And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. . . . Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole. John 5:5-9.
Teaching and Healing.
WHEN Christ sent out the twelve disciples on their first missionary tour, He bade them, "As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."
To the seventy sent forth later He said: "Into whatsoever city ye enter, . . . heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." The presence and power of Christ was with them, "and the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us thru Thy name."
After Christ's ascension, the same work was continued. The scenes of His own ministry were repeated. "Out of the cities round about" there came a multitude "unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one."
And the disciples "went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them." "Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake. . . . For unclean spirits . . . came out of many that were possessed with them; and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city."
Work of the Disciples.
Luke, the writer of the gospel that bears his name, was a medical missionary. In the Scriptures he is called "the beloved physician." The apostle Paul heard of his skill as a physician, and sought him out as one to whom the Lord had entrusted a special work. He secured his cooperation, and for some time Luke accompanied him in his travels from place to place. After a time, Paul left Luke at Philippi, in Macedonia. Here he continued to labor for several years, both as a physician, and as a teacher of the Gospel. In his work as a physician, he ministered to the sick, and then prayed for the healing power of God to rest upon the afflicted ones. Thus the way was opened for the Gospel message. Luke's success as a physician gained for him many opportunities for preaching Christ among the heathen. It is the divine plan that we shall work as the disciples worked. Physical healing is bound up with the Gospel commission. In the work of the Gospel, teaching and healing are never to be separated.
The work of the disciples was to spread a knowledge of the Gospel. To them was committed the work of proclaiming to all the world the good news that Christ brought to men. That work they accomplished for the people of their time. To every nation under heaven the Gospel was carried in a single generation.
The giving of the Gospel to the world is the work that God has committed to those who bear His name. For earth's sin and misery the Gospel is the only antidote. To make known to all mankind the message of the grace of God is the first work of those who know its healing power.
Need of the Gospel.
When Christ sent forth the disciples with the Gospel message, faith in God and His word had well-nigh departed from the world. Among the Jewish people, who professed to have a knowledge of Jehovah, His word had been set aside for tradition and human speculation. Selfish ambition, love of ostentation, greed of gain, absorbed men's thoughts. As reverence for God departed, so also departed compassion toward men. Selfishness was the ruling principle, and Satan worked his will in the misery and degradation of mankind.
Satanic agencies took possession of men. The bodies of human beings, made for the dwelling-place of God, became the habitation of demons. The senses, the nerves, the organs of men were worked by supernatural agencies in the indulgence of the vilest lust. The very stamp of demons was impressed4upon the countenances of men. Human faces reflected the expression of the legions of evil with which men were possessed.
What is the condition in the world to-day? Is not faith in the Bible as effectually destroyed by "higher criticism" and speculation of to-day as it was by tradition and rabbinism in the days of Christ? Have not greed and ambition and love of pleasure as strong a hold on men's hearts now as they had then? In the professedly Christian world, even in the professed churches of Christ, how few are governed by Christian principles! In business, social, domestic, even religious circles, how few make the teachings of Christ the rule of daily living! Is it not true that "justice standeth afar off; . . . equity can not enter; . . . and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey"?
We are living in the midst of an "epidemic of crime," at which thoughtful, God-fearing men everywhere stand aghast. The corruption that prevails, it is beyond the power of the human pen to describe. Every day brings fresh revelations of political strife, bribery, and fraud. Every day brings its heart-sickening record of violence and lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering, of brutal, fiendish destruction of human life. Every day testifies to the increase of insanity, murder, and suicide. Who can doubt that Satanic agencies are at work among men with increasing activity to distract and corrupt the mind, and defile and destroy the body?
And while the world is filled with these evils, the Gospel is too often presented in so indifferent a manner as to make but little impression upon the consciences or the lives of men. Everywhere there are hearts crying out for something which they have not. They long for a power that will give them mastery over sin, a power that will deliver them from the bondage of evil, a power that will give health and life and peace. Many who once knew the power of God's word have dwelt where there is no recognition of God, and they long for the divine presence.
The world needs to-day what it needed nineteen hundred years ago—a revelation of Christ. A great work of reform is demanded, and it is only thru the grace of Christ that the work of restoration, physical, mental, and spiritual, can be accomplished.
