July 31, 2009
Pastor’s Comments continued from June 19, July 3, 11, 17, 24, 2009
“. . . I AM the LORD (JHVH ROPHEKA = JHVH that heals you) who heals you (Exodus 15:22).
JHVH ROPHEKA
“You live in a world that relies primarily on Medical Doctors to treat illness” Plain Truth about Healing, Chapter one, page 8, Healing in our Time, Mr. Armstrong.
Dear Brethren,
In this series of writings on the subject of Medical Science in contrast to Divine Healing, I intend to focus on the physical areas that have to do with Divine HEALING! A wonderful blessing made possible by our loving Father and Jesus Christ by the horrible beating of Jesus Christ.
The Scourging of Jesus Christ
Shortly before He was crucified, Jesus Christ voluntarily gave His body to the Roman lictor to be beaten so brutally had purpose and meaning for His Church and for all of mankind.
“
.
. . So marred was His appearance, unlike that of man, His form,
beyond human semblance--- (Isaiah 52:14, Jewish
Publication
Society Bible).
This unmerciful beating made Jesus Christ lose the look of a human being.
God our
Father and Jesus Christ permitted this to take place so that mankind
might come to realize the blessing of physical healing that can come
from what He experienced for all who might come to believe and have
faith in that meaningful purpose.
“Yet it was our SICKNESS (also, pains and diseases) that He was bearing [He was very sick as the result of what He endured], our suffering that He endured. But He was wounded because of our sins (Spiritual), crushed because of our iniquities (physical). He bore the chastisement that made us whole, and by His bruises we were healed” (Isaiah 53:4, 5, Jewish Publication Society Bible).
God has set in motion living laws which regulate and produce good health. The transgressions of these laws produce sickness and disease.
God’s Passover
“
.
. . the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed TOOK
BREAD, and
when He had given thanks, HE BROKE
IT and said, “Take, EAT; THIS IS MY BODY WHICH
IIS BROKEN FOR YOU; do this IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. . . . Therefore
WHOEVER EATS THIS BREAD
or drinks of this cup in an UNWORTHY MANNER is guilty of the BODY
and BLOOD
of the Lord. But
let a man EXAMINE himself, and so let him EAT
OF THE BREAD
and drink of the cup. For he who EATS
and
DRINKS in AN UNWORTHY MANNER EATS and DRINKS JUDGMENT to himself, NOT
DISCERNING the Lord’s body. For
this reason
MANY are sick among you, and MANY sleep” (I
Corinthians
11:23-34).
This is so important to God that He has commanded that we have an annual REMEMBRANCE of this blessing each year during the Passover service.
T
his
is in sharp contrast to the drugs and medicines used by Medical
Doctors who by their own honest admission cannot heal anyone by their
use. In actual fact they can be very harmful to a person as one can
learn from a Pharmacist when filling a prescription.
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong made very clear in his booklet why they cannot heal anyone. Please note excerpts from it:
THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT HEALING, Page 25 Mr. Armstrong
Page 21 > Healing is the forgiveness of sin. None but God heals! God is a jealous God. He is not going to allow anyone else to heal. Medicine and drugs do not; CANNOT HEAL! . . . God had said to ancient Israel, “I am Yah-Rapha” – that is, “I am the ETERNAL who heals you,” or, I am your healing God,: or, “I am your God-healer.” He also said in the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”
The example of an ancient king in Israel should be sufficient for anyone to realize the seriousness of placing our TRUST in anyone for our protection or healing other than by Jesus Christ who is our great and only true Physician:
In the 39th year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet he did NOT SEEK the LORD, but the physicians. So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign (II Chronicles 16:12-13).
After suffering for two long years King Asa died. The physicians could not heal him.
Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who TRUSTS in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5).
Page 22 > God wants His people to rely on Him, to TRUST Him. He wants to do things for us that we cannot do for ourselves. He wants us to learn the lesson of faith.”
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, TO SHOW HIMSELF STRONG on behalf of those whose heart is LOYAL to Him . . .” (II Chronicles 16:9).
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8; Malachi 3:6).
The Cause of Sickness and Disease
Page 25 > When a person is sick or has contracted a disease, he is simply paying the PENALTY of transgressed physical law in his body. . . . The penalty for physical transgression is physical punishment—sickness or disease, physical impairment, pain and suffering or physical death.
Medical ‘science’ operates primarily on that method—trying, with medicines, to prevent God’s law from exacting its penalty. That theory says, in effect, we can transgress God’s law and then prevent God’s law from exacting its penalty. The theory is: The sufferer has in his body one poison, so we add another poison in the form of medicine. And one poison plus another poison equals no poison!
Page 26 > How IMPORTANT it is to God NEVER to compromise His law! We might reason that it would be easier for God, in each case of healing, to simply prevent the penalty from taking effect. But that would VIOLATE HIS LAW. This is what Satan is trying to do—make God’s laws inoperable; abolish the penalty, deal with the EFFECT, ignoring the CAUSE.
Forgiveness of Physical Sin
Page 28 > Matthew 9:1-2 > Jesus came again to His own city, where He then resided—Capernaum. And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the sick, “Son, be of good cheer your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith (the 4 men), He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” (Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26)
Page 29 > This incident, repeated in all three books, Matthew Mark and Luke, confirms, in the words of Jesus Christ Himself, that physical healing is indeed ‘the forgiveness of sin.’ Sin is defined (I John 3:4) as “the transgression of the law”, as correctly translated. Physical sin is the transgression of physical law operating in the human body. To pay this penalty in our stead, Jesus was scourged, chastised, beaten with stripes. Physical sin is the transgression of physical law.
To another man who had an infirmity for 38 years, and had been healed by Jesus Christ, said to the man, “. . . See you have been made well. Sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you” John 5:1-8, 14).
What About Medicine
Page 46 > Let’s review briefly the teaching of the apostle Paul in his instruction regarding the Passover to the Church at Corinth.
In regard to taking the bread—symbol of Christ’s body beaten with stripes to pay for the us the penalty for broken laws governing physical health—the inspired teaching is: “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily [the RSV translates it “in an unworthy manner”] eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body”—that is, His body was broken or beaten with stripes, paying the penalty we suffer in sickness and disease. “That is why [RSV] many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (I Corinthians 11:29-30).
This in important; UNDERSTAND the meaning of what was written here! Taking the broken unleavened bread means we ACCEPT Christ’s eaten and broken body (prior to being taken to the cross) that we MAY BE HEALED. How does His broken body make our healing possible?
It is IMPORTANT that you understand the answer to this—because some have been falsely teaching there is no such thing as physical sin [Two of the larger corporate Churches presently has as their doctrinal teaching: “There is no such thing as physical sin” – The United Church of God, and the Church of God, An International Community. This is what the WCG taught after the death of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong).
Page 47 > “To say there is no such thing as physical sin, as has been said by self-professing intellectuals is NOT intellectual—it is rank STUPIDITY, IGNORANCE OR WILFUL PERVERSION OF PLAIN SIMPLE TRUTH!”
Rely on God
Page 57 > God has not promised that, by continual healing, we shall be never die (Hebrews 9:27). . . . God has positively PROMISED to heal. And He names the conditions—OBEDIENCE AND FAITH.
But God has not told us how or when He will heal. He EXPECTS us to TRUST HIM WITH THAT. That most certainly should not weaken or destroy our faith— IT SHOULD MAKE OUR FAITH MORE SURE! (Hebrews 11:6).
But God’s people should be taught that healing is a MIRACLE and not to be considered lightly. . . . Healing definitely is a MIRACLE. But we must never forget our God is a MIRACLE-WORKING GOD!
Healing in the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ
Page 9 > Christ’s gospel was the glorious messianic announcement of the coming world-ruling KINGDOM OF GOD. It was the announcement of the wonderful WORLD TOMORROW! It was not a message of doom!—except for explaining the causes of the doom of the world’s evils, suffering and unhappiness. It was a joyous announcement of coming world peace, universal happiness and well-being.
Isaiah 33:20-34 “And the inhabitant will NOT say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell in it (millennium) will be forgiven their iniquity.”
This will be through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s broken body (Matthew 8:16-17).
Conclusion
To bring this present writing to a close for this time, I sincerely encourage each one to read and study this booklet for a balanced understanding of this subject: The Plain Truth about Healing, 1979 Publication by Mr. Armstrong
Balance Today
To briefly give us some balance in understanding of the use of medical doctors, we find the following quotes:
Internet - Current State of Medicine Today There is a great dichotomy in the state of medicine today. While modern medicine is greatly able to take care of many health problems it is incredibly inept and handling many others. Medical professionals are very adept at repairing bodies broken in accidents, but in trying to correct chronic health problems like thyroid disease, diabetes, or any of a long list of diseases, they are virtually helpless.
Mr. Armstrong wrote the following in the concluding part of his booklet:
Is it a Sin to Seek Help from Medical Science?
The Plain Truth about Healing, 1979 Publication, Page 72, Mr. Armstrong
“
I
have made it plain that God’s Church does not condemn medical
or other doctors—nor sit in judgment of those who are weak in
faith and rely on MAN. There is much doctors can do for us today.
I have given the BASIC PRINCIPLE: God does for us what we humans cannot do. One could get into endless arguments and controversy on technical specific issues of what we may go to man for and what to rely on God to do. I've given the broad guidelines. The church will encourage God's people to believe God -- rely on God -- to say, with the apostles,". . . Lord, INCREASE OUR FAITH (Luke 17:5).
God does not expect his ministers to make your decisions for you -- and God's Church will not sit in judgment of you if you go to a doctor but God says one of his benefits, for which he makes no charge is that he offers you the loving services of a miracle worker -- the living Jesus Christ!”
Your brother and servant in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Don Billingsley
http://bodyofchristonline.us/ http://cog-ff.com http://www.ezekielwatchman.org/ http://worldnewsbulletin.com
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