Let's make a start tonight and sing together hymn 568. In the midst of all the trials and tribulations that we face in this life, it's good to know that God is in control and that he will take care of his people. Be not dismayed whatever be tied, God will take care of you. Beneath his wings of love abide, God will take care of you. Let's rise, let's sing. God is faithful every time, a losing pair of you. In His wings of love abide, a losing pair of you. God will take care of you through everything or all the way. He will take care of you. God will take care of you. heart of faith, God will take care of you. When danger's near, sure path unseen, God will take care of you. God will take care of you, through every day, for all the way. He will take care of you. God will take care of you. God will take care of you. Trust Him and you will be satisfied. God will take care of you. God will take care of you. ♪ Through every day or all the way ♪ ♪ He will take care of you ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ Though we are sad or friends apart ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ We will give peace to your aching heart. God will take care of you. God will take care of you. Through every day, for all the way, He will take care of you. God will take care of you. God will take care of you. We carry on upon this track. God will take care of you. God will take care of you through every day. We believe what we're singing. And we believe whatever the test, whatever the difficulty, God will take care of his people. And we want you to be encouraged by what we've sung tonight. Couldn't help but think of our Ukrainian friends when we sang this fourth verse, lonely or sad from friends apart. And you've got friends back in Ukraine, you've got family back there, and you're separated by quite a few hundred miles, but he will give peace to your aching heart, and let's be certain God will take care of you. If those that are sick are able to listen in tonight, I just want you to know that too, and be assured of our prayers. We've been thinking about Wesley, he's down in the Ulster hospital, and tomorrow, He's hoping to get to the Royal and to have the procedure that is necessary and whatever needs to be done so that he can go forward health-wise. And we've been thinking about Peter as well at home. And adding to our list, and I'll say something more later when we come to the time of prayer, but our treasurer, Ivor, is unwell again, and he needs our prayers tonight. He might have the opportunity just to be tuning in this evening. I've just come from his home, but we're praying for Ivor as well. And tonight, in the providence of God, we've set aside to pray for the sick of the congregation. We'll pray, but whatever is in our hearts and whoever is laid upon our hearts to pray for, what we want to think about this evening later on, let's have a word of prayer. Our gracious God, we give thanks tonight for the one who is God over all, eternal and unchangeable, in every aspect of his being and all the great attributes that belong to his person. We thank you that we have the immeasurable privilege of fellowship with the Almighty. We've been invited into his presence. We've been encouraged to call upon him and to call upon him especially in the day of trouble. And it is a day of trouble for some, one way or another. We think of those that are separated by many, many miles from their friends back in Ukraine. And we know that this has been a great burden for them because of the war and all that the war has caused and done. But we're glad to know that God will take care of His people. He will surround them with His love and His grace and His tender compassions. We think of the sick as well, and we've mentioned Wesley and Peter, and now Ivor again to the list, and others that are laid aside belonging to the church. We rejoice that the Almighty, who loves them with everlasting love, who sent his Son to the cross to die for their sins, and to save them, and to bring them home one day to glory. He will take care of them also. And Lord, we know that you make our bed in sickness, and you surround us in such times. Whenever trouble and trial comes, the Lord is there. He's promised that when we pass through the waters, I will be with thee. Through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. We thank thee tonight that thou art the Lord. Thou dost never change. Thy compassions never change. Your love and your grace never changes. And that desire over your people is still the same. We are loved with everlasting love. And in this we rejoice. And though we don't always understand the way that we take in this life, God knows these things. And we're in his hands. And he's guiding us step by step. Be with the church tonight as we come to pray. Make this an exceptional night when the presence of God is really known. We thank you for being with us last night, for a good start to the week of prayer. Lord, be here tonight. Work in our hearts, guide us, direct us when we come to seek thee in prayer. Grant us the spirit of God as we pray. Give me the Holy Ghost. Give my brethren and sisters the Holy Ghost tonight, the power of God. And Lord, make us effective witnesses in our day as we seek to stand for God in the midst of an evil and a crooked generation. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. The prayer week, of course, is Monday to Friday, and each night it's at eight o'clock, and the new prayer list is being compiled. So we said last night, If you've got a burden in your heart for someone in your family or in your friendship circle, they're not saved, they're not walking with God, they're backslidden, and you really desire to see them saved, and you're praying for them, and you want this congregation to remember them, put their name on the list, and you can have the opportunity to do that Monday to Thursday, and then Friday we'll get it printed up and given out to you, God willing. So just keep that in mind. Toby, you're young and you're fit and agile. You wouldn't close that door. There's a wee hook on the back of it, just in case the older people beside you get a cold of any draught that might be coming in. We have another hymn that's dear to our hearts here at Hebron 645. Is there a heart more bound by sorrow? Is there a life weighed down by care? Come to the cross, each burden bearing, all your anxiety, leave it there. Let's sing this together. ♪ Mister of life, wait on my care ♪ ♪ Come to the cross each burden bearing ♪ ♪ All your anxiety leave it there ♪ ♪ All your anxiety, all your fear ♪ ♪ Bring to the mercy seat ♪ Never a friend like Jesus. so mean to help you. No other friend so brave to hear. No other place to leave your burden. No other home to be with your friend. All your lifetime. Never a burden he hath not bear'd, Never a friend like Jesus. was, today no longer. He is entreatied, kind, and sweet. Do ye not hear how disappointed? You shall find peace at the mercy seat. Older anxiety, older fear. Start in James chapter 5, James chapter 5. So we have a short reading tonight and pass on a few words before we enter in upon our time of prayer. I'm going to read from verse 13 to 18. Is there any among you afflicted? I'm sure there are. This very night, you're afflicted. Let him pray. You've come to the right place, and when you engage in prayer at home, you're in the right place. When affliction comes, it's the natural response of the child of God to go to the place of prayer, meet with God. Is any merry? Let him sing Psalms. So if you're joyful tonight, and maybe affliction's not just your portion, but there's more joy in your heart than affliction, Well, sing, it's always good to sing. And if you're a bad singer, sing alone. Where only God hears you, that's all right. 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. Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man, albeit of much. And then we're given the example of Elias. All right, Elias was born a long time ago, but there's another way Elias was born not too long ago. And I think most of you know that Elias is the Greek rendering of the Old Testament Elijah. And if you didn't know, it's mentioned 30 times in the New Testament. And this is one of them. And he singled out as a man of prayer, Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, just an ordinary man with the same passions, the same weaknesses of our frail humanity, but he prayed. And he prayed earnestly, it says, that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, And the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. So it's there, as we think of the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man, revealing much in the background of praying for one another that we might be healed. He tells us about a man in the Old Testament who knew how to pray, knew how to lay hold upon God. and was very successful. Nobody else in the history of this world prayed, and it stopped raining for two and a half years. And then after all that time, prayed again in the midst of an impossible situation, and that great deluge came. God answered prayer. We're thinking about the God who answers prayer, and that's the same Monday through to Friday, and we're taking for our text tonight, verse 16, really the center part of it. Pray for one another that you may be healed. We told you last night that we are instructed to pray. We are invited to pray. and we are inspired to pray. And I give you all the reasons last night why we are inspired or encouraged to come to the Lord. And I have five thoughts about the God who answers prayer. And we thought about the devil last night, and our first point was he is able to restrain the devil in all his works of evil. Tonight, and I think very appropriately, as we think of the sick belonging to our congregation and our families, he is able to restore the sick to health and strength. Now, the subject of healing has caused much debate and argument through the centuries. We know that Christ had power on earth to heal, and he still has power in heaven to heal, by the way, but when the Lord walked Upon this earth, he had power to heal. And we think of the countless lepers, the blind, the dumb, the deaf, the lame, the afflicted, the diseased, the demented, those that were possessed with evil spirits, and even the dead were raised to life again. And Christ had this power. We know also that the disciples had power to heal. Jesus sent them out to preach the gospel in Luke chapter 8, and we're told that he gave them power and authority over devils and to cure diseases. And often, no doubt, they came back with a glowing report of what they had done in the Lord's name and the blessings that they had received. Like, we go on to read in Luke chapter 10, Remember that report when the 70, which were in addition to the 12 that were sent out, when the 70 were sent back and given power to heal the sick and power over unclean spirits and power to preach the word. Remember how they came back to the Lord And they said, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. They had, what we might say, very successful missions in what the Lord told them to do. The disciples had power to heal. The apostle Paul, who was a man or an apostle that was born out of due time, so he came into the scene much later than the original disciples. He had power to heal the sick. But there were special apostolic gifts given to these men, like the healing of the sick, the casting out of devils, the raising of the dead to life again, and those gifts that we call the apostolic gifts ceased with them. We also know that there is a counterfeit healing abounding in the world today in the modern Pentecostal charismatic movements, and they claim to possess the apostolic gifts that were right back here among these men. And sadly, what you find, in most cases, even those that proclaim success in what they do, the majority of the people are never healed at all. In fact, many of them go on to die. of the very diseases that these men claim that they healed them from. And you've seen men like this, and I don't watch the God channels any longer, but I can remember seeing men like that often on the God channels, like Benny Hinn. and all these big campaigns that he had and the thousands that came and they were all swooning and falling and being healed. You know, there was somebody who followed up all the people that Benny Hinn claimed to heal and there wasn't one positive case that they found. So there's a lot of counterfeit about today. Having said this, God does still heal men and women and children of their sicknesses. What the scripture teaches is simply outlined. Here in James chapter five, we are to pray for one another that ye may be healed. And that's what we're doing tonight during this week of prayer. I said to you earlier, we can pray for anything, whatever's in your heart, whatever burden is in your soul. But night by night, we're going to take a thought. And this is the thought for this evening. And that's what I do as a pastor. When I go to homes, people are sick, I pray for them. going to hospitals. I've been to hospital today. I pray for the sick. And just in my own quiet time at home, I also pray, as you do, for the sick. Tonight, we have a duty to pray for the sick of the congregation, and I want you to notice just a few things that I want to set before you before we pray. And the first one is that Christians can become sick. We're not exempt from disease and injury. that kind of problem in the physical sense. Sometimes we know it's the chastening of the Lord. He whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth for times. And when we wonder and we've departed and we're not walking the right God, God steps into our life to chasten us. And that chastening is out of love and grace to bring us back into the way again. But we need to be very, very careful about attributing all sickness to the chastening hand of God because it's not. or attributing all sickness to sin. You know, there's people out there in the broader Christian church and they say, all sickness is because of sin. You have done something wrong. That's not the case. Remember the blind man that the Lord met, I think it was John chapter nine, and they were asking the question, who did sin? Did this man sin or his parents that he was born blind? And the Lord told him it wasn't because of his parents or because of the man. Sickness did not come because of his own personal sin. Think about Job, the patriarch, and the book that bears his name. We're told that he was a perfect man, one that astute evil, a godly man. There was nobody like Job when it came to the testimony of any child of God. And yet Job, after all the trials that he faces in chapter 1, faces sickness, terrible sickness in chapter 2. when his whole body was covered in sore boils from head to toe. It wasn't just having a little boil here and there over his body. This man was sorely afflicted so badly. You remember when his friends came to sympathize with him, they didn't recognize him. And Job was brought into deep trial and trouble with sickness in his body, but he was a godly man. Never forget that. The prophet was a godly prophet, you know that. And he was sick, Daniel 8 and 27 tells us about that. Lazarus, one of the dear friends of the Lord Jesus, remember he loved to visit that home in Bethany of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Lazarus fell sick. So sickness is something that Christians face, and we know that. We know that in our own church, and we know that in our own families. The second little thought, I just want to mention this briefly, it's not always God's will to heal. Not always. You think of Lazarus, I mentioned Lazarus and he fell sick. John chapter 11 verse one. But he went on to die of that sickness. Now I know it was for a greater purpose on that occasion and the Lord was going to come and after four days lying in the grave, he was going to raise him to life again. But the fact was he was not healed of that sickness, he died. We think of Paul. He had what he described, a thorn in the flesh. It wasn't going to take his life, but it afflicted him. The devil used it to buffet him and to trouble him. He had a thorn in his flesh. You remember how he wrote how that he prayed three times? He prayed thrice that it might be taken away. Lord, remove this thorn in the flesh. It really aggravated him. But the Lord said no. Paul, who had healed other people, was not going to be healed by the Lord of whatever that thorn in the flesh was, but he was promised grace. My grace is sufficient for thee, and my strength is made perfect in weakness. And then, of course, we think of our own loved ones and friends, and most of you have been there. I had a dear father that took sick. We prayed for him. I can remember getting the phone call to say, I think you should come and visit dad. He's in hospital. And even when I left home and went down to my mother's home, first of all, there didn't seem to be any urgency getting up to the hospital. It was a Thursday, because our prayer meeting was taking place that night, and we had to get our elders to step in. But I went up to the hospital. My father was conscious. He was awake. He was glad to see me. We exchanged conversation. But they had to do surgery immediately. And so they took him away to the theater. And we were brought down to an adjacent room. And then they come out and said, listen, we can't do the surgery because the levels of his potassium are too high. And if we were to operate, it would be fatal. My sister, who's a nurse, and if you have medical background, sometimes it's not a good thing because she knew what was happening. She knew what was going on. And she said, doctor, you're telling us that my father is dying. And he said, yes. and we went into the room and he expired. Just at that moment when we went in, he breathed his last. It wasn't God's will to heal my father. You remember when my brother-in-law was injured in the Troubles, he was a policeman, and for a month he suffered with his injuries, but he went on to die. We pray it. God knows that we pray it. Albert Macaulay, a well-respected elder in this church, took ill. It was not God's will to heal him. Dr. Cairns We thought that the Lord would step in and recover him, but it was not the will of God. Indeed, every other family member and friend who took Ellen and went on to die, it was not God's will, even though we were praying. Because there is a time to leave this world appointed by God, and all the praying that we do will never stop that individual dying, if that's his moment or her moment for departure. not always God's will to heal. Thirdly, we should pray. If others are sick, we should pray. In fact, we should pray for ourselves. As Achaia did, you think of that remarkable story that's recorded in 2 Kings and the chapter 20 that he was sick. The description is he was sick unto death. So whatever the nature of the sickness, he was going to die from that sickness, and he turned his face to the wall and he prayed unto the Lord. You remember verse three tells us what he prayed. I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight, and Hezekiah wept sore. You just picture the king. Sickness. It's going to take his life. They knew it. He knew he was dying. Turns his face to the wall, cries to God, weeps before the Lord. And Isaiah was instructed to go to him in verse four, and verse five says, turn again and tell Hezekiah, the captain of my people, thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer. I have seen thy tears. Behold, I will heal thee. And verse six tells us that 15 years was added onto this dying man's life, and God spared him. He prayed for himself. I'm sure there were others praying for him. I'm sure Isaiah the prophet was praying, but he prayed for himself. And when we're sick, it's the right thing to do. And of course, it's the right thing to pray for others. Epaphroditus. was a very dear friend of the great Apostle Paul. Just let me read you what it says in Philippians chapter two and verse 25 through to 27. Yet I suppose it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labor, and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants, For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed, he was sick, nigh unto death. So this man again was a dying man. Whatever his disease, he was going to die of it, but God had mercy on him. And not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. We can see there that Paul didn't want his friend to die. And whatever sorrow he was passing through already, he didn't want more sorrow to be added to his life. And I know that Paul prayed for Epaphroditus. The Lord stepped in and the Lord healed him. And so we are to pray for one another. That's what James says that we are to do. And that's what we will do tonight. And there are those times, and just to back up a little bit into the passage that I read, where elders might be called for when an individual feels exercised, that that should happen, and elders will come and they will pray for the sick also. So we should pray. The fourth little thought is that we should also seek medical health. God has given expertise in the medical field. He's given consultants and doctors and nurses and all the backing off the side of medicine that he has granted. Joseph, we know, in the Old Testament had physicians. In Genesis chapter 15, verse two, those physicians were going to be used actually in the embalming of his father, but they were doctors. and Joseph had them, believed in them. Jesus said on one occasion, they that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick, in Matthew 9 and verse 12. If you're sick, you need a physician. And so the Lord Jesus, who went about healing people, he also commended the fact that men should have physicians, should have doctors. Luke, who wrote Luke's gospel, was a doctor. called by Paul, Luke, the beloved physician, in Colossians chapter four, verse 14. So we should consult the doctors, we should consult those that have expertise in the medical field, that they might administer whatever help and procedures that should be carried out in medicine too, to bring us back to health and strength. But not to trust in them only. There was a king in the Old Testament who consulted the physicians, but didn't consult the Lord. Now we, as Christians, should be praying for one another, praying for ourselves, using that means that God has given in the medical field, both of them together, trusting that the Lord will use that which he has already given in the world, both in the medicine that's provided and in the expertise that will administer that medicine. We should look to them, but not at the expense of shutting God out. So very simply tonight, I want to I encourage you to pray for the sick of the church. Lay them before the Lord. Carry them to his feet by prayer and supplication. Plead on their behalf. Cry for mercy to be bestowed upon them. Exercise faith in God tonight. The prayer of faith will save the sick. And so may God help us to pray the prayer of faith. So remember tonight, he is able to restore the sick to health and strength. 570. It speaks about our foundation that we have. I affirm a foundation, you saints, that the Lord has led for your faith in his excellent word. What more can he say than to you he has said, you who unto Jesus for refuge have fled? And verse two says, in every condition, in sickness and health, in poverty's vale or abounding in wealth, at home or abroad or on the land or the sea, As days may demand shall thy strength ever be. Think about it tonight. Hymn goes on to encourage us to fear not, just keep trusting in the Lord. Thank you. Foundation, he stands all alone, His way for your favor is excellent work. What more can he say unto you, he has said, You who long to Jesus for refuge have fled. In every condition, in sickness and health, in poverty's riddle, thou art hidden well, at home or abroad. of my strength ever be. Dear God, I am with thee. ♪ O be not dismayed ♪ ♪ I, I am, I walk and will still give Thee aid ♪ ♪ I'll strengthen Thee, help Thee, and cause Thee to stand ♪ ♪ Come help I, my righteous, from Thee put at hand ♪ Let through the deep waters Thy quality to know, The rivers of hope shall not be overflown, For I will be with Thee, Thy troubles to bless, Grants I'm denied to Thee, Thy deepest distress. ♪ When through my retrials ♪ ♪ Thy pathway shall lie ♪ ♪ My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply ♪ ♪ The glimpse of authority I only desire ♪ ♪ Thy draws through concern ♪ I will not, I will not desert to its foes. That's all the world has to and never to say. I'll never, no never, no never forsake. May we be seated. If you had the opportunity to join us online tonight and you've been part of the opening part of this prayer time, we've been very glad to have you. Trust the Lord will bless you, encourage you, and if you're one of the sick of the congregation, be assured of our prayers at this time. We say goodnight. Thank you.