When I was little, one of the infectious diseases that everyone feared was measles. We lined up for our vaccines as our parents were fearful and felt they were doing their social duty in having us inoculated. Documentation states that measles is a highly infectious virus. One person can infect up to 18 other people, and the virus floats in the air for up to two-four hours where an infectious person has been. A person is infected three to five days before the onset of the typical measles rash and one to two days before the onset of the fever. This means a perfectly healthy-looking person can go around spreading measles and not even know they’re sick. Over 20,000 cases were reported in Union soldiers during the Civil War with 500 deaths. This was just the beginning. The numbers continued to increase around the world, and in 1963 a vaccine was developed to stop the spread of the disease.①
As parents of four children, my husband and I chose not to have them vaccinated as infants after an intense study of the adverse reactions. I witnessed my nephew at age 16 months receive his MMR shot as a perfectly developing toddler. As weeks passed, he became progressively more handicapped and then diagnosed with autism. Is this just a coincidence? It’s a hotly debated issue. The government in 1990 even set up a website for parents to be able to report these events called the “Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System” or VAERS.② This was their supposed response in handling possible side effects. But this article is not written to debate physical vaccination issues but spiritual ones.
The term “Vaccination” is defined in the dictionary as a noun – “treatment with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease; inoculation.” So what is a spiritual infectious disease and how is it treated? We can see from the very beginning how Lucifer’s ungodly spirit spread like wild fire throughout heaven infecting a third of the angels. The disease of pride, greed, self-exaltation, and lack of humility were just parts of this impurity. His desire to be like God got him thrown out of heaven and a prisoner on earth. Isaiah 14:12-14 states:
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, and I will be like the Most High.’”
As Lucifer roamed the earth, he spread his diseases. Adam and Eve lost their immunity to his infection when they chose to disobey the commands of God. It was labeled “sin” and became the world’s most infectious disease. Generations of humans have endured his poisonous spew such as Job, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Ruth, Ester, David, Peter, Paul, etc. We know their stories. We can see the ones that overcame Satan’s viruses were the ones who loved God and obeyed His commandments (John 14:15).
Many so called Christians are walking around believing they are perfect, spiritual-looking persons yet infecting those around them with a spirit of wickedness. Jesus pointed this out to the Jewish Rulers of his time in Matthew 23:27:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”
The first condition of being an “overcomer” and having immunity to Satan’s pollutants is to love God and have the desire to rid our lives of these contagions. Our end-time remedies should be:
Wash your heart with Christ’s blood. (1 Peter 1:19)
Keep a social distance from evil. (Job 28:28)
Avoid the crowd of wickedness and wicked men. (Psalm 1:1)
Cover your mind from being infected from the sneeze of sin and hatred. (Lev 19:17)
Do not shake hands with abomination. (Deut 25:16)
Do not hug heresy and false teachings. (2 Peter 2:1)
Be safe so that you will be saved. (Jeremiah 17:14)
Sanitize your life with the Word of God. (Psalm 1:2)
In case you notice any symptoms of sin, call the helpline of Christ in prayer. (Jeremiah 33:3)
Always remember to boost your spiritual immunity with faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. (Jude 1:20)
God wants to heal us from this deadly virus and give us a new name, an inoculation with the blood of Christ in us and through us. We don’t want the name “sinner” to be a part of our spiritual record forever. Isaiah 62:2, 4:
“The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name.”
“You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate…”
There are several saints in the Bible that God gave a new name:
Abram – new name Abraham (Genesis 17)
Saria – new name Sarah (Genesis 17)
Jacob – new name Israel (Genesis 32)
Simon – new name Peter (John 1)
Saul – new name Paul (Acts 13)
These new names were a representation of the cleansing of this virus of sin and the renewal in their walk with God, trusting in Him for new life.
Oswald Chambers writes in his June 12th devotional in “My Utmost for His Highest” the following:
“God writes the new name on those places only in our lives where He has erased the pride and self-sufficiency and self-interest. Some of us have the new name in spots only, like spiritual measles. When we have our best spiritual mood on, you would think we were very high-toned saints; but don’t look at us when we are not in that mood. The disciple is the one who has the new name written all over him; self-interest and pride and self-sufficiency has been completely erased.”
The second condition for immunity is to obey His commandments – all ten of them. In the end times, the Sabbath will be a way that God writes that new name in us and completely eradicates the disease of sin from us.
“He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” Revelation 2:17
Fighting this battle for immunity is tough. The war is raging and the germs of sin are settling in all around us. Unlike my nephew who will endure his handicap for this earthly life, this corruption of our souls will determine our ability to live eternally with Jesus. We need to allow Jesus to protect us from this epidemic and not allow a lockdown of our hearts and minds to obedience. Let’s conduct an intense study of His Word to be able to correctly identify our condition and allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse us. And we will give God all the praise and glory for being the Great Physician and Healer of mind, body, soul, and spirit.
****
Karen M. Phillips is happily married to her husband, John, and enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren. She is a Human Resources Manager, an ASI Mid-America Officer, and a Bible teacher. Together they support their world-wide ministry – HeReturns. She writes from Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
①www.history of vaccines.org
②https://vaers.hhs.gov
