Additional words from James

Okay, so what you see before you is a plan for the rest of the year. I actually haven't talked much. The teachers have talked, but not with you guys. So the plan is we needed a short something to fill in right between now and the end of the year, so we decided to do Jonah.

Well, hey, I'm sure everybody knows about Jonah and probably can, you know. But actually, there's some interesting things in Jonah, especially the part which I hadn't quite realized We're going to do, at the very end of Jonah, we're going to do a section in Matthew. And, you know, Christ talks about Jonah. And so it's really, there's a contrast. Those verses in Matthew are really interesting about Jonah and Christ. So that's kind of the culmination of our study of Jonah. But today we have actually two more lessons on James.

We got 19 and 20 in chapter 5. And then Andrew gets to do a review of Chapter 5. And there's plenty of things to review. Actually, I'm not going to do everything. There's some verses we really haven't hit too hard, especially in Chapter 5 that are really interesting. And hopefully, Andrew, let the Lord lead him in what he has for us in the review. So I'm thankful for that. So let's look at the last two verses here.

Yes. Okay, the plant while I'm thinking about actually all teachers are on that's good. I'm thinking about Philippians actually We've done Philippians ten years ago, so I'm thinking about so let me know what you think I was thinking about Philippians for next year and so if you're we know we haven't done that quite a while, and it's just a marvelous book a lot of you know great stuff in Philippians and so Okay, so if I think about that. We'll we'll talk about that in the weeks to come here Okay, so now I got to find out how to advance the slides. There we go. Okay, good. Okay. 19 and 20.

My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns back a sinner from the error of his ways, way, singular, will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. So with all of James, James has some interesting, um, Approaches, and you know it's one of the earlier books, and it's interesting So there's a plenty of questions that come up in this in these verses here, so let's just kind of get into it here So the first for the first verse is my brother, and so that that kind of you know it brings up a question Who is he talking to and you know if you look you look in scripture a lot, and you see this word brethren it's the word of Delphos and This is vines vines dictionary and So it's a brother or near kinsman and in the plural it's community based upon the identity of life or origin of life.

So that, you know, he's talking about, you know, I believe he's talking about brothers in the Lord. And then, you know, Paul uses this word as well. And he talks about in Romans, the A part of verse 13 in chapter one, I do not want you to be unaware brethren, but I often plan to come to you. and have been prevented so far. So he's talking about believers in the Lord, and he was prevented from coming to see them. So I just want to kind of establish that Brethren, obviously, is speaking about believers. And so now the challenge is, or the question is, the first little part of this, if any among you, and I'm going to go with this, a brother who strays from the truth, that not everybody agrees with me, And then secondly, I'm going to go with the fact that it's another brother who turns him back.

So we have brothers in the Lord encouraging brothers. And I, you know, if you look back to verse 14, which Myles covered last week, you know, we have a believer who's struggling, who's under a trial, and he looks to support from the elders, right? And we're going to see, I'm going to do a little review at the end, that he's looking for, he wants them to come and pray with him, basically. And so here we have, and I believe in this verse, we have a situation where one brother is going to help another brother. And so let's, and I'll try to maybe give you a little more of my thought process.

Oh, Jimsy is here. We prayed for you, Jim, and you showed up. That's great. That's great. So hopefully I can support that. You know, some people think this is, you know, maybe it's an unbeliever, but we'll see here. So let's, we'll go on with that. So, So my thought here, this kind of fits nicely with what we saw in 14, that a person under a trial, he asked the elders for support, so now we have a brother supporting another brother. Okay, go ahead. Sure. Well, okay, good point.

Well, let me look at the main verb Let's go to the okay. So what I did here, I'd like to do this and if thankfully I'm not the best in diagramming the Greek but there are others that have diagrammed it and the main the main clause or the main Structure.

This is one sentence right starting in verse 19 to the end. The main thought here is my brethren are let him know. And that's one of our favorite words. So the Greek word here is gnosko, one of our all time favorites, um, you know, to be taking in knowledge. So that's the main thought here. And then the rest of the stuff modifies that or gives you more information. But the main thought of this verb is my brother and let him know.

So we have a believer and, um, James is telling, he's the know something and this know, and this is not a casual know, I like to say, and I've heard others talk about, when we come across imperatives, if you think about it, I was thinking about the Lord Jesus, His interaction with the Father. I don't remember, correct me if I'm wrong, did He ever say, the Father commanded me? He always said it seemed like that I do what I see the Father doing. It's a relation of love and interaction.

So I was thinking about when we say, this is a command, I get kind of I don't know. It seems like the hammer is coming down on me. But actually it's not. That's actually God's will. So I like kind of the thought process that this is God's will that's in view here. And that certainly under grace, this is what we want, right? We want his will. We want to be in tune with him. So I like to think of imperatives in that way. Hopefully that's helpful. And this one is continuous action, present tense, continuous action. So we surrender this, let him be knowing.

So again, it's interesting, Miles did a great job last week talking about the believer. In essence, when he understands what trials are about, he's in a position to, if he doesn't understand, he doesn't understand that God has trials. And if he fights against it, so to speak, he gets the wrong conclusion. So knowing what the Lord is about is huge. It's super important.

Okay, so this is let him know let them be knowing and so we go back. This is very similar construction back in verse 2 in chapter 1 Consider it all joy my brethren. So it's addressing brethren's again When you encounter various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and it's the same word in the Greek It's a participle in this case knowing that so but it's the same one conosco and So that gives me, you know, as Miles pointed out, you want to look for the consistency through the book.

He's not going to all of a sudden change his mind. Well, okay, I was talking about this. Now I'm going to change my mind and go off on a different topic. He's consistent through this entire book. And this is another case where his consistency. So my brother, let him be knowing. And then we have the things, now we have this kind of parentheses. If any among you strays from the truth, that's a parenthesis to the overall thought here.

So let's look at that. So that's one of these if statements in the Greek language. And it sets up the dialogue for this verse, I believe. And it modifies, if you were to look at a diagram of this, and I've tried to do that with little bubble charts sometimes in the main service. Hopefully that's helpful. So this if statement modifies the verb let him know.

So, and if you go through the, look in the Greek, there are different classes of if statements, and this is what's called third class. So it's a probability, if you will. So it presents a condition as uncertain of fulfillment, but likely. So this is a likely case.

So James is giving them instructions. If you're, I believe it's a brother in the Lord, if your brother in the Lord has a problem, he strays, he strays from the truth. This is my desire. This is God's desire for you. So there are two parts to that. Any among you is the first part. Any among you strays from the truth and anyone who turns him back. And one of the reasons I think it's all brethren is because in this, the any, the any is tish in the Greek and the one for One is also tish so there's the same tense verb and mood both those so it's They're both the same if you had a different one, then you might different than My brother you might think it's somebody else. Maybe it's an unbeliever possibly, but this is all the same Original Greek word any among you stray from the truth and the one who turns him back So we have those two statements, and they're modifying this the verb let him know So the part a Anyone who strays from the truth. So what's going on here? And I repeat what I said the any among you is a fellow believer strays now this is where Bob kind of you're the if statement has this passive verb in it and it's Plano This is a cool word. I believe this word came from astronomy or the original Greek word. It's the idea of the wandering stars. You know, if you're an astronomer and they looked at the stars and they said, well, they just don't, they're not fixed in the sky.

They kind of wander. And Jude picked up on this idea, this idea of wandering. And it has the idea to be seduced or go astray. So this brother is wandering or going astray. That's his problem. And this is why James is calling the brethren to interact with him. We have a similar thought here in 2 Peter 2, verse 15. Forsaking the right way, speaking of this going astray, they have gone astray, it's the same word, and have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who have loved the wages of unrighteousness.

So, Vaughn, does that kind of help with the... No, it does, but I think the concept here is that the world system, the flesh, Satan always is there to... it's the passive influence. Right, right. It's kind of we actively respond to that. Right. Yet, it's kind of being led. We're always being led to go astray. I mean, that's the system of the three, you know... The world, the flesh, and the devil. That's always acting. That's always there. I like the passive voice because it implies that this is a drawing card all the time. Yet we're the ones that go astray.

And this verse is all about helping your fellow brother to not do that. And we see this all the time. I mean, we see it all the time when people and it may be just not understanding a verse the right way. Once you point out to them, well, this verse really says that, like Miles was doing last week, this verb really says that, they won't go astray expecting God to do something, you know, they have the wrong view of a verse in scripture, and you point them to the truth. Okay, and that kind of comes to the, this is obvious, so what are they being led astray from? So, you guys, if you just read the verse, you can tell me, so what are they being led astray from?

The truth, right? The truth, okay? So what's the, in the context, is the truth? So, and James has addressed this topic of the truth previously, and I want to look at a few verses about that. He did that back, he did it in other earlier verses. Okay, so first verse is back in chapter 1, and this is maybe a more, a broader concept, talking about God's word and the exercise of his will, he brought forth the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits among his creatures.

That may be a little bit more to the point. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, you do not be arrogant, so to lie against the truth. And then one that's not in James, but seems to be certainly to the point. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who knows all men, who knows, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. So since this is the truth, what do you think the truth is in the context here? Who the Lord is. What's that? Who the Lord is.

Okay, okay. About Him. Alright, okay. Would you think you could even I don't know. And this is just my my thought. Maybe it's others. So I think you can identify it even more closely or more specifically by having the definite article. The truth is there.

Is there. the truth that we see kind of throughout scripture, referred to in that sense, and this is not hard. I am the way, the truth, the life. Okay, that's certainly, and that's Margaret's point, that's certainly the Lord Jesus. I was thinking of the gospel, and that was just kind of, that was my take, but actually your point is well taken too, the Lord, He says I am the truth, He is the, and that's very well taken too, so that's good. It's a big word, Roger. It has everything that is real in it, in its context. Amen. Amen. The Lord's statement when he says, you know, he makes those three statements about himself, I find that just such an incredible verse. He defines truth. The Lord Jesus defines truth.

And like you say, it's reality. It's not just like that's something that I know somebody may, you know, the Bible writers put down is that he is the truth, that is reality. One of the things that helps me understand this is that truth includes the knowledge of what is an error. And so he comes to his senses thinking of the prodigal son, you know. Right. The truth will always reveal what is false as well. And the magnitude of what is real and good outshines what is false. I don't know how to say that better than that. No, no, I like that. I like that. That's good. Go ahead.

I think I see something in James 1.18, the fact that it's by the word of truth that he brought us forth. And that's the new creation in Christ Jesus that, you know, that is a core truth for us as believers when we're in a trial, when we forget that fact. Yeah, no, that's good. And, you know, what kind of go along with... That's where we flounder, because we begin to try to cope.

Yeah, well, Biocent theme in 118 really ties into this first two in 19. Yeah. Chapter 5. Sorry, I think my internet It's a little glitchy here, sorry. That's all right. Yeah, you're dropping in and out a little bit, but that's okay. We understand. Yeah, I was just going to say that, you know, the truth is so important, I think, to what James is saying, because the truth is going to, is going to understand about where you are in this trial.

If you don't have the truth, if you think somehow some kind of, you know, I'm going to allude to this, this oil, some kind of oil is going to take care of your issue. That's the wrong impression. I'm going to reiterate that again at the end about the oil. Where does the oil fit into this picture, if you will? But the truth of God's word is what's going to set you free. It shows you what God is about. And the key point is, where are you in all this? you know, out to dry and just, you know, no, God has a plan and a purpose for everyone.

I like the, there's a verse in Thessalonians, I think it's Thessalonians chapter 1, chapter 2 maybe, it talks about that we are destined for trials, I guess, in the King James. Our brother Hal would just love that verse. He would come to the back of that verse so many times and say, You are destined. God has destined you for trials.

That is what a believer is about. And don't be surprised. Don't be upset. I mean, it's hard not to be upset sometimes when you have trials. I mean, that's a toughie. But don't be surprised. And we have verses that say exactly that. So anyway, that's great. Good thoughts, guys. Good thoughts. Okay, so let's go on.

Okay, so the B part of this. So now we're talking about the one who's taking James' admonition here, the one who turns him back. And I believe the one who turns him back is a fellow believer. And turns him back is this word that talks about to turn about or turn toward, to cause to return from error. And what's interesting is it's in the Aorist tense. So I kind of picture it this way. I like the thought of the heiress being an event. So this is like, this is what, you know, you can think of it this way.

This would be an event that happened to the one who's straying from the truth. So a fellow brother, you bring the information to him about the word and you, by doing that, you can turn him around, turn him back. God's word will turn him back from that. And then a verse in 1 Peter that talks about that. For you were continually straying like sheep, but you have now returned, and I think it's the same word, to the shepherd and guardian of your soul. So it's the idea of turning around. You've comprehended what God is about or something, and you're being turned about from that.

Now some, just to be fair, some have taken this and they've talked about this as an unbeliever. I don't know, I found it hard to make a case for that personally. Anyway, I thought it fit well with James' context. Just like we had in verse 14 about going to the elders and praying with them, we have a believer supporting a fellow believer. Okay. Yeah, Roger, I don't see any reason to make that an unbeliever, right?

Because other than that they're trying to somehow work it into verse 20 and a concern with the concept of saving a soul from death, but I think it's pretty clear you can't have an unbeliever straying from the truth. I mean, they're separate from the truth. That's an excellent point, Miles. Actually, you would nail it down even more, that unbelievers straying from the truth when it doesn't have the truth. And you wouldn't have returned to the truth. I mean, that word right there, Because you never would have been there, so you couldn't have returned. Well, I was surprised that different people, you know, you kind of glance and say, oh, this one says that, and you go, you say it. Anyway, so I was disappointed in some people I read that thought this was an unbeliever. So anyway, enough said.

I'm not here to judge the commentators, but I'm trying to understand what God's Word says. I think, you know, from the text, from the language, and just reading it through, you know, believer helping believer is the picture. Was there another question? I was just going to say that if you replace the word truth with Jesus Christ, like Margaret said, which I really like because I think that's part of his essence. Someone who strays from Jesus Christ must be a believer. That's excellent. No, I like that. Perfect. That's a good way to think of it, I think. That's great, Jimmy. Wonderful. Okay, so let's go on to the last part of the verse here. Okay. And this gets a little more tricky, challenging.

Okay, so the statement 20 is a person, so this is modifying, it's what a person, it's a direct object actually in this case. The whole rest of verse 20 after I let him know is a direct object in this verse. This statement verse 20 is what a person who is turning from the error is to know. This is what he's to know.

Okay, so the question comes up. So why is James, he says, anyone let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his ways. So why, if we've been talking about believers, I think we have been, why all of a sudden is he calling him a sinner? So I want to just go back and actually this is not the first time. I think I've forgotten who covered this. It might have been Andrew.

Back in verse 8 in chapter 4, he calls a believer a sinner there too. He says, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded. So this is not out of sorts with James. James has done this before. So I tried to kind of think through this. Why would he refer to a believer as a sinner? The reminder that we're all sinners saved by grace.

That's good. I like that one. All the time. We can't ignore that. Amen. Amen. Okay. Same reason that Paul called the Corinthian church full of carnal sin. Okay, I like all that. So my statement here, you know, basically a believer still sins, and God desires us when we do sin, we confess that sin, we agree with him about our sins. But then we find that Paul, in nine of his thirteen epistles, calls believers saints. He starts off to the saints at Corinth, blah blah blah, Rome, and so on. So he calls So we have the saints. Believers are called saints and called sinners.

So is there a way we can reconcile that with something we know a lot? We talk a lot about Holly Hills. This is what occurred to me. Is there a way we can reconcile this? The identification truth. Okay, that's good. How about position and condition? I didn't write it down here, but I thought that answers it. Because positionally, we are saints. There's no question about that.

But conditionally, we do sin. So it seems like you could argue that James is focused more on the fact that believers do sin, and you have one that wants to turn them back from that, from that way. So I think that helps to understand this verse. So here, go ahead. Well, Roger, we can't forget that James was early. This was written early. Exactly. And this was a Jew who was used to the law, and he or she really probably respected the law for what it was like, but now they're under this atmosphere of grace, right? So this is a difficult situation for them, I think. It is. It is. Okay. So, all right.

So the first part of this is, let him who know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his ways will first save his soul from death. So now we go from one... So first question is, what kind of death is being spoken of here? So can you guys, you guys are good Holly Hillers. I don't know. Power of sin. Okay, all right. So the question is, is this spiritual situation or a physical situation?

And actually, to give you the truth, I've taught this twice. Actually, Bob taught it with me, I think. Ten years ago we taught James. And I taught it a different way last time, I'm going to teach it a different way this time, so I flipped. You're going to say, well Roger, you either had it right now, or you're going to tell me I have it right one of the two times, or wrong one of the two times. What do you think?

One thing that comes to mind is that if this was the early church, Ananias and Sapphira may have been, it says that the church was pretty worked up when that happened. There was a case in that instance where physical death was a result of straying from the truth.

So that's in context. Yeah. No, actually, you're thinking like I was thinking. And actually, I didn't think that way last time. But here we go. Let's just continue. So spiritual death, as we know, I didn't quote, you know, we can quote some verses for that. And you probably can find one spiritual death or separation, right?

It is a loss. I did a loss of fellowship. And that's certainly possible for a believer. We sin, we lose fellowship. And there are passages that say, In fact, actually, James has it earlier, you know, our brother Hal's stairstep, you go, and what's the last thing? Death or separation. So there's a case, actually I forgot about that case, it's beautiful. It's the early part of James where you take the bait and you sin and the ultimate result of that is death and that's spiritual death.

But I think Miles is on the right track. It seems to me Being this an early book, that's in focus. Physical death is more in focus here than spiritual death. So that's kind of where I am this time around. And actually, I thought this was good. Constable had this death, and this is a good thing to remember.

Just like the Ananias and Sapphira, they weren't being, they had physical death, but they still were saved. Right? And so that wasn't going to be a damnation. We didn't call it eternal damnation. The Lord took them home early, we'll say. We phrase it that way sometimes. So they died rather unexpectedly, but they still were saved. And so that seems to be more the picture for this statement. So other thoughts about This is certainly not, sorry, it's certainly not a loss of salvation, it's not a loss of believers.

Right. But, you know, James in chapter 1 verse 21, he says, receives the word implanted which is able to save your souls. So he's circling back to that same thought there. It's very, very parallel. Yeah, that's good. And we see in the previous verses here in Chapter 5 that this is a situation where a believer has strayed from the truth, and he's clearly in a miserable state. Possibly there's some physical ailment connected, like we talked about in the last couple of weeks.

That's uncertain, but what is certain is that It's the result of prolonged trial and pressure and temptation. He succumbs to it. And I think that perhaps the saving his soul from death, I think physical death could be in view at the end of that progression. But I think that that loss of fellowship would precede that possibility of physical death.

So I think both could be in view in a sense, but certainly not loss of salvation. Right. No, that's good. No, that's good to point out. Yeah, certainly I would expect that, and actually points well taken, possibly that, you know, that's certainly true with, Ananias and Spira were not walking with the Lord. They were walking carnally. Go ahead, Jim. He didn't say save his spirit from death.

You know, we believe in a trichotomy of the human. Body, soul and spirit, right? Yeah, body, soul and spirit. The soul is the mind building emotions. You know, so he's saving his soul from death, which is his physical life. Okay, that's a good point. Excellent. Excellent, Jim. That's good. What I was going to say is that James, as we know, can be difficult to read.

And for me, when I looked at this passage this morning, I was thinking that it would be a lot simpler if the intention was that if a brother walked alongside another brother and and corrected him or brought truth to him, that he would relieve him from the power of sin.

We know that when we stop abiding in Christ, we suffer sin and death every single time, every day. It's one of my favorite things to think about and contemplate. How can I get better at abiding continually so I don't suffer that sin and death? And if you look at it like, not physical death, but just sin and death, and that you're restored, and that's what we are to do with each other, it makes the passage very simple.

It does. No, I agree with you. Because God's Word is abiding, and if we look at it like it's physical death, well, that doesn't seem to happen. Okay. But we do experience death all the time when we're not abiding continually. Right. Good point. Good point. Okay. Great. Great. Fantastic.

Okay. Let's carry on here. I think it's the last part here. We'll cover a multitude of sins. Okay. It doesn't stop. It only gets better, right? One question after another. Okay. So this turning... a sinning believer from error will cover. And the idea is to envelop, wrap, like bark, shell, or cover over. So this phrase is used in 1 Peter. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Well, it's used in that context. So what's the process for a believer of covering his sins.

You guys know this. You know it. Amen. I mean that's the instruction that we have. I mean that's the only believers do sin and the only aspect of, I mean, what we're told is that if we can confess it's good to remember what that word is. It's homologale to say the same thing as God says. So you're saying what God is saying about your sins. You're agreeing with God, which is wonderful. You're agreeing with God.

Go ahead, Bob. Well, a multitude. Right. You know, you wonder whether the gone astray, if you're rescuing him from that, the impact of him and his behavior might impact many others in addition to himself or herself. We've got a situation here where cancer continues to spread, right? Okay, that's a good point. You actually bring up some really cool points about this. You know, this is real life. This was James talking to a bunch of believers, like I talk to you. Of course, he's writing scripture. I'm not. I'm trying to understand scripture, but he's talking to these believers, and this is important things.

But, Roger, if you think about that even today, someone has kind of gone astray and kind of left the grace that we live in. can influence other people with that attitude, too. Amen, I know, I know. We see that. That could happen within the brethren, unfortunately. And again, in the early church, I think this is particularly problematic. Don't you even see that today in church bodies? Oh, I know, I know. You have one person who can influence and take many astray. I know.

Well, there's one particular gentleman that we've been watching on YouTube, or trying not to watch on YouTube, His dad was a great teacher back in Atlanta. I won't mention his name here. His son has gone off the deep end. He basically said, you don't need the Old Testament, you just don't need it. You don't? Anyway. Remember he said when there's a conflict between the Bible and science, go with science. It's too bad. This gentleman has influenced a lot of people.

I want to have time to do this last part here. So what I want to do here, I want to just look at these two verses and Miles did a fabulous job. So here's just some additional thoughts here and maybe I'll repeat in some areas. So first of all, first observation is, it's a command, but I'm going to use God's will and say it that way.

Prayer is God's will during suffering or trials. And we saw that in James. He talks about it. If you lack wisdom, lay a mask of God. Ask in faith, he talks about that. That's the first thing. The second thing is, Praise is God's will when we're encouraged. And we see in Romans there talks about the fact that the scriptures, God's word, the written word, that we might have hope, we might have encouragement. So we start off with that, you know, with those, that's verse 13 kind of, that during suffering, during trials, prayer is appropriate. That's, and that's God's will.

You should be praying. And Myles made an excellent point. You're not praying, if you're praying to remove it, you're praying against God, in a way, because God says you're going to have trials. So you're praying, Lord, help me to see, help me to understand, where am I at? You know, your prayer is one of, it's not to relieve it, it's to understand what's going on and how to proceed from there. And God, there's plenty of scriptures to do that, certainly. So, again, two aspects, praying, We have praising okay now expand that a little bit then sick What's what's good is him another good job there?

You know that that word the previous word was just strength. This is the negates that without strength And I kind of felt that was looking at that and I think was pointed out last week, too It's it can be mental as well as physical or both so you can have This trial, this suffering can bring both, and many times does, both mental and physical. They're interrelated.

A man is body, soul, and spirit. You can't have one without the other. If you suffer physically, you're probably going to suffer mentally, and vice versa. If you suffer mentally, you'll probably suffer physically. So they go together. And God wants to take care of both of those. Okay.

And the primary reason, if you look at the structure, and this is This is diagram. I had looked at a diagram of this and actually the primary thrust here is for prayer. And it's prayer in the name of the Lord. And the idea of the oil is kind of a supplementary idea, but the main thrust here is that calling for the elder is for prayer and prayer will be in the name of the Lord.

So that's the focus of this 13 and 14. And then Anointing yeah miles. I found in in vines and also in zodiac tees they had a couple different Things that helped anointing is the idea to rub or to daub or dab dab dab. Yeah, don't fear Anyway, we we translate that word as massaging with oil. I know I know and actually that's So and actually here's one thing I came across to Macaulay Macaulay Connally came across saying you know Oil is not, as we went through last week, oil is not the thing that's going to heal you. That's not what you're looking, that's not what the verse is about. Prayer is going to make the difference, not the oil.

But it's an expression, you can think of it as an expression of that. Is it a blessing too? Actually, here's a point that I liked, was that if you look at a lot of the New Testament, especially like, think about the Who's the guy that came along? Oh, I know, the Good Samaritan, right? The story of the Good Samaritan.

Well, they used oil. Oil was one of the most common remedies for comforting a person, helping a person, making them comfortable. And what's interesting, in Mark, the disciples were sent out They were sent out and it says in that verse, check me out on 613, it says they were sent out and it says they healed and they anointed with oil. He disconnected the healing and the oil were totally separate. I said, wow, that's kind of cool because the oil is for, you're comforting the person, you're not healing him. They said the disciples actually were healing people and they comforted them with oil, so to speak.

So I thought that was really really especially interesting there. So just a couple of additional observations, they're great. And then it goes on, there are other parts that we could talk about in verse 15 that Myles covered, which I thought was great. I think looking at this as we depend upon Christ and trust Him through our trials, that's what it's about. What I was assuming... What I was assuming, right.

And some have said that there's a little catchphrase that came across Take your medicine and pray or something like that. There was some kind of little catchy little phrase. Didn't they use herbs and all kinds of things that were in the oil? And it could be here, right? Yeah, because a lot of, you know, even a lot of our drugs today have come from a lot of those different ingredients that they had back then. Plants and things. It was also a common gesture of hospitality. I think I had to rush over that last time, but when Jesus is at the Pharisee's house and he says, you didn't even anoint me with oil when I came in.

Right. That's a good point. And it was just that common. So, I mean, I heard this passage taught by Jeremy Thomas. He said it's kind of like the elders going over Saying get you know get yourself jump in the shower get yourself cleaned up because you're you're a mess It's a situation where someone has kind of spiraled into You know into into a state like depression which you know if we think about that still today at least leads to death physical as well as right loss of fellowship, but in a long-term pressure trial situation, you can end up in a pretty dark place, right? So, there's need for physical and spiritual help in that. Right. Yeah.

Miles mentioned a massage brought back that memory. I've never had a massage before. So Margaret thought I ought to have a massage. So she said I should get a deep tissue massage. And I had pain for three days in all my body. I never want another massage, oil or not. I realized if we all had Weiss translation of James, I don't think very many people would be calling Roger and Mike for that.

That's a good point. Come over and say okay, we pray now now it's time for the massage. Wait a minute No, that's great, that's great. Okay. Well, I'm looking forward Andrew. I'm looking forward to your review next week a chapter 5 or your So yeah, you bet. Can you hear me? Yeah, we can we can't good. All right new internet, so Okay, so what we left you with plenty of there's plenty of things. We haven't really talked a lot. You know, that's I We skipped over a few other choice verses in there.

James has no lack of interesting verses that challenge your thought. Actually, it's good because it challenges you to think through what Scripture really says and compare it and be careful. So it's a wonderful discipline. Yeah. That's great. That's great, yeah. Okay, so let's go ahead.

You know, when Miles mentioned about Jesus going to the Pharisees house, and he said you didn't he said you didn't wash my feet. You didn't anoint my head with oil in that passage The anointing the head with oil was a matter of honor that Pharisee should have honored Jesus by anointing his head with oil and Displaying him as a man of honor It wasn't meant for anything else, for healing or anything else, but it was a matter of honor. That's good. That was a really poignant part of the Gospels. That Pharisee didn't treat him with...

He was trying to intimidate him and disrespect him, discredit his message, but it didn't work. that woman came up and just anointed his feet. I know, that's a beautiful passage. She was honoring him. She was. Did she get some respect out of that? No. No. She was a woman of dishonor. He took that as an honor from her.

It's just an amazing passage. I love that. Yeah, we better close here. The musicians are chomping at the bit. Okay. We thank you, Father. Thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessings we have in our Savior. Thank you for your Word, Lord. We thank you that it does challenges, it causes us to think and to study and to dig, and we know that's your desire, that we depend upon you and the Holy Spirit to understand your Word. We ask it in the Savior's name. Amen.