Sermon – “Make This Your Common Practice”

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. 19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out. 16-18 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again. 19-20 My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and pre-vented an epidemic of wandering away from God.

8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

This morning. My message out title make this your common practice. As I get through this you’ll see what I’m going to be talking about the we should make our common practice that the church should be doing. I’m going to read from for James Chapter five vs thirteen to twenty it’s a short passage but I’m going to read it from two different versions this morning. First with the new king New King James Version. OK OK. I thought I’d put first for that one. OK Is anyone among you suffering let him pray. Is anyone cheerful let him sing songs. Is anyone among you sick. Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him. And no one to him with oil in the name of the Lord and a prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins he will be forgiven confess your trespasses to one another. And pray for one another that you may be healed the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Illogic was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its fruit. Brother and if any one among you wonders from the truth and someone turns him back. Let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his ways will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Prayer was mentioned seven times and that short little passage seven times. So there is your clue to what should be our common practice. And then reading from The Message Bible. Or you hurting your hurting anybody hurting. Or you hurting. Pray do you feel great saying out a movie. If you feel great. Let’s sing or you sick call the church leaders together. And pray and annoyed you with oil in the name of the master. Believing prayer will heal you. And Jesus will put you on your feet and if you’ve sinned. You’ll be forgiven healed inside and out make this your common practice confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed the prayer of a real person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with in logic for instance human just like us prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain and it didn’t not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain and it did the showers came and everything started to grow again. Dear friends. If you know if if you know people who are wandering off from God’s truth don’t write them off go after them get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God Let us pray Father God we thank you so much for your presence in our lives we also thank you for your holy word your word that reveals your truth to us your ver your word it reveals your love and your compassion and your mercy to us toward God every day we thank you that every day your word is new. While I got I just prayed to a place within us. I hunger along ignore God to read your work to study your work to draw closer to you in a longing were to pray to talk with your God to seek your face. God may your spirit be upon us. May your spirit be here today. God let your power rain down Father God just touch our hearts God I just pray that you will let that fire break through Lord and just cleanse us make us purify us Father God for your glory in Jesus’ name amen. In this passage James mentioned several things that probably every congregation will deal with it some point or other. Sometimes many congregations deal with things off these things often and these will be our points of topic today suffering sickness and sin. Every church at some point has to deal with these items don’t think suffering sickness and sin. So I want to begin talking about suffering. If you look up the Greek meaning of the word suffering is it used in many different areas in the new testament not just as found here in James. You’re going to find you look up suffering you’re going to see many different numbers that you got to look up for suffering to find out the description of suffering but there is one common thread you’ll see through him all that will have many of these words that describe it is the one I chose affliction. It will be of dealing with affliction in your life pain hardship difficult times or circumstances. So basically if you stump the mall up. It’s having unpleasant things happen to us unpleasant things that we’re having to live with in our lives. The apostle Paul knew what it meant to suffer and he suffered often for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ he willingly suffered for Jesus Christ and second Timothy two Chapter two verses nine eight through ten to me. He says Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel for Woods I suffer trouble as an evildoer even to the point of change but the Word of God is not changed how they look. God’s Word is not changed and cannot be changed. Verse tenses therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect. That they also may obtain a salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Paul was willing to suffer he was willing to hear. Hank up me take me to prison. Whatever for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because he knew that when whatever the city. The way she may be whether he was free or whether he was bad and that the Gospel was going to be proclaimed he was willing to suffer for it. He knew that he would preach the Gospel to the guards. He knew that he would preach the gospel to kings and governors. His imprisonment led to him being able to preach the governor’s So for the sake of the gospel he would endure whatever came along he was not afraid to suffer. No there was a former professional baseball player in many of his will. Maybe recognize this name his name was David he played Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres from one thousand nine hundred two to one thousand nine hundred seven. Then he was traded and played from for the San Francisco Giants from one thousand nine hundred seven to one thousand nine hundred nine. He was a left handed pitcher a very very good pitcher. He represented the Padres in the All-Star Game in one nine hundred eighty three in only his second season playing professional baseball. In that season he won fourteen games and that is quite an accomplishment for a pitcher to win fourteen games in a season. So he was equally proficiency rather he was a starter coming out of the bullpen he was a great pitcher. He became very good friends with two other pádraig pitchers Mark Thurman and Eric show. Who also held very strong Christian beliefs as Dave Brubeck he did he was then traded in one thousand nine hundred seven to the San Francisco Giants. And they also found some teammates there and shared his Christian values. Scott Garlits Gore and at me hammer maker. Jeff Bentley and these four became known as The God Squad among the team. Whenever this team would travel when they go to distant cities to play baseball as their teammates would go out and enjoy a partying lifestyle would go to the bar. Where were they the lifestyles led them these four would stay back at the hotel and have Bible study. So they were very devoted Christians. So he was traded in one nine hundred eighty seven in one thousand nine hundred eight the following season a cancerous Desmarais tumor was found in direct he’s pitching arm he underwent surgery they removed have two of the deltoid muscle in his pitching arm and they froze the humerus bone in an effort to eliminate all the cancerous cells. Doctors advised to wait until one thousand nine hundred ninety to pitch again. But he was determined to pitch in one thousand nine hundred nine. The following year. So by July of one nine hundred eighty nine he was pitching in the minor leagues in August the tenth. He made a very highly publicized return to the Major Leagues pitched eight innings defeating the Cincinnati Reds four to three. In a following start five days later in montréal directly pitched three no hit innings but in the fifth inning he felt a tingle in sensation in his arm and the sixth inning. He started off shaky allowing a home run to the leadoff batter then he hit the second batter then only first pitch to Tim Raines the third batter his humorous bone snapped. They said the sound of that bone breaking could be here throughout the stadium. He collapsed on the mound he’d suffered a clean break midway between his shoulder knees elbow ending his season. The Giants went on to win the National League pennant one thousand nine hundred nine defeating his Chicago Cubs don’t know they want to World Series this past year. And in the post-game celebration. He was there with his team. As he ran out to the mound of celebrate with his team his arm was broken a second time just going out to celebrate. So doctors examined Becky’s X. rays and noticed a mass and his arm which turned out to be malignant his cancer returned and in his career eighteen days later developed he retired from baseball. After two more surgeries his. Darren continued to deteriorate and on June eighteenth one thousand nine hundred one less than two years after his comeback. His left arm and shoulder both ran protected after recovering from surgery he went on to begin his new career as a motivational speaker. I manage suffered greatly his career gone but when I want to be a motivational speaker. He wrote two books about his battle with cancer and his comeback his first book was titled comeback published in one thousand nine hundred co-author with Tim Stafford in a second book was when you can’t come back co-author with his wife Jan and Ken Geir published in one thousand nine hundred two. And I want to share an insert from his book his book you can’t come back or when you can’t come back so I just want to share it as he tells it. He said One night a woman came up to me and told me how she was once down and out with a drug addiction until someone told her about Christ and she became a Christian and was healed of her diction. She told me that God wanted all of his children to be one hundred percent healthy but does he. They would ask what would God’s children grow up to be like if all the bumps in the road ahead of them were smooth. He said cancer introduced me to suffering and suffering is what strengthened my faith. Yet the woman implied I was suffering because I didn’t have enough faith. She seemed to be sane have enough faith and get the life. You want but that struck me as making God into some kind of cosmic vending machine where if you push the right button you get a sweet life free of suffering. Someone once said that the difference between American Christianity and Christianity as its practice in the West rest of the world has to do with out how each of you. Suffering. He said In America Christians pray for the burden of suffering to be lifted from their backs. But in the rest of the world Christians pray for a stronger back so they can bear. The suffering. That’s why we look away from the bag lady on the street and look to the displays in the store windows. That’s why we prefer to go to movies instead of hospitals and nursing homes. And of quote. Do we pray for stronger backs. The most important question we should ask right now is what should we do when we find ourselves going through difficult times when we find ourselves going through suffering or unpleasant things. What are you. We should not do we should not grumble about it. We should not criticize others who are not going through similar circumstances. Nor should we blame God because it’s not God’s fault that we’re suffering. The woman said that she felt that God one of all his children be hundred percent healthy while grew with her own it on this way that it was God’s intent that man would not suffer. It was his intent that man would live perfectly healthy without sin for eternity but sin entered in so God allows the consequences that to effect. Yes even his children today. What we should do is follow the excellent advice of James. We should pray you know the entire book of James in my opinion is such a practical book. It’s not mysterious It’s not hard to understand it’s very practical. It’s easy to understand it’s very straightforward. If you’re sick pray. If you’re suffering pray if you’re happy saying it doesn’t get much simpler than that doesn’t it. Verse fourteen he said. Is anyone among you sick. He says call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him annoying to name with oil in the name of the Lord. Does anybody else found it interesting that he didn’t say Go call for the miracle worker. Go call for the gifted healer to come and lay hands on me he says no call for the elders not al der elders of the church. Don’t call for just one person call for the later. The message version said call for the leaders of the church that they may come and anoint and pray over that person that is sick. How many has called for the leaders when they were sick. How many pick up the phone so I pastor bring all the leaders in common lay hands on annoying me I’m sick I don’t see hands go up. Now we just I’m sick I’m not coming. The day I don’t feel good. Well maybe this will convict you pick up the phone. How are the others going to know you’re sick unless you call them how they’re going to come and pray in the US You call them and tell them some commentators consider this anoint him with oil to be a Sacramento anointed but others consider to be a medicinal annoying thing in defense of the medicinal nineteen Burdick wrote the following. There are a number of reasons for understanding this application of oil as medicinal rather than Sacramento for the word. I believe dissent is annoying. Is not the usual word for Sacramento or ritualistic will anoint to James could have used a verb cryo if he had used that it would have been Sacramento or. Ritual ritualistic. But it is also well documented that the fact that oil was one of the most common medicines used in biblical times. Many of you may remember the parable that Jesus told about a man who fell prey to robbers and left half dead found in Luke Chapter ten versus thirty three thirty four then Jesus answered and said. A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing wounded him and departed leaving. I’m half dead now by chance a certain priest came down the road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side you imagine that. Here comes a priest a godly man he sees him he passes by. Oh no sight he was more interested in looking at the store windows what an e that he was helping that man who was wounded. Likewise a Levite when he arrived at the saw at the place came a look then passed by on the other side but a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was and when he saw him he had compassion. So he went to him bandages wounds poured on one and why and he said him when he’s own animal and brought him to the end and took care of him. He put it well in the man for healing. So I think it’s very evident that James is prescribing prayer and medicine in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he is prescribing both. Some might think it’s a lack of faith. If you go to the doctors and use medicine. Jamieson’s prescribing prayer and medicine. If you don’t get well God might say well stupid. I tried to tell you Go get the medicine. Use good sense. Pray and use the medicine. According to this according to the Greek this phrase most likely join with the verb pray and. The participle having anointed the entire action of praying and anointed is to be done in the name of the Lord in His name in verses fifteen and sixteen. James also said in the prayer of faith will save the sick in the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins he will be forgiven verse sixteen confess your trust passes to one another and pray for one. Another that you may be healed the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. We’ve all heard the person claim if you’re not healed you don’t have enough faith. If that were the case then why has all these gifted healers passed on. I mean we’ve all read of some amazing people that are gifted with the gift of healing. Why are they no longer among us. But that because they didn’t have enough faith know they had faith they had great faith. What is given unto men wants to die. And then a judgment Amen. I believe this prayer of faith that James is speaking of is a prayer offered when you know what the will of God is when you pray for God to speak to you. You know we are so guilty all of us. Welshman’s all of us. Many of us are guilty. When we go to prayer all we’re doing is speaking to God instead of listening to God ask God questions. You know you go to prays for someone say God should I pray for a miracle or God is it this person’s time. The key is to know the will of God The elders would know the will of God they would seek God’s direction before they would pray they would seek His will and then pray accordingly. None of the commentaries mention this but here’s my take on part of this verse the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. It didn’t say that the prayer of faith will heal the sick. It said the prayer of faith will save the sick is that not what is said. So one thing I am absolutely sure about that God is more concerned about a person salvation. Then the health of their body. God would rather have a person come home. The glory. Now rather then to turn from him a few years down the road. What if a believer didn’t turn his back gets are healing how the God healed me but a few years down the road they fall away. God would rather have them come now to the home of glory. Than to turn from him later. So the key is that we saved the per faith will save the sick. And it could be that God will raise them up they could be talking about the raise him up at the last day. That’s just my opinion on this. So the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins he will be forgiven. He will be forgiven. That is the ultimate healing that we will be forgiven of our sins. We will be forgiven First Timothy two three and four says for this is good in except the boy in the sight of God or Savior who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth he desires each and every person to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and be saved. You know I was actually drawn to this whole passage in James with the intent of my main focus being on confession first thing. Sixteen said confess your sins confess your trust passes to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. Many many years ago. I was a young believer and the guy I work with was a Catholic gentleman and we were having this discussion about faith and religion. And the topic came up about confession so we’re talking about confession and. Eternity reference James Brady or what it says confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that was a reference he used to say why they have to. Now I’m not extremely well informed in the practice of confession as it’s done in the Catholic Church. But I’m pretty sure that whenever someone goes to the priest and has a confession. There’s a set down and reveals their sins and ask for forgiveness that the priest doesn’t turn then and tell them his sins. I don’t think that’s the way it works. I don’t think that the priest does much confess and. Because the passage says confess your sins to one another. That you may pray confessing our sins can have a positive impact on our lives we can have a positive impact on our souls because it can lift a burden off of our shoulders when we confess our sins us like we’re revealing it helping let in someone help remove that from our shoulders. You know you have the weight of the guilt on you. So when you confess it it’s kind of like it takes it off that you can have others come alongside and pray when you confess your sins you know. BROTHER I’ve committed this sin now well you can’t hold me up in prayer that I might not fall back into that sin but if you do confess your sins to one another. You need to make sure that is someone you can trust that you don’t want to confess your sins to the. The gossiper down the street. The blabber mouth. We don’t confess our sins with intent that everybody in the neighborhood will know about it but it’s so our brothers and sisters can help us and pray for us lift us up and encourage us if we take James seriously. Prayer is what the church ought to be spending its time doing. We ought to make it prayer or common practice every day. For some that’s a radical idea and it needs an argument to. Horded there’s two reasons why we should pray first reason is that we know what prayer will do we know that prayer will change us because the more we pray the more with God the more it will change us think about the people that you can look to consider saints of God those people hearse very spiritually active. Why are they attractive to us why do we think them saints because there are something special about their lives there is a depth there is a quality. There is an inner peace in their lives. You can see it. That’s what draws you to them they have the ability to accept whatever comes along. Whatever season of life. They have the ability to love and have compassion on others. You know I tell you. Someone that does that is someone is a person of prayer. I’m sure I’m going to use another Catholic illustration here. I’m sure you’ve all heard of Mother Teresa. You know no matter what your denomination or affiliation you have to respect the amazing example that this woman said she she devoted her life to a life of prayer. What prayer did was empty or cleanser and cleanse her life of all of the distractions in life. All that is superfluous. That means as she was it did her life of everything but the most basic needs to sustain life and it filled her life with transcendent power. So what the world saw in this tiny fragile frail little woman was an apparent inexhaustible inexplicable power of love. See love day in and day out year after year. And through her love made a great difference in the world that is what they saw but what they did not see was this tiny frail woman on her knees morning midday evening and. Night keeping the office of prayer open in her life to God and inviting God to come and dwell in her. Every day. So we should pray first of all because we know what will happen. We know what will happen to us individually and us as a church but we should pray secondly because we don’t know what will happen. A man because our God is a powerful God We know that nothing is impossible with God. He can do all things. The power of prayer is what the last part of this text was about James said there was a man just like us and he prayed that it would not rain. It said he earnestly pray and it wouldn’t it did not rain for three and a half years. The message version said not a drop. Not one drop a rain came down in three and a half years and it was a man just like us. My friends are we pray. Are we praying earnestly. Like Elijah did. The Message Bible said the prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Powerful to be reckoned with. I can tell you one thing right now that scares the devil and that’s when God’s people gets on their knees and pray he lives who was a man just like us and you can say well he was so awesome and powerful but remember the story he prayed and I’m telling you. God moved dramatically. We know the story the prophets of bail took their altar they put their sacrifice upon it and they prayed all day they cut themselves they threw themselves upon it. Nothing happened. What was the problem was bale it was the God of Nature was. Those to help their harvest is be great. That’s why I prayed it would not rain for three and a half years is they’re going to show the people who the god of nature is who the true God is so then we know the larger one c mocked them. He rebuilt the altar and placed his sacrifice upon it and they poured the water the vessels of water all over the sacrifice and it ran down in the trough filled the trough completely saturated with water and that ordinary man prayed to God the fire would come down and fire came down to consume the entire sacrifice the water everything. But then what happens. They slaying the false prophets of bail and that wicked jazz a bill says By this time tomorrow I’m going to do the same thing to you and he ran. He ran for fear this wonderful ordinary man. Though he just seen the mighty hand of God He ran from jazz a bill. So yes he was an ordinary man he had his faults just like all of us but he also was a powerful man of prayer that should be our common practice to pray. Pray and see what God can do will do. Are we making that our practice make that your practice as you. Draw nearer to him. He will draw nearer to you.