Divine Healing

    I thank God for salvation. God saved me eighteen years ago. I was an infidel, but when I found out God would answer prayer, I commenced calling on him for conviction. My heart was locked so that I could not weep. I called on God for two days and nights for conviction. He saw my earnestness and broke up the fallow ground of my heart. I could turn out every bit of malice, strife, hatred, envy, and every bit of sin. I could turn the whole thing out and let God in. But it took me two days and nights after I was convicted, before I was willing to go to the individuals whose lives I had wanted to take, and confess to them what I had done and what I had desired to do and ask their forgiveness. When I was willing to do this, God Almighty forgave me. Malice and murder went out of my soul, thank God! and love, joy, and peace, came in. The quickening spirit of God touched my heart and made me have fellowship with him, and all his people.

At first I had fears that I could not live salvation. I knew what my surroundings were, and that it would take all the grace and wisdom God would give me, but I believed that the God that could make the change in my heart he had made, could keep me that way; so I decided I would rather die than fail to live what I had testified to before my wicked associates. I began to pray for power to live it, and the Lord led me to consecration. I made a complete surrender of myself, my family, my business, all I knew and all I ever expected to know, and was willing to do anything that God wanted me to do. God took away the fear, and put a know-so in my soul. He filled me with the Spirit and power of the Holy Ghost. I knew it then and I know it now. I thank God for the saving grace of Jesus.

I was given up by three doctors to die of consumption. I walked with a stick, weighed one hundred and twenty-five pounds, was stooped in my shoulders, and was coughing and spitting blood. Put yourself in my position. Now, suppose you were in that condition and your family physician had given you up; you hear of a doctor who lives a long way off, that can cure all manner of diseases, so you conclude to try him; you send for him, he comes and gives you a complete cure. The other physician moves away and the one the cured you moves into the house with you. Now, if you were to get sick again, would you send for the physician that could not cure you and had moved away? Would you ignore the one that lived in the house with you, the one that had cured you? Certainly you would not. You would patronize the one that had cured you.This I did. The physicians had given me up. I heard of Jesus - that he could cure all manner of diseases. I met the conditions in the Word, and he healed me. The other physician fell out with me because of my belief and faith in God. When I get sick I do not send for the other physicians that failed, and ignore the Christ that cured me; but I call on Him who healed all manner of diseases. And for eighteen years I have never failed to give him the job when I am afflicted. James says, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up."

There are many people here this morning who want help from God; people, no doubt, who have suffered for years and have tried many physicians. You have heard of the Great Physician, and of the wonderful things that are done at the Anderson camp meeting in answer to prayer; so you came with the expectation of certain persons praying for you and healing you. But you must remember that Jesus said, "According to your faith be it unto you." "Without faith it is impossible to place him"; and it is impossible to have faith without obeying God. I want to tell you there is power in the blood of Christ to heal all manner of sickness. Thank God, he is the same Christ today that he was when he walked upon the earth, and made the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak and raised the dead to life. I have put God to the test for eighteen years, and he has never failed to do what he has promised when I met the conditions of the Word. The Bible is full of His promises. This is the will of God to you. You have a perfect right to what he has promised, and if you pay the price it is yours. Men nor devils cannot keep you out of it. But, my friend, it may be possible that you are not acquainted with God; hence, you are afraid to trust him. You know it is hard to trust a stranger.

GET ACQUAINTED WITH GOD

The first thing you need to do is to get acquainted with God. Suppose you hear that I am going to move into your community; you hear that I cannot be relied on, that I will not pay my debts, and that I will not tell the truth at all times. I move across the road from you, and get my things unloaded; I tell you that I happened to have an accident, and need $10 for a few days. You have the money; but would you lend it when you do not know me; and when you have heard that I could not be relied on? Would you? You know you would not. Now, I live there twelve months or two years, prove to be a straight and honest man, pay my debts, and in every respect am a good neighbor; yet the people still talk about me and tell the same things about me; but you have watched me, and tried me, and found the accusations to be false. Suppose then, that I came to you for $10; would you lend it to me? Yes, of course you would.

God was a stranger to me. I had heard many things about him. I had heard he would not do what he had said he would do; that some of his Word had passed away. But I got acquainted with him; I found that he would answer prayer; I committed my soul, spirit, and body into his hands. I still hear people say his Word is not true and that part of it has passed away, but I have tried him for eighteen years. I am acquainted with him. I am not afraid to trust him for anything I need. The reason a great many people cannot trust God, is because they do not get close enough to him; they are afraid to trust their bodies with God. If you are a Christian this morning, you are not afraid to trust your soul into his care; why not trust your body? Get acquainted with him and find out that he is true, and then you will not be afraid to trust him. I read in Heb. 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever." That means the past, the present, and the future. That means just what it says. It was not put in the Bible simply to fill up the book; but to show us that we might have the privilege of coming to God and receiving what others have received from him. May God Almighty move on the hearts of men and women this morning, open their understanding and enable them to see what he can do for them.

THE CREATOR WAS ABLE TO HEAL

In creating man, God made him from the dust of the earth. God breathed into man's nostrils, and man became a living soul. This soul came from God, and will live as long as God lives. Now, if you buy a watch and it gets out of fix, you would not go to the shoemaker to get it fixed. You would take it to the man that made it. So, if you get sick, do not go to a doctor to get healed, go to the God that made you. Let us look back to the Garden of Eden. Can you imagine a drug store there? I do not believe there was a wheel chair or crutches, or that there was any use for them. I do not believe that there were sick people there. I believe that man and woman had good health. I believe when they fell from God the devil imposed every imposition and affliction upon humanity that he had in his power from that time until now. The time Jesus Christ bowed his head on the cross and said, "It is finished" completed the way for mankind to get rid of all these things that the devil has imposed upon us. And since that time, God Almighty has not added anything to the way, nor has he taken anything from it; but it stands the same; and we, as a people today have a right, through the blood of Jesus Christ, by the way of the cross, to touch the hem of his garment and receive the needed help. God's power is sufficient to deliver us.

THE WAY OF HOLINESS

But there are some things we must do in order to reach heaven. Jesus knew it would be a difficult matter for mankind, bound here in sin, in this wicked world, to find the way to God. It was necessary that there should be a way for man to get free from sin, so a way was promised through the prophet Isaiah. In the thirty-fifth chapter we read: "And an highway shall be there, and a way"; God did not say "ways," there is just one way; "and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, through fools, shall not err therein." Read also Titus 2:11: "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all me, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." Jesus was promised to make the way. Matt. 1:21, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins" - not in them, but from them.

Suppose you have a neighbor living by you. He is a good neighbor, but he has one fault: he gets drunk. A preacher comes into the community and holds a meeting. You hear that your neighbor is saved from drunkenness. How can you know it? By watching him. If you never see him drunk, you are convinced that he is saved from drunkenness. Suppose you have a neighbor woman that steals; she is a natural born thief. Every time she visits you she steals something. The husband and the children watch her when she comes home, and return the things that she has stolen from you. You hear that she has been saved from stealing. How do you know that she is saved? When she visits you again, you do not miss anything, and you are convinced she is saved from stealing. You have another neighbor living by you who is also a sinner. He attends the same meeting and you hear he is saved from sin. How do you know that he is saved from sin? You watch him and see that he sins no more. Is it necessary to be holy to travel on this way since God has named it the way of holiness? Some people say they do not believe in holiness. Let us see if you are on the way. Heb. 12:14: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." God wants you to be cleansed before you get on the way; not afterwards. Some people believe in getting in, and then trimming down. They must be trimmed down before they get in. Very few that will not measure up at the altar will measure up after they have begun to profess.

OBSTACLES TO BE REMOVED

One time while I was holding meeting in a city, my company and I were invited to a place for supper. Both the husband and wife were sinners, and very proud; but they loved the truth. After supper I asked the wife if she were going to meeting. She said she was not able to go, as she had a sick headache. Some of the company said, "We had to finish supper for her, as she was not able to finish preparing the meal." I said, "If we get down here and pray for you and God will heal your head, will you go to meeting and try to get saved?" She said she would. We knelt and prayed for her and she was healed instantly in the presence of her unsaved husband. She went to meeting, and came to the altar. She had a gold ring on her finger. I showed her the third verse of the third chapter of First Peter, and told her what she would have to do. She did not get saved that night, and did not come back the next day; but the next night she again went to the altar. While I was trying to help another person at the altar, another brother talked to this sister. He insisted that she should believe, that she had done all that she knew to do, and that God would save her. I was watching her. She was not saying a word, and seemed to be in deep meditation. He could not get her to profess. Finally she jerked the ring off her finger, threw it across the altar, the fire of God struck her soul, and she rose shouting. She knew what God's word said, and she could not exercise faith over that ring. There is no use in trying to get your faith over something that is between you and God. Move the obstacle out of the way and your faith will take hold of his promise.

They sent for Jesus when Lazarus was sick, but he did not get there until Lazarus had been buried four days. The sisters met Jesus, and said, "Had you been here, my brother had not died." Jesus replied, "Where have you laid him? He shall live again." They took Jesus to the tomb. He wept with them that wept, for he loved them. Jesus her set a wonderful example for us: how to sympathize with those who need sympathy, but not to compromise with them. Jesus loved Mary and Martha; he frequently visited them and their brother Lazarus. He showed his sympathy and love for them. Jesus required them to believe his word, for he said, "Take ye away the stone." He could have spoken the stone away, but he desired them to remove it. You may want help from God, my friend. Jesus loves you. He wept for you. He suffered that all sick and suffering humanity might come to the great healing fountain that flows from the heart of God, the fountain that heals all manner of diseases; but you must take away the stone. Whatever the stone may be, you must move it.

When they took away the stone from the tomb of Lazarus, did Jesus say, "Oh, Father if it be consistent with thy will and to thy glory, if all the world will believe, wouldst thou bring Lazarus forth?" No; he looked up into the heavens with the assurance that he was right with the Father and said, "I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I know that thou hearest me always ... Lazarus, come forth." Lazarus, bound with grave clothes, came walking out. Jesus said, "Loose him and let him go."

If you know that you have met the conditions of God's word and have moved the stone by doing what God said for you to do, then believe God. There is no power in man; man cannot give you the needed help. God almighty can, but we must meet the conditions of his Word. If you want help from God, take away the stone. While we are trying to show you the way, take hold of God by faith. Ask him to help you. Make everything right that you can think of, or at least be willing to. God almighty will take the will for the deed until you have an opportunity to do what you have promised to do. If you have the opportunity and will not do it, a worse thing will come upon you. It is a dangerous thing to lie to God. Ananias tried it once and God killed him. God almighty wants you to get his fear upon your heart.

DEPENDENCE ON THE PREACHER

A woman who had read my book called me to pray for her little boy. The child had very bad sores all over his head. His hair was about a foot long. The weather was very hot. Thinking she was a Christian, as she was a preacher's wife, I did not ask her any questions. But after I had prayed for the boy, I said, "Sister, I believe I would cut that long hair off; it irritates those sores and keeps his head so hot." She said, "God did not say, 'Send for the preachers and cut the hair off.' He says to 'send for the elders and let them pray over them, anointing with oil and the prayer of faith shall save the sick.' Now I have sent for you; you heal him." I found out that she made no profession of salvation. She had read my book and thought I could heal the boy.

A great many people are this way. The preacher cannot heal you. If you have not met the conditions of God's Word, you cannot exercise faith in God, and cannot receive healing. This may come pretty close to you. You must not think that you can exercise faith in God's promise, hold anything back from God, do as you please, and ask God to do what you want done. God has made the line; it is the New Testament; you must come over to God's line. He has made the way; you must come the Bible way to all the light you have. And the very moment you come right to the place where you can commit soul, body, and mind, into the hands of God, there is something in your soul that will take hold of God's promise and God will do what he has said he would do. It is a good idea to be prayed up before you come to the altar for healing. Too many come to the altar to get the preacher to pray them up so they can get healed. They get down to the altar in an unconcerned manner, watching those around them , and wishing that a certain one would lay hands on them, instead of calling on God to prepare them to receive what they desire.

A few weeks ago I preached at Long Beach, California, and a number came to the altar for healing. I noticed one man at the altar was singing. I came near telling him to get to business and go to calling on God. I did not speak to him personally, but said, "You that are at the altar get hold of God. This is an individual matter between you and God. See that you are right with God." The man kept on singing. When I came to him to pray for him, I said, "Do you believe God will heal you?" He answered, "I know it." I prayed for him and he sprang to his feet and began to rejoice. After I had prayed for a number, a sister called the people's attention and said, "This brother wants to testify." The man testified that he had had tuberculosis of the bone, could scarcely pull himself up from a chair and could scarcely put his weight on his limbs; that God had completely healed him. He could now leap and jump as the lame man did at the gate of the temple. You see, he had prayed up before he had come to the altar. He did not have to pray. He had a song of praise in his soul. He was sure God was going to heal him. He felt more like singing praises to God for his healing than praying for God to heal. Now, it is all right to sing if you have the song there. But if you come to the altar not prayed up, pay no attention to anyone else. Do not depend on the preacher; throw yourself completely into God's hands. Call on him for wisdom and understanding that you may exercise faith in his promises.

I have started for heaven. I have come around by this way this morning to get you to go with me. Will you go? In order to go, you must meet the conditions of God's Word. The thing for you to do is to get yourself in position that God can use you. There is no one so insignificant but what he can be a light to the world, and an instrument in God's hands. If you are afflicted this morning, you can be healed and can be a light to those who know you, and a living witness for God. You should feel the responsibility upon you.

PREVAIL IN PRAYER AND TRUST GOD

Jesus Christ, when he walked upon earth, set an example for mankind. His experience in the wilderness is an example for us, showing us how that we may tarry before God until we are able to resist the temptations and powers of sin, unbelief, and the impositions of the devil; help us to know God's will concerning us, and enable us to do it. The reason why a great many people do not get the things they desire from God, is because they do not stay long enough to get acquainted with him, are not interested enough about it. Some people have an idea that they are going to camp meeting to be prayed for, and will be all right. You want to examine your soul on your way to the camp meeting and after you get there. When you go to be prayed for, you want to go with the assurance in your soul that you have met every condition, and that God Almighty will let the heavens fall before he will fail to do that which he has promised. More such consecrations, more such faith, will bring about more miracles and more of the power of God and less reproaches upon the cause. Such people can be witnesses for God.

Jesus tarried before God for forty days and nights, being tempted of the devil. When Jesus hungered, the devil said, "If thou be the Son of God." The devil knew that Jesus was the Son of God, but he wanted to get Jesus to try to perform a miracle for him. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." It was the God-wisdom in Jesus Christ that enabled him to defeat the devil. The wisdom of God is what you need. You need the power of God in your soul in order to stand against temptation. When Jesus would not speak the stones into bread, the devil took him to a pinnacle of the temple, wanting him to jump off; again to the brink of a mountain, and showed to Jesus the whole world, and said, "If thou wilt bow down and worship me, it shall be thine." Many preachers are hindered today from having power with God and having their needs supplied. They bow down to the devil. They will not preach the full gospel. They are afraid the people will not supply their needs. My brother, look away from the people. Look to Jesus' promise in Matt. 28:19, 20. He told you to teach them to observe all things that he had commanded you, and that he would be with you to the end of the world. When Jesus would not bow down to the devil, God administered to him through the angels. Preach the whole truth, preach it radically, and God almighty will take care of you. You may get hungry, but God will provide something for you. It may not be cakes and pies, but it will be something that will satisfy your hunger. Let us read Jesus' promise: "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

I remember one time I had been turned out because I would not compromise on the truth. I had walked for some distance and carried two heavy valises. I was hungry and tired and the road was muddy. I was a long way from home, without money, and among strangers. At every house I came to I asked to stay all night, but was refused. The people would tell me that there was a man down the road that kept everybody. I finally reached the little village where the man lived, made inquiry, and was directed to his house. I told him what I desired. He said he did not know how they could keep me, as they had a very sick child; but that there was no use to tell me to go on for there was nobody on that road that would keep me. He said he would go in and see his wife.

In the meantime I went down on my knees. I called my Lord's attention to the 28th chapter of Matthew, 19th and 20th verses, and told him I was not there because I would not preach the truth, but because I had preached it. I prayed that he would move on the woman's heart, and that she would let me stay all night, as I was hungry and tired. Soon the man came and said, "Come in." The woman was walking the floor with the sick child. The man asked me if I had had supper. I told him no, and that he need not get me any, as I just wanted room on his carpet to lay by the fire.

He replied, "You must have supper. Wife, give me the baby and you fix him some supper." As she gave him the baby, I thought of the commission of the seventy. Without any explanation, I went to the child, laid my hands on it, and called on God Almighty to verify his promise and to heal that child for his glory. The child was healed instantly. The man and woman were backsliders. They fell on their knees and called on God for salvation. He saved them. They rose and shouted, not only because their child was healed but because God had saved them.

The neighbors knew that I had gone to them home. They heard the man and woman shouting, and becoming alarmed, ran into see what was the matter. They found that the power of God had been manifested in answer to prayer, that the sick child had been healed, and the two backsliders saved. We had a real good meeting before supper. The Lord opened up a way for me to hold a meeting in that community. God's power was manifested and others were saved and healed. God had sent me there in answer to seven days and nights of fasting and prayer.

Brethren, if we will be true to God he will supply our needs. We may have to suffer some disadvantages and hardships, persecutions, those of our own household may forsake us, but God will supply our needs. This is not only for the ministers, but it is also for the church. In John 17:18 we hear Jesus saying to the Father, "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." Jesus Christ was one man filled with God. The God-power worked through him and healed all manner of diseases. As God sent him into the world, he sent the church. The church is not composed of one man only, but of every saved man and woman on earth; and as the God-power was manifested through Jesus Christ, so is it manifested through the church and his ministry in healing all manner of sickness and diseases. The church of God represents Jesus Christ. God wants us, as saints and ministers, to prove our high profession to the world by being in a position that he can manifest his power through us. We find that he was glorified in this church. Are you a saint of God this morning? Are you a minister of God? Is God glorified in you? Is your greatest desire to do his will? Do you love him better than anything else, your own life? Then he is glorified in you.

Salvation means more than just professing Christ and possessing nothing. Salvation means a cleansing. God will never pour the Holy Ghost in your soul until you are clean. If the devil does not know you are saved this morning, then you are in a bad condition. Do not think that he cannot tell a saved man or woman. The tread of a sanctified man or woman gives the devil trouble on his throne. He cannot understand them; he does not know why he cannot deceive them. He deceived the first man and woman God ever made, and he is puzzled when he cannot deceive a man or woman now. He will try you; God will permit him to try you in many ways. We shall be purified and made white and tried as gold tried in the fire.