Are You Spiritually Sick? Pray! - James 5:13-18

1:01And I want to remind you again that we have a prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings. It's at 6 p.m. And I want to especially give maybe a stronger invite this week that you come join us. If you haven't before, especially, and whenever you can, come join us on Wednesday and pray through the requests of the church with us. And as we're involved in the prayer ministry, it's definitely helpful. And it is necessary to have a biblical foundation for how to think about prayer. And so we want the prayer ministry of this church to have considered prayer in the scripture very carefully and the confidence that we are praying according to God's way of doing it. And we try to model our ministry after that. And so, quickly, I want to highlight where we've been the last few weeks.

1:55So, what we have observed so far, and so the reason I'm going through back through these is I think it's helpful to remember where we've been because the point isn't, of course, just covering material, but let's fix these things in our mind. There we go. Don't be like the hypocrites that pray to gain attention or to appear holy. We saw Matthew 6:5. We saw to pray in private and to earn your reward from God and not man in Matthew 6:6. Don't pray like the pagans, they chant, they give repetitions, they have these empty words that don't have meaning that attempts to gain God's attention. We're not to pray in that way. Pray according to the model prayer. We discussed that at length in two sermons on Matthew 6 and in Luke 11. It's a model we keep in our minds as we pray. And forgive others, or God will not forgive you. Next, pray knowing that God will not dishonor his name by ignoring your requests. We saw that in Luke 11:5 through 8. God is a good Father who gives. Good gifts to those who ask, those who seek, and those who knock. A very amazing passage. If you keep that cadence in your mind, those who ask are given. Those who seek, find. Those who knock, the door is opened. We learned to be constant in prayer and not to lose heart in it in Luke 18 and verse 1. And as a couple of sub-points under that, we learned that God is a righteous judge who will surely grant righteous requests to his elect. And we learned that we want to be found among the faithful who are praying when Christ returns in Luke 18. So as I invite you as well to come and pray with us on Wednesday evenings, we saw at the end of the section in Luke 18 last week that Jesus says, when he returns, are there going to be found faithful on the earth? And we saw in the context that it's those who are praying. And so I was talking to Tom and said, if God comes back on Wednesday evenings between 6 and 7 p.m., he will surely find us praying. So if you want to play the odds there, come and pray with us. If not, then pray wherever you are to the Lord. And so that's where we've been. And tonight we're going to be discussing James 5, 13 through 18. So this is a difficult passage.

4:26And I really think that this passage is difficult. Not because of what is found in it necessarily. I think history has made this passage very difficult. The history of the church and the way that it's been interpreted, I think, has been very confusing. And there's been a lot of interpretations that I think are just obviously not faithful to the text, and we'll see that as we go through it. But because there's been a lot of confusion over it, I think that there is found in this passage an amazing promise from God and an amazing provision of a prayer that we can pray that will help us in the deepest, darkest moments of trial when we are crushed, perhaps even by the tribulations that God has brought. And so, to misinterpret this passage, as you know, to get a passage wrong, your first danger is that you think God has said something he hasn't. But your second danger is to miss what God has actually said. And so we, of course, don't want to do either. So I'm going to read, if you look down at James 5:13: Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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. 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. 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. 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.

6:17So, as we go through this passage, it's going to take a different approach, as I said, than maybe some of the previous weeks. We're going to get into a few technical issues pertaining to the text, and then we are going to broaden out, summarize it, look at the context, and then come to the application of the meaning. And as I said, part of the reason for doing this is because historically there has been so much confusion around this text that I want to be very clear as we step through it how we get to the conclusion of what James, what God ultimately is teaching us here. And so we're going to look at a few key terms that appear in this passage.

7:01So the three key terms that we are going to look at is the term sick, another word for sick, two Greek terms used, both rendered sick in the English, at least in the ESV translation, and the word save. We're going to do a brief look at each of these three words to understand what they mean in this context. And I know that this section over to the right is maybe a little bit small for you, but the first Form of the word, or the first word for sick, you'll see there is in verse 14, is anyone among you sick? That's the word used there. And then the next form, or the next word for sick, is used in verse 15, and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick. That's the word used there. And then the word save or so is used in verse 15, and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick. So there are other terms in these verses that matter, but these are three that particularly affect how your interpretation comes out. And so in looking at these words and what they are in the Greek, I want to say a couple few things about going to the original languages. I stand before you as somebody who is not highly trained in the original languages, which gives me a unique perspective to say a couple things on it. And hopefully as I go in life, I will be able to spend time studying those. But one thing that I think is unfortunate is if somebody ever gets in front of you and says, reads it in the English and then says, well, in the Greek, it means this, and it's something entirely wild and different and out there. Always a big red flag. You don't, something should go up if somebody says this is so horribly wrong that you've missed the meaning entirely. We have a faithful English translation where it can be very helpful to Go to the Greek words is that if you've ever translated between languages or if you know a few languages, you know that words don't map one-to-one between languages. So each word has what's called a semantic range. And the semantic range is the range in which it can have meaning. So you look in the dictionary, you see normally multiple meanings for a word, right? And even within each one, you see multiple meanings that it can have. You'll have these, have them numbered out and listed. And so that's called the semantic range of a word. And when you're translating from one language to another, those are two different words that each have their own ranges. And so in the translation, the range may overlap in a certain section of their meanings. But those words may not overlap completely, and they rarely do. And so where it can be helpful is in the English when we have terms that can go a number of different ways. So a term like sick, as we'll see in this passage, sick, as you know, even in English, it can range from sickness of spirit, sickness of mental health, sickness of physical body. It can have a lot of meanings that can be dictated by the context. And so where going to the Greek can help is you can rule out some of the things that it might mean in the English. You can also do this by putting a bunch of English translations side by side, faithful ones, is you can sometimes see this range. And so as we go through the meaning of this passage, ruling out some of the things that can or can't mean can be helpful to us.

10:30So, the first one that we're going to look at is the first use of sick, and that is in verse 14. So, he said, Is anyone among you sick? So, the meaning of this word can mean feeble or weak, and it can represent either a physical or a spiritual weakness. Most commonly, it means a physical sickness. And as we go through this passage, I'm going to say that I don't believe that is what it means in this passage, but being honest with the most common usage of it, it's typically physical sickness. But the context of it will determine whether it means a physical or a spiritual weakness that it is describing. So, you go to the next term for sick and say, okay, well, if we're not sure if this is spiritual healing or this is physical healing, then perhaps the next use of the word sick can help push us one way or the other. Unfortunately, the word used here is a term that is only used three times in the New Testament, and it's heavily determined by its context, but it has a generally similar meaning. The dictionary will tell you that it means to tire with exertion, to labor to weariness, to be wearied, or tired, exhausted, or discouraged. And looking into this word, you find that the meaning of it depends heavily. Upon the context that it is placed in. So it's to tire of what in particular, to wary of what in particular. And so the second use of the word sick depends largely on how you interpret the first meaning of sick in this passage, of what this can mean. The third term that we're going to look at is the term save or sozzo. And this is the word that you normally hear of the salvation, like salvation from sin in terms of justification, that's sozo.

12:31And it means to save, rescue, or heal. It's mostly used of salvation from sin, not necessarily justification, but saving from sin and its effects. And the meaning is largely determined by the context as well. In the context, you find it, and it's found a lot in the New Testament, that it's being saved from something in particular. So it can be sin, it can be saved from hell, it can be saved from the dire circumstances that you may find yourself in. And so looking at these words, these each have a range, a semantic range, that can cover those meanings. And so in James 5, verse 14 and 15, it reads, 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. 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.

13:30So, for James 5, verse 14 through 15, as you interpret this passage and you're wondering, is the sickness being talked about here a spiritual or a physical sickness? We're first asking, can it mean either? And the answer is that the semantic range allows for three primary interpretations. One is physical sickness with a physical healing that is promised. That's a common interpretation of this passage. The next is a spiritual sickness with a spiritual healing promised. That's also a common interpretation of this passage. And the third is very similar, but maybe a little nuanced, of that a spiritual sickness that could have physical components, with a spiritual healing that is promised, accompanied by physical healing if it applies. And so the point of stating these three is that the ranges of the meanings of the word allow for each of them. So we have narrowed it in some sense, but haven't narrowed it as much as you would like, because it still leaves the question on is this a physical healing that is promised or a spiritual. There's one thing that we can be sure of. The range does not allow for the establishment of a sacrament. So we'll talk about this in a moment, but the Roman Catholic doctrine of extreme unction is largely based on this passage. The language of this passage does not allow for the establishment of a sacrament. Because the language is not found there, as the other ordinances that we observe. The language itself does not lend itself to an ordinance or something of the significance of a sacrament.

15:13So, in this passage, the next thing that we're going to look at is: what does the anointing with oil mean? So, you see, in verse 4, it says, 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. And this is one of the trickiest parts of the passage. And there's four major positions historically to what the anointing with oil means. So, we're going somewhere with all this. I'm not trying to cast doubt on the meaning of the text. I think it can be known and is clear. The first is that it is symbolic of the Holy Spirit's work. And this has been one of the primary positions historically outside of the Roman Catholic Church, that it is symbolizing an actual work that the Holy Spirit is doing in some very specific sense. The second is extreme unction, which we're really not going to discuss tonight, and that's the Roman Catholic sacramental practice. The third is that the oil has a medicinal effect. It's also been a very common interpretation in church history. Luther and Calvin both held to aspects of it. And the fourth is that it is a tool of pastoral care. And that ultimately is the position that I'm going to advocate and say that I think it means. And I want to discuss a couple of things about the first, third, and the fourth position that I think may be helpful. The first interpretation of the oil being symbolic of the healing work of the Spirit is, unfortunately, it's somewhat vague, so it's hard to know exactly what people mean when they advocate for it. And it can end up affirming a wide variety of things that the interpreter wants it to.

17:07The problem is it's not certain that the act of anointing someone with oil was ever used ceremonially during New Testament times. And John MacArthur points this out and says that the Greek word used for anoint here is never used in the New Testament to refer to a ceremonial anointing. It's likely that this interpretation has come from the Old Testament. So if you hear anointing with oil, your mind may quickly go to 1 Samuel 10 with Samuel anointing Saul as king with oil. That's the one that came to my mind first. But comparing the act that's happening in James 5 with that one, simply because they sound the same, may not be the best idea. You have to consider that you're crossing a great number of years going between these two events. You're crossing a number of cultures. Actually, not just one, but many empires have come and gone. During that time. And there is nothing in this context or in that context that shows that the environments or the circumstances under which it's happening are really similar. So, if you look at, for example, Samuel anointing Saul and look at this passage here, there's very little that's similar other than the English usage of that it's anointing with oil.

18:23The third position there, that it's a medicinal effect, it comes from that many have acknowledged in most degree that oil, and this is olive oil, was certainly used for medicinal effects at the time of first century writing. It was used as a muscle relaxant as well as a salve for open wounds. However, you want to be careful and be precise that the use of oil for medicine is not necessarily the same thing as using medicinal oil in a ceremonial practice that the church would be doing. You want to be careful to equate those and draw them together.

19:07And further, is there any evidence that the church elders would be called upon as physicians to employ a medicine? That's a problematic interpretation as well: is that the elders, no offense to any of our elders, none who are doctors, but I don't think I would go to them to ask for medicinal requirements. Recommendations, though many of them have children, so maybe they actually have some good advice. It seems that the biblical evidence and even the evidence from history is that the church leadership was not called upon for this. And part of the problem is that the only other instance of anointing with oil like this that heals is seen in Mark 6, verse 13. And the questions that we would have in this passage would be asked in that passage as well. It gives a little more detail than we have here. But in Mark 6, 13, the ministry that is being performed, it's at the hands of the apostles, and it's a miraculous healing ministry.

20:16And because of the miraculous healing ministry usage in Mark 6, Luther and Calvin both adopted the interpretation that this is primarily about the gift of healing and that the elders were employing the gift of healing here as the apostles were in Mark 6, 13. And it's difficult entirely to disprove this, as with a lot of thoughts that the Bible does not directly affirm or deny. But it doesn't seem to fit these circumstances in James because it assumes that the elders of any church would have the gift of healing. And that's problematic as well to assume that all the elders in every church would have the gift of healing. Of healing. This was never a prerequisite for church leadership that appears anywhere in Scripture. And even when the gifts are delineated by Paul, especially in 1 Corinthians, it's certainly said that people are given different gifts, and it doesn't say the gift of healing goes only to the leadership.

21:22So the position seems to lack biblical or historical support, as well as we have a problem with oil being used primarily as a medicinal remedy, and that's that we know that olive oil does very little for most conditions nowadays. So we want to be careful reading our modern medicine back into the Bible, but God certainly wouldn't ask them to use something that has very little aid for most circumstances. And certainly, if you had any serious injury, like a broken bone, even at this time, they would not have seen olive oil as being something that's helpful for that. The fourth position is that this anointing is a tool of pastoral care that the elders could use to show their great love and compassion towards the person whom they're praying for. And it's not entirely mutually exclusive of the first position. There's certainly some overlap.

22:18But those in the first position would usually want to see it more as a, they would want to be able to point to a specific outworking of the Holy Spirit in that way. And the point. Of this position or of stating it this way is that the anointing of the sick is an act of love and service by the elders. It's not particularly symbolic of something that the elders are doing, some sort of supernatural power that they're imparting, or something like this. I think that a modern equivalent, it's always dangerous to create an analog where Scripture doesn't, but I think a modern equivalent would be if somebody is weeping to wiping the tears from their eyes. I think might be a similar sort of act. It's physiological, you're doing something to them, but you wouldn't claim that it heals the body, and you wouldn't claim that the Holy Spirit has dispensed some sort of power in doing it. And so, one important thing to keep in mind, too, even as you look at the positions of what the anointing with oil could mean, is it's very important to take note in verse 15 that it's ultimately the prayer that heals. It's not the oil that's doing the healing. So, however, you come out on your understanding of this text, you must see and must agree that it's the prayer that's doing the healing. And for this blessing and this situation to be effective that God has given us, that we can go to the elders and pray, then understand it's their prayer that does that.

24:00So we've gotten a few of the details out of the way. I know that's probably exciting for some and maybe less exciting for others. And some of this, in one of my classes, I wrote a paper on this passage, which doesn't at all mean that I'm right. It just means that it's harder to convince me that I'm wrong. That's how it is with people who have written dissertations, right? But I gladly would accept evidence to the contrary. But one of the things that we can do as we go to passages that are interpreted many different ways, and all you have to do is pick up a few commentaries, and you're going to get very scattered opinions on the passage, is one of the things that we can do is go to these sort of low-level tools of the language and just look at the history behind things. And hopefully that's helpful to see. We did it very quickly here. Is you can kind of scratch at the passage a little bit to get to those low-level things underneath and say, do they reveal anything that will be helpful in interpreting this passage? And do they help to sway the meaning and make it more clear? And the original languages often bring clarity. Well, in James 5, I believe that the languages in the history help to bring some amount of clarity, but it's still up in the air a little bit of whether this anointing is primarily discussing a physical healing or a spiritual healing. That God is promising. And even in terms of the oil, understanding precisely what its meaning is in this context and what its function is can be difficult. And so, one thing I would like to do is jump to the context and see if the context of James can help us at all with this meaning.

25:54So, very quickly, we're going to look at just a few quick things. Who was James? Who wrote the letter of James? And a few quick points on him. He was the leader of the church of Jerusalem. We know that from the book of Acts. This is not James the Apostle. It's James the half-brother of Christ. We know that he wrote the letter of James, or we're fairly certain that he wrote it first of all the New Testament books, or at least very close to first, somewhere between 44 and 49 AD. And he was, interestingly, he was likely considered the most important figure in the church at the time. And both from Acts and Paul's letters, we see that Paul himself was subject to James. James seems to have been the highest authority in Acts in the church. And Paul actually goes to him to request authority to go on his mission. And we see later Paul goes back to Jerusalem and first goes back to James to report. And so what's interesting with the letter of James is that where this can be helpful is to understand that James's letter is very foundational to the church. It's the first writing that they have. And he writes, To the Jews, the twelve tribes that are dispersed. And the reason, if you know your history with Acts, that it makes sense he would be writing to the Jews is because the apostles first went to the Jews to preach salvation to them and then to the Gentiles later. And so James's work being very foundational, it's interesting to understand he wrote one letter. He had one shot at laying a foundation for the church and giving them their first teaching. And so what did James decide to write about in his letter? Well, in James chapter 1, he gives us what I think is really a purpose statement for his entire letter.

27:42In James 1, verse 2 through 4, he says, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you to know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. And sort of a sub-point, a part of that purpose later in the passage that I think shows what you see reoccurring theme in James is in verse 12. He gives almost a follow-up to that purpose statement. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

28:25And so, James, in his letter, he writes a letter that is about a lot of. Trials. It's a lot of tests of the Christian. Testa would be the better word. And James's letter, it's a very demanding letter in a lot of ways. If you've read it before, just sit down and read it in one fell swoop. If you are a believer, you will walk away feeling very convicted and very unable to meet, to pass as fully as you would like all the tests laid out in the book of James.

28:59And it makes sense that as he writes this foundational letter for the church, that he is telling the church how they ought to act, these Christians. He's saying, here's how to be a mature Christian. Here are the tests that will come your way. Here's the tests that you must pass to be mature. And so he tells them how to grow into maturity as Christians. And he says, he shows that the lives of Christians are marked by trials and temptations. And the key to right living and mature godliness is to stand up under those trials.

29:35Blessed is the man who remains steadfast. And it's a very demanding book. He has a lot about the use of the tongue. Those are very convicting passages, I think, to all of us. Very hard-hitting passages about the tongue and the forest fire that it can set. He talks about responding to truth and our obligation to respond to truth. Chapter 1 and chapter 2 talks about the truth. About partiality. He talks later and two about faith in action. Show me your faith by your works. Chapter three, he talks about jealousy and selfish ambition. Chapter four, he talks about quarreling and fighting other believers in fighting between us. Chapter later and four, he talks about boasting to avoid it. In chapter five, he talks about wealth and the temptation to mistreat the poor. And just before our passage in chapter five, he talks about trusting in the Lord in the midst of suffering. And so, as you study James 5 and attempt to discern its meaning, you look at the questions in verse 13 and 14. It says, Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is any among you sick? Let him call the elders of the church. So he asks these questions in a context. And the context of the letter of James is that he has been talking, as I said, in a somewhat demanding and hard-to-meet fashion about how believers will be tested and how to stand through those tests and to come through with a faith that is stronger.

31:22And it makes sense that at the end of this letter, he would give us a compassionate teaching that we have for those. Who may have been crushed by these tests? He talks about: is anyone suffering? Is any sick? You see in chapter 5, starting in verse 7, he said, Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also be patient. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

31:59He says in verse 10, as an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You've heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. And then he gives this section at the end of, or this verse at the end of that section, but above all, my brothers, don't swear by heaven or earth or by any other oath. Let your yes be yes, your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

32:33And I think you get to this point in James's letter, and as you're reading through and understanding it, I think you're saying, Yes, James, yes, we see these trials, we see these tests, we want to be steadfast. Yes, we see that we need to be godly and righteous in these various ways. We see that we need to control our tongue, we see that we need to not quarrel among ourselves, we see that our faith must act. We can't just call it faith and go around calling it. Ourselves faithful people. It has to act. I think the agreement may be strong with James. And I think that it can build up the question within you, or perhaps you've been meditating on this letter, you've had it for years, and you say, Yes, I want to be steadfast, but what if I haven't? Or what if I've been steadfast, but I've been crushed? What if these trials that I've persevered through have crushed me underfoot, they've put me down, they've sapped my energy?

33:36And I think the reason verse 12 is there, it was a common practice to make oaths in that day. And one of the first things he says is, don't rely on these oaths. Don't go to these oaths to try to remain steadfast. And I think the implied meaning is, rely on God. You don't need to swear by other things. These are not what should help you in the steadfastness of your suffering. And then you get to the end of chapter 5. And I think this is a greatly compassionate teaching that James has here. And so if you read through the book and get to this point, I would ask: does it seem somewhat odd that James would shift out of his context and hear promise of physical healing? I would find that odd. If that's what it meant, then certainly we would figure out how it fits into the context, but it does not have. Have to mean physical healing, and I don't think that's its most obvious meaning here. Because the problem that those hearing James' letter and that those under trials are facing is not a physical sickness. The issue throughout the letter is spiritual. It's the spiritual health of those in the church that James is concerned with. And so he says, Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. And then he asks, Is anyone cheerful? And I don't know exactly why he threw the cheerful in there, other than what I think he's saying is these are the responses that we have among believers to these things that are happening. So if you're suffering, pray. If you're cheerful, sing praise. Some think that that might be a little bit tongue-in-cheek of, you know, maybe with a sly smile, he's saying, for those of you that the trials have been maybe easier on you, sing praise. But for those suffering, pray. And I don't know if he means it that way or not, but the command is clear: sing praise if you're cheerful. But I think where this is really going to strike people is the last question. Is anyone among you sick? I think the sick is spiritually weak. It's feeble. Is anyone among you feeble? Have you been crushed?

35:53And he gives this very gracious provision to the church. I think it's one of the most gracious. Provisions that I see in Scripture and a very powerful teaching to someone who desires to pass the test and to fight the temptations and be steadfast. And he says, Go to the elders of the church. Let the elders pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. As I said, I think that the anointing with oil means that the elders are to use the tools at their disposal to show compassion and care. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.

36:37And I think one problem you have if you understand this as physical healing is that this promise seems quite certain. It seems like a very definitive promise. That if this prayer is conducted by the elders to somebody who has come to them, and it's very strongly implied, they're coming in confession. He says that right after. They're coming humbly. It's people who may have sinned, but may just be crushed. And it seems a very definitive promise that this prayer of faith is going to save the one who is sick. It's going to rescue them from their spiritual feebleness, and the Lord will raise him up. What an amazing promise. And I wish, as a younger man and years ago, I had understood this being available to me.

37:30Oh, that's true. I know. Very good point. T always reminds us, I know I have a Lord willing, a lot of life left. But there are certainly times in my life, even when I was younger, that if I had to feeling, did I hit it there? That the response to feeling crushed by trials is to go to the elders of the church humbly and to ask for prayer. And I would invite you on their behalf, if you find yourself in that situation, I know the elders will pray for you. I've seen it, that they will do it for people.

38:15And so avail yourself of that resource in this church. Now, why does he pick on the elders? Why is it specifically that office? And I think the reason comes just after, and we're going to go back to the committed sins phrase. I think the reason is just after when he says, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. And then he goes on to describe Elijah. Elijah was certainly a righteous man, known as one of the most righteous in the Old Testament. Every Jew would have seen him as one of the most righteous people you would want to be like. So why go to the elders? And I think the meaning is clear from the context is because the elders in your church are certainly righteous men. If you're elders, Elders are not righteous men, go to another church or become a righteous man that you may become an elder. Whatever it takes, the elders ought to be righteous men in the church because the qualifications biblically are very clear. And so, why go to the elders? Are the elders imparted with this special spiritual authority, or meaning that they can impart a power in some sort of mystical way, like their hands change when they become elders? And I think some people have carried the interpretation that far that the elders gain these special abilities. I don't think that's the meaning at all. It's that the elders are righteous men, and you go to them and they will pray, and God listens to the elders of a church. And you'll notice in verse 16, he says, Therefore, confess your sins one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. And I think what James is doing is he's saying, For those crushed the lowest, go to the elders and pray, and God will lift you up, and God will save that one. And then he says, And as a matter of fact, confess your sins to each other. Pray for each other. I think that the meaning is there are other righteous in the church, certainly. You can assume most definitely that your elders are, but we ought to be ministering to each other in this way. As we're crushed by the trials and temptations of life, we are to go to each other in confession. And you'll see that at the end of verse 15, after it says that he. He will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, which we're just sort of glossing over that very powerful picture that's happening there that we don't have time to go into, that the Lord would raise him up. Very powerful imagery. It says, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. So I think what's going on here is that the spiritually feeble here, the point isn't necessarily that they've been crushed by their sickness. by their sins. It could be their sins that have caused it. But if you go through the book of James, I think you will find even in your own life that some of the tests you come across, you'll say, I passed that one. I feel like I have stood up well under that trial. That one, I did it okay. I crippled, I crumbled the first time, and then when I encountered it later, I stood firm. That one I fell under miserably. And it was because of this sin in my life. I think you're going to go through these various tests and see that you come out, some of them strong, some of them are weak because you just aren't mature enough, but some of them because you sin. You're going to say, I sinned very clearly, and that's why I didn't stand up under that trial. And so what he's saying is, if you're spiritually weak, go to them for prayer, and you will be healed. And by the way, if you have committed sins, which is very likely if you're crushed under trials, very few of us who are crushed by trials who don't sin in the process.

42:00Then those will be forgiven. This is an astounding promise that we're given here at the book of James. And I think rather than this being a promise of physical healing, or certainly the establishment of some kind of sacrament, I think that the meaning is actually much more poignant than that, given the context of what James has written. He's writing to Christians who would want to pass these tests and be holy. If they're regenerate, they would want to pass these tests. James would know that they have a sin nature that's raging in them. Everything in their flesh is fighting against them. And some of them are more mature than others in their faith.

42:54And it's clear that God desires for his people to pass the tests that are presented to them so that their faith is made more complete. And so, for those who fail or those who lose strength in the fight, God has given this provision that we can go to each other, and I think in especially extreme circumstances, take advantage of the righteousness and the love and compassion of the elders of this church and go to them. Confess your sins, ask for prayer from them.

43:35So, this passage in James 5, as I said, it's been very controversial throughout history. There's been a lot of different interpretations as to what it means. The reason we went through some of the terms and the semantic range is to see what it could mean and to see which interpretations can be valid based on the language that's given to us. And I feel very strongly that you must keep this passage in the context of the letter of James and that it seems to come out very clearly that this is a spiritual weakness, a sickness that he's talking about. And I hope that for all of us we can see what a loving and compassionate Father that we have, as we sang with the song, Ask Lord, that I might grow, that God puts us through the trials, but God also gives us the provision when we're in them. And so, as we come to a close on this short series in prayer, and I really love discussing these prayer passages with y'all. I appreciate y'all listening and us going through these passages together. It has been a great joy. As we close this short foundational series on prayer, I wanted to highlight this prayer in James 5.

45:00As not only is it a unique prayer that appears in Scripture, I think the parameters around it are somewhat unique, but it gives us such a picture of the character of God and how he responds to prayer and the heart that we are to have in it and the response that we get from God as we pray. So I hope that we're found faithful to be prayers and that our church is faithful to pray as well. So I'll close us in a word of prayer and we can fellowship. Dear Lord, we thank you so much for giving us your Bible.

45:39It's your very words. We know you from it. And for those of us who know you, it's so intimate that we get to know you through your Bible. We get to understand your character and see how you think about things, how you respond to the world, what you would have from us. And we want very much to be people who pattern our lives after what you teach us in your word. And we thank you that you have commanded us to pray, even though it feels like a task sometimes. You've commanded us to pray, and that's for our good, because you're such a loving and compassionate God. And we pray, we ask that you would make us faithful prayers, that we would be constant in it and just never give up, or we want to be steadfast and not give up on our lives.

46:31Lord, I would ask that if there are any sitting here that are crushed by the trials of life, that you would be near to them. And those in the membership even who may not be here going through various trials, that you would be near to them and that you would show them your gracious provision for them. And that you want to give them strength, make their knees and their arms strong to continue steadfastly in the race that is this life. So we thank you for this evening, this time to study your word, and pray you would give us that strength for this week. In your Son's name, amen.