Let us pray. O God, our faithful husband, we pray now that you would love us and wash us with the water by the Word, that we might be holy and without blame before you in love. Sanctify us, O God, by your truth and by your Spirit, that as the bride of Jesus Christ we might be prepared for life with our Lord and Savior and a glorious world still to come. For it is in His name that we pray. Amen. Our Old Testament Scripture reading tonight is from Psalm 73, verses 23-28. Beginning at verse 23, listen. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with your counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who desert you for harlandry. But it is good for me to draw near to God. I put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all your works. And the New Testament scripture tonight is from the epistle of James, chapter 5, tonight, verses 12 through 14. This is the word of God, listen. James says, But above all, my brethren, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no, no, lest you fall into judgment. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing songs. 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. This is the Word of the Lord. Please be seated. The best and the most exciting part about this life is that there is a God. and that He is the God of the Bible. God is a great Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. In His being, wisdom, holiness, power, justice, goodness, and truth. He is light and in Him is no darkness at all. He is love. and His love endures steadfast forever. God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. In six glorious days, He made our world and all things in it by the word of His power out of nothing. And on the seventh day, He rejoiced over and rested in His works, seeing and declaring that all was very good. God has made all for Himself, and He rules over the works of His hands. He works all things according to the counsel of His righteous will. He is the God who blessed Abraham beneath the stars. He is the God whom David adorned, and of whom David sang in the Psalms. He is the God, Christians, whose brightness we have seen, full of grace and truth in Jesus Christ. The Son. God is the God of the patient sufferings of the cross. And He is the God of the resurrection. He is the God of the good news of forgiveness and eternal life. God is our Savior. And God is our Lord. God is a shield. And He is a Son. And by His grace, Christians, it is to Him that we go. when we go at last to enter into the eternal rejoicing and rest of the true seventh day. Yes, the best and the most exciting part about this life is that there is a God and that He is the God of the Bible. And that is why we say that our chief and highest end as men is to glorify God in life. and to enjoy Him now and forever. This is only saying what Asaph said in Psalm 73. When he said of God, Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I deserve besides You. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Brothers and sisters, that is the highest wisdom. The moral lives as men are about God. and His glory, the better our lives are and will be. That is always true. It is true right now, and it will be true tomorrow, and it will be true forever. This is where our catechism begins, because it is the first truth in the life of men, and that it is our life's true end. The Apostle James, ever practical in his ministry, teaches us tonight that to have our best life now, to borrow a phrase from Joel Osteen, we must live the religious life, the God conscious life, the life whose response to everything is a Godward response. James shows us here that life is full of opportunities for us to draw near to God by acknowledging Him and by putting our trust in Him, that we would be continually with Him in our lives and He continually with us. Like Enoch, it is possible even for a fallen man to walk with God in his life. That is the essence of the truly religious life and that's the best life there is. That is your best life now. James here takes four common situations and shows us the response of the religious man. First, the response of the religious man to a question is to speak the plain truth in the fear of the God who is there. The response of the religious man to a question that is posed to him is to speak the plain truth in the fear of the God who is there. In verse 12, if you look there, James says, but above all, my brethren, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no, no, lest you fall into judgment. So, this passage is almost identical to the teaching of Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5.34. And together, these passages have been the cause of some confusion in the Church. The Mennonites, in particular, have concluded on the basis of these verses that it is a sin to swear an oath. The obvious problem with that interpretation, or that conclusion, is first that God, in the law, commands that His people swear oaths in His name. And then moreover, the Apostle Paul then, in obedience, does this repeatedly in his letters to the churches. Romans 1.9, 2 Corinthians 1.23, 2 Corinthians 11.31, and Galatians 1.20. So, it is better to understand these passages as forbidding, not all oaths, but oaths sworn by created things, because such oaths are inherently duplicitous. Let me explain. It was a common practice in the ancient world for men in business to swear an oath in their promises to one another. And as men feared to break an oath sworn in the name of God, they had instead begun to swear by created things. They would swear by heaven or they would swear by earth. And these were inherently weak oaths. And that was intentional, that men would not feel bound to keep their word if doing so proved to be contrary to their best interest. So here James is appalled to see this practice among the members of the church. For while men might be fooled by such oaths, James knew that the God of the Bible never would be. It would not approve of the practice. The best part of life, James is saying to us, is not being a tricky businessman. The best part of life is the God who was there. And the God who was there is a God who is everywhere. And as the God who was everywhere, he's a God of truth. And he's a God of knowledge. When you make a promise, brethren, be conscious of that. That God is there, whether you invoke His name or not. Be conscious that He hears your words and that He knows the intentions of your heart. If your answer is yes, then say yes. And keep your word to Him in the fear of the God who is there. Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord? The psalmist asks in Psalm 15. Part of his answer is, He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. This is the religious man, the God-fearing man. It's he who walks uprightly, who works righteousness, who speaks the truth in his heart. If your answer is yes, James says, then say yes and keep your word. But if your answer is no, then be honest and say no, even if it kills the deal. Better to be truthful before God than to be successful in business. Better to be rich toward God than by deceit to have all the riches of this deceitful world. Secondly, the response of the religious man to suffering is to pray before the throne of God, the God who is there. The response of the religious man to suffering is to pray before the throne of the God who is there. James says in verse 13, is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. And suffering is a part of life for all of us. It is God-ordained consequence of our fall into sin. So when you find yourself suffering, as you surely will at times, what should you do? Should you lie in bed incapacitated? Should you sit up all night wringing your hands in worry? Should you get drunk on wine? Should you get giddy on romantic comedies? James says, God forbid, Christian. God forbid that you should waste your suffering in this manner. Suffering in this life is an occasion to pray. To pray! And prayer is the approach of a poor sinful creature onto the throne of the grace of God. Prayer is the sacred entrance through the veil of Christ's sacrifice and mediation into the Holy of Holies, into the throne room of the living God. Prayer is an offering of incense of the grace of Christian faith unto the God of all grace. The Bible says the Holy Comforter comes to help us when we pray in our sufferings before the throne of grace. To groan in us with groanings which cannot be uttered and to anoint us with the spirit of supplication. When you suffer in life, why would you turn to Jennifer Aniston when you might turn to the God of the Bible? What he's asking here is, don't you know what life is about? Shouldn't you, wouldn't you rather draw near to God in prayer when you suffer? Knowing, as the Bible tells you, that when you do so, God will draw near to you. Thirdly, the response of the religious man to cheerfulness in his life is to sing a song in praise of the God who is there. The response of the religious man to cheerfulness is to sing a song in praise of the God who is there. James says in verse 13 again, is anyone cheerful, let him sing songs. Sadly, we tend, I think most of us, to be the most religious when we are the most sad. And that is a sad religion indeed. James is showing us here, we have as much occasion to walk with God, to know Him as the strength of our heart and our portion forever in times of happiness as we do in times of misery. The joy of the Lord is our strength, the Bible says. What a shame that when God blesses us in life and we feel cheerful, that we tend to become less conscious of God. Did James not teach us earlier that every good and perfect gift comes from Him, the Father of light? You see, when you have a blessing, when God blesses you, the highest purpose of the blessing, the highest joy in being blessed is lost when we lose sight of the God who has blessed us in these times. Christian, there is a better way. When you're cheerful, James says, sing a song. Not a meaningless pop song. Sing a song. Sing a song of praise to your God. And I ask you tonight, do you know any psalms by heart? You know, you really ought to memorize one. Just for that cheerful moment when a religious response is called for. And you want to glorify the God. who's blessed you and you know that you will enjoy forever. Memorize a psalm and then when you are cheerful, sing it in your life. That's what this passage says. Sing it in your heart, but not just in your heart, sing it out loud. Sing your psalm in the car, on the way to work, or in the car on the way home. Sing your psalm while you're dusting the curtains. or while you are walking down to the mailbox. Gather the family together in the Christian home and share your cheer by singing a psalm together to the glory of the God who has blessed you. Do you know a psalm by heart? How about the 23rd psalm of the Word? The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want. He makes me down to lie. In pastures green, he leadeth me the quiet waters by. My soul he doth restore again, and me to walk doth make Within the paths of righteousness, even for his own namesake. Yea, though I walk through death's dark veil, yet will I fear none ill, For thou art with me, and thy rod and staff me comfort still. My table thou hast furnished in presence of my foes, My head thou dost with oil anoint, and my cup overflows. Goodness and mercy all my life will surely follow me, And in God's house forevermore, my dwelling place shall be. When you are a cheerful Christian, it is well that you should sing a song. And you say, I can't sing. You can't sing. Then you don't know what singing is for. Singing is not the pleasure of hearing your own voice. Singing is for the glory of God. That's why birds sing. Shall we be outdone by birds? Sing a psalm. Singing psalm is glorifying to Him who made us all and is good for you as His creature. Singing a psalm of God's praise takes a little earthly cheer all the way to heaven and exchanges it there for an abundance of joy at its boundless divine source. How can a man walk with God in his life who will not sing a song? And fourthly and finally, the response of the religious man to sickness is to seek the healing of God in the church. The response of the religious man to sickness is to seek the healing of God in the church. James says in verse 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." Now, the Bible is not opposed to medicine. Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach. That's medicine in the ancient world. But neither would the Bible have men lose sight of God when their bodies are ailing in this life. Medicine is a means, but what is its power? Who is it that heals the sick? Who is it that gives life and health to us as human beings? By means or without them, it is God from whom all blessings flow. And when I say all blessings, I mean the physical as well as the spiritual. And so James says, when the Christian is sick, Let him not think that the church of which he is a member, and that its ministries have no good to him in that situation. Let him not think that the elders of the church cannot cross the threshold from the spiritual to the physical in their ministry and to their members. The elders of the church are men of God, and as men of God, so God hears their prayers. He hears their prayers for men's souls, but He also hears their prayers for men's bodies. Why should the medical doctors get all the attention from alien Christians in this life when the elders of their church have an audience with Almighty God? The anointing with oil was a common practice in the ancient world when baths were few and far between. I take it to be symbolic. It is neither here nor there. It's the prayer that matters, James says in verse 15. where He says, the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. The God of the Bible is the God of all creation and He would have the glory of all creation as His own. So in the one hand, God has filled the earth with secret compounds, with power to heal the body. And the doctor does well to discover and gather these gifts and administer them to the sick, to the glory of God. But James points out that God has also filled the earth with godly men who possess the secret power of prayer. And the Christian does well to go to his elders in his sickness and say, pray for me. Pray over me in the anointing of the Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son. Pray unto the Father to forgive me my sins and to heal me. This, the Bible teaches us, is how we should draw near to God when we are sick. It is the response of the religious man to the ailing of his body. So in closing, some of you perhaps have the experience of having lived in Christian homes in which there was very little religion from day to day. The family went to church on Sundays, perhaps, to pay tribute to God, to hear of things that Christians are supposed to believe. It wasn't long after they'd returned from church back home that everything that they had heard there had begun to fade and no longer seemed particularly relevant. And so within the daily life of the family and its members, there would be very little consciousness of God, very little walking with Him, no genuine prayer in life, no genuine praise. Such people do not think of themselves as very religious, and indeed they are not. But we all should be. That's what James is telling us. If we understand what is truly the best and the most exciting part of life, we all should be very religious, as religious as we can be. We should not miss a single opportunity in this life to turn our thoughts towards God and remember that He is there. He is there when we speak the plain truth to men. He is there in our suffering when we pray. He is there in our cheer as we sing our song. He is there when the elders lay their hands upon our ailing heads. God is always there. And again, that is the best part of life. And living your best life now is being just as conscious of that as you can be. James points out here, there's a Godward response to everything in life. And the more that you take that path, the more you will walk with God. This is nothing but the path of Christian faith, and that is the path of salvation. So may you travel it all your days, until like Enoch, God takes you, his servant, to walk with him in glory forevermore. Let us pray. O God, our Good Shepherd, we thank You tonight that You go after us when we wander, and we thank You that You bring us home, that You carry us on Your shoulder with rejoicing. We thank You that You came to us where we had fallen, and that You laid down Your life for us, to save us, and then wonderfully took it back again, and that now in Christ Jesus, There is no one or nothing that can snatch us from your hand. O God, you died for us that we should die to sin, and you rose again that we might live to you, O God. Lead us then, our good shepherd, in the paths of righteousness, for your name's sake. Lead us like sheep into green pastures. Lead us beside still waters. Heal our bodies, O God, and restore our souls. Teach us to pray. Teach us to sing songs. Show us how, and encourage us to live the Godward life of faith from day to day, that we might live life to its fullest all our days. Surely all things in life are of you, and through you, and to you, our God, to whom be the glory in all. Grant us eyes to see how true this is, and ears to hear our Shepherd's voice calling us to follow Him, in the ways of glory now and ever. For it is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.