Just as Jesus went to the cross to provide cleansing from sins, he went to the whipping post to provide healing for our bodies. As Isaiah prophesied, "By his stripes we are healed." If you have prayed for a healing, yet have not received it, this message is chiefly for you. There is a cause - and a remedy - for lack of faith.

We find some 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 prayer for you is that you may 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. Could it be that you have been influenced by your denomination or by someone you have trusted who doesn't believe in divine healing? Or is it that you have failed to obey God to seek for spiritual power, and, as a result, you have become so demoniacally jealous of those who did pay the price that you deny the reality of it? Regardless of the reason for your being controlled by these doubting and denying "demons" of unbelief, you need prayer; and let me advise you to call for it soon. Indeed, my friend, I am praying for you. 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, you help me pray that God will either convince or remove them, so that you can walk in the truth.

Let us address now God's children who believe in God's delivering power, but who haven't been able to produce enough faith to be healed themselves. There are, to be sure, a number of things which will prevent one's healing, though he be a follower of Christ. For instance, the Apostle Peter, you will recall, 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 causes that are keeping married believers from answered prayers and divine healings today.

Now, let us take every professed follower of Christ who reads this tract and permit him to "examine himself to see whether he be in the faith." And when I say "the faith", I do not mean any particular creed or denomination. I mean "the faith which was once delivered to the saints", the faith that produces a sincere obedience to God and His word. This is the faith by which one is said to be justified (Rom.5:1). It is called the faith through which one is saved (Eph.2:8). The apostle Paul, that great apostle, tells us that this is the "faith that worketh by love" (Gal.5:6), and "is counted for righteousness" (Rom.4:5). And, may I say, it is the faith that heals and delivers both body and soul from all infirmities. "All men have not faith", Paul further declares; therefore, we are not surprised to see some among us who do not believe 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. John, that shepherdly-hearted apostle, writes in his first epistle (3:21-22), "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence [faith] toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."

From the preceding scriptures, we notice there are two acts of obedience mentioned which entitle us to receive "whatsoever we ask". The first act is, "we keep his commandments". And what are His commandments? First, "That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another" (1Jn.3:23). This is just one of the acts, or half of what it takes to assure us that our prayers will be answered. The second act, or other half, is, "and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." Oh, how many we see who are missing God here! There are, at least, a few of "those things" about most believers that do not please God; and, to be frank with you, no believer has the promise to be healed until he gives them up, for they produce condemnation rather than faith in the heart and mind. We are told that, "whatsoever is not of faith is sin"; consequently, one cannot hope to receive an answer to prayer, especially a great miracle of healing, as long as sin of any description remains in his life.

Beloved, you may not think so, but that little no-harm thing which you haven't let go yet may be keeping you from the healing you have so long sought. Don't take a chance by holding it back; give it up; be free one more time; and God will do just what He has promised. Can't you hear Him asking you this very minute, "How is it that ye have no faith?" Can't you still hear Him saying, "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive?" To me, that voice from the hills of old Judea is still crying, "Have faith in God!"

Paul taught that "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom.10:17). The word, "hearing" in this case means, "listening to the word of God with a firm purpose to obey His commands". And friend, if you want real faith, faith that brings healing or any other blessing from God, you do that. Unfortunately, there are not a few who have listened to false theological teaching about healing until they have lost what little faith they did have. Paul spoke of "holding faith, and a good conscience; which," he says, "some having put away...have made shipwreck" (1Tim. 1:19). Thousands upon thousands, "having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith", are seeking healing, but to no avail. Before they can ever receive their healing, they must again purify their hearts by faith; that is, "they must repent and do the first works" and be re-established in the faith.

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. 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 the Spirit-filled believer to be healed who has condemnation in his heart and mind. So, may God help us, as believers, to stay free in the Spirit of truth.

I believe we are on the threshold of the greatest performance of miracles the world has ever witnessed. Did not Jesus, in the closing days of his ministry, say, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to my Father" (Jn.14:12)? Certainly, sick one, you can be healed and delivered right now, for 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 with his stripes we are healed" (Isa. 53:5).

It is definitely the Lord's will for all of us who are sick and suffering to be healed. It is simply our weakness of faith which prevents our being healed; it is never a lack on God's part. We find some who seem to think their suffering in body is for the glory of God, while there are others who say they are too old and feeble to be healed, but neither is true. 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 escape this and to reach a ripe old age, and they were called away while in perfect health. Not all these are listed in the Bible, either; some have lived and died in this "latter rain" of the age. 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. Some of these, I am inclined to believe, are suffering because they are too self-righteous to confess their faults to one another, and 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.

Moreover, there are others, perhaps not so old, who enjoy overindulgence in eating and drinking, and thus give cause for their continued sickness. They should "abstain from fleshly lusts", so that God can heal them.

The healing of one's body by the power of God brings a joy into his heart similar to that of conversion. And may we ask you, my friend, this question, "Whether it is easier to say to the sick...Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed and walk?" (Mk.2:9). The early Pharisees doubted the power of Jesus to forgive sins but admitted that Jesus had the power to heal. Today, we find our modern Pharisees holding an opinion which is quite opposite, for they acknowledge that Jesus forgives sin, but deny his power to heal the sick. Paul commanded Timothy, concerning these men, "from such, turn away" (2Tim.3:5).

May I say, in all sincerity, that I have found, after many years of close observation, that failing to be healed often leads one to backsliding, and failing to believe to divine healing is proof that one is already backslidden in heart. Naaman, the leper, no doubt had tried every physician far and near, but was not cured. It was when he obeyed the command of God's prophet that he was healed. The Lord has prescribed our healing in His word. 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, then 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 ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but, he that believeth not shall be damned", also said, "And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 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" (Mk.16:15-18). May you hear his voice today, and receive the healing which is God's will for His children to receive. Amen.