This Sickness Will Not End In Death...

While obviously we have to be very careful with such things, how can we say that God cannot do something like this?

I believe the testimony of Blackaby and feel that God can and does work this way in our lives.

 

Your quaint. but quaint.

BTW - I might not know 'specifically' that 'God did it' for Blackaby, but as I stated earlier I know He has done it for me .

 

Thanks TC. I found the quote in my copy in the same chapter, but it was on page 119. My version must be older than yours, so it's probably the inspired one. :laugh: Just kidding!

I really think that Blackaby is being misrepresented on this thread, perhaps not intentionally. I, too, was troubled by this episode when I read it in the past. However, I consider his "template" for knowing God's will be be very helpful, so, I guess I chose to overlook this illustration.

However, in re-reading it today, it is not clear to me that Blackaby took the scriptural promise as a guarantee that his daughter was going to be healed. Rather, he derived a principle from the passage that, whatever the outcome was, God was going to be glorified. His goal was to be submissive to God's will so that whatever the outcome was, he would be able to see God's glory in it and share it with others. If you read the context around the statement that TCGreek quoted, this is what you will discover.

For instance, consider a followup statement that Blackaby makes on page 120 (in my inspired version): "We then adjusted our lives to the truth and began to watch for ways God would use this situation for his glory (emphasis mine)"

At this point, Blackaby DID NOT KNOW what the outcome would be for his daughter. But he did accept by faith that God would be glorified in that outcome. I don't think that Blackaby was taking the promise that the sickness was not unto death as a personal promise. That WOULD BE interpreting scripture in a mystical way that could lead to all kinds of error. Rather, he was taking the statement that Jesus was going to be glorified as a general principle that could be applied and should be applied by Christians everywhere and at all times.

I suggest that everyone go back and read what Blackaby actually said before you attack him for something that, IMHO (and I'm open to someone showing me otherwise from his writings) he did not say or mean.

 

TC, here's another quote from Blackaby on page 20 in the third paragraph under the heading "For God's Glory"

Is the end result that his daughter lived or is it that God was glorified? I'm not clear as to what he is saying and since I consider him to be a cessationist based on other statements in his book I don't see a basis to attack him (not saying that you are attacking him) for this illustration.

 

God may have prompted the verse to come to mind. I don't know. But the point is that it's not revelation, and it is not what the verse was intended to be used for.

All of Scripture is for us. But not all of it is applied directly to us. I notice that Blackaby did not use an equally valid verse: "The souls that sins, it shall die." I have read Blackaby years ago. I found it good at the time. 15 years or so or spiritual maturity lead to doubt I would find it as profitable now as then.

Then he should have said that. The OP says: The Holy Spirit took the Word of God and revealed to us God's perspective on the end result of that circumstance" (p.191). Revelation has a theological meaning and if Blackaby did not intend it, then he should not have used the word. Say that the Spirit brought a verse of comfort to mind. That may be accurate (It may not be). But "revealed" has a meaning theologically that was inappropriate as cited in the OP.

I certainly don't have it all figured out, but I do know enough about the historic doctrine of bibliology to recognize when a word is misused.

I think Blackaby suffers from a certain mysticism and pietism that is not fully biblical, but here, I think he simply misused a word.

 

My quaint what? and how I am confused? I think I have pretty ably addressed the issues here.

And how do you know this? Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. How do you know that wasn't the case??

You see, I think the problem is that we are too willing to except experience over revelation. We know something comes from God when it is in his word. That's a simple answer. That's all we need. God's word, rightly understood and rightly applied.

 

Not sure what you are saying here since there seems to be a word missing. I do believe that Scripture is used analogically or illustratively. I have no issues with taking a verse as Blackaby cited and using it for encouragement, that even in sickness God is seeking the glory for himself. But to use it as a promise is simply wrong.

I was commenting on the fact that the verse Blackaby used was encouraging rather than discouraging. Both verses equally addressed the situation at hand, but only one was cited, and we do not know that "God gave it to him." We simply cannot know that.

I think that may be the case, but he should be theologically trained enough to know the difference and to use it correctly. His misuse causes confusino.

 

The best quote in this thread. None of us have God and His ways completely figured out. He can and does use His Word in any way He chooses.

 

AMEN Brother!