JAMES - index 

Introduction  Lesson 1  Lesson 2  Lesson 3  Lesson 4  Lesson 5 

Lesson 6  Lesson 7  Lesson 8  Lesson 9  Lesson 10  Lesson 11

 LESSON 11:

James 5:12-20

12 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; so that you may not fall under judgment.

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.

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;

15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back,

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Key verse:

James 5:16

"Therefore, confess Your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that You may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."

THE INTEGRITY OF A LIFE OF FAITH

INTRODUCTION

A. Historic background

Life has its stresses, particularly life under persecution. The Jewish believers that James addressed were under a variety of pressures. They were dragged into court by the rich, where the temptation to compromise their testimony or to practice the Jewish custom of evasion in oaths was great (see Matthew 23:16-22). They were subject to emotional stresses, illness, strained relationships, discouragement, and even straying from the truth. James emphasizes that the integrity of a life of faith covers all of these areas. Faith is the victory in all things.

B. Current background

The pressures are still on, although the circumstances might differ. Business and other commercial relationships are more complex, posing moral and ethical questions for the believer. Modern living has increased emotional tension. Sickness is still with us, some forms in even greater measure (heart disease, cancer). Human nature is still the same. We have the same kinds of feelings that Elijah had. Still, prayer prevails. In fact, we have even greater means of grace that those available to Elijah. As then, our first responsibility in reaching out to others is still to watch over each other's souls in the family of God. Instead of condemning, let us be ready to restore.

I. Should believers be made to tell the truth? (5:12)

A. James is still dealing with the problems of the tongue. Here the issue is truthfulness. It is a matter of "above all" importance, because it involves basic integrity and not just slips of the tongue or impulsive words uttered in haste. If truth is in the heart, truth will be in the speech. A liar has no particle of truth in him.

B. This injuction was of particular application to Jewish believers, in view of the practice of the Jews of evasiveness in oaths (Matt. 23:16-22). Jesus had already spoken to this very point in Matthew 5:34.

C. It is possible to lie about someone and yet technically speak only the truth. The story is told of a sea captain who disliked his first mate and wanted to get him into trouble. So the captain wrote in the ship's log each third day, "the first mate was sober today." That was the truth, but it left the impression that the mate was drunk the other days when in fact he was sober every day.

D. A believer by definition is one who has acknowledged and embraced the truth. This love of the truth cannot consist with any known falsehood. There might be times when silence is the best course, but when the believer speaks, his yes is to be yes, and his no is to be no.

II. Does prayer really change things? (5:13-18)

A. One would think that the first thing that a person who is suffering affliction would do is pray. But sometimes the easiest thing to do is to withdraw into one's self. So the exhortation to such to pray. This follows from the purpose of one of Jesus's parables. "Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart." (Luke 18:1). The two alternatives seem to be mutually exclusive.

B. When one is feeling good, he is liable to respond just as unproductively as when he is feeling down, only in a different way. He might do something impulsive or dissipate his joy in jesting and foolish talking. James says that the best way to channel these good feelings is in singing. This reminds us of Ephesians 5:19-- "...speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord." See also Colossians 3:16. Again, James and Paul are "in tune."

C. Again, the instruction is to pray, this time in sickness. This time the person needs some help. But the initiative rests with the sick. He is to call the elders. How often pastors have been blamed for not visiting the sick, when the minister was not even informed! The elders are to pray over the sick. Whatever his theology on divine healing, what evangelical minister would refuse to offer a word of prayer at the bedside of the sick? Anointing with oil was a common practice among Jews. Perhaps here it symbolizes the Holy Spirit. We notice also some other components:

1. The name of the Lord.

2. Faith on the part of the ones who pray. See Acts 3:16.

3. Confession of sins, if such have been committed. We must confess to God, and also to any whom we have wronged.

D. Effective prayer works. It must come from a righteous man. Righteousness merits nothing, but a right heart, attitude and life are indispensable conditions of effective praying. Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7).

1. James informs us that our praying cannot be determined by how we feel. Too many believers never go past their feelings and on into a consistent life of diligent prayer. Thus they miss God's best.

2. Elijah had the same kinds of feelings that we have. But he prayed earnestly, the inference being that he set himself to prevail in prayer regardless of how he felt. So he obtained the answer.

III. Am I my brother's keeper? (5:19,20)

A. "...if any among you strays..." These words ought to keep all of us from becoming presumptuous. Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 10:12, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

B. As he so often does, James ends the way he starts. In 1:16 he warns against straying. The same Greek word is used in both 1:16 and 5:19.

C. The story is told of a little girl whose daddy told her to go upstairs and go to bed. The little girl obeyed. After about twenty minutes the father heard a thump on the floor and a soft whimper. Running upstairs he found his little daughter on the floor beside her bed. "What happened, honey?" he asked. Sleepily, she replied, "I went to sleep too close to where I got in." The same happens to some who stray.

D. Can we save anyone's soul? Is not Christ the only Savior? We can answer in the affirmative to both questions if we understand the way in which both are true. Christ is the only Savior, of course, yet He uses us to bring His word and His love to the one who strays. Any time we pray that someone shall be restored, we should be ready for God to use us as an agent of restoration.

E. This passage calls to mind Proverbs 10:12, "Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions." We hear the echo of it also in 1 Peter 4:8, "Above all keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins." We notice that the sins are covered, not hidden. Sins are to be confessed, not hidden. Then they are to be covered in the sense of put away, put out of sight, forgotten.

CONCLUSION

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POINTS TO PONDER:

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1. Does James 5:12 forbid taking oaths in a court of law?

2. What does the oil signify in 5:14?

3. How is the forgiveness of sins related to prayer for the sick? Does prayer forgive sins?

4. What sins are we to confess to one another? Are we to confess all of our sins to others?

5. How can the effective prayer of a righteous person accomplish much? Does God answer because we have earned the answer by a certain amount of prayer?

6. What is the difference between righteousness as a ground of God's favor and as a condition of God's favor?

7. From the record in 1 Kings 17 and 18, discuss the characteristics of Elijah's faith. Did he show some of the same feelings that we do today? Did he become fearful, discouraged?

8. What does it mean to stray from the truth?