In man two natures are combined. He is at the same time spirit and matter, heaven and earth, soul and body. For this reason, on one side he is the son of God, and on the other he is doomed to destruction because of the Fall; sin in his soul and sickness in his body bear witness to the right which death has over him. It is the twofold nature which has been redeemed by divine grace. When the
Psalmist calls upon all that is within him to bless the Lord for His benefits, he cries, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, Who... forgiveth all thine iniquities, Who healeth all thy diseases" (Psalm 103:2-3). When Isaiah foretells the deliverance of his people, he adds, "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity" (Isaiah 33:24).

This prediction was accomplished beyond all anticipation when Jesus the Redeemer came down to this earth. How numerous were the healings wrought by Him who was come to establish upon earth the kingdom of heaven! Whether by His own acts or whether afterwards by the commands which He left for His disciples, does He not show us clearly that the preaching of the Gospel and the healing of the sick went together in the salvation which He came to bring? Both are given as evident proof of His mission as the Messiah: "The blind receive their sight and the lame walk.., and the poor have the Gospel preached to them" (Matthew 11: 5). Jesus, who took upon Him the soul and body of man, delivers both in equal measure from the consequences of sin.

This truth is nowhere more evident or better demonstrated than in the history of the paralytic. The Lord Jesus begins by saying to him, "Thy sins be forgiven thee," [Matthew 9:5] after which He adds, "Arise, take up thy bed and go." The pardon of sin and the healing of sickness complete one the other, for in the eyes of God, who sees our entire nature, sin and sickness are as closely united
as the body and the soul. In accordance with the Scriptures, our Lord Jesus has regarded sin and sickness in another light than we have. With us sin belongs to the spiritual domain; we recognize that it is under God's just displeasure, justly condemned by Him, while sickness, on the contrary, seems only a part of
the present condition of our nature, and to have nothing to do with God's condemnation and His righteousness. Some go so far as to say that sickness is a proof of the love and grace of God.
But neither the Scripture nor yet Jesus Christ Himself ever spoke of sickness in this light, nor do they ever present sickness as a blessing, as a proof of God's love which should be borne with patience. The Lord spoke to the disciples of divers sufferings which they should have to bear, but when He speaks of sickness, it is always as of an evil caused by sin and Satan, and from which we
should be delivered. Very solemnly He declared that every disciple of His would have to bear his cross (Matthew 16:24), but He never taught one sick person to resign himself to be sick. Everywhere Jesus healed the sick, everywhere He dealt with healing as one of the graces belonging to the kingdom of heaven. Sin in the soul and sickness in the body both bear witness to the power of Satan, and "the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the Devil" (I John 3:8).

Jesus came to deliver men from sin and sickness that He might make known the love of the Father. In His actions, in His teaching of the disciples, in the work of the apostles, pardon and healing are always to be found together. Either the one or the other may doubtless appear more in relief, according to thedevelopment or the faith of those to whom they spoke. Sometimes it was healingwhich prepared the way for the acceptance of forgiveness, sometimes it was
forgiveness which preceded the healing, which, coming afterwards, became a seal to it. In the early part of His ministry, Jesus cured many of the sick, finding them ready to believe in the possibility of their healing. In this way He sought to influence hearts to receive Himself as He who is able to pardon sin. When He saw that the paralytic could receive pardon at once, He began by that which was
of the greatest importance; after which came the healing which put a seal on the pardon which had been accorded to him.

We see, by the accounts given in the Gospels, that it was more difficult for the Jews at that time to believe in the pardon of their sins than in divine healing. Now it is just the contrary. The Christian Church has heard so much of the preaching of the forgiveness of sins that the thirsty soul easily receives this message of grace; but it is not the same with divine healing; that is rarely poken of; the believers who have experienced it are not many. It is true that
healing is not given in this day as in those times, to the multitudes whom Christ healed without any previous conversion. In order to receive it, it is necessary to begin by confession of sin and the purpose to live a holy life.

This is without doubt the reason why people find more difficulty to believe in healing than in forgiveness; and this is also why those who receive healing receive at the same time new spiritual blessing, feel more closely united to the Lord Jesus, and learn to love and serve Him better. Unbelief may attempt to separate these two gifts, but they are always united in Christ. He is always the same Savior both of the soul and of the body, equally ready to grant pardon and
healing. The redeemed may always cry: "Bless the Lord, O my soul.., Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, Who healeth all thy diseases" (Psalm 103:2-3).
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CHAPTER II.
BECAUSE OF YOUR UNBELIEF
"Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you"
(Matthew 17:19-20).

 When the Lord Jesus sent His disciples into different parts of Palestine, He endued them with a double power, that of casting out unclean spirits and that of healing all sickness and all infirmity (Matthew 10:1). He did the same for the seventy who came back to Him with joy, saying, "Lord, even the spirits are subject unto us through Thy Name" (Luke 10:17). On the day of the Transfiguration, while the Lord was still upon the mountain, a father brought his son who was possessed with a demon, to His disciples, beseeching them to cast out the evil spirit, but they could not. When, after Jesus had cured the child, the disciples asked Him why they had been unable to do it themselves as in other cases, He answered them, "Because of your unbelief." It was, then, their unbelief, and not the will of God which had been the cause of their defeat.

In our days divine healing is very little believed in, because it has almost entirely disappeared from the Christian Church. One may ask the reason, and here are the two answers which have been given. The greater number think that miracles, the gift of healing included, should be limited to the time of the primitive Church, that their object was to establish the first foundation of Christianity, but that from that time circumstances have altered. Other believers say unhesitatingly that if the Church has lost these gifts, it is by
her own fault; it is because she has become worldly that the Spirit acts but feebly in her; it is because she has not remained in direct and habitual relation with the full power of the unseen world; but that if she were to see anew springing up within her men and women who live the life of faith and of the Holy Spirit, entirely consecrated to their God, she would see again the manifestation of the same gifts as in former times. Which of these two opinions
coincides the most with the Word of God? Is it by the will of God that the "gifts of healing" [I Corinthians 12:9] have been suppressed, or is it rather man who is responsible for it? Is it the will of God that miracles should not take place? Will He in consequence of this no longer give the faith which produces them? Or again, is it the Church which has been guilty of lacking faith?

What Does the Scripture Say?
The Bible does not authorize us, either by the words of the Lord or His apostles, to believe that the gifts of healing were granted only to the early times of the Church; on the contrary, the promises which Jesus made to the apostles when He gave them instructions concerning their mission, shortly before His ascension, appear to us applicable to all times (Mark 16:15-18).

Mark 16.15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My Name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 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.

Paul places the gift of healing among the operations of the Holy Spirit.  [1 Corinthians 12.9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;]

James gives a precise command on this matter without any restriction of time. [James 5.13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? 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: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may
be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.]

The entire Scriptures declare that these graces will be granted according to the measure of the Spirit and of faith. It is also alleged that at the outset of each new dispensation God works miracles, that it is His ordinary course of action; but it is nothing of the
kind. Think of the people of God in the former dispensation, in the time of Abraham, all through the life of Moses, in the exodus from Egypt, under Joshua, in the time of the Judges and of Samuel, under the reign of David and other godly kings up to Daniel's time; during more than a thousand years miracles took place.
But, it is said, miracles were much more necessary in the early days of Christianity than later. But what about the power of heathenism even in this day, wherever the Gospel seeks to combat it? It is impossible to admit that miracles should have been more needful for the heathen in Ephesus (Acts 19:11, 12) than for the heathen of Africa in the present day.

Acts 19.11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

And if we think of the ignorance and unbelief which reign even in the midst of the Christian nations, are we not driven to conclude that there is a need for manifest acts of the power of God to sustain the testimony of believers and to prove that God is with them? Besides, among believers themselves, how much of doubt, how much of weakness there is! How their faith needs to be awakened and
stimulated by some evident proof of the presence of the Lord in their midst. One part of our being consists of flesh and blood; it is therefore in flesh and blood that God wills to manifest His presence.
In order to prove that it is the Church's unbelief which has lost the gift of healing, let us see what the Bible says about it. Does it not often put us on our guard against unbelief, against all which can estrange and turn us from our God? Does not the history of the Church show us the necessity of these warnings? Does it not furnish us with numerous examples of backward steps, of world
pleasing, in which faith grew weak in the exact measure in which the spirit of the world took the upper hand? For such faith is only possible to him who lives in the world invisible.

[2 Corinthians 5.For we walk by faith, not by sight:)]

Until the third century the healings by faith in Christ were numerous, but in the centuries following they became more infrequent. Do we not know from the Bible that it is always unbelief which hinders the mighty working of God? Oh, that we could learn to believe in the promises of God! God has not gone back from His promises; Jesus is still He who heals both soul and body; salvation offers us even now healing and holiness, and the Holy Spirit is always ready to
give us some manifestations of His power. Even when we ask why this divine power is not more often seen, He answers us: "Because of your unbelief." The more we give ourselves to experience personally sanctification by faith, the more we shall also experience healing by faith. These two doctrines walk abreast. The more the Spirit of God lives and acts in the soul of believers, the more will
the miracles multiply by which He works in the body. Thereby the world can recognize what redemption means.
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CHAPTER III.
JESUS AND THE DOCTORS
"And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched His garment. For she said, If I may touch but His clothes, I
shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned Him about in the press, and said, Who touched My clothes? And His disciples said unto Him, Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me? And He
looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth. And He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague (Mark 5:25-34).

We may be thankful to God for having given us doctors. Their vocation is one of the most noble, for a large number of them seek truly to do, with love and compassion, all they are able to alleviate the evils and sufferings which burden humanity as a result of sin. There are even some who are zealous servants of Jesus Christ, and who seek also the good of their patients souls. Nevertheless it is Jesus Himself who is always the first, the best, the greatest Physician.

Jesus heals diseases in which earthly physicians can do nothing, for the Father gave Him this power when He charged Him with the work of our redemption. Jesus, in taking upon Him our human body, delivered it from the dominion of sin and Satan; He has made our bodies temples of the Holy Ghost and members of His own
body (I Corinthians 6:15, 19), and even in our day how many have been given up by the doctors as incurable, how many cases of tuberculosis, of gangrene, of paralysis, of dropsy, of blindness and of deafness, have been healed by Him! Is it not then astonishing that so small a number of the sick apply to Him?

The method of Jesus is quite another than that of earthly physicians. They seek
to serve God in making use of remedies which are found in the natural world, and
God makes use of these remedies according to natural law, according to the
natural properties of each, while the healing which proceeds from Jesus is of a
totally different order; it is by divine power, the power of the Holy Ghost,
that Jesus heals. Thus the difference between these two modes of healing is very
marked. That we may understand it better, let us take an example; here is a
physician who is an unbeliever, but extremely clever in his profession; many
sick people owe their healing to him. God gives this result by means of the
prescribed remedies, and the physicians knowledge of them. Here is another
physician who is a believer, and who prays God's blessing on the remedies which
he employs. In this case also a large number are healed, but neither in the one
case nor the other does the healing bring with it any spiritual blessing. They
will be preoccupied, even the believing among them, with the remedies which they
use, much more than with what the Lord may be doing with them, and in such a
case their healing will be more hurtful than beneficial. On the contrary, when
it is Jesus only to whom the sick person applies for healing, he learns to
reckon no longer upon remedies, but to put himself into direct relation with His
love and His almightiness. In order to obtain such healing, he must commence by
confessing and renouncing his sins, and exercising a living faith. Then healing
will come directly from the Lord, who takes possession of the sick body, and it
thus becomes a blessing for the soul as well as for the body.
But is it not God who has given remedies to man? it is asked. Does not their
power come from Him? Without doubt; but on the other hand, is it not God who has
given us His Son with all power to heal? Shall we follow the way of natural law
with all those who do not yet know Christ, and also with those of His children
whose faith is still too weak to abandon themselves to His almightiness; or
rather do we choose the way of faith, receiving healing from the Lord and from
the Holy Spirit, seeing therein the result and the proof of our redemption?
The healing which is wrought by our Lord Jesus brings with it and leaves behind
it more real blessing than the healing which is obtained through physicians.
Healing has been a misfortune to more persons than one. On a bed of sickness
serious thoughts had taken possession, but from the time of his healing how
often has a sick man been found anew far from the Lord! It is not thus when it
is Jesus who heals. Healing is granted after confession of sin; therefore it
brings the sufferer nearer to Jesus, and establishes a new link between him and
the Lord, it causes him to experience His love and power, it begins within him a
new life of faith and holiness. When the woman who had touched the hem of
Christ's garment felt that she was healed, she learned something of what divine
love means. She went away with the words: "Daughter, thy faith hath saved thee:
go in peace" (Mark 5:34).
O you who are suffering from some sickness, know that Jesus the sovereign Healer
is yet in our midst. He is close to us, and He is giving anew to His Church
manifest proofs of His presence. Are you ready to break with the world, to
abandon yourself to Him with faith and confidence? Then fear not, remember that
divine healing is a part of the life of faith. If nobody around you can help you
in prayer, if no elder is at hand to pray the prayer of faith, fear not to go
yourself to the Lord in the silence of solitude, like the woman who touched the
hem of His garment. Commit to Him the care of your body. Get quiet before Him
and like the poor woman say, I will be healed. Perhaps it may take some time to
break the chains of your unbelief, but assuredly none that wait on Him shall be
ashamed. "Yea, let none that wait on Thee be ashamed" (Psalm 25:3).
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CHAPTER IV.
HEALTH AND SALVATION BY THE NAME OF JESUS
"And His Name through faith in His Name hath made this man strong, whom ye see
and know: yea, the faith which is by Him hath given him this perfect soundness
in the presence of you all... Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of
Israel, that by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom ye crucified, Whom
God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you
whole... Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved"
(Acts 3:16; 4:10,12).
When after Pentecost, the paralytic was healed through Peter and John at the
gate of the temple, it was in "the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth" that they
said to him, "Rise up and walk," [Acts 3:6] and as soon as the people in their
amazement ran together to them, Peter declared that it was the name of Jesus
which had so completely healed the man.
As the result of this miracle and of Peters discourse, many people who had heard
the Word believed (Acts 4: 4).
Acts 4
4 Howbeit many of them which heard the Word believed; and the number of the
men was about five thousand.
On the morrow Peter repeated these words before the Sanhedrin, "By the Name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth... doth this man stand here before you whole;" and then
he added, "There is none other name under heaven... whereby we must be saved."
This statement of Peter's declares to us that the name of Jesus both heals and
saves. We have here a teaching of the highest import for divine healing.
We see that healing and health form part of Christ's salvation. Does not Peter
clearly state this in his discourse to the Sanhedrin where, having spoken of
healing, he immediately goes on to speak of salvation by Christ? (Acts 4:10,12).
In heaven even our bodies will have their part in salvation; salvation will not
be complete for us until our bodies shall enjoy the full redemption of Christ.
Why then should we not believe in this work of redemption here below? Even
already here on earth, the health of our bodies is a fruit of the salvation
which Jesus has acquired for us.
We see also that health as well as salvation is to be obtained by faith. The
tendency of man by nature is to bring about his salvation by his works, and it
is only with difficulty that he comes to receive it by faith; but when it is a
question of the healing of the body, he has still more difficulty in seizing it.
As to salvation, he ends it by accepting it because by no other means can he
open the door of heaven; while for the body, he makes use of well-known
remedies. Why then should he seek for divine healing? Happy is he who comes to
understand that it is the will of God; that God wills to manifest the power of
Jesus, and also to reveal to us His Fatherly love; to exercise and to confirm
our faith, and to make us prove the power of redemption in the body as well as
in the soul. The body is part of our being; even the body has been saved by
Christ; therefore it is in our body that our Father wills to manifest the power
of redemption, and to let men see that Jesus lives. Oh, let us believe in the
name of Jesus! Was it not in the name of Jesus that perfect health was given to
the impotent man? And were not these words: Thy faith hath saved thee,
pronounced when the body was healed? Let us seek then to obtain divine healing.
Wherever the Spirit acts with power, there He works divine healings. Would it
not seem that if ever miracles Were superfluous, it was at Pentecost, for then
the word of the apostles worked mightily, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit
was abundant? Well, it is precisely because the Spirit acted powerfully that His
working must needs be Visible in the body. If divine healing is seen but rarely
in our day, we can attribute it to no other cause than that the Spirit does not
act with power. The unbelief of worldlings and the want of zeal among believers
stop His working. The healings which God is giving here and there are the
precursory signs of all the spiritual graces which are promised to us, and it is
only the Holy Spirit who reveals the almightiness of the name of Jesus to
operate such healings. Let us pray earnestly for the Holy Spirit, let us place
ourselves unreservedly under His direction, and let us seek to be firm in our
faith in the name of Jesus, whether for preaching salvation or for the work of
healing.
God grants healing to glorify the name of Jesus. Let us seek to be healed by
Jesus that His name may be glorified. It is sad to see how little the power of
His name is recognized, how little it is the end of preaching and of prayer.
Treasures of divine grace, of which Christians deprive themselves by their lack
of faith and zeal, are hidden in the name of Jesus. It is the will of God to
glorify His Son in the Church; and He will do it wherever He finds faith.
Whether among believers, or whether among the heathen, He is ready with virtue
from on high to awaken consciences, and to bring hearts to obedience. God is
ready to manifest the all-power of His Son, and to do it in a striking way in
body as well as in soul. Let us believe it for ourselves, let us believe it for
others, for the circle of believers around us, and also for the Church in the
whole world. Let us give ourselves to believe with firm faith in the power of
the name of Jesus, let us ask great things in His name, counting on His promise,
and we shall see God still do wonders by the name of His holy Son.
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CHAPTER V.
NOT BY OUR OWN POWER
"And when Peter saw it he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel
ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or
holiness we had made this man to walk?"
(Acts 3:12).
As soon as the impotent man had been healed at the gate of the temple through
Peter and John, the people ran together unto them. Peter, seeing this miracle
was attributed to their power and holiness, loses no time in setting them right
by telling them that all the glory of this miracle belongs to Jesus, and that it
is He in whom we must believe.
Peter and John were undoubtedly full of faith and of holiness; perhaps even they
may have been the most holy and zealous servants of God in their time, otherwise
God might not have chosen them as instruments in this case of healing. But they
knew that their holiness of life was not of themselves, that it was of God
through the Holy Spirit. They think so little of themselves that they ignore
their own holiness and know only one thing that all power belongs to their
Master. They hasten, then, to declare that in this thing they count for nothing,
that it is the work of the Lord alone. This is the object of divine healing: to
be a proof of the power of Jesus, a witness in the eyes of men of what He is,
proclaiming His divine intervention, and attracting hearts to Him. Not "by our
own power or holiness." Thus is becomes those to speak whom the Lord is pleased
to use in helping others by their faith.
It is necessary to insist on this because of the tendency of believers to think
the contrary. Those who have recovered their health in answer to "the prayer of
faith" [James 5:15], "the supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its
working" (James 5:16, RV), are in danger of being too much occupied with the
human instrument which God is pleased to employ, and to think that the power
lies in mans piety.
Doubtless the prayer of faith is the result of real godliness, but those who
possess it will be the first to acknowledge that it does not come from
themselves, nor from any effort of their own. They fear to rob the Lord of the
least particle of the glory which belongs to Him, and they know that if they do
so, they will compel Him to withdraw His grace from them. It is their great
desire to see the souls which God has blessed through them enter into a direct
and increasingly intimate communion with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, since
that is the result which their healing should produce. Thus they insist that it
is not caused by their own power or holiness.
Such testimony on their part is necessary to reply to the erroneous accusations
of unbelievers. The Church of Christ needs to hear clearly announced that it is
on account of her worldliness and unbelief that she has lost these spiritual
gifts of healing (I Corinthians 12: 9) and that the Lord restores to those who,
with faith and obedience, have consecrated their lives to Him.
1 Corinthians 12
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the
same Spirit;
This grace cannot reappear without being preceded by a renewal of faith and of
holiness. But then, says the world, and with it a large number of Christians,
You are laying claim to the possession of a higher order of faith and holiness,
you consider yourselves holier than others. To such accusations this word of
Peter is the only reply before God and man, confirmed by a life of deep and real
humility: Not "by our own power or holiness." "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
but unto Thy Name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake" (Psalm
115:1). Such a testimony is also necessary in view of our own heart and of the
wiles of Satan. As long as, through the Church's unfaithfulness, the gifts of
healing are but rarely given, those children of God who have received these
gifts are in danger of priding themselves upon them, and of imagining that they
have in themselves something exceptionally meritorious. The enemy does not
forget to persecute them by such insinuations, and woe unto them if they listen
to him. They are not ignorant of his Y devices; therefore they need to pray
continually to the Lord to keep them in humility, the true means of obtaining
continually more grace. If they persevere in humility, they will recognize that
the more God makes use of them, the more also will they be penetrated with the
conviction that it is God alone who works by them, and that all the glory
belongs to Him. "Not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (I Corinthians
15:10). Such is their watchword.
Finally, this testimony is useful for the feeble ones who long for salvation,
and who desire to receive Christ as their Healer. They hear of full consecration
and entire obedience, but they form a false idea of it. They think they must in
themselves attain to a high degree of knowledge and of perfection, and they fall
a prey to discouragement. No, no; it is not by our own power or holiness that we
obtain these graces, but by a faith quite simple, a childlike faith, which knows
that it has no power nor holiness of its own, and which commits itself
completely to Him who is faithful, and whose almightiness can fulfill His
promise. Oh, let us not seek to do or to be anything of ourselves! It is only as
we feel our own powerlessness, and expect all from God and His Word that we
realize the glorious way in which the Lord heals sickness by faith in his name.
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CHAPTER VI.
ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF FAITH
"And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be
it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour"
(Matthew 8:13).
This passage of Scripture brings before us one of the principal laws of the
kingdom of heaven. In order to understand God's ways with His people, and our
relations with the Lord, it is needful to understand this law thoroughly and not
to deviate from it. Not only does God give or withhold His gifts according to
the faith or unbelief of each, but they are granted in greater or lesser
measure, only in proportion to the faith which receives them. God respects the
right to decide which He has conferred on man. Therefore He can only bless us in
the measure in which each yields himself up to His divine working, and opens all
his heart to Him. Faith in God is nothing else than the full opening of the
heart to receive everything from God; therefore man can only receive divine
grace according to his faith; and this applies as much to divine healing as to
any other grace of God.
This truth is confirmed by the spiritual blessings which may result from
sickness. Two questions are often asked:
(1) Is it not God's will that His children should sometimes remain in a
prolonged state of sickness?
 
(2) Since it is a recognized thing that divine healing brings with it greater
spiritual blessing than the sickness itself, why does God allow certain of His
children to continue sick through many years, and while in this condition give
them blessing in sanctification, and in communion with Himself?
The answer to these two questions is that God gives to His children according to
their faith. We have already had occasion to remark that in the same degree in
which the Church has become worldly, her faith in divine healing has diminished
until at last it has disappeared. Believers do not seem to be aware that they
may ask God for the healing of their sickness, and that thereby they may be
sanctified and fitted for His service. They have come to seek only submission to
His will and to regard sickness as a means to be separate from the world. In
such conditions the Lord gives them what they ask. He would have been ready to
give them yet more, to grant them healing in answer to the prayer of faith, but
they lacked the faith to receive it. God always meets His children where they
are, howsoever weak they may be. The sick ones, therefore, who have desired to
receive Him with their whole heart, will have received from Him the fruit of the
sickness in their desire that their will should be conformed to the will of God.
They might have been able to receive healing, in addition, as a proof that God
accepted their submission; if this has not been so, it is because faith has
failed them to ask for it.
"As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." These words give the reply to
yet another question:
(3) How can you say that divine healing brings with it so much of spiritual
blessing, when one sees that the greater number of those who were healed by
the Lord Jesus received nothing more than a deliverance from their present
sufferings, without giving any proof that they were also spiritually blessed?
Here again, as they believed, so was it done unto them.
A good number of sick people, having witnessed the healing of others, gained
confidence in Jesus just far enough to be healed, and Jesus granted them their
request, without adding other blessings for their souls. Before His ascension
the Lord had not as free an entrance as He now has into the heart of man,
because "the Holy Ghost was not yet given" (John 7:39). The healing of the sick
was then hardly more than a blessing for the body. It was only later, in the
dispensation of the Spirit, that the conviction and confession of sin have
become for the believer the first grace to be received, the essential condition
for obtaining healing, as St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Corinthians,
and James in his to the twelve tribes scattered abroad (I Corinthians 11:31,32;
James 5:16).
1 Corinthians 11
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be
condemned with the world.
James 5
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may
be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Thus the degree of spiritual grace which it is possible for us to receive
depends upon the measure of our faith, whether it be for its external
manifestation, or especially whether for its influence upon our inner life.
We recommend for every suffering one who is looking for healing, and who seeks
to know Jesus as his divine Healer, not to let himself be hindered by his
unbelief, not to doubt the promises of God, and thus to be strong in faith
giving glory to God as is His due. "As thou hast believed so be it done unto
thee." If with all your heart you trust in the living God you will be abundantly
blessed; do not doubt it.
The part of faith is always to lay hold on just that which appears impossible or
strange to human eyes. Let us be willing to be considered fools for Christ's
sake (I Corinthians 4:10).
1 Corinthians 4
10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but
ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
Let us not fear to pass for weak-minded in the eyes of the world and of such
Christians as are ignorant of these things, because, on the authority of the
Word of God, we believe that which others cannot yet admit. Do not, then, let
yourself be discouraged in your expectation even though God should delay to
answer you, or if your sickness be aggravated. Once having placed your foot
firmly on the immovable rock of God's own Word, and having prayed the Lord to
manifest His almightiness in your body because you are one of the members of His
Body, and the temple of the Holy Ghost, persevere in believing in Him with the
firm assurance that He has undertaken for you, that He has made Himself
responsible for your body, and that His healing virtue will come to glorify Him
in you.
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CHAPTER VII.
THE WAY OF FAITH
"And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I
believe; help Thou mine unbelief"
(Mark 9:24).
These words have been a help and strength to thousands of souls in their pursuit
of salvation and the gifts of God. Notice that it is in relation to an afflicted
child that they were pronounced, in the fight of faith when seeking healing from
the Lord Jesus. In them we see that in one and the same soul there can arise a
struggle between faith and unbelief, and that it is not without a struggle that
we come to believe in Jesus and in His all-power to heal the sick. In this we
find the needful encouragement for realizing the Saviors power.
[WStS Note: Concerning Mr. Murray's phrase: "a struggle between faith and
unbelief", we wish to comment. A honest Christian may have "a struggle between
faith and unbelief", but not between faith and the "sin" of unbelief. This
"struggle" to establish a position of faith would simply be an honest lack of
faith, (i.e., 'your faith groweth exceedingly' (2 Thessalonians 1:3).). When
an established position of faith turns back in unbelief, that is sin. "And
Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking
back, is fit for the Kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). Faith and sin cannot reside
in the same vessel at the same time.
"Sin, like faith, is an act of the will, but in opposition to and to the
exclusion of faith. 'Whatsoever is not of faith is sin' (Romans 14:23). It
is an impossibility to be both holy and sinful at the same time, just as it
is impossible to be dwelling in faith and sin in the same moment, e.g.,
Charles G. Finney labelled this concept, the Unity of Moral Action. [Please
read 'Unity of Moral Action' ---New Window by Charles G. Finney] 'No servant
can serve two masters: for either he will hate the One, and love the other;
or else he will hold to the One, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God
and mammon' (Luke 16:13)." --from "Must We Then Sin" ---New Window, by Tom
Stewart]
I speak here especially to sufferers who do not doubt the power or the will of
the Lord Jesus to heal in this day without the use of earthly remedies, but who
lack the boldness to accept healing for themselves. They believe in the divine
power of Christ, they believe in a general manner His good will to heal; they
have acquired, either by the Scriptures, or by facts of healings by the Lord
alone which have taken place in our days, the intellectual persuasion that the
Lord can help even them, but they shrink back from accepting healing, and from
saying with faith, The Lord has heard me, I know that He is healing me.
Take notice first that without faith no one can be healed. When the father of
the afflicted child said to Jesus, If thou canst do anything, have compassion on
us, and help us, Jesus replied: "If thou canst believe." [Mark 9:23] Jesus had
the power to heal and He was ready to do it, but He casts responsibility on the
man. "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."
[Mark 9:23] In order to obtain your healing from Jesus, it is not enough to
pray. Prayer without faith is powerless. It is "the prayer of faith" which saves
the sick (James 5:15). If you have already asked for healing from the Lord, or
if others have asked it for you, you must, before you are conscious of any
change, be able to say with faith, On the authority of God's Word I have the
assurance that He hears me and that I shall be healed. To have faith means in
your case to surrender your body absolutely into the Lord's hands, and to leave
yourself entirely to Him. Faith receives healing as a spiritual grace which
proceeds from the Lord even while there is no conscious change in the body.
Faith can glorify God and say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul... Who healeth all
[my] diseases" (Psalm 103:1-3). The Lord requires this faith that He may heal.
Psalm 103
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases;
But how is such faith to be obtained? Tell your God the unbelief which you find
in your heart,. and count on Him for deliverance from it. [WStS: Not the "sin"
of unbelief, but simply an honest lack of faith.] Faith is not money by which
your healing can be purchased from the Lord. It is He who desires to awaken and
develop in you the necessary faith. "Help Thou mine unbelief," cried the father
of the child. It was his ardent desire that his faith should not come short.
Confess to the Lord all the difficulty you have to believe Him on the ground of
His Word; tell Him you want to be rid of this unbelief, that you bring it to Him
with a will to hearken only to His Word. Do not lose time in deploring your
unbelief, but look to Jesus. The light of His countenance will enable you to
find the power to believe in Him (Psalm 44:3).
Psalm 43
3 O send out Thy Light and Thy Truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto
Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles.
He calls on you to trust in Him; listen to Him, and by His grace faith will
triumph in you. Say to Him, Lord, I am still aware of the unbelief which is in
me. I find it difficult to believe that I am sure of my healing because I
possess Him who works it. And, nevertheless, I want to conquer this unbelief.
Thou, Lord, wilt give me the victory. I desire to believe, I will believe, by
Thy grace I dare to say I can believe. Yes, Lord, I believe, for Thou comest to
the help of my unbelief. It is when we are in intimate communion with the Lord,
and when our heart responds to His, that unbelief is overcome and conquered.
[WStS: Not the "sin" of unbelief, but simply an honest lack of faith.]
It is needful also to testify to the faith one has. Be resolved to believe that
which the Lord says to you, to believe, above all, that which He is. Lean wholly
upon His promises. "The prayer of faith shall save the sick" [James 5:15]. "I am
the Lord that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26). Look to Jesus, who "bare our
sicknesses" (Matthew 8:17), and who healed all who came to Him; count on the
Holy Spirit to manifest in your heart the presence of Jesus who is also now in
heaven, and to work also in your body the power of His grace. Praise the Lord
without waiting to feel better, or to have more faith. Praise Him, and say with
David, "O Lord, my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me" (Psalm
30:2). Divine healing is a spiritual grace which can only be received
spiritually and by faith, before feeling its effect on the body. Accept it,
then, and give glory to God. When the Lord Jesus had commanded the unclean
spirit to come out of the child, he rent him sore, so that "he was as one dead,"
inasmuch as "many said, 'He is dead'" [Mark 9:26]. If, therefore, your sickness
does not yield at once, if Satan and your own unbelief attempt to get the upper
hand, do not heed them, cling closely to Jesus your Healer, and He will surely
heal you.
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CHAPTER VIII.
YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY GHOST
"Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the
members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid... What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's"
(I Corinthians 6:15, 19-20).
The Bible teaches us that the Body of Christ is the company of the faithful.
These words are taken generally in their spiritual sense, while the Bible asks
us positively whether we know not that our bodies are the members of Christ. In
the same way, when the Bible speaks of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit or of
Christ, we limit His presence to the spiritual part of our being. Nevertheless
the Bible says expressly, "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost?" When the Church understands that the body also has part in the
redemption which is by Christ, by which it ought to be brought back to its
original destiny, to be the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, to serve as His
instrument, to be sanctified by His presence, she will also recognize all the
place which divine healing has in the Bible and in the counsels of God.
The account of the creation tells us that man is composed of three parts. God
first formed the body from the dust of the earth, after which He breathed into
it "the breath of life" [Genesis 2:7]. He caused His own life, His Spirit, to
enter into it. By this union of Spirit with matter, the man became a "living
soul" [2:7]. The soul, which is essentially the man, finds its place between the
body and the spirit; it is the link which binds them together. By the body the
soul finds itself in relation to the external world; by the spirit, with the
world invisible and with God. By means of the soul, the spirit can subject the
body to the action of the heavenly powers and thus spiritualize it; by means of
the soul, the body also can act upon the spirit and attract it earthwards. The
soul, subject to the solicitations of both spirit and body, is in a position to
choose between the voice of God, speaking by the Spirit, or the voice of the
world, speaking through the senses.
This union of spirit and body forms a combination which is unique in the
creation; it makes man to be the jewel of God's work. Other creatures had
existed already; some, like angels, were all spirit, without any material body,
and others, like the animals, were only flesh, possessing a body animated with a
living soul, but devoid of spirit. Man was destined to show that the material
body, governed by the spirit, was capable of being transformed by the power of
the Spirit of God, and of being thus led to participate of heavenly glory.
We know what sin and Satan have done with this possibility of gradual
transformation. By means of the body, the spirit was tempted, seduced, and
became a slave of sense. We know also what God has done to destroy the work of
Satan and to accomplish the purpose of creation. "The Son of God was manifested
that he might destroy the works of the Devil" (I John 3:8). God prepared a body
for His Son (Hebrews 10:5).
Hebrews 10
5 Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering
Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me:
"The Word was made flesh" (John 1:14). "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). "Who His Own Self bare our sins in His Own
Body on the tree" (I Peter 2:24). And now Jesus, raised up from the dead with a
body as free from sin as His spirit and His soul, communicates to our body the
virtue of His glorified body. The Lord's Supper is "the communion of the body of
Christ"; and our bodies are "the members of Christ" (I Corinthians 10:16; 6:15;
12:27).
1 Corinthians
10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood
of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of
Christ?
6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take
the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Faith puts us in possession of all that the death of Christ and His resurrection
have procured for us, and it is not only in our spirit and our soul that the
life of the risen Jesus manifests its presence here below; it is in the body
also that it would act according to the measure of our faith.
"Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?" Many believers
represent to themselves that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our body as we
dwell in a house. Nothing of the kind. I can dwell in a house without its
becoming part of my being. I may leave it without suffering; no vital union
exists between my house and me. It is not thus with the presence of our soul and
spirit in our body. The life of a plant lives in and pervades every part of it;
and our soul is not limited to dwell in such or such part of the body, the heart
or the head, for instance, but penetrates throughout, even to the end of the
lowest members. The life of the soul pervades the whole body; the life
throughout proves the presence of the soul. It is in like manner that the Holy
Ghost comes to dwell in our body. He penetrates its entirety. He animates and
possesses us infinitely more than we can imagine.
In the same way in which the Holy Spirit brings to our soul and spirit the life
of Jesus, His holiness, His joy, His strength, He comes also to impart to the
sick body all the vigorous vitality of Christ as soon as the hand of faith is
stretched out to receive it. When the body is fully subject to Christ, crucified
with Him, renouncing all self-will and independence, desiring nothing but to be
the Lord's temple, it is then that the Holy Spirit manifests the power of the
risen Savior in the body. Then only can we glorify God in our body, leaving Him
full freedom to manifest therein His power, to show that He knows how to set His
temple free from the domination of sickness, sin, and Satan.
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CHAPTER IX.
THE BODY FOR THE LORD
"Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and
them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for
the body"
(I Corinthians 6:13).
One of the most learned of theologians has said that corporeity is the end of
the ways of God. As we have already seen, this is indeed what God has
accomplished in creating man. It is this which makes the inhabitants of heaven
wonder and admire when they contemplate the glory of the Son. Clothed with a
human body, Jesus has taken His place forever upon the throne of God, to partake
of His glory. It is this which God has willed. It shall be recognized in that
day when regenerated humanity, forming the body of Christ, shall be truly and
visibly the temple of the living God (I Corinthians 6:19), and when all creation
in the new heavens and new earth shall share the glory of the children of God.
The material body shall then be wholly sanctified, glorified by the Spirit; and
this body, thus spiritualized, shall be the highest glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ and of His redeemed.
1 Corinthians 6
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is
in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
It is in anticipation of this new condition of things that the Lord attaches a
great importance to the indwelling and sanctification of our bodies, down here,
by His Spirit. So little is this truth understood by believers that less still
do they seek for the power of the Holy Spirit in their bodies. Many of them
also, believing that this body belongs to them, use it as it pleases them. Not
understanding how much the sanctification of the soul and spirit depends upon
the body, they do not grasp all the meaning of the words, "The body is... for
the Lord," in such a way as to receive them in obedience.
"The body is... for the Lord." What does this mean? The apostle has just said,
"Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God shall destroy both it and
them." Eating and drinking afford the Christian an opportunity of carrying out
this truth, "The body is... for the Lord." He must indeed learn to eat and drink
to the glory of God. By eating, sin and the Fall came about. It was also through
eating that the devil sought to tempt our Lord. Thus Jesus Himself sanctified
His body in eating only according to the will of His Father (Matthew 4:4).
Matthew 4
4 But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Many believers fail to watch over their bodies fail to observe a holy sobriety
so as to avoid rendering their bodies unfit for the service of God. Eating and
drinking should never impede communion with God; their purpose is, rather, to
facilitate communion by maintaining the body in its normal condition.
The apostle speaks also of fornication, this sin which defiles the body, and
which is in direct opposition to the words, "The body is... for the Lord." It is
not simply incontinence outside the married state, but in that state also, which
is meant here; all voluptuousness, all want of sobriety of whatsoever kind is
condemned in these words: "Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost" (I
Corinthians 6:19). In the same way, all of what goes to maintain the body to
clothe it, strengthen it, rest it in sleep, or afford it enjoyment should be
placed under the control of the Holy Spirit. As under the Old Covenant, the
temple was constructed solely for God, and for His service, even so our body has
been created for the Lord and for Him alone.
One of the chief benefits then of divine healing will be to teach us that our
body ought to be set free from the yoke of our own will to become the Lord's
property. God does not grant healing to our prayers until He has attained the
end for which He has permitted the sickness. He wills that this discipline
should bring us into a more intimate communion with Him; He would make us
understand that we have regarded our body as our own property, while it belonged
to the Lord; and that the Holy Spirit seeks to sanctify all its actions. He
leads us to understand that if we yield our body unreservedly to the influence
of the Holy Spirit, we shall experience His power in us, and He will heal us by
bringing into our body the very life of Jesus; He leads us, in short, to say
with full conviction, "The body is... for the Lord."
There are believers who seek after holiness, but only for the soul and spirit.
In their ignorance they forget that the body and all its systems of nerves that
the hand, the ear, the eyes, the mouth are called to testify directly to the
presence and the grace of God in them. They have not sufficiently taken in these
words:
"Your bodies are the members of Christ" (I Corinthians 6:15).
"If by the Spirit ye make to die the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Romans
8:13, RV, margin).
"The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ" (I Thessalonians 5:23).
Oh, what a renewing takes place in us when, by His own touch, the Lord heals our
bodies, when He takes possession of them, and when by His Spirit He becomes life
and health to them! It is with an indescribable consciousness of holiness, of
fear and of joy that the believer can then offer his body a living sacrifice to
receive healing, and to have for his motto these words: "The body is... for the
Lord."
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CHAPTER X.
THE LORD FOR THE BODY
"Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and
them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for
the body"
(I Corinthians 6:13).
There is reciprocity in God's relations with man. That which God has been for
me, I ought in my turn to be for Him. And that which I am for Him, He desires
again to be for me. If, in His love, He gives Himself fully to me, it is in
order that I may lovingly give myself fully to Him. In the measure in which I
more or less really surrender to Him all my being, in that measure also He gives
Himself more really to me. God thus leads the believer to understand that this
abandonment of Himself involves the body, and the more our life bears witness
that "the body is... for the Lord," the more also we experience that the Lord is
for the body. In saying, "The Lord [is] for the body," we express the desire to
regard our body as wholly consecrated, offered in sacrifice to the Lord, and
sanctified by Him. In saying, "The Lord [is] for the body," we express the
precious certainty that our offering has been accepted, and that, by His Spirit,
the Lord will impart to our body His own strength and holiness, and that
henceforth He will strengthen and keep us.
This is a matter of faith. Our body is material, weak, feeble, sinful, mortal.
Therefore it is difficult to grasp all at once the full extent of the words,
"The Lord [is] for the body." It is the Word of God which explains to us the way
to assimilate. The body was created by the Lord and for the Lord. Jesus took
upon Him an earthly body. In His body He bore our sins on the cross, and thereby
set our body free from the power of sin. In Christ the body has been raised
again, and seated on the throne of God. The body is the habitation of the Holy
Spirit; it is called to eternal partnership in the glory of heaven. Therefore,
with certainty, and in a wide and universal sense, we can say, "Yes, the Lord
Jesus, our Savior, is 'for the body.'"
This truth has many applications.
In the first place, it is a great help in practical holiness. More than one
sin derives its strength from some physical tendency. The converted drunkard
has a horror for intoxicating drinks, but, notwithstanding, his appetites are
sometimes a snare to him, gaining victory over his new convictions. If,
however, in the conflict he gives over his body with confidence to the Lord,
all physical appetite, all desire to drink will be overcome. Our temper also
often results from our physical constitution. A nervous, irritable system
produces words which are sharp, harsh, and wanting in love. But let the body
with this physical tendency be taken to the Lord, and it will soon be
experienced that the Holy Spirit can mortify the risings of impatience, and
sanctify the body, rendering it blameless.
 
These words, "The Lord [is] for the body," are applicable also to the physical
strength which the Lord's service demands of us. When David cries, "It is God
that girdeth me with strength" [Psalm 18:32], he means physical strength, for
he adds: "He maketh my feet like hinds' feet... a bow of steel is broken by
mine arms" (Psalm 18:33-34). Again in these words: "The Lord is the strength
of my life" (Psalm 27:1), it does not mean only the spiritual man but the
entire man. Many believers have experienced that the promise, "They that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:31), touches the body,
and that the Holy Spirit increases the physical strength.
 
But it is especially in divine healing that we see the truth of these words:
"The Lord [is] for the body." Yes, Jesus, the sovereign and merciful Healer,
is always ready to save and cure. There was in Switzerland, some years ago, a
young girl with tuberculosis and near death. The doctor had advised a milder
climate, but she was too weak to take the journey. She learned that Jesus is
the Healer of the sick. She believed the good news, and one night when she was
thinking of this subject it seemed to her that the body of the Lord drew near
to her, and that she ought to take these words literally, "His body for our
body." From this moment she began to improve. Some time after she began to
hold Bible readings, and later on she become a zealous and much-blessed worker
for the Lord among women. She had learned to understand that "the Lord [is]
for the body."
Dear sick one, the Lord has shown thee by sickness what power sin has over the
body. By thy healing He would also show thee the power of redemption of the
body. He calls thee to show that which thou hast not understood hitherto, that
"the body is... for the Lord." Therefore give Him thy body. Give it Him with thy
sickness and with the sin, which is the original source of sickness. Believe
always that the Lord has taken charge of this body, and He will manifest with
power that He really is the Lord, who is "for the body." The Lord, who has
Himself taken upon Him a body here on earth and regenerated it, from the highest
heaven, where He now is, clothed with His glorified body, sends us His divine
strength, willing thus to manifest His power in our body.
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CHAPTER XI.
DO NOT CONSIDER YOUR BODY
"I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as
ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto
iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto
holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end
of those things is death"
(Romans 6:19-21).
When God promised to give Abraham a son, the patriarch would never have been
able to believe in this promise if he had considered his own body, already aged
and worn out. However, he would see nothing but God and His promise, the power
and faithfulness of God who guaranteed him the fulfillment of His promise.
This enables us to lay hold of all the difference there is between the healing
which is expected from earthly remedies and the healing which is looked for from
God only. When we have recourse to remedies for healing, all the attention of
the sick one is upon the body, considering the body, while divine healing calls
us to turn away our attention from the body, and to abandon ourselves, soul and
body, to the Lord's care, occupying ourselves with Him alone.
This truth equally enables us to see the difference between the sickness
retained for blessing and the healing received from the Lord. Some are afraid to
take the promise in James 5 in its literal sense, because they say sickness is
more profitable to the soul than health.
James 5
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may
be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
It is true that in the case of healing obtained by earthly remedies, many people
would be more blessed in remaining ill than in recovering health, but it is
quite otherwise when healing comes directly from the hand of God. In order to
receive divine healing, sin must be so truly confessed and renounced, one must
be so completely surrendered to the Lord, self must be so really yielded up to
be wholly in His hands, and the will of Jesus to take charge of the body must be
so firmly counted on that the healing becomes the commencement of a new life of
intimate communion with the Lord.
Thus we learn to give up to Him entirely the care of the health, and the
smallest indication of the return of the evil is regarded as a warning not to
consider our body, but to be occupied with the Lord only.
What a contrast this is from the greater number of sick people who look for
healing from remedies. If some few of them have been sanctified by the sickness,
having learned to lose sight of themselves, how many more are there who are
drawn by the sickness itself to be constantly occupied with themselves and with
the condition of their body. What infinite care they exercise in observing the
least symptom, favorable or unfavorable! What a constant preoccupation to them
is their eating and drinking, the anxiety to avoid this or that! How much they
are taken up with what they consider due to them from others, whether they are
sufficiently thought of, whether well enough nursed, whether visited often
enough! How much time is thus devoted to considering the body and what it
exacts, rather than the Lord and the relations which He seeks to establish with
their souls! Oh, how many are they who, through sickness, are occupied almost
exclusively with themselves!
All this is totally different when healing is looked for in faith from the
loving God. Then the first thing to learn is to cease to be anxious about the
state of your body, you have trusted it to the Lord and He has taken the
responsibility. If you do not see a rapid improvement immediately, but on the
contrary the symptoms appear to be more serious, remember that you have entered
on a path of faith, and therefore you ought not to consider the body, but cling
only to the living God. The commandment of Christ, "Be not anxious for your...
body" (Matthew 6:25, ASV), appears here in a new light. When God called Abraham
not to consider his own body, it was that He might call him to the greatest
exercise of faith which could be, that he might learn to see only God and His
promise. Sustained by his faith, he gave glory to God, convinced that God would
do what He had promised. Divine healing is a marvelous tie to bind us to the
Lord. At first one may fear to believe that the Lord will stretch forth His
mighty hand and touch the body; but in studying the Word of God the soul takes
courage and confidence. At last one decides, saying, "I yield up my body into
the hands of God; and I leave the care of it to Him." Then the body and its
sensations are lost sight of, and only the Lord and His promise are in view.
Dear reader, wilt thou also enter upon this way of faith, very superior to that
which it is the habit to call natural? Walk in the steps of Abraham. Learn from
him not to consider thine own body, and not to doubt through unbelief. To
consider the body gives birth to doubts, while clinging to the promise of God
and being occupied with Him alone gives entrance into the way of faith, the way
of divine healing, which glorifies God.
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CHAPTER XII.
DISCIPLINE AND SANCTIFICATION
"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he
whom the Father chasteneth not?... God chasteneth us for our profit, that we may
be partakers of His holiness"
(Hebrews 12:7, 10).
"If a man... purge himself... he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and
meet for the Master's use, prepared unto every good work"
(II Timothy 2:21).
To sanctify anything is to set apart, to consecrate, to God and to His service.
The temple at Jerusalem was holy, that is to say, it was consecrated, dedicated
to God that it might serve Him as a dwelling place. The vessels of the temple
were holy, because they were devoted to the service of the temple; the priests
were holy, chosen to serve God and ready to work for Him. In the same way the
Christian ought also to be sanctified, at the Lord's disposal, ready to do every
good work.
When the people of Israel went out of Egypt, the Lord reclaimed them for His
service as a holy people. Let my people go that they may serve me (Exodus 7:16),
He said to Pharaoh. Set free from their hard bondage, the children of Israel
were debtors to enter at once upon the service of God, and to become His happy
servants. Their deliverance was the road which led to their sanctification.
Again in this day, God is forming for Himself a holy people, and it is that we
may torn part of them that Jesus sets us free. He "gave Himself for us that He
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own
possession, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14, ASV). It is the Lord who breaks
the chains by which Satan would hold us in bondage. He would have us free,
wholly free to serve Him. He wills to save us, to deliver both the soul and the
body, that each of the members of the body may be consecrated to Him and placed
unreservedly at His disposal.
A large number of Christians do not yet understand all this, they do not know
how to take in that the purpose of their deliverance is that they may be
sanctified, prepared to serve their God. They make use of their life and their
members to procure their own satisfaction; consequently they do not feel at
liberty to ask for healing with faith. It is therefore to chasten them that they
may be brought to desire sanctification that the Lord permits Satan to inflict
sickness upon them and by it keep them chained and prisoners (Luke 13:11,16).
Luke 13
11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen
years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath
bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?
God chastens us "for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness,"
(Hebrews 12:10), and that we may be sanctified, "meet for the Master's use" (II
Timothy 2:21).
The discipline which inflicts the sickness brings great blessings with it. It is
a call to the sick one to reflect; it leads him to see that God is occupied with
him, and seeks to show him what there is which still separates him from Himself.
God speaks to him, He calls him to examine his ways, to acknowledge that he has
lacked holiness, and that the purpose of the chastisement is to make him
partaker of His holiness. He awakens within him the desire to be enlightened by
the Holy Spirit down into the inmost recesses of his heart, that he may be
enabled to get a clear idea of what his life has been up to the present time, a
life of self-will, very unlike the holy life which God requires of him. He leads
him to confess his sins, to entrust them to the Lord Jesus, to believe that the
Savior can deliver him from them. He urges him to yield to Him, to consecrate
his life to Him, to die to himself that he may be able to live unto God.
Sanctification is not something which you can accomplish yourself; it cannot
even be produced by God in you as something which you can possess and
contemplate in yourself. No, it is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of holiness alone
who can communicate His holiness to you and renew it continually. Therefore it
is by faith you can become partakers of his holiness. Having understood that
Jesus has been made unto you of God sanctification (I Corinthians 1:30),
1 Corinthians 1
30 But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
and that it is the Holy Spirits work to impart to you His holiness which was
manifested in His life on earth, surrender yourself to Him by faith that He may
enable you to live that life from hour to hour. Believe that the Lord will by
His Spirit lead you into, and keep you in this life of holiness and of
consecration to God's service. Live thus in the obedience of faith, always
attentive to His voice, and the guidance of His Spirit.
From the time that this Fatherly discipline has led the sick one to a life of
holiness, God has attained His purpose, and He will heal him who asks it in
faith. Our earthly parents "for a few days chastened us... All chastening
seemeth for the present to be not joyous, but grievous: yet afterward it
yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the
fruit of righteousness" (Hebrews 12:10,11, RV). Yes, it is when the believer
realizes this "peaceable fruit... of righteousness," that he is in a condition
to be delivered from the chastisement.
Oh, it is because believers still understand so little that sanctification means
an entire consecration to God that they cannot really believe that healing will
quickly follow the sanctification of the sick one. Good health is too often for
them only a matter of personal comfort and enjoyment which they may dispose of
at their will, but God cannot thus minister to their selfishness. If they
understood better that God requires of His children that they should be
"sanctified and meet for the Master's use," they would not be surprised to see
Him giving healing and renewed strength to those who have learned to place all
their members at His disposal, willing to be sanctified and employed in His
service by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of healing is also the Spirit of
sanctification.
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CHAPTER XIII.
SICKNESS AND DEATH
"Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome
pestilence... Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the
arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor
for the destruction that wasteth at noonday... With long life will I satisfy
him, and show him My salvation"
(Psalm 91:3, 5-6, 16)
"They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and
flourishing"
(Psalm 92:14).
This objection is often made to the words of the apostle James, "The prayer of
faith shall save the sick" [James 5:15]:
"If we have the promise of being always healed in answer to prayer, how can it
be possible to die?"
And some add:
"How can a sick person know whether God, who fixes the time of our life, has
not decided that we shall die by such a sickness? In such a case, would not
prayer be useless, and would it not be a sin to ask for healing?
Before replying, we would remark that this objection touches not such as believe
in Jesus as the Healer of the sick, but the Word of God itself, and the promise
so clearly declared in the epistle of James and elsewhere. We are not at liberty
to change or to limit the promises of God whenever they present some difficulty
to us; neither can we insist that they shall be clearly explained to us before
we can bring ourselves to believe what they state. It is for us to begin by
receiving them without resistance; then only can the Spirit of God find us in
the state of mind in which we can be taught and enlightened.
Furthermore, we would remark that in considering a divine truth which has been
for a long time neglected in the Church, it can hardly be understood at the
outset. It is only little by little that its importance and bearing are
discerned. In measure as it revives, after it has been accepted by faith, the
Holy Spirit will accompany it with new light. Let us remember that it is by the
unbelief of the Church that divine healing has left her. It is not on the
answers of such or such a one that faith in Bible truths should be made to
depend. "There ariseth light in the darkness" (Psalm 112:4) for the "upright"
who are ready to submit themselves to the Word of God.
1. To the first objection it is easy to reply. Scripture fixes seventy or
eighty years as the ordinary measure of human life.
Psalm 90
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of
strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow;
for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
The believer who receives Jesus as the Healer of the sick will rest satisfied
then with the declaration of the Word of God. He will feel at liberty to
expect a life of seventy years, but not longer. Besides, the man of faith
places himself under the direction of the Spirit, which will enable him to
discern the will of God if something should prevent his attaining the age of
seventy. Every rule has its exceptions, in the things of heaven as in the
things of earth. Of this, therefore, we are sure according to the Word of God,
whether by the words of Jesus or by those of James, that our heavenly Father
wills, as a rule, to see His children in good health that they may labor in
His service.
For the same reason He wills to set them free from sickness as soon as they
have made confession of sin and prayed with faith for their healing. For the
believer who has walked with his Savior, strong with the strength which
proceeds from divine healing, and whose body is consequently under the
influence of the Holy Spirit, it is not necessary that when his time comes to
die, he should die of sickness. To fall asleep in Jesus Christ, such is the
death of the believer when the end of his life is come. For him death is only
sleep after fatigue, the entering into rest. The promise, "That it may be well
with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth" (Ephesians 6: 3), is
addressed to us who live under the New Covenant. The more the believer has
learned to see in the Savior Him who "took our infirmities" (Matthew 8:17) the
more he has the liberty to claim the literal fulfillment of the promises:
"With long life will I satisfy him" (Psalm 91:16); "They shall bring forth
fruit in old age, they shall be fat and flourishing" (Psalm 92:14).
2. The same text applies to the second objection. The sick one sees in God's
Word that it is His will to heal His children after the confession of their
sins, and in answer to the prayer of faith. It does not follow that they shall
be exempt from other trials; but as for sickness, they are healed of it
because it attacks the body, which is become the dwelling place of the Holy
Spirit. The sick one should then desire healing that the power of God may be
made manifest in him, and that he may serve Him in accomplishing His will. In
this he clings to the revealed will of God, and for that which is not revealed
he knows that God will make known His mind to His servants who walk with Him.
We would insist here that faith is not a logical reasoning which ought in some
way to oblige God to act according to His promises. It is rather the confiding
attitude of the child who honors his Father, who counts upon His love to see
Him fulfilling His promises, and who knows that He is faithful to communicate
to the body as well as to the soul the new strength which flows from the
redemption, until the moment of departure is come.
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CHAPTER XIV.
THE HOLY SPIRIT THE SPIRIT OF HEALING
"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit... To another faith by
the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit... But all
these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally
as He will"
(I Corinthians 12:4, 9, 11).
What is it that distinguishes the children of God? What is their glory? It is
that God dwells in the midst of them and reveals Himself to them in power
(Exodus 33:16; 34:9-10).
Exodus 33
16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and Thy people have found grace
in Thy sight? is it not in that Thou goest with us? so shall we be separated,
I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
Exodus 34
9 And he said, If now I have found grace in Thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I
pray Thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our
iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance.
10 And He said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do
marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and
all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is
a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
Under the New Covenant this dwelling of God in the believer is still more
manifest than in former times. God sends the Holy Spirit to His Church, which is
the Body of Christ, to act in her with power, and her life and her prosperity
depend on Him. The Spirit must find in her unreserved, full liberty, that she
may be recognized as the Church of Christ, the Lord's Body. In every age the
Church may look for manifestations of the Spirit, for they form our indissoluble
unity; "one body and one Spirit" (Ephesians 4:4).
The Spirit operates variously in such or such a member of the Church. It is
possible to be filled with the Spirit for one special work and not for another.
There are also times in the history of the Church when certain gifts of the
Spirit are given with power, while at the same time ignorance or unbelief may
hinder other gifts. Wherever the life more abundant of the Spirit is to be
found, we may expect Him to manifest all His gifts.
The gift of healing is one of the most beautiful manifestations of the Spirit.
It is recorded of Jesus, "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth... Who went about
doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil" (Acts 10:38). The
Holy Spirit in Him was a healing Spirit, and He was the same in the disciples
after Pentecost. Thus the words of our text express what was the continuous
experience of the early Church (compare attentively Acts 3:7; 4:30; 5:12,15-16;
6:8; 8:7; 9:41; 14:9-10; 16:18-19; 19:12; 28: 8-9).
Acts
3:7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his
feet and ankle bones received strength.
4:30 By stretching forth Thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be
done by the Name of Thy Holy Child Jesus.
5:12 And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought
among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.
5:15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them
on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might
overshadow some of them.
5:16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem,
bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they
were healed every one.
6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among
the people.
8:7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were
possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were
healed.
9:41 And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the
saints and widows, presented her alive.
14:9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving
that he had faith to be healed,
14:10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and
walked.
16:18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to
the spirit, I command thee in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And
he came out the same hour.
16:19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they
caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
19:12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or
aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of
them.
28:8 And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and
of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on
him, and healed him.
28:9 So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island,
came, and were healed:
The abundant pouring out of the Spirit produced abundant healings. What a lesson
for the Church in our days!
Divine healing is the work of the Holy Spirit. Christ's redemption extends it's
powerful working to the body, and the Holy Spirit is responsible both to
transmit it to and maintain it in us. Our body shares in the benefit of the
redemption, and even now it can receive the pledge of it by divine healing. It
is Jesus who heals, Jesus who anoints and baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Jesus,
who baptized His disciples with the same Spirit, is He who sends us the Holy
Spirit here on earth either to keep sickness away from us, or to restore us to
health when sickness has taken hold upon us.
Divine healing accompanies the sanctification by the Spirit. It is to make us
holy that the Holy Spirit makes us partakers of Christ's redemption. Hence His
name "Holy." Therefore the healing which He works is an intrinsic part of His
divine mission, and He bestows it either to lead the sick one to be converted
and to believe (Acts 4: 29-30; 5:12,14; 6:7-8; 8:6,8; 9:42) or to confirm his
faith if he is already converted.
Acts
4:29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants,
that with all boldness they may speak Thy Word,
4:30 By stretching forth Thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be
done by the Name of Thy Holy Child Jesus.
5:12 And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought
among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.
5:14 And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and
women.)
6:7 And the Word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied
in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the
faith.
6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among
the people.
8:6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip
spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
8:8 And there was great joy in that city.
9:42 And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.
He constrains him thus to renounce sin, and to consecrate himself entirely to
God and to His service (I Corinthians 10:31; James 5:15, 16; Hebrews 12:10).
1 Corinthians 10
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God.
James 5
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him
up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may
be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Hebrews 12
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but
He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.
Divine healing tends to glorify Jesus. It is God's will that His Son should be
glorified, and the Holy Spirit does this when He comes to show us what the
redemption of Christ does for us. The redemption of the mortal body appears
almost more marvelous than that of the immortal soul. In these two ways God
wills to dwell in us through Christ, and thus to triumph over the flesh. As soon
as our body becomes the temple of God through the Spirit, Jesus is glorified.
Divine healing takes place wherever the Spirit of God works in power. Proofs of
this are to be found in the lives of the Reformers, and in those of certain
Moravians in their best times. But there are yet other promises touching the
pouring out of the Holy Spirit which have not been fulfilled up to this time.
Let us live in a holy expectation, praying the Lord to accomplish them in us.
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CHAPTER XV.
PERSEVERING PRAYER
"And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray,
and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God,
neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him,
saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward
he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this
widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary
me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God
avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with
them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of
man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?"
(Luke 18:1-8).
The necessity of praying with perseverance is the secret of all spiritual life.
What a blessing to be able to ask the Lord for such and such a grace until He
gives it, knowing with certainty that it is His will to answer prayer, but what
a mystery for us in the call to persevere in prayer, to knock in faith at His
door, to remind Him of His promises, and to do so without wearying until He
arises and grants us our petition! Is not the assurance that our prayer can
obtain from the Lord that which He would not otherwise give the evident proof
that man has been created in the image of God, that he is His friend, that he is
His fellow worker, and that the believers who together form the Body of Christ
participate in this manner in His intercessory work? It is to Christ's
intercession that the Father responds, and to which He grants His divine favors.
More than once the Bible explains to us the need for persevering prayer. There
are many grounds, the chief of which is the justice of God. God has declared
that sin must bear its consequences; sin therefore has rights over a world which
welcomes and remains enslaved by it. When the child of God seeks to quit this
order of things, it is necessary that the justice of God should consent to this;
time therefore is needed that the privileges which Christ has procured for the
believers should weigh before God's tribunal. Besides this, the opposition of
Satan, who always seeks to prevent the answer to prayer, is a reason for it
(Daniel 10:12-13).
Daniel 10
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou
didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God,
thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days:
but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained
there with the kings of Persia.
The only means by which this unseen enemy can be conquered is faith. Standing
firmly on the promises of God, faith refuses to yield, and continues to pray and
wait for the answer, even when it is delayed, knowing that the victory is sure
(Ephesians 6:12-13).
Ephesians 6
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Finally, perseverance in prayer is needful for ourselves. Delay in the answer is
intended to prove and strengthen our faith; it ought to develop in us the
steadfast will which will no longer let go the promises of God, but which
renounces its own side of things to trust in God alone. It is then that God,
seeing our faith, finds us ready to receive His favor and grants it to us. He
will avenge speedily, even though He tarry. Yes, notwithstanding all the needful
delays, He will not make us wait a moment too long. If we cry unto Hun day and
night, He will avenge us speedily.
This perseverance in prayer will become easy to us as soon as we fully
understand what faith is. Jesus teaches us in these words, "All things
whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matthew 21:22).
When the Word of God authorizes us to ask anything, we ought at once to believe
that we receive it.
[Mark 11
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.]
God gives it to us; this we know by faith, and we can say between God and us
that we have received it, although it might be only later that we are permitted
to realize the effects here on earth. It is before having seen or experienced
anything whatsoever that faith rejoices in having received, perseveres in
praying, and waits until the answer is manifest. But even after having believed
that we are heard, it is good to persevere until it has become an accomplished
fact.
This is of great importance in obtaining divine healing. Sometimes, it is true,
the healing is immediate and complete; but it may happen that we have to wait,
even when a sick person has been able to ask for it in faith. Sometimes also the
first symptoms of healing are immediately manifest; but afterwards the progress
is slow, and interrupted by times when it is arrested or when the evil returns.
In such cases it is important for both the sick person and those who pray with
him to believe in the efficacy of persevering prayer, even though they may not
understand the mystery of it. That which God appears at first to refuse, He
grants later to the prayer of the Canaanitish woman, to the prayer of the widow,
to that of the friend who knocks at midnight (Matthew 15:22-28; Luke 18:3-8;
11:5-8).
Matthew 15
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto
Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter is
grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and besought Him,
saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the
house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But He answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and
cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from
their masters' table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it
unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very
hour.
Luke 18
3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me
of mine adversary.
4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I
fear not God, nor regard man;
5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her
continual coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
7 And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him,
though He bear long with them?
8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of
Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?
Luke 11
5 And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto
him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set
before him?
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now
shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his
friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he
needeth.
Without regarding either change or answer, the faith which is grounded on the
Word of God, and which continues to pray with importunity, ends by gaining the
victory. "Shall not God avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him,
though He bear long with them? I tell you He will avenge them speedily" (Luke
18:7-8). God knows how to delay all the time which is necessary, and
nevertheless to act speedily without waiting more than is needful. The same two
things should belong to our faith. Let us lay hold with a holy promptitude of
the grace which is promised us, as if we had already received it; let us await
with untiring patience the answer which is slow to come. Such faith belongs to
living in Him. It is in order to produce in us this faith that sickness is sent
to us, and that the healing is granted to us, for such faith above all glorifies
God.
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CHAPTER XVI.
LET HIM THAT IS HEALED GLORIFY GOD
"And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God: and
all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God"
(Luke 18:43).
"And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple,
walking, and leaping, and praising God"
(Acts 3:8).
It is a prevalent idea that piety is easier in sickness than in health; that
silence and suffering incline the soul to seek the Lord and enter into communion
with Him better than the distractions of active life; that, in fact, sickness
throws us more upon God. For these reasons sick people hesitate to ask for
healing from the Lord; for they say to themselves, How can we know whether
sickness may not be better for us than health? To think thus is to ignore that
the healing and its fruits are divine. Let us. try to understand that though a
healing through ordinary means may at times run the risk of making God relax His
hand, divine healing, on the contrary, binds us more closely to Him. Thus it
comes to pass that in our day, as in the time of the early ministry of Jesus
Christ, the believer who has been healed by Him can glorify Him far better than
the one who remains sick. Sickness can only glorify God in the measure in which
it gives occasion to manifest His power (John 9:3; 11:4).
John 9
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the
works of God should be made manifest in him.
John 11
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the
glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
The sufferer who is led by his sufferings to give glory to God, does it, so to
speak, by constraint. If he had health and liberty to choose, it is quite
possible that his heart would turn back to the world. In such a case the Lord
must keep him on one side; his piety depends on his sickly condition. This is
why the world supposes that religion is hardly efficacious anywhere but in sick
chambers or death beds, and for such as have no need to enter into the noise and
stir of ordinary life. In order that the world may be convinced of the power of
religion against temptation, it must see the believer who is in good health
walking in calmness and holiness even in the midst of work and of active life.
Doubtless very many sick people have glorified God by their patience in
suffering, but He can be still more glorified by a health which He has
sanctified.
Why then, we are asked, should those who have been healed in answer to the
prayer of faith glorify the Lord more than such as have been healed through
earthly remedies? Here is the reason. Healing by means of remedies shows us the
power of God in nature; but it does not bring us into living and direct contact
with Him; while divine healing is an act proceeding from God, without anything
but the Holy Spirit.
In this latter, contact with God is the thing which is essential, and it is for
this reason that examination of the conscience and the confession of sins should
be the preparation for it (I Corinthians 11:30-32; .James 5:15-16).
1 Corinthians 11
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be
condemned with the world.
James 5
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him
up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may
be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
One who is so healed is called to consecrate himself quite anew and entirely to
the Lord (I Corinthians 6:13,19).
1 Corinthians 6
13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it
and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord
for the body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is
in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
All this depends upon the act of faith which lays hold of the Lord's promise,
which yields to Him, and which does not doubt that the Lord at once takes
possession of what is consecrated to Him. This is why the continuance of health
received depends on the holiness of the life, and the obedience in seeking
always the good pleasure of the divine Healer (Exodus 15:26).
Exodus 15
26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God,
and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His
Commandments, and keep all His Statutes, I will put none of these diseases
upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that
healeth thee.
Health obtained under such conditions ensures spiritual blessings. The mere
restoration to health by ordinary means does not. When the Lord heals the body
it is that He may take possession of it and make it a temple that He may dwell
in. The joy which then fills the soul is indescribable. It is not only the joy
of being healed; it is joy mingled with humility, and a holy enthusiasm which
recognizes the touch of the Lord and receives a new life from Him. In the
exuberance of his joy the healed one exalts the Lord, he glorifies Him by word
and deed, and all his life is consecrated to his God.
It is evident that these fruits of healing are not the same for all, and that
sometimes there are steps made backwards. The life of the healed one has a
solidarity with the life of believers around him. Their doubts and their
inconsistencies may in time tend to make his steps totter, although this
generally results in a new beginning. Each day he discovers and recognizes
afresh that his life is the Lord's life; he enters into a more intimate and more
joyous communion with Him; he learns to live in habitual dependence upon Jesus,
and receives from Him that strength which results from a more complete
consecration.
Oh, what may not the Church become when she lives in this faith, when every sick
person shall recognize in sickness a call to be holy, and to expect from the
Lord a manifestation of His presence, when healings shall be multiplied,
producing in each a witness of the power of God, all ready to cry with the
Psalmist, "Bless the Lord, O my soul... Who healeth all thy diseases" (Psalm
103:2-3).
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CHAPTER XVII.
THE NEED FOR A MANIFESTATION OF GOD'S POWER
"And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants, that
with all boldness they may speak Thy Word, by stretching forth Thine hand to
heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the Name of Thy Holy Child
Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled
together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word
of God with boldness"
(Acts 4:29-31).
Is it permissible to pray in this way now, to ask the Lord, "Grant unto thy
servants to speak thy Word with all boldness while thou stretchest forth thy
hand to heal" (RV)? Let us look into this question.
Does not the Word of God meet with as many difficulties in our days as then, and
are not the needs now equally pressing? Let us picture to ourselves the apostles
in the midst of Jerusalem and her unbelief; on the one hand the rulers of the
people and their threatenings; on the other, the blinded multitude refusing to
believe in the Crucified. Now the world is no longer so openly hostile to the
Church because it has lost its fear of her, but its flattering words are more to
be dreaded than its hatred. Dissimulation is sometimes worse than violence. And
is not a Christianity of mere form, in the sleep of indifference, just as
inaccessible as an openly resisting Judaism? God's servants need even in the
present day, in order that the Word may be preached with all boldness, that the
power of God should be evidently manifested among them.
Is not the help of God as necessary now as then? The apostles knew well that it
was not the eloquence of their preaching which caused the truth to triumph, but
they knew the necessity for the Holy Spirit to manifest His presence by
miracles. It was needful that the living God should stretch forth His hand, that
there might be healings, miracles, and signs in the name of His holy Son Jesus.
It was only thus that His servants rejoiced, and, strengthened by His presence,
could speak His Word with boldness and teach the world to fear His name.
Do not the divine promises concern us also? The apostles counted on these words
of the Lord before He ascended, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature... and these signs shall follow them that believe... they
shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover" (Mark 16:15,17-18). This
charge indicates the divine vocation of the Church; the promise which follows it
shows us what is her armor, and proves to us that the Lord acts in concert with
her. It was because the apostles counted on this promise that they prayed the
Lord to grant them this proof of His presence. They had been filled with the
Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, but they still needed the supernatural signs
which His power works. The same promise is as much for us, for the command to
preach the Gospel cannot be severed from the promise of divine healing with
which it is accompanied. It is nowhere to be found in the Bible that this
promise was not for future times. In all ages God's people greatly need to know
that the Lord is with them, and to possess the irrefutable proof of it.
Therefore this promise is for us; let us pray for its fulfillment.
Ought we to reckon on the same grace? We read in the Acts when the apostles had
prayed, "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of
God with boldness... And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and
wonders wrought among the people... and believers were the more added to the
Lord, multitudes both of men and women" (Acts 4:31; 5:12,14). Oh, what joy and
what new strength would God's people receive today if anew the Lord should thus
stretch forth His hand! How many wearied and discouraged laborers grieve that
they do not see more results, more blessings on their labors! What life would
come into their faith if signs of this kind should arise to prove to them that
God is with them! Many who are indifferent would be led to reflect, more than
one doubter would regain confidence, and all unbelievers would be reduced to
silence. And the poor heathen! How he would awake if he saw by facts that which
words had not enabled him to lay hold of, if he were forced to acknowledge that
the Christians God is the living God who doeth wonders, the God of love who
blesses!
Awake, awake, put on thy strength, Church of Christ! Although thou hast lost by
thy unfaithfulness the joy of seeing allied to the preaching of the Word the
hand of the Lord stretched out to heal, the Lord is ready to grant thee this
grace anew. Acknowledge that it is thine own unbelief which has so long deprived
thee of it, and pray for pardon. Clothe thyself with the strength of prayer.
"Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord. Awake as in the ancient days"
(Isaiah 51:9).
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CHAPTER XVIII.
SIN AND SICKNESS
"The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and
if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one
to another, and pray one for another that ye may be healed"
(James 5:15, 16).
Here, as in other Scriptures, the pardon of sins and the healing of sickness are
closely united. James declares that pardon of sins will be granted with the
healing; and for this reason he desires to see confession of sin accompany the
prayer which claims healing. We know that confession of sin is indispensable to
obtain from God the pardon of sin: it is not less so to obtain healing.
Unconfessed sin presents an obstacle to the prayer of faith; in any case, the
sickness may soon reappear, and for this reason.
The first care of a physician, when he is called to treat a patient, is to
diagnose the cause of the disease. If he succeeds he stands a better chance to
combat it. Our God also goes back to the primary cause of all sickness that is,
sin. It is our part to confess and God's to grant the pardon which removes this
first cause, so that healing can take place. In seeking for healing by means of
earthly remedies, the first thing to do is to find a clever physician, and then
to follow his prescriptions exactly; but in having recourse to the prayer of
faith, it is needful to fix our eyes, above all, upon the Lord, and to ascertain
how we stand with Him. James therefore points out to us a condition which is
essential to the recovery of our health; namely, that we confess and forsake
sin.
Sickness is a consequence of sin. It is because of sin that God permits it; it
is in order to show us our faults, to chasten us, and purify us from them.
Sickness is therefore a visible sign of God's judgment upon sin. It is not that
the one who is sick is necessarily a greater sinner than another who is in
health. On the contrary, it is often the most holy among the children of God
whom He chastens, as we see from the example of Job. Neither is it always to
check some fault which we can easily determine: it is especially to draw the
attention of the sick one to that which remains in him of the egotism of the old
man and of all which hinders him from a life entirely consecrated to his God.
The first step which the sick one has to take in the path of divine healing will
be therefore to let the Holy Spirit of God probe his heart and convince him of
sin. After which will come, also, humiliation, decision to break with sin, and
confession. To confess our sins is to lay them down before God as in Achans case
(Joshua 7:23), to subject them to His judgment, with the fixed purpose to fall
into them no more. A sincere confession will be followed by a new assurance of
pardon.
Joshua 7
23 And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto
Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the
LORD.
"If he has committed sins they shall be forgiven him." When we have confessed
our sins, we must receive also the promised pardon, believing that God gives it
in very deed. Faith in God's pardon is often vague in the child of God. Either
he is uncertain, or he returns to old impressions, to the time when he first
received pardon; but the pardon which he now receives with confidence, in answer
to the prayer of faith, will bring him new life and strength. The soul then
rests under the efficacy of the blood of Christ, receives from the Holy Spirit
the certainty of the pardon of sin, and that therefore nothing remains to hinder
the Savior from filling him with His love and with His grace. God's pardon
brings with it a divine life which acts powerfully upon him who receives it.
When the soul has consented to make a sincere confession and has obtained
pardon, it is ready to lay hold of the promise of God; it is no longer difficult
to believe that the Lord will raise up His sick one. It is when we keep far from
God that it is difficult to believe; confession and pardon bring us quite near
to Him. As soon as the cause of the sickness has been removed, the sickness
itself can be arrested. Now it is easy for the sick one to believe that if the
Lord necessarily subjected the body to the chastisement of the sins committed,
He also wills that, the sin being pardoned, this same body should receive the
grace which manifests His love. His presence is revealed, a ray of life, of His
divine life, comes to quicken the body, and the sick one proves that as soon as
he is no longer separated from the Lord, the prayer of faith does save the sick.
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CHAPTER XIX.
JESUS BORE OUR SICKNESS
"Surely He hath borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows... My Righteous
Servant shall justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities... He shall
divide the spoil with the strong, because... He bare the sin of many"
(Isaiah 53:4 RSV, margin, 11, 12).
Do you know this beautiful chapter, the fifty-third of Isaiah, which has been
called the fifth Gospel? In the light of the Spirit of God, Isaiah describes
beforehand the sufferings of the Lamb of God, as well as the divine graces which
would result from them.
The expression "to bear" could not but appear in this prophecy. It is, in fact,
the word which must accompany the mention of sin, whether as committed directly
by the sinner, or whether as transmitted to a Substitute. The transgressor, the
priest, and the expiatory victim must all bear the sin. In the same way, it is
because the Lamb of God has borne our sins that God smote Him for the iniquity
of us all. Sin was not found in Him, but it was put upon Him; He took it
voluntarily upon Him. And it is because He bore it and that, in bearing it, He
put an end to it that He has the power to save us. My Righteous Servant shall
justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities... He shall divide the spoil
with the strong, because... He bare the sin of many" (Isaiah 53:11,12). It is,
therefore, because our sins have been borne by Jesus Christ that we are
delivered from them as soon as we believe this truth; consequently we need no
longer bear them ourselves.
In this same chapter, the expression "to bear" occurs twice, but in relation to
two different