Let us turn again to God's words
in the last chapter of that general epistle of James. James chapter
5 and I read from verse 14 through to 16. Is any sick among you? 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 shall
save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he hath
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults
one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much. I want us this morning to concentrate
on the words that I've just read here at verse 16. His words inform
our text. Confess your faults one to another
and pray one for another that ye may be healed. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Considering then this reference
to mutual confession and effectual prayer. Mutual confession and
effectual prayer. Now, last week, of course, we
were considering the previous verses that I just read, verses
14 and 15, and I remarked then that those verses are often misunderstood
and misused, even abused. They're seized on by the Roman
Catholic Church for their doctrine of extreme unction, the last
rites that the priest will perform by anointing the dying person. And they're also appealed to
by the charismatics with their so-called understanding of divine
healings. And we sought to examine just
what is being said then here in verses 14 and fifteen last
week. And so I address the matter of
the nature of the sickness that is being spoken of. Is any sick
among you? 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 shall
save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. in both of the
verses we have mention of those who are sick but they are two
different words that are being used I said although they are
synonyms but they're not identical the word that we have in verse
14 is any sick among you as reference to those who are weak or feeble
or frail And it's the word that's used with regards to the ministry
of the Lord Jesus, remember, when we see Him in the Gospel
healing the multitudes, how they would bring all their sick ones
to Christ. There at the end of Luke, in
Luke 4, the end of chapter 4 and verse 14, when the sun was setting,
all they that had any sick with diverse diseases, brought them
unto him and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed
them. Clearly, that was physical sickness. They were those who were weak,
feeble, frail, because they were afflicted in their bodies. But
the same word is also used with regards to what we might say
is spiritual sickness. in Romans chapter 4, remember,
in verse 19 where the Apostle is speaking of Abraham, the father
of all them that believe. He says much concerning the faith
of Abraham in that fourth chapter and he remarks how he was not
weak in faith. And the word that he uses here
in Romans 4.19, being not weak in faith, is literally the word
sick, being not sick in faith. And so the word that we have
here in verse 14 might refer to either physical sickness or
soul sickness. Now, as I said, a different word
though a synonym is used in verse 15. The prayer of faith, it says,
shall save the sick. And the basic meaning of the
word that we have there is to be weary. If the other word speaks
of weakness and feebleness and frailty, so in verse 15 the word
has more the idea of those who are weary. And It's used again
in other scriptures, it's used for example in Hebrews chapter
12 and verse 3 where we're directed to the Lord Jesus and his sufferings,
consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself says Paul less G.B. weary. It's the same word sick,
lest ye be sick and faint in your minds. But it's interesting
that the word order there literally runs like this, lest ye be wearied
in your souls, or sick in your souls, and fainting. And so, again, the word in verse
15 also has some reference to Not so much one's physical condition,
but we might say one's spiritual state. And I was struck by the
words that we just sang in that lovely hymn of Ann Stills. And
there at verse 4, 3.9.2 and verse 4, Almighty grace,
thy healing power, how glorious, how divine, that can to life
and bliss restore so vile a heart as mine." And we have to always
remember, of course, that God has made us in such a way, fearfully
and wonderfully made us. David says in Psalm 139 that
our physical condition might affect our mental state, or our
spiritual state, and vice versa. Whatever it is that is being
spoken of here, it has to do with man in his wholeness. Man
is not just physical, man is also a soul. God breathed into
Adam's nostrils the breath of life after he had made him of
the dust of the earth, and so he became a living soul. And it's interesting to observe,
and I remind you of what we said last week, how that here in verse
15, where we have the prayer of faith, what is the consequence? The prayer of faith, it doesn't
say, shall heal the sick, but it says the prayer of faith shall
save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And if you have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Yes, there's a
raising up, but there's salvation, there's also here the forgiveness
of sins. And Really, the emphasis is falling
not so much on the fact that he has been anointed. The Roman
Catholic doctrine of extreme unction, the last rites, makes
much of the anointing with oil, but here the emphasis is very
much on the prayer. No mention of the anointing in
verse 15, it's the prayer of faith that is so important. Those who are sick, weary, downcast,
they are raised up by the good hand of God in answer to prayer. Now, being in such a weak condition,
such frailty, it may be that they need something tangible,
and so, as I said last time, it's not improper. I don't think it's improper if
someone is in such a weak physical state that they might desire
to feel something on their body, an anointing. But we're not to
look to the anointing, we're to look to the Lord himself,
the one who hears and answers our prayer. I am the Lord, he
says, that healeth thee. And then, coming now to consider
what follows here in verse 16. confess your faults one to another,
and pray one for another that she may be healed. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." This mutual
confession and this effectual prayer. First of all then, let
us consider the confession. It's confessing your faults,
it says one to another, it's praying one for another also. And as in the previous verses
there's no real support for the Roman Catholic doctrine of extreme
unction, so here in verse 16 there's no support for another
of their sacraments, that of auricular confession. As I'm sure you're aware, in
that system the people are expected to go to the priest and to make
their confession to the priest. And the priest will pronounce
forgiveness and require some sort of penance to be performed. The saying of so many Paternosters
or so many Hail Marys But that's what they call auricular confession. As I said last time, the system
of religion there is very much a sacramental religion. And so,
they have a number of sacraments. They speak of baptism and communion,
or the Mass, as sacraments. As I said last time, we would
refer to them as ordinances. But they don't just have those
two, which we see quite clearly in the scripture, but they add
another five. Confirmation is one. And penance is another. Marriage is one. The taking of
holy orders is another and then extreme unction. Altogether some
seven sacraments are recognized there in the Roman Catholic Church
and they do believe that the very performance of the sacrament
will convey grace to the person upon whom that sacrament is being
performed. And amongst them then we have
that teaching of the necessity of the sinner coming and making
his confession to the priests that he might receive the pardon
of his sins, they have scriptures that they appeal to for that.
Such scriptures as Matthew 16, 19. Remember after Peter makes
his great confession, there at Caesarea Philippi, thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God, and the Lord pronounces
him blessed. And then the Lord goes on to
address Peter and say that he gives unto him the keys of the
kingdom of heaven and whatsoever sins thou dost bind and bear,
whatsoever thou dost loose, thou loose. But those words are not
only spoken to Peter, they're also spoken to the other apostles
later in Matthew 18 verse 18. And they say that here is the
grounds for confession. The apostles, their descendants
as it were, the priesthood, they are able then to pronounce the
forgiveness of sins. But we would argue, certainly
from what we read in a passage like John 20, 23, where again
it speaks of sins being forgiven, but he
speaks there in terms of the coming of the Holy Spirit. We
would argue that it is by the ministry of the Word, the preaching
of the Gospel, that the good news of salvation and the forgiveness
of sins is brought to the sinner. It's not by a sacrament, although
that's what the Roman Church would teach. And I suppose in
some measure they would also appeal to the words that we're
looking at this morning. Here in this 16th verse, confess
your faults. But it doesn't say you were to
make that confession to a priest. No, it's something that is quite
mutual. Confess your faults, it says,
one to another, and pray one for another. What is this confession
then that we're reading of here? It's not confession to a priest,
it's not priestly forgiveness, it's that that is part and parcel
of the normal life of those who are the people of God. What is
being confessed? Well, it's not a general confession
of sin. It is a truth, of course, that
we're all sinners by nature, the doctrine of original sin.
David says in the 51st Psalm, Behold I was shapen in iniquity
and in sin did my mother conceive me. We're born into this world
as those who are dead in trespasses and sins. The nature of our first
parents as transgressors has come down through the generations. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? Not one. It's not possible. sinful
parents give birth to sinful offspring there is such a doctrine
as original sin and then also there are actual sins and we
read it just now in that third chapter in many things it says
we offend all there at the beginning of that second verse in chapter
3 for in many things we offend all. And he speaks there in particular,
of course, of the sins of the tongue, not just the things that
we do, but sometimes the things that we say, even the things
that we think, as we are those who have partaken
of an original sin, so we are actual sinners. Our life is just
a round of sinning in that sense. Remember the language that we
have at the end of the opening chapter in John's first general
epistle. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him, we make God a liar. and His Word is not in us. But
if we know anything of the Word of God and the truth of that
Word, we know what we are by nature, we know what we are indeed. And how David was brought to
that. And that to acknowledge is sin. Oh, he had sinned grievously
in the matter of his adultery with Bathsheba, but not only
that, he was also the one who was responsible for the death
of her husband Uriah. He had acted so shamefully. But
he recognizes that his sin is ultimately against God. Against
thee, thee only have I sinned, he says, and done this evil in
thy sight. Well, the confession that we're
making here in this text this morning is not to do with our
original sin, or the fact that we are sinners and our lives
are that round and round of sinning. But specific confession of particular
sins is what is being spoken of here. Confess your faults,
it says, one to another. And the word that's used, faults,
literally refers to a false step. or a misdeed. It's something
quite specific and particular that we're aware of that we have
done that is wrong and sinful in the sight of God. And are
we not reminded in the ministry of the Lord Jesus of the need
to have a conscience that is void of any offense? Think of
the language that the Lord uses in the course of his preaching
there in Matthew 5 in the Sermon on the Mount. Verse 23, it says, If thou bring
thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother
hath fought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar,
and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come
and offer thy gift to God. If we're going to be those who
have a right relationship with God, in God's worship, in God's
service, we must Be conscious then of the necessity of us having
the right relationship one with the other. Again, later in that
Gospel, Matthew 18, and there at verse 15, the Lord says something
similar to what He had said in the Sermon on the Mount. Moreover,
if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him
his faults between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee,
thou hast gained thy brother. And if he will not hear thee,
then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two
or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he
shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he
neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen
man and a publican. Now here we have the basic order
with regards to discipline in the life of the local church.
Where there is offense between brethren, it is to be dealt with
on that personal level initially. That's what he is saying in verse
15. And it's the same as we have in the text. Confess your faults
one to another, but if there is no reconciliation, well then,
bring others in. one or two more that there might
be witnesses and that it might yet be reconciled and yet if
that's not the case it must then be taken to the church in general. But the important thing that
is being so emphasized surely is the need to make confessions,
that mutuality, that concern one for the other. And it's interesting
here to observe the context, the connection between the verses. And I remarked on this last week
how of course the verses don't stand separate from one another,
but James in a sense is reasoning with the people and so what does
he say at the end of verse 15 if he hath committed sins they
shall be forgiven him the prayer of faith shall save the sick
the Lord shall raise him up and if he hath committed sins they
shall be forgiven him confess your faults one to another and
pray for one another that ye may be healed and the juxtaposition
of the words here is very interesting confession confession of sin
is clearly necessary to the pardon of sin and the forgiveness of
sins that's a basic truth is it not if sins are going to be
forgiven if one has offended a brother If one is going to
know real pardon, there must be that
readiness to acknowledge the sin, to confess the sin. And
that will lead to the pardon of that sin and to gain acceptance
with God and reconciliation between brethren. Or we see it time and
again in the book of Psalms. The psalmist says, I will declare
mine iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin." Again in Psalm 32,
David says, I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity
have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgression
unto the Lord, and thou forgave us the iniquity of my sin. He
makes his confession and there is then the forgiveness of sin. God is He's ever ready and willing
to forgive. We confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is our comfort. All that
God is, you see, is on the side of that person who will come
to acknowledge their faults, to make confession of their sins.
Not just the mercy of God and the grace of God, but the justice
of God, the righteousness of God. He is faithful, He is just
to forgive us our sins or confess your faults one to another and
pray one for another not only confession to God then but that
seeking of reconciliation with the brother whom we have offended
or who has offended us and it comes by the confession of sin
And it's that she may be healed. And the healing, as I've said,
is both physical and spiritual. God is concerned for us in the
wholeness of our humanity. And there is a restoring then
of real fellowship. Or there is this mutuality. That's
what's being emphasized in this 16th verse. It's not anything to do at all
with confession to a priest. How the body, the church, in
a sense, ministers to itself. Doesn't Paul make that clear
when he writes to the church at Ephesus? And there in Ephesians
chapter 4, look at the language that we have at verse at verse 15. He makes mention in verse 15 of
speaking the truth in love. Speaking of the body of Christ
the church, speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him
in all things which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole
body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplies according to the effectual working and the measure
of every part, make as increase of the body unto the edifying
of itself in love. What is he speaking of? He's
speaking of the church as a living body. Christ the head of the
church and those who are in the church, they're the members of
that body and there's this mutuality. There's this ministry one to
another. The body is joined and compacted. Every joint supplying
something in the life and the well-being of that body and so
here in the text I emphasize again it's that mutual confession
that concern about relationships one with the other that concern
to know that we're at peace with one another and together we're
at peace with God it's a restoring then of that real fellowship
but again here the emphasis very much falls upon the prayer you confess your false one to
another but you also pray one for another now I'm sure we desire
to do that to pray for one another to commit and to commend one
another to God in our private prayers day by day And see how the emphasis is very
much on that prayer, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much. So let us turn to that, the effectual
prayer. It's a remarkable statement that
we have here in the second sentence that makes up the words of the
text. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. what is the effectual fervent
prayer? is it because we of ourselves
have put some effort into that prayer and that makes it an effectual
prayer? well remember what the Lord Jesus
Christ himself says in John 15 5 without me you can do nothing
he says without the Lord Jesus Christ
we can do nothing Whose prayer is this? Well, it's the effectual
fervent prayer, it says, of a righteous man. Who is a righteous man? When the rich young ruler comes
to the Lord Jesus and addresses Him, remember, how the Lord responds? There is none good but one, that
is God, he says. It is God who is good and righteous. What are we by nature? We're not righteous. All our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags, we're told. Who then is
this righteous man? Well, the words of the Lord Jesus,
without me ye can do nothing. This righteousness is the righteousness
that the sinner has received in and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Ultimately, we're to think here
in terms of the great doctrine of justification by faith. And who is it that God justifies?
God justifies the ungodly. We believe that the sinner is
the one who is justified in Christ. This was the great preaching
of the Gospel in the Acts of the Apostles, was he not? What
does Paul say in his preaching there in Acts 13? He's in Antioch
there, in Pisidia, and we have the record of his sermon. And
what is the great emphasis there? He says, by Him, by Christ. By
Him. All that believe are justified
from all things that they could not be justified from by the
deeds of the law. It's that righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that righteousness that he wrought in the obedience
of his sinless life, that he reckoned to the account of that
sinner who is trusting only in Christ for salvation. And wasn't
that the faith of David? In Psalm 71, that psalm that
must have been written very late in his life, he's an old man
with grey hairs, his feeling is frailty and what does he say
in Psalm 71? Verse 16, I will go in the strength
of the Lord God I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of
Thine own. O God, Thou hast taught me from
my youth, and hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works, now also
when I am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. I will make mention of Thy righteousness
even of thine only, he says, and at the end of the psalm,
my tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day
long. Or without me you can do nothing.
This prayer, this effectual prayer, is effectual because it is made
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's that sinner who
comes not looking to anything in himself, but trusting only
in Christ, in Christ's blood and in Christ's righteousness. And because of that, the prayer
is an effectual prayer. In fact, this expression, effectual
fervent, is the rendering of a single word. Again, it's one
of those compound words And Gil says it has the idea of power,
energy, and life. That's the sort of prayer it
is. And why is it such a prayer? Because this is that one who
is coming in all his weakness, in all his frailty, and all his
trust, and all his faith, and all his confidence is centered
only in the Lord Jesus Christ. without faith you see it is impossible
to please God he that cometh to him must believe that he is
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him
that's the faith that we have to come with when we pray to
God and and that prayer will be heard it's wholehearted praying
Doesn't God say back in Jeremiah 29, you shall seek me and find
me when you shall search after me with all your heart? Oh, it's
wholehearted praying that is being spoken of here. But it's
all because of the work of Christ in the hearts of the sinner.
Christ who has justified that sinner by his righteousness. Christ who is the only mediator
between that sinner and God. Christ who is the great high
priest by whom that sinner can appear before God. So this is
the effectual fervent prayer then that is being spoken of. And this is how we're to minister
to one another in that mutual fashion. There will be a felt
dependence on God himself. There will be that spirit of
real forgiveness. Remember how the Lord, when he
teaches us to pray, in what we call the Lord's Prayer, that
Pattern Prayer, we have that petition, and forgive us our
debts as we forgive our debtors. And he's not saying there that
the grounds upon which you will be forgiven your debts, your
sins, is because of your readiness to forgive others. No, the only
ground on which we can know the pardon of sin, the forgiveness
of sin, the clearing of all our debts to God, the only ground
of that is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
if we are sincere as we come before God and ask forgiveness,
we will be those of a forgiving spirit. That will be the evidence of
the work of grace in the soul of that sinner, a readiness to
forgive. All this foul dependence upon
God then. This spirit, this mutual spirit
of forgiveness. It is this, and this only, that
is the mark of the life of God in the soul of that sinner. How
are we to behave then, one to the other? How are we to come
making our confessions one to another? Well again, remember
the language that we have in another epistle? Here we're in
James, but if we Turn over to what the Apostle Paul says there
in Galatians 6. He says, Brethren, if a man be
overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an
one in the spirit of meekness. Considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted, bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law
of Christ. Or when one comes in and makes
his confession, And we are to graciously receive that erring
brother, to acknowledge him, and to look to ourselves, lest
we also should be those who offend. What standard is that that the
Lord Jesus sets before us? Remember in the Gospel when Peter
comes to the Lord and asks how many times he should forgive
his erring brother. There in Matthew chapter 18 and
Peter speaks in terms of seven times should I forgive him seven
times he says to the Lord and seven has that idea of course
of perfection it's the perfect number isn't it God created all
things in six days and the seventh day God dressed it from all his
work that he has made and pronounced it very good and when we come
to a symbolic book, a book full of signs and symbols such as
Revelation, we see time and again how that seven has that idea
of the perfect number. So what Peter is suggesting is,
you know, you've got to be of a very forgiving spirit. "'How
oft shall my brother sin against me?' he asks. And I forgive him,
till seven times Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee
until seven times, but until seventy times seven. This is
the high calling of those who are the followers of the Lord
Jesus Christ. All we are to be of a forgiving
spirit. We're those who feel our complete
and utter dependence upon the Lord God himself. all our salvation
is only found in the person and work of the Lord Jesus and so
here he says confess your faults one to another and pray one for
another that ye may be healed the effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much oh God grant then that we might
be of such a spirit that we might By God's grace, heed the exhortation
of James here in our text this morning. May the Lord bless the
word to us. Let us conclude our worship as
we sing hymn 681 and the tune is Malcolm 369 Blessed are they whose guilt
is gone, whose sins are washed away with blood, whose hope is
fixed on Christ alone, whom Christ has reconciled to God. The Hymn 681.