Sunday Morning Service 10:30AM- James 5 ~ Pastor Jarrod Doyal

Open them up to James chapter 5 James chapter 5 This morning we're actually going to finish out the book of James And last time we looked at James He offered us up what I call a slice of humble pie To those of us who are particularly prideful And to close out chapter 4 He left off talking to us about Following God's will for our lives Because it seemed that there was a lot of folks Then and now Who live independently from God They go through life They think, I'm good I have what I need to survive I can do anything I want At any point And they never take the time to stop And ask, Lord, is this what you want for me? Lord, is this your will for my life? Am I doing what you want me to do? And James is also going to talk to another group of people

Those who live independently Excuse me He's talking to those people who live independently from God Because their wealth gives them this This sense of superiority and arrogance And that's who James is actually going to specifically address Here in the first section of chapter 5 So with that, let's kind of dive in here James chapter 5, verse 1 Says this Come now, you rich people And wail over the midst of the world And wail over the midst of the world And wail over the midst of the world And the miseries that are coming on you Your wealth is rotted And your clothes are moth-eaten Your gold and silver are corroded And their corrosion will be a witness against you And will eat your flesh like fire You've stored up treasure in the last days

Look, the pay that you withheld from the workers Who mowed your field cries out And the outcry of the harvesters Has reached the ears of the Lord of armies You have lived luxuriously on the earth And have indulged yourselves You have fattened your hearts In a day of slaughter You have condemned You have murdered the righteous Who does not resist you James starts out here in verse 1 He's saying, come now, you rich people Weep and wail over the miseries That are coming to you And it seems pretty harsh And if you're like me, I like to know the whys of things Like, why is James addressing rich people? Well, first, let's clarify this Let's clarify who he's actually addressing here Is James addressing believers? No, he's not addressing believers

When he addresses believers, followers of Jesus Christ He addresses them as brothers and sisters He does not start here with brothers and sisters Okay? So we know that he's specifically addressing unbelievers And specifically those who are wealthy And Matthew Henry's commentary Excuse me Suggested that this was actually aimed Particularly at worldly unbelieving Jews Who made their wealth off the backs of Christians Many of whom condemned and killed Christians In their love and pursuit of monetary gain And so this first section Is specifically addressed to wealthy unbelievers And particularly those who have gained wealth Primarily through their love of money And dishonest gain Okay? And so back to the whys

Why is he picking on this particular group of people? Well, he calls out He calls on this group of people here To weep and wail He calls on them to weep and wail now Over their judgment that will come Well, what is their judgment that's coming? Verse 2 says this Your wealth has rotted and your clothes are moth-eaten Your gold and silver are corroded And their corrosion will be a witness against you And will eat your flesh like fire In other words Their wealth is going to eventually go away Their clothes are going to be moth-eaten And he goes on to accuse them Of storing up treasures Earthly treasures In the last days And in verse 4 through 6 He tells us that they've made dishonest gains At the hands of believers And even murdered some of them

All in the love and pursuit of monetary wealth And that's why James is picking on these wealthy unbelievers here And understand The Bible does not say it is a sin to be wealthy Nowhere in the Bible will you find that What it does say in 1 Timothy Is that the love of money Is the root of all evil When we start loving money more than anything That's when we have problems Jesus himself in Matthew 19 says this He tells us it's easier for a camel To pass through the eye of a needle Than for a rich man to pass through the eye of a needle Than for a rich man to pass through the eye of a needle Than for a rich man to pass through the eye of a needle Than for a rich man to enter heaven Jesus is specifically addressing a rich young ruler

Who loved his money more than anything And these wealthy unbelievers Were essentially persecuting these believers All in the name of monetary gain And they withheld their wages Lived indulgently and luxuriously And it goes on to say that their cries Have reached the ears of the Lord of the armies And he says that there's a judgment For those who are like this And what we need to understand Is that there is a day When all that wealth Will be gone Will go away There is a day coming When all the wealth will go away Revelation 6 tells us That a day's wages Will go to buy a loaf of bread And for those who have lived life thinking They don't need God Because they act like And they have more money than God I've got some bad news for you

Life is going to get very ugly All that wealth is going to go away All that money you amass By dishonest gain Is going to go away And you're going to be left with nothing You're going to be left with nothing You're going to be essentially homeless And that's just the earthly judgment That's coming That's just the earthly judgment Now if you come to the end of this life And you still refuse to believe And follow Jesus There's another judgment That's coming too That's going to be way worse So that's the warning That's the warning But there's good news You don't have to believe You don't have to believe You don't have to believe You don't have to go through that judgment You don't have to go through any of that Jesus stands ready He stands waiting

For you to choose to believe And to follow Him Amen Alright, verse 7 It says Therefore, brothers and sisters Be patient Until the Lord's coming See how the farmer waits For the precious fruit of the earth And is patient with it Until it receives the early And the late rains You also have to believe You also must be patient Strengthen your hearts Because the Lord's coming is near Brothers and sisters Do not complain about one another So that you will not be judged Look, the judge stands at the door Brothers and sisters Take the prophets Who spoke in the Lord's name As an example of suffering and patience See, we count as blessed Those who have endured You've heard of Job's endurance And have seen the outcome That the Lord brought about And the Lord,

Is compassionate And merciful In this next section here It starts out with the word Therefore And the rule is Whenever you come to this word In scripture You always have to ask yourself What is that word Therefore And it's a sign That you need to go back And reference The previous section of scripture To interpret What you're about to read In context So, therefore Because Christians have suffered So much Not just at this Hands of God But also the Jews Specifically the wealthy Unbelieving ones He's telling them To be patient Until the Lord's coming He shifts his focus From the wealthy unbelievers To the believers And followers of Jesus And he's saying Because you have suffered so much Because you've been through so much Because life has been

Just incredibly difficult He's telling us To be patient Because the Lord is coming Even in the Bible Even in the first century church I find this really interesting Even in the first century church Jesus hadn't been gone that long They felt the eminency Of Jesus' coming Just like we do today And he gives us this command To be patient Why? Because the Lord is coming When? I don't know No man knows the day or the hour Well, then how do we know he's coming? Because he said he would Okay, well Then what am I supposed to do In the meantime?

We wait We wait Patiently It goes on to say See how the farmer waits For the precious fruit of the earth And is patient with it Until it receives the early And the late rains You know, for those of us Who farm or grew up on farms Or work around farms You know You know You don't plant seed Then give up the next day on it Because the rain didn't come Or that seed didn't sprout You don't give up on it the next day The farmer doesn't give up on his crop The day after he plants He keeps waiting Knowing That God is going to bring the rain Knowing That there will be a harvest In his timing And not ours You know, scripture is just Chock full of verses That talk about waiting On the Lord And being patient And it's kind of hard To pick out just one

But I found one that just It's very simple And it kind of sums it all up And it's out of Psalm 27 Verse 14 And it says this Wait for the Lord Be strong And let your heart take courage Yes Wait for the Lord I'll say it again Wait for the Lord Be strong And let your heart take courage Wait for the Lord Guys, I know I know sometimes it is hard When we are in a season of waiting When we're in these seasons of trial And struggle And life is just more difficult than not I know it's hard And he does too And it seems like It seems like he's never going to come It seems like he's never going to move And sometimes it seems like the Lord Is never going to work in our lives And may I just say That's the enemy talking It's the enemy talking

I was thinking about this When I was putting together this study There's a gap of about 400 years Between the Old Testament And the New Testament And during that time The Lord didn't raise up a single prophet And he didn't really move Or speak in any dramatic ways Like we see all through the Old Testament But does that mean That the Lord wasn't working? No Not at all During that time We'll find If you go back and do a little study in history You'll find that the Lord was setting up The different kingdoms And ultimately He's bringing about The Roman Empire Which was present during the time of Jesus Because they were going to be They were going to play a role In the life of Jesus So All that to say He is working He was working then

And he is working now You just need to be patient And if you're like me And you're waiting for his return To take us home Trust me I'm ready I know We just need to be patient Just be patient He's working And he'll come back When God tells Jesus Son it's time to go get your bride In the meantime Just be patient Keep doing what God has called you to do James even said He addressed this very early on In the book of James here In his letter Wait a minute Wait a minute Wait a minute Wait a minute Wait a minute Way back in chapter one It says Consider it pure joy When you experience trials Of various kinds Because you know That the testing of your faith Produces what? Patience Patience Some of your translations Say endurance But another word for that

Is patience Be patient Consider it joy Because you know The testing of your faith Produces patience Be patient Sincere and stir And praise the Lord And do not let him That you could not Poreven your heart Be stable In your unyieldingentreㅠㅠ In your unyieldinghurst . A week What I niemand Welcome for another administrative If you've beenうわ Subscribe to us In your own language For Любess ... Their life Ajd Jen But For us Too long You've been struggling What's important Too hard Twice Too hard And while you everyone need and I think they were starting to grumble and complain against one another. You know, I kind of picture, I had this picture in my head where, you know, they're tired,

they're frustrated, they're angry with each other, they're starting to complain, and they're just kind of starting to like low-key, like passive-aggressively insult one another. You know, I don't know if you guys have ever been through this. I used to work for the county, and during that time, we hired a couple people in that, bless their hearts, they just made life difficult. You know, I think they meant well, but like, bless their heart.

That's really all I got to say. No, they just made life that much harder when it was already hard, and I just kind of wanted to look at them and go, just like, you don't let common sense hold you back, do you? You know, we've all had that one person. We've all had that one person in our lives where you just, you look at them, you go, dude, I ain't got the time or the crayons to explain this to you.

You know, I'm just, just go do something else. And that's kind of how I picture, that's kind of how I picture these believers were. They were just kind of frustrating with each other, like low-key insulting one another. And James says, don't be whining or complaining about them. Because, because guess what? There's a judgment for it. Surprise. Guess what? There's a judgment for believers too.

If you want to write this in the margin of your Bible, it's 2 Corinthians 5.10 tells us this. It says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. That's 2 Corinthians 5.10. Listen, I know some of y'all are just incredibly difficult to deal with.

I'm kidding. I love you guys. I really am. Truly, but truly, some of us are difficult to deal with. I am. Just ask my wife. Guarantee you she will be like, yeah, absolutely. But, but in these moments, guys, may I just encourage you to be patient with him and extend a little bit of extra grace. Because guess what? Half the time, we don't know what they're going through.

And maybe all they need is just a little bit of extra patience and an extra measure of grace from us. Amen?

He goes on to say that while we wait on the Lord in these seasons of hardship, he says to take the prophets who spoke in the Lord's name as an example of suffering and patience. See, we count as blessed those who have endured. And you've heard of Job's endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about. The Lord is compassionate and merciful. He says to take Job as an example.

We all know the story of Job. Yes, he suffered, like, a lot. Like, he suffered a lot. He had everything taken away from him, everything he owned. His entire family, minus his wife, his entire family. And then, to top it all off, his health was taken from him. So the man knows what it's like to suffer. But it wasn't suffering without purpose. There was a good purpose in everything that Job went through.

And through it, the Lord was compassionate and merciful. The Lord was compassionate and merciful and that there was only so much that Satan was allowed to do. Understand that. Satan couldn't just do anything he wanted to Job. He had to ask permission first. That means that he is still subject to God. And you know what else that means? That means that everything that happens to us

has been filtered through the hands of a loving father.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful. That there was only so much that Satan was allowed to do to Job. He was not allowed to completely destroy him. And through it all, God sustained him. He was compassionate and merciful in sustaining him. He got him through. That word compassionate here in the Greek is a word I can't even begin to pronounce it, so I'm not even going to try.

And it sounds so incredibly goofy, but it essentially means this deep compassion from the heart. This deep compassion from the heart and the way it's conveyed, it doesn't just mean this normal kind of compassion like, aww. It doesn't just mean this normal kind of compassion like, aww. I feel sorry for them. You know, that's not what this means here. This compassion that's being conveyed here is this deep compassion

that really there's just not a lot of words for. Kind of like the compassion that Jesus had on the 5,000 when he fed them. And he says that he had compassion on them. It's so deep that no words can accurately describe that kind of compassion. Understand that Jesus knew. He knew what these believers were going through. He knew what Job was going through. And guess what, he knows what you're going through too.

He knew their trials and sufferings. And he knows yours as well. He knows the frustration. He knows the pain you're dealing with. He knows about that cancer diagnosis. He knows all the family struggles that you're dealing with. He knows what you're going through. He knows, He knows the heartache. He knows the struggles within your marriage. He knows, He knows about your child who's in rebellion or who is away from the Lord.

He knows about them too. He knows the suffering you're dealing with from past sins. He knows the tears you've shed for your loved ones, for your spouse or your kid who refuses to come to the Lord. He knows. He has this deep compassion and mercy for you that can't be put into words. He has this deep compassion and mercy for you because He knows what you're going through.

He knows the suffering. And if this is you, be patient because the Lord is coming. The Lord is coming. And while we wait for Him to come, keep doing what He's called you to do. Keep going. Keep your eye on the prize. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus because He is coming. Amen? Amen. Verse 12. Verse 12 says this, above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or with any other

oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no so that you won't fall under judgment. Here in verse 12, James, he switches gears. And understand that in that culture, an oath could be either a binding or non-binding oath. And you would do that by what you swore by. So if you swore by heaven or by God, it was a binding, an illegally binding oath. You couldn't weasel your way out of it. But if you swore by anything

else, anything on earth, anyone on earth, it was a non-binding oath and you could weasel your way out of it. It was kind of a way of crossing your fingers behind your back. And when that oath started to not work out in your favor, you could just say, well, I had my fingers crossed. Sorry. You know, James and Jesus both tell us, they tell us something completely different here.

Instead of just swearing oaths, don't do it. Just be a man or woman of your word. Be a man or woman of integrity. Let your yes be yes and your no, be no. It's as simple as that. Don't be a liar. Tell the truth. For some of us, that's harder to do than others, but I get it. Don't be a liar. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Don't be a weasel and try to weasel your way out of something you agreed to do.

If you told somebody you'd be there, you'd be there. If you told somebody you'd do something, do it. Let your yes be yes and your no. Be no. Too many people today are not people of integrity, guys, and we are called to be different than the rest of the world. Verse 13 says, is anyone among you suffering or afflicted? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing

praises. Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of the faithful will save the sick person and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful

in its effect. Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. And for three years and six months, it did not rain on the land. And then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the land produced its fruit. In this next section here, James essentially says, if you're afflicted, pray. If you're sick, pray. He says to confess

your sins, dot, dot, dot, and pray. I think there's kind of a theme here, that we need to be a church that prays. Brothers and sisters, I have to wonder sometimes, are we a church that prays? When's the last time we prayed? When's the last time we prayed? When's the last time we prayed? When's the last time that you had a visit with your creator? Because it seems to me that if

we want to see God move in our lives, then maybe we ought to be in prayer a lot. You know, a couple of years ago, I was at a pastor's conference in Tucson, and there was a speaker there, and I can't remember his name, but there was a speaker there that was giving a message on the importance of prayer. And it came out of the book of Acts, specifically, chapters one and two. And it says in chapter one of Acts, that the disciples came together, and they were devoted and united in prayer. And then if you're familiar with Acts chapter two,

that's the chapter that the Holy Spirit came down in tongues of fire and performed all kinds of amazing miracles among the disciples and among the early believers there, the early church. And the point that this guy made was that, if you want an Acts two type of church, you need to have an Acts one type of church, a church that is devoted and united in prayer. You need to have a church that prays. And James here is saying, if you're sick, pray. Whatever ails you, pray. Now, hear my heart here. God

is not a genie. You know, you pull out your little hand, rub it, and poof, what do you need? You know, that's not God here. You're praying for that $100,000 car? I'm sorry, but probably not going to get it, okay? Um, that's not what James is saying. He's saying, if you have problems, pray. If you are sick, pray, and other people pray for you. If you have sin, confess it, and then pray. Pray for one

another. Pray and pray according to his will. Nope, I'm skipping ahead of myself. If you have sin, confess it, and pray for one another, excuse me, stop complaining about one another, and pray for them instead. Pray and pray, according to his will. That's, that's out of 1 John chapter 5. Guys, the longer I walk with, with the Lord, the more and more I believe in the power of prayer. You know, sneaking up on two

years ago in August, uh, I, I was in a meeting, uh, down the hall at the other end, um, and I get a call from my mom, and, uh, my, my stepdad had a heart attack. And it was just, it was so severe. Like, they were on their way to the hospital, and they had to pull over on the side of the highway. And my mom had to drag him out onto the ground and start doing chest compressions.

And from everything I understand, that he should not have survived. My understanding, he's operating on about 35 to 38 percent of his total heart function, which is amazing. But over the next four months, I watched God take a guy who should have, should have died that day. And bring healing to his life. Begin to restore his body. And they, God brought him back. Not only

was I praying for him, but so was my family, so was my church family. That's the power of prayer, guys. That's the power of prayer. I've watched God firsthand provide financially for people out of nowhere. I got a call a while back from a completely random person, doesn't even live in this part of the country. And he said, I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. I'm

going to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. Doesn't go to this church. Completely random call saying that they wanted to financially help a specific family in our, in our church here, but they were struggling. And the strange thing is,

is that morning I was praying that God would provide for this particular family. I didn't know how, didn't know when or where or how that would come about, but I just trusted that he would. And he did. And I'm not saying that I necessarily had anything to do with it, but God did. And that's the power of prayer, guys. That's the power of prayer. One of my, one of my very best friends from college is,

is actually watching his dad pass away from pancreatic cancer. And there was one day I was on my way into work and I was praying for my friend and his dad. You know, I had my eyes open, I promise. I was not driving by the Holy Spirit, but, you know, like, Lord, no, kidding. I was praying for the, for my friend, and his dad. And I, I very specifically, I remember this. I prayed for God's presence

and God's peace to be with him, my friend, that day, because I knew he was struggling with it. I knew that he was really, really struggling with this, this idea that he was going to lose his dad. And that afternoon I got a call from him, from my buddy Chris, and saying, he said, it was the strangest thing ever. He felt God's, peace and his presence out of nowhere, out of, completely out of left field.

And he went on to explain how he, how he felt God's peace and God's presence in his life that day. And again, I'm not saying that I had anything to do with it because I didn't really, but God did. And that's the power of prayer. James even says so here in verse 16 and 17, it says, the prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. Elijah was a human being as we are. And he prayed earnestly that it would not rain.

And for three years and six months, it did not rain. Then he prayed again and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit. Guys, that's the power of prayer. You know, I, I've even been on the receiving end of prayer. About 12 and a half years ago, my wife had just given birth to our oldest, Adeline. And I was working at a monument company. I wasn't making a lot of money.

And I didn't know how we were going to pay this bill. I think we had about a $3,000 bill waiting for us at the hospital. And I prayed that God would somehow provide, somehow, whether that be through another job or whatever, some way to pay this bill because I didn't know how I was going to pay it. So after work one day, a couple of weeks after she was born, I went by the hospital and I went back to the, to the billing office there. And I sat down and visited with a lady there.

I said, hey, can we get, can we get, can I get some sort of payment plan set up for this or, or whatever? Because I don't have $3,000 right on me at this exact time. And she goes, absolutely. So she, she got on the computer and pulled up our account.

She looked up our account and proceeded to tell me that I didn't owe a dime. She said, I didn't know anything and that my debt has been paid. Side note, this is exactly what Jesus does for us. Each and every one of us have a sin debt and Jesus paid that for us. Okay. If you have questions, come see me afterwards. But back to prayer. That's the power of prayers, guys. Guys, we need to be a church that is on our knees and in prayer.

The prayer of the righteous person is powerful. And understand, I'm not righteous in and of myself. Bible says that my righteousness is like filthy rags before the Lord. But understand, it's not me. It's Jesus. That makes me righteous. It's Jesus that makes you righteous. When you come into that, that saving relationship with Jesus, he takes you and washes you white as snow.

He cast your sins as far as the East is from the West, and he declares you righteous.

My righteousness is as filthy rags before the Lord, but it's Jesus who makes me righteous and makes you righteous. And if you've been made righteous, then your prayer is powerful. So why aren't we praying? If we have been declared righteous and our prayer is powerful, we need to be praying a lot. There is power in prayer. And I've seen it, and I believe in it.

Fellas, we need to be praying for our wives. Fellas, we need to be praying for our children. Wives, be praying for your husbands. Be praying for your kids. Be praying for your unborn children. Be praying for your unborn children. Be praying for your unborn children. Be praying for your unborn children. Be praying for your unborn children. Be praying for your

loved ones. Be praying for your co-workers. Be praying for your schools. Be praying for your community. Be praying for your country. Pray for Israel. They sure need it. If we want to be a church where God moves powerfully, then we need to be a church that is full of people with powerful prayers. Verse 19, it says, My brothers and sisters, I am a man of God. I am a man of God. I am a man of God. I am a man of God.

My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. To close out the book of James here, I wanted to kind of end with a quote from Chuck Smith in regards to the scripture. He says, if you turn a brother or sister back from sin, this is where the quote begins, you don't convert him, by telling him that everything is all right. In other words, you don't convert them by affirming their sin. It's okay. It's going to be okay. You just come here. Come on. No, that's not, no.

They need to know what sin is. And the only way to know what sin is is through the word of God. They need to hear the truth of the word of God. Be loving about it, but they need to hear the truth. If they're in sin, tell them the truth. If they're struggling with the death, tell them the truth. If they're in addiction, tell them the truth. If they're struggling with their identity,

tell them who they are in Christ. If they're struggling with whether or not they're a man or a woman or something else, give them God's word. Tell them that they were made in the image of God, that they were made male and female, that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, that they were made with a purpose. They weren't an accident. They weren't, they weren't,

they weren't created by evolution. They were created on purpose and with a purpose.

You don't convert people. You don't bring people back to the Lord by affirming sin. You bring them back by giving them the truth of God through his word. Amen. If I can go ahead and have the worship team come on up. If you guys would go ahead and stand with me, we'll pray. I'll let you, let you out of here. Father, we come before you this morning. God, your word is sharp and it is powerful. God, it has surgical effect in our lives and in mine.

And Lord, as we leave here today, I just pray that, that it would continue to minister to us, that it would continue to have that surgical effect in our lives. Lord, if there are any here today that do not know you, I pray that today, that today would be the day of salvation. That today would be the day that they entrust their entire life with you, Lord.

I pray for a blessing on each and every one of us here today, Lord. We love you, Lord God. We praise you. We thank you. In Jesus' name. All God's people said, amen, amen. Be blessed, guys. In grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now was bled By fears free That could buy chains of his ransom To shine, but be healed Lord, I just thank you that this relationship that we start with you on this side of eternity,

God, will just continue into the rest of eternity. That our struggles on this earth, the evil all around us, God, it's just a blink of an eye in comparison to eternity. I just pray that you would help us to be faithful to you, that you would transform us from the inside out. Lord, I just pray that as we go this week out of this place, Lord, that you would help us to just continue to encourage one another, to hold each other accountable, to be your light, and to touch the world around us, to be your hands and feet.

God, I pray that we would be listening to that still, small voice that is guiding and directing into all of the good things that you have planned for us. I just pray this in your name.