[By Ron Halbrook]

2 Introduction: 1.Two paths: living faith or dead faith 2.Two destinies 3.Forward in faith: 5:1-6 Abused saints vindicated 5:7-12 Patient saints blessed 5:13-18 Prayerful saints prevail 5:19-20 Alert saints restore the fallen

3 I. 5:1-6 Abused Saints Vindicated

4 1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

5 5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. 6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

6 I.5:1-6 Abused Saints Vindicated A. Pay Day Coming to Covetous Rich 1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

7 I.5:1-6 Abused Saints Vindicated B. Testimony of Hoarded Wealth 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.

8 I.5:1-6 Abused Saints Vindicated B. Testimony of Hoarded Wealth 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

9 I.5:1-6 Abused Saints Vindicated B. Testimony of Hoarded Wealth 5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

10 I.5:1-6 Abused Saints Vindicated B. Testimony of Hoarded Wealth 6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

11 II. 5:7-12 Patient Saints Blessed

12 7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

13 10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. 12 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.

14 II. 5:7-12 Patient Saints Blessed A. Patient Perseverance Rewarded 7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

15 II. 5:7-12 Patient Saints Blessed B. Bitter Bickering: Sin, Not Patience 9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

16 II. 5:7-12 Patient Saints Blessed C. Old Testament Examples 10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

17 II. 5:7-12 Patient Saints Blessed C. Old Testament Examples 11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

18 II. 5:7-12 Patient Saints Blessed D. Profane Oaths: Sin, Not Patience 12 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.

19 III. 5:13-18 Prayerful Saints Prevail

20 13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? 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 of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 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.

21 17 Elias 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. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

22 III. 5:13-18 Prayerful Saints Prevail A. Heart Focused on God in Sorrow & Joy 13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

23 III. 5:13-18 Prayerful Saints Prevail B. Effective Prayers 14 Is any sick among you? 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 of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 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. 14 Is any sick among you? 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 of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 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.

24 III. 5:13-18 Prayerful Saints Prevail C. Elijah’s Effective Prayers 17 Elias 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. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. 17 Elias 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. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

25 IV. 5:19-20 Alert Saints Restore the Fallen

26 19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

27 IV. 5:19-20 Alert Saints Restore the Fallen A. A Vital Service All Can Render 19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. 19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

28 IV. 5:19-20 Alert Saints Restore the Fallen B. Urgent Duty! 19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. 19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

29 V. Our Faith Fortified, Activated Today A. 5:1-6 Miseries Await Materialistic Men — Our Faith Will Be Vindicated! Naturalism, evolutionary theories Greed, fraud Carnality, immorality Culture of death Rev. 18:4 “Come out of her”

30 V. Our Faith Fortified, Activated Today B. 5:7-12 Patient, Steady, Balanced Faith Rewarded! Impatience, frustration erode faith

31 V. Our Faith Fortified, Activated Today B. 5:7-12 Patient, Steady, Balanced Faith Rewarded! Firm, balanced faith sustains patience & defeats factionalism (Satan’s tactic: divide-&-conquer) Carnality not strength (3:13-18; 4:1, 11-12; 5:9, 12) Impatience, imbalance, immaturity The Lord at hand: all is well

32 V. Our Faith Fortified, Activated Today B. 5:7-12 Patient, Steady, Balanced Faith Rewarded! Follow Jeremiah, Job: men like us

33 V. Our Faith Fortified, Activated Today C. 5:13-18 Our Prayers Powerful, Our God Powerful! Bear duties, injustices, wounds: Where turn for relief & strength? Pray: God very much hears!

34 V. Our Faith Fortified, Activated Today C. 5:13-18 Our Prayers Powerful, Our God Powerful! Reassurance God hears: Vs. 13 Hears afflicted Vs. 14 Hears elders Vs Hears penitent, brethren Vv Heard Elijah: “as we are”

35 V. Our Faith Fortified, Activated Today C. 5:13-18 Our Prayers Powerful, Our God Powerful! Pray in faith: leave the answer in God’s hands

36 V. Our Faith Fortified, Activated Today D. 5:19-20 Rescue the Perishing Satan’s work: Some “err from the truth” Saved to save: “Freely...received, freely give” (Matt. 10:8) “God so loved us,...love one another” (1 Jn. 4:11)

37 V. Our Faith Fortified, Activated Today D. 5:19-20 Rescue the Perishing We must reach out: the erring must choose “Save a soul from death:” “Oh, what a joy to put our hands to such a blessed work!” (Pulpit Commentary: James, p. 90)

38 Invitation: 1.Two paths: living faith or dead faith 2.Two destinies 3.Forward in faith: 5:1-6 Abused saints vindicated 5:7-12 Patient saints blessed 5:13-18 Prayerful saints prevail 5:19-20 Alert saints restore the fallen

39 Invitation: 4. Life of faith blessed for time & eternity 5. Erring saints can be restored: “Confess your faults...and pray” (Ja. 5:16) 6. Sinners in the world can be saved: “Come unto me” (Matt. 11:28) Come by faith, repent, confess Christ, be baptized (Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38)