Transcript (By MS Word)

00:00:01

Our passage this morning is James Chapter 5.

00:00:06

And we will actually be finishing the book of James the letter of James this morning.

00:00:11

So if you're just joining us, you missed it.

00:00:15

Missed the whole letter.

00:00:16

There will be a lot of summarizing of the.

00:00:19

Prior chapters because, as most epistles are done, James is done where the conclusion certainly flows right out of his central themes, where he's continuing to wrap them up.

00:00:31

And really I would just like to highlight those themes as this we are living in this space between Jesuses Ascension.

00:00:39

And his return theologian is often called the already and then not yet.

00:00:45

He introduces this letter to the 12 tribes of the dispersion to let us all know in the original audience.

00:00:52

Understand like the tribes originally waiting for Jesus.

00:00:56

We are now awaiting for his return in the consummation of all things.

00:01:00

And he jumps right into trials in the beginning of this letter and throughout the letter what he reveals is the trials are super.

00:01:09

Normally, that's the normative state of this world we live in.

00:01:12

But the Christian has a different approach to trials.

00:01:16

And so he juxtaposes the lowly or the humble, which is the ideal Christian mindset heart set with the wealthy.

00:01:25

Which last week Hunter preached on from Chapter 5.

00:01:28

But throughout James the wealth he really refers to is when we approach the trials of this life out of our own resources.

00:01:37

Out of earthly resources, so certainly actual well.

00:01:40

Off, but also just anytime we deal with our problems from our own flesh, James would warn us of the potential pitfalls of that and being in the same pattern throughout James is this double minded concept.

00:01:54

And so we come to our passage this morning verses 12 to 20 and the very first verse.

00:02:01

As hard as it is about oaths and it's one of these verses that theologians will just take out of James and look at by itself.

00:02:08

Spend.

00:02:09

Many, many pages on, but what we're going to find as it flows right into the final concepts of the rest of the letter, which is just the last six versus.

00:02:18

There's also a challenging part about elders coming to light to to anoint with oil will talk about.

00:02:24

So I just like to let you know some of the things to watch out for in this passage that we're going to dive into.

00:02:30

It's going to be great and we're going to see how it all folds together into his major theme.

00:02:35

Of abiding

00:02:37

And Jesus, so let's look together.

00:02:39

Verses 12 to 20 of Chapter 5.

00:02:44

But above all, my brothers do not swear either by heaven or by earth, or by any other oath.

00:02:51

But let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

00:02:59

Is anyone among you suffering?

00:03:02

Let him pray.

00:03:04

Is anyone cheerful?

00:03:05

Let him sing praise.

00:03:07

Is anyone among you sick?

00:03:10

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.

00:03:18

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.

00:03:21

And the Lord will raise him up.

00:03:24

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

00:03:28

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.

00:03:32

That you may be healed.

00:03:34

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

00:03:38

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on Earth.

00:03:50

Then he prayed again and heaven gave rain and the earth bore its fruit.

00:03:56

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back.

00:04:02

Let him know that whoever brings back a Sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

00:04:11

This is the word of the Lord.

00:04:14

On this pray Heavenly Father, as we come to the end of this amazing letter.

00:04:20

From James, written by your Holy Spirit delivered to us, we pray that you would help us to see the truth behind these words to understand.

00:04:31

More clearly, you're calling on our lives as your disciples and father.

00:04:37

My prayer specifically would be that we would learn to abide to find our life hidden in you.

00:04:44

Jesus as we move into this week where we celebrate.

00:04:49

Your final days and we mourn, and yet we rejoice.

00:04:54

I pray we would have those same reactions here this morning to the sermon into this text and father.

00:05:00

If there are people in this audience or online or outside who don't know you who aren't Christians?

00:05:07

Would you please draw them to yourself?

00:05:09

In your name we pray.

00:05:11

Amen.

00:05:13

So, as we've been saying, it's Palm Sunday and it's also the season of Lent, so we're going to start tomorrow.

00:05:17

It.

00:05:20

Our final six days of Lent, right in on Saturday and then Sunday is Easter Sunday, and so we see this kind of progression at Lent, and we really saw that in the Old Testament as well.

00:05:33

When?

00:05:36

This is the church, well, Jewish followers of God were given the kind of this idea of festivals and feasts and Passover.

00:05:43

In fact, Palm Sunday is Passover.

00:05:46

Jesus was going to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

00:05:49

Little did everyone understand he would be the lamb.

00:05:53

And so, in the Psalms you have these like what are called Songs of Ascent. If you've been following some of our devotions, we went through them last week and Psalm 121. David had written the song, and it was later used as one of these songs of approaching on a pilgrimage. Jerusalem, and they this on this says I lift my eyes to the Hills.

00:06:13

From where does my help come?

00:06:16

My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

00:06:20

He will not let your foot be moved.

00:06:22

He who keeps you will not slumber.

00:06:25

He goes on to say the Lord is your keeper.

00:06:26

The Lord is your shade.

00:06:28

The Lord will protect you're going out and you're coming in.

00:06:31

And the reason that is so important is safety.

00:06:35

Is the longing of the Pilgrim.

00:06:38

And I would argue that I'd like you to just maybe buying with me for a little bit.

00:06:41

Our struggle in this life is really a struggle for where we find safety from where we find our help when problems arise.

00:06:51

When trials arises, James talks about where are you and I turning to for our help.

00:06:58

That is ultimately what we abide in, and so the goal, the calling, is that we would abide in Jesus with everything, especially the hard things, not not more than other things, but where so often we find that when the problems come.

00:07:13

We we we Bolt we go outside of Jesus.

00:07:17

So to illustrate that I'm going to use a born illustration, Jason Bourne.

00:07:22

OK, 'cause that's one of my favorite movie series and I could just watch that on repeat and I actually they blend together.

00:07:28

They're all basically the same movie, but in one of the three.

00:07:32

So Jason Bourne is the spy that amnesia has all these gifts.

00:07:36

He's been trained by the government.

00:07:38

They think he's gone rogue.

00:07:40

He just can't remember who he is.

00:07:42

In one of the movies, there's a journalist who's been writing stories in London about him, and he's reading these stories about himself.

00:07:50

And so he meets with that journalist.

00:07:52

Well, the bad guys, who are also kind of the good guys, you know the CIA, the subgroup that is trying to take him out.

00:07:58

They show up to the same place Jason shows up to meet that journalist.

00:08:01

Remember, if you've seen this story?

00:08:03

He Jason is like Mr.

00:08:06

Like clandestine so the guys like waiting around and nervous and his pocket rings well.

00:08:11

Jason had slipped in a phone and then walked away so he answers the phone and they had this conversation.

00:08:18

And what Jason Bourne realizes is the bad guys are here, so he starts directing this guy in a crowded like a train station mall.

00:08:21

Sweet.

00:08:26

They all blend together, so forgive me if you know more than me.

00:08:29

But he this guy, this journalist is like moving away and ducking and the cameras swinging and he's like Jason just walking him through it beautifully.

00:08:38

But at one point the guy steps into a stairwell and the bad guys are there and out of nowhere pops Jason Bourne.

00:08:45

He takes out those guys and then it gets the our journalists back to safety and then it goes somewhere else.

00:08:53

Well, Meanwhile the really bad guy.

00:08:55

I'm not going to give too many details, but there's a person that shows up who's let's just say really, the bad guy.

00:09:00

He's the one that has.

00:09:01

Like this scope OK?

00:09:04

And he's tracking the Journal he's looking for.

00:09:05

The Journal is looking for Jason, but Jason knows that the guys up there and he knows how to keep the Journal is safe and everything is gonna be fine.

00:09:13

But the journalist who knows how powerful Jason is has been writing these articles has watched him do what he did in the stairwell, decides.

00:09:24

He doesn't know I'm going to run for it and he runs for it.

00:09:28

And then you all know what happened.

00:09:29

Next, if you don't just guess, just kind of fill in the blanks.

00:09:35

Because it's what happens to us next.

00:09:38

When we say I can't trust God, we run out of our abode, our protection.

00:09:45

When the going gets tough and we race, we sit.

00:09:48

We soon and so I'm going to kind of give you a view of sin as we move into this discussion.

00:09:53

That's a little different than maybe you've heard I'm going to.

00:09:56

I'm going to argue that our sins.

00:09:59

Are our reactions to our lack of safety?

00:10:04

If you would take any sin pattern you struggle with and you would just sit down and I would be welcome.

00:10:09

I would love to do this with you gently, carefully in accounting time or whenever and trace the route.

00:10:16

Yes, it's unbelief.

00:10:17

Yes, it's pride, but it's a response to a moment where you feel unsafe.

00:10:23

If you struggle with lust somewhere deep down, you don't feel like you're going to be love.

00:10:29

Right, if you struggle with greed somewhere deep down, you don't feel like you're going to get enough.

00:10:35

And So what happens is those feelings that come from the fallen around the world.

00:10:39

We live in our own flush that make us feel unsafe.

00:10:42

God is saying, and James has been telling us this entire letter I have you.

00:10:46

I've got you.

00:10:47

Stay where you are.

00:10:48

Stay put and we're going no, no no.

00:10:51

God doesn't know.

00:10:52

We run out and we stumble and we struggle with sin and we fall.

00:10:57

And in our passage, sin is likened to illness.

00:11:01

It's like in this sickness, because it actually does lead to.

00:11:04

That's amazing how so many of the causes of death in our world were linked to habits and behaviors, right?

00:11:13

So there really isn't.

00:11:14

In scriptural terms, a link between our actual sin and rebellion from God, and the actual physical health we have.

00:11:21

It's a mysterious link.

00:11:22

I'm not going to.

00:11:23

Try to build up too much, but I just want to say this.

00:11:25

Your safety is in Jesus when you abide in him.

00:11:29

You will be healed and you'll be healthy.

00:11:31

That's the goal of understanding this morning, and so we're going to look at four things.

00:11:35

What does it mean to abide in Jesus for ways to understand that we're going to promises, prayer, people, and purpose?

00:11:43

Also talking to Shane this week and asking what he was preaching, Shane Hatfield is that I'm doing 4 peas.

00:11:51

And I had like I, I thought to him, I've done that before.

00:11:53

And then I did my outline, I'm.

00:11:55

Like me too.

00:11:56

So Shane and I are doing the four letter peas on the same week, different ones, but promises prayer.

00:12:02

People and purpose.

00:12:03

So let's start with the promise.

00:12:05

Just to kind of deal with it and move on, we have to start with verse 12.

00:12:09

What does it mean?

00:12:10

What is going on with this this weird verse where James is like never?

00:12:15

You never promise or never make an oath.

00:12:18

Never swear by heaven or earth.

00:12:22

These are the kind of verses that oftentimes people pull out and just stare at, similar to earlier when we talked about when you make plans, don't say if the Lord wills it and then people basically what they do is they keep making the same statements, but they add Lord willing, right?

00:12:37

And if that's you, I'm sorry, keep doing that.

00:12:40

But then really pray through what you mean.

00:12:43

We tend to think well, I'm never going to take an oath, but that's not what James is doing here, so I want to unpack this because I think verse 12 might give us a great setup for the rest of our discussion.

00:12:54

Let me read it to you.

00:12:54

Let me.

00:12:54

 

00:12:55

Then I'll explain what I mean.

00:12:57

James says, but above all, brothers, and he's talking brothers and sisters, but he's also writing this to the elders of the 12 tribes, so it's going to the pastors and elders to be handed on to their congregations.

00:12:57

Just.

00:13:12

And he says, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth, or by any other oath.

00:13:19

But let your yes be yes, and your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation now, as we've been saying throughout the series, James, his Savior is Jesus.

00:13:30

But Jesus is also his brother.

00:13:33

And it's fascinating to even get your mind around that, but he a lot of the teaching in James tracks with the sermon on the Mount and in Matthew 5, Jesus says almost the exact same thing.

00:13:47

Don't swear by these other things and so we could dig into the fact that culture of's were different and there's this problem, but I just want to say what I think is happening here. I want to read from one of the best commentaries on the sermon on the Mount from James John Stott.

00:14:06

Is James is concerned?

00:14:08

Is the heart yet again?

00:14:10

When I am trusting in Jesus and I know him correctly and rightly and what I'm doing flows from that conviction in that relationship, I will not feel the need to add other things.

00:14:26

Often times when people start saying I promise, it's almost like Oh no, I don't know if I trust you anymore.

00:14:33

Like if I just say yes, I know I'm going to do it.

00:14:36

An example might be if you've ever tried to discipline in your life and you tried it before, but this time it worked.

00:14:42

A diet and exercise program, Bible reading, whatever the discipline was.

00:14:46

When it worked, did you notice that you just knew?

00:14:48

You

00:14:49

Like I don't know, I just I just I knew I would do it and then the other times I didn't work.

00:14:54

I also was I was kind of surrounding it with like I'm really going to do it.

00:14:58

I'm going to really really do it and what happens is I think internally we can feel when we're not being honest and having the integrity that we have in Christ because we're sort of divided which is the sin pattern throughout the book of James.

00:15:08

Because.

00:15:08

 

00:15:13

Now listen to John Stott explains something similar.

00:15:16

He says this.

00:15:17

The modern application is not.

00:15:22

What did you say?

00:15:23

Sorry, he said it's not so much about swearing.

00:15:26

As much as a pathetic confession to our own dishonesty.

00:15:30

Why do we find it necessary?

00:15:33

To introduce our promises by some tremendous formula, I swear by the Holy Bible.

00:15:37

I swear by Gable.

00:15:38

Whatever he says we do that 'cause something internally doesn't trust what we're saying.

00:15:45

And then the page before that he had said this to give the kind of the more theological.

00:15:51

He says, however hard you try.

00:15:54

He's referring now to Matthew 5, where Jesus says the very words James is repeating.

00:15:59

Jesus said you cannot avoid some reference to God.

00:16:02

For the whole world is God's world. You cannot eliminate him from any of it, so if you Valby heaven that's got thrown. If by earth, that's his footstool. If by Jerusalem, that's his city.

00:16:13

If you sort by your head though, indeed it's yours and this sense that it's nobody else's head.

00:16:19

But it's God's creation or God's control, and you can even change the natural hair color of your own head. So what's Todd is getting at, and what I think James is setting this tone for in this conclusion is this.

00:16:30

Yes.

00:16:31

If I'm abiding in Christ.

00:16:34

And he is ruling and reigning in everything I do.

00:16:38

I will not feel the need to use hyperbole, exaggeration, promises, or oaths.

00:16:45

I will be like Jesus was as he approaches Jerusalem face set like Flint.

00:16:50

When you watch Jesus through his trials, his yes is yes.

00:16:54

His nose know if he answers at all, he knows exactly what he's doing.

00:16:59

And to close out this point is when we want.

00:17:01

I just want to remind us in John 13.

00:17:03

Team

00:17:04

He washes the disciples feet.

00:17:06

Remember that story that's actually celebrated on Maundy Thursday, this coming Thursday, and it's a picture of Jesus emptying himself.

00:17:15

And imagine what he's going to do on the cross for his disciples, but Jaune famously introduces that scene by saying Jesus knowing who he is.

00:17:25

Knowing he's who is in the father, knowing why he came, all of that knowledge.

00:17:30

All of that truth.

00:17:31

All of that connection in abiding with his father is what gave him the ability to go straight into that scene.

00:17:38

And so we start off this discussion on abiding and what it looks like with promises and that is this, not our promises to people.

00:17:47

But the promise of Jesus to Unite us with himself, to our father and the reality that abiding to give us the strength to go into the areas of our lives without swaying in nervousness and and needing to add things.

00:18:02

And when we do those things, we're not trusting the reality of the story we have been grafted into.

00:18:07

So that's sort of the backdrop.

00:18:09

But now we're going to look at the language of binding, which is prayer.

00:18:13

So it's promised, and let's look at prayer.

00:18:16

There's this kind of repeated concept of what it looks like to abide in our letter.

00:18:22

James starts off verse 13 by saying is anyone among you suffering?

00:18:26

Let him pray.

00:18:28

Is anyone cheerful?

00:18:29

Let him sing praise.

00:18:32

And So what you find in this picture of abiding is this continual communication with the source.

00:18:40

So imagine the Vine in the branch.

00:18:42

If you are the branch and you are at this end on the Vine and at this end you're like in the middle of the world, wherever you're growing right.

00:18:50

There's a constant need for a healthy branch to communicate with the Vine to get its resources, and so James is sort of setting up this idea of what it looks like to abide is to be in constant contact and communication with Jesus.

00:19:05

So what if you're suffering, you pray you ask the Lord?

00:19:09

You communicate with him about your suffering?

00:19:12

What about when things are going really well?

00:19:14

You praise, he says.

00:19:17

Very similar to Paul at the end of Philippians when he receives that gift and he has this interesting like thank you.

00:19:26

Though I don't need it, that's how that's the best way to think.

00:19:28

You know, it's really thank you for that gift, though I could have lived without it.

00:19:33

But what Paul is saying is I know how to abound.

00:19:37

And I know how to be in need.

00:19:38

'cause I have this secret and what's his secret is that Jesus is everything to him, so he's not going through this life, waiting and needing and so in the same way, by being in Christ we're in.

00:19:52

Not we're not just on our own, but when we suffer, we pray when we have wonderful things happen.

00:20:00

We praise Jesus and thank him for everything because of his sovereign control and presence over every detail.

00:20:09

But then this third one that we're going to just touch on, and then we're going to come back to it in a little bit is the element of illness.

00:20:16

It's also at the time of prayer.

00:20:18

We live in a modern world and if you want to take our rich versus our humble and lowly concept, oftentimes when we suffer, or when we get ill, it's very tempting for the Christian to move right beyond the Church and Jesus and straight into the medical realm, which.

00:20:35

Of course, is fitting and needed and to be expected.

00:20:40

But we also want to make sure that we're not leaving like Jesus behind right in that in that illness.

00:20:47

Maybe an illustration is Jerry Maguire, right?

00:20:50

When Tidwell Rod Tidwell, who's the athlete?

00:20:53

Jerry Maguire is the agent.

00:20:55

They became super close friends in Cuba Gooding Junior after the performance.

00:21:00

Rod Tidwell is the character he looks at. Remember we have the media and the and the like. The official signing of the everything's official is happening, but what is he doing? He's saying, where is Jerry?

00:21:13

Where is Jerry and Jerry's over there? Kind of like this? Tearing up and saying I've got you and you just see their closeness in their bond and let me just say that is a good picture of the church. Like we we aren't going to be able to bring in the medical equipment and and plug in the Ivs and do all that.

00:21:33

But our relationship and connection to God is a life force that we all want to have, even when we're ill.

00:21:40

And so in illness, though we need modern medicine, we need all the modern technology God has brought to bear and given us as a gift, our hearts are to long.

00:21:51

For connection even then to the church and to God through prayer and the anointing of oil.

00:21:57

I'm going to talk more about what I think that means in a little bit, because right now the topic is prayer.

00:22:03

Uhm?

00:22:04

Are we praying?

00:22:07

Are you, are you praying and then I wanna I wanna add this this is not a new point but it's part of the prayer point and it's another P.

00:22:15

I've already said it.

00:22:16

So you've already been prepared but people.

00:22:19

People we don't like people.

00:22:21

I think modern people don't like other people.

00:22:23

Do you agree with that?

00:22:25

I think we kind of like him a little bit, but we've grown super excited about our ability to sort of sector off our world and be by ourselves.

00:22:32

And yet I was listening to another pastor recently, say like without people you will.

00:22:39

Like you will die, you need humans.

00:22:43

And so in our passage, it's amazing how present people are and how easy it is for our modern minds to not even see it.

00:22:52

I was talking to Wilson the other day and he I think he told me the new generation.

00:22:56

What is it the igen?

00:22:58

The idea what does that mean?

00:22:59

You know iPhone?

00:23:01

This young generation will never know what it means to not have the iPhone, and I just felt really bad for Android.

00:23:08

I just said that's just not fair.

00:23:10

An entire generation is named because of 1, but the point is, is like.

00:23:15

I know a lot of you know life apart from the iPhone there's this young generation that sits there.

00:23:22

What do you mean?

00:23:23

And so the reason I use that as the illustration is.

00:23:27

In our modern era, we have to remind readers.

00:23:31

This is written to a church.

00:23:35

And every step in this passage is a community step, and you have a look.

00:23:40

What do you mean?

00:23:41

Where is that?

00:23:42

If anyone among you is suffering?

00:23:43

Where?

00:23:44

Where is the community?

00:23:46

Well, first of all, it's a letter written to a church, and then the pastor is going to preach it to the church and say if any one of you is suffering, and then the theory is going to be that you're going to come forward in your suffering and there's going to be Community prayer and there's going to be community praise.

00:24:04

And then also when you're sick.

00:24:07

You're going to call for a group of people called the Elders, which we have, and they're going to come to you representing the Church body, and they're going to pray for you.

00:24:17

And then there's this other thing that's happening in verse 16.

00:24:19

I don't know.

00:24:21

If it can be flashed back up there, this is a really important shocking thing.

00:24:26

But listen to what James goes on to say about community therefore.

00:24:30

And we're working on this.

00:24:31

Look at that verse 16.

00:24:32

This is where we're going guys.

00:24:33

As a church, we want to work on this.

00:24:35

Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.

00:24:39

Obviously one of those verses that everyone goes that would be nice.

00:24:44

In it.

00:24:46

And yet James is saying, if this is not happening, you will be sick.

00:24:53

Let's read it again.

00:24:53

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.

00:24:57

We pray that you may be healed.

00:24:59

This is not connected to the sick person.

00:25:03

I'm going to come back to that in a minute.

00:25:04

This is a separate category, and the assumption is this.

00:25:10

Every one of you is struggling with sin.

00:25:13

I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but I'm going to ask you to do a project with me in your brain.

00:25:18

Just think of 1 sin pattern you're struggling with.

00:25:21

And this season of life just kind of in your mind.

00:25:22

I'm not going to call on you.

00:25:25

Here's why I would love to call on you, but I'm not going to.

00:25:28

I would love to know how many of you have confessed that sent to another person in the last month.

00:25:34

We don't do it.

00:25:35

We isolate, we go in.

00:25:39

We play the game of the wealthy, the world, the rich, those that think the that the visible is what saves you, and James is saying, come into the light, come out of the darkness.

00:25:51

Come into the exposure of the cross and know that you are completely and utterly known by Jesus and to be known by one another.

00:26:00

Let me say this, if we're not able to look at our own flesh and sin and confess it, then we're going to be really awful at helping the others who need help.

00:26:10

If someone doesn't confess their sins to me, it's probably 'cause I'm not confessing my sin either to others like do you see how that kind of goes together?

00:26:17

In fact, the last verse brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back.

00:26:23

The assumption is, when the community is confessing and praying for healing, not just naming.

00:26:30

Here's what I struggle with me too.

00:26:32

Wouldn't it be nice if but like, actually confessing and longing for healing?

00:26:37

In community.

00:26:40

But then that breeds a community that goes out for rescue, longing to bring those back that have wandered away.

00:26:47

So this prayer that we're talking about with abiding is also partly talk to people, and I think we are going to have to work hard coming out of a pandemic where we are been.

00:26:57

We've spent a year under masks and behind screens an almost it's become almost psychologically ingrained that people are.

00:27:05

That it's a very important thing that the Church, while remaining safe.

00:27:11

I'm not getting political or anything like that, but we have to learn to become vulnerable and known by people and I would love to spend a lot more time there, but maybe I can close it off by saying this.

00:27:24

My relationship to God is probably no stronger than my relationship to people.

00:27:29

When Jesus, when the God says love, the Lord your God with all your heart, live neighbors yourself.

00:27:29

When?

00:27:29

 

00:27:32

You don't get to pick and choose.

00:27:34

They are a two sides of one coin proposition to the degree I'm loving and worshipping and praising the triune God in scripture, confessing my sin.

00:27:43

That degree will draw me to love my neighbor as myself, through confession and helping and serving and healing.

00:27:50

OK, how do we do all that?

00:27:53

Our last P.

00:27:54

Is the purposes of God.

00:27:58

The big the big thing about.

00:28:03

This entire passage, I think, is that we have to understand to abide in Jesus is to abide in his purposes, his mission, his story, and where I think most of us go wrong in our Christian lives is we want to live our story. We want Jesus's blessing.

00:28:21

But we want our story and he's like that's not how it works.

00:28:23

You've been grafted into my story.

00:28:26

And they land the kind of make that point.

00:28:29

What is what is James?

00:28:31

Do he gives us a glorious illustration of a true person named Elijah?

00:28:38

Right Elijah.

00:28:41

Is from the Book of Kings we preached on Elijah and Elisha last year and he took on the evil King Ahab, so right at a point in Israel's history where this most evil King pops up, God has an answer and it's in the form of Elijah, and he comes and wreaks havoc on Ahab's attempted reign.

00:29:01

REIG in by promising no rain. I didn't mean to do that, and it's not even that helpful. RA.

00:29:09

Ryan

00:29:10

But the point is, is Elijah comes in and prays that the rain would be stopped and it stopped for six for three years and six months.

00:29:19

And then Elijah prays again and the rain bears fruit.

00:29:23

Because Elijah is joining in with the purposes of God, Now we're going to come back to this healing.

00:29:30

Uhm?

00:29:32

And what I'm trying to do is argue for why I think abiding is hard for us, and why understanding God's purposes will help us to actually abide and understand it better. And so we come back to this concept. There's a person there sick. The elders have come, and they've anointed the person with oil. They've laid it with some kind of oil on them. There's been a lot of discussion on that. And then in verse 15, the Prayer of Faith will save the one who is sick.

00:29:57

And the Lord will raise him up.

00:29:59

And there's been so much debate, and I think the two schools of thought are actual healing.

00:30:05

Or death going to heaven and I'm going to say it's a merging of both, but please hear me.

00:30:11

It's primarily deaf.

00:30:13

That's my view.

00:30:15

You can have your own view.

00:30:16

You can study it and look at the commentators and pray.

00:30:19

And here's why I'm going to argue for that.

00:30:21

I will give you 3 proofs for why I think that's the point number one Jesus.

00:30:28

Died.

00:30:30

He didn't go into Jerusalem and do all this ministry and then had this amazing like 85 years on Earth, he died.

00:30:40

Right, James?

00:30:43

Is writing this having been told by Jesus?

00:30:48

And it's recorded in the Gospels of how he was going to die.

00:30:50

And by the way, he died a horrendous death.

00:30:53

And he knew about it.

00:30:53

He knew was coming.

00:30:56

This is the age and situation going on.

00:30:58

We as modern people can't fathom plan a ever being dying physically and I want you to hear me plan A in the Bible is going to heaven.

00:31:12

Always, that's the plan.

00:31:14

A of the Bible.

00:31:15

So you come to this and you go wait a minute says the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up.

00:31:22

And he will be.

00:31:23

If he's committed, he'll be forgiven.

00:31:25

See, he lived right.

00:31:26

I don't know.

00:31:27

But I can tell you this, if when you if you talk to Lazarus after Jesus raised him up, do you think he's talking about 401K's and eating healthy and living to be another 30 or 40 years now?

00:31:40

He's talking about Jesus and eternity.

00:31:43

Maybe his Plan B is long life, so I'm going to say this plan A is heaven being lifted up into heaven through death and having eternity with your with your God and abiding with him forever.

00:31:56

Plan B if it comes plan is happening but the.

00:32:01

The secondary potential positive is an maybe footnote.

00:32:04

You also have a nice long life here.

00:32:06

I guess that would be wonderful and we hope you do.

00:32:09

But the please hear me are grid is physical healing always and I want us to know that that's important.

00:32:17

But when you step back and look at this scope of eternity, what will wake us up in our faith is if we can bind to the purposes of God that we are dead and risen with Christ in our destiny.

00:32:30

Is heaven and when Christians die in the New Testament, it's often referred to as falling asleep.

00:32:36

And here's another proof.

00:32:37

You want more proof of this?

00:32:38

Take take Elijah.

00:32:39

We're going to come back to him.

00:32:41

The lies you turn back.

00:32:42

The first Kings not right now, but on your own and read Elijah First Kings like 17 on.

00:32:49

He tells Ahab it's not going to rain for awhile.

00:32:54

And then God sends into the Brook kerith and feeds him with Ravens and water.

00:32:59

And then God sends him to a widow in Zarephath.

00:33:04

Outside of Israel, and she is debate cakes and take care of Elijah and you all know what happens next.

00:33:12

Her son dies.

00:33:15

You know what lies you does.

00:33:16

For the first time in those chapters he prays he didn't pray for the rain to stop.

00:33:24

He just God said something and he tells Ahab he didn't pray for the rain to start.

00:33:30

After the whole incident at Mount Carmel.

00:33:32

Later he says look at that cloud and it's rain.

00:33:35

It's it's like his.

00:33:37

Hurt his being united to God and purposes so.

00:33:42

Close that his utterances of God's words are like prayer. Then I'll tell you where you just pray.

00:33:48

For that sun and that sun rose raised from the dead, isn't it strange that James?

00:33:55

Doesn't mention that here we are talking about.

00:33:58

Someone sick and it seems like the elders have anointed them and they've been raised in all. James is thinking about is this mission of Elijah and his closeness to God. And you know how Elijah's life seemingly from RI Gen perspective came to an end.

00:34:14

He was whisked away on a chariot.

00:34:17

He never tasted death, and that is our longing and that is our hope.

00:34:22

And if you will sync your purposes into that, and it's hard.

00:34:26

It's a daily sinking of my hopes. All the things I want my plan, B's all the things I'm hoping for in this life are fine if they're biblically minded, but what God is saying and what James is saying is please long.

00:34:42

For heaven long for eternity.

00:34:42

For it

00:34:42

 

00:34:42

It.

00:34:46

Live it now as one already raised. Sync your goals into God's goals. Join his purposes as Elijah did, and soon we will be like Jesus. Are yes will be yes or no will be now.

00:35:01

Our prayers will be many at every moment will be saying thank you Jesus and suffering will be saying Lord, how is this part of the plan reoriented me?

00:35:09

Will be connected to people.

00:35:12

Will begin to want to be in worship.

00:35:15

And Fellowship and confession and part of the church.

00:35:19

Because of these purposes, driving us all the way.

00:35:23

That's what Easter is about.

00:35:24

That's what Christianity is about, and that's what we want to be doing.

00:35:28

Let's pray.

00:35:30

Jesus, we longed to be reconnected to your purposes.

00:35:34

We confess that we stray.

00:35:38

All the time.

00:35:40

Thank you for the cross.

00:35:42

Thank you for confession of sin.

00:35:44

Thank you that you have called us the Lord not to be perfect but to be weak.

00:35:48

But in our weakness, we rely on your perfection, and your perfection heals us.

00:35:54

Thank you Jesus, that you have not called us.

00:35:57

To just have infirmities and be left in our infirmities, but you actually redeem us from our sin, you change the paths of our lives.

00:36:08

Now Lord, we also know that there are people who are sick and we pray for healing on this side of heaven.

00:36:13

But Lord, we would be foolish.

00:36:15

If our deepest longing wasn't for their souls to be in heaven with you along with ours, he just along for that more than earthly healing.

00:36:25

Just as you did as you walked this earth and had your ministry here, Amen.