Question About the Medical System

Part Two

---

---

Question:

Reply: Part Two

Sister Hannah Smith writes:

A Christian who was in a great deal of trouble was recounting to another Christian the various efforts he had made to find deliverance, and concluded by saying, “But it has all been in vain, and there is literally nothing left for me to do now but to trust the Lord.”

“Alas!” exclaimed his friend in a tone of the deepest commiseration, as though no greater risk were possible—“Alas! has it come to that?”

[Hannah W. Smith; The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, “How to Enter In”]

Oh, what a reproach is fleshly wisdom to the ways of the Lord! “But wisdom is justified of her children.”* (Matthew 11:19)

The ways of the wisdom that cometh from above are capable of being imitated outwardly without the inward inspiration of faith from above. Therefore it is possible to lay aside medicine and going to the doctor without getting what God has for us in our afflictions. It is possible to become so focused on deliverance from the affliction that we lose sight of all that God is trying to do in allowing the affliction. A great deal of activity in the spiritually dull of hearing consists of the avoidance or the minimization of all trials, as much as possible. As a result, their entire vision of Christian living is skewed. The writer of Hebrews had a real burden to speak of how the Lord Jesus went about His earthly existence, yet had to tell such folks that these things were “hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.”* (Hebrews 5:11) But we see also the Bible prayer that “the God of all grace… after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”* (1 Peter 5:10)

There are people who will not go to the doctor for any reason, but they do not grow spiritually in their afflictions. The trial works them, rather than they being able to work the trial. But those who receive this precious wisdom that comes from above have a different experience than this. All things work together for their good. All things are theirs. They find treasure in the affliction. They are uplifted; they are inspired. They can sing with the poet:

“Welcome the storms, my hope is abounding;
Let the waves come, my anchor is sure;
Fixed in the Rock on which I am standing,
How can I fall when all is secure?
Wonderful peace in Thee I’m possessing,
Vict’ry through Christ I ever shall sing;
Let the rain fall in showers of blessing,
Homage and praise to Thee I would bring.”*

But let us note that all of this is possible because of complete abandonment to the will of God. When and if I mix with my affliction my own attempts to manage, fix, or adjust the trial without direct and clear sanction from the Lord—just to the extent that I am in charge and directing things, then to that extent my blessing is lessened, and to that extent I fail to get all that God has for me. It may be necessary for me to be like the people spoken of in Hebrews 11:35, “not accepting deliverance,” to get what God has for me and others in the trial. This seems completely unreasonable and outrageous to those who are attuned to the wisdom from below. They are excruciatingly slowly convinced, if convinced at all, that God actually takes His children down such a path. But the spiritually-minded are not so. The Spirit of God within them, the divinely-planted charity within in all of its completeness and fullness (which seeketh not its own), and the continual offering of body and soul upon the altar before God, all combine to prove what is the perfect will of God in their trials. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”* (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Brother Paul speaks here of fornication, but we can easily see that this applies to trusting God in afflictions, too.

I do not belong to myself. I have given myself away. I need permission; I need direction. I am a steward and must be instructed as how to proceed. I am learning as I go. I am trusting in the wisdom from above to do it acceptably and correctly. I am not formulating policy. I am not devising a personal creed. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”* (Psalm 37:23) I want to walk before the Lord unto all pleasing; I want to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith I am called. I am trusting Him to show me the way, step by step. He is doing so, and I am blessed.

If I go to the doctor, I find that there is something there that will assume direction, and that something is foreign to how the Spirit of God would direct me. There is a another wisdom at work, and it does not come from above. If I carefully consult with the doctor and avoid getting under his/her direction, yet I am consulting with wisdom that is not from above. Maybe I get some basic maintenance-of-good-health advice; perhaps the doctor is respectful of my conscience, and I can avoid damaging my faith (and the inspiration of my faith) by being exceedingly careful, but I hope that it is plain to you that I am in a perilous, risky, slippery place. The same situation exists in consulting a lawyer about a legal matter. Now here is the Word of God on this point: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”* (Psalm 1:1) I want that blessing; I want it in its fulness. And I want to avoid the impairment of real spirituality, too. I do not want to do anything destructive to the rules of spiritual life—in short, whatever the Spirit of God would not have me do. Well, if I am not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, what am I to do? “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”* (Psalm 1:2-3) WOW! Did you get that?

1. I’ll be by the rivers of water. Always supplied, even in time of drought.

2. I’ll bring forth my fruit in its season. Every time. Always.

3. My leaf shall not wither. Consider what happens to me, how my very life is threatened, if my leaves wither.

4. Whatsoever I do shall prosper. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”* (Joshua 1:8-9)

But wait. There is more. “The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”* (Psalm 1:4-6)

This is just as serious and weighty as the promised blessings to the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord, who meditates in that law day and night. Is there any other way that really works that is less than all the way with the Lord? Is there any real merit to less than all? “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”* (Revelation 3:15-16)

Most professed Christians cannot afford to trust the Lord completely. They have other considerations than wholly following God. How about the career? They have plans; they have goals. If they are diverted from these things, if affliction intervenes and interferes, they want to “get back on track” as soon as possible. They cannot sing from the heart:

“O sweet will of God! thou hast girded me ’round,
Like the deep, moving currents that girdle the sea;
With omnipotent love is my poor nature bound,
And this bondage to love sets me perfectly free.”*

But with them, self is in charge, not God. Human reasoning and wisdom direct the life, not the wisdom from above. Nor do they have this testimony:

“And now I have flung myself recklessly out,
Like a chip on the stream of the Infinite Will;
I pass the rough rocks with a smile and a shout,
And I just let my God His dear purpose fulfill.”

Now, I wish to certify to you, dear brother, that this is not just poetic fancy or flight of imagination, but this is real, and it is where I am living. “I just let my God His dear purpose fulfill.” Praise His name! “What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it.”* (Isaiah 38:15)

I was with a brother who was holding a meeting in an old farmhouse in Pennsylvania. We were sleeping in a room that was heated by a duct vent in the floor; the coal furnace was in the basement below. After sleeping there a night or two, I began to cough, but neither of us knew why. I had never had such an attack before. It grew worse. It kept both of us awake. As the other brother was lying there, praying, the thought came to him to cover the duct with a white shirt. He did so, and it gave relief. The shirt was blackened from coal dust. It was in the air and was irritating my lungs.

God, at times, uses natural means to assist or even to completely deal with some afflictions. So we will all find it a continual temptation in the body, in our place of probation, to be guided by, and to lean upon, wisdom which is not from above. But if we do, then our entire vision becomes more and more temporal, earth-bound. Yet the temporal cannot be wholly ignored, for we are in the body. To live up to 2 Corinthians 4:18, to see the things which are not seen, to place the appropriate focus on things that belong to this life, to get and keep the right perspective toward the spiritual and toward the flesh, to use this world without abusing it, we need the Spirit of God. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”* (Romans 8:26-27)

Yet most people are not guided by the Holy Ghost; they are guided by something else. These “something elses” crystallize into philosophies, customs, traditions, etc., which are used as sources of guidance by those who know not the Spirit of God, and by many who think they know the voice of the Spirit, but are actually guided by something else. We are warned, “Beware lest any man spoil you [‘See that no one shall be carrying you away as spoil’YLT] through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”* (Colossians 2:8) We would emphatically repeat this warning to all: BEWARE! MANY ARE SPOILED THROUGH THESE PHILOSOPHIES AND VAIN DECEITS. Notice that these things are “after the tradition of men” and “after the rudiments of the world.” We are also informed that they are “not after Christ.” We warn all that the general spirit and attitude of the medical profession is not after Christ. It is after the tradition of men and after the rudiments of the world. Be careful how you deal with the institutions of men, medical and otherwise. There is something that robs and spoils: it deprives; it devastates; it devours; it loots; it plunders; it wastes. Furthermore, in this scripture “the ‘you’ is emphatic, and the verb in the future implies present danger more than mere possibility” (Bullinger’s Critical Lexicon).

Each person in the medical profession is affected by the overall spirit of the thing. Each person partakes, more or less, of the general direction and philosophy of the whole. Each person is an individual case, but the overall spirit and attitude of the thing is quite identifiable. One may say that God created this aspect of men’s thinking, but the fruit of its doings says otherwise. One might as well argue that God created the legal systems of men or the political systems. He allows them. He commands His children not to be rebellious against them. If they did not exist, then the people who know not God would have nothing to give them relief, order, or collective direction. But, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”* (Romans 8:14)

Some have concluded that participation in the political systems of men is not a good thing. There is a lot of truth in that. “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”* (2 Timothy 2:4) It is easy to be entangled, and it is plain that this entangling can be detrimental to the spiritual life. One, who started out well in this area, wrote, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”* (Proverbs 1:7) Solomon started out with the fear of God and appropriate humility. “And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?”* (1 Kings 3:7-9) It is plain that a man or woman who starts out with the fear of God and humility upon them in this way is protected from the slippery place of ruling over men as long as they keep the fear of God and the humility.

Is it possible for a doctor or a nurse to go about their vocation in the fear of God with a lot of humility? Yes. How about with a little of the fear of God and a little humility? Yes, but the spiritual results will be in proportion—both positive and negative results. How about someone who is devoid of humility and the fear of God (Luke 18:2)? Yes, again, in proportion. How does a doctor who is spiritually-minded, full of faith and the Holy Ghost, fit into the medical profession of today? He/she doesn’t fit. How about with only a little of both attributes? Now they fit. How about with no fear of God and humility towards Him? They fit very well indeed; it seems tailor-made for them.

Health for money? “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”* (Matthew 10:8)

Doctors on their knees? “Lord, You know what is wrong in this patient’s life….” “Yes, sir. I have come to the conclusion that God doesn’t want us to know what is wrong with you physically. I am convinced that this mysterious ailment is upon you because God is dealing with your heart.”

It is plain that the entire nature and motive of the medical profession would be radically different if God had inspired it for His trusting, confiding children to use. Also, the stigma of the cross would be upon them. The world would persecute them as it persecutes Jesus.

We find that all of those who undertook positions of mastery in the world (James 3:1) find “thorns in the flesh” to help them with the peculiar temptations that go with the responsibilities. Daniel ended up in the lion’s den, but was brought forth to the glory of God. King David went through all kinds of trials to keep him from losing his spiritual footing. All brethren who were called of God to these weighty places of mastery were given suffering and trials to help them do the job right. Saintly men of money are few and far between. And those who have wealth will also have great trials to keep their hearts from uncertain riches—witness the sufferings of Job.

Matthew, a formerly rich publican, forsook all and followed Jesus. Luke, known as the beloved physician, has no record whatsoever of practicing his physician arts while he was a Christian.

We have had people quote us the scripture, “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”* (Matthew 9:12) “See,” they say, “the Bible says that sick people need a physician,” thus implying that we have a right to rely on human physicians. But this is a careless interpretation of the text. The Pharisees had asked, “Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?”* (Matthew 9:11) Jesus was telling them that He ate with these publicans and sinners because He was a physician of the soul, and they needed a soul physician, being spiritually sick. (Of course, if one does not believe they are sick spiritually, they do not admit of needing a spiritual Physician.) In an even larger sense, Jesus is the best Physician for people in every way. But to think that the Bible advises us here to go to the physicians of men when we are sick is a ridiculous idea. Where did the sick go in the Bible? To Jesus, who is able to save both soul and body!

In considering the well-meaning, but misguided people in the medical profession who imagine that God works through their knowledge to heal their patients (as though He needed such things), I regard it in exactly the same way as many professing believers in different churches of men, who imagine that God works through them (thinking even that He must work through them) to save the souls of men. But this quote is worth pondering:

Let it be distinctly understood that God has so arranged the plan of redemption that no man or set of men can monopolize, control, or get a patent upon it. God has offered a free salvation to all the world, and it is impossible for the most crafty to convert it into a means of speculation. It is true there are money-run religions many, and hirelings many. But the “hireling [is] not the shepherd”* (John 10:12); not sent of God: and the money-making religions are frauds. Salvation is “without money and without price”* (Isaiah 55:1); therefore, whosoever would set a price upon it, proves he is not in possession of the article himself, and has but a counterfeit to offer. Every man on earth can come directly to the Author of salvation through Jesus Christ, and be saved independent of all men or angels.

[Daniel S. Warner; Salvation: Present, Perfect, Now or Never, “Salvation Is of God”]

This is absolutely true of the salvation of the soul. All works of men which mimic or attempt to duplicate the work of God in salvation are not the same as the divine work, nor does God authorize them in the hands of anyone but Himself. “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”* (Isaiah 43:11)

The healing power of the medical world falls far short of the work of divine healing, which is more accurately described in the context of divine trust. The scope of man’s healing ability is very narrow. It only touches the body. The work of God is comprehensive, reaching the spiritual need of the one healed and administering a social benefit between those bearing the burden and trusting the Lord. The scope of God’s healing plan is described in James 5:13-16: “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 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, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” We mark the collective spirituality described here, the individual responsibility to pray and rejoice, the anointing, the inspired prayer of faith, and the spiritual benefit to the afflicted one, as well as others sharing in the burden. We see this necessity for healing: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another.” To get God’s healing and all its benefits (Psalm 103:2-4), we must do it God’s way—not just generally, but also as we are specifically directed by the Spirit of God in the given affliction.

Now contrast this with the way of men. I must have the money or someone else must donate the means for the resources for my benefit. I am served by human wisdom, hopefully as good as it gets, but this makes no pretense of reaching the need of my soul. (See Jeremiah 17:9—who, besides God, can know the heart and its needs?) Then there are the side effects, the trade-off’s, of medicine and surgery. I am in the hands of fallible human beings, no matter how trained and skillful. And when I get through with all this, I have not the blessing that comes from trusting God with all my heart and leaning not to my own understanding. What weak and beggarly elements! How much people miss who do not serve the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength!

“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.”* (Psalm 118:8-9) There we find freedom from fear. “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.”* (Psalm 56:11) I am not relying on man; I am relying on God. I am not putting myself under the surgeon’s scalpel or the physician’s poisons. I am bought with a price and wish to glorify God in my body and in my spirit, which are God’s. The Lord will make no mistake. His diagnosis is completely accurate; He has no need to experiment.

If my faith in God is mixed with faith in man, and God allows the earthly physician’s work to be a “success,” then the glory of my healing is shared between God and man. (Note this can also happen even if medical professionals are not involved.) Yet the great Physician states, “I will not give my glory unto another.”* (Isaiah 48:11)

“LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. Surely every man walketh in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.”* (Psalm 39:4-7) In the end, all that can be concluded of the works of man—even at his best—is that it falls short. When we take some other way than what God has for us, we walk “in a vain show.” When we encounter the troubles that come upon us as we try anything less than what God has laid out for us (exclusive trust in Him), we are “disquieted”; we are troubled; we are beset by fears and misgivings. It is better to wait on the Lord. “LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.”* (Psalm 131:1-2) As faithful brethren through the years have found: “The Lord will do to trust.”

“Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.”* (Isaiah 48:17-18)

How should I regard the people of the medical profession? With the sober-mindedness that comes from following the Spirit of God.

I walked through the workshop of a man who had spent his life among a group of “plain people.” There was not a single electric motor on all the power tools in that large workshop, equipped with lathes, saws, drill presses, etc. Even a fan was controlled by a hydraulic motor. Years ago, this change in power for each tool cost him about twice as much as standard electric motors that used standard power from the electric power grid. The church he attended had insisted on all this and much more as “a separation from the world.” Even his deep well pump ran on compressed air. All the motive hydraulics and compressed air ran on an automotive motor. Some things ran on batteries charged by the motor. I looked all this over. The breadth and scope of all this was staggering to observe. I asked the brother: “How did things get to this point? How did they go so far?” He hesitated a moment, gathering his thoughts, and I will never forget the exact tone of his voice: “They were deceived.” He waited a moment, then replied again in the same peculiar nuance: “They are deceived.” I thought about what it had cost him to discover that.

I am thinking about all the earnest, sincere people who have entered the medical profession to help others. I daresay that you have never met and will never meet someone of these who once habitually experienced God’s healing plan in themselves and others, who has willfully embraced something so inferior. They are deceived. They attempt to blend God’s plan with the plans of men, but it doesn’t really mix.

Did God originate this system—this thing that we call the medical system? How should we regard the people in it who are sincere, who believe in this way of trying to help people in their diseases and infirmities? I will repeat your questions: “Should we, as saints, acknowledge and value the work of doctors and medical nurses? Is it right to claim that God uses them and their medicines?”

“For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.”* (1 Thessalonians 5:7-8) There are those who are asleep to the healing plan of God—they are oblivious to the meaning, spiritually and physically, of the stripes upon the back of the Healer in Zion. And there are those who are drunken on the ever-learning-never-able-to-come-to-the-knowledge-of-the-truth philosophy of man’s wisdom, knowledge, and skill towards the needs of the body. Both of these are “in the night,” but we “are of the day” and must “be sober.” This is a serious and weighty word, and it means to unflinching examine and evaluate everything around us as we walk circumspectly as pilgrims and strangers through this world to the world beyond. It is extremely important that a Christian be realistic, that we think and speak the words of truth and soberness. So we conclude that we must “acknowledge and value the work of doctors and medical nurses” as it really is, as it appears in the eyes of Him who knows all things. Immediately we are confronted with a great difference in the children of night and the children of the day. The Spirit of God teaches us, “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen”; “all things are for your sakes…. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”* (2 Corinthians 4:15-18) Notice that “all things” are for your sakes. This is not at all the attitude of the medical spirit. They regard disease as the enemy and will stop at nothing to destroy it. But God uses our diseases and infirmities. God does not look at fleshly suffering as fleshly wisdom does. He is focused on the “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”—a focus that is not found in the medical world.

God’s ways and man’s ways simply do not mix; His are greater than ours, and if we want to be His children and do things His way, then we must totally yield to Him and be taught of Him how to live, move, and have our being in the time of our probation. It is foolish and unrealistic to believe that God’s ways are the ways of men—in this aspect of the needs of the body, as well as in many other ways. Yes, God interferes and meddles in the patients and doctors of the medical world, even as He involves Himself in the judicial system, the political system, in business, in the sports world, and even human conflict, etc. He even involves Himself in the false worship of men to Him. This certainly does not indicate that He approves of what He is interfering and meddling in, but it is a clear indication of His great mercy to mankind. If God did not reveal Himself at all in any of these areas of mankind, many would have no chance at all. Therefore we read, “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”* (John 1:9) Again, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”* (2 Chronicles 16:9) And then we read, “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?”* (Isaiah 53:1) And again, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.”* (John 6:44) Therefore the story of every man, in the medical profession or not, is the story of what God has revealed to him (his light) and how he has responded to it.

So, “Is it right to claim that God uses them and their medicines” as His will for healing? No. Sober-minded thinking quickly reveals that God works in spite of them. Well then, how shall I evaluate an individual’s doings as a nurse, doctor, lawyer, soldier, etc.?

1. Have they been saved? Have they come to the point in having light from above and accepting that light to the extent that they have experienced godly sorrow, repented fully from the heart, and experienced an enormous and revolutionary change that can accurately be described as being “born from above”?

2. Have they been true to all the light from above that has been revealed to them? If so, we “of the day” have found another that is “of the day,” howbeit one in whom perhaps there is need that they learn the way of the Lord more perfectly (Acts 18:26). The Spirit of God leads unerringly to a complete surrender to God, an enduing of His presence and inward abiding (Luke 24:49). When an individual finds this “upper-room” experience, he becomes more and more aware of the corporate working of that same Spirit—He is given a vision of the gathering of the called of God—His church, its divine organization and administration, which is separate and distinct from the churches of men.

3. Are they under the influence of false teaching and unsound doctrine, or are they delivered from these things?

Such a vision helps us to separate the pure from the vile. We are enabled to see God, and we are also enabled to see where He is not, notwithstanding claims that He uses and even authorizes the various works of men. It is plain in the Old Testament that God used Cyrus, king of Persia, even calling this man His anointed (Isaiah 45:1); yet it is equally plain that Cyrus was not one of God’s people in heart, nor did he glorify God by obedience and submission to Him. How was he God’s anointed, then? Only in the sense that this man fulfilled God’s purpose in sending the Jewish captives back to Jerusalem.

So the doctor may be used of God in some specific purpose, such as a man’s life continuing for a time, yet it would be a serious mistake to consider that the system is of God, or that God’s hand is on the doctor as one of His children. It is a serious mistake to disregard the nature of an non-exclusive trust into which an individual enters when he puts himself under the doctor as though God called that doctor, instructed him, and made him a guide. It may well be that God will prove to you, as He has to others, that He did not call this man, yet he ran (Jeremiah 23:21). It may well be that spiritual damage and destruction will follow your trust of another man, even as the Bible states (Jeremiah 17:5). You and your body and spirit may prove the fallacy of divided trust; you may make full proof of the depth, the breadth, and the height of your deception. You may be permitted to continue with your physical life for a while, apparently without penalty, and you may fully subscribe to the idea that God uses the doctor, even calls the doctor and qualifies him, but I submit to you that something is focused on this life and the things of this life in a way that God never intended for you. There are good people who have been fooled by these results. There are children of God who have repented of their involvement with the medical spirit, who have had to forsake the insidious, undermining consequences of mixed faith. I do not wish to hinder my faith in God; I do not want to have less of the wisdom that comes from above in living my life before Him—indeed, I want more of the wisdom from above. I know that the doctor possesses knowledge of the body that can be useful, just as I know that the attorney possesses knowledge of the laws of men that can be useful, but there is great need of caution. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”* (Proverbs 3:6-7) “Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.”* (Romans 3:4)

So, how thankful to Cyrus should I be, that he has allowed us to return to Jerusalem? How much should I honor him and esteem him? Answer: “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.”* (Psalm 103:15-16) Did Cyrus grasp the vision of truth of the great Eternal, moving on in the order of His plan? No. Should I rely on the good will and favorable actions of Cyrus? It would be a terrible mistake. Should I be courteous, pay him due homage in his position as king? Yes, but I should ask God to help me to be extremely careful to do in this only as I ought. (Brother George Fox of the Quakers and others refused to even take off their hats to the king and other officials, in the fear of God.) Finally, should I trust Cyrus? Absolutely not. If Cyrus proposed a working relationship to me, should I enter into such an arrangement? Absolutely not (Amos 3:3).

I believe that these are the words of truth and soberness on this subject, and I believe that this manifestation of the truth will commend itself to the conscience of every child of God. It is not legalistic, nor is it liberal. It may appear to give room to the flesh in its liberty, yet to give room to the flesh is to go beyond what is taught by the Spirit of God in this matter of complete trust. May God help you, dear honest soul, to find the path of complete trust and the blessings that attend it.