James 5:10–20 - Endure, Pray, and Restore the Wanderer (Session 17)

In this episode of Reasoning Through the Bible, James 5:10–20 is explored verse by verse. This closing section of James points believers to the example of the Old Testament prophets, the endurance of Job, and the mercy of the Lord. Christians are reminded that those who endure in suffering are counted blessed, and that faithful perseverance remains a central mark of genuine Christian living.  

This study also covers James’s practical teaching on truthful speech, prayer in suffering, praise in times of joy, prayer for the sick, confession of sin, and the powerful example of Elijah’s earnest prayer. The episode closes with a strong call to restore those who have wandered from the truth, showing the compassion believers should have for those drifting spiritually and the importance of turning sinners back from error.  

Topics covered in this episode:

•  endurance in suffering 
•  the prophets and Job as examples 
•  let your yes be yes 
•  prayer for the sick 
•  confession and restoration 
•  the prayer of a righteous man 

Transcript

Glenn 0:15

The book of James makes a connection between the Old Testament prophets and what we should learn today. Steve, we've got a lesson here in how we should live today, based off of some Old Testament prophets, which tells us we need to know some things about the Old Testament prophets.

Steve 0:32

Yeah, there's some people that say, oh, you don't need to know anything about the Old Testament, the New Testament is all pertaining to us. Old Testament is old, stuffy stuff that you don't need to know, but it's referred to several times in the epistles and the teachings. It's referred to in the gospels. I think it's very critical to know different things about the Old Testament, especially the prophets that James references here.

Glenn 0:59

We can't really learn those lessons from here in the New Testament until we know some of those things about the Old. We're not really going to go too far into that, but we will do it enough to where we apply what James is teaching us here in James chapter five. If you've been with us for the last couple of sessions, james has been giving a strong rebuke to those who don't treat people fairly in their everyday lives and their business dealings. We're going to pick up in James chapter five, starting at verse 10. So, steve, can you read verses 10 and 11?

Steve 1:32

As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience. Take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed to endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

Glenn 1:48

He makes this comparison to how we're supposed to live today, or at least how we should expect to live, and these Old Testament prophets. Now, steve, if I think of these Old Testament prophets Jeremiah, ezekiel, even Moses, people like that all these were people that were chosen by God. They had special ministries, but how did they often live on a daily basis?

Steve 2:12

They weren't wealthy for sure. Many of them lived a substance of going from place to place, and they had common lives. They weren't necessarily lives that were ones that were among the upper class. They were down among the common people, but their lives also consisted of them following the Lord's directions and the Lord's word that he gave to them. Some of them did confront kings with what the Lord had told them, and some of them were led and protected for the different things that they did, for the different kingdoms that they were in, and God protected them. There was a myriad ways that they lived, but mostly it was among the people.

Glenn 2:58

They were among the people. Oftentimes it was among the people who didn't want to hear the message that they had. The Old Testament prophets often had a message that wasn't received well by the people in Israel. God gave them oftentimes a very hard task, a very hard road to hoe, if you will. Many, if not most, of the Old Testament prophets never saw the result of the message they were preaching. They would preach a message. The end result of that came many years later, often after they had died. God had given them a message to teach and they had to suffer in the meanwhile and never really saw the fulfillment of the prophecies they were giving.

Glenn 3:43

We should often expect no difference. God sometimes gives up a message in the gospel that cuts against the grain of the modern culture. That cuts against the grain of how people should expect to live. Today We've got a message. That's a strange message to the world and we shouldn't really be expected to be treated very much different than the Old Testament prophets. Oftentimes we won't see the result of how he gives us the message to give to the world. We don't often see the result of these things. That's what his word of encouragement here is. Hey guys, the Old Testament prophets had the same thing. Just keep on. Because they were blessed. God held them up. Look at what happened to them in the long run. They were blessed because of it.

Glenn 4:25

Another thing we see here again he brings up this idea of the suffering and patience in verse 10. If we remember back Steve, the very first part of the Epistle of James said to take joy and suffering. He's making bookends. This is the tail end of the book. Oftentimes these books will have these parallelisms. The literary word is a chiasm. If we look at the outlines of these books from a big picture, the subject matter will parallel throughout the book. Sometimes it parallels and contrasts and there's a very deep outline and very complex literary structure oftentimes in these. So suffering makes bookends in the book of James. Look at verse 11. Who in here is counted as blessed?

Steve 5:14

The ones who endured, the ones who went through as he gave these prophets, and as you talked about Jeremiah for one, all throughout his life of the period he preached repentance and the nation of Israel never listened to him, and yet some of the things he talks about came about later, but yet he endured through that whole time and he followed God's lead.

Glenn 5:39

Verse 11 says we count those blessed who endured. They don't count the people as blessed that quit. That's the point. If you quit because it's too hot in here, the persecution's too much, I'm going to quit and jump out of this boat. We don't count people blessed. We count the ones blessed to endure. So obviously, what's his message for his audience here?

Steve 6:03

You don't quit on God. That's the quitting that we don't do. We don't give up on God because God hasn't given up on us, and the example that he's given there is Job, and that Job endured. Well, job's story is the great suffering that he went through, but in the end, god restored what he had as far as wealth and even more. Job never gave up on the Lord and he stayed true to the Lord. In fact, that's one reason why God offered him up to go through these things.

Glenn 6:38

This theme that he builds here the ones who endure are the blessed. That theme plays out in several places in the New Testament. No less than our Lord Jesus himself told us in Luke 21, verses 26 to 28, that when we look up and we see the events of the world to be so bad that men's hearts are failing them, then that's when we should look up and expect the Lord Jesus to be near, to endure through that, when everybody else's hearts are failing and they're having doubts and walking away from the Lord. Look up because he's near.

Glenn 7:13

The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9-24, compares the Christian life to running a race. He says that run in such a way that you can win the prize at the end. To endure to the end. Don't quit the race halfway through. Yes, my Christian friend, I don't know what sort of things going on in your life, but the message in James, the message in Paul, the message in by our Lord and Luke is to endure, don't give up, keep the faith, stay here to the end, because the blessings are going to come and the crowns will come at the end. That's the message.

Trusting in God's Plan and Word

Glenn 7:48

Yes, we'll go through suffering, we'll go through trials, we'll go through persecutions. He told us that at the beginning of the book and he's telling us here at the end because all of us are going to go through these at some time. In verse 11, it mentions Job. Now, if you remember, steve, throughout the book of Job, god never mentions why Job is suffering. At the end of the book God just comes in and says who do you think you are questioning me? Job had to suffer, but God never tells him why God had a purpose, but he doesn't always let us in on why that happens. Does it trouble you that God doesn't always explain to us why we have trials and tribulations and suffering?

Steve 8:29

I've learned through the experiences and the trials that I have gone through, that the answer is no, that I shouldn't be surprised as to why God doesn't explain what he's got going on. He has brought me through so many of these trials and he's been there when no one else has been there. He's been a companion through those times that it's taught me there is a reason, there's a purpose. He knows what that is. I'm not always going to know what it is, and I just have to trust. That's what trusting in the Lord means in many cases Trust in him, knowing that he knows the reason why, and that's sufficient enough.

Glenn 9:11

Look at the end of verse 11. He says the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. In the same verse he's telling us to endure through these things. But keep in mind the Lord is compassionate and he's merciful. That's what we should remember. Yeah, we'll go through suffering, we'll go through trials. Sometimes he gives us a clue as to why that is. But always we'll know that he's loving and there's a purpose for it. We have a loving God. He reminds us of that. James is so practical, so down to earth. Now look at verse 12. Verse 12 says, above all, my brethren. Again he's talking to his brethren.

Glenn 9:51

Again, the church members do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but your yes is to be yes and your no-no, so that you may not fall under judgment. He says here do not swear. Now, steve, pretty sure what he's saying here is not like a curse word. You shouldn't do that. But here, when he says don't swear, he's not talking about okay, I smashed my thumb and I yell out a curse word. What he's talking about here is let your yes be yes and your no be no. What he's speaking of here. I don't hear it so much anymore, but you used to hear.

Glenn 10:28

Sometimes people would say things like well, I'm telling you the truth. Well, how do I know you're telling me the truth? Well, by my mother's grave I'm telling you the truth. Or like when I used to say, when I was a little kid, in my neighborhood the other boys would say I swear on a stack of Bibles. Well, what he's saying here is a similar thing to what Jesus said in the Gospels. But what he's saying is let your yes be yes and your no-no. If I don't swear on my mother's graves, that mean I can't be trusted. That's what he's talking about. He's saying don't swear an oath, in the sense that okay, one time I'm saying something, but I'm really telling the truth later if I swear by something.

Steve 11:07

And don't bring God's name into it. Another one that I've heard is may God strike me down right here on the spot if I'm not telling you the truth. Don't be bringing God's name into it. Why do you need to do that? People do that because they think it's going to give them more credibility. James is here and it's the same as what Jesus said. Really, your word just needs to be your word. You don't need to bring God's name into it or anything else to try and bolster. Your word should be good enough. Your yes should be good enough, your no should be good enough and leave it at that.

Glenn 11:43

Now what comes up sometimes with this verse? Sometimes you'll get people questioning well, what happens if I have to testify in court? They asked me to swear an oath that I'm going to tell the truth in court. Well, first of all, I don't think that's what he's talking about here. For example, there was a time when I had to buy some property and I had to sign a lot of papers for this property. One of the pieces of paper I had to sign was a paper that says on the next piece of paper you sign, you're going to tell the truth. I'm signing this one to say I'm going to tell the truth. On the next one, which in a sense, is this kind of I don't think he's talking about that. Or in a court, it's different. There You're going before the court saying, yes, I'm going to tell the truth. I had to testify in court one time.

Glenn 12:27

I started noticing many of the oaths. At least some of the oaths around will be do you swear or affirm that you will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Well, I don't have any problem agreeing to that, because I'm affirming that they're going to say that the one time I testified in court they didn't say that. Do you solemnly swear that you'll tell the truth? All I really said is I affirm that I will. Yes, and the judge took it.

Glenn 12:53

You don't have to make a scene, you don't have to say I'm not going to, I'm not going to promise to tell the truth in the court. No, you just say I affirm I will tell the truth, and that's enough. The other one I heard, steve, that I kind of get a smile at, is the bottom of the income tax form says under penalty of perjury, I sign this, saying that everything is truthful. Well, I heard one guy one time saying that if you're doing it under penalty of perjury, then you're swearing an oath, and he didn't want to sign the tax form because he didn't want to swear an oath. I think it had a lot more to do with him not wanting to pay the taxes than he did about actually caring about swearing an oath.

Steve 13:30

What he's saying is let your yes be your yes and your no be your no. So if the oath is not invoking the name of God or the other things that you mentioned, that you're just saying I'm swearing an oath that, yes, I'm going to tell the truth. That's perfectly in line, I believe, as far as what James is saying is, you're just using your own reputation and your own name and your own affirmation that, yeah, I swear that I'm going to tell the truth. I think that's perfectly in line with what James is talking here about.

Glenn 14:04

Now let's go ahead and read this next section, starting at verse 13 and going down through. Verse 15 says this is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

Glenn 14:35

Steve, in verse 13, it says here that the suffering need to pray and the cheerful are to sing. This book is so practical, so straightforward. Again, if you're sick, get the leaders of the church to pray for you. If you're in a joyful spot, praise the Lord, sing hymns to the Lord. If you're cheerful, my Christian friend, are you in a good place? Now We'll sing some praises to the Lord. Thank him for it. My Christian friend, are you in need? Are you in a bad spot? Pray to the Lord, don't just sit there and be miserable. So practical, so needed here. Steve, what do you think of when you?

Steve 15:09

see these passages. First thing I think of here is when you're suffering, then you must pray. Well, when you pray, who are you praying to? You're praying to God. I think that's very practical because when you're suffering, that is the first person that you should go to. That's the first person I go to because he has the solution that can be the answer to whatever it might be that you're suffering with. He's there as a companion, he knows what's going on. It's comforting whenever you have that relationship with God. I think this is really practical. If you're suffering, it doesn't say go to somebody else right off the bat. Go to prayer, pray to God.

Glenn 15:48

Look at verse 14. It talks there about sick people getting the elders of the church to anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. Talk about that for a little bit. First of all, the word anoint there there's more than one word for anoint in the Greek language. The word here is not a ceremonial anointing. There is a Greek word for a ceremonial anointing of oil. That's not the one that gets used here. The word for anoint here is more along the lines of put on or rub on or smear on type of a thing. It's just a regular put on some oil. In those days they didn't have a lot of the modern medicine. A lot of the times oils were used as a cream or a liniment or a medicine. What he's basically saying is call for the elders of the church, the more wise or mature people of the church, and get them to pray for the person, put some medicine on them. Basically, if it was today, he'd say go to the doctor. That's what he's saying is go get some medical attention.

Steve 16:55

Also notice here that it's the responsibility of the person who is suffering or sick to call for the elders. It's not that the elders are supposed to be aware of what's going on. The reason I mentioned that is because I've heard people that say are you still going to church? Yeah, are you still going to the church at such and such a place? No, I don't go there anymore. How come? Well, because I got sick, and this is the actual story I heard. Well, because I got sick one time and the pastor, they didn't come around and talk to me. Did you let them know you were sick? No, but they should have known that I was sick because I was a member of the church. Well, the elders aren't necessarily going to know all the people that are sick. James is doing again another practical thing If you're sick, it's your responsibility. If you want the elders to come by and pray for you and anoint you, you need to call for them.

Glenn 17:51

Here's another question, steve. Verses 7 through 11 talk about enduring suffering, and then verses 14 to 15 talk about God healing us. How does that work? Are we going to have to endure suffering, or is God going to heal us, or what? My answer is that God does what's best for us, and he does what's best for us in the long run. He doesn't always do what's immediately pleasurable to us or what's immediately pleasurable to what I think is best. He does what's best for us in the long run and I think that's the real answer here. Sometimes God heals, sometimes not, but he always does what's best for his children.

Glenn 18:31

We're told that over and over in the Scriptures. In verse 15, it says here that the prayer offered in faith will restore, or that word restore is the word for salvation or saves. The prayer offered in faith will restore or save the one who is sick, or some translations say will make the sick person. Well, is God guaranteeing that every prayer offered in faith will indeed always result in physical healing of the person? I don't think that's what it's saying here. I can explain why. First of all, everyone who ever taught that healing is guaranteed through an exercise of faith, every one of those people died, and they died of their last disease or their last injury. If we're to hold that, passages like this and again, the reason why it's so important is look at verse 15. These are the passages that people bring up. Verse 15, the prayer offered in faith will restore or will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. These faith healer types will say see, it will happen. Do you believe it or not? If we take it to say that, then we have to say that 100% of every Christian that ever lived never exercised faith at least one point in their life, because they all died of a disease or an injury, every last one of them. Either nobody ever lived it, or it means something else. And so it means something else, and we'll explain why.

Glenn 20:01

God is good, but he's not our servant. He will do what he wills and what's good for us in the long run. The analogy is that we are a child of God. Do you give your child everything they want? I mean there's times when my children, I forced them to do things that they thought, oh, the world's coming to an end, this is so bad. Well, no, you have to stop and eat your vegetables because it's good for him. God does what he wills, not what we will. First, john 5 says if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us and we have what we ask for. Remember James 4-3. If we ask for things that are just pleasurable to us, then he's not going to get our request. He said that in the same book. The best advice is what he's saying in this passage is to pray for healing and go to the doctor. That's what he meant by anoint with oil was to go get medicine, go to the doctor.

Glenn 20:55

Anyone who claims they can guarantee that a prayer offered in faith will indeed, every time offered with enough faith, will automatically always result in healing. It needs to go to every hospital in town and empty it. If they don't, they're sinning. Because if we could pray and it will happen then we should go down to the hospital and say the prayers and heal every last sick person. They don't do that because that's not what this passage is saying. They can't do that.

Glenn 21:21

But it gets even more clear if we just look at what it's saying in the original language. There's two words here in English that are the word sick, verse 14,. Is anyone among you sick? Well, that Greek word is the word asthenaeo and it means to be sick, that you're fatigued. It's a greater sense of the sickness. It's a sickness so that you're tired.

Glenn 21:46

But in verse 15, which is where the passage that we're in question is and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick well, that word is a different Greek word. It's the word kamno, which means to be weary. So in English it's not really completely clear what's happening here. But look at verse 14 again. Is anyone among you sick? That's the word that really means sickness.

Glenn 22:12

Then he must call for the elders of the church in their prayer forum and give them some medicine anointing with oil in the name of the Lord. Verse 15, the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is weary and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins, they'll be forgiven him. It's saying go to the elders if you're sick. Go to the doctor, they'll give you some medicine. Get somebody to pray for you in the name of the Lord. If you're all worn out and tired, god will raise you up, god will rest you. That's what he's saying. It's not guaranteeing healing. The people that say so are really really causing issues with people around them that don't get healed, because it happens periodically.

Steve 22:56

And the latter part there, 15, when it says and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins they'll be forgiven him.

Steve 23:05

I think there's a little bit of an inference here that sometimes people get sick as a consequence of their sinful actions. An alcoholic who drinks too much gets cirrhosis of the liver. That's a consequence of them drinking to excess. That certainly is sinful from the standpoint that it misses the mark of what God wants for a person. As it says here, if he has committed sins they'll be forgiven him. In other words, if the person repents and turns away from it in my example, he stops becoming an alcoholic. If he catches it soon enough, then he'll be restored to some sort of health. So, yes, I agree with everything you're saying there, glenn. It doesn't guarantee just from a prayer that they are going to be restored to complete health. For sure, though, if their sickness is caused by a sinful nature of what they're doing, as a consequence of a sin, then if they repent and turn away from that, then they have an opportunity to be restored back to health.

Glenn 24:13

Let's go ahead and read, starting in verse 16. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. And it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. With this. I think he's saying here Steve, when we pray, pray with confidence.

Glenn 24:57

James, he knew a lot about prayer. He was familiar with it. He was called old camel knees because he spent so much time on his knees in prayer that his knees were kind of calloused. He knew a lot about prayer and he could say with confidence that the effectual prayer of a righteous man will accomplish much. He's telling us when you pray, pray with confidence, that God's going to answer it. We know that our God is good and we may not know exactly how he's going to answer, but we know that he's good and he will answer.

Glenn 25:27

We should pray with confidence, just like Elijah. Of course, elijah had a special anointing he could command the skies and it would happen. But he's giving that as an example for us. We may not be able to command the rain to start and stop, but we can pray and say God, it's a drought, we really need rain. Or God, it's a flood, we really need that to stop. We should pray with confidence, knowing that God's going to act. Many times he surprised me with how he answered prayer. We should not be presumptuous, but we should pray in faith, knowing that God is good and he's active in the world and he's active in our lives and he's gotten me through in good ways up to now. I should have confidence that he'll continue to do that.

Steve 26:09

When it says here in 17,. He prayed with prayer. This is a heborism that he prayed with prayer. He prayed earnestly, that there was something behind it, that there was passion behind it, there was a complete plea. I think sometimes that we just throw prayers out there, glenn, where we just, kind of off the cuff, throw something out there. It's a few words, and then we expect God to maybe do something with it. The example he's given with Elijah is that he prayed with a prayer. He prayed earnestly, with expectation that God was going to bring about what he was praying for. And what he was praying for was for it not to rain on the nation of Israel and the surrounding nations to prove that Yahweh was the one true God. His prayer, that he was praying, was for a righteous reason.

Glenn 26:59

And we should have that same expectation. That's exactly what he's saying Pray with boldly, with an expectation that God is good and he will act. We should have confidence in that. In the last couple of verses here in the chapter he talks about if anyone among you strays from the truth, and it talks about turning them back. So, steve first question is is it possible that a Christian can wander from the truth? Has there ever been people that have been close to us, that have been good Christian brothers and sisters in our church or in our church family that were close to that wanders from the faith?

Steve 27:37

I've got my hand raised from my listeners. Yes, that's in my testimony and I did that A common term would be a backslider and that I wandered away. Not that I ever gave up on. God was always a Christian, always knew that what I was doing in the Holy Spirit was telling me what you're doing is not right, steve, and you need to get back. But I did wander away and so there was a time in my life whenever I was wandered away from the truth but I was drawn back to come back and devote and commit my life to Christ again.

Glenn 28:12

All of us have sinned at one point or another. I think what he's speaking of here is that people that are kind of like what you were saying, steve, it kind of period in your life where it's kind of an extended period of wandering. I think it's quite possible for Christians to still be a Christian but still have wandered. I also think it's possible for people that we thought were Christians really weren't and were kind of faking it. We can't look at somebody and be a true judge of their heart and their salvation. That's only a job for God. But what I think, the message here that we can apply to all of us is people that we've known, that have expressed faith in Jesus Christ that are wandering away. We should feel something for that. That should hurt us, it should pain us. We should want to go to them in humility and compassion and gently bring them back to the Lord. We should want them to return.

Steve 29:06

That's what James is talking about here. He's not saying make a judgment, tell them they're not a Christian. No, he's telling them to let them know that the person that turns away from that sin and turns back toward God and restores them, that that's going to be cover a multitude of sins. James' advice here is don't go to them in condemnation, but go to them in love and tell them you need to come back and restore them.

Glenn 29:34

What did Jesus say in one of his parables about the lost sheep? Remember, if a man has a hundred sheep in one of the wonders, he's going to go off and find it Well. In Matthew 1812, when he's telling that parable, he says he'll go into the mountains to find it. Well, if you're walking up in the mountains, that's a hard walk. He's saying he loves that wandering sheep so much he's going to go into difficult terrain to bring it back. So if the Lord will go after us when we wander to bring us back, then we should have the same amount of compassion for those brothers and sisters that we've known that are falling away from the Lord. To go to them with tenderness, not in judgment. Maybe they've committed sins that needed judgment, but the first step should be to restore them, Don't you think, Steve?

Steve 30:21

Yeah, absolutely. I think James is clear on that is that you're to let them know, you're to tell them and bring them back in a loving way.

Finishing the Book of James

Glenn 30:31

Now each of us should ask ourselves have I wandered and do I need to be returned to the Lord? Have I turned from my sin to the Lord? Our final plea to our listeners in the book of James is going to be if you've not turned to the Lord, then now, today, is the day of salvation. With that, steve, we've finished the book of James and we would encourage our listeners if you've held up to this point. We have resources. We have teaching materials on our website and, as always, we just encourage you to stay faithful to the Lord and look at the resources that we've have where. If you need teaching materials, then we offer that free of charge on our website.

Steve 31:10

James kind of ends this at a very abrupt way. He doesn't give a sign off or anything, he just gives some practical advice. He started real strong out of the gate and he ends strong too, just in a different way. Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.