CHRIST,
The Master of All Diseases
O. L. Yerty
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CONTENTS
Preface
1. God’s Will for the Healing of His People
2. Faith
3. The Lord’s Contract with His People for the Healing of Their Bodies
4. Victorious Faith
5. Miracles and Healings as a Result of Faith
6. Faith’s Reward
7. Coming in Contact with Christ the Healer
8. Walking by Faith
9. Faith: Kinds, Quality,and Quantity
10. Christ’s Great Transfer
11. Obedience and Faith for the Healing of God’s People
Testimonials of Those Who Believed and Were Healed
I have traveled in different parts of the United States and held meetings in about one hundred forty congregations to date. I have come in contact with people who were suffering from almost all manner of diseases. While hearing the sermons on faith which my dear Lord has given me as his servant, the brethren and sisters from the many states have asked me the question over and over, Why do you not write a book on divine healing? Also many have told me that they had received a blessing from hearing these messages, and many have remarked, “What a blessing to humanity it would be if these messages were in a book so the thousands of sick people might read them, so that their faith might be inspired, so that they might get a hold of God’s promises and be healed by the mighty power of God.” As my calls for meetings have been so numerous year in and year out, my time has been taken so that I have found it hard to get time to write this book. Thus the delay in getting it before the people. I have been feeling a divine urge in my heart to write it, and for no other reason than to be a blessing to humanity, a blessing to those who are suffering because of a lack of the knowledge of what our Lord desires to mean to them as their great Physician. So as I am attempting to write this book I am praying that our Lord will anoint me for this great responsibility which I feel he has placed upon his servant.
O. L. Yerty
GOD’S WILL FOR THE HEALING OF HIS PEOPLE
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.—1 John 5:14–15
The positive knowledge spoken of in our text does not depend upon the ability of our Lord alone, but on the will of our Lord. There is no need of being in doubt about receiving any covenant blessing from our Lord, if we have a knowledge of his will concerning the matter. Before we can have basis for faith, the following questions must be answered by the Word of God:
1. Did God ever make a will?
2. If so, how many wills did he make?
3. What led him to make a will?
4. When did he make his will?
5. To whom did he make his will?
6. What was contained in his will?
As we follow Jesus in his early ministry, we find a complete revelation of the heavenly Father’s will. We find Jesus saying, in John 5:30, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear I judge: and my judgment is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” Again we hear our Lord saying, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38).
We shall readily observe God’s will manifest or God’s will in action through the labors or ministry of his Son Jesus Christ. As we follow the Lord in his early ministry, we find that he had various experiences which will be of great profit to us as children of God. The first experience that we wish to call your attention to is that of the blind men who came to Jesus for healing, which is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew (9:27). These two blind men followed our Lord, crying: “Thou son of David, have mercy on us.” As they came to Jesus, he did not turn them away. Jesus did not say, “I have had a tiresome day and I am too weary to grant your request.” Jesus did not say, “I am rather busy just now, but if I can find any time I will come and heal you.” But note the COMPASSION of Christ as he healed these blind men and made them whole. This was the Father’s will in action. Jesus came not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him. Christ’s compassion coupled with the faith of these blind, men was what brought about their healing.
Again we wish to call your attention to the woman who had an issue of blood twelve long years. This suffering woman had taken her case to all the physicians around, but the Word of God tells us that these physicians were not successful, as the woman suffered much from their hands, and steadily grew worse. The physicians relieved her of only one thing, and that was her money. The Bible tells us that she spent all her living upon the physicians. If this woman who had suffered twelve long years had been like some of suffering humanity, she would have given up in despair and said, “Here I have been to all these physicians, and I am now worse than I was when I started to doctor, so what is the use of trying as I am going to die in the face of all my efforts?” But notice the great determination of this suffering woman. I can see her as she heard of the lowly Nazarene who was healing all manner of diseases. I can see her as she took on new courage, and started to go to the place where Jesus was. But I cannot conceive of her saying, while on her way, “I wonder if Jesus will heal me if I do go where he is?” Neither can I conceive of this woman saying: “I believe I will go down where Jesus is and take a few treatments.” No, thank God for the faith of this woman! She said, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.” A positive faith. But this woman must be close to Jesus before she could touch his garment.
Too many people are not living in touch with Jesus is the reason they cannot touch his garment. The multitude was thronging about our Lord, but when the woman touched his garment, Jesus turned and said, “Who touched my clothes?” Peter could not understand why Jesus would notice this touch from this woman when the multitude was thronging about him, and did not attract his attention. But Jesus answered Peter’s question by saying, “I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.” The woman’s touch was the touch of faith, that brought results. The touch of faith will always bring results.
The Word of God says that Jesus has all power in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18). The Word also tells us that Jesus is the author and finisher of our Faith (Hebrews 12:2). But in the face of this fact, Jesus did not say to this woman, “My all power healed you.” Neither did he say, “My faith, of which I am the author and finisher, made you whole.” No. He said to the woman, “THY FAITH HATH MADE THEE WHOLE.” It was the compassion of our Lord, coupled with the faith of the woman, that made her whole. This is another manifestation of the will of the Father through his Son. Next we find the multitude came to him, and again he healed all who had need of healing.
While Jesus was here in the flesh he could reach those whom he had the ability to reach. But Jesus’ compassion went far beyond his ability to reach the people. So he called the twelve disciples to him and gave them power and authority to preach the Word and to heal the sick and cast out devils, thus giving himself greater avenues through which he might show his compassion to the people that were sick. But his great compassion still went far beyond his ability to reach the people, so he then called the Seventy to him and gave them the same power and authority that he had given the Twelve. This gave him still greater avenues of reaching the sick and suffering, yet his compassion went out far beyond his ability to reach and to minister to the needs of the people. Then we hear Jesus saying, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you” (John 16:7).
I can see the compassion of our Lord Jesus leading him into the Garden where the sweat stood upon his brow as drops of blood. Again, I can see the compassion of our Lord leading him to Calvary’s cross, where he atoned for fallen humanity, and as a result of this atonement, he took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. His general will was made for the healing of the diseases of man. When one makes a will, he indicates that he desires those for whom he has left a legacy, to have what was willed to them. We need not coax our Lord to perform what he willed to perform; all we need to do is to believe and claim that which he has willed for us on the authority of God’s Word.
The question is asked, “Did our Lord make a will?” He made his will when he took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses (Matthew 8:16–17). How many wills did he make? He made one general will when he took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses once and for all. To whom did he make his will? Everything that was borne on Calvary’s cross or the result of everything that was borne on Calvary’s cross is for all who will obey and believe. The healing of all was willed to us as children of God.
I can hear someone say that Jesus healed in order to show his divinity. If this had been so, Jesus would have healed just a few people, and it would have shown his divinity. Again, I can hear someone say that Jesus healed in order to show that he was the Son of God. No, he healed because he was the Son of God. I ask the question, children of God, if you are filled with the love of God and the compassion of our Lord, can you keep this love and compassion on the inside when you see people in need, without having an outlet? No. That would be impossible. Then think of the Son of God who is filled with compassion, and the Father of mercy looking down on suffering humanity and keeping his compassion and mercy all to himself.
Matthew 8:16b–17 explains the Lord’s reason for healing all that were sick. The seventeenth verse reads as follows: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” Where did he bare our sicknesses? As the result of shedding his blood on Calvary’s cross, he took our infirmities. Jesus’ healing was on the ground of the coming atonement. The price was paid for all who will obey and believe. So the Lord’s general will is to heal all of our diseases. Although God wills to heal all of our diseases, unbelief limits his doing what he wills to do. However, it does not change his will. No; Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God as a faithful high priest, and as an executor of his will, to heal our bodies when we meet the conditions in his Word, or when we are obedient to and have faith in his promises. Though heaven and earth pass away, his Word will not pass away.
If one whose father has passed into eternity wonders how much property the father has left him, he will go to the will to find out. So, child of God, if you desire to know what Jesus has willed to you for your diseased body, just look at the Lord’s will or at his Word (Matthew 8:16–17).
In all of the healings in Christ’s early ministry was God’s will in action? Jesus was doing the very things that God willed for him to do. Jesus showed his will by his promises (James 5:14–15). “Is any sick among you?” Here Jesus is so interested in his sick children that he asks if there is any sick among them. “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.” If the Lord had not desired that his children should be healed, he would not have willed healing to them when he took their infirmities and bore their sicknesses.
All of Jesus’ healing during his early ministry was on the grounds of the coming atonement, but thank God, he has now already atoned for our sickness. So, children of God, you can look forward with great expectancy for the healing of your bodies. When we see the one general will of our Lord, we do not need to pray with the belief of the leper, “Lord, if thou wilt.” The Lord canceled his if with his I will. The reason the leper had an if in his prayer was his lack of knowledge of our Lord’s will for the healing of his people, as the general will of the Lord to heal his people was not known at that time. The dear Lord winked at his ignorance of his will and healed him, but he did not commend him for his faith.
The centurion told Jesus just to speak the word and his servant would be healed. Jesus marveled at this centurion’s faith, and said, “I have not found so great a faith, no, not in Israel.” This is the kind of faith that Jesus commended. This centurion did not even mention the Lord’s will; he knew that Jesus was in the healing business. Jesus said, “I will,” to the leper and also to the centurion, or “It is my will to heal you.” And children of God, Jesus has been saying, “I WILL come and heal you,” ever since. If you have not heard his I WILL to you, it is because you have been looking in the wrong direction; you have been listening from the wrong direction to hear his, “I WILL heal you.” Children of God, do not pray for your healing with a great big IF in your petition, but come boldly to claim what Jesus willed to you—the healing of your body.
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
Do not ask for help when you are sick, but believe God for healing, as our Lord paid the full price for healing, when he took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses (Matthew 8:16–17).
FAITH
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, The evidence of things not seen.—Hebrews 11:1
In Hebrews 11:6 we read: “But without faith it is impossible to please him.” Faith is the only avenue through which we can receive anything from God. If we would receive from God the things which we need, we must furnish the avenue through which our Lord works. That is faith. In no other way will our Lord supply our needs for soul and body.
What Is Faith? Faith is perfectly defined by the apostle Paul in the text quoted here. A boy was asked to give his definition of faith, and he said that faith is believing God and not asking any questions.
Another definition for faith is: wholly resting your case in God’s hands and believing God is able and willing and is now doing that which he has promised to do when we meet the conditions in his Word concerning any covenant blessing, regardless of feelings and appearances. Faith does not rest on feelings and appearances.
How to Obtain This Faith. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
If we would obtain this faith, we must listen to what God offers in his Word to his sick children.
God’s Promises. Faith without something to believe would not avail us anything, neither would a promise avail us anything without faith to demonstrate that promise. But thank God, faith has a solid basis—the promises of God. God’s promises are his WILL.
We shall consider some of God’s most precious promises.
“Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do [or, it is God’s will to do], that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye [say your prayers, is that it? No. Too many are saying their prayers and not enough are praying] pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24).
God’s Power to Fulfill His Promises. It is one thing to promise and another thing to be able to fulfill that promise. The Lord has promised to supply all of our needs according to his riches in glory. If he is to supply all of our needs, this offer which our Lord has made must cover our spiritual needs, our physical needs, and our temporal needs. We are all aware that the Lord controls the heavens, but let us notice briefly what he owns on this earth.
“Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10).
Someone says: What a wonderful blessing it is to have such a rich Father, one who owns the cattle upon a thousand hills! However, this fact does not mean very much to us unless we have the faith to round up the cattle for our own individual needs or to supply our individual needs.
“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine” (Exodus 19:5).
But someone says that he can readily see that God can supply our needs and fulfill his promises, but will he do so? Let us read what Paul says in Philippians 4:19: “But my God shall supply ALL of your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
The Promises of God Are Conditional
1. First condition: “But let him ask in FAITH, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6).
2. Second condition: “Have faith, and doubt not” (Matthew 21:21).
Faith’s Foundation. Faith stands on the promises of God—and on nothing else. At the end of every promise there is victory. Some people allow their faith to be governed by their feelings. When feelings are running high, they feel that they are healed. But soon their feelings have gone down, and then they say that perhaps they were mistaken about being healed. Then their feelings take another turn and they feel somewhat better again, and they say they guess they were healed. Soon their feelings are down again, and we hear them lament, “I do not know where I am.”
I would not think they would know where they are. But all the time their feelings are going up and down, faith, of which Jesus is the author, stands on its solid foundation, the promises of God, and keeps traveling right on to victory.
After you have been prayed for, for healing and you have claimed your healing, the devil may send a pain and say to you, “There, you see you are not healed; there is a pain.” Do not have more faith in the pain than you have in the promises of God. Do not let your faith follow that pain away from the promise. That course will end in discouragement.
Jesus is the author and finisher of faith, but the devil is the author and finisher of discouragement. Child of God, if you tell me that you are discouraged, I can tell you at once in which direction you have been looking. If you are discouraged, you have been looking down instead of looking up to heaven. No one who keeps his eyes on Jesus ever becomes discouraged, as no discouragement comes from that direction.
Faith never travels on the devil’s detour. A detour is a road around the main road. As we look at the devil’s detour and see what is on it, we can readily see whether we are traveling on the detour or on the main road. Here are some of the things that are on the devil’s detour, some faith destroyers. But is the first thing we will encounter. “I believe in divine healing, but.” But you do not, or you would not be butting around about it. A person who puts a but in his faith, spells faith with u-n-b-e-l-i-e-f. The next thing we encounter on the devil’s detour is why—If healing is for all, why does not Deacon Jones get healed, as he has all kinds of faith? That is the trouble, he has all kinds of faith but the right kind—the kind that stands on the promises of God, or he would be healed.
Someone will say here, “How can we know when we have this faith of which Jesus is the author?” I answer, When we have met all the conditions to be healed, and when we have this genuine faith, results will follow.
Another signpost that we encounter as we travel on the devil’s detour is if. No petition of faith has a question mark in it. Are you on the main line with Jesus and his promises, or are you traveling on the devil’s detour?
Faith and Works Are Partners. Faith and works are partners, but when they are separated they are dead. In the book called The Bible Looking Glass, a book illustrating things of God, faith and works are well illustrated by a man rowing a boat. The right hand or the right oar represents faith, and the left hand or the left oar represents works. The man started to row with the right oar, or faith, and went around in a circle. Then he laid the right oar down and began to row with the left oar, or works, and went in a circle in the opposite direction. Then he took both oars, or faith and works together, and he went ahead. James says that faith without works is dead. Faith believes all that comes from above, or truth, and refuses to believe the things that come from below, or the devil’s lies. Sick ones, do you do the same thing, or do you converse with and listen to the devil? Mankind that serves God is responsible to receive his needs from God; he is not responsible to the devil.
Faith Believes the Promises of God. Faith believes the promises of God and claims them as a direct message from God to us as sick people. Faith places our name in the promise and appropriates this offer from God to heal us. Jesus never fails.
If Satan gets you to question God’s will to heal you or tries to destroy your faith, just stop and read what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Sick ones, if your body belongs to the Lord and if it is the temple of the Holy Ghost, do you think for a moment that God would desire to have Satan trespass on his property with his diseases? When your vision and your faith reach this point, you can pray as the old colored brother did when he was sick. He just looked up to heaven and said, “O Lawd, come down and take care of your property,” and the Lord heard his petition and came down and healed him.
Faith sees the sick person every whit whole, not merely helped. I have heard children of God say to the sick, “I believe if the preacher prays the prayer of faith God will help you.” Faith takes in more than help—it claims healing. Faith is aware that Jesus paid the full price to make God’s children every whit whole. Faith will not receive conditions and appearances as evidence that God has not touched our body. We walk by faith and not by sight. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:18: “While we look not on the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” The way of decision in a temporal way is on what we see or hear or feel. But this is not faith’s decision or ground for decision. Faith decides on the unseen or on the promises of the unseen Lord who left his words or promises, and these are as effectual as if the Lord stood by our side in person. Faith is aware that it cannot claim healing and the disease at the same time. If God heals you of a certain disease and Satan tries to place the disease back on your body and you say that the disease is coming back on your body and you accept it, you will lose your healing. You cannot claim your disease and your healing at the same time any more than you can claim victory and defeat at the same time. Regardless of the devil’s symptoms, if you will still believe God and claim your healing and resist the devil and his symptoms and refuse to claim the disease, you will still have your healing. But as soon as you claim the disease, you have lost your healing. James tells how to get victory over the devil: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). I can hear someone say, Brother Yerty, I resisted the devil but he did not flee. Now the question arises, How long did you resist? Until you got tired or discouraged resisting him? or did you resist until you had the victory? There is VICTORY AT THE END OF EVERY PROMISE. 1 Peter 5:9 tells us that we must resist the devil steadfast in the faith. Do not raise the white flag and surrender. Faith refuses denial from God; faith stands on God’s promises. For God to deny faith, he would have to deny all heaven’s promises. Jesus never fails. I can hear someone say: If I could only see someone healed, then I could have faith. How about the first person that was ever healed by the power of God? He did not have anyone to look at to inspire his faith, for he was the first one to be healed. He stood on the words of our Lord. Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God.” In other words, Have faith in the fact that when I speak, it will be even as I say.
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
You cannot claim your disease and healing at the same time, no more than you can claim victory and defeat at the same time.
THE LORD’S CONTRACT WITH HIS PEOPLE FOR THE HEALING OF THEIR BODIES
I am the Lord that healeth thee.—Exodus 15:36
We are familiar with contracts of various kinds that are used in the business world today. Everything that the parties making the contract must abide by or must obey is embodied in the contract, and when all parties concerned are willing to obey the contract in full, they sign their names to the contract, and the notary places his seal upon it, and, if his term has not expired, the contract becomes effective that very moment. This contract must then be carried out to the letter
unless someone breaks it. If it is broken, then all parties are delivered from all obligation.
OUR LORD’S CONTRACT
Our Lord has a contract with his people for the healing of their bodies when they are sick. Everything is embodied in the Lord’s contract with his people, that all parties concerned must obey. There is nothing embodied in this contract but what is conducive to FAITH. When all parties concerned are willing to obey this contract in every detail, they sign their names on the contract by obedience and faith, and the Lord also places his name on it, and this places all parties under obligation to carry out their part. The Lord then places his seal on the contract and it becomes effective that very moment, and it will be carried out to the letter unless someone breaks the contract. But the contract will never be broken unless the sick ones break it, as our Lord will never break his promises when all conditions contained therein are met.
THE SICK ONE’S PART OF THE CONTRACT
1. He must have FAITH.
2. He must not DOUBT.
3. He must not WAVER.
4. He must not FEAR.
5. He must not harbor an unforgiving SPIRIT.
6. He must stop his sinning.
7. He must not depend upon what he sees with his natural eye (spiritually speaking).
The reason that one must have faith is expressed in Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” As faith is the only avenue through which one can receive any covenant blessing, and faith and obedience are the only avenues through which our Lord works, we cannot please our Lord until we furnish this avenue through which he can work, so that he can bestow his compassion and mercy upon us and can supply our needs according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus.
We must not doubt, because we cannot doubt and believe at the same time. We cannot have FAITH and DOUBT in the heart at the same time (Matthew 21:21). Have FAITH and doubt not. Our Lord holds his children to get rid of anything that will destroy faith.
James explains the reason that we must not waver: “But let him ask in FAITH, nothing WAVERING. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord” (James 1:6–7). Wavering means to believe awhile and then doubt awhile, and then believe awhile. When you are doing this do not expect anything from the Lord, as you have broken the contract with the Lord, according to James 1:6–7.
We must not fear. In Mark 4:40 Jesus asks the question of his disciples: “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have NO FAITH?”
So many children of God seem to fear to trust God for the healing of their bodies. They fear to take the Lord at his Word. The Lord means to us just what we take him to mean. The Lord supplies our needs just to the extent that we really believe that he will. The sad part of it is we limit the Lord by our unbelief, and we keep him from being to us more than we could ask or think.
Why should we fear? Has God ever turned us down when we believed? I can hear someone say, “No, Brother Yerty, he never did.” Then why fear to believe him? Why not count the work done on the authority of God’s eternal Word that is forever settled in heaven?
We must not harbor an unforgiving spirit, as the Lord forgives us as we forgive the other fellow. “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14–15).
If you have envy in your heart you cannot enter the kingdom (Galatians 5:21). It is when our heart condemns us not that we have confidence in God (1 John 3:21).
We must stop our sinning. Jesus asked the lame man at Bethesda’s pool the question, “WILT THOU BE MADE WHOLE?” Later he said to him, “Take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:8).
When Jesus saw him later in the Temple he said to him, “Thou art made whole: SIN NO MORE, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (verse 14).
We must not depend upon what we see with our natural eye (spiritually speaking). When the Israelites were being delivered from Egyptian bondage under the leadership of Moses, they came to the Red Sea, and as they looked before them they saw the Red Sea with their natural eye and all they could see was defeat. The natural eye was telling them that they could never escape with that Red Sea in front of them. They looked behind them, and their natural eye told them that the Egyptian army was there, and again the natural eye showed them nothing but defeat. But Moses stood in their midst and looked to heaven, and with the eye of faith Moses could see victory. He called on the God whom he was serving, and God came down and divided the waters and the Israelites went through on dry ground and were delivered. What you see depends on where you look. If you look at surroundings, you see defeat. But if you look up, defeat never comes from that direction, nothing but victory.
Are you ready to stop doing the things that keep you from having faith? If you do not, you break the contract.
Now, if you WILL HAVE FAITH, and if you are willing to believe God and take him at his Word, thus signing your name to his contract; if you have met all the conditions and willingly obey them, you have a right to claim the Lord’s part of this contract.
THE LORD’S PART OF THE CONTRACT
The Promise. “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” (James 5:14–15).
Believing. “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, BELIEVING, ye shall RECEIVE” (Matthew 21:22).
Recover. “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they SHALL RECOVER” (Mark 16:18).
“Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases” (Psalm 103:3). “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it,” or, it is my will to do it (John 14:14).
Are you in a spiritual condition to receive what our Lord has promised? Check your spiritual condition with the following Scripture: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).
When we sign our name on this contract by believing God’s promises and by standing against all these faith destroyers that are mentioned in the seeker’s part of the contract, then the Lord WILL place his SEAL upon this contract and it goes into effect that very moment. This is the Lord’s SEAL: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8). “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my WORDS shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). “Forever, O Lord, thy WORD is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). These Scriptures are a faithful witness to our Lord’s trueness. “Blessed be the Lord, that giveth rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant” (1 Kings 8:56). Can we ask for a more sound foundation to which we may anchor our faith?
Sick ones, are you ready to sign your name on our Lord’s contract, by taking the Lord at his WORD, and by believing God and nothing else? If you disobey any one thing that the Lord demands of you in this contract, you relieve the Lord from all responsibility. If you do not break this contract, after once you have signed it, by FAITH, you are just as sure of healing as is the fact that you are in existence, because the God of heaven is behind it.
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
Faith does not believe that God is healing our bodies because it sees him working or feels him working; faith believes God before it sees or feels.
VICTORIOUS FAITH
For whosoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.—1 John 5:4
If we are overcome, it is because we have not fully received the vision of the Christ who has all power in heaven and in earth—the power that is ours to use against the enemy of the children of God. In the sixth chapter of 2 Kings we are told that the Syrian army that was about to make war on the Israelitish army came by night with their vast throng and surrounded the Israelites. When one of God’s servants arose in the morning he saw this vast host, and he said to the prophet of God, “How shall we do?” This young man’s vision was dimmed. He thought that the whole responsibility of taking care of the Syrian army rested on him or on mankind. He was not physically blind, but he was spiritually blind. The old prophet called on God to open the eyes of this young man, and this is what happened: “And the Lord opened the eyes of this young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around about Elisha” (verse 17). There was that heavenly host ready to fight the battle for God’s children; they did fight the battle and the enemy was defeated. We must have the vision of the fact that the battle is not ours, but God’s. Victorious faith will cause God’s children to claim victory before they enter into the fight, as nothing can stand before our God.
The Word of God tells us of some persons who had the vision of what God wanted to be to them and who has this victorious faith. First, there was Jonathan, the man of God whose experience is recorded in 1 Samuel 14. The vast army of the Philistines was encamped against the Israelites. Jonathan took his armor-bearer and together they went “over the top” for the Lord. This is what Jonathan said: “Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few” (verse 6). Jonathan’s vision was not that he and the armor-bearer could rout the enemy in their own strength, but God would fight the battle for them. Why? Jonathan knew that the battle was won before he started, because of his victorious faith in his God. He also knew that God never fails, and that there is no restraint to the Lord to save by the many or the few.
Again, we call your attention to the Three Hebrew Children, whose experience is recorded in Daniel 3:17: “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.” Those three Hebrew children were taken captive by the enemy who was trying to make them worship their heathen gods, but the Hebrew children knew too much about the true God to yield to the demands of the king. When they refused to yield to the king’s demand, he threatened to have them cast into the fiery furnace, which was not to be heated in the regular way, but seven times hotter than usual. But the Hebrew Children had this victorious faith, and they just told the king that they were serving a God who would deliver them out of the fiery furnace; and not only would he do that, but he would deliver them out of the king’s hands also. The Hebrew Children were put to the test by being cast into the fiery furnace. I can see their enemies, after a time, look into the fiery furnace which they supposed would consume these three faithful followers of the true God at once, with its terrific heat, but to their surprise there they were walking around, and their clothes were not even scorched. And best of all, a fourth, like to the Son of God, was walking in the furnace with them. They did not go into the furnace alone; Jesus went with them, not to keep them in the furnace for a lesson, but to deliver them out, as the Hebrew Children had said he would do.
What VICTORIOUS FAITH! Victorious faith will claim the victory in advance and will begin to praise God for the same.
Caleb and Joshua had this victorious faith. They were among the twelve spies that were sent to spy out Canaan. Ten of their number returned with discouraging reports. The reason for the discouraging reports was that the ten looked at the strong men and at the obstacles: “But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:31–33). Joshua and Caleb saw the same land, but their report was different: they saw the sons of Anak, the giants, and the walled cities; they saw the Amalekites and the Hittites, but they also saw the land flowing with milk and honey; they saw the great bunches of grapes. After telling about all the conditions they had seen in Canaan, Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are WELL ABLE TO OVERCOME IT” (verse 30). Caleb saw the giants, but his victorious faith did not show him just the obstacles; it helped him to see how to overcome the obstacles and to take the land. Caleb was serving a God who would take care of the giants.
So many people are looking for reasons why they will not be healed rather than why they should possess the land or possess their healing. They get their eyes on the giant disease and on how many people died with that same disease, and therefore bring back a discouraging report. Victorious faith looks up to God and declares, “We can take the land because the God of heaven is behind our claims, and if God be for us, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? FAITH looks up and is encouraged to claim the healing; unbelief looks around at giants and obstacles and becomes discouraged. What you see depends on where you look. No person who has always looked up and who has kept his eyes on Jesus has ever become discouraged. There is no discouragement from that direction. Discouragement comes from looking at the reason why it cannot be done instead of the reason why it can be done. The reason why it can be done is that we are serving a victorious Christ who is behind all of our claims against the enemy. Child of God, have you that victorious faith against disease? If you have, you will have the devil and all of his diseases on the run.
David is another one who had that victorious faith. See 1 Samuel 17:37. “David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord go with thee.”
David could have sat down with a long face and with a look of discouragement that would have cast an influence of defeat on all appearing in his presence. He could have said, “Now Lord, you see such a large, yes, enormous army the Philistines have—Lord, it seems that I can hardly endure this awful, awful, AWFUL test,” and he would have been defeated. Why? Because his vision would have been of the power of the enemy instead of the power of God. He would have been making the dear Lord listen to his praising the enemy instead of making the enemy listen to his praising the Lord.
Again, when the Philistines were about to make an attack on the Israelites and the Philistine giant, Goliath, was standing out in front of the army, and as the Israelites were looking upon his stature and trembling with fear, David, God’s little man, put in his appearance. He saw the same giant of the Philistine army that the others had seen, but he also saw a greater giant, one whom he was serving, up in heaven, one who had all power and who could take care of all the human giants that man could present. David could not understand how any man, regardless of his stature, could defy the army of the living God. I can see David as he took his sling and picked up five stones from the brook, but here just a little of the human crept in, for David did not need five stones; he needed just one, with the power of God behind it, and God’s hand to guide the stone. And when David let loose of the sling the stone pierced the forehead of Goliath, and slew him.
Faith in God was what really slew the giant—that victorious faith that always wins the battle. David did not even have one thought that the Israelites were going to be defeated. No; the God whom David was serving never lost a battle so far as he was concerned. It is only when man gets in God’s way with his unbelief that God’s purpose for his children is defeated.
An angel appeared to the apostle Paul and said, “Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” Paul then encouraged his companions with these words: “Wherefore, sirs; be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” Paul believed his God, and counted the blessing that God had promised him with his victorious faith so that he could encourage his people.
This victorious faith is for all; but it can be obtained only by keeping our eyes on the Lord, and by having the vision of the all-power of heaven and earth fighting the battle for his children.
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
Faith is so conscientious that it cannot doubt God’s promises to heal us when we are sick. Some may feel that they are so conscientious that they cannot claim healing until they see that it is done. The Word of God tells us that we must walk by faith and not by sight. The Word of God does not say, Have faith in what your eyes see, but it does say, “Have Faith in God.”
MIRACLES AND HEALINGS AS A RESULT OF FAITH
So Jesus came into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was going down, his servants met him, and told him, Thy son liveth. Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy Son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.—John 4:46–53
We hear this father pleading for the healing of his son who was at the point of death. The Word of God does not say that this father took the boy to all the specialists in the medical profession, and as they brought back a discouraging report that there was no hope for the son, the father finally decided man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and as a last resort took the son to Jesus. No. The father gave Jesus the benefit of his faith in him, the healer of all diseases. This father was forced to make a great effort to get over to where Jesus was. Jesus was twenty-five miles from where the nobleman was. The nobleman did not have it so convenient as people do today. He could not get into a car and go to where Jesus was, nor could he thumb his way. That way of traveling had not been invented yet. But this nobleman must either walk the twenty-five miles or ride the beast of burden. So it was a real effort on the part of the nobleman. I have noticed that those who have made the greatest effort to receive things from Jesus are the ones who have received the greatest benefit to themselves. As the nobleman arrived where Jesus was and presented his case to our Lord, apparently there fell from the lips of our Lord a rebuff. He treated the nobleman as a representative of a mistaken nation whose prevalent fallacy was signs and wonders before they would believe. But the nobleman still insisted that Jesus come down to his home and heal his son. Jesus respected this nobleman’s faith, but he did not grant his request to go down to his house. Jesus had a lesson for this nobleman to learn. This same lesson he has for every child of God to learn. Jesus did not go down to the home of the nobleman, but he did send a blessing down, to his home. Jesus said, “Thy son liveth.”
If this nobleman had been like some people, he would have said, Now Jesus, please give me a witness so that I will know that my son is healed. Or give me some sign or wonder, so that I will know that you mean what you say and say what you mean. Or if it had been possible for our Lord to have a room on a certain street, some people would have asked him to give them the room number and street number so they could have our Lord to speak the word again if their son were not healed. But thank God for the great lesson of the nobleman. The Word of God says that he believed the words of our Lord and went his way. I can see him on his way home. This nobleman had unloaded his burden on the dear Lord. If he had wavered or doubted, he would still have had that heavy burden. But thank God he believed his Lord and lost his burden, which was turned into praise and thanksgiving because he had faith in the words of the Lord. Taking his Lord at his word had set the joy-bells ringing in this man’s soul. That twenty-five miles had probably seemed like fifty as the nobleman traveled to see Jesus, but as he returned, undoubtedly the distance seemed more like ten miles because his burden had been left with Jesus.
As the nobleman neared his home the servant came out and said to him, “Thy son liveth.” I cannot conceive of the nobleman saying, “Is that possible?” No; I can hear him say, “Just as I expected.” Then the nobleman asked the servant when his son began to amend, and the servant answered, “At the seventh hour the fever left him.” The nobleman figured back to see what happened at the seventh hour. That was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Thy son liveth.” What else happened at the seventh hour? That was the hour that the nobleman believed the words of our Lord. What else happened at the seventh hour? That was the hour that the nobleman went his way.
The nobleman had works with his faith. James says: “Faith without works is dead.” The nobleman could have stayed right at Jesus’ side and said, “I am not going home until I know for sure that my son is healed.” But he would have lost his healing, as it would have been doubt or unbelief that would have kept him from going home and from having works with his faith. The clause of this Scripture which says, “He began to amend,” has been used by some as evidence of gradual healing. I believe this is a mistake. From the report given by the servant, this son had the fever, and the fever left him at the seventh hour. So at the seventh hour, or the hour that Jesus spoke the word, the son was healed. But someone may say, What was the amending? The son began to gain his strength.
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
Our Lord is not responsible to fulfill his promises for his sick children until the sick ones believe and appropriate the promises to their own needs, or for their healing.
FAITH’S REWARD
And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.—Luke 8:43–48
We wish to consider this woman who is spoken of in this Scripture. We find her literally dying for twelve long years. But she has a strong determination. She did not say, “I might as well give up all hope of living any longer, as I might as well die as to live in this condition and endure this terrible, and almost unendurable agony. I have gone to all of the very best physicians, and all have failed in my case.” She might have said, if she had been like some people today, “I am discouraged about the matter, as I have suffered so much from the hands of the physicians, and I am steadily growing worse; my money is gone; I have spent all of my living on the physicians.”
With strong determination to live, she was looking forward not to being in that condition any longer but to having a sound body. Her vision was different from that of some sick people: her vision was not to be sick, but well. She had heard of the lowly Nazarene who was having compassion on the sick and who was healing all manner of diseases. She had now heard of a Lord who was a specialist along all lines. She chose the way of faith when she started to where our Lord was. When she chose the way of faith, she chose the way of victory, as faith in our Lord Jesus Christ means victory. If she had had the vision that some of God’s children have of what Jesus desires to mean to us, she would have said as she traversed her painful way to Jesus, “I believe that I will go down to Jesus and take a few treatments and see if there is anything to this healing.” So many people unconsciously take treatments from the Lord. They ask God to heal them, and they say that they believe God has helped them, and then the next day they come for more help, and the next day they again present themselves for more help. By this time the devil may take advantage of their treatments and place some other disease on their bodies, and all they receive is help. Jesus did not say to the man at Bethesda’s pool, “Will you receive help?” No. “WILT THOU BE MADE WHOLE?” You receive from God just that for which you ask and that for which you believe. I cannot conceive of this woman, on her way to Jesus, saying, “I wonder if Jesus will heal me or not.” Wondering and faith cannot dwell in the same heart at the same time. Thank God for the genuine faith of this woman who had the issue of blood. She said, “If I may but touch his garment, I SHALL BE WHOLE.”
This woman finally reached the Master.
The Master is surrounded by a great multitude of people. They are surging to and fro. They are jostling against the Lord at times, yet Jesus is not paying attention to this fact. But the woman steals up behind him and touches the hem of his garment, and at once Jesus says, “Who touched me?” Those who are thronged around him deny that they have touched him. Then Peter asks the Lord, “Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?” But Jesus answered, “I perceive [or feel] that virtue is gone out of me.” The touch of faith had caused the healing virtue to flow from the body of our Lord into the body of the woman, and had caused this issue of blood which had been flowing for twelve years to be stanched in an instant of time.
That same faith will cause our diseases to be healed. It was necessary for this woman to be close to Jesus before she could touch him. Likewise, we cannot follow our Lord afar off and expect to be close enough to touch his garment. We must be in spiritual touch with Jesus continuously if the healing virtue is to flow from the body of our Lord through us when we are sick. This woman touched the Master voluntarily. Our Lord is the author and finisher of our faith; all power in heaven and earth is given to him. Yet he did not say to the woman, “My all-power in heaven and earth hath healed thee.” Neither did he say, “My faith, of which I am the author, hath healed thee.” No. He said to the woman, “Thy faith hath made thee whole,” hence the need of faith on the part of the sick one. This woman was not forced by her friends to touch the Master’s garment. It was an intentional touch. If she would be every whit whole, she must give him an active touch, not a passive touch of faith, so as to attract the Lord’s attention in her behalf.
The afflicted woman was recognized as a spiritual daughter and this gave her greater favor with her Lord. Jesus said unto her, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole.” It was the faith of the woman behind the touch that caused her touch to be more effectual than that of the jostling multitude. This woman was glad to receive this blessing from Christ, but she feared at first to bear witness to the fact of what Jesus had done for her. This is the case with many with whom we have come in contact in our ministry. So many would love to have or to receive healing from our Lord, if they could receive it quietly so no one would know it. They are afraid of what the people will think of them stooping so low as to take their case to the Lord. Our Lord does not heal those who are ashamed of him. Others the Lord heals, and they fail to give him glory for their healing. But Jesus commended this woman when she came and acknowledged it all. He sent encouragement to her heart. Everything that comes from Jesus is encouragement. Discouragement and turmoil and accusations come from the devil.
This woman did not have a penny to pay for her healing, neither did the Lord demand it. Her experience should be a blessing to God’s sick children today. She had tried everything that might restore her to health—everything but the right thing—before she was healed. Many today come to the Lord as a last resort. But Jesus said, “Have FAITH IN GOD.”
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
Sometimes God’s children wonder when the Lord is going to say to them as he did to the leper and to the centurion, “I will come and heal you.” Sick ones, he will come and heal you when your faith invites him to come, when you anchor your faith on his promises to heal you.
COMING IN CONTACT WITH CHRIST THE HEALER
And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all—Luke 6:19
A contractor or a carpenter works from a blue print which is made with accurate specifications for the erection of a building; this blue print must be so accurate that the building will pass the inspection of the most scrutinizing eye. If the specifications are not carried out perfectly or accurately, the timbers in this building will not fit. The Lord has a blue print for salvation or for healing that man’s measurements will not fit. We must use heaven’s blue print or heaven’s measurements before we can fit into God’s most holy plans. So it is when we come to Jesus in order to make contact with the Great Physician.
How to Make Contact with the Power House of Heaven. We must get rid of our sins before we can make contact with our Lord. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18). This is one of the specifications in heaven’s blue print. Another is found in 1 John 3:21: “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.”
Sin makes a short in the line that leads to heaven’s power house, and hinders the current of healing virtue from flowing through our diseased bodies. It makes an obstruction on the line from whence the healing virtue proceeds.
We Can Make Contact with Heaven’s Power House. “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). Some people think that because they have been in contact with the Lord at one time, they still must be in contact with him. It is well to check up on our standing before the Lord and see if we are still in the faith, or if God’s approval is still upon us. The question arises, Have you been diligent in the Lord’s business? Have you taken time to pray? Are you reading the good old book, the Bible, as you did at one time? Have you the normal appetite for the reading of the Word as you had at one time? Do you commune with the Lord in your secret closet, and not only talk to the Lord but does the Lord talk to you?
A certain switch in the barn on our little farm near Belding, Michigan, would, at one time, turn on the power from the power house, thus lighting the electric bulb. But later on the same switch could be turned, but the electric bulb would not light. Was not this the same switch that turned on the current? Yes; but there was no power there. The current had been cut off. The connection had been severed. There was no contact with the power house. Just so, if we do not keep in contact with heaven’s power house, the source of supply will be cut off.
No Room for Shorts. There is no room for shorts on the line when we are really abiding in the Lord, and when the Word is really abiding in us. We live by the Word. We depend upon it. By it we obtain food for ourselves—soul and body. We ask for our needs because the author of the Word is also the one who supplies our needs.
If we do not keep in contact with the supply house, our source of supply will be cut off. Sick ones, are you abiding in the Lord? If not, you had better not waste any time in making contact with your Lord, as the source of supply will be cut off until you do.
The Great Source from Which Every Need Is Supplied. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
It is very easy to get what we need for soul or body when we are a branch of the vine, where all the healing virtue lies in the vine, and where the healing virtue has free course through the branches.
If we ask for the needed supply of healing for our bodies, then believe, faith starts the healing balm flowing through that diseased heart, driving all the diseases ahead of it. Christ declared that healing is the children’s bread.
Healing Is a Good Thing. “For the Lord God is our sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).
Healing is a good thing, as it places God’s children where God can get glory out of their service to him, as no person can be at his best for the Lord with disease in his body.
Healing is a good thing, because God can show his compassion and mercy for his children by healing their bodies; he can show his attitude of pity and mercy toward them.
Healing is a good thing, for it gives opportunity to prove the truthfulness of God’s promises; it shows, or proves, that Christ is a divine being who can be trusted at all times. He can be trusted to do all the things he has promised to do, even the healing of our diseased bodies. Christ says that he will not withhold any GOOD THING from them that walk uprightly. Child of God, if you are walking uprightly, the Lord says he will not withhold your healing from you, as healing is a blessing to mankind.
Healing is a good thing: Jesus used the working of miracles to convince John that he [Christ] was the Messiah, and that he is divine. Jesus did not use the sick ones to convince John, but rather, those who had been healed.
Faith places us in contact with God; faith is just like pressing the button, or switch, that turns on the electric current from the power house. Faith just turns on the all-power in heaven and earth, and our bodies are just charged with the heavenly balm from heaven’s power house, that healeth all manner of diseases.
Faith Is Always on the Winning Side. “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6).
Faith says the disease is rebuked and it must subside.
Unbelief says the pain is gone for now.
Faith always honors God’s promises, and does not hesitate to lay claim to healing as a finished product; it does not put on the soft pedal to honor the devil by saying, “I believe that God has helped me.”
Unbelief dishonors God by fearing to claim what God has promised.
Faith recognizes the impossibility of the promises failing, when the Bible says that God’s Word is forever settled in heaven.
Unbelief says, “I know that there is nothing that Christ cannot do, but what if he does not do it?”
Faith is so thankful for the privilege of obtaining healing which Jesus has provided for his afflicted children by shedding his precious blood on Calvary’s cross that faith’s praises close the door against Satan’s doubts.
Unbelief closes its eyes to the provision which our dear Lord has made for the healing of our bodies, thus closing the door to God’s blessings, and placing us on the losing side.
Unbelief loses sight of faith with its victories, as unbelief is so busy caring for the appearances and conditions and hanging on to symptoms, that faith is completely banished from sight.
Faith places our case in God’s hands unreservedly, then counts it God’s business—not ours —to carry out his promises, and counts God able to and capable of performing that which has been committed unto him.
Faith implies obedience, so that it is pleasing to God, as faith knows that it cannot bring results without working in accord with God’s plans. God has not promised to bless any other plans than those which have been made perfect by himself.
Unbelief, with its whys—why does God do it this way, and why does he not do it that way—releases God from his promises. Unbelief has no claim on God’s promises, as God has never promised to honor any claims but the claims of faith. Unbelief looks around and asks if the child for whom prayer has been offered looks any different since prayer was offered in its behalf, and hastens to inform faith that the child is about the same as before.
The faith of the person praying and that of the person for whom prayer is being offered must be of the same quality, then there will be perfect agreement, and this agreement will open the windows of heaven and showers of healing virtue will come down.
The Contacting Touch. “They came into the land of Gennesaret. And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all of that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; and besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole” (Matthew 14:34–36).
“For he had healed many; in so much that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues” (Mark 3:10).
The Cleansing Touch. “And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matthew 8:3).
The Illuminating Touch. “Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29).
The Quieting Touch. “And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them” (Matthew 8:15).
The Reassuring Touch. “And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid” (Matthew 17:7).
The Liberating Touch. “And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue: . . . and straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain” (Mark 7:33–35).
The Touch upon Childhood. “And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them . . . and he took them up in his arms and blessed them” (Mark 10:13–16).
The Healing Touch. “And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him” (Luke 22:51). Contact God, and he will heal your diseases.
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
No person can have faith for any covenant blessing until he knows what God has to offer. The Bible says, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
WALKING BY FAITH
And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground.—Exodus 14:22
The Israelites suffered many years under Egyptian bondage, but now God has come to their rescue. He has set Moses, the man of God, over them as their leader. They are marching through the wilderness, coming up to the Red Sea, trying to escape from the galling yoke of the Egyptians.
Faith’s Test. We wish to call your attention to the action of faith in two ways, and the result of each action.
The Israelites came up to the Red Sea, and as they looked upon this great expanse of water, all the natural eye could see was defeat. They did not have boats whereby they could row across the water, neither could they wade across as the sea was deep. Then they turned and looked behind them. And behold, there was the Egyptian army! Again the natural eye saw only defeat. There was no apparent chance for escape. Undoubtedly, what they saw with the natural eye caused them to look back to Egyptian bondage as their ultimate fate. This was the decision which the natural eye caused them to make. May I say here that the reason that God’s children do not receive more from the Lord for both soul and body is because they trust too much in what they see with the natural eye when they are dealing with spiritual things. Jesus did not say, “Have faith in your natural eye”; but he did say, “HAVE FAITH IN GOD.” These people who depend on what they see with the natural eye will not take anything into consideration that lies beyond the field of sensible experience. When we come to God we are entering a different realm. We are looking to the invisible instead of the visible. The spiritual eye is more reliable than the physical, because that which the spiritual eye sees can be depended upon more safely. The natural eye shows us obstacles, while the spiritual eye shows us how to surmount the obstacles. Walk by the natural eye, spiritually speaking, and you stand still. Walk by the spiritual eye of faith, and nothing can keep you standing still very long, for you will launch out on the things of God that are not seen, but which are promised.
The Israelites had their faith anchored on what their natural eye could behold, and what they saw brought dissatisfaction and discouragement to them. But Moses, their God-given leader who was standing in their midst, had natural eyes the same as the rest of them; he could have allowed that which the natural eye could see to discourage him too. But he had a different vision. He looked up instead of down. Moses looked away from defeat to God, who knows no defeat. As Moses looked to God, he could not see anything but victory—nothing but victory comes from that direction. No person that always keeps his eyes on the Lord ever becomes discouraged. If one does become discouraged, it is not hard to tell where he has been looking nor what eyes he has been using. Discouragement comes from below, not from above. What you see depends on where you look. Moses called upon his God for deliverance, and the result of anchoring his faith in God was victory. God divided the waters, and the Israelites went across on dry land.
It was different, however, when the Egyptians tried to follow, for the waters which had parted to bring freedom to the Israelites became a trap to the Egyptians.
Faith’s Success. Someone has said that the path of faith does not always lead out of danger, but it turns danger into a safeguard and transforms it into protection. This fact was demonstrated when the face of the earth was covered with water. It was this kind of faith that floated the Ark to safety. So there is not only a cure produced by faith, but protection from another assault or attack by the enemy as well. Unbelief allows Satan to overwhelm us with disease, or rather with all manner of diseases, while faith floats believers into a safe harbor—the promises of God. As faith stands on the promises, Jesus fulfills his mission and destroys the works of Satan on our bodies, and thank God, he sets us free by healing our diseases.
The Reality of Faith. Now the question arises, How does faith do all these things for us? The answer comes ringing back: It is not faith that does it, but the God in whom faith trusts. There is nothing impossible with faith, as there is nothing impossible with the God in whom faith trusts.
The Egyptians thought they were sure of their prey (the Israelites) while reckoning on what they saw, but they failed to reckon with the God whom Moses and the Israelites were serving. The Egyptians did not fully comprehend that when they were fighting against the Israelites they were fighting against God. If they had realized that the Israelites were God’s chosen people, they would have known that they were defeated before they had even made an attempt to pursue them.
Dear friend, God has chosen you because you have chosen him. You have a right to use this all-power in heaven as your power against Satan. Child of God, when Satan is fighting with his diseases, he is fighting God, as our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. When Satan places disease upon your body, he has got over on the Lord’s property. So the true vision of our faith should be to resist the devil in the name of our Lord, for a complete deliverance from affliction. Satan cannot stand before our Lord, our promised deliverer.
Moses was sure of victory, because he was sure of his standing before his maker; he was sure of God. He was well aware that the God whom he was serving was more than a match for the enemy that was opposing him.
Faith’s Sight. Moses was able to see more than the Israelites because he had clearer vision. A man with defective eyesight can behold only the scenery that is nearest him. Another man, with a clear vision, can look out upon the beautiful scenery; he sees beauty that the other cannot see, as he is able to look far beyond the vision of the other man, although he is looking in the same direction and from the same position. Moses could see beyond the Red Sea because he had a clearer vision. This vision of faith is made clearer and more far-reaching by use and by confidence in the promises of God, and as we become more intimately associated with our Lord.
Did you ever try to walk with a person who took shorter steps than you did? Or did you ever try to walk with one whose steps were longer than yours? It is difficult to walk with one who is continually out of step with you. It is important that we keep in step with God.
Moses’ vision became clear when he refused to look around him, when he refused to see the Egyptians who were pursuing them. He looked to the God above and deliverance came. So it is when we come to the Lord for healing. Take your eyes away from the greatness of the disease and look to the great God above who will heal your disease.
Faith’s Tests. Faith would not mean so much to us if there were not obstacles to test our faith. Faith could not show its power to remove obstacles if there were no obstacles to remove. Faith does not mean so much to us as it desires to mean, if we have not learned to ignore obstacles.
Faith’s Hope. How many people are shut in, faithless and discouraged, before some sea of difficulty! Apparently the sea is in front of them, and Satan with his array of demons is behind them. Physicians may have given them up and may have brought discouraging reports—perhaps they shall never be any better physically. Then hope steps in, walking on the promises of God, the God who has promised to heal our bodies, the God who says that things are possible to those who will accept his promises. So the impossibilities of earthly physicians, who have done all they can, become possibilities when we have faith in God’s promises, for all things are possible with God.
Hear those words as they fall from the lips of our Lord, “I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Hear also the question as it rings down through the annals of time, coming from the compassionate Lord, “Wilt thou be made whole?” And when the answer from his suffering children rings back, “Dear Lord, I would be made whole,” the answer comes to us from our great Physician, “I will come and heal you.”
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
Faith is not only believing; it is claiming on the authority of God’s Word, and receiving (Mark 11:24).
FAITH: KINDS, QUALITY, AND QUANTITY
Have faith and doubt not.—Matthew 21:21
We read in the Word of God of faith in its different qualities and quantities, and the operation of these as they are exercised. As we travel from place to place we see different kinds of faith used or practiced by mankind. We shall consider here faith with both quality and quantity. Let us look first at the great example of the woman of Canaan. “And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour” (Matthew 15:22–27).
These different qualities of faith may be classified thus:
1. Great Faith. Great faith in a great God or a great Physician.
2. Persistent and Enduring Faith
3. Unwavering Faith
4. Undeniable Faith
5. Faith with Quality
6. Little Faith
We readily see several different faiths or qualities of faith, as well as quantity of faith in the lesson and in the example of the woman from Canaan.
First, we wish to notice the Great Faith. The woman’s appeal to our Lord for deliverance for her devil-possessed daughter indicated that she did not even think nor believe but that God could deliver her child, and also that he would. Her vision of the Lord was that a command from him would force the devils to make their departure from her daughter. She had great faith in a great Lord who is also the great Physician who healeth all diseases. Our great vision of our Lord is the reason for great faith. So, child of God, if your vision of the Lord is that of one who can heal minor diseases, you limit his ability; your faith will be according to your vision of him. The Lord cannot work and does not work above the faith with which you furnish him to work.
We also see Persistent and Enduring Faith. Jesus apparently was going to turn the woman away, but she persisted in having a hearing from him, as well as action on his part for that demon-possessed daughter. She was persistent because she saw nothing but the all-power of the Lord which could deliver the daughter. The apparent rebuff that fell from the Master’s lips would have staggered most people; they would have received what he said as a final refusal to do anything for the daughter, but not so with the woman of Canaan. Jesus reasoned like this: he was to bring deliverance only to the Israelites. In the face of this answer, the importunate woman came and worshiped him saying, “Lord, help me.” Here was an appeal to the Lord that was backed up by the emotion and burden which the woman fully desired to turn over to him. Jesus answered this sincere appeal by saying unto her, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” Apparently placing her on the same level with the dogs. Here was evidenced the enduring faith. In the face of it all, the courageous woman acknowledged herself as being on the level with dogs when she said: “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the Master’s table.” She would not receive any denial from the dear Lord. She was severely tested, but thank God for the great example of this woman of Canaan, who stood 100 per cent in her test. She came out more than victorious. She came out as a living example of faith with quality, quantity, persistency, and endurance. She was belittled, yet she still clung to the Lord for her dire need. Unwavering Faith! If she had let down on any point, she would have lost her petition. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord” (James 1:6–7). If this woman had been like some people that we hear of today, she would have come back with a discouraging report and said that the Lord showed her he did not desire to heal one in her station in life, and her daughter would not have received the healing. But instead, she had such a strong desire mingled with strong faith that Jesus had something on his hands on which he must take action—she would not leave until he did. And Jesus honored this fact and granted her desire.
Faith with Quality. I cite you to Matthew 17:20: “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Just think, faith the size of a mustard seed would cause nothing to be impossible to us as children of God! I can hear someone say that that surely is a small amount of faith. But mustard seed is all mustard seed, and will not mix with any other kind of seed. It is the quality spoken of here instead of quantity. So many think that what man speaks of as big diseases must have a large amount of faith if they are to be removed. No; just a little faith in a BIG GOD.
Little Faith and the Reason for Its Size. When the vision of your natural eye is affected you cannot see very far, or you can see only a very little of any object. The big object may still be there, but your dimmed vision keeps you from seeing it. So it is with faith’s vision. The big Lord is still on his throne, but your spiritual vision does not perceive very much of him or what he wants to be to us. This little faith that is spoken of here, the commentator says, means faith in different directions, or a divided faith—not a centralized faith—centered in our Lord, and in nothing else.
Another cause for little faith is looking back at what one could not do before he was prayed for instead of looking forward to what he can do through Christ who strengthened him.
Different faiths used by men, and their operation are:
Twenty-Four-Hour Faith. As we pray for different people, we sometimes hear them say, “Pray for me tonight, and I will be all right in the morning.” This is what I call twenty-four-hour faith. This is better than no faith at all. These people give the devil twenty-four hours’ notice to move with his diseases. I suppose that the devil appreciates this twenty-four-hour notice, but why do you desire to keep the Lord waiting twenty-four hours before you actually turn the case over to him in full? The Lord’s time is now.
Passive Faith. This passive faith is used by persons who do not have any especial burden for the healing of their bodies. They do not have enough ambition to make any special effort on their own part for their own individual good, but they are willing to and will gladly turn all the effort over on the other fellow and let him carry the burden for their healing and furnish all the faith, and just let their faith or the faith of the sick one lie dormant. This kind of faith is so passive that Jesus just passes by and does not even take notice of it.
Lingering Faith. This sick person reasons that it took a long time for the disease to come, and so he must expect that it will take a long time for it to go away again. So his lingering faith brings lingering results. As your faith, so shall it be unto you.
Installment-Plan Faith. This person that is sick cannot have faith for all diseases in the body to be healed at once; he can only take in healing for one affected part of the body at one time, and must be prayed for, for each affliction separately. And so the preacher prays for one disease at a time, or he prays on the installment plan until all diseases are rebuked separately. I have prayed for people many times in this way, as I perceived that this was the only way that their faith would take hold of the promises. And as one disease would be healed, they would have greater faith for the next one, and so increase until all disease was gone from their body. My faith would have taken in complete healing at once, yet I would submit to the faith the other persons had, as they must have faith also before they are healed, if they are in a position mentally to produce faith.
Active Faith. Active faith, of which our Lord is the author and finisher, says, “Old devil, today is moving day for you and your diseases, and in the name of our Lord I command you to depart this moment.” And Satan obeys when the Lord comes in to fight our battles for us. Child of God, do not try to fight the battle, as the battle is the Lord’s. Go forth in the name of the Lord, and the battle is won even before you start, according to faith’s vision.
One has said that she did not go to the door when Satan knocked at her heart’s door; she sent Jesus to the door to meet Satan. Sick ones, Jesus is more than a match for the enemy at all times.
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
If you wish to know God’s WILL, read his promises for your healing. His promises are his will. God never made a promise that it was not his will to fulfill, when we have met all the conditions of his promises.
CHRIST’S GREAT TRANSFER
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.—Isaiah 55:8–9
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.—Psalm37:5
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.—Proverbs 3:5
If we expect to receive healing for our bodies according to the gospel, we must live according to the gospel, we must think according to the gospel. Our thoughts are not always according to the gospel or in accord with our Lord’s thoughts, neither is our understanding always according to our Lord’s understanding. We must not try to convert our Lord to our understanding, but the sooner we come to the Lord’s understanding and learn of him, and lean not on our own understanding; the sooner we forsake our ways and learn how to act according to the Lord’s ways; the sooner we submit to the Lord’s thoughts and crucify our thoughts and think on the things on which the Word tells us to think, the sooner we can get the Lord to work for us and in us.
Christ’s Transfer Number One. Transfer your thoughts to God’s thoughts. God’s thoughts are pure; man’s thoughts at times are very impure. So the dear Lord tells us on what to think that our thoughts may be pure and in accord with Christ’s thoughts.
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
Transfer Number Two. Transfer our ways to God’s ways.
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts” (Isaiah 55:7).
“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5).
Sinner, get rid of your ways and forsake them for Christ’s way. Child of God, submit your ways and stop trusting to your wisdom and your ways for the healing of your body, and take the Lord’s way of procedure, or the healing will never come to pass.
Transfer Number Three. Transfer from the sight of your eyes to the promises of God. The person who is looking at the other fellow and who is allowing his imperfections to get between him and his healing is positively not in condition to be prayed for, for healing. That is a mere excuse hatched up by the devil to cheat him out of his healing. Healing is brought about by looking to Christ and to him alone, and not at the imperfections of man. One cannot look to Jesus from whom his help cometh, and look down at the imperfections of man at the same time.
“We walk by faith, and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Transfer Number Four. Transfer from feelings to faith in God. “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24).
Faith in feeling steps in and says, “But you do not feel any different.” Faith in sight steps in and declares, “What if you do not look any different! The promises do not mention either feelings or sight, as neither of them is the foundation for our faith.” The promises of God are faith’s foundation. Faith looks at God, and then God looks at our disease and heals us because our faith is in God. The Word tells where to anchor our faith: “Have faith in God.”
Transfer Number Five. Transfer from whys and ifs to faith in God, and not to questioning God. Faith has no question marks in it.
Transfer Number Six. Transfer from trying to doing. Again I quote Jesus’ words: “Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.”
Jesus did not say, “Try to believe me. Do not just try to believe that I am an honest being.” If you have faith, you are not going to struggle to believe God’s words. Trying is not doing. You either believe or you do not believe, and there is no middle ground. Jesus never commands us to do a thing that it is impossible to do. The way to transfer from trying to doing, in believing, is to refuse to disbelieve. People need more of a determination to do what God commands them to do. You must have a burden for the things that you desire, and then you will be more in earnest about the matter.
I can hear someone say, “It is so hard for me to have that determination.” In most people the determination depends on what one likes to have come to pass. So many people have no trouble having plenty of determination when they desire to have their own way. It is then that it is hard to break that determination. But when it comes to God’s way, the determination of so many is regulated by their desire to hold on to things of the world, and their determination to follow the Lord in all of his ways is broken by holding on to selfish desires.
Transfer Number Seven. Transfer from timidity to boldness in the Lord. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). So many people come to Jesus for the healing of their bodies, and act as if they were coming to the greatest enemy the world has ever seen. They come trembling, as if they do not know whether to approach their Lord on the matter of healing or not. Children of God, our Lord wants us to come boldly and to accept what he has promised to his dear children—the healing of their bodies. See James 5:14–15. So many people become alarmed when their affliction becomes dangerous and they become fearful to trust one whom they cannot see—our Lord—so they take the case to one whom they can see—the arm of flesh. Genuine faith makes our Lord so real that faith does not fear to trust and to believe that our heavenly Father will always take us through. Jesus never fails. How it honors our Lord when we come to him and when we treat him as if he were an honest being, one that can be trusted!
Transfer Number Eight. Transfer from spiritual blindness to faith’s vision. One cannot appropriate any covenant blessing without a knowledge of what God has to offer. Children of God have their eyes blinded to what the dear Lord desires to be to his children as the healer of their bodies because of the tradition of men which teaches that the day of healing is past, and that the dear Lord has gone out of the healing business. One would think that mankind would be delighted that the dear Lord is so concerned, and that his great love has made provision for the healing of his children when he “took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:16–17). But instead of being grateful, they try to argue healing out of the Bible. They do not fully realize, however, when they try to place healing back in the time of the apostles only that they must also place the preaching of the gospel back in the time of the apostles. But our Lord’s last commission (Mark 16:15–18) reads as follows: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” The result of preaching the gospel to all creatures shall be: “These signs shall follow them that believe”; and among the signs that shall follow are: “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Healing is a result of preaching and believing the gospel. The two are inseparable. The Lord declares he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He also declares that he is the Lord and he changes not. So if there is any changing going on, it is the people, not our Lord.
Transfer Number Nine. Transfer from faith in sight to faith in God. The dear Lord did not say, Have faith in your eyes, but he did say, “Have faith in God.”
To illustrate this ninth transfer we call your attention to John 20:25–27. Here we have a record of Doubting Thomas’ attitude in regard to believing that the disciples really saw the Lord.
“The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
You will notice that Jesus did not commend the person who had to be shown before he would believe him. He permitted Thomas to do what he desired to do before he believed, but he told Thomas where one must be and what his attitude must be before our Lord’s blessing would rest upon him—not on his unbelief, but upon his belief.
The blessings are upon those who believe God’s Word without questioning. Questioning people do not get very far in the healing of their bodies. Those who have faith in God’s Word are the ones who move God on his throne for the healing of their bodies.
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
The Lord will always meet faith at the promise. Faith brings the disease as far as the promise and leaves it there, and Jesus meets faith at the promise to deliver healing to faith in exchange for the disease that Jesus has already borne.
OBEDIENCE AND FAITH FOR THE HEALING OF GOD’S PEOPLE
Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper.—2 Kings 5:1
Naaman was a respected man of rank. He had favor with his master. His master had placed him in a high position, even as captain of the king’s host. In the face of this high rank which he enjoyed, a disease was placed upon his body which became a real handicap in Captain Naaman’s achievements for his people. Naaman was helpless under the strong arm of oppression by this disease. But a little maiden who had been taken captive by the Syrians looked upon Naaman with pity.
I wish to call your attention to the true spirit of our Lord’s host, or his children. The spirit of the world would have looked upon Naaman and said, Naaman, as I look at that dread disease of leprosy on your body, I think that is good enough for you, as you are not a friend of mine. You are an enemy of my people, working continuously against them, and fighting against them.
But let us look at the spirit of the maid who was taken captive. This maid manifested the spirit that is spoken of in Matthew 5:44: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
Equality of God’s Plan for Soul or Body. No Respecter of Persons. “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). I can hear someone say, “I know of a woman whom God healed instantaneously, and he did not do that for me. I am somewhat better, but the Lord did not make me every whit whole as he did my friend, and so he must be a respecter of persons.” I will tell you where the trouble came in and the reasons for both healings.
Christ as a Respecter of Faith. “According to your faith be it unto you,” were the words of our Lord to the blind men who came to him for healing (Matthew 9:29). Rich or poor, king or pauper, all are on the same basis of requirement for the healing of their bodies. They must obey; they must have faith before they can be healed. So you see the Lord is not a respecter of persons, but he is a respecter of faith.
Naaman’s Approach for the Healing of His Body. Naaman came with great pomp to see the prophet of God, wishing to command the respect of the prophet of God, and wishing to impress Elisha that he (Naaman) was a captain of the Syrian army, and he expected special attention from Elisha, the prophet of God. He expected Elisha to recognize his superiority. But to Naaman’s surprise, Elisha did not even come out to see him; he sent his servant out to meet him just as he might have done with a person of the lowest caste. Elisha left an everlasting impression upon Naaman that he was of no more value before God than was the beggar on the highway—the beggar’s need was just as essential as was that of a captain.
We have many people who will sit down and tell you what noted positions they occupy; they will tell at length how they occupy the highest positions in the social world, and they regard their high social standing and their great ancestors as reason for special attention. But after all, this is vain; it is of no consequence when they come for healing for their diseased bodies.
The Surprise, or Seeming Insult to Naaman the Leper. Naaman had already arranged a plan for the prophet of God to heal him so as to respect his dignity. He expected that surely the prophet Elisha would just step out, and perhaps bow several times as he approached the captain, or at least he would wave his hands over him and heal him. But instead, here came insult number one to the captain’s dignity. Elisha just sent his servant out to meet Captain Naaman, and the servant instructed him how to proceed to receive his healing.
Insult number two: “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again.” Just to think, that old muddy Jordan!
Reaction on the Dignity of Naaman. The Bible says that Naaman was wroth and began to question the procedure of the prophet of God in regard to his healing. Naaman reasoned like this: are not the rivers of Damascus, Abana and Pharpar, so much clearer than this old muddy Jordan? Why not go and wash in them and be clean?
Disobedient Spirit Always a Questioning Spirit. Why did not the prophet do it this way or that way? But Naaman’s rage and his questioning were not effectual with the prophet. A questioning mind, a person who is stumbling over someone else’s shortcomings and picking at the person who is about to pray the prayer of faith for him needs a good dose of salvation so he can keep his mind on God and less on the imperfections of others.
The main issue must be met: obedience to the prophet’s command, or else retain the leprosy. The servants of Naaman drew near to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?”
Submission and Obedience Naaman’s Last Resort. Submission and obedience should have been his first resort. Instead of desiring special favor, Naaman must lay down his way and take God’s way. God did not have numerous ways from which Naaman might select, but he did have a way whereby Naaman could be cleansed. The only issue and the final issue to Naaman, Do not dip five times, or six times, in any river that you choose, but seven times in the River Jordan.
I can hear Naaman saying as he approached the Jordan’s muddy waters, “It is not even good common sense for me to dip in this muddy stream; that will not make me clean.”
What People Call Good Common Sense
Second Dip: I wonder why two dips are not just as good as seven. (Not willing to go all the way.)
Third Dip: I just wonder if there is anything in divine healing, as I look just as I did. (Appearance as evidence of healing.)
Fourth Dip: How can I expect muddy water to heal me when the best physicians pronounce leprosy incurable?
Fifth Dip: I cannot see that this treatment is doing me any good; I wish I had gone to some healer so the treatments would not be so strenuous and undignified.
Sixth Dip: Seeing that I have dipped six times, and have come so near obeying the words of the prophet, it seems no more than reasonable that God should compromise with me and let me off with six dips.
Seventh Dip: Unbelief would have said, We shall soon see if there is anything to this divine healing or not.
The Great Lesson from Naaman’s Decision. When Naaman made the decision he decided to go all the way; he decided to take the way of faith and obedience. This is the only way for anyone to receive healing from our Lord.
Where Faith and Obedience Meet. Naaman did not only obey, he believed, and his expectancy was not disappointed by our God. When all of the command was met, Naaman was cleansed. Naaman was so thankful to God for his healing he wanted to give Elisha a gift, but Elisha would not receive it. Naaman probably thought, “I guess Elisha, the man of God, is not so bad after all. I am healed, if Elisha did make me dip in the Jordan.”
Child of God, if you desire to be healed, obey and believe, and do not let the devil drive you in the opposite direction for a time, before you come to yourself and are forced to backtrack before you can receive the healing for your body.
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
Jesus does not tell the sick to ask and ask and ask in order to bring the answer, but it does say that “all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22).
Eleven-Year-Old Girl Healed
In a recent meeting was a girl eleven years of age who was afflicted with poisoning in her system that was caused by infected tonsils. She was in such a serious condition that if she when any distance she had to be carried. The doctor ordered her to stay in bed. On Easter Sunday she was brought by her parents to the morning service where Brother Yerty, the evangelist, prayed for her, and she was instantly healed. On this date, June 4, 1937, she is as well as any ordinary child, and testifies that she is healed.
Rev. Grace Henry, Pastor
New Philadelphia, Ohio
Accident Victim Healed
Mr. George Beckett, 247 East Front Street, was injured in an automobile wreck, in which two men were killed. Mr. Beckett’s back was twisted and his vertebra was out of place. He could not receive any help from the physicians. He had not been free from pain since August 23, 1935, the date of the accident. Mr. Beckett attended the healing services at New Philadelphia. Rev. O. L. Yerty, the evangelist, anointed him and prayed the prayer of faith, and as soon as Brother Yerty prayed a large lump that had formed on the backbone visibly disappeared, and the man now is in a normal condition.
Rev. Grace Henry, Pastor
New Philadelphia, Ohio
Healed of Blindness
I am so glad to give my testimony of the healing of my eyes and body. One year ago today I went to the Anderson, Indiana, Camp Meeting. I was blind, and very sick in body. I was led by a good brother to Brother Yerty’s trailer. Brother Lykins and others went with me. Brother Yerty anointed me and prayed the prayer of faith, and like an electric current the power of God went through my eyes and my body. Brother Yerty told me to open my eyes and receive my sight in the name of Jesus. I looked and saw the beautiful leaves and the beautiful surroundings on the camp ground. Words cannot express my gratitude to my Lord for the healing of my blind eyes. Today I am working, reading, and praising God. It takes a full consecration and full dependence upon god. I am now manager of a grocery store.
Charles George
2084 ½ Logan Avenue
Hamilton, Ohio
Another Miraculous Healing
On July 23, 1936, while I was walking down the aisle of a train, the train started and I was thrown to the floor. The impact crushed my spine and moved my abdomen out of place and tore ligaments loose in my body. I was forced to wear a steel brace. On January 10, 1937, I was anointed by Rev. O. L. Yerty at Bessemer, Ala., where I he was holding a revival meeting. When Brother Yerty prayed the prayer of faith, and I believed, I felt my abdomen go back to its place, my spine was healed, and I was made every whit whole. Now I can do my work easily, including my washing. I give God all the praise and glory.
Mrs. C. E. Wellborn
1710 First Avenue
Bessemer, Ala.
Healed of a Broken Bone and a Crushed Spine
I am writing this that your faith may be strengthened to trust the dear Lord for your healing. In 1934 I was attending Anderson College and Theological Seminary at Anderson, Indiana. On Christmas Day I left the college to go to my home in Delaware. When I had gone about fifty miles from Anderson, I had a very bad accident. I was taken back to the college and lay for some time in my room. My friends in the college would pray for me, and I would get help from time to time. However, as time went on I seemed to get worse. The students there were very good to me in every way, especially Denzel Lovely, my roommate; Miss Mary Husted, the Dean’s secretary; Walter Tiesel, and Mr. and Mrs. Adam W. Miller.
I stayed in the college until June, then I went home expecting to get well during the summer so I could resume my studies in the fall of 1935. However, I was not well, but I went back to college still expecting to improve so I would be able to stay. By this time I had gone to a number of doctors and had taken their treatments, but I became worse and had to leave college. I went to the home of a friend whom I shall never forget. There I stayed until I was strong enough to take the long ride back to my home. I was having trembling spells and had great sores all over my body. After coming home another doctor told me that these sores were caused by my nerves and my heart. He took care of me for a while. I began having spells in which I would fall, and at times I would become unconscious. It would take days for me to get over the effects of one of these spells. I grew weaker and weaker all the time. I was trusting the Lord, and every time I would have one of these spells God would deliver me, but they would return. While in one of these attacks, my neck would sell, I would get black in the face, and I would have a burning fever. By this time I had gone to ten doctors, and was getting worse all the time.
One day I went to another doctor and asked him if he would kindly look into my case. He said, “I will do my best for you.” He told me that I had gone past the place where anything could be done for me. However, he took five X-rays. These showed a crushed spine, a broken bone of the neck, dislocation of the head, strain of spinal nerves; a bone in my shoulder was broken also. This doctor asked me if I had insurance. He told my mother that I would die in one of these spells. That was in the spring of 1935.
In the month of April the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and told me that Brother Yerty was going to be at the Springfield, Ohio camp meeting. The Spirit also said to me: “Get ready to go, and I will make an opening for you to go there, and I will heal you.” This was music to my soul. I told others that I was going to the Springfield, Ohio camp meeting, but I had no money and no way to go. Time went on, and I was getting worse. Two months after the Lord had thus spoken to me, I read in the Gospel Trumpet that Brother Yerty was to be at the Springfield meeting. Then I was sure that it was the Holy Spirit that had been speaking to me. The Lord opened the way for me to go to the camp meeting, and when I arrived there I felt the power of God go through my body. However, after being on the grounds I had one of the bad spells again.
I arrived on the camp ground on Friday, and on Monday evening I went to Brother Yerty’s cottage and told my story. He was touched by my story and I noticed tears in his eyes. He said, “Brother, the Lord wants to heal you.” I agreed, but said that I did not have the faith. He then said, “If you believe, I will pray the prayer of faith, and God will heal you.” When he prayed for me my bones went back into place and the sores left that same hour. Brother Yerty felt my bones go back into place. I came home healed.
I am happy to say that many have been healed through my prayers since the time that I received my healing at the Ohio camp meeting.
Yours in Christ,
Ellwood J. Baily
4 Partridge Avenue
Ridley Park, Pa.
Healed of Cancer
I was sick for eight years. I doctored with physicians in Michigan and Indiana. I consulted twelve different doctors, and they all pronounced my disease cancer of the stomach. I was sent home from the hospital on June 8, 1934. I was given only a short time to live. I had been on a diet for five years. I was taken to the Grand Junction, Michigan camp meeting in July 1934. At that time I weighed 83 pounds. I met Reverend O. L. Yerty at the camp meeting, and he prayed the prayer of faith, and I believed also, and God healed me instantly. I now am a well woman, weighing 133 pounds. I give God all the glory.
Your sister in Christ,
Mrs. Leora Yonts
Route 2
Hartford, Mich.
