Healing The Body

Part 1 of 3 from The Moody Church Herald, August 1, 1910.

“And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” —Exodus 15:26

“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.” —James 5:13–16

Prevention Better Than Cure

Jehovah in Exodus 15:26 gives a prescription for good health. He says, “I am the LORD that healeth thee,” and yet He plainly tells them that prevention is better than cure. Do four things, He says, and you will keep well.

(1) “Hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God.” Let God teach you. Let Him speak to you in His providence and out of His Word. Keep so close to Him in fellowship that you can hear His whisper. With Him is the fountain of life, and such contact with God will fill you with abundant life.

(2) “Do that which is right in his sight.” Let conscience be ruled by the will of God. Seek His approval. “Hope thou in God,” exhorts the psalmist, “for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance” (Psalm 42:11). A look into the face of God as He smiles upon us through Christ is health of soul and body.

(3) “Give ear to his commandments.” Listen that you may learn the law of God. You will learn much from the physician, who tells what he has learned by careful observation of the laws of health. You will learn from the devout scientist who has been thinking God’s thoughts after Him in his laboratory and finding antidotes for poisonous germs. You will learn from the heroic lover of God and humanity, who, like Walter Reed, risks his life, that he may discover how yellow fever is propagated and prevented. You will learn from the Bible the eternal laws of righteousness in the keeping of which there is always great reward to soul and body.

(4) “Keep all his statutes.” Be obedient to every law of God: mental, moral, and spiritual. The laws of health which demand fresh air, sunlight, wholesome food, proper rest and recreation and cleanliness are as authoritative for the body as the Decalogue is for the soul. Obedience to every law of God means health, and disobedience means disease.

A careful study of James 5:13–20 will reveal to us some principles which underlie the art of healing and their relations to other important things.

“Is Any Among You Afflicted? Let Him Pray.”

The word translated “afflicted” occurs in three other places in the New Testament. In 2 Timothy 2:9, “Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds,” it is plain that “suffer trouble” does not refer to physical ailment. Again, in 2 Timothy 2:3, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” “Endure hardness” is this word “afflicted,” and has only a remote reference, if any at all, to physical infirmities. It means that the Christian should be willing to have a hard time for the sake of Christ. In 2 Timothy 4:5, we read again, “Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions.” If the “afflictions” of this text refer to bodily diseases, Paul exhorts Timothy to endure them rather than seek to be healed of them.

Enthusiastic advocates of divine healing without remedies are horrified by the thought that God is in any way responsible for afflictions. But the Bible is against them. It teaches that there are afflictions sent for our good and God’s glory; therefore, to be endured. “Take. . .the prophets,” says James, “who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy,” not who get rid of their afflictions, but who “endure” (James 5:10–11). Job endured and “the end of the Lord”—the purpose He had in view—was to bless and enrich His servant. “It is good for me,” says the psalmist, “that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalm 119:71). Affliction is God’s school in which He teaches us things we cannot learn anywhere else. Night is the time for studying the stars, and many a star of hope comes out in our night of affliction. And again, “Thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. . .Thou laidst affliction upon our loins” (Psalm 66:10–11). The furnace of affliction is God’s way of ridding the silver of its dross. Moses chose to “suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25). “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Affliction is here a servant working for us and not an enemy fighting against us. Paul could therefore say, “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience” (Romans 5:3–4).

To say that all affliction is of the devil is to fill some of God’s saints with horror, when they have a right to be peaceful in the truth that their Father is always dealing with them in love. Dr. Foster, of Clifton Springs, declared that the most hopeless patients who ever come to that institution were Christian people who had been taught that Satan is the author of all afflictions and that it is therefore always a sin to be sick. Their sickness filled them with such unrest and horror that it was almost impossible to help them by any course of treatment, mental, spiritual, or physical.

“Is Any Cheerful? Let Him Sing Psalms.”

Prayer in affliction is apt to end in song. Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. It is evident that the pain of their feet in the stocks led them first to pray, and the spirits were so cheered that they forgot their pains as they sang praises at midnight. The Christian should express his joy in song. David expressed his in the dance, and his wife despised him for it. Dancing today has its dangers, as have some other expressions of merriment. But singing is safe. The singing Christian is not apt to go astray. He may praise God with all his soul, and continue it day by day without hurt to body, mind, or morals. His songs in the night others will hear, as did the prisoners, and praise God with him. Sing out the joy that is in you. In the sunlight sing; it will make the light brighter. In the darkness sing; it will bring out the stars that will sing with you in their courses.

“Is Any Sick Among You?”

This word “sick” refers not to mental trouble or temporary ailment, but to diseases that bring one near unto death. It occurs in the following passages: “There was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum” (John 4:46), and we are told in the following verse that he was “at the point of death.” The centurion’s servant was sick, ready to die (see Luke 7:2). “A certain man was sick, named Lazarus” (John 11:1), and we know that he died. Of Tabitha it was said that “she was sick, and died” (Acts 9:37). Paul says of Epaphroditus, “He was sick nigh unto death” (Philippians 2:27). Paul left Trophimus at Miletus sick (2 Timothy 4:20), and it is evident that he was too sick to travel. In Matthew 25:36 our Lord says, “I was sick, and ye visited me.” The “sickness” of this verse refers to the condition that keeps one within doors, and makes him appreciate the visit of a friend. All these passages go to prove that the word “sick” means extreme illness. It means, therefore, that when one is very sick, he should call for the elders, officials, or older members of the church, and they should “pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

Part 2 of 3 from The Moody Church Herald, September 1, 1910.

The Purpose Of Anointing With Oil

It is certain that

(1) Oil was used as a remedy. In treating the man who had fallen among thieves, the good Samaritan “bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine.” In describing the moral condition of Israel, Isaiah speaks of “wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment” (Isaiah 1:6).

(2) Oil was used in the setting apart of places and people to high and sacred uses. Jacob set apart his pillar for an altar by pouring oil upon it (Genesis 28:18). The tabernacle and all vessels were dedicated with oil (Leviticus 8:10). Oil was used in the consecration of priests and kings (Exodus 29:7; 1 Samuel 15:1). Keep this in mind, for it has an important bearing upon what follows.

(3) Oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. “Ye have an unction from the Holy One” (1 John 2:20) “The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you” (1 John 2:27). “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 10:38).

The expression “in the name of the Lord” indicates that the anointing was a religious act. The Spirit always honors Christ. His mission is to take the things of Christ and show them unto us. He would glorify Jesus in the healing of the sick.

And every physician should administer remedies “in the name of the Lord.” As Dr. Howard Kelly, the distinguished surgeon of Baltimore, was about to perform a clinic in London before a large concourse of physicians and medical students he said, “Gentlemen, before beginning my work, I always pray.” And he reverently acknowledged God as the giver of all good and earnestly prayed for His assistance.

The elders in anointing with oil acknowledge the Spirit as the healer of the body. Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit; the Spirit lives in them; they are His home, and it is reasonable to suppose that He can make repairs when these temples begin to fall to pieces.

I can see no reason why these three meanings should not be in the anointing of the sick with oil. The fact that material oil is used at all suggests the use of means in healing, and the fact that oil was often used as a remedy makes the suggestion more emphatic. The idea of consecration is certainly present in the words: “The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.” The word translated “prayer” is so rendered nowhere else. It occurs in only two other places in the New Testament and is in each case translated “vow.” We read of Paul in Acts 18:18 “having shorn his head. . .for he had a vow.” This was evidently the vow of the Nazarite. The man who took it cut off his hair and burned it. We find again in Acts 21:23 that Paul was advised to go into the temple with four men who had a vow on them—the Nazarite’s vow again. There is no reason why the word should be translated “prayer” here and “vow” in the other two places. It should therefore be rendered, “The vow of faith shall save the sick.” If the sick person who has called for the elders of the church shall take the Nazarite vow of complete separation unto God and consecration to His service, it will mean the first step toward recovery.

The Prayers Of Dorothy Trüdel

Dorthy Trüdel, whose prayers were answered in the healing of many sick people, adopted this principle in dealing with them. She did not forbid their taking remedies, but her first concern was about their relation to God. If they told her that they were not Christians, she refused to pray for their healing until they had accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour, on the ground that God deals with us only in Christ. Then she taught them that God was dealing with them in love and He had a loving purpose to accomplish in permitting them to be afflicted. If now they would receive through the Spirit and the Word the blessing which God was seeking to give them through the affliction and make a full consecration of themselves to Christ, the affliction would of course disappear.

Dorothy Trüdel was a poor factory girl who lived near Lake Zurich, Switzerland, and when it was known that sick people were healed in answer to her prayers, she was invited to come to the homes of the people and pray for their sick. Then the sick were brought from a distance, till at length there was a sort of hospital without a physician in charge, which was contrary to law; and an attempt was made to close it. But the case was taken before the courts and it was proved by just one hundred witnesses that they were given up by their physicians and healed in answer to Dorothy Trüdel’s prayers.

The Word “Sick”

The word “sick” in this verse [James 5:15] is different from the word “sick” in verse 14. There it meant sick “nigh unto death”; here it probably does not refer to the body at all, but rather suggests the method by which the sick “nigh unto death” may be healed. It occurs in only two other places in the Bible; first, in Revelation 2:3, where we read, “For my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.” The word “sick” is the present participle of the verb “fainted,” which refers to weariness and weakness of spirit as well as body. In Hebrews 12:3 it occurs again, “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” The phrase “in your minds” makes is certain that in this Scripture, the fainting does not refer to the body, but to the mind. In other words, the vow of consecration will save the exhausted, fainting, desponding spirit, and will give it the good cheer which is necessary to the healing of the body.

“And the Lord shall raise him up” [James 5:15]. The verb “shall raise up” confirms this interpretation, for its primary meaning is “to arouse from sleep,” “to awake.” The vow of consecration which brings peace and joy of soul reacts upon the body in such a way as to increase its vitality and heal disease by the infusion of new life. It is the Lord who does it. “The Lord shall raise him up.” Reaching the body through the mind is one of God’s methods of healing. This is the mind-cure which honors Christ the Lord. We find its counterfeit in Christian Science, which seeks to give to the mind peace and good cheer by a series of false statements, such as “Sin has no reality,” “Sickness has no reality,” “God is everything, and therefore no evil can exist.”

There is a recognition of real sin: “If we have committed sins, they shall be forgiven.” If sickness has been caused by sin, this need not prevent the peace and good cheer through which God heals the body, for “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” [1 John 1:9]. The sense of forgiveness adds to the peace and joy of the Nazarite consecration vow, and will help rather than hinder the healing. And if we are out of harmony with our fellows and carry within us a sense of sin against others, which is sure to mar our peace, that too may be remedied: “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” [James 5:16]. Though the healing of the sick be as difficult as Elijah’s securing drought and then rain by prayer, it can be done. The Nazarite vow of consecration, the confession of sin to God and of faults to others, accompanied by the prayers of the elders, will bring healing though the sickness be nigh unto death and all the resources of science have been exhausted.

Part 3 of 3 from The Moody Church Herald, October 1, 1910.

Now What Have We Learned From All This?

(1) Disease and infirmities of body which do not threaten death are not referred to in this command to call for the elders of the church and anoint with oil [James 5:14]. There is no reference to blindness or deafness, nor deformity of body which does not bring it near to death, and there is certainly no reference to death itself. After death has occurred, we are not encouraged to pray for resurrection. The early disciples did raise the dead, but James does not advise us in this Scripture to go into that business.

Sickness Not Sin

(2) Sickness is not sin. “If he have committed sins” implies that he may be sick in body and faint in mind without having committed sin. Much sickness is the result of sin. The woman of Luke 13:16 had been bound of Satan eighteen years; and, what Satan gives, he can take away. If you will turn from Jesus to Satan, he will help you all he can. Some healings by those who reject Jesus as the Lamb of God can be explained by this fact. David said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Psalm 119:67). Affliction in his case was a blessing. God Himself smote the child of Bathsheba that it died, and there are Scriptures which make Him responsible for the afflictions of the people. He takes the responsibility, and we should not try to rid Him of it. Many afflictions do not come from beneath. God sends and allows them for the good of His people. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:6). The fact that we are chastised is a proof that we are sons. He is not careful to look after the correction of the devil’s children, but He does, with a fatherly interest, look after His own. The theory that sickness is sin, and that every sick Christian sins in allowing himself to remain sick, has made many a thorny pillow, and has filled many a devoted child of God with sadness and gloom, where there ought to have been sweet submissiveness and joy.

Submission To God

(3) We should yield our bodies to God. Paul had a thorn in the flesh. He prayed three times that it might be removed. God did not answer his prayer directly, but gave him something better. He said to Paul, “Let the thorn remain. My grace is sufficient for thee. It is better for you to be afflicted and draw upon me for grace than to be well and not need my help.” If sickness is sin, Paul forsook Trophimus in his sin when he left him at Miletus sick. Recognizing in the sickness of his brother some good purpose of the Lord, he left him and went about his business. Indeed, Paul was ready for whatever God might send. He learned to rejoice in infirmities, knowing that God’s strength was made perfect in weakness. He said that he was ready to live or to die, so that by life or death he might glorify Jesus. His body as well as his soul was given to the Lord, and he was ready to rejoice in God’s will concerning both.

Many great men in the church have been like Paul, weak in body. Calvin was a life-long invalid. Richard Baxter, while he was writing of the Saints’ Rest in heaven, was a great sufferer. Robert Hall often suffered such agony just before preaching that he would roll upon the floor and groan. David Brainard was so frail of body that he died quite young. Henry Martin was almost a walking corpse. Jerry McCauley did most of his work with one lung. These sick men lived in the very vestibule of heaven. Their afflictions drew them closer to God. The happiest, sweetest, purest, best Christians we have ever known were some of God’s invalid children. He seems to keep them upon Earth to teach us patience, submission, and joy in the midst of suffering. They are the high priests of the church; they give themselves to prayer, and those of us who are so busy that we have not time to pray, may thank God for the afflicted Christians who spend most of their time in supplications for us.

(4) When we get sick, let us such means for our restoration as God has given us. God uses instrumentality in saving souls. He does not convert the world without means. We need not expect Him to heal the body if we refuse to use the means that we know He has placed in our reach. When Hezekiah was sick, though God had promised to heal him, Isaiah said, “Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.” (Isaiah 38:21). Hezekiah in his hymn of praise for his recovery did not mention the figs, but gave all glory to God who gave to the fig its curative power. The Lord Jesus teaches that the sick need a physician (Matthew 9:12). Luke, the traveling companion of Paul and writer of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, was the beloved physician (Colossians 4:14). And it is probable that Paul, who, tradition asserts, was feeble of body, took Luke with him for that reason.

One of Bishop Taylor’s young missionaries in Africa was taken sick with fever. The doctor urged him to take quinine. He said, “No, I have trusted my body to the Lord to be healed.” “But,” said the doctor, “God has revealed to you that quinine is good for fever, and He would have His blessing come through that channel.” “No,” said the young missionary, “I will not detract from God’s glory.” “Well,” replied the doctor, “you are dying. Unless you take the medicine, I can give you no hope.” “I shall die,” replied the patient, “if it be God’s will,” and he died. Now, he did wrong in refusing to use the means God had put within his reach. God made the quinine. He had revealed to him that quinine was the thing needed for fever. He could give God the glory just as well after he had been healed through the instrumentality of quinine as if God had spoken to him out of heaven and said, “Rise and walk.” When you get sick, send for the best physician that you know of, and ask God that He will guide him in the use of the remedies that He has put upon the earth for the cure of disease. You will not detract one particle from His glory.

(5) But if you are “nigh unto death” and want to live, call for the elders of the church, and ask them to pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Consecrate yourself thoroughly to Christ, confess sin, and the promise is that you shall be healed. And yet, even then you should say, “Thy will be done.” Commit the matter to God, for, after all, dying and going to heaven is not such a horrible thing. Someone asked a foreign missionary if he believed that the days of miracles were passed, and he replied, “If God were to give me the power to work miracles upon the body, I should say, Lord grant to me, instead of that, the miracle of a holy life.” The soul healed means the body redeemed forever.

The closing words of the epistle of James emphasize this fact. “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 5:19–20]. As if to say, “Though God is the healer of the body and the sick can find health in Him, after all, saving people from sin is more important than saving them from sickness.” Jesus did the most important work first when He said to the sick of the palsy, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” To heal the body and leave the soul sick is surface work and temporary. A healed body does not deserve a healed soul, but a healed soul will sooner or later give a healed body. In the resurrection the redeemed body will leave all sickness behind. Everlasting health of soul and body is the Christian’s portion; and the religious system which offers physical healing while it denies the deity of Christ and rejects salvation through His atoning blood is a masterpiece of Satan for the final ruin of both soul and body. In winning a soul to Christ, remember that you are saving a soul from death and hiding a multitude of sins, while you are putting the person saved on the way to complete health of body. It is good to be well in soul and body, but it is immensely better to be well in soul and sick in body than sick in soul and well in body. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness [which means healing for the sou]; and all these things shall be added unto you” [Matthew 6:33]. But if you seek first the healing of the body, the healing of soul will not be added. Let not the good be the enemy of the best. First get right with God in soul through the Lord Jesus Christ, and the harmony which follows will give the peace of heart which is itself a mighty factor in healing the body.