Good morning beloved!
James 5:14-15 says,
- Is anyone among you sick? 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 will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Because of this one Scripture (and there are hundreds more), we have a real basis for the truth of healing. In this particular Scripture, God gives very definite instructions to the sick. So, if you are sick, your job is to call for the elders of the church; it’s their job to anoint you with oil in the Name of the Lord and pray for you in faith, and then the whole situation rests with the Lord. When you have been anointed and prayed for, you can rest assured that the Lord WILL raise you up. It’s the Word of God, and the Scripture declares in Numbers 23:19 that He is not a man that He should lie. God’s Word is forever settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89) and God is always watching over His Word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12).
When we have instructions from the Lord about a particular thing, it’s imperative that we follow them. When we turn away from these clear instructions, we put ourselves in a place of tremendous danger. If we refuse to obey the Lord, we do so to our unspeakable loss.
I’d like to give you a Scriptural example of this: It’s from 2 Chronicles 16:12 and it says,
- In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness, he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. So he died in the forty-first year of his reign.
Now, let’s look at another example of a man who turned to the Lord. It’s from 2 Kings 20:1-6,
- In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’” Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.”
James tells us in connection with the story of King Asa:
- My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins (James 5:19-20).
Many turn away from the Lord like King Asa, who sought the physicians in his sickness and consequently died, and I take it from this verse that if a person brings back the sinner to the Lord, he will save him from death and God will forgive his multitutde of sins.
This Scripture in James can also be applied to salvation. If you turn away from any part of God’s truth, the enemy will certainly get an advantage over you. Praise God for 1 John 1:9! It says,
- If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Thank God for it!
So, let me ask you a question? Does the Lord meet those who look to Him for healing and obey the instructions set forth in James? Most certainly He does. You can count on it!
Let’s take a look at one more example, ok? It’s from Acts 3. Do you remember the man who was lame from his mother’s womb and sat daily at the gate Beautiful? In verse 16 it says,
- And His Name, through faith in His Name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
The anointing was done in the Name of the Lord. And it is written, “The Lord shall raise him up.” I like to think of James 5:15 as the “double cure” even if sin is the cause of this sickness. His Word declares, “If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
The Holy Spirit, Who inspired the Word of God is called the Spirit of Truth, and as we receive with meekness the engrafted Word, faith springs up in our heart; faith in the shed blood of Jesus; faith in the fact that He took our weaknesses upon Himself, bore our sicknesses and carried our pains, and that He is our life today.
I want to encourage you if you are sick because we have a big God! We have such a wonderful Jesus! We also have a glorious comforter! God’s canopy is over you and will cover you at all times, protecting you from evil. Psalm 91:1,4 says,
- He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Amighty…And under His wings, you shall take refuge.
The Word of God is alive and full of power. Take time every day to find the Scriptures that apply to your situation, and speak them out of your mouth. Then trust Him to do what He said He would do. In Him you will find everything you need!
He is my healing,
Lisa Gordon
Assistant Pastor
Jesus City Church