Sermon Tone Analysis

“Is anyone among you suffering?

Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful?

Let him sing praise.

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.

The prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”[1]

Many years ago I was leading a study through the Book of James.

Arriving at this passage, I asked the participants to speculate why James advised anointing with oil.

In addition to the usual responses one would expect of a group of people intent on understanding the Word of God more perfectly, one man said, “If he lubricates the sick person, maybe he’ll slide right out of bed.”

I’m not trying to slide sick people out of bed; but I do believe it is important for us to understand what James is saying so that we are equipped to honour the Lord through knowing His will.

In a previous message,[2] I briefly alluded to the subject that is before us today.

The message today deals with the poorly understood and oft-abused ministry of anointing the sick for the purpose of healing.

There appears to be two extremes among contemporary churches—either viewing anointing as necessary to effect healing, or ignoring this as an action that had validity in the days of the apostolic church, but without value among Christians today.

Some individuals have promoted a “ministry of healing” through anointing.[3]

Often, healers offer “blessed” oil for “a gift to the ministry.”

They claim that when these special oils are applied to the afflicted parts (even empty wallets), they cause healing.[4]

They offer no money-back guarantee, because if the sick person doesn’t have enough faith, the oil can’t work.

It is a pretty good business that permits the sale of oil that costs a few cents to mix and bottle, which can be sold for twenty dollars or more.

There are no restrictions on the effectiveness, because if it doesn’t work, it is the fault of the one using the oil and not the fault of the oil.

During the years of my walk before the Lord, I have witnessed many individuals who claim to possess the gift of healing.

These individuals don’t bat a thousand; in fact, their success rate is often lower than that observed and identified as spontaneous remission.

When confronted by their failures, they are often prone to say that those for whom they prayed didn’t have faith.

If someone is not healed, it is their own lack of faith, and the healer is off the hook.

Other believers—undoubtedly sincere in their faith—have dismissed what James writes.

It appears that those rejecting James’ words are often more concerned to react to abuse than to provide a careful exegesis of what he has written.

They are more concerned not to appear to be countenancing error than to provide an accurate exegesis of the text.

An old saw presents a hermeneutic principle: any text out of context is pretext.

Therefore, if we will understand what James teaches, we will need to understand the context.

Then, having the context in view, we will need to examine what is actually said in *James 5:13-16*.

*Reasons for Illness* — If we will understand what James is saying, we need to understand the reason for illnesses.

In the ultimate analysis, all illness is the result of sin.

I don’t mean that we are punished because we have sinned, but I do mean that we are part of a fallen race.

Sin has infected the race, proving to be the ultimate cause of illness.

Paul compels us to confront this truth when he writes in the Letter to Roman Christians, “Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come” [*Romans 5:12-14*].

Illness, and ultimately death, is the result of sin.

Surely, none of us are so insensitive or obtuse in our thinking as to imagine that infants die because they have sinned.

Innocent children do die.

I still recall with sorrow a funeral that I conducted for a child that lived but minutes following his birth.

The parents were immigrants, and as you might imagine, they were deeply grieved at the death of this long-anticipated child.

The parents had approached their pastor, but he was too busy to conduct a funeral.

They spoke with the associate pastor of the congregation, but he excused himself as being too busy.

They approached me, heartbroken and feeling deserted in the world.

I assured them that I would be honoured to provide whatever comfort God afforded in His Word as they laid their child to rest.

What can you say when a little child dies?

I turned to the account of David when he grieved at the death of the child he had fathered by Bathsheba while she was still married to Uriah.

The child became sick, and the illness threatened the life of the child.

David fasted, refusing to eat or to attend to his appearance.

However, the child died.

Pick up the account there.

“On the seventh day the child died.

And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, ‘Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us.

How then can we say to him the child is dead?

He may do himself some harm.’

But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead.

And David said to his servants, ‘Is the child dead?’

They said, ‘He is dead.’

Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes.

And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.

He then went to his own house.

And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.

Then his servants said to him, ‘What is this thing that you have done?

You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.’”

Now, listen to this important insight David provides concerning the child.

“He said, ‘While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, “Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?”

But now he is dead.

Why should I fast?

Can I bring him back again?

I shall go to him, but he will not return to me’” [*2 Samuel 12:18-23*].

This is not a statement of hopelessness or resignation; it is a statement of hope, a statement of confidence.

David was not resigning himself to the inevitable, saying that he must somehow get on with his life; he was looking to a gracious God who seeks only what is good.

He is anticipating the instruction that the Apostle will provide in his review of the resurrection.

Paul says, “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” [*1 Corinthians 15:22*].

“As in Adam all die”—just as all are under adamic sin and subject to death, “so also in Christ shall all be made alive”—those who die in innocence are safe in Christ.

Those who are innocent and who yet die because they are part of this fallen race are kept safe in Christ.

God has made provision for the innocent within this broken, sinful world, receiving them to Himself.

As an aside, those who destroy life in the womb, and even life in a Petri dish, have much to answer for.

Though those innocent children who are destroyed */in utero/* are safe in Christ the Lord, there is an awful accounting that will be demanded of those who kill them.

Jesus said, “Whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea!

Woe to the world because of offences.

For offences must come, but woe to that man by whom the offence comes.

If your hand or your foot causes your downfall, cut it off and throw it away.

It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.

And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out and throw it away.

It is better for you to enter life with one eye, rather than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire” [*Matthew 18:6-9*]![5]

That is terrifying!

Those who dare destroy the unborn are every bit as culpable in the eyes of the Living God as those who injure or mislead little children.

In another place, Jesus is recorded as saying, “Hard trials and temptations are bound to come, but too bad for whoever brings them on!

Better to wear a millstone necklace and take a swim in the deep blue sea than give even one of these dear little ones a hard time” [*Luke 17:1, 2*]![6]

Now, refocus on the message.

The question is why do people experience sickness?

James is not saying that every illness is the consequence of sin.

There are consequences to our choices.

If I live a sedentary life, consuming vast quantities of unhealthy foods, there are consequences.

The waist will expand.

Plaque builds on arterial walls, restricting blood flow.

Vitality wanes.