Is it for Today?
It is commonly believed, both among the clergy and the common people, that miracles and healing were all for the early Christians; and this is one of the chief stumbling blocks in the way of those who would seek God for the healing of their bodies. Many believe that miracles were especially for the day in which Christ lived: this is a very erroneous idea. There were thousands of miracles performed before the days of Christ. In fact from the very beginning of the Bible clear on through to the close of it, miracles are scattered throughout the entire scope of God’s operations and dealings with men.
Webster defines a miracle as an act of God, and to teach that there are none now is to say that God has become inactive. We read of miracles among the Israelites; Moses turned the water into blood, a walking stick into a serpent, daylight into darkness; and multitudes were healed in a single moment as they looked at the brazen serpent which Moses has raised as a type of Christ.
First of all, let us consider how miracles come to pass. Nicodemus said: “…we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” John 3:2. If God is with us, miracles are easy. If God is not with us, then miracles are impossible. Gideon also had this idea, when the angel appeared to him, and said, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.” Gideon replied, “…if the Lord be with us …where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of?” Judges 6:12-13. You see the same thought here as Nicodemus had that miracles are dependent upon the presence of God. And how cheering it is to read Matthew 28:20. “…and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Here we have the great foundation for miracles.
We will turn to I Corinthians 12:28, “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles…” Please notice- God has set miracles in the church, and as long as the church is in operation, miracles will be possible. In Galatians 3:5. “He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” Here we see miracles are done by the Spirit. This is an important verse for this is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit: and He being the miracle worker, naturally, we may look for them to occur not only once in awhile but to be very frequently manifested. Now the general belief among people today, even good people, is that miracles extended until the close of the lives of the apostles. This is a great mistake, for we find the deacons of the New Testament performing miracles. In Acts 6:8 we are told that deacon Stephen did great miracles among the people. "And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." Again, in Acts 8:6 it is said that deacon Philip wrought wonderful miracles and the people gave heed to the word, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. "And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did."
Let us sum up a few of the things we have said. First, we saw that the presence of God is a guarantee of miracles. So then God must leave us if miracles shall cease. Secondly, miracles were set in the Church. The Church must be destroyed before miracles cease. Thirdly, miracles are wrought by the Holy Spirit. He must be taken away before the miracles will cease. Fourth, they are wrought by faith. Faith must die before miracles will cease. The reason we see so few miracles is largely due to lack of faith. Miracles ceased in Nazareth in A.D. 32. Matthew 13:58 “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
Unbelief is the Devil’s padlock on the door to miracles and the key is operated largely by the preachers and Church members who are stupid enough to tell the people that the days of the supernatural are past. No wonder Jesus said, “...Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8.
Faith is being destroyed throughout the world by a system of religion that is run after the ordinances of men and not based on scriptures. The great apostasy has come; the falling away that Paul speaks of in II Thessalonians 2:3, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." And yet, thank God! He is faithful to the few who will trust Him with all their hearts; and He will answer their prayers as He did the prayers of His believing children in the days gone by.
HEALING COMMISSION TO PREACHERS
Matthew 10:1-7. “And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying “...And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The above scripture is the New Testament commission to all preachers that should ever preach from that time until the end of the age. As you notice, Jesus commanded them to preach the gospel and heal the sick. Then in Matthew 28:19-20 He instructed His disciples not only to carefully carry out what He had taught them, but to teach their followers to do and teach all that He had instructed them, saying, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Please notice the first line of the 20th verse: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you,” and the result will be “I am with you alway.” Matthew 28:20.
The reason we have so little power and manifestation of the presence of God is because the preachers of today have not been instructed to observe all things that Jesus taught the disciples. One of them is healing the sick. Therefore there is no instruction to the people on this line and consequently no faith among the people for healing. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17. In James 5:14-16 read, “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: 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. 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.” You will see by this that James, in James 5:16, was instructing his followers, the elders, to pray for the sick. If you have any doubt about this, turn to James 1:1. “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad...” You will remember that the Christians were all scattered abroad except the twelve apostles who remained in Jerusalem. These elders were Christian men who had been given the oversight of the scattered Christians. And now they are instructed by James to pray for the sick, which they did and which history records as a successful ministry.
It is a shame and a pity that so important a ministry has been lost, not only lost, but the very men who should have done so, through their blindness and ignorance, through lack of instruction by their teachers, have now become an obstacle to the very thing they were commissioned to do. Thousands of men who should be a blessing to the sick and the suffering are discouraging them from having faith in God for the healing of their bodies.
But there’s a reckoning day coming, as we find in the Old Testament. God turned against the shepherds and instructed Ezekiel to tell them so. Ezekiel 34:1-2, 4, 10. “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? …4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken,…10 Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand...” I know of no statement that should horrify a minister as the one that God hurled down from Heaven through Ezekiel: “I am against the shepherds.” I would rather have all the men in the world against me, all the wild beasts of the forest turned loose on me, every machine gun pointed at me, and every critic’s pen to write against me than to have God against me. For “...If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31.
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law...” Galatians 3:13. Very few people understand what the curse of the law is. If you will turn to Deuteronomy 28:1-68 you will find that after God had given the law, by the hand of Moses, He made a great promise to those that would obey it, by saying (bold emphasis added):
“1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
“2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
“3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
“4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
“5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
“6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
"7 The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
"8 The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
"9 The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.
"10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.
"11 And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
“12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
“13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou harken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
"14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them."
And then He uses the little word “But” which changes the meaning entirely, as He solemnly declares:
“15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.”
Now the following is the curse of the law:
“16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
“17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
“18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
“19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
“20 The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
“21 The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
“22 The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish."
"23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
"24 The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
"25 The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
"26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
“27 The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
“28 The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
"29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee."
"30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
"31 Thin ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.
"32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand.
"33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:
"34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sigtht of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
"35 The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
"36 The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
"37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.
"38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
"39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
"40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
"41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
"42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.
"43 The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.
"44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
"45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:
"46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.
"47 Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
"48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
"49 The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
"50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
"51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.
"52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
"53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
"54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:
"55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.
"56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,
"57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
"58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;
“59 Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
“60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.
“61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
"62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.
"63 And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
"64 And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
“65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:
“66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:
“67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
"68 And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you."
Now you will see by this that the curse of the law has in it every sickness and disease known to man. Let us read the text again: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.” And we would not do violence to this text, were we to read it, “Christ has redeemed us from consumption, from blindness and madness, from heart failure, from cancer, and from every other disease not written in this book.” Not Christ WILL redeem us—Christ HAS redeemed us. Galatians 3:13. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law when He hung on the cross. Are you sick and afflicted? Christ has made it possible for you to be well and strong, if you will accept what He did for you on the cross, or rather, if you will accept HIM. What Christ did on the cross for us, He will do by His life IN us.
The great trouble with many Christians is that Christianity to them means nothing but joining an organization. Christianity is not that at all, but is a new life through Christ, with new privileges to the redeemed of Adam’s race. Adam put a mortgage on the human race by sinning and so brought in sickness, and death, sorrow and strife. Christ paid off the mortgage on Calvary. Just as you redeem a piece of property from a mortgage and bring it back into your own possession, unencumbered, so Christ has redeemed us.
SICKNESS CALLED A BOND
Yes, Jesus called it such, in Luke 13:10-16 we read of a story of a woman who was bowed together and could in no wise lift up herself for eighteen years.
"10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
"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.
"12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
"13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
"14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
"15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
"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?"
Jesus healed her and when the ruler of the synagogue objected, Jesus indignantly called him a hypocrite in Luke 13:15-16.
“15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
“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?”
Jesus said she was a daughter of Abraham. Men had never been called Christians at that time. The believers were called sons and daughters of Abraham and Jesus puts the emphasis on the fact that she was a daughter of Abraham, using that as an argument that she ought to be healed immediately, right on the Sabbath day.
Are you a believer? A child of God? You should be healed immediately. Someone may read this who will say, “I am not a Christian so therefore I am left out.” Thank God, you need not be. You can give your heart to God, accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, become a Christian right now, and receive your healing without any delay- not because of any goodness on your part, but through faith in Christ only. It may seem strange to you, but in our meetings, sinners come into our meeting, give their hearts to God and are healed instantly, in many cases, much quicker than those who have been Christians for a long time. This is because they accepted healing through the atonement of Christ.
While many old Christians expect healing because they think they have it coming, because they have joined a Church and because they attend it. Let me say right here: you will not get healing on that basis, for the scripture declares, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him: and with his stripes are we healed." Isaiah 53:5.
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous (Christians): but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Psalm 34:19.
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11.
“Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” Psalm 33:18-19.
The Lord guarantees every promise.
“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” I John 3:22.
Remember Deuteronomy 28:1-68. God afflicted His own people because they would not walk uprightly and keep His Commandments. When God brings afflictions upon His people, no amount of prayers will remove it, but the sin that they are guilty of must be confessed before they will be delivered. God’s message is: Turn to me and I will turn to you.
Those that have lived to glorify themselves and hindered the cause of God by withholding their tithe and saying many hurtful things against the Church and the pastor and acted as a door for the sinners- standing in the way of them finding God, God surely will not heal and hear their prayers until they are willing to confess their wrongs and live to glorify God.
For further proof we shall read James 5:13-16.
“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.”
May we just add this admonition from John 9:31. "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth." Jesus said God would not hear sinners, but if any man be a worshipper of God and doeth His will, him He heareth.
Let everyone examine themselves and ask the question: Have I been doing my part for God and my brethren?