“Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.” — James 5:14-15
Divine healing in the wake of modern medicine? Miracles in the era of scientific inquiry? Transcendent prayer in the age of reason? The relevance of Christianity in the midst of secular thought? The promises of the Bible in the age of logic? The simplicity of the gospel in the face of intellectualism? The supernatural compared to methodical investigation? How do we convey the promises of Scripture to a skeptical audience—even those in the church? What we do is make our decision to take the Bible for what it says—literally wherever possible—and not for what it doesn’t say. As we look at this text today, the first thing I want to point out to you is that it expresses what we should do of first importance when we are experiencing physical affliction, disease or sickness.
The earliest promise of healing is in Exodus 15:26, when God told the nation of Israel as He brought them out of Egypt, “I am the LORD, who heals you.” The Psalms of David are a record of many afflictions but God is always the deliverer, and God alone. Psalm 103:2-3 says, “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all of His benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”
The prophet Isaiah, in one of the most beautiful and revealing prophecies about the coming of the Messiah made this statement: “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed by our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:4-5
Matthew’s gospel quotes this same passage when Jesus was healing all who were physically, mentally, and emotionally sick. When Jesus sent his disciples out to win the lost, the Bible tells us that he “gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness . . . Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 8:17).
When Jesus sent out 72 other disciples he gave them these instructions, “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you’” (Luke 10:9). In the Great Commission expressed in Mark’s gospel, Jesus said that one of the signs that would accompany those who believe would be, “they will place their hands on the sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:18). No wonder James commanded the first century church and the elders of the church to pray for sick that they would be healed. Should we, the church of twenty first century, do any less?
One final thought from the words of Jesus: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:12-14).
So pray for healing church. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Maranatha!
Pastor Don
