[James 5:13-20]
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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. 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. 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, and 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.
{Rev. Dan Whang}
This is the wrap up for our James series.
Call for the Individual to Pray
"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray."
This is not a command. It assumes that one will pray. Are you going through tough times because you are a Christian? because you are trying to live a life of faith? It is an exhortation for prayer. This is not necessarily a prayer for the tough situation to go away.
"Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise."
Cheerful doesn't mean a celebrating spirit. But rather having peace of mind, peace with God... as one who is content in the midst of severe trials. Are you able to find joy in times of trouble? This is the cheerfulness meant by the verse.
Call for the Community to Pray
"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him"
The sick should be prayed over. We should ask for the LORD to raise him up.
"if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven"
But there is also a spiritual connection. Sometimes, God uses sickness to reveal our sin. Not always, but we need to be mindful that God may be showing us our heart. This also needs to be prayed over.
Promise of Results ins Prayer
We are told to pray for each other when there is sickness, there is peace, or there is sin.
"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."
"confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."
The prayer of faith is not a prayer without doubt. It is a prayer rests on the person of Jesus and His power. I want us to picture the father of the demon-possessed child. "I believe; help my unbelief!" It is not our righteousness that brings power to our prayers. It is dependent upon Jesus' righteousness. He is the one who constantly intercedes on our behalf.
We must remember the root reason why we pray... to save. "whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."
May 29, 2011
May 15, 2011
Wealth: Beware of It, Be Wise With It
[James 5:1-6]
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
To those who don't want to hear another message about money or to those who think they don't need to hear it, you need this message. Be willing to be confronted with blind spots, hidden sins, pride, and our unwillingness to learn.
James is a book on faith. It talks about what real faith looks like. This text is saying that our faith is reflected in how we spend out money. James is very harsh to both Christians and non-Christians. There are non-Christians who were oppressing the poor and powerless. There were also Christians being oppressed. This passage speaks to both of them.
Three reasons the wealthy are condemned
A foolish trust in fleeting wealth
Earthly wealth is fleeting. There's no guarantee that we will keep it. It is foolish to hoard earthly treasure knowing that God is coming. American culture tells us otherwise. It tells us MONEY is what you need. You need money to weather all the ups and downs. It will give you security. So store it up. That is the message our culture tells us. At face value, this doesn't sound that bad. But behind it is an attitude, a posture of idolatry. We devote our lives to the master called money. Both the wealthy and the poor can fall into this trap. But money cannot save us from cancer, from car accidents, from anxiety, or our marriages. We were made to trust in God, not in money.
Self-indulgence Excess
James says that they only use their money for their own comfort and pleasure. They spend excessively on their selfish desires. This is the opposite of hoarding wealth. These people fulfill their desires regardless of how much it costs. They deny themselves nothing. Shopping is normal. But the problem is really what lies in the heart... we find more pleasure and fulfillment in purchasing than in God. Idolatry again. At some point, luxury no longer matters.
Oppressing the poor
These wealthy landowners were becoming rich off the backs of the poor workers. The landowners were taking advantage of them out of greed. The poor had no power, no way to fight back. Do not in the name of greed, oppress the poor, powerless, & needy.
Generous Justice by Tim Keller
In order to provide justice, we should provide rights to the powerless. Anything that takes away rights from these, is injustice. It also means not exploiting the poor. If we do not actively share our resources with the poor, it implies that we are robbing them. This is not supposed to be a guilt-trip. For the Christian, our motivation is the gospel. Jesus came to us, the helpless. He became poor so that we could become rich. He gives us what we cannot get for ourselves... a way to heaven and eternal life. We are earning to give and share. That is the heart of Christ.
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
To those who don't want to hear another message about money or to those who think they don't need to hear it, you need this message. Be willing to be confronted with blind spots, hidden sins, pride, and our unwillingness to learn.
James is a book on faith. It talks about what real faith looks like. This text is saying that our faith is reflected in how we spend out money. James is very harsh to both Christians and non-Christians. There are non-Christians who were oppressing the poor and powerless. There were also Christians being oppressed. This passage speaks to both of them.
Three reasons the wealthy are condemned
A foolish trust in fleeting wealth
Earthly wealth is fleeting. There's no guarantee that we will keep it. It is foolish to hoard earthly treasure knowing that God is coming. American culture tells us otherwise. It tells us MONEY is what you need. You need money to weather all the ups and downs. It will give you security. So store it up. That is the message our culture tells us. At face value, this doesn't sound that bad. But behind it is an attitude, a posture of idolatry. We devote our lives to the master called money. Both the wealthy and the poor can fall into this trap. But money cannot save us from cancer, from car accidents, from anxiety, or our marriages. We were made to trust in God, not in money.
Self-indulgence Excess
James says that they only use their money for their own comfort and pleasure. They spend excessively on their selfish desires. This is the opposite of hoarding wealth. These people fulfill their desires regardless of how much it costs. They deny themselves nothing. Shopping is normal. But the problem is really what lies in the heart... we find more pleasure and fulfillment in purchasing than in God. Idolatry again. At some point, luxury no longer matters.
Oppressing the poor
These wealthy landowners were becoming rich off the backs of the poor workers. The landowners were taking advantage of them out of greed. The poor had no power, no way to fight back. Do not in the name of greed, oppress the poor, powerless, & needy.
Generous Justice by Tim Keller
In order to provide justice, we should provide rights to the powerless. Anything that takes away rights from these, is injustice. It also means not exploiting the poor. If we do not actively share our resources with the poor, it implies that we are robbing them. This is not supposed to be a guilt-trip. For the Christian, our motivation is the gospel. Jesus came to us, the helpless. He became poor so that we could become rich. He gives us what we cannot get for ourselves... a way to heaven and eternal life. We are earning to give and share. That is the heart of Christ.
May 8, 2011
"A precious Wife, A Precious Life"
Proverbs 31:10-31
This us not just for those who are dating, nor is it solely for women to imitate. We should look at this in context of the book of Proverbs. There are two women in the book: Wisdom & Folly. This book gives all these wise sayings. And the ending of the book is a picture of what wisdom looks like. This noble wife is an example to everyone on how to live a wise life. A wise life is full of joy and blessing.
She fears the Lord.
This is what makes her life precious. This is where joy, a blessed life, and a blessing life comes from. Fearing God means recognizing who He is and that life is for God. God is the life-giver. The one who is most important is God, not us. We are not to include God in our plans; rather we should include ourselves in God's plans.
She's diligent in the details.
This women is put as an example of God's wisdom. Wisdom is about knowing how to handle the details of our mundane life. The passage covers everyday things. The original hebrew is an acrostic poem. And it spells out the entire hebrew alphabet. What does this mean? It means that this woman has it all covered. Everything. That not only would her children and husband would praise her...but God would praise her. Consider how it contrasts with the celebrity stars we think are so great. The christian may idolize the great preacher, theologian, our the martyr... But God sets this rather mundane example as praise-worthy. God is pleased with this as well. Don't despise the mundane details of your life.
She spends herself for others
She does good to her husband. She helps the needy. This is counter-intuitive. We are not called to chase our own dreams, we are called to lose it for Christ's sake. A life lived serving others is a life of worth.
This us not just for those who are dating, nor is it solely for women to imitate. We should look at this in context of the book of Proverbs. There are two women in the book: Wisdom & Folly. This book gives all these wise sayings. And the ending of the book is a picture of what wisdom looks like. This noble wife is an example to everyone on how to live a wise life. A wise life is full of joy and blessing.
She fears the Lord.
This is what makes her life precious. This is where joy, a blessed life, and a blessing life comes from. Fearing God means recognizing who He is and that life is for God. God is the life-giver. The one who is most important is God, not us. We are not to include God in our plans; rather we should include ourselves in God's plans.
She's diligent in the details.
This women is put as an example of God's wisdom. Wisdom is about knowing how to handle the details of our mundane life. The passage covers everyday things. The original hebrew is an acrostic poem. And it spells out the entire hebrew alphabet. What does this mean? It means that this woman has it all covered. Everything. That not only would her children and husband would praise her...but God would praise her. Consider how it contrasts with the celebrity stars we think are so great. The christian may idolize the great preacher, theologian, our the martyr... But God sets this rather mundane example as praise-worthy. God is pleased with this as well. Don't despise the mundane details of your life.
She spends herself for others
She does good to her husband. She helps the needy. This is counter-intuitive. We are not called to chase our own dreams, we are called to lose it for Christ's sake. A life lived serving others is a life of worth.
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May 1, 2011
If the Lord Wills
[James 4:13-16]
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%204:13-16&version=ESV
{Rev Charles Han}
How we view the future tells us about ourselves. For those of us who have made all these plans, those with a five year plan and are do sure of themselves. Also to those who think of the future and are anxious. This passage is for you.
This passage is not telling us that making a living is wrong; it is not saying that making plans is wrong. James is saying that we are presumptuous in thinking that we are in control of our lives. He calls it evil. What is so wrong with it? We are prideful about our own ability to chart our own lives. This is practical atheism. Planning lives with no input from God. Our lives are unpredictable, how foolish it us to presume we can plan it out all for ourselves. James calls our lives mist.
How is it that mist can control life? Presumptuous. Proverbs 16:9 "Lord Willing" is not to be a superficial phrase; it is to be a posture of the heart.
On the other side is anxiety and worry. For those who are insecure, we feel like we have too figure it all out. This too is living as if God is not in our lives. Still prideful living.
So digging further than pride, presumption, and anxiety, we can find the deeper sin. It is self-centered, self-absorbed ambition.
We want to add significance, meaning, satisfaction, and achievement. Self-centered. This is the heart of the midlife crises.
For those of us who hear this message and go out to continue making plans in an atheistic manner, God will teach you personally. God does not exist for us. We exist for His glory. God is significant and we are mist.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 The gospel saves us from the need to succeed. From the need to be significant.
To live for Christ. Humble yourself and find real life in Christ.
Additional resources
"Just do something" - Kevin DeYoung
"Unmessianic sense of non-destiny" (article)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%204:13-16&version=ESV
{Rev Charles Han}
How we view the future tells us about ourselves. For those of us who have made all these plans, those with a five year plan and are do sure of themselves. Also to those who think of the future and are anxious. This passage is for you.
This passage is not telling us that making a living is wrong; it is not saying that making plans is wrong. James is saying that we are presumptuous in thinking that we are in control of our lives. He calls it evil. What is so wrong with it? We are prideful about our own ability to chart our own lives. This is practical atheism. Planning lives with no input from God. Our lives are unpredictable, how foolish it us to presume we can plan it out all for ourselves. James calls our lives mist.
How is it that mist can control life? Presumptuous. Proverbs 16:9 "Lord Willing" is not to be a superficial phrase; it is to be a posture of the heart.
On the other side is anxiety and worry. For those who are insecure, we feel like we have too figure it all out. This too is living as if God is not in our lives. Still prideful living.
So digging further than pride, presumption, and anxiety, we can find the deeper sin. It is self-centered, self-absorbed ambition.
We want to add significance, meaning, satisfaction, and achievement. Self-centered. This is the heart of the midlife crises.
For those of us who hear this message and go out to continue making plans in an atheistic manner, God will teach you personally. God does not exist for us. We exist for His glory. God is significant and we are mist.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 The gospel saves us from the need to succeed. From the need to be significant.
To live for Christ. Humble yourself and find real life in Christ.
Additional resources
"Just do something" - Kevin DeYoung
"Unmessianic sense of non-destiny" (article)
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8
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