| Christian Life and Doctrine | July 1975 |
Divine Healing
AT THE River Jordan there was a special manifestation of the Holy Spirit as Jesus was being baptized by John the Baptist. At Pentecost his disciples were given evidence of the Holy Spirit as they demonstrated gifts of the Spirit. Some spoke with tongues, some performed the miracle of healing, and later by the same power Peter and Paul raised the dead.
These gifts of apostolic days served a threefold purpose. It proved to the Early Church that our Lord had fulfilled his promise to them that he would send the Comforter; it proved to others that God in some special way was with the disciples of the One who had been taken from them by crucifixion; and it established the faith of the Early Church which had been badly shaken by the recent events.
They needed these special gifts then. The New Testament was not written; their access to the Old Testament was restricted. Later when the letters of the apostles were available for the edification of the Early Church, these manifestations of the Holy Spirit were no longer necessary, and as it is written, “They have vanished away”; they have served their purpose.
Perhaps there has never been a time when humanity had more desire for healing bodily ills than now. Nor can anyone be blamed for desiring relief from bodily pain, sickness or disability. All should know that much suffering can be relieved and many physical ills cured by suggestion, either through or without prayer. There are thousands wandering in the shadow of insanity today who might be healed by proper treatment and suggestion. But this is the field of a physician who has been trained in this activity. The work of a minister is to preach the Gospel of the kingdom and to encourage the ailing to accept the difficult providences of God as stepping stones to greater faith.
The occasions of healing were illustrations of the future great work of his millennial reign. Divine healing will then be the Lord’s program for blessing all the families of the earth. And then the inhabitants of the earth will not say, “I am sick.” All will know that Jesus healed the sick while on earth, “to show forth his coming glory.” (John 2:11) In that kingdom all will be raised from death; all will be healed; all blind eyes opened; all deaf ears unstopped—not temporarily, but permanently. What a blessed day that will be!—Isa. 35