Dr. John Bergsma

They're not dead.

They're more alive than you and I are.

They're in God's presence.

Those saints whose bodies have died, but our souls are enjoying God's presence even now, they're enjoying a kind of life that makes our life down here pale by comparison.

So the church has always, as evidence and manifestation of our confidence in eternal life,

And in the blessed state of the holy ones who have gone before us into the next life, we have always asked for their prayers and their intercession.

So we pray, we ask for the prayers of saints who are alive in the body, and we ask for the prayers of saints who are with the Lord in heaven.

But we're commanded to pray for one another and also, but get this, confess your sins to one another.

Now that's awkward, huh?

And the reason why I want to talk about this, Matt, was I was a young pastor in a downtown church.

I had carte blanche to do whatever I wanted.

I had very little supervision.

And I was trying to be a New Testament church and just read the New Testament and apply it directly.

And I got to this, I was doing well all the way through James up to this point.

I had no problem applying everything directly up to this point.

But I was preparing my sermon on James 5.

I hit that passage about confess your sins to one other.

And I thought to myself, what am I going to tell my congregation?

Are we going to pass a mic in the Sunday morning service and say, it's confession of sins time, you know?

Who's going to be first?