Big Healing Book - Who Can Lay Hands on the Sick in Mark 16, Apostles or All Believers?

Who Can Lay Hands on the Sick in Mark 16, Apostles or All Believers?

All believers.

Mark 16:15-18:
And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Jesus said that these signs shall follow them that believe, not just them that preach so that others believe.

According to what He said, there would be two classes of hearers. One class would believe and be baptized and be saved. The other class would not believe and be damned. And then He said that certain signs would follow those who believe. That refers to the people who were preached to who were in the first category of hearers. They heard the Word preached and believed it. These people were not the apostles themselves, but rather those who would believe because of their preaching. They were “normal” believers. THEY would lay hands on the sick and they would recover. That is NORMAL Christianity.

Stephen was not an apostle, but he did signs and wonders. Philip held no ministry office as we think of one today when he started a citywide revival in Samaria. (He later held the ministry office of evangelist, not apostle.)

God did not confirm the apostles. He confirmed the Word that they preached with signs following. Since His Word is the same today, we should expect God to confirm it with accompanying signs today.

There is no record of any apostle being poisoned in the book of Acts. This is a promise that has been found true by preachers in our day, but none of the apostles fulfilled it as far as we know. This is further evidence that the “signs” part of the Great Commission would be for all believers – including you – today, not just for the original Apostles of the Lamb.

Paul was NOT one of the original apostles who heard Jesus’ commission in person. However, he went out and healed sick people just as they did. You don’t have to be one of the original Apostles of the Lamb to heal the sick!

Jesus appointed seventy preachers who were not identified as apostles (Luke 10:1). They were commanded to heal the sick (Luke 10:8-9) just as the apostles were commanded to heal the sick. They obeyed Jesus and came back rejoicing that even the demons were subject to the name of Jesus (Luke 10:17-20).

Therefore, people who are not apostles CAN lay hands on the sick and see them recover. That includes YOU!