DIVINE HEALING VERSUS THE WORKING OF SATAN.
By J. B. Cogswell
“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.” Ps. 103:1-3. The spirit of consecration brought to view in this text plainly shows where one may look for divine healing, and among whom that power will be made manifest. The subject of healing is one that is now agitating the whole world. All of the medical fraternity who are recognized by law as regular healing agencies, are at least tacitly banded together for the legal prosecution of all illegal (so-called) methods of healing. These methods or systems of healing comprise the list of faith healers, divine healers, theosophists, Christian scientists, Dowieites, and hypnotists. All of these must be examined by the State’s board of health, and if they can not exhibit a material method or system of healing, or at least give evidence of curing sickness by a material curative agent, they get no license, and so become the legal victims of persecution by all the so-called “regulars.” So much for the situation as it now is. The regular physician, that is, any surgeon or therapeutist of any of the regular schools of medicine, is performing many wonderful feats in surgery and many cures of disease; indeed the expert M. D. reads from the manifest symptoms the nature, course, and result of any given case of sickness, as if it were an open book. This class represents the material curative agents, as known to practise or recognized by law. And their cures in ratio to the number of cases treated in no way overshadow those of the alleged divine healers. The spiritual or mind curative agencies are enumerated under such heads as Spiritism, Theosophy, Christian Science, Hypnotism, Dowieism, faith healing, false christs, false prophets, et al. Of these, hypnotism is claimed by scientists to be one of the regular healing agents. But it is certainly Satan’s favorite mind-enslaving power, and it is held in greater or less degree by many more persons than are accredited with having the power.5 I may as well state here as elsewhere my reasons for the above classification. God does not seek to control our minds. He says, “Give Me thine heart,” leaving man at all times a free agent to accept or reject the invitation. But Satan seeks always to gain control of the mind of man; then man is not free any more; he has become the slave of Satan, which slavery is made manifest by evil habits and practises of the man. The above enumerated spiritual curative agencies or systems, one and all, seek first to gain control of the mind, then they spiritualize away sickness, pain, and sorrow, also death, and even the corporeal body. Aye, they spiritualize away (or attempt it) the personality of the living God, and set up a fantasy of a devil-controlled mind, and say to us, Here, worship this supreme—nothing—which fills the universe; it is god. I can understand how God can be love, but I can not understand how love can be God. Love is not God. I can understand a God, the completeness of whose Spirit (life) fills the whole universe. But I can not conceive of a spirit, without a personality, of a chance happening to find a spiritless nothing in which to dwell for a time. Satan has not yet been deprived of the power that was given to him when he was created, and now we are living in the time foretold by the Saviour and by the apostle Paul. Matt. 24:24; 2 Thess. 2:9-12. Then why do we scoff at and make light of the evidences of God’s supreme power, by the perversion of which Satan is working with “all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness [unrighteous deceiving] in them that perish.” They have healed, they are now healing, giving evidence of miraculous power; and investigation will prove the fact. I personally know of some wonderful things they have done. And through trustworthy sources I am convinced of many wonderful things that fully establish the supernaturalness of the power used by these forces in performing these works. And yet they—these workers of iniquity—will never succeed in deceiving “the very elect;” because neither their words nor their works are according to “the law and the testimony.” Isa. 8:20. I have seen some things performed by these people by which, were it not that I knew by the Word of God that that Word was most surely being fulfilled, I too might have been led astray by these devilish exhibitions of a Satanic power. But I thank God that every exhibition of this power that I behold only confirms me more surely in the “faith of Jesus,” and it gives me longing for the time when God will manifest His power, through His people, to the confounding of Satan and all his followers, and to the glory of the living God. “He sent His Word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” Ps. 107:20. At this time Satan is posing before the world in a dual role. To the unconverted world he is working as the uncloaked demon, responsible for a harvest of sin and crime unparalleled in the annals of this world. And to the nominal Christian world he appears as “an angel of light,” leading them to deny God’s law and the power of His righteousness, and blinding them to the sure destruction of those who “obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thess. 1:8. The people of God everywhere are suffering from diseases, sickness, and malformations; and the question naturally arises at this time, Why is not the power of divine healing manifested among them? It seems to me that the answer is very plainly pointed out in the Scriptures. First, they have not the consecration set forth in the text at the beginning of this article. We must not forget that Christ said that in these last days there would be a class of people who would do wonderful things in His name, even to the casting out of devils; yet He would say to them at His coming, “I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Matt. 7:22, 23. The Saviour, in all His wonderful works, simply spoke, and it was done; but the word was always accompanied by some simple act of obedience on the part of the conscious recipient of divine favor, showing his or her faith. The prophets and apostles made no display in performing miracles; but the results were wonderful, because of the mighty power of God that was in them and working through them. It was a simple thing that Elisha told Naaman to do; but when Naaman did it, he was healed. 2 Kings 5:10-14. Peter and John, at the gate beautiful, said to the impotent man, “Look on us.” That was all the poor fellow could do, besides longing for something beyond; the power of a risen Saviour did the rest. Acts 3:4-8. But the man showed his faith, and gave God the glory. We must not expect that every one who beholds the manifestation of God’s power will believe, for it never was so. Even when the mighty Son of God gave the greatest evidence of His divine power over death at the grave of Lazarus, not all of those who stood about believed. Some of them went right away to the chief priest, and from that time forward sought how they might kill Him. John 11:39-44. Once upon a time the Lord spoke these words: “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7. The whole question of divine healing (the true), and the manifesting of God’s power among the remnant of His people, resolves itself into one word, or rather it depends on one word—OBEDIENCE. Saith the Lord, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Ex. 15:26. Through disobedience we are diseased or sick unto death, and it is not altogether through the disobedience of Adam that all flesh suffers. By our own disobedience and sin we are sick and diseased, and only by the obedience of faith can we get into that place or condition where God can heal us. We say we believe, but we go right along in the same old way, our acts stamping as false our declaration of faith. When we obey God in all His commands, and live in the light He sheds upon us from day to day, when we so conduct our lives that the scathing arraignment in 1 John 2:4 does not apply to us, then will God manifest Himself to His people with Pentecostal power. Then the latter rain will fall upon all flesh for a witness to the glory and majesty of our God, and the salvation of the saints for His kingdom. Our Lord’s parting admonition was, “What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.” Truly, let us watch and pray, trust and obey.