And these are the final words of James to these early Hebrew believers who were scattered abroad to whom he wrote to minister to them to encourage them to follow after Yeshua the Messiah. And he said in verse 12. Amen. But above all things, my brethren, swear not neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath, but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, lest ye fall into condemnation. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick. And the Lord shall raise the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed, the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

So, Eliyahu was a man subject to like passions, as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you, and one convert him, let him know that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. This is the last portion of Jacob, James, this wonderful letter that was written by the half-brother of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

As I mentioned before, I would like to mention this again, that this really, apparently, is the first book written in the New Testament, in the Brit HaChadasha, which was written between 45 to 50 A.D. Jacob became a pillar in the local assembly in the city of Jerusalem, and he became a testimony. He became a main leader in a local assembly in the first century. Can you imagine this half-brother of Yeshua the Messiah? And it is interesting that all this letter, it was very practical. He does not beat beyond the bush. He is really looking forward, and he is really saying to these brothers and sisters who belong to Yeshua the Messiah, listen, brothers and sisters, he says, we need to walk with Yeshua, to walk with Jesus, practical walk of the believer.

That life here in this world, it's not merely a myth. Believing in Yeshua, it's not merely a story, but it's a real life that a believer ought to live as he follow the Scripture and follow the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Well, you remember, in the previous ministry meeting, he encouraged them because there were, many of them have experienced trials and tribulation. And you remember, he gave them the example of the necessity to have patience. And he talked about the farmer who waits for the fruit to come. And the rain to come down, and the fruit to grow. He talked about the Hebrew prophets, the Nevi'im, how they waited patiently, and they ministered the Word of God to our people Israel of old, while they were waiting for the Lord to bring to fruition what he had promised the people of Israel.

And thirdly, if you remember, he talked about Iov, Job. And he says, ye have heard of the patience of Job. And we talked last ministry meeting of the savlanut Iov, the patience of Job. What a man he must have been to wait on God, and to go through all these sufferings and trials in his life. And he never cursed God. He may have cursed the day that he was born, but he have never cursed God. He was honoring to the Lord, and the Lord ultimately restored to him all what he took away from this servant of his by the name of Job. Well, now, Yaakov is leading on to the final need in the life of all believers.

And he's speaking here in the last verses about the importance of prayer. Brothers and sisters, we have to admit, and I'm speaking for myself, if there is any problem that we have as believers in Yeshua, the Messiah is a problem of spending time in prayer. Speaking to the Lord, sharing with him our problems, telling him our needs. This is one problem that we all must say that we have in our lives as believers. And sometimes through trials and tribulation, God drives us to depend upon him and to begin to spend time in prayer. And so, before he's touching the need of prayer, look what he began here in these verses.

He used, in verse 12, he is exhorting the brothers and sisters to be straightforward in their speech. Notice what he said in verse 12, but above all things. Notice the word but suggested, after all what I tell you, what I spoke with you, dear brothers and sisters, My brethren, swear not neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath, but let your ye be ye, and your nay be nay, lest ye fall into condemnation. In other words, what he's really saying to these brethren of his, in other words, he called them brethren, the Hebrew word is achim, in Greek it's the same thing, it's brethren, they were believers in Yeshua, the Messiah.

He says, listen, don't swear or swear not, in other words, don't make promises that you cannot keep. Don't say, you know, for example, sometime when somebody say, if we want to borrow something from someone, we say to him, lend me this thing, and I swear that I will give it to you back at certain time. Well, Jacob is saying, listen, don't swear neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath, but simply let your yes be yes, and your no be no. You know, it is very important for a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, simply to speak the truth in love. Not to beat behind the bush, not to go around saying all sorts of words, and so on.

Yes is yes, and no is no. No more and no less. Now, it is interesting because he used the word here, don't swear by heaven, neither by the earth. And where did he take it from, of course? I want you for a moment to turn to the book of Leviticus chapter 19. God said to Israel, just before they have entered into the promised land, he said to them in verse 12, Leviticus 19, in verse 12, he said, And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God, I am the Lord, I am Jehovah. God said to our people of old, many years ago, listen, don't swear by my name, and especially use the word falsely.

In other words, you don't use my name carelessly, and don't make promises on a basis of my name, and then not abide by that. Don't be careless with the usage of the name of Jehovah, the name of the Lord, and don't make promises falsely. You see, by the time that the Messiah came, there was many times the usage of, I swear to you by this. It was used with a custom among our people to use, to swear, or to make an oath, to make a promise. But they don't use the name Jehovah, they use the word heavens. I swear, I make an oath by the heavens, that I'm going to keep this, or I'm going to do this for you.

And for the believer, there is no need to make oaths or make promises, especially when we not intend to keep them, or not planning to keep those promises. Let me show you another verse from the New Testament in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5 for a moment as well, verse 33. And here we see Yeshua is speaking to the disciples on the Sermon on the Mount. And look what Yeshua, he's saying there when he was speaking to his disciples, And he says, again, ye have heard. He says, you have already heard in the past, you have heard that it had been said, But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by the heaven.

Why? Because it is God's throne. Neither by the earth, it is because it is his footstool. Neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. You see, Yaakov is really quoting what Yeshua, the Messiah, has already said when he was here alive, before he went to the tree, to the altar, to die for us on that cross. In verse 36, he says in Matthew chapter 5, In verse 36, Neither shall thou swear by thy head, because you cannot make one hair white or black, But let your communication be, yes, yes, or no, no. For whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. So in other words, Yeshua is really saying, just like Yaakov is really saying to the brothers and sisters, Listen, just speak straight forward.

Don't go beyond what you need to be saying. Say yes if you intend to do it, and say no if you are not intend to do that. Don't begin to swear by heaven, because it is the throne of God. Nor by the earth, because his footstool is here. Don't swear by the city of Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king, of the Messiah himself. Don't swear, don't make promises that you are not able to keep, especially if you are not intending to do so. For a believer, it is very important to simply speak straight forward. Unfortunately, brothers and sisters, the book of James is filled with issues that the believers were not saying, not speaking right, speaking against each other.

There were those who sought to take a place that were not theirs, and James was warning them here not to do so. So I'm back to James chapter 5, in verse 12, an exhortation not to swear, not to make promises, not to make oaths that you cannot keep. Just simply say, yes or no. Somebody said many years ago, you needed not to sign a contract when you made an agreement with someone. Because when he made a promise, he kept his words. When you really think what's going on today, today a promise is no longer being kept. You've got to sign contracts, an arrangement. Otherwise, a promise is not a promise.

An arrangement is not an arrangement. And if you don't fulfill your arrangement, they're going to take you to court. And then in the court, you're going to try to settle all these issues. While in the past, yes was a yes. And no was a no. And that's beautiful to see it in the life of a person who belonged to Yeshua the Messiah. It's a great testimony. Unfortunately, we oftentimes fail in practicing this. So this verse 12 of James 5, that is just in between the challenges and the trials of the believers, and now in verses 13 to the end, the necessity of prayer. And brothers and sisters, as I mentioned earlier, if there is anything we need to do, as believers in Yeshua the Messiah, we need to pray.

There is an individual prayer in the Bible. There is a family prayer in the Bible. There is a collective prayer in the Bible. And there is a public prayer that the Bible teaches us. There is a need to pray at all time. The Bible tells us many times that we are exhausted to pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Always praying Romans chapter 12. There are so many verses that tell us of the necessity of prayer. And here, the apostle Yaakov is now elaborating a little bit about the importance of prayer. So let's look at those verses together in the conclusion of the letter that James gave us.

First of all, in verse 13, we have a prayer when a person goes through a time of sufferings. The other word for afflicted here is suffering. If any among you do suffer, let him pray. If any among you is merry or cheerful, let him sing psalms. And he began here with a prayer for suffering individual or a praise for a person who is cheerful. I would like to suggest today that we are here in this little room together, that in our midst here today, there are some of us that perhaps came from homes and situations in our lives that cause us a lot of grief. And we have trials and difficult times right now in our lives.

Well, on the other hand, it may be some of us here have been very cheerful. Things have been well for you these days. Work is well. Situation at home are pretty good. Your friends are enjoying you and so on. Things are pretty good. We are all in a different experience of our lives as believers. But you notice what James is saying. Is any among you afflicted? What's the thing to do when we are afflicted, when we are going through problems in our lives? Immediately he's saying, let him or let her go into prayer. Spend some time sharing this with the Lord. He's encouraging the believer to take the time and share your problems with God.

The mistake that we often make is that instead of sharing our problems and our sufferings and trials with the living God, we end up sharing this with others. Not that we shouldn't do it. But instead of, first of all, taking it to the Lord in prayer, we end up sharing this with others and neglecting to take our need to the presence of the Lord. You know, the Lord loved to hear the prayer of his saints. I'll give you some example in biblical time. You remember Daniel and our Jewish people of old when Nebuchadnezzar came and took our people of old into Babel, into Babylon? And Israel had been in Babel for 70 years.

When Daniel was taken to Babel, he was a young boy. He must have been maybe 15, maybe 14, maybe 13. He was very young. But you notice what he did? It was a pattern in his life. He constantly shared the burden of the nation of Israel with the God of our fathers. In fact, in Daniel chapter 6, we read that he opened the windows. He faced towards the city of Jerusalem. He was older by that time. And he was praying three times a day. He was turning his heart to the God of our fathers. He was spending time in prayer. Because he understood that if there is any encouragement to be received, it must come from God.

God is the one that is able to encourage the believer in a time of trials. So Daniel had done so throughout all the book of Daniel. In chapter 9, he prayed for the people of Israel. And throughout the history of this man, he was a man that prayed, that took the time to spend in prayer to the Lord. That's why Yaakov is saying, is any among you is suffering. What do you do, brother? What do you do, sister, when you are going through a problem? It is important to be immediately taking the problem to the Lord in prayer. Letting Him know what is going on in your life.

And I can tell you that when you are going to get up from your knees in sharing your burden with the Lord, you will feel that you have done the right thing because God is willing to hear the prayer of His saints. And He delights to hear the people of God praying. There are many verses that we can bring. If you turn to Psalm 50. Verse 15. This is Asaf. The psalmist was encouraging our people, Israel of all, to share with God and call upon Him in the day of trouble. God is saying, Call upon Me in the day of trouble. And I will deliver thee and you shall glorify Me.

In a time of trouble, the greatest friend that we have is God. Our Lord Jesus, our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. He is the one that can help us when we are going through trial. You remember sometimes we sing, What a friend we have in Jesus, in Yeshua. He, all our sins, all our cares, He is willing to bear and to heal. And how we forfeit joy because we don't turn to the Lord in a time that we need, in a time of trouble. And how much we lose out when we don't share with Him our concern and our trial. So, is any among you suffering here or among you have problems?

Any among you is afflicted? Let Him pray. Let Heir pray. Make sure that you turn to the Lord in prayer when you are going through trials. But he continues on in the very same verse and here's the other aspect of prayer on praise. In verse 13 he says, Is any merry or any cheerful? What do we do when we are cheerful? I think it is so important when we are happy in Jesus, when we are happy with the things of the Lord and what He has done for us and we are rejoicing, what He is saying here, let Him sing psalms. Remember that in the first century the church was mainly composed of Jewish believers.

They haven't began really to compose hymns or spiritual songs that we might say that we have this today. They were singing psalms. They were turning back to the Tehillim, to the Mizmor, to the Mizmorim in Hebrew and they were reading the psalms of Israel and they were singing. I think about many songs. I will sing unto the Lord. Exodus chapter 15, for He had triumphed gloriously. The horse and the rider He had thrown unto the sea. This is when Israel came out of the land of Egypt. They were praising God because God had delivered them from Pharaoh and his army. And the people of Israel were singing.

They were singing to the Lord. They were praising God. And so the encouragement for us here is any among you is merry or cheerful, let him sing psalms. Let him sing to the Lord. Some other verses that we can read in connection with singing. Turn to Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 19. Here is now the Ephesian local assembly in Asia Minor. We're encouraged by the Apostle Paul to sing. Speaking to yourselves with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

You know, when we are coming to the meeting, why we are singing so many times and so many songs? Because we have a reason to praise God for what He has done for us. You know, brothers and sisters, we need to sing to the Lord. If we are cheerful, if the Lord provided for us, if He took care of us and ministered to us, well, it is important to respond to God and therefore to sing to Him, to praise Him. Look at Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16. Again, Paul is writing to the Colossians there and he is telling them the importance of singing songs and praise unto the Lord.

Verse 16, Let the word of the Messiah dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto the Lord. You know, to sing to the Lord is so important for the believer in Yeshua the Messiah. And I encourage you, brothers and sisters, not only to pray to the Lord when you have problems in your life, but also to sing and praise the Lord when things are well and the Lord had provided for you and for me that which is so needful for us in our lives. And so it is important not only to cry to Him for help when problems arise in our life, but also, beloved brothers and sisters, to sing to Him and to praise Him for all what He has done for us.

You know, one day when we are going to be in the presence of the Lord, we are no longer going to need to pray and ask from the Lord for anything, but to praise Him we will never stop. We will sing to Him. We will praise Him for who He is and for what He has done for us. And so Yaakov is writing and he is encouraging the brothers and sisters first of all in prayer when time of suffering comes and when times of blessings and joy come pray to Him and praise Him. Prayer and praise are linked with each other and it is very important for a believer in Yeshua the Messiah to do so.

And if you don't pray ask yourself the question why? Why don't I take the time and go on my knees in the closet in my home and just tell Yeshua the Messiah my problems my faults my weaknesses my need all of us have this need and when things are good and He provided for us take the time to say Lord I am so thankful for what you have done for me and I praise you for who you are and for what you have done for me.

so the importance of prayer and praise in a time of need and also in a time of joy this is verse 13 of James chapter 5 now in verses 14 15 and 16 here is another need for prayer and here is praying for those who are sick now this is also very interesting that we have to understand the context here because he began to say in verse 14 he says like this is any sick among you let him call for the elders of the church of the assembly of the congregation and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith shall save the sick

and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven unto him confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed the effectual and fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much now these verses are very important to understand in light of its context after he talked about praying when we have affliction and when we have joy now he is leading us to the importance of praying for the sick now we know very well that even though we belong to Yeshua the Messiah and we are forgiven we have eternal relationship with him we know very well that we are still here in

this world and in this world this body of ours is groaning going through trials we haven't eliminated sicknesses and diseases that come upon the believers just as they come upon the unbelievers because we live in this world and the whole creation is groaning according to Romans chapter 8 even we the believers Paul says in Romans chapter 8 we groan within ourselves waiting for the day when the Messiah will come and give us a body that is glorified no more to be affected by the sin question here in this world so that's why most of us at the time we get sick some people are not at the meeting today because they have the running nose

other ones because they got the flu other ones because they have one thing or another and this is the part of life sometimes you get sick sometimes I get sick but here beloved brothers and sisters he is speaking about something more than just an ordinary sickness that a believer experienced in his life notice what he is saying in verse 14 is any sick among you let him call the elders of the church or the assembly and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord now here apparently there was a situation in the life of one of the people among the assembly of the believers at the place where

Jacob was writing to you know sometimes brothers and sisters there are certain things that come upon us in our lives in a judicial way God is disciplining his own people when times arises and these sicknesses or these judgments come because of certain sins in the life of a person and that's why he is saying here you call the elders of the church of the assembly and let them pray over this person apparently there are some individuals in the local church that had some ongoing sin in his or her life unjudged sin you know we all sin but we need to confess it and repent of it and turn away from it but when a believer

continue on in a life of disobedience we have to realize that God as a father will have now to discipline that particular believer whom he loves so much and he still will have to send his way some governmental judgment and so what is the responsibility of that person who realizes that he has been ongoing unjudging himself continuing in a life of sin and not repenting of it well if he wants his judgment of God to be removed from him he is to call to the elders of the church now who are the elders of the church the elders of the church are the spiritual leaders of the local assembly their responsibility is to care for

the spiritual welfare of the people of God they are not superior they are not greater than the others they are just like others but they are the spiritual element the spiritual leadership of this local assembly that's why they are called here elders elders and they had been those that would be taking care of the spiritual need of the local assembly and so he is to call to the elders of the church and notice that it says that they notice that it says in verse 14 let them pray it and here is where there are various views among the people of God some take it literally and I remember once an experience that I have had

that somebody was sick and the elders in a local assembly asked let's pray over this particular person they literally took literal oil anointed him put some oil on his head and prayed over him and that was a situation that this group of believers take this position they literally practice this but others take this symbolically because the word here for anointing it's not the word that is using for the anointing oil that was placed upon the king of Israel or the priest of Israel or the prophet of Israel there are two different Greek words this word in verse 14 is the Greek word Alepo it says A-L-E-I-P-H-O it is to be distinguished from another Greek word

which is C-H-R-I-O Krio which is an anointing of a priest or a king or a prophet it really has to do with overlaying him with some sort of ointment and the ointment may very well be used for physical healing in other words it's like an an anointing cream in order to help the person to be as well and you notice brothers and sisters it is in the name of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and according to verse 15 this person it says in verse 15 the prayer of faith shall save the sick what does it mean here the prayer of faith those elders who have been gathered to the home of that particular believer who

had to be judged and disciplined by God because of his her sin those elders had to pray believing that God is able to answer their prayer notice the prayer of faith it is important not only to say words but to pray believing trusting that the Lord is able to answer their prayer two verses to connect with this go to Matthew chapter 21 verse 22 here Yeshua is saying all things that ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall receive now here Yeshua is saying to the disciples as he was speaking with them he said listen whatever you ask you know sometimes we ask God but we don't believe you remember what happened when Simon Peter

when Shimon Petros was in jail and the brethren were praying for Simon Peter to be released from jail and then finally the Lord released him and he came to the door and he was knocking on the door and you remember this young lady is looking outside she saw Peter and she went in and shared with the brethren she says listen Peter is outside and the brethren were saying to her no it's not possible how is sometimes unbelieving believers we believe in Yeshua we believe that he is our savior and he is our messiah but we don't believe that he will answer our prayers and prayer of faith is very very important beloved brothers and sisters

and that's why he says the prayer of faith shall save that particular sick person here's another verse in first John chapter 5 verse 14 and 15 John is writing now and he says and this is the confidence that we have in him if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us and if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petition that we desire of him you see what John is saying now we have confidence that the Lord Yeshua the Messiah hears our prayer and if we have a petition and we share it with him believing he promised that he is going to give an answer

to this prayer prayer now now here beloved brothers and sisters the elders of this local assembly were praying for this sick individual who must have had some sort of ongoing sin in his or her life that needed to be judged God disciplined this person allow him or her to experience some sort of affliction upon themselves and then the prayer of faith of the elders of the local assembly will heal that particular individual this is what Yaakov is saying the prayer of faith shall save the sick now here's another thing that I want to mention here it used the word save the sick and many time people don't understand they say wait a minute this person

got lost now and now he's going to be saved again well he doesn't talk about saving the soul here he's talking about saving the body from being judicially judged by God he was a believer or she was a believer already so he's not talking about salvation of the soul but he's talking about salvation from physical judgment that God would bring upon the people of God let me just elaborate here just a little bit you see sometimes God because he loved his people he has to remove a believer in physical death when a person persistently and continuously living a life of sin and God judged that person and he might take that person to heaven not

because the person got lost but simply because the person is continuing on in this kind of life and God says I'm not going to allow you to live here in this world anymore like that I'm going to take you to me so you will not dishonor me continuously here in this world so he's removing that person away from this sin a believer may be taken away from this world because God in a way removing him from continuing a life of sin I want to show you one more verse in 1st Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 28 he's speaking about the Lord's supper the Lord's table and he says let a man examine himself but let

him eat of the bread and drink of the cup for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation unto himself not discerning the Lord's body and now verse 30 for this cause many are weak and sick among you he's writing to believers in the city of Corinth in the assembly there he says because of this kind of a condition that existed there in this local church local assembly he says for this cause many of you are weak and sick among you and notice what it says in verse 30 at the end and many are asleep now what does he mean for a believer who dies death is merely sleep because the body is

sleeping but the spirit and the soul have been taken to the presence of God and God sometimes judicially judge his own people removing some from this world taking them to be with him because of a certain ongoing unjudged sin in his or her life and that's why Yaakov is emphasizing he says if any among you is sick let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray for him or for her and then it says anointing him with oil and in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith shall save him and the saving here it's not a soul saving but it is saving him he removed the judgment of

God from him and he can carry on here in this world it is not a soul saving but a body saving from the judgment of God and and and notice it says in the end of verse 15 and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sins well here it is apparently he did if he committed sins they shall be forgiven unto him and so brothers and sisters really this is so interesting here because sometimes if a believer is ongoing living his life without to judge himself or herself as before the Lord God is able to discipline his people with a physical discipline sickness or disease or something now don't go now

and say every time that you are sick oh what sin have I committed this time otherwise you know if you sneeze every time you're going to say oh boy what have I done yesterday and if you're going to cough the next day you're going to say oh what have done now well no we have to realize that this is an ongoing self-will unjudged sin that is carried on without to come to the throne of grace and saying to the Lord Lord God I'm confessing this I want you to help me to turn my ways and follow Yeshua the Messiah in a way that is pleasing unto thee so brothers and sisters this is very challenging

what James is saying to his own brethren here and so now notice in verse 16 he is saying now brothers and sisters what we need to do if we wrong each other if we sin against each other confess your sins or your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed for the affectual and fervid prayer of the righteous man availeth much listen he's saying to the believers there don't keep going on and not dealing with that just stop it and call to that person that you have wronged you have sinned again and say dear brother dear sister I'm apologizing for doing so and I wronged you and I am

sorry and I repent I am turning around I want to have a peace between you and I I want to move along I want to grow spiritually I don't want to continue the way that we have been going on if I have wronged you I want to correct this you know it takes a lot of spiritual maturity to go to someone that you have wronged to tell him or her to say you know brother you know sister I have been in the wrong here and most of the time we know that we are so immature and we are so unspiritual that we carry on without to deal with this issue and pride rises in us

and self will I am not going to say that I am wrong and then instead of dealing with the problem what happened we are actually putting a wedge between the people of God and there is a greater distance among the people of God that's what happened and so Yaakov is saying to them confess your sins one to another the words for faults is much more than just little faults it is downright wrong things pray one for another now we are not talking about praying for the people who are suffering we are not here talking about praying for the people who have joy we are not even here to pray for people that are sick but

to pray for one another in general to seek to build each other up and to minister to each other and we are to pray for one another and confess the wrong that we are doing one to another why because listen to that at the end of verse 16 that affectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much what does that mean it means that when a person want to be right with the Lord a believer now you see that righteous men we are not righteous in ourselves there is no righteous not even one but this righteous we are as believers we have the righteousness of the Messiah we are righteous because he gave us his

righteousness but now practically if I want to be pleasing to the Lord there is value in a prayer of a believer who seeks to walk with the Lord and that's why he says the effectual and fervent prayer of a righteous man avail much that's why to whom shall return if we have an issue to share with one another we are going to those that want to walk with the Lord and we can share with them and pray with them because there is power in prayer I know many times we don't believe it and we don't practice this but there is power in prayer he says it's availing much when a person is a sincere believer

in Yeshua the Messiah want to walk he or she want to walk with the Lord there is power in prayer and therefore we are exhorted to pray for one another as it says here in verse 16 because prayer will bring about fruit for God and an answer will come in the life of the people of God so verses 13 14 15 and 16 is prayer for the sick praying for those who suffer in verses 17 and 18 here is a prayer for the nation here is a man that prayed for the nation this man's name is Eliyahu in Hebrew his name is Elijah and here is now this man prayed on behalf of the whole

nation of Israel he prayed negatively on the one hand and then he prayed positively and so we read here look at this it says in verse 17 it began he says Elijah or Eliyahu was a man subject to like passion what does Yaakov mean that Eliyahu was subject to like passion in other words what he is really saying that Eliyahu was a person just like you and just like me there was not some sort of uniqueness in Elijah he was just a human being a sinner like you and I but the person who turned his heart to God and he became a servant of the God of our fathers and so here's Elijah Eliyahu a

man just like you and I what did he do he said he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth for the space of three years and six months now how would you like that can you imagine that you would say God I would like you right now please and by the way he prayed in such a way because he knew the condition that prevailed among our people Israel Ahab was a wicked king and his wife Jezebel idolatry had prevailed among our people of all the people of Israel the northern tribes were just about getting ready to go to be taken by the Assyrian in judgment so Elijah was

raised by God and he was a prophet in Israel and he came and you notice that could you please turn to first king chapter 17 for a moment look what Elijah did there Eliyahu have done at him in the midst of our nation Israel in the midst of wickedness in the midst of all what went on among our people of all when things were not right with God it says here in first king chapter 17 verse 1 Elijah all of a sudden appear on the scene a prophet in Israel he called Elijah the Tishbai who was of the inhabitants of Gilad and he said unto Ahav as the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom

I stand there shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to my word can you imagine Elijah was a man of prayer and he prayed on behalf really of the whole nation in this case he prayed for discipline of God for the nation whom he loved but he says as the Lord God of Israel live before whom I stand Elijah was standing in the presence of the Lord he was in communication with God he was in fellowship with the God of our fathers and he says to Ahab he was this wicked king of the northern tribes of our people of old Israel he said there should not be dew nor rain these years

but only according to my word now God was listening to the voice and the cry of the heart of a man by the name of Eliyahu when he prayed God answered him and he shut the windows of heaven for three and a half years beloved brothers and sisters now how can he do that Elijah was just like you and and I a human being a man like you and I with all his failure but he prayed he was earnestly praying because he did not appreciate the way Israel have lived and Ahab was leading our people of old to follow after idolatry all sort of idols in the northern tribes of the people of Israel and

so he prayed but you know what happened to Elijah how we know he prayed first of all the windows of heaven were shut and then the next chapter it says that this person by the name of Jezebel was pursuing after Elijah and Elijah found himself fleeing from that woman by the name of Jezebel he ended up to go far away dependent of course then upon the provision of God but he fled because this woman Jezebel was pursuing after him but then he came back when he returned look at this and I'm now in first king chapter 18 and I want you to read with me these verses there after those years that there was no

rain we find Elijah now go to meet Ahab this king of Israel and it says in verse 1 and it came to pass after many many days that the word of the Lord came unto Elijah in the third year saying go now Elijah show yourself unto Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth and Elijah finally went back and he showed himself to Ahab and you notice what happened again he was praying look at this down a little bit further down in verse 42 and Ahab went up to eat and to drink and Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel and he cast himself down upon the earth and he put his

face between his knees and he was praying Elijah now was praying and now when Elijah prayed brothers and sisters look what the answer was in verse 44 and it came to pass that the seventh time that he had said behold there rises a little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand and he says go up and say unto Ahab prepare thy chariot and get thee down that the rain stop thee not and the rain now would come down for the people of Israel now to enjoy the blessings of God but Elijah prayed he prayed for the nation he prayed for our nation the nation of Israel now what is the exhortation that Yaakov

is really saying here he says brethren we're not only praying for the people who suffer we're not only praying for the people who are sick but we are to pray for the nation we are to pray for our leaders here we are to pray for the ministers here the prime minister and those who are leading the country that is called in our case today it is Canada we are to pray for those who are in authority for kings for rulers we are to pray as we have been exalted in the scripture to pray for those that are leading the nations as well James chapter 5 and I'm reading verses 17 and 18 Elijah was a

man like passion as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not upon the earth for the space of three years and six months and he prayed again verse 18 and the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit and here we see how God have answered the prayer of Elijah Elijah the prophet so finally brothers and sisters here's the concluding remarks that the apostle James gave to these early believers of first century here is the final exhortation and this is a prayer for erring believers how many times we have brothers and sisters who erred from the faith I mean you're hearing all sort of things among

the people of God some people who used to stand on the word of God and believe the ABC of the Bible all of a sudden their theology have changed all of a sudden they've shifted as if God's word have changed and they've erred from the faith and so here is the final exhortation to pray and assist those that have gone astray how many of us brothers and sisters at time have gone astray perhaps you were discouraged in your life perhaps there are problems that have risen in your life and what happened we end up saying ah what's the use I used to go to church meeting I'm not going to go to church meeting anymore

because so and so happened in this meeting and these people have done this and that all of a sudden our focus on the Lord they're being set aside and we look at men we look at each other and we get disappointed and here Yaakov is finally saying we need to pray for straying believers because the Lord didn't change his word didn't change he remained faithful and it is important to pray for those that have gone astray so finally look at this verse 19 and 20 these are the last verses in the book of Yaakov again he's calling them brethren they're not strangers they're not unbelievers they are believers in Yeshua Hamashiach they are brethren and

he says brethren if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him let him know that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins now the way it is written it sounds like that a person here he's lost right because it used certain words like convert or shall save his soul it sounds like we are talking about an unbeliever but Yaakov doesn't talk here about an unbeliever he's talking to the brethren to the Achim to the believers who were scattered abroad among the nations of the world there were Jewish believers who were scattered all over the

world and he's now ministering to them and he's telling them listen brethren if any of you any believer do err from the truth now very important brothers and sisters sometime if we are not careful if we are listening to false doctrine if we read the wrong books if we are listening to the radio and the things that are not sound we can be swayed very quickly from the ABC that we ought to know you know so many of these kind of things are happening today in the professing church of Yeshua the Messiah so some believers might be swayed they're not going to lose their salvation but they are losing their enjoyment of fellowship with Yeshua

the Messiah and they err they've gone astray and all of a sudden they are no longer expressing themselves the way they used to express they no longer understand the way that they used to understand because they have been influenced and you know what Satan does Satan is like an angel of light seeking whom he may devour he's as a roaring lion and as an angel of light as an angel of light he's tricking the people of God and as a roaring lion he's seeking to devour the people of God and so he's saying to them listen you gotta be careful and so if some of you erring from the truth and one convert him let

him know that he which converteth a sinner this is a believer who sinned he that converting a believer who sinned from his error of his way shall save his soul from judgment from death and shall hide a multitude of sins it's very important to read it in the right way because usually when a person is lost and he gets saved he's not only forgiven a multitude of sins all his sins are forgiven but here he's speaking about a believer who sinned and have gone astray and living in a way that is not pleasing to the Lord we have a responsibility to restore that person to share with the person and to so called convert him

restore him to the things of the Lord how many brothers and sisters are those that have gone astray we don't see them at meetings anymore where are they oh they have been so discouraged because of what's going on in the professing church they've gone away they said well it's only me in God I don't need to read the Bible I don't need to come to a meeting I don't need to pray I am saved anyway and they get so discouraged and they end up not following Yeshua the Messiah and they end up to be in an error in a wrong and there is a responsibility of all of us of others to go to seek

to minister to them you know what happens when you use by God to bring the truth into the heart of a person what a blessing it is because you are being useful in the midst of the people of God you are serving the Lord ministering to one another and bringing restoring a person back to walk with the Lord now who can do such a thing only a spiritual brother or a sister who is really spiritual minded Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1 says if any man be caught with a fault ye which are spiritual restore such a one with a spirit of meekness recognizing that you yourself is able to fall into fault and sin

as well and here we read that let him know that he which have turned a sinner from his arrow he will save his soul from the judgment of God and he shall hide a multitude of sins so brothers and sisters in conclusion I'm going to say just those words I'm going to end with this thought with you let me ask you a question and I have some points that I want to mention here and I'm going to close question that we all have to ask ourselves question number one am I becoming more and more patient in my testings in life you and I believers in Yeshua the Messiah James tell us have we become more

and more patient in dealing with each other as we live here in this world or am I impatient just like I've been years ago when I first became a believer secondly do I find joy in obeying God's word or do I merely study this in order to get things in my head and not in my heart how is it in my life in your life am I finding joy in obeying the word of God you know sometimes it becomes like a chore for us right do we find joy in seeking to obey the word of God here is another thing in light of what we studied am I able to control my tongue you remember

James chapter 2 and chapter 3 speaking about the tongue being fire and we often use our tongues we bless God but we curse those who made in the image and likeness of God are we controlling our tongue this is a real challenge for us beloved brothers and sisters fourthly am I a peacemaker or a troublemaker among the people of God am I seeking to make shalom among the brothers and sisters or only causing friction and division among the people of God that's what James is saying am I a peacemaker fifthly am I a friend of God or a friend of the world you remember what James said friendship with the world is enmity against God

am I a friend of God you know who was called a friend of God Abraham was called a friend of God and we think sometimes what a friend we have in Yeshua in Jesus am I a friend of God or am I a friend of the world one or two more points and I draw towards the end am I the kind of a person that others can seek for prayer support can someone come to you and say to you brother so and so can we spend a little bit of time to pray or sister can I go with you to the room there and pray together because I have this situation in my life that's

a good question isn't it we have to really ask ourselves can we really be entrusted with praying can someone come to us and ask us to pray and then finally here what is my attitude towards a wandering brother or sister do I criticize do I gossip or do I seek to restore him or her in love this is a real challenge I can tell you that an erring brother or sister do not need yours and my criticism but what he or she need is us lifting them up and bring them back into a restoration to fellowship with the Lord and a problem often time with us that instead of going and lifting somebody up we

end up adding to their sorrows and difficulties what what is our attitude towards wandering brothers or sisters in light of what we had in James chapter 5 do we criticize them and gossip against them or do we seek to restore them in love that is a challenging thing and the Bible say let him know that he which restore a sinning believer from his or her error will save a soul from judgment from death and will hide a multitude of sins may the Lord help us brothers and sisters to listen and learn from what Yaakov had taught these early brothers and seek to be builders and edifiers rather than destroyers