This is not part of my sermon,
but I want to read this. Matt just gave the right that
was given with the cleansing of the leprosy. Would you turn
back to Leviticus chapter 13? This is such an important. Leprosy is the type of sin in
the scripture. Verse 12. And if a leprosy break out abroad
in the skin and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath
the plague from his head even to his foot, where so ever the
priest looketh, then the priest shall consider and behold if
the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce
him clean. That hath the plague, it's all
turned white, he's clean, but when raw flesh appeareth, and
that word raw is healthy, healthy, when Healthy flesh appeareth
in him, he shall be ungly. What do you think about that? Where you find a person who is
completely covered with sin, and that's all that's there. You know what the priest pronounces
that individual? Clean. And you find me somebody
that's got some health, some ability, some goodness, something
that's not bad. And what does the pretty priest
pronounce that person? Unclean. Is that the gospel or what? Now
turn back to James. I've entitled this message, The
Afflicted and the Merry. The Afflicted and the Merry. Verse 13, James chapter 5, is
any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing songs. We read here of two states opposite
polarized from each other and how to respond to both. Is any among you afflicted, troubled
in circumstance, in body, in mind, in spirit? Let him pray. I love the simplicity
and the directness of that instruction. Are you afflicted? Pray. That's generally the last option. When nothing else works. And
it ought to be the first, shouldn't it? Is any afflicted? It doesn't say let him do what
he can to fix it. Let him pray. Isn't he merry, cheerful, with
a bright and positive outlook? Let him sing psalms. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and all that's within me. Bless his holy name. The afflicted and the merry. Is any afflicted? And like I
said, that word in the New Testament is also translated, if any suffers
trouble. If any suffers trouble. Is trouble any surprise? Man that's born of woman. is born to trouble, as the sparks
fly upward. If you're afflicted, you're not
alone. David said, many are the afflictions of the righteous.
Now, there are different kinds of afflictions. There's the afflictions
that come with confessing Christ before men. You'll make enemies
from confessing the gospel before men. being true to the gospel. The natural man hates the gospel.
There will be afflictions involved in that. The Lord promised through
Paul, they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution. Write it down. And there's the
trouble that comes from being a sinner in a fallen, sin-cursed
world. the world which we're living
in. There are troubles of circumstances. There are financial troubles. There's troubles with conflict
with people. There are troubles of the body,
sickness, disease, old age. There are troubles of the mind,
being depressed. feeling isolated, feeling lonely,
insecurity. There are mental illnesses that
are just as real as physical illnesses. Dealing with a past
that you just can't get past. Trouble. Man that's born of woman,
his days are full of trouble. And David was one who spoke much
of this kind of trouble. And the Lord promised us in the
world, you shall have tribulation. You shall have trouble, afflictions,
trouble, being misrepresented, being slandered,
being let down, being hurt, being abused in the world. You shall have trouble. And then
there's the trouble that you bring upon yourself because of
your sin. What trouble that is. Is any afflicted? I love the
answer. Let him pray. Not let him fill
in the blank and put anything you want in there. Let him start
reading the Bible more. Let him start trying to suppress
his sin and let him start doing more good works. No, let him
pray. I've heard people say, I believe
in prayer. I believe in prayer. Let me tell you something about
that statement. Underneath it, there's an emphasis on the one
doing the praying rather than the God who answers prayer. I
believe in prayer, congratulations. I believe in the God who answers
prayer and the God who is in absolute sovereign control of
everything and everybody. Now you can't really understand
prayer if you don't understand the gospel. It's just a religious
ritual, but understanding the gospel, when I pray, I'm saying,
Lord, hear me for Christ's sake. That's the only reason I got,
that he would hear me. Hear me for Christ's sake, not because
I deserve to be heard, not because of the earnestness of my prayers,
not because of my good intentions, but hear me for the Lord's sake. You have to understand the gospel
really to even pray that prayer, to understand that the only reason
you would be heard is for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But who's the only one who can do you any good? Let me give you a hint. It's not
me. It's not anybody sitting beside you. The only one who
can help you in your affliction is the Lord himself. Turn with
me for a moment to Proverbs 21. The king's heart, verse one,
the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of
water, he turneth it whithersoever he will. Now this lets us know how he
is completely sovereign over everything and everybody. The king's heart, where is it? It's in the hand of the Lord.
And whatever direction he is pleased to turn it, that's the
way it's gonna go. And that king that is troubling
you, that you're no match for, remember this, that king that's
troubling you, that's stronger than you, that you can't handle,
that king is in the hand of the Lord. And as the rivers of water,
he turneth it whithersoever he will. So the only thing to do
is come to the Lord in prayer about this king. Lord, turn. Turn him, turn me, but the only
thing to do is pray. Is it any wonder James gave us
only one thing to do in our affliction? One thing. Let him pray. And the reason he only gave us
this one thing is it's really the only thing to do. Let him
pray. Now I want us to look at the
encouragement the Lord gives us to pray. Turn to Luke chapter
11 for a moment. Now this is after he had given
The disciples, this prayer, look in verse one, and it came to
pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased,
one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray.
As John also taught his disciples, and he said unto them, when you
pray, say, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed, holy
be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done as in heaven so in earth. Give us day by day our daily
bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone
that's indebted to us and lead us not into temptation. Don't
even let us be tempted but deliver us from evil and The thought's
not over. He said unto them, which of you
shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, saying
to him, friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine
in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before
him. And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not.
The door is now shut. My children are with me in bed.
I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will
not rise and give him, because he's friend, yet because of his
importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needed. Now what does that word mean?
It means shameless persistence. I'm in bed. I told you I'm in
bed. I need this bread. I told you
I'm in bed. I need this bread. All right. Verse eight, I say unto you,
though he will not rise and give him because he's his friend,
yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as
many as he needeth. And I say unto you, ask and it
shall be given you. Seeking you shall find, knocking
it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. Now somebody says, I've asked for things and the
Lord didn't give them to me. You didn't ask, you were trying
to strike a bargain. It really is that simple. You weren't asking,
you were trying to strike a deal. If you do this, I'll do that.
The Lord's not going to respond to that. Verse 11, if a son shall
ask bread of any of you that's a father, will he give him a
stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he
for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will
he offer him a scorpion? If you then, I love this, this
is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. If you then, being
evil. Would that describe you? He's
talking to his people. If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him? Turn to Luke 18. Verse 1. And He spake a parable
unto them to this end, for this purpose, that men ought always
to pray and not to faint, not to lose heart. saying there was
in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man,
and there was a widow in that city. And she came unto him,
saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while,
but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God,
nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge
her, lest by her what? Continual coming. Continual coming. She weary me. And the Lord said,
hear what the unjust judge saith, and shall not God avenge his
own elect which cry day and night unto him that we bear long with
them? I tell you, he'll avenge them speedily. Nevertheless,
when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Pray. If it's any afflicted, let him
pray. Be careful for nothing. Paul
said in Philippians 4, 6, be careful for nothing but in everything.
Well, shall I pray about that? In everything, by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God. Now, what God does, he does through
the prayers of his people. And what he's going to do for
me or you, we're going to ask him for, he's going to Well,
let's turn to Ezekiel 36. This shows the importance of
prayer. Is any afflicted? Let him pray. Ezekiel chapter
36. Now when God's going to do something
for me or you, he's going to move us to pray about it. And then he's going to answer
that prayer. That's the way he always works. He works through the prayers
of his people. Is any afflicted? Let him pray. Let's begin reading
in verse 22 of Ezekiel chapter 36. Therefore, say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord, I do not this for your sakes,
O house of Israel, but for mine own holy name's sake, which you
profaned among the heathen, whether you went. Now what I'm going
to do is not a reward for your obedience, your prayers. I'm not doing this for your sakes."
Is that clear? Anything you get from God, He
doesn't do it because you deserve it. Is that good news? Aren't you glad it's that way?
He said, what I'm gonna do, I'm not doing this for your sakes.
He says in verse 23, And I will sanctify my great name, which
was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned in the
midst of them. And the heathen shall know that
I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among
the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring
you into your own land. Will I sprinkle clean water upon
you? And you shall be clean. From all your filthiness and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you. That's a heart that was not there
before. He's not saying I'm going to work on your old heart and
make it better. It's beyond help. I'll give you a new heart. One
that was not there before. The same heart David is asking
for when he says, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew
a right spirit within me. A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I'll take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I'll give you a heart of
flesh, and I'll put my spirit within you. This is speaking
of regeneration. And cause you, to walk in my statutes. And you
shall keep my judgments and do them, and you shall dwell in
the land that I will give to your fathers, and you shall be
my people, and I will be your God. Now to have Him as my God?
If God be for us, who can be against us? For me, for you to
be His people, what greater blessing is that? I shall be to them a
God, and they shall be to me a people. Verse 29, I will also
save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will call for the corn
and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. I'll make
sure there's no famine of the word of God or any other kind.
And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase
of the field that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among
the heathen. Then, after I do these things
for you, then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings
that were not good and shall loathe yourselves in your own
sight for your iniquities and your abominations." Now that's
what happens to someone when the Lord reveals Himself to them
and does something for them. All of a sudden, they get a view
of what they really are. This is part of the covenant.
Let's go on reading. He reminds them, not for your
sakes do I this, saith the Lord God. Be it known unto you, be
ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
Thus saith the Lord God in the day that I shall have cleansed
you from all your iniquities. I will also cause you to dwell
in the cities, and the waste shall be builded, and the desolate
land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight
of all that pass by. And they shall say, This land
that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden, and the waste
and desolate and ruined cities have become fenced and inhabited.
Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that
I, the Lord, build the ruined places and plant that which was
desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it,
and I will do it." Isn't that the gospel? I've spoken it, I
will do it. Now, pay real careful attention. Thus saith the Lord God, I will
yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it
for them. I'm going to give you a new heart.
You know what you're going to do? You're going to ask me for a new heart.
I'm going to cleanse you from all your filthiness. You know
what you're going to do? You're going to ask me to cleanse
you from all your filthiness. Everything that I'm going to
do for you, you're going to ask me to do. Now, do you see the
importance of prayer? Everything God gives you, He's
going to move you to ask Him give it to you. That's the way
he's a God of means. He works through means and he
certainly works through the prayers of his people. Is any afflicted? Troubled? What kind of trouble? Any kind of trouble? Is any afflicted? Let him pray. The Lord's the only one who can
do anything for me and you. Is any afflicted? Let him pray. In trouble, in circumstances,
in body, in mind, in emotion, in spirit, oppressed by sin,
let him pray. He's called, O thou that hearest
prayer. Is any afflicted? Pray for his
help. And you know, if you do pray
for his help, if you do pray, it's because he moved you to
pray. All true prayer begins with him. Isn't he merry? Cheerful, to be in good spirits,
to be joyful, to be of good courage, to be encouraged. Isn't he merry? You know, we certainly ought
to be merry, shouldn't we? shouldn't we? As long as God's
on the throne and controlling everything and everybody, I got
a reason to be merry. There's nothing that happens
outside of him. He's in absolute sovereign control. knowing that I have every reason
to rejoice evermore as long as God is on the throne, as long
as Christ really is all in salvation, that everything God requires
of me He looks to His Son for, as long as I truly am complete
in the Lord Jesus Christ, needing nothing, being absolutely full
and can't get any more saved than I already am, as long as
it's true that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose,
as long as it really was finished when Christ said it is finished,
and all my sins were paid for and put away, as long as things
are like that. I have reason to be married,
don't I? Well, what about your sin? What sin? He was put away
by my Redeemer. It's all blotted out. What about
your circumstances? He's in control of them. And
everything that happens to me happens to me according to His
will. We have every reason to be merry. I think of when the Lord was
walking on the water and the disciples were scared to death
and they cried out in fear. And He said, Be of good cheer.
It is I. And you know, that's true regarding
everything. Be of good cheer, it is I. Find out you have cancer,
be of good cheer, it is I. That is true with regard to everything. Well, it's a lot better to be
married, as far as the way we feel, that I'd rather be married
than be afflicted and troubled You know, David was someone,
you know, you read the Psalms. He said, let him sing Psalms.
If you're married, let him sing Psalms. And I thought of David.
David, there wasn't anybody who got much lower than David, was
there? He'd become so low in some of the Psalms, the way he
would talk about himself. My wounds stink and are corrupt
and my sins, all that, he would get so low. But you know something
else? He'd get so high. He'd get low,
but oh, how high he would get in the Psalms. Now, what is the
thing to do if someone is burdened? I mean, Mary? Sing Psalms. And the first song that came
to my mind was the 103rd Psalm. That's the Psalm of Thanksgiving. Now, I think it's interesting
in that Psalm All it is is praise. David doesn't ask for a thing. Now, I've not done that yet.
I've never prayed without asking for something. But in this 103rd
Psalm, David doesn't ask for a thing. All he does is celebrate
what the Lord has done. Are you buried? Sing a psalm.
Now, bear with me to this 103rd Psalm. I remember hearing somebody say
once, you know, when you get older, there ought to be more
praise and less petition. Well, I've not got there. Maybe so, but I wish I'd learned
something about that, but I haven't. I'm a whole lot more petition.
But here we don't have a petition, but just praising the Lord. Look
in verse one. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. And here's
a man who's married. He's thinking of the benefits
of the Lord, and he goes on to name these benefits. Look what
he says. The first benefit is the first one I'm interested
in. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Every single
one of them. All forgiven. Now is that a reason to be married? My sins have been put away. Sins I haven't even permitted
yet have been put away, washed away, forgiven. He forgiveth,
and I'm not most of your iniquities, every single one of them, past,
present, and future. Who healeth, verse three, all
thy diseases. Mental diseases, physical diseases,
spiritual diseases. He heals them all. Now, it might
not be in this life. You're gonna die of something. You're going to die of something.
You know, these people who put this emphasis on physical healing,
man said, you're going to die of something. And well, the Lord
healed me. Well, something else is going
to kill you. You can rest assured that. But do you know that when
I die, all my diseases will be healed and I'll be perfect in
body, in soul, in mind, in spirit. Now, he hadn't healed all my
diseases here. And somebody says, well, all
my diseases have been healed. No, they haven't. You've got something
in your body, it's in your genes, it's gonna happen. But one of
these days, all diseases healed. Verse four, who redeemeth thy
life from destruction. What would we be without redemption?
Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb. And let me tell you something, He didn't make redemption
possible. He redeemed. He redeemed. Everybody He died
for, you know what? They've been redeemed. And you'll
never have to give an account for your sins because they've
been paid for, all of them, all of them. Not one sin hadn't already
been paid for. If you're redeemed, that means
you stand before God without sin. Is that a reason to be merry?
To be redeemed? Who crowneth thee, verse 4, with
lovingkindness and tender mercies. who satisfies thy mouth with
good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. Now,
I love thinking about this. As far as this thing of satisfaction,
I'm not satisfied with anything about myself. Not one single
thing. But I am perfectly satisfied
to be saved by Christ alone. I find complete satisfaction
in that. And I'm not looking for anything else. I find complete
satisfaction to simply be a poor sinner and nothing at all, but
Jesus Christ is my all in all. And I find such satisfaction
in that. My youth is renewed like the eagles. There isn't
anything that cheers me up and renews me like that. knowing
that he is my salvation. Verse six, the Lord executeth
righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. Now,
what that's talking about is justification. Are you oppressed
by sin? You know, only a believer is
oppressed by sin. It's his deadly enemy, and he's
oppressed by it. You know what the Lord does for
all of those people who are oppressed? He executes righteousness and
judgment. That's what justification is.
He makes it to where you are perfectly righteous before Him
through what Christ did for you. And this is real. Verse 7, He made known his ways
unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. Now Moses
knew his ways. The children of Israel knew his
acts. I'd rather know his ways, wouldn't you? He made known his
ways to Moses, but his acts to the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. Now, is that a reason
to be married? He will not always chide. Neither will he keep his
anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins. nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. Now is that a reason to be merry? For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. Now
let me identify to you who that person is who fears God. Now
his mercy is great toward them, but who is this person that fears
God? The person who fears God, I know
this is so, the person who's really afraid of God is the person
who's afraid to look anywhere but Christ for everything. That's the person that fears
God. They fear looking anywhere but
Christ. Oh, let me be found in Him. I
don't want to be seen in any way on my own. I want God to
simply see me in Christ. Now, that person has a fear of
God, and that's why they know that they can't stand before
this holy God apart from Christ. and they look to Him only. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions
from us." Now how far is that? It's infinite. It's infinite. You can't put a quantitative
distance as far as the east is from the west. That's how far
my transgressions have been removed. They've been taken off me and
removed. Now that's a reason to be merry,
isn't it? That's a reason to be of good cheer. Verse 13. Like as a father pitieth his
children, And I know how, I've got one
lovely daughter here, and I know what I feel for her, and the
Lord's infinitely more than me, infinitely, you can't even, as
a father, piteous. Everything about your children
is important to you, everything about them. There isn't anything
inconsequential, there's nothing that's not important. As a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him,
for he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we're dust. You know, the Lord looked at
his disciples and he said, the Spirit is willing. But the flesh
is, that word weak, impotent, powerless. You know, the Lord
knows my frame. I don't really know my frame.
I think sometimes I do, but I don't know my frame, but he does. And
he knows what it is. To dust thou art, and to dust
thou shalt return. But not only does He know my
frame, what I am, and is merciful toward me, because He knows who
I am in Christ. Perfect in Christ Jesus. He knoweth
our frame. He remembers that we're dust.
He remembers how weak we are. As for man, his days are as grass,
as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth, for the wind
passes over it, and it's gone, and the place thereof shall know
it no more. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. That means it never had a beginning
and it will never have an ending. The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness
unto children's children. Now, everything I have in Christ,
justification, acceptance, redemption, sanctification, God's favor,
God's mercy, everything I've had in Christ, I've always had. Maybe not in my experience, There
was a time in my experience when all I knew was that I was lost,
and that if I died, I'd go to hell. I knew that. But you know what? 2 Timothy
1.9 says, He saved us and He called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, When? Before the world began. I've always been in Christ. Somebody
says, explain that. Well, how could I explain that?
I can't explain it. And I'm not even going to attempt
to. But I believe it with all my heart. I know it's what the
Scripture teaches. God's elect have always been
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's never seen me apart from
Christ. The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting on all them that fear Him. His righteousness,
His righteousness, you know, His righteousness is my personal
righteousness before God. I'm talking about something that
gives you boldness. His righteousness is my personal
righteousness before God. Verse 18, to such as keep His
covenant and to those that remember His commandments to do them.
What's His commandment? Does that mean we keep the Ten
Commandments? Well, in Christ, I did keep them. But I keep the
commandments of the Gospel. I believe the Gospel. I love
His people. 1 John 3.23, those are His commandments,
that we should believe on the name of His Son and love one
another as He gave us the commandment. The Lord, verse 19, hath prepared
His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over Aren't
you glad it's that way? You know, we don't have to worry
about anything. There's no reason to worry because
he's ruling and controlling everything. Government, somebody says, oh,
the government's going down to whatever, you know, well, he's
in control of it. He's in control of it. Whatever happens, he's
in control of it because he ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye, verse 20,
his angels that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his
hosts, ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord,
all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord,
O my soul. Isn't he merry? Let him sing Psalms. Here's a
good one to begin with. Psalm 103. Now, is any afflicted? Is any troubled? Whatever trouble
it is. Trouble being oppressed by sin,
trouble in mind, trouble in spirit, trouble in body, soul trouble,
whatever kind of trouble. There's only one thing to do.
Pray. Is any merry? Let him sing songs. Let's pray
together. Lord, we give thanks. That your
God and beside thee is none else. And Lord, we. Acknowledge. Our troubles. And Lord, we ask that you would
take our troubles and drive us by your grace to prayer. For
Lord, we really believe that you're the only one who can help
us in our troubles. And Lord, give us this merry
heart. that believes your gospel, that rejoices in your absolute
control of all things, that rejoices in the forgiveness of sins and
that you haven't dealt with us according to our iniquities or
rewarded us according to our transgressions. And I would thank
you that you've separated our sins from us as far as the East
is from the West. Now, Lord, bless this word to
our good. your glory. In Christ's blessed
name we pray. Amen. We got Dwayne? Yeah, that's a good one.