The Laying On Of Hands

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. An ordinance is an outward ceremony that has a spiritual or an inner meaning. and I'd like to just look at the different ordinances and look at the outward and look at the inward with you [00:00:31] if you will bear with me just as an introduction to the message this morning. Marriage is the union of a man and a woman, a coming together of a man and a woman and that's the outside thing, that's what we see. The spiritual significance of that, of course, is the marriage of Christ to his church. and that is what the ordinance of marriage symbolizes, the union of Christ and the church. [00:01:03] And we as members of the church can make that very personal to ourselves. Baptism, when we pour water on the head of the applicant for baptism, that is the part that we see. But it symbolizes the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on that young person's life. which is the new birth and that is what baptism symbolizes. Feet washing, perhaps we could say that feet washing symbolizes the love that we have for our brother [00:01:41] but I believe the servant, the heart of a servant that we have toward one another is really the humble, we might say the humble heart of a servant that we have toward one another. And Christ, of course, symbolized that. The feet washing is that which we see, but the servant's heart is the inner truth that is symbolized here. And the holy kiss, as I said, that's what we see on the outside. [00:02:13] The love in the heart is what it symbolizes. The anointing with oil, and that is one that I do hope to cover at a later date. The oil symbolizes the healing that only God can give. You know, people are healed. We all know what it's like to have certain injuries, and we know what it's like to experience healing. And that is easier for some bodies to, it's easier for that to happen to some of us than others, depending on what our health situation is. [00:02:44] But I would like for us to remember and some of the doctors that we have gone to have said we can only make conditions right for healing. We cannot heal. And I think that is correct and it is correct also about other things. Healing is from God and the oil symbolizes that healing power. Communion, the bread and the cup symbolize the body and the blood of Jesus Christ [00:03:15] Also it symbolizes that common union that we have one with another And the headship order veiling symbolizes the headship order of God, Christ, man and woman Now, the 8th ordinance, it was Brother Daniel who suggested this And I don't know if it was original with him or not But he said an eighth ordinance would be that of laying on of hands. And that is the part that we see, the laying on of hands on a person's head. [00:03:50] and the meaning, the spiritual meaning there is that of a spiritual blessing imparted on that person or a special anointing, a setting apart for service in a particular area, a different realm of service. I looked in my Vines Dictionary on laying on of hands and by the way, laying on of hands can mean different things and I would just like for us to understand [00:04:22] I'm going to say some things that it is not and that's always dangerous because sometimes people don't get the negative don't get the not in there and they only get this is but this is what it is not the first one here in Acts you have on several different occasions that people received the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the apostles hands And I read what Vines had to say about the laying on of hands, and at first it did not, I read this and it didn't occur to me, somehow things did not fall in place for me. [00:05:02] And then I looked, oh, that's definition A, and this is the one it is not. The laying on of hands by the apostles accompanied by the impartation of the Holy Ghost in outward demonstration. and then it goes on to say that this is not something that has been continued and I was thinking they're saying the laying on of hands has not continued and I said whoa, maybe I shouldn't be preaching this message this morning but then I looked and oh there is a B here [00:05:34] and B is what we are talking about this morning I'd like to just read a little bit of what they say the B is what I have already mentioned and you will see that here of a similar act by the elders of a church on occasions when a member of the church was set apart for a particular work having given evidence of qualifications necessary for it as in the case of Timothy the impartation of a spiritual gift through the laying on of the hands of the Apostle Paul [00:06:05] and it goes on and talks about that and the laying on of hands of the brethren on Paul and Barnabas and we'll be looking at those in a little bit more detail That is not something that has been discontinued. The other is something that they said was temporary. It was so that the Jews would recognize the difference in people's lives because of the laying on of hands. And not only the laying on of hands, but the spiritual thing that followed, which was the impartation of the Holy Spirit. [00:06:37] The Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of hands. Now, having said what I have said, perhaps it would be good just to look at a few scriptures, even scriptures when I say this is not what we are talking about. If you would turn with me to Acts, and I'd just like to look at a number of definitions here. Acts chapter 18. There are two verses here that I would like to read. [00:07:11] I'm sorry, it's Acts chapter 8. Somehow, 18 didn't look right to me. Acts chapter 8, verses 17 and 18. To give you the background of this, see, was it Philip that was preaching here? No. I think it was, and it's not quite... And Philip, yes, in verse 5, and Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. [00:07:41] And there was a certain man there that believed, Simon the Sorcerer, and he was a part of the church there, we see, but then in verse 17 and 18, maybe we should read verse 15 as well, because the disciples Peter and John came down, and verse 15, who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. [00:08:12] For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost. Now read until verse 19 there. This is the imparting of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands. It is not what we are talking about this morning. [00:08:45] I was blessed being here on Friday evening. I don't know if any of you were here or not. There were very few of our numbers here. By the testimony of a man who was in the military, he gave his life story from when he was born. and he was in the military and he was looking at classified documents. On the bottom of the stack of the classified documents was a tract, how to be saved. How it got there, I'm not sure. And how that came to be a classified document, I don't know. [00:09:18] But through that tract, he came to know the Lord. Did he need somebody to lay hands on him to receive the Holy Spirit? I don't believe so. He had the new birth experience as the result of that. He grew up in a home. His mother was born a Catholic. His father, I think a Methodist, if I remember correctly. And I didn't, he was a little bit difficult for me to understand. He didn't talk into the mic. It was a little bit hard to hear, but it was an intriguing testimony. And it blessed my heart. [00:09:50] But that man received the Holy Ghost, I think, by just simply reading and by acting upon what he found out through that tract. It was a blessing to me. In Acts chapter 19, we have another case that, again, this is not what we are looking at this morning, but I'd just like to look at it. Paul came to Ephesus in verse 1 it says [00:10:22] and he found people who had believed but he made a discovery and that was that they had not received the Holy Spirit and he asked them a question I think and they answered that they had only been baptized into John's baptism They did what they knew. They were people who were seeking, but they had not received the Holy Spirit. And in verse 6 it says, and when Paul, well, verse 5, And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [00:10:55] And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied. The Holy Ghost came on them with Paul's laying on of hands. And again, that is not what we are looking at. That is one definition, or that's one of the things that has happened through the laying on of hands. And maybe we'll just look at the definition. The second one is the one that I would like to look at, the impartation of a special gift, or setting a person apart for a special calling is the second one, and you might add or refine that a little bit. [00:11:32] There is another thing that happened when people laid hands on people's heads. You will find one of these in Acts chapter 28 verse 8 where Paul was after the shipwreck. They came up on this island and you remember that the father of Publius who was the governor of that island was sick, was a fever. And I think it said a little bit more than that. But you read there in verse 28 that Paul laid his hand on the man's head and the man was healed as a result of that. [00:12:07] Mark chapter 6 verse 5. You again have a scripture that talks about the laying on of hands of sick people and they were healed. Now there is another meaning to laying on of hands that is completely apart from this. There is probably some similarity in the first three, and we'll go back and look at number two here in a little bit more depth. But there is another one that is, if you look, as I was looking at laying on of hands, I found, oh, there are scriptures that talk about laying on of hands. [00:12:44] And it's an act of violence. It is not the blessing that we are talking about. Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 21, you find that Nehemiah threatened people. They were coming in to sell their wares on the Sabbath. And he told them once, he said, you don't do that again. They came, they were on the outside of the wall, and I suppose people could go out there and buy. And he went out and told them, if you don't quit, I'm going to lay hands on you. And that was not the laying on of hand of a blessing. [00:13:15] That was, I'm going to take action. I will see that you don't do this. But those are the different meanings. Now, coming back to number two, I would like to just simply look at some of these with you, if you would. There is a forerunner, I think, in the Old Testament. There is a situation. If you will turn with me to Numbers chapter 27. Numbers chapter 27, when Joshua was receiving the charge, I believe it was. [00:13:50] Numbers chapter 27 verse 18 And the Lord said unto Moses Now this is what we are talking about, by the way. I've given you some negatives. This is the positive. This is what we are talking about. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thine hand upon him, and set him before Eliezer the priest, and before all the congregation, and give him a charge in their sight. [00:14:20] And thou shalt put some of thine honor upon him that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. God was saying, Moses, your time is up. Pass on the torch. Pass on the mantle to your successor. And that successor was going to be Joshua. And he did that through the laying on of hands. Through laying his hand, I suppose, on Joshua's head. I don't think it says here. But that is what we are talking about here. Now, I will not be touching on this. [00:14:54] It just occurred to me that this is something we see happening when we have ordinations here. The laying on of our hand on the head of somebody who is to receive the gift, the special anointing of God to serve in that place. All of us who are ministers here, I believe, have experienced that, and it is a blessing. Now, turn with me to Acts. There are several places in Acts that it talks about what we are talking about here today. [00:15:30] We talked about some of them that were different, some of them that was more of a temporary thing, But I think in Acts chapter 6, we see here where the hand was laid on the head, and in this case it was not of, they didn't ordain just one, they ordained seven. I'm not sure how they came to that number, but they did. And let's just look at the instructions beginning in verse 3 of Acts chapter 6. [00:16:00] Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. The business of taking care of the poor is what they're talking about. The ordination of the seven deacons is what we have at hand here. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word and the saying, please, the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. [00:16:37] And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them, and the word of God increased, and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. But verse to verse 6 is really where I wanted to stop reading there. Here we have the laying on of the hands, and this was at an ordination. We do not only lay hands on the head of somebody for an ordination, but we do at that time. [00:17:09] And they also did that here. They had a need in their churches. And if you will recall, there was a complaint that came to these people. Our widows are not being taken care of, they said. And I think it was the Greeks that were complaining, as I recall. They were not the Jewish Christians. It was a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, it says here. Were they Grecian Jews? I'm not sure. They said, our needs are not being taken care of. [00:17:42] And so they just simply made a proposal, and it pleased the people, and they took care of setting apart people for that particular task. In Acts chapter 13, the first several verses here, begin reading at verse 2 here. Here the church at Antioch, there were a number of people that were together. There are five that are named. I am sure there were probably more. But there were five that were named here at least. [00:18:15] Maybe we should just begin reading at verse 1. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon, that was called Niger, and Lucia, so Cyrene, and Manion, which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. [00:18:51] So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. That's as far as I choose to read here. The brethren here, the Holy Ghost did the initiating here. In Acts chapter 6, people recognized that there was a need. Here, the people were ministering to God, it says. They were praying. They were fasting. And the Holy Ghost said, did he speak in an audible voice? [00:19:22] I'm not sure. It doesn't tell us how they said this. but the Holy Ghost said there is a work that I have for some brethren here and I want you to just simply be instrumental in setting them apart and so they prayed after they had fasted and prayed it says here further in verse 3 they laid hands on them and they sent them away I don't know how much Paul and Barnabas knew about the work they were called to at this point [00:19:55] But they sent them away. There they went. Maybe a little bit like Abraham went out. But they pronounced a blessing on them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit to do this work. And they were, I think they got a special filling of the Spirit to do this work. Matthew Henry in writing about the laying on of hands what I am talking about now said this [00:20:26] the laying on of hands was anciently used in a blessing or in imparting a blessing on people and that is what we are talking about here it can be something that people look back on I don't know what my fellow ministers would say about this, but the hand of the Lord on a person and the hand of the servant of the Lord on a person does something to us that we are a blessing to other people. [00:21:02] I would like to just simply, I don't have a great deal more to say about the laying on of hands, but I would like to just simply explore ways that you and I can lay hands, and I say that with a grain of salt, on people and support them in work. I would like to just simply share something with you, I may share with other people that can be a blessing, a support in their work. [00:21:38] What does it do to you? I'd like to ask you a question. I'd like to tell you something that happened to several friends, several mutual friends of mine. What does it do to you when you're going through a trial? You're going through a time in life, maybe it's a dry period, maybe it's a trial in relationships with other people, and somebody comes to you, lays their hand on your shoulder and says, brother or sister as the case might be, I know you're going through something and I'm praying for you. It gives a lift, doesn't it? [00:22:10] And the laying on of the hand on that person's shoulder is optional. In fact, if it's a brother and a brother to a sister, that may not be appropriate. But that we support that brother through our prayers or through our words of encouragement is a very important facet. And as I think of Leroy's going back to Romania, I trust that we can be that kind of blessing to them. [00:22:41] Coming to the situation at hand that I would like to tell you about. This is a friend that I have, that's a dear friend of mine. He told me what happened to him. He is also a minister. He was given a topic at a youth fellowship meetings. And he told me what happened when he was trying to prepare for this message at a youth fellowship meetings. He said, it just didn't come. [00:23:13] And if you have studied for a message, I think you would identify somewhat with that person. But he said, I spent time, I wrote down some things, but it just didn't gel. It was not coming together. And, you know, it was not just an ordinary meeting. It was a meeting where there were going to be a lot of people there. His fellow minister recognized that he was going through a struggle. And one day he came to him and he just said his name and he said, I'm praying for you. [00:23:49] Yeah, right. My friend said to him, and he said, I'll do more than that. I'll pray with you. And they knelt. And they prayed. My friend still didn't get a lot of inspiration. In fact, he told me I went to that meeting, I didn't know what was going to happen, but I shared that which the Lord gave me. And he didn't know how the Lord's blessing was upon that message until he felt led to give a given invitation. [00:24:28] By the outpouring of response, in that invitation, he came to recognize that sometimes God needs to use us in our weakness. Not the way we would like to come across to people, but sometimes it's hard for us to get out of the way and just let God be seen. That is what my brother learned in that particular situation. And it was a blessing to him. It was humbling to him. He recognized that God was telling him all the time, just move out of the way. Just let me minister. [00:25:14] But being that supporting person when our brethren have needs is more important than we can recognize, I think. being that person that prays I think the other brother laid his hand on him I'm not even sure about that that's not what's important the important thing that I see is the support of the one person to the other person you know it really doesn't matter so much how the Lord moves [00:25:45] but the important thing is that the Lord move and that we are open to let the Lord use us in whatever way he desires to support, to be a blessing to other people. You know, it really doesn't matter so much whether we are in places where we are seen a great deal or whether we are in places where we are seen very little. [00:26:15] So, it is important for us, though, that we learn the truth that this brother, this friend of mine learned when he learned that sometimes God wants us to get out of the way and just let him minister. And it's a pretty hard lesson because you see our reputation is at stake and it's not nice. We don't want to be a failure but sometimes we need to just simply let the Lord take over [00:26:51] and we need to encourage one another in that. It doesn't matter whether the role that you play is one that is conspicuous or inconspicuous. conspicuous. The fact that God sees is important. And the fact that we are faithful in that role is important. We don't see the things that support this church house. Are they important? Of course they are. I wouldn't want to be inside this church house if they were removed. And you wouldn't either. [00:27:21] You know, whatever the place is that God is calling you to, may you fill that place. And it doesn't matter, as I said, whether it's a conspicuous place or an inconspicuous place. Sometimes God wants us who are in conspicuous places to just simply play the role of an encourager to other people. Sometimes we are the ones being encouraged. And I would just like to say that your role as encouragers has been a blessing to me. [00:27:56] Sometimes you write a note, sometimes you just simply say, that was what I needed. Those are encouragements that I do not want to underestimate. I don't want you to underestimate those either. It is important that we are faithful. But it isn't important that we always see the way clear. It is important that we follow God. And sometimes we just wonder, Lord, how are you going to work this out? [00:28:31] I have several friends who thought they were called to be ministers. And I say this, these are people that I doubt if very many of you know, but neither one of these brethren was ordained by Lot. But it's a blessing to me. As I think of the first brother, this brother ended up serving the Lord for quite a number of years on the mission field. Was he instrumental in the work of the Lord? Sure he was. [00:29:05] Was he faithful? Yes, he was. He is still faithful today. I just met him just in the last month again. And his life has just been a real blessing to me, a confirmation of what it means to follow the Lord. And this brother is one that has learned the art of encouraging others, of exhorting others, as the need might be. and he is a dear friend of mine. He has shared some of the struggles that he has gone through [00:29:36] and I share some of those struggles. I have another brother. I have another brother friend who also was felt called to the ministry and as far as I know he was never in the lot to be a minister. Does that mean that he is not a faithful brother? Not at all. And I had in mind, I jotted down in my notes to tell you a little bit how the Lord is using his family. I'm going to just simply not say that because it's really not important how God is using his family. [00:30:11] It is important that God is using his family. And he is. This brother never was called to the ministry. Has his life been any less significant in God's sight? Not at all. God does not call us all to the same things but the truth is also that God calls all of us to an area of service and I would like to just encourage us this morning to figuratively lay your hand of blessing [00:30:44] on your brother, your sister where they need that encouragement because there are people that need that encouragement wherever we are. You know, I didn't spend a lot of time talking with Brother Leroy, but I could hear that there are times when Brother Leroy needs that hand of encouragement. Sister Judy needs that hand of encouragement or that word of encouragement. You know, we're going to be separated by miles, but we can still give that word of encouragement. [00:31:17] and may God help us in knowing how to do that. That word of encouragement is important. There is something else that is even more important and that is that we pray for one another. Are we doing that for one another? That is a very important thing that we need to do. I am reminded of we because of our office get some mailings from Gospel for Asia [00:31:52] and some of these pastors and many of them serve in India but they serve mostly in the what is it what they call the 1040 window Southeast Asia is a very largely unreached heavily populated area and China would be in that, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, there are quite a number. India would be in that window if I am not mistaken. But I am blessed as I read testimonies of pastors who go out and they are blessed when they receive a bicycle [00:32:31] because it increases their range of who they can reach. But many times people come to their church because that pastor was willing to go and visit them And perhaps there is a physical need in a home that they will pray for Perhaps it's a spiritual need, perhaps it's demon possession or oppression But they make it a point of praying for that person And they don't just pray one time If they don't receive an answer to their prayer, they persist in prayer [00:33:04] and I'm sure the Lord doesn't always heal but there are times when the Lord's healing Lord's hand of healing is upon a person who is not even a Christian and because of that they come to know the Lord. I have said and I think it is true that God works with us on the basis of our perceived need And I don't know if you understand what I'm saying. [00:33:36] Let me explain what I'm saying by that. Those people that those pastors are praying for know they have a need. There's no doubt. They don't have any other recourse. They don't have any place to go. Except this person comes in and offers this. Do you mind if I pray? Or many people come. Would you pray? The Lord works with us on the basis of our perceived need. I saw a church sign that I think alluded to that when they said God does not, I think they said God cannot fill anybody who is full of himself. [00:34:08] In other words, if I don't know that I have a need, God isn't going to fill that need. I have to recognize that I have a need. Why do we pray? Why did Jesus teach us to pray, give us this day our daily bread? How easy is it for you and me to pray that? When the pantry is full, the freezers are full, the basement is full, money in our bank account. Do we really mean that when we pray that? [00:34:42] Can we really mean that the way that some people pray that prayer? But Jesus was teaching us a principle here that we need to recognize our need when we come to him. And if we recognize our need, he is more than willing, he is wanting to supply that need. But unless we recognize that need, he is not going to fill it in us. May God help us to recognize that even though we have resources, if it weren't for his blessing, we wouldn't be eating our daily bread. [00:35:22] And I know that, and I am not, we have two freezers, our basement is full, there are just two of us. I say our basement is full, we have food in our basement, you understand what I'm saying by that. But we do well to learn what it is to give sacrificially. We do well to recognize that unless God blesses, we're not going to have food to eat. Or perhaps we won't have the health to use that food. [00:35:53] It is the blessing of God that we have these things. In Matthew chapter 5 verse 3 you know what it says in the King James Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven I think it says I like the Berkeley, the modern Berkeley rendering of that verse This is what it says Blessed are they who know their spiritual poverty for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [00:36:25] That is what I'm trying to say We need to recognize our spiritual poverty. We need to recognize what God is to us. And only as we do that will God supply our needs. You know, we are well acquainted with the widow that, was it Elisha? Elijah, I think. Elijah or Elisha was called to go to, how much food did she have? One more meal. [00:36:55] She said she's going to go fix that and die. Did she know her poverty? Indeed she did. And you and I need to recognize where we are in God's sight as well. May God help us to recognize our spiritual poverty. Notice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. If we recognize that there's nothing that I can bring to God, God needs to fill me, God needs to give me what I am in need of [00:37:29] and then and only then can we be used by Him.