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washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne of God. (Rev. 7:14,15.)
Beautiful? Yes, and like salt, the beauty, which is of the Lord,
our God, is more apparent the closer you look at it. Viewed through
a microscope salt assumes beautiful crystalline forms.
Healing, health preserving, antiseptic, causing unsound places
to heal up? Yes, it is all of these, and sometimes it makes people
who have these unsound places on them smart in the process of
healing them.
Arresting decay, destruction, and putrefactive processes? Yes,
God s salt does all of these things, for we are told to have no fellow-
ship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them
(Eph. 5:11).
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His Healing Power
The Lord Jesus says He sends us out as the Father sent Him, and
the works that He did we are to do also and greater works. (John
14:12.) God s plan for His salt is that it should be distributed as
widely as its type is in the mineral world. How widely salt is distrib-
uted in the great oceans touching every shore, in the earth in combi-
nation with various minerals, in caves hung with innumerable
stalactites, in vegetables and animals; in short, everywhere. So God s
salt is found everywhere from hovel to palace, and He commands us
to scatter it to every land till all have heard the message of salvation.
God alone knows the power that dwells in the presence of His
people! For the sake of ten righteous men God was willing to avert
the awful doom that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. (Gen. 18:32.)
On Paul s eventful journey to Rome God gave him the lives of all
who sailed with him, some 275 souls. (Acts 27.)
But if the salt has lost its savor, what is it good for? Nothing. A
young university student who had been trained by a fine Christian
mother said to me once:  You know we have a theological faculty
at the university, but I find that the students in theology don t believe
the Bible. I can t help believing it; and when they don t, I can t
imagine why they are studying theology. What good can they be to
God or man?
The Lord answers that question  If the salt have lost his
savour& it is& good for nothing& but to be cast out (Matt. 5:13).
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Chapter 7
Himself
& Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses (Matt.
8:17). I wish that all who read this chapter would precede it by
reading Matthew 8:1-17 at least three times. Indeed, it would be
H
well to commit the verses to memory. They seem to cast a flood of
divine illumination on the whole subject of divine healing.
We must never forget that it is the Word that heals. He sent His
word, and healed them& (Ps. 107:20). Perhaps you ask,  Does not
the word mean the Lord Jesus Christ? Certainly, but as we read the
written Word in faith, the Lord Jesus Himself meets us in its pages.
In order to experience the full power of the Bible in healing
our bodies, it is essential to have it hidden in our hearts (Ps.
119:11; Prov. 4:20-22). Then we can  meditate on it day and
night, let it flow through our beings, & a pure river of water of
life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of
the Lamb (Rev. 22:1).
I sometimes suggest lists of scripture verses bearing particularly
on the truth of the Lord for the body, but experience has taught me
that it is much more effective for each person to make his or her own
list, as they are lighted up to them by the Holy Spirit. Jot down the
references and commit them to memory so that they become a part
of your consciousness. In that way they are easily accessible at all
times, day or night, on the street, traveling, and even when you are
231
His Healing Power
unwillingly compelled to listen to unprofitable conversation or radio
broadcasting. By means of the memorized verses you can mount up
on wings like an eagle. (Isa. 40:31.)
Glancing at the verses in the eighth chapter of Matthew which
precede our text,  Himself (Matt. 8:17), we have the case of the
leper, who doubted the willingness of the Lord to heal while he was
fully convinced of His ability to do so. (vv. 2,3.) Possibly the
wretched creature was so conscious of his repulsiveness and the vile
nature of his malady that he could not believe anyone would have
mercy on such an outcast from human society. But the Lord Jesus
settled that misgiving forever, for all lepers, no matter how loath-
some, by His  I will. Praise God for that!
Next a very different figure appears upon the stage. A Roman
centurion (Matt. 8:5-13) enters, with dignified bearing and martial
mien. The Romans were masters of the world, and they let the world
know it. But how is this? His proud head is bowed before the gentle
Nazarene, whom he addresses as  Lord (Gk.. kurios). He says, in
effect,  I know what power is. Caesar has power over me, power of
life and death; I have power over my subordinates, but in Thee I
acknowledge power over all power. Speak but the word.  Tis all I
ask. I crave it as a bounty, for I am not worthy.
And then the Lord Jesus declared that He had not found such
faith in Israel, and gives him admission to the heavenly feast where
he is told his place card will be beside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
 And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. (v. 13.)
In verses 14 and 15, we have a picture of the Lord Jesus as the
family physician. I always felt the relationship of a truly good and
devoted physician to the families of which he was in charge was a
very sacred one. My ideal family physician, I may as well own, was
my own mother. I knew how she loved her charges and truly bore
them on her heart day and night. She had families, every junior
232
Himself
member of which she had brought into the world. How they recip-
rocated her affection!
On one occasion she left town on a speaking tour and placed her
practice in the hands of a very able doctor whose only fault was that
he was a man.
One morning the children were told that the doctor was coming.
This was always the cause of great rejoicing. Glad expectancy
reigned among the youngsters. At last the door opened and the nurse
came in and introduced a very fine looking gentleman with a bright
smile on his face. But it didn t help him with the children. They had
never had any doctor but Mother, and the youngest cried indig-
nantly,  Go away! I won t have you. You aren t a doctor at all. You
are a man!
But how beautiful is the ministry of the Lord Jesus as the family
physician! How the children love Him! How readily the little things
trust Him! They put us to shame with their simple faith. The dear
old hymn,  God Will Take Care of You was inspired by a tiny child
whose mother was ill and whose father (a minister of the gospel)
hesitated to leave her to fulfill his engagements. The little fellow
crept up close to his mother and whispered in her ear,  Mother, God
will take care of you. This so rebuked their unbelief that the father
made full proof of his ministry and returned to find the mother
healed and rejoicing in the beautiful song the Lord had given her. He
then sat down and played the words to a tune God gave him, and so
we have it:
God will take care of you,
Through every day, o er all the way.
God will take care of you.
In the 16th and 17th verses of Matthew 8 we have a mass
meeting for healing, though the doctors of divinity, or at least some [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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