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10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
KEEPING HOUSE FOR
THE LORD
Written by H. Frank Fort
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Today we shall consider prayer in connection with
physical healing.
Under the law, God said to Israel, "If thou wilt
diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is
right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his
statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon
the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee" Ex.
15:26.
Notice the conditions of this promise, and then look
at Deut. 28:15,21,22, 27. "If
thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all
his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day…the Lord shall
make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the
land…the Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with
an inflammation and with an extreme burning…the Lord shall smite thee with the
botch of Egypt…whereof thou can not be healed". In the light of these
promises based on these conditions, David wrote "Bless the Lord…who
forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases…he made known his
ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel…to such as keep his
covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do then" Ps. 103:3,7,18. Is this God's method of dealing with all nations?
No, for the Psalmist also wrote, "lie hath not dealt so (that is, in
"like manner") with any nation". Ps. 147:20.
During the apostolic testimony, healing was done in
"confirming the word" Mk. 16:20.
This healing, however, was not done as a covenant promise to be fulfilled when
the conditions were met. That is, those who were healed did not meet specified
conditions in order to be healed. Christ had said, "and these signs shall
follow theirs that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils…they shall
lay hands on the sick and they shall recover" Mk.
16: 18. The belief here is not the belief that we have as the result of
hearing the word of God, but the belief of the apostles as the result of seeing
the things to which they bore witness. Compare the following scriptures: Jn.
15:26,27; Acts 5:12,29, 32; Acts 10:39, 41; Heb. 2:3,4 Now hear Paul;
"Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you". What were
they? "Signs…wonders…mighty deeds" 2
Cor. 12:12. Notice God was "bearing them (the apostles)
witness…with…gifts of the Holy Ghost" Heb.
2:4. That is, God was granting these gifts to the members of the churches
which the apostles founded, only through the apostles; thus Paul referred to
himself as an apostle, as "he therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit,
and worketh miracles among you" Gal. 3:5. This is an example of what Heb. 2:4 tells us God did through the apostles. Now notice the
expression, "ministereth to you the Spirit" and let us consider what
Paul did in connection with this ministry. To the Church in Corinth Paul said,
"There are diversities of gifts" 1
Cor. 12:4, yet we know that Paul, as an apostle was the agent through whom
God worked in bestowing the gifts. This cannot be successfully denied in the
light of Gal. 3:5, and Heb.
2:4, for it was to theirs, as His agents, or ambassadors, that God bare
witness.
Now among the gifts is that of "healing" 1
Cor .12:9. Now there is a difference between the power of the apostles, and
the power of those who received through the apostles, the miraculous gifts. The
apostles, healed, raised the dead, and cast out demons, often with no conditions
attached. The exercising of the "gifts of healing" as given to the
members of the body of Christ, exclusive of the apostles, however, was
conditional. However, neither are these for us today.
·
The
confirmation of the word by miracles as done by the apostles, the Lord working
with them, was not according to conditions.
·
The
exercising of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, by those who received them through
the apostolic ministry, was according to conditions. It had to meet the
testimony of the prophets who had spoken before, because, "the spirits of
the prophets are subject to the prophets" 1 Cor. 14:32.
Now as to "the prayer of faith" exercised
in connection with the children of God, what, if any, were the conditions? We
quote now a passage we shall consider in answering this question: "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. And the prayer of
faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. and if he has
committed sins, they shall be forgiven. Compare your faults one to another, and
pray one for another, that ye may be healed" James 5:14-16. Notice that this epistle is addressed to "the
twelve tribes which are scattered abroad" James 1:1. That is, to the Jews, but the truth of this epistle does
not apply to the Jews in their scattered and unconverted estate, but to those
from the twelve tribes, converted and in New Testament church relationship. For
the commandment of our text is "call the elders of the church" (James
5:14), only the local congregation has elders. Each local church, and there is
no other kind, has a plurality of elders, as "elders in every city" Titus
1:5. Where, of course, there is a church or churches, as in Jerusalem, where
from among the "number of the disciples" (Acts 6:1) which could be
"called unto them (the apostles) Acts
6:2, "seven men of honest report" were chosen to serve Acts
6:3, who were later referred to as "elders" Acts 11:30. I would not be dogmatic about this, but by comparing Acts
6:3, with Acts 11:30, it would appear that both passages identify the same
persons as judged by the work they were supposed to do. Philip had gone on a
preaching mission, and Stephen had been killed, before the event of Acts
11:30, but this does not militate against the apparent identity of the men.
The "elders of the church", is an expression related to a local
congregation, and thus applies to the passage we are considering. Notice some of
the expressions, "anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord', vs.
14. Keep in mind that this is written to a church made up of converts from
among "the twelve tribes", and it was to this people that Christ sent
the twelve, who "anointed with oil many that were sick and healed
them" Mk. 6:13. And the parallel
account of this commission in Matthew limits the use of "oil" to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel" Matt. 10:6. They were forbidden to go "into the way of the
Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans" vs. 5. Oil was never used in the New Testament in connection with
healing outside of Israel. Notice now the question, "Is any sick among
you?" Does this apply to any sickness that may occur in the process of
living? If it does it leaves us with the responsibility of answering the
question as to why the following were sick:
·
"Gaius".
John wrote to this friend as follows: "I wish above all things that thou
mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" 3
John 2. Here John teaches that it is possible to be in ill 'health' even
while ones soul prospereth.
·
"Trophimus".
Paul said; "Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick". 2
Tim. 4:20.
·
"Timor".
"Drink no longer water (Margin ‑ water only) but use a little wine
for thy stomach's sake and often infirmities. " 1 Tim. 5:23.
·
"Epaphroditus".
" He was sick nigh unto death…because for the work of Christ he was nigh
unto death, not regarding leis life"
Phil. 2:27, 30.
·
"Paul".
"His bodily presence is weak" 2
Cor. 10:10.
Paul
said, ". Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest upon men" 2 Cor. 12:9. Here his "infirmities are related to "a thorn
in the flesh" vs.7. Some believe
his infirmities to have stemmed from an affliction with ophthalmia, a common
disease of the eyes at that time. There are two statements Paul made which seem
to indicate eye trouble.
·
"If
it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given
them to me" Gal. 4:15
·
"Ye
see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand" Gal.
6:11.
Putting
these statements together, the conclusion seems to point to the fact of eye
trouble. Be that as it may, the others above named, while ministers of Christ
and faithful as any in God's word, were sick and no record given of their
calling in the elders, or any one else to pray for their healing, and if they
did they were not healed.
Now
notice two other expressions in the passage in James.
·
"Call
for the elders of the church and let them pray over him", and
·
"the
prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up".
Notice "the prayer of faith" is not
something that one elder had, but all the elders "praying according to the
will of God in the matter offered the prayer of faith. Notice something else
that is not made clear in the King James Version, as we quote you from the A.S.V.
"Confess therefore your sins one to
another, and pray one for another that ye may be healed". The word
"therefore" shows that the conditions of vs.16 are essential to "the prayer of faith" of vs.15.
The statement which it introduces "Confess…your sins one to another, And
pray one for another" shows the cause of being "sick" for which
these conditions will avail. They did not avail for the five men whose names are
given above. Why? Because "sin" was not the cause of their being sick.
Sickness, because of sinning, is one of God's instruments in chastening his own.
Since God Imposes the sickness or chastening for sinning, when he remedies the
condition, then it is said, "The Lord shall raise him up" James
5:15. The "raise him up" of this verse is the same as being
"healed" vs.16, but being
healed according to vs.16, demands
that the conditions be met,
·
"Confess
your sins" and
·
"pray
one for another",
therefore these two things were essential to
"the prayer of faith" of vs.15.
Why? Because "the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick". What
then does the expression "the prayer of faith!" mean in this
connection, it means, that the conditions essential to God 's healing of one:
whom he has afflicted because of his sins, has been met. Otherwise the sick will
die.
Notice a case to the point "For this cause (sin
concerning the Lord's Supper) many are weak and sickly, and many sleep (are
dead). For if we would judge ourselves (who, while weak and sick are not yet
dead, as some…were for whom self judgment was too late) we should not be
judged. But when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord 1Cor.
11:30-32. If such as are thus chastened for sin will call the elders of the
church and confess their sins God will forgive and heal them of that which he
had put on them. If not "sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. Do
not err, beloved brethren" James
1:15,16, Thus James 5:14,15
presents the remedy for 1 Cor.
11:30‑32. Oil, however, was excluded from use as to the Gentiles as we
have shown, "Shall we not rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits and live? (Heb. 12:9). His chastening is designed "for our
profit". If we despise his chastening which is because of sin, then
"there is a sin unto death" 1
Jn. 5:16 but if under the chastening of God we "are exercised (unto
repentance) thereby" Heb. 12:11
we shall "live" Heb. 12:9, 1 Jn. 5:16.
Now the question: If one is sick because of his sins
under the chastening of God, would he, if the conditions were met as to the
essential to "the prayer of faith", be "raised up" of the
Lord? There is no doubt about it. "The prayer of faith shall save the
sick" James 5:15. The
"prayer of faith” however, does not mean that the power is in those
praying, but simply means that they are praying according to the word of God,
for the healing of a child of God who is sick because he has sinned. The
conditions must be met before the promise can be claimed, or the prayer of faith
avail. This passage has nothing whatever to do with the miraculous healing of
the apostles or the "gifts of healing" of 1
Cor. 12:9. Here conditions are met. And God heals one whom he has afflicted
in chastening because of sins committed.
Prepared
by:
H.
Frank Fort, Minister
Berean Baptist Church,
Houston, Texas
Oct. 10, 1956.
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"