Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate.  Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.  For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.

 
 
 

Going to Jesus

Gospel Tracts

 Select a tract to read:

 

Gospel Tract #37

Why Some Are Not Healed

By George C. Clark, Sr.

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God, and whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
1John 3:21–22

Just as Jesus went to the cross to provide cleansing from sins, he went to the whipping post to provide healing for our bodies, for Isaiah said, “By his wounds we are healed.” If you have prayed for a healing, but have not received it, this message may be for you. There is often a cause – and a remedy – for one’s not being healed.

It is the Lord’s will for all of us who are sick and suffering to be healed. It is simply our weakness of faith that prevents our being healed; it is never a lack on God’s part.

There are, to be sure, a number of things which may prevent our healing, though we be followers of Christ. For instance, the apostle Peter explained that if a wife or husband neglected their duties to each other, their prayers would be hindered (1Pet. 3:1–7). This is, perhaps, chief among the errors that keep married believers from answered prayers and divine healing. And there are others among us who overindulge in eating and drinking, and thus give cause for their sicknesses. They should “abstain from fleshly lusts”, so that God can heal them.

Don’t ever think, dear friend, that you are too sick, too old, or too feeble to be healed. No saint, young or old, has to remain in a sick or suffering condition. This has been proved by many who walked close enough to God to attain to a ripe old age, and then were called home by God while in perfect health. Not all these are listed in the Bible, either. Some have lived and died in this “latter rain” time. No one is ever too old or too sick to be healed. It is true that many of our older saints are suffering body ailments; however, I am inclined to believe that some of these are suffering because they are too self-righteous to confess their faults to one another, and to pray for one another that they might be healed (Jas. 5:16). Yes, older people can be self-righteous, too, and afflicted with faith-killing unbelief and self-will just like the young.

Beloved, you may not think so, but that little no-harm thing that you haven’t yet let go of may be keeping you from the healing you have so long sought. Don’t take a chance by holding it back; give it up, and God will do just what He has promised. Can’t you hear Him asking you this very minute, “How is it that you have no faith?” Can’t you hear Him saying, “Everything – whatever – you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive”? That voice from the hills of old Judea is still crying, “Have faith in God!” Paul told us to hold on to both faith and a good conscience (1Tim. 1:19). Thousands upon thousands, “having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith”, are seeking healing to no avail, for before they can receive their healing, they must again purify their hearts by faith. They must “repent and do the first works” and be re-established in the faith. Among the thousands I have prayed for during my many years in the ministry, I find less operative faith coming from believers who are not free in Christ than from any other group, including the vilest sinner. It is difficult indeed, if not impossible, for a child of God to be healed who has condemnation in his heart. So, labor to stay free in the Spirit of truth.

There are those who are overcome by demons of doubt and who even deny that healing is available in Christ. These people are far, far from the will of God. In fact, they are so far astray that they can’t even bear witness to the work of God. If you are in this condition and claim to be a follower of Christ, my hope is that you will repent before it is too late. You need to repent. Repent of what? Of unbelief, if nothing else, but I am sure there is something else.

While the healing of one’s body by the power of God brings a joy into the heart similar to that of conversion, I have found, after many years of close observation, that failing to be healed often leads people to backslide. Discouragement can lead to bitterness if one does not stay humble before the Lord in the absence of healing, and bitterness can turn one’s heart altogether from the truth. Indeed, failing to believe in divine healing is proof that one is already backslidden in heart. In some cases, it is that someone has been influenced by a minister who does not believe in divine healing, or that he has failed to obey God to seek for spiritual power, and, as a result, has become envious of those who did pay the price. Regardless of the reason for yielding to these doubting and denying demons of unbelief, such a person needs deliverance, and my advice would be for him to call for it soon. If this is your condition, dear friend, please give up right now and ask God to take you into the love and faith you really desire. If others are influencing you to resist the manifestation of the power of God, then pray with me that God will either convince or remove them so that you can walk in the light with Jesus.

Many have listened to false teaching about healing so long that they have lost what little faith they once had. Some of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day denied his power to forgive sins but admitted that he had the power to heal. Modern Pharisees hold an opposite opinion; they acknowledge that Jesus forgives sin but deny his power to heal the sick. Paul commanded Timothy to “turn away from such men as these” who “have a form of godliness, but deny its power” (2Tim. 3:5). This message is intended not only to renew you, concerning your faith in divine healing, but also to strengthen you in the spirit of holiness, where the soul of every child of God finds its freedom.

Every follower of Christ should do as Paul exhorted the Corinthian believers to do: “Put yourself to the test, whether you are in the faith.” When Paul said “the faith”, he meant “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3), the faith that produces obedience to God. This is the faith by which one is justified (Rom. 5:1). It is also the faith through which one is saved (Eph. 2:8). The apostle Paul, that great missionary statesman, also told us that this faith is “expressed through love” (Gal. 5:6), and “is reckoned as righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). And, may I add, it is also the faith that heals and delivers both body and soul from all infirmities. Nevertheless, Paul declared that “the faith is not for all men”; therefore, it is not surprising that there are some among us who do not have faith for the healing of their body.

But why do not all in the family of God have faith? The simplest answer would be that not all please God. The apostle John wrote (1Jn. 3:21–22), “If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence [faith] toward God, and whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.” Those scriptures tell us that there are two acts of obedience which entitle us to receive “whatever we ask”. The first is that “we keep His commandments”. The second is that we “do the things that are pleasing in His sight.” Oh, how many are missing God here! There may be a few things which even obedient children of God do which displease the Father, and no believer has the promise to be healed until he ceases to do those things, for they produce condemnation in the heart rather than faith. We are told that “whatever is not of faith is sin”; consequently, one should not expect an answer to prayer, especially a miracle of healing, as long as sin of any description remains in his life.

Paul taught that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). In this case, “hearing” means, “listening to the word of God with a firm purpose to obey Him.” Naaman the leper had tried, no doubt, to obtain a cure for his disease from every physician far and near, but he was not cured. It was only when he obeyed the command of God’s prophet that he was healed. Dear friend, if you want the faith that brings healing or any other blessing from God, be obedient like Naaman.

I believe we are on the threshold of the greatest outpouring of miracles the world has ever witnessed. Did not Jesus, in the closing days of his ministry, say, “He who believes in me, the works that I do, he will also do, and he will do greater works than these because I am going to my Father” (Jn. 14:12)? My sick friend, you can be healed right now! Jesus suffered to make healing for both soul and body available to us. True faith believes what is written: “He was wounded for our transgressions . . . and by his wounds we are healed ” (Isa. 53:5).

This is God’s prescription for our healing. The medicines He uses are the lash marks on Jesus’ back. Hallelujah! Some will say, “I know people were healed during Jesus’ time.” Well, listen, dear Reader, are we not living in Jesus’ time? Isn’t this the time of the gospel? If miracles can occur only in Jesus’ time, the apostles must have been living in his time after Jesus left them to return to the Father, for they kept on healing the sick as he had commanded them. Yes, friend, we are still in the gospel age, for there is no “Amen” at the end of the book of Acts. You will find that word at the end of Revelation.

The same one who said, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who doesn’t believe will be damned ”, also said, “These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name, they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mk. 16:15–18). Amen, and God bless you!

Let Isaac Go!

By George C. Clark

By faith, when Abraham was tried,
he offered up his son,
of whom, it had been said to him,
a holy seed should come.

He knew that God was able to
raise Isaac from the dead,
and in a figure saw him thus,
a man of God once said.

Now, when the angel of the Lord
perceived that he would slay,
he said, “I see thou fearest God,
so put thy knife away.”

And hence, young Isaac was set free
from dying there, we’re told.
A ram was offered in his stead,
Caught wandering from the fold.

With faith unmixed with fear and doubt,
like Abraham of old,
you’ll have to make the sacrifice,
the Isaac of your soul.

And when God sees that you are real
and mean to pay the price,
He’ll let the Lamb of God appear,
and be your sacrifice.

Go Top