I think that too many ministers have used it (illness) as a scare tactic, resulting in our cynicism, BUT, as H1 said, attitude can affect health, so I would think leading a sinful life would do just the same, maybe worse. There are just as many natural consequences of sin as spiritual, although the natural consequences are much less serious.
It can be said, across the board, "If someone is sick, they must have sinned.", BUT I believe sometimes it is the case, and there is nothing to say that God can't speak such a thing to a minister.
In my opinion, this would especially apply to believers who have either left the faith, or are living in sin secretly, or something similar.
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"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
I fully agree with Miss Brattfield as I said earlier but would like to add that I would be very careful about judging whether or not a sickness is sent from God.
The scripture also says it rains on the just and unjust. I know plenty of heatherns who are incredibly healthy and some wonderful saints of God who have endured tremendous trials regarding their health.
I think some sins have consequences, such as being gay can and often result in AIDS.
What amazes me, is how some will commit the same sin with no indications of negative results, while another one time sin can result in negative ramifications.
I fully agree with Miss Brattfield as I said earlier but would like to add that I would be very careful about judging whether or not a sickness is sent from God.
The scripture also says it rains on the just and unjust. I know plenty of heatherns who are incredibly healthy and some wonderful saints of God who have endured tremendous trials regarding their health.
14: Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. John 5:14
27: Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28: But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29: For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30: For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31: For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 1 Cor. 11:27-31
Not just sickness but death also as in verse 30.
Dont forget the immediate judgement unto death of Anannias and Saphira.
Yet this does not mean ALL sickness is due to sin.
How can we know? Have we sinned? If we have not its not chastisment. Its either a trial or simply as already stated we live in a fallen world things happen.
Trust in this:
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalms 34:19
That ticks me off. If it was because of an attitude I'm sure that God would tell HER, not a preacher to broadcast it to everyone.
You might be sure, but the Scripture seems to indicate that your opinion needs a little revision.
Why, using your logic, didn't God whisper a little something in the ears of Ananias and Saphira, instead of having that mean old Apostle broadcast their sin to everybody?
And then there was Elymas the sorcerer:
Quote:
Act 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
Act 13:9 Then Saul, (who also [is called] Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
Act 13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, [thou] child of the devil, [thou] enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
Act 13:11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
Using your logic, again, God sure messed up when He didn't just quietly nudge Elymas instead of once again, having another hard nosed Apostolic preacher blurt out his sin before everybody.
And then there was poor Gehazi back in the Old Testament.
I mean, after all, Naaman could well afford that little love offering Gehazi talked him out of, against the advice of Elisha.
But instead of God pulling Gehazi off to one side and having a little chat with him, he spoke through the man of God, and leprousy was the proce he paid.
I realize that unscrupulous men have abused and manipulated people through fear when God wasn't speaking and wasn't in it.
But there are thousands of doctors that get in hot water for all kinds of malpractice, too, but that doesn't mean all doctors are charlatans.
I don't believe the kind of judgment mentioned here is necessarily commonplace, but it is undeniably Scriptural, and it is easy to sit back and judge a man of God when you have NO knowledge of the situation...and when your reasoning process is patently unscriptural and without biblical foundation.
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