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You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
James 5:14-15
14 Is [astheneo] any [tis] sick [astheneo] among [en] you [humin]? let him call [proskaleomai] for the elders [presbuteros]
of the church [ekklesia]; and [kai] let them pray [proseuchomai]
over [epi] him [autos], anointing [aleipho] him [autos] with oil [elaion] in [en] the name [onoma] of the
Lord [kurios]:
15 And [kai] the prayer [euche] of faith [pistis] shall
save [sozo] the sick [kamno], and [kai] the Lord [kurios] shall raise [egeiro] him [autos] up [egeiro]; and if [kan] he have [o] committed [poieo] sins [hamartia], they shall
be forgiven [aphiemi] him [autos].KJV-Interlinear
14 Is anyone 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; 15
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.NASB
Throughout the book
of James, the study has been on the application of wisdom.This is not a book of the study of physical
illness, and how to overcome a fever or broken arm.
Sick, astheneo,
means to be feeble, weak, and impotent.And as applied to the soul, means to be out of fellowship and living in
a state of sin as opposed to the spiritual state in fellowship.
A broken bone, a
cancer, a fever or any physical ailment or handicap will not prevent you from
being saved or even restored to fellowship.James is writing this book to believers, not unbelievers, so salvation
is not in view here.Most of what we have
covered thus far, deals with your mental attitude and whether or not you are in
fellowship.
Your spiritual life
exists only while you reside in fellowship, not while you are under the
influence of the sin nature.
The elders of the
church, is a reference to mature believers, or those believers who have some spiritual
understanding under their belt, and know what fellowship is and what it is
not.
The anointing is the
prayer offering which is acceptable to God.Anointing, is when a person pours oil or some type of perfume over the
one being anointed.The one being
anointed is the sick one, the stinking one, or the one who lives in sin.So the symbolism here is to pour prayers of
value and aroma in behalf of the one who is under sin, in order to clean up the
smelly one, and make him presentable and acceptable to God.
This is not real oil
or perfume.Sin can only be covered up
by confession, and only because Christ went to the Cross and received the
judgment in our behalf for all of our sins.But, Christ did not acquire forgiveness of our sins, thus the confession
requirement.Confession is mandated by
God, and also gives us a training and self-discipline routine for functioning
in our spiritual life.
In verse fifteen, the
prayers offered by the elders, serve to restore (save) to fellowship, the
person being prayed for.
And the Lord will raise
him up, or lift from ruin or to restore into fellowship and the spiritual life,
from the state of living under the sin nature.
And here is the
purpose of the prayer.Since we cannot
know the spiritual state of anyone, then we may or may not know of their sins.So, if they are already in fellowship, then
no foul, no harm.But if they are not in
fellowship, then God restores them into fellowship, and in effect gives them a
boost in their life and spiritual life, whether or not they know of the
prayers.
Now, to whom does
this apply?Well, most folks get all
stupid and call for everyone to pray for them.And if you can call for others to pray for you, then you are well
capable of praying for yourself.So pray
for yourself, confess your sins and move on in your spiritual life.
The prayer of others
does not make you grow up.
The prayers of others
may get you into fellowship, but you are not their first responsibility, and no
one can monitor your sins, better than you.Only you can stay on top of your own thoughts, etc.
So, this is not
intended for you, who already know and understand the confession and fellowship
concept.
But there are those
who may not understand or may be stubborn and just ignore their spiritual life,
or perhaps they cannot function in their spiritual life because of an actual
illness.
For example a person
in a coma, is in a state which none of us can understand.They cannot go to Bible class, and they have obvious
handicaps in learning.If you know of such
a person, then by all means, pray to the Father on their behalf, a confession,
so that at least while in a coma, God will restore them into fellowship.When you both get to heaven, then you will
learn what good you accomplished for them.
As for others?Perhaps you have a family, and children that
are just not interested in the Bible.They are young and they have better things that interest them for the
moment.So recall our study in Job.Job made the confession offering in behalf of
his children because they partied so much.Here is the principle.
You may need to pray
the confession, for your family members.This does not make them grow up spiritually, but it does get them into
fellowship for at least a while.And all
blessings coming from God, come only to those who are in fellowship.So there is your help.
As a spiritually growing
believer, you possess powers that you did not realize that you had.The apostles healed others, Jesus healed
others, and while they performed actual physical healings, the principle being
taught applied to the soul, not to the physical ailments.Jesus healed many thousands, but those people
came to get physically healed, not spiritually healed, so their physical healing
did them no good.They did not learn the
lesson.
For a detailed study
of confession, refer to the 1 Jn. study.
You not only have a
responsibility to yourself for monitoring your own mental attitude, but you can
also look to others, without interfering in their life, or being condescending,
or critical of them, and in the silence of your prayers (without being self
righteous), you can open the door of Gods opportunity for them.
Then perhaps, one
day, this prayer help will serve to open up their eyes so they can function on their
own, in their own spiritual life.
Now is the time to post a prayer.
End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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