Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. We live in a time when
it is quite common to hear men, and oddly enough women, preach
about sickness and disease as though it is a condition quite
contrary to the will and purpose of God. Both sickness and good
health are conditions which are dictated and ordained for God's
own purpose. There is no such thing as a man
who is sick contrary to the will of God, nor does a man ever enjoy
health or the deliverance from disease or affliction except
according to that same will and sovereign purpose. See now that
I, even I, am He. There is no God with me. I kill
and I make alive. I wound and I heal. Neither is
there any that can deliver out of my hand." Lester Roloff was
once asked if he believed in divine healing. He replied, I
didn't know there was any other kind. If a man is ever healed
from any malady which befalls him in this life, that man should
thank the God of heaven and earth for that deliverance. Adam's
sin, which he passed on to us, has produced affliction and sickness.
Just as certainly as Adam's transgression did not take God by surprise,
neither does the attendant affliction which comes as a result of it.
The Lord even uses it for our benefit. For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. for whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Far from
being against the will of God, the Lord ordains that his people
be ill for his own purpose and for their good. The Lord's disciples
assumed that tragedies befell some, and not all, because they
were greater sinners than others. or that physical affliction was
a sign of a specific sin being brought to justice. The Lord
taught them that all men alike were sinners worthy of destruction,
and that physical ailments are not necessarily meted out as
judgment. We may not always be able to
discover the specific reason we are afflicted, but we can
be certain that God is bringing us along a pathway He has marked
out that we might be ultimately blessed. It would seem prudent
for us if each time disease or affliction invades our body to
seek the Lord, not just for healing, but to ask Him to show us why
He has brought us into this condition. All sickness is directed for
His glory. Just as He told Mary and Martha
that Lazarus' sickness was not unto death, but rather that God
should be glorified. So it is when our bodies are
afflicted that this too is for His fame and grandeur. All sickness
in the children of God is for their ultimate benefit. And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose. Therefore, though
our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by
day. The Lord allowed Satan to afflict Job for a season. Satan's
desire and design was Job's destruction, but the Lord designed Satan's
activity to get Job's attention and teach him a valuable lesson.
Even the devil can be a tool in God's sovereign hand. Sometimes
God gets glory in the healing of our physical bodies. When
the Lord Jesus walked upon the earth, He went about healing
many afflictions and maladies. He did it for the glory of His
Father in manifesting obedience to that which He was sent to
do. All true healing is a gift from the Lord. He may choose
to manifest this healing in a miraculous way, or He may use instruments
of medicine, or He may direct the use of natural means such
as vitamins and herbs for such relief. But rest assured that
no man can be healed of any disease, affliction, or disturbed state
of mind apart from the direction and purpose of Almighty God. Sometimes God gets glory in not
healing our physical bodies. He does this in allowing our
afflictions to run their course or even to remain with us until
death. The Lord refused to remove Paul's
thorn in the flesh, yet He taught Paul a more valuable lesson in
requiring him to rest in His grace. We are not in error to
ask for the removal of our afflictions, yet it is not always God's will
to answer such prayers exactly as we would like. Afflictions
are a testament to the Lord's great love for His own. None
of us delight in discomfort, yet we are greatly comforted
in knowing that our Savior is with us in all of our diseases.
for he was tempted in all points like as we are. When we enjoy
good health, let us praise him, for we would be suffering daily
if we were to receive what we deserve. Then when we're down
in the valley of affliction, remember that it is the Lord
who has gone before us and marked out our pathway through that
wilderness with his own blood. He will be with his children
to the end. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.