Sunday Notes: James 5:13-20

Sunday Notes: James 5:13-20

• (Jas 5:13 ESV) Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
  • Is anyone among you suffering?
    • This suffering is the result of evil
    • Remember the audience James writes to.
  • Let him pray
    • Is that your first instinct?
      • Do you first pray?
    • Romans 12:19-21
  • Is anyone cheerful?
  • Let him sing praise.
    • Cheerful is full of joy
      • To call out to God in gratitude
    • Psalm 50:14-15
• (Jas 5:14 ESV) 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.
  • Astheneō – as-then-eh’-o
    • It means weak, feeble, without strength
      • Physical, yes that is legitimate and there is an example in the text for this 
        • Here in John 5:1-9
        • But also spiritual, Romans 14:1-9
        • And mental as we will see in 2 Corinthians 11:21-31, 13:3-6, 1 Peter 5:6-7
  • It is something to sink into the mind
    • That illness, weakness is not just a cold
    • Not just a stomach bug
    • Not just physical
      • But that spiritual illness
      • And mental illness can be just as severe
        • Regardless, as the church there is a solution given
        • It hinges on Peter’s words in 1 Peter 5:6-7
        • But it should be woven into the fabric of the congregation
        • Let him call for the elders of the church And let them pray over him,
• (Jas 5:15 ESV) And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
  • This is connecting the power of Christ into the lives of believers
    • As the church we can shine the light
• (Jas 5:16 ESV) 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.
  • This is another layer of the function of the church
    • And working through these things together
      • We find support
      • We find encouragement
      • We find that we are not alone
• (Jas 5:17 ESV) 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.
• (Jas 5:18 ESV) Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
  • This event happens during the reign of King Ahab
    • 1 Kings 16:25,  1 Kings 16:29-33, 1 Kings 17:1, 1 Kings 18:1-6
  • Elijah was a prophet appointed by God
    • But he was a man just like any other
    • That is the same power we hold today
• (Jas 5:19 ESV) My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
• (Jas 5:20 ESV) 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.
  • That is part of our role as brothers and sisters in Christ
    • Not to run away from God together but to hold on to God drawing one another deeper.
      • Galatians 6:1