Sermon Tone Analysis

What if it is true.

I mean all of it.

It is with out precedent.

I mean there was this person who was dead, but then came back to life.

Really a dead person who was buried, not breathing for 3 days then (gasp for air).

And this is not like resurrection in your heart, or “you know for me he came back from the dead.

For you maybe he didn't, but I find it meaningful.”

What I am talking about true reality what if a cold dead body in a tomb was somehow no longer dead but alive.

I mean there was this person who was dead came back to life is unheard of.

Really a dead person who was buried not breathing for 3 days then came back from the dead.

So I told him that if I know anything at all I know that dead people stay dead.

So but then, I said, when I think about it for just a little bit longer the temptation to doubt goes away.

So I told him that if I know anything at all I know that dead people stay dead.

So but then, I said, when I think about it for just a little bit longer the temptation to doubt goes away.

If that is true, if the central claim of Christianity is true, that Jesus resurrection is real then it must change everything.

Life cannot remain the same.

We cannot just throw our hands up in the air and say well, weird things happen.

Because the evidence points to a historical truth that in this once case a dead man did not stay dead.

And if I doubt that historical truth then I would have to doubt that I could know any history at all.

.

And if I doubt that then I would have to doubt that I could know any history at all.

And so seems a whole lot crazier to me to not believe the historical truth that there was a Roman Empire, or a man named Christopher Columbus, or that George Washington was our first president, than to believe that a man who in fact claimed to be God in the flesh came back from the dead.

We talked some more and then we had to get dinner ready or something and so we moved on.

Everything must change, Jesus resurrection validates everything he said and did and not only that but it also validates also what he will do.

I mean We all know dead people stay dead, except for this guy, he had the power to not stay dead, and if he has that power is there anything he cannot do?

James wrote this letter to these Christians who believed that Jesus was raised from the dead, and he reminded them that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work today and specifically in our passage this morning we see Jesus power to heal.

You see we are just like these early Christians.

Just like they needed to be encouraged to seek the healing power of Jesus so do we.

And while if we say we are Christians and claim to believe that Jesus came back from the dead we easily affirm that, but when it comes to healing we

FCF: And there are many reasons we my not seek his healing, maybe it is our pride, we don’t want to be seen as unsophisticated or admit that we need help, or maybe we don’t seek healing because we don’t want to be disappointed, you know “what if I am not healed.”

But no matter what it is if the resurrection of Jesus is real Jesus is who he says he is and will do what he says he will do we should seek healing.

whether it is our pride, or fear of disappointment, or unbelief

FCF: We don’t think God is concerned to heal us.

We don’t think God is concerned to heal us.

And our passage shows us we should seek the healing of our bodies, our souls, and ultimate healing.

Proposition: Because the Gospel is true we should seek healing

So first we should seek the healing of our bodies.

Spiritual Healing

Look with me at verses 14 and 15

Relational Healing

So James encourages those who are sick to seek healing by asking for the elders or pastors to come and anoint them with oil and pray for them.

So lets answer some questions

First, what is up with the oil?

Well oil a symbol for tangibly showing that this person is being set apart for God in prayer.

The physicality and smell of the oil encourages faith and trust in us.

The way holding someones hand during a hard time is more encouraging than just words, so the oil is a way that God reassures us with the presence of his Spirit.

What is the oil?

Next we see this statement: “The prayer of faith will save you, and that word save “sozo”in the Greek also means heal.

So the pastors and presumably others were to pray for saving and specifically healing, asking in faith, trusting that God will heal the sick person, and through this God will then heal.

So as we pray if we ask in faith the person we are praying for will be healed.

Now if we take this passage in isolation from the rest of Scripture it seems to be automatic, prayer plus faith and voila the person is no longer sick.

But James does not intents us to think this way.

Actually his words are very similar to Jesus words when he says ask me anything in my name and it will be done.

It's a mistake to congratulate ourselves for strong faith when God grants a request and a mistake to blame ourselves when he refuses to do as we ask.

Implied and undergirding both of these saying is what Jesus also taught and that is to pray “your will be done.”

God will grant our request as he wills and when he wills.Sometimes that means bodily healing now, other times it means later.

But a Christian can know that it is God’s will for us to be healed.

We just don’t always know the when.

For we know that one day when we are resurrected from the dead as Jesus was, we will be completely healed, today we are not completely healed, because even when we re healed we still face death.

But when we are healed we get a taste of that future healing today.

So we should pray in faith asking for God to heal our sick bodies.

If it is God’s will to heal them at that moment.

Who does the healing?

and many times we get to experience the future resurrection healing now.

So we pray in faith trusting that God desires to heal us and many times we get to experience the future resurrection healing now.

this senerio of someone who is so sick they are stuck in bed and says they should call the pastors to come anoint them with oil and pray in faith so they can be healed and raise up and walk.

Illustration:

Just a little bit ago Sara Frances and I went out on a date.

We had a courageous couple of people who risked stepped into our family circus and babysit our three little ones and so we went out to the bistro in Pendleton square.

And when we go there we sat down and ordered an appetizer.

We ordered some deliciously funky beats made obviously made with the foodie in mind.

And while beats is not ussually something I seek out when I go out to eat it was really good.

Sara Frances and I dug in and we were talking about how good it was and after a few bites Sara Frances looked at me and said “I had no idea how hunger I was.”

And I was like: “Me too!”

It was like as soon as I tasted the funky delicious beats I was ready for the main course.

Application:

When God heals us today it points us to the ultimate day of healing to come.

God healing us today is like the appetizer to the complete healing to come.

Healing is a foretaste of heaven.

The appetizer before the main course.

So God says in the bible that if we are sick we should have people pray for us to be healed.

So what do we do about this? well, If you are sick you should have people pray for you to be healed.

You should do this.

If you are sick and your body needs healing have someone pray for you, ask for it.

Who does the healing?

You should do this.

If you are sick and your body needs healing have someone pray for you, ask for it.

Why do we resist seeking bodily healing?

What if I am not healed?

Set aside your pride, resit the fear of disappointment.

Because the God who will heal you and raise you up out of your death bed on the last day, just may heal you and raise you up out of your sick bed today.

Why do we resist seeking bodily healing?

resit the fear of disappointment.

Because the God who will heal you and raise you up on the last day, just may heal you today.

-What if I am not healed?

We should seeking healing for our bodies, as well as

we should seek healing for our soul

In verse 15 and 16 we read

Not all sickness is because we have sin in our life, but sometimes we are sick because we holding on to sin, whether it is bitterness, unforgiveness, or we hold on to the guilt and shame of our sin and that eat away at us.

You see it is not like we have bodies, we are bodies and our soul and body are interconnected.

Our soul affect our body and our body affects our soul.