BIBLICAL HEALTHCARE (4)
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. What kind of healthcare must the elders provide?
a) Effective prayer of a righteous man
i) As a righteous man, the prayers of an elder should be very effective, just like Elijah who was able to stop the rain for 3 years.
ii) The prayer of faith will save the sick. It can refer to God's miraculous healing in response to the prayer of faith; God in his sovereign goodness listens to our cry of faith and brings about miraculous, sometimes instantaneous healing. The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear and the dumb speak etc.
iii) This prayer of faith could also refer to the deliverance ministry where demonic spirits are cast out thus bringing healing.
b) Ministering confession and repentance from sin
i) Elders are to call the sick to repentance and forsake the sins that brought about their sicknesses, sins of immorality, un-forgiveness, bitterness, anger, lust and guilt. In repenting and forsaking their sinful habits, it now opened the door for them to be healed, though sin will leave a scar even after healing.
c) To anoint the sick
i) This rubbing with oil or ointment could refer to the administration of healthcare and therapeutic treatments. This means that elders must not be ignorant of God's way of treating sicknesses and maintaining health. It also means that the elders must study and know all the various possible treatment options that the medical science provides, which does not violate biblical principles. This is a biblical God given responsibility to all elders of the church.
ii) Even Paul as an elder was able to write to Timothy, advising him on how to take care of his stomach problems and his other ministries, not just to drink only water, but to use a little wine (unfermented grape juice).
2. Prayer focus
a) Pray that whenever we fall sick, the first thing we should do is to call our elders to come and prayer and anoint us with oil in the name of the Lord. The Bible says, the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.
The End ...
1. What kind of healthcare must the elders provide?a) Effective prayer of a righteous man
i) As a righteous man, the prayers of an elder should be very effective, just like Elijah who was able to stop the rain for 3 years.
ii) The prayer of faith will save the sick. It can refer to God's miraculous healing in response to the prayer of faith; God in his sovereign goodness listens to our cry of faith and brings about miraculous, sometimes instantaneous healing. The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear and the dumb speak etc.
iii) This prayer of faith could also refer to the deliverance ministry where demonic spirits are cast out thus bringing healing.
b) Ministering confession and repentance from sin
i) Elders are to call the sick to repentance and forsake the sins that brought about their sicknesses, sins of immorality, un-forgiveness, bitterness, anger, lust and guilt. In repenting and forsaking their sinful habits, it now opened the door for them to be healed, though sin will leave a scar even after healing.
c) To anoint the sick
i) This rubbing with oil or ointment could refer to the administration of healthcare and therapeutic treatments. This means that elders must not be ignorant of God's way of treating sicknesses and maintaining health. It also means that the elders must study and know all the various possible treatment options that the medical science provides, which does not violate biblical principles. This is a biblical God given responsibility to all elders of the church.
ii) Even Paul as an elder was able to write to Timothy, advising him on how to take care of his stomach problems and his other ministries, not just to drink only water, but to use a little wine (unfermented grape juice).
2. Prayer focus
a) Pray that whenever we fall sick, the first thing we should do is to call our elders to come and prayer and anoint us with oil in the name of the Lord. The Bible says, the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.
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