Studying this book, we left off
with chapter 5, verse 12, and we pick up tonight at verse 13. And the question is asked, is
any among you afflicted? Any among you? That is, believers. Yes, and many of the trials and
troubles and afflictions of the Lord's people. There are many
afflicted. You get God's people together
anywhere, especially when you have a large number, you'll have
many afflicted. Salvation and fellowship with
Christ does not free us from affliction. We read some scripture
on that in John chapter 16. You hear a lot of preachers who
talk about if you have faith and you're saved, you won't be
sick. You won't have troubles and you
won't have these afflictions. But that's not what the Savior
said. He said in John 16, verse 33,
these things I have spoken unto you that in me you might have
peace in the world. He doesn't say you might have
tribulation. He said you shall have. tribulation,
you shall have trouble and sorrow and affliction. But be of good
cheer, I've overcome the world. Then turn to Acts 14. Let's just run through here a
little bit and find some scriptures that confirm what I'm saying,
that many are the trials and troubles and afflictions of the
Lord's people. Salvation and fellowship with
Christ does not free us from these things that are common
to the flesh. We are not amazed when these
things happen because they are to be expected. In Acts 14 verse
21, And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and
had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium,
and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting
them to continue in the faith, and that we must, through much
tribulation, enter into the Kingdom of God. We must, through much
tribulation. Now let's look at another one,
1 Thessalonians 3. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, and
I've read this scripture to you many times. Because I think it's
a strong scripture emphasizing the fact that we should not be
alarmed when these things take place. They're to be expected.
This is the way of all flesh, sickness, trouble, sorrow. And then God has a special purpose
and design in the sicknesses and afflictions and troubles
of his people. Special design. In 1 Thessalonians
3 verse 1 through 4, Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear,
we thought it good to be left at Athens alone, and sent Timothy,
our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the
gospel of Christ, to establish you and to comfort you concerning
your faith, that no man should be moved or alarmed or defeated
by these afflictions. For you yourselves know we are
pointed there unto. For barely when we were with
you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation
even as it came to pass. And you know, see, Paul said,
I told you to expect these things. We're not immune from them. We're
flesh and blood. And they're going to come our
way, and it's really providential that I'm bringing this message
tonight, not last Wednesday night. I didn't know I had cancer last
Wednesday night, but I know it this Wednesday night. I had been
going through some tests back several months ago. I was always
so fatigued, so weary. I haven't had that problem in
my life. I've always had plenty of energy, but lately I haven't
had any. And I began having all matter of tests run, and finally
we took a PSA blood test, and it came up with a high figure,
very high figure. And my doctor sent me to a urologist
who took the test again, and it came up with a higher figure.
And he ordered a biopsy. And they performed a biopsy and
the report came back from the pathologist that it's cancer.
And so last Monday I had a bone scan, Monday a week ago, a bone
scan to see if the cancer was anywhere else besides in this
one area. And I had got good news this
past Monday. I felt like it was especially
good news that the cancer is not anywhere else. It's confined
to one area. The prostate gland is cancerous. It's not a small spot, he said.
It's there. And how long it's been there,
we don't know. But it's contained in one area. So beginning this Monday, I go
for radiation for seven weeks of radiation. And so I'm really
equipped tonight to answer this question, is any among you afflicted?
It's just there. We expect it. It's the flesh.
Why should I be alarmed, you know, as other people have it? Other people have walked this
road, others of God's children, and so this one will walk it
now, and he'll be more able to sympathize and comfort those
with and comfort those who go this road. Let's look at 1 Peter
4. 1 Peter chapter 4. Here's another Scripture. that tells us not to be alarmed,
not to be angry with God or to be defeated because we know who
holds tomorrow, but we don't know what will take place tomorrow.
1 Peter 4, verse 12 says, Beloved, don't think it strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing
happened to you, but rejoice. inasmuch as you are partakers
of Christ's suffering, that when His glory shall be revealed,
you may be glad also with exceeding joy." So, back to our text. Now, is any among you afflicted?
Yes, sir. Many of us, and at some time
during this experience and this journey, we have walked together
for a long time, and by God's grace, whatever time He gives
us to walk together, we're going to have some more afflictions.
So He says, what do we do? Let us pray. See that? If any
afflicted, let him pray. Let him pray. In times of affliction
and trial and trouble, it's time to call on God. It's time to
seek His face. It's not the time to murmur.
It's not the time to complain. It's not the time to try to keep
asking why, why this, why that. That's none of our business,
is it? That's His business. And He doesn't give account of
His matters to His creatures. And He doesn't owe us an explanation.
So why shouldn't be asked? It shouldn't be asked. We don't
murmur, complain, or despair. But it's time to pray, that's
what He said. It's time to pray. Now what are we going to pray
about? Oh, I hear four things that I jotted down yesterday
that I believe it's time to talk about these four things, time
to pray about four things. Number one, the very first thing
for us to do when we pray, when we're afflicted, is pray that
His will might be done. Our Lord set that example for
us when He was under the burden of our sins. and the burden of
bearing our guilt to Calvary, he went to the garden of Gethsemane.
And he said, my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. In
other words, I believe he's saying to the Father, this human body,
this human spirit can't stand this terrible
ordeal. I'm going to die right here in
this garden. I believe that's what he's saying. This cup, he
said, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, even unto death. Now, this sorrow at this moment,
let it pass from me, if it be thy will. Not my will, thy will
be done. And the angels came and ministered
to him. He got help. God says all the
way through the Old Testament that he had helped him. He talked
about his son, his Messiah, and he's going to need help. And
he helped him right there. He undergirded and strengthened
him. But he prayed this way, I'm not asking to be relieved
of this distress and sorrow unless it's your will. Thy will be done. So that's the first in this business
of praying. his will might be done, not only
in the solution or the resolution of the problem, but in bearing
it, whatever his will might be in that. Or secondly, I believe
he says, are you afflicted? Pray. Secondly, pray for patience
and pray for spiritual growth. You see, the purpose of trials
is to give us patience under the hand of God, and under the
way of God, and to enable us to grow. Let me show you that
in Romans chapter 5. In Romans chapter 5, it talked
about tribulations. Romans 5 verse 3. And Paul says,
and not only so, but we glory in tribulations. Knowing that
tribulation worketh patience. These troubles and trials are
ordained to bring us patience. Job is an example. And patience,
experience or maturity. The trial brings us patience. Patience through the trial and
then that patience leads to growth and maturity, experience. And
he says that back in James chapter 1. Listen to this, James chapter
1. He says in verse 2, My brethren,
count it all joy when you fall into divers troubles and trials. Verse 3, Knowing this, that the
trying of your faith worketh patience. Submission to God. Submission to His will. We don't
want to just talk about submission. We want to be submissive. We
don't want to just hold to the doctrine of resting in Christ. We want to experience the rest
in Christ. And that's what these things
do. Like Brother Bill Clark was talking
to me Monday night. He had the same thing. Went through
the same treatment. And he said, I'll tell you, when
the doctor told me that I had cancer, and he didn't know how
far it had gone, all these things, he said immediately, peace came
over my heart and I knew, I believed what I preached. He said, I knew
it already that I believed you, but I really knew it then. See
what I'm saying? So, these things, let patience
have her perfect work that you may be mature and in tire of
wanting nothing. There's no way around it, and
no way over it. The way is through it. And it's
designed by the Heavenly Father, and so let's pray. Number one,
His will be done. Number two, let the trial produce
what God sent it to produce, patience and growth. And thirdly,
pray for grace. Pray for grace and strength to
be a good witness. in time of trouble. That's when
people zero in on us. That's when they really get their
magnifying glasses out. That's when they really watch
you and listen to you when you're in trouble. And pray that God
will give you and me the grace and the strength to be an encouragement
to others and a good witness. Now, I've read this to you many
times, but let's read it again because these things have a way
of being more meaningful when they're really needed. Alright,
in 2 Corinthians 1 verse 2, 2 Corinthians 1 verse 2, Grace be to you, and
peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of mercies, the God of all comfort, who comforted us in all our troubles,
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." Isn't
that clear? So, let's pray. Thy will be done. Secondly, teach
me the patience. Give me the maturity for which
this is designed. Thirdly, give me the grace and
the strength to be an encouragement to others and a good witness,
never bringing reproach on the name of our Lord. And fourthly,
pray to be deliberate if it's God's will. Paul did. Let's look at 2 Corinthians 12.
And you're so familiar with these verses, but like I say, Sometimes
they're even more meaningful when we're going through a certain
problem. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7. Paul here in this 2 Corinthians
12 has been talking about the revelations that God has given
him, and the blessings God's conferred upon him, and the mercies
God's shown to him. And he says in verse 7, I should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations that was given to
me a thorn in the flesh, trouble in the flesh, the messenger of
Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure, lest
I should be proud or taken up with myself. Or forget that I
am a frail, fallible, dying human being. And I prayed about this. Verse 8, what did you pray? I
prayed God would take it away. That's what he's saying. Listen.
For this thing I've besought the Lord twice that it might
depart from me. Take it away. There's nothing
wrong with that. Pray for deliverance. Pray for
healing. Pray God will take it away. But he didn't choose to. The Lord didn't choose to. But
he did tell Paul this in the next verse. He said, he said
to me, the Lord said to me, you're going to keep it. But my grace
is sufficient for you. My grace is sufficient for you.
My strength is made perfect in your weakness. That's when my
strength really is manifested and glorified and understood
and rejoiced in when you're weak. I'll tell you when we're the
weakest is when we're the smartest and the strongest and everything's
going like we want it to. That's when we're really weak
because we're abiding too much in this human flesh. So therefore, most gladly, therefore,
will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ might
rest upon me. Which would you rather have,
health or him? Have him. That's right. So is
any among you afflicted? Well, certainly. Well, let him
pray. And I believe that's the direction
I pray. And I believe it's I believe
it's scripture. All right. Secondly, he says,
is any merry? Yes. We have those in the congregation
tonight who are not afflicted at this present time. Especially
many of our young people, and they don't quite enter into these
trials and troubles and sorrows, but what are they to do? Is any merry? Listen, is any
happy? and prosperous, and a good frame
of mind, and strength, and body, and soul, and family, what should
they do? Listen, let him sing psalms.
That's what, let him praise God. Let him praise God. Is any among
you in good health? I may be describing you sitting
there tonight. Good frame of mind, prosperous,
kind of said, somebody said, on a downhill run on the shady
side, you know. Well, let him thank God. Let
him thank God. It's easy to pray when you're
in trouble. Sometimes, when we're prosperous and doing well, we
forget the source of the blessings. Don't we? So he said the time
of happiness and joy is a time to praise God. Don't forget.
who gives us the blessings. Men and women who hurt will most
likely pray. But too often, all of us are
guilty of this. Blessings and prosperity find
us negligent in the matter of praise. And he said, let it be
vocal. Let him sing songs. Let him give
thanks often. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. Tell somebody. Let it be vocal. Alright, verse 14. Is any sick
among you? There always is. Always those
who are sick in a congregation of the Lord's people. The bodies
of believers as well as other people in this world are subject
to disease and heart trouble and all manner of illness. Let me read you over here in
Philippians chapter 2. And this is something that you
You may have thought about, I have, Paul healed many people. Paul even raised a man from the
dead. But did you know in Paul's very presence, occasionally his
friends were sick, his fellow servants, his comrades, his fellow
preachers were sick? Let me show you some examples.
Philippians 2. Verse 25-27, listen. In verse 24, he said to the church
at Philippi, I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come
shortly, yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus,
my brother. I want to send Epaphroditus to
you, my companion and laboring fellow soldier, but your messenger. He was their messenger, their
pastor. And He ministered to my wants. For He longed after
you all and was full of heaviness because that you had heard He
had been sick. And indeed He was sick. Now unto
death. You see, signs are not for believers. They are for unbelievers. God didn't give the apostles
special power to heal and to raise the dead and speak in tongues
and these things to impress believers. Believers don't need to be impressed.
They believe God's Word. He never gave them those powers
to impress them and to strengthen their faith. Signs and miracles
and wonders are for unbelievers. Believers believe God's Word.
And this man Epaphroditus was there with Paul. He was a pastor
of Philippi who came up there to bring some goods and some special things from Philippi
to Paul, and he got sick while he was there, and he nearly died. Verse 27, he was sick nigh unto
death, but God had mercy on him. I didn't heal him, Paul said.
God had mercy on him. And not on him only, but on me
also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. And then over in 2 Timothy 4,
let me show you another occasion. 2 Timothy chapter 4. You see, those men, just like
us today, they had troubles and trials and sorrows and sickness.
And they died. People died. In 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse
20, listen, Erastus abode at Corinth, but
Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick. We were there preaching
and he got sick, I left him there. I left him there sick. What do we do when we're sick?
Alright, let's see over here James 5. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of
the church. We call the doctor when we're
sick. We make our troubles known to the physician. The thing for
us to do is also make our troubles and sorrows and trials and sicknesses
known to our brothers. Let him call for the elders of
the church. the pastor and the teachers and
those who minister the word. That's what he's talking about
there. But I believe he's also talking about the older men and
women in the church who are not elders, who are not preachers,
who are not pastors, but people who are sound in the gospel and
in love for Christ and are persons of prayer. Is any sick among
you? Make it known to the church.
Make it known to the pastors and the elders. Make it known. so that they might pray for us.
And pray about those very four things that I mentioned. Pray,
and this is a way for us to pray. Let's don't start with making
well. Let's start with making what
he ought to be. Let's start there. Make him know
your will and be in subjection to it. Secondly, increase his
faith. He doesn't have to live, but
he has to believe. That's what our Lord prayed about
Peter. He let Peter deny Him. But He said, I prayed for you
that your faith fail not. So when we pray for somebody,
don't just start with making well. It may not be God's will
to make him well. And we're defeated in our prayers. But make him to know your will.
Make him to be in subjection to your will. To be in submission
to your will. Increase his faith. Increase his patience. Increase
his strength. Give him grace for the trial.
Help him walk a path that others will be blessed. Sometimes we
can be a greater blessing to someone when we are hurting than
when we are happy. There have been people here in
this church that have gotten sick and they've died. And their
experience and attitude and spirit during those days under God's
afflicting hand have left great impressions. Samson slew more Philistines
in his death than he did in his life. He glorified God more in
his death than he did in his life. Let's pray that way. Let's pray that he might have
the grace To glorify God. And then, in the last place,
if it be thy will, let Him stay with us. You know, Paul said,
I have a desire to depart and be with Christ. That's far better.
Far better. But, it's expedient for you that
I remain. Perhaps. If it is, I will remain. So we can pray in that vein that
God would, if it be His will and for His glory, make him well. He would be glad to be happy
if you let him stay around longer. And he says let him call for
the elders of the church, let them pray over him, pray for
him. Let the older folks and the ladies
and the men and the pastor and the elders, let everybody Take
up his cause. Take up his case. Hold him up
in prayer. Pray for him. You've experienced
that. You've done it so many times for so many people. It
says here, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
Now, I did some study on that and different people have different
ideas. Some say this is to apply the
means, such as medicine, which is indicated by oil. It's like
when Hezekiah was sick and God told him to put a poultice on
the place where he was infected and gave him 15 more years. And
God has used means. And this oil, some of them say
it indicates using means. I had three choices. The doctor
gave me three choices in regard to this cancer. ignore it. But he said you may be in two
or three years very sorry because it will be somewhere else possibly. Or he said you can have radical
surgery to remove it. Or thirdly, you can take radiation,
which is very effective in containing it or reducing it. And I thought it over and Talked
to others and I chose the means. And so that's what some people
say. Or secondly, some people say that this anointing with
oil by the elders refers to special gifts which some of the men had
at that time to heal. Anointing with oil as a figure
of the Holy Spirit. Some say that these gifts are
not present with me and now at all, so the oil is not to be
used. But let me say this, this is
my conclusion. Number one, all sickness and
healing is of God. I kill, I make alive. I wound,
I heal. It's not by your means or methods
or ways or plans or whatever. It's the will of God. If it's
His will that I get well, I'll get well. If it's not His will,
I'll die. That's just facts. Whatever you
do, or I do, or the whole world does, is not going to change
the will of God and the purpose of God in this matter. That's true of you, true of me.
Secondly, prayer for the sick does not depend on pastors and
elders. All believers can pray. All believers. I rejoice just as much in the
prayer of any believer here as I do in any elevated officer. That's right. Any believer. It doesn't have to be the pastors
and elders. Just select anybody in here who
knows Christ and say, pray for me. And you'll be blessed. That's right. Any believer here.
And thirdly, I know this, I know healing does not depend on oil,
or anything applied to this flesh. It does not. It cannot. I cannot
put my confidence in anything from without. It's His power,
and His will, and His Spirit. And if I use oil, and it distracts
from that, or leads me to think that this was a magic act, Be done with it immediately.
Isn't that right? Be done with it immediately.
If you're going to put any significance, if you're going to say, well,
He'll live on and on and with all. Now come on. Let's don't
even think in that vein. No sir. No sir. So that would be one reason why
I would discourage it in a way, unless the person insisted. Because
I wouldn't want anybody, anybody to think, that you take a bottle
of oil and change the will of God, it's just not so. But, fourthly, such special meetings,
I like. And such special meetings, fine
with me. If they can indicate to whomever
is present that our dependence is not on ourselves or means
or anything, we call on God. We're calling on God. We're waiting
before Him. Alright, brother and man, what
is that verse 15? And the prayer of faith shall
save the sick. It says right there, listen, three
things. It says the prayer of faith will save the sick, the
Lord will raise him up, if he's committed sins, there'll be forgiveness.
Well, let's put aside what we know. You can't guarantee the healing
of anybody. You can't guarantee the healing
of anybody. You can't guarantee if you follow
certain procedures that they're going to be healed. You just
can't do that. It may be we'll pray for one
believer, and God will heal him. We'll pray for another one with
the same disease, and God will take him out quickly. But you
followed the same procedure, you meant it just as much, you
were just as sincere, You had the same people, the same prayers,
I will be done. So these special get-togethers
and prayers are not going to guarantee anybody's healing.
Physically. Physically. But this I can guarantee. Where there is genuine faith
in the Lord Jesus and a true calling upon Him in time of distress,
He'll save the sick, He'll raise him up, and He'll forgive him.
Just like He says here. He'll save him, He'll raise him
up, and He'll forgive him. How do you mean that? Here's
the way I mean. If we sincerely call on our Father
in time of sickness and distress and trouble, He'll save us. He'll save us from despair. He'll
save us from fear. He'll save us from doubts. He'll
save us from discouragement. And He'll make this trial a pleasant
watch. He'll save you. That's right. He'll save your soul too, but
He'll save you from depression. That's when we pray, when we
call on God. Like I said a while ago, Lord,
Thy will be done. Give us strength. Give us grace. Give us patience. He'll do it. He'll do it. He'll give you those
things. So this prayer is effectual. He did save us. He saved me from
myself and from my attitude, my rebellion, and saved me from
distress and depression. He gave me peace. Nothing like
the time of prayer for peace. Word of God for peace. Secondly,
He'll raise him up. He'll raise him up out of the
valley. Lift his spirits, his expectations. Lift him from despair
to joy and happiness. He'll raise him up. And if he
hath committed sins, and all men do, you know anybody who
hasn't committed sin? But it may be he's talking about
sin in regard to this trouble. Perhaps when it came, there was
rebellion. It was a bad attitude, a bad
spirit. In fact, one dear friend of mine
told me when his father found out he had cancer, he got very angry. He said, why me? Now if we get in touch with God,
He'll forgive that. He'll forgive that. Wish I hadn't
have said that. But He'll forgive it. So really
and truly, is any sick among you? Tell the church. Tell the people of God. Everybody
pray for Him. Pray over Him. And God will save
him. And God will raise him up. And
if he has sins, He'll forgive him. He'll forgive him. So verse 16, let me give you
this. Confess your faults one to another. I'll tell you what that doesn't
mean. That doesn't require us to name and number and confess
our sins to one another. That's not profitable for anybody. Only the Lord is to hear confessions. Only the Lord is to hear us expose
our hearts. The other people aren't supposed
to hear that. But what it's saying here is be honest with other
believers. Acknowledge we're sinners. Acknowledge
the weakness of this flesh. Acknowledge that we're not without
fault. That we have the potential to
sin. False piety and hypocrisy is
obnoxious. It's discouraging to honest people. Let's don't pretend to be what
we're not. Let's confess our faults. Let's
confess our needs. Let's confess our weaknesses. Let's confess our doubts and
fears and pray for each other that we may be healed of these things. You see, the
scripture doesn't put all the emphasis on getting well physically,
it's getting well spiritually. That's what we need to get well
spiritually. And that's these healings a lot
of times. Saving and healing and these
things are healing of the soul, aren't they? Pray one for another. Confess your faults and your
weaknesses and your frailty and don't pretend to be what you're
not. I thank you, I'm not like other men. Oh yes, I am. And
pray for one another and God will heal you. He'll heal the
spirit and soul. For the effectual, fervent prayer,
the active, sincere prayer from the heart of a man who knows
Christ, it avails a whole lot. Prayer is never wasted. Genuine
prayer availeth much. It availeth much where the eye
can't see. That's where effectual prayer
veils much, where the eye can't see. We don't glory in appearance,
we glory in heart. And I hear these people running
around talking about, this man was healed. Oh, just get whooped
to do. I have experienced through the years a lot of healing in
here that nobody saw, but it took place. That's a greater
miracle. A greater miracle is the healing
of a soul than the healing of a cancer, or heart, or anything
else. I'd ten times rather God heal
us spiritually than heal anybody in here physically. Ten times. And then somebody says, well,
preacher, I'm just an ordinary believer. I'm not a Moses. I'm not Elijah. I'm not a Paul.
I can't pray like that. Wait a minute now. Listen to
the next verse. Elijah. Elijah was a man. That's the first. He was a man.
Flesh and bone and blood. A human being born in sin. A
son of Adam by nature no different than anybody here. Secondly,
he was a man of like passions. He was a man who was not free
from sinful thoughts and sinful passions and impatience and fear
and anger and doubt and human lust. He was a man of like passions
as we are. But he prayed. He prayed earnestly
that it might not rain. He prayed about some great things.
And it didn't rain on earth for three years and six months. And
he prayed again. And the heaven brought forth
rain, and the earth brought forth fruit. But he was a man. And
he was a man of like passions as we are. But he prayed. And God did wonders. Brethren,
if any of you believers, any of you believers do err from
the truth, and one convert him, now this is not talking about
saving a soul. This is not talking about turning
a sinner from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to Christ,
from depending on his own righteousness to look to the Savior. That's
God's work. That's God's work. This is speaking about a brother.
Brethren, if any of you, if any of you do err from the
truth. The same thing he's talking about
in Galatians 6.1. If a brother be overtaken in
a fall, Ye which are spiritual, restore Him. Help Him. Get Him off to the side and say,
now, you're headed the wrong way. You're going to make a mess. You're going to mess up. You're
going to hurt yourself and everybody else. Let's get back to God. Back to the true way. And one
of you, help Him. Speak to Him. If God uses you
as an instrument to instruct him and reprove him and help
him to turn from his error, you know this, that he who converts
the sinner from the error of his ways... You know, he said
to Peter, when you're converted... Peter was already saved. Peter
had already said the heart to Christ, the Son of the Living
God, and Christ said, blessed are you, Simon. Remember? And
then later he said, now you're converted, you strengthen your
brother. When you get straightened out, Peter, that's what he said.
When you quit acting like Peter and go to acting like a believer.
When you change your attitude. When you quit talking about how
good you are and how bad these other fellows are. So if you're
used of God to talk a person out of an act or direction, you've converted him in the error
of his way. And saved a soul from death.
God might have killed him if he kept going that way. One thing about it is a lot of
other people would have been hurt, and hurt bad. And you hide
a multitude of sins.