Sickness 691
We should see that healing is in God’s hand. Learn to trust Him
Who heals. In the Old Testament God has a special name which is, “I
am the Lord, your healer” (Ex. 15.26). Look to Him and He will be
gracious to His own in this particular regard.
The initial step which the believer should therefore take when sick
is to ferret out the cause; afterwards he may resort to several different
ways for healing, one of which is to call the elders of the church to
pray and anoint him with oil. This is the only command in the Bible
concerning sickness.
Is any 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 man, and the
Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be
forgiven. (James 5.14-15)Make no haste in seeking a cure, but rather have dealings with
God at the outset. One of the things to be done is to call for the elders
of the church to anoint you with oil. This speaks of the flowing of the
oil from the Head to you as one of the members of the body. The oil
which the Head receives runs down upon the whole body. As a
member of the body of Christ, one can expect the oil on the Head to
flow to him. Where life flows, sickness is swept away. The purpose
of anointing is hence to bring down oil from the Head. Through
disobedience, sin or perhaps some other reason the believer has
gotten himself out of the body circulation and has departed from the
body protection. Accordingly, he needs to call the elders of the
church to reinstate him into the circulation and life flow of the body
of Christ. This is just as in the physical body; for when any of its
members is out of joint the life of the body cannot flow freely into it.
Thus the anointing is to restore such a flow. The elders represent the
local church; they anoint the believer on behalf of the body of Christ
so that the oil of the Head may flow to him once again. Let the oil on
the Head come upon that member through which life has been