The Church of Eleven22 - S02E23 - Pray for One Another

Episode Date: September 13, 2021

Forgiveness of sin comes from Jesus alone, but often healing comes in the context of community. Who are you praying for? Who do you have in your life that’s praying for you? Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. – James 5:16

Welcome to Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin. The Church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And we're praying this message helps you deepen your relationship with him. Now let's dive in. Hey, church family, welcome back to Deep and Devo. We are in week 23, can you believe it? 23 of diving deep into not only the Gospel of John, but also are one another's. And so this past weekend, we started in John 15.

We went all the way through 1633, and we talked about this promise of the gift that Jesus was going to send to us that we know as the Holy Spirit. And Jesus calls the Holy Spirit helper. And the point was the Spirit of God in you is greater than the circumstances around you. This world has trouble, but praise God. God offers peace that transcends understanding. And again, Jesus said that if you follow him, we were going to have trouble, but to take heart because he had a overcome the world and that it would be better for him to go away because he was going to sin the spirit of God to dwell within us. And like my friend, Pastor J.D. Greer says that the spirit in you

is better than Jesus beside you. And then one of the roles that Jesus laid out that the Holy Spirit would play in the life of the believer, not only would he teach us the word, not only would he lead guide and direct us, not only would he comfort us, but one of the things that we often don't think about is this, is that the role of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of sin. That's right. One of the roles of the Spirit of God is to convict us of sin. Now, one of the things you may be asking, well, why is that? Well, in Romans chapter 1, we find out that it is God's kindness that leads us to repentance, that it is the kindness of God to convict us of our sin, and that it's actually the the wrath of God to turn us over to our own desires and allow us to continue on a pathway that does

not have him as the final destination. It would be God's ultimate wrath upon us to not convict us of sin and give us the faith by which we can repent and turn back to him, but instead let us be Lord of our own lives and die and go to a Christless eternity. So the question then is, what do you do when the Spirit of God convicts you of sin? And so this is, this is, where we find our one of our one another's, our 23rd one another. James chapter 5, verse 16, says this, pray for one another. Now, in this context, we want to look at the context of James five, because when James tells us to pray for one another, it doesn't simply mean the kind of pray for one another like we think about when we say pray for one another. What James is talking

about is praying for healing. So let's look at it, James 5, verse 13, almost every single time we've we've ever done a healing service at our church, which we did back when Jesus asked the man, do you want to be healed? I almost always come to this passage, because this is the reason that we respond that way. James asked this question in James 513, is ending you on among you suffering. Now again, remember in John 15 and 16, Jesus said that in this world, we will have troubles of many kinds. Jesus said, this world hates you if you're a follower of him. It hated him because he came from the father and did the things of the father. And if we become people that are more like Jesus, then for sure there are going to be troubles and pain and suffering in this world. So James says,

is anyone among your suffering? Now we've covered this several times, but I want to go over it again and again and again. The reason that suffering happens, there are at least five, reasons that I can see. One, sometimes you suffer because of your own sin. That's just it, man. Sometimes it's the consequences of our own sin and we suffer immediately for it. Two, sometimes we suffer because of other people's sin against us. It's not our fault, but we have been sinned against. We've been lied about. We've been abused. We've been neglected. Whatever the thing is. But sin was involved towards us. Three, Sometimes we suffer because it is a test from God. Abraham is told by God to take his only begotten son, Isaac, up on to the mountain to sacrifice him.

That was an emotional suffering, and it was God's testing him. Sometimes it is demonic. Paul has these thorns in the flesh that he asked God to remove, and we find out in Corinthians that the thorns in the flesh were demons that were afflicting him. And then five, sometimes it's not a specific demonic attack against you. Sometimes it's the fact that we live in a fallen world. And nobody did anything wrong and it's nobody's fault. But sometimes, whether it's at the macro level, like a hurricane shows up and creates devastation and weather patterns don't do exactly what they are supposed to do, sometimes it's the micro level all the way down to the

cellular level. And some of your cells just rebel and disobey. And, and, you know, and, and, you're and we have cancer. So, but the reality, no matter which one of the five reasons are behind the suffering, what is above the suffering, what is over the suffering, well, the point of the suffering is the glory of God. Romans 828 says that God is at work in all things of the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. So James asks, is anyone among you suffering?

And then he gives you an answer, well, we'll let him pray. and then I'm glad he says this. He goes on to say, is anyone cheerful? Because I wouldn't take that for granted. And a church service is not always supposed to be the place where everybody just comes in here and just moans because everything's so bad and hard. But sometimes, sometimes, man, things go great, right?

God's blessings upon you, the sun's shining, relationships are good, everybody's healthy. And whatever you do, don't ever take those things for granted. So if you are cheerful, let him sing praise. That means your responsibility. response to God for who he is and what he's done in your life is it wells up in you and you sing praise to God. Then he says this, is anyone among you sick? Now that doesn't just mean physically sick. It can be financially sick. It could be financially sick. It could be mentally sick. It could be

emotionally sick. It could be spiritually sick. And for sure, it could be physically sick. And if that's you, and by the way, the Bible says, hope deferred makes the heart sick. One of the things that makes the believer sick is when we hope for a thing or want for a thing, and it does not go the way that we wanted it to go. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Like if you've been praying and praying and praying, and God's not responding the way you hope that he would, hope deferred makes the heart sick.

So James says, is that you? And if it is, here's James' instructions. Let him call for the elders. of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him of the oil in the name of the Lord. By the way, this is why we do this at our church. He says, let him call the elders, that includes the pastors of the church,

let him pray over him, anointing him of the oil, in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Listen, I said this a few weeks ago, I am not a faith healer. I'm simply a Bible believer. And so when we are sick, when we are struggling, when we have sin in our life, or when sin has come against us, or if it's a demonic attack, or if it's a test of God, or if it's the fact that we live in a fallen world, when we are sick, when we have sin, we just call the elders, we come and we seek prayer. and then in this like instruction for a healing service that James gives us,

then he says this in verse 16, therefore confess your sins to one another, and then here's our one another, and pray for one another that you may be healed. So let me ask you this, who are you praying for? Do you have a one another in your life that you're praying for? And if not, you might want to scratch your head and be like, uh-oh, I'm not doing this thing right.

because being a Christian is not a solo activity. Being a Christian is a team sport. So do you have the kind of relationships in your life where people are confessing sins to you, not so that you can forgive them because their forgiveness comes from Christ, but so that you could pray for them? Let me ask you this, who's praying for you?

Who have you invited into your life to pray for you when you sin? Do you have the kind of person in your life that you love enough and loves you enough, that you can pick up the phone and say, hey, bro, there's some things that I am struggling with. There are some temptations in my life that I am falling into, and I need to say these things out loud because I don't want to fight the enemy on my own.

Why? Because the Bible says the devil prows around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. The enemy, the lion, always picks off the little long sheep out there on the edge. A part of what we're saying when we confess our sins to one another, and we pray for one another, is we are saying, hey, I'm hurting, and I need to get into the middle of the safety of the flock. Do you have that in your life? If not, you're not doing this thing, right? And he says you might be healed. So, listen to this. Forgiveness of sin comes through Jesus alone, but often healing comes in the context of community.

Let me say that again. Forgiveness of sin comes through Jesus alone. but often healing comes in the context of community. Back in John 15 and 16, Jesus is saying, I'm going away, but it's good for me to go away because I'm going to send the helper. I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. And every single believer has the Spirit of God deposited in them. And then all of us together, all of us believers together,

come together as one body, as the body of Christ. And so what Jesus is saying is, the way that I am going to bring healing to you, once I'm sitting next to the Father in heaven is through the power of the Holy Spirit, and oftentimes that healing comes in the context of community. And what I want you to see here is that as we are praying for one another, that we would be healed, and as we are confessing our sins to one another, notice that the response to confessed sin is not condemnation.

The response to confessed sin is prayer for restoration. and in reality, when we confess to one another, ultimately we're not even confessing that we've sin. We're confessing that the blood of Christ has already made payment for that sin. You're actually just confessing that Jesus has paid it off. And then listen to what he says. Because the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. So who do you think James is talking about there?

You think he's talking about only the pastors and only the ministers and deacons and elders is maybe the Pope, nope. Because the Bible says that for anyone who has put their faith in Jesus Christ, then God counts that faith as righteousness. That if you believe in Jesus, if you believe when he died on the cross, it counted for you, then the imputed, then the righteous life of Christ is imputed unto you. Not imparted.

Imparted means if you do your part, he'll do his part, but you don't earn his righteousness. It is a free gift of grace. that means that if you believe in Jesus, then you have credited to your account the righteousness of Jesus. So if you're a Christian, then you are wholly, blameless, and righteous. That means you Christian have great power as it is working. When you pray, you unleash great power. And then he gives an example, and he goes all the way back to the Old Testament, like first and second kings, Elijah, who was a private. And here's what you.

what he says about Elijah. Elijah was a man with a nature just like ours. In other words, Elijah was a man called of God, but he was just a dude. And he prayed fervently that it might not rain. And for three years and six months, it did not rain on earth. And then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain and the earth bore its fruit. And so what he's saying, what James is saying is, when you are in the kind of community that when you pray for one another, and you pray for healing. And you've got the kind of vulnerability and authenticity and accountability where you can say to your brothers and sisters in Christ, I need your help. I've got some struggles. I've got some sins. I've got some habits and addictions and hangups in my life. And I need to say these things out loud

to a community of believers that would love me enough to not condemn, but to pray for me. There is healing in that. There is healing in that. And how do we know? Look, man, God used Elijah who prayed and when he prayed, God turned the rain off for three and a half years. And maybe you can change things in your life and the life of those in your community. Because when we pray for one another, what we can do is ask God to turn the rain of his goodness and grace on these people to just flood them with his goodness and grace when they face temptations and trials of many kinds. So Church of 1122, may we be a praying people.

I hope and pray that you were in the kind of community, the kind of relationships, the disciple group, where you can be open and honest about your struggles and your failures and your flaws and your sins, and that you would be surrounded by men or women that would love you enough that we would pray for one another, and that you would experience healing through the blood of Jesus. Let's pray. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you, and I praise you. that you have called us into a church. You have called us into community with other believers. Lord, I pray that we would trust the sufficiency of the gospel to the point where we would be willing

to confess our sins to one another. To say out loud, we are weak and we need the strength of Jesus. To know that you have called us to bear one another's burdens, to forgive one another, to lift each other up. Lord, to pray for one another. May we be a praying church. And Lord, I thank you. I thank you that there's nothing that can separate us from your love, nothing that can separate us from your goodness. God, that you've never lost one of us. No matter what we do, you've never been surprised

because you knew that we were going to have those struggles and temptations before you even adopted and claimed us as your very home. So, Lord, by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, may we pray for one another, and may we walk in the healing that you have provided for us through the cross. Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for joining us for Deepen with Pastor Jobi Martin. If you're looking for additional resources to help you further deepen your relationship

with Jesus Christ, visit C-O-E-22.com slash resources. We're praying this message you heard today helps you experience God in a unique and fresh way. And as always, be free.