DELIVERED
FROM SICKNESS.
BY MRS. M. BAXTER.
Confess your faults to one another,
and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. – James v: 16.
“By grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”-(Eph. ii:8.)
This is true for soul and body. Jesus has redeemed us in bearing our sins and
our sicknesses upon the Cross, and it can never be by any other merit than His
own, that we may claim the benefit of His redemption for spiritual or for
physical healing. But God is a jealous God, and He is preparing a Bride for His
Son who must not have “spot or wrinkle or any such thing,” but “be holy and
without blemish”. He would have His Bride to be such that He could always say
to her, “Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee.”-(Cant. iv:7.)
In souls which responded to the wooding of the heavenly Bridegroom, and who experience a desire above all other desires, to be pure as He is pure, holy as He is holy, there is a growing consciousness that the Lord becomes more and more exact in His dealings with them; and it frequently happens that healing comes more slowly to some, than to others whose spiritual experience is not so deep.
For instance, a lady in Wurtemberg had been suffering for a considerable time from an internal malady, which cost her such suffering that every movement, at times was torture. Being of an energetic temperament, she strove against it, and, in spire of the suffering, continued her usual duties, but month after month her strength failed her, until her friends almost feared she would die. Hers is a consecrated life, all for Jesus, and because she would have Jesus all for her, she did not so much as think of consulting a physician.
In souls which responded to the wooding of the heavenly Bridegroom, and who experience a desire above all other desires, to be pure as He is pure, holy as He is holy, there is a growing consciousness that the Lord becomes more and more exact in His dealings with them; and it frequently happens that healing comes more slowly to some, than to others whose spiritual experience is not so deep.
For instance, a lady in Wurtemberg had been suffering for a considerable time from an internal malady, which cost her such suffering that every movement, at times was torture. Being of an energetic temperament, she strove against it, and, in spire of the suffering, continued her usual duties, but month after month her strength failed her, until her friends almost feared she would die. Hers is a consecrated life, all for Jesus, and because she would have Jesus all for her, she did not so much as think of consulting a physician.
A child of God, who had been
herself healed by the Great Physician, and also in some cases blest in healing
others, was staying one night in her house, and she asked her to lay hands on
her and anoint he with oil in the name of the Lord. She replied, “I am no
elder,” and the suffering sister said, “God has made you an elder to me by
leading me deeper into His truth through your means.” The other replied, “I
will ask the Lord’s permission,” and both retired for the night to lay the
matter before the Lord. In the morning the suffering sister came into the other’s
room in great agitation, saying, “God has been dealing with me, I have not
slept all night; He has laid it upon me to confess a sin which bound me captive
for years, and which, even now, is made by the enemy a source of uneasiness.”
She then, with the deepest emotion, unburdened her soul. “If we confess our
sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”-(1 John, i:9.) She knew that she was cleansed. Her friend
said, “I have now full liberty from God to anoint you in the name of the Lord.”
After reading some passages about the anointing, she laid hands on her and
anointed her in the name of Jesus Christ, four other devoted Christians being
present.
Immediately after, she rose from her knees without effort, quoting the words, “leaping up, stood and walked… walking and leaping and praising God.”-(Acts, iii:8.) From that moment all pain was gone and she has been from that time (eight months) as well as she ever was in her life, praise God. But in her case, until confession was made, no prayer availed for her healing. God would have His chosen ones, His priestly ones be transparent as the light, hiding nothing because they have nothing to hide.
A young man in the north of Germany who believed in healing, and who professed to be a wholly consecrated man, was nevertheless overcome by a feeling of bitterness against a sister-in-law who had acted unkindly and unjustly toward him. An attack of feverish influenza seized him. He sought to attend an evening meeting after he had felt quite ill for two days. There the power of God’s Spirit was present; there were confessions of sin and some blessed testimonies to the power of the blood of Jesus. Amongst others this young man confessed the bitterness towards his sister-in-law which had unconsciously gained power over him, and instantaneously he was freed from every trace of his malady and was filled with joy in the Holy Ghost.
The confession of sin can never be the means of healing, but the failure to confess may sometimes be a hindrance in the way. As long as we are not standing right with man, the flow of the Holy Sprit’s power throughout our being is interrupted. It was where Christians were “of one heart and one soul,” where “they had all things in common,” where “great grace was upon them all,” that all the sick who were brought to them were healed. O lord, make Thy children once they fit to be the instruments of Thy love and power.
Immediately after, she rose from her knees without effort, quoting the words, “leaping up, stood and walked… walking and leaping and praising God.”-(Acts, iii:8.) From that moment all pain was gone and she has been from that time (eight months) as well as she ever was in her life, praise God. But in her case, until confession was made, no prayer availed for her healing. God would have His chosen ones, His priestly ones be transparent as the light, hiding nothing because they have nothing to hide.
A young man in the north of Germany who believed in healing, and who professed to be a wholly consecrated man, was nevertheless overcome by a feeling of bitterness against a sister-in-law who had acted unkindly and unjustly toward him. An attack of feverish influenza seized him. He sought to attend an evening meeting after he had felt quite ill for two days. There the power of God’s Spirit was present; there were confessions of sin and some blessed testimonies to the power of the blood of Jesus. Amongst others this young man confessed the bitterness towards his sister-in-law which had unconsciously gained power over him, and instantaneously he was freed from every trace of his malady and was filled with joy in the Holy Ghost.
The confession of sin can never be the means of healing, but the failure to confess may sometimes be a hindrance in the way. As long as we are not standing right with man, the flow of the Holy Sprit’s power throughout our being is interrupted. It was where Christians were “of one heart and one soul,” where “they had all things in common,” where “great grace was upon them all,” that all the sick who were brought to them were healed. O lord, make Thy children once they fit to be the instruments of Thy love and power.
***
Now the just shall live by faith;
but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.
-Heb. x:38.
-Heb. x:38.
