Service For the Sick and the 4 Absolutes

“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.” Mark 16:18

This is a powerful promise for the gospel medical missionary to claim in his ministry of healing. The Bible makes it clear that we shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover!

More than anyone else the medical missionary should claim the promises of the Word of God and teach the sick to claim them as well. This will bring a flood of faith into the sickroom which will in turn bring a flood of healing that Mark 16:18 may be fulfilled.

“Those who minister to the sick should understand the importance of careful attention to the laws of health. Nowhere is obedience to these laws more important than in the sickroom.” Ministry of Healing p.220

The word “careful” means cautious, painstaking, and precise. Therefore when a medical missionary is putting in service for the sick, in order for his ministry to be successful in healing them he must give careful, cautious, painstaking, and precise attention to the eight laws of health reform.

Without this all his other works of using herbs will be ineffective. According the Inspiration, the most important place where these laws must be obeyed is in the sickroom.

“Nowhere does so much depend upon faithfulness in little things on the part of the attendants.” Ministry of Healing p.220

The eight laws of health reform are simple and so much depends on faithfulness to these simple laws while caring for the sick.

“Those who care for the sick should give special attention to diet, cleanliness, fresh air, and exercise.” Ministry of Healing p.220

These four things, diet, cleanliness, fresh air, and exercise are key things that a medical missionary must give special attention to. Therefore ABSOLUTE attention and concentration must be given to these four key things. These are the 4 ABSOLUTES and cannot be ignored. Ignoring them can cause the life of the sick to be sacrificed when they might have recovered.

1. Diet — God gave us our diet at the beginning. It consisted of fruits, grain, nuts, and vegetables. “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” The word “meat” in this verse means “food.”

The best diet for the recovery and preservation of health is a vegetarian diet. A medical missionary should provide the sick with a vegetarian diet and the food should be prepared in the most healthful condition as possible. He should let the sick know that they are eating for health only. The sick most likely have eaten themselves into sickness, therefore the sick must eat themselves BACK TO HEALTH!

2. Cleanliness — Yes medical missionary work is linked with cleaning and keeping the house of the sick clean. The premises must be spotless. A clean house will have an effect on the mind of the sick and this will cause a positive effect on the body. The mind and the body are very closely united.

3. Fresh air — Fresh air is very important. You could go almost 6 weeks without food, about 4–5 days without water, but you can only go 3–4 minutes without air before you die! This is how serious and important fresh air is.

“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Genesis 2:15. God did not put Adam into a house behind walls. Adam’s home was the Garden of Eden in the open fresh air. He was constantly breathing in fresh air. Also those who lived before the flood also dwelt in tents and not houses.

Keep in mind that this was the long-lived race! There is nothing wrong with living in houses, but the lack of fresh air is the problem. Keep your house aired out and ventilated. Allow fresh air to constantly come into the room of the sick. Take the sick outside and perform deep breathing exercises with them about 5 to 6 times a day. This is vital in their recovery.

4. Exercise — “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Genesis 2:15. Exercise was a blessing to Adam and Eve. We keep referring back to the beginning because we want to get back to the original creation as close as possible. Why? Because they had extreme longevity.

Adam’s work was to take care of the Garden and this was pleasing and joyful for him to do in his unfallen condition. After sin was introduced into the world, God still wanted him to work and exercise, but now his work and exercise would be attended with more difficulties.

It may be difficult for the sick to exercise because they most likely shunned it due to their sickness. But exercise is the very thing they need to recover. Not exercising will put the body into a death like condition, while exercise will bring life and health to the body.

So remember when you’re putting in service for the sick as a medical missionary, stick to the FOUR ABSOLUTES and pay close and painstaking attention to them! Also don’t forget to claim the promises of God. “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:18