RESTITUTION, FAITH CURES, PRAYER CURES AND THE
GIFT OF HEALING.
“Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish: for I work a work in
your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe,though a man declare it unto you.”-Acts 13:41.
WE are constantly in receipt of inquiries concerning Mind Cures, Faith Cures,
Prayer Cures, etc. We make general
answer again, that since the Scriptures teach that we are already in the
“harvest,” the lapping time during which the Gospel age closes and the
Millennial age dawns, we should expect to see just what we do see,-beginnings
of great changes. And not only do we see political, social and religious
changes in progress, but, as we should expect, we see also beginnings of
personal, physical restitution here and there. These great changes are stealing along so
quietly as not to attract much attention or occasion great surprise, just as
inventions and general knowledge are spreading gradually. This is God’s usual method of operation: he
is thus preparing the world in some measure for the wonderful manifestations of
his power in the near future, which will be in restoring both health to the
sick and life to the dead,-the great work of Restitution “of that which was
lost” by the fall. Thus the new dispensation
is being gradually ushered in as the dawning day.
Accordingly, just as the troubles of
this Day of the Lord break out here and there, and in intermittent paroxysms,
but gradually and to the unobservant imperceptibly, increasing in severity and
bitterness with each spasm, so with the marks of physical healing: they come in
a variety of ways, here and there a number, and then a subsiding, a lull
in which there are few or none, but all the while gradually becoming more
common, and from a greater variety of sources and seeming causes.
THE GIFT OF HEALING.
But, one inquires, is not this the “gift”
of healing mentioned by the Apostle in 1 Cor. 12:28,30? And has not this gift been in possession of
the Church ever since Pentecost?
No; the gift of healing
possessed by some members of the early Church was totally different from the
healings of to-day. The Apostles in
exercising this gift did not practice “mental healing,” nor even “prayer
healing.”
Take as an illustration the case of
the lame man healed by Peter and John as related in Acts 3:1-11. Peter and John
did not kneel down and pray with the man, nor did they get him to fix his
attention as “mind-healers” would; they gave him no medicine and used no oil,
nor did they even require the man to believe in Jesus first, nor to have faith
in their power to heal him. But while he looked at the apostles expecting to
receive some money, Peter took him by the hand and lifted him up, saying, “In
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” And immediately his feet and ankle bones
received strength, and he, leaping up, stood and walked. This is an illustration of the use of the gift
of healing, and there are many more such recorded.-See Acts 9:34; 14:10; 16:18;
19:12.
We do not think that after a careful
scrutiny of the subject, any one to-day would claim to possess this gift. The gifts described by Paul were given only
to the early Church, as a means for its introduction to the attention of both
Jews and Gentiles, and also as a means for edification and instruction to the
Church itself. For this last named
reason one or more gifts were bestowed upon each one who associated with the
Church (1 Cor. 12:7,11; 14:26), being conferred, by the laying on of the hands
of the apostles, upon all who confessed Christ by immersion. Thus it was that these gifts became a token
or sign of the possession of the holy spirit.
Yet the gifts of the spirit and the spirit itself are separate and
distinct. To-day we possess the spirit,
but certainly not all of those miraculous gifts. And even then some had gifts of the
spirit who were evidently far from being filled with the spirit. That one might have those gifts and yet be
“nothing” and as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals, devoid of love, and hence
without Christ’s spirit, the apostle clearly shows in 1 Cor. 13:1-3.
The power of conferring those gifts
was vested in the apostles, and in them only: none others in their day or since
have been able to confer those gifts which Paul describes; hence they did “vanish
away” when the apostles died. By that
time the Church had been brought prominently before the attention of the world,
and therefore those miraculous gifts were not necessary for that purpose; and
by that time, too, they began to have the New Testament and parts of the Old
Testament in the possession of each congregation, so that coming together they
could edify and instruct and build one another up with the truth from those
inspired sources, and not longer require, as at first, the miraculous gifts as
a means for their edification and instruction.
That only the apostles could confer
those gifts is proved: first, by the fact that the claimed successors of the
apostles cannot communicate them since, and second, by the cases recorded which
show that none except the apostles ever did have the power to bestow those
gifts. Notice, in proof of this, that
though Philip, the evangelist, possessed gifts and preached and baptized, yet
he was not able to bestow gifts of the holy spirit upon others, and when a necessity
arose for their impartation the apostles Peter and John were sent from
Jerusalem for the purpose. Further,
notice the case of Simon Magus: although one of the baptized, and evidently one
of those granted a gift, he had no power to bestow gifts upon others. It was this apostolic privilege, of
bestowing these gifts upon others, which Simon wanted to purchase with money,
and for which he was so sharply reproved.-Acts 8:13-20.
Instead of miraculously receiving
gifts as at first, we now grow the fruits of the spirit, which are
meekness, gentleness, patience, moderation, brotherly kindness, charity,
etc. These fruits may really be counted
as gifts or acquirements also, though they come to us not by apostolic benediction,
but in a different way-by cultivation.
Hence we find, too, that although St. Paul calls these graces “gifts” in
one place, he calls them “fruits” elsewhere. (Compare Gal. 5:22; 1 Cor. 13:1-8.
In Eph. 5:9, these are called fruits of the light. See readings of old MSS.) Under God’s present dealing, all the needs of
the church are none the less provided for than when the “gifts” were bestowed,
as at first, in a miraculous manner, by the laying on of the apostles’
hands. Now we find that the spirit of
truth is pleased to mould and fashion and use every consecrated one by
utilizing his natural talents and advantages of education, language,
etc., in teaching, edifying and nourishing the true Church which is the body of
Christ.
So, then, whatever may be said of the
various prevailing mind cures, faith cures and prayer cures, they surely are
not of the gifts possessed by the early Church, and recorded in the Acts
of the Apostles.
“THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW.”
But, says one, you seem to take no
notice of that remarkable passage so frequently quoted by our Faith Cure
friends, “These signs shall follow them that believe, In my name shall they
cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall
lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.”-Mark 16:17,18.
Yes, we are aware of this claim, but
we have two objections to urge. First,
neither observation nor history attests the fulfillment of such a
statement. Of one thing we all have
evidence; viz., that those signs do not now accompany belief in
Christ. Nor is there evidence that they
extended beyond the apostles’ days and the time of the miraculous gifts. Even then, we have no record of all these
things being fulfilled in all that believed.
Second, the oldest and most authentic
Greek manuscripts (the Sinaitic and Vatican MSS.) do not contain these verses
at all, but end at verse 8. It seems
evident that Mark’s gospel was originally incomplete and that some one
undertook to finish it for him about the fifth century; for the Alexandrine
MS., written in the fifth century is the oldest Greek MS. which contains the
last twelve verses. Read these spurious
verses carefully, note the marginal reading in the Revised Version, note their
untruthfulness in the light of facts, and mark them in your Bible.
“ASK WHAT YE WILL.”
But, suggests another, even setting
aside this spurious statement of Mark 16:17,18, and all claim to possessing the
“gifts” of the early Church, did not our Lord’s promises regarding the
answering of our prayers cover the entire ground, and make possible the healing
of the sick or even the moving of mountains during this entire age; and is it
not because of lack of faith that these things have not been more common in the
past? And is it not because of increased
faith, rather than because of the dawning of the Millennium, that the healing
of the sick is now becoming more frequent?
Our answer to both of the questions
is, No: a great misunderstanding prevails concerning our privileges in
prayer. And it is because of this
misunderstanding concerning what we may ask for and who may ask,
and not because of any unfaithfulness to his promise on our Lord’s part, that
so many thousands of prayers offered daily go unanswered.
The statement, “Ye shall ask what
ye will and it shall be done unto you” is linked with certain conditions
and limitations, found in the sentence preceding, which reads: “If
ye abide in me, and my words abide in you.”
These limitations are wonderfully comprehensive: they show who may ask,-ye,
believers, who are in me, whose wills are buried or immersed into the
will of Christ Jesus; and not only so, but ye are privileged to ask
thus, only so long as ye “abide in me;” for if any man abide not in
Christ, he is not only “cast forth” (John 15:6), but he has no longer a share
in the promise of having his petitions granted.
These limitations evidently cut off from all share in this promise the
vast majority of the prayers offered.
And as we continue to scrutinize our Master’s words we find still
further limitations which cut off many other prayers, even of those offered by
the class abiding in Christ. We refer to
the second condition mentioned by our Lord, as describing who may ask what they
will; viz., if “my words abide in you.”
Alas! that we must write it-There are
few among God’s professed children, very few even among those who profess to be
entirely consecrated to and abiding in him, who have his Word abiding
richly in them.
The significance of this last
specification or limitation is this: In going to God to ask for anything we
should realize his omniscience and wisdom, and that he is ordering and operating
general affairs according to a perfect and orderly plan-his Plan of the Ages;
and we should realize our own finiteness, our lack of such wisdom and
appreciation of surroundings, etc., as would enable us to rule creation, if God
were to give it over to our control. All
true children of God who are not the merest “babes” realize this, and if
God should say without limitation, Ask what you will, and your will shall be
done, sensible ones would shrink from so grave a responsibility and cry, “Not
so, O Lord,”
“I dare not touch things which involve so much.”
As for the Lord’s promise that if we
had faith we might command a mountain to remove and it would obey us, we reason
thus: This, like the other promises, was given only to such as abide in him and
have his words abiding in them, and is given merely as an extreme illustration:
If an emergency should occur so great as to necessitate the removal of a
mountain, either literal or figurative, and we were sure it were the will of
God, we might ask and receive.
But we need not speculate about how
the mountains and lakes, seas and clouds, and rain and sunshine would move
promiscuously about, and interfere with one another, if all the prayers offered
heavenward in Christ’s name were answered.
God is not devoting himself to the answering of such prayers; but,
ignoring them, he is working out gradually his own grand plan,
predetermined before the foundation of the world; and he assures us that
notwithstanding the prayers of those who do not search his Word to know what
his plan is, but who pray to him to carry out their plans and schemes, yet
nevertheless, “All his purposes shall be accomplished.” And though few even of his children respect
his Word or seek to learn from it his plan,-content rather to follow the plans
and theories of men as laid down in creeds and confessions and voiced by
councils and human standards, nevertheless, in the end, God’s Word shall not
return to him void, but shall accomplish that which he intended, and prosper in
the thing whereunto it was sent.-Isa. 55:11.
No, thank God, he has not left his
plan, even in spiritual matters, subject to the prayers of his
prejudice-blinded and sectarian children, else each would want the whole world
moulded to his own ideal whether that were Methodism, Lutheranism,
Presbyterianism, Brahmanism, or what not; and all the various errors would
flourish, while ZION’S WATCH TOWER and MILLENNIAL DAWN would have been financially swamped long ago. Yes, we may well thank God that he does not
answer all prayers.
There was then, we see, a special and
very particular reason for the close and searching limitations which our
Redeemer placed about the promise that the Father would grant our
requests. The import of his words, as we
study them and endeavor to grasp their meaning, appears to be this:-
If you abide in me, entirely subject
to my will and plan, even as I abide in the Father’s love, and seek not to do
mine own will but the will of him that sent me,-if thus my will is your choice
and your own wills are buried and ignored, then you will seek earnestly to know
what the Father’s will is, which you know I am seeking to accomplish,
that you may use your time, talents, prayers and all in the same direction
toward the same end. And if you have
this heartfelt desire to know the will of God you will remember how I studied
his plan as revealed in the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets, and how I
endeavored to carry out that plan, and not plans of my own making or choosing.
Then you will remember how I pointed
out to you how-“Thus it is written and thus it behooveth us to fulfill all that
is written,” and how I taught you to search the Scriptures. Following in this course, the holy Spirit
will guide you, as it has guided me, into an understanding of more and more of the
divine plan as it becomes due. And if
this be your attitude, if your hearts and energies are thus absorbed in the
Father’s plan, you may ask all the desires of your hearts-“Ye may ask what ye
will.” I make you this liberal promise,
not by way of intimating to you that the Father would change his plans to
yours, and do your will, but as intimating to you that, in the course I
have specified, you can come so fully into sympathy with the Father and the
plan of the ages which he is working out, that you will never be dissatisfied,
but always able to see your wishes being accomplished, because your will
and wish, your pleasure and satisfaction, will be to see God’s will and plan
progressing in God’s own way and time.
Thus your every prayer and wish will be accomplished-the very reverse of
the experience of those who seek to do their own wills and carry out human
plans, and pray for their own desires; for they are ever meeting with
disappointments.
Settle it therefore in your hearts
and have no fear for the results. No
matter how dark may be the storm, or how sharp the persecution, God’s great and
gracious plan will not miscarry, and thus your will and your plans (which are his)
cannot fail; and your prayers in that interest will always be heard and will be
answered so far as they are correct or not in conflict with the Father’s
plan. And you, if perfectly in harmony
with the Father, would desire to have it so.
And in any case, where there is the slightest room to question his will
in the matter, having my spirit or disposition, and not the spirit of the
world, you will pray as I have done in your hearing, saying in connection with
your petition,-“Nevertheless not my will, but thine, Father, be done.” All such prayers are sure to be answered; and
in proportion as you come closer and closer into harmony with the Father’s
plan, and understand it, you will be less likely to ask or desire anything
which would be contrary to his good pleasure to grant.
As you come to see the bountifulness
of the Father’s provisions, and the wisdom and care exercised by him touching
your earthly interests; as you come to realize that he who has clothed the
lilies of the field with beauty, and who provides food for the sparrows, loves
and cares much more for you than for them, and knoweth better than you do what
things you have need of;-what would strengthen and benefit, and what
might injure you, as runners in the race for the great prize he has offered
through Christ-as you realize these things your prayers for temporal
things must become very modest and moderate.
Indeed, you will by and by, as you realize his wisdom and care, use
prayer principally as the avenue for spiritual communion. Contenting yourself with laying the cares and
burdens of life at the Master’s feet, you will tell him of your confidence in
his love and wisdom, saying, Thy will be done; and instead of your cares you
will “bear a song away.” More than ever
your prayers will be for the spiritual gifts, graces, fruits and blessings,
singing in your hearts-
“Content whatever lot I see,
Since ‘tis my God that leadeth me.”
Thus, properly instructed, all who
abide in Christ and in whom his word abides, might be relieved of all care
(worry) concerning those earthly things which constitute the burden of so many
prayers. Leaving those things to our
Father’s wisdom and love, our prayers would be more in the nature of
thank-offerings, our hearts going out toward God in worship and adoration and
in recounting the blessings and favors we already enjoy, rather than in asking
those things for which the Gentiles seek.-Matt. 6:32.
True, earthly affairs sometimes
perplex us, and we cannot help wondering and feeling a deep interest as to how
they will result. But the soul that abides
in Christ, and in which his words abide, would not dare take the helm
into his own hands to steer his own course, even where he thinks he can see;
but, laboring still at the oar, pulling as best he can, he leaves the helm
in the Father’s hands and could not ask to have the course changed in
any degree.
But may we not in all our trials and
perplexities take them to the Lord in prayer?
Yes, yes; truly we can. And no
comfort will be greater to the perplexed or sorrowing than the privilege of
telling all to the Lord. His ear is ever
open to the cry of his “little ones;” and the very telling of them to him and
realization of his interest in all our affairs will refresh and cheer us. It will bring to remembrance his promises
never to leave nor forsake us, and his wisdom and love and ability to cause all
things, favorable and unfavorable, to work together for our good. Casting all our care upon him, and realizing
that according to his promise, present trouble and all other things may be
overruled for the good of all concerned, and to his praise, we may arise from
our knees stronger, happier and more confident, as well as in closer fellowship
and communion with the Lord, than if we had attempted to order our own affairs,
and to get the great Jehovah to become our servant to execute our plans,
which doubtless often are foolish in his sight, and would, if permitted, work
injuriously to us or to others.
THE PRAYER OF FAITH.
Death is not, as most people suppose,
a natural, normal, necessary thing. It
is not a step in a process of evolution to a higher state of existence, but, on
the contrary, it is a catastrophe, a calamity, a penalty for sin. God indeed shows us that his wisdom is
sufficient to enable him to bring a good lesson out of an evil thing, but it is
nevertheless an evil, an enemy, an awful thing; as truly so as is sin, which
God also promises that his wisdom shall yet cause to work out a result the very
opposite of its natural course and action, to those who obey him. This fact, that death is a penalty, we shall
not discuss here, but merely refer the reader to Paul’s statements in Rom.
5:12-20.
As death is a curse and penalty, so
is sickness; for sickness is the death-poison working in our systems. All
sickness is part of the dying process, and hence it is as foreign to man’s
natural, normal condition, as designed by God, as is death itself. As death is a mark of sin, and would not have
come except as a penalty for sin, so sickness is likewise a mark or brand of
sin, because it is part of the dying process.
Hence it was that our Lord (who came
to ransom the race of sinners), being free from sin, was free also from pain,
sickness and death: so whatever he experienced of these had to be by his own
consent,-a sacrifice on our behalf. The penalty of our sins was death, the
sickness and pain being only incidentals; hence our redemption price was fully
paid by our Lord’s death. But it pleased
Jehovah to bruise him [to allow him to have an experience with pain, sorrow,
etc.], as well as to make his soul [being, existence] an offering
for sin. (Isa. 53:10.) And since he
could not suffer pain and sickness because of sin, being without sin, he was
placed for a time among sinners, where his full, generous, loving sympathy for
the poor and sick and miserable would lead him to spend for others his own
vital energy. And as “virtue
[vitality-healing vigor] went out of him” to the sick (Luke 6:19 and 8:46), so
their weaknesses and pains bore down upon him.
And it was in this way that “himself took our infirmities
and bare our sicknesses.” (Matt. 8:17; Isa. 53:4,5); and thus he was “touched
with a feeling of our infirmities” and is able perfectly to sympathize
as a great High Priest,-now on behalf of the church or under-priesthood, and by
and by, in the Millennial day of trial and blessing, on behalf of “all the
people.”
As it pleased the Father that the
High Priest should taste of the sinners’ cup, so we may reasonably read his
will relative to all the members of the Royal Priesthood to be, that they also
should drink of the cup of suffering, and be immersed in the baptism of death
with their Lord and Leader, in the pathway to divine glory and power.
Thus reading
the Father’s plans for ourselves, in the light of his will exemplified in his
dealings with our Master, we may settle it at once that it is not his will to
keep us from all pain and trial and sufferings, and to carry us triumphantly to
glory on flowery beds of ease. Quite the
reverse, indeed, must be our course if we would follow in the footsteps of him
whom God set forth to be, not only a satisfaction for the sins of the whole
world, but also a pattern to the church which is his body. And this much learned of God’s plan and will
promptly teaches us that we must not expect and should
not ask freedom from pain and trouble, which his wisdom has ordained to be the
path to glory.
Here some will ask: Did you
not say that sickness is a mark of sin, and that Christ died for our sins, and
is it not your claim that whosoever believeth in him and accepts of his ransom
work is freed or justified from all sin?
And this being the case, ought not such to be free both from sin’s
penalty, death, and from all its attendant evils, such as pain and sickness?
Yes, that reasoning is good; but you
do not take all the circumstances into account: you have left out an important
part; namely, It is the Father’s plan that the suffering and death of the
Redeemer should be followed by the suffering and death of every member of his
“body” or church, before the Restitution age should be ushered in, the purpose
of that age being to heal the morally and physically sick and blind and lame;
to restore all who will to perfect life and every blessing lost in Eden by
Adam, and redeemed at Calvary by our great High Priest’s sacrifice-once for
all. The plan of the ages needs to be recognized, if we would avoid the error
of so many, in striving for present glory, in the time appointed for trial and
suffering with Christ. Examine Rom.
8:17; 2 Cor. 1:5; Col. 1:24. Surely the Bible gives no suggestion that the
“body” will be free from like sufferings with the “head.”
When the sufferings of the body of
Christ are ended, their glory we are assured will follow (1 Pet. 1:11); and
then will ensue the great work of filling the world ocean-deep with the
knowledge of the Lord, the “restitution of all things spoken by the prophets,”
and the blotting out of the sins of those who accept the terms of the New
Covenant sealed by the precious blood. (Acts 3:19-21.) Thus in God’s due time and order all tears
will be wiped away, when the former things, sin, sorrow, pain and death, shall
have passed away. See the beautiful
picture of this in Rev. 21:4.
But we may suppose another
inquiry,-Why did our Lord and the apostles heal the sick, if that work is not
really due to take place until the Millennial age of Restitution begins?
There were several reasons why they
were granted the “gift of healing,” as well as other gifts, not granted
now. One reason was the necessity for
such miracles, to introduce Christianity to the attention of the people. Our Lord mentioned his miracles to John the
Baptist as a proof of his Messiahship.
Messiah was to heal the sick, cause the blind to see and the deaf to
hear (Isa. 29:18; 35:1-6; 42:6,7); consequently our Lord must do these things
and in a measure begin the work of restitution so that Israel could recognize
him and be responsible for rejecting him and his “works.” (John 10:38.) But when they as a nation rejected him, as
God had foreseen (Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:5), then they were rejected from the
position offered them as the “royal priesthood” and Seed of promise. And then, as God had foretold, the Gospel was
sent to the Gentiles to complete from them the “Seed of Abraham,” the “body” of
Christ, the “royal priesthood;” and the restitution work which had a beginning
in our Lord’s ministry was deferred until the true Israel should be complete,
when Messiah, at his second coming, shall accomplish fully all those
glorious features of the divine plan foretold by the holy prophets, and foreshadowed
faintly in his miracles at the first advent.
That our Lord’s restoring work at the
first advent -the healing of some of the sick and the awakening of a few of the
dead in Israel-merely shadowed forth the greater work to be accomplished at his
second presence, during the Millennium, seems clear. Had God designed a general healing of
all the sick, even among the people of Palestine, it could have been done on a
large scale instead of in exceptional cases here and there; for undoubtedly
many others than Lazarus, the son of the widow of Nain, and Jairus’ daughter,
died during Christ’s ministry. And there
were many more lame and palsied and leprous and blind than those then healed.
Our Lord’s object in performing the
miracles is explained by the statement, “These things did Jesus and manifested
forth [showed beforehand] his glory”-the coming glory of the Millennial
age. And it was of his people’s share in
that coming glory, rather than of any physical healings which have since taken
place amongst his disciples, that he said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works
than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12.) His
redemptive work at Calvary and his subsequent presentation of it to the Father
as a “propitiation [satisfaction] for the sins of the whole world,” was the
basis for all the great works of restitution in which we with him shall be
engaged in the Times of Restitution-which will indeed be far greater than
anything done by our Lord at the first advent; for then the sick and the dead
were only partially restored, and for a limited time only-which is as nothing
compared to the full restitution of the health and vigor of perfect and
everlasting life, and all that was lost in Adam, which will be offered
to all on the terms of the New Covenant during the Millennium.
The thought we wish to impress is,
that God not only had a due time for REDEEMING the world from sin, but
that he has also a due time for restoring the sick and the dead. Therefore whatever work of this sort takes
place before the due and appointed time must be for some special object and
reason, as shown in our Lord’s ministry, and in that of the Church in the days
of the apostles. Just so it was in the
redeeming of the world,-typical sacrifices were instituted and were permitted
to stand good for temporary, typical justification, but those were not the real
sacrifices for sin, and never actually put away sins. As God deferred the redemption of our race
until his due time, and in the fullness of time sent forth his Son to redeem
us, so, in the matter of healings, though it has pleased God to make exceptions
in the past for the purpose mentioned, let us not forget that these were
exceptions, and that his appointed time for restitution is the Millennial age.
Seeing this to be God’s plan, and realizing that his plan is wisest and best,
we must restrain ourselves and neither desire nor ask restitution work before
restitution times-except we see cases in which it would seem to be the Father’s
will, and reasons why it would seem to be to his glory to make exceptions to
his general rule and arrangement.
This subject will be continued in our
next-considering what are the causes of sickness, the proper methods of prayer
(for sickness and other matters), prayer cures, Christian Science and other
unscriptural methods of healing, etc., etc.