James What If I Get Sick?

 

James

What If I Get Sick?

Although not all sickness is a result of the sick person’s sin

Sickness can be a form of loving discipline from our Heavenly Father

 What kinds of people are able to help restore us?

James says call for the elders and one another for prayer

 It is essential we have the kind of friendships where we can share our struggles.

We need people who ask themselves

Am I the type of person who others can confess major and persistent sins to?

 Do I display the humility to be approachable?

Am I patient with the persistent sins of other? 

Am I gentle, sensitive and trustworthy?

Or, would you excuse or belittle the sin, or condemn the confessor?

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16

 

 

 

 

What If I Get Sick?

James says…

 

The prayer offered in faith will make the

sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.

If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

“If he has sinned, he will be forgiven”

 

So what if I am sick because of sin?

 

There are two places to go if we are

sick because of sin…

 

 The first James says is call

for the elders of the church.

 

The scriptures do not give us

 formulas or magic to heal us.

 

It is appropriate to anoint with oil.

 

Oils were and are widely used for

healing, aroma, and other purposes.

 

Oils are wonderful.

 

 Throughout scripture oil is also

 a metaphor for the Holy Spirit.  

 

There is an anointing of the Holy Spirit.

 

Jesus said… The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me.

 Luke 4:18

 

In 1 John 2 we see…

 

But you have an anointing from the Holy One,

and all of you know the truth.

1 John 2:20

 

It is the Holy Spirit that reveals and convicts…

 

 “Of guilt in regard to sin and

 righteousness and judgment”.

 John 16:8

 

It is through prayer, the Elders

understand these three elements of

 “sin and righteousness and judgment”

 

And not only heal the sick person, but help

them recover their right standing with God.

 

There are also times when our sin does not need the

attention of the elders, but the need for one another.

 

Therefore confess your sins to each other and

pray for each other so that you may be healed.

James 5:16 

 

Jesus teaches us how to handle

the sin of others, in Matthew 18.

 

It is not only the shepherd’s job to go after

the one out of the ninety nine, but the sheep.

 

If we the sheep, see a fault…

 

 We are to go to the one at fault and

if the one does not hear us, take another.

 

 If you still don’t get it worked out, then

take it to the elders and to the church.

 

We are to be patient as some times our sin is

a trap we fall into over and over again.

 

 This is why Jesus says concerning forgiveness…

 

I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Matthew 18:22

 

The prayer of “Faith” takes forgiveness.

 

If healing comes from confessing our faults, then…

 

 “Am I the type of person someone would feel is

trust worth and compassionate enough to come to?”

 

When we are under spiritual discipline…

 

The Lord disciplines those He loves,

and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.

Hebrews 12:6

 

What kinds of people are able to help restore us?

 

 It is essential we have the kind of friendships

where we can share our struggles.

 

We must ask ourselves…

 

 Am I the type of person who others can

confess major and persistent sins to?

 

 
Do I display the humility to be approachable?

 

Am I patient with the persistent sins of other? 

 

Am I gentle, sensitive and trustworthy?

 

Or, would you excuse or belittle the sin,

or condemn the confessor?

 

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James 5:16

 

It is not the eloquence of the words prayed.

 

It is the life and wisdom of the person praying.

 

The righteous person is one who is approachable (humble).

 

The righteous person is moved with compassion.

 

The righteousness person does not walk in self-

pride, but only does what he sees the Father is doing.

  

The righteous person freely gives

what he has freely been given.

 

The righteousness takes on the afflictions of

others by bearing one another’s burdens.

 

The fact of the matter is there

are none righteous, no not one.

 Romans 3:10

 

Look at Paul’s words…

 

Be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that

 comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ —

 the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection

and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings,

becoming like him in his death, and so,

somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:9-11

 

Although not all sickness is

a result of the sick person’s sin.

 

Sickness can be a form of loving

discipline from our Heavenly Father.

 

 When one of our brothers or sisters in the church

become sick, we should be moved with compassion.

 

I think James is talking about more than a

dab of oil on the forehead and a quick prayer.

 

Sometimes healing takes time.

 

Some sickness is no fault of the sick person.

 

And sometimes the sickness is a result of our sin.

 

In both cases we need to pray so we will be

effective in seeing the sick person made whole.

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

James 5:13-16 NIV

 

13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.