Radiant Living

Counterfeit
Healing
he world is desperate for healing.
T Never have our lives been more
crowded with life-diminishing, health-destroying
factors than they are today. Toxic
chemicals in food, air, and water; mounting
stress from political, social and economic
turmoil; the spawning of new diseases that
defy the ingenuity of physicians; droughts,
famines and pestilences have turned this
world into a gigantic infirmary, and driven
earth’s populace to the brink of despair.
All these factors combine to make the
world desperate for healing. And here,
like a fragrant but deadly mist, arises a
great danger. For Satan, the archenemy
who has instigated all the miseries that
afflict this planet, offers methods to
alleviate or remove suffering that are
designed to separate us from God and
fatally ensnare our souls.
Jesus warned that prior to His second
coming: “There shall arise false Christs,
and false prophets, and shall show great
signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it
were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect” (Matthew 24:24). These supposed
miracles will include what appears to be
divine healing. Satan will make people
sick by casting his spell upon them, and
will then remove the spell, leading others
to say that those who were sick have
been miraculously healed. How can we
distinguish the false from the true?
One Bible test is found in Isaiah 8:20:
“To the law and the testimony: if they
speak not according to this word, it is
because there is no light in them.”
Satan gives his power to those who are
aiding him in his deceptions. The sheep’s
clothing seems so real, so genuine, that
the wolf can be discerned only as we go
to God’s great moral standard. They will
perform wonderful miracles of healing
and will profess to have revelations from
heaven contradicting the testimony of the
Scriptures. The voice or spirit that says to a
man, “You are under no obligation to obey
the law of God,” is not the voice of Jesus;
for He declares: “I have kept my Father’s
commandments” (John 15:10). And John
testifies: “He that saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments, is a liar,
and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).
The Bible will never be superseded
by miraculous manifestations. The truth
must be studied and cherished. All experiences
and doctrines must be tested by
the Scriptures. Whatever contradicts the
Bible is false.
Another Bible test is found in Matthew
7:16-20 where Christ says, “Ye shall
know them by their fruits. Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even
so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth
evil fruit. A good tree can not bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. Wherefore by their fruits
ye shall know them.” If those through
whom cures are performed, are disposed,
on account of these manifestations, to
neglect the law of God and continue in
52 s RADIANT LIVING