293. Divine Healing

“The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up again.” James 5:15.

It says here quite clearly that the prayer of faith will help the one who is sick. This excludes all unbelief and doubt. Quite often we believe in sickness—that it will serve us in our salvation and sanctification. But we need to consider this more closely. Sickness and death came into the world because of sin. In other words, the origin of sickness and death is not divine; it has its roots in sin. But Jesus has come to put away sin by His sacrifice; and if sin is put away, its consequences are also done away with. In place of death, Jesus Christ has made the way for life and peace—eternal life. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and if the body is sick, our ministry in the Spirit is also hampered.

James differentiates between suffering and sickness. Is anyone among you suffering, let him pray. This suffering is difficult situations in life where you have to battle your way through and overcome. These sufferings serve for our sanctification. But this is not so when it concerns sickness. When the cause of the sickness is clearly known, and we can see that the fault is ours, and if we then judge ourselves, the sickness will have lost its power over us.

See 1 Corinthians 11:30-31. “For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world.”

God disciplines us with sickness in all stages of sanctification. Therefore if you have not been disciplined in this way, you have no cause to believe that you are more God-fearing than the one who is sick. Perhaps it will be your turn in a month’s time, or in a year. You are still unable to bear a sickness. That is why God’s grace rests over you. But when the time comes, your arrogance, your conceitedness, gluttony, greed, or whatever else might be at work will become clearly recognizable through your sickness. Even if no one else understands, you will understand it. If we then judge ourselves, the sickness will be taken by its root, and it will not be able to continue. At that point it will also have served its usefulness.

We are judged through sickness and disciplined by the Lord if we do not judge (discern) the body of the Lord rightly. The word “judge” differentiates between two things. Now we need to differentiate between the Lord’s body and our body. The Lord disciplined His body. He kept it in check; therefore we are to keep our body in subjection too—just as He did. If we exceed our boundaries in the use of food and drink, we are not presenting our body in the likeness of the Lord’s body. That can be the cause of sickness, and as a result we need to judge ourselves.

Sickness can be caused by any number of things. For example: greed. You do more work than your body is able to tolerate, and as a result you get sick. Here lies the cause of many different kinds of sicknesses and gives us reason for much judgment—if we would judge ourselves. Therefore it is good to possess God’s light and knowledge. For example, a woman, in order to appear nice and attractive, forces herself into a corset, and as a result she suffers from abdominal pains and gets sick. The direct cause of this is vanity, of course. People can continue with this kind of thing long after they have come to faith. The cause is a lack of light and the vanity in their nature. We could mention innumerable examples like that. However, let us now be quick to judge ourselves so we can be healed all the sooner.

It is a very simple matter for God to heal us. However, it is more difficult for Him to get us to acknowledge our sin. It does not have to be a manifest work of the flesh; it can also be the sins of the inner, hidden man resisting the hidden life with Christ in God.

“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.” James 5:14.

Why should it be necessary to call for the elders of the church since everyone can pray? True enough, everyone can pray, but the Lord always works with a double, even a three-fold purpose in mind. Thereby He binds the church to the elders. The ones who are the pillars and the foundation of the truth gain more authority in the church. Besides, the elders of the church, those who preach the Word, will be able to explain the mystery of healing better than others. Confidence in the elders, and thereby confidence in Christ, will increase when Christ heals them through the laying on of hands and the prayers of the elders.

“And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to heal diseases.” Luke 9:1.

When Jesus called the twelve together, we can be certain He instructed them as to how they should heal the diseases. Ignorance will not get you anywhere in this world—and the same applies when it pertains to the kingdom of heaven.

So we need to pray, and pray again. Through prayer we receive light, and through prayer we receive forgiveness of sins, and through prayer we are healed. But without prayer we receive nothing. You have not because you do not pray. Ask (pray) and you will receive; seek and you will find.

When I am slow to acknowledge the cause of my sickness, healing will also come slowly. That is true with all chastening. The Lord is not slow concerning His promises, yet we are quite often slow when it comes to fulfilling the conditions.