Faith Lasts

Wealth, Patience, Prayer, & Restoration

Baptism:

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3, ESV)

Baptism Script:

-Say to the congregation, “This is Zoey Kleim“

-Say to the candidate, “Zoey, are you being baptized today because you have trusted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? (YES)

-Raising your right-hand says, “Because of your public profession of faith, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit.”

Opening:

Today we are going to move through the end of chapter four and all of chapter 5 by dividing it up into four major sections. I’m excited to finish up with James today and hope that it’s been beneficial to you. I know it’s challenged me. I’m also looking forward to diving into the book of Ruth next week so make sure you come back as we start our new series covering the book of Ruth next Sunday. Well let’s dive in and see what God has in store for us today.

-Wealth 4:13-5:6

Story of meeting with Ms. Renee Jarrett and talking about their trip in 2001 to Romania…reminded me of my experience going to Chernobyl. People were content despite their lack of things.

James tackles a bunch of topics as he winds down his letter and at the end of chapter 4 and beginning of chapter 5 he tackles wealth. The general warning is to not be dependent on earthly possessions or wealth but to instead trust God and live dependent on him. Wrapped up in this James also tackles how we should not boast about the future as ultimately we are not promised anything in this life and it is by God’s grace that we get to experience the things we plan.

In this section we see the famous line of our lives being like “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes”…this reminds us of the fragility of life and how in comparison to eternity our time on earth is just a small portion of time. Francis Chan has this great illustration that he used one time as he preached where he has this giant rope, think one that you might have used at field day for a tug of rope competition when you were young, and then he takes it an marks one small section maybe the size of your hand with black tape. His point is our lives here on earth or short compared to eternity.

“Many Christians explicitly qualify any future plans by speaking or writing the letters “D.V.,” an abbreviation of Deo volente, a Latin phrase meaning “God willing” (cf. 4:15).” In modern days often times we will say Lord willing…it’s definitely an appropriate thing to say, but I don’t think its always necessary as long as our heart posture and he way we talk reflects this.

“The proper response to our human limitations is humble acknowledgment of our reliance upon our sovereign God—both for the enacting of our plans and for life itself.”

-Excerpt From ESV Expository Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation

As James continues, he paints a picture of how wealth will fade using the illustration of a moth eating through things to compare it to trusting in earthly possessions that are here today and gone tomorrow.

Story of Billy Pierce and how humble he was and though he had much he always looked to bless others…Streams of Mercy- Missions Organization in Africa reaching difficult areas & came out of Alistair Begg’s church. In short he was someone by the world’s standard had wealth but the way he treated people and the way he used his money was in a manner that held it very loosely and sought to use it to further God’s kingdom.

The big takeaway here is that our lives are short and we should be careful to not get caught up in material possessions as they can fade away and have no eternal value. We must also be aware that our time on earth is short and to make sure we are making good use of the time God gives us along with the material possessions and the relationships he has blessed us with. As believer's we must view the things God has allowed us to have, and find a way to use them for his glory. The famous saying is we should be in control of our possession, instead of our possessions being in control of us.

“Here is a remarkable truth: God is able to bring eternal results from our time-bound efforts. This is what Jesus intimates when he tells us to store up treasure in heaven rather than on earth. When we invest our time in what has eternal significance, we store up treasure in heaven. This side of heaven, the only investments with eternal significance are people. “Living this day well” means prioritizing relationships over material gain. We cannot take our stuff with us when we die, but, Lord willing, we may feed the hungry and clothe the needy in such a way that an eternal result is rendered. We may speak words that, by the favor of the Lord, transform into the very words of life. This is the calling of the missionary, the magnate, and the mother of small children: spend your time to impact people for eternity.” ― Jen Wilkin, None Like Him: 10 Ways God Is Different from Us

-Patience 5:7-12

I’ve never worked as a farmer, but recently Jess and I have watched a few TV shows that revolve around farmers & vets that serve farmers and one thing I’ve learned really fast that farmers have to be some of the most patient people on earth. They are completely dependant on weather for their success and if they are raising livestock it’s a long journey from having little calfs or piglets to actually being able to sell them for profit. Everything takes time and effort and it doesn’t always pay off.

In this section James uses the analogy of farming to remind his readers to stay patient, waiting on the Lord’s return. In particular he encourages us to stay steadfast in our faith during difficult times, clinging to the hope found in Christ Jesus.

James uses the example of Job to remind us of what steadfastness looks like and the great compassion and mercy of our Lord even when everything around us seems to be crumbling. Mr. Terry & Mr. Craig are leading a co-ed bible study on Wednesday nights that is going through Job.

I had the pleasure of sitting in with their study this Wednesday and one of the things we discussed was how some view Job as just a story. We all agreed that we view Job as a historical figure and this reference in James is one of the reasons why. James seems to point to Job as a person in history and here refers to him as someone we should look to as an example of enduring suffering which resulted in Job declaring:

“I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I take back my words and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5–6)

-David Platt, Exalting Jesus in James

James points to Job and the prophets and reminds his readers that we are to expect trials and suffering in this world. The reality is his readers would have endured some form of persecution for their faith…as we read this today we are reminded that following Christ comes at a cost and we should expect to face trials and tribulations here on earth, but in the midst of them we are to be steadfast in our faith and look towards the promise of Jesus returning to make all things new.

-Prayer 5:13-18

In the next six verses we see the importance of prayer emphasized by James. As he winds down his letter, remember we compared it to a modern day blog from a pastor that covers many subjects and shifts from one thought to another quickly, he pulls all these thoughts together by encouraging believers to seek God in prayer in all circumstances.

James gives us the example of enduring suffering, experiencing great joy, and going through sickness and in all circumstances we are to turn to God in prayer. We see that James encourages believers to individually go to God in prayer for every circumstance and then he also suggests for those experiencing sickness to have elders of the church pray for them and do this by anointing them with oil.

Now I want to take a minute to talk about this because this sometimes creates confusion for Christians. Biblically speaking anointing with oil was done in the old testament to signify a new role or office for a person. In essence they were being set apart for a specific God ordained role such as king, prophet, a role that usually had some kind authority.

So why does James suggest using oil in praying for those who are sick you might ask? Well it’s a great question and it seems that James is pointing to the significance of using oil to set someone apart in this case to receive healing from the Lord, some scholars suggest it could be used medically as oil was used in this way n NT times…but more than anything its best understood as a metaphorical way of setting someone apart.

To be honest I’ve only been asked to anoint someone with oil once and I was happy to do it as this family, and in particular the father, was wanting prayer to be the spiritual leader of his home and that his home would be prayed over to be a safe place for their biological, adopted, and fostered children to grow up in faith. My only caveat in it is was to remind him that the oil itself did not possess healing powers, rather we used it to symbolically set him apart to be the spiritual leader for his home.

The oil in the example of James, I belive is to be viewed in that same manner. There’s nothing supernatural about the oil itself, if you see some at the store advertised this way I would be very skeptical, but there is something beautiful about how its used in this example of setting someone aside for prayer asking for the healing from God who is the ultimate source of strength and healing. This is the only place in the NT that we see oil used in this manner to pray for those who are sick, yet we see many times when those who are sick are healed without the use of oil. This points to the fact that it is symbolic and that ultimate healing comes from God and his power and not the oil.

“No special power is reserved for the elders: the power is in God, and it is available to the praying church. Care and prayer for one another are not just intended to happen within the context of leadership in the church but in the context of the church as a whole. When we are sick, we call on one another to pray, not just this or that leader.”

-David Platt, Exalting Jesus in James

We also have a tricky little passage that has caused some great confusion that I want to jump into briefly. In verse 15 we see James write: James 5:15 “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

The idea here is that when the elders go to pray with the sick, it is the prayers of the elders that intercedes on their behalf to God for healing. There is also the component of making sure a person doesn’t have any unrepentant sin that is tied to healing. We see examples of people becoming sick because of this such as those in Corinth who approached the Lord’s Supper without repenting of sin…yet the commentators warn to not take this too far.

“But I would warn against taking this too far. Yes, sin can directly cause some sickness but not necessarily all sickness. Just because someone has a particular illness does not automatically mean that person has sinned in some way. Jesus, James, and the rest of the New Testament counter this idea. James says in verse 15, “If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” But at the same time, the whole of Scripture does teach that sin indirectly causes all sickness. Sickness and death are both ultimately the result of the fall and its effect on the world. Moreover, when we are sick, even if sin did not directly cause our sickness, the temptation to sin when we are physically weak can sometimes be much more potent than when we are physically strong.”

-David Platt, Exalting Jesus in James

Interestingly enough we also see that confessing sin to one another is only found in this passage of James. In the context of praying for one another, James seems to be reminding believers that in order to approach God in prayer for yourself or on behalf of others we need to make sure we have confessed sin, and in this instance of interceding on behalf of one another confessing sin to each other would prepare us for going before God on each others behalf.

This passage reminds us of the great power available to followers of Christ through prayer. We must of course be careful when equating healing directly to our prayers. Certainly it is a great mystery how God uses the prayers of righteous to provide healing for others, yet at the same time the righteous pray for healing and God chooses not to act in that way.

It is dangerous to teach that teach that every time we pray with enough faith that healing occurs and if healing does not occur somehow we did not pray with enough faith. One of the examples we see in scripture is Elijah that we find in James verse 17. Here we see the story of the prophet Elijah who prayed for it not to rain and then prayed that it would rain and God chose to answer his prayers. In this example we are reminded that Elijah was praying for God’s promise and this truth is important for us as well. We must pray for His will in all circumstances including healing others.

“James’s example of Elijah in 5:17 points out that our faith must always be in accordance with God’s promises. Everything Elijah did in 1 Kings 17 and 18 was in accordance with God’s Word. God said it would not rain, and it didn’t, and then God said rain was coming, and it did. The beauty is that God used Elijah’s prayers as the means through which His Word was accomplished. Elijah didn’t demand that God do something He was reluctant to do; rather, Elijah prayed in accordance with God’s Word, trusting that God would keep His promises.

-David Platt, Exalting Jesus in James

Our prayers should always be conformed to the will of God. If we are praying in the name of Jesus as we often do…we are, wether we realize it or not, saying that we are submitting to His ways. As we are praying we are seeking for God to conform us to pray in accordance to his desires not ours. We pray in a manner that seeks to bring glory to him and we trust that wether healing takes place or not that his will has been done.

Man this is hard and being confessional this is something that I still am working towards in my prayer life, and if we are honest we all do in some way. The bottom line is we come to God in prayer in confidence when we approach God with his will to be done, we know that whatever the outcome we can trust that God will receive the glory, even when he choses to not heal in a way that we desire.

-Restoration 5:19-20

As we close up the book of James we see one final closing thought introduced by James. The importance of believers to care for those who’ve wandered from the faith is emphasized here. This is another verse that is often misinterpreted and if we are not careful we can twist it to mean something I don’t believe James intended. The heart of this passage is that God is able to restore those who have strayed from their faith.

God is full of grace and mercy and can provide forgiveness to all including those who have turned away from him…think of the prodigal son or Paul as example. The act of “saving his soul from death and covering a multitude of sin”…does not refer to the person helping restore the persons’ relationship with God, rather it talks about the saving grace & forgiveness of sins both past and future from the person that has wandered.

“The intervention, in essence, has resulted in a soul saved and many future sins adverted resulting in spiritual benefits from the restored brother or sister”

-Patrick Shreiner “The Visual Word”

The beautiful challenge in this section is that James has called us to be doers of the word in our own lives, but also within the context of the church. Our actions can change the trajectory for others by drawing them close to God and helping them turn from sin to walk in newness in life as we mentioned with baptism earlier.

How amazing is it that God uses sinners like us to help others either turn to God if they’ve never trusted in Jesus or return to walking with God if they’ve wandered from him. Ultimately the saving is up to God but he graciously uses us and once again if our faith is genuine we are called to be a part of helping others hear the gospel and respond to it.

Closing:

Control your possessions, don’t let them control you

“The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions.

Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality; and popularity.”

LEONARD RAVENHILL

Stay steadfast in your faith, knowing the promise that Jesus will return one day

In all circumstances go to God in prayer...be a Christian who is known for praying for others

Seek to bring others to Christ- Be a “Gospeler”

As we finish up the book of James we can look back and see the heart of a pastor in this book. Some people have called James the “Proverbs of the New Testament” and you can see why as it’s filled with nuggets of truth for the Christian to live out their faith.

The overarching theme has been to authentically live out our faith as followers of Christ…mere intellectual knowledge of God falls short. We must have an active faith that centers on abiding in Christ and putting it into action by loving others.

I hope like you this has been a fun book to walk through together. My prayer for us collectively is that we would be a church that is known in our community for actively living out our faith. We want to be genuine in our speech and actions and we should constantly be pointing others to Christ!