PRAYER AND ANOINTING THE SICK WITH OIL

PRAYER AND ANOINTING THE SICK WITH OIL

Dr. Herman A. Hoyt

The past ministry of Christ was in part characterised by Peter when addressing the gentile household of Cornelius as that of "healing all that were oppressed of the devil" (Acts 10:38). Even the most casual reader of the Gospels cannot miss the miraculous healings that so aroused the people to the presence and preaching of this new prophet in Israel. While His healing ministry was for "them that had need of healing" (Luke 9:11), it went far beyond them to touch the very roots of His presence among men. By His own testimony to John the Baptist, who was in prison and discouraged Christ insisted that these miracles of healing were credentials of His Messiahship (Luke 7:19-23).

The future ministry of Christ will also be marked by a great healing ministry. When He comes again as the "Sun of righteousness" He will then "arise with healing in his wings" (Mal. 4:2). "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert" (Isa. 35: 5,6). "And the powers of the world to come" (Heb. 6:5) will be in great manifestation, for the One in whom all these powers reside will be dwelling among men. In that day "the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick" (Isa. 33:24) as the inhabitants today, with very few exceptions, are saying.

The present ministry of Christ with reference to healing, however, is a major concern of the people of God. Therefore it is not surprising to find Luke clearly implying in the book of Acts that what Christ "began... to do" (Acts 1:1) while He was in the earth, He is continuing to do from the heavens. And the book of Acts constitutes the first great chapter in the present ministry of Christ from the heavens. Most certainly one of the things He is doing today is healing: Peter insisted that "his name through faith in his name hath Made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by Him hath given Him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all" (Acts 3:16). With this as encouragement the newly formed Church, under the pressure of threatening, prayed, "And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heals and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus" (Acts 4:29, 30).

The specific provision for God's people today and the way this provision may be appropriated is the question which has puzzled believers down across the years. This was just as true in the apostolic Church as today. For in the epistle of James, the first book of the New Testament to be written, clear directions were given to the Church, and where these directions have been followed God has honored His Word and blessed the saints with healing. The passage follows:

"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" (James 5:13-20).

The prominence some attach to this ceremony amounts to that of an ordinance. On the basis of the fact that Christ commissioned His disciples to heal as well as to preach, this contention is founded. It is recorded that Christ "sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick" (Luke 9;2), "and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed then," (Mark 6:13 ARV). But while the writer may be wrong, it does seem that the rite fails to measure up in every one of the five essential characteristics for a church ordinance. All who take this passage seriously, however, will agree that an important provision is made for the Church, and every believer does well to hear and to heed the instruction. For the sake of appreciating what ample provision has really been made for the saints, it is the purpose of the writer to give careful exposition of the above passage.