Physical Healing Supplanted by Spiritual Healing
The miraculous gifts of the spirit, healing, etc., were supplanted by the spiritual gifts, or fruitage of holy living. As the Apostle declares, “Whether there be miraculous tongues, they shall cease, and so with all the other gifts, including healing.” The physical healing was supplanted by the spiritual healing. Thus our Lord’s words were fulfilled, “Greater works than these shall ye do, because I go to my Father.”
What intelligent Christian who has experienced the opening of the eyes of his understanding will dispute the fact that he has received a far more valuable gift than that of the opening of his natural eyes? Who that is deaf, but has the ears of his understanding opened to spiritual matters, would not claim that he had a greater blessing than a restoration of physical hearing? Who that has eaten of the Bread that came down from heaven, and thus eaten received spiritual strength, does not realize that his blessing is far beyond that enjoyed by those whom Jesus fed with the five barley loaves and the three small fishes?
Who that has realized the healing of the soul does not realize that the healing of his heart’s affections is of much more value to him than the healing of any earthly disease? Who that [lived in error consciousness] and who has realized the forgiveness of his sins and has received grace whereby he may walk in the footsteps of Jesus, does not appreciate this as the greatest miracle? Ah! but some will say, “Let us have both the spiritual and the physical healing. Did not Jesus give both, and should not we expect both?”
We reply that Jesus did not give both, but merely the physical. Not until he had finished His sacrifice and had ascended up on high, there to appear in the presence of God for us, could any of us receive of the Holy Spirit. And not until then could any understand the spiritual things, the deep things of God. It is for this reason that our Lord’s sermons were generally limited to earthly things. He said, “If I have told you of earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12.) Again he said, “I have many things yet to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come.” (John 16:12,13.) The Apostle tells us that “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned….But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.”
–I Cor. 2:14,10.
And it was thus that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit were bestowed upon mankind; wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are enumerated in Isaiah 11:2-3. They are present in their fullness in Jesus Christ but are found in all Christians who are in a state of grace. We receive them when we are infused with sanctifying grace, the life of God within us. “They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them.” Infused with His gifts, we respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as if by instinct, the way Christ Himself would.
