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The Healing Gift and the Sovereign Mercy of Christ · Reformed Thinking

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You know, usually when you talk about a medical diagnosis or
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like a physical injury, there is this expectation of absolute
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precision. Right.
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Yeah, it is almost like engineering in a way.
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Yeah, like you fall off a ladder, you break your arm, and
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you go to the hospital. You sit in that cold room with
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the humming fluorescent lights and the doctor puts your X-ray
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up on the screen. And they can just point right to
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it. Yeah, they point to that jagged
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white line fracturing the bone and say, well, there it is.
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It is visible. It is measurable.
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It is binary, really. You are looking at a very clear
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situation of broken or not broken.
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And that kind of clarity is comforting to the human mind.
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You know, we like our problems to be visible, and we prefer our
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solutions to be categorized and predictable.
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But then you step into the realm of supernatural healing, you get
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into spiritual manifestations and divine intervention, and
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suddenly that diagnostic X-ray machine is completely useless.
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Oh, absolutely. We are looking at a theological
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and experiential landscape that is, well, it is incredibly murky
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for a lot of people. So welcome to reformed thinking.
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Today we are conducting a deep dive into the cessation of
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miraculous signs. And we have a pretty massive
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stack of sources on the table for this one.
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We really do. We are pulling from historical
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commentaries on 1st century Roman culture, archaeological
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reports from the ruins of ancient Corinth, and even
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grammatical treatises on coin Greek syntax.
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Plus some systematic theology notes to tie it all together.
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Right. Our mission today is to
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investigate what the text of First Corinthians 12 actually
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teaches about the gift of healing.
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We are going to look at this through a historical,
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grammatical and redemptive historical lens.
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And if you are listening to this, you know that physical
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suffering and illness are, well, they are universal human
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experiences. Every single one of us is sat in
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a hospital waiting room watching the clock.
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Yeah, or we have watched someone we love slowly fade from a
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terminal diagnosis. Or perhaps you deal with chronic
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pain yourself on a daily basis. It is something no one escapes.
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No, they do not. And because of that extreme
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vulnerability, the topic of divine healing is incredibly
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sensitive. It is an area highly prone to
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bold claims, emotional manipulation and honestly,
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massive theological confusion. And that vulnerability is the
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very reason why we need to ground our understanding in the
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text we are setting out to contrast modern charismatic
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assertions, which you know, they often promise guaranteed
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physical cures, with the historic Protestant cessationist
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perspective. Which is a perspective that is
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often misunderstood. So we should probably clarify
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right at the start what that perspective actually entails,
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just to avoid any initial misunderstandings.
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Yeah, that is a good idea. The cessationist view does not
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deny God's capability to heal. Today.
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God is omnipotent. He is compassionate.
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He hears and responds to the prayers of his people.
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So it is not saying miracles can't happen.
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Not at all. The cessationist perspective
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defines the Apostolic gift of healing as a specific temporary
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credential. It was given for the inaugural
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era of the Christian Church. OK, so it differentiates between
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God acting directly today and God granting a specific
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individual the supernatural ability to heal others at will.
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That is spot on. To really grasp Paul's precise
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instructions on spiritual gifts, you first have to understand the
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chaotic environment his original audience was living in.
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Yeah, the context is everything here the.
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Theology in First Corinthians reacts directly to their
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specific cultural environment. So let us travel back to the
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city of Corinth around 8055. We need to paint a picture of
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what it was actually like to walk those streets.
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Well, Corinth was a fascinating, just overwhelming place.
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Yeah, to understand its culture, you have to look at its history.
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Because it wasn't always a Roman city.
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Right. The original Greek city was
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completely destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC during the
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Yaquian War. It just lay in ruins for a
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century. A whole century.
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Yeah, then Julius Caesar rebuilt it as a Roman colony in 44 BC.
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By the time the Apostle Paul writes his letters to the church
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there, it had grown into this bustling, cosmopolitan
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metropolis. And a lot of that growth had to
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do with its geography, didn't it?
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It was situated right on the Isthmus of Corinth.
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Yes, exactly. I mean, yes, absolutely.
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It had two major seaports, Lacayum on the West and Century
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on the East. Which made it a huge commercial
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hub. Oh, massive.
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Rather than sail all the way around the dangerous southern
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coast of Greece, merchants would dock at Corinth and their cargo
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would actually be dragged across the paved trackway the isthmus
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to the other side. That is wild to think about just
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hauling cargo across the land. Yeah, it was highly efficient
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for the time. This meant Corinth saw a
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constant influx of merchants, sailors, philosophers and
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travelers from all over the Roman Empire.
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And with all that international trade and constant movement of
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people, there came a massive influx of different religious
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practices. It was a total melting pot of
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Pagan cults and mystery religions.
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The most significant one for our discussion regarding physical
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ailments is the influence of Asclepius, the ancient Greek God
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of medicine. Yeah, the Ascopean of Corinth
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was a massive temple and sanctuary complex dedicated
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entirely to this deity. It was located just inside the
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city walls. So it was right there in the mix
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of everyday life. Right there, thousands of sick,
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lame, and disabled individuals traveled to Corinth specifically
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seeking supernatural cures from this temple, and their rituals
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were highly distinct and, well, incredibly popular.
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They practice something known as incubation.
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The word incubation sounds very clinical to modern ears, like a
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sterile hospital ward for premature babies or something.
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Right, but in the 1st century this was a highly superstitious,
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ritualistic process. How did it work?
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It was entirely superstitious. Patients would arrive at the
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temple complex, undergo ceremonial washings and offer
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sacrifices. Then they would go into the
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abaton, which was the sacred sleeping area of the temple.
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So they just slept there. Yeah, they would sleep on the
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floor, hoping to receive a dream vision from his Calepius during
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the night. They were essentially waiting
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for a nocturnal visitation. Yes, the belief was that the God
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would appear to them while they slept and perform a supernatural
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cure on the spot. Or, and this is interesting, he
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would prescribe a specific remedy in the dream that the
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temple priest would interpret the next morning.
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That is so bizarre. And to add to it, these sleeping
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chambers often had non venomous snakes Slytherin around on the
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floor among the patients. Wait, really?
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Snakes. Yeah, because snakes were the
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primary symbol of Ascupius. Wow, the psychological effect of
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that environment must have been intense.
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But what is even more striking to me is the visual evidence
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left behind. Archaeology side of.
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There, Yeah. Archaeologists have excavated
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the ruins of the specific temple in Corinth, and they found
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overwhelming physical evidence of how these people viewed their
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cures. If you walked into that temple
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complex, the walls and courtyards were covered with
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terracotta votive offering. Which is such a fascinating
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detail. Right people would Commission
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local artisans to create clay models of the specific body
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parts they claimed the God had cured.
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The archaeologists uncovered life-size terracotta hands,
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legs, feet, eyes. I think they even found detailed
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models of internal organs. Yes, they did.
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The patients would leave these clay replicas at the temple as a
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token of gratitude. But those terracotta pieces
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functioned as way more than just a simple thank you note.
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Absolutely. They were highly visible public
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testimonies. They basically became status
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symbols of the gods favor. Yeah, like if you could afford
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to leave a beautifully crafted clay leg at the temple, you were
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publicly declaring that the divine realm had touched you
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personally. It was a flex.
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The citizens of Corinth were thoroughly accustomed to claims
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of miraculous healing, but it was entirely within a Pagan,
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commercialized and highly superstitious framework.
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This historical context is so vital.
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When the believers in Corinth converted to Christianity, they
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did not just leave all that cultural baggage at the door.
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No, they brought it right in. They imported this Pagan,
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spectacular and status driven mindset straight into the local
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church. They associated spiritual
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manifestations with the ecstatic frenzies and self exulting
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displays they were used to seeing in the Pagan mystery
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cults around their city. Right.
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They valued eloquence, public displays, and visible spiritual
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abilities above all else. They turned corporate worship
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into a theater for personal boasting rather than a place for
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mutual edification. Yeah, they evaluated the Holy
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Spirit's activity through the lens of their former paganism in
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the Temple of Asclepius. A physical cure brought you
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personal prestige in the Corinthian church.
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They began treating the spiritual gifts the exact same
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way. So if you possessed a visible
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spectacular gift, you are considered a superior elite
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Christian. Pretty much, yeah.
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Let me introduce an analogy here to help picture this dynamic.
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Looking at the Corinthian Church's approach to spiritual
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gifts, it feels less like a cooperative, loving community
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and way more like a modern reality TV talent show.
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Yeah, I think that captures the atmosphere really well.
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Think about those massive singing competitions on
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television. Every contestant is trying to
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outshine the others. They want the spotlight.
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They want the judges to give them the highest score.
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Right, everyone wants to be the star.
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The goal is personal celebrity holding the microphone and
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proving you have the most spectacular vocal range.
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If someone else is relegated to singing back up in the shadows,
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they are considered less significant.
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And the Corinthians were treating the gifts of the Spirit
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like that ultimate talent competition.
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They completely missed the fact that a healthy church community
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is supposed to operate like a cooperative choir, not a stage
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for soloists fighting for a record deal.
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Absolutely. Because the Corinthians were
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treating these manifestations as personal badges of superiority,
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Paul had to intervene. He.
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Had to shut it down. He did.
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He wrote. To correct their fundamental
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understanding of what these gifts actually were and how they
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operated both grammatically and practically, he needed to
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dismantle their talent show mentality.
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Which means we need to look at the actual language Paul uses in
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First Corinthians 12. In verse 9.
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English Bibles usually translate the phrase as to another gifts
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of healing, right? But our source material on Coin
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Greek syntax points out that the original language is much more
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specific than the English translation implies.
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Yeah, the Greek. The big phrase Paul writes is
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charismata. I am a ton.
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What stands out to anyone studying the grammar here is the
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double plural. It translates literally as gifts
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of healings. Both words are plural, gifts
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plural, healings plural. I admit reading that in English
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feels slightly clunky. Like why does the double plural
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matter so much? Well, that specific grammatical
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structure indicates that this was not a permanent habitual
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faculty residing inside a person.
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OK, so it wasn't a superpower they just had.
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Right, the human instrument did not possess a general ability
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that they could switch on and off whenever they wanted.
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Wait, let me push back on that for a second.
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If a person, even a towering figure like the apostle Peter or
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Paul, did not own the gift as a permanent ability, how did it
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actually work mechanically, say, on a Tuesday afternoon?
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That is a great question. Each specific instance of a
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supernatural, unmediated physical cure was itself a
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distinct individual gift granted by the Holy Spirit in that
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precise moment. So the healing itself was the
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gift. Yes, it was a unique gift for a
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specific person suffering from a specific disease at a specific
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time. The healer was just the
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instrument of delivery for that one isolated event.
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Oh I see, so it is less like a doctor being handed a blank
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prescription pad to write scripts whenever they feel like
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it, and more like a medical Courier being handed a highly
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specific single use medication intended for one specific
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patient in one exact hospital room.
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I like that the Courier does not own the pharmacy.
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The Courier cannot manufacture the medicine, they're just
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delivering the package when the hospital administrator instructs
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them to. That is an incredibly accurate
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way to conceptualize it. The Courier relies entirely on
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the distribution from the source.
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The healer had no independent authority to generate a cure.
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That makes a lot of sense. Furthermore, we have to look
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closely at the specific word Paul chose for the concept of
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healing. He uses the plural of Iama.
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Our theological sources make a major point of contrasting ayama
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with another very common Greek word for healing, which is
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therapia. How do those two concepts
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differ? The distinction is vast.
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The word therapia is actually where we get our English word
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therapy. Oh sure.
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In the 1st century Greek world, therapia routinely denoted a
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progressive medical or natural process of restoration.
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It involved care, treatment and recovery over a period of time.
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Like going to a doctor, Yeah. It could involve physicians,
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poultices, rest and natural bodily healing.
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So therapia is the process of getting better.
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You take the medicine, you rest for a week and the fever breaks.
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What does Iama mean then? Iama denotes an instantaneous,
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complete, unmediated bodily restoration.
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It is not the process of medical care.
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It is the absolute, undeniable end of product.
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So an Iama healing means the withered hand is instantly
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filled with muscle, tendon and bone.
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The man, blind from birth, opens his eyes and is perfectly
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formed. Corneas and an instant ability
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to process visual information without neurological therapy.
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Precisely by employing the phrase charismata iamaton, Paul
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absolutely excludes any progressive, naturalistic, or
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medically assisted recovery from this specific category of
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spiritual manifestation. It is instant and total.
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Right. The Apostolic gift resulted in
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undeniable restoration instantly, without any medical
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intervention and without any period of convalescence.
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Paul also establishes A stripped, unyielding boundary
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for how and why these specific manifestations occur in the
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church. In verse seven of First
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Corinthians 12 he sets the non negotiable rule.
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He writes that the manifestation of the Spirit is given prose to
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Simferon. This Greek phrase translates to
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for the common good or the common corporate advantage.
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Meaning it is never given for private display.
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Never. It is never distributed.
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So a person can build a massive personal following, or write a
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best selling book about their supernatural abilities, or
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demand front row seats in the synagogue.
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If a manifestation is used for self aggrandizement, personal
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emotional stimulation, or to create a hierarchy of elite
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believers over ordinary believers, it is a gross
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perversion of its divine design. It goes right back to the the
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talent show analogy. It really does.
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The Holy Spirit distributes His operations to bill up, encourage
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and unify the body of Christ. The goal is always corporate
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health, not creating spiritual superstars.
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This brings up a massive question regarding human agency.
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If these instances of Ayama were highly specific, localized, and
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meant solely for the common good, who decides when and where
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they happen? That is the big question.
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If the human Courier from our earlier analogy does not decide
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who does? Paul answers that definitive
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question in First Corinthians 12.1.
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This verse acts as the culminating decree of his entire
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argument in this section. He writes.
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But all these things the one and same Spirit works, distributing
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to each one individually, just as He wills.
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The Greek verbs in that sentence are incredibly weighty.
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Let's look at the first one. The word for works.
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The verb is energy, which means to work, to be effective, or to
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energize. Crucially, it is in the active
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voice. What does that tell us?
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That grammatical detail demonstrates that the Holy
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Spirit is the sole active agent in the process.
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The human recipients, the ones delivering the healings, are
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completely passive in the reception and distribution of
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these gifts. They do not generate the energy.
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Wow. Then you have the phrase
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translated just as He wills. Our grammatical sources
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highlight a major distinction here, too.
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Yeah, the Greek phrase there is kathos bulleti.
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The linguistic distinction is vital to understanding Paul's
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theology. Bulleti indicates a deliberate,
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unchangeable sovereign decree. Like a royal command, yes.
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It is the language of a king making an absolute ruling.
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It is highly distinct from another Greek word for will or
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desire, which is the filo. The word filo can express a mere
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wish, a preference, or a desire that might go unfulfilled.
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So Paul is not saying the Holy Spirit looks down and says, I
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really hope this healing happens today.
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I wish someone would step up in faith.
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Not at all. He is describing A sovereign
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monarchistic royal decree that cannot be thwarted.
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The distribution of these miraculous gifts is based solely
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and exclusively on the independent counsel of God.
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God decrees the event and the event occurs.
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If we apply this rigorous grammar to modern practices, it
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creates a massive theological collision.
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Today you see modern movements offering healing schools where
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they claim to teach people the techniques of supernatural.
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Healing right? You see that a lot.
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You see ministries selling books on visualization methods or
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claiming to manipulate the atmosphere of a room through
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specific music to activate healing.
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Those practices are a direct, undeniable contradiction of the
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biblical text. If the distribution is
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sovereignly work energy and decreed bullatai by the Spirit
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alone, then human techniques designed to release, summon, or
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activate these manifestations are an intrusion into the divine
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prerogative. It essentially demotes the Holy
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Spirit from a sovereign king to a cosmic vending machine.
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That is a great way to put it. You punch in the right code of
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faith, you sing the right song, and the Spirit is obligated to
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dispense the miracle. But the Holy Spirit does not
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distribute operations in response to human manipulation,
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atmospheric conditioning, or demanded formulas, right?
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The entire premise of teaching someone a technique to operate
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in the gift of healing assumes the human has the agency to
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initiate the bullet I of God, which is a theological
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impossibility. Paul drives his point home
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ruthlessly with a series of rhetorical questions at the end
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of the chapter. In verses 28 through 31, he
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lists various roles in the church and then asks, do all
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possess gifts of healings? And we have to look at the Greek
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construction, that specific question.
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In coin Greek, a writer can frame a question using certain
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particles to indicate what kind of answer they expect from the
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reader. Because reading it in English,
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it just looks like a neutral question.
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Do all possess gifts of healings?
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Someone could read that and say, well maybe not all, but most of
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us should strive for it, right? How does the original language
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shut that assumption down? Paul introduces the question
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with the Greek negative particle me.
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When a question begins this way in Greek, it definitively
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expects a negative answer from the reader.
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So it forces a specific response.
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Yes. It is the equivalent of saying
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all do not possess gifts of healings.
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Do they? The undeniable grammatically
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required answer is no. That one syllable no shatters a
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massive amount of modern teaching.
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It completely dismantles the theology, claiming that every
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spirit filled believer should be able to perform miracles.
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Or that physical healing is universally guaranteed for
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everyone who exercises enough faith.
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The text absolutely forbids the claim that every believer should
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heal, or that every sick believer should expect an
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instantaneous cure through a gifted human instrument.
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Paul is forcefully asserting that God distributes diverse
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functions to different members of the body, and no single
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manifestation, especially the miraculous ones, is universal.
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Let me summarize where we are so far.
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These miraculous gifts, these charismata iamaton, were
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instantaneous, complete, unmediated bodily restorations.
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Yes, they were sovereignly distributed by the royal decree
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of the Holy Spirit. They were highly restricted, not
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possessed by everyone, and could not be manipulated by human
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technique. That's at the core of it.
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If all of that is true, a major question naturally arises.
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Why were they present in the early church at all?
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What was their specific theological function during that
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1st century era? While they were not arbitrary
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displays of strength, they functioned as a vital core
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redemptive historical marker. First and foremost, they
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provided Christological validation.
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Meaning they pointed to Christ. Yes, the physical miracles
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connected directly to the arrival of the promised Messiah.
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When you read the Old Testament, you see the prophets detailing
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exactly what the Messianic era would look like.
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Isaiah 35 is the classic text here.
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It really is. It prophecies a future day when
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the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf
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will be unstopped, the lame man will leap like a deer, and the
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tongue of the mute will sing for joy.
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Those were the specific prophetic markers of the Messiah
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when Jesus began his public ministry.
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His immediate, perfect miracles were the visible, undeniable
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fulfillment of those ancient prophecies.
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We see this dynamic play out vividly in the Gospel of Matthew
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Chapter 11. With John the Baptist.
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Yeah, the scene with John the Baptist, it is one of the most
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poignant moments in the Gospels. John is languishing in a dark,
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miserable prison cell. He's facing execution by Herod.
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He is in a terrible situation. He is surrounded by stone walls
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and his expectations of how the Messiah would conquer Rome are
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not materializing. He sends his disciples to Jesus
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with a heartbreaking question. Are you the one who is to come,
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or shall we look for another? John is seeking validation.
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He needs to know if his entire life and ministry were pointed
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in the right direction. And look at how Jesus responds.
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He does not hand John's disciples A theological scroll
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to read. He does not offer a
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philosophical argument. No, he points directly to the
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physical evidence occurring right in front of them.
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He tells the disciples to report back to John exactly what they
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hear and see. The blind receive their sight,
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the lame walk lepers are cleansed, the deaf here, and the
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dead are. Raised Jesus uses his physical
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miracles as the definitive, unarguable proof of his
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identity. He is essentially quoting Isaiah
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35 back to John. He is saying look at the signs
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the messianic age has dawned. The miracles authenticated the
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messenger. And as the narrative of the New
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Testament progresses, Jesus delegates that specific
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authenticating authority to his apostles.
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He grants them the ability to perform these signs, to validate
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their message as they carry the gospel outward from Jerusalem.
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In the early inaugural phase of the church, this external
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supernatural confirmation was an absolute necessity.
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It really was. We have to put ourselves in the
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shoes of a 1st century person hearing the Apostle Peter or
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Paul preach. The early church was operating
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in a time before the written New Testament was compiled,
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finalized and circulated. They didn't have Bibles to
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check. Right.
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If a man walks into your city and claims that a crucified
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Jewish Carpenter is the Lord of the universe and that you must
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abandoned your Pagan gods to follow him, you need a massive
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reason to believe him. They needed undeniable proof
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that these men were speaking the authoritative Word of God.
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The miracles were the divine stamp of approval on the
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Apostolic teaching. Paul himself calls these
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abilities the signs of a true apostle in 2nd Corinthians
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12.12. Yes, he explicitly ties them to
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his Apostolic role. Let me offer an analogy to
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explain the cessationist view of how this operated.
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Think about the construction of a massive, breathtaking stone
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cathedral in the middle of a medieval city.
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OK, I can picture that. While the building is being
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erected, the construction crew sets up heavy, highly visible
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wooden scaffolding all around the perimeter.
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That scaffolding is absolutely necessary.
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You cannot build the high walls, place the heavy stones or
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install the stained glass windows without it.
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It supports the workers and protects the structure as it
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rises. But the scaffolding is not the
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building itself. The scaffolding is a temporary
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structure designed to facilitate the permanent structure.
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Absolutely. Once the cathedral is completed,
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once the final stone is set in the archway and the roof is
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sealed against the rain, the construction crew systematically
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removes the scaffolding. They take it down so the
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cathedral can stand on its own and be seen for what it truly
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is. The building no longer needs the
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wooden poles to hold it up. In this redemptive historical
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framework, the completed Canon of Scripture, the 66 books of
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the Bible, is that finished cathedral.
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The Apostolic miracles, those instantaneous I am a healings,
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were the scaffolding. They were highly visible,
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entirely necessary for a season, but fundamentally designed to be
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temporary. That is a very helpful way to
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visualize it. But how did that transition
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happen practically? Did the scaffolding come down
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all at once? Did the Apostle Paul wake up one
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Tuesday morning, try to heal someone, and realize his
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Apostolic credentials were gone? Our historical and biblical
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sources indicate it was a gradual fade.
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A transition that occurred over the lifetime of the apostles as
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the written letters began to circulate is authoritative
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scripture. We actually see this fade
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recorded in the biblical text itself.
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We see a difference between the early chapters of Acts and the
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later epistles. Yes, big time.
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In the early days you have incredible density of miracles.
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In Acts 5, people are laying the sick in the streets so that
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Peter's shadow might fall on them and heal them.
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That is just astonishing power. And in Acts 19, God is doing
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extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even
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handkerchiefs or aprons that touched his skin were taken to
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the sick and their diseases left them.
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But Fast forward a decade or so to the end of Paul's life.
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When he is writing the Pastoral Epistles, the situation looks
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remarkably different. It changes drastically as the
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Church is established and the written word becomes the rule of
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faith. The miraculous manifestations
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recede. Give me an example well.
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Paul tells Timothy to drink a little wine for the sake of his
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stomach and his frequent ailments.
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He does not send Timothy an anointed handkerchief.
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Later in Second Timothy, Paul writes, Erastus remained at
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Corinth and I left Trophemus, who was ill at myelitis.
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Wait, Paul left one of his most trusted ministry companions
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behind because he was sick? Why wouldn't Paul just heal him?
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Because the purpose of the gift of healing was not to keep
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Christians perfectly healthy. The purpose was to authenticate
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the Apostolic message. And by the time Paul writes
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Second Timothy, the message is established.
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Yes, the scaffolding is coming down.
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The need for those specific validating signs was passing
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away as the era of the Apostles drew to a close.
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Understanding these historical and redemptive boundaries
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radically changes how a local church treats the sick and
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suffering today. It is not just an academic
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debate about Greek grammar. No, it has massive practical
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implications. It moves us away from frantic
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sensationalism and points us towards serious, steady pastoral
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care. The application of this theology
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is critical because the modern prosperity gospel and certain
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extreme signs and wonders movements cause immense tangible
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devastation in the lives of suffering people.
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It is genuinely heartbreaking. I get passionate about this
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because I have seen the fallout. When a movement promises A
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guaranteed supernatural cure to a desperate family and that cure
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does not occur, they have to explain the failure.
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And the way they explain it is almost universally by blaming
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the sick person. They claim the individual lacked
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sufficient faith or that they harbored some hidden,
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unconfessed sin that blocked the Holy Spirit.
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Pointing a finger at a grieving parent sitting next to a child's
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hospital bed or looking at a terminal cancer patient and
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attributing their ongoing physical deterioration to a
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deficiency in their personal faith is an act of sheer
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pastoral cruelty. It really is.
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It is theological malpractice. It places a crushing,
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devastating burden on the sufferer that God never intended
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them to carry. Furthermore, it completely
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ignores the biblical proof that faithful spirit filled believers
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remain sick and that God used their sickness for a greater
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purpose. The apostle Paul himself pleaded
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repeatedly for God to remove his thorn in the flesh in 2nd
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Corinthians 12. Scholars debate with the thorn
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was. But the text heavily implies a
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debilitating physical ailment. And Paul begged the Lord three
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times to take it away. He did.
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Paul certainly did not lack faith.
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He did not harbor hidden sin that blocked a miracle.
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Yet God's response was not a miraculous instantaneous cure.
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No, God's response was the declaration of His sustaining
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grace. My grace is sufficient for you,
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for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
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God utilized Paul's physical weakness to keep him humble and
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to conform him to the image of Christ.
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We mentioned Timothy's stomach ailments and Trophemus being
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left sick at myelitis. These individuals were massive
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figures in the early church. Their ongoing illnesses proved
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that perfect physical health is not guaranteed in this life,
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even for the most faithful believers.
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This highlights a crucial point that we must make crystal clear.
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Recognizing that the Apostolic sign gifts have ceased is
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absolutely not a denial of God's active hand today.
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Not at all. It does not mean God is
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abandoned the sick. God frequently and mercifully
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heals today through ordinary Providence.
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Recognizing the cessation of Apostolic miracles means
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recognizing that God governs cells immune systems in medical
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science just as sovereignly as He governs parted CS.
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Yes, he works through doctors, medicine, surgery, nutrition and
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the body's natural restorative processes.
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We see the pastoral application of this reality outlined
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beautifully in James chapter 5. The text gives us the actual
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blueprint for how a church should respond to illness.
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When someone is sick, the prescription given by James is
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not to summon a celebrity miracle worker or to attend a
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massive healing crusade. James commands the sick
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individual to call for the elders of the local church to
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pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the
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Lord. The focus is on intimate
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pastoral prayer, quiet submission to God's sovereign
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will, and the ministry of care from the local body of
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believers. The church is called to step
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into the suffering. They are called to bring meals,
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to sit quietly with a dying, to weep with those who weep.
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And to pray earnestly for healing while simultaneously
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trusting the Lord's timing and wisdom.
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It is a community bearing one another's burdens, not a stage
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for a spectacular performance Which.
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Brings us to a final reality that we need to consider.
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We need to look forward. The miracles performed by Christ
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and the apostles in the 1st century were breathtaking, but
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we have to point out one staggering fact.
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They were temporary. It is a sobering realization
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Jesus raised Lazarus from the tomb.
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It was a spectacular display of divine authority.
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But Lazarus eventually grew old, his body failed him again, and
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he died a second time. The blind men who received their
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sight in the Gospels eventually closed their eyes in death.
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The lame men who leaped for joy eventually faced the inevitable
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decay of aging. Their miraculous cures were not
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permanent escapes from the curse of death.
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They were prophetic foretastes. Yes, they were temporary
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localized intrusions of the future glory of the new creation
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bursting into this present evil age.
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They demonstrated that Christ's redemption is comprehensive.
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He does not just care about saving immaterial souls.
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He cares about the physical body.
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He cares about the material world.
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This leaves you, the listener, with a compelling reality to
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consider as you evaluate your own experiences with suffering.
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The ultimate answer to human suffering is not a temporary
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physical fix in this present age.
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It is the absolute promise of a resurrected, incorruptible body
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upon Christ's return. Shifting your hope away from the
31:10
demand for an immediate earthly cure and placing it entirely on
31:13
the final resurrection fundamentally changes how you
31:15
view chronic pain, the aging process, and the loss of loved
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ones. Present suffering, as Paul
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writes, is light and momentary compared to the eternal weight
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of glory being prepared for us. We can pray earnestly for
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healing now, we can utilize the best medicine available, and we
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can care for each other while resting securely in the
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knowledge that even if our bodies fail today, they will be
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raised in glory tomorrow. We started this deep dive by
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talking about the human desire for a clean X-ray.
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We crave immediate, visible certainty when we are hurting.
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Of course we do. But what the text of First
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Corinthians 12 shows us is that God offers something far more
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durable than a temporary earthly cure.
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He offers the sovereign presence of His Spirit, the sufficiency
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of His written word, and the unbreakable promise of a
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resurrected body that will never see decay.
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That is a hope that does not disappoint.
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It is a hope that can sustain you in the hospital room, in the
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waiting room, and in the quiet, lonely moments of physical
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weakness. As we wrap up, I want to leave
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you with a completely different thought to chew on regarding the
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cessation of these miracles. We often talk about the
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Apostolic gifts fading away as if it is a loss for the modern
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world. Like we are missing out on
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something today. Yeah, but consider the rise of
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modern medical science. When a pediatric surgeon repairs
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a congenital heart defect, or when an oncologist targets
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cancer cells with pinpoint radiation.
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Isn't that a form of humanity subduing the Earth?
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Oh, that is a really fascinating way to look at it.
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In the absence of Apostolic miracles, God has granted
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incredible common grace to the world through medical research
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and human ingenuity. The surgeon's scalpel might just
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be a continuation of the Dominion mandate given in
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Genesis. Yes, a way of pushing back the
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effects of the fall using the minds and materials God
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provided. That is profound to think about.
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So next time you see a doctor, consider that their expertise is
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a gift of common grace to a hurting world.
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Thank you for joining us for this deep dive on reformed
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thinking. We will see you next time.