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FALSE HEALING

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 2, 1901

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 14.

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FALSE HEALING

By David Paulson; W. S. Sadler

DAVID PAULSON AND W. S. SADLER
“They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” Jer. 6:14. Here we have brought to our notice a false healing, a healing that promises a harvest of health without the sowing of obedience; a kind of teaching that says to a man who is suffering with dyspepsia or stomach trouble, “Your disease is the work of the devil. You are under the power of the evil one. Just break away. Assert your liberty, and you are well.”
The cause of disease may have had its origin with the evil one; but the disease itself is an effort of our loving Father to save from the direful results of the transgression. In the language of affliction, God is speaking to man, asking him to correct his wrong habits of eating and living, pleading with him: “Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.” Jer. 44:4. Is it right to pray God to heal such a man?—Certainly. But let the prayers ask for the healing of the CAUSE as well as the effect of his transgression; for God can not oppose himself to remove the effects while the transgressor knowingly permits the causes to remain.
The will power of many is weak, and this is why they are so easily led to transgress the laws of health, and spend their money for that which is not bread. Thousands will never recover unless their weak wills are strengthened by the power of God to resist temptation and live above transgression. We can not expect to begin to reap life while we are yet sowing to the flesh. False shepherds may say, “Peace, peace,” and assure us that we have been healed if we only believe it, notwithstanding the cause of the disease has not been removed. Nevertheless, the Lord has said that such a course heals “the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly.” The thing is not permanent. It is not true healing. In the following verse the Lord more fully describes those who have sought healing without repentance and obedience, saying: “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.” Jer. 6:15.
Here is a class who claim to be healed, and yet they are not ashamed of (have not forsaken) their abominations. They go right on in the same careless and unhealthful way. They do not even blush when their transgressions are pointed out, and yet they may not only claim to be healed themselves, but may even profess to be special channels of divine healing in the earth. The Lord says of all such: “Therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down.” This kind of so-called divine healing is a delusion and a snare. It is a masterpiece of the devil’s deception, and the Lord says that those who depend upon it shall fall among them that fall. Although apparent temporary improvement may be experienced, yet they will in no wise be exempt from the overflowing scourge when “a thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand.”

SATANIC MIRACLES

It is possible to go into some religious gatherings at the present time, and present the most searching and soul-stirring truths without arousing any considerable interest or enthusiasm on the part of the audience. But let some one get up and begin to talk in a fluent manner about divine healing; let him tell of some supposed miracle of physical healing; and almost the entire congregation will at once seem thoroughly aroused. Christ almost invariably admonished those upon whom He had wrought a miracle, to remain silent concerning the wonderful thing that He had done for them. In contrast with, and contrary to, this, it seems to be the studied purpose of Satan to advertise as widely as possible, and give the greatest possible prominence to, the signs and wonders and apparent miracles that he works through his agents upon the earth.
Satan does not have the power really to heal; for healing is a manifestation of creative power; it is the giving of life, and this the devil is unable to do. True, our adversary has power to influence the human imagination and take advantage of those who are weak in will power; and at any time when it will better serve his satanic purpose, he willingly relinquishes his control over the subjects whom he has bound with the fetters of depression, doubt, and despair. It is in this way that Satan performs what appears to be great and marvelous miracles of restoration and physical healing.

HYPNOTISM

The human mind was intended by the Creator to be a counterpart of the divine mind; to be so yielded to God that all its activities should simply be expressions of divine thoughts. But the human mind may be yielded to the satanic mind, or to another human mind, just as truly as it may be yielded to God. And in yielding the mind to another human mind, the same principles apply as when it is yielded to God. There is this difference: when the mind is subject to God, the reflex influence results in a great blessing to the individual; but when the mind is subjected to another, it results in a curse.
The one heritage that has come down to us through all the ages, is the power of choice. A person can not be hypnotized without his consent. As we yield our minds more and more to God, He has a greater and greater opportunity to influence us for right. The more frequently a patient is hypnotized by a physician, the easier the process becomes, until some persons can be hypnotized when they are scarcely aware of it. The success of Paul’s ministry was that he forgot those things which were behind; he pressed toward the mark; he concentrated his whole attention upon the great object of his life, and so none of these things moved him. In other words, neither favorable nor unfavorable surroundings could distract him. His mind was fully yielded to God. The perversion of this great experience is hypnotism.
In order to be hypnotized, the patient must have his mind concentrated upon some person or thing so intently that all else is lost sight of. It may be nothing but a bright object, upon which the eyes are so intently fixed that in a few minutes the patient closes them, and perhaps becomes more or less unconscious. In this condition, he can be made to do anything that he is asked to do. Only from five to ten per cent of people can be successfully hypnotized. When a person is in the hypnotic state, ideas can be put into his mind which remain with remarkable persistency after he comes out of that condition. Imaginary ills may be dispelled, and at such a time it is also very easy to instill into the mind a suggestion to commit some wrong act.
So while hypnotism is based upon a scientific principle, yet that principle perverted, that principle in the hands of wicked men, becomes of great service to the enemy of souls. A razor may be a useful instrument, but in the hands of a child it is only destructive. There is no doubt that hypnotism is a razor which the devil is using to cut the moral throats of many. For the Christian, the greatest lesson there is in the subject of hypnotism is this: If the human mind can be so thoroughly surrendered to another, how much more can it be surrendered to the Great Master Mind! so that such can truly say: “It is not I that work, but the Father that worketh in me.” The day is not far distant when every person will have yielded his mind to be controlled either by satanic agencies or by the Spirit of God. Thus there will be a sharp line drawn between those whose minds are yielded to Satan and those whose minds are yielded to God.

MIND CURE

The influence of the mind over the body is great. There is not a function of the body that can not be more or less influenced by intently fixing the mind upon it for a time. If the arm is put into a delicate instrument that exactly measures its size, and the mind is fixed intently upon that arm, it will increase slightly in size, showing that the blood vessels have enlarged. A few years ago in France, the sign of a cross was drawn with a crayon on the arm of a very superstitious girl, and she was told that within a week there would be a real cross there. She looked for it, studied over it, thought upon it constantly every waking moment; and when the crayon marks were washed off a week later, there was a dark discoloration of the skin, a distension of the blood vessels, in just the shape of a cross. This illustrates the remarkable extent to which it is possible for the mind to influence the body.
A large amount of sickness has about it much that is imaginary; so we need not be surprised at the fact that disease is greatly influenced by the condition of the patient’s mind. There are thousands of persons who have been sick, and who, although they have recovered, are not conscious of it. Their minds still hold them down, and any one who will break the spell will naturally get the credit for having performed a great miracle of healing. When it can serve the devil’s purpose, he may break this spell just as easily as could one of God’s agents.
Some persons who have good stomachs, constantly imagine they are suffering with some disorder, and by fixing their minds upon it, are constantly cultivating that idea. They are finally rewarded by actually securing a disordered digestion, and no amount of proper diet can ever cure them until the stomach disorder in the mind is removed.
An influence that has such a potent power for evil can also be used for good; and every Christian worker should avail himself of it. But he must do so in the right way. The physician who attracts a patient to himself, and builds up confidence in his supposedly marvelous powers, can accomplish something by so doing; but if, instead of this, he should fasten the patient’s mind upon the living Christ, wed his confidence to life-giving principles, then the patient would have something to sustain him all the time, not simply when the doctor is in the room.
The essence of true mind cure is, in the Spirit of Christ, first, to fix the will on the right side; second, to encourage cheerfulness of mind, which has a reflex influence for good over the whole body; third, there is healing in doing good. As we deal our bread to the hungry; as we bring to our houses those who are cast out, etc., God has promised that our health shall spring forth speedily. The class of persons who are able to go out and do this kind of work, but neglect to do it, staying at home and pining over their supposed difficulties, are the ones who would reap a great harvest of health if they would only carry out the instruction found in Isaiah 58. Of allmental influences, the most efficient and the only true one is the heavenly influence of the Spirit of God upon the mind that is perfectly yielded to Him. The devil may imitate the first two principles in mind cure: he may influence the will, and, to a certain extent, may be able to impart cheerfulness; but he is not likely to inspire any one to go about doing good, and he certainly can not fill the soul with the sweet influence of the Spirit of God.