In our world there is much sickness; people are suffering and dying from many different sicknesses. There is physical sickness, and for this sickness there are doctors and hospital staff working on curing them. Then there is mental sickness when the mind is affected. “To deal with men and women whose minds as well as bodies are diseased is a nice work. Great wisdom is needed by the physicians at the Institute in order to cure the body through the mind. But few realize the power that the mind has over the body. A great deal of the sickness which afflicts humanity has its origin in the mind and can only be cured by restoring the mind to health. There are very many more than we imagine who are sick mentally. Heart sickness makes many dyspeptics, for mental trouble has a paralyzing influence upon the digestive organs.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 184
But, the worst kind of sickness is spiritual sickness. Sister White writes to a brother in the church who was spiritually sick. “Brother is joined to the church, but not to the Lord. He has a dyspeptic religion. He is not right with God; he is filled with self. He has lost much by uniting with individuals who have not the spirit of Christ. He is lacking in almost every grace. He is useless to himself, and a great stumbling block to the church. Dear brother, Satan has controlled you to a great extent; your thoughts are unsanctified, your actions are not in accordance with the spirit of a true Christian. You have brought on your own disease; you must be your own restorer through the help of the divine Physician. Your moral powers are weak for want of nourishment. You are starving spiritually for Bible truth—the bread of life. You need to draw daily nourishment from the living Vine. The church receives no strength from you and in your present condition would be better off without you, for now, if anything arises to cross your track and you cannot control matters, you settle back with stubbornness, a dead weight on the church.” –Ibid., vol. 5, p. 117
Jesus is the greatest healer, He can heal every sickness. Beside the Pool of Bethesda there lay great multitudes of sick people—blind, lame, paralyzed, invalids. One man had been sick, unable to walk for 38 years, and he had given up the hope of ever being healed. Then one day, suddenly, a stranger comes beside him and with a tender voice asks him, “wilt thou be made whole?” John 5:6. That moment, hope came to his heart, but instead of saying, “Yes, Lord, make me whole,” he said, “I have no one to put me into the pool.” He had no friend who could help him. Jesus, looking upon him in tender pity said, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” John 5:8
With joy in his heart, he goes to his home to tell everyone of his wonderful healing. Jesus could have healed them all, but they did not have faith enough for healing.
Today the world is full of sick people. Physically sick people suffer pain, and are not able to continue a normal life. Mentally sick people can exhibit strange behaviours. They can be depressed, sad, miserable, have phobias and complications. But the largest number of sick people are spiritually sick, and this includes those who profess to be Christians.
Sin causes spiritual sickness. The church of God in the time of Isaiah was spiritually sick. He writes about it. “Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.” Isaiah 1:5–6
A spiritually sick person suffers more than people with other kinds of sicknesses. He may be physically healthy and even rich, but he is not happy. But, a spiritually healthy person can be dying or even in prison, like Paul and Silas, and be rejoicing, even if he suffers torture and death penalty. He is still happy and full of joy. The spiritually sick person also cannot take offense. He feels deeply hurt easily, little things upset him and make him angry.
One of the spiritual diseases is jealousy. “Long has the Lord borne with His people. He has forgiven their wanderings and waited for them to give Him room in their hearts; but false ideas, jealousy, and distrust have crowded Him out.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 155
Jealousy has crowded the Lord out of their lives. Jealousy makes us instruments of Satan. Lucifer fell because of jealousy. It is the natural fruit of selfishness; it is poison which comes directly from Satan.
Pride is a spiritual sickness which destroys many good people. Pride kept many people from confessing their sins to others. Pride kept Satan from returning to God. Pride destroys love to God and to fellow men. We can have pride of dress, to have it elegant and be the latest fashion. We can have pride of opinion, thinking that we are right and others are wrong. Sister White writes about pride of position. “Pride of position is a deep-seated evil which has ruined thousands. Yes, tens of thousands, full of ambition for distinction and display, have been ruined because they have lost sight of principle. They have measured themselves among themselves, and compared themselves with themselves. Their eager grasping for credit and reward has resulted in diminished spirituality. This is a lesson all should study carefully, that they may be warned against selfishness and avarice, against pride which destroys love for God and corrodes the soul.” –Selected Messages, bk. 2, p. 284–285
“There is nothing so offensive to God or so dangerous to the human soul as pride and self-sufficiency. Of all sins it is the most hopeless, the most incurable.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 154
“‘So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth.’ Were you cold, there would be some hope that you would be converted; but where self-righteousness girds one about, instead of the righteousness of Christ, the deception is so difficult to be seen, and the self-righteousness so hard to be put away, that the case is the most difficult to reach. An unconverted, godless sinner stands in a more favourable condition than such.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 176
Many times this spiritual disease is not recognized. People can be proud of their humility, thinking that they are perfect.
God will not answer the prayers of proud persons. Sister White writes, “I saw that the strength of the children of God is in their humility. When they are little in their own eyes, Jesus will be to them their strength and their righteousness, and God will prosper their labours.” –Ibid., vol. 3, p. 307
God is willing to teach us humility, but it is a painful process. “It is painful to learn lessons of humility, yet nothing is more beneficial in the end. The pain attendant upon learning lessons of humility is in consequence of our being elated by a false estimate of ourselves, so that we are unable to see our great need. Vanity and pride fill the hearts of men. God’s grace alone can work a reformation.” –Ibid., vol. 4, p. 378
We learn humility by trials and afflictions. When we have a deep experience with God, we feel ourselves unworthy, that the lowest place in His service is too honourable to us; then God can use us in His work.
“Christ will not undertake to teach the self-righteous, self-conceited, and self-willed. If such come to Him with the inquiry, What is truth? He gives them no answer. It is only the meek that He will guide in judgment; the meek will He teach His way. . . . If you are searching the Scriptures and different authors that you may find doctrines which will coincide with your own preconceived opinions, and if you have already settled your faith, then you will be boastful, self-confident, and unyielding.” –Ibid., vol. 3, p. 449
Another spiritual sickness is love to oneself, which is selfishness, and love to money and riches, which is greater than one’s love to God. Solomon wrote about love, and how strong it is. “Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Many
waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.” Song of Solomon 8:6–7
Love to God is a great blessing to us, but love of self is spiritual sickness. Peter loved Jesus so much that he promised to go to prison with Him, and even to death, but a few hours later he said three times that he does not know Jesus. His self-love was stronger than his love to Jesus. Peter did not recognize his self-love, until he had denied Jesus three times. Now “he went out, and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:75. He had been in the company of Jesus for three and a half years, comparing his character to the character of Jesus, but yet he did not recognize the difference between them. This same spiritual sickness is still existing in professed Christians, and they do not recognize it.
When the Sunday Law is enforced, and the Sabbath keepers are punished, then all who love themselves more than they love God will give up the Sabbath and start keeping Sunday.
Another spiritual sickness is covetousness. Covetousness takes our joy away and makes us feel miserable. If we have nothing in life except the hope of eternal life we are rich, and we have a reason to thank God day and night. Read the history of the Christians during the Roman persecution in the Middle Ages. Many were living in the underground catacombs where the dead were buried, suffering cold, hunger, torture, and death, yet not a word of complaint came from them.
How easily many of us complain if God does not supply our every desire and need. Many of our brothers and sisters, in the time of war, left their homes behind and escaped to other countries empty-handed. Some spent years in prison, and some were condemned to death. We are their followers, and we must not complain about the little trials that we may suffer.
Spiritual disease causes more suffering and pain in our world than physical or mental sickness. For physical sickness there are hospitals and doctors who can help us, but for spiritual disease there is only one, and He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus came to the Pool of Bethesda and there was a multitude of sick people, but He healed only one, asking him the question, “Wilt thou be made whole?”
Spiritual sickness comes on the same way as physical sickness. First it feels painful, only a little dissatisfaction for God’s commandments and requirements. The narrow way feels too narrow. Little by little the spiritual illness grows, and finally it comes to the point that we lose our faith. We have no desire to do missionary work, we pray less, and read the Bible less. Sister White gives counsel on how to overcome spiritual weakness. “It is necessary for you to watch for the weak points in your character, to restrain wrong tendencies, and to strengthen and develop noble faculties that have not been properly exercised. The world will never know the work secretly going on between the soul and God, nor the inward bitterness of spirit, the self-loathing, and the constant efforts to control self; but many of the world will be able to appreciate the result of these efforts.” –Ibid., vol. 4, p. 376
Terrible struggles are going on in our world in human hearts. To have a humble disposition and an unselfish character is not the result of an accident. It comes from years of soul struggle alone with God that others are not aware of. Regardless of how sinful we may be, God still loves us and is trying His utmost to purify us and save us. With a tender voice He is asking us, “Wilt thou be made whole?” He invites us, “Come unto Me and be ye saved, I have borne your iniquities, by the stripes laid upon Me, that thou mayest be healed.” Jesus, our precious Redeemer! You cannot trust Him too fully or too soon. Wait no longer, lest you wait too long, and Satan fastens his delusions upon you. Our necessities touch the Saviour’s heart of love, and with His healing efforts we will be ready for heaven and eternal life. We will be completely healed from all spiritual sickness. Amen.
Timo Martin