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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray G.o.d 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."
CHAPTER X.
THE LORD FOR THE BODY.
"Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but G.o.d 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 G.o.d"s relations with man. That which G.o.d 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. G.o.d 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 by His Spirit, the Lord will impart to our body His own strength and holiness, and that Spirit, the Lord will impart to our body His own strength and holiness, and that henceforth He will strengthen and keep us. 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 G.o.d which explains to us the way to a.s.similate. 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 G.o.d. 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 appet.i.tes 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 appet.i.te, all desire to drink will be overcome. Our temper also often results from our physical const.i.tution. 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 G.o.d 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 now is, clothed with His glorified body, sends us His divine strength, willing thus to manifest His power in our body. His power in our body.
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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d and His promise, the power and faithfulness of G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d. 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 the smallest indication of the return of the evil is regarded as a warning of the return of the evil is regarded as a warning not to consider our body, but to be occupied with the Lord only. 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 the Lord and the relations which He seeks to establish with their souls! 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! 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 G.o.d. 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 G.o.d. The commandment of Christ, "Be not anxious for your... body"
(Matthew 6:25, ASV), appears here in a new light. When G.o.d 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 G.o.d and His promise. Sustained by his faith, he gave glory to G.o.d, convinced that G.o.d 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 G.o.d the soul takes courage and confidence. At last one decides, saying, "I yield up my body into the hands of G.o.d; 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 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, own body, and not to doubt through unbelief. To consider the body gives birth to doubts, while clinging to the promise of G.o.d and being occupied with Him alone gives entrance into while clinging to the promise of G.o.d and being occupied with Him alone gives entrance into the way of faith, the way of divine healing, which glorifies G.o.d. the way of faith, the way of divine healing, which glorifies G.o.d.
CHAPTER XII.
DISCIPLINE AND SANCTIFICATION.
"If ye endure chastening, G.o.d dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?... G.o.d 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 G.o.d and to His service. The temple at Jerusalem was holy, that is to say, it was consecrated, dedicated to G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, and to become His happy servants. Their deliverance was the road which led to their sanctification.
Again in this day, G.o.d 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"
(t.i.tus 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 G.o.d. 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?
G.o.d 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 G.o.d is occupied with him, and seeks to show him what there is which still separates him from Himself. G.o.d speaks to him, He calls him to examine his ways, to acknowledge that he has lacked holiness, and that the purpose of the to acknowledge that he has lacked holiness, and that the purpose of the chastis.e.m.e.nt is to make him partaker of His holiness chastis.e.m.e.nt 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d.
Sanctification is not something which you can accomplish yourself; it cannot even be produced by G.o.d 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 G.o.d sanctification (I Corinthians 1:30), 1 Corinthians 1 30 But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of G.o.d 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 G.o.d"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, G.o.d 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 chastis.e.m.e.nt.
Oh, it is because believers still understand so little that sanctification means an entire consecration to G.o.d 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 G.o.d cannot thus minister to their selfishness. If they understood better that G.o.d 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.
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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d.
*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 G.o.d. 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d"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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, and for that which is not revealed he knows that G.o.d 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 G.o.d to act according to His promises. It is rather the confiding att.i.tude 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.
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 G.o.d? What is their glory? It is that G.o.d 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 G.o.d in the believer is still more manifest than in former times. G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 pa.s.sing by might overshadow some of them.