God Still Heals!

Times of sickness come
to everyone.
What should we do
when we face affliction?

From a sermon by Darrel Lee

Health concerns are a major issue in the United States. Recently I read in a news magazine that 17% of our gross domestic product is made up of health-related spending and earning. And this is not just a national concern, it is also a global concern. In about a decade, the worldwide population of people over sixty-five years of age will exceed one billion. Obviously, individuals in that age bracket are where health issues strike most.

Salvation does not guarantee a trial-free life with perfect health. Rather, the Bible indicates that all people, including Christians, will face adversity, challenges, sicknesses, and affliction, so we need to know what to do when those strike us. We find instructions in James 5:13-15, “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 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 have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”

A lack of healing does not equate to a lack of faith. It may actually take more faith to remain ill than it does to get healed, for enduring affliction requires keeping our trust anchored in God for the long term!

Some may be inclined to equate trusting God with a refusal of professional medical care. We do not need to discredit the medical profession to believe the Bible doctrine of divine healing—that doctrine stands on its own merits. The acceptance or refusal of medical care is a personal choice, not a doctrine. The Bible doctrine is divine healing. We support and pray for one who prefers not to seek medical care in the same way that we support and pray for one who chooses to obtain medical care. It does not pay to make the refusal of professional care a cornerstone of our faith. We must build our faith on the Word of God, not on personal choices.

As ministers of the Gospel, we often pray for saints of God who are facing major health issues, including surgery. It is a privilege to go into a hospital before a procedure and pray with them. Those people have faith! They are relying on the Almighty. The Bible says, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is” (Jeremiah 17:7). If you forsake trust in the Lord and replace it with trust in medical science instead of God, that is abandoning God.

James addresses the endurance of affliction in verse 10 of chapter 5. He says, “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.” The early church suffered many persecutions, and it was in that context that James wrote these words. However, they also apply to afflictions of a physical nature. Patience and endurance are required of us throughout our Christian walk, because we will face adversity along the way. And at times, that adversity may include physical ailments. We will not all be healed instantly of every affliction that comes our way.

Our responsibility is to follow the instructions in God’s Word, and then leave the results with Him. Verse 13

says, “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.” To be afflicted is to have any type of oppression by the devil, including physical illness. In whatever form affliction comes, the appropriate response is to pray. We look to God to send grace, and He never disappoints us! He will answer according to His perfect will, and while we endure and are patient, He will give us grace for that time as well.

James continues, “Is any merry? let him sing psalms.” To be merry is to be the opposite of afflicted. It is good to remember to be grateful when things are going well! Singing psalms is the appropriate response when life is good.

Next, James poses the question, “Is any sick among you?” At this point, he becomes specific and deals with health issues. When we are sick, we have a duty that is noted here: we are to “call for the elders of the church.” The Bible puts the burden on the sick to approach the ministry and request prayer. He takes the first step by indicating his desire to follow God’s Word in this matter.

Recently I read a Bible teaching given in the early 1970s by Reuel Green on divine healing. He told of a missionary who had developed a fever. The missionary lacked money for healthcare but did not lack faith. He did not know of the doctrine of divine healing, but he came across this passage in James. So he called a companion and said, “You are the nearest thing to an elder I have, so I want you to anoint me with oil and pray for me.” All they had was some stove oil, so his helper anointed him with stove oil, prayed for him, and God healed the missionary! This indicates that it is not the one praying, nor is it the oil, but it is obedience to God’s Word that brings the result.

As ministers of the Gospel, we are told to anoint the sick individual with oil. In Bible times, pure olive oil was used, and that is what we use today. That oil has been consecrated by prayer—ministers pray over it and ask God to use it for His glory—and that is what is used to anoint the sick.

The anointing with oil is done in the Name of the Lord, by the authority of the instructions given in God’s Word. We do not pray for the sick in our own name, nor do we hold personal healing campaigns where we draw attention to ourselves. The attention and the glory must go to God, for only God can heal. We simply act in obedience to His Word. So when we are called to pray for

one who is sick, we take a bit of that oil on our finger, put it across the sick individual’s forehead, and acknowledge that we pray in the Name of the Lord. We place our hands on the individual’s head, and pray a simple prayer asking God to undertake and to heal the sick body.

It is a prayer of faith—a prayer of expectation and reliance on God. It is also a prayer of submission to God. It is implied that we are asking for God’s will, for our faith is based on submission to Him. In our hearts we say, “God, if You will get more glory out of me remaining sick than being healed, I submit to your sovereignty. Thy will be done.” As we pray together, we look Heaven’s way.

While we do not know how God will answer in each individual case, it is indicated in Scripture that extraordinary cures will occur. So although “Thy will be done” is implied, it is also implied that God will give uncommon results to common people who pray. God will be glorified by the healing of bodies. James concludes his instructions by saying, “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.” When we pray over someone who we know is a backslider or a sinner, we often repeat that verse. This is not done to condemn, but if that person’s heart is reaching God’s way, we want him to know that God will forgive him.

In Matthew 4:23, we read that, “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” Jesus healed the sick. However, while He was healing the sick, He was also teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. He was addressing the spiritual needs of humankind. That is why He came—to give His life as a ransom for all of us. We can be healed of our illnesses and later die and go to Hell. Healing does not save us. On the other hand, we could live a life of affliction, never having been healed, but receive a glorious entrance into the Kingdom of God.

The primary importance of a spiritual need is illustrated by the account of four friends who brought a palsied man to the Lord, tearing apart the roof of the place where Jesus was teaching in order to lower the sick man in front of the Lord. No doubt the palsied man was anticipating that he would be healed. The four friends who brought him had that same anticipation. Perhaps they were surprised when the first words out of Jesus’ mouth were, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee” (Matthew 9:2). Jesus spoke to the greater need first. He forgave the man’s sins, and then He healed his body in order to show that He could also heal the soul.

In the Old Testament, we read that the Messiah would bring healing. We read, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Many hold that Isaiah was speaking here of spiritual healing, but we learn from Matthew that He was speaking of physical healing as well. In Matthew 8:16-17, we find a reference to the passage in Isaiah. “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” When Jesus suffered, His innocent Blood was shed to atone for our sins. But through the bruising, the beating, and the stripes He bore, we also obtain healing for our bodies.

In Mark 16, we find that healing is one of the signs that will follow believers. In Mark’s account of the Great Commission we read, “These signs shall follow them that believe. . . .they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” We hear testimonies of how God heals the sick in our day. Of course He does—He promised that He would! There is power in the Blood to avail for every generation in every era.

In Acts 3, we read an example of healing that occurred after Jesus had ascended. We understand the Book of Acts to have been written by Luke, the beloved physician. Luke’s accounts of healings interest me, for he was a physician. He must have marveled at what God did. He had experience in trying to help people get better, and no doubt had aided many along the way, but he could not do what God did. He could not have cured that man who sat by the gate called Beautiful at the Temple. But Peter and John could say, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk,” and that man was instantly healed! Peter and John did not heal the man; they only commanded in the Name of Jesus that he rise up, and the healing occurred by the power of God.

anoint handkerchiefs with the oil we use to anoint the sick who come to us for prayer. We place the handkerchief on an open Bible and ministers put their hands on it—because they cannot put their hands on the head of the one who is sick—and pray in Jesus’ name that the Lord will let prayer avail for the one who receives that handkerchief. This is according to God’s Word and God does heal; we have seen proof of that many times.

We read in Revelation 12:10 that Satan is the accuser of the brethren, and he does not spare the sick and afflicted. He makes them feel that if they just had enough faith, they would be well. That accusation does not come from God. What comes from God encourages our faith! The devil discourages us and leaves us doubting, so we must discern where such accusatory thoughts come from.

We read in verse 11, “And they overcame him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.” We can overcome by the Blood of the Lamb! Shortly after I was saved, I heard from the people of God that when a Christian feels oppressed by the devil, he should “plead the Blood.” We still do that. As believers, we want to plead the Blood of Jesus over every doubt that the devil sends. Those doubts are out of the pit of Hell! But the power in the Blood can avail over them all. We cannot defeat the devil in our own strength, but he cannot stand against the Blood.

Today, if you are sick or afflicted, God’s Word gives the formula to follow. These bodies were not designed to last forever, but were built to wear out, so we should not marvel when they do. However, we should certainly take advantage of the formula that God gives us. Let us thank God that there is still power in the Blood of Jesus to avail for the healing of our souls and bodies, and reach out to Him in faith for those blessings. God is able!

Darrel Lee is Superintendent General of the Apostolic Faith organization and pastor of the headquarters church in Portland, Oregon.

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