to confess to the priest in order to be forgiven. That's not what this is at all. When we're talking about confessing to one another, we need to show some discretion. There's a story I heard recently, and I'll personalize it just because it's a little bit funnier. Jonathan, Cisco, and Pule were gathering together one day for a Bible study and they really wanted to be obedient to God. They came across this passage and so they decided, well, we're going to confess to one another so that, you know, we can put these things into practice in our lives. And, So Jonathan shared about how he was really struggling with alcohol. Okay, this really didn't happen, but I'm making it up, okay? But he shared about how he had to make sure because, you know, I don't want any false accusations. No slander, anything like that. He says, hey, I'm really struggling with alcohol and, you know, I keep it with me at work and I hide it this way and I have this and, you know, can you guys pray for me? So they're like, okay, yeah, yeah, we'll pray for you. So then Pastor Sisko goes, well, you know, I've really been struggling with lust and there's these issues and man, it's just been a real battlefield for me. And so, you know, can you guys pray for me? Oh yeah, we can pray for you. And so finally it comes to Pastor Pooley and they say, okay, so, you know, what's your issue? We shared ours. And so he said, I'm really struggling with gossip and I can't wait to get out of here and tell everybody what you guys are involved in. When it comes to confession... we need to be careful. We need to show discretion. This is not confession for forgiveness. But it's talking about relationships within the body of Christ. It's not confession for forgiveness, it's confession for prayer. He says, confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed or that you may be made whole. It's the idea that we are to develop within the body of Christ these relationships where we have this brother for guys or this sister for girls that we can come to them and say, hey, I'm really struggling with this in my life. Will you pray for me? The idea is that we are to have these connections within the body of Christ that help us, that strengthen us, that we can pray for one another in our struggles and in our weaknesses. You know, we are not in this Christian life on our own. We need one another. God has designed us to need these relationships within the body of Christ. And there are those who say, well, I don't have to go to church to be saved. Well, that may be true. For salvation, church is not a requirement. But if you want to walk with God, you have to be a part of His body. You need these relationships. I need these relationships. And we need these kinds of relationships where we're able to confess to one another, this is what I'm struggling with. This is what I go through. Will you pray for me? And I would ask you to consider that perhaps the reason that you're half-hearted and lukewarm as a Christian is because you're trying to do this all on your own. And God has not designed us to work that way. A coal continues to burn hot as long as it's with those other coals that are on fire. But you bring it out off by itself and it will die out very quickly. We think, I could just pray through this on my own. But listen, what he's going on to teach is, look, our prayer for each other is effective and it accomplishes much. You want to see God work in your life? He goes on to say at the end of verse 16, the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Pray for one another. Why? Well, because there's power in prayer as we pray for one another, as we have these relationships that we can lift each other up in the struggles that we go through. He says the effective fervent prayer, and this has been studied to great extent. I'm not going to get in very great detail here, but effective and fervent is one word. It's energeo. It means we get the word energy from it. It means to be at work. And the idea here is that we're investing ourselves, we're putting energy into our prayer for one another because we have this love for one another, because we've developed this relationship. There's this intensity, there's this care that we have for one another. And so we're able to offer this fervency in prayer. I like what David Guzik said. He said, much of our prayer is not effective simply because it's not fervent. He says it's offered with a lukewarm attitude that virtually asks God to care about something that we care little about. No, it's as we develop these relationships that we have this great care and concern for one another as the body of Christ, as brothers and sisters in the Lord, that with fervency we're able to pray for one another. So he says the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And you say, well, see, that's where it falls apart. The righteous man. I don't have any righteous friends. Or I'm not a righteous man. I can't pray for this person. Listen, righteousness is always by faith. It's not about works. It's not about good behavior. It's not that you have to find someone who doesn't fall short like you do. No, it's about finding someone and being close with someone who believes in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. And if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you're righteous. And you can't get more righteous than you already are. You're righteous. You're righteous. The idea here is, listen, you're a fellow believer. You believe in Jesus Christ too. This is what I'm going through. Will you pray for me? And James says, the effective fervent, as they have this relationship, this care for you, they're able to put this fervency into their prayer. They're able to pray to God with a genuine care and compassion. He says, the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. This kind of prayer is very effective. You see, we need this kind of fellowship. We need these kinds of relationships. We need other men, other women in our lives that we can come to, that they can pray for us. He gives the example of Elijah in verse 17 and 18. He says, And he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. And it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. Verse 18, And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. Verse 18, Now, you can read about this account in 1 Kings 17-18. I'm really only going to make this one point from this. The first part of verse 17, Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. Can you imagine praying and it doesn't rain for three and a half years? Can you imagine that type of prayer being answered? Maybe that's why the city of Corona is facing a drought. Someone prayed that prayer. Man, why'd you do that? Pray again so the rain can come. But can you imagine? I mean, he goes with boldness. He says, look, it's not going to rain for three and a half years until I pray again for rain. James' point here is, look, Elijah was a man just like us. Sometimes we look at the prophets, we look at these guys in the Bible, and we say, oh man, they're way more holy than us, way better than us. We're not anything like them. James says, look, he was just like you. It would be no different if you were back then in his day, And God called you to do the same thing. You are just like Elijah or John the Baptist or Jeremiah or Isaiah. They were just like us. You're just like Moses. You know that? He had the same frail flesh that you and I have. He was a man just like us. And he prayed and look at what happened in the same way. We are righteous, not because we do good, but because we believe in Jesus Christ. And our prayer avails much as we confess to one another and pray for one another. It works miracles. God does amazing things. That's why on Wednesday evenings we have the time devoted at the end of service to pray for one another, to pray amongst each other, to lift up one another. Because the effect of fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Confess to one another and pray for one another, he says. And finally, number six, he says, turn back wanderers. Verse 19 and 20. Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. The final things he instructs us with, and this is how he ends the letter, he says, turn back those who wander away. Again, he says, if anyone among you We're talking about within the church. There are those who are believers, but they begin to stray in their walk. This can happen. It happens within churches and believers all the time. People get deceived. People get led astray. They grow cold. The New Testament is a testimony of this. The letters that Paul wrote, the letters that James wrote, correcting and trying to get people back on track. Correct. The book of Hebrews, man, with some severe correction, regard to faith and people who are turning away and walking away from faith in Jesus Christ. And so James says, look, there's those who are among you that have wandered from the truth. And I want you to know, look, if someone turns him back, then you need to let this person know, hey, when you turn a sinner from the error of his way, you save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. As we see those who are messing up, as we see those who have fallen short, who are wandering from the truth, our responsibility, again, as members of the body of Christ, caring for one another, is to help turn them back. And the idea of this word, to turn back, it's like come alongside and help them turn around. Help them out of that error. Help them out of that sin. Help them back onto the path. Unfortunately, within the church, and even today, There's many cases within this church. This doesn't happen. And instead of helping people back to right relationship with God and helping them to be restored, there's a tendency amongst Christians to just beat on each other, to beat each other up and make each other feel horrible about their deficiencies, about how they fall short. We tell them, we're glad to tell them what we think about how miserable they are and how they maybe shouldn't even come to church anymore. You know, there's a saying that it's only found in the Christian army where soldiers shoot their own wounded. No other army will you find that. But in the Christian army, Christians, they shoot each other. They beat each other up. Here James says, look, here's what we need to do. We need to come alongside and turn them around, help them back, help restore them. You know, Wednesday evening, it was just a beautiful service. At the end, as we had the afterglow, as we do on Wednesdays, There was a real theme that was just real predominant. God was saying something very specific and he was talking about sin and confessing sin and dealing with it. And part of that was Romans chapter 8 verse 1 is that there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. There's no condemnation in Jesus Christ. Now if we were to write that verse according to our practice... Some of us would write it, there's no condemnation in Christ, but there is condemnation in Christians. Yeah, go to Christ, he won't condemn you, but that's my job. I'm here to condemn you. No. How terrible for us to condemn those that Christ does not condemn. Our job is not to beat each other up, to beat them down. But our job is to help them out of that issue. Help them back to the way of truth. To save their soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Our job is not to go around and expose sin, but it's to cover sin. Not cover sin in the sense of hide it and be deceitful, but restore and bring back into fellowship. Bring back to the way of truth. Love covers a multitude of sins and we're called to love one another. So James ends this way with these commands, these exhortations. And I would ask you, do you believe the Bible? Do you believe that this is the word of God to us? Then live it out. Don't make promises that are inappropriate. Don't make promises. Don't use those promises to validate your word. Let your word be true and be true to your word. Pray in difficult times. If you're suffering, you're enduring hardship, spend time in prayer and pray until God tells you otherwise. Hey, you're cheerful. Good things are happening. God's blessing you. He's... causing you to rejoice in his salvation and what he's doing in your life, praise him. Give him glory. Sing songs to him. Are you sick? Call for the elders. Let them anoint you with oil and pray over you. Confess to one another and pray for one another. Develop these relationships within the body of Christ where you can do this. Not indiscriminately, not proclaiming it publicly, but personally, individually, with those that God has brought around you. confess to one another and pray for one another in those issues because that kind of prayer is effective and powerful. It avails much. And turn back those who wander from the truth. Well, as we close the service this morning, the worship team is going to come up and I want to invite you as we have this instruction here from James to call the elders if you're sick. I want to invite you. Are you sick this morning? Are you facing some type of illness? We're going to have the elders up here and you guys can just line up across the front and you can just come up during this next song as they lead us in a couple of worship songs. Just come on up. If you're sick, just let's start living it out right now. Let's put it into practice. We don't have to know. We don't know what God's going to do. But we're commanded to pray. And so let's take this time and spend some time in prayer and lift up those who are sick. And so if you're sick, come on forward and receive prayer by these men and women and the laying on of hands, the anointing of oil. And we just want to continue to see what God will do as we are obedient to Him. Amen? Let's worship the Lord together. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.