And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
When Jesus sent out the seventy two by two into every place where He Himself would come, He charged them to heal the sick in each welcoming town and tell them the kingdom of God had come near, to awaken interest and prepare them to receive Him and the truths He would impart when He followed. That nearness meant the promised Redeemer had come, so that all who received the message and its Messenger could enter the kingdom and take hold of its blessings in their day of visitation. Caring for physical health was put first so minds would be prepared to receive preached truth, and healing and proclaiming belong together as two lines of one united work and not as separate works. The same commission continues now, with gospel medical workers to be set apart and sent out two by two and never alone, laboring in cities and country places and byways and highways with urgency because doors now open will soon be forever closed. They are to pray for the sick and care for them with simple remedies and nature's remedies and not with drugs, teaching health and pointing to Christ for healing of body and from sin.
The Seventy Sent Forth
Luke 10 belongs to the instruction answering what convicted sinners must do to inherit eternal life, given when Jesus sent the seventy two by two into every city and place where He Himself would come. This sending followed the sending of the twelve, as part of training gospel workers by placing new men in responsibility and educating many workers under direction with experienced helpers kept with them. The seventy received the same charge and endowment and directions as the twelve, to preach and impart grace while relying on the homes they visited for food and rest. Their central burden in each welcoming town was to heal the sick therein and announce that the kingdom of God had come near, with the message accompanying the acts of healing.
That healing and proclamation was to awaken interest and prepare the people to receive Jesus Himself and the grand truths He would impart when He followed after them into every place where they were sent. Christ's presence and power accompanied them, and the work was to be kept foremost and taught from the Old Testament, explaining its prophecies of the mission and work of Christ and presenting truths that would soften hearts so the people would be ready to receive Christ. It was not to be lost sight of nor replaced by controversy over unessential matters that would close the door to the important truths they were told to teach. The announcement that the kingdom had come near meant the promised Redeemer had come, and all who received the message and Jesus its Messenger could enter the kingdom and take hold of its blessings, for this was their day of visitation.
They exercised power from God in Jesus' name over sickness and evil spirits, with authority over evil spirits through His name. Their healing and preaching belonged together, and their healing gave positive evidence of their mission. Even a city that rejected them was still to be warned that the kingdom had come near, and rejection brings accountability at judgment for those who reject the message and messengers. If people still rejected, they were to move on, using judgment in choosing where to labor and not spending time and strength where no good would result.
Their first work was among Israel, especially the lost sheep of the house of Israel, as part of the first offer of salvation to the Jewish nation, bringing blessing through deeds of mercy and love and the message of truth. Yet the field was the world and not limited to the Jews, with light to reach every part of it, and the church is likewise to carry labor throughout the world while treating every person even an opponent with respect. They were sent to reap a harvest already prepared by others where they had not labored, and the harvesters would share in its fruit. That same harvest work continued through Peter's preaching when three thousand were added.
Healing Joined to Preaching
The commission places care for physical health first, before the announcement that the kingdom has come near, so that minds are prepared to receive the truths preached. Healing the sick was to be the first concern of the seventy, opening the way for truth to reach the mind and the heart. This order follows the pattern of Christ Himself, who devoted more time and labor to healing the afflicted than to preaching, and it remains the pattern for visiting the sick and relieving the afflicted.
Healing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom belong together as two lines of one united work, not as separate undertakings. Medical ministry is not to be carried on apart from the ministry of the word, but joined to it and carried forward in connection with it in both home and foreign missions. Medical missionary work is to be connected with the work of the third angel's message as the hand is connected with the body, with no separation in the work and the people of God made one, a union that Satan invents every possible scheme to break.
This union follows Christ's own example of ministering to soul and body together, bringing spiritual life with physical restoration and linking deliverance from sin with healing from disease. He combined in Himself the work of the great Physician with that of the highest missionary, healing all manner of bodily diseases and the maladies of the sin-sick soul. Sanitariums carry out this same ministry of healing in service of the Great Physician. Every physician is therefore to bear a cure for the soul as well as the body, doing the work of an apostle as well as a physician by relieving bodily distress while ministering to the necessities of the soul with words of hope and prayer for the suffering, tempest-tossed soul.
Medical missionary work is the great entering wedge by which the diseased soul, otherwise unapproachable, may be reached. Relieving the sick and helping the distressed works in Christ's lines and represents His mission and work on earth, demonstrating the most powerful truths of the gospel. Truth expressed in living, unselfish deeds is the strongest argument for Christianity, and knowledge that relieves suffering humanity opens doors without number through which truth can find lodging in the heart, with souls saved unto eternal life.
The Commission Continued Today
The charge to heal the sick and announce that the kingdom of God has come near still sends medical missionary workers as gospel workers and evangelists who are to be solemnly and publicly set apart before going forth. They are to go two by two and never alone, so they can pray and consult together, combining relief of suffering of mind and body with proclamation of the kingdom. No one man is to begin and carry a work entirely himself, but where possible other gifts in other laborers are to be gladly welcomed to cooperate for the conversion of souls, since one carries his part as far as he can and then the Lord sends another workman to do another essential part the first did not feel necessary. This is the plan for training gospel workers by placing new men in responsibility, as after the twelve seventy men were sent everywhere preaching the kingdom of God, which is the gospel of truth, with Christ following after them in every place where they were sent. Leaders are therefore to bring in new men, keep experienced helpers connected with them, and educate many workers by letting them learn the work under direction.
Believers are now to carry the same proclamation in little companies, leaving the cities to go as missionaries two and two into country places and byways and highways in humility and the fear of God, following Christ’s example. Labor is not to be confined to believers but extended to unbelievers by becoming acquainted with them and placing the truth before those living up to all the light they have, for there are precious souls in cities such as Melbourne to be reached. Loving God with all the heart requires loving those for whom He gave His only begotten Son, who died to redeem human beings from sin, and He has set before workers an open door through which to bring others into fellowship with the saints. The same pattern applies to work in the great centers, needed even more than in Christ’s time, where strong men are to be appointed to labor with many young men and women joined with them to work in a humble manner under Christ’s instructions for sending out His disciples. That work requires great ingenuity in presenting the words of eternal life so souls are reached and converted, and it requires workers themselves thoroughly converted who present the Word of truth in a spirit of tenderness that wins hearts. Going forth thus they labor as evangelists scattering publications and talking of the truth to those they meet.
The commission is urgent and does not allow spending years in preparation, because doors now open to the truth will soon be forever closed and waiting lets the enemy take possession of fields now open. The Lord will bless the efforts of those who go, with recovery of physical health for those who go. The work is to be done by praying for the sick and ministering to their necessities, caring for them with simple remedies and with nature’s remedies and not with drugs. They are to teach the sick how to regain health and avoid disease, and to point them to Christ for healing from sin as well as for bodily illness, with Christ standing beside them ready to heal the sick as He did during His earthly ministry.
Education for this work is not complete without knowledge of how to treat the sick and suffering, and students in medical missionary lines must be trained to work in connection with the church and the ministry. Preaching and healing are two lines of one work that must not be separated in home missions or foreign missions, and medical missionary work is to be connected with the work of the third angel’s message as the hand is connected with the body, with the Lord’s people to be one with no separation in His work. Carried forward thus as a sanctifying, unifying work bringing blessing through deeds of mercy and love and the message of truth, it will accomplish wonderful results. The field is the world and the light is to reach every part of it, with the church carrying its labor throughout the world while treating every person, even an opponent, with respect in advocating the truth.
When Jesus sent out the seventy two by two into every place where He Himself would come, He charged them to heal the sick in each welcoming town and tell them the kingdom of God had come near, to awaken interest and prepare them to receive Him and the truths He would impart when He followed. That nearness meant the promised Redeemer had come, so that all who received the message and its Messenger could enter the kingdom and take hold of its blessings in their day of visitation. Caring for physical health was put first so minds would be prepared to receive preached truth, and healing and proclaiming belong together as two lines of one united work and not as separate works. The same commission continues now, with gospel medical workers to be set apart and sent out two by two and never alone, laboring in cities and country places and byways and highways with urgency because doors now open will soon be forever closed. They are to pray for the sick and care for them with simple remedies and nature's remedies and not with drugs, teaching health and pointing to Christ for healing of body and from sin.
The Seventy Sent Forth
Luke 10 belongs to the instruction answering what convicted sinners must do to inherit eternal life, given when Jesus sent the seventy two by two into every city and place where He Himself would come. This sending followed the sending of the twelve, as part of training gospel workers by placing new men in responsibility and educating many workers under direction with experienced helpers kept with them. The seventy received the same charge and endowment and directions as the twelve, to preach and impart grace while relying on the homes they visited for food and rest. Their central burden in each welcoming town was to heal the sick therein and announce that the kingdom of God had come near, with the message accompanying the acts of healing.
That healing and proclamation was to awaken interest and prepare the people to receive Jesus Himself and the grand truths He would impart when He followed after them into every place where they were sent. Christ's presence and power accompanied them, and the work was to be kept foremost and taught from the Old Testament, explaining its prophecies of the mission and work of Christ and presenting truths that would soften hearts so the people would be ready to receive Christ. It was not to be lost sight of nor replaced by controversy over unessential matters that would close the door to the important truths they were told to teach. The announcement that the kingdom had come near meant the promised Redeemer had come, and all who received the message and Jesus its Messenger could enter the kingdom and take hold of its blessings, for this was their day of visitation.
They exercised power from God in Jesus' name over sickness and evil spirits, with authority over evil spirits through His name. Their healing and preaching belonged together, and their healing gave positive evidence of their mission. Even a city that rejected them was still to be warned that the kingdom had come near, and rejection brings accountability at judgment for those who reject the message and messengers. If people still rejected, they were to move on, using judgment in choosing where to labor and not spending time and strength where no good would result.
Their first work was among Israel, especially the lost sheep of the house of Israel, as part of the first offer of salvation to the Jewish nation, bringing blessing through deeds of mercy and love and the message of truth. Yet the field was the world and not limited to the Jews, with light to reach every part of it, and the church is likewise to carry labor throughout the world while treating every person even an opponent with respect. They were sent to reap a harvest already prepared by others where they had not labored, and the harvesters would share in its fruit. That same harvest work continued through Peter's preaching when three thousand were added.
Healing Joined to Preaching
The commission places care for physical health first, before the announcement that the kingdom has come near, so that minds are prepared to receive the truths preached. Healing the sick was to be the first concern of the seventy, opening the way for truth to reach the mind and the heart. This order follows the pattern of Christ Himself, who devoted more time and labor to healing the afflicted than to preaching, and it remains the pattern for visiting the sick and relieving the afflicted.
Healing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom belong together as two lines of one united work, not as separate undertakings. Medical ministry is not to be carried on apart from the ministry of the word, but joined to it and carried forward in connection with it in both home and foreign missions. Medical missionary work is to be connected with the work of the third angel's message as the hand is connected with the body, with no separation in the work and the people of God made one, a union that Satan invents every possible scheme to break.
This union follows Christ's own example of ministering to soul and body together, bringing spiritual life with physical restoration and linking deliverance from sin with healing from disease. He combined in Himself the work of the great Physician with that of the highest missionary, healing all manner of bodily diseases and the maladies of the sin-sick soul. Sanitariums carry out this same ministry of healing in service of the Great Physician. Every physician is therefore to bear a cure for the soul as well as the body, doing the work of an apostle as well as a physician by relieving bodily distress while ministering to the necessities of the soul with words of hope and prayer for the suffering, tempest-tossed soul.
Medical missionary work is the great entering wedge by which the diseased soul, otherwise unapproachable, may be reached. Relieving the sick and helping the distressed works in Christ's lines and represents His mission and work on earth, demonstrating the most powerful truths of the gospel. Truth expressed in living, unselfish deeds is the strongest argument for Christianity, and knowledge that relieves suffering humanity opens doors without number through which truth can find lodging in the heart, with souls saved unto eternal life.
The Commission Continued Today
The charge to heal the sick and announce that the kingdom of God has come near still sends medical missionary workers as gospel workers and evangelists who are to be solemnly and publicly set apart before going forth. They are to go two by two and never alone, so they can pray and consult together, combining relief of suffering of mind and body with proclamation of the kingdom. No one man is to begin and carry a work entirely himself, but where possible other gifts in other laborers are to be gladly welcomed to cooperate for the conversion of souls, since one carries his part as far as he can and then the Lord sends another workman to do another essential part the first did not feel necessary. This is the plan for training gospel workers by placing new men in responsibility, as after the twelve seventy men were sent everywhere preaching the kingdom of God, which is the gospel of truth, with Christ following after them in every place where they were sent. Leaders are therefore to bring in new men, keep experienced helpers connected with them, and educate many workers by letting them learn the work under direction.
Believers are now to carry the same proclamation in little companies, leaving the cities to go as missionaries two and two into country places and byways and highways in humility and the fear of God, following Christ’s example. Labor is not to be confined to believers but extended to unbelievers by becoming acquainted with them and placing the truth before those living up to all the light they have, for there are precious souls in cities such as Melbourne to be reached. Loving God with all the heart requires loving those for whom He gave His only begotten Son, who died to redeem human beings from sin, and He has set before workers an open door through which to bring others into fellowship with the saints. The same pattern applies to work in the great centers, needed even more than in Christ’s time, where strong men are to be appointed to labor with many young men and women joined with them to work in a humble manner under Christ’s instructions for sending out His disciples. That work requires great ingenuity in presenting the words of eternal life so souls are reached and converted, and it requires workers themselves thoroughly converted who present the Word of truth in a spirit of tenderness that wins hearts. Going forth thus they labor as evangelists scattering publications and talking of the truth to those they meet.
The commission is urgent and does not allow spending years in preparation, because doors now open to the truth will soon be forever closed and waiting lets the enemy take possession of fields now open. The Lord will bless the efforts of those who go, with recovery of physical health for those who go. The work is to be done by praying for the sick and ministering to their necessities, caring for them with simple remedies and with nature’s remedies and not with drugs. They are to teach the sick how to regain health and avoid disease, and to point them to Christ for healing from sin as well as for bodily illness, with Christ standing beside them ready to heal the sick as He did during His earthly ministry.
Education for this work is not complete without knowledge of how to treat the sick and suffering, and students in medical missionary lines must be trained to work in connection with the church and the ministry. Preaching and healing are two lines of one work that must not be separated in home missions or foreign missions, and medical missionary work is to be connected with the work of the third angel’s message as the hand is connected with the body, with the Lord’s people to be one with no separation in His work. Carried forward thus as a sanctifying, unifying work bringing blessing through deeds of mercy and love and the message of truth, it will accomplish wonderful results. The field is the world and the light is to reach every part of it, with the church carrying its labor throughout the world while treating every person, even an opponent, with respect in advocating the truth.