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And as you turn in there, I just want to give you a really good report from this week. We had a really great VBS, and it may be my favorite VBS of all the ones we’ve done. I just thought everything went so well. The kids were fantastic. We had a good group of kids. All of our volunteers were so helpful and so encouraging, and we had really an army of volunteers, which was just really sweet to see. We had a ton of junior volunteers, which I actually really appreciated how many of our middle school and high school kids were able to come back and help volunteer as leaders. And so I thought that was really sweet.
A lot of work goes into this, not just like the week of VBS, but I mean, I think the team started planning like around January or February, something like that, maybe even earlier. I can’t quite remember. But please make sure you thank the ladies that helped plan VBS. They have done such a great job, and they just care a lot about our kids, and they pray for our kids like crazy, and it’s just really a sweet thing. I kind of wonder down the road how many kids will just have testimonies where they look back and say, “You know what? I think of hearing all these good things and truths from Village Kids and VBS. Like, God just brought me to faith through that.” And so I just trust that the Lord is doing a work through VBS.
So anyhow, it’s been a great week, and really, I could not be more grateful for our volunteers. So, that being said, let me read the text, the study for us as mentioned, John 5:13 through 20, and then I’ll pray, and then we’ll get to work. This is what the word says:
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call the elders of the church and let them pray over him. Anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sin, he will be forgiven. 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.
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. He prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months, it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 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’s God’s word for us this morning. Would you please pray with me?
Lord, thank you for bringing us here together this morning to hear from your word. Lord, please help me to be a good communicator of your word today. Please help me to speak clearly, to rightly divide the word of truth. Please keep me from error. Please be with the congregation. Please give them ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. Praise God. In Jesus’ name, amen.
So, Joseph Scriven was born in Ireland in 1819 into a good, solid Christian family who actually had the means to send him off to college, where he was able to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. After finishing up college, Joseph became a teacher, and he planned to marry. However, on the day before the wedding, tragedy hit, and his wife-to-be actually died—died by drowning. Because of the overwhelming grief and sorrow that he was bearing, Joseph decided he needed a fresh start. So he took a boat across the pond to Canada, where he would teach and settle in to make Canada his new home.
However, relatively soon after moving to Canada, two more tragedies came his way. All of this happened before the age of 25. The first was the sickness that hit his mother, who in time actually passed away without Joseph having the financial means to take the boat across the pond again to see her at home, to comfort his mom before she passed. The second tragedy came after he fell in love again, where he had plans to marry again. However, a second time, that fiancée died—this time less than six weeks before the wedding, where the fiancée died, I think, from pneumonia.
As you can imagine, for someone so young to have these three awful, heartbreaking situations come to him, Joseph was overwhelmed with grief and sorrow that he had to bear. However, the Lord used his sorrow to draw Joseph ever closer to Himself, where Joseph leaned into his faith in a way that he actually took a vow of poverty, where he was committed to helping the poor and needy in every way he could. This at times actually meant he literally would give the clothes off his back to those in need, even doing so under the ridicule and chastisement of his friends, who thought Joseph was foolish for doing that. At times, his friends almost despised and forsook Joseph because of how he cared for the poor.
Even though Joseph leaned into his faith, the grief and sorrow he bore often weighed heavy on him—so heavy that for a good portion of his life, Joseph really battled against depression, battled against intense sadness, where often he would find himself struggling in the dark night of the soul. As the years went by, his depression and sadness intensified. It took a major toll on Joseph, both physically and mentally. He got to the point that he actually could not care for himself anymore. So he had to start living with others to help care for and watch over him, which included Joseph moving in with one of his friends named James.
While Joseph lived with James, it became clear to James that Joseph actually was nearing the end of his life. His body just was not holding up. So James told Joseph that he should write out his last will and testament just to prepare for the end of life, which Joseph agreed to do. In this conversation, James went over to Joseph’s desk to find a paper and pen. As James searched through Joseph’s desk, he came across a poem that was tucked kind of in the back of the drawer—a poem that Joseph titled “Prayer Without Ceasing.” A poem that Joseph actually wrote many years prior when his mom was sick, with the hopes that he would mail her the poem, that she would receive comfort from the poem, knowing that he physically could not go to provide that comfort for her.
So James dug through drawers. He found this new poem. He decided to read it, and as he reads it, he was incredibly moved by it. So moved by the poem that James was actually confused as to why Joseph had not shared the poem with him prior, which actually led to James asking Joseph why he had tucked away this copy of the poem for years. Why hide it from others? Joseph’s response was, “The Lord and I did it between us.” Joseph actually had never had any intention of the poem being read widely. He just really hoped that the Lord would use it to provide comfort to his mother, who was suffering in sickness.
Well, shortly after the poem was discovered, indeed, Joseph’s life did come to an end. In maybe some sad irony, he died by drowning, where his body was actually discovered by friends, kneeling in a position of prayer but fell over into just six inches of water. After Joseph died, James just could not get this poem that he read out of his head. He felt that the poem was so rich, so helpful, so encouraging that others needed to read it as well. So James took a copy of the poem and sent it to a Christian newspaper, who decided quickly to publish the poem, which they did for a while without knowing the author who penned it.
As you said, later on, shortly after this poem was published, it became pretty popular—so popular that a composer decided to put a tune to the poem, which became even more popular. With this attached tune, Joseph’s poem that he wrote for his mom to comfort her quickly became a staple in many hymn books, which, by the way, it still is today. This is no doubt a favorite hymn of many—a hymn that the Lord has used time and time again to comfort His people, perhaps even some of you here today.
So hopefully, with your interest piqued, let me read you the poem that Joseph wrote for his sick mom.
What a friend we have in Jesus;
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit!
Oh, what needless pain we bear!
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee—
Thou wilt find a solace there.
Now, I share this all with you today, not just because this is a touching story, but more importantly, I hope this story, this poem that I just read, sets up for our study of Scripture today, which is a passage in the final passage that we’re going to look at in the book of James. This is a passage on prayer, particularly a passage on prayer for those who are suffering with sickness, who are weak and heavy laden.
Now, before we dig into our text today, real quick, let me remind you where we left off in the book of James. James is often referred to as the New Testament book on wisdom because of how timeless and universal the issues that James addresses in his letter are. Everything we’ve looked at this summer has been practical, but let me just mention that the struggles, the issues that the church in James struggled with are common struggles and issues still today. This is why the book of James is just so practical, so helpful, even to us today, 2000 years later.
As we finish off James, this practical book of wisdom, I appreciate that James ends by giving this call to pray. No doubt, absolutely, we should seek to walk in practical wisdom as we go through life. This is actually one of the reasons why we have books like James in the canon of Scripture. God wants us to live with practical wisdom. He’s not pleased when we play the role of a fool.
However, that being said, we should never be so practically wise that we think we don’t need prayer. Somehow we think we don’t need God’s help and His leading. In fact, practically speaking, praying is the most powerful thing that we can do—to pray to our God, who Scripture tells us is a friend of sinners, who is ever-present in our times of need, and who powerfully works through prayers in ways that we can never work on our own.
Okay, with that as an introduction, please look back one last time at our study of James in verse 13. As you look back there, we see James asks a series of questions tied to a series of applications based on one might answer the question.
In the text, the first question is, “Is anyone among you suffering?” Which no doubt was true of the first readers. There were certainly some among the early church who were suffering as they faced trials of various kinds, which, by the way, no doubt for some of us here today, this is also true. Some sit in this very room at this very moment. You sit with suffering.
In our text, for those who are suffering, James tells us that part of the application of our suffering is to pray. The text simply tells us, “Let him pray.” In the text, James asks the second question: “Is any among you cheerful or happy?” I’m guessing there were some in the early church who fit into that category as well, just like I’m sure some this morning walked into this room also in this category. Are you walking into church this morning happy, cheerful, maybe with a little extra pep in your step? James tells us, if that’s you, if you are cheerful, if you are happy, your application is to sing praise to God—sing praises of gratitude and thanksgiving.
Keep going. In verse 14, the third question no doubt represented those in the early church as well as some in this room. The third question is, “Is any among you sick?” This sickness here is more than just a little bit of a common cold; this is more like long-lasting, severe, possibly debilitating, life-altering type of sickness.
If your answer to this third question is yes, your application, James tells us, is you are to call the elders of the church. As you call for the elders of the church, the intention is for them to come and to pray over you, doing so with the anointing of oil in the name of the Lord.
Now, a few things here. First, these questions, as mentioned, do help categorize people in the church where all of us can actually float in and out between these categories, although at times, for some, suffering and sickness might actually be a category you never float out of in this present life. For example, Joseph, whom we talked about at the start of the sermon, in his life, he never seemed to leave the suffering of sadness.
For us, I think it’s something we should be mindful of when it comes to our church family here. Really, at every point, we have people in this room that fit into the categories that James listed. So we need to be sensitive, compassionate, and mindful, especially to those who are sick and suffering. Not only that, we also should be grateful and excited for those who are cheerful and happy; we want that for people.
Second, on this note, in this life, we’re going to have a lot of emotions. Emotions are going to take us up and down. And while emotions can’t control us, listen, God does not call us to be stoics or emotionless or just pretend that everything is okay or great when in truth they’re not. Brother, God has given us emotions to put them on display in ways that bring honor to Him.
The question and application that James gives us in part helps us know what to do as the different waves of emotions come our way. So we are authentic and real, honest, and raw with ourselves, with each other, and with the Lord through all the ups and downs.
Third, let me just point out maybe a little more suitably, it’s really important to be invested and involved as a member of a local church body. Because if you’re suffering with some type of long-lasting, severe type of sickness, the text tells us you’re to call your elders to come pray over you with anointing with oil. If you’re not invested in a church, you actually can’t apply this passage. If you don’t have elders to call on, that’s not good. That’s not God’s will for His people. He’s designed His people to live in the life of a local church where there are elders to care for us, to pray for us, especially in our time of need.
Now, as I say that, elders and pastors, we’re just simple men, nothing unique in ourselves. However, that role that has been entrusted to pastors and elders does come with some measure of God’s power and God’s authority, where God uses elders or pastors in that role to bless His people, to protect His people, to watch over His people, to care for His people, and to pray for His people. In fact, that’s one of the two primary roles that pastors have been entrusted with in the New Testament: to minister to the word and to prayer.
Who knows how God might answer the prayer of local church pastors when people are suffering in the church? Currently, we actually have a family member who’s a Christian who’s suffering with sickness a few years back and got out of the habit of being active in church life, where at this point, a family member doesn’t have a local church pastor to call to pray. This family member is carrying such a heavy burden, suffering on her own, which has made a hard situation that much harder.
Friends, there are a lot of reasons why it’s good to be a member of a church, why it’s important. Our text here, this is actually one of them.
Fourth, maybe most interesting to many of you in this passage, let me address the anointing with oil. There’s a bit of a conversation throughout church history on what to do with this oil. Now, why does James call for us to pray, the elders to pray with anointing of oil, rather than just come and pray? So why the oil?
Okay, so let me give you three thoughts from church history concerning the oil.
First, there’s the thought that the oil is actually some type of powerful, sacramental type agent that God uses—the oil to bring about forgiveness of sin and healing. It may be similar to what some in church history see take place when it comes to the waters of baptism or maybe the elements of the Lord’s Supper—almost like there’s more than meets the eye with the oil. It’s almost like some type of sacrament that has power infused in it.
Second, the thought is that the oil is actually medicine that people in James’ day used to care for the sick. For us, maybe we’d say you call for the elders, and while you do that, also take some type of drug or some type of vitamin that carries some type of healing property and take that as the elders pray over you as you take your medicine. So perhaps that’s what James is saying in the text.
The third thought is that the oil is actually more symbolic in nature. In the Old Testament, anointing oil was used as a way to set people apart for the Lord. Some believe symbolically that’s what pastors are doing when they anoint the sick with oil to pray over them: they’re symbolically setting them apart to the Lord in prayer and to His care.
Now, for me, I tend to agree that the oil is not special in itself, but it’s meant to symbolize being set apart to the Lord’s care. However, as I say that, I do find the second thought, as mentioned, actually kind of appealing. The belief that oil is medicine. Why? Because we need to be informed and wise when it comes to medicine. I also think a real way God answers our prayers is actually through medicine, like medical doctors who have knowledge to treat sickness.
Whatever the purpose James had in mind—between maybe medicine or maybe symbolic—I feel safe to say that we can say that the oil was not sacramental. The reason for that is verse 15. If you want to take your eyes there, we see it’s the prayer of faith, not the oil. It’s the prayer of faith that has the power to save the one who is sick, whom the Lord raises up once again.
Yes, James is so practical in this letter, so helpful in so many places. Let’s not get so practical that we forget the power of prayer—the power of praying in faith that the Lord uses to accomplish His will, which at times includes bringing healing to those who are sick.
Keep going to your eyes at the end of verse 15. If he, the person who is sick, who called for the elders to come and pray, if he has committed sin, our text tells us he will be forgiven. As James brings this up here, I think this implies that at times when we’re sick, the sickness has actually been brought on by some type of deep-seated sin.
One of the passages we read here often when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper is 1 Corinthians 11, which near the end of the passage gives us instructions before taking the meal. If you don’t listen to this, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For if anyone eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.”
Then hear this: “That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.”
No, not every time we’re sick does it come from some type of gross sin that we’ve committed. Although the reason why we get sick is that sin has entered the world, and in this text, this is not referring to some type of like general sin that we all commit that leads to sickness. Rather, this is like more specific, gross, maybe a persistent, unconfessed sin that is bringing the judgment of God on us—judgment that has come in the form of sickness—which, by the way, is a very scary and sobering thought to think about this truth in God’s word.
This actually is one that we do need to humbly understand and consider. However, to keep going, as scary and sobering as that truth is from James, there’s also such an encouragement in that text because James tells the person who is sick because of unconfessed sin that as they confess their sin, as they genuinely turn to the Lord for forgiveness, indeed, forgiveness will come. All who by faith come to God for forgiveness will not be turned away. God will forgive all those who repent, who turn from sin and turn to Him.
And because of that, because of the forgiveness that the Lord gives, verse 16, James gives a great exhortation tied to an encouragement: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” This confession here is not limited to simply confessing sins to pastors or to clergy or some type of priest. Rather, in James, this is a confession to one another, to others within the church family so we can come alongside each other, to help each other, to pray for each other, to fight the good fight of faith against sin that clings so closely, that we can do it together.
Together, we are all taking our burdens and our concerns and our weaknesses to the Lord in prayer, trusting that the Lord hears the prayers of His people as we walk by faith. Verse 16 tells us this: “The prayer of a righteous person—that prayer has great power as it is working.”
So, yes, the role of an elder or pastor does seem to have some type of uniqueness when it comes to how God cares for His people through prayer. Yes, when we’re sick, we should call the elders of the church to come pray over us. But that being said, it’s not like pastors have a special access to God, or like pastors or elders are some type of priest or clergy who almost become like a mediator between God and man. Friends, that role only belongs to Jesus. He is the only mediator between God and man.
Because Jesus Christ is the mediator of His people, any and all who have faith can come to Him. They can pray to Him in ways that God hears and answers their prayers as they pray according to His will. A prayer of a righteous person—who is in right standing before God—they can pray with power, and as a matter of their location, it doesn’t matter. The place in life, it doesn’t matter their age, it doesn’t matter their role in the church. As they pray by faith, as they pray in line with God’s word, as they pray in line with the will of God, friends, that prayer has great power as it is working.
To help encourage us with that, James actually gives maybe somewhat of a surprising illustration to prove this point. In verse 17, if you want to take your eyes there, he gives us the illustration of Elijah, who was one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, who may remember was uniquely taken up to heaven—riding in on a chariot of fire—which would make us think that Elijah was almost more than just a mere man.
In James 5:17, we see Elijah was also just a simple man with a nature like ours. We actually see in the story of Elijah in the Old Testament that he had emotional ups and downs just like us, who struggled and sinned just like us. So, yes, no doubt, Elijah had a unique ministry given to him as one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, and we can humbly recognize that in the bell curve of our faith, Elijah is a little bit of an outlier in the sense he was uniquely used in abnormal ways.
But that being said, we can’t forget that Elijah, like all the other prophets, like all of our other heroes of the faith, was just a man who had a nature like ours. He was still a sinner and needed the Lord for forgiveness. He still needed God’s saving grace in his life, which was the grace that God indeed poured out on Elijah the prophet.
So by grace, through faith in the Lord, Elijah walked in righteousness, where he had a right standing before God. Our text tells us that as righteous Elijah prayed fervent prayers—prayers that it might not rain—God answered that prayer, and for three years and six months, the rain did not come.
In verse 18, but then, as righteous Elijah prayed again, this time for the rains to come, we read in the text that the heavens above opened, they gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. Now this here is James calling to the story recorded in 1 Kings 17-18. Maybe remember the story? This is a pretty dark time for God’s people. They had some evil kings who were leading the charge for God’s people to embrace more and more evil acts. So in an act of judgment, God declared that He would actually send a drought through the land.
As God made that declaration, He did so in ways that actually burdened Elijah to pray towards that end. And for three and a half years, according to the decree of God in relation to the fervent prayer of Elijah, the rain ceased, and the deadly drought of judgment came. But then, according to the grace and the mercy of God, according to the decree of God, after that time of judgment came to an end, so did the drought, and rain filled the land as God worked through the prayer of Elijah.
An incredible act of God was in line with the will and the word of God, where God used the prayer of a righteous man to work in ways that put His great power on display. Friends, may we never underestimate or underappreciate how God is at work through the prayers of His people to powerfully accomplish His will. Prayer is not just something kind of nice that we do like we know we should—almost like a little religious routine or ceremony. No, the power of God—our sovereign God who has all power—is at work through the prayers of His people, where He answers the prayers of His people in real practical ways as we pray according to His will.
In fact, at least to me, one of the things that’s most humbling to understand when it comes to the Scriptures and prayer is that the eternal kingdom of Christ—this kingdom that God decreed will come at the right time—Scripture actually teaches that this powerful kingdom of Christ is actually being ushered in through the prayers of God’s people. Friends, God hears and answers the prayer of the righteous who fervently pray to Him.
Finally, this morning, we understudy James with one last encouragement. Verse 19: “My brothers, my brothers and sisters, if any among you wanders from the truth, whether they start to engage in more and more some type of sinful behavior, having more and more harmful beliefs that do not match up with God’s word, if someone goes to that person and is able to bring that wanderer back into the fold,” James tells us in verse 20, “let him know that whoever does that—whoever brings a sinner back from wandering—that person is being used by the Lord to save a soul from death and to cover a multitude of sins.”
It’s probably also another reminder to us why it’s so important for us to be active and involved in the local church. Really, on both sides of this here, if you’re being tempted to wander—which we all are; we’re all prone to wander, as the song sings—listen, if you’re not in a community to help pull you back in, whether it’s through encouragement or exhortation if needed, possibly even church discipline, listen, you’ve really set yourself up to engage in sinful, destructive behavior without any breaks to slow you down from spiraling out of control.
Who knows how God might bring judgment or discipline on you because you’re wandering? Who knows how that might affect your soul? On the other side, if you’re not engaging in the church community, or maybe like you’re kind of in the church, but you’re kind of isolated—not really connecting with anyone in real tangible ways—how will you ever be used by the Lord to bring someone back? To be used by the Lord to save the soul from death and cover a multitude of sins—which I trust is something we all would love to be used by the Lord to do as situations arise.
Hopefully, we all want to be that type of friend to others—a friend who sticks closer than a brother, who gives faithful wounds to help keep others close to Christ. What could be a greater honor or privilege in this life than to be used by the Lord in such a way to save a soul from judgment by covering a multitude of sins? By the way, this here, how this ends in James, it’s actually one of the things we commit to in our church covenant—really on both sides. Remember, our covenant says this: “We will willingly hold others accountable, as well as be held accountable ourselves by the members and the leaders of Red Village Church.”
Now, to close this sermon and close this series on the book of James, I wanted to do so by giving you a few more thoughts. I’ve been circling around this morning, which is just the importance of being active and involved, committed to a local church. This week, as I was working through this passage—which really is centered on prayer—I was thinking back through all of the study of James. The local church is actually the thing I kept thinking about—how James keeps circling around the importance of being active, involved, committed, and invested in the church—because the New Testament book on wisdom really helps us to live within the context of the community with each other.
I won’t retrace everything we looked at this summer. Let me just encourage you, maybe sometime later today or this week, to read through the five short chapters of James, doing so in ways you’re actually looking for practical wisdom as it applies to the church—like specifically us here at Red Village Church—just the local church.
So I won’t retrace all we covered this summer, but as I close today, let me retrace just what we covered this morning, which is, again, the surrounding prayer, which is at the heart of the passage.
So first, church life should be authentic. We’re honest with ourselves, honest with the Lord, honest with each other about how we’re doing. Honest if we’re up, honest if we’re down, honest if we’re struggling, honest if we’re doing well. In the text, we see this call to be authentic with a series of questions that start the passage. We’re to be authentic, honest if we’re suffering, authentic, honest if we’re actually cheerful, and authentic, honest if we’re struggling with sickness—which are just several realities that could describe how we’re doing.
I’ve been involved in church life for a decent amount of time now, and there are two temptations I think prevent us from being authentic—two main ones. These are ones I tend to see a lot. The first is just to cover things up behind some type of veneer, where we just keep everyone at arm’s length, where people don’t really know us, where we pretend everything is great when, in fact, they’re not. The second is actually the opposite, where we try to manipulate people to get what we want from them. We do that by maybe giving off a persona of how difficult life is—maybe always playing the victim card to try to gain sympathy or attention when the truth of the matter is that life really isn’t that hard. We’re just trying to get attention from others.
And those two common temptations—neither side is truthful; neither side is authentic. Friends, we have to be real and authentic with each other in the good days and in the hard days.
Second, church life should be under pastoral care. As I said, this is not meant to be criticism of like non-church ministries. I personally have been a part of many different non-church ministries, but one of the reasons why non-church ministries are just not enough, and why they are not a substitute for the local church, is actually right here. It’s pastoral care. It’s the New Testament. One of the gifts that God has given to His people is the role of a pastor or a shepherd, or an elder or a bishop—overseer—all speaking of the same role, who are there to care for God’s people.
This in the text includes caring for you when you’re sick, when you’re suffering, and when you need prayer. On this note, friends, we do invite you to come to the elders of Red Village Church. Rob, Will, Jay, and myself—we want to pray for you. It’s a privilege to come alongside you, to take it to the Lord in prayer, to come alongside you to do that. And yes, we actually do it with oil at times. So please call on us. It’s not a burden to pray over you. It’s one of the great responsibilities and one of the great joys of being a pastor. Even at the end of the service today, we’re here—we want to pray with you. Don’t be shy. Who knows how the Lord might answer these prayers?
Church life should be a place where we confess our sins. This is a real part of being authentic, where we can come to one another to confess our sins to one another and pray for each other—pray that God would help grow us in whatever sin issue that we’re struggling with. I know this will be true for my own life. It can be embarrassing to admit to others in the church that you’re struggling with some type of sin. I know that when we confess our sins, it does set us up to be judged or ridiculed by others. But as hard as those things can be to work through, friends, it’s far worse to hold on to your sin. Anytime the longer we hold on to sin, the deeper the consequences might come.
Plus, if you want to see healing and freedom from sin, we need to confess it. Confess it to the Lord, but confess it to one another. Confession, connected to praying for one another, that’s like a healing balm that God gives to His people as He provides us with forgiveness of sin, as He grows us in measures of freedom from sin.
Again, I know this is not easy, but church, don’t hold onto your sin. Don’t try to hide it. Don’t try to explain it away. Don’t try to carry it on your own. Rather, deal with it in ways that you’re trusting the Lord by confessing it to Him and to one another.
Fourth, church life should be a place where we’re invested in each other’s lives, which in many ways is the only way we can faithfully do the things already covered. We can’t live a faithful Christian life if we’re not invested in the lives of other people in the church, where other people in the church are invested in our lives as well. We’re invested in ways where we help each other, especially when we’re tempted to wander. Friends, we need to connect with each other in ways where we’re real and authentic, invested to help each other.
Now, there are many ways you can get connected to others in the church, but perhaps the easiest way is actually one of our small groups. As soon as summer comes to an end, more and more of our small groups will be up and running come fall. If you’re not in one, I’d actually love to help you find one. Also on this note, actually something I’m going to bring up more in our text next week on our sermon next week, we really could use more small group leaders to make it easier to create more on-ramps for people to be invested in a small group so they have community and can get invested in the lives of other people, so they can be prayed for, so they can pray for others, so they can be involved in the process of helping keep others from wandering. So if hosting or leading a small group interests you, please also come talk to me. We could really use several more small groups this fall.
The last one: church life should be a place where friendship with Jesus is central—most important, most supreme. Now, when Scripture refers to friendship with Jesus, it doesn’t mean that Jesus is our buddy, where we see Him almost as our equal. No, Jesus is a sovereign king. He is the one that we treat with all respect and all honor that He alone deserves. But within that, Jesus does tell us in His word that He calls His people His friends.
We can be friends with Jesus—the Christ, the truest anointed one—in ways that we can know Him, where we can commune with Him, where as our great friend, we can live in relationship with Him, where we can be authentic with Him, where we can be honest with Him throughout all of our ups and downs, where we can be honest through every weakness—weaknesses that He already knows we have. Friends, with our friend Jesus, we don’t have to hide from Him. We don’t have to pretend to be something different than we are before Him. Rather, we can and should be real and raw and authentic before our Lord, knowing that in the end, Jesus actually is the one true pastor, the one true elder.
Scripture tells us that He is the chief shepherd and overseer of our souls, who cares for us deeply, where He fully loves and completely loves His church. As His church, He calls us to come to Him, to continue to come to Him, to continue to draw near to Him as our great friend. In the end, the word even tells us that Jesus is the one who lives to make intercession for us on our behalf, which gives us such great confidence that we can indeed draw near to Him in prayer—doing so in ways we’re actively confessing our sin, first and foremost to Him, knowing that He is faithful and just to forgive us all of our sins because He’s the one who took our sin and nailed it to the cross.
That is why we know that Jesus is able to forgive the sins of those who come to Him by faith. Because in His incarnation, our Lord became flesh to dwell among us, to bring back wandering souls from death, to save sinners from a multitude of sins. Our Lord went to the cross in our place to take on the judgment of all of our sins, where on the cross He bore all of our illnesses and diseases, where on the cross He was stricken with grief, stricken, smitten by God, afflicted for us, where our Lord died for us on our behalf—for His church—only to rise again from the dead on the third day to save the souls of His people by calling us His friends.
So by grace, through faith in Him, His righteousness will be counted as our righteousness, and our good friend—our true friend—Jesus did all this even though we all, like sheep, have wandered from Him, each turning to his own way. He’s that good of a friend to us.
Revelation Church, may our church always be centered on the truth of Jesus Christ, the great friend of sinners. May we always sing that truth out together as a church family—the incredible truth that what a friend we have in Jesus. Church, may we not tuck that reality away for years and years and years. But may we share and continue to share the truth of Jesus Christ, where we pray fervently and continue to pray with the hopes that by grace, through faith, many others might join us in that song.
Let’s pray.
Lord, it doesn’t seem right that we can call You a friend, but we do see that in Your word that You’re a friend of sinners. And Lord, please help us to walk in that reality. Lord, please help us to trust in You with all things—including sin that clings so tightly. Lord, thank You for the gift of the church, for the role of pastors and elders. And Lord, please help us to be faithful to walk in this gift.
Lord, I do pray that You use our little church family here to love and comfort and care for one another. And Lord, I pray for those here this morning who walked in just really discouraged—that You draw near to them through prayer. And we’re grateful for those who walked in cheerful; we know that all joy comes from You, Lord. I do pray for those who are sick, that You might bring healing. Praise on Jesus’ name, amen.