The Work and Person of the Holy Spirit. Pt. 14 Healing Conclusion

Good morning Dear and Faithful Readers.

I did some more word searching on "healed or healing" and found that the mention of the gift tapered off substantially after the book of Acts.  I believe that this is because God gave these wonderful gifts for the express purpose of proving that Peter, James, John, Paul and others were His spokesmen. 

I find no mention of a promise for the permanent continuation of prominent sign gifts like healing.  However, God does answer prayer and He still can heal someone of an illness or disease if He chooses to.  The Apostle James gives us some good instruction in this regard.

Some may say that "by his stripes we are healed" quoting from the Isaiah 53 passage, pointing to Christ's sacrifice.  However, God is always aiming at the human heart.  It is the sin sick heart that needs to be and can be healed by being born again. 

The reality is that we are living in a sin cursed world and we are dealing with the effects of this with each passing day. 

He speaks about believers who are sick.  It seems that this is restricted to those suffering life threatening illnesses.  He instructs them to call for the elders in their church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

Elders were appointed in many early churches to help govern the body and ensure that the apostolic doctrine be passed on to each generation of believers.  The spiritual qualifications for an elder were men of good report and full of the Holy Ghost.  They were men who would pray with passion for the sick person. 

James 5:14-16 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. 
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

The act of anointing the sick with oil was not new.  Christ also instructed His disciples to do this when He sent them out. However, the fact remains that today we do not know what the oil was and why it was used.  James' emphasis seems to be upon the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man (an elder, for example) to what was needed in this case.

Mark 6:12-13 And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

One thing is certain,  what James is instructing the Christians to do is much different from the healings of Christ or the Apostles.  The text does not imply a sick person would be healed if these instructions were followed.  The fact that sins and confession are mentioned reminds me of what Paul said about the Corinthians who abused communion, or the Lord's supper. 

The text says that many were sick and many had died because they had unconfessed sin in their lives when they took communion and this was an unworthy action.  This may also be the case regarding James' instructions. 

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep

Paul mentions a dear fellow laborer named Epaphroditus who was very sick when he was with Paul ministering.  It was thought that he would die.  He does not say that he laid hands on him to heal his brother in Christ.  He simply wrote that God had mercy upon him.

Philippians 2:25-27   Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.  For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.  For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 

Notice Paul's advice to Timothy, who apparently suffered from frequent stomach disorders.  He told Timothy to drink a small amount of wine for his health issues.  Paul spent a lot of time with Timothy and if the gifts of healing were still being dispensed I cannot imagine why Paul would not have done so promptly. 

1 Timothy 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul writes about another sick saint that had to remain behind rather than actively ministering with Paul.  None of the writings of Peter or John mention any healing like what we studied with Christ and the early church. 

2 Timothy 4:20  Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.  

Points to Ponder...

• Healing was a sign gift to authenticate spokesmen for God.

• These gifts were especially necessary during the birth of the church and the spread of the gospel. 

• In later years Paul did not write about healing anyone and apparently that gift was no longer operative. 

• James, John and Peter do not mention apostolic healing in their epistles. 

• The most straightforward conclusion that matched what scripture says is that the sign gifts passed away after a certain time.

• God is not limited and He can certainly heal people today but it will not be like it was during the ministry of Christ or the apostles.

I think that we can cover 3 more of the spiritual gifts in the next post before we jump into one that will take more time-the gift of tongues. 

Bob