Patience and Prayer

Amen and amen. Hey, church, so good to be together. My name is Edwin, if we haven't met before. I wanted to start off by asking, how many of you have ever heard this phrase, or said this phrase to someone before? Be patient. Yeah. I'm guessing if you have kids, you've said that phrase to them before. And you know, it's interesting 'cause I'm a dad of a 14-month-year-old, and I have come to realize something pretty quickly, is that when a 14-month-year-old wants something, they want it pretty quickly, right. So I've just had to learn to go with it, and that's just how it rolls. And the more I think about this and reflect, if we're being honest with ourselves though, when we really want something, we naturally want it quickly, don't we? We just, we kinda naturally want it quickly when we really want something. And by the way, the culture that we live in doesn't help us with this either. I mean, think about it, DoorDash, if you want food, you can just have it in minutes. Uber, if you need a ride, get an Uber driver. Or if they're taking too long, get another Uber driver quickly, right, if this one's taking eight minutes, get one that is taking two minutes. Or Amazon, I mean, you need the package within two days, right. I mean, you just gotta have it certainly. And if not, cancel the delivery, because I'm gonna show them, right. That's kinda how it rolls. I kid, I kid. I use all these apps too, by the way, so I'm not dissing on them, but pointing out an observation. On one hand, they make our lives very convenient, but then on the other hand, I think it's further exposed this reality, ready for it, waiting is just not that popular, right. I think generally speaking, we find that waiting is just not that popular, and a big reason why there's probably more, but I think a big reason why waiting is just not that popular is because of this, we just don't know what to do in the waiting. We just, we sometimes just don't know what to do in the waiting. And I know that I've talked about some things culturally here, but James is gonna be very direct with us here in just a moment. But I just wanted to ask, what about when times are hard, and all we can do is just wait. You know, what about the suffering and the trials that happen and all we can do is just wait. What about that work situation that's causing a great deal of stress, and all you can do is just wait. What about the medical news that you're awaiting and you're just trying to figure out what's happening or what's wrong, and you're just struggling through that and maybe you're just stuck trying to figure out what to do, and all you can do is just wait. What if there's financial hardship and strife that's happening, and you're trying to figure out how to pay the bills, how to pay rent, and all you can do is just wait. Or what if there's relationship strife, and there's trials within your family, and you're trying to figure out what to do in the waiting, but all you can do right now it seems is just wait. You see, that question, even when we think of the waiting, just for instance here, I think there's such power when we look at James 5:7-20, because what we're gonna see is that we're gonna see an answer to the question, what can we do, ladies and gentlemen, in the waiting? Here it is in one statement, "Be patient in suffering, and faithful in prayer." What to do in the waiting? We pray. we pray in the waiting. That's what we'll do. We'll dive deeper into this, but I wanna first look at the phrase, be patient in suffering, because as we look at James 5, there's a a number of, really there's one overarching reason that James gives in terms of why to be patient, "Be patient in suffering, because Jesus is coming again." You see, be patient and suffering, because Jesus is coming again. Look at James 5:7, "Be patient then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming." Man, what a great encouragement, and hope that is connected here, right. We're just coming off of the heels of the rich oppressors, James turns his attention to the believers, and he calls for patience because God will deal justly with oppression. He sees them, he knows what's going on. He will deal rightly with those who have taken advantage. And the believers, they were scattered all throughout the Roman Empire, as we've learned, and they were passed over for jobs, they were socially ostracized. They were viewed as being, or as contributing to the decline of the Roman Empire. There's a famine as well. Yet, even through the suffering, even through the hardship, James instructs the people of God to be patient. Why? Because Jesus will return. What great hope, right? And when he does, when he does, he will judge the wicked, he will deliver his own. And we see the truth right here, right within the opening verse where James just says, even in the hardship, even in the suffering, be patient, brothers and sisters. Church of Jesus Christ, be patient because Jesus is coming again. And then James gives actually a handful of instructions related to this. "Look at the farmer. Look at the farmer." James 5, the rest of verse seven, "Be patient then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains." Now here's the deal, I'm not a farmer. Some of you're thinking, yeah, you really don't look like one. Not really sure what farmers look like. But no, I'm not a farmer and I don't pretend to be, I don't, haven't really done much farming in my life, if I'm just being honest with you. I have a lot of respect though for people that are, 'cause it's a tough job, isn't it? Isn't just a job of a farmer, a tough job. But I have a lot of respect for it, and James says, to see how the farmer has to wait for the land to yield its valuable crops. And then he talks about, right, just the autumn and the spring rain. So contextually here for the Palestinian climate, just the autumn rains, what they would do is they would help to prepare the soil for the crops, so that they can grow, right. So autumn rains come in to help prepare the soil for the crops that can grow. Then you look at the spring rains, and the spring rains, they would help swell the grain, which helps to produce a crop. So both rains are really important. Autumn rain, kind of helping for the land to become fertile soil. The spring rains helping to produce the crop. And here's the reality, why does James say, when we talk about the coming of the Lord, when we talk about the coming of Jesus Christ, and James is encouraging these believers who are oppressed, even in the face of trial, even in their waiting to look at the farmer. He's using that illustration. Why? Because farming, when you look at the farmer, there's toil, there's work, there's perseverance. But we can't miss this, waiting. There's waiting. You just have to wait for the autumn rains. You just have to wait for the spring rains. You can't, why? Because you can't rush the harvest. You can't rush those valuable crops that will grow. And James likens that to the return of Jesus, that's the picture that we get of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, maybe I could say it this way, we can't rush his return. We can't rush the harvest of the return of the Son of God. We cannot rush the rain, we cannot rush the growth of the crops. But in due time, the harvest of the return of the Son of God will come. And when we see him, we will be made like him, the scripture says. So James tells the believers, be patient, wait on the Lord, look at the farmer, because the harvest is coming, Jesus will return. But then James continues. He gives further instructions, "Stand firm and don't grumble." Stand firm and don't grumble. Listen to verse eight, "You too be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The judge is standing at the door." So in the face of hardship and difficulty, James instructs the believers to stand firm, stand firm. Just a more literal way to translate that is this, strengthen your hearts. Strengthen your hearts. And as we think about that phrase, strengthen your hearts, we must realize something, that this strengthening, this ability to stand firm in the Lord, it doesn't rest on my power or on your power. Here's the deal, it comes from God. This strengthening comes from God. In fact, Paul, when he was encouraging the church at Thessalonica, he said it this way, in 1 Thessalonians 3:13, "May he strengthen your hearts," there's that phrase that I just talked about, "so that you'll be blameless, and holy in the presence of our God and Father, when our Lord Jesus comes with all of his holy ones." May God strengthen our hearts so that we will be blameless and holy when the Lord Jesus comes. This strengthening comes from the Lord. It's in the waiting where God will shape. You see, it's in the waiting, it's in being patient where God will form, where God will mold. But don't lose heart, brothers and sisters. Don't lose heart, scattered believers here that James is writing to. Don't lose heart, stand firm, be strengthened in the Lord, because he's coming again. And then he also says, don't grumble against one another, under the pressure of oppression and suffering, maybe it's just easy to take frustration out on one another. You know, I dunno if you've ever been there before, right, where maybe you've had a tough day, or there's pressure that's facing you, there's trial that's happening and maybe you were short with somebody, and you're taking your frustration out because of the pressure all around you. I mean, for instance, maybe just the suffering of having zero Stanley Cups, and zero Super Bowl titles might cause me to be a bit frustrated, or maybe I'd wanna take my frustration out against other teams that, you know, say when they win, hypothetically speaking, when they win two in a row, they say, you know, we're gonna try for three now. You know, the Lord knows who I'm talking about. James is saying, don't be critical in speech. Don't be frustrated and grumble, and take that out upon one another. Don't complain toward one another even though you're suffering oppression. In other words, do not cause, here's why, do not cause each other to suffer more in the way that you treat one another. Just don't cause each other to suffer more in the way that you treat one another. Because of taking frustration out on one another, if they're taking frustration out on one another, the reality is, is that you need to remember that Jesus is coming. You need to remember that Jesus is coming back, because of scripture, what does it say there in James 5:9, end of verse nine, "The judge is standing at the door." For the believer, certainly the payment of our sins has been dealt with, but we have to be reminded that we will have to give an account for the way in which we have lived our lives. And James calls this to mind so that the believers, even under immense pressure, would treat one another still honorably, would treat one another with love, because the judge, Jesus, he's standing at the door. He sees everything, he sees what's going on and he will return. We also see this instruction, consider the prophets in Job specifically. Look at James 5:10, "Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance, and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy." You see, even as we look at this scripture here, why does James say consider the prophets and Job specifically, here's why, their lives speak of patient endurance. Their lives speak of patient endurance through the trial, through the suffering. That's why. Just think about it for a second. Just think about the prophets. Jeremiah, he was known as the weeping prophet, because of the persecution he was under, and the unwillingness of people to receive his message. Ezekiel, he lost his wife. Hosea was called to be married to an unfaithful wife. Daniel was deported into the nation of Babylon. Isaiah was martyred as a result of his ministry. And then James says, when you look at all of the prophets, here's what you'll see, patience in the face of suffering. But then Job is pointed out specifically. And why Job? If you're not familiar, that's okay, you can actually go back to the Old Testament and take a look. But he lost everything. His family, his livestock, his wealth, he lost all of it. Not to mention by the way, the physical agony and suffering he faced. In addition, his friends, his friends were terrible companions, not helpful. He was stripped of everything, and everyone, yet Job, but we find out through the testimony of his life was that he persevered, he endured. And the Lord, the scripture says, blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former. Why? Because the Lord is full of. What does it say? Compassion and mercy. You see, these trials were a test to Job's faith, yet Job endured, and God blessed him because he's full of compassion and mercy. We're to remember the prophets and Job specifically as examples of patience and suffering. Then we see, let your yes be yes and your no be no. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. James says, "Above all my brothers and sisters, do not swear, not by heaven or by earth, or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple yes or no, otherwise you will be condemned." You see, James borrows this right from the Sermon on the Mount from Jesus. And the idea is exactly what this message point is, let your yes be yes and your no be no. Now, when it says do not swear, you might think, oh, does that say, not to say a bad word. It's not referring to that, but just don't say bad words, all right. There we go, are we cool on that? All right, good. But when it says do not swear, it's actually referring to taking an oath. And taking an oath, especially in the first century, it would bind you to tell the truth. So if you swore by something, it would bind you to have to speak the truth. But unfortunately what happened was is that the religious leaders in Jesus' day, what was going on is that they were twisting what this was all about. And what they were doing is that they were swearing by, let's say the temple, but not the gold of the temple. Because if you swore by the temple, you can maybe not tell the truth, but if you swore by the gold of the temple, you gotta tell the truth. It just got really twisted. And Jesus actually corrected that idea in the Sermon on the Mount, and just basically said, don't take oaths, like, just don't do it. And then James picks up on that as well here. Because why? God is our witness. He sees it all. Don't swear by anything. And here's why, because your word as a believer should be trustworthy. That's what Jesus helped to say, or that's what Jesus did kinda essentially say by saying, not taking an oath. That's what James is picking up on here. It's because your believer or your word as a believer should be as trustworthy as a signed document. So tell the truth, speak the truth in love. This is what James is saying, because when we're lying, when we're not speaking the truth, here's what's happening, we're adding hardship on one another. And that's not ideal when we're walking through suffering, when we're walking through trial. So that's patience in suffering as we can see here through a number of points. Letting your yes be yes, your no be no, being people, being believers who speak the truth, who are honest with the truth. People who consider the prophets and Job specifically, also thinking about looking at the farmer, and even just paying attention just to the idea of not grumbling and standing firm, being strengthened in the Lord. But then I wanna look at the second big idea, and it's this, be faithful in prayer, no matter the circumstance. Be faithful in prayer, no matter the circumstance. And as we look at here, even in the suffering and trial, let me say it again, we can be actively patient. We can be actively patient through the suffering, through the trial. This isn't about just twiddling our thumbs, and just hoping things turn out okay. That's not what it's about. That's what we're called to do, is we are called to pray. Prayer, ladies and gentlemen, is the lifeline, and this is what James wants the believers to grasp, to be people of prayer. So as we look at this, what are just some circumstances that James tells the believers to pray? And here's the first, pray in times of trouble. If we're gonna be people who are serious about prayer, and serious about giving ourselves to prayer, pray in times of trouble. Listen to James 5:13, "Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray." You know, I know that trouble and distress, and hardship and suffering affects every single one of us. None of us are immune to it. It affects everybody. Jesus even told us that in this world we will have trouble, but take heart. Why? Because he has overcome the world. Jesus has overcome. This is why we pray. But my fear, my fear is this, is that maybe we view prayer more as peripheral to our life with Jesus, than central to our life with Jesus. You know, I recently read an article by Crossway where they researched about thousand people in 2019, as it came to their prayer life. And only 2% said that they were very satisfied with their prayer life, only two. And a larger category were in the moderately satisfied to not satisfied at all. And this article ended up looking at barriers when it came to praying, whether that be distraction or indifference, or busyness or loss of words, and not really knowing how. And by and large 60% of that 14,000, here's what they said, that the number one factor to not praying, 60% of the 14,000 said that the number one factor to not praying was not busyness, was not loss of words or indifference. Wanna know what it was? Distraction. Distraction. We live in a distracted world, yet don't allow the distraction to take your eyes off of the Lord. Don't allow distraction to take your eyes off of Jesus. Pray in times of trouble, pray in times of difficulty. Why? Because that will lead to our maturity. That will lead to our sanctification. That will lead to our Christlikeness in the Lord, as we continue to give ourselves to that. Not giving ourselves to that, not praying even in the face of trouble, or in the times of trouble, we don't wanna be in that situation. We don't wanna allow the trial to lead us to sin or death. We instead want to give ourselves to the Lord, and to what he wants so that we would be mature and complete, not lacking anything. And then we also see this, pray when times are good. Look at James 5:13, "Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise." Here's the idea, the idea behind the word happy here is that there is a cheerfulness, there's a cheerfulness in your soul. There's just a cheerfulness in it, because God is just that good. God is just that good. There are times and there are seasons that are good, aren't they? And we should celebrate that. We should thank the Lord for that, for showing his kindness to us, for blessing us in specific ways, or answering prayer in a very direct way. And do you know what that does as we recall those stories? Just as we recall the faithfulness of God, or we see God answering in such specific ways, here's what it does, it cheers up the heart. It cheers up the heart. So if your heart is cheerful, if your heart is happy, sing songs of praise. Give God thanks and praise for who he is, for what he's done, because he's worthy of it. And we wanna praise him through the valley, but also praise him on the mountain. You see, sometimes you just have to shout it from the mountaintops, right. Sometimes you just have to shout it from the mountaintops that God is good, that he is worthy of our praise. And there are just such sweet seasons that God gives us, and we just want to thank him for that. So we pray in times of trouble, certainly, but we also want to pray when times are good. And then we see this, pray in times of sickness. Pray in times of sickness. Now in this, there's two steps really that James gives to us. And as I point these out, some of these verses are a little bit challenging. Verses 14 through 16. But I've done some work, so stay with me here. And I promise you, we'll land in a really encouraging, encouraging spot. But here's the first step, call on church leadership to pray over the one who is sick. Listen to James 5:14-15. "Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them, and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven." Now, when we look at this verse here, this isn't the common cold that James has in mind here. In fact, this is a serious illness. Here's why I know this. When you look at verse 14, what does it say? "Let the sick person call the elders of the church to pray over them," right. So the likely scenario here is, is that the sick person has to call for the elders to come because their sickness has likely affected their ability to be able to gather with the flock. So the elders, they're called to pray. Why? Because the elders, they should be men of faith. They're charged with care and oversight of the congregation, which certainly would involve caring for those who are seriously ill. And as such, they would offer a prayer offered in faith. That's a totally acceptable expectation, right, to call the elders of the church, you're seriously ill, maybe it's affected your ability to gather and you call them and you want them to offer a prayer up in faith. That's great. Then it says, anoint with oil. Don't necessarily get super hung up on that, Because the theme really, that we're talking about here in this passage of scripture is prayer, right. Prayer is central to this. But we anoint with oil and I believe, I believe this is a way to help consecrate this person to the Lord. In other words, it's a way when you put oil on someone, when you anoint them with oil, they're seriously ill, and there's church leaders that come and gather, this is a way to basically say, this person, we're praying for this person. God, we give this person to you. We consecrate them to you. We ask you for their healing. We pray that you would heal them, God. You have the power, you have the ability to do so. That's the heart here. It's demonstrating that we are praying for this person and this person belongs to the Lord. That's what the anointing with oil, I believe helps to point out. And then verse 15 also says, that the prayer offered in faith. The prayer offered in faith, not from the person who's sick, that's not necessarily the person in view. The prayer that's offered in faith is from the elders. That's what it's talking about. The leaders of the church. That's what's in view here. And when a prayer is offered in faith, and should oil be put on said person if they so wish, the scripture says it'll make the sick person well. The, the praying of faith will make the sick person well. Why? What does it say? The scripture says in verse 15, "The Lord will raise them up." So what does that tell us? It tells us this, God is a healer. God, ladies and gentlemen, is a God who heals. We praise God that as we pray for those who are sick, that he heals, that he restores, that he raises up. And we praise God and God alone for that. But I also know that God in his sovereignty, that certainly you may pray, put oil over, but perhaps in that circumstance or with said individual, the Lord calls them home. But here's what I want us to pay attention to. They're still healed. They're healed forever. The Lord will raise them up. That's the truth of the gospel, and we thank God for that. The text also says, "If they have sinned, they will be forgiven." You see if is an important word here, we know this because generally speaking, sickness can just happen, right. None of us are immune to that. Sickness can just happen, and affect every single one of us. It's the broken world that we live in. We get that and can clearly see that, even in examples of scripture such as John 9. But that's why the word if is here, right. If they have sinned. But it's also important to note that one's sickness can be, doesn't mean it is, but can be the result of sin. John 5:14, 1 Corinthians 11:30, I'm not gonna go there, but those are just some references that can even give some backing to that. But nonetheless, choosing to continually sin may result in physical sickness, depending upon what you're engaged in. I mean, at the end of the day, all sickness, right, is a result of the brokenness of sin. But perhaps someone is sick because of the sin that they are continually engaged with, or engaged in. And if that is the case, again, if doesn't mean it is the situation, right. We know plenty of examples of people that are just sick for no reason, right. It's just, it happens unfortunately. But if the sickness is a result of sin, it says their sins will be forgiven, and perhaps that's happening. Maybe there's a confession of sin from the one who is sick as the elders are praying over the person, and putting oil on them. And maybe confession happens in that way, or in that situation. So what we can see clearly here is this, here's what I don't want us to miss, if healing of the body is needed, God is the healer. If forgiveness of sin is needed, God is the forgiver. God wants to completely heal. He wants to completely heal mind, body, or soul. He wants to heal all of who we are, totally healed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So I'd say to you, if you're here under the sound of my voice or watching, and you're part of this gathering and you're seriously ill and it's affecting perhaps maybe your ability to gather, I know our team and our pastors, we would be glad to pray with you and pray for you. We also see this step that James gives, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another. Listen to James 5:16, "Therefore, confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." So the idea now James brings up is confession, right. And of course, we have to think about this in terms of even what James is saying to us. When we look at confessing our sins to each other, it doesn't mean that you have to turn to the person behind you and tell 'em everything about everything about your deep darkest secret. We're not talking about that right? But certainly there hopefully, are trusted people in your life, maybe your community group, people that you just do life with together. And the beauty of confession, the beauty of being able to kind of share each other's burdens, and walk with each other and pray for one another, there is healing in that when that's done within the circles of trusted people. And that's a beautiful thing. Or even maybe when it comes to confession, we might have to ask ourselves, who have we sinned against, and from whom do we need to seek out forgiveness? Maybe it's from a corporate gathering sense, or maybe it's just some folks that you know, maybe someone has wronged someone, or maybe you've wronged someone. But I think when it comes to the idea of confession, we have to ask ourselves, who have we sinned against, and from whom do we need to seek out forgiveness? Sin is an offense to a holy God, and so we must start there. We confess our sins to the Lord, if there's a disruption of fellowship, we confess that maybe to the person that's offended and pray for one another, because there's healing in that way, and in that regard. But in verse 16, even as James is talking about in this context, James was just talking about physical healing, right. In verses 14 and 15, and then in verse 16 he says, "Therefore." So we can't divorce the idea of what James is talking about here from the idea of physical healing, because he was just talking about that, and puts therefore, right. Confess your sins to one another, pray for one another so that you may be healed. So what does that mean? It means this, is that if there is a specific sin that has resulted in physical sickness, the call is to confess that and pray for one another. Maybe continually even just learn from this as well as a church, as a congregation to be able to pray for one another. Why? So that you might be healed. So that we can continue to see healing take place. You see, brokenness of sin can cause spiritual and physical sickness to our lives. But we recognize and we know that we serve Jehovah Raphaa, which simply means this, the Lord who heals. And may we be a church who consistently prays for one another, especially those who are sick. May we continually pray and seek God, because we serve a God who heals, and he wants to bring complete wholeness and healing to us in every way, even if the physical healing is not on this side of eternity. Listen, healing is coming, because of the God that we serve. So we pray for healing, we remain faithful in prayer because prayer, ladies and gentlemen, listen to this, prayer does work. It's powerful, it's effective. Even as James 5:16 says, "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful, and it's effective." So may we be committed to prayer for one another. May we be committed to it, not just for illness, but certainly so, but for everything, because God moves mightily as we seek him in prayer. And James, he picks up on that, even as he continues to give instruction here. Listen to how he gave an example with Elijah. "Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops." What is James saying to us? Prayer is effective. Prayer is powerful. Prayer must be a part of who we are, as believers in Jesus. If there's trouble, we pray, if there's sickness, we pray. When times are good, we pray. When we're in the waiting, right, and we have to demonstrate patience, even in the midst of suffering, we pray. We're patient in suffering and faithful in prayer no matter the circumstances, because prayer is the lifeline. It's what we do in the waiting. Why? Be patient in suffering, and faithful in prayer, because God will see you through. That's why. You see, be patient in suffering, and faithful in prayer because God will see you through. James wants his readers to understand, the dispersed Jews in the Roman Empire to be patient and faithful in prayer, because God will see them through. And in the waiting, we pray. So let me remind you, he will see you through the sickness, so be patient in suffering, and faithful in prayer. He will see you through the financial hardships, so be patient in suffering and faithful in prayer. He will see you through the strained relationships, so be patient in suffering and faithful in prayer. He will see you through the anxiety, through the depression, so be patient in suffering and faithful in prayer. He will see you through the uncertainty of where maybe your head is gonna hit the pillow, so be patient in suffering and faithful in prayer. He will see you through the hurt, and the pain that you've experienced, so be patient in suffering and faithful in prayer. Here's the reality, God will see you through. Do you know why I know this? It's because he saw Jesus through. On a day like today, Palm Sunday, we remember that Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey and he was believed to be a king, to be the King that would overthrow the Roman Empire. And while he had all the power to do that, he was about a different kingdom. This kingdom would be the one that wouldn't just overthrow an empire, but overthrow the forces of evil. This kingdom would be the one that would allow sinners to turn from darkness, and into a glorious light. This kingdom would be the one that would never see decay or ruin. It's indestructible by nature. But the crowds didn't fully get that on Sunday, did they? Because while palm branches were being waved on Sunday, the crowds were calling for Jesus' life by Friday. Yet, Jesus patiently endured the suffering of the cross and even, and even through we can even note his faithfulness in prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, even hours before his arrest, sweating drops of blood. Yet his response is, not my will, but yours be done. And the suffering that he endured because of our sin caused him to die on a cross. Yet the glorious hope is that three days later, God saw him through as he would be raised to life so that all who would put their hope and their faith, and their trust in Jesus, would be totally healed from the inside out, never to die again. We recognize that God saw Jesus through, and because we are in Jesus, he will see us through. So be patient in suffering, and faithful in prayer, because God will see us through. That's what the believers here that James is writing to, he tells them patience in suffering, faithful in prayer, because we serve a God who heals, we serve a God who will see us through. We serve a God who is faithful, who hasn't lost sight of his own, who's with us, who will never leave us or forsake us. So walk with him, trust him. And then as we see that James, he actually concludes his letter in a way that hopefully should be a charge for all of us here in verse 19, it says, "My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth, and someone should bring that person back, remember this, whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death, and cover over a multitude of sins." See, so the charges, maybe thinking about, even how James ends his letter, perhaps there's believers even maybe that you know, maybe you're here, and maybe you've wandered from the truth. Come back to Jesus. Come back to the truth. Maybe you know of people that have wandered from the truth. Maybe just think about how God might want to use you to be able to speak the truth in love, to be able to show the love of Christ, to be able to see them walk with the Lord again. See, this is the charge it gives us, so that we wouldn't just be hearer of the word, but that we would be doers as well. So who maybe in your circle can you be praying for, thinking about how God might want to use you to help speak the truth to someone who has wandered from it? Or maybe you're here and you've wandered. I would encourage you, come back to the Lord, let him work in your life, and experience the truths of the gospel afresh in your heart again today. Let's bow our heads together, and let's pray and go before the Lord. Just even as James ended the letter, I would just challenge all of us to think and pray in that way. Maybe pray for those who have wandered from the truth, and how God might want to use you. Or just maybe just be praying for folks in that regard. Maybe you're here and you need to stop wandering from the truth, and you need to just simply say, God, here I am. Use me however you want. I'm following you. I trust you with my life, with my heart. Everything I have. Now, forgive me for maybe areas that I've wandered. I wanna give myself fully, completely back to you. Maybe that's what you need to do today. We actually have prayer partners down front, who would love to talk with you about that. Or perhaps you're an unbeliever here, let me say this to you, truth, truth is not found within yourself. Truth is found outside of yourself. It's not relative to what you think. It's based on the authority of who Jesus Christ is. He said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. If you need to come, and receive Jesus today and give your life to him, again, we have folks down front here that would be grateful and glad to walk you through that. If you need prayer of maybe anything that we talked about here, and you want to come see these folks, please do so when we're dismissed. Father, thank you for this series, for this letter here, the book of James. And God, I pray that we would be people who continually seek you in prayer. God, this isn't necessarily easy, but it certainly is encouraging to our hearts to know, God, that even in the waiting we can pray, because you are a God who's faithful to his people. You are a God who will see us through, and we praise you for that, we thank you for that. We exalt your name, the Lord Jesus Christ, in this place. Father, I pray that as we leave here today, that we would give you what belongs to you. That's our worship. If we're holding anything back, if we're wondering if, whatever that might be, God, I pray that we would turn from that, and that we would embrace you fully and walk with you. Because you are our God, we're your people. And I pray that you would continue to fill us with all the fullness of the measure of God, the fullness of the Spirit of God within us, so that we would look and reflect you in the places that we go. And I pray God, that you would continue to work in us for your glory. Not just being hearers, but being doers as well. Thank you for the book of James, and thank you for what you have taught us by your spirit these past several weeks. We love you and we thank you for your love for us. In Jesus' name. And all God's people said, amen and amen.