In the sermon titled 'Glorifying God in Every Circumstance of Life' by Mike Davenport, the speaker explores the teachings of James chapter 5, emphasizing the importance of glorifying God in various aspects of life including conversations, suffering, joy, sickness, repentance, prayer, and rescue efforts. The sermon highlights the need to abide in Christ to bear fruit and reminds believers of the power of fervent prayer, using Elijah as a key example. Davenport encourages believers to see difficulties as invitations to pray, suggesting that prayer changes individuals more than circumstances. The sermon also discusses the significance of calling upon elders in times of sickness and the importance of confessing sins to one another for healing. Furthermore, it emphasizes the responsibility of believers to gently and bravely help those who are wandering from the truth. Through these teachings, the sermon calls Christians to glorify God in all circumstances, relying on the strength and wisdom of Christ rather than their own abilities.

Good morning. For our edification and our continuing worship, let us all turn to the scripture in James chapter 5. I want to reiterate what my brother Ash said with one of the psalm verses. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you will hear his voice.

In James chapter 5, starting with verse 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, lest you fall into judgment. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing Psalms.

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 sick and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruits. Brethren, if anyone among you wonders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins." Let's pray. Oh Lord, we thank you for your Sabbath. We thank you for this sweet day that you have for us.

We lift up your name, our mighty Redeemer, and Lord, I ask for your Spirit to come among us now to open our ears, open our minds, and prepare our hearts for the Word this day. O Lord, we are thirsty and we ask for your Spirit to help us grasp these words of knowledge, these words of power. O Lord, make them effectual for our lives ahead these coming days and weeks and months. Lord, we do need your presence now. O Lord, I lift up my brother Mike to you.

Oh Lord, fill him with your spirit. Come down, Lord, and give him great strength and courage, a mighty heart to bring forth the word this day. Oh Lord, let this redeemed brother bring forth power in your word. And Lord, we thank you for this time. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Well, in spite of near freezing temperatures that welcomed us this morning as we walked outside of the door, and if you were up early enough, they were freezing, And in spite of the occasional snow flurry that we've experienced in the last few weeks, the calendar tells us that spring has arrived. Indeed, if you have paid any attention to trees, flowers, and shrubbery, you have seen some buds that have broken forth and even some flowers already. The barrenness of the cold winter is giving way to new growth and new life. Now imagine with me that in your front yard you have a beautiful apple tree.

This apple tree is in full bloom. It's beautiful and symmetrical shape full of small but growing apples, except for one side of the tree. You see the snow and ice of the winter coupled with strong wind managed to weigh down a large limb near the base of the tree to the point that it totally broke off from the rest of the tree. So children, imagine with me, okay, You're walking with your parents and you're walking out to that limb that's broken off on the tree. It's lying there on the ground.

The apple tree has been budding. The leaves are on the tree. Small apples have been formed. But children, as you look down at that limb broken off laying on the ground, how many apples would you expect to see on that broken limb? You wouldn't find any, would you?

You wouldn't find any. Well throughout this epistle, James has declared what fruit we should expect to find growing in a faith-filled Christian. Indeed, this epistle is a mirror that reflects the true condition of our hearts. And we must not go away from James simply with the intent to be more fruitful. We must, we must, I repeat, we must go away from this study with an increased purpose to abide in Jesus Christ.

In John 15, Jesus declared, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing." Let that word sink in, my brothers and sisters. You young adults and you children, hear that word. Nothing apart from Jesus Christ, you can do nothing just like that limb from the apple tree that has been broken off, lying there on the ground.

If we are not abiding in Christ, all these things that James has exhorted us to do, we can't do any of them. Well, James has dealt with many differing subjects throughout the course of his epistle. And as he comes to the end of his letter, and as he considers again the working out of real faith in the life of a true believer, he focuses on the duty of believers to glorify God in every circumstance of their lives. And at the end of the day, that is the real focus of genuine Christianity, the glorification of our great God. Well, the title of the sermon this morning is, Glorifying God in Every Circumstance of Life.

Glorifying God in Every Circumstance of Life. And we will seek to work our way through these verses following this outline. First, glorifying God in our conversations. Second, glorifying God in our suffering. Third, glorifying God in our joy.

Fourth, glorifying God in our sickness. Then, glorifying God in our repentance, glorifying God in our prayers, and glorifying God in our rescue efforts. So first, verse 12, glorifying God in our conversation. 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, lest you fall into judgment." The very first exhortation that James gives in this section deals with swearing or the taking of oaths. In doing so, he refers back to the teaching of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ back on the sermon on the mount.

When men swear, they do so by calling upon something that is greater, that is greater. And It says here, by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, that something greater is often God Himself. And if not God, then something which He, the Creator, has made by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. It's either God's name that we call in or it's something that God has made. In so doing, it becomes indeed the taking of the name of God in vain, and God will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

This, no doubt, is the reason that James begins this exhortation to not swear with the words, but above all, but above all. This, he says, is where we must start. And it is the only negative exhortation in this last section. Do not swear. Now, there is a place and a time for the taking of oaths.

All the commentaries that I consulted hold this position. The judicial system, the military, and certain professions, for instance, require the taking of oath upon the commencement of whatever the service is. But not only so, but even the Scriptures set forth examples of the righteous taking of an oath, God Himself being the greatest example, Hebrews 6, 17, and 18. Hebrews 6, 17, and 18. James moves in his exhortation from the negative, what we should not do, do not swear, To the affirmative, what we should do, but let your yes be yes and your no, no.

So what exactly is James exhorting us to do? Well, the commentators, Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown, conclude the following, do not use oaths in your everyday conversation, but let a simple affirmative or denial be deemed enough to establish your word? Is your word sufficient? Do you strive with everything in your being to do the things you said you would do? Or do your failings necessitate swearing and taking of oaths in order to convince another that this time, this time, you will see something through?

Or this time, you really mean what you are saying. We are to be glorifying God in our daily conversations. But not only our conversations, James also wants us, secondly, glorifying God in our suffering. Glorifying God in our suffering. Verse 13, is anyone among you suffering?

Let him pray. How easy it is to give ourselves to grumbling and complaining in the midst of our suffering, isn't it? It's so easy. Even Job's wife encouraged her husband to just curse God and die. How is it?

How is it that James can encourage his readers to more prayer in such times of suffering. When Gerald M. Bilkes, in his commentary on James, answers that question like this, it may not be natural to think like this, but it is helpful to see difficulties in life as invitations to pray. When we pray during times of trial, we put our weaknesses into God's strong hands and give our insufficiency over to His sufficiency. We tap into God's great resources of compassion and love.

So these verses are pointing us to the God who hears and answers prayer. Isn't this an appropriate way for James to conclude his letter? What better spiritual and pastoral guidance could he give than to point his readers to the God who encourages, hears, and answers prayer? As we think back, we may be able to point to times when it seems like God did not answer our prayers. And maybe we were left wondering if prayer really works.

Does it really accomplish anything? The answer is yes. Yes it does. The problem is that we think that we know what the answer should be. And if it doesn't turn out the way we expected it to, or the way that we even prayed for, we think that prayer failed.

But prayer is not intended as simply a means to change our circumstances. Sometimes God does do that. Sometimes He does change the circumstance. But often prayer is intended to change us in the midst of that circumstance. As I stated in my previous message in James, God is more concerned with our perfection and completion in Jesus Christ than he is with our present comfort.

Listen to Mr. Bilx as he carries the fault across the goal line. So whether our situation changes or not is secondary, for we change and become different in our situation, And perhaps that is what God wants. Well, our initial reaction to this exhortation to pray may be to ask, what are we to pray? What should I pray?

Well, remember the exhortation of James in the opening chapter of this epistle? We quoted it just a few minutes ago together. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

At minimum, at minimum, we have need to pray that God would grant us wisdom to see our circumstances in light of a compassionate and merciful God who has an intended end. See, He always moves with purpose and with plan, and the suffering is being used by Him to conform us more and more into the image of Jesus Christ. By His help, that wisdom gained through prayer gives way to prayers of thankfulness as we consider the glory of God in the sanctification of his people. It may be hard to start out praying with thankfulness. Lord, I thank you.

I had that flat tire on the way to work. Lord, I thank you for this sickness that you've brought upon me." Sometimes it's hard to start there. James says, start with praying for wisdom. And then as you see through God's wisdom that he is changing you, he's completing you, he's sanctifying you, it will give way to prayers of thankfulness that God's not let you go. James expected a real felt need for prayer to arise out of their times of affliction.

Do your times of suffering send you straight to heaven filled with prayer to your Father? Is that the default reaction of your tongue or is the default reaction to grumble and complain? Are you glorifying God in your suffering? Thirdly, James exhorts us to be glorifying God in our joy, glorifying God in our joy. Still in verse 13 he says, is anyone cheerful?

Let him sing psalms. Okay, so maybe we see the need for James to remind us to glorify God in our suffering. We get that. But joy? Joy?

Really James? Is that a needed exhortation? Yes, brothers and sisters, if it was not written because you need it, then certainly He knew that I would. How easy it is for me to forget God when things are going well. How easy to enjoy the gifts of God and to forget the giver of those very gifts to find more joy in the joy itself than in the one who is the source of all true joy.

And I believe the psalmist David must have struggled with this from from time to time himself In the 103rd psalm he stirs his own heart up Bless the Lord. Oh my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits." James is not here introducing a new concept for New Testament believers. This exhortation of singing out of an abundance of joy is in keeping with so much we find in the book of Psalms. David declares in Psalm 136, I will sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me.

The psalmist in Psalm 98 exhorts Israel with the following words, Oh, sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. In Psalm 149, 5, let the saints be joyful in glory. Let them sing aloud on their beds." So what exactly is James asking us to do? What is being communicated in this phrase, let him sing psalms? Witheyer's Greek lexicon defines this phrase this way, to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song.

The two words here, sing Psalms, is actually one word in the Greek, a verb. Elsewhere, that same Greek word is translated in our New King James versions simply, I will sing. I will sing. That's translated that way three times, and the only other time that this Greek word is translated, it's in Galatians, it's making melody, where it's talking about singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord. So, I will sing and making melody.

Now, while I do not believe he is limiting us because of this, he's not limiting us to the singing of Psalms only. I will say that the richness of the Psalms provides some of the richest content you could both pray, as he just asked us to, as well as sing. These are indeed inspired prayers and songs. And before we move on to the next exhortation, note these last two exhortations just given back to back. Having just encouraged the suffering saints to pray, here James exhorts those who are cheerful to sing psalms.

We must avoid a supposed conclusion that seems to arise out of these two exhortations, a conclusion that says one is either suffering or they are cheerful, one or the other. These two things seem to be in separate camps. That may be the case, but it is not necessarily the case. Consider the example of Paul and Silas there in Philippi. They were arrested, beaten with many stripes, taken into the inner prisons, and their feet fastened in the stocks as midnight rolled around.

What were these two men doing? There in the midst of all their suffering, they were praying and they were singing hymns to God. Even so, prayer during our times of suffering can carry us to a place of joy even in the midst of the suffering. So you could be suffering and cheerful at the same time. Matthew Henry says, in a day of mirth and prosperity, singing psalms is very proper and seasonable.

This we are sure of, that the singing psalms is a gospel ordinance and that our joy should be holy joy consecrated to God. Search your own heart. Does your reason for joy draw your heart away from God? Or are you one who glorifies God because of and in the midst of your joy? Do you see Him as the giver of every good gift?

Point number four here in our passage, glorifying God in our sickness, glorifying God in our sickness, verses 14 to 15. 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 sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." Well, having challenged his readers to glorify God in their conversations, in their suffering, and their joy, James now exhorts them to glorify God in their sickness.

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." How easy it is to withdraw in times of sickness. You see, sickness strikes a blow at our pride. It reminds us that we are not so strong. We are not so independent.

We are not so immortal. On the contrary, we are weak. We are needy. We are mortal. And because of these struggles within our hearts, and because we often don't want to be a burden to others, which in some cases can itself be on account of pride as well.

We often go through seasons of sickness silently. And it's a grief to your pastors to find out about surgeries and prolonged sickness well after the fact. James exhorts those who have such sickness to call for the elders of the church, call for them, and let them pray over that sick brother or sister. James indicates that along with prayer the elders should anoint the one who is sick with oil in the name of the Lord." Now, this anointing is not referring to some apostolic means of miraculous healing. The Greek word used here for anointing is not the word used for ceremonial anointing.

Okay? It's not the same word used for ceremonial anointing. This word anointing here in our passage refers to the simple application of oil. Not for ceremonial purposes, just a simple application of oil. It Is the word used to describe the gracious deed of the Good Samaritan in the parable of Jesus Christ?

What did he do? He just simply applied oil and wine to the man's wounds and then bandaged his wounds. This word is also used for the sinful woman who applied the fragrant oil to the feet of Jesus, as well as of Mary when she applied the oil of Spikenard to the feet of Jesus. Now, tied to the fact that this is not some ceremonial anointing, we should note who it is that is called to the sick person's side. It is not a call for the apostles upon whom the Spirit came and enabled them to perform miracles, nor is it a call for someone in the church who had the gift of healing and would anoint with oil in the exercise of that gift.

It is the elders who are to be called. It's an office that still remains in the Church of Jesus Christ today. And so, in obedience to this exhortation, we anoint with oil here in this church. Please hear this next point. Although anointing with oil is mentioned here by James.

It is mentioned here by James. Don't miss the fact that the focus is not on the application of this oil or on the office of the elders. The focus is on the prayer of faith. It's not on who it is that's praying, but on those prayers who they're being directed to. It's directed to a compassionate, a merciful, and a forgiving God.

It's those prayers of faith. It's pointing to the faith in the midst of the prayer, not the prayer itself, the faith. Why the faith? Because it's faith in one who is almighty and who is merciful and who is forgiving. I believe elders are called upon to pray for the sick for at least a couple of reasons.

First, they are shepherds. They are overseers. As such, they have concerns for both the bodies and the souls of the sheep under their care. Secondly, the expectation here is that these elders are filled with a proper understanding of the promises of God. A firm grasp of those promises allows them to cry out to God with great faith in regard to those promises.

James gives us only One means that is effective, and the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. Now here we must pause and note that this is not some magic formula. We do not believe in a health and wealth prosperity gospel. James has just finished telling us in chapter four that we should face each and every day, yea, every circumstance with hearts declaring, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. So the man that just said, if the Lord wills, that's what we should be saying, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that, is not now providing some magic formula for healing.

It's not the elders who raise Him up. It's not the prayers themselves that raise Him up. It's not their faith that raises him from the bed of affliction. If it happens, you can be sure it was the Lord. And if it happens, the means God will have chosen will most likely be prayer of faith if this Were some magic formula that guaranteed health and well-being Then we would not read of the suffering of Job that lasted many days We would not read of the Apostle Paul's thorn in the flesh that he bore throughout the latter years of his life, nor would we read of the frequent infirmities of Timothy.

The history of the church also is full of such examples of saints, even of elders themselves, who suffered with protracted illness or disease. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Understand what is and what is not being said here by James.

Listen carefully. All sickness is due to the account of sin in the world. Okay? All sickness, all sickness is due to the account of sin in the world, but not every account of sickness in the world is due to sin. Do you understand the differences there?

Sin, sickness in the world, all sickness is due on the account of sin in the world. The sin of Adam brought sickness into the world. But every individual account of sickness is not due to sin. The Pharisees got this all wrong. They saw the blind man and said, whose fault is this?

Whose fault is this? Jesus says it's not on the account of sin. And so we need to understand that there is forgiveness with God. And James wants us to know that the God who can cure the sickness can also forgive the sin that may have brought on that sickness. Because we can see with our eyes a sickness that is removed.

But what if we know it was our sin? God wants to bring as much spiritual comfort as he does physical comfort. And so he tells us through this elder, James, And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. And do we not see that over and over in the gospels of our Lord and Savior? Jesus often forgave the sins of the one whom He healed.

And how insignificant is the temporal relief of a body healed from its sickness in comparison to the eternity of relief of a soul forgiven of its sins, it pales in comparison. So even if we're called on to deal with a sickness the rest of our lives, to know that we have an eternity of relief from the effects of our sin because we have a God who forgives. And so Matthew Henry makes the following comment, The great thing therefore we should beg of God for ourselves and others in the time of sickness is the pardon of sin. Sin is both the root of sickness and the sting of it. If sin be pardoned, either affliction shall be removed in mercy, or we shall see there is mercy in the continuance of the affliction.

So God is glorified in the calling for the elders and prayers of faith and in the raising up of the body and the spirit of the sick. Fifthly, James is exhorting us to make sure we are glorifying God in our repentance. Glorifying God in our repentance. Verse 16, confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. James has not completely left the topic of how to deal with sickness, but he has introduced new exhortation in reference to the circumstance of sickness.

Not only is the sick one to call for the elders, he is to confess and he is to pray. Now, lest we fall into the wrong conclusion that prolonged or intense sickness is the first proper time to be about the business of confessing and praying, Linsky very helpfully points out the following. James uses two present imperatives. Make a practice of confessing your sins one to another and make a practice of praying for one another. This means, he says, that we are not to wait until sickness strikes us before we confess.

Of course, if we have not confessed before, it is surely time we did so then. So one of the things that we the elders ask when we are called to the sickbed of some dear saint is, are you aware of any particular sin that you are holding onto that may be the cause of this prolonged sickness. Why is such a question so necessary? Olenski goes on to provide an answer. Confession is mentioned in connection with a person that is sick and wants prayer to the Lord for his recovery.

So, I'm breaking in a minute here. So, here's a person. They want the healing touch of God in their lives. They want it so bad, they call for the elders. Linsky says, confession is mentioned in connection with this person.

He goes on to say, sins that burden the conscience would interfere with such a prayer, would prevent trustful reliance on God's gracious promises. Conscience would point accusingly to such sins as constituting a barrier between us and the grace of God. All that can be done to have such a barrier removed ought surely to be done. Sickness should be a time of soul searching. Read Psalm 51 and Note how much David endured physically because of an unwillingness to deal with unconfessed sin or rather, yeah, an unwillingness to deal with that sin.

He left it as unconfessed. He was restored both to God and to health once his sin was acknowledged and confessed. Please take careful note that James exhorts God's people to confess their trespasses to one another, to one another. This obviously does not contradict the fact that we are to confess our sin to God. Ultimately, our sin is against God.

It's His Word that we sin against. The Bible clearly, clearly teaches that confession is to be made to God. But the Bible also directs us to confess our sins to one another. Note as well that the Bible knows nothing of the doctrine of Rome that states that confession should be made to the priest. Rather, Jesus tells us to go to our brother, the one whom we have offended, and confess our sins.

But not only to confess, James also calls us to pray for one another, pray for one another. Rather than becoming our brother's critic, We are to hold him up in prayer to our merciful, long-suffering Savior. And I submit to you that we will not, indeed we cannot properly bear our brother up in prayer if we have not removed, as best we can, all offenses between us. So make a practice of confessing your sins to one another and make a practice of praying for one another. God is indeed glorified in our repentance.

His justice, His righteousness, His mercy, and His forgiveness are all magnified when we confess our sins. His power, His might, His love, and His grace are all magnified when we pray for one another. Well, the sixth thing James wants us doing, glorifying God in our prayers, glorifying God in our prayers. Verses 16 and 18, picking up the reading in the middle of verse 16. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. And it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit." At the midweek prayer meeting this past Wednesday, we considered together what the nature of true prayer is, as it stated in the Baptist Catechism, Question 106. It says, acceptable prayer is an offering up of the desires of the righteous unto God for things agreeable to His will in the name of Christ by the help of His Spirit with confession of sins and thankful acknowledgement of His mercies." And James tells us that this kind of prayer, this acceptable prayer avails much. It avails much.

Linsky describes this effective and fervent prayer like this. A righteous man's begging does avail much when it is putting forth its energy, namely, in most earnest, continuous, preserving pleading." Say that again. A righteous man's begging does avail much when it is putting forth its energy, namely, in most earnest, continuous, persevering pleading. Now it describes here the prayer of a righteous man. We must not associate this righteousness mentioned as coming from the man himself.

The righteousness of this man is an imputed righteousness. It is the righteousness he has before God because he has been justified by the works and the death of another by Jesus Christ. The man praying is considered righteous and his prayer avails much because of Christ and Christ alone. Christ alone. Now James gives us this Old Testament example of Elijah.

This Old Testament example of Elijah. And if you read through James again, note the various times in his epistle that the lies of the Old Testament saints are used by him as demonstrations of grace for New Testament saints. You see, James used Abraham to demonstrate faith in Christ. He used Job to demonstrate patience and adversity. And now he uses Elijah to demonstrate fervency in prayer.

We should find encouragement in the phrase, Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. A nature like ours, like mine, like yours. Elijah was not a great man. He was a man who had weaknesses just like us, but he had faith in a great God. His faith is evidenced in the fact that he prayed earnestly.

He prayed earnestly. Great faith is evidenced in the weakness of prayer. I can't do it. I can't do it. You must do it.

That's great faith in the midst of weakness. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain. And three and a half years later he prayed that God would open up the heavens and send rain. When he prayed for rain, he sent his servant several times, go look, go look. Is the prayer availing much?

The servant looked. Blue skies as far as I can see, Master. Elijah didn't say, prayer doesn't work. I'm done." He prayed again. And in faith, he sent his servants again, Go and look.

Till finally the servant came back. Most of the sky still blue, but in the distance, about the size of a man's hand, a cloud is forming." And Elijah said, here it comes. Here it comes. This phrase, prayed earnestly, it literally means in prayer he prayed. In prayer he prayed.

Now, we might think, well, it makes a whole lot better to say, prayed earnestly, than in prayer he prayed. But how often can we simply just offer up a prayer to God? Just offer it up. But in that prayer, are we really praying? Are we praying?

Are we wrestling with our God? I want a blessing." In prayer, he prayed. Elijah's weakness and his faith Both are on display in Scripture. Think about it. This praying man, we think of him there in the text that was read there on Mount Carmel, this praying man crying out to God, send down fire.

This praying man who said, God, they're worshiping Baal. Shut the heavens. No rain. And we think of him praying there on that mountain, God, send rain. Send rain.

The people are acknowledging once again, you are God. Sin reign. But this man was such a praying man, he prayed one time that God would kill him. He prayed his suicide wish. God just, take my life.

It's not worth it. Take my life. Such was this man's communion with God that even thoughts of his life coming to an end were a prayer. And what weakness. I just want to die.

But he prayed. He prayed to his God. When we see Elijah, we should be encouraged as we realize that no matter what our limitations may be, God still answers the prayer of weak, frail, and imperfect believers. But what do we learn from this encouragement from Elijah, the impact of the prayers of Elijah? What do we learn?

Should we expect such miracles as physical droughts and downpours? Matthew Henry says it best, where there may not be so much of miracle in God's answering our prayers, yet There may be as much of grace Where there may not be so much of miracle in God's answering our prayers yet there may be as much of grace. Are you glorifying God in your prayer life? Does your prayer reflect the fact that you are convinced that you serve a sovereign, omnipotent, gracious, and loving Lord? Well, lastly, James closes his epistle with a consideration of whether or not we are glorifying God in our rescue efforts, glorifying God in our rescue efforts.

Verses 19 and 20, brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins." It seems that James is here envisioning a scenario where one among the gathered church wanders from the truth. This wandering could be a wandering away from biblical doctrine, or it could be a wandering away from a holy way of life, or it could be a wandering away from the means of grace that God has supplied to keep us in that way of life. Whatever the case, we have here a man or a woman that is headed down a destructive path. James calls for intervention from within the congregation. James does not envision that this is exclusively the job of the elders.

He says, brethren, brethren, if anyone among you wanders, and someone, it is implied, someone from among you turns him back. My brother, my sister, are you willing to be that someone? Are you willing to be that someone? Are you? You see, it's easy to sit back and say, someone ought to go and speak to that brother or that sister.

But will you be that someone? That's the question. Now we must also grasp the, the idea of wandering. Okay. This is this, this wandering, The same Greek word is translated like, translated earlier in James 1.16, do not be deceived.

It's talking about one who has been deceived, even deceiving their own selves. That's the same word he's using for this wandering. So the idea here is there's a pattern that's being formed. There is a leaving of the path and going out of the way. There is a dangerous trajectory.

This one is Maybe even self-deceived. So James is asking us to step out of our comfort zone, step out of our comfort zone to take risks for the sake of the gospel and the glory of Jesus Christ. Matthew Henry says, "'Be they ever so great, you must not be afraid to show them their error. And be they ever so weak and little, you must not disdain to make them wiser and better. So when we see someone wandering, what should we do?

Sinclair Ferguson provides five things that we should do when we go about these rescue efforts. How can you be that someone James is talking about? Number one, be prayerful for them. Be prayerful for them. Number two, be willing to spend time with them.

Be willing to spend time with them. Number three, be gentle with them. Be gentle with them. Sinclair Ferguson says, don't be the bull in the china shop. Don't be the bull in the china shop.

Be gentle with them. Do you notice something yet so far in this rescue effort? It almost looks like there's no rescue effort being made. But that's where we're wrong. Fourth, be brave but sensitive.

Be brave but sensitive. And then fifth, be there for them when they are restored. Be there for them when they are restored. Mr. Ferguson goes on to point out how this is the very way that our Lord and Savior rescued Peter.

This is the way He rescued Peter. Be prayerful for them. What did Jesus say? Peter, Satan's desire to sift you like wheat. But I've prayed for you.

I've prayed for you. Willing to spend time with them. Before the restoration, Jesus made breakfast for these men and called them back to Himself. He was willing to spend time with the one who had denied Him. Be gentle with them.

Be gentle with them. Jesus didn't go up to Peter and say, you blew it. You were so high on yourself. You said, not me. They may all fail you, not me.

Look at you now." Remember, our eyes, we saw each other. I saw you there in that courtyard. Wasn't quite like you thought it was going to be, was it? I told you to watch him pray. He was gentle.

He said, Peter, do you love me? He gave him a question to answer. He didn't tell it like it was. He asked a question. But Christ was brave.

He was brave with a sensitivity. He challenged him three times. He didn't just kind of throw the question out there and, oh, well, how are you doing, John? How are you doing? How are you thinking?

No. Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? He was brave.

But Jesus was there for him. Jesus was there for him when he was restored. He said, feed my sheep. I've got something for you to do for me. I'm not leaving you.

You blew it, but I need you to feed my sheep." Do you know someone who was wandering? Consider what is at stake. If you're hesitating being that someone, consider what is at stake. James ends by declaring what's at stake. He says, he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

That's why I entitled this point, Glorifying God in our Rescue Efforts. It really is a rescue effort, a soul saved from death and the covering of a multitude of sins. Linsky says this, there is only one objective means, one, to save such a sinner, namely the truth. And only one subjective means, repentance. To cover a multitude of sins does not mean to keep them secret.

The word is used in the intensified sense, that is to hide them from God From whom nothing can be kept secret There is only one way in which this hiding or covering can be done under the blood of Christ So that is how James ends his epistle, exhorting us to be glorifying God in our conversations, in our suffering, in our joy, in our sickness, in our repentance, in our prayers, and in our rescue efforts. My question to you is, can you do that? Can you go from this place and glorify God in these things? In asking that, I'm not asking you to look within. I don't want you to look within.

I don't want you to see if you have the strength, the desire, or the knowledge to do the things that James is exhorting us to do. I'm asking you to look without, outside of yourselves. Are you abiding in Jesus? Are you abiding in Him? Are you using His means of grace to avail yourselves of all the grace and truth that He has to give?

Remember those words of Jesus. I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me You can do nothing. But maybe you are here today and find yourselves scratching your head, trying to make heads and tails of all these strange exhortations. My friend, the natural man does not receive the things of God. Indeed, he cannot even make sense of them because they are spiritually discerned.

You need Christ. You need Christ. You need to be attached to Him who is the vine. Apart from Him, you not only are fruitless, you are without hope and without God. The good news is that you can be grafted in to that line, that dead branch, that limb that I talked about in the beginning.

Christ can take the dead limb lying there. All we can do with it is throw it in the pile and burn it with the rest or take it to the To the landfill we can't do anything with it But Christ can take that limb graft it back into the tree and make it to bear fruit Trust in him and him alone be saved from your sins today Then and only then will you begin to begin to begin to know what it is to glorify God in every circumstance of life. Oh Father, we ask for grace to look to Jesus and not to ourselves. Oh, may we have grace to desire to glorify You in all of these things. In His name we pray, amen.