Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory and Dr. Robert Jeffress.

We're dedicated to bringing you bold biblical teaching that transforms your life and strengthens your walk with God.

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There's something powerful about connecting with God and fellow believers in the majesty of his untamed wilderness. I truly believe this journey will refresh you spiritually, physically and emotionally.

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Cabins are filling quickly, so reserve yours today. To book your spot on the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska, call 888-280-6747 or go to ptv.org now. Here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

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Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program.

On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, what does the Bible really say about the subject of healing? Does God physically heal people today the way he did in biblical times?

And if your answer is no, how do you account for all the voluminous accounts of people who have been healed?

And why does James choose to end his letter with this subject of healing?

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, few topics in Christianity generate as much confusion and controversy as the subject of divine healing. Some people believe God heals everyone who has enough faith. Others claim that the Age of Miracles ended with the apostles.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains what the Book of James teaches about this important subject. But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

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Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Before we dig into the fifth chapter of James together, I'm thrilled to tell you about a special offer to receive Pathway Magazine, our daily devotional that's captured the hearts of readers everywhere. Each edition combines my daily devotionals with practical, biblically grounded articles on Christian living. Unlike digital devotionals, you can take Pathway Magazine to the park, slip it into your briefcase, and read it anytime, anywhere.

You can subscribe to receive three editions sent directly to your home by going to ptv.org. At Pathway to Victory, we make it a priority to teach people the truth about the Bible because we believe with absolute confidence that God's Word has the power to change lives. When you give a voluntary gift to support Pathway to Victory, we consider your partnership a sacred trust. We make certain that every dollar given to Pathway to Victory is leveraged to the maximum advantage, shining the light of God's Word into the dark corners of our world.

For just a few more days, when you give a much-needed gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'll be sending you my brand new book on James. My book is called "How to Know if You're Really Saved." We'll explain how to get in touch later in the program, but right now, let's open our Bibles to James Chapter Five. I titled today's message "The Truth About Faith Kneeling."

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You know, whenever I think about the subject of faith healing, I think about several encounters I've had with the topic through the years. I remember a popular faith healer on television that I used to watch all the time for entertainment value. And I remember reading about how he decided which diseases he was going to heal. He said, in the morning services, the Lord tells me what healings are available. The Lord will say, I've got three cancers available today and I've got one bad back. I've got two headache healings. I announce that to the congregation and tell them that anyone who comes with faith can claim those healings that are available for that evening. That was his approach to healing.

I think about an experience I had when I was a teenager. I had something wrong with my right arm. I'd lost all my feeling in my arm. We went to the neurologist, and they couldn't find anything. I was scheduled to go on a mission trip in another country. And one night in the middle of the night, I was awakened and impressed to start praying about my arm, and the Lord immediately healed me. When I came back to our country, I found out that there were two people who had been praying together at exactly the same time. I was praying for healing.

I think about my experience standing at the foot of my mom's hospital bed and listening as a very dedicated pastor prayed over her for healing. After anointing her with oil, she died three weeks later. What does the Bible really say about the subject of healing? Does God physically heal people today the way he did in biblical times? And if your answer is no, how do you account for all the voluminous accounts of people who have been healed? And why does James choose to end his letter with this subject of healing? That's what we're going to look at today. If you have your Bibles, turn to James 5, beginning with verse 13.

Remember James' whole thesis in his letter is that genuine faith produces visible results. You want to know how legitimate your faith is? Look at your behavior. A belief without a corresponding behavior is a bogus kind of faith. And he tackles a number of subjects: how you respond to temptation, how you respond to testing, your speech, your pursuit of godliness. Genuine faith ought to be visible in a person's life. And James closes by saying, how you respond to illness is also a test of your faith. Look at verses 13 and 14. Is any among you suffering? Then he must. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is any among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, having anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Let's look first at the audience to whom James is speaking. James is writing to sick people. Well, what are we supposed to do if we are sick? Notice the things James says we're to do. Is any among you sick? Verse 14. Then he must call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Now notice who takes the initiative in this. It's not the elders; it's the one who is sick. The one who is sick is the one who has the responsibility to call for help.

Listen to this: when you're sick, go to the doctor. Get the best medical treatment you can. Use medicine. Use doctors. That's what the oil represents. But the main point of this verse is to pray. It is the prayer that is offered in the name of the Lord that will heal. Look at verse 14 again. Is any among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, having anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord. Now that phrase is key. In the name of the Lord. That's a phrase in the Bible that's used as a synonym for the will of God.

And that leads to the promise in verses 15 and 16. What is the promise? The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. Now, what does it mean to pray in faith? What is the prayer of faith? Listen to this: the prayer of faith is not some positive thinking feeling we have that God is going to heal us. We think if we believe enough that God will heal us. Presto, God will heal us. And if we're not healed, it's because we don't have enough faith. No, that's not the prayer of faith. Faith in praying is not the belief that God will do what you ask him to do. Faith is the belief that God will do what is best for our good and his glory.

To pray in faith means to boldly ask God to do what you want him to do, including healing. It's boldly asking, but quietly resting in God's will. It's the prayer that Jesus offered in Gethsemane: Father, deliver me from this evil that is about to happen. And yet not my will, but your will be done. That's the prayer of faith. The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. If this happens to be a sickness caused by sin, God will forgive. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.

Notice, if you have sin in your life, you're to confess it, not to the whole congregation. You know, some churches love to have these open mic services where people come down and they'll share all of their dirty laundry with the whole congregation. No, that doesn't build up anybody. Your circle of confession should be no larger than the circle of offense. You confess your sins to one another, not to everybody, but to one another. If there is sin in your life, confess it, and God will heal you. The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick.

Now let me be clear about this. There is no promise in the Bible anywhere that God will heal everybody who is sick. There is no promise that God will give you everything you desire. Every promise in the Bible that seems to indicate God will do whatever we ask him to do is bounded within the will of God. First John 5:14 says, "This is the confidence we have in him, that if we ask anything according to God's will, He hears us." God's will is a boundary around our life, not to keep good things from entering our life, but to keep bad things, things that are contrary to the will of God.

Let's be clear: God sometimes says yes to healing, and sometimes he says no. And notice in this passage, he says, and while you're praying, if you have sin in your life, confess it. Can we know for sure if sin is responsible for illness in our life? We can't know for sure, but sometimes we can. But here's a good prayer to pray any and every time you can: Psalm 139:23-24. "Search me, O Lord, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any way in me that is wicked, and lead me to the everlasting way." In other words, always be asking God to reveal sin in your life. And if there is sin in your life, ask for his forgiveness.

You know, let me say a word about biblical healing versus, instead of faith healing, what I call fake healing. Something I remember well when I was a youth minister here, I was teaching through the Book of James, and we got to this section, and the teenagers had all kinds of questions about it. So one Sunday afternoon after church, I loaded up the church van and I took a group of them down to Memorial Auditorium to see a famous faith healer, just to compare what he did to what the scripture did. I'll never forget that service.

What was interesting was every disease he healed, so-called healed, was a functional disease, not an organic disease. What's the difference? Functional diseases are parts of your body that aren't working like they should; they're not functioning correctly. Blurred vision, partial deafness, back pains—those are all functional diseases. Organic diseases are ones where the organ no longer is there or is completely inoperative. Complete blindness, total deafness, being crippled or lame. Faith healers have a very difficult time healing those kinds of diseases. They're always functional diseases, but it was contrary to the way the Bible describes healing.

Pastor John MacArthur offers some characteristics of biblical healing versus fake healing. First of all, biblical healing was always instantaneous. When God healed in the Bible, he did it instantly, with a word or with a touch. Secondly, biblical healing is total. You know, when I watched the faith healer do his thing, he would ask for a testimony, and people would say, oh, I'm seeing a little bit better, or my back is feeling better, or I'm healing better. Not in biblical times. In biblical times, it was complete. It was total. It was complete healing. Thirdly, biblical healing included organic diseases. Jesus healed withered arms. The lame were healed. The crippled, the totally blind, even people who were dead were raised from the dead.

And finally, biblical healing involved those who were chosen of God. Not every believer had the power to heal. First of all, it was Jesus, and then the apostles. And then it expanded to the disciples, the 70 followers of Jesus, and a few of their associates. But that was it. And the purpose of healing was not for the benefit of the sick; it was to authenticate the message of God's messenger. Before the New Testament was written, how did people know the apostles were really speaking God's word? How did they know Jesus was really the Messiah? It was by their ability to perform miracles like healing, like raising people from the dead. Today, we don't need that authentication. The way we judge whether a prophet is really speaking God's word is by the New Testament, by the Bible itself.

Biblical healing involved those who were chosen by God. And that leads to the question, well, why does God allow sickness? If he says no to our request for healing, why does God allow it? Somebody asked me this week, what do you think of so-and-so, a pastor who says that God is sovereign over everything except illness and that God takes no responsibility for our illnesses? I said, what I think is, he's a heretic. If you say God has no role in our sickness or our problems, that's heresy. Listen to what God said to Moses in Exodus 4:11. The Lord said to Moses, "Who has made man's mouth or who makes him dumb or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" Some people think that is harsh to blame God for our illnesses. God's saying, I take responsibility for it. I have a purpose. If you're sick, that ought to give you great comfort that God's not unaware of your situation. He has a purpose for your illness.

What are the various purposes for sickness? Well, some sickness is meant to lead to death. There is a sickness, the Bible says, leading to death. The fact is, if we never got sick, we would never die. We would be left trapped in these imperfect bodies forever. No. Many times God allows sickness to transition us to our new bodies and the future God has for us. And that's, by the way, why don't get that excited about testimonies of physical healing. I do believe God heals, but any healing is only temporary. Whoever is healed is going to get sick again, and they're going to ultimately die. That's part of God's plan.

Secondly, there is a sickness that is the result of sin. Again, so you hear me clearly: not all sickness is the result of our personal sin. But some of it is. For example, Numbers chapter 12 records Miriam, the sister of Moses, being struck with leprosy because she rebelled against her brother. I remind my sister Jennifer of that all the time: listen to her older brother. In fact, Elijah's servant Gehazi was struck with illness because of his greed. David describes the physical effects of his unconfessed sin, his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah. David said, "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and through day night, your hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was drained away as the fever heat of summer."

Thirdly, some sickness is given for the glory of God so that God might be glorified. Remember in John 9, Jesus and the apostles passed by a man who was blind from birth. And the disciples said, "Jesus, who's responsible for this man's blindness? Was it his sin or was it his parents' sin?" And Jesus said, "Neither. It was that God might be glorified." And Jesus immediately cured his blindness and once again proved that he was the Messiah. In other words, Jesus said, this man has been blind all of his life for one reason: so that at this time in history I could perform a miracle and prove to the world I am the Messiah. Sometimes we're allowed to be sick so that God can be glorified through our healing. Many times it is through our sickness that God is best glorified. That's what Paul said. Paul said, it is when I was weak that the power of God was most strongly manifest in me.

You know, when I think of that, I think of our friend, a great friend of our church, Joni Eareckson TADA. At 17 years of age, she was in a diving accident and became a quadriplegic. She has sat in a wheelchair for more than six decades. And yet she is a tremendous testimony of God's power. She knows God could have healed her at any point, but he decided he was going to glorify himself best not when she was standing, but when she was seated in that wheelchair. We see that all the time. God is glorified not in our strength, but in our weaknesses.

I remember in a former church I served, a couple had a son who was severely handicapped. He was in and out of the hospital continually, and they were about to go bankrupt over all of his medical expenses. And one night in the middle of the night at 2 a.m., God awakened them and impressed upon them that they needed to pray for God's direct intervention. The next morning, they went to the hospital to see their son. And while they were in the waiting room ready to go in, a man approached them and said, "I know this sounds odd, and I don't mean to..."

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Offend you, but I was just wondering.

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If you had some kind of financial need. And they were just amazed, said, why would you ask us that? He said, well, at 2:00 am I was awakened this morning and told I was to find somebody to give this envelope of money to. And I think you're the ones I'm supposed to give it to. And they opened up the envelope; it was filled with hundred dollar bills. He went on to tell them that he was a multimillionaire, had plenty of money, and gave them his phone number if they had any further needs. For years, that couple shared that testimony with people. The wife said, this was the first time in 60 years I had ever seen God's direct miraculous intervention in my life. God used that boy's handicap, his illness, to glorify himself.

So what are we supposed to do if we're sick? I'm speaking to some of you here. You're ill, or somebody you care about is ill. What are we supposed to do? Number one, if you're sick, go to the doctor. Secondly, ask God's purpose in your illness. Ask him to reveal to you his purpose in your illness. Might it be a sickness unto death? Then get your affairs together. Make sure you're in a right relationship with God. Is it a sickness caused by sin? If it is, confess your sin and turn from your sin. Or is it that your sickness is for God's glory? Then ask how he can best be magnified through your illness.

Thirdly, pray for God's healing. That's the point of this passage. Just because God doesn't say yes every time doesn't mean we shouldn't pray. We ought to pray boldly for what is in our hearts and quietly rest in God's answer and finally seek God's glory. In 2nd Corinthians 12:9, God said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Several years ago, we had one of these services in which we prayed for healing. A couple, not members of our church, heard about it on the radio. So they decided to come. They came from a church that doesn't offer prayers for healing. The wife had been diagnosed with cancer. She had begun her cancer treatments, but she wanted God's intervention. And so when we offered a time for people to come and ask for healing, she came down to the front of this worship center and she met the chairman of our prayer partners, and they prayed together. After a year of medical treatment and prayer, she was completely healed. She used that experience to glorify God and allowed it to produce some real changes in her life. That's how God says we ought to approach illness: go to the doctor, pray for God's intervention, and then leave the results to God.

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James tackles important questions. For instance, how do we properly ask God for His divine healing? And does God heal people today the way He did in biblical times? These are common questions, and in my new book on James, we'll discover that sometimes God says yes to our prayers for healing and sometimes God says no. But both answers can bring Him glory.

Please, while there's still time, request my brand new book on James called *How to Know if You're Really Saved*. This special offer ends Friday. A copy will be sent to your home with my thanks when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Your generous gift will change a life.

I'm thinking of Allen in California who wrote to me and said, "Pastor Jeffress, I'm struggling with fear and worry. Most mornings I wake up feeling panicked. I find relief when I listen to your messages on the radio. Also, I'm getting into God's word and praying. I wish I knew how to pray better." Friends, that's why I wrote the book on James. It's why we provide these daily Bible teaching programs.

Gratefully, Pathway to Victory is making an impact on people. People like Allen, not because of my efforts, but because people like you financially support us. Thanks so much. Here's David to give you our contact information.

Speaker 1

When you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, we'll say thanks by sending you the brand new book by Dr. Robert Jeffress, *How to Know If You're Really Saved*. To request your copy, call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. When you give $75 or more, we'll also send you all 12 messages from the brand new *How to Know If You're Really Saved* teaching series. These messages come on both DVD video and MP3 format audio discs and even come with a personal and group study guide. This is the last week, though, that we'll mention these resources, so get in touch right away. Again, call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. If you'd prefer to send your donation by mail, write to P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, TX 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. Have you ever wondered why some of your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling while others are answered suddenly and dramatically? Join us for the message *The Secret to Unleashing God's Power* that's Thursday on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Experience the breathtaking majesty of America's last frontier on the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska.

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You.

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Made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible.

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