We're turning to James chapter 5, the book of James after the book of Hebrews chapter 5, and we'll begin our reading at verse 7 of the chapter, Hebrews chapter 5 and the verse 7. The Word of God says, Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husband man waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receives the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Rudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure, You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any oath, but let your yea be yea, and your nay nay, lest ye fall into condemnation. 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. 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. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, And it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again. and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. We'll end our reading as the natural break is at the end of the chapter and also of the book of James. Let's unite in prayer with the Bible before us open. Our loving Father, we come again now to thy word. Bless us, send thy spirit. He is the teacher, he is the author of the book. Help, Lord, in the preaching of thy word, we pray, and grant, dear God, thy blessing upon every part now of this, the latter part of the service. We offer prayer and through the Savior's blessed and holy name. Amen, amen. There is a fundamental question that needs to be asked in light of the emergence of the sign gifts within the charismatic Pentecostal movements of today. The question is as follows, where does the faith of those who ascribe to the teachings of such movements rest? Where does their faith actually rest? Does it rest in the signs and the miracles, or does it rest in the unchanging Word of God? When miracles, signs, and wonders performed by the hands of so-called faith healers and miracle workers become the foundation of a person's faith in God, then real faith, biblical faith, is undermined. Such people, instead of such people grinding themselves and becoming grounded in their faith in what God has said, that which is revealed to us in the inerrant, infallible, immutable, indestructible Word of God, such people become dependent on a constant flow of apparent, visible proofs in order to bolster and to strengthen their faith in God. To place signs and wonders above the Scriptures deals a blow to their authority in the believer's life. Now, not wishing to extend the series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit any further than I need to, there is one of the sign gifts that I do want to deal with today that was operational during New Testament times. Namely, it was the gift of healing. Now, this gift is mentioned by the Lord Jesus Christ. In Mark's gospel, chapter 16, we reminded you of these words last week, but let me remind you of them again. Before the Savior ascended to heaven, the Son of God said in Mark chapter 16 and in verse 17, all these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. We thought about that last week. They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. The apostle Paul. when mentioning the sign gifts, the miraculous gifts given to the New Testament church, he mentions this gift of healing there in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. We read from the verse 7, But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal, For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing to the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits to another, diverse kinds of tongues to another, the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh the one and the selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. Verse number nine, to another feith by the same spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same spirit. And so we have Christ and Paul speaking about this very gift. And so it stands to sense that this gift was operational in the New Testament church. But we want to think about this gift today. Does it still? And is it still operational today within the body of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now I want us to think first of all then about healing in the Word of God. It's a very basic, very fundamental, important matter. We think about healing in the Word of God. Now, there can be no denying that healing features within the Holy Scriptures. Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, sickness has been a terrible reality in this fallen world. And for millennia, for millennia, the search for cures to alleviate that illness, that sickness, or to eradicate suffering has consumed the time and the finances of the human race. When we come into the record of Holy Scripture, we encounter many an individual taken with sickness, and in some cases, we find that they were miraculously healed of that sickness. For example, in the Old Testament, we have the healing of Abimelech. We find not only him healed, but his wife and his maidservants. In answer to the prayers of Abraham, the old patriarch, the account of which we read in Genesis chapter 20 verses 17 and 18. We have the healing of Miriam, the sister of Moses, being healed of her leprosy in answer to the prayers of Moses, the man of God, Numbers chapter 12. We have the healing of King Jeroboam's withered hand in answer to the prayers of the man of God, there in 1st Kings chapter 13. We have the healing of the widow's son by the prophet Elijah there in 1st Kings chapter 17. We have the healing of the Shunammite son or the Shunammite son in answer to the prophet Elisha's prayers. We read that in 2nd Kings chapter 4. We think about the healing of Naaman, the great Syrian army captain from his leprosy with respect to the counsel given by Elisha. 2nd Kings chapter 5. We have the healing of Job in answer to prayer as he prayed for his friends there in Job chapter 42. We think about Nebuchadnezzar. He was healed from his bout of sanity when he was humbled before God and as he sought God in prayer. Daniel chapter 4. Now in each of those occasions, we find that prayer is very closely connected with the healing. Almost every event, apart from that of Naaman, we find that prayer is associated with the healing. And that is a point that is worth noting. But if I refer you back to the case there in 2 Kings chapter 5, this is the case of Naaman. If you want to turn there to 2 Kings chapter number 5, you know all that happened. The little maid tells Naaman about the prophet of God in Israel, and so we find Naaman making his way before the prophet. Verse number 8, and it was so when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? Let him, Naaman, come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, went away and said, Behold, I thought he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper. As I thought about this account in the life of Naaman and in the life of the prophet Elisha, I thought about Naaman. He is a sign seeker. This is a man who wanted the prophet of God to put his hand on him to recover him off his leprosy. This is the way that he thought that God would heal him off his illness. And yet that was not God's prescribed way. Rather, he was to wash in the dirty waters of the River Jordan. You see, Naaman was an Old Testament sign and miracle seeker. And we have many of them. Not only in the province, but across the world. Individuals that are looking for the miraculous, that are looking for the sign. And if they would only but see the sign, or as it were, become a recipient of the miracle, then they'll believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It seems to be that Naaman had a thinking with respect to the healing, and yet that was not God's purpose. What I want you to notice about all of these healings in the Old Testament, is that the incidences of healing are very rare. Compared to those who lived throughout that span of human history, those 2,000 years, or sorry, those 4,000 years from the beginning of time, right to the book of Malachi, you'll find that healing was a very rare event. It wasn't commonplace. In actual fact, all of these individuals who experienced healing themselves eventually died. Their healing was only but temporary. Death would take them eventually out of this world and thus the healing really only brought but a temporary relief from the sickness and not a permanent reprieve from the greatest sickness that every human must face, namely that of death. When you move into the New Testament you find that the Lord Jesus Christ He exercised a healing ministry that was incomparable to any that preceded him or came after him. Now the purpose of the Savior's healing ministry was to authenticate his claims of deity. He proclaimed, he claimed to be the Son of God. And therefore he performed miracles that only God could perform in order to authenticate, to give validity to that very claim. Remember Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus Christ in John's Gospel and the chapter number three. And what did Nicodemus say to the Lord Jesus Christ? He said, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. For no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. And so Nicodemus is convinced that Jesus Christ has come from God. God has sent him. God has sent him into this world to be the Messiah. And so His miracles, the healing of the lepers, the touching of blind eyes, the raising of the dead, were all performed in order to authenticate, give validity to His claim of being the Son of God. We find the Savior actually conveying that to his hearers over there in Mark's gospel and the chapter two. If you want to turn there, Mark's gospel and the chapter number two. The Lord Jesus Christ has went into a home in Capernaum and it is noise that he is in the house. We know the event, we know the record. This is the man who was taken with the palsy. He's carried on a bed. to the Saviour, to the house that he's in, there's no room for them to bring him in before the Saviour, so they go to the rooftop, they strip away the roof, and they lower him through the roof, and this man, this sick man, is now before the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse number 5, it says, When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Lord Jesus Christ dealt with the most important matter, first of all, his sin-sick soul. And that's the most important matter. If you're not a Christian in this house today, you've never been saved, you've got a sin-sick soul. And your sins need to be forgiven, washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. If you're ever to enjoy the benefits of salvation, if you're ever to enjoy the glories of heaven, if you're ever to be with those who are saved, and you'll die and go before you into the glory, you need that sin sick soul to be dealt with. And thank God there is a physician in the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ, he said on this occasion to this man, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Now that enraged the scribes who were present. So enraged were they that they started to reason in their hearts, verse 6, verse 7, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? Now the Son of God, being omniscient, knowing all things, was able to read their thoughts and their minds and their particular thinking. And so he proceeds to say in the verse number 10, verse number 9, that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thy house." The Lord Jesus Christ was simply saying, in order to validate what I have just done in the forgiving of this man's sins, I am now going to tell him to arise and get up and to make his way to his home. I'm going to heal him of his physical ailment to prove that I have already healed him of his physical ailment. And so the Lord Jesus Christ performed that healing in order to validate what he had just done. And so the healing. was imparted, virtue left the Savior. The man stands upright and he goes forth before them all to the amazement of all who witnessed. And as a result, it is, as it were, brought to their souls, it is confirmed in their hearts that Jesus Christ is who he says he is. and that he has the rights, the power, the authority to forgive men of their sins. Healed man was the evidence, the authentication that Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God. Now if you look at the Savior's healing ministry and the Savior did heal, you'll notice that there are seven characteristics to the healing ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now those within the charismatic Pentecostal movements will say that their healing ministry is but a continuation of the Savior's healing ministry. But if you compare their healing ministries to the Savior's healing ministry, you'll find that there is a disparity between the two. They are out of step with each another. And so there are seven characteristics, and let me give them to you very quickly concerning the Savior's healing ministry. First of all, Jesus healed with a word or with a touch. That's all it took. He touched, he spoke, and the person was healed. In actual fact, he could heal from a distance. Remember the centurion, a man's servant, and how Christ, he spoke the word, and as a result of that, he was healed. Not even the individual before him, but he only spoke the word. That's what the centurion said. Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. Christ spoke and he was healed. There were no theatrics. There was no one sitting in the corner playing some piano with some kind of music. in order to cause, as it were, an ecstatic or an excitement within the person that was about to be healed with respect to the individual before the Lord Jesus Christ. This is all that happens today in healing services. The emotions are stirred up. Adrenaline is produced within the body, and individuals, they go before the miracle healer, even if they are genuine cases, and they feel, as it were, a touch. They feel a miracle has happened within their soul. Christ only touched. Secondly, Christ healed instantaneously. The centurion's servant was healed, as I said, in the self, CMR, Matthew 8, verse 13. You think of that woman with the issue of blood, immediately healed. Think of the 10 lepers and the lepers that were healed, immediately healed. The crippled man at the pool of Bethsaida, all enjoyed instantaneous healing. People who experience the healing of the charismatic kind today, they would often say, I've been healed But now I'm getting better. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he healed, there were no lengthy recuperation periods required. No, rather, rather, it was instantaneous. It was immediate. Failure to bring about instantaneous healing would have led the Savior's critics to say that the healing was simply about a process of nature. Christ's healing was immediate. Thirdly, Christ healed totally. When a person was healed, they were completely healed. Number four, Christ healed everybody. If you witness or you've ever watched into healing services, you'll notice that not everybody's healed. Some people go away disappointed. Now the faith healer will say it is a lack of faith on the part of the individual that is being healed. They have long lines of individuals that leave disappointed, still in their wheelchairs, still on their crutches. But all who came to Jesus, no matter what condition it was, they were healed completely and everyone was healed. Matthew chapter 8 and the verse 16 tells us that Matthew 8 verse 16 when the even was come they brought on to him many that were possessed with devils and he cast out the spirits with his word and healed all that were sick all That we're sick. Matthew chapter 12, verse 15, another occasion. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all. Everyone healed. Whatever the ailment, Christ healed. No ailment too great. No ailment, as it were, too long. but that Christ could heal. Number five, Christ healed observable diseases. If you watch into healing services today, I'm not encouraging you to do this, but if you ever do, you'll find that individuals come for healing for sicknesses that cannot be observed with the physical eye. The Lord Jesus Christ, he didn't go up and down the land of Israel healing a lower back pain, or some heart palpitation, or some headache, or some other invisible ailments. I'm not belittling these things, so if you suffer from them, I'm not belittling them. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he healed the most obvious kinds of diseases. Crippled legs, withered hands, blind eyes, leprous limbs. Do you remember the healing that he performed even in the Garden of Gethsemane? Malchus's ear cut off, severed from his body because of Peter's zeal and enthusiasm for Christ. Peter cuts off the high priest's servant's ear. What does Christ do? He takes that ear, most likely having fallen on the ground, and he puts the ear and he makes the man's ear again to be attached to his head. There is a perfect healing performed by the Son of God. Nobody could deny it. They would have seen it. Individuals that go with back pain, it can't be seen. But Christ, no, His healing was observable and it validated His claims. Jesus Christ raised the dead. People who claim to have the gift of healing today don't spend too much time in morgues or in funeral homes or in cemeteries. Their healing is not like Christ's. Why? Because they don't have the power to raise the dead. But Christ had. Jairus' daughter raised from the dead. Lazarus raised from the dead. Sickness taking control, complete control of them. Yet them raised from the dead. And yet, this is the last one. Jesus Christ's healings were performed free of charge. Free of charge. No money. was exchanged between Christ and the sick person, their friends, or their family members. The healing was done gratuitously, free of charge. Faith healers today, they are very quick to go on to the television, and they would claim that the bigger the gift, the bigger the miracle. The bigger the gift, the bigger the miracle. And what they are doing is that they are charlatans. And they're robbing people of their money. And they're pretending that they can perform some miracle because of money that pours into their ministries. And many, because of the sickness that plagues the body, they'd do anything. And you would know that. Of course, if cancer was in the body, of course, if there was some terminal illness, you would try anything. And so they, as it were, manipulate individuals that are under, as it were, pressure because of their illness. And like that woman, remember her, the woman with the issue of blood, what do we read about her? She spent all her living, but rather than getting any better, she grew worse. how the miracle and faith healers today could learn from the Savior before vast crowds. The Savior healed, confirming His claim to be the Son of God, the promise, the long-awaited Messiah. But this gift of healing was then conferred to the apostles. When commissioning His 12 apostles, The Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 10 verse 7 said these words. Matthew 10 and the verse number 7. Verse 5, these 12 Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans, enter you not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now I want you to stop there because I want to emphasize that preaching was to be the main thrust of their public ministry. It wasn't to be healing but rather first and foremost preeminent is to be the preaching of the word. Preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand and when you preach in order to validate what you have preached. Because you don't have the complete canon of Scripture, you can't take people back to the Word, you can't take them into the Gospels, as future ministers will be able to do. Therefore, to validate what you're preaching, I want you then to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, freely ye have received, freely give." And so these men had conferred upon them the gift of healing. But alongside the 12, there were 70 others that were sent out by the Lord Jesus Christ. We read of them in Luke chapter 10 and the verse number nine. And again, the gift of healing is imparted to those individuals. Luke chapter 10 and the verse nine. Verse eight, and into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, ye eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, the kingdom of God is at hand. Now if you consider, the healing ministries of these apostles and of the seven, you'll find that their healing ministries are very akin to the healing ministries of the Lord Jesus Christ. The question then are these, why are the traits, the seven traits that I've spoken of concerning Christ, why are those traits not exhibited today by those who claim to have the gift of healing? If this is supposed to be the recapturing of the apostolic era, why are there healing ministries out of step with the healing ministry of Christ and his apostles and his disciples? Could it simply be that what they are exercising is nothing akin to the gift of healing that we find in the New Testament? I would suggest that it is. Now the charismatic will claim that healing is part of the atonement. And those who believe in the continuation of the gift of healing have a few favorite proof texts that they employ to back up that claim. The first is found in Isaiah 53 verse 6, but 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. The second text is 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 24. who his own self bear our sins in his own body in the tree that we being dead to sins should live on to righteousness by whose stripes we are healed. Now both texts speak about a healing that is brought about by and through the stripes of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both texts bring us to consider the great work of redemption And as I've said, both speak of healing coming via or through his stripes. But the question that must be answered by the charismatic is this, what is being healed? What is being healed? Yes, something is being healed by his stripes. Is it speaking about a physical healing? And therefore I can claim, through the work of Christ, physical healing for my body, because it's by His stripes I am healed. I take it as a text, a promise from God, and I can claim it. Is it claiming that I will know physical healing from a physical ailment, or is it a spiritual ailment? Is it a spiritual ailment that is being healed? I would suggest to you that it is the latter. It is through the atonement, redemption, the work of Christ on the cross that we are healed from our spiritual diseases. The disease of sin is healed by the work of Christ in redemption. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, Psalm 103. The disease of sin is so great that it takes the blood of Christ, the work of Christ, the redemptive work of Christ to bring about a healing within the soul. Now that is not to say that within the atonement that there will not be physical healing. I'm not saying that. Because brethren and sisters, there's coming a time when we're going to enjoy full redemption. And what does that full redemption involve? It involves this mortal body putting on immortality. This corruptible body putting on incorruption. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 54. This body of ours is going to go through a great change. When the trump shall sound, when we shall be raised to everlasting life. The full day of redemption, the day of our redemption will bring full deliverance from the present malfunctioning and decay that exists within these physical frames of ours. We are going to receive a new body. And that was secured by the redemptive work of Christ. God can bring healing, that I do not deny. He can, and He has done so, and lies within even this fellowship. But it may be that we'll have to wait until we pass through the veil of death. We'll have to wait the day of general resurrection to receive our new bodies free from sickness, free from pain, free from ailments, and that which inhibits us here in this world. Oh, what a glorious prospect it is that we shall, we shall receive a new body. The second thing to note, very quickly, with respect to the gift of healing is the problem with continued sickness in the days of the apostles. Although the apostles were given the gift of healing, There were instances of individuals that the apostles did not heal. Think of that, they have the gift of healing, and yet there are individuals that they do not heal. Surely if such were gifted with such a gift, they would have employed that gift to bring about the person's recovery. But I believe that these instances are placed within the Scripture to bring to our attention that the gift of healing was only a temporary gift. It's going to pass out. It's going to stop, it's going to cease, just like the tongues. As the church becomes established, as the gospel is preached, as the work of God is consolidated, and the truth of the word is heard and believed, and then as the scriptures are given to the church of Jesus Christ, the canon of scripture being completed, this gift of healing is no longer needed. It's no longer necessary. Because there's enough to validate the gospel through the preaching of the Word of God. Let me give you a number of examples very quickly about individuals that the Apostle Paul wasn't able to heal. One individual was named by Epaphrodites. You find him in Philippians chapter 2. Paul mentions him. a good friend. Verse 27 of Philippians chapter 2, it states that his friend's sickness was so serious that he was nigh on to death. He's on his deathbed. Here's a man on his deathbed, a good friend of Paul, a man who had helped Paul, who had assisted Paul, who had been with him in the ministry, who had encouraged God's servant. Surely you would have thought that Paul would have went to that man and just put his and put his hand on him and healed him of his sickness. You would have thought that. But we don't read that. Rather, we read that he remained in his sickness. He remained in his sickness. Another individual, a man by the name of Trophinius. You find him in 2 Timothy 4, verse 20. Paul leaves this man sick at Miltius. You would think, well, why would you leave a good friend sick? Would you not heal him, Paul? Well, the answer, the reason might be that the gift of healing was on its way out. As I said, as the canon of scripture was coming to completion, the charismatics today teach that God wants every Christian to be well all the time. That's what the prosperity gospel will teach. God wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, or whatever their statement is. God wants us always to be healthy. But if that is true, why does God allow a Christian to get sick at the start? If this is God's intention, that he would want us to be well all the time, why does he allow us to become sick? It doesn't make any sense. And I think of Timothy, another friend. You know, Timothy was Paul's son in the faith. He was like his own son. And yet we read that Timothy was a bit of a sickly type of preacher. We all get those types of preachers. Sometimes I feel myself to be like that. 1 Timothy 5 verse 23, Paul gives Timothy counsel. Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thine often infirmities. Here's a young man of a sickly disposition. Paul speaks of him having, speaks of thine often infirmities. Surely if Paul loved Timothy, he would have employed the gift of healing. But instead, Paul encourages Timothy to use the medicinal products available at that time. A little wine. for thy stomach's sake, not a little wine for thine enjoyment, not a little wine so that you can become drunk, but only for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities. Paul prescribes the use of the medicinal product at the time. He does not use the gift of healing. And then think of Paul himself. Three times he speaks of the thorn in the flesh. Now Galatians 4, 15 informs us that this ailment that Paul speaks of, the thorn in the flesh, was to do with his eyes. Because he speaks of the Galatians wanting to take out their eyes and give them to Paul. On another occasion, Paul speaks about having written a large letter Doesn't mean the length of letter. It means large letters, literally. A's, large A's and P's and A's and U's and Pol's. Even as he signs his letter, it seems to be that there's something wrong with Paul's eyes. Could it have been as a result of what happened on the road to Damascus? When he saw a light above the brightness of a sun? Could it be that Paul had in his body bore the marks of the day that he met with Jesus Christ? Because you're never the same again when you meet Jesus Christ. And so it seems to be there's something wrong with Paul's eyes. Well, why does he not self-heal? If you've got the gift of healing, why not self-heal? Well, it may just have been that that gift had been removed. But instead of healing, God said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee. You see, God can heal, but he may choose not to heal. He is Jehovah Raphi, the Lord our healer. but he may leave us with inner sickness to serve higher purposes that are presently hidden from our view. And I spoke on that when I spoke on the issue of sickness, and I'm not going to repeat those things again. But you'll find it on Sermon Audio concerning sickness and the higher purposes that God has for us in our sickness. Let me very quickly speak on the Bible's directive with regard to healing and that's why we read James chapter 5. James 5 verse 14 and 15. As any sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church and let him pray over him, anointing him with the oil in the name of the Lord. In 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. These words revealed to us And what the Apostle James is speaking of here carries no semblance to what is happening in healing services today. He rejects the present day charismatic methods of healing. Note a number of things. Note first of all that the sick one in the church was to call for who? The elders. Not some faith healer. No, the elders within the church. And so you find individuals and they go to healing services, but who's performing the healing? It's some flown in faith healer. It's not the elders of the church. And so in this very first point, they are not in line with the teaching of scripture. Second of all, the nature of the sickness is not referred to, and therefore it may be of a spiritual nature. Not a physical nature, we cannot be sure. But some Bible commentators suggest that this sickliness is not referring to some physical ailment, but to some spiritual ailment, as in a coldness, or backsliding, or maybe some sin that has been committed by a child of God, and they seek the prayers of the elders. Note also that the task of the church elders was not to lay hands on the person, but they were to pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. You see, what James is doing is that he's guarding here any thought that the healing would come to the person because of some special power that was in the spiritual oversight of the church. It is not coming there, not as it were, the vehicle by which the healing comes, the channel, the conduit through which the healing power descends from God into the individual, placing the hands on them, rather they are to pray over them. How does the healing come? Well, James, he emphasizes how the healing comes. Notice the verse number 15, and the prayer, it's the prayer of faith is going to heal the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. It's not the elders. They don't have the power. Only God has the power, and it is the prayer. It is not the act in itself. Note again that there is no indication that this happens within a public setting. Rather, notice what it says, let him call for the elders. It suggests that the person is so sickly that they can't come to the public place of worship. And so the person needs to call for the elders to come to their home. to pray with them, if it be the Lord's will, that God would raise them up again. So why then do these miracles, these healings, happen within a public setting? Because James seems to suggest that it's to happen at home, with just the individual and the elders of the church. Peter Masters said the following, and he considered what we have here in James chapter five and what occurs in modern day healing services. He said this, the ungarnished procedure of James five stands in total contrast to all the antics of modern healers and thus condemns them all as misguided and unbiblical. You couldn't get anything clearer than that. He is Jehovah Rufai. He does heal if it is his will, if it is the Lord's will. But let me address you who are not saved, because greater than a physical ailment, you have a sin sick soul. Isaiah says that from the sole of the foot, even to the head, there's no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores that have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. That is how you are, sinner, before God and his sight. And yet in the gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ is the great physician. And with the balm of the gospel, he is able to bring healing to that sin sick soul of yours. Let me ask you, are you sensible of your need of spiritual healing today? Lord Jesus Christ said, they that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Will you avail yourself of the remedy of sin? Will you come to Christ for spiritual healing? Thank God you can leave this place spiritually whole. Spiritually whole. This is the healing that you need. May you experience it in the gospel. May you be saved from your sin. And may God help us to be biblical as we think on these very matters this very day. For Christ's sake, amen. Let's bow our heads in prayer. We appreciate your time this afternoon. We'll try and close up this series on the Holy Spirit in a few weeks' time in the will of God. if that is how the Lord leads. Our loving Father, we cry to Thee that Thou wilt preserve our lives from the chaos, the confusion that there is in this world. Help us, dear God, to believe that God is able. He is able to touch. He is able to heal. This is His prerogative. This is His, within His own right, within His own authority. We thank Thee for the case of Hezekiah. how he prayed to God and how God extended 15 more years on to his life in answer to prayer. It was the will of God for that man. Yet how many another saint prayed for healing and it never came on this side of the grave, but it did, it did on the other side, in the place where there is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more sickness, no more heartache, no more ailments, no more matters that cause the body to quiver and to show the signs of weakness. They are made perfect. They have joined with the spirits of just men made perfect. We rejoice that our bodies will be reunited some glad day and we'll be given a new body that's free from all of these sicknesses. Therefore we cry to thee that we'll look to the spiritual rather than the physical. Let us place the emphasis there. Where there is the need for spiritual healing, whether we're caught up in the the sickness of sin or whether it's backsliding, whatever it is. Oh God, bring the healing. He restoreth my soul. He brings it back to health. Oh Lord, bring us back to health, we pray. And grant, dear God, the work of the great physician among us all. We offer prayer in and through the Savior's precious name. Amen and amen. Thank you.