Let's come before our God in prayer. Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in the firmament of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance. Praise Him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals. Praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Our Father in heaven, eternal in the heavens, who dwell between the cherubim, Again, we enter into that uncertain season where we cannot see around the next bend. We don't know what the future holds. We don't know what trials or joys you will call us to in the coming weeks and months. And so this morning, our Father in heaven, we will hold on to what we know and place our feet firmly there, that you are our God and our Father for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. You govern all things with your everywhere present almighty power. And you have put all things under the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ for the good of the church. And so this morning, we come to you with praise and thanksgiving. We thank you for this morning. We thank you for the autumn rain after a dry season. We thank you for the crisp tang in the air. We thank you, Father, for the little things, the crunch of the apple and the first sip of new wine. We thank you for olive oil and pumpkin spice. We lift up our voices together and praise your name for friends and family, for music and dance and colors and fabrics. We thank you for the gifts that you give to men and women. It's such a wonderful diversity, and they all come from you. The gift to write a poem, the gift to play music, the gift to know the right words to say, the gift to hold a hand and brighten a heart, the gift to paint a picture, and even the gift to kill Philistines all come from you. and from your hand, and we receive them with joy and give you thanks. And we praise your name that salvation has come to Zion, that all of these gifts that you give us on this earth point to something far greater, a far more lasting treasure that does not fade away. We are in awe today that the promise you made thousands of years ago to Adam and Eve, to Abraham and Sarah, to Isaac and Rebecca, are being fulfilled before our very eyes. And that in the uncertainty of evil times, in the rage and the turmoil of the kingdoms of men, you are continuing to gather, preserve, and defend for yourself a chosen communion from every kindred, every tribe, every nationality, and every kingdom. You are our God, and we are your people. And so, Father, we confess to you this morning that we have not trusted in you as we ought. We have not thanked and praised your name as we ought. For far too often we have placed our trust in men and in the kingdoms of this earth and in strength and in money and in power. Forgive us, Father. Fill us with your spirit and lift up our eyes on high where Christ is at your right hand. And thus, give us the courage to love our neighbor as ourselves without fear. This morning, we pray for our communities. We pray that you would provide for us, that you would deliver those in bondage, whether the bondage is to drugs or alcohol or pornography or to pride or any other sin. We pray for deliverance. We pray for deliverance for the captive. We pray for peace to the oppressed. We pray that you would give courage to the downhearted and peace to the anxious. And above all, Father, we pray that your kingdom would come. and that you would bless the proclamation of your gospel today, destroy every wicked device against your word, and may the word go forth, the gospel of peace and hope and joy. We pray, Father, that you would send that cleansing water to a thirsty world, that you would wash our sins away and fill us with your spirit. Bless our state, bless our country, give wisdom and justice to our leaders. And for those who are sick, we pray for relief. Give healing, we pray, to all of our friends and family members who have contracted this horrible virus. We pray that you would give peace and patience to Pastor Sautel. We pray that you would deliver Bud and Mel from their cancer. And we pray that you would protect us from the cunning and deceit of wicked men. Deliver us from the spirit of fear and the bondage of wrath and malice. Give us your spirit that we might be filled with the fruits that are acceptable to you. Love and joy and peace for against such there is no law. Guide my lips this morning. Give us hearts eager to hear and let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord our strength and our Redeemer. Amen. For our scripture reading this morning Turn with me to Psalm 32. This is a psalm about a stubborn man refusing to acknowledge his guilt and finally the Lord opens his lips and he speaks and finds peace. And so he finds the peace in imputed righteousness. Paul applies this to the gospel in the book of Romans. Let's give attention to the reading of God's word in Psalm 32. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night, thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. Be not as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked. But he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. My text this morning is James chapter 5, verses 13 through 16. As I said last week, everything from verse 12, I'm sorry, everything from verse 13 to the end of the chapter is one whole. on prayer and walking in fellowship with God. So these sermons all go together. But I would like to focus particularly on sickness and sin in our text this morning. So let's begin reading at verse 13 through verse 16. Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? 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 shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." The scripture is the work of one divine author. That is God. God breathed out the words, the scripture tells us, through human authors, the prophets and the apostles, but we must not lose sight of the fact that the words are God's. Over a period of 1,500 years, God gradually revealed himself, building on the previous revelation and continuing to reveal himself until we get to the age of Christ and the apostles. Since God cannot change, since God cannot lie or be mistaken, the words of Scripture are pure. There are no contradictions. There are no mistakes. There are no errors. To put it simply, James doesn't contradict Paul. Matthew doesn't contradict Moses. The apostles don't contradict the ancient prophets. The Scripture is a unified whole from beginning to end. We need to keep this in mind to keep ourselves from being foolish. The memorization of verses and the The looking at verses in isolation is good at times to remember the promises of God, but we must remember that one part of the Bible isn't contradicting the rest of the part of the Bible. It all goes together. In other words, to put it simply, the text in front of us this morning is not the only thing that the Bible has to say about illness. The scripture has many different things to say about illness and James is adding another part of the picture to the Bible's whole discussion of illness. Here's what we know from the scripture about illness. All illness is an aberration. It is not how we were created. God created all of nature and mankind and said, Behold, it is very good. Illness entered the world because sin entered the world. But, and this is very important, that does not mean that all illness is a direct result of personal sin. The Pharisees made that mistake. The apostles asked Jesus about the man born blind. Whose sin was it? Him or his parents? And Jesus responded, it's not a result of sin. It's so that the glory of God might be revealed. We make that same error when we determine that someone's illness or disability is a moral failing. Historically, in the church, we do not have a good track record with that. There's been tremendous disdain and contempt for those suffering from mental illness, permanent disabilities, chronic illness. That contempt comes from the same error of the Pharisees. The idea that if you weren't a sinner, you wouldn't be sick. That position cannot be consistently upheld from scripture. There are many examples of those who carried infirmities with them their whole lives and were faithful and righteous in the eyes of God. That being said, we do know that some infirmities are indeed the result of personal sin. For example, one who is a chronic adulterer may contract an STD. One who is a drunkard will have digestion issues. One who is a brawler, has no control over his temper, may develop ulcers. Psalm 32, which we read a moment ago, describes one who stubbornly refuses to acknowledge his sin. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night, thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Here's a poetic description of the suffering of the body as a result of the hardness of heart. And so the psalmist encourages the sinner there to find peace by acknowledging his sin and coming to know firsthand how blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. We also know from scripture that death will come to all men. and is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment. It then follows that it is not God's will to heal all illness. Paul had a thorn in the flesh that he does not describe, but he prayed to have it removed three times, and God refused and said, My grace is sufficient for you. And the thorn remained. No one can say that Paul did not have enough faith. We also know that God is personal, and this is also important. He's personal and wise and holy and righteous and good and has a good purpose for all that He does. It is of His good pleasure alone that He has mercy on those who are sick. He is not obligated. He's not carried around in a box. He's not an impersonal power to be tapped into. The power of God is not contained in an image or a bottle of oil or a prayer cloth, but God chooses freely to have mercy on whom he will have mercy. There was a time in the first century of the church where there were miraculous gifts of the Spirit, including the gift of healing. We know from the Gospel of Matthew that anointing oil was used in that miraculous healing by the apostles. But we also know that there is no promise in scripture that miraculous healing would continue in every age. And the fact is no matter what you think about spiritual gifts healing such as what was done by the apostles and Jesus does not exist today in the world anywhere. So with all of those clear teachings of scripture in mind, let's look at what our text is teaching us concerning illness. First, notice the connection the apostle makes between illness and sin. He's talking about forgiveness of sins in the same breath that he's talking about the healing of illness. And as I said, and I need to remind you of, it is a cruel mistake to assume that all illness is the result of personal failings, especially since the scripture and our own experiences show us that there are very few clear examples of that being the case. Job's suffering was because he loved God and refused to curse Him. We know about Paul, which I said before, the man born blind, Epaphroditus, and so many others in the scripture who were given weaknesses and sicknesses and afflictions in the body because they belonged to Christ and were greatly loved. Both in sickness and in health, we confess in our catechism, those do not come by chance, but by God's fatherly hand. But there is a connection between the curse that is on this world and sickness. Physical infirmity is not the way that God created us. Death and everything that comes with it did not enter the world until Adam sinned against God. God created an orderly world. He created a world in perfect balance. with peace between all its parts. We read in Genesis 1 that this was the work of the Spirit bringing order out of the chaos of creation. Peace is a way of putting that. There was peace between man and God. Adam and Eve were at peace with God. They were at peace with one another. They were at peace with all creation. They were at peace with their own bodies. In the book of Exodus, when Israel rejected God and made a molten calf to worship, God told Moses that they corrupted themselves. That describes the chaos of sin perfectly. Because of Adam and Eve's sin, that which was created in perfect harmony in peace became corrupted at war. The peace is removed. When man rejected God in the garden, disorder entered into the world. Corruption. There was now, as there is today, conflict between God and man, between man and his wife, between friends, between mankind and creation. Now there's wild beasts that are dangerous. There's thorns that infect the ground. There's death lurking in nature where before man had dominion and man was at peace with nature. And that conflict also entered into man's body. Sickness corrupted original health. Thus it became in scripture a perfect metaphor for the corruption of sin. Jeremiah, for example, says the heart is deceitful and desperately sick at the point of death. Have you ever felt like you were at war with your own body? To me, that describes illness perfectly. But in our text, by connecting illness with the corruption of sin, God is promising redemption of both body and soul. The disconnect between the body and soul that's seen so often in certain religious circles comes from Greek paganism, not Christianity. I, as a person, and one person, body and soul. There is no peace if there is no peace with God. If there's no peace with the soul, there's no peace in the body, for we are one. And so God's concern with us is not simply good health, but to restore to health everything that has been corrupted by sin. First, the relationship between God and man, and then everything else in its proper time. And so the Apostle connects the forgiveness of sins with the healing of the body. Parts of the same whole in their proper order. We see in our text that God's love and goodness for us include both body and soul. In our catechism, my only comfort is that I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own. I, there's only one me, but I am body and soul. We belong to him, body and soul, for he has purchased us. And so we are not souls that are trapped in a body, which was taught by the Neoplatonists of the early centuries, nor are we bodies that may or may not have a soul, which is taught by the modern materialist. We are persons, both body and soul. And as persons, we belong to Jesus Christ and are image bearers of God. And because of this, God is not only concerned with our spiritual well-being, but He is also concerned with the afflictions of the body. Because Christ Himself took upon Himself a real human body. The writer of Hebrews says, For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. And then he concludes, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Let's come to the throne of grace. To put it very practically, James says, call the elders of the church. Often when we suffer with illness or disability, we are ashamed. And unfortunately, the church has oftentimes increased that shame by not responding with compassion as they ought. And so we say to ourselves, there's got to be something wrong with me. Oftentimes, the church heaps shame on those who are struggling with illness or chronic pain. I still today hear the stories of all of those who were shunned or driven from their churches or simply ignored because of illness or disability. shuffled off to the corner, for there's something about chronic illness that doesn't fit the modern gospel. Everything is supposed to be fixed once we come to Jesus, is it not? But James here in our text shows the heart of God, which should be reflected in the church. Let him call for the elders of the church. Where else can care and concern and help be found if not in the church? Where else should there be understanding and compassion if not in the church? Does not Christ have compassion for our infirmities and should not that be reflected in the officers of the church? And yet far too often in the modern church there is this weird prosperity gospel going on even in conservative circles who should know better. The idea deeply ingrained is, well, if they weren't sinners, they wouldn't be suffering. If they just made better choices, they wouldn't be having a hard time. And so here is a warning for the elders, a rebuke for the elders. Something to think about, I guess, is a better way of putting it. Do we as elders conduct ourselves in such a way that the congregation would call us if they were suffering. And I say that to myself as well as to everyone else. Do we truly listen to those who are hurting? Are we simply looking for something to rebuke? Aren't we more often than not like Job's counselors looking for everything that's wrong with someone so we can tell them to fix it? Because that is easier than it is dealing with the harsh providence of God. It's also a rebuke for the sheep. We think to ourselves when we struggle with illness, I don't need to bother with anyone. I can deal with this on my own. I don't need any help. And then it gets bad when resentment builds. They say, well, somebody should have visited me. Somebody should have paid attention. But the fact is elders can't read minds. And there are warnings in scripture about elders being busybodies in the affairs of others. And so for that reason and for the health of the congregation, James says the initiative belongs with the one who is sick. It's an imperative. He must call the elders of the church. It's a cry of weakness and humility and need. It reminds each one of us that the doctor doesn't come for the healthy. but for those who are sick. Those that have no need don't need a Savior. But when we're sick, we're reminded that we do have a need, and so we're called to humble ourselves and call the elders of the church. And here's what the elders are to do. Let them pray over Him, anointing Him with oil. As the representatives of Christ's body, the elders are to make intercession. Understanding that God cares for the bodies and souls of His people. And He shows that care in the command to the elders. Pray over them. Elders, bring the love of Christ to the home. Not the judgment of the law, not the condemnation of the world, but the love of Christ for both body and soul are important. So listen. Talk. Here, if you're an elder, take this seriously and educate yourself. There's so much literature in scripture and in those who have commented on scripture on how to listen, how to communicate, how to hear the heart of God's people. God knows the heart of all men, but we don't, unless you learn how to listen. and have the humility to listen. You will never know what anxiety, discouragement, doubts, fears, and questions abound in the hearts of those who suffer from chronic illness. And through all of those questions and all of those anxious thoughts, God's goal for us is to draw us closer into fellowship with him. We as elders cannot know what someone is struggling with unless we learn how to listen. And then we can invite them to draw closer to Christ, who loves us, body and soul. That's the duty of the elders, as well as the rest of the congregation, which he will say in verse 16, to pray for one another. How does God draw us into fellowship with him when we are sick? How does God deal with us when we are sick? We tend to think, as human beings, that God's special love and care are for those who are strong, or rich, or healthy, or young. A common complaint when illness strikes, or when we are poor, or disabled, or weak, or sick, or simply get old, is that we tend to think that God's left us behind, that we have no more use in the kingdom of God. We feel useless, and tired, and worn out. We feel like we're good for nothing. We can't contribute to humankind, so we must not be of any value for God. And people in this world confirm that in us. They also tend to view those who can't contribute sufficiently as having no value. But the scripture teaches the opposite. It is when we are weak that God shows himself strong. It's when we are afflicted that God's presence is powerful. It's when we are outcast and lonely that we find that God is the closest. And this is to be reflected by the elders of the church as well as the congregation. It takes humility to acknowledge that you need God's strength, that you need God's help, and that you need God's wisdom. And the first step of humility is words. I need help. And the beauty of the church is that we're all in this together. Romans 14, for none of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself. Whether we live, we live unto the Lord. Whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. And then Paul applies that thinking in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 when he's talking about the members of the body all belonging to the Lord. Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular. So lay aside the thought that you have the strength to battle through this alone. You don't. Call the elders of the church. Let them pray over you. As for the anointing with oil, I honestly confess to you that the significance of that is not clear. Reformed commentaries are about equally divided on several different opinions. Some say that it's a reference to the miraculous healings of the first century that have since passed away. Some say it's a reference to the medical knowledge of the times. And some say it's a reference to the practice of the Jewish culture, representing the grace of God. Other than rejecting the Roman Catholic view that he's speaking of the sacrament of the last rites, I will let you determine which one of those you accept. For the interpretation of the passage does not depend upon it. Grammatically, it's connected with the prayer. The important command is the elders pray. And then it's added anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The important thing is the prayer in the name of the Lord. It's communion with God, not the outward right, which is what the rest of scripture teaches us. For we know that the power of God is not captured in a bottle of oil. That's a pagan view. That is not Christianity. Jesus taught that God is our father. The Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is our Father. He's willing and able to do us good, and he calls us into fellowship with himself, whether it's in sickness or in health, riches or poverty, and so we call on his name. We know that not every disease is healed, but we also know that it isn't because God is displeased with us, that we didn't do the ritual right, or that he isn't hearing our prayer because we don't have enough faith. It's because in his wisdom he has something greater for us right now. He sometimes leaves that thorn in the flesh that we might know the sufficiency of his grace. But with that being said I would like to think a little bit about how often God does heal the sick. He heals us. He truly does. He heals us because He loves us. Think of every cold in your life you've recovered from. That's the work of God. Think of every cut you've had that's healed up. That's the work of God. Every broken bone that's mended. Every flu that you recovered from. As I said at the beginning, God is a God of order. He created us originally with health and strength and sickness is abnormal because of sin. And there have been a few times in the history of the world that God did miraculous healings in the days of Jesus and the apostles most notably. But God's intention is to redeem creation. And so God works through the order that he has created. Instead of miraculous cures, he gives us the wisdom of antibiotics. Just think in the last hundred years how much God has revealed to us about his creation in the world of medicine. Penicillin, antibiotics, vaccines, organ transplants. The doctors in our congregation could give us many examples of God's grace. In fact, in the past hundred years, God has healed more illnesses through modern medicine than he ever did miraculously in the days of the apostles. Simply by revealing to men and women the secrets of the body that he created us with. This is a proper understanding of science. It's never contrasted in the Bible with faith. That's the unbeliever's view. The biblical view is that science describes the very ordinary way that God works in nature. So we can study it because God is a God of order. And so we know from scripture that all healing comes from the hand of God. Ordinarily, he uses those things that he created to do it. The discoveries of modern medicine are only because he's revealed that power in his creation. The science of medicine simply describes the orderly way that God heals. Can he work a miracle? Of course he can. But his creation was declared very good, and that's what's being restored in Christ. We hold that view in balance with the view that we're still not yet home. We still struggle with the conflict and the war between God and man, nations with nations, mankind with mankind, mankind with nature, and us with our own bodies. But every time healing takes place, we're reminded that Christ's kingdom is a kingdom of peace. When he was born, you remember the angels saying, peace on earth, goodwill toward man. First, he brings peace with God. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in Romans 5, which is what James means when he reminds us that if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him for God has restored us to peace. And from there, we gradually learn peace with each other. In the new heavens and the new earth, we will have perfect peace with nature, perfect peace within our own bodies. And we have tastes of that peace here on this earth when our bodies are healed, when roses are grown, when tomatoes are cultivated, when wild beasts are tamed. But we won't ever have them perfectly on this earth until Jesus comes again and our bodies are raised from the dust. We get glimpses of it every time enemies are reconciled, every time a broken heart is mended, every time a sinner cries out for forgiveness, every time a storm blows over and the sun comes through behind the clouds, every time our Lord says, peace, be still. when the penicillin takes away the infection, when the heart surgery is successful, when you're finally over the cold, when the vaccine obliterates the polio, when the cancer goes into remission. It's God's token of his goodness to us and a reminder that he is in the process of making all things new. And so we're back to the theme of the book of James, be patient. The day will be fulfilled when he healeth all thy diseases and forgiveth all by iniquities. And since God is the God of peace, verse number 16, let it begin in the church. Be open with your faults. It says confess your faults one to another. That's an echo of the previous instruction way back in chapter number three when he says, my brethren, be not many masters. Don't become a whole bunch of school marms. Be open with your faults. Be at peace, pray for one another, which you can do when you acknowledge that your struggles and their struggles are the same. We all have sins. We all have failings. We are all in this together. Your health today could very easily become chronic illness tomorrow. If God is bringing peace to the gospel of Christ, isn't it most fitting that it begins among the people who are called by his name? Confess your faults one to another. This stands in stark contrast to our normal inclination. Our normal inclination is to judge and condemn one another, to be contemptuous of one another, to declare ourselves to be the pinnacles of wisdom and virtue and the ability to fix everyone around us. Instead, confess your own weaknesses and your faults. Herman Bovink writes, the seeds of all iniquities, even the most heinous, lie in the very heart which we all carry in our bosoms. And when we understand this, we are more prepared to cease sitting in judgment and spend more time praying for one another that we might be healed. The fact is we are all one hair breath away from falling into heinous sin. We're one heartbeat away from permanent disability or brain damage. One accident away from a wheelchair. None of us have any strength or wisdom at all except by what God grants us freely by his grace. And so pray for one another. No matter what God has in store for us, We know that He will never leave us or forsake us, and that's the example we also are to follow. Pray for one another without ceasing. Let peace begin here. If you have peace with God, everything else will flow. For when we are justified and have peace with God, we are always in the presence of our Heavenly Father who loves us and delights to hear our prayers, which will be the subject of next week's sermon as we look at Elijah. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, I pray that you would give us the grace to be merciful to one another, be compassionate, that you would heal the body, heal the soul, that you would bring us peace with one another, with our bodies, with the world around us, so that we might be a good witness, that men might see our good works and say we have a God in heaven. Forgive us our sins, heal our diseases, and forgive our iniquities. In Jesus' name, amen.