[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Sunday, November 10, 2013

[Paul]

Hello and good day to most of my readers on the Lord's Day.  Now I know that those of you in Australia and New Zealand are already in your Monday, but hope you're having a good day nevertheless.

Pastor Harry C. Cook's sermon, my pastor at Rosemont Community Church here in Baltimore, prompted the following article which appeared in the September 2005 issue of "The Gospel Messenger," the official publication of the Gospel Association for the Blind.  Since in some circles this article may appear to go against the grain of your particular church's teaching and if you disagree with the sentiments expressed, I would ask you to make a reasonable effort to contact the author himself directly if you are able and not burden the list with your opinions.  The moderators and/or owners of the various lists will thank you.  The same goes for those who receive these articles on my IDL (individual distribution list).  The author mentioned a second part to this article, but I haven't seen it.

Before I begin, I'd like to quote the editorial note that appears on the front of every issue of "Torch Times," a quarterly magazine produced by the Torch Trust for the Blind in the UK:  "We may not necessarily agree with the particular views of an article, because on certain controversial subjects there are several acceptable viewpoints." It is with this in mind that I present the article written by the editor of "The Gospel Messenger" magazine, Pastor Robert Rathbun, entitled "Sickness and Disability," rendered as follows:

One of the areas of life that many people greatly fear is sickness.  Oh, how we hate to get sick, and oh, how we fear serious illness or bodily impairment.  I myself am physically blind, and I have had people tell me how terrible blindness must be and that they simply wouldn't be able to go on if they lost their sight.  Well, let me tell you, there are a lot worse physical impairments a person can have than blindness.  Not that blindness is a bed of roses, but neither is it a burying ground.

In Old Testament times, when God was especially dealing with the nation of Israel, sickness was one of the punishments for disobedience and good health was one of the rewards for obedience.  "And (God) 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" (Exodus 15:26).

However, there was also the other side of the coin:  "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, then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful (so severe that it will cause wonder or amazement), and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.  Moreover, He will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.  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" (Deuteronomy 28:58-61).

Aren't you glad that you live in the age of grace and not under the dispensation of law?

The Jews were not obedient to God's law, and, thus, all kinds of physical sufferings resulted.  In 2 Kings 1:2, we read of an accident which befell the king of Israel:  "And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice (window) in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick:  and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease."

We also read of one of the kings of Judah suffering disease:  "And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great:  yet in his disease he sought not unto the Lord, but to the physicians" (2 Chronicles 16:12).  This passage is often used to show that physicians are not in the will of God and that Christians should steer clear of them.  But as I read this Scripture verse, it is not an indictment against doctors, but against Asa, because he sought help from doctors, but did not seek the Lord's help.  The doctor may be the means God uses of healing a person, but the sick person should also first go to the Lord and commit himself and his situation unto the Lord.

It's strange how sicknesses and disabilities seem to attract the religious quacks and the well-intentioned.  Doubtless, the "quacks" find these people a ready prey, willing to try most anything to regain their health.  The well-intentioned and zealous find these suitable subjects for their belief in faith healing, and they wish to do them good.

There is a doctrine taught in some churches today that physical healing is in the atonement and is for the church age, and, therefore, a Christian does not have to remain sick or impaired.  They base this teaching on the great 53rd chapter of Isaiah, which speaks so clearly of the Messiah.  The fourth verse of this chapter says, "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrow:  yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."

In the New Testament, we read several passages similar to the following:  "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people.  And His fame went throughout all Syria:  and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with diverse diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils (demons), and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them" (Matthew 4:23-24).

Now note the teaching in Matthew 8:16-17:  "When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils (demons):  and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick:  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." Note then that the healing of the multitudes was spoken of as fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 53:4, and note also that this occurred prior to Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.  Physical healing, then, is not in the atonement, and the prophecy was fulfilled prior to the atonement.  Jesus' healing ministry will also occur throughout the millennium in a similar way to what was practiced during His first advent.

To find the significance of such healings, then, we must read from Luke 4:16-21:  "And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up:  and, as His custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.  And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.  And He closed the book and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down.  And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him.  And He began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." Jesus was saying here that, according to Isaiah, the Messiah was to preach the gospel and to heal folk, and Jesus said that they had lived to see the fulfillment of this prophecy, for He had done these things.

This same evidence of His Messiahship was offered to John the Baptist while he was in prison:  "Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of His disciples, and said unto Him, Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:  The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them.  And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me" (matthew 11:2-6).  You see, the physical healings which Jesus did were His Messianic credentials to the Jews, that He indeed was their long-awaited Messiah.  These credentials were shown publicly prior to His crucifixion, and they offered convincing proof that Jesus, was the Christ, the Messiah of Israel.

I hope that some, if not all, of you are still with me.  Again I don't have the next part unless it may have been buried in another issue of this magazine.  Again, if you have any objections to what Pastor Rathbun wrote, do your best to contact him privately and not bother the list owners and/or moderators.  You might try a link at the Gospel Association for the Blind's website, http://www.gaftblind.org. 

And now until tomorrow when, Lord willing another Daily Thought message will be presented, may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep you safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul