Suffering Sickness and Healing2
11/25/2007
SUFFERING, SICKNESS AND HEALING!
JAMES 5:13-16; 19-20
**There are:
I. PROBLEMS WE MUST FACE
A. EMOTIONAL problems will be ENCOUNTERED
5:13 Is anyone among you suffering?
**Notice the first question that James asks his audience: Is anyone among you SUFFERING?
**This word means to suffer misfortune, to be under stress in other words it means to have internal distress caused by external circumstances.
**In Timothy it is translated “hardships”
**It might be a financial crisis, marriage problems or a crisis in a relationship. In other words there is something on the outside that is so serious that your heart is breaking on the inside and your emotional tension is at an all time high.
**James tells us what to do when you are suffering but for the time being I am simply identifying some of the problems that we will face from time to time.
**James is teaching us that Emotional problems will be Encountered but he is also teaching us that:
B. PHYSICAL problems will be EXPERIENCED
5:14 Is anyone among you sick?
**The first question he asked was addressing EMOTIONAL problems that we might face: “Is there anyone among you suffering”?
**The third question he asked was addressing PHYSICAL problems that we might face “Is there anyone among you SICK?”
**The word means to be without strength! It means to be fatigued, wasted, bed-ridden and unable to work.
**It is the word that was used of Lazarus and he DIED!
**It is the word that was used of Dorcas and she DIED!
**It is the word that was used of the man at the pool of Bethesda and he was unable to walk by himself!
**So we can see from James 5:13-14 that there are times when we will face emotional and physical problems but there are also times when:
C. SPIRITUAL problems can be EXPECTED
5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed!
**Notice that what James says in the middle of 5:15 and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him and then notice what James says in 5:16 Therefore, confess your SINS to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed!
**Sickness that is for:
1) DEATH
John 11:4 Jesus said, “this sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it”!
1 Jn 5: 16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should request for this!
**Sickness that is for:
2) DISCIPLINE
Hebrews 12:7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons . . . 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons
**Sickness that is for:
3) GOD’S GLORY
John 11:4 Jesus said this sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it!
**There are basically five different approaches toward healing.
1) The SENSATIONALIST:
You see these guys/gals on TV. They might slap you on the head, shout and do a lot of sensational type things. Almost always in big stadiums and when the TV cameras are rolling.
2) The CONFESSIONALIST:
Says it is always God’s will to heal everybody. All you need is enough faith and you will be healed.
3) The DISPENSATIONALIST:
Says the gifts of healing, tongues and interpretation of tongues have ceased to be operational with the death of the last apostle.
4) The RATIONALIST:
Says that all sickness is in your mind and all you need to do to be healed is to change your thinking. If you think you are sick then you will be sick. Just deny it and you will be OK.
5) The REALIST:
Says that God still heals people today but he does not heal everybody today!
**I think that James would be a REALIST and so am I!
**So if we still have PROBLEMS that we must FACE and God still heals people today, what does He instruct us to do if we have emotional, physical or spiritual problems that we would like to be healed?
**There are:
II. PROCEDURES WE MUST FOLLOW
**What should you do as a Child of God whenever you face these kinds of problems in your life?
**First of all:
**We must be willing to:
A. PRAY when we have EMOTIONAL problems
5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray!
**James uses the word PRAY seven times in six verses.
**If you are without strength, wasted, fatigued, mentally and emotionally exhausted then James says that you MUST pray!
**We must be willing to:
B. SING when we have OVERCOME problems
5:13 Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises!
**Some times we don’t want to get too excited when things are going good for us because we are afraid we will “jinx” our situation or cause a curse to come upon us. However James says If Anyone Is Cheerful? He is to SING PRAISES!
**We must be willing to:
C. ASK when we have PHYSICAL problems
5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the Church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord
**We must be willing to:
D. CONFESS when we have SPIRITUAL problems
5:16 Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed . . .
**There are:
III. PROMISES WE MUST FIND
A. PRAYERS offered in FAITH!
5:15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick AND the Lord will raise him up . . .
**Prayers offered in Faith are in agreement with:
1) The WORD of God
John 15:7 If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you!
2) The WILL of God
1 John 5:14 This is the confidence that we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us 15 If we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him!
B. CONFESSIONS made for HEALING!
5:16 Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed . . .
C. RESTORATION attempted from LOVE!
5:19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the Truth and one turns him back 20 let him KNOW that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins!