An
All-Round Ministry
James
5:13-20
James
5:13-20 (ESV)
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is
anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
[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 one
who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he
has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
[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. [17]
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.
[18] Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain,
and the earth bore its fruit.
[19] My brothers, if anyone among you wanders
from the truth and someone brings him back,
[20] 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.
1.
Believers Physically In Trouble (
5:15
)
So
James isn’t saying if you’re happy and you know it
clap your hands. He’s
saying when we suffer physical difficulties remember
there is always a spiritual side to it as well.
Pray and sing.
Seek aid from God to endure the suffering and
then sing praises to God.
Is
this true? Do
we as a church believe this?
Can we find examples in Scripture concerning this
truth?
To
lay a foundation, I want us to look at a prayer Jesus
prayed specifically for Peter.
It’s important that we notice what Christ prays
for specifically and what He leaves out. (Luke 22:31-32;
Acts 16:22-26)
2.
Believers Physically Incapacitated (
5:14
& 15)
What
about when you are so sick that you just can’t pray
and you definitely can’t sing?
James
is showing us how a healthy church is to minister to a
sick individual. The
church must be concerned with the condition of the sick
person’s faith. That’s
where the elders come in.
In
effect the focus is not so much on the healing
physically but on the preservation spiritually.
This is why James tells the sick to call for
elders and not call for doctors.
Call
for the elders
It
is the elders of the church who are the spiritual
leaders and the ones in whom the church is to turn for
spiritual guidance in all times, and especially in times
of distress. The
elders are to be spiritual keepers of the flock.
They are to be men of prayer.
let
them pray over him
The
church is to make house calls.
The
elders are to physically touch the sick one.
This is seen in the phrase praying
over him and in the phrase, anointing
him with oil (Luke
10:33
-34).
Applying
oil while praying would offer the one sick encouragement
and raise their spirit because it is to be done in
the name of the Lord.
Another
point James is making is that there is the possibility
that this person’s sickness may, in fact be a result
of the person’s sin (John 9:1-3).
While
all sickness is not a direct result of the person’s
sin, there are always spiritual implications to every
sickness or injury.
How I react to the trial of sickness shows if my
faith is genuine or not.
So this is another reason James tells the sick
believer to call for the elders.
A
picture of the elder ministry-
(Mark 2:1-12).
In
the case of severely sick person they are paralyzed.
The elders, by praying fervently and righteously,
in a sense, are opening the roof and lowering the sick
person to Jesus. In
the presence of Christ the person’s true condition
will be dealt with.
3.
Believers Purposely Instructed (
5:16
)
It
is so important for church members to be growing in
righteousness. Our
righteousness adds great power to our prayers or our
lack of righteousness causes our prayers to be weak.
4.
Prayer Powerfully Illustrated (
5:17
& 18)
The
whole point James is making here is that it wasn’t any
old prayer but it was a fervent prayer given by a
righteous man of God.
God listened to his prayer and held back the rain
and God listened to his prayer and the rain started
again.
If
God listened to Elijah’s righteous prayer, the point
being made by James is, God will listen to our fervent,
righteous prayers as well.
5.
Believers Spiritually Incapacitated (
5:19
& 20)
James
makes a final plea for the church to be acting like the
church. In
a similar way that James tells the elders to go to the
one that is physically incapacitated, so the church is
to go to the believer who is spiritually in trouble as
well (Galatians 6:1-2).
The
business of restoration is to be the business of the
church. We
are the tool God uses in the lives of believers to
further Christ-likeness.
When a member of
Bigelow
Church
wanders
from the truth we must go to them in love and in
truth to bring them back.
As we are faithful in administering the ointment
of the Word to their soul, we will save them from much
physical trouble. When
a church member wanders outside the safety of the body
they are opening themselves up to attacks of the evil
one (1 Cor. 5:1-5).
In
some cases the church is to remove a sinful person to
protect the rest of the members and for the good of the
one in sin. Then
there are times when someone wanders
from the truth. James
tells us if we go and speak to that person and they
repent and come back their soul will be saved from
death. He
also says this reconciliation will cover many many sins.
Truly
the church has a responsibility of an All-Round Ministry
