[3] Good News, vol. 18, no. 12, December 1927

“The Curse Removed”

Or

“The Divine Antidote for Sin, Sickness, Snakebite and Sorrow.”

An Address Given by Evangelist Fred. B. Van Eyk, Maryborough, Sunday Morning, October 7, 1927, at the Lord's Table.

* * *

Text: Gal. 3: 13—"For Christ has redeemed us from The Curse."

The Bible is no good to any of us unless we believe with all our hearts that all it contains is a direct message from God to us, personally, and not only believe all that it says, but just what it says, and act upon it, as if it were the instruction of God to us personally.

THE FAITH LIFE.

The great secret of success in the Faith life lies in isolating yourself before every promise of God as if there were no other person in the world, and that Jesus died for you and you only, and every promise that is written was just written with the express purpose that you, personally, should benefit by it. There must be a living, vital appropriation on the part of the individual before any promise contained in the Word of God will operate. (Heb. 11: 6). 'Without Faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS, and that HE IS a re-warder of them that DILIGENTLY seek HIM.'

THE SPIRIT VISIBLY OPERATING.

Let me refer to a most wonderful healing that took place during my campaign in Brisbane. A young girl, by the name of Everett, who had a double curvature of the spine, her one shoulder several inches higher than the other, with a large hunch on her back, deformed ribs, and her whole body twisted up in a most awful condition, no bust whatsoever, her chest was just a hollow. Miss Everett came to see me, and was duly anointed and prayed for. Two days afterward she came to interview me again, with the express purpose of showing what was happening. There, before my very eyes was the Mighty Spirit of God visibly operating upon her body. The whole body, the shoulder, the hunch, etc., was being moved forward and backward, upwards and downwards. It was a sight that thrilled me with the consciousness of the presence of God. This continued for days, until she was perfectly straightened out. Could anything be more real? Our eyes beheld the Invisible, Who, through the mighty action of His own Divine Power, had become visible. Glory to God. Miss Everett's spine is now straight, her hunch has disappeared, her shoulder dropped 4 inches, her deformed ribs shifted into position, with new flesh growing on them, and her bust has developed perfectly.

Again let me refer to our prayer meeting last night when the power of God was so wonderfully present, and one of our young brothers got his baptism into the Holy Spirit. I was sitting alongside of him, watching and praying. As I watched the mighty operation of God's Spirit taking possession of his entire being, suddenly his lips began to move, and he began to speak fluently in an unknown tongue, and, shortly afterwards, gave the interpretation. It was then that there flashed into my being—with all the vividness that the Holy Spirit alone is capable of giving—the truth of the Word of God in Acts 2: 22, 23:—

"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.

"This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear."

Here was I actually seeing, with my own eyes, hearing with my own ears the truth of the Word of God being demonstrated. My being was thrilled, I sat there awed—the blazing glory of this Heavenly Revelation seemed to fill and permeate everything and everybody; and, in the Spirit there echoed through the depths of my heart of hearts the words of the Apostle Peter, "THIS IS THAT," which ye now see and hear. How did I know this was that, and that this was the Spirit of God? Could I disbelieve? Nay, dare I disbelieve? Here I see a young man, naturally of a shy disposition, in a wonderful manner praising and magnifying the Name of Jesus! There is only one Spirit that does that sort of thing. The Holy Spirit, the Comforter! "When He is come .... He shall glorify me." (John 16: 14.)

Shortly after that the Holy Spirit impressed upon my mind these glorious facts and truths that I am going to speak to you about this morning. Let me just say this, there are thousands of earnest Christians in the various denominational Churches who live an exemplary life but have not yet experienced the fulness of the Pentecostal Blessing; neither do they enjoy the blessing of Divine Healing for the body. Why? Is it because there IS no Baptism of the Holy Ghost? Is it because there IS no healing in the Blessed Name of Jesus? No! A thousand times no! What, then, is the matter? The simple fact is that these folks have not, as yet, seen that the Word of God promises them healing for their bodies as well as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and that one receives it exactly in the same way as salvation is received or any other blessing promised in the Word.

HOW TO OBTAIN THE PROMISES.

We are told: "By grace are ye saved, through faith." (Eph. 2: 8.) They appreciate this fact, claim and

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obtain their salvation through faith, and there they leave it, and, because they have not been taught that "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Rom. 10: 17); therefore, they do not read the Word sufficiently to understand and appropriate by faith other glorious promises contained therein. Our Lord said: "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you." (Luke 24: 49.) How might they have received it (had they understood)? "That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Gal. 3: 14). Thousands who dare to take God literally at His Word are actually receiving and experiencing these glorious blessings. God works only on the lines of Faith. "Without Faith it is impossible to please God." (Heb. 11: 6.) It is a DIVINE Law, instituted by God Himself, the pivot or hinge on which the door of God's riches opens and closes. God has limited Himself to this Law, and will not work or bless, unless the necessary faith is there to operate these promises; and, as "Faith" cometh by hearing the word of God, it is imperative that we have the right kind of faith, and believe the whole of God's Word before we can share the whole of its Blessings.

THE ATONEMENT.

Now, with the same covenant of Scripture before us, let us examine the Word and see what it has to say about the "ATONEMENT" of Jesus Christ, and what benefits and blessings have come to humanity through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary; also what conditions God intended to bring about, through the Atonement, in the individual's life who accepted Jesus Christ and entered into the benefits and blessings of the atonement; and to bring to light, what is the administration of the sacred secret which had been hidden away from the ages in God, Who did all things create?

"In order that now unto the principalities and the authorities in the heavenlies might be known, through the means of the assemby, the manifold wisdom of God" (Eph. 3: 10).

To me, by His Spirit, He has disclosed the omnipotent depths of the wonderful Atonement of Jesus Christ in such beauty and glory as I have never seen before. All things lost or forfeited in the Fall, restored in Christ! "Why, then, do we see so little of it manifested?" Because of your unbelief!

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE.

Five hundred years ago there was just as much electricity in the atmosphere as there is to-day, but man did not always utilise that wonderful, ethereal power to the. extent in which it gives us light and power today; for now we have discovered the laws that govern electricity we know how to control it and use it to its best advantage. But the good folks who lived five hundred years ago, lived without these privileges, NOT BECAUSE ELECTRICITY DID NOT EXIST, but because they did NOT KNOW how to control and use it. For God declares: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4: 6). Shall we say that, because the churches have failed, through lack of knowledge, to control and utilise the power of God, that it therefore does not exist? No, Sir, but rather let us come back to the Word of God with humble and docile spirit and seek, through the medium of its sacred pages, the method and law that governs Divine power, that we may use it to the best advantage of suffering humanity. That law, I say again, is simple "FAITH"; implicit Faith in GOD'S WORD.

WHAT THE CURSE DID.

Now will you turn with me to Gen. 3: 14, 19.

14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel.

16. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17. And unto Adam he said. Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

We see here several conditions brought about through the subtlety of the serpent in the fall of man which is what we know to-day as "the curse" which has blighted man, woman, life, vegetation and the whole of this world. The serpent also was cursed as a result of disobedience to the direct commandment of God. I would like to emphasise that none of these conditions existed before the fall, they were all conditions brought about through the fall.

"Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all the beasts of the field, upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" (verse 14)..

THE REDEEMING CLAUSE.

It is now very important to note, that, right here, God introduces the redeeming clause (verse 15). "The seed of the woman," or, in other words, in due time a Redeemer would be born from the seed of the woman, who would redeem man from this curse. Let us examine Psalm 140: 3. "They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips." Now, in innocence, this was not so, God said everything was good, even the snake was not originally poisonous. For six thousand years, now, God has been endeavoring to emphasise that, in Christ, man is redeemed from the curse. We will now deal with the serpent first, and reveal the Divine antidote for snake-bite. Through a long, long process of continuous, progressive revelation, God has been trying to teach humanity that, in the blessed atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ, there is perfect redemption from every condition brought in through the Fall. First, God showed it in picture or in type. The types were given with an express purpose, viz:—that we should learn from them; we, on whom the end of the ages rests (1 Cor. 10: 11). Each type is invariably perfected in the vicarious death of Christ Jesus, and taught and demonstrated in the New Testament Scriptures. We will now examine the Scriptures in regard to the disannulment of the poison of the serpent. The type (Num. 21: 6-9) shows how the people sinned against God, for which sin (verse 6) the Lord sent fiery serpents amongst them, which bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Then, when the people admitted their sin, the Lord gave Moses definite instructions to the effect that he should make a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole, "and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." What truth does this reveal? The Fiery Serpent on the pole was a type of Jesus Christ, the world's Redeemer, "LIFTED UP;" every one that looked, and believed the Word of God, through Moses, that very moment, the serpent's poison was counter-

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acted in his body. If those who looked at the type were thus favored, how much more we, who can, to-day, look upon the great Anti-type, even Jesus Christ?

PRE-FALL CONDITIONS OPERATE NOW.

Now, when we come over into the New Testament dispensation, we find the fact both in precept and example. Jesus continually demonstrated in type the perpetuity of every covenant taught in the Old Testament. After Jesus had fulfilled all things, entered into the strong man's house and bound the devil and death, He came forth victorious; and when He spoke to His disciples, we read that He upbraided them because of their unbelief, and then, immediately, went on to inform them of the wonderful work he had accomplished. We might just here paraphrase the words of the last great commission, without doing violence to the scriptures. "You all know how, through the curse, the serpent became a venomous beast, but I have come to disannul the effects of the Fall and the curse, therefore, you that believe in MY NAME, shall now take up serpents and they shall in no wise hurt you (Mark 16: 17). "Behold, I give you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10: 19). Again, "Preach to all nations, and teach them to observe ALL things whatsoever I have commanded you, (that certainly includes Luke 10: 19) and lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the age (Matt. 28: 20). Now, in Acts 28: 3-6, the truth of this blessed theme is demonstrated beyond a doubt. The serpent fastened itself to Paul's hand, and while the inhabitants of the Island were waiting for him to drop dead, nothing happened. Thus the authenticity of Mark 16: 17 is clearly proved. We have this truth, firstly promised, secondly taught—in type or picture—thirdly commanded by Jesus, fourthly perfected in His atonement, fifthly demonstrated by his followers, sixthly laid down for all time, contingencies and ages—until we come right over to the millennial age, when, in the regeneration of the earth, a sucking child shall play upon the hole of the asp, and a weaned child shall place his hand upon the adder's den (Isa. 11: 8). But, dear believer (you who truly believe) that condition should obtain here and now in your own personal REGENERATED life. Did not Jesus say the kingdom of God is within you? (Luke 17: 21) meaning that the condition of God's coming kingdom upon the earth should now be revealed and demonstrated in each believer's life. "They shall take up serpents, a child shall put his hand upon the adder's den, the Word of God is now, as then, it shall not hurt them." Brother and Sister, let me urge you, stop questioning and doubting, and believe the Word of the living God.

Our next starting point is in the 16th and 17th verses of Gen. 3: "Cursed is the ground for your sake, thorns and thistles, also, it shall bring forth. Here, then, we find where poisonous herbs came from; they did not exist before the Fall, for everything was gopd (Gen. 1: 31). They are all part of the curse. Incidentally, you also have the solution of where the tobacco plant came from; for it is certainly one of the biggest curses under God's sun to-day. That, also, is removed through the atonement. For the moment a man enters into the new birth he loses all desire for smoking, while, as long as you are a slave to this cursed weed, you are under bondage to the curse of the Law. I would advise you to read Rom. 3: 19: but, to come back to our point again, to prove that there were no poisonous plants before the Fall, let us examine Gen. 1: 29: "I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the whole earth; and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." You cannot contradict this, for God said it. To-day, you would not dare to eat every plant upon the face of the whole earth bearing seed! Why? because the ground—as well as man and vegetation—was affected (2 Kings 4: 38-41).

We find the sons of the prophets gathering some wild gourds; when these were shred and placed into the pot the whole pottage became poisoned. The verdict of the sons of the prophets was: "Thou man of God, there is death in the pot"; we would call it, in our modern language, "Poison," but here, in scriptural language, it is termed "Death," because poison ministers death; it is death in its essence. The question to be answered, however, is »where did death come from? Rom. 5: 12 says: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, AND DEATH BY SIN," thus we see, that, if what was in the wild gourds was termed "DEATH" by the Word of God, it came in by sin. Now we discover one of the most sublime and wonderful truths in the entire Word of God. A remedial agent was called for, to counteract the poison of death; the remedy used was "MEAL."

THE MEAL A TYPE.

A substance which is well known in the scriptures as a figure of Christ. It was the introduction of the meal (the Christ life) that disannulled the poison. It is quite evident, surely, that there was no inherent virtue in the meal, only as the type of Christ. Meal is corn, cut, threshed and ground; it surely, is a fit representation of Christ, whose perfection came" out the more in proportion to the greatness and severity of His trials and sufferings. By whose stripes—or—bruises—healing is granted unto us (Isa. 53: 5). Well, now, what is the lesson? If poison is administered to any individual who is a, believer in Christ Jesus and His atonement, that poison is death to the individual to whom it is administered, as in the case of pottage. But just as the meal (type of Christ) counteracted the poison, so when we take anything deadly, Jesus Christ meets the condition effectively. When we remember that the meat offering (Lev. 2: 1) was really a meal offering, a food offering of fine flour, it becomes abundantly clear, that —as both the priest and the offering were types of Christ Jesus is both the PHYSICIAN and the REMEDY. Thus, once more we discover the glorious position that Mark 16:17 holds in the believer's life. That glorious truth, the removal of the curse, was taught right through the Old Testament scriptures in type, and when we come over to the New Testament we find it there also, and, as soon as Jesus had made atonement, He explained to His disciples that, having thus "finished all things," all power (authority) was now given unto Him in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28: 18). He was now in a position to tell them, that if they believed in His Name, they could drink any deadly poison and it would in no wise hurt them (Mark 16: IS). How forcibly is the fact demonstrated here that, to all those who truly believe in the atonement of Jesus Christ, all poison loses its power. They reign in Christ. If this is not true, then no other truth of the atonement can be relied upon. That part of the curse, then, is removed for each individual who believes in His NAME.

THE FOOLISHNESS OF SCOFFERS.

It was suggested in one of our local papers, that I should drink a dose of "Rough on Rats" mixed by a leading chemist to prove Mark 16: 17. I just feel here like saying with the Apostle Paul: "Brethren, be not children in understanding.....but in understanding be men." God did not intend us to go about the country as a side show to entertain brainless idiots, but He placed these blessed truths in our possession to be used in time of need. We might as well say: "Let one of your leading physicians inoculate you with a deadly disease germ, and then come and have yourself anointed and prayed for, and see if you will be healed.” There is just as much sense in the one as in the other. We are looking forward to the regeneration of the whole earth when Jesus comes, but these conditions have already obtained for us who have here and now entered into God's miraculous way of regeneration. Glory be to God. Have faith in God!

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Only believe, only believe, All things are possible, If you will only believe.

Our next starting point is (Gen. 3: 19): "For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." The devil said: "Hath God said?" Yes brother, sister, God "Hath Said." In the day thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die." Every grave in the cemetery is a protest against that Edenic lie: "Ye shall not surely die"; every funeral procession passing throught your streets is a protest against satan's lie. No wonder the Lord Jesus said that the devil was a liar, and the father of it (John 8: 44). God hath said: "Thou shalt die!" But right there, from the very time the death sentence was pronounced, God promised redemption from that condition through the Seed of the Woman. Why should we, with our puny minds, question the Word of God? Why should preachers try to make apologies for the Word of God so as to hide their own impotence? Is the reason not obvious? Men, having failed to grasp the beauty and power of the work of the Cross, try every conceivable subterfuge to discredit the value of Christ's work on the Cross, and will go to any amount of trouble and speculation and theological analysis to prove that God did not really mean what He said; as a noted D.D. declared: "These words were a hyperbole." Well, this morning, we are just prepared to believe every Promise of the Word just as He promised it, without adding to or taking away from it. "Dying, thou shalt die!" Death sentence pronounced; the human race doomed to death! Now, in examining the sacred pages of Holy writ, let us endeavor to see what the promises of God consist of, and the relation they hold to this curse. We might say, here, that just as the poison in the pot was called, in Divine language, "Death," or, as we know poison is the essence of death or the element that ministers death, so disease is the power that ministers death, and the one who has the power of death is the devil (Heb. 2: 14). There are, therefore, now two things to prove, that is, that, in the atonement of Jesus Christ, both healing and the destruction of him who had the power of death was provided. Again let me tell you that, unless you are prepared to accept all the Word of God says, and just what it says, it is impossible to have real Faith in God.

First let us again learn our lesson from the picture God gave us in type. God's dealings with Israel are a type of God's subsequent dealings with His Church, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the end of the ages rest.

In Numbers (16: 41-50), we see God's anger demonstrated in the way He dealt with Korah and his company for interfering with God's arrangements in the camp of Israel, and with His commandments to Moses and Aaron. After Korah and his company had been destroyed, the people began to murmur against Moses. That again kindled God's wrath against the people to such an extent that He said to Moses: "Get ye up from amongst the congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment." "And immediately there began a plague." Death had to be stopped at all costs. Now listen to the wonderful instruction that was given by Moses to the Priest, and note the wonderful truth it reveals:

"Take a censer and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an 'ATONEMENT' for them, for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun." And Aaron took as Moses had commanded him, and ran into the midst of the congregation, and behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an 'ATONEMENT' for the people, and he stood between the dead and the living; AND THE PLAGUE WAS STOPPED!"

From this it is abundantly clear to each and all of us, that the plague which had ministered death to thousands of the Lord's people "WAS STAYED BY ATONEMENT." Both the Priest and the incense here were types of Christ and His atoning work on Calvary. Now let us turn our attention to the Anti-type of this wonderful picture. Adam and Eve had disobeyed God's commandments in the Garden, and, by their disobedience, death had entered, and so death passed upon all men, in that all have sinned. "THE WORLD DOOMED TO DIE AND DYING!"

In this instance of the type, Aaron, who was a type of Christ, took his stand between the dead and the living. So Jesus Christ, when everything was lost and the world doomed to die, took his stand between the dying world and the living God, to wit, that—

"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5: 19).

So, there on that cruel cross of Calvary, in the open eye of the angel-crowded heavens, whilst men trembled and demons howled, rang out clear, triumphant, the voice of Jesus Christ, in those immortal words which j have echoed and re-echoed in the lives of countless i multitudes, "IT IS FINISHED." There he took his stand between the dead and living, there the plague of death was stopped for every true believer. God so loved the dying world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3: 16). Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man (Heb. 2: 9). Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead (2 Cor. 5: 14). And again we see in the "LAW" of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (clearly shown in Rom. 8: 3) an absolute deliverance from the Law of Sin and Death. Let me ask you most solemnly, are these merely words, coins of intellectual exchange, or can we rely upon them as a revelation of Divine facts? Let us also carefully read (Heb. 2: 14):

"For as much 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 who had the power of death, that is the devil."

Let us now, for one brief moment, just examine the signification of the word "Destroy": "To separate violently into its constituent parts, to demolish, to bring to naught. To put an end to the existence of prosperity and beauty." What a mighty revelation of the results of the Atonement of Jesus Christ! The power of the devil "DESTROYED" for every one who truly believes in Jesus Christ. Dare we believe? Nay, dare we disbelieve what the meaning of this word, under Divine inspiration, conveys? No wonder the great Apostle Paul breaks forth in Triumphant Faith:

"And He has taken away the same out of the midst, nailing it to the Cross: spoiling principalities and the authorities, He made of them an open example, celebrating a triumph over them thereby" (Col. 2: 14, 15 Roth.).

Clearly, forcibly, in glowing language, does the Word of God show the subversion, conquering, downfall, ruin and demolition of our arch enemy, who had the power of Death; and the deliverance of us, who, through fear of death, were all our lifetime subject to bondage (Heb. 2: 15); and also the exaltation and triumph of Him who conquered, even Jesus Christ.

Now I will endeavor to show the effect of the wonderful atonement of Jesus Christ in its relation to the problem of disease. The New Testament clearly teaches that, when Jesus came into the world, He healed all manner of disease, and all who had need of healing (examine Matt. 8: 16, 12: 15, 14: 14, Luke 4: 40). We

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are told very clearly the reason for His acting in this way: "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, Esaias, saying Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses" (Matt. 8: 17). Thus, clearly. He healed them all on the grounds of Atonement: and thus the fact is clearly demonstrated that the object of the Atonement was the removal of the effects of the curse. Because, if we examine carefully Deut. 28: 15, 21-22, 27-28, 35, 60-61:—

15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

21. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

22. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting.

27. The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

28. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:

35. The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

60. Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.

61. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

The last verse states: "Every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this Law." Therefore, "ALL Sicknesses," all your cancers, tumors and other diseases of to-day fall under this clause, and are a result of sin's entrance through disobedience. We gather from the reading of Luke 9 and 10, that Jesus gave a direct commandment, that, through Faith in Him, this condition was remedied, and He therefore gave the Twelve and Seventy, power to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cast out demons, in fact, over every power of the enemy gave He them authority; of which He later on said: "Teach all nations to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you" (Matt. 28:20).

THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.

. Let arrogant infidels deny this and rejoice in their ignorance and unbelief, as for me, I believe every word in the blessed old book. Before His resurrection Jesus was able to say to the bereaved Martha: "I am the Resurrection and the Life" (John 11: 25). And when He had risen conqueror over Death He saith:

"I have the keys of hell and of death" (Rev. 1: 18). I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it (Rev. 3: 8).

THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW.

Therefore we boldly declare that: "These signs shall follow them that believe in MY NAME!" Yes, "in My Name." They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover (Mark 16: 17, 18). The Acts of the Apostles is a demonstration of that power, and a confirmation of Christ's words in Mark 16. We have here ample evidence of the reason why the devil and his emissaries have so vigorously attempted to discredit the truth and authenticity of the last 12 verses of Mark 16. We see this truth so interwoven, running through the entire scriptures from Genesis to Revelation like a scarlet thread, that it binds the entire Word of God into one grand, glorious whole. Mark 16 goes back to the fall recorded in Genesis and includes those very phases which originally fell under the curse, and were remedied in the blessed Atonement of Jesus Christ. The devil, having lost the battle on the Cross, has a good reason, to-day, for trying to discredit Mark 16.

DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY.

This morning, while I was speaking here, and as I looked at these beautiful emblems on the table representing the body and blood of out Lord, the Holy Spirit flashed new, glorious truth into my soul. Bless God! Oh, beloved, if only we could believe the Word of God, what wonderful people we would be! When the poison—or death—was in the Pot, the substance— or meal—which was a type of the life of Christ, was introduced; its immediate effect was the total disannulment of the effect of the poison or death in the Pot. We have before us here this morning this bread, made from the very substance which—in type—proved the disannulment of death. This ordinance was officially instituted by Jesus Christ Himself, saying: "This is My body which is broken for you, eat ye all of it!" What a mighty, omnipotent revelation! the actual, experimental introduction of the very substance which annulled the death in the Pot into your body: that a man may eat thereof and live!

You say there is no inherent virtue in the bread; yes, brother, we are prepared to admit that, but neither was there in the meal, yet it acted; and so I make bold to say this morning that this bread—eaten in Faith— will likewise act and counteract death which now worketh in these, our bodies. Let us again, under the illumination of the Spirit, read those words of Jesus which have been scoffed at, modified, and, in some instances, neglected and passed over entirely. Cease to question or doubt: take the Lord at His Word, believe

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven, if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world .... who so eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life .... My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed .... He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me, and I in him. As the Living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me .... he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6: 51-63).

LOST PRIVILEGES ABSOLUTELY RESTORED.

The Lord Jesus, in the the same night in which He was betrayed, "Took Bread," and when He had given thanks, He brake it and said: "Take eat, this is My body which is broken for you" (1 Cor. 11: 23). So when the Bread is eaten in Faith, and the individual so partaking discerns the body of the Lord, the blessed Holy Spirit will destroy and expel disease from the entire being. Through the introduction of the life of Christ into your body, the operation of the Spirit immediately reacts upon the diseased condition, the life of God quickens the diseased part, and the individual is healed. For this is_ all that is needed in Divine healing; only that the life of God should touch that part of the human frame that is afflicted. Not only has the "ATONEMENT" provided healing, but, in addition to healing, there is a most stupendous provision made:

"In all things (mark well, 'ALL THINGS' suited to life and godliness), His DIVINE POWER UNTO US HAS GIVEN .... Through which His precious and very great promises have unto US been given, in order that, through these, we might

[8] Good News, vol. 18, no. 12, December 1927

become SHARERS IN THE DIVINE NATURE" (2 Pet. 1: 4 Roth).

I declare unto you this morning that—should you eat believingly—you can be healed the moment you partake in living Faith of these glorious emblems.

Hundreds and thousands of Christians are partaking of the Lord's table without the least benefit, just because there is no real living Faith operating, and they do not discern the body of the Lord. Beloved, in this blessed, glorious atonement of Jesus Christ all the prerogatives and privileges forfeited in the fall are absolutely restored. Ultimately, the whole earth will be regenerated and restored, and become a province of heaven; and sin, sickness, sorrow and death shall be banished forever. But, right here and now, God promises to every believer power over death, sin and disease: "For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the Law of Sin and Death." Beloved, if this does not mean what it says, just what it says, all that it says, I ask: "What, then, does it mean?" What value does the Word of God hold for you and me if we cannot cling to its literal promises? Yes, indeed, I AM FREE, because the purpose of God is that the life of Christ should be made manifest in our mortal flesh (2 Cor. 4: 11). Until we are filled with all the fulness of God (Eph. 3: 19).

"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, HE IS A NEW CREATURE; Christ has redeemed us from the Curse .... that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through Faith" (Gal. 3: 13, 14).

Yes, bless God, "redeemed from the Curse!" Let me conclude by urging you to believe the Word of God. If others find pleasure in living under the Curse, there is no reason why you should: Christ has REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE. The burden of my prayers is: "Lord help me to believe Thy Word." Amen.

© Southern Cross College, 2005