The following post was written in January of 2008 and is part my first "in view of a call" sermon. I remember seeking counsel on what to preach over in such a sermon and wish I had written down all the advise I received. I chose prayer. I think I should like to redevelop this sermon and make it a mainstay in my collection as well as preach a modified version of it each and every time the Lord allows me to "interview by preaching" at a new church.
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Tomorrow I will be preaching on the subject of prayer both for the individual believer and for the church corporately. This will be my "view-of-a-call" sermon at Delhi Baptist Church in Cuba, Missouri. The church is small, but the people have a loving spirit, and they need a pastor. They have heard me preach on a number of occations over the past few months so tomorrow is more a formality than a real interview. I will be meeting with the full body for a question and answer time on Wednesday night of this coming week. Pray that God's will be known by all.
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My primary text will come from
John Calvin writes in Book IV, chapter 12, section 14 of his "Institutes of the Christian Religion":
In general we must hold that whenever any religious controversy arises, which either a council or ecclesiastical tribunal behoves to decide; whenever a minister is to be chosen; whenever, in short any matter of difficulty and great importance is under consideration: on the other hand, when manifestations of the divine anger appear, as pestiliece, war, and famine, the sacred and salutary custom of all ages has been for pastors to exhort the people to public fasting and extraordinary prayer.
Sin and evil were no less a danger to holy living in Calvin's 16th century Europe, or the first few decades after the resurrection of our Lord when James wrote his letter to the Jewish believers who were beginning to spead to other part of the world, than it is today. Satan has always known where to attact most effectively and that is smack dab in the middle of the church. He works by trying to destroy the institution of the church (that is, the local expression) as well as the lives of individual believers who appear weak, as they take their eyes off of Christ. So what is our greatest weapon against the powers of darkenss? Prayer. Now there are many other spiritual disciplines which help us fight the evil one, but without prayer, even the Bible becomes nothing more than another great book of quotes. We must communicate with God if we expect to receive revelation and illumination about His Word, or physical and spiritual healing.
James asks 3 questions of the brethren in this passage: (1) Is any among you afflicted? (2) Is any merry? (3) Is any sick among you? The answers to 1 & 2 seem to be pretty obvious. If you are happy sing a song, if you are sad, or have an affliction, pray to God. That is your responsibility as a believer, to ask God to meet your needs, to ask God for wisdom and discernment. Pastor John Piper defines prayer as: "Intentionally Conveying a Message to God." We communicate with God in a lot of different ways, but not all of them are prayer. We send a pretty strong message when we ignore God, we send an even stronger message when we only pray to God when we need something. (Read
Psalms 145:1-3 and Psalms 150). This is why Paul tells the believers in Colossians 4:2 to "continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." And he tells believers to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thes 5:17).
You cannot expect a holy and sovereign God to pay you much mind when all you do is seek Him in times of trouble. I can tell you this from experience. God dishes out wisdom and instruction and biblical illumination as we need it and when we can handle it. So if you missed yesterday's blessings because you failed to get on your knees before your God, then my friend, today, you are flying behind the eightball before you even wake up. Now I am not saying that I attribute good or bad days to the amount of prayer I have before I leave the house each morning (bad things will always happen in life), but I can tell you that God's blessings of healing and love and wisdom, as well as His power to protect me from evil forces at work in the world ARE poured out with greater intensity to His Glory when I stop for a time each morning and through out the day to ask him for things that I need, to praise his holy name, to thank Him for His love and mercy and grace, and to confess my sins and come into agreement with Him on how to live a more holy life which honors and pleases Him more fully. And then occationally I complain. (READ Psalms 142:1-2). (But always keeping God's will in perspective; Phil 2:13-14).
So what then does James mean in verse 14 of our text by calling the elders of the church together to pray over the sick and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord?
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This will be the subject of part 2. During my pastorate at Delhi Baptist Church I preached over this passage twice. Once during the above snippet of my sermon in view of a call, and again during a verse by verse series through the entire book of James. Some of my next few posts will use portions of those sermons as well as some other thoughts I have on this final passage in the book of James regarding "the prayer of faith."
