Soap Box 36- Divine Healing ! Is It One Of God's Gifts For Today ?
BY THE LATE DR. HENRY GRUBE

[ I first read about Henry Grube in the Western Voice, published by a Baptist preacher named Harvey Springer from Englewood, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. I entered Baptist Bible Seminary in Johnson City, New York in the fall of 1950. Another freshman had an older brother who was to guide us into school life and the first guideline was to get onto the mailing list of the Western Voice.
As I read these sermons by Henry Grube, I was amazed at the good sense they made to me. I wondered how an independent could be so good and not be a Baptist. He was Pastor of the Mobile Gospel Tabernacle of Mobile, Alabama. He has become a special person in my life and thought of as one of the great preachers I have known. This message was printed on June 29, 1951, in the Western Voice. ]

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I think that everyone will agree that when Jesus Christ died, He made atonement and settled the sin question. As far as the spiritual problem was concerned, He made it possible for people to be saved. Now, the sin question has already been settled, so the important thing now is the Son question_ "What will you do with Jesus ?"

Somebody asked me last night, "What about the sins we commit after we become Christians ?" When you become a child of God, your sin problem, past, present and future was all settled. You will never have to give an account for your sins. They are settled, over and gone. That is past, and all under the blood. But as far as the problem of disease and death, that has not yet been settled among Christian people. It is a question of whether the Advocacy of the Lord Jesus Christ takes care of the problems of the present. That is the focal point of so much discussion around the country today, and the reason we are so confused on the subject of diseases.

As far as regards death, I think we will agree that the advent of the Lord Jesus, His second coming, will take care of that. His atonement takes care of depravity. And His second coming will take care of the problem of death. But what concerns us this afternoon is the problem of disease, and whether Christ's Advocacy can take care of that.

It is not a question of "can Jesus Christ?" And don't ever get off on the wrong basis when you are talking with a person who believes in divine healing and argue the question "Can God Heal?" That is not the debatable point. Every Christian knows that God can heal, and often does. Jesus Christ, being in the position of our Advocate, can and does heal. There is no question about that. Do not try to deny it.

Somebody came to me when a so-called divine healer was in Mobile and told me, "I saw somebody healed last night." So what ? That doesn't prove anything. A lot of people get healed today. I think everybody here could testify that in answer to prayer, God has healed your body. But always keep the issues clear. I tell you. I praise God for General MacArthur. I heard his speech and then sent for a recording of it and listened to it again.

There is always one thing MacArthur has said in the questions he was asked. He said, 'Well, let's clarify the terms." And when the senators would ask him questions, he would turn to them and ask what they meant, or what their definition of a certain word was.

Today at lunch, a group of us were talking. We were saying, basically, the same thing, but our terms were not the same and we could not make them agree. There have been times in my own life when I have gotten up to the point of a heated argument with somebody, bantering words back and forth until he said something that struck me and I said, "Why, sure, I believe it that way. Why didn't you say that in the first place?" So, if you start out by clarifying your terminology, you save yourself a lot of trouble. I remember when I was in college, I was on the debating team. One of the first things a good debater will always do is explain the question to be debated. He will take each important word and give its proper definition. Then they get to the discussion itself.

So, we are not denying the fact that God can heal. We believe He does. We are not denying that people do get healed. We believe they do. Advocates of divine healing have asked me if we believed the Scripture about "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever." We do. We believe everything in the Word of God. But the question is, what does that particular verse mean? When Paul wrote that statement, about 30 or 40 years after Christ had died, and said, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday," he referred to the time when Christ was on earth. "Today" mean right now, in this present age, Christ in Heaven, is our Advocate. "Forever" means the future when Jesus Christ comes back. Jesus Christ is the same. He never changes. But I'll tell you what changes_ His methods of dealing with men. He doesn't deal with men today as He dealt with men in the Old Testament or in the Gospels. The basic issue concerning divine healing is this : it is not the healing. And as long as you stay with a divine healer on the question of healing, you can argue it, and he will argue with you that Uncle Ezra and Auntie Diluvian was healed and will go in circles for hours. The real controversy is on the fact that these "divine Healers" claim to have the gift of healing.

I believe God heals. I believe God has healed me and can heal you. But He may heal, or He may not heal. The point of contention is : does God give to men today the gift of healing? And we say, no.

Before we list our reasons, let me say this. There is a big difference between healing by power and authority, and being healed by prayer. Let me illustrate. Peter and John, when they went up to the Temple to pray, said to the beggar, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give unto thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."

And by the voice of authority and by the command and power and gift which God had given to Peter, Peter authorized this man to walk. He had the gift of healing.

When a Christian prays and says, "Lord, if it be thy will, touch this body" and God touches the body and heals it, what is the difference between that and a person with the gift of healing? It is a big difference. One is healing by power, the other by prayer. The first is a gift, the second is the grace of God. If God chooses to heal, all right. If He doesn't, all right, too. But do you see the distinction?

My contention in all this is that no living man today has the power, authority or the gift to say, "By the authority given to me, and by the power that I have, rise up and walk." That is the point of difference.

From the Garden of Eden, in the entire book of Genesis , do you know of any man who had the gift of miracles? For 1800 years, there was no one solitary person who had the gift of performing miracles. Abraham didn't perform any miracles as far as we know. Isaac did none. Jacob none. Do you think people got sick during the time of Genesis ? I think they did. In human history, as far as God's program was concerned, there was nobody who performed miracles, insofar as we know. Then God called Moses and said to him, "You go to Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go." But Moses said, "But how will he know that God has sent me?" And God said to Moses, "I'm going to give you the gift of performing miracles. I will invest you with power and authority. And by signs ( or miracles) Pharaoh will believe I sent you."

What was the purpose of the miracles of Moses ? The authority that God gave Moses was to give evidence and proof to Pharaoh that God had sent him. Do not forget that. For when we come to the Gospels, we find that that is the same reason that Jesus Christ gave the gifts of miracles and healing to His Apostles. There is a law in the Bible study that is called the "law of first occurrence." The way a thing or symbol is used where it occurs in the Bible , is the rule for its interpretation or understanding all the way through.

So, Moses had the gift. The next man who had the power of miracles was Elijah. Then Elisha. God used these three men men for the course of another 1800 years. You have 4000 years in human history, where only three men displayed what we would call evidential signs. When Jesus Christ came on the scene, John the Baptist did no miracle. Jesus said so. John was a great man, Jesus said, and he believed God. That was a wonderful tribute. Then Jesus chose the 12 and gave them gifts of miracles, and while Jesus Christ was on earth, [ there were] for three years of public ministry, miracles, signs, gifts, visions, healings by the hundreds. The gifts were given to numbers of men, not just the 12, but the disciples, the 70. Why ? They went forth with gift and the power to perform these miracles, as credentials or evidence that Jesus had come. We will come to that Scripture in a moment.

Open your Bibles to Mark 16:17. "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." Jesus meant exactly what He said. When He appointed the 12 and told them where to go and where to preach, they went everywhere, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers and restoring sight to the blind. They practiced what they preached and did what the Lord commanded them. Now, just before He leaves them, He tells them again, "As you go out now, those to whom you minister, those who believe, they too, shall receive the gifts and miracles, signs and wonders. That is what He said. But leave it right where it is, in the context. When you get to the book of Acts, you see them doing that very thing.

Now open your Bibles to Matthew 11:1-5 and we will see why He told them to do that. "And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his Twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. Now when John had heard in the prison the words of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them."

John was in jail and sent these people to ask Jesus if He really the Christ. Jesus told them "All right, you go back and tell him what you have seen. And what you have seen will prove to John that I am the Christ, for he will know that these signs and miracles are given as evidence that I am the Messiah." By the way, do you know why Jesus didn't release John from prison? Or anybody, for that matter? If He had, that would have been an act of a king, and He was not yet King. He did not destroy the authority or power of Rome. Before He could be King, He had to be Saviour. Before He could be the Lion of the tribe of Judah, He had to be the Lamb of God. He was not yet King, and so He did not flaunt the authority of Rome.

So, the signs proved who Jesus was. Now turn to Romans 15:14-19. "And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, that I should be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ."

Look again at verse 18: "For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient." Before it was the Jew. God had given to Paul the gifts and authority and power to perform miracles and signs and wonders, that Paul might convince the Gentiles, the same power God had given the 12 to convince the Jews. Here is where our Pentecostal friends and Holiness people and so-called divine healers get off the track. They say, "Well, if God gave the 12 Apostles the gifts to convince their people that Jesus was the Messiah and God gave to the Apostle Paul the gifts of miracles to convince the Gentiles that he was an apostle, then why doesn't God perform these miracles and wonderful things today to convince the people of our time?" On the surface, that sounds like a good argument. But let us finish it now by looking at another passage of Scripture in II Corinthians 12 will get us to the answer to that. Verse 12 : "Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds." The purpose of the miracle-working power given to Moses was to convince Pharaoh. Why did Jesus Christ empower His Apostles to perform miracles? To convince the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. Why did God give Paul the gifts of miracles? To convince the Gentiles? Were there any other classes of people for God to deal with but Jews and Gentiles? If you aren't one, you are the other- unless you are a Christian, then you are neither.

Now look at Hebrews 2, starting with verse 1. "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation." How shall we escape what? Hell? No. Well, he is talking about a just recompense of reward," which is judgment. It says "How shall we escape so great judgment?" It does not say "If we reject it," but "if we neglect it." The word "we" refers to Christians. "Therefore we (Christians) ought to give the more earnest heed." "For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression," that is, if everybody who disobeyed the voice of angels was punished, as when the angel announced the birth of John to Zacharias. "how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him." Confirmed means proven. It was proven by signs, wonders and miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. Those verses just read show the purpose of God's giving to certain people in certain periods the gifts of miracles. There was a reason for it. And when the purpose of the miracles was achieved, the logical thing would be to take back the gift.

To illustrate: the children of Israel were 40 years in the wilderness and God fed them with manna. When they needed water, God gave it to them. Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their shoes. God took care of them. Why? They were in the wilderness, where God had brought them, and wherever God puts anyone, He protects them. Where God places you, He will provide for you.

But then they went into the Promised Land. And what happened to the pillar of fire and the cloud of smoke that had guided them in the wilderness ? They ceased. Their purpose had been achieved. Therefore when the people arrived in the land and their purpose had been fulfilled, there was no use for a cloud to hang around then, was there?

Did you ever buy anything on "time"? Why do you keep the receipts? You keep them because the fellow down at the store has a note with your name signed to it and when you make the last payment and the last receipt is put in your hand and he gives you the contract or the note you signed, do you have to keep all those old receipts? No, you can throw them away, even the contract. So when the purpose of the pillar and the cloud were ended, God withdrew. And when the purpose of the miraculous gifts of the 12 Apostles had had been served, then God withdrew the gifts. What was the purpose ? To verify the fact that Jesus Christ was the King of Israel. When they rejected Him, God terminated the gifts and put the nation aside. God is through with it for this age.

You say "Doesn't God prove to the Gentiles that Jesus is the Messiah ?" No, God has never tried to prove to a Gentile that Jesus is the Messiah or King of the Jews. Today, God is proving that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

You say "Well, can't I go out and do these wonderful things to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?" Sure you can_ if you can find in the Word of God where God says to do it for that purpose. But there is not one passage of Scripture which indicates that God ever told anybody to go out and use miracles, signs and wonders to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
You ask "But Mr. Grube, how can I prove it?" Lets say something here. As long as God was dealing with the nation of Israel, and as long as the call was going forth to the nation proving that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, (and that carried over into Acts for a few chapters), as long as that was present and as long as God was dealing with Israel_ and as Peter said in Acts 3 to the Jews, "If you believe, God will send Jesus back" __ but they didn't believe. Then in the thirteenth chapter of the book of Acts, Paul turns and says to the Jews, "The message of God was sent first to you. But seeing that you consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." In chapter 18, Paul says again "Lo, we go to the Gentiles." In chapter 28, Paul says "We are through with Israel."

There was a gradual turning away from Israel, to a complete turning to the Gentiles. And from the thirteenth chapter of Acts to the end, you see a gradual decrease in miracles.
Now let us fit all the pieces of this talk together. In the book of Genesis, no miracles until Moses. Then only Elijah and Elisha worked miracles after him. They verified and proved Moses. But when Jesus came, miracles abounded by the hundreds. Then came the death of Christ and the rejection, then the miracles began to decrease. For sometime, prison walls fall down and Peter walks out. Prison walls fall down and Paul walks out.

Men are healed, and raised from the dead. But when you get to the close of Acts, you find Paul languishing in prison. You find them getting sick. In the first part of Acts, no man lacked for anything; but as you get to the close of it, they have lost their possessions and goods and gone back to work. Things have changed.

When you come to Paul's epistles, you find Paul saying this: "Timothy, if you are sick, you better take a little wine for your stomach ulcers." Why didn't Paul heal Timothy ? God had withdrawn the gifts.

What about the book of James ? That proves what I am talking about. James says if anybody is sick, you had better pray. That was the prayer of faith. What is the difference between the prayer of faith and power ? At one time, the Apostle James had the gift, power and authority to heal. But now he says that the best he could tell them to do was pray. How do we know that these gifts and things passed away ? Turn to I Cor. 13:8. This is the answer to the whole thing. "Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail ( or stop) ; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be (supernatural) knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."

What is meant by "when that which is perfect is come" is not Jesus Christ., but the Word of God. It has to mean the Word of God, as we will show you tomorrow. Colossians 1:25 records what Paul says. "Whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God." If you have a Scofield Bible, you will find that the word 'fulfill' means 'to complete'. Paul is just saying , "God has given to me the task of completing the Word of God." When the Apostle Paul finished his epistles, that ended anything that God was going to say to the Church. And when the Apostle John completed the the book of Revelation, that closed the whole canon of Scripture. You see, this is that which proves that Jesus is the Christ. The only way under God's heaven that you can prove that Jesus is the Christ is by what the Word of God says. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the the Word of God," no longer by signs, miracles and wonders. Paul said they would pass away, and they did. They passed away when God set the nation of Israel aside. When that was, I do not know, but somewhere in the book of Acts, Israel fell. Somewhere, God set them aside. And when God set this nation aside and began dealing with the church, which is the body of Christ, God never once gave a single, solitary believer the command to go out and prove that Jesus is the Christ by signs and miracles and wonders.

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