Why You Should Pray When Suffering

[00:00:00] Look for the sound of the trumpet, the shaking of the earth, the rolling back of the sky, and the coming of the Lord Jesus. [00:00:08] We are looking forward not to condemnation, but to glorification. [00:00:15] We are looking forward to the setting of all things right and the great separation of saints from sin. [00:00:24] And Lord, we ask that you would strengthen us as we wait for them, that we would consider the sufferings of this present time not even worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. [00:00:38] Help us to be patient and constant in prayer and to do so particularly in response to your word, which comes to us today. [00:00:47] We ask for your blessing in the reading and preaching of your word, and we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. [00:00:57] Well, this morning we are pausing for a moment in First Samuel to turn to the end of the book of James, James chapter five. [00:01:07] I'm going to be reading from verse seven through the end of the chapter, but focusing particularly, particularly on the last half, 13 through 20. [00:01:21] And we're going to be covering this in two sermons, one today and one next week, today focusing particularly on prayer and the response of prayer and suffering. [00:01:36] The second, we'll focus on this commandment regarding oil. What does that mean, and how does that fit into these sorts of things? How are we to understand that? [00:01:48] So we'll do this in two parts. [00:01:51] The reason for this, as I mentioned I think, last time, is that as we've been reading through James, this is somewhat of a difficult passage with lots of things going on. [00:02:02] And rather than just reading that and moving on, I wanted to spend a little time here just so that we can understand it, which is a good enough reason in and of itself. [00:02:11] But also it does relate to many of the things we're thinking about in First Samuel. David is in the wilderness. He's suffering in the Lord. And many of the psalms that we have are the response of David to that suffering. Songs of complaint, songs of lament, songs of praise. [00:02:30] As David lives in this period, and not just literally in the wilderness, but his whole life as he like us, awaits for the final consummation of all the things that God has promised. [00:02:44] So we are here now in James chapter 5, beginning at verse 7. [00:02:52] Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. [00:02:56] See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains. [00:03:04] You also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. [00:03:10] Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door as an example of suffering and patience. Brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. [00:03:23] Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. [00:03:27] You've heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. [00:03:35] But above all, my brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. [00:03:47] Is any among you suffering? [00:03:49] Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? [00:03:53] Let him sing praise. Is any among you sick? 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 will save the one who is sick. And the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. [00:04:10] 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. [00:04:20] Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain. And for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain and the earth bore its fruit. [00:04:33] My brothers, if any of you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. [00:04:46] May God bless his word to us. You may be seated. [00:04:55] Well, as I said, next time we're going to focus particularly on the calling of the elders for the sick, the anointing with oil, the confessing of sins, these kinds of things. Today we're going to focus on this aspect of prayer that is mentioned particularly in verse 13. And then following through there, verse 14 and all the way down to the end. [00:05:23] This reminds us there's lots of different responses that we can have to suffering, isn't there? [00:05:28] Let's do a little brainstorming session for a moment. [00:05:32] As a result of sin in our lives, as a result of all the things that we go through, experiences that we have, various afflictions, how do we respond to suffering? [00:05:43] One response is to get mad. [00:05:46] This isn't fair. I shouldn't have to deal with this. Why is this taking so long? [00:05:53] Another response to suffering is despair. [00:05:56] Nothing is ever going to work again. Nothing is ever right. Everything is always wrong. [00:06:02] Some people get mad, some people despair, other people pretend. [00:06:07] Everything is always easy, always fine. There's no Problems going on at any time. [00:06:12] Some play the hero, right? I can solve every problem that comes my way. Some play the victim. I can't do anything about anything. Things are always just happening to me. I don't know why the world is against me. [00:06:28] James doesn't say any of this, right? [00:06:31] We're not to be mad or despair or pretend or act as though our abilities are greater than they are, or act as though we have no part to play in any of this at all. What does James say? [00:06:45] He calls us to pray. [00:06:49] He says, if any among you is suffering, this is verse 13. If any among you is afflicted, let him pray. [00:06:57] And I think he's continuing that thought in the second part of that verse when he says, is anyone cheerful? [00:07:03] Let him sing praise. [00:07:05] Singing praise is another form of prayer, and I won't get all into it right now. But I think James isn't just saying, if you're having a hard time, pray, and if you're not having a hard time, sing songs. I think what he's saying is, if you are having a hard time, if you're afflicted, pray, and if you are cheerful in the midst of that hard time, give thanks to God and sing. [00:07:32] So there's so in understanding it that way, he never leaves this theme of suffering. He doesn't sort of step aside for a moment and address a non suffering time and then come back to it. When he talks about sickness, he's still in that vein. [00:07:48] And so he calls for prayer in the first part of verse 13 and the second part of verse 13, and then in verse 14 when he talks about this specific example. If you're cheerful in your souls, if you sing praise, if you're sick in your bodies, ask for prayer, says, let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him. [00:08:13] So James doesn't just call us to pray though, does he? He does this wonderful thing in that he calls our attention to the prophets and gives us a lesson, a lesson on the power of prayer and the importance of patience. [00:08:31] The power of prayer and the importance of patience. He mentions two prophets, another pairing that we have in the book of James. You remember Abraham? [00:08:41] I was mentioned earlier. [00:08:43] Here he mentions James and Job, I'm sorry, Job and Elijah. [00:08:48] And we start out with Job right here. [00:08:51] He says at the beginning of this section, be patient therefore brothers, until the coming of the Lord. He wants us to understand our suffering and our patience in the midst of that suffering as having an end point. [00:09:05] It has a stopping point, the coming of the Lord, he gives an example of a farmer. See how a farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth until it receives the early and the late rains. You also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. [00:09:25] The Lord is coming. And James calls us to be patient. [00:09:29] And James gives the example of Job. [00:09:33] You remember Job, right? [00:09:35] Job, who, like Elijah, has a nature like ours. [00:09:41] Job, another human being. Job, with family and friends. Job, in a particular place at a particular time, lost that family, lost his wealth, lost his health, and suffered many, many things. [00:09:59] And he did not give up, he did not fail. He established his heart in the Lord and he persevered. And God rewarded him, not only with earthly blessings, but, of course, even better eternal life. [00:10:15] But one of the things that I think we forget about Job sometimes is that as Job perseveres, it wasn't that he just got his stuff back and got it more, more importantly is that through that process, lots of things happened. But one of the things that happened is his relationship with the Lord changed. And it grew. [00:10:37] As he prayed and as he heard from God's word, he was humbled. [00:10:43] He came face to face with the power of God. He came face to face with the mystery of God's Word and His will. [00:10:52] Throughout the book of Job, we see Job's communion with the Lord deepening and expanding as he prays, as he speaks to the Lord, as he complains, as he tries to understand what's going on, and as he eventually puts his hand over his mouth, as the Lord speaks to him and humbles him, and as Job asks questions like how long and I don't understand and what are you doing? And help, and help and help. [00:11:19] The Lord is there with him, teaching him about himself, and of course, all of us as well in Job and in the middle of all. And through all of that, we see what James says in verse 11. [00:11:34] You've heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful, even in the midst of the suffering that he allows. [00:11:47] Well, the second example he gives is Elijah. We're going to spend most of our time here. [00:11:52] James points to Elijah. [00:11:55] Elijah prayed that it might not rain. And for three years and six months it didn't rain. Then he prayed again, and the earth bore its fruit. There's several things to notice about this. [00:12:06] Number one is that Elijah is. [00:12:09] James is using Elijah as a way to remind us of the power of prayer, that prayer is effective, that God uses it to accomplish things. [00:12:21] Right. Now you might think that what James is telling us is that our job is to find super holy people like Elijah who can then pray for us, you know, that can sort of accomplish spiritual things that we're not able to do, like a Christian witch doctor or something like that. [00:12:40] James wants us to think exactly the opposite of that. [00:12:43] Notice what he says. [00:12:45] He says, he says the prayer of a righteous person has great powers, is working verse 16 and then verse 17. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. [00:12:58] Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. [00:13:02] Elijah is considered righteous as one who belonged to the Lord and had received God's grace and the Spirit working in his life, just like you are righteous as one who belongs to the Lord and has the spirit of God working in your life. [00:13:19] Now, it's true that the things that happened to Elijah in his life were extraordinary and he did extraordinary things. [00:13:26] But that doesn't mean that not or less extraordinary things are not of the power of God. [00:13:33] We would be wrong to think that only those things that really stand out of the ordinary belong to the Lord. And then everything else is just our stuff, right? It's all of Him. [00:13:44] And as the Lord works in our lives through tiny mundane things and through fire coming down and consuming a sacrifice to embarrass the prophets of baal, all of those kinds of things are from him. [00:13:58] Remember also that Elijah, who had a nature like ours, faced difficult circumstances as we do to rehearse a little bit of the history. And it's important to understand some of these things that are going on. [00:14:12] Remember that Elijah was a prophet of God who under King Ahab, told Ahab and called Israel to stop worshiping baal. [00:14:24] And Ahab would not stop. He married Jezebel, who encouraged these things. He erected an altar, he built a temple in Samaria. The whole people were turning away from the Lord and Jezebel was murdering the prophets of God, seeking them out, trying to murder them. [00:14:42] And so in judgment against the idolatry, against the wickedness, and in protection of the saints of the Lord, God sends Elijah, who goes to Ahab and says, there will be no rain, no rain except by my word. And a drought descends upon Israel in judgment after this happens. During this time, Elijah goes to this brook and he drinks of this brook until it dries up and he's fed by birds there. The Lord provides for him. In the middle of this drought, he keeps in his life and preserves him. That's important. These details will all come together, you'll see. [00:15:26] So Elijah is told to go to this brook he's taken care of. Then Elijah goes to this widow of Zarephath, where God, this lady outside of Israel, this woman whose son is sick and eventually dies, whose poverty is intense, is also suffering under the drought. He goes to her. And through Elijah, God miraculously provides for her an unending supply of flour and oil until it rains again. [00:15:56] An example of God blessing the nations even during this time of judgment on Israel. [00:16:03] He even heals her son. It says the illness of her son was so severe that there was no breath left in him. [00:16:10] Then the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah and the life of the child came into him and he revived. [00:16:16] An amazing moment where these Gentiles are saved. [00:16:22] And then after three years, God tells him to go to Ahab, which he does. [00:16:27] He set. And this comes to the epic. You know, him setting up the sacrifice and telling all the prophets of Baal, Mount Carmel, right? [00:16:37] A sort of duel of the gods. Their God, baal, can't do anything. God sends down fire, consumes the sacrifice, licks up all the water. Perhaps you remember, if you don't know these stories, these moments in our family history, you should go read them in First Kings. [00:16:56] But that happens there. [00:16:58] The result of this moment of intense judgment on BAAL and his prophets results not in Jezebel giving her life over to the Lord, but instead she goes to seek to destroy Elijah. [00:17:17] Elijah responds this way, I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the people of Israel, have forsaken your covenant, throw down your altars, killed your prophets with the sword. And I, even I only am alive, and they seek my life to take it away. [00:17:36] He's alone, he's afraid, he's frustrated, he's angry, and he's looking to God and praying and asking for God to help him. And God responds, this is the story of all that goes on here. [00:17:55] And, you know, James doesn't list all this and share all this as I have. He just reminds us of these things, of the rain starting and stopping. But there's this little phrase in there, right, this little phrase that says, for three years and six months. [00:18:12] Now, why remind us of the time? [00:18:15] Well, it reminds us of the events, for one, but I think it's. It's more than that. [00:18:21] I hope you got some good sleep last night, because we're going to get a little detailed here. [00:18:25] All right, you ready? [00:18:27] So, three years and six months. Three and a half. Three and a half years. [00:18:31] The first thing I want to say about this particular time is that there's no discrepancy between here and 1st Kings 18 which says the rain came in the third year for one. It could be another way of putting it. Another possibility suggested by James Orr is this. The ground had already been dry for six months since the previous raining season, when Elijah stayed the rain by his word at the commencement of the new rainy season. So the six plus the three is one possible answer to that. [00:19:07] More important, though, is this time, this marker of time, this three and a half years. [00:19:12] I want to point you to several things in Scripture that teach us about the symbolism of this time. [00:19:19] I'm going to tell you some things, but I'm going to also leave out a bunch of stuff because there's a whole of bunch, whole bunch more. [00:19:26] It takes too much time to go through all of it. But it is a significant period of time. It's symbolic and it refers to the end times, the in between times that we find ourselves now in between the Lord's first coming and his second coming. [00:19:44] In Luke 21:13 and 24, Jesus says Israel will be trampled underfoot until the time of the Gentiles fulfilled. He describes this action that's happening, which is described throughout the New Testament, in which judgment comes upon Israel and the Gentile nations as a result of that are brought in. It's part of the end times. It's part of what God is doing and has been doing. [00:20:13] Now this same period of time is described in Revelation 11:2 and 3. [00:20:19] Here's what it says. [00:20:21] But do not measure the cord outside the temple, leave that out, for it is given over to the nations. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. [00:20:30] And I will grant authority to my two witnesses that they will prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth. [00:20:40] So this trampling of the holy city, this judgment of the Holy City for 42 months, a symbolic number in Revelation is 12 +12 +12 +63 years and 6 months, much like our 3 1/2 years that we have in the judgment. Rain or drought rather, that happened under Elijah. The same for the 1260 days that is described of the two witnesses witnessing to the work of Christ during this period, judgment. [00:21:19] 300, if you have 30 days, is a month. 360 plus 360 plus 360 plus half of that is 1260. So again we have this three and a half number, three and a half months, three and a half years. [00:21:36] Now this same period of time, this a thousand plus years, 1260 years is the same period of time, in which the woman which is the church in the wilderness in is described this way in Revelation 12:6. [00:21:51] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. [00:22:02] So this woman who flees into the church, who symbolize or sorry, who flees into the wilderness, who symbolizes the church, is nourished there by the Lord, right? Just as Elijah was nourished by the Lord as he flees into the wilderness and is taken care of. [00:22:22] Now, James Hamilton and Greg Beale and others point out this, that this period of three and a half times also corresponds to this 70th week in the prophecy of Daniel, this final week of the end of days, which Daniel splits into two periods, a half a week, three and a half days and or three and a half days and another half of a week, three and a half days, interestingly, not totally equivalent in terms of time, according to John in his Revelation, a time the first half of that week lasting much longer, in which the witnesses speak and the church is persecuted and taken care of and then the last half of the week when the beast arises, and for three and a half days in the last half of the last week and for this short time he is allowed to this is Revelation 13:5, to exercise authority for 42 months. [00:23:24] Again, the same period of time which is then shortened in Revelation 11:7 to three and a half days. [00:23:36] This indicates that the final battle, James Hamilton writes, will be shorter than the period of endurance and perseverance by the church, and the time is cut short for the elect. [00:23:49] So we have this number shortened and lengthened, sometimes expressed in days, sometimes weeks, sometimes months, sometimes years, that corresponds to the same set of events, the same set of events which has to do with the judgment of God coming upon coming upon Israel as a people, but also idolatry as a whole, the Lord saving and persevering his people as they witness to the good things that he is doing, even though they're dying and will be persecuted very greatly. He promises that that time will be cut short for the sake of the elect, and that the Lord will come in victory. [00:24:37] Now, I hope that as we kind of think through these things, you're starting to hear this thing that happened with Elijah and the drought as being significant and attached with these other events and the practical application of these things which James talks about like this be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord, we're to think about this period of time we're in is not a Never ending period of time that goes on and on and on, but is just three and a half. [00:25:12] Three and a half and not a random number. [00:25:15] A number that has been chosen by the Lord to both end to be temporary, but also to be used for his purposes. [00:25:25] Think about some of these themes that we see in this number. This reference to three and a half years reminds us of the wide reach of suffering that goes on in this world. [00:25:35] And we know that suffering, though the affliction in this world is experienced by both believers and unbelievers. [00:25:42] This is evident in first Kings. Then the drought affects both Israel as well as those outside of it. [00:25:49] Jesus notes in Luke 4:25 There were many widows in Israel during this time who suffered the consequences, and again, even those outside the border. The point is this. This three and a half period of time is suffering under God, as suffering under God's providence. [00:26:08] It touches everyone. And yet at the same time his redemptive purposes are unfolding in that the suffering that we experience is not meaningless. [00:26:19] This phrase three and a half years also connotes a time of judgment. James draws directly from the covenant promises. In Deuteronomy, God says that the land would drink water by the rain of heaven, and that he would provide the early and the late rain. Deuteronomy 11:14. [00:26:38] But if the people turned to idols, he would, he says in Deuteronomy, shut up the heavens so the land would bear no fruit. This three and a half year of time is a judgment against idolatry. [00:26:54] James is revealing that this suffering is connected to sin. [00:26:59] It's connected to the things that we that the sin that is in the world. And Revelation 6 reminds us of this. [00:27:07] And especially as the idolatry of the world is comes to bear in the persecution of the church, we do what we pray, we pray and we call out for justice and we call out for salvation. We call out for hope and we come out for the coming of the Lord. [00:27:27] Three and a half years is also a sign of mission, God's mission to the nations, as we mentioned with the widow of zarephath. In Luke 4 Jesus says, Elijah was sent to none of them, the widows of Israel, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon. [00:27:42] In this James is encouraging, he's reminding us, his readers, that your suffering is not in vain. It's a part of the advancement of God's kingdom, even to the Gentiles, which of course includes most of us here. [00:27:57] There's also this theme of nourishment that we have in this phrase, we have the waiting as well for the rain to come. [00:28:04] Notice how James begins this idea of the rain in the beginning of this section in verse seven, and then fulfill and then returns to it. When he talks About Elijah in 17 and 18, James uses this period of time and he connects it with the image of this patient farmer who waits for the early and the late rains. [00:28:28] So our prayers should be marked by endurance and faith and patience as we await for the later rains, for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:28:39] So to sum all these things up and tie them together in this section, James is teaching us that the prayer of faith is powerful. [00:28:47] The prayer of our faith, the prayer that flows from our faith and speaks to the Lord, is powerful, just as Elijah was in bringing judgment, in bringing the vindication of God and his people, in bringing ultimate restoration, in establishing our hearts and causing us to be patient and be steadfast, to bring justice and comfort as God works among his people and advances his kingdom. [00:29:16] The phrase reminds us that we are in a period of time of drought, of wilderness, of trial, of tribulation, of suffering. [00:29:24] This is part of what's going on. But it's not going to last forever. [00:29:31] Three and a half years. [00:29:33] It's not an insignificant period of time. [00:29:36] Just in our own lives, three and a half years is kind of long, right? On the other hand, it's not forever. [00:29:45] It's not a moment, but it's not forever. [00:29:48] And because of Jesus first and second coming, which we are waiting for, we are in these in between times, or to describe it as Daniel says it, a time, times and half a time, one, two is three and three and a half, Daniel 12. I'll finish with reading some of Daniel and then one final thing to say. [00:30:14] To conclude, here's what Daniel 12 speaking of the end says, 121 through 7. [00:30:21] At that time shall arise Michael, a great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never been seen since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered everyone whose name shall be found written in the book of life. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. [00:30:47] And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars, forever and ever. [00:30:58] But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. [00:31:06] Then I Daniel looked, and behold two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. [00:31:13] And someone said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the stream, how long shall it be till the end of these wonders? [00:31:25] And I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the stream. He raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times and half a time. [00:31:40] And that when the shattering power of the people, when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished. [00:31:53] We are in this period of time, and it will come to an end. [00:31:59] Our response is not to despair and take things matters into our own hands, but to look to the Lord who is at work in all of us of these things, to put our faith in him who came into this world, to end the suffering of this world, to bring us out of darkness and sin and misery and into a kingdom of light where we will resurrect. [00:32:25] We will be resurrected from the dead and shine forever. [00:32:30] And the Lord is persevering us and continuing us in this work. As we put our faith in Christ our Savior, in part through our prayers. [00:32:43] The coming of the end of the suffering is coming. [00:32:47] The glorious return of Christ is coming. The powerful resurrection of his holy people is coming. [00:32:54] How do we respond to that? How do we respond to God's grace? How do we respond to his salvation? How do we respond to the first and the second coming of Christ? Do we turn our backs to the Lord and shut our mouths? [00:33:06] Just go all inside and give up? [00:33:10] Or do we pray? [00:33:11] Do we call out to him for patience, call out to him for perseverance, call out to him for steadfastness and a growing joy in his love, even joy that brings cheer in the midst of our suffering. [00:33:25] That's what we do. [00:33:27] We will be the people who pray to God. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [00:33:36] Amen. Let's pray. [00:33:38] Our Heavenly Father, we pray to you now, our glorious King, recognizing that your word speaks to us clearly and tells us to be patient, to not lose heart, to not give up, to not get angry and go mad and take things into our own hands, but to look to you and your coming, to recognize that this period of suffering, although difficult and strenuous and heartbreaking and full of tears and sorrow and pain, is not forever, that it is coming to a glorious end in which your majesty will be revealed among all the heavens. And the earth in which every single knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. [00:34:34] Lord, we thank you for the saints who have gone before us, for Elijah, for Job, and for many others, those named in the Scriptures and those not named in the Scriptures, who teach to us resilience and steadfastness, who exemplify for us even in the midst of their own sins and troubles, how great you are, how powerful you are, that you are compassionate and merciful. [00:35:04] We know that the evil one would have us to believe otherwise. [00:35:09] We know that he speaks to us in various ways and would have us to believe that you are not compassionate, that you are not merciful, to wonder how that could possibly be when we are suffering so much. But Lord, we desire not to give our hearts over to him, but to believe you, you and what you have said and how easy this is to do when your spirit is working in our hearts and pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world to suffer and to die in order to save us. [00:35:44] Lord, we ask that you would help us to not turn our backs on you, that you would help us not unto close our mouths, but to open them at all times and in every way with thanksgiving and asking for your blessing and your help do preserve us. O Lord. We pray particularly for those who are struggling right now and weak, those who are not sure where to turn and maybe even struggle to find the words to pray. [00:36:16] We ask that you would be great workers in them and intercessors for them and that you would help us to be a people who come to one another in the midst of our weakness and bring healing. [00:36:32] Lord, we thank you for our time together in your word today. We ask that your blessing would be on it and we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.