“The Book of James”
Pastor Mike Barnett
13Is any one of you in
trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is
any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him
and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in
faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has
sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and
pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is
powerful and effective.
17Elijah was a man
just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain
on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave
rain, and the earth produced its crops. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its
crops. 19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone
should bring him back, remember this: whoever turns a sinner from the error of
his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. James 5:13-19
·
This passage
has been a battleground for interpreters over the centuries as various groups
have been used it as a proof text for their particular beliefs.
IS ANY OF YOU IN TROUBLE?
HE SHOULD PRAY.
·
It would have
been surprising if, in a letter to struggling, persecuted believers, James had
neglected to mention prayer.
·
A strong
commitment to ___________________(prayer) is a perquisite to enduring ______________(suffering)
and affliction.
·
The section
also reflects James compassionate pastoral care for his suffering flock; his
main focus is on the casualties of the spiritual battle, the persecuted weak,
defeated believers.
·
The present
tense of the verb translated, “he should pray”, suggests a
____________________(continual) pleading with God in prayer; it could be
translated “LET HIM KEEP ON PRAYING”. V. 13a
·
When life is
difficult, when believers are weak in faith, weary with persecution, and
crushed by affliction, they must continually plead with God to comfort them.
IS ANY OF YOU HAPPY? LET
HIM SING SONGS OF PRAISE. V. 13
Psalm 98:4-5 says:
4 Shout for joy to
the LORD, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the
LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of
singing, Psalm 98:4-5
·
Those who
manage to maintain a cheerful attitude in their suffering are to sing praises.
V. 13a
·
Cheerful is
from “Euthumeo and describes those well in Spirit, or having a joyful attitude
– not those who are physically well.
·
The suffering
and the happy, the wounded, broken spirits and the whole, rejoicing spirits are
both to pray.
·
The one is to
plead with God for comfort; the other is to sing praises.
·
Praise and
prayer are closing related; praise is actually a ____________________(form) of
_____________________(prayer).
Philippians 4:6 says:
6Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
ILLUS
– pg 311-12 (NIV)
·
CHRISTIANS
WILL ________________________(SUFFER) IN THIS LIFE, BECAUSE CHRIST SUFFERED.
·
SUFFERING IS
ONE OF ______________________________(CHARACTERISTICS) OF A CHRISTIAN – “CHRIST
FOLLOWER”
Colossians
24Now I rejoice in
what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in
regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the
church. Colossians 1:24
Philippians
10I want to know Christ
and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death. Philippians 3:10
NOTE:
When you’re sitting before the Lord, you're not doing nothing, you’re doing the
most important something there is. You’re allowing your soul to grow up. If you
can’t be still and wait, you can’t become what God created you to be”.
·
Both
_________________________
(Thanksgiving) and
______________________(prayer) are essential for the spiritual strength of
those undergoing persecution.
IS ANY OF YOU SICK? HE
SHOULD CALL THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH TO PRAY OVER HIM AND ANOIT HIM WITH OIL IN
THE NAME OF THE LORD. V. 14
·
James
encourages the fallen spiritual warriors, the exhausted, weary, depressed,
defeated Christians that have tried to draw on God’s power through prayer, but
lost motivation, even fallen into sinful attitudes to call on the elders of the
church to pray for them.
·
The elders of
the church are the spiritually strong, the spiritually mature, and the
spiritually victorious.
·
Weak,
defeated believers are to go to the elders and draw on their
___________________________(strength).
Galatians 6:1 says:
1Brothers, if someone is
caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch
yourself, or you also may be tempted. Galatians 6:1
Acts 6:4 says:
4and will give our
attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." Acts 6:4
·
This is an
important and largely neglected ministry of the church’s pastors and elders.
·
More times
than not in today’s American church, weak, struggling, believers are often
handed over to so-called expert professional counselors – who often have little
power in prayer.
·
Those who
have been defeated in the spiritual battle do not need to hear opinions of
_____________________ _________________________(human wisdom); they need to be
strengthened by the power of God through their leaders’
_________________________(prayers).
·
The elders’
anointing of weak, defeated believers with oil conveys the responsibility for
elders to stimulate, encourage, strengthen and refresh these people.
·
Through the
righteous prayers of godly men, God will __________________________(restore)
His battered sheep’s __________________________(enthusiasm).
·
The Bible
nowhere teaches that all sickness is the direct result of an individual’s sins.
·
Spiritual
defeat, however, is often both the cause and result of sin.
Psalm 32:5 says:
Prov 28:13 says:
13 He who conceals his
sins does not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them
finds mercy. Prov 28:13
Psalm 32:5 says:
5 Then I acknowledged my
sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD "—
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:5
1 John 1:8-9 says:
8If we claim to be
without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us
from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8-9
·
The ability
of Jesus to perform the miraculous has nothing at all to do with the “faith” of
the sick person.
·
Jesus does
not need the faith of the sick person in order to heal, if he requires some
external boost of energy to be effective.
·
Jesus often
did not perform miracles when he discerned that the result would be belief in
his abilities as a wonder-worker, as opposed to belief in his person and
message.
“HE SHOULD CALL THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH TO
PRAY OVER HIM AND ANNOIT HIM WITH OIL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD” V. 14
Two reasons given for the
anointing:
1) Some scholars see it as a symbolic of God’s
___________________________ (Holy)_________________________(Spirit) and
prescence being with that person in their time of need.
NOTE:
To pray with certainty that God will heal every sick person right away no matter
what, seems to contradict one of the prominent themes of Jame’s letter: to
endure difficulties because God can _______________(use) them to bring about
the _______________________(purpose) in our lives – becoming more like Christ and less like the
world.
2) Other scholars see this anointing as practical for
___________________________(medicinal) purposes.
This prayer offered in
faith carries with it two results:
1) The sick person is made well.
2) The Lord will raise him up.
·
Many in the
evangelical community are skeptical of healing prayer.
·
The New
Testament does not teach that all sickness is the result of sin or that all sin
causes sickness, or God always desires to remove maladies from besetting us.
·
But James
clearly teaches here that sickness caused by sin can be alleviated through
public _________________________(confession) and
_________________________(prayer) for healing.
·
James tells
us to confess our sins to each other and to pray for one another.
James asks Believers to
pray for each other publicly for at least two reasons”
1) To confess our sin to another person makes us ____________________________(vulnerable) to
the point where we must ___________________(trust) God and another believer!
·
The practice
of vulnerability and confession will cool tempers and help heal the divisions
within the church.
·
To admit
wrongs to brothers and sisters in Christ is to bring
____________________(unity).
·
James is
advocating the model of Jesus, to become the servant and become vulnerable
before others.
2) Godly men in the Bible like Moses, Daniel, Nehemiah
and others although innocent, _____________________________(identified)
themselves with the sins of the people they led.
Exodus 32:31-32 says:
31 So Moses went
back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have
committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive
their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."
Exodus 32:31-32
Daniel 9:5-10 says:
5 we have sinned and done
wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your
commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who
spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the
people of the land.
7 "Lord, you
are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and
people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries
where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we
and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we
have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even
though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or
kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. Daniel 9:5-10
Nehemiah 1:6 says:
6 let your ear be
attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before
you day and night for your servants, the people of
·
GOD
_____________________(OPPOSES) THE PROUD, BUT GIVES
_______________________(GRACE) TO THE _________________________(HUMBLE).
·
Sin seeks to
remain private and secret, but God wants it to be exposed and dealt with in the
loving fellowship of other believers.
·
Sin grows in
________________________(darkness), but dies when exposed to the
_____________________(light).
·
Therefore
James called for mutual honesty and mutual confession as believers pray for one
another.
·
Maintaining
open, sharing, and praying relationships with other Christians will help keep
believers from plateuing and burning out in their spiritual lives.
·
Such
relationships help give the spiritual strength that provides victory over sin.
·
And they provide godly pressure to confess and
forsake sins before they become overwhelming to the point of spiritual defeat.
·
The Bible
does not encourage Christians to bring up _____________ ________________(past
sins) from the already confessed and repented of – that would be
_______________________(hazardous) to one’s spiritual health.
·
The Bible
encourages Christian who is stuck in a current sin to confess it to the
__________________________(elders) of the church.
·
The Bible
does not encourage Christian to confess it openly on Sunday morning to just
anybody because some people could not be ____________________________(trusted)
with that level of truth and it would cause others to
____________________(stumble) themselves.
·
So James
tells them to go to the Elders of the church who can be trusted.
·
The
“righteous man” is the one who is committed to doing God’s will and to
cultivating a relationship with God that knows his heart.
·
Such a prayer
can have noticeable consequences on a person whose sickness is the result of
sin, as long as the sin is confessed.
·
Elijah was
just like us in that He too faced opposition and difficulties.
·
Elijah was a
man just like us in that He was God’s anointed.
·
Because
Elijah was a man of sincere faith, he discerned God’s heart, and his prayer was
honored to God.
1 Kings 17:20-24 says:
20 Then he cried out to
the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I
am staying with, by causing her son to die?" 21 Then he stretched himself
out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this
boy's life return to him!"
22 The LORD heard
Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah
picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave
him to his mother and said, "Look, your son is alive!"
24 Then the woman
said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of
the LORD from your mouth is the truth."
1 Kings
NOTE: James concludes
with the thought that just as the prayer of the righteous Elijah resulted in
the refreshing of the earth, so the prayer of the righteous believer can result
in the refreshing and healing of a Christian afflicted by sickness caused by
sin.
THE PRAYER OF THE
RIGHTEOUS
James 5:18-19 says:
18Again he prayed, and
the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 19My brothers, if one
of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember
this: whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death
and cover over a multitude of sins. James 5:18-19
·
These two
verses form a fitting conclusion to the book of James. They express James
primary objective in writing his epistle: to confront these in the assembly of
believers who possesses false, dead faith.
NOTE: As already noted,
the epistle does not have evangelistic emphasis, but one that is mainly
directed toward professing believers in the church.
·
It is a
tragic reality that throughout the church’s history there has always been tares
among the wheat.
NOTE: This passage in
James describes professed believers who need to be called to true salvation by
the rest of the fellowship.
·
Sadly, such
people are found in every church.
Jesus promised as much in
Matthew 13:18– 23 says:
18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower
means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom
and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown
in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The
one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the
word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he
has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes
because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one
who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word,
but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making
it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that
fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces
a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." Matthew
·
The theme is
not evangelism, but the care and maintenance of the Christian Community.
James has three
significant theological ideas:
1) Christians have the opportunity and the
responsibility to ______________________(care) for one another in the form of doctrinal
and moral correction.
2) The penalty for sin is
_____________________(death).
3) _____________________________(Reconciliation)
“covers” a multitude of sins.
·
The term
wanderer conjures up the Old Testament image of transgression against the law.
Prov. 14:8 says:
8 The wisdom of the
prudent is to give thought to their ways,
but the folly of fools is deception. Prov. 14:8
INTERESTING:
James defines the wanderer from sound doctrine and godly living as SINNER – a
word used in scripture for the ingenerate.
NOTE: The term sinner
frequently describes hardened unbelievers, those who openly, defiantly
disregard God’s law; those whose evil character is apparent to everyone; those
who wickedness is common knowledge.
·
In the New
Testament the term sinner describes those _________________________(outside)
the
Jesus said in Matthew
9:13:
13But go and learn what
this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[a] For I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners." Matt
·
A sinner is
someone ____________________(without) God and Christ and in need of salvation.
1 John 3:8-9 says:
8He who does what is sinful
is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The
reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 9No one who is
born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot
go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 1 John 3:8-9
NOTE: While Christians
may sin, sin will not be their continual, unbroken practice – it will not _____________________________(characterize)
their lives because it is no longer who they are.
·
A sinner on
the other hand, is one who continually, intentionally and
________________________(habitually) practices sin because their heart has _________________________(turned)
away from God.
·
Such people
John declared to be Children of the devil, not of God.
JAMES AND THE REST OF THE
APOTLES HAD A HEAKTHY EXPECTATION OF PROFESSING CHRISTIANS GROWING IN THEIR
FAITH TO THE POINT THAT THEY _______________________(ACTED) ON WHAT THEY
_______________________(BELIEVED).
Hebrews 5:12-6:9 says:
12In fact, though by this
time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary
truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone
who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching
about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use
have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
1Therefore let us
leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying
again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2instruction about
baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal
judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.
4It is impossible
for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift,
who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word
of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back
to repentance, because[b]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of
God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7Land that drinks
in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for
whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8But land that produces thorns
and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will
be burned.
9Even though we
speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your
case—things that accompany salvation. Hebrews
5:12-6:9
A CHRISTIAN WHO ___________________________(INTENTIONALLY)
DOES NOT LIVE OUT THEIR FAITH IN CHRIST, IS NO LONGER UNDER GOD’S ______________________(GRACE).
Hebrews 10:26-29 says:
26If we
deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and
of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the
law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has
trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the
blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of
grace? Hebrews 10:26-29
·
Nothing less
than each person’s eternal soul is at stake – his most prized possession.
·
The threat
facing the soul is death – eternal hell, the second death, the final state of
the unrepentant sinner.
12 There is a way that
seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death. Prov
14:12
Rom 2:5 says:
5But because of
your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against
yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be
revealed. Rom 2:5
Isa 59:12 says:
12 For our offenses
are many in your sight,
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities: Isa
59:12
2 Cor.
16But whenever anyone
turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2 Cor. 3:16
1 Peter
25For you were like sheep
going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your
souls. 1 Peter 2:25
·
This passage
manifests a clear tension between rigor and mercy, which is also evident in
James.
·
The members
of the community are expected to grow to maturity and even perfection (James
1:4). Yet the community is also called
to give and receive grace.
·
The teaching
of James through out his letter is often harsh and rigid, but balanced with
grace and an exhortation to build one another up.
·
James calls
the Christian community into the balance of recognizing the sin and forgiving
the sin with warm welcome.
·
To fail at
recognizing the sin, is to take sin too lightly.
·
To excuse
sin, whether as a harmless quirk or a lifestyle choice, is to deny the
seriousness of the offense and the responsibility of the offender.
·
The tension
between righteousness and mercy is difficult to negotiate properly. We rarely
do it well.
·
Turning to
God in repentance results in salvation – He will then cover the multitude of
sins.
Micah 7:18-21 says:
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the
transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again
have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the
depths of the sea.
Micah 7:18-21
Psalm 103:8-13 says:
8 The LORD is
compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not
always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not
treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as
the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear
him;
12 as far as the
east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions
from us.
13 As a father has
compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who
fear him;
Psalm 103:8-13
·
God has
granted to all believers the ministry of reconciling wandering souls to
himself.
·
When evidence
indicates a professed believers faith is not real, true Christians, knowing the
terrible threat of eternal death that the person faces, must make it their goal
to turn him back from his sin to genuine saving faith in God.