HE CARETH FOR US
APRIL, 1881

By W. I. G.

In reading of God’s loving care for His people of old, we are struck with the many promises of temporal good to those who obey Him.

In Exodus 23:22, 25, we read: “If thou shalt indeed obey His voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread and thy water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.”

Again, in Psalm 91:9, 10, we see these gracious words: “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”

Can it be that our Heavenly Father has changed His thoughts and purposes toward His trusting children, or are these promises for us to-day?

In the introduction of the new dispensation our Savior’s works of mercy embraced temporal and physical blessing, and in His commission to the twelve apostles we see that the preaching of the gospel was enjoined in connection with the casting out of evil spirits and the healing of the sick. “And they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.” – (St. Mark 6:12, 13.) Again, in Christ’s commission to the seventy, He bids them to “heal the sick,” and “say unto them, the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” – (St. Luke 10:9.)

In His last charge to His disciples when He was about to leave the world, Jesus gave them unbounded assurance of His continued power on earth. “All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. . . teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” – (St. Matt. 28:18-20.)

In St. Mark 16:15-18, the promises stand side by side: “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. . . and these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name. . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Is the promise of salvation to him “that believeth” any stronger here than the promise of the gift of healing to “them that believe?”

In our Lord’s establishing of the Christian Church, what minute and ample provision is made for our temporal as well as spiritual needs! His language to His children is: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

O, what a mine of wealth has been hidden from our eyes through unbelief! How we have failed to appropriate these wonderful blessings to ourselves! Although “He bare our sins in His own body,” yet this cannot avail for us unless we appropriate this by faith, and, in like manner, His “bearing our sicknesses” cannot avail for our physical healing unless we believe that the work is done, and that the benefit of that work is ours.

Christ is represented as the stone cut out of the mountain and filling the whole earth, and when by faith we seize this great truth, sickness will vanish away. We read much in the Bible about our Lord’s compassion. Is He less compassionate today? Surely not; and would that we might trust Him for a manifestation of His tender love in relieving our physical suffering!

And may our “whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”