Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church
5101 Beechtree
Hudsonville, Michigan 49426
Services: 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org
Vol. 8, No. 7
Table of Contents:
Death
Prayer and Healing
Who Are Christ's Brethren?
Death
There is no doubt that death is an enemy - the last enemy (I Cor. 15:26). We fear death, but not only because it is unknown. No one has ever returned to tell us what it is like to die, but our fear of death comes especially from the knowledge that death is wages of sin (Rom. 6:23), the judgment of God upon those who have rebelled against Him.
It is no wonder that every attempt is made to cover up the horror and corruption of death. Nor is it any wonder that the majority in the face of death try to drown their sorrows in reveling and drink. Even when dying they do not want to think or speak of death and in many cases simply deny that they are dying when it is clear that there is no remedy or help.
When the ungodly see death in the creation, then they speak of "the survival of the fittest" and of "nature red in tooth and claw" in order to cover up the fact that death is not natural and that the wrath of God is evident in it. The fact is, of course, that death is everywhere - the end of all hopes, the enemy that always comes too soon. In death, by God's judgment, all labors and aspirations are left unfulfilled and unsatisfied.
It is only by faith that one is able to face death, and even then it is not easy. In the face of death even faith must struggle and fight and overcome, though it always does have the victory. In the consciousness of his own sins, the believer must still seek by faith to trust in the sacrifice and victory of Christ over death and to believe with all his heart that death is swallowed up in victory.
Death is conquered! Death could not hold Him (Acts 2:24), for the sting (destroying power) of death is sin (I Cor. 15:56), and not only because He has no sins of His own. The sins that He had taken upon Himself as Mediator, He had paid for to the utmost farthing. He had willingly put Himself in the power of death and allowed it to do its worst to Him for the sins that He bore, but it could and did not conquer, for He was the Son of God, the Holy One. His death, as John Owen put it so beautifully, was the death of death for all those who the Father had given Him.
That raises the question, however, "Why must believers die, if death is swallowed up in victory?" or, as the Heidelberg Catechism puts it, "Since then Christ died for us, why must we also die?" (Q. 42). The answer of the Catechism is the answer of Scripture, "Our death is not a satisfaction for our sin, but only an abolishing of sin, and a passage into eternal life."
What a wonder! That dark door that only ever opened into hell and damnation, now opens for believers into glorious heavenly life. Perhaps, therefore, it is not wrong to say also that we must die in order to show how utterly Christ has conquered on our behalf. An end of all sin, to be sure, and a door to glory, but a testimony, too, to the fact that death is indeed swallowed up.
And so the believer says, "Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's" (Rom. 14:8). Is that your confession? Will it be when death comes? Rev. Ronald Hanko
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. James 5:14-15.
The request for an explanation of this text was accompanied by a note: "Does this passage apply today or was this a temporary ordinance for the Apostolic age?"
Before I begin an answer to this question, I ought to point our readers to two other places where information on this passage can be found. The first is in Rev. Herman Hoeksema's book, The Triple Knowledge. It is found in Vol. 3, pages 569-573, where Hoeksema discusses the question, "Healing Upon the Prayer of Faith." The second place is a series of articles I wrote on James 5:13-15 for The Protestant Reformed Theological Journal. These articles can be found in Vol. 8:1 and Vol. 9:1,2. These latter have been reprinted and are available from the Protestant Reformed Seminary.
To turn now to the point under discussion, we ought first to notice that this passage is a favorite of the Charismatics. These people use the passage to prove that healing from physical sickness is promised on the basis of a prayer of faith. It may very well be that this view of the Charismatics underlies the question which one of our readers has asked: "Does this passage apply today or was this a temporary ordinance for the Apostolic age?"
The answer to the question is, very clearly, "Yes, this passage applies today as well as throughout the entire new dispensation." There is no reason at all to limit it to the apostolic age, and there is nothing in the context which would even suggest this.
But this does not mean that the passage applies to physical healing. That is a mistaken notion. We have no promise in the Scriptures that God will heal us from our physical diseases no matter how earnestly we may pray and no matter how strong our faith may be.
To teach that God does heal on the prayer of faith is to teach grave evil. To teach this is evil because 1) It is a teaching which is nowhere suggested in Scripture. 2) It destroys the whole meaning of miracles and their purpose during the old dispensation, our Lord's ministry, and the apostolic age. 3) It slanders the faith of the people of God, for, when one with illness is not cured, the only answer of the Charismatics is that the person did not have sufficient faith. These are grave sins to promote.
The whole point of the controversy over this passage turns on the question whether the word "sick" can refer to spiritual sickness as well as physical ailments. I hold to the fact that the passage emphatically speaks of spiritual sickness. My reasons are chiefly these.
1) The word which is translated "sick" in this passage often has the connotation of spiritual sickness in Scripture. I refer to such passages as I Cor. 11:30; Rom. 6:19 (where "infirmity" is "sickness"); II Cor. 13:3-4 (where "weak" is the same word used here in James 5); Heb. 5:2; etc. In fact, although I have not counted the instances, it seems as if the references to spiritual sickness are as frequent as the references to physical illnesses.
2) The entire passage, including vs. 13, speaks of the spiritual condition of God's people.
3) The one who is sick is told to call the elders. Nowhere in Scripture are elders charged with the responsibility of healing physically sick people. People who are physically sick must go to doctors. People who are spiritually sick must call the elders. Doctors cannot cure spiritual sickness; elders cannot cure physical sickness.
4) Ordinarily, the cure for spiritual sickness is prayer (vs. 13). But sometimes one is so spiritually sick that he cannot pray. This is what James is addressing here in vs. 14. This is clear from James' description of the work of elders: "Let them pray over him" (vs. 14).
5) The healing of the sick effected by the prayer of the elders is defined as being "saved," not "healed" (vs. 15).
6) This "saving" is further defined in the same vs. in the words: "The Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."
All this is spiritual language and must be interpreted as such.
Two other remarks are necessary to make.
1) This is not to deny that spiritual weakness is often the result of physical disease or suffering. This is not always true, but sometimes it is. The text allows for both possibilities (vs. 15). If a man have committed sin, it shall be forgiven him. Perhaps, though not necessarily, he has committed a sin which leads to this spiritual illness. But his spiritual illness may come also from the debilitating effects of physical illness.
2) The text also refers to the anointing with oil. Whether this was literally done or not in the apostolic church is not the point. It always in Scripture refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is so evident we need not take the time to prove it.
That anointing with oil is further evidence that spiritual healing from spiritual sickness is referred to here. The Spirit heals our spiritual weaknesses by giving us strength in Christ, the strength to fight a good fight of faith, to walk as a pilgrim and a sojourner in the world, to forsake sin, to bear our cross in joyful obedience, and to make our way through this difficult pilgrimage from here to the Celestial City. Prof. Herman Hanko
Who Are Christ's Brethren?
One of our readers has asked: "Who are the 'my brethren' of our Lord Jesus Christ referred to in Matthew 25:40?" He asks this question in connection with what Jesus says about feeding, clothing and visiting in prison these "brethren." The brother's comments are too long to reproduce in their entirety, but the brother questions the use of this verse and the context to justify so-called "prison ministries" and church programs in which food is often distributed to those who are "destitute because of spending their welfare money on alcohol." He also mentions the Dispensational interpretation of the passage which makes these "brethren" remnant Jews who preach during the tribulation.
The question as to who these "brethren" are is easily answered. Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 12:50 that anyone who does the will of His Father is a "brother" and belongs to His family (Mk. 3:35; Lk. 8:21). This is confirmed by other Scriptures. Romans 8:29-30 show us that these brethren are those who are predestinated, called, justified, and glorified; and Hebrews 2:11 makes it clear that they are those who are sanctified with Christ.
Thus, the Dispensational interpretation of Matthew 25:31-46 is shown to be false. These brethren cannot be limited to some Jews living during an imagined three and half years of tribulation that follow a supposed pre-millennial, pre-tribulation, secret rapture. Clearly, these brethren are fellow Christians, especially those who are in need or in prison for the gospel's sake (note vs. 40, "ye have done it unto me"; cf. also I Pet. 4:15).
That there are Christian brethren means, too, that there is no warrant in this passage for various "social" programs on the part of the church or of the people of God, for so-called "prison ministries." These things may not necessarily be wrong, but if one is looking for Biblical warrant for them, it cannot be found in this passage.
We believe that there is a place for preaching the gospel in prisons as long as one is faithful to the Word. We believe, too, that individual Christians and even to some extent the church have a calling to feed and clothe those who are in need, even if they are not Christians. The parable of the Good Samaritan makes this clear (Lk. 10:25-37) as does Galatians 6:10 (though even that passage says "especially…the household of faith"). Matthew 25:40, however, has nothing to do with such things.
But there is more that needs to be said. First, Scripture makes it clear that we have no obligation to those who are destitute as a result of their own sloth and sin (II Thess. 3:10). Second, the emphasis in Scripture is always on the "neighbor," that is, the one who comes into my life and crosses my path. There is nothing wrong with sending food and clothing to Ethiopia, but that is not so important as helping the man who lies in my own path wounded and in need. All too often dropping a coin into the box of someone collecting for charity or giving a donation to some charity is done to the neglect of the neighbor. We may not be like the Priest and the Levite in the parable.
Third, the purpose of doing these things is to demonstrate to those who are in need the mercy and love of God (Matt. 6:43-48). That means that all such endeavors are useless unless there be a witness accompanying them and the opportunity taken to explain why these things are done. For that reason, it is better that Christians, when not able to give help directly, give it through a responsible Christian organization (especially the deacons in the church) and not through the social welfare organizations of the ungodly. Rev. Ronald Hanko
Write us for the free pamphlet by Prof. David J. Engelsma: "Genesis 1-11-Myth or History?" It examines the Scriptural account of origins and shows the error of evolution.