Anointing With Oil

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

Apostle Paul said, But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her

King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is

Mike Abendroth. I don't know, it's getting cold. I've got my bicycle jacket on here, it's getting cold.

You can write me, info at nocompromiseradio .com. Today we happen to be live on Facebook.

It's Saturday, October 3rd. It's 1220 in the afternoon. Nice fall day today.

It's nice out. One of the things I love about New England is autumn, is the fall.

If it's the fall, it's Adam's fall, but if it's a fall, it's a fall in New England with pretty colors of orange, red, yellow, green.

Many of the colors showing me that the leaves are dying. Today I want to talk about a very interesting passage in James 5 about oil and anointing the sick.

If you're sick, should you call the elders to anoint you with oil?

And so this is No Compromise Radio and we want to talk a little bit about that passage in James 5, verses 13 through 20.

Many people have asked me over the years, what do we do with James 5 and anointing with oil?

Have you ever done that, Pastor Mike? I've received calls from people in the church, would you come and anoint me with oil?

I'm sick. What does it really mean? Well, since this is a very serious show, I do have myself things that are ready and it's probably backwards, but I have some special water that I got in Rome for $1 from the

Pope. I don't know if he's got sunglasses on there. This is actually Pope Francis, special water. So I've never done this before,

No Compromise Radio, but I'm actually going to sprinkle a little bit of this on my microphone.

Just a little dab will do you is what I've heard. And so it's not coming out. What is that?

I guess it's just a dabber. There, we have anointed my holy microphone with some holy water.

It doesn't have anything to do with oil, but at least it's there. So that was worth a dollar, that's for certain.

But I don't think you realize that I had actually some holy land oil. There's some oil in there.

There's some water from probably the Jordan and there's some, I don't know, what's that last one?

Holy soil. Holy soil, Batman. Olive oil from Galilee.

And hi, Vicki. I'm glad you're watching. And holy water from the Jordan River. I mean, why actually try to live a holy life and deny self and pick up your cross and follow

Jesus when just, I mean, a little dab will do you. So James chapter 5, 13 through 20, if I had to give you kind of a background of James, James, remember, it's not just a book of commands.

It's not just law. Jesus has lived on the earth and he has died and he has been raised.

And now James, 15 years later, the first book in the New Testament that's written, although the activities of Jesus have occurred, there's a book that's written.

So you can think of the gospels, almost all gospel, right? There are some commands by the Lord and great commission, but it's the gospel.

And so what do you think the first book would be about? Well, how do we live in light of this good news, in light of this person named

Jesus? He's our savior. He's redeemed us. He saved us. He has bought us with a price.

He's laid down his life for us. He's become obedient to the point of death, even a death on the cross. And God the Father then exalted him.

And since we're now Christians, how do we live? And so James says in chapter one, well, now you counted all joy and now you receive

God's word. In chapter two, you don't judge people based on the outside. You judge people in light of who God the effulgent glory is, the

Son. So that means you shouldn't judge them at all. It's that type of thing. So now we get to chapter five and he starts off chapter five with this denunciation of the rich.

James 1 .1 talks about dispersed tribes and they're on the run. They're getting persecuted.

The government is overreaching. How do you live? And so he says in verses seven through 12, be patient.

The rich are going to get theirs, five, one to six. So be encouraged. God knows that. God knows persecution and therefore be patient and the

Lord is going to come back. So chapter five, seven to 12 is all about the return of the Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, and judge as well.

And he's compassionate and merciful. And then we move to this last section. What do you tell a bunch of people who are getting persecuted? Well, he tells them essentially,

I want you to pray. And so it's all about prayer. Patience and prayer is

James chapter five. So God hears your prayer, so pray. So let's just kind of work our way through.

I've got my Bible here open. I've got a variety of Bibles here. I'm not going to use a message today, but in a pinch we use it.

So listen to what he says. And by the way, James, the half brother of Jesus would watch

Jesus regularly. And I wonder if he noticed anything about the life of Jesus.

My guess is that he would notice that Jesus was a man of prayer.

Don't you think? If you could just watch Jesus on earth, you watch him in the gospels. I did a little research.

Jesus prayed when he was baptized, before he chose the 12, in connection with and after the miraculous feeding of the 5 ,000, when he was about to ask his disciples an important question, on the mountain when he was transfigured, before he was evangelizing,

Matthew 11, before teaching about the Lord's Supper, at Lazarus' tomb, for Peter before the denial, during the night of the institution of the

Lord's Supper, at Gethsemane, during his self -sacrificial giving on the cross, and after his resurrection.

That's a lot of praying. So, the Lord, the Son, he prayed regularly.

And I know James watched that, and you can see the comparisons between what Jesus taught in James, what

Jesus taught in the gospels, Sermon on the Mount, especially, and what James taught. And so, this is not surprising to me that he's going to talk about prayer.

Verse 13, is any among you suffering? What's the response for suffering?

We know what it's not supposed to be earlier in chapter 5, grumbling about people. It's the inaudible sigh that you take out against your spouse, somebody at church, when there's pressure.

We know not to do that. Sadly, I do it, you do it, I don't want to do it, but we're commanded in James 5 not to do it.

So, if you're suffering, what do you do instead? And you can almost think of what not to do, put off, grumbling, impatience, and then, what do you do?

Well, you pray. Let him pray. And of course, it's for ladies, too. Let her pray. If you're suffering, pray.

Is any among you suffering? If you're listening today and you're hurting, what's the response? Complain to God?

I've heard two times this week, people have either told me about somebody that they love, or that they used to deal with this themselves, and that is, people are mad at God.

I'm mad at you, God. Now, I do a lot of dumb things, but that's one thing

I don't want to do, get mad at God. If you're going to suffer, you're mad at the Lord and all the things

He's given to you. I mean, even if you've lost a loved one, even if you're sick, even if you're broke, whatever it is, you can't be mad at God.

I mean, you think about who God is. If anybody should be mad, it should be Him, and He is.

He's mad at the wicked, and you look at Psalm 55 and Psalm 711, and that's why we need a

Savior who's intercepted, as it were, that wrath. If you're suffering, what do you do?

It's present imperative, and that just means ongoing, continuational command.

Here's what God commands. When you're suffering, you pray. And many times, this is our default.

This is our reflex, because when we're hurting, we pray. What do I mean by that? Well, when things are going great, maybe we don't pray, but when we're hurting, the

Lord has our attention, right? The doctor tells me, you have a cancer. I am paying attention.

I am reporting for duty. Are you there? I'm going to need help.

If you're suffering, you're to pray. The context is, the dispersed tribes, you've got a bunch of people who are after you, the rich controlled, the rich hurt, and He says,

I want you to pray. Well, there's a positive side here, too, in James 5, verse 13. Is any among you cheerful?

Is anyone cheerful? If you're cheerful, what do you do? Well, you pray, but it's an interesting way how

He says it. Let them sing praises. Sing praises. Saletto, it's where we get the word psalm, and it's the same beginning.

S -P -S -A -L -L -E -T -O would be the transliteration. It's just like the word psalm.

If you are happy, sing songs. Sing psalms. Sing. I mean, and you can almost imagine a little kid, and they're kind of skipping, and they're all happy, and they're just kind of singing a little,

I don't know, the Batman theme or something. Did Tarzan have a theme? If I was a kid and I started skipping, remember when you couldn't skip?

Remember teaching your kids how to skip? Remember teaching your kids how to ride a bike?

I remember I'd put like money at the mailbox, like a dollar at the mailbox, and then five dollars down at the neighbor's mailbox, and then we'd start back there, just a little inclination, declination, rather.

And if they could make it to the mailbox, they got the dollar. That was pretty easy. But then teaching the kids how to drive?

Is any among you suffering? Let them pray. That's why Kim had to do it. I didn't really have enough patience to do it with the kids.

Maybe I needed the special oil on top of the car.

If you're suffering, pray. The Lord hears. He just got done saying in chapter five earlier,

He's compassionate, He's merciful, He understands. James has given five one to six to let you know.

The Lord knows. The Lord's going to get these rich people. There'll be a judgment day. There'll be an accounting day that one day.

Don't worry. And if you're happy, pray. Well, what if you're really spiritually weak?

What do you do then? Verse 14, and we come down to the passage about the oil and all that. Is any among you sick?

We're going to talk about what that word is. 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 will save the one who is sick and the

Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. So Christian, in light of your salvation and your savior, hard times, you're to be patient.

Chapter five, you're not to grumble against others. You're to look at the prophets and Job who suffered more than you did, most likely.

And God, their God, your God sustained them, right?

Don't be trying to say anything but yes and yes and no and no.

Don't try to do a bunch of weird kind of oaths in the middle of persecution. And pray.

When you're suffering, pray. When you're happy, sing psalms, pray. What if you're sick?

What do you do if you're sick? Well, the word for sick there, 18 times in the

New Testament, it's used for sick. 14 of those times out of the 18 times where it says translated sick, it's used for emotional or spiritual weakness.

Lori's watching. Good to have you, Lori. Vicki and Lori, both watching. I'm glad. I have a little thing there on my phone.

It says, bring them on camera, but I would be too afraid. I wouldn't know what to do.

Honestly, I wouldn't know how to get you off the camera. He's talking about spiritual weakness.

He's not talking about a physical sickness, right? If you have complications of asthma or you have

COVID -19 or you have cancer or you have heart disease or whatever, call for the elders and have them come anoint you with oil.

He's not saying that. Nothing wrong with calling the elders, but this particular passage here, we're talking about spiritual weakness.

Really, the word is to be weak. What kind of weakness might this be? You can see in the context here, this is a spiritual weakness.

This is talk about prayer and restoration and confession of sins and those things.

This is not primarily, or I don't think even intentionally talking about sickness that has to do with physical health.

One writer said, they're fallen spiritual warriors. They're exhausted, weary, depressed, defeated Christians.

They've tried to draw on God's power through prayer, but have lost motivation, even falling into sinful attitudes.

Having hit bottom, they're not able to pray effectively on their own. In that condition, the spiritually strong are called for.

I don't know if you've ever been through this where it's like, you're so weak spiritually.

You can't pray really. I mean, you could, but it didn't seem like you can.

You can't really read your Bible. You're having a difficult time. What do you do if you're spiritually weak and you can't pray?

You don't know what to do. You're feeling just, you're a quote -unquote backsliding.

This could actually be from a physical sickness that so debilitates you that it's hard to even do things spiritually.

James, the pastor said, well, you know what you do? If you can't pray, you call for people to pray for you. I mean, this is the body of Christ right here.

If you're suffering, pray. If you're cheerful, sing. If you can't pray for yourself and you're super weak spiritually, call for the elders.

They shouldn't be calling you and saying, how are you doing? Are you spiritually sick? Now, I don't mind if elders call and say, how are you doing?

I don't usually do that unless I haven't seen somebody around for a while. I might call and say, how are you doing?

And most of the time people say, that's fine. But here it says, if you're spiritually weak, call for the elders of the church.

They're the ones that are asking. They, meaning the sick person, are asking the elders of the church.

And what do the elders do? The person's weak, they're struggling, they're spiritually sick, and they come and pray.

What's the text say? Pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the

Lord. Now, they pray over him. I don't know if that means that he's bedridden or it wouldn't necessarily mean that, but some think that way.

And then they anoint him with oil. Now, the key verb is pray, and the modifier is oil or rub with oil, anoint with oil.

What do you do with this oil thing? Now, I have oil here, and I don't just have this oil.

I wouldn't use this. I have a little vial of olive oil if I ever need it. I guess I could use this as a backup.

I just want you to know that this particular oil has a certificate of authenticity. We hereby certify the authenticity of the products in this passage.

The holy water is from the Jordan River. The virgin olive oil was made from olives of old Galilean olive trees, and the holy soil is from Jerusalem city.

Did you know I had a group of pilgrims over in Israel?

And we were in, I think, the Elah Valley, where David killed Goliath. And, you know, don't you want to pick up some stones out of that kind of little riverbed?

Why'd David pick up five stones? Tulip, doctrines of grace, five solas.

Didn't have enough faith, should have just picked up one. But don't you want to pick up one of those rocks?

So I remember picking up a rock. Maybe I picked up five, I don't know. Put them in my pocket. Everybody else, all the other pilgrims were doing the same thing.

Well, we're getting on the bus and we're leaving, and we hear this sound. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

There is another truck coming in, backing up and dumping all the rocks to replace the rocks that the pilgrims had pilfered.

All right. Well, how do we, how do we solve this problem? What do we do? Well, there's two different words used for anointing in the

New Testament in these contexts. One is to rub, and one is to kind of dab, right?

One is more medicinal rubbing, and the other is more symbolic, right?

That kind of deal. Two words for anoint. And the one that's used here is going to surprise you.

You're going to think it's this one. Now, I know they wouldn't do that back then, but I was never a

Catholic, but I was like, is this it right here? Is that right? Except it's reversed here on the

Facebook. This is rubbing.

Is this medicinal? What's going on here? This is amazing. Let me tell you what

I think is happening, and we can kind of maybe go back and redo it. The person's weak. They're spiritually weak.

What do you think would be helpful to a spiritually weak person? A prop? To an aid?

I mean, faith is invisible. God is invisible. Would the Lord Jesus ever use an instrument?

Would he ever use something tangible, tactile, sensual, sensual, sensual, pertaining to the senses?

He could just heal a blind man. Would he ever spit into the mud and put some kind of mud on the man's eyes?

One writer said, It is more adequate to say that the anointing is for the purpose of symbolizing tangibly the setting apart of the man to the miraculous healing work of God.

It would be an aid to his faith by prompting a sense of expectancy. Jacob anointed the stone at Bethel to identify it as symbolizing the house of God in which he had been a guest.

When he poured oil upon it, it was not to make it well. Okay, I like that.

Let me give you a quote from Daniel Doriani along those same lines. More likely, the anointing stimulated the faith of the sick person.

Jesus sometimes called the sick aside for private conversation and touched them before healing them. Once before healing a deaf and mute man, he put his fingers on his ears, spat, and touched the saliva on the man's tongue.

And that day, some believe that saliva of a great man contained his life power. Considering how difficult it is to communicate with a deaf mute,

Jesus' goal seems to have been to prepare the man for healing by using an unusual sign of his intentions.

Similarly, oil is a sign of God's power to heal. Thus, the anointing has spiritual meaning.

Do you see that? Mike's watching now, too. Good to see you, Mike. I hope to see you tomorrow. Good to see you,

Mike, as well. It's a prop. It's a helper for someone who is especially weak and struggling.

So let's go back to the text again and see what it says. Let him call for the elders of the church, if you're spiritually weak, and let them pray over him.

You get strong people to pray for you. Anointing him, and you could ceremonially do it or you could rub it.

It could be kind of like a rubbing on the forehead. That's what I would do. I'd rub some oil on the forehead. I'd say,

I'm getting some oil here. I'd read the passage. I'm going to rub this on your forehead, right? I'd have the elders with me.

It doesn't have to be every elder, but at least one other elder to make it elders. And let them pray over him.

So you're praying, and also we're expecting God to do something great. And here's a nice, and I don't mean to say this in a negative way, prop, but it's like a prop to help this weak person go, oh, yes, now

I understand. Anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. That's what's happening.

And this is the kindness of God. This is the goodness of God, this symbol of healing oil.

And you've got these men who come and pray for the person who can't pray. I think that's what's going on.

Now, what happened here once at church is somebody a long time ago got cancer and they called me and said, would you have the elders come and pray?

I have cancer and I'm going to have a bunch of procedures done, etc. Actually, it was prostate cancer. And I didn't know much about prostate cancer at the time.

Now I now know. And I said, you know what? I will do that.

But first, let me tell you what I think the passage means. And if you still think it means for a physical healing, we'll come over.

But if you do some study and you see that it's, in fact, a spiritually weak person, then

I won't anoint you with oil. We'll just pray for you, right? We don't have to come over to your house. If you're so concerned, see, now here's where the tie -in comes.

I remember when I got prostate cancer, I was so distraught about this physical condition that I think it almost made me spiritually weak.

Or at least I should say I struggled with the weakness because I thought, you know what? How can this all be happening, etc., etc.?

I realized how self -righteous I really was, how weak I was, how frail I was, how

I need the Lord Jesus, how I need good news preached to me every day, how I need to walk by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave

Himself for me, how He would never leave me nor forsake me or abandon me, even though I had these things, how

He knew, how He was compassionate and merciful. But I could see how that would lead to a state of being so spiritually weak, praise the

Lord, that never happened. Although I struggled with weakness, I didn't become so paralyzed with weakness.

I'd have to say, elders, you're going to have to come over and pray for me. But I could see how it'd be related.

It could be spiritual that would lead to, I mean, can you think about it? I don't get enough sleep and I'm crabby, right?

Or I don't eat and I complain, right? It's no excuse for ungodly behavior, hormonal changes throughout the month.

It's no excuse for behavior that's sinful, but it certainly contributes to it. It makes it easier to sin and it makes it harder to obey, yet no excuse before the

Lord, but that's just the fact. Here you have someone and they're struggling physically and it could lead to this, or it could be nothing to do with spiritual and they are spiritually weak and they call for the elders.

So anyway, I've got 30 seconds here on No Compromise Radio. It does say in verse 15, we'll have to get to this another time.

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he's committed sin, he will be forgiven. Well, that's no fair.

Aren't you supposed to deal with that on No Compromise Radio? Don't you want to know the answer to what that is? This is some kind of like teaser, right?

This is a, you have to toot it in same time, you know, same channel, same everything else. Well, you can study it on your own.

Thanks for watching. My name is Mike Abendroth. This is No Compromise Radio. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God's word through verse by verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.