No introduction, but part of the requirement in internship is that he would be exposed and have experience to all the aspects of the ministry. And it requires that he preach several times. And this is one of his first times he'll be preaching for us. He has preached before, but not in this church. So please receive God's word as our brother brings it to us. Good morning. I'm going to introduce the text for this morning and then pray and then go into the sermon. James chapter 5, a couple of weeks ago, presented James chapter five in terms of community during our New Testament reading this morning, I have the privilege to just dig deep into that passage. It's an exciting one. In James chapter five, prior to verse 13 through 20, which we're gonna cover, James is dealing with patience and suffering. He's saying, in your suffering, be patient as you wait upon the Lord. So when we get to verse 13 through 20, we're gonna cover why the church is necessary in helping us make it to the end. The importance of Christian community, especially a praying church. So, let's pray. Father, it is such a privilege Privilege to bring your word to this body of people that you have called. Father, thank you for how you have worked in our lives, how you have brought us to this point, that we can sit here to hear from you. Father, as we open up the scriptures, open our hearts to receive what you have to say to us. We pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. On Wednesday, the Daily Wire podcast, the Morning Wire, reported on a study by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. And they said in the year 2020, there was an increase of 25% in alcohol-related deaths compared to the prior year, a 25% increase. In prior years, it had been going up already by 3% or so on average. But in the prior year, it was 25% increase. That's when COVID happened at its height. restrictions and lockdowns. And so sociologists came up with the theory that the problem of restrictions and isolation created a loneliness in which people drank more and related in death by alcoholism. In that same study, it said that those under 65 There were more deaths from alcohol than from COVID. And so we see that the correlation between alcoholism and loneliness. Brothers and sisters, to be frank, America is a very lonely country. Our culture is so structured to foster this loneliness. And in light of that, I am truly thankful for this church and thankful for you all. And I beckon you as a church to continue to gather continue to pray for one another, continue to exercise church discipline, because I need it. We all need it. We're going to make it to the end if we do it together and overcome this pull of loneliness. The church, a praying church, is a topic this morning. So let's go to James chapter 5, verse 13. James chapter 5, verse 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'll 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 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. The main point of my sermon this morning is continue to be a praying church. Continue to be a praying church. First thing, the church. Here in the passage, the person who's sick calls for the elders of the church. The church is a gathering of God's people under a God-ordained leadership. We can gather at Starbucks with our best friends and talk about scripture. We can have meetings with Women's Groups International to hold us accountable, but God has ordained the church to be the primary place where the people of God are fed and edified under biblically competent leadership that walk uprightly. We see in this passage that the person who's sick ought to call for the elders. The book of James is one of the first letters written in the New Testament. And already we see the office of elders. God has ordained his church in such a way to have people to lead us and build us up. And so God ordained leadership. The church is also to gather In this passage it says, if someone among you, the phrase among you, among you, among you, if someone among you is suffering, let him pray. If someone is cheerful, implied among you, let him sing praises. If someone among you is wandering, go after him. If someone among you is sick, then call for the elders. The phrase among you implies a gathering. The church must continue to gather. They said in Shanghai, they're having restrictions again. Who knows where COVID is going to go? Who knows what's going to happen? Brothers and sisters, do not neglect to gather. Continue to gather. It's almost difficult to apply this point to this church. In a lot of churches, I felt pretty proud about my attendance and my involvement. And then I get to this church, and I have folks who get here before I'm out of bed. And then after the service, well, go down for Bible study or Sunday school, then folks are staying to fellowship with people. And afterwards, some folks are meaning to read books and talk about them. And by the time I'm home laying down for a nap, people are just barely leaving here. And then sometimes you have where people are getting together on Saturday for discipleship. I'm like, folks are here like all weekend. I feel like a slacker. But just to encourage you, continue. Continue. Because it's such a gathering that's good for your souls. The church must gather. Take advantage and continue to gather. Now the church must gather, but the church must continue to pray. continue to pray. In verse 13, James says, is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. It may seem that, well, that's obvious. If you suffer, you should pray. But James mentioned this because our nature is not to always respond in our suffering with prayer. Like our pastor just mentioned. Sometimes in affliction, we'll do everything but pray. James is encouraging us to pray when we suffer. Now oftentimes, the reason why we don't pray is because of discouragement. Oftentimes in our suffering, we are so discouraged that we just don't want to go into prayer. Brothers and sisters, resist. Resist discouragement. When you fall, when you sin, even if you stop praying for a couple of days, discouragement will come knocking at your door. And discouragement will give you every reason to let him in. Every reason to let him in. Resist discouragement. He may seem like, oh, what he's saying is, that's pretty true. Yeah, he's on my side. But when he comes in, you'd be paralyzed, unwilling to do anything, unwilling to come to church, unwilling to pray, feel utterly unworthy, resist discouragement. Now, in this passage here, it says, is anyone among you suffering? There's many things that bring about discouragement in our suffering. There's sickness that will bring discouragement. There's relationship troubles that bring discouragement. Here, it's very likely that he's really getting in on a type of discouragement that makes us extremely discouraged. In verse 10 of this passage, It encourages us, look to the prophets of old who endured suffering. The prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. It's the same word, the noun form is the same word that we have in the verb form. And in Timothy, the other places that we have this word of suffering, oftentimes has to deal with suffering the kind of righteousness. One of the times when it's most discouraging is to stand up for truth, to speak God's word, to witness to a family member, and for evil to prevail. For you to be mocked, laughed at, ridiculed, and you feel like you're getting nowhere, and you get discouraged after you've done God's work. Resist discouragement. And when you resist discouragement, you're going to find that you're going to bear great witness. Think about this. In verse 10, it mentions the prophets of old who spoke in the name of the Lord. Can you think of a prophet who did a mighty work for the Lord and shortly after that became very discouraged? Jonah did, but there's another person that's even an encouragement to us when we look at this passage, Elijah. Elijah in 1 Kings 17 through 19, he's pronouncing God's word. He is praying that it will not rain. He is calling down fire from heaven. And then Jezebel comes after him afterwards. And what does he do? God, kill me. God, put me out. He gets discouraged. Brothers and sisters, take that as an encouragement. If a man like Elijah becomes so discouraged, yet the same man who's like us and he prayed and then heaven stopped raining for three and a half years, come on, don't be discouraged. Continue, resist the pull of discouragement. Another thing, when you resist the pull of discouragement, you're gonna find that you bear great witness. Our pastor just mentioned, sometimes when we go into prayer, prayer doesn't always change our circumstances, but it changes us. In Acts 16, as a great example, Paul and Silas, they've spoken for the Lord, they've done work for the Lord, now they're in jail. And the passage in Acts 16.25 tells us that Paul and Silas praying and singing. And as they're praying and singing, people are watching and they're listening. These folks are suffering, but they're praying and singing. Look at the order of that, praying and singing. We have here, he says, if anyone among you is suffering, let him pray. If anyone is cheerful, let him sing. I don't think James is a coincidence that you have praying and singing. There's a principle that once you are praying, God begins to change you and your perspective. In that Acts 16.25 passage, in our English translation, it says, praying and singing as two finite verbs. And we have limitations in the communication of it. But really, the first verbal form is a participle that modifies the second. The first is a part of modifying the second, meaning that praying is modifying the main verb of singing. The main verb is what we call an imperfect. They began to sing. It could be communicated as, while they were praying, they began to sing. as they're playing, and somehow God changes their perspective. And they're like, whoa, God is sovereign in this situation. Whoa, God has put me in prison. Whoa, I got all these people that I can share the gospel to. Whoa, let me continue to sing. And folks are like, what? These folks are mad. In your suffering, brothers and sisters, Continue to resist discouragement because you have the great possibility to bear awesome witness for the Lord. Second thing, in verse 14, not only are we to resist discouragement, but there comes a times when we have to recognize our weakness and call on others to pray. there comes a time we need to recognize our own weakness and call on others to pray. Verse 14, is anyone among you sick? Then call for the elders of the church. You see here, it's not that the elders are chasing those who are sick, but the sick is calling for the elders to come and pray for that person. The sick one here, It's not so much that every time I get up, and some sniffles, I'm calling up the elders. The sick here is those who are debilitating sick. The word communicates hopelessly ill. They are on their deathbed. They are beyond themselves. They recognize that, and they call for the elders. to pray. Brothers and sisters, continue to pray for one another. Don't wait till that deathbed. Don't wait till it's too much. Continue to pray for one another. Call on others. When that panic attack sets in, and you're prone to respond in ways that are not wise and healthy, pick up the phone. Call a sister. Listen, I'm overwhelmed right now. Can you pray for me? When depression roars its ugly head and you're tempted to just cower down, pick up the phone. Call others. Recognize your own limitation. and calling others to pray with you. The person who's sick here calls others to pray with them. Now as you call others, it tells us in verse 16, it says, therefore confess your sins one to another, that you may be healed. The person who called, the elders pray for them, pray for him. He's delivered, he's restored, and he's healed. And the implication is that this person confessed his sins to the elders. It's not that the elders had this magical, mystical way that, OK, you must be in sin. That's why you're sick. No, the person confessed sins to the elders. Brothers and sisters, we confess our sins one to another. but let us do it responsibly. God has a day in leadership, so we confess it to people who are mature. We confess it without going into gory details. We confess it responsibly. And we don't confess it as Roman Catholicism confesses it. It says confess one to another. It's not a one-way string. We confess our sins one to another. We agree amongst each other, this is sin, that is sin. We agree and we confess it and we acknowledge it. So as we call others, let us confess responsibly. So going back to the main point, the main point is continue to be a praying church. And the first thing is, you've got to be at church, you've got to be gathering, and you've got to be praying. Now, as you pray, rely on God's power and not your own worth. Rely on God's power, not your own worth. Look at Elijah. Very discouraged. but yet look how God used him. Look at Abraham. Abraham tells Abimelech, that's my sister, not my wife. Abimelech takes Abraham, it takes Sarah, and then when God rebukes Abimelech, Abraham prays for Abimelech, and God restores the people of that country, and now they're able to give birth again. God didn't respond to his prayer because of Abraham's own righteousness. We don't stand in our own righteousness. We stand on Christ's righteousness. We stand on what he has accomplished on our behalf. Look at Moses. All throughout scripture you have men who prayed and God responded. They prayed not because of their own ability or righteousness or worth. But they prayed because they knew God's power, irrespective of their own unworthiness. Moses was always quick. God, I can't deal with these people. Take them. And then when God is striking down upon them, Moses prayed. And God responds to Moses's prayer by stopping it. Look at Elisha. Elisha lashes out at these kids. But then, Elisha's the same one who raises a kid who's dead by prayer. It's not our own worthiness that God responds to. God acts out of his power. As we pray, as a church, do not let Some idea of your unworthiness shackle you and keep you from praying. Now, we ought to be a church that continues to gather. Let us be a church that continues to pray for one another. As we pray, let us continue to make the problem of sin the main problem. Look at verse 19 through 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. Sin sometimes is the cause of our sickness. The person who's sick, that call for the elders, there's some sin there and he confesses it. In verse 16 it says, confess your sins one to another that you may be healed. Sin sometimes is the cause of our sickness. But not every sickness is because of a particular sin. When the blind man was brought to Jesus, and the disciples said, Jesus, who sinned, this man or his parents? Jesus says, neither of them sinned, but for God's glory that he was born blind. Particular sins are not always the reason for our sickness, but generally sin is the reason for all our sickness and suffering. I rebellion against God. I will neglect or want to follow his word and his will. I will want him to do our own thing, to resist him. Sin, the fall, is the reason for all our sickness and all our suffering. directly or indirectly, it's always sin. So sin is the main problem. So as we go to God in prayer, as we continue to be a praying church, let us continue to deal with sin. Let us continue to put sin in its proper place. Yes, we continue to pray for the sick. Yes, we continue to pray for those who are in need and financially, emotionally, whatever like that, but let us recognize that sin is always at play in terms of the fallen world. And so we ought to pray that we will be victorious over sin. That we will not succumb to alcoholism. We will not succumb to temptations. We will not succumb to sexual sins. We will not succumb. We will be victorious in our relationships with one another. We will be gentle and kind and honoring So as we pray, let's always remember to deal with the issue of sin. And this goes to church discipline. Let us not be discouraged when there's church discipline that needs to take place. In this passage, it says the person, know this, the person that returns, the one who's wandering from the truth, That person will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Church discipline is love. James here is quoting Proverbs 10, 12. In Proverbs 10, 12, it says, hatred arouses strife, but love covers a multitude of sins. We ought not to think that the loving thing to do is to ignore sin, to overlook somebody's sin, somebody's wandering, somebody's going away. It's the easy thing to do, but it's not the loving thing to do. Yes, if somebody faults us, if somebody hurts us, we don't hold a grudge, we forgive. But if you see somebody going away from the truth, the loving thing to do is to pursue that person. So James is defining for us love. He says, the one who pursues this one who is wandering from the truth will cover a multitude of sins. Let us continue to love one another, look out for each other, that we will all make it to the end. Now, what's striking here is that you have two situations of death. You have someone who is physically sick is on the verge of death. You have someone who is spiritually sick is on the verge of death. The first person is wise enough to call the elders. The second person is foolish and needs to be pursued to escape from death. Brothers and sisters, there is one that when we were dead in our sins pursued us. There is one who is a great pursuer of all souls. You are here today because Christ has pursued you. You were dead, unable to respond, walking foolishly in this world, an enemy of God, and he pursued you and saved you and made you his own. Christ Jesus, the great pursuer, has loved us like none other. Love him. Love his church. Serve his church. Love one another. Love one another. Pray for one another. Pursue one another in godliness. And if we do this, brothers and sisters, we will make it to the end. Continue to pray. Continue to be a praying church. Continue. to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? Amen. Father, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you, Lord, that you pursued us when we were dead in our sins. We thank you, Lord, that you have brought us to your church, that we will love and serve one another. Help us, Lord, to continue to be a church that gathers, to continue to be a church that prays for one another, and to continue to be a church that deals with sin and exercises church discipline. Father, we pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. you