Please turn your Bibles to the book of James and to chapter 5. James 5, we'll be considering verse 13 and 14. James 5 reading from verse 13, is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 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 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. We continue in our studies in the book of James, and I will remind you that the book is on the practicability of faith. And James writes it not because he did not believe in justification by faith, which you could say sounds somewhat academic. He did. As a matter of fact, what he was seeking to underline was the fact that if you have been justified by faith, If you stand right before God, you need to express that through practical faith. And a couple of weeks ago, we saw how that part of that practice is the need for those who are sick among us. And they are not just sick, they are very sick, to call the elders. and the elders would pray for them anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord and that the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise them up. This is what the sick and the elders must do practically. The sick must call the elders. The elders must go and pray for them, praying in faith so the Lord would raise them. This evening I'd like us to interact a little more with the practice of anointing with oil along with a prayer of faith as a way of effecting healing. Listen to what James says here in verse 14, 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. And the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. Just three things I'd like to point out as we reflect on this section of scripture. First, the practice of anointing with oil. Secondly, the prayer of faith. And thirdly, the power of prayer. Let's consider first of all the practice of anointing with oil. What precisely is the purpose or significance of anointing with oil? You are sick. You are very sick. You call for the elders to come and pray for you. And they do come. They don't just pray. They anoint you with oil. Why do they have to do that? Why did they have to do that? in this context? Well, I think the answer to that question lies in our view of anointing with oil. And there are various views. First, there are those who see oil as a mystical medium with power to heal in its own right. The healing is in the oil. The power is in the oil. And they believe that when that oil is applied, it will effect healing in the sick. We can refer to this as the magical use of oil. Even those who use the oil in this manner do not understand exactly how it works. They believe that somehow it works, that somehow there is power in it. And they only need to believe that if they applied it, it will work, it will heal. And so you find this oil being sold by men of God, this oil being sought by the sick. And when the oil is in Nigeria, even Zambian sick people are willing to fly to Nigeria for that oil, for the magic of the oil. That's one view. But there is also a view that looks at this oil as being used for secular, physical, and medical purposes only. A commentator by the name of Lenski, for example, believes the word translated anointing, which in Greek would be the word alepho, refers to the common use of oil. And commonly, even in the Bible, as I shall be showing you in a moment, oil was used for all sorts of purposes. including as a medicine. In our day and age, I'm sure this was also true in the ancient world, we use it on machinery. We oil doors so that when they are closing and opening, they are not squeaking. We oil engines, car engines and other types of engines so that the rotating members of those engines can do so smoothly without squeaking, without making uncomfortable noises. We oil these things for those purposes. In Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 1, there is a suggestion there that oil was used for medicinal purposes. Last week I mentioned the case of the Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10 and verse 34, who when he found a man who had been beaten up by robbers and left for dead, took him, cared for him, washed his wounds, and oiled them. The oil in that instance was being used for medicinal purposes. Oil was being used as a curative. That's another use and it's a very common use and a good one for that. And then you have the view that looks at the application of oil by the elders as an administration of simple medical comfort. Not so much for medicinal reasons, just to make the person feel comfortable. They've been lying there in bed, they're very ill, they're developing bed sores and so on. That is just to help them Feel comfortable. It is an administration of oil in the spirit of not being of heavenly use only, but also of earthly use. If you like, it's the Ministry of Nursing Care. It's just nursing care being conducted by the elders. And then, of course, there are those who believe that the oil was a religious symbol. And in the Old Testament, you see a lot of this. Oil was used particularly for typical reasons. In other words, as a type of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the tabernacle, Pure olive oil was kept burning there continually. Continually. And it was important that the oil was kept burning continually. The oil was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The burning of that oil was a symbol of the Holy Spirit in revelation and illumination. The same way that this light is enabling us to see, to read, the oil was kept burning so that it would cast light upon the embroidered linen, the lampstand, the table of showbread, and other items. They were all types of Christ, reflections of Christ. And the ancient church wouldn't see Christ in those types, in those symbols, without the light From the burning oil flashing upon it, the light opened up those symbols and people were able to see them. Otherwise, they would have been in complete darkness and people wouldn't even realize that those symbols were there. The burning oil and the light it produced shed light on those emblems and symbolically, therefore, on Christ. Oil was also an important ingredient in the sacrifices. Read about that in Leviticus chapter 2, verse 1 through to 16. The sacrifices were mixed with oil. And when they were burnt up, oil was used to effect that burning. A symbol of Christ's humanity sustained and his actions empowered by the Holy Spirit. Oil was also used in the ceremony for the cleansing of lepers in Leviticus 14. It was used in the induction of priests and kings in Leviticus 40 and in 1st Samuel chapter 10 and verse 1. A priest or a king who was coming into office was anointed with oil and that anointing was a sign that he had been appointed of God and filled with the Holy Spirit to discharge his office. So if you like, in its typical meaning, as illustrated in both the Old and New Testaments, oil is used to represent the concepts of holiness, sanctification, revelation, illumination, dedication, healing, and sustenance. The Holy Spirit is being portrayed as doing all of these things. Well, if that is what oil means, in various parts of the Old and New Testaments. The question is, what does James propose oil must be used for in this context? Now, there is no doubt that in James chapter 5, oil is being used for healing purposes. The medical use of oil is no doubt a possibility here. But only a possibility. But here is another thing. The symbolic use of oil is another possibility. And these two uses needn't be mutually exclusive. In other words, if they were using oil for medical purposes, perhaps even for nursing purposes, if we may put it that way, that needn't necessarily remove the idea of the symbolic use of oil. And I want to suggest that the symbolic use probably carries the strongest possibility here. Let's begin by looking at the symbolic use of oil elsewhere, particularly in healing contexts. In Mark chapter 6 and verse 13, Mark 6 and verse 13, we read this in relation to the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. and they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them." This is in relation to the ministry of Christ, especially the ministry of the apostles of Christ. They cast out many demons. They didn't just cast out many demons, they anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. Now surely here we must assume that the oil was not medicinally used, but symbolically used. The cures did not stem from the properties of the oil, but from the power of the Lord working through the oil that the apostles used. That's one instance. The same could be said of the use of saliva by the Lord Jesus Christ in the healing of the deaf and the dam. Look at Mark chapter 7 verse 31 through to 37. Again departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, he came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. Then they brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. And they begged him to put his hand on him. And he took him aside from the multitude and put his fingers in his ears and he spat and touched his tongue. He spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, Ephrathah, that is, be opened. Immediately his ears were opened and the impediment of the tongue was loosed. And he spoke plainly. Then he commanded them that they should tell no one. But the more he commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, he has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. Now here is the Lord. He had the power to simply say, be opened. And he would begin to hear. He had the power to simply declare, speak! And he would speak. And indeed he did do that. But notice in verse 3 that he spat and then touched the tongue. Why did he have to use saliva? In Mark chapter 8, you read about the story of the blind man in verse 22 through to 26. Then he came to Bethsaida, and they brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. So he took the blind man by the hand, led him out of the town, and when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, I see men like trees walking. Then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up and he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Again, he spit on his eyes. He uses saliva You know about the blind man. He was blind from birth in John chapter 9, verse 1 through to 41. It's a long passage, so I'm not going to read. Needless to say, the Lord Jesus Christ this time is part And with the spit he took some ground and he made some clay, he moistened it, and that is what he put on his eyes and used to heal him. He used clay. Previously he used saliva. He used means. Now could we say that the power was in the saliva or that the power was in the clay? Obviously not. They were symbolic means the Lord used to deliver his power. By the same line of reasoning, this would be the significance of the oil here in James and chapter 5. In this regard, just as might have been the case in the Old Testament, it symbolizes the Holy Spirit and is used as a means of stimulating the faith of both the Sikh believer and the elders in the Spirit's power to heal. In a manner similar to the way the emblems of the Lord's Supper stimulate faith by which we feed on Christ, when we are eating the bread and drinking of the cup. It's not the bread that strengthens our faith. It's not the drink that strengthens our faith. There is nothing magical about the bread or the drink. It is the faith they stimulate in the Lord. They remind us of the Lord and that reminder of the Lord then stimulates our faith in Him. So as we look upon these emblems, we are looking upon the Lord and pressing our faith in Him. They are symbols meant to stimulate faith. I want to suggest that in a similar way, the oil is a symbol meant to stimulate faith. A commentator by the name of John Blanchard suggests that the oil here is a visual aid, a visual aid granted by the Lord. to help in focusing the faith of the sufferers on Christ, to aid the sufferer to believe in the Spirit's power to heal them. Now I think it's important, especially when we look at the ministry of Christ and his apostles, that they didn't always use such visual aids in performing miracles, nor did they command believers or elders, whenever they are conducting such ministry to use such visual aids. The Lord often did not use any aids, but sometimes he did. He doesn't expect elders who are called to pray for the sick to always use visual aids. But here, certainly, James encourages them to do it. Now you will notice that as they use the oil in verse 14, we read that they must anoint the sick with oil in the name of the Lord. Have you noted that in verse 14? Why should the oil, why should the anointing be used in the name of the Lord? The name of the Lord is equivalent to the character of the Lord, the nature of the Lord. So to use the anointing in the name of the Lord is equivalent to saying, to use it in the active presence of the Lord. in his revealed character and nature. Or if you like, it is to do it by the Lord's authority. The elders are not taking themselves to the sick in their own name or in their own power. They are doing it under the authority of the Lord, under a divine mandate, under His will. This is not the first time James uses this language. In verse 10, for example, of chapter 5, James says, my brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. They spoke in the name of the Lord. Now that means they didn't speak in their own name or in their own right or under their own authority. The Lord gave them the words they spoke. And they spoke because the Lord commanded them to go and speak. And they spoke only what the Lord commanded them to speak. They didn't subtract anything from it or add anything to it. And it is to the extent that they spoke in that way that they spoke with authority under a divine mandate. Similarly, James describes the plain truth. that the actions he describes, namely the elders praying over a sick man and anointing him with oil, will be effective when it is carried out in the name of the Lord, and only in the name of the Lord. In other words, it must be in accordance with the will of the Lord. There must be a conviction in the heart of the elders that this course of action is right and therefore of the Lord because it is mandated by the Lord himself. That's about the anointing. Well, let's come in the second place and look at the prayer of faith. The prayer of faith. Because this anointing with oil in the name of the Lord must go side by side with prayer. Listen to verse 14. 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. And then he goes on to say in verse 15, and the prayer of faith will save the sick. This praying over the sick is a praying in faith. The duty of the elders is to pray for healing and not to effect healing. And there is a whole world of difference between those two ideas. They don't have the power to effect healing. They don't have the gift of healing. The oil they carry doesn't have qualities in itself to effect some magical healing. Their duty is to pray for healing and to do it with faith. Now what is the meaning of the prayer of faith? I touched on this briefly the last time. But faith is not positive thinking. It's not positive thinking. It's not a belief in faith. Inside of myself, I have this strong conviction that I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. It's like going for the bungee jumping, which I have declared I will never do. My wife doesn't mind doing it, but I have said maybe after I have died. But those who go for it, Well, there is a sense within themselves as they do it that they can do this, they can do this. It's frightening, it's challenging, but they can do this, they can do this. It's a conviction within themselves. Now that is not what faith means. Faith is knowledge. To start with, Romans chapter 10 and verse 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. I'm going to act on something because God has told me that I should do it. So my action is based on knowledge. Faith is belief. Yes, it's about having a firm conviction within, but it's a firm conviction based on knowledge, based on revelation. I believe inside of me that I can do it because I know, I have been told, I have heard a revelation or I have seen a vision which carries a message that tells me or shows me that I can do that. And then faith is trust. Faith is trust. We read or heard earlier on from Romans chapter 10, he who believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead, he will be saved. We believe in the heart. But we don't just believe in the heart. If you go on to read Romans 10, verse 13, having believed in the heart, we call on the name of the Lord. So I have heard about Jesus. I have believed in my heart. I have a conviction. And on the basis of that conviction, I call on him. I act on that knowledge on that conviction, knowledge, belief, trust. That's what faith is. A prayer of faith is a prayer that is rooted in knowledge, in God's revelation. We are acting on God's revelation. Take a look at 1 John 5, verse 14 through to 15. 1 John 5, verse 14 and 15. Now, this is the confidence we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. Now look at this very carefully. John is not saying that whatever we ask, God will give to us. And that what matters is what we ask. What matters is what we desire. We want healing, and so God gives healing. I want a big car, and so God gives me a big car. I want a big house, and so God gives me a big house. Whatever I ask. Verse 14 qualifies that, doesn't it? Now this is the confidence we have in him, that if we ask anything and then he adds, according to his will. If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. His will. His will. Now that suggests that you must have a knowledge of His will. So that's knowledge. You must have a conviction in your heart about that will. And then you must act on that conviction regarding His will. So the prayer of faith is first of all prayer offered with the definite conviction of its approval by God. We have to have such a conviction that this is of God. This is approved of God. Not to have such a conviction, not to have faith is sin. That's what Romans 14 and verse 23. whatsoever is not of faith is sin. If God does not will a thing, someone has said, and I'm quoting, neither medicine nor prayer will accomplish the results we want. If God doesn't will a thing, neither medicine nor prayer will accomplish the results which we want. God must will it. So a prayer offered with the definite conviction of its approval by God, that is a prayer of faith. The second thing I want to say about the prayer of faith is that it's not something that man can produce at will. It's a gift of God, something that can rightly be prayed when the Lord gives assurance that its substance will be answered in accordance with his own sovereign will. Now this point is underlined in the illustration about Elijah in chapter five. Verse 17 and 18. Listen to this. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. Now that may sound like this was just an Elijah who was asking for any and everything he wanted and God gave it to him. But when you study 1 Kings chapter 17 and chapter 18, you will find that Elijah was responding to God's revelation. This is what God wanted him to do, to pray for drought, and to pray for rain. The success of his prayers depended upon God's determination to bring drought and to bring rain. He revealed it to Elijah before the prophet prayed Healing, whether by supernatural means or via medicine, comes about in this way. Now if we are not certain that God definitely wants to heal a particular person, we don't pray with definiteness. We ask that the Lord's will would be done. We don't know exactly what it is. We ask that His will be done. But if we have a conviction in our hearts about a particular case, we have sought the Lord about it, we've been given a conviction about it, there is clarity about it, we go and pray and ask God to heal the person. And because we are acting in response to his will, to his revelation, he will honor that prayer. And there have been instances where we've been called as elders And we had such a conviction, and the Lord has acted to heal. There have been instances as well where we were not called, but we took ourselves there. And it wasn't clear. And the Lord did enact. Sometimes we take ourselves. The biblical way is that we don't take ourselves. The sick call us. The Lord has begun to work in the heart of the sick who is calling. And as the elders are called and they know about the case and they begin to think about the case and to pray about the case, they also have a conviction in their hearts. that this is of the Lord. And they go. And they pray. And the Lord answers. I don't have the time to speak about the power of prayer. And so I'm going to conclude here. First with a question. Is anyone among us sick? And I did say the sickness must be serious. You are down there. You can't rise. You can't go to the elders. Are you sick? Well, the Bible says, call the elders. Call the elders. But the second question I ask is, are you an elder? And have you been called? Go. Respond to that call. Go and go and pray in the name of the Lord and in faith. The last time I was speaking on this, I told you about a Reformed Baptist Church. They are an American Reformed Baptist Church. And by the way, they are very conservative. They are not new Calvinists, if I may add. Very conservative. I knew I would be speaking on this subject tonight, and I recall a conversation I had with the pastor. He's a very well-known man, a very well-known author. You have sometimes read his books. So I asked him about that conversation because he said to me that, look, in our church we take oil with us when we pray for our members. And I said, well, I don't. He didn't explain then why they do it. And I didn't ask him. But just this last week, I sent him a text. And I said, look, we had this conversation several years ago, and you mentioned to me that when you did visit the sick, that you would actually anoint them with oil. There are those who hold the view that this is for medicinal purposes. This is the view I have always held. You did not seem to hold that view. Oh, am I wrong? I'm interested to hear your biblical and theological rationale for the practice." And this is how he responded. There are a number of things he said. But just coming to the anointing, he says, James 5 says they are to anoint with oil in the name of the Lord. I am using the Bible interpretation principle that one takes the Bible literally unless a literal interpretation does not make sense. So in his view, this must be taken literally unless a literal interpretation does not make sense. He goes on to say, The expression anointing with oil is used here. Anointing is a strange term to use if the intention is applying oil as a salve or as a medicine. If one thinks of how anointing is used throughout scripture, a person would be anointed, such as a king or priest, to express the expectation of God's special work within this individual. So I think of anointing the sick as a tangible expression of our faith that God will work in a special way in the life and body of this one who has been prayed for and anointed. Then he goes on to explain some things. And then he says, one does not build a theology on personal experience. But in 35 years of ministry, I have seen some extraordinary healings take place as we have sought to obey this injunction. There have also been times when God was not pleased to heal, and we of course must embrace His purpose as good and right. Every blessing and He signs off. In 35 years of ministry, He has seen some extraordinary healings take place. This is not happening in some charismatic crusade This is not happening in some excited atmosphere. This is happening in a local church by ordinary elders, not some specially gifted individuals. Ordinary elders who are called by those who are sick, they are held low, they are called to come and pray for them. And they go and they pray. and the Lord hears them and heals. This is the Bible text on healing in ordinary times. It is to your disadvantage if you didn't act on it when you need to. Well, may the Lord bless us and help us as elders when we do undertake such a ministry. And may He give you grace when you are in that position, needing special prayer from the elders. May He need you grace to sense in your own heart that this is what the Lord wants for you. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the challenge that this passage of scripture places upon us. It challenges us to believe. It challenges us to act. O God, grant that those among us who would be found in positions where they are ill, they are afflicted, they are down, they cannot rise, move such ones, to trust in you, to believe in their own hearts. that you can heal them and move the elders, those in positions of leadership when they have received such a call, to move in faith, to pray in faith, to be the means of bringing about the healing of those who are this sick. Lord, we know you can do this. You have done this. We pray that we will go forward believing that many among us will be touched and healed in this way. Our Father, we ask now that you would disperse us with your blessings. Send us back into the world, strengthened by the words we have heard today, strengthened by the fellowship we have experienced today. Help us to go out there and to make a difference in the lives of men. Because these things we ask. in Jesus' name and for his glory.