Scripture: James 5.7-20
Translation: 7So, be patient,
brothers until the coming of the Lord! Look, the farmer waits for the precious
fruit from the ground, while being patient for it until it would get the early
and the late [rain]. 8And be patient yourselves! Strengthen your
hearts, because the coming of the Lord is close. 9Brothers and
sisters, don’t groan against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Look,
the Judge is standing in front of the doors. 10Brothers, take the
prophets as an the example of suffering-evil and patience, who spoke in the
Name of the Lord. 11Look, we call blessed the people who endured.
You’ve heard about the endurance of Job and you know what the Lord did in the
end, because the Lord is caring and compassionate.
12But above all, my brothers, don’t swear
oaths either to heaven or earth or any other oath. But your yes had better mean
yes, and your no had better mean no, so that you don’t fall under judgment.
13Someone suffering evil among you, had
better pray. Someone who’s happy had better sing praise songs! 14Someone
who’s sick among you, had better summon the elders of the church and they had
better pray over him, while smearing [him] with olive oil in the Name of the
Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the sick person and the
Lord will raise him—even if he would have done some sin, it will be forgiven
him. 16So confess out loud your sins to one another and pray for
another, so that you’d healed. A righteous person’s prayer is really strong, so
it’s effective. 17Elijah was a man with the same nature as us, and
in a prayer he prayed that it wouldn’t rain. And it didn’t rain on the land for
three years and six months! 18And he prayed again, and the sky gave
rain and the land produced its fruit!
19My brothers, if someone among you has been
led astray from truth and someone turns him around, 20he had better
know that the person who turns a sinner around from the deception of his way
will save his soul from death and will cover a large number of sins!
The Point I’m Stressing: People who have true faith show that faith by waiting in faith and excitement for Jesus' Return and by praying in faith that God will answer!--JESUS REALLY IS COMING BACK!!! and GOD REALLY DOES ANSWER OUR PRAYERS!!!
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Wait Patiently for the Lord
to Return
i.
Instruction: Endure
Patiently for Jesus’ Coming
ii.
Comparison: A Farmer
waiting for the fruit being patient for rain
iii.
Instruction Restated:
1.
Be patient
2.
Be emotionally/volitionally
strong
3.
Basis: Jesus is coming soon
iv.
Implication of the Return
of the Messiah
1.
Don’t groan against each
other
2.
Basis/purpose: the action
is punishable/avoid judgment
3.
Warning: the Judge is
closeby!
v.
Example to Follow 1: the
Prophets’ suffering and patient endurance
vi.
Importance of Endurance: it
results in blessing
1.
It results in blessing
2.
Proof it results in
blessing: the story of Job
a.
Job Suffered
b.
The Lord blessed
3.
Basis: The Lord is caring
and compassionate
b.
Don’t Take Oaths
i.
Prohibition: Don’t Taking
oaths
ii.
Instruction: Mean what you
say, be faithful with your words
iii.
Basis/Purpose of the
Instruction:
1.
[implicit basis] breaking
what you’ve said is a punishable offense
2.
[explicit aim] avoid
judgment
c.
Pray
i.
Pray if you’re suffering
ii.
Pray in praise if you’re
happy
iii.
Pray for healing if someone
is sick
1.
Process:
a.
The sick person summons the
elders to pray
b.
The elders pray for healing
while smearing the person with oil in the Name of the Lord
2.
Expectation/Promise:
Praying in faith will result in healing
a.
Requirement: Faith in the
prayer
b.
Result: healing
c.
The Healer is the Lord, who
can raise the dead
d.
Grace: Sin does not inhibit
the process, rather sin is dealt with
i.
Implications: Healing is
connect to confession and prayer
1.
Instruction: Confess your
sins to one another
2.
Instruction: Pray for one
another
3.
Result: you will be healed
3.
Doctrine of Prayer Implied
by the Above
a.
Stated: Prayer by a Godly
person is powerful
b.
Example: Elijah prayed
i.
His prayer kept the rain
from coming for 3.5 years
ii.
His prayer allowed the rain
to come and the ground to produce food again
d.
Correct the Deceived Person
i.
Instruction: Correct a
deceived/straying Christian
ii.
Reason: You action can lead
to that person’s salvation from death (either temporal [God does kill people
who are His, but walk away from Him] or but in this passage mainly ultimate
[hell awaits the person who proves their faith was fake by abandoning Christ]
and cover over the sins of the time of straying [that is, grace always is there
for the repentance person]
2.
Themes
a.
The Return of Jesus the
Messiah
i.
This is the main theme of
7-11, it is what we are to wait patiently for, to endure for (v.7), the waiting
is implied to come with hope of blessing via the story of the farmer (v.7), it
is not something that is easy to wait for (v.8), but it is soon (v.8), which
gives us the strength and courage to wait (v.8)!!!
ii.
The return will also bring
judgment against sin, especially problems within the body of Christ (v.9)
iii.
Perhaps thematically the
example of the prophets is important because their message which was authorized
by the Lord was often about His Return and the judgment that would come with
Him
iv.
The example of Job also
reinforces the theme of coming, because it was when the Lord finally came that
all was set right
v.
The coming of the Lord will
bring vindication and blessing and relief from suffering for those who trust in
Him, who know Him, because the Lord really cares and is compassionate!
vi.
Judgment also will come
against those who’s words have no integrity (v.12), and against those who have
been deceived or have strayed (v.20) because of their sins
b.
Endurance/Patience
i.
Of course the biggest theme
is that real Christians with real faith need to endure, to put up with what is
happening to us until the Lord does come back!
ii.
The endurance with the
expectation of reward and relief is compared to that of the patience of a
farmer waiting on his crops
iii.
An example of
patience/endurance is the prophets and Job, who all suffered great things, but
did so with endurance,
iv.
We endure with an
expectation of vindication and relief, just like Job—there is coming for all of
us a relief and vindication from all our suffering when Jesus returns just like
Job,
v.
We can endure because Jesus
is coming soon (v.8)
vi.
and expect relief because
of the character of God—Jesus is caring and compassionate!
vii.
As we suffer, we can
endure, but we should also pray—it is not wrong to pray for relief and/or
strength
viii.
If endurance is easy for
you right now, praise God!
ix.
If you are enduring
sickness, seek relief now through prayer, endurance does not mean holding on to
suffering that can be relieved, it means putting up with the stuff that won’t
be relieved for a while
x.
Endurance also means
enduring not only through hard times, but sticking with the path God has put
you on when you trusted Him for eternal, that is believing true things about
God and living a life that proves your faith is really real
xi.
But endurance should also
be a concern inside the family of God for one another, do we see our brothers
and sisters enduring
c.
Judgment
i.
Judgment is coming when
Christ returns
ii.
Judgment will come against
sin in general (v.20)
iii.
Judgment will come against
people for their words in particular
1.
Groaning against others,
complaining (v.9)
2.
Taking false oaths, not
keeping promises, not having integrity in what you say (v.12)
d.
Wisdom
i.
The undercurrent of the
passage is that what we do matters, and so we should seek to live wisely,
especially in how we use our words, which has been a major theme in James
throughout the book
ii.
Wisdom should dictate
appropriate responses to different situations, patience in suffering, praise in
joy, prayer in sickness, correction when people are straying
iii.
Wisdom is also found in
seeing the implications of the return of Christ, seeing how these basic
Christian doctrines really do affect our lives, and how we should live, but of
course wisdom is not just about knowing what to do or figuring out what to do,
it is about doing it
e.
Faith
i.
James has been showing how
a faith that is true faith works, it affects how we live and how we respond to
our current situation
ii.
Faith is assumed in the
Coming of Christ—you only wait for something you believe is really going to
happen
iii.
Faith is assumed in the
appeals to judgment, it only strengthens our resolve to live for God if we
really believe it is coming
iv.
Faith is assuming prayer,
we believe that God will answer
v.
Faith is assumed in
correcting an deceived or straying brother or sister, because for us to correct
assumes that we trust God in what He has said about Himself, and we truly
believe in the consequences of rejecting Christ
f.
Prayer
i.
This is the core theme of
vv.13-18
ii.
It is our response to
suffering
iii.
It is our response to joy
in the form of singing praise songs
iv.
It is our response to being
sick
v.
It something that is does
by church elders for Christians
vi.
It something that
Christians do for each other
vii.
It is something that is
powerful
viii.
It can accomplish big
things, even long lasting things
ix.
It works because God
listens and acts
g.
Speaking
i.
How not to speak is
articulated in v.9 (don’t groan/complain against each other) and in v.12 (don’t
break your word)
ii.
How to speak is covered in
v.12 (mean what you say), v.13 (pray, sing praise songs), v.14 (pray for
healing), v.16 (confess your sins to each other and pray for one another)
iii.
It is how the prophets are
qualified “who spoke in the name of the Lord”
iv.
“in the Name of the Lord”
occurs in v.10 and v.14, that is speaking with the Lord’s authority, which
seems to indicate a bit of a connection between elders and prophets at least
when it comes to the authority with which they are speaking and praying
v.
It is clearly required in
correcting a deceived or staying brother or sister
h.
Agriculture
i.
This appears in the farmer
comparison in v.7, and in the Elijah example in vv.17-18, which seems in some
ways to bracket that as a section
i.
Healing
i.
Healing is what is clearly
sought for in prayer
ii.
The healing can even go to
the point of raising the person up from near-death or even death (v.15)
iii.
Healing is an appropriate
request
iv.
Healing is connect with
forgiveness of sins and repentance, which may suggest that physical healing is
at play as well as spiritual healing although mainly it is the physical that is
being discussed here
v.
This healing is clearly
understood to happen in the churches today (contrary to what some people teach)
3.
Doctrines
a.
The Imminent Return of
Jesus
b.
The Gift of Healing is
Alive and Well in the Church today
c.
Perseverance of the Saints/Endurance
is Core to the Christian Life
d.
Prayer Works
e.
The Absolute Sovereignty of
God
f.
The Church is a Family
g.
Christians Should Care
about other Christians
Applications
1.
We should be excited and
longing passionately for Jesus to come back!
2.
We should be care what we
say
3.
We should pray, and pray in
faith
4.
We should care about our
family members enough and know enough about the truth to correct someone who is
deceived into lies or ungodly lifestyles
5.
We should confess our sins
6.
We should pray for one
another
7.
We should endure to the
very end, we have to wait and hold on until Jesus comes back
8.
We should expect blessing
when Jesus returns!
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