Symptoms
When you go to a Doctor, he asks you if you are experiencing shortness of breath, dry cough, etc. etc. He is asking for your symptoms so that he can diagnose your disease. Now the problem with this is that many diseases share the same symptoms so he has to ask tons of questions and run batteries of tests to try and narrow it down. He can only cure you or pronounce you incurable when he finds the cause of your symptoms. Since much trial and error is involved it is always wise to seek a second opinion especially in serious cases involving surgery or when the initial prognosis is terminal.
Spiritually, we see symptoms as well. All mankind suffers from a malignant blood disease that left unchecked not only kills the body, but the soul as well.
Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (KJV)
God created man to be an eternal being, but sin brought death to the body and to the spirit. Death is separation. At death the soul separates from the body. The spirit, that part of us created to comprehend and fellowship with God is dead at birth. If it is not quickened or made alive prior to the death of the body we are forever separated from God by what the Bible calls the second death. We are born sinners separated from God and if we die in the same condition that separation is maintained while we are contained in Hell.
Some might say that they are feeling pretty good and they doubt that the disease is in them. I have heard far too many stories of people who appeared to be in the picture of health dying instantly or felt great until one day they went in for a check up and found out not only did they have a terminal disease but they only had from three weeks to three months to live and yet they felt and looked fine.
Disease and death without warning symptoms is hard for those left behind to deal with and often their period of grieving is longer than normal. God has given us the warning symptoms of our terminal disease.
Gal 5
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
I have never met or heard of any human being that does not have one or more of these symptoms. Oh, they may come in varying degrees just like cancers progress in stages. Some may be almost unnoticeable to the untrained eye, yet the symptoms are there. They may be hard to distinguish or blatant for all to see. In either case, the result is the same, death of body and spirit. What happens to the body and spirit happens as well to the soul or that part which is our unique personality. A triune God created us in His image hence our three parts.
Without the proper treatment, death is the only prognosis. There is only one protocol, a blood transfusion by Jesus Christ. You can’t pay for it. It is free. You can’t do something wonderful to get it. He has done all that is necessary through His Mercy and Omnipotence. There is no co-pay.
Rom 3:20-25
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (KJV)
As you can clearly see from these passages any attempt to self-medicate or use alternative medicines will fail. It is a genetic blood disease so no one is exempt. Yet, all may receive the cure freely by faith in the Great Physician. The cure is complete removal of your sins past, present and future. It is very easy to receive the cure.
Rom 10:8-13
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (KJV)
Jesus makes house calls, jail and hospital visits and can even respond to you if you are in a car without making a cell call. There are no roaming charges as He is everywhere you are and where you are going even though you left Him where you were. He is available anytime and has no answering service. He takes all His calls and you don’t have to go through any secretaries or interns to get to Him.
All you have to do is call out to Him admitting that you have the disease and want to be cured of it. Be honest and admit that while you were born with it, you actually liked it and purposely enhanced the symptoms for your pleasure. Thank Him for providing the cure by dying on a Cross and then thank God the Father for accepting His Son’s sacrifice and for raising Him from the dead on the third day to show us that it was accepted so we would not have to guess or be in fear. If you call sincerely believing that God will do what He has promised then you will be saved from the curse of sin and one day walk with God in eternity.
God also gives us symptoms of those who have received the cure that we might be able to know them and to check ourselves to be sure that we have received the cure.
Gal 5:22-26
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. (KJV)
Like the symptoms of the disease, these symptoms may be weak or maybe strong depending on the person, but all should have signs of these symptoms of spiritual healing in their life.
Matt 13:8-9
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (KJV)
Depending on the type of understanding you have of the cure, your maturity and other issues you may bring forth varying amounts of fruit, but you will bring forth fruit of some amount. If you have absolutely no signs of fruit in your life then you have not received the cure.
James 2:14-26
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (KJV)
Some have accused Brother James of denying salvation by faith alone or even eternal security, but what James was saying that if you have received the cure there should be symptoms of it. Just as the symptoms of the disease were manifest he is saying that there has to be some signs of the cure working in your life. He was fruit inspecting or looking for the symptoms.
If a person says is cured of cancer, he should start showing signs of returning strength and health. If he does not and even dies of cancer then he was not cured no matter what he or his doctor said. Depending on his age, his health may only improve commensurate to his age, but it will improve. If he is 80, he will not develop the health of a 20 year old but it should improve some.
I have been trying to lose weight and I have had several people say that they can tell that it is working. Some noticed my cheeks being thinner, my shirts not as tight. My dear wife says my love handles are shrinking. There are signs that my course of action is working. God has a course of action that will take place in your life if the cure is received.
James is saying don’t tell me you are cured and have no symptoms of healing taking place. They may come slow and in spurts and even appear to cease at times, but healing will produce some positive symptoms or changes. Healing on the inside will show itself on the outside.
I Jn 1:8-10
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (KJV)
We may have relapses of negative symptoms as we let our faith slip or believe the lies of our adversary, the devil. Glory to Jesus that these will not be spiritually fatal, but they can get to a place where they are physically fatal. The key is to confess our relapses as soon as possible and get this cholesterol of sin out of our arteries. The Blood of Jesus is still perfect and cures us. It is this additive that chokes us from getting all the nutrients and full flow of that blood. Enough of it will send us home early. Confession is the inosital or chelation that cleans it out and restores the flow and our fellowship to God.
However, it cannot be emphasized enough one must be sure that they have availed themselves of the cure.
Matt 7:15-23
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (KJV)
There was a family that once did not report to anyone that their loved one had died. They kept her in her favorite chair in the living room. Their “faith” believed that if Grandma would repent of her sin of thinking she was ill or dead she would revive. The authorities came and took Grandma away after the neighbors complained of the smell. The family was so deluded by their premises that they even became content with the smell.
Many people are deceived in thinking they have received the cure by going through various religious rituals, joining some group, making donations, assuming an office and even as it says in Matthew prophesying, casting out demons and other wonderful works. The ones in Matthew used the name of Christ. They did not preach some pagan god, but used the name of Christ and it would be safe to assume they used the Bible. Yet, in the end Christ rejected them.
Medicine does no good if you do not get the prescription filled and take it into your body. You can carry that prescription everywhere you go and die. You can get it filled and never open the bottle and die. The medicine must enter your system to work.
Too many people depend on externals to help them with their spiritual sickness and never get the cure inside where the disease is located. Knowing about Jesus doesn’t get it. James says that the demons believe and tremble. Carrying a Bible and even quoting from it doesn’t help. You can be baptized in any mode many times and still be damned. Donating money will get you praise of men, but you are still terminal. There will be pastors, deacons, whole choirs, teachers and all sorts of “pious” people in Hell because they had a form of godliness but denied the power thereof. The power of the Gospel must get into you by faith to be profitable and healing.
If you would like to be saved and healed of the otherwise incurable disease of sin, use the following prayer as an example to tell God and His Son, Jesus, you want salvation! The words are not magical. God looks on the heart and, not the lips. Call out to Him in your own way! You may call longer or louder than someone else. That is fine! Just call before it is too late!
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and that Your Son, Jesus Christ, died and rose again to pay for my sins. I want Him to be my King and Saviour. Please forgive me for my sins. I want to turn from my sin and, with your help, to obey You. Save me now, for Jesus’ sake. Thank You for saving me, Amen.
