Healing

Healing

Way back in the 1950s, and this is way back for a lot of us, Herbert Armstrong taught that going to physicians was, at the very least, a serious lack of faith and at worst was in fact a major sin. And he got this idea through his interpretation of the book of II Kings wherein the king fell and was hurt and he sent to inquire of the God of Ekron whether he would in fact recover. Now, Herbert explained this as the idea; that the religion of Ekron and the god of Ekron had to do with medicine, and physicians, and healing. And that by inquiring of the god of Ekron, this king was in fact seeking healing from physicians and that was somehow a great sin because this king was condemned by a prophet of God. So, let's go to the first chapter of II Kings and see what really happened and see if this had anything to do with medicine at all.

Starting in chapter one, verse one of the second book of the Kings, “Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber (that is he was up on the second floor which) which was in Samaria, and he was sick: (he was injured) and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. But the angel of the Eternal said to Elijah, the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the Eternal, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but thou shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.

In verse five, “And when the messengers returned back unto the king, he said to them: Why are ye now turned back? And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you and say to him. Thus saith the Eternal, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And he asked them; what manner of person was he that came up to meet you, and told you these words? And they answered him, He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.” The next few verses are something you can read yourself about some marvelous miracles that were performed by God to protect Elijah because the king was very angry with that man.

Now, verse 16, Elijah goes to the king. “And he said to him, Thus, saith the Eternal, forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? Therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but thou shalt surely die. And the king died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son (no heirs).”

Now, notice very carefully. This king fell and was injured, was hurt, and he went to inquire of a foreign god rather than inquiring of the Eternal God, his own God. He is condemned by the prophet for doing this. There is absolutely nothing in this that has anything to do with physicians or healing. Notice this king is not appealing to this foreign god to be healed. He is not asking to be healed. He is not sending for physicians.

There is nothing at all to do with medicine or physicians involved in the story. It is simply that this king is calling on foreign gods and is seeking input from foreign religions and strange religions and false prophets instead of standing on the things of God and on the Word of God.

If he had gone to the Eternal, if he had gone to God's true prophet Elijah, if he had done those things instead of relying on false prophets and seeking out foreign gods who are not gods at all, then he would have been respected by the Eternal God of Israel. We are commanded not to let anything come between us and our God. When we inquire of foreign gods or study the teachings of pagan religions, foreign religions, we are allowing those things to come between us and our God because we are offending our God when we try and graft paganism into His Word, into His religion, into His teachings.

When we try and marry paganism to the Word of God, when we try and marry the prophets of God rejecting commandment-hating people who have absolutely no understanding of the things of God and we try and marry these doctrines of demons with the Word of God, God doesn’t like it. He gets very upset because you are adding lies to truth and creating a mixture which is going to lead you into disaster. You are saying, “I don’t trust the Word of God. I don’t trust God's Spirit to reveal these things to me. I don’t trust the Holy Scriptures. I need all of these other teachings of God rejecting, commandment-hating men to somehow confirm my beliefs.”

In other words, you are seeking after false prophets and you yourself, if you teach others to do that, have become a false prophet. We are not to seek out the teachings of the heathen. We are not to seek out the teachings and prophecies and guidance and wisdom of gods that are not gods , and are in fact, demons and we are not to seek them out, turning our back on the Word of God. That cannot be justified. We are not to study the pagan teachings, of pagan false religions that do not keep God's commandments and will not submit to the Eternal God.

That is spiritual adultery. That is consorting with foreign religions, foreign women, if you will. That is not being faithful to our husband to whom we committed ourselves in the marriage relationship through our commitment at baptism to the new covenant. That new covenant is a marriage relationship between us and our God, us and Jesus Christ. And if we then go seek out all of these teachers of other doctrines and false religions and inquire of them, We are consorting with other gods and we are not being faithful to our baptismal covenant to our God, our husband.

This is adultery. It is emotional. It is mental. It is spiritual adultery and as such, it is disloyalty to our God, to our espoused husband. This is sin and our espoused husband and His Father will not take the matter lightly; we will be judged for doing such things. And the first part of the judgment is that false religions, and false teachers, and false prophets know nothing of the things of God; therefore, we would be learning false things and basing our beliefs on false things, and we would be led thoroughly astray and we would fall into the traps that these other people have fallen into. Satan has laid these traps and he's got these people deceived into believing what they believe. And if we consort with these religions and these false teachings, we will also fall into the same false teachings. We will be led astray; we will be deceived into error; and we will end up coming under the yoke of Satan again, the yoke from which we were delivered.

Going and inquiring of false gods amounts to seeking out their false teachings, their false religion, and it amounts to turning our backs on our God. That is the lesson of King Ahaziah. He was not seeking healing, he was inquiring of a strange god, a foreign god. That is what this is about. That is the lesson. Do not go and inquire of strange gods. Do not turn your back and be disloyal to the One to whom you have made your baptismal commitment. You are not to seek after strange gods nor to seek out and study their prophecies or their teachings.

You are to remain faithful and loyal to the Eternal and to the Holy Scriptures which He inspired. We are not to try and interpret the Holy Scriptures of God through the eyes of the heathen. We are not to try and understand the Holy Scriptures by mixing them up with prophecies and teachings of the heathen. That is the lesson here.

Brethren, it is a great sin to come up with some personal supposition and then not finding enough backing in the scriptures; to then go and seek out support for our pet ideas in the prognostications and teachings of astrologers and false teachers. This is the sin that I have warned Dr Thiel against. God’s Word is TRUTH; let us stand on the TRUTH of our God and not seek out the errors of wicked men.

This event in 11 Kings has nothing whatsoever to do with physicians, or healing, or medicine. I wanted at the beginning of this message to cover this before I got into the actual concept of healing or the doctrine of healing.

So, I'd like to proceed now to Mark chapter 5 and verse 25. “Where 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, When she had heard of Jesus came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said: If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the crowd, and said: Who touched my clothes?”

Now, this was a classic teachable moment. At that moment, Jesus Christ the very Creator God, the husband of Israel could have said to the woman: Why spend all your money on physicians and not go to God? He could have used this moment to teach His disciples it's wrong to go to physicians. Did he say any such thing? No, he did not. He did not use this opportunity to teach any such thing. Now, sin is not always the cause of injury or illness or medical problems. When we are sick it is not always because of sin.

Turn with me to John, chapter nine, “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus answered: Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night comes when no man can work.”

He is saying here that this man was born blind so that Jesus Christ could heal him and demonstrate His power and demonstrate His Messiahship, and that the actual act of healing was a demonstration for the world that God was present in this person. Healing is a demonstration of the presence of God. And the injury or illness may not be the result of a person's sin, and at least in this case was allowed by God in order to have an opportunity for Jesus Christ to demonstrate that He was the Son of God and that He did have power to heal.

Now, let's go to Luke 10 and starting about verse 29, “A person willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, Who is my neighbor? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.” He crossed over to the other side of the road and went around it. “And likewise (also) a Levite, when he was at the place.” And you should know that priests or the sons of Aaron and Levites are the sons of Levi, they are two separate things. “And the Levite when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and then went by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said to him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And the man answered, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go and do thou likewise.”

This is an example of how we should treat other human beings, even people we don’t know, total strangers. Nowhere in this parable did Jesus say it was wrong to bind up this man's wounds or that it was wrong to engage in medical practices or to act like a physician. Nowhere. Quite the contrary, He said that it was our duty under the law of love and under the commandments of God to help our brothers who are injured, or hurt, or ill, or in need. It is our duty to have love in our hearts, the love of God and to care about other people and to do our best to help them out according to our means and our ability. No, it is not wrong to seek help, and it is not wrong to give help.

Notice what Paul says in Colossians, chapter 4 and verse 14. He says; “Give greetings to Luke, the beloved physician.” Now, why didn’t Paul tell Luke it's wrong to be a physician? Why? Because it was not wrong. There is nothing wrong with caring about other people and trying to do your best to heal them. No, there isn’t. And Luke was beloved in the eyes of Paul and probably in the eyes of a great many other saints because he sought to heal physically and also to heal the spirit, to turn people toward God. There is nothing wrong with being a physician, and there is nothing wrong with going to a physician when we have need of him.

Brethren, I left this subject until the end of the feast until after we had gone through the book of Hebrews and James and I, II and III John for a reason. It is so that you would understand the covenants and you would understand the high priesthood of Jesus Christ, and also so that you would understand that faith without works is dead. And that when we have faith, we have to act on that faith. And that is true toward God. It is also true toward our physical activities. Like I mentioned with a man who is praying for a wife and never even spoke to women. We cannot expect God to hand us everything on a platter.

We have to be willing to make an effort, and if we are not willing to help ourselves and help others and to do our job and fulfill our responsibility as God-fearing people to take of our own bodies which are the temple of God's spirit and to help take care of others. If we can't do that, why should God answer our prayers? If we are not willing to do our part and we expect Him to do it all, why should he even be bothered listening to us? God expects us to do our part. He expects us to do whatever we can to the best of our ability and get whatever help we can get to the best of our knowledge and ability and He will take care of the rest. And yes, when we get hurt or get ill we should seek professional input and professional advice on how to resolve the issue, how to get better.

Does that mean physicians are God? No, it does not. Does that mean that they don’t make mistakes? Of course not, they make mistakes all the time. But they probably make less mistakes than you would make trying to do things on your own. Get input, get advice, get all the help you can when you're ill or injured. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

However, be careful. If you're given some advice about a serious intervention, get a second opinion. Make your decision based upon knowledge, based upon a thorough understanding of the situation and based upon a lot of input. Don’t just take one person's word for things if the matter is really serious. Get several different opinions. Make sure that you come up with the best decision and the best solution that you possibly can. Relying on one man increases the potential for error and getting more input decreases the potential for error and mistakes.

Now, a few words about the medical profession. Doctors like anybody else have to study and learn their profession; and medical schools rely on often very large grants, huge grants from drug companies. In return, these drug companies expect that their drugs will be pushed by this institution that they are backing. And the institution knows full well that if they don’t highlight the donor's products that they may not get another grant and they may not get a larger grant. This is all about finance and economics.

So, a drug company invests millions of dollars as a grant into a particular school, medical school, and the physicians who go there are taught by this school and the drug company's products are featured at that particular school. This is how the system works. Most physicians are very sincere and very caring, but they must base their actions on what they had been taught. Drug companies, on the other hand, are in a business of making a profit. They are not interested in healing disease. They are interested in getting you hooked on a particular drug and keeping you hooked on it for a lifetime of maintenance of the situation so that they can make more and more profit.

This is why government health plans don’t work because the interest is not in the healing but in the maintaining of a condition so that there's more and more profit being made. In other words, a diabetic's dependence on insulin, in many cases, is not different that an addict's dependence on heroin. Well, some are born with a diabetic condition. Many others acquire the condition, and the condition develops in the following manner. When the body takes in too many carbs, it uses up insulin. Now magnesium is necessary for the production of insulin and for the use of insulin. When the body gets overwhelmed with the carbs, there is a depletion of magnesium, which means that here is a depletion of insulin and the body can no longer properly use the carbs and begins to get overwhelmed.

The drug companies provide insulin which maintains that condition indefinitely, and keeps them making money for the rest of your life. The way to deal with this scourge is to have regular testing starting in high school and when a person is shown to be getting out of balance to immediately drastically reduce their intake of carbohydrates to provide them with magnesium and the various minerals necessary to promote the reestablishment of a proper balance in the body and to teach the young person and his or her family how to eat properly and responsibly. That nips the disease or the condition in the bud. It stops it from developing. It needs to be caught early. It needs to be treated properly and vigorously.

The balance in the body can be restored. Diabetes can be healed. It can be stopped in its tracks and it can be prevented. But this would not allow the drug companies to make an income off of that person for the rest of their lives. So, they're not interested in curing the condition. They're interested in maintaining it.

What I'm saying is that we live at the end of an age when abominations abound and greed rules supreme. And not every physician behaves in a godly, loving, and enlightened manner. This world is full of greed. Yes, many physicians are trying to do their best to do what they believe is right but what they believe is right is what they have been taught. So, yes, go to your physician but if it becomes a serious matter, try very hard to get a second and third opinion and try to get those opinions from people who have gone to different educational facilities. People who have learned something a little bit different about that particular condition. And one of the things about universal healthcare is that it makes it very, very difficult to get second and third opinions.

And, of course, the high cost involved in doing that under normal circumstances also makes it very difficult. So, I do say that relying on physicians is a very iffy thing especially for serious matters, but one should do the best that one can with the resources that are available. Going to a physician is not a sin. Does it represent a lack of faith? If you're trusting in this person rather than trusting in God, it does. But if you are trying to do your best to take care of yourself and trusting in God to take of the rest, that's perfectly all right.

There is nothing wrong with trying your best to take care of yourself in the best manner that you can. Nothing at all wrong with it. On the other hand, God should always be put first and if the physician tells you to do something which is contrary to God's Word, you need to put God first and reject the advice of the physician. For instance, if he says you have to eat a rabbit everyday so you'll feel better, well, you tell him, “No, I’m not going to do that. Is there any alternative to that?” And you stand on God's Word. Now, always stand on God's Word first and then evaluate the advice of your physician according to your conscience and your relationship with God. Be very, very careful always to put God first at all times.

Let's go back now to the advice of James, chapter 5 and verse 13, “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray.” Absolutely, pray. Seek out God. Seek out His mercy and meanwhile don’t just sit there. Take care of yourself. “Is any merry (or happy)? Let him sing psalms (or praises to God).

“Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick.” Notice it does not say, “heal the sick.” It says, “save the sick.” “And the Eternal shall raise him up (which is at the last day); and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”

How is this? Because by seeking the elders of the church, that is the priest of God, we are seeking God's intervention, and we are not seeking pagan religions and pagan gods as did the king of Israel. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get also as much help and advice as we can. It means when we seek the Eternal, if we have committed sins, they shall be forgiven us. And the sins being forgiven, we shall be raised up at the last day or at the last trumpet. This is not talking about physical healing so much as about the healing of the spirit, the healing of our relationship with God. About REPENTANCE from sin.

Now, turn to Mark 16, verse 15, “And he said to them, Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized (that is who believes the Word of God and couples that belief with action and turns from his sins and is baptized washing away sin and commits himself to this way, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ will be applied to him and he) shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow those which believe; In my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new or different languages;

“They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” So, we are being told here that the power of God will reside in those people who keep His commandments, who turn away from sin, who respond to the warnings, who repent, who are covered by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. They can then have access to the Father, and He will give them His Spirit and He will empower them to do His will, to have control over their minds, to have a sound mind, to have control over their behavior and they will be given power over the demons, power over the forces of this world or the forces of Satan, and power over sickness and disease. This is a demonstration or an indication that these people are filled with God. They are filled with God's spirit and filled with the spirit of Jesus Christ. They are filled with the power of God.

And as Jesus said, you shall be able to do even greater miracles than I have done. This power is a sign to the world whether they believe it or not, that we are filled with the spirit of God and filled with the power of God. And we need to go and study again the fruits and gifts of the spirit which I have done on the Holy Spirit in Pentecost article. Yes, God's people are to be filled with the spirit of God and with this kind of power, and this power is a sign to the world that these people are the people of God.

So, why are there no healings amongst people calling themselves the Church of God today, or why are they very rare and very few? Why are there so many problems? Is it not because we lack power, we lack the power of God's Spirit?

And why is that? Is it not because we have quenched God's Spirit in us by not putting God first, by looking at the Bible through the eyes of Herbert Armstrong, by studying the Bible and believing it, as interpreted by that man instead of looking at it as we are led by God's Spirit? Is it not because we are full of sin polluting the Sabbath day, polluting holy days? Many people are traveling on the last great day. They are traveling, paying bills, packing up on a High Holy Day. Does not this sin separate you from God and quench God's Spirit in you?

Let's look at Mark 16 just one more time, starting in verse 14, “And afterward He (Jesus Christ) appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat (or they sat eating), and upbraided them (he corrected them because) of their unbelief and their hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him immediately after he was risen. And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned. And these signs shall surely follow those that believe.”

Now, notice He is not saying that these signs shall follow the disciples or the apostles. It is not limited to them. It shall follow, these signs shall follow them that believe, all of them that believe, everyone that believes, every believing Christian who dedicates himself to the things of God and keeps God's commandments and is covered by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ should be filled with the Holy Spirit and with power and with a sound mind and will have all of these signs. They shall be able to cast out demons, to speak with different languages, to take up deadly things or to drink deadly things, and they shall not hurt them, and they shall lay hands on the sick, and the sick shall recover. Does this mean we should go around seeking deadly things to test these things? No, for it is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

But this is a promise of Jesus Christ to all who believe. We are all to be given God's Spirit. But we will be given it only in proportion to how we use it, how we act on it, how we follow it, how we keep God's commandments, and how we do the will of God. And if we don’t do the will of God and if we treat the things of God lightly, and do not keep all of His commandments, we are quenching that Spirit and we will not have these signs. We will not have these powers. And that is the reason why there is no power in all of these groups claiming to be the Church of God today.

There are many signs and gifts of the spirit; and not everyone possess every gift. Some gifts are given to one while other gifts may be given to another.

These signs are not present and it is because many have quenched the spirit of God to the point where God cannot work in these people because they will not follow where He leads, they will not put Him first, they will not put His commandments first. They just go along in the same old rut that they have dug for themselves with their traditions and they fail to observe God's commandments or to put God first in all things.

Sickness and injury can be the result of chance and circumstance. But more often than not, if we are filled with the power of God and are pleasing God, He will protect us from those chances and circumstances. Nevertheless, He uses illness and injury as a tool to teach us things.

First, to give us time to get close to God and to make us feel the vulnerability and the weakness of the flesh so that we will turn back to Him. Second, it teaches us patience and sympathy with others who are suffering. It teaches us the love of God. It teaches us many, many things. It fills us with humility. We begin to realize how utterly frail this flesh is and how much we really do need God. Sickness or injury is a teaching tool, which God uses to teach us the things that He wants us to learn.

And the further we get from Him and the less power we have, the more susceptible we are to being forced to learn and to be corrected by this tool. There is one more very important point, an overriding point, which is that the will of God should be done in all things at all times. And we have to realize that we are just pieces of clay in the master potter's hands. And sometimes He allows certain things for certain purposes. It may not be to correct us from sin at all. It may be to mold us in a certain way so that we become the kind of person He wants us to be. We can look at the apostle Paul who had an affliction with his eyesight.

One can easily speculate that this was because when he saw Christ in the bright light he was so blinded and days later when the scale fell from his eyes and he could see. His vision was not completely restored so as to remind him constantly throughout the rest of his life of how he had before persecuted and how he had seen Christ and how his attitude had been changed and he had been converted. He was left with a reminder of those things for his life so that he could be constantly reminded of that and he would always be humble because of that. I know people who are blind, others who are deaf. I myself have been a diabetic for many, many years, and I know that it tends to keep us humble, it tends to help us to rely on God, and it tends to cause us to realize how weak our flesh is and how much we need God. And some of these people, the blind or the deaf may have had that from birth and it may not necessarily have been the result of any sin as Jesus said of that blind man.

It is for the greater glory of God. And that sometimes means that the power of the servant of God can be demonstrated. That is God in that person can be demonstrated through his healing or being the vehicle for the healing of the afflicted. It can also be for the different purpose of molding each of us as individuals into what God wants us to be. God is the master potter. We are the lump of clay.

We have to strive to do our best, to do what we can and that begins with putting God first, putting His Word first, and trusting in Him and trusting in His promises that we shall be saved. That is; our sins will be forgiven and we will be raised up at the sound of the seventh trumpet. It does not mean that we will experience this life without problems, without difficulties, and without weaknesses because we’re all made of flesh. The flesh is weak. Sometimes we are afflicted so that we can keep that in mind and keep humble before God.

To summarize, the flesh is weak and God uses this weakness to teach us lessons and to develop us into the persons He wants us to be. Yes, He has the power to heal and He can heal, and He often does. On the other hand, if we are not close to Him, if we are not repentant and zealously putting Him first and keeping His commandments, we will be quenching His Spirit and we will lack His power. Now, God uses our weaknesses and our flesh to humble us, to bring us close to Him, and to teach us the things He wants us to learn. He also allows us to experience these weaknesses of the flesh so that we can have sympathy for others.

As Paul wrote in the book of Hebrews, We have now a High Priest who understands our sufferings and our struggles and sympathizes with us and knows what is going on and the things that we have to put up with. And therefore, we have a High Priest who can go in before the Father, asking that His sacrifice be applied to us with the full understanding of our temptations and our suffering. Jesus Christ suffered and we also must suffer: for the servant is not greater than his master. There is nothing wrong with trying to help others and with seeking help from a physician. In fact, it would be a sin to not do this because by not doing it: as it is written, if we know to do good and we are not doing it, that is sin. Further, we are not demonstrating the love of God if we have no concern for the sufferings of others and if we do nothing to help them.

And beyond that, faith without works is dead and if we say, “Oh, go and be healed,” and we don’t try and help them, what good have we done to them? Absolutely, none. As it is written, faith without works is dead. We must demonstrate our faith by our works. This is very important. We must do our best to keep all God's commandments and God's law is love and concern for others as well as love and concern for God. We should put God first but that doesn’t mean that we neglect our neighbors or in some cases even our own family members and we sit there and we watch them suffer when in some cases we could easily alleviate that suffering and possibly save a life through some minor and simple well-known procedure.

We should not say, “Well, we're not going to do that procedure because it indicates lack of faith.” Quite the contrary, by doing it we demonstrate our faith. and God's love within us. We demonstrate our faith by our actions. And if we have faith in God, we will love Him and keep His commandments and we will love our fellowmen and we will be concerned about them and we will do our best to try and care for them within our means and we will trust God to take care of the rest. I am not a big fan of physicians. However, there are many cases where various procedures can do tremendous good.

And we have to be very careful. Judge everything, make our assessments based on being informed and then make proper, godly decisions to do what is right in God's eyes and the overriding law of God that overrides all else is the law of mercy. This applies to the sinner and it also applies to the injured or the sick human being. In fact, how much more should it apply to a human being than to a mere beast of the field?

Mat 9:12
But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not physician, but they that are sick.