[continued from previous message]   
      
           spirits and discern believers based on character, doctrine, and   
           love, not on outward wonders. Signs and wonders had fulfilled   
           their purpose; now, it was the enduring fruit of the Spirit   
           that proved who belonged to God.   
      
         8) James was talking about healing for those who repent of sin.   
      
           James 5:14–16 is not a blanket promise of miraculous healing for   
           every illness. The context makes it clear that James is   
           addressing sickness brought on by sin—chastening from God meant   
           to lead a believer to repentance. The Greek word for “sickâ€� in   
           verse 14 is *astheneÅ   
   *, which can mean physical illness but is   
           frequently used to describe spiritual weakness. For example, in   
           Romans 14:1, Paul says, “As for the one who is *weak* in faith,   
           welcome him,â€� and in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “For when I am   
           *weak*, then I am strong.â€� Likewise, in 1 Corinthians 8:11–12,   
           the *weaker brother* is spiritually vulnerable, not physically   
           ill. These uses show the flexibility of *astheneÅ   
   *, and that   
           its meaning depends on context.   
      
           In verse 15, James uses the even rarer word *kamnÅ   
   *, which also   
           points to spiritual weariness. It appears only one other time   
           in the New Testament, in Hebrews 12:3, where believers are   
           exhorted to consider Christ “so that you may not grow weary   
           (*kamnÅ   
   *) or fainthearted.â€� It describes spiritual exhaustion,   
           not physical disease.   
      
           But the clearest evidence comes in verse 16, which begins with   
           “Thereforeâ€�—“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and   
           pray for one another, that you may be healedâ€� (James 5:16,   
           ESV). That *therefore* ties the healing directly to *confession   
           of sin*. The entire section builds toward this conclusion. The   
           sick person is not simply physically unwell; he is spiritually   
           compromised, likely under divine discipline. He calls the   
           elders, not for a healing show, but for spiritual help. The   
           elders pray, he confesses, and God forgives and heals. This is   
           a spiritual restoration process, not a display of sign gifts.   
      
           So James 5 is not about modern faith healers or miracle crusades.   
           It’s about a straying believer who is restored through humble   
           confession, elder-led prayer, and the mercy of God. The healing   
           comes because the sin is addressed, and God’s hand of   
           chastening is lifted. It’s a passage about repentance and   
           restoration—not miracles on demand.   
      
         9) Real healers in the Bible were being thronged by the masses.   
      
           In Scripture, whenever God truly empowered someone with the gift   
           of healing, the result was immediate, public, and overwhelming.   
           People *thronged* them—pressing in from every side, desperate   
           to be healed. This was not a controlled environment with dim   
           lighting and soft music. It was chaotic, urgent, and public.   
      
           When Jesus healed, crowds flooded to Him. “And great crowds came   
           to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled,   
           the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and   
           he healed themâ€� (Matthew 15:30, ESV). Mark records, “So that   
           Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in   
           desolate places, and *people were coming to him from every   
           quarter*â€� (Mark 1:45, ESV). The demand was so intense that   
           people tore through roofs (Mark 2:4), pressed through crowds   
           (Mark 5:27), and followed Him for miles, sometimes without food   
           (Mark 8:2).   
      
           The apostles experienced the same. “They even carried out the   
           sick into the streets… that at least Peter's shadow might fall   
           on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around   
           Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean   
           spirits, and they were all healedâ€� (Acts 5:15–16, ESV). Note   
           that: *all* were healed.   
      
           Today, modern so-called healers don’t experience anything like   
           this. They set up scheduled services, carefully stage   
           environments, and limit what can be seen or verified. People   
           are not bringing their terminally ill family members from every   
           direction. City hospitals remain full. Paralyzed children do   
           not leap from wheelchairs en masse. There are no accounts of   
           entire neighborhoods being emptied of the sick because   
           someone’s shadow passed by.   
      
           This alone speaks volumes. The biblical healers had *real*,   
           public, and undeniable power. That power drew the desperate in   
           droves. The absence of such crowds around modern “healersâ€� is   
           not an accident—it is evidence that the sign gift of healing,   
           as described in the New Testament, has ceased.   
      
         10) Real Bible healers cured people immediately and completely.   
      
           In Scripture, when God granted the gift of healing, the results   
           were immediate and complete—never partial, never delayed. There   
           are no examples of someone being told, “Go home and recover   
           over the next few weeks.â€� Healing happened on the spot, in full   
           view of others, and with undeniable effect.   
      
           In Matthew 8:3, Jesus touched a leper and “immediately his   
           leprosy was cleansed.â€� In Matthew 9:6–7, Jesus told the   
           paralyzed man, “Rise, pick up your bed and go home. And he rose   
           and went home.â€� When Peter healed the lame man at the temple   
           gate, Acts 3:7–8 says, “And immediately his feet and ankles   
           were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk.â€�   
           Not only did he walk—he *leapt*.   
      
           There was no therapy, no slow improvement, no uncertainty. In   
           Acts 9:34, Peter told Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight   
           years, “Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.â€� He got   
           up *at once*. The results were total and instantaneous.   
      
           This is categorically different from what is claimed today.   
           Modern “healingsâ€� are often described as gradual, emotional, or   
           internal—things that cannot be verified on the spot. But   
           biblical healing required no process, and no interpretation.   
           The blind could see, the deaf could hear, the lame could walk,   
           and it happened instantly. Anything less does not match the   
           pattern God set through Christ and His apostles.   
      
           Some point to the healing in Mark 8—not John—where Jesus first   
           restores a man’s sight partially, then fully, as evidence that   
           healing in the Bible was sometimes gradual. But a closer look   
           shows this was a unique, purposeful exception—not the norm—and   
           even then, the healing was complete within moments.   
      
           Mark 8:23–25 says that Jesus spit on the man’s eyes and laid His   
           hands on him. The man said, “I see people, but they look like   
           trees, walking.â€� Then Jesus laid His hands on his eyes again,   
           and “he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw   
           everything clearly.â€�   
      
           This was not a healing that took place over hours or days. It   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)