The True Power of the Saints Pt. 2

Text

James 5:16–20 ESV

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 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 the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 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.

Prayer

Sermon

Introduction

We come to the final message in this series on James.

This sermon is titled, The True Power of the Saints, Pt. 2.

We’ve been taken through so much of the human life. From suffering to success, poverty to wealth, sickness and health — all of life has been brought before us.

We ought to recognize that this was intentional. James was likely responding to specific circumstances that he had become aware of. The church was struggling with a lot of different problems, and so, in order to tackle as many things as possible, goes to the source.

The source that James went after was the object of a believer’s faith, the depth of that faith, and how it could be measured by how they lived.

When discussing suffering, James reminds us that God’s providence is the object of our faith, and that if we are properly trusting in that, we will have every confidence in every situation.

When discussing wealth, James reminds us that God’s ultimate authority is what we have faith in, not man. This applies to the rich and the poor, alike. If we keep this properly seated in our thinking, we won’t go astray.

When discussing worldliness, James reminds us that friendship with the world is enmity with God. He reminds us that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. If honoring and following God is important to us, we will bear fruit in keeping with that commitment.

After discussing such a broad list of topics, we should wonder why he ends his letter in this way.

“Are you suffering? Pray. Are you cheerful? Sing (psallos).”

“Are you sick? Bring the elders, and pray.”

Our text today begins with the continuation of the command to pray.

We see three elements, here, at the end of James, of how we ought to understand prayer:

Prayer as Confession — the method by which we are to deal with the ongoing sin in our lives, and be healed.

Prayer as Cosmic — righteous prayer has power, and it has changed the universe.

Prayer as Conversion — prayer’s role in the saving of sinners.

Prayer is the true power of the saints.

Prayer as Confession

James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

We could imagine life like a boat on the water. We are sailing towards our destination, sail aloft and oar in hand. As we navigate life, we continually deal with the sin principle — the desires of the flesh.

Hebrews 12:1 tells us to look to those saints who have sailed before us, those “great witnesses,” and to do what they did. To “set aside every weight and sin which clings so closely.”

Sin is weight. Sin is burden taken on our boat. It slows our progress, forces us to work harder, and makes the job of going through life harder.

As if this problem were not dire enough, we are engaged in a pitched battle against the forces of darkness. Mark preached on the reality of spiritual warfare in Ephesians, recently.

Ephesians 6:11–12 ESV

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Not only do the cosmic powers of darkness seek to weigh our boat down with their efforts, but we are liable to their deceptions—such that we, it’s hard to even say it—invite this weight in. We are sold a lie: “here, take this, it will give you energy; it will make your whole sailing so much easier to bear.”

This is the deceptive nature of sin.

Satan tried desperately to tempt Christ in the same way. When the author of Hebrews writes of Christ, our High Priest, who “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin,” we have the trumpet call of victory in all of this.

Satan tried to persuade our Lord to buy what he was selling. He offered bread, power, and all the nations of the world if he simply bent the knee. Where our knees are weak, Christ’s were strong. He neither bent the knee or even crouched down, but stood tall on the Word of God.

And the Word of God, James 5:16, says to us two things: 1) confess your sins, and 2) pray for one another.

By confessing our sins to God, we are raising our voices to heaven and asking for God’s mercy. Do we have the power to cast the weight from our boat? Like, really remove the weight so that there is no sensation of it all?

No, only the Spirit of God by command of the Father can work a miracle like that.

And I think every time we go to the Father in repentance, asking that he forgive us our debts, a miracle occurs: he forgives them. Wholly, totally; and not just this, but he cleanses us of all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 ESV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you are in Christ, then you already travel the waters of life in an indestructible vessel. Jesus said he will not lose even one of all the Father has given to him.

If you are in Christ, then there is no storm that can capsize that vessel, because the breath of the Spirit is far more powerful than any storm of the devil.

If we are Christ, we are serving the man who spoke and stilled the waters.

So, when we see that our boat is weighed down with the weight of sin, we should remember how invincible our soul still remains.

This doesn’t minimize the seriousness of sin—sin is fire and it will burn whatever it touches.

This should maximize our confidence in prayer, because God himself has said that if we come to him in repentance, he will clear the boat.

Psalm 25:6 ESV

Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.

God has always been this way. He delights in mercy, and, like the Father, rushes to meet the prodigal son who returns home. We should remember this scene when we are confessing our sins through prayer. We should think of the Father rushing to meet us with open arms, because he is.

Prayer as Cosmic

James 5:17–18 “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 the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.”

Following the statement that “the prayer of a righteous person has much power as it is working,” James gives us an example in Elijah.

Perhaps the most dramatic moment this Old Testament prophet’s life, Elijah faced down a combined number of 950 prophets of pagan gods. This showdown was between one faithful man against all the strength of idolatrous Israel under Ahab.

If you want to read one of the most shocking vindications of God’s power in the Old Testament, go read 1 Kings 18.

What James is referring to, in our text, are the events immediately before and directly after this showdown.

Prior to this event, God had commanded Elijah to tell Ahab, the wicked ruler of Israel who had allowed a fall into rampant idolatry, that there would be absolutely no rain in the land, but by Elijah’s word. God then told Elijah to go and hide himself.

Three years pass, and the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go back to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.”

Elijah obeys, and very quickly he finds himself before thousands of people. All the people of Israel were watching as Elijah faced down a thousand wicked priests.

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He presents this challenge: “each of us will prepare a bull for a burnt sacrifice. We will both lay them on a pyre, but we won’t set it ablaze. When we’re done, you will pray to Baal and I will pray to Yahweh. Whoever sends fire—he is God.”

They agree to the challenge.

1 Kings 18:26–30 ESV

And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down.

Elijah would then proceed to prepare one of the most powerful symbolic indictments of Israel. The altar was made of 12 stones, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Any Israelite would know that story, and would know that it wasn’t Baal who named them. He was rebuilding an altar for Yahweh, not Baal.

Imagine a 4 gallon bucket filled with water. Now imagine there are four them. Imagine them being poured all over the wooden altar and sacrifice. Now imagine them all being filled again, and poured on the altar. Imagine it being done a third time. The whole thing is drenched.

I described this scenario to an AI and asked it to calculate what would be required to burn this sacrifice today. It did all sorts of math, and ended estimating that would be impossible apart from high explosives. The closest thing it could get to was 35 minutes and 6 gallons of gas with a flamethrower.

At this point, you know what is about to happen. God is going to call down fire and set this thing ablaze immediately. But something important must happen first.

1 Kings 18:36–37 “And at the time of the offering… Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.””

1 Kings 18:38–39 ESV

Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”

Elijah prayed in accordance with God’s Word, and fire came down. After this, when God’s majesty had been displayed, Elijah prayed, and heaven gave forth rain. Fire and water, through the prayer of a righteous man.

James for You Powerful and Effective

In and of itself, this is a point we need to remember. Many of us do not pray as we should, and one of the reasons for this is that we do not believe our prayers will make much of a difference. Deep down, we don’t think they will change anything. And so prayer can become just a token thing, a gesture to others, a way of checking in with God without really expecting anything major to happen.

When we feel like this, we need to remember Elijah. His prayers were indeed powerful and effective. They changed the weather, for years.

Before we are tempted to think, “well, that’s Elijah—he was a prophet! I’m not a prophet, I’m not like that,” know that James expected us to think that.

He said, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.”

So, the power to call down fire, huh? Is that the supernatural power of the saints you’re recommending?

Let me ask you this: which is more impressive to you—a prayer that changes the weather, or a prayer that can change you? A prayer that can forgive and cleanse a sinner before a holy God, by a that same God?

Both kinds of prayers have been prayed in this room, and both, by God’s grace, have been answered.

This is the true power of the saints: prayer, that cleanses sinners and brings fire and water. May the Lord give us eyes to see how mighty a weapon this is, and the faith to wield it.

Prayer as Conversion

The things I’ve said today—they’re meant to persuade you of the power of prayer. To remind us all of the way God has invited us to participate in the unfolding of human history.

I just commented on how we should be more amazed at prayer that forgives than prayer that brings fire. It’s all important, but I think it might be at least matched by what we’re about to read—these final verses of James, and their implications.

James 5:19–20 “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 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.”

Every Sunday we pray for lost loved ones. I’d also wager that some of you pray for those who once professed faith in Christ, but have walked away. Maybe some of you were, or are, that person, and someone has been going to the Lord in prayer on your behalf.

Whoever you are, hear these words: if you wander from the truth, and God sends a missionary specifically for you, take notice. See the marvelous grace of God pursuing you.

Each one of us is somewhere in this verse. Some of are you are on your knees for your children, and others for your parents; for friends, coworkers, and former church members. If we aren’t, we should be.

Conclusion

The plain teaching of this section is that prayer works, and the plain implication of all of James is that we should be praying about everything.

We should be drawing near to God, so that he would draw near to us, and shape us in his image, so that we live in a manner pleasing to him.

When we do this, we’re doing the only rational thing we can do in the face of a broken world: seeking the one who fixes broken things.

How do we do this, “draw near to God”? The first answer is prayer.

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Not everyone is supposed to be a great theologian, preacher, missionary, or evangelist, but every Christian can be a great and effective pray-er.

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We’re going to celebrate the end of James and the end of this sermon by thinking about Jesus.

None of the instructions for life found in the letter of James are applicable to us if we don’t have the Savior.

Suffering will never make sense, we will be blind slaves to sin, and be without hope in the world without Jesus.

When we have Jesus, we have the Father and the Spirit as well. The will of the Father leads us in the darkness.

The presence of the Spirit in every believer sanctifies us, and calls us to greater things.

The friendship with the Son comforts us, because, though we sin, he didn’t—and his perfect righteousness is given to us the moment we trust in him.

That moment, where God opens our eyes and we see things as they really are: a broken world, a broken sinner, yes, but a mighty Savior, too.

And though our sins are like scarlet, says Isaiah, we can be made white as now. Like a wretched leper, covered in lesions and boils, we come before God with our transgressions in hand.

When our heart cries out in faithful prayer, “Lord, take it away from me,” he does.

He takes it all away. He makes us new. He covers our multitude of sins.

This covering is the blood of Jesus, which was poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

Every sin, large and small, nailed to the cross on our behalf, because of his great love for us.

— I’m going to ask the worship team to remain seated while I pray. —

Psalm 51:1–12 ESV

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.