Cecil A. Fayard
Elliott Baptist Church
May 15, 2005
Divine Healing
James 5:13-16
INTRO: Divine healing– when this subject comes up several questions always come to mind.
1. Is God able to heal?
2. Does God ever heal?
3. Is it always God’s will to heal the sick?
In this study, we want to deal with the above question as well as other aspects of divine healing.
One thing is certain. Prayer, praise, and healing go together.
I. VS 13, PRAYING FOR THE AFFLICTED
A. The early church was a praying church. The afflicted are instructed to pray. "Afflicted" is the Greek word kakopathei: suffering in times of "hardship, difficulty and trouble."
1. Pray during difficult experiences in life.
2. Pray when you are depressed.
3. Pray when you are weary because of times of misfortune.
4. Pray when you are worried.
B. When we are suffering, we are to pray for prayer can give us strength, and God can give us grace to endure problems (James 4:6, "He giveth more grace.")
1. Prayer can clam the storm as it can calm us as the Gospel song says: "Sometimes He calms the storm, sometimes He calms me."
2. Friend, keep in mind that it is not always God’s will to remove the difficulties for difficulties build character in our lives.
C. The early church was a singing church. When we are merry or cheerful, we are to praise our Lord.
1. Ephesians 5:18-19 teaches us that Christians are to be filled with the Spirit speaking to each other in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
2. Believers are to be filled with the Word of Christ "...singing in your hearts to the Lord."
3. "There was a joy in the heart of the Christians which issued from their lips in songs of praise for the mercy and the grace of God" (Barclay 128).
II. VSS 14-16, PRAYING FOR THE SICK
A. Vs 14, What shall we do with this verse? Praying and anointing with oil! Commentaries vary greatly as to what this verse says and means.
1. "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church....."
a. "Elders" is the Greek word presbuteros as used here it means, "...those who, being raised up and qualified by the work of the Holy Spirit, were appointed to have the spiritual care of, and to exercise oversight over, the churches" (Vines 351).
b. James did not say send for the faith healer. Those who pray are from the local church; these are seeking God’s will for the sick individual.
2. The elders, preachers of the church, are to "anoint the sick with oil in the name of the Lord."
a. The elders are to pray and anoint with oil.
b. Oil, olive oil, was greatly used in the Old and New Testament times as medicine. It was used both externally and internally.
c. The oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. It is not so much the anointing of oil that heals but the prayer of faith.
d. Can we anoint with oil today? Yes. Should we? Yes, if the sick call for anointing.
e. Dr. W. A. Criswell, long time pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, said: "Well, we are going to look at it just as the Bible presents it to us" (109).
3. James does not say or imply that we should never go to the doctor. Search the New Testament and you will not find one scripture saying that we are not to go to the doctor or use medicine.
a. In Luke 10, the Good Samaritan bound up the wounds of the man who fell among thieves "pouring in oil and wine."
b. The Apostle Paul kept company with a doctor: "Luke the beloved physician. Paul encouraged Timothy to: "use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities" (I Tim 5:23).
c. Jesus said that the sick need a doctor. Matthew 9:12 says: "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick."
B. Vs 15, James says, "the prayer of faith shall save the sick." The oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, and it, the oil, is to be used by faith.
1. The prayer of faith– this is praying in the will of God. This is knowing the mind of God. Often God does not reveal this to us and we must pray, "If it be thy will."
a. We should always pray believing, trusting in God, knowing His will is best.
b. God’s will is the key to whether the prayer will be effective (I John 5:14-15).
c. God must give faith for this prayer.
2. Our Almighty God is able to heal. He created our bodies and can easily heal them.
3. God does at times heal folks. Many times, we have heard the doctor say: "We don’t understand it, but he is all right."
a. God does the healing whether by the use of medicine or by divine means.
b. If God did not at times heal, then cuts would never heal and bruises would not go away. Fevers would not go down, etc.
4. It is not always God’s will to heal. If it was always God’s will to heal, then death would not take us as it does. Through the years, there have been those who have taught that it is always God’s will to heal the sick. Among those who believed this were:
a. Jack Coe– healing evangelist died at age 38 of bulbar polio, complicated by pneumonia and lung abscess.
b. A. A. Allen died at age 59.
c. Dr. A. J. Gordon, a Baptist and founder of Gordon College, did not believe in using doctors. He believed it was always God’s will to heal. He died at age 59.
d. Kathryn Kuhlman died of heart failure in 1976.
e. A. B. Simpson founder of the C.M.A. believed it was always God’s will to heal. He died in agony.
f. Kenneth Hagin, faith healer, died in 2003. Hagin had said: "It is not God’s will for any to be sick.... no believer should be sick. ...its God’s will that we should be healed." He died of cardiovascular disease.
5. All those who preach it is always God’s will to heal will one day die.
6. We are to exercise the prayer of faith. Faith discerns three types of sickness:
a. Sickness unto death– Psa 90:10.
b. Sickness unto chastisement– I Cor 11:28-33.
c. Sickness to the glory of God, to manifest His power– John 11:4.
7. Dr. John R Rice says: "God does often heal the sick. Praise the Lord that He invites us to pray over every time of trouble. He says that, "the prayer of faith shall save the sick.’ But He does not always give faith because it is not always His will to heal the sick."
8. Notice that sickness is not always the result of sin: "If he have committed sins....."
C. Vs 16, There are sins that must be confessed before the whole congregation. Other sins are between individuals and are to be taken care of one on one. Other sins are between man and God (I John 1:9).
1. Pray after you confess that you may be healed.
2. Serious, fervent, effectual prayer avails much.
CONCLUSION: God is able to heal. God does heal if it is in His will. It is not always God’s will to heal.
For additional copies of the sermon CD's, please contact the church office:
Elliott Baptist Church
566 Nat G. Troutt Road
Elliott, Mississippi 38901
Phone: 662-226-4425
Pastors Email: cecilafayard@msn.com