Big Picture Theology (Part 5) - [James 5]

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

Apostle Paul said, But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her

King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Well, I don't know if you would agree with me that maybe the most famous Baptist, at least in the last 500 years, was

Charles Spurgeon. Listen to what Charles Spurgeon said about the Lord Jesus. You will find sin, self,

Satan, and the world to be hard masters. But if you wear the livery of Christ, you will find him so meek and lowly of heart that you will find rest under your souls.

He is the most magnanimous of captains. There never was like him among the choicest of princes.

He is always to be found in the thickest part of battle. When the wind blows cold, he always takes the bleak side of the hill.

The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on his shoulders. If he bids us carry a burden, he carries it also.

If there is anything that is gracious, generous, kind, and tender, yes, lavish and super abundant in love, you always find it in Jesus.

These 40 years and more have I served him, blessed be his name, and I have nothing but love from him.

I would gladly continue yet another 40 years in the same dear service here below if it so pleased him.

His service is life, peace, and joy. Oh, that you would enter on it at once.

God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus even this day. Amen. Amen.

Good words from Charles Spurgeon. And under that end, please turn your Bibles to James chapter 5. I especially like what

Spurgeon said about God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus even to this day.

So today we're going to look at from James chapter 5 how Christians under the banner of Jesus respond to persecution, trials, difficulty, government overreach, et cetera.

James chapter 5, how do we live in a stressful world?

And of course, when you turn your Bibles to the book of James, you all remember that this is a Christian book, right?

This is not some secular book. This is not a book of mythology, but particularly it's a

Christian book. We read the Bible like our Lord Jesus has taught us to read the Bible even on the

Emmaus Road in Luke 24. That is, we read the Bible in light of Jesus, the risen

Savior. So when you read Proverbs, yes, in fact, it's a Christian book. You read it in light of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection.

And the same thing happens with James. And it's important with James because there's a lot of imperatives.

There are a lot of commands there. And if we don't read it in light of the risen Savior, in light of this magnanimous captain, the

Lord Jesus, who saved us, it could turn into simple piety or moralism without thinking about who

Jesus is and not giving us a reason to obey. And that is thankfulness.

And that is gratitude. Now James is writing in a style that's kind of unfamiliar to us.

You might think to yourself, stream of consciousness, whatever pops into his mind. But there's a reason.

Not just because the Holy Spirit is writing it through James by inspiration, but also because this is a very

Jewish way to do things. One point to the next, to the next, to the next, but connected thematically.

And so it just kind of flows right along. And you want to be careful to pick up any little nuance that you have so that you say to yourself, oh,

I see the connections. It doesn't organize itself like Paul, but there is an organization.

And so in review, James 1, we looked at how do Christians who have been forgiven, save, redeemed, deal with trials?

Well, they counted all joy because God is sovereign. He'll turn those things into good and his glory. They receive

God's word. That's chapter 1. Chapter 2, if you had to say what was in James chapter 2, you'd probably say what?

Don't judge people on the inside based on what they look like on the outside. And that if we have faith, there will be fruits and evidence that confirm that.

There's a lively faith. You're saved by faith alone, but that faith isn't alone. That's James 2. James 3 talks about the tongue.

I'm still convicted from my own sermon a couple of weeks ago. You ever get convicted by your own sermon? I do. You read the

Bible and you think, oh, the tongue, be careful with the tongue. You can praise the Lord with it or you can cut people down to size.

And additionally, when you think of wisdom, it's not just what you say, it's conduct. That's James 3. And then

James 4, remember last week, dear congregation, it was really all about pride, how worldliness can sneak in.

That's prideful because it focuses on self and we buy what the world's selling. When it comes to how do we talk about other people, we think we're better.

So we condescendingly speak against them. And then lastly, we sometimes plan the future, not in light of the cross, not in light of the sovereign triune

God, but in light of our own calendars. And that's prideful as well. If the Lord wills, we will live or do this or do that.

And so now we come to James chapter five and we'd like to live in a way that honors the

Lord Jesus with our life out of gratitude. Now, before I give you the outline, James, remember, was the half brother of Jesus and he watched

Jesus on earth. Can you imagine growing up watching Jesus? I wonder what you would notice about Jesus's life if you watched him.

Of course, you'd watch him do miracles and teach, but there are other things that he would do. I wonder if you were

James and you observed Jesus on earth, what might come to your mind about how Jesus would deal with stress, temptation, satanic oppression, and everything else in between.

I think you'd probably say to yourself, at least Jesus was a patient man. Would you say that probably?

And that Jesus was a prayerful man. When the pressure is up, Jesus was patient and prayerful.

So guess what? As Christians, not only should Jesus lead out of the way when it comes to being patient and prayerful, it shouldn't surprise us when you go to James five and the way

Christians should deal with oppression and trials and stress is to be patient and prayerful.

All right, that's the outline. Verses one through 12, patience, 13 through 20, prayerful.

And let's go to the first section, verses one to 12. I'll read verses one to six to start.

Just two words in advance, buckle up. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.

Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.

You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you.

And the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You've lived on the earth in luxury and self -indulgence.

You've fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You've condemned and murdered the righteous person.

He does not resist you. What in the world? Talk about excoriating.

Talk about a denunciation. What is James trying to do here?

Why so emphatic? Now, some people think these are

Christians in the church. Without even being a Bible scholar, would you read those verses and say, those verses are for Christians?

Now, we can learn from those verses, but the original audience, when they heard that, did they think, oh, this is for Christians?

Obviously, the answer is no. Unlike the last chapter, no hope for repentance, no hope for turning from sin and turning to the

Lord Jesus. This is language of judgment. This is language of eternal judgment. These aren't for rich people.

He even says there, come now, you rich. And in verse 7, be patient, therefore, brothers.

Now, some people think there are some rich unbelievers in the church. It could be. But most likely,

James is addressing the rich people that are unbelievers, in or outside the church, so that believers would say this,

I can be patient, verse 7, because the rich people are going to get it in the end.

I can be patient, verse 7, because God knows my plight, I can be patient, because the rich people,

God will give them justice. I don't need to worry about rising up and social injustice and trying to make sure they pay now.

God knows. And I think that's what's happening here in verses 1 through 6 of chapter 5. There's no hope of pardon in those verses.

It's not to believers. It's not addressing believers, but the believers should listen and be encouraged.

Kistemacher said, but the poor and oppressed in the Christian community derived comfort and encouragement from the knowledge that God knew of their hardship.

And so with an Obadiah -like, a Nahum -like, an Ezekiel -like, a Daniel -like oracular pronunciation.

What's oracular? I don't know. I never said it in my life until this week. But it's delivering an oracle. Just denouncing.

This is the state of the rich. If they won't repent, this is what they're going to get. God knows that you're receiving persecution.

You should know that they're going to end in a miserable way. So you just be comforted.

This is very similar to Isaiah 40, Jeremiah 31, and Zechariah chapter 1. But you can understand 5, 1 to 6 if you remember verse 7.

Be patient, therefore, brothers. God knows about the persecution that you're under, and he will judge the rich.

So now let's go into it just a little bit more deeply. Verses 1 through 6, now that we kind of have it set in our mind that the believers, when they hear about the end of the rich, are not going to say,

Oh, I wish I was one of them. And they're not also going to say, You know, God doesn't know what's going on. He does know.

Verse 1, in terms of a little more exposition. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries, which are coming upon you.

This is right from Joel chapter 1. He denounces the rich as a class. Remember James 1, 1?

The tribes are dispersed. Why is there a dispersion? Persecution.

Who's doing the persecution? You say, well, Jews, Judaizers, and others, including these rich people.

And so, now James denounces the rich. Very sharply, I would say. That's an understatement.

And he says, weep. This is when you cry when you lose a loved one. And then howl.

I'm looking around to see if we have any kids here. How many young kids do we have? Last service we did, this service, not too many, but I see a couple right here.

What sound does a wolf make at night when it looks at the moon? That's right. That's the word right there.

Howling. This is the rich trusting in their riches. This is the rich saying, you know what? I'm not going to believe in the

Lord Jesus. I'm going to persecute the Lord Jesus' people, therefore persecuting Jesus. That's the sound that people make in hell forever.

A howling, and a wailing, and a lamenting. That's the idea. So, no one could read this if they were getting persecuted, scattered all around, on the run, and go, the rich get away with it every time, don't they?

No, no. The Lord knows. Your job isn't to take care of judging the rich oppressors.

Your job, Christian, is God saved you, and you're to be patient. Verse 2, your riches.

He's talking to these rich oppressors, causing all this trouble. Your riches have rotted.

You know, they don't last forever, in other words. Your garments are moth -eaten. Clothing was valuable back in those days.

Your gold and silver, what has it done? Corroded. Corrosion will be evidence against you, and will eat your flesh like fire.

You've laid up treasure in the last days. In other words, when you come to the bar of God's justice, against these rich oppressing unbelievers,

I'm going to call evidence, and the evidence will be, Exhibit 1, riches. Exhibit 2, clothing.

Exhibit 3, gold, silver, etc. And we as Christians, aren't we supposed to heap up treasures for rewards?

Matthew chapter 16, our Lord tells us to do that. Well, they're heaping up treasures too. But it's not for heaven.

It's not for reward. But it's for judgment day. He said in chapter 4, life is short.

Just live for this world. Live like there's no God. James, with a prophetic kind of Old Testament denunciation, does that very thing.

Eat your flesh like fire? This is all an echo of Proverbs 11.

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath. You got a lot of money, and you stand before God on judgment day.

Why should I let you into my holy heaven? I've got a million dollars. I've got ten million dollars.

I've got a billion dollars. That's not going to help. You can see their injustices, verse 4.

Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, by the way, you're supposed to pay day laborers at the end of the day, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you.

Here's more testimony. On that judgment day, the cries of the harvesters, they have families to feed, have reached the ears of the

Lord of hosts. Maybe even some of these recipients that James is writing to, the dispersed Jews, are thinking,

I don't even know how to feed my family tonight because I worked all day and never got paid. It's probably the case.

The greed of the rich, the injustice of the rich, the judgment of the rich.

And the text says in the end of verse 4 in the ESV, the Lord of hosts. He knows, He hears.

Whatever persecution we might go through, even in the future, in America, the Lord will know about it.

And He has His host, and He's omnipotent, and He's sovereign. He's not oblivious to injustice of His people.

The Lord of Sabaoth is His name. That's the translation of Lord of host. He knows all this.

Verse 5, You've lived, these rich oppressors, on the earth in luxury and self -indulgence.

It was all about themselves. And then this language. Wow, we had the wolf earlier, and now look at this. Very vivid language of James.

Nobody writes like him. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. How picturesque.

I read this week that some scientists put some sensors for heart rate and for blood pressure on cows as they go down the chute to go be slaughtered.

And you know, the funny thing is they're calm because they have no idea what's coming.

They're unsuspecting of their fate. And as one writer called it, these rich people have no idea that they're in Satan's slaughter pen.

Verse 6, You've condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. How can he?

He has no money. He has no lawyers. He can't get out of this. The rich.

What's the golden rule? Well, it's not, as one man said, whoever has all the gold makes the rules.

Not on this day. Maybe on earth, but not on this day. So James wants believers to know whatever oppression, whatever difficulties, whatever persecution, whatever overreach, whatever you want it to be, for the believer, the

Lord knows. Don't worry about getting justice for them. No, no. There will be justice. He knows what you're going through.

So he says, and this is really the key to this section, be patient, therefore. Brothers, the whole thing is so that you would be patient, you wouldn't spend all your time trying to make sure there's justice served in the world.

The Lord knows all about it. Justice will be served. So be encouraged, Christian. Oppressors will not get away with it forever.

Don't read verses 1 through 6 and say, you know what, Christian, don't hoard. Christian, give away your money for your college kids.

It's bad to have riches. This is kind of David Platt radical nonsense. That has nothing to do with any of this.

What it does have to do with is our responsibility as Christians, because Jesus has saved us, is to be patient.

He said he's coming back. Our responsibility is patience. And he says that in verse 7.

I read it again. Be patient, verse 7. And you notice again in verse 8, you also be what?

Patient. Yes, there's oppression, but we can be patient. Jesus said he's coming back.

I take him at his word. Psalm 37 is such a wonderful psalm. It echoes the same very truth.

Listen to a few verses of Psalm 37. Fret not yourself because of evildoers.

Be not envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.

Commit your way to the Lord. Trust in him. He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light.

Be still before the Lord. Wait patiently for him. Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way.

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more. Though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. Since we're

Christians, since we have the hope of heaven, we took God at his word, that if you trust in Jesus for your salvation, your sins will be forgiven.

If you believe with all your heart, believe with your heart and confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord, you will be saved.

So now we're going to take him at his word too, not for initial salvation, but also, but not for salvation rather, but for the second coming.

Be patient. How long do I have to be patient? By the way, do you see the softening there in verse 7, brothers? Until the coming of the

Lord. It's not going to be forever. You don't have to be forbearing and patient and long -suffering forever and ever and ever.

You don't have to kind of restrain your impulse to kind of like fight back and get your due.

Not forever. The Lord's going to come back. Do you think James ever forgot seeing

Jesus go up into heaven? I mean, James is writing this. He saw, listen to Acts 1.

After he had said these things, Jesus, he was lifted up while they were looking on and a cloud received him out of their sight.

And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was departing, two men in white clothing stood beside them.

And they said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven.

You're persecuted, trials. You think, yeah, but Jesus is going to come back.

I saw him, James says, go up into heaven. And that same Jesus says he's coming back so we can be patient.

That's good motivation for our patience. Farmers are patient, verse 7.

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth? I mean, what can a farmer do? He can plow and he can weed and he can water, but he has to wait for the fruit.

For what kind of fruit? The precious fruit of the earth. He's using a temporal illustration to make us think spiritually, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains.

What imagery to remind us, farmers wait, they have to be patient. You also, verse 8, be patient for the coming of the

Lord is at hand. Verse 8, establish your hearts.

Is that what your ESV says? Establish your hearts. Strengthen your hearts. You might think, well, patience is just kind of like laying back and letting

God, or I'm just kind of like waiting and I'm not really doing anything. Now he gives a very forward word.

He gives a word that says, you know what, be stout hearted, be resolute, stand firm, strengthen your hearts, have some stability spiritually, have some resolution in your inner man.

Hebert said, put iron into your hearts. Jesus is coming back. Adrian Rogers used to tell about the man who bragged that he cut off the tail of a man -eating lion with his pocket knife.

Wow. Asked why he hadn't cut off the lion's head, the man said, somebody else had already done that.

The Lord Jesus is coming back. The head of Satan, as it were, has been cut off, he's been decapitated.

Jesus said, when the Son of Man comes in glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

Before him will be gathered all the nations and they'll separate people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. And then the king will say to those on his right, dear

Christian who's getting persecuted, who needs patience, here, Jesus is coming back. Here's what he'll say to you.

Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

But you know what we end up doing? I'll tell you what I do. I start complaining and I start groaning.

Verse 9. Does this sound like something you might do when you're in a tight spot? When you're in the vice grip of a situation in a trial you can't get out of?

Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door.

Jesus is coming. He's close. What ought not you to do? Because you're a Christian. You don't act like you used to.

You shouldn't act like you used to. And if you do, you ask for forgiveness. And of course, it's granted. But what do you need to run from?

There's kind of two words for complaining. One is, can't believe the guy did it. This person is bugging me.

And you're kind of murmuring underneath your voice. And then there's this word.

And this word is really not with words, although it might be an audible sound.

There's a lot of pressure in your life. And this is how you respond to your wife, or about your husband, or other people in the church, or work.

This is the response that James says don't do. Here's the response. It's a groan.

It's a sigh. I can't believe they did that. Pressure's on, and you take it out on your spouse.

Somebody at church. And so, that's not the response. If God's in charge, Jesus is coming back.

And he says be still in Psalm 37. The response is not, I can't believe these people.

Because that's really a judgment against the Lord, isn't it? You could have sanctified my wife faster.

Why don't you? God, why is my husband still doing that?

Do you guys ever do this, or am I the only one? You're just like, oh brother.

You know enough not to say, you're bugging me. So you just go, grumble against one another, brothers.

The Lord's coming back. It's not how Christians should act. I'm dissatisfied in another person.

Because the focus should not be on me. It should not be on them. It should be on the

Lord's coming back. It's muffled groan. One man called it a muffled mutter.

A complaint under your breath. Frustration. We don't want to be judged.

He's standing right at the door. Grumbling and sighing about other people is impatience with God.

He's talking about be patient, be patient, be patient. You want to know how if you're impatient or not? Like, I'm still waiting for the

Lord to come back. I'm patient. When you get home. So we don't want to do that.

Could anybody live under pressure and honor the Lord? He gives two illustrations, verses 10 and 11.

Prophets and Job. Many of you have gone through all kinds of trials recently.

I'm not minimizing those trials. But I will say I don't think you're at the prophet level yet. Or at the

Job level yet. You may have lost children or a husband or a friend or a family.

But not 10 children. So he gives an illustration. An example. An example of suffering.

This is, of course, the prophets aren't the ones that are in the spotlight. Job is not in the spotlight. It's the

God of Job. It's the God of the prophets. Here's how the Lord takes care of his people. And they can excel in this.

An example of suffering and patience, brothers. Take the prophets who spoke in the name of the

Lord. Did they suffer? Did Ezekiel suffer? Did Daniel suffer? Did Obadiah suffer? Did Elijah suffer?

Behold, we consider those blessed to remain steadfast. You watch Daniel when he's there saying, you know what?

You kill me if you want. I'm not bowing. I don't care what you do. Throw me in the lion's den.

I'm not going to do it. I'm going to honor the Lord. And you watch that and you go, that's motivating.

Because it's the Lord's work in Daniel. And the same thing. You've heard of the steadfastness of Job.

I mean, can you imagine what Job lost? I mean, he lost a lot.

Yet Job still said, the Lord gives. The Lord takes away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Is that an example to follow? Absolutely.

Remaining steadfast. You've heard of the steadfastness of Job.

You've seen the purpose of the Lord. And how the Lord is, what? Compassionate and merciful.

I know Jesus is going to come back. And I know I shouldn't be complaining about other people and growing and everything.

But does the Lord really know what I'm going through? The text says he's compassionate and merciful.

Literally, he's super compassionate. It's a word that means full of compassion. NES is better than ESV here.

Extra compassionate. He understands. I mean, even if I think of our

Lord Jesus. It says in the gospel, seeing the multitudes, Jesus felt compassion for them.

Because they were distressed and downcast like a sheep without a shepherd. He went ashore.

He saw a great multitude and felt compassion for them. And he healed their sick. Lord, have mercy on a son of David, said two blind men.

Lord, have mercy on a son of David. What do you want me to do for you, Jesus said. Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.

And move with compassion, Matthew 20 says. Jesus touched their eyes. And immediately they regained their sight and followed.

Jesus is compassionate. He's merciful. So even when you deal with these issues. Know who

God is. Think about his attributes. And then we move to verse 12. Some people think it's just kind of randomly dropped in here.

But I think it's connected, especially with the bud above all. Really stressing this. My brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath.

But let your yes be yes. And your no be no. So that you may not fall under condemnation. And the context is simple.

When you're getting persecuted. When there's trouble. When there's trials. When there's issues. Make sure you don't have to go around and do things that James 3 would condemn.

Just let your yes be yes. And your no be no. Kind of tying back to the sins of the tongue.

That could happen when rich and others oppress. This sounds just like what

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. And the background is simple. They had ways to try to give oaths.

And so if you swore by the temple. Or you swore by the heavens. You swore by the earth. You swore by fingers behind your back crossed.

You had different ways of saying things that really didn't mean you were truthful. Sometimes you're truthful.

Sometimes not. And he just says simply. Let your yes be yes. And no be no. You don't have to lie about it. You don't have to say.

You know. I've got all these different things that I mean by this. And I really didn't want to say it rightly.

Jesus said. Make no oath at all. Either by heaven. For it's the throne of God. Or by earth. For it's the footstool of his feet.

Or by Jerusalem. For it's the city of the great king. But let your statement. Jesus said. Be yes, yes.

Or no, no. Anything beyond these is evil. You know.

You go. Well, I swear by Jerusalem. I'm bound to it. And I swear toward Jerusalem. I'm not bound to it.

But just don't do that. We should be men of our words.

I don't know. Were you reading this and thinking. You know what. Swear. That's vulgarity.

I don't think you should be vulgar. But he's not talking about that. I think they say it around. In these parts.

Swears. Don't do any swears. But you don't have to put extra words to your words.

To make them truthful. On my mother's grave. God is my witness. I swear on a stack of bibles. Just be honest.

That's all you have to be. So you don't fall under judgment. So that's the first section. Verses 1 through 12.

Now we come to the second section. Patience is the first 12 verses. Now the next set of verses is about prayer.

If you watch the Lord Jesus on earth. You would not only watch a very patient man. Patience incarnate. But you would watch a prayerful man.

Jesus prayed according to my research. When he was baptized. Before he chose the 12. In connection with the feeding of the 5 ,000.

When he was going to ask the disciples an important question. Who do you say that I am? On the mountain when he was transfigured.

Before evangelizing. Just before he taught the disciples the Lord prayer. At Lazarus tomb.

For Peter before the denial. During the institution of the Lord's supper. That night he prayed.

At Gethsemane. On the cross. And at the resurrection. Jesus prayed all the time.

So we come to this passage. And the first little section. Maybe isn't that hard. Is any among you suffering?

Maybe you're not like me. But I tend to pray more. When I'm hurting. Than when I'm rejoicing.

Right. Top of the world. Everything is going well. We're not as apt to pray.

But when there's no else. No one else to help us out of this. You pray.

And it's not just foxhole. But I'm hurting Lord. Help. And that's what he says at the beginning. If anyone among you is suffering.

Let him pray. Could be all kinds of suffering. You're dispersed. The rich are after you. It could be any type.

Pray. But what about if you're happy? What should you do?

Well you should pray too. Is anyone cheerful? He could say. Let him pray.

But it's the same thing. He says. Let him sing praise. The praise is going to the father. Right.

On behalf of the son. By the power of the spirit. And so when you're suffering. You pray. Lord help.

May you be glorified in this suffering. And when things are going well. You say. Thank you. To God be the glory.

Great things. He has done. If you're happy. You pray. If you're suffering.

You pray. Because those are good responses. To the Lord. What if you're sick?

What do you do? Verse 14. Is any 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. And the prayer of faith.

Will save the one who is sick. And the Lord will raise him up. And if he's committed sins. He will be forgiven.

Well. If you're suffering. You pray. If you're cheerful. You praise. If you're sick. Why don't you pray?

Seem to make sense. Right? I'm suffering. I pray. I'm happy. I pray. I'm sick. I pray.

Is it okay to pray if you're sick? But if you look at that word there. Sick. Most.

Every time. With few exceptions. Used in the new testament. It doesn't have anything to do with. Physical. Weakness.

Or sickness. It has to do with. Spiritual. Weakness. Emotional.

Weakness. Let me just tell you what he's saying. And then we'll take a little. More. In -depth.

Look at it. When you suffer. Pray. When you're happy. Praise. When you can't pray for yourself.

Because you're so spiritually weak. And you're at the end of your rope. Spiritually. And you're like. You know.

I don't really. It's hard for me to read my bible. It's hard for me to pray. I don't know what to do. I want to pray.

Like I should. But I'm just. Spiritually. Weak. And sick. What do you think you should do?

Well. You call for people. Who could pray for you? That's the whole point. You're suffering.

Pray. You're happy. Praise. You're so spiritually debilitated. You can't pray. Have you ever been at a spot in your life.

Where you go. I just can't really seem to pray. I know I'm supposed to. Then you call for the elders. Because then they can pray.

The point is. The point is not. If you have cancer. Call the elders. And they'll give you some oil.

And you'll be healed. The point of the passage. Is not some kind of. Last rites. The point of the passage is.

Our whole life. In the middle of the persecution. Of the James 1. 1. Tribulations. And dispersion.

Should be one of prayer. This is how Christians act. Because unbelievers. Before we were saved. We didn't praise

God. We didn't pray. Unless it was. Hey. Big guy upstairs. I need this. Or God. I'm mad at you.

No. No. Now. We have a savior. Who's taught us to pray. Our father. Who art in heaven.

Hallowed be thy name. We understand what to do. And so now. When we suffer. We pray. When we're happy. We praise.

And when you can't pray for yourself. Because you're so spiritually debilitated. You call for people. Who can pray for you.

One writer said. These people. Are fallen spiritual warriors. Exhausted. Weary. Depressed.

Defeated Christians. They've tried to draw on God's power. Through prayer. But they've lost motivation.

Even falling into sinful attitudes. Having hit bottom. They're not able to pray effectively.

On their own. In that condition. They call on the spiritually strong.

And that's the elders of the church. Do you know. If you're struggling spiritually. And you say. I don't really think.

I can pray like I ought to. And I'm just stuck. In such a rut. And I am so struggling. With sin. And all these issues.

And I just. Pastor. I don't think. I can just pray anymore. I try to pray. And I just can't get the words. If you call the elders.

Guess what we'll do. We'll come and pray for you. And what else will we do?

How could you help somebody. That was really spiritually sick and weak. Not just pray over him.

Although that's the main verb there. But there's a modifying thing. That you do. While you're praying. Anointing him.

Of course or her. With oil. In the name of the Lord. Oh that's interesting.

Anointing with oil. Now there's two different kinds of anointing. In the Bible. In these contexts.

One is. Look at me. This kind of anointing. It's a ceremonial anointing.

It's some kind of sacramental anointing. It's a religious anointing. And there's another anointing.

That looks like this in the Bible. Rubbing. Like massaging. Which one do you think this is?

You're going to guess the wrong one. You know I don't ask you questions. Unless I think I'm going to get you. Not true.

It's the rubbing one. What's that all about? Somebody's weak.

Somebody's spiritually sick. Do you think it'd ever be. Like the

Lord. Even on earth. To use something kind of as a prop. To use something as a crutch.

To use something. Tangible. That you could touch or taste or feel. To help someone's faith.

Do you think the Lord would ever do that? The answer is yes. He can heal. Be healed.

Or he can touch and be healed. Or he can say you know what. I'm going to take some of this mud with saliva. I'm going to take my fingers and put them in your ears.

All kinds of times. The Lord Jesus. Even himself on earth. Uses things to assist people.

In believing. Do you think a weak person. Who's debilitated spiritually. Could use a prop.

To help him. For him to go. You know what. Oil. Ceremonial.

Healing. Set apart. Anointing. And so the elders come. And this is what would happen.

If you would call us. We'd talk to you. We'd work through a few things. And the elders would pray for you.

And we would take. Some oil. And we would rub it on your forehead. As we would pray. That's what we would do.

I wouldn't use the palm of my hand. I wouldn't do that. Daniel Doriani said.

The anointing stimulated the faith of the sick person. Jesus sometimes called the sick aside. For private conversation.

And touched them before healing them. Once before healing a deaf and mute man. He put his fingers on his ears.

Spat and touched his saliva to the man's tongue. Jesus' goal seems to have been.

To prepare the man for healing. By using an unusual sign of his intentions. Similarly oil is a sign of God's power.

To heal. Thus the anointing has a spiritual meaning. And what does verse 15 say.

And the prayer of faith. Not from the weak person.

But from the elders. We'll save or restore. The one who's spiritually weak.

And the Lord will raise him up. And if he's committed sins. Which he probably has. Because you don't get in these weak spiritual situations.

While you're acting very righteously. By the fruit of the spirit. And if you committed sins. To get yourself in that spot.

Guess what. When you ask God for forgiveness. What does he do? And even if elders ask for forgiveness for you.

What does the Lord do? Sorry. Not today. You're too weak. And who knows.

Maybe even there's some sin against the elders. Or there's sin against his spouse. Or children there. Or somebody else in the church.

And therefore he says. Confess your sins to one another. Pray for one another. That you may be healed.

Yeah but. I don't really know if I'm kind of powerful prayer. I don't know if I can pray like an elder can pray.

Verse 16 goes on to say. Does it not? The prayer of a righteous person. Has great power as it is working.

Yeah but I'm not a prophet. I'm not some elder. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.

What was Elijah's nature like? Glorified. Angelic. No Adam's sin credited to his account.

Consequently not a sinner. Of course Adam's sin credited to his account. He was a sinner. Then saved and redeemed.

By trusting in the Messiah to come. And he's got a nature just like ours. Redeemed but not perfect.

And he prayed fervently. That it might not rain. And for three years and six months. It did not rain on the earth.

Then he prayed again. And heaven gave rain. And the earth bore its fruit. Does God answer prayer?

The answer is of course he answers prayer. You pray when you're suffering.

You pray when you're happy. You ask people to pray for you when you can't pray. God works through means.

And he works through the means of prayer. Not only through the means of prayer. But often and regularly.

My brothers. Verse 19 and 20. And then we have to wrap up. Pastoral. Kind.

My brothers. If any among you wanders from the truth. That's where we get the word planet.

Wanders and spirals off from truth. What truth? The truth. Revealed truth.

Bible truth. Truth about the Messiah. They start going haywire. And you bring them back.

Is it worth the trouble? Do you know how much trouble it is for you all? Pastors. We see somebody.

They're going to make a bad decision. We tell them. Please don't make that decision. We tell them. We'll come alongside you. Don't make that decision.

And they're going to go. We're going to make that decision anyway. No. Please come back. Please come back. I mean. I lose sleep over it.

So does Scott. And Pradeep. Think. Oh. Is it worth it? I mean. Come on. Maybe God's just sovereign.

He'll take care of them. Well. He is sovereign. He will take care of them. But what does the text say? And someone brings him back.

Is it worth it? Is it worth going after? Believers that start straying.

Is it worth going after? An unbeliever even? Let him know. You should know this.

If you're dealing with somebody. Who is on the wrong path. Christian or unbeliever. You should know.

That whoever brings back a sinner. From his wandering. Will save his soul from death.

And will cover a multitude of sins. Is it worth it? Pressure.

Grates on people. And Christians start saying. You know what? Is this worth it? And they become weak.

And we come alongside. And say. You know what? It's worth it. Friend. You can get through today.

Jesus is trustworthy. Well. How does this book end? He's talked in chapter five.

About. Patience and prayer. How does it end? Grace to you and peace. From God the Father. And our

Lord Jesus Christ. Is that how it ends? I hate to admit this. But I want it to end that way.

It just ends. Almost like it started. Abruptly. But I think it ends.

Rightly. You know what? James was called a man. Who had camel knees. Kids. You ever see a camel's knees?

What's a camel's knee hat? What does it look like? Yeah. Calloused.

I wrote a book about it. Nancy Yates. By the way. For those of you. That are old enough to know. She was a saint.

Here at the church. And she's in glory now. James got it.

If that legend is true. That he was called. Camel's knees. I think. Essentially. The whole chapter.

Could be about prayer. You're patiently. Waiting for the Lord. Lord. Come back. Soon. And then.

You're praying. As you suffer. You pray. As you're happy. You pray for other people. It's a good ending.

It ends right where it's supposed to. Saving. Death. Will cover.

A multitude of sins. And I would be remiss. If I didn't say to you. Dear Christian.

Isn't this what the Lord Jesus. Has done for you? He has. Saved your soul.

From death. That's eternal death. Wheeling. And howling. And wailing. In hell forever. And has covered.

A multitude of sins. By Jesus. Himself. Placating. The wrath of God. Appeasing.

The wrath of God. Making propitiation. For the wrath of God. He took. Everything. That you deserved.

And I deserved. And he absorbed it all. Died. And then was raised. From the dead.

And because of that. I think we could be patient. And prayerful. Don't you? Let's pray. Father in heaven.

We look to you. As a great God. Of mercies. As 2nd Corinthians says. We are thankful.

That the Lord Jesus. Was prayerful. And patient. And we're thankful.

Just like our confession says. That he fully discharged. The debt of all those. Who are justified. So thankful.

For that sacrifice. On that bloody cross. And so father. Today. Would you help us.

As Christians. To live in light. Of your sons. Soon return. You said. He was going to come back. He said that.

Help us. To walk by faith. And not by sight. In Jesus name. No Compromise Radio.

With Pastor Mike. Abendroth. Is a production. Of Bethlehem Bible Church. In West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church.

Is a Bible teaching church. Firmly committed. To unleashing. The life transforming power. Of God's word.

Through verse by verse. Exposition. Of the sacred text. Please come and join us. Our service times. Are Sunday morning.

At 1015. And in the evening. At 6. We're right on route. 110. In West Boylston. You can check us out.

Online. At bbchurch .org. Or by phone. At 508. 835. 3400.