Restoration
James 5:17-20 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! 18 Then he prayed for rain, and down it poured. The grass turned green, and the crops began to grow again. 19 My dear brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back again, 20 you can be sure that the one who brings that person back will save that sinner from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.
-As we have worked through this letter, remember some of the lessons James has offered us.
1. Don’t give in to the temptation to quit when you face trials. Instead allow God to use them to shape you into who He wants you to be.
2. Put your faith into action and do something in response to God’s grace.
3. Be very careful not to treat people unfairly based on who they are or how much money they have. Treat everyone with love.
4. Don’t let your tongue get you into trouble. Instead turn it over to God and let Him set the standards of your speech.
5. Use the resources that God has given you in a godly fashion, and don’t take advantage of others who don’t have as much as you.
6. However, if you are taken advantage of, don’t retaliate. Be patient in your suffering and God will reward you richly.
7. Don’t try to make it through this life on your own, but involve God in every aspect of your life. If you do, you will be blessed and God will be glorified. [Tim Bond]
-In James 5:15 James says that the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise them up – and if that person has sinned he or she will be forgiven. Sometimes the healing a person needs is more than just physical. Sometimes we need healing in relationships and emotions. God has a plan for this to happen, and He chooses to use imperfect people like you and me to bring about healing and restoration. How does He do this? Let’s look at 2 approaches we need to balance for restoration to happen.
I. Restoration through Prayer
-I know that vv.17-18 primarily serve to show us the power of persistent prayer, esp. as it relates to praying for the sick. However, I believe Elijah’s example also prepares us for the last 2 verses in James. When one of us wanders off course- away from the truth (selfishness, pride, lust, being offended, greed, etc.) it is so important that there are people around who care enough to go out of their way to bring us back. However, such an effort must be bathed in prayer. But it takes more than just a prayer. It might take praying again for the person who has wandered away from the truth. It might require praying again and again and again. Prov. says a brother who is offended is harder to be won than a city - but it can be done!
-What was the setting when Elijah prayed and prayed again? In 1 Kings 18, Israel had wandered away from the truth and had begun to worship the false god Baal. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel had led the people away from God and headlong into idolatry. So Elijah’s first prayer was a wakeup call, a call to repentance. There would be no rain, no growth, no crops, no blessings or prosperity for the next few years because of Israel’s sins against God. 3 and ½ years later, Elijah has a showdown with the prophets of Baal, and when God answers with fire, the people fall on their faces and cry out, The LORD is God, The LORD is God! The prophets of Baal are put to death and then Elijah says, “It sounds like heavy rain is coming!” I wonder what he heard that nobody else heard? Was it the sounds of repentance, people turning away from worshiping a false god and destroying the things associated with it? We don’t know, but we do know that Elijah went to the top of the mountain and began to pray. This time he was praying for rain, for new life, for crops and blessings on Israel.
-But one prayer was not enough. Six times he poured out his heart to God and nothing happened. It wasn’t until the 7th time that his servant reported a small cloud on the horizon. Elijah said, “Let’s get out of here before we get stuck in the mud!”
-How many times are you willing to pray for someone who has wandered from the truth? And here is a thought – What if God wanted you to pray for a drought on that person’s life until they repent and turn to Him? It doesn’t sound very nice, but it does sound kind of Biblical. Lord, please do not bless that person’s life until they repent and turn to you with their whole heart. And when they turn to God, pray blessings on them in abundance! As Jesus said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36
-If you will do this - pray and pray again for a person to come back to God - you will save them from death and bring about lots of forgiveness, covering a multitude of sins.
-It seems like lately I have heard of many prodigals returning to God and finding hope and forgiveness and the start of a new life with God. These are people who have wandered away from God to do their own thing, or maybe they were hurt, disappointed, or offended by someone in the church and decided it was just too much to handle. So they pulled away and started leaving God out of the picture. Maybe they blamed God for their sorrow or trouble and decided they would give Him the silent treatment. Regardless, I believe we are entering a time when God is urgently calling people to return to Him. As James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” The offenses and petty things we have held onto have kept us away from God long enough. It is time to come home!
-So James offers hope to those who have gone astray, and he offers hope and encouragement to those whom God wants to use to bring them back. The question for most of us here today is this: Do we care enough to reach out and speak the truth in love? There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. God will give us the discernment to know the difference if we ask Him. We are called to be our brother’s keeper.
II. Restoration through Intervention
-Most of you are probably familiar with that phrase, “brother’s keeper.” It comes from the story of the first brothers on this earth, Cain and Abel. Cain was jealous because God had accepted Abel’s sacrifice but not his own. So he killed his brother. And when God asked Cain where Abel was, Cain said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
-For those who are seeking to do life with God, the answer to Cain’s question is YES! I am my brother’s keeper. God does want us to watch out for each other and be accountable to one another. What seems difficult is when our intervention is not requested or desired. But even when someone resents our meddling, God can still use us to bring them back – if we let Him.
-A young man once described going astray from God like he was at sea in deep water, deep trouble, and all his friends were on the shoreline hurling biblical accusations at him about justice, penalty and wrong but there was one Christian brother who actually swam out to get me and would not let me go. I fought him, but he pushed aside my fighting, grasped me, put a life jacket around me, and took me to shore. By the grace of God, he was the reason I was restored. He would not let me go!¨ (Swindoll 195). from www.sermoncentral.com Bringing the Wanderer Home Text: James 5.19-20 by Chris Hodges
-Biblically there are certain attitudes we must have if we are to be effective as our brother’s keeper. I’m going to skip from James’ writings to Paul’s writings for a moment. There are 4 attitudes highlighted by Paul in Galatians 6:1-2. "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."
1. We must be concerned.
-We must not get so caught up in our own life that we can’t see to help someone who is in need.
-Jude 1:22-23 22 Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. 23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins.
-A king once had a beautiful diamond. It was large and rare and he was very proud of it. One day, the diamond was scratched and became so disfigured that none of the court jewelers would risk trying to remove the mark. The king became very unhappy.
-Not long afterwards, a new young jeweler came to court. He examined the diamond carefully and promised that he could make it even better than before. The king was very skeptical, but he decided to give the man a chance, so he handed over the diamond. When it was returned to him, the king was amazed, for the craftsman had engraved a beautiful rosebud around the flaw, and the ugly scratch had become the stem. It was, indeed, more beautiful than it was.
-God may give you faith and a vision for the restoration of someone who has wandered away from Him. Others may think it is too risky, but God’s love in you compels you to reach out to those who have wandered from the truth. God’s love makes us concerned.
2. We must have courage.
-It is not easy to confront. We must be willing to listen, be patient.
Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, in a recent interview told of his most memorable occasion to share the gospel. “I remember as a young believer I felt impressed to call on a man who was a CEO of one of the great fortune 500 companies. As presumptuous as it sounded he was very responsive and agreed to see me. I asked for 15 minutes of his personal time, and when I was ushered into his big beautiful office there was nothing on his desk... He was seated there waiting for me. He asked "What can I do for you?" I said, "Sir, I’ve come to talk to you about your relationship with Jesus Christ." On the surface one would expect for him to call for a bodyguard and escort me out. He instead began to cry. Then he stopped and told me that at the age of 8 he had become a believer. He had become so ambitious, however, that he did not have time for God. Even though he had become one of the leading businessmen in the world he had not been to church in 30 years. He said, "God sent you. He sent you to help me. I’ll be in church Sunday." [SermonCentral Staff. Citation: Crosswalk.com, April 3]
3. We must have integrity.
-It is the one who is "spiritual" who should be about this. Notice it does not say "elder" or "Leader." You might be the only one who has the opportunity to reach someone.
-William Temple was a Puritan preacher from about 400 years ago who said that we should never tell people to "’Go to the cross.’ We’ve got to be able to say ’Come to the cross.’ He went on to say, "There are only two voices that can issue that invitation. One is the voice of the sinless Redeemer, with which we cannot speak, and the other is the voice of the forgiven sinner who knows himself forgiven. And that is our part." [William Temple, quoted by John R. W. Stott, "Keeping the Right Company," Preaching Today, Tape No. 46. Cited by Tim Bond, sermoncentral.com]
4. We must be gentle.
-F.B. Meyer once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard they tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed them. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances. [Stephen Brown, Christianity Today, April 5, 1993, p. 17.]
-Intervention can be scary, risky, and it may take a lot of time and hard work. But it is worth it because it can save a person from spiritual death and bring about much forgiveness. Forgiveness makes it worth it all!
3 Words about Forgiveness
1. Clay- We are all human and we all fail. We all stand in need of forgiveness on a continual basis.
2. Cleared – When God forgives us, He clears us of all wrong. He declares us not guilty. He gives us perfect legal standing in our status with Him.
3. Clean – Not only is our record clear and we stand “not guilty” before God because of the righteousness of Jesus, but also, we are made clean on the inside. Our conscience is clean, our heart is clean. There is a washing that takes place. Water baptism symbolizes the cleansing that takes place when someone comes to God in repentance. This is a spiritual cleansing that Isaiah spoke of: NLT Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us argue this out," says the LORD. "No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool.”
Conclusion- Are you willing to do whatever you can to bring others back to God? Why did James use Elijah’s prayers as an example? To show that faith filled prayer is powerful and that miracles can still happen! God can bring prodigals back to Himself. He can restore those who have wandered away from the truth. And He wants to use us to do it – through prayer and through proximity – being there, getting involved in a person’s life, being willing to do whatever it takes to bring them back to the Lord.
-Maybe today you stand in need of forgiveness. As humans, we all need it pretty regularly, but maybe it’s been awhile since you really came clean with God about your attitude and actions. NLT 1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. No repentance means no forgiveness. I urge you to take some time to talk with the Lord. James also urges us to confess our faults to one another so we can be healed. May God restore your soul as you make Him the leader of your heart and life!
