Question:
Read Mark 16:17. Should each individual believer today do these things?
Answer:
These signs were used before Christianity was established to show that there was a super-natural power in the Lord and His disciples, so that those who were unsaved would be convinced.
The “signs” mentioned in Mark 16 were used to show God’s power to the lost. In Acts 28 Paul was shipwrecked and he spoke to those who had not heard the Word. God used him as a vehicle to heal them so they could see God’s power and believe the word Paul spoke to be of God. The rich man in Luke 16:27 thought that if Lazarus were raised from the dead, his friends would be saved because of such a miraculous act. But the Lord tells us in that story that a person has to see the truth in the Word before he can be blessed spiritually. The real test of a faith healer would be if he would raise someone from the dead. All healing comes from God, and He heals according to His will.
James 5:14 says that the prayer of faith (not the elders) can heal the sick. We are told to confess our faults one to another and pray one for another to be healed. Some sicknesses are a chastening of the Lord which can be used to heal the spiritual need. All healing comes from God, and He heals according to His will.
Matthew 8:17, “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses,” refers to Christ’s life ministry, not His death on the cross. This does not mean that He took our infirmities away, but that He bore them for us in His life and healed many who were sick. This is in contrast to 1 Peter 2:24, where Christ bore away our sins on the tree. Matthew does not refer to the cross, but 1 Peter does. 1 Peter refers to a spiritual healing, “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25). Eventually in the glory all believers will have a total healing, but our infirmities are used of the Lord now to humble us, cause us to trust Him for strength, and thus cause us to serve Him more.Just because prayer may lead to healing does not mean that we should not see a doctor. Luke was a doctor (Colossians 4:14), and the Lord makes reference to physicians when He said, “They that be whole need not a physician; but they that are sick” (Luke 5:31). If we pray about it and seek the Lord’s mind, we will know if He wants us to go to a doctor or not. He will also lead us to the proper physician. Maybe our work is done here and He wants us to come home to be with Himself. We should never demand for the Lord to heal us. We should ask Him to make the decision for us, so that all works out for His glory.