See Something / Say Something Series

James: Practical Faith (Part 3) 

James 5:13-20

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church 

02-16–2025

Say Something

After I became a Christian, I was paired up with a guy name Seth who started me on my discipleship journey.

He said, “Satan is not happy that you have committed your life to Christ. He’s going to throw the kitchen sink at you. I know that females are a temptation to you. You need to stay single and be aware of satan’s schemes.”

I nodded but I didn’t really listen. That weekend I met a girl, (she was impressed I had on pink socks). She said she was a Christian and soon I was in a relationship with her.

She wasn’t interested in going to church with me and she quickly turned my heart away from Christ. I discovered, too late, that she was not who she said she was and she actually stole money from me.

After it was all over, I went to my friend Aaron and asked him if he knew that she was trouble.

His reply shocked me, “Oh yeah! We saw that right away. We knew that she would lead you away from your commitment to purity and hurt your Christian witness.”

I just stared at him. I asked him if he was my friend. He said, “Of course I’m your friend.”

Then I let him have it and said, “If you were really my friend, you would have said something. You would have intervened. You would have tied me up in a room and done an intervention. You wouldn’t have just stood by and watched a train wreck happen!”

He hung his head and said, “You’re right. I was afraid that you would get mad at me.”

I told him that I might have gotten angry but who cares? I needed rescuing!

Have you been there? Have you ever watched someone wander away from the faith and wondered what you should do?

Well, this morning, as he ends his letter, James is going to have some strong words to say about this kind of situation.

Review

Last week, James, “Old Camel Knees” encouraged us to

“…confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

First, we learned that we confess first to God and then delight in the freedom that forgiveness brings.

Garrett Kell writes:

“Confessing to God brings us face to face with the One that knows us fully yet forgives us completely.”

Second, you need to confess to someone you trust, a mature Christian.

Third, you don’t have to share all the lurid details.

As we confess to another trusted friend, we are set free from the isolation that sin brings. This can bring healing, both physically and spiritually.

We can encourage, hold accountable, and pray for each other.

Ray Pritchard writes:

“We need to pray for one another. As we pray together, we find strength in shared sorrows and joys. As we pray for each other, God sends his angels to help those for whom we pray. Our words uttered in secret move the heart of God, and friends in the battle are made strong once again.”

James then writes some of the most famous words in the Bible:

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

As we are covered in the righteousness of Christ, as we pray in confidence in God’s Will, energized by the Holy Spirit, our prayers will be effective and powerful.

James, a good preacher, ends the section with an illustration.

Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

The point of the story is that Elijah was not a super saint, he was human just like us. And we can pray to the same God he did and expect powerful results.

We will finish the book of James this morning. But before we look at the last two verses, let me ask you a few questions. I’m grateful to Pastor John Miller for these questions.

The whole point of James is a faith that works. We can’t just talk the talk, James said we have to walk the walk.

Do you have a faith that works?

How do you respond to trials?

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:2-5)