Newsletter May 2020
Mandatory Health Care:
Are You Game?
Who is invested with authority to decide what care is right for a person, and what criteria govern that choice, and where does that authority come from? A person’s conscientious convictions about moral choices in health care are assaulted in many different ways, some passive and some aggressive.
Passively, there is the social pressure, perhaps by well-meaning relatives or so-called friends who feel their views on the subject are the only ones that can rule health (codependency at work here). They, “come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matthew 7:13-15).
There is pressure through the media, designed to influence (or brain wash) the public sentiment in favor of health care practices not generally in harmony with a firm “thus saith the Lord” but rather in opposition thereto. “…to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” (Mark 13:21-23).
There are subtle enticements, like from the snake in the tree of the Garden of Eden, advertizing and promoting treatments that are not on God’s acceptable list. “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (James 1:14,15).
Then there are the public health guises, claiming to have the better good of society in view and venerating the benefits as out weighing the risks (herd immunity and the like), “it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” (John 11:50). But what are the risks; a guilty conscience and eternal loss? “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 16:25).
Liberty Of Conscience Threatened
Sometimes those in power become aggressive and resort to methods of deadly force to secure homage to their dictates regarding health care. An aggressive way in which the God-ordained mandate to care for one’s body is defied is through oppressive legislation. “…commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” (1 Timothy 4:1-3). Groups of men in government dare to dictate the care of man’s body, in disregard to God’s will. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator,…” (Romans 1:25). Satan (the leader of the opposition to God’s government) has, as the pillars of his kingdom, force, fear, intimidation, manipulation and/or bribery. “…and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” (Revelation 13:15-17).
The Lambs of Our Fold
The control of children’s health care seems to be more disputed than any others.
God tells us that children are a gift from Him, to their parents, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” (Psalms 127:3, Genesis 33:5;48:9, Hebrews 2:13). Parents are held accountable to teach their children right principles and ways of life, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6; Deuteronomy 4:9; 6:7; Psalms 78:1-8). “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4). Those who follow this directive are commended, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” (Genesis 18:19). The end result is that children keep the commands of God, “And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;” (Deuteronomy 30:2).
The Bible further teaches that parents—not the state—are entrusted with the care and welfare of their children, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” (1 Timothy 5:8). “For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.” (2 Corinthians 12:14). Biblically, the state does not have a good track record in their approach to caring for God’s children (Exodus 1:22; Amos 1:13; Matthew 2:16-18; Revelation 12:4). Of no one on earth is a more rigorous account going to be required in the judgment than of parents. “Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?” (Jeremiah 13:20; Isaiah 8:18). “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40).
Spiritual Nature of Healing
In the Old Testament sickness seemed only to come in response to disobedience and was a call to return to God (2 Chronicles 7:13,14; Isaiah 6:9-12). In contrast, health came from God in response to obeying His law and meditating on His word (Proverbs 3:1-7; 4:20-22; Exodus 15:26). The real question that we all need to answer is this: Is our illness (disease) a call from God to soul searching and repentance?
Does God promise that He'll protect us from pestilence? Moses knew this. He knew if they didn't meet together they would get a pestilence. When he went to before Pharaoh he said, “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.” Exodus 5:3. “Hurricanes, storms, tempests, fire and flood, disasters by sea and land, follow each other in quick succession. Science seeks to explain all these. The signs thickening around us, telling of the near approach of the Son of God, are attributed to any other than the true cause.” (Testimonies for the Church Vol. 6, Pg. 408). What caused the pestilence in David's Day? Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel and a pestilence came. What happened, what caused a pestilence when Balaam got the people of Israel to come over to Balak and Moab and had the festival at Baalpeor? It was their apostasy. There is no place in the Bible that says, “Oh, it was a bad year, and we had a really bad mutation, and some funny bugs showed up.” Does Matthew 24 tell us why pestilence comes? In the end time it's a sign of Jesus coming, isn't it? There is also the true philosophy of history, where righteousness exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34). Has China been a champion of religious freedom lately, or has it been cracking down on Christians? Recently you may have heard stories about them saying they're intending to rewrite the Bible so it looks more like the Communist Manifesto, so the Christian churches will come more in line with Communist doctrine. Maybe that's why they got this pandemic started over there first.
“Natural means, used in accordance with God's will, bring about supernatural results. We ask for a miracle, and the Lord directs the mind to some simple remedy. We ask to be kept from the pestilence that walketh in darkness, that is stalking with such power through the world; we are then to cooperate with God, observing the laws of health and life. Having done all that we possibly can, we are to keep asking in faith for health and strength. We are to eat that food which will preserve the health of the body. God gives us no encouragement that He will do for us what we can do for ourselves. Natural laws are to be obeyed. We are not to fail of doing our part. God says to us, ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure’ (Phil. 2:12, 13).” (Selected Messages Vol. 2, Pg. 346).
Healing was often sought at the hand of the priests or prophets. For example, Naaman came to prophet Elisha and found healing after following God’s natural treatment regimen (2 Kings 5). The very word health is religious, in fact in the new testament one Greek word “Sozo” serves to carry both the meaning “save” (e.g. Matthew 18:11). and “heal” (e.g. Mark 5:34). God links good physical health to soul prosperity, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 3 John 2. In other words, many people will not find physical healing until they find spiritual healing. Is your current health care provider prepared to mentor you in spiritual healing as well as physical healing?
When human help fails James tells us what we are to do. Call the elders, anoint the sick, and then he says that the prayer of faith shall “save” (Greek “Sozo”) the sick. (James 5:14,15).
The opposing sides of this issue differ on their views on the origin of life, which impacts their opinion on who has authority to decide the treatment and fate of an ill person. But for the Christian, the Bible answers the question with a ring of authority that only God can wield, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20).
Ownership Dictates “Power of Attorney”
If you were working on a broken automobile and came to a point where several options were available, who would you look to for direction on which option to pursue? The cars owner, of course. Only the owner of the car has the legal right to decide what they will have done to their car. Who owns us and has the final word in our care? God created man. (Genesis 1:26,27). Not only was man God’s workmanship by creation (“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:10), but when man fell to Satan’s lies through transgression of God’s command, God bought him back by the life of His dear Son. Thus, man became doubly God’s both by redemption and by creation. “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” (Isaiah 43:1,2). We owe a double debt of gratitude and submission to our Creator-Redeemer. Does God tie His healthcare statutes to His authority as our Savior? “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).
God decides our care.
“Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?” (Isaiah 45:9-13). “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.” (1 Corinthians 7:23). Anyone else presuming to dictate our care could be a thief and a robber. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” “I am the door:” “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:1,9,10).
There Is A Purpose
God, who is so invested in man, is not silent on His purpose for man, to be a praise and a blessing in the earth. “and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.” (Psalms 102:18). “for I have created him for my glory,” (Isaiah 43:7), to glorify God in his body. (1 Corinthians 6:19,20. quoted above). And God, who is so invested in man, is also not silent on the care He intends for man to take of his own physical being. “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;” (1 Thessalonians 4:4). It is the violation of God’s expressed command at the beginning that exposed man to the risk of disease and death, and anyone who likewise violates God’s natural law can also only expect to reap disease and death. “Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7). So, who decides if you are going to cooperate with the Creator in the physical care of your body? “when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” (John 21:18,19).
Beyond Destiny
Ultimately, God would like mankind to escape disease, death and the limitations of his well-being resulting from his Eden transgression. Presently God desires to dwell in our hearts and live out the principles of His kingdom through us. “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (2 Corinthians 6:16,17). If faithful in taking care of our body here, “…if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?” (Luke 16:10-12). The plan is for man to be given immortality and a body like Christ’s. “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,…” (Philippians 3:21). Otherwise he will be destroyed. “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1Cor 3:16,17). We are not going to be rewarded positively if we continue to follow any of Satan’s health and spirituality compromising lies. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10). In the judgment, is God going to commend you for the care which has been given to your body?
True Health From Your Sustainer
God is not just an absentee landlord who created us, who wound us up like a clock and has now left us on our own. As a creature of God’s unremitting care, man never has a moment when he is not sustained, breath-by-breath by his Creator. “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;…in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:24,27). And perchance illness befalls man, it is his Creator who has His way with the disease. “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;” (Psalms 103:3,4). We are all dependant upon God. “…he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45). You are either healed at God’s will by God or you are not really healed at all. “for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” (Exodus 15:26). “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” (Psalms 127:1). Except the Lord heal you, are you really healed at all? And if healed, but not by the Lord, who then healed you?
There is health power in the word of God. “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” (Proverbs 4:20-22). God’s word is a “tree of life” to those who receive it (see Proverbs 3:13-19).
God Rather Than Man
Truly, what is at stake here is religious liberty. “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29). Man has a charge from God and a God given right to medical self-determination. Those who usurp authority from God over His children claim the right to dictate the care of man’s body (God given and God sustained) according to their judgment in ways that are physically and philosophically different than God’s will and ways, and that violate the judgment and conscience of the individual. “Every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;” (1 Thessalonians 4:4). We are warned that we cannot serve two masters “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24). Either you choose the will of God in your healing, or you don’t.
Ultimately who you turn to in your time of need for healing demonstrates who you worship. Jesus said, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:40). If we believe in Him, He can work for our recovery. If not, where can we turn? “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:58). Are you looking to God’s dear Son for life and His sanctified means for recovery, or are you seeking only for physical life at all costs (even to the cost of eternal life)? In the end we will either trust in God or we will turn to His adversary. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8).
Is the Christian to seek care of the non-believer or even an anti-Christian? What if the witch of Endor (1Samuel 28:7), who was definitely an anti-Christian, boasts a 100% success rate at healing the disease from which you suffer (p<0.00001); does that make her God’s gift of healing for you? What if the witch of Endor goes off to medical school and learns to prescribe drugs and becomes a designated government accredited health care provider; does that make her God’s gift of healing to you? What if your best Christian friend goes off to witch doctor school; does that make them God’s gift of healing to you? What if the respected atheist neighbor next door goes off to medical school and becomes a famous doctor for a famous atheistic institution of renown; does that make them God’s gift of healing to you? Is God indebted to where His enemy has led the way in medical technology for your healing? God is looking for true health practitioners who can care for the spiritual as well as the physical needs of His people. We must be healed body soul and spirit, or we are not really healed at all.
“If any among us are sick, let us not dishonor God by applying to earthly physicians, but apply to the God of Israel. If we follow his directions (James 5:14, 15) the sick will be healed. God's promise cannot fail. Have faith in God, and trust wholly in him, that when Christ who is our life shall appear we may appear with him in glory.” (Broadside2, January 31, 1849).
God has promised health to the obedient, “Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:…And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.” (Deuteronomy 7:12-15; Proverbs 4:20-22; Jeremiah 30:17; Exodus 15:26). Is your health care provider and their health recommendations a call to obedience and worship of God?
If you want to be lost, just follow the health plans and suggestions of Satan instead of God. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14,15; 1 John 3:8).
Good king Asa and bad king Ahaziah went outside of God’s approved channels of healing and it proved their ruin. Of king Asa it is said, “And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.” (2 Chronicles 16:12). When Ahaziah sought not to God for his care he was asked, “Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?” (2Kings 1:1-6). Similarly, others have found only financial loss. “And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,” (Mark 5:25,26). Sometimes there does appear to be healing, but in the end only the symptoms were addressed and the person is not well. “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 8:11).
Daniel is an example of one who took the management of the health of his mind and body under his own supervision in line with his understanding of God’s will for his care. When presented by the state with a died deemed to be official (Daniel 1:5,10). Daniel negotiated a diet after God’s plan (Daniel 1:12). It is said, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8).
Who is invested with authority to decide what health care is right for a person and what criteria governs that choice?
The Bottom Line
God owns you because He created you and has paid for your redemption. God has given to you the responsibility of taking care of the body he has entrusted you with and He has given directions to be followed in its care, and will hold you responsible thereunto. Health care legislation is moral legislation. When it opposes God, you have to decide to whom your worship belongs, God or man (Matthew 21:33-41).
Are there health care practices which you would be willing to stand up for, as did the three worthies, and say, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” (Daniel 3:17, 18)?. We are apply advised, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28). “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (or healed, Gr. Sozo).” (Matthew 24:13).
When it comes to the care of your body are you willing to, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;” and have Him, “direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5,6)?