Power Loss

The Two Natures of the Believer

Chapter Eight

Power Loss

          The filling of the Spirit of God is prefaced by hungering and thirsting “after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6).  This is practical righteousness in the believer’s life.  The believer wanting the purest form of intimacy with God wants what God wants in his life – PRACTICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS.  The paradox that is soon discovered is that the more a believer pursues the righteousness of God, the more he discovers how short he comes from ever truly reaching that goal (Romans 3:23).  Although the believer hungers and thirsts for Godkind righteousness, he comes to understand the pursuit is futile as long as he is still in human and fallen flesh.  Understanding all of this brings the believer to understand the dilemma of practical sanctification apart from the filling of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. 

          In this dilemma of God’s expectation of perfect righteousness, we are confronted with the same problem in practical sanctification as we are in God’s requirement of people possessing perfect Godkind righteousness before anyone can enter His presence.  We know from Scripture, in the doctrine of salvation, that Godkind righteousness can NEVER BE ACHIEVED, but only RECEIVED.  This Godkind righteousness IS the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the “born again” believer’s body. 

          Practical righteousness never be ACHIEVED by keeping the moral Law.  Practical sanctification can only be ACHIEVED through a partnership (“fellowship”) with the indwelling Spirit of God.  Practical Godkind righteous can only be RELEASED through the believer’s life through the “filling” of the Spirit.  This “filling” of the Spirit cannot happen until the believer totally surrenders his will to the indwelling Spirit.  There the pursuit of Godkind righteousness demands the pursuit of the most intimate personal relationship possible between two beings – the FILLING OF GOD’S SPIRIT. 

“¹ If ye then be risen with Christ, {then} seek those things which are above {‘on the top,’ above or beyond; the things of the Spirit in your new existence ‘in Christ’}, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God {as the believer’s representative, perfect, sinless High Priest} . ² Set your affection on things above {‘on the top,’ above or beyond; the things of the Spirit in your new existence ‘in Christ’}, not on things on the earth. ³ For ye are dead {positionally; Romans 6:6}, and your life {lifetime of sinfulness} is hid {perfect, passive, indicative} with {implies an intimate personal connection} Christ in God {positionally}. ⁴ When Christ, who is our life {positionally}, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory {practically}” (Colossians 3:1-4).

The pursuit of this most intimate of relationships with God through the kind of faith that is willing to totally trust God and totally yield one’s life to the indwelling Spirit is what defines hungering and thirsting after righteousness in Matthew 5:6; “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”  The ONLY people that will ever be filled with the Spirit in the truest sense of the theological meaning are those willing to totally trust God and totally yield their lives to the indwelling Spirit.  This is the primary arena of the “trying of your faith” described in James 1:2-8).  James 1:7 tells us there is a loss of power with God (God’s blessing) for those wavering in their willingness totally trust God and totally yield their lives to the indwelling Spirit. 

“² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations {various kinds of life trials}; ³ Knowing this, that the trying {proving or testing} of your faith worketh patience. ⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. ⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. ⁷ For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. ⁸ A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:2-8).

When God says, “count it all joy,” He wants us to understand that He is working to bring us to a functional maturity and faith in Jesus Christ that can trust Him through every situation in life.  He is doing this in a faith partnership through various kinds of testing, trials, and difficulties.  A few of the things with which we are tested are:

1. Doubt

2. Temptations

3. Anger

4. Wrath

5. Obedience

6. Self-control

7. Love

8. Works

9. Accountability

10. Worldliness

11. Materialism

12. False Prejudices

          God wants moral responsibility and spiritual responsibility in His children.  Yet, God knows that believers cannot be morally responsible and spiritually responsible without Him help (grace-enabling).  God wants all fleshly patterns to be cast away.  “Counting” trials and difficulties a necessity to accomplish those ends is part of God’s growth process.  You are to become a partner with God in His making you a TELEIOS Christian: spiritually mature, complete, entire, and lacking nothing (James 1:4). 

How is a mature Christian spiritually defined?  James defines it in five areas.

1. A mature Christian is a person who is aware of the innate nature of sinfulness due to his fallen nature and is constantly in the process of resisting and overthrowing it.  This person’s faith in God grows stronger every day and is becoming unwavering.

2. A mature Christian is a person who is becoming soul conscious with genuine concern for people.

3. A mature Christian is a person learning to live by prayer and use prayer as an effective tool to realize spiritual goals.

4. A mature Christian is a person who knows how to use a trial, using it to learn and teach everything that can be gained from it.

5. A mature Christian person has learned not to view conflict as a problem, but as an opportunity to teach and learn.  As a result, a mature Christian becomes spiritually alert to God’s working in difficulties and trials.

          If God’s perfecting work never ends, can we ever say we are “perfected”?  Yes, but not the way man defines perfection.  In the book of James, God will give us several spiritual fronts on which He wants us to grow (to advance).  Therefore, the “perfect” (mature) Christian is the person who is constantly working to grow on all fronts, without exception, in his Christian growth.

          Growth becomes the measurement of maturity, and that maturity can exist at many levels.  We expect a six-year-old to act like a six-year-old.  We expect a thirteen-year-old to act like a thirteen-year-old.  But sometimes we expect a six-year-old to act like a thirteen-year-old and a thirteen-year-old to act like a thirty-year-old.  That is unfair.  It is also unfair when a thirty-year-old acts like a thirteen-year-old or a thirteen-year-old acts like a six-year-old. 

          In the church, the latter is usually the problem more than the former.  It is not that we expect too much, but that we expect too little.  A thirteen-year-old Christian ought to know and live better and more consistently than a six-year-old or a two-year-old Christian.

          God allows trials to come into our lives to test our growth levels.  He wants to know our spiritual strengths and weaknesses.  God is constantly testing us for spiritual integrity.  God is looking for gaps in our growth.  That is what James 1:2-4 is saying.  In every circumstance of life, God is working to perfect us and our ability to look to Him for the spiritual resources to be victorious over our flesh.  This is power WITH God!  God wants us to live in dependence upon Him in spiritual partnership to be victorious over our flesh.  To understand all of this is to understand the blessing and curse of the New Covenant.  “The just shall live by faith” dependence upon their partnership with God to be victorious over the “flesh.”  This is very PRACTICAL THEOLOGY!  

          The incredible shallowness of understanding the spiritual dynamic of power with God through practical sanctification has created an incredible superficiality in the lives of professing Christians.  There is NO POWER with God apart from the filling of the Spirit of God through abiding “in the Vine.”

“¹ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. ² Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. ³ Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. ⁶ If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. ⁸ Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:1-8).

To argue that the conditions defined in John 15:1-8 and the Sermon on the Mount cannot be for Church Age believers because they are presently impossible conditions, is ridiculous.  If they are intended only for glorified believers, as some argue, they will not be needed in that glorified believers will be delivered from the corruption of the flesh in their glorified bodies.  If they are intended only for Kingdom Age believers living in fleshly (non-glorified) bodies, what would be the difference between those Kingdom Age believers and Church Age believers?  It would be just as impossible for them to live up to these conditions as it is for Church age believers.  In fact, this impossibility is the main emphasis of the understanding of the doctrine of Grace (God’s supernatural enabling through the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit).  

We must grasp the impossibility of producing spiritual fruit apart from the blessing of unity with Jesus Christ through the filling of the Spirit of God.  Then perhaps Church Age believers could finally grasp the essential essence of the total yieldedness (Romans 6:11-13).  Total yieldedness is necessary before the Priesthood of any believer can be used of God so that we can be consecrated by our High Priest, Jesus Christ, to be used in the “work of the ministry” to which we are perfected (Ephesians 4:12).  It is a matter of fact, without the supernatural enabling of the indwelling Christ, the believer “can do nothing.” 

 

The conditions of the blessing and curse of the New Covenant (Matthew chapters five through seven) are not based upon perfection in sinlessness.  These conditions of the blessing and curse of the New Covenant are intended to reflect an important reality.  Being right with God is conditioned upon a proper understanding of what we are and who we are apart from the supernatural operations of the indwelling Spirit of God from within us through our lives.  Once a believer understands the depth of his own degradation in corruption, only then can he understand that what God merely wants is for fallen sinners, now saved by grace, to have a complete change of heart regarding what he wants God to do through their lives.  Even if we could somehow never commit an act of sin again for the rest of our lives, every believer still thinks about sin, is tempted by certain sinful desires, and is emotionally corrupted.  These are the issues upon which Matthew chapter five, six, seven and Luke 6:20-49 expound. 

God simply wants us to WANT what He wants and depend upon Him to accomplish what He wants through us.  Yes, there must be a turning from our corrupted emotions, our perverse desires, and outward acts of sin, but there also needs to be turning to God in a declaration of dependence.  This defines the altar work that needs to be done before the Throne of Grace by the broken sinner. 

1. There must be a declaration of the sinner’s understanding of his spiritual brokenness.

2. There must be a declaration of the sinner’s understanding of his spiritual helplessness in meeting God’s expectations.

3. There must be a declaration of the sinner’s dependency upon the indwelling Spirit to supernaturally work through the yielded believer’s life.

4. There must be a determination to live in unbroken fellowship with Christ through the continual communication of the above three things during each moment of the day.

5. There must be a determination to be a vocal witness for Christ and a willingness to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the first moment an opportunity arises.

According to John 15:7, we must “abide in Christ” to have our PRAYER answered.  The place where answers to prayer are received is always the “abiding” place in Christ.  God cannot, and will not, answer any prayer that is contrary to His will.  The only way we can know God’s will is when His “Words abide” in us.  Then we can pray in God’s will.

The importance of what Jesus teaches in John 15:1-8 will probably never be fully realized until after we are dead, glorified, and finally standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ.  Then we will see the outcome of all those moments of selfish inconsideration when we lived for carnal pleasures and worldly pursuits.  

In John 15:4. Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you.”  The word “abide” is an aorist, active, imperative.  In other words, the believer is COMMANDED to abide in Christ and to ensure that Christ abides in the believer.  The word “abide” means to stay or remain.  To not abide in Christ is a serious act of sinful disobedience.  

The context of John 15:1-8 demands we understand the meaning is to do whatever is required to ensure that we live in continuous Spirit-filled fellowship with Jesus Christ.  The believer’s will must be so fully surrendered to Christ that their two wills seems as one.  This reality should be the condition of the heart before any person makes any request to God.  Such a person wants intimacy with God before He wants things from God.  This factor defines living faith.  Anything less is simply a foolish attempt to manipulate God into doing what we want Him to do.  What depth of ignorance and unbelief do such attempts manifest in the lives of those trying to do such foolishness as trying to manipulate God? 

John 15:7 connects this responsibility to the blessing of answered prayer.  “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  Notice that in John 15:7, Jesus defines that living in unbroken fellowship with Him necessitates that His “words abide in” us.  In other words, this is not some metaphysical spiritual experience without definitive parameters.  This is not the acceptance of some anything goes syncretistic religious expression.  The necessity that Jesus’ “words abide in” us defines pure Christianity; the Word of God living through the believer’s life.  

What is the first question you ask yourself when you do not receive answers to your prayers?  Are you FULLY surrendered?  Do you have any area of known disobedience to God’s Word in your life?  Have you sought the counsel of someone you respect spiritually?  Will you give this person permission to speak to you frankly about these questions?  What really defines the prayer of faith?  Is faith somehow disconnected from our walk with the Lord?  The redundant pattern of Scripture is that faith has more to do with the way we live our lives than it is about anything else. 

“⁷ But the end of all things is at hand {the Church Age is the “last days”}: be ye therefore sober {of a sound mind meaning doctrinally sound; understanding the timetable of the second coming keeps believers from fretting the events and affairs of the world}, and watch {stay free from intoxicants; keep your mind clear and sober} unto prayer. ⁸ And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ⁹ Use hospitality one to another without grudging. ¹⁰ As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. ¹¹ If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:7-11).

In I Peter 4:7-11, we see several words that describe the overflow of the Spirit of God that manifest His indwelling power flowing through our lives.  There are seven ministry areas of the Christian life that are intimately and intricately connected to having a right working relationship with the Lord.  Understanding these words is critical to understanding how God releases His power through our lives in ministry to one another.

1. Sobriety: from the word sophroneo (so-fron-eh'-o), meaning sound of mind or thinking. Sound mindedness comes from thinking things through and taking into consideration all the Truths of God’s Word as they weigh upon any given subject or situation.  Sophroneo was a word that described a person who did not allow his mind to come under the influence of alcohol.  This is very much what Jesus means when He says, “my words abide in you” (John 15:7).

2. Watch unto prayer: the word “watch” is from the word nepho (nay'-fo), meaning to abstain from wine drinking and connecting sobriety (right mindedness) with prayer (God-dependency) in power with God in all matters of life.  Contradistinctively, failure in nepho (abstaining from wine drinking or any similar worldly practice) would disconnect the believer from power with God. Worldly desires manifest a weak mind (the opposite of a strong or sound mind).

3. Fervent charity: literally, unceasing sacrificial love for other true believers. The idea is the willingness to make extreme sacrifices for one another, to help one another grow in grace, and to escape the shackles of our own selfishness.  The words “charity shall cover the multitude of sins” in I Peter 4:8 is a quote from Proverbs 10:12. “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.”  The idea is that our love is not constantly stirring up the dunghill of a fellow Christian’s past failures of which he has confessed and that have been forgiven.

4. Use hospitality: from the word philoxenos (fil-ox’-en-os), it simply means being fond of guests.  Christians ought to enjoy the company of other Christians and “use hospitality” to encourage one another.  Notice this comes with the qualifier, “one to another without grudging” (grumbling or complaining about having to do it).  Remember, “God loveth a cheerful giver” (II Corinthians 9:7). Hospitality costs both time and money.  If love does not cost us something, we have not loved.

5. Minister “the gift:” “gift” is from charisma and “minister” is from diakoneo (dee-ak-on-eh'-o). In other words, God did not give us the supernatural gift of spiritual enablement to consume upon ourselves.  He has gifted us with the intent we will use that “gift” and spread it as a resource to the widest possible scale of our influence “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  Notice, there is a stewardship involved.  Stewardship means we will be held accountable for this “manifold grace of God.”  This accountability defines the Dispensation (stewardship) of Grace.  Salvation is a gift of grace, but with it comes overwhelming spiritual responsibilities for which we are accountable to God.  He expects “fruit.”

6. Speech: “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (I Peter 4:11).  The word “the” is not in the Greek text in front of the word “oracles.”  It should read, “Speak as oracles of God.”  The idea is like the “thus sayeth the LORD” proclamation of the Old Testament prophets.  The idea is that you are not communicating some philosophical idea or some great thought from your own mind.  There is no option for debate or dissension.  Truth is to come forth from the mouth of the prophet of God, as if God is speaking Himself.  Therefore, when you are speaking forth the Word of God, you are to do so with the authority of its Author.

7. Ministry to the glory of God: “If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:11b).  We often hear the word charismatic used to describe people who can attract large crowds.  Often, these types of people are self-glorifying empire builders.  They are like fly paper.  The fly was just looking for a place to land to get something to eat and then he found himself stuck.

When God uses the word charisma, He uses it in the context of His supernatural enabling of a believer for the “work of the ministry.”  This gift of grace is never to be used for some guy to build himself an empire of loyal followers.  God’s gift of grace should be used to make followers (disciples) of Jesus Christ where all that we do is intent upon bringing God glory - revealing Him in all His wondrous attributes to a blind, cursed, and dying world of sinners.  Sometimes there is a narrow line between a man building himself a kingdom and a man working to win souls and make disciples for the Kingdom of God.  That line is sometimes difficult to discern.

“⁷ But the end of all things is at hand {the Church Age is the “last days”}: be ye therefore sober {of a sound mind meaning doctrinally sound; understanding the timetable of the second coming keeps believers from fretting the events and affairs of the world}, and watch {stay free from intoxicants; keep your mind clear and sober} unto prayer. ⁸ And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ⁹ Use hospitality one to another without grudging. ¹⁰ As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. ¹¹ If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:7-11).

In I Peter 4:7-9, God gives an admonition to believers within a local church union about living during the last days.  The Church Age Dispensation will end with the death of every lost soul on the face of planet earth.  Only the lost that enter the Tribulation and then repent of sin and trust in the finished work of Christ for their redemption during the seven-year Tribulation, will enter the Kingdom Age Dispensation alive.  Every other person who has received the mark of the Beast will be destroyed by the glory of the coming of Christ.  With this view in mind, the believer should carefully follow the admonitions of I Peter 4:7-9. 

Along with what we are told in Revelation chapters four through nineteen and numerous other prophecies, this is the world view of every Christian who believes in the imminent (any moment) second coming of Jesus Christ. This is the looming dark cloud of God’s promise of His unleashed wrath in His judgment of the nations.  This is the theological foundation of the any moment pending reality to which the words: “⁷ But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. ⁸ And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ⁹ Use hospitality one to another without grudging” (I Peter 4:7-9) are addressed.  Perhaps if we truly understood this any moment pending reality, we might begin to take these words seriously.

The word “end” in I Peter 4:7 is from the Greek word telos (tel’-os).  This word refers to the point aimed at as a limit or the point of termination.  The Church Age Dispensation is the next to the last age of God’s longsuffering grace upon this fallen creation.  Then comes the “day of wrath” that Paul speaks of in Romans 2:5: “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. . .”  This is the future horizon that all Church Age believers must constantly keep in their sights.  We must keep this prophecy as part of today’s possible realities.

This scenario is equally true of local churches where the “meat” of Bible doctrine has been removed.  Take the definitive Truths of God’s Word away from the admonitions to a local church and you take away the spiritual nutrients that lead us to power with God.  A believer cannot “abide” in the Words of Christ if he is ignorant of those Words.  Although that local church may look like and act like it is growing, it is dying of malnutrition at the same time.  The only hope for the lost souls of this world is for Christians to live the Christ-life!

          Every Christian is commanded to be both “salt” and “light” in this world.  Yet, the Christian that is not empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit will be savorless salt and hidden or covered “light.”  The point is that we are going to be “lukewarm” if we are not willing to make some extreme, radical changes in our priorities and how we live this new life we have “in Christ.”  Before we fool ourselves into thinking that we have achieved some type of success because we have convinced a large group of people to join our multitude, we better examine what kind of multitude we really are and what we are trying to become.  Jesus tells the crowds following Him to take careful consideration of the personal costs of being a TRUE DISCIPLE in Luke 14:25-35.  If you are willing to pay the price, DO NOT take the title!

“²⁵ And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, ²⁶ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple {this refers to the kind of total surrender to Christ that is willing to die for the mission of Christ}. ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? {Carefully consider the personal costs of being a true disciple of Jesus.} ²⁹ Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, ³⁰ Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish {count the cost before calling yourself a disciple, or Christian}. ³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace {count the cost before calling yourself a disciple, or Christian}. ³³ So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. ³⁴ Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? ³⁵ It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out {worthless for the purpose it was created}.  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 14:25-35).

The eyes of faith see every task or difficulty in life through the possibility of grace enablement.  Confession of sins and cleansing of “all unrighteousness” is the first essential to being grace enabled by the indwelling Christ (I John 1:7-9).  Prayer is the medium through which confession is communicated and the grace of cleansing is received.  This defines the cleansing of the vessel through which Christ and the Christ-life flows through us.  There is a moral obligation as children of God to live clean lives according to the teachings of Jesus Christ; i.e. the Word of God.  This is what I Peter 4:10 refers to as being “stewards of . . . grace.”  “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  The word “stewards” translates into the practical reality of accountability for this supernatural spiritual endowment of power that is given to all true believers “born again” of the Spirit of God. 

Although the believer can experience sickness that is not the direct result of chastisement for some sin in his life, he cannot experience sickness that is not the direct result of God’s curse upon sin.  Sickness and death are parts of the curse. 

“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 {hupokrisis; hypocrisy or dissimulation}. ¹³ Is any among you afflicted {undergoing some hardship or difficulty}? 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 {humbling ourselves to avoid having people think of us to highly}, and pray one for another {present imperative; when people know that we all struggle with the same temptations, this prompts us to continually pray one for another}, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent {grace supernaturally enabled and energized} prayer of a righteous man {this is practical sanctification not justification} availeth {enables} much. ¹⁷ Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are {he had a corrupted and sinful nature}, 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. ¹⁹ Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth {wander away from living the Word}, and one convert him {turn him around or bring him back to the path of Truth trough persuasion and repentance}; ²⁰ Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way {from his wandering away from living the Truth} shall save a soul from death {the death here is the death of the Christ-life, not eternal damnation}, and shall hide a multitude of sins {the intent here is that love refuses to see the failures of the past that have been repented and forgiven as present realities}” (James 5:12-20).

          It is the responsibility of every local church member to lovingly help other believers within their local church context and the whole community of Christ to live godly, Christ-like lives – to abide in His Word.  The central objective of the local church, consisting of individual believers united together by salvation and the New Covenant responsibilities, is to ensure that the Words of Jesus are being lived through our lives (John 15:7) by grace through faith.  Any person that has a vested interest in the Kingdom of Christ will seek to abide in the Word of God and want the Word of God to be lived through his live by the enabling grace of the indwelling Christ.  

By the time of the writing of the epistle of James, about thirty years had passed since the resurrection.  Many people had begun to take many of the practical truths of the Word of God for granted.  For those who have been Christians for many years or for young adults and teenagers who have grown-up in the faith, there is a natural tendency to begin just going through the motions.

          People come to their local church’s services with many different things on their minds.  They think about the friends they will see, the songs they will sing, if their kids will set still, or the potluck dinner after services.  How many of us stop to remind ourselves that today we will meet with our God?  How many planned and prepared to worship Him? 

          I think we get into such routines so often that we give little, if any, thought to the presence of our God in what we do.  Even when we pray, we often say the words without any real consciousness of the presence of the Lord.  Our minds think about all those around us and what we are saying, but we are not consciously aware of the presence of the Lord.  We read and study our Bibles without consideration that God is intending to speak to us through the Words on the pages.  We witness to others without any awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

          In James 5:13, God states that our conscious awareness of the presence of God in our lives is measured by our attitude towards Him when we are either “afflicted” or “merry,” under difficulties or blessings, by what we do.  It is in the arenas of PRAYER and PRAISE that God measures the depth of our spiritual integrity.  When “afflicted,” do we pray with a real conscious dependence on the Lord?  When we are blessed, do we praise God from the depths of a grateful heart.

“Afflicted” is a general term for suffering, misfortune, or troubles (James 5:13).

          It is the same word used in James 5:10 to describe the difficulties of the Old Testament prophets.  Trials produce emotional reactions such as stress, worry, anger, and fear that sometimes bring a person into depression when not dealt with properly.  These can all be by-products of AFFLICTION.  The question is, do these things promote prayerful dependency upon the Lord in faith?  They can either PREVENT or PROMOTE spiritual growth, depending on our response to difficulties.  This will determine if we will abide in the Word or flee from the pathway of righteousness. 

James 5:13-18 completes the full circle in the quest for the integrity/wholeness of our faith begun in God to James 1:2-11.

“² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; ³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. ⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. ⁵ If any of you lack wisdom {the real treasure in life}, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. ⁷ For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. ⁸ A double minded man is unstable in all his ways {the context implies the pursuit of worldly wealth that is temporal as opposed to godly, biblical wisdom that is eternal}. ⁹ Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: ¹⁰ But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. ¹¹ For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways” (James 1:2-11).

Our response to affliction, suffering, misfortune, or trouble should be to look for the growth opportunity through which to gain godly wisdom.  We must learn to pray through these difficulties in that such afflictions reveal the temporality of our existence in the flesh.  In God’s plan, affliction always has a purpose.

          Affliction takes the person who has grown complacent towards the Lord, or who has become apathetic towards the things of God and focuses his attention on the PERSON of his faith, Jesus Christ.  A little spiritual meat from a simple spiritual truth: when we forget that we are living in the presence of a holy God every moment of our lives, when we forget Him when we worship, sing, or pray, we have fallen into a trap of Satan.  We have become preoccupied with the things of this world. 

          Let me ask you, did you stop to consider the condition of your heart and life before reading God’s Word?  Did you have a time of self-examination, confession, repentance, and cleansing?  When you sing the hymns, is your mind wandering to other things, or is it focused on bringing glory and praise to our heavenly Father?  Are you thinking about what you are going to do later, a problem at work, your kids, or is your heart and soul fastened upon the wonderful grace of Jesus, His mercy and goodness?  When the tithes and offerings are collected, what are you thinking?  How much?  How little? The burden of it all?  Or are you worshiping the Lord, praying that each dollar given might be used to magnify and glorify His Name a thousand-fold with souls won and lives changed.

          Something here describes every one of us.  You see friends, how easy it is to slip into the snare of the devil and forget our God.  When we forget God, we not only have slipped into the snare of the devil, but the whole concept of worship is lost as a practice of our lives.  Ensuring that the Word of God abides in us is the first step to answered prayer! 

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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.