The Baptism And Gifts Of The Holy Spirit

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< > Chapter Five The three gifts of power and demonstration The gift of gifts of healings. "charismata iamaton." This is fourth in the list in 1Cor.12v8-10.; and is in the plural, “gifts of healings,” or “grace gifts of healings.” Gifts of healings should not be confused with medical care. However, Christians should be the very last to disparage the work of doctors and nurses, who are dedicated to the relief of suffering. There is a definite place for natural healing, indeed, God Himself gave the Israelites sound medical advice. Gifts of healing must not be confused with healing through Spiritualists. We must not confuse gifts of healings from God with Spiritualism, or Christian Science, etc.. These as we have seen, are forbidden by God. Lev.19v31. 20v6,27. Deut.18v8-20. 2Kings.21v2,6. Exod.22v18. with 1Sam.28v6,7. and 1Chron.10v13,14. Is.8v18-20. 19v3. 47v13. Mt.3v5. Acts.13.v1-11. 16v16-18. 19v19. 1Cor.10v20,21. Gal.5v19-21. 1Jn.4v1-5. Rev.21v8. 22v15. They oppose and deny vital Christian doctrine and experience, and the Scriptures state that those who go to them for healing are in the most serious spiritual danger. In this age it is the most common sign given through the gifts of power. In this present age, signs manifested by gifts of healings are more common than signs through the other power gifts. The gift of faith is operated more in private prayer, but nowhere near as much as a public sign and wonder. Divine love longs to meet the needs of suffering humanity, and this is probably why gifts of healings are placed before workings of miracles in 1Cor.12v28., even though Paul states in 1Cor.12v28., that workings of miracles is an act of greater spiritual authority. Gifts of healings should not be confused with the other gifts of power. All miracles of healing come within the scope of gifts of healings, whether they are simple healings, or the removal of cancer, or even the recreation of organs that have been removed by surgery or injury, or even missing at birth. Gifts of healings do not enable a Christian to heal everybody who is sick. At the floodtide of our Lord's and the early Church's ministry, everybody who was prayed for was healed, and Mt.8v16-18. tells us that this is the extent of God's promise. However, Christ only healed one out of a multitude at the pool of Bethesda, which shows that many did not come to Christ for healing, and also that Christ could not heal at will. Jn.5v1-14. WHY HEALING FROM CHRIST MAY NOT OCCUR, OR MAY BE DELAYED. Because some preachers boldly state that Divine healing is not for today. Many congregations believe their unbelieving preachers, and so they pray to God with doubts, fear and despair instead of faith. 1Jn.5v14,15. Many today, like the multitude at the Pool of Bethesda, are persuaded by their religious leaders, that healing from Jesus is not safe or desirable. Jn.5v1-24. Such preachers can expect severe judgement from God. James.3v1. Because of an unwillingness to earnestly seek God. Some people will not make any kind of spiritual preparation and yet they expect a miracle of healing. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Heb.11v6. Scriptural teaching is also vital. However, if the sick are not healed under our ministry, we should first of all check our faith and ministry, not the faith of the sick one. Mk.9v14-29. Because a sick person is not prepared to get right with God. There is a definite connection between forgiveness and healing. Exod.23v25. Mk.2v1-12. Jn.5v1-9,14. Ps.66v18. Prov.28v13. A person who is not a Christian may be healed by God in order to appeal to them to become a Christian; a failure by them to repent after their healing, can result in Satan giving them an even worse affliction, and also in eternal damnation. Jn.5v14. Acts.10v38. Mt.11v20-24. Fellowship with God brings and keeps healing. Rom.8v11. Exod.15v26. Before some people can be healed, they have to repent of sins of the flesh and spirit; bitterness, backbiting, and an unforgiving spirit can hinder healing just as much as moral failure, dishonesty, lying, stealing or unpaid bills. Ps.34v12-22. Prov.6v16,17. Mt.6v14,15. 18v21-25. Col.3v12-16. James.3v1-18. Multitudes were baptised showing their repentance and faith in Christ, they spent days listening to Christ's words and watching His works, it is no wonder that all that He prayed for were healed. Mk.6v35-56. Jn.4v1,2. Christ's preaching kept away those who did not want to get right with God, there were some who preferred their traditional approach, because it made no spiritual demands upon them. Jn.5v1-15. Sometimes people who are under the discipline of God, like Gehazi, come into meetings for prayer and expect to be healed, we must remember that there is Divine sickness as well as Divine healing; the purpose of this discipline is reformation of character. Ps.73 all. 119v67,71-75. 1Cor.11v28-32. It is the unrepentant, world-surfeited heart that finds it difficult to believe in the light of signs, wonders and miracles. Jn.5v44. 12v42,43. 15v22-25. Faith is a natural thing in a repentant heart that is controlled by God's love. Because God will not enable us to avoid the consequences of intemperate living. God will not give us the strength to break the laws of rest that He has laid down. Many Christians make themselves ill by putting too much stress on their bodies with overwork, lack of rest and sleep, and foolish diet. The Bible tells us that we have to take care of our bodies or reap the consequences. Ps.127v2. 107v17-21. Phil.12v25-30. We read in Ps.103v3,5. that God expects us to eat good food to renew our health, as well as to look to God for healing. Finney said that one of the things that could bring a revival to a halt was Christians placing too great a strain on their bodies. Sometimes God may heal us when we have been foolish, at other times He may allow natural healing to take its course. Col.2v27. 1Cor.6v20. Eph.5v29. Because of a wrong attitude to the person who is praying for the sick. This can take two forms. A sick person may come for prayer with no real respect for the person praying for them; and may have real doubts and criticisms about them, and come to them as a last resort. Our Lord experienced this at Nazareth. Mk.6v1-6. The opposite is also true, the sick person may put the person praying for them on a pedestal, and look to them for healing instead of the Lord; and God will not give His glory to another. Is.42v8. 48v11,12. 44v6. with Rev.1v8,17. 22v13. Acts3v12. 1Cor.1v26-31. with Jer.9v24. Because God may desire to try or improve a Christian's character. There may be nothing wrong with a Christian’s life at all, as in the case of Job. Job.2v4-10. Some Christians have suffered great trials of physical sickness, even when large numbers of people were being healed through their ministries. Is it to make people realise that God is the healer? Sometimes only God knows if a sickness is a natural thing, a trial of faith or a spiritual discipline? We know He disciplines those who do well, as well as those who do badly. Heb.12v4-12. Prov.3v11,12. Because of the shocking spiritual state of some churches. In many churches Christians are at sixes and sevens and have a bitter spirit towards each other. These problems should not be allowed to fester, Jesus commanded us to put them right. Mt.18v15-35. Mk.11v22-26. Jn.13v34,35. 15v12-14. 1Cor.3v1-3. Sometimes there may be not only sin in the sick person's life, but also sin in the elders, or even some great sin, like Achan's sin, which has never been put right. Joshua.7v1-26. 8v1. Very often churches are too spiritually lazy and too worldly to defeat Satan, the elders certainly do not follow the command of James to pray through for the sick, and they merely go through an undemanding form. James.5v13-18. Elders praying for the sick are instructed to follow the example of Elijah. Often the untimely premature death of a Christian is not “God's will” at all; it is often due to spiritual laziness, spiritual failure and worldliness. We thank God that it is always “gain” for a Christian to die, even if they die prematurely because of the lack of power and faith in Christian elders Jn.17v24. 2Cor.5v6-10. Phil.1v20-25. This brings us to our next point. Because a person's allotted span of life is reached. We read in 2Kings.13v14,20,21., that Elisha fell sick and died, even though he was so full of the power of God, that a dead man could be raised to life by touching his bones, Elisha was not healed, his time had come to die. We read in Ps.90v10,12., that we can normally expect to live 70 years, it also states that the infirmity and weakness of old age can be a burden; few have had the experience of Caleb and Moses of physical vigour and strength in old age. Deut.34v7. Joshua.14v7-15. N.B. v10,11. Doubtless this was due to their deep communion with God and their obedience to His law. Exod.23v24-26. 15v26. Even a youthful healthy body is frail and liable to problems, and can cause us to groan and long for a heavenly glorified body, like that of our Lord Jesus. Is.40v29-31. Phil.3v20,21. Prayer can, and does, stop people dying in agony, who would normally suffer greatly because of the nature of their disease. Sickness is primarily due to the loss of the tree of life through Adam's sin, sickness and death will not finally cease until the tree of life is again restored. Gen.2v9. 3v22-24. Ezek.47v6-12. Rev.22v2,14,15. We read in Is.57v1,2., that God allows the young to die to save them from evil to come. 1Kings.14v11-13. Because God desires us to be healed by natural or medical means. We read in Ps.103v3,5., that healing can come through correct diet as well as by Divine miracle. Those who neglect rest and a good food will certainly suffer for it, as even godly Epaphroditus found out. Phil.2v25-30. Ps.107v17-19. 127v2. Those who despise doctors and medicine, and say that they are trusting the Lord for healing, will find that will have need of both doctors and medicine, to cure them of their spiritual pride, as well as their sickness. Let us remember that a medicine, like a happy disposition, promotes healing, and medicines are even used in the heavenly kingdom. Prov.17v22. Ezek.47v12. Rev.22v2. A DEFINITION OF GIFTS OF HEALINGS. Gifts of healings are the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit, by which the sick are healed of ailments of every kind, from reasonably mild general and occasional sickness, “malakian,” to severe, dangerous and chronic disease, “nosos.” God longs to heal all bad cases, “tous kakos echontas,” and those compressed and straightened by severe sickness or tormenting malady, “poikilais nosois basanois sunechomenous,” and mental and physical disorder. See Mt.4v23,24., where these words occur. Creative healings take place through this gift, e.g., the maimed, “kullos,” Mt.15v30,31.; the blind from birth. Jn.9v1-41. THE SCRIPTURES REVEAL GOD'S DESIRE FOR OUR HEALING AND GOOD HEALTH. Sickness may be due to heredity, Satan, sin, neglect, overwork, natural ageing of the body, worry, the pressures of life, emotional stress, infection and disease, industrial poisoning, injury, accident or war, etc. The Scriptures reveal. The original creation shows God's desire for mankind to enjoy perfect health, The fall and sin of Adam made creation subject to sickness, death and unreality, “mataiotes.” Gen.2v9. 3v22-24. Rom.5v12. 8v19-22. God not only made the human body self-healing, He also gave the tree of life to preserve perfect health. Adam's sin deprived mankind of the tree of life and physical well being, and by breaking God's moral and health laws, mankind has suffered further physical deterioration. Deut.28v15-29,45-48,58-68. Prov.13v2,15. Gal.6v7. Jesus came to redeem us from the curse of a broken law, and by accepting Him as our Saviour; we can be saved and healed. Gal.3v13,14. When God's kingdom of love comes to earth, all God's redeemed creation will enjoy perfect health forever. Rev.21v3-5. 22v2. God looks upon sickness and death as enemies of mankind and His perfect will. Sickness, like any other trial, may produce spiritual strength in us, when we overcome it by God's grace, but it is still an evil thing. 1Cor.15v26. 1Thes.5v23. 3Jn.v2. God speaks of sickness as an oppression of Satan, a curse, and a bondage and captivity, from which Jesus has come to deliver us. Lk.4v17-21. 13v10-17. Acts.10v38. 1Jn.3v8. Job.2v7-13. 42v10. God gave the Israelites sound medical advice to preserve their health. God desired the Israelites to enjoy good health, so as well as the moral Law; He gave them laws containing sound medical advice on rest, food, hygiene, sanitation and quarantine, to preserve their health. Prov.4v20-22. Lev.23v1-44. 25v1-24. Mk.2v23-28.; Lev.11v32,39,40. 15v1-33. Deut.23v12,13. Lev.13v1-59. Numb.5v1-4. Lev.11v1-47. God also promised them Divine healing. Ex.15v26. Ps.103v3. 105v37. If physical neglect or overwork has made you ill, then you need to observe the practical medical advice given in God’s Law, and give your body the correct food, rest, and sleep it needs. Ps.103v3,5. 127v2. 107v4-6,8,17-21. Phil.2v25-30. The Old Testament prophets were told that one of the outstanding activities of the promised Messiah was going to be His ministry of healing. Is.53v4. with Mt.8v16,17. Is.35v5,6., and His manifestation of God's healing and saving power. Is.61v1,2. with Lk.4v14-21,40,41. Deut.18v15-19. Ps.45v6,7. Heb.1v8,9. The character and love of God assure us that God earnestly desires to heal us. It is the healing of sickness, not sickness, that glorifies God and shows His perfectly loving desires, will and character. Sickness is Satan's will for God's creation. Ps.103v1-22. 146v5-10. Mt.6v25-34. Jn.1v14. Acts.10v38. Divine healing causes people to love and glorify God, it makes them realise God's sacrificial love and care for His creation. Mk.2v12. Lk.13v10-17. Mt.15v31. Jn.11v4,40,45. 1Jn.4v8. Rev.4v8. The cross of Christ shows how earnestly God desires to save and heal us. We can claim healing for soul and body through Christ's atonement. Exod.15v26. Is.53v4. Mt.8v16,17. Numb.21v5-9. Jn.3v14-16. 1Pet.2v24. God desires to deliver us from sin and sickness and to give us His good gifts. Mt.7v11. Lk.11v9-13. Christ spent a large part of His time ministering to those who were ill. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil; for God was with Him.” Jesus gave the same commission to His early Church. Acts.10v38. Mt.10v8. Mk.16v15-20. He revealed His Father's willingness to heal, by healing all that came to Him and His apostles did the same. Mt.8v16,17. 14v13,14. Acts.5v12-16. Christ is alive and He desires to do the same miracles today, through His Church, that He did while He was on earth. Heb.13v8. THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE CAN RECEIVE A GIFT OF HEALING FROM GOD. Through personal prayer. Is.38v1-22. Jn.14v11-15. 15v4-14. Through any believer who is full of faith and power. Mk.16v18. Acts.9v17,18. Any believer who really believes, and is full of the Holy Ghost, can lay hands on the sick and see them recover. Acts.6v8. However, if we try to bring healing to people when we are spiritually powerless, and have nothing to give, we shall badly discourage both the sick person and ourselves as well. To know ourselves is a very necessary task, when we are dealing with the sick. We need God's power to deliver the sick, a formulae or form will not do. 2.Cor.13v5. James.1v22. The greater miracles come through the greater ministries. Acts.5v12. Through church elders praying a prayer for the sick. James.5v13-16. One of the essential qualifications for a Church elder, is the ability to pray for the sick and see them healed. Elders should manifest faith and spiritual power as well as godly character. Acts.20v17,28. 1Tim.3v1-7. Titus.1v5-9. 1Pet.5v1-8. James tells us that pastor-elders should be full of the Holy Ghost like Elijah, and pray through with great patience and faith, for those who are sick. The word for “sick” in James.5v15., is “kamno,” it is translated as “wearied” in Heb.12v3., and “fainted” in Rev.2v3., the only other two places where it occurs in the New Testament, it speaks of a person being “worn out” by sickness, and does not necessarily mean that they are confined to bed. Some say that Mk.6v13. gives us no warrant to anoint unbelievers as this was for Israel, who could claim “the children's bread” of healing. Mt.15v26. However, we need to remember that these same Israelites were looked upon in Mt.10v6., as “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” who needed Christ's salvation, so I see no reason why we should not anoint unbelievers with oil. The anointing with oil signifies the healing power of the Holy Spirit, who comes upon both unbelievers and believers to heal them. The important thing is to have the power of God, not just the type of that power. If there is failure to bring healing to the sick in a church, the whole church should seek God until this defect is put right, and the sick are healed. Leaders should see the sick healed or question their ministry, an empty claim to the ministry of pastor-elder, will have to be answered for before the great throne of God. 1Pet.5v1-4. Eph.4v8-11. Jer.23v1-6. Ezek.34v1-34. Mt.23v13-39. Through the other greater ministries of the Church. 1Cor.12v28. Eph.4v8-11. All the New Testament ministries were usually entrusted with the great manifestations of gifts of healings. Mk.16v15-20. Lk.9v1,2. 10v1-9. Rom.15v18-20. 2Cor.12v12. These ministries had a continual rather than an occasional ministry to the sick. Each gift of healing is a separate gift, if ten people are healed; ten gifts of healings have been ministered. A gift of healing can be ministered by the laying on of hands, Mk.6v5,6.; by a touch, Mt.8v13-17. 9v24,25,29,30.; by a word of commanding faith, Mt.8v8. Acts.3v6.; by someone praying for someone even a great distance away, Mt.8v5-13. Jn.4v46-54.; by a “prayer cloth” sent to the sick, Acts.19v11,12. Mt.14v35,36. 2Kings.13v20.; by reconsecration and obedience to God. Mk.7v32-37. Lk.17v12-19. Jn.9v1-15. Numb.21v5-9. Is.38v1-8. THE SCRIPTURAL ADVICE FOR THOSE SEEKING HEALING FROM GOD. Call for those with a proven ministry of healing to pray for you. James.5v13-18. Do not be prayed for by Christians whose ministry is a proven failure, they will only depress your faith. Go to Christians who have positive faith, and if possible to those elders, or other ministries, who have a proven ministry of healing. Repent of all known sin and come in sincere repentance to Christ. Accept Christ as your Saviour, if you do not know Him as Saviour. Mk.1v15. Acts.3v19. 13v38,39. Jn.1v12. 3v16. 6v37. Heb.7v25. Jesus emphasised the supreme importance of getting right with God and being “born again,” He told us that there is a vital connection between repentance, forgiveness, and healing. Mk.2v5,9,10. Jn.5v1-9,14. Rom.12v1,2. 1Jn.3v21-24. 1Cor.11v27-32. If you have any bitterness or enmity against other people, you must put it right; otherwise it could hinder or stop you receiving your healing. Mt.6v12,14,15. 18v35. Mk.11v22-26. Lk.17v1-17. Get right with God and man, and come to God in full assurance of faith for healing, through Christ's shed blood, your sin can be forgiven and your body healed. Mt.5v22-24. Lk.24v47. Rom.8v32. 1Pet.2v24. 1Jn.1v9. Heb.10v19-22. Be absolutely positive in your faith in Christ and the Father. See Heb.11v5,6. Mk.5v25-34. 6v56. Praise and thank God for His promise to heal you. Mk.11v20-24. 2Cor.1v19,20. Don't go to God with doubting hope; go to Him with positive faith. Don't wait for thrills, feelings and sight, before you will believe; trust God's word and resist Satan's lies, and God will meet with you. God wants you to be well, so reject false teaching that says that God likes you to be sick. 1Pet.5v6-11. James.4v7. 3Jn.v2. Let your confession of faith be as positive as the Word of God. Jn.20v27-29. 2Cor.4v18. 5v7. Rom.4v20. God is faithful, and is able and willing to heal all those who truly repent and come to Him in full assurance of faith; no matter what Satan, church tradition, or circumstances may say. 1Jn.5v9-15. Mk.9v22,23. Continue to trust Christ for a miracle even when healing is not immediate. Expect an instant miracle of healing, Mk.1v31,41. 2v12. 5v29,42. 7v35. 10v32. Acts.3v7. 9v34., but do not limit healing to an instant miracle; sometimes healing is delayed or is gradual. Jn.4v52. Remember that Jesus promised that real faith never goes unrewarded. Mk.11v20-25. Imitate the persistent faith and prayer of the woman of Mt.15v21-28.; the Shunammite woman of Kings.4v18-37.; The sick woman of Mk.5v25-34.; the blind men of Lk.18v35-43.; the friends of the palsied man of Mk.2v1-12.. Remember, even God's servant Job experienced a delay in healing, and that Paul's friend Epaphroditus was not healed immediately, even though Paul prayed for him. Job.42v10. Phil.2v25-30. Lk.17v11-19. Even Jesus prayed for one person twice, and other people received their healings some time after they were prayed for. Mk.8v22-26. Lk.17v12-19. Jn.9v1-15. Remember to direct your faith to God, and not to the person who prays for you, and give God ALL the glory. Acts.3v11-13. 14v7-21. Realise that God is trying to make a change in you as well as your body. Remember the Lord Jesus never refused either salvation or healing to those who came to Him, and a delay in healing never means denial. The major hindrances in our churches that stop God from fulfilling His Word to heal us. (This section is a quote from Chapter 8 of my study, By His Stripes We Are Healed) In Ps.90v10., Moses informs us that natural aging of the body cannot be avoided. Old age can be a burden to the godliest soul, however, God can heal us in our old age; God healed me of a tumour on the brain and blindness when I was 71. God can, and does, heal every kind of sickness, including simple sickness. Ps.103v3. But God often allows minor sickness, to be healed by the natural healing processes of the body. Simple sickness can be cured by common sense, simple remedy, correct diet and sufficient sleep. Ps.103v5. 127v2. However, severe sickness is another matter altogether, and this is what I am considering here. The lack of full New Testament apostolic, prophetic and evangelistic ministry. We read in Mt.9v35,36. that in His third tour of Galilee, Jesus was moved with compassion, when He saw the pitiable state of the multitudes. “Moved with compassion,” is “esplangchnisthe,” the aorist passive indicative of “splagchnizomai” 4697, to have the bowels yearn, so, to be moved with compassion, sympathy and pity. Jesus was, and is, deeply moved with compassion. Mt.14v14. 15v32. 20v34. Mk.1v41. 6v34. 8v2. Lk.7v13. 15v20. Jesus was deeply moved and grieved over the totally deprived and wretched state of the multitudes. They were “distressed,” “eskulmenoi,” the perfect passive participle of “skullo” 4660, to flay, to lacerate; they were flayed, rent and mangled as if by wild animals. “Scattered” is “errimmenoi,” the perfect passive participle of “rhipto” 4496, to throw or cast down. The perfect tenses show this was their normal state and abiding condition, the multitudes were in a permanent state of mental and spiritual dejection. They were cast down, dejected, bewildered, harassed, wounded and prostrated by their religious teachers, who laid heavy burdens on them, and hindered them from entering into an experience of truth, and God’s kingdom. Mt.23v3,13. Lk.11v45-54. N.B. 52. They were sheep without a caring shepherd, until Jesus came. Jesus asked the apostles to pray for apostolic labourers, as the answer to this great need, and this is how we should pray, for when these ministries exist, the Church is revitalised, great needs are met, and great miracles occur. Lack of healings in a church is often due to lack of spiritual power or faith in the elders. However, even if the poor spiritual condition of the elders stops them from being a channel of salvation and healing and blessing, it is still God's will to heal, as we can clearly see from the healing of the demoniac in Mk.9v14-29. Sin in the elders will also hinder and stop people from being healed. The list of sins can be long and range from immorality to prayerlessness. James, in James.5v13-20., makes it quite clear that elders have the responsibility to pray the sick through, in the same manner that Elijah prayed for rain. This is not a two-minute prayer, but prolonged compassionate and dedicated praying. When the famous missionary William Burton was staying in our home, I asked him how they prayed for the severe sick in Congo. Willie told me, that if the sick were not healed on the first and second day, they would pray for a third day, until the person was healed, or they had a word from God. This is James 5v13-20., praying, you pray until you have a positive answer from God. Lack of healing is very often due to the fact that the church is too spiritually lazy, or too worldly to defeat Satan. The prayerlessness of the elders can often infect the rest of the church, and the church expects no miracles. When people are prayed for week after week, and nothing happens, the faith of everybody almost completely disappears; the people expect defeat, not victory. Their faith in the power of the Name of Jesus is badly affected. Serious unrepentant sin, or a sin like Achan’s can stop people being healed. Josh.7v1-26. 8v1 Until Achan’s sin was dealt with all the people of God were in defeat. In the Corinthian Church many were sick and many had died because they failed to examine their lives, and clean them up before they partook of the Lord’s Supper. 1Cor.11v27-32. Paul told them in v30. “For this reason many “polus” 4183, are weak (“astheneis” 772) and sick (“arrostoi” 732), among you, and many (“hikanos” 2425) sleep. NKJ) Many Corinthians lost their health and lives by divine judgement through sickness. Christians can be at sixes and sevens and have a bitter spirit towards one another. Wrongs should not be allowed to fester. Christ commanded us to put right any things that were wrong. If we want to move mountains we have to walk in forgiveness. N.B. Mt.18v15-35. Mk.11v22-26. Jn.13v34,35. 15v12-14. 1Cor.3v1-3. Very often the premature death of a Christian through sickness is not “God's will” at all, it is often due to the sin and spiritual poverty of Christ's Church. The phrase, “If it be thy will”, is often quoted in direct contradiction to the clearly revealed will of God in the Scriptures. “If it be thy will”, is very often used as a declaration of unbelief, and as a God limiting and faith destroying statement, instead of the positive affirmation and testimony that it is God's will to heal us if we will put our lives right with God. The phrase, “If it be thy will” has its place in prayer, but let us make sure that we use it within the confines of the Word of God. Doubtless, when a Christian dies because of the spiritual failure of the elders, or their own lack of faith, it is always “gain” for them, when they go to be with the Saviour they love. Jn.17v24. 2Cor.5v6-10. Phil.1v20-25. Thank God for His wonderful grace, power, love and wisdom, and for the immortality brought to us by our dear Lord Jesus. 2Tim.1v10. God is forever the same, and His promises are Yea and Amen in Christ. See my book, "God Our Healer," on The Secret Of Eternal Life PAUL'S "THORN IN THE FLESH." Paul tells us that when he was in danger of getting over-elated through the abundance of spiritual revelations that he received, God's cure for this was “a thorn in the flesh, a messenger, “angelos,” of Satan to buffet me.” One cannot see how Paul could have accomplished his missionary journeys if he had been continually sick and ill as some say he was. Paul certainly knew what it was to suffer physically, for no one could suffer eight beatings and a stoning, without suffering some physical pain and after effects. Paul said, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus,” and a thousand scars on his body testified to the truth of that statement. Gal.6v17. with 2 Cor.11v23 to 12v12. Thorns in the flesh in the Old Testament, were personalities or people that were used by God to discipline His children. Numb.33v55. Joshua.23v12,13. I believe Paul's thorn in the flesh was persecution, not sickness. An angel of Satan certainly stirred up tremendous persecution against Paul; he suffered weariness and painfulness, perils of various kinds, necessities, persecutions, distresses, imprisonment, beatings, a stoning, and many other trials as a result of the hatred of Satan-inspired men. God uses various means to test and discipline His children, and sickness was certainly used by God to discipline the wayward Christians at Corinth. If Paul's thorn was sickness the Christians at Corinth had every right to ask Paul if he had been examining himself at the Lord's Table. 1Cor.11v30. The idea that Paul was continually sick from one disease after another, is quite without any scriptural foundation, Paul preached and experienced healing. Acts.9v17-19. 28v3-6. Rom.8v11. 15v18-20. 2Cor.4v11. Paul tells us that people are blinded by Satan and need signs and wonders to see what God is like. 2Cor.4v3-7. The healing of disease and infirmity make a powerful appeal to people to return to such a wonderful and loving God. Mk.3v3-12. Acts.4v21. Paul states that gifts of healings compel unbelievers, not only to listen to the Gospel message, but also to believe it. Rom.15v17-20. They show that Jesus is alive and that the tremendous truths that He told us about Heaven and Hell, and sin and judgement are true. Acts.3v13-26. The gifts of healings certainly turn people to God and really inspire the people of God with a holy boldness to preach the Gospel. Acts.8v5-13. 9v32v35. 4v29-31. Paul did not go around saying that we should patiently bear sickness, he went around preaching deliverance from it, and he looked upon this as one of the proofs of his apostolic ministry. 2Cor.12v12. It made all the difference between defeat and victory in his ministry. We need gifts of healings today, for they meet the needs of suffering humanity, and display the wonderful compassion, character and grace of God, and confirm the Gospel message and bring many souls to Christ. Albert Hibbert, on pages 42 to 44, of his book, “Smith Wigglesworth; The Secret of His Power;” relates how God instantly replaced the two artificial legs of an Anglican Curate with two normal legs. The curate, at Wigglesworth's direction, went to buy some shoes, and requested a pair of size 8 black shoes. When the Curate put one stump of his artificial leg into one of the shoes, a foot and leg instantly formed. Then the same thing happened with the other artificial leg. The Curate walked out of the shop with a new pair of shoes on a new pair of legs. Wigglesworth was not at all surprised at this result; it was what he had expected to happen; he had often said that as far as God is concerned, there is no difference between forming a new limb, and healing a broken bone. We need more of this kind of miracle today. THIS IS A VERY SPIRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY DEMANDING MINISTRY. We read in Lk.6v18,19. of power going out of Jesus to heal the multitudes. This meant that the Lord Jesus had to restore His vital spiritual and nervous energies through communion with God the Father. This is one reason for His tremendous prayer-life. Lk.3v21. 5v16. 9v18,28,29. 11v1. 22v40-46. Christians who pray for people in deep need understand what Jesus meant when He said in Lk.8v46., “I perceived that power had gone forth out of me.” This kind of spiritual loss has to be experienced to be appreciated. In manifesting the gift of faith in casting out of demons, or healing wounded spirits, etc., and gifts of healings for the body, we have very definitely got to know our limitations. If we do not draw near to God and other mature Christians, we can experience both physical and spiritual breakdown. To maintain a ministry to the sick demands real consecration, and deep communion with God. We should not be satisfied until we see this lovely gift of healing manifested continuously and powerfully in our churches, so let us earnestly desire this precious manifestation of God's forgiving and compassionate love. < >
The Disastrous Effects Of The Doctrine Of Original Sin \| By His Stripes We Are Healed \| The Book Of Revelation \| The Second Coming Of Christ \| The Baptism And Gifts Of the Holy Spirit \| The Comforter Is Come

Chapter Five

The three gifts of power and demonstration

The gift of gifts of healings. "charismata iamaton."

This is fourth in the list in 1Cor.12v8-10.; and is in the plural, “gifts of healings,” or “grace gifts of healings.”

Gifts of healings should not be confused with medical care.
However, Christians should be the very last to disparage the work of doctors and nurses, who are dedicated to the relief of suffering. There is a definite place for natural healing, indeed, God Himself gave the Israelites sound medical advice.

Gifts of healing must not be confused with healing through Spiritualists.
We must not confuse gifts of healings from God with Spiritualism, or Christian Science, etc.. These as we have seen, are forbidden by God. Lev.19v31. 20v6,27. Deut.18v8-20. 2Kings.21v2,6. Exod.22v18. with 1Sam.28v6,7. and 1Chron.10v13,14. Is.8v18-20. 19v3. 47v13. Mt.3v5. Acts.13.v1-11. 16v16-18. 19v19. 1Cor.10v20,21. Gal.5v19-21. 1Jn.4v1-5. Rev.21v8. 22v15. They oppose and deny vital Christian doctrine and experience, and the Scriptures state that those who go to them for healing are in the most serious spiritual danger.

In this age it is the most common sign given through the gifts of power.
In this present age, signs manifested by gifts of healings are more common than signs through the other power gifts. The gift of faith is operated more in private prayer, but nowhere near as much as a public sign and wonder. Divine love longs to meet the needs of suffering humanity, and this is probably why gifts of healings are placed before workings of miracles in 1Cor.12v28., even though Paul states in 1Cor.12v28., that workings of miracles is an act of greater spiritual authority.

Gifts of healings should not be confused with the other gifts of power.
All miracles of healing come within the scope of gifts of healings, whether they are simple healings, or the removal of cancer, or even the recreation of organs that have been removed by surgery or injury, or even missing at birth.

Gifts of healings do not enable a Christian to heal everybody who is sick.
At the floodtide of our Lord's and the early Church's ministry, everybody who was prayed for was healed, and Mt.8v16-18. tells us that this is the extent of God's promise. However, Christ only healed one out of a multitude at the pool of Bethesda, which shows that many did not come to Christ for healing, and also that Christ could not heal at will. Jn.5v1-14.

WHY HEALING FROM CHRIST MAY NOT OCCUR, OR MAY BE DELAYED.
Because some preachers boldly state that Divine healing is not for today.
Many congregations believe their unbelieving preachers, and so they pray to God with doubts, fear and despair instead of faith. 1Jn.5v14,15. Many today, like the multitude at the Pool of Bethesda, are persuaded by their religious leaders, that healing from Jesus is not safe or desirable. Jn.5v1-24. Such preachers can expect severe judgement from God. James.3v1.

Because of an unwillingness to earnestly seek God.
Some people will not make any kind of spiritual preparation and yet they expect a miracle of healing. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Heb.11v6. Scriptural teaching is also vital. However, if the sick are not healed under our ministry, we should first of all check our faith and ministry, not the faith of the sick one. Mk.9v14-29.

Because a sick person is not prepared to get right with God.
There is a definite connection between forgiveness and healing. Exod.23v25. Mk.2v1-12. Jn.5v1-9,14. Ps.66v18. Prov.28v13. A person who is not a Christian may be healed by God in order to appeal to them to become a Christian; a failure by them to repent after their healing, can result in Satan giving them an even worse affliction, and also in eternal damnation. Jn.5v14. Acts.10v38. Mt.11v20-24. Fellowship with God brings and keeps healing. Rom.8v11. Exod.15v26. Before some people can be healed, they have to repent of sins of the flesh and spirit; bitterness, backbiting, and an unforgiving spirit can hinder healing just as much as moral failure, dishonesty, lying, stealing or unpaid bills. Ps.34v12-22. Prov.6v16,17. Mt.6v14,15. 18v21-25. Col.3v12-16. James.3v1-18. Multitudes were baptised showing their repentance and faith in Christ, they spent days listening to Christ's words and watching His works, it is no wonder that all that He prayed for were healed. Mk.6v35-56. Jn.4v1,2. Christ's preaching kept away those who did not want to get right with God, there were some who preferred their traditional approach, because it made no spiritual demands upon them. Jn.5v1-15. Sometimes people who are under the discipline of God, like Gehazi, come into meetings for prayer and expect to be healed, we must remember that there is Divine sickness as well as Divine healing; the purpose of this discipline is reformation of character. Ps.73 all. 119v67,71-75. 1Cor.11v28-32. It is the unrepentant, world-surfeited heart that finds it difficult to believe in the light of signs, wonders and miracles. Jn.5v44. 12v42,43. 15v22-25. Faith is a natural thing in a repentant heart that is controlled by God's love.

Because God will not enable us to avoid the consequences of intemperate living.
God will not give us the strength to break the laws of rest that He has laid down. Many Christians make themselves ill by putting too much stress on their bodies with overwork, lack of rest and sleep, and foolish diet. The Bible tells us that we have to take care of our bodies or reap the consequences. Ps.127v2. 107v17-21. Phil.12v25-30. We read in Ps.103v3,5. that God expects us to eat good food to renew our health, as well as to look to God for healing. Finney said that one of the things that could bring a revival to a halt was Christians placing too great a strain on their bodies. Sometimes God may heal us when we have been foolish, at other times He may allow natural healing to take its course. Col.2v27. 1Cor.6v20. Eph.5v29.

Because of a wrong attitude to the person who is praying for the sick.
This can take two forms. A sick person may come for prayer with no real respect for the person praying for them; and may have real doubts and criticisms about them, and come to them as a last resort. Our Lord experienced this at Nazareth. Mk.6v1-6. The opposite is also true, the sick person may put the person praying for them on a pedestal, and look to them for healing instead of the Lord; and God will not give His glory to another. Is.42v8. 48v11,12. 44v6. with Rev.1v8,17. 22v13. Acts3v12. 1Cor.1v26-31. with Jer.9v24.

Because God may desire to try or improve a Christian's character.
There may be nothing wrong with a Christian’s life at all, as in the case of Job. Job.2v4-10. Some Christians have suffered great trials of physical sickness, even when large numbers of people were being healed through their ministries. Is it to make people realise that God is the healer? Sometimes only God knows if a sickness is a natural thing, a trial of faith or a spiritual discipline? We know He disciplines those who do well, as well as those who do badly. Heb.12v4-12. Prov.3v11,12.

Because of the shocking spiritual state of some churches.
In many churches Christians are at sixes and sevens and have a bitter spirit towards each other. These problems should not be allowed to fester, Jesus commanded us to put them right. Mt.18v15-35. Mk.11v22-26. Jn.13v34,35. 15v12-14. 1Cor.3v1-3. Sometimes there may be not only sin in the sick person's life, but also sin in the elders, or even some great sin, like Achan's sin, which has never been put right. Joshua.7v1-26. 8v1. Very often churches are too spiritually lazy and too worldly to defeat Satan, the elders certainly do not follow the command of James to pray through for the sick, and they merely go through an undemanding form. James.5v13-18. Elders praying for the sick are instructed to follow the example of Elijah. Often the untimely premature death of a Christian is not “God's will” at all; it is often due to spiritual laziness, spiritual failure and worldliness. We thank God that it is always “gain” for a Christian to die, even if they die prematurely because of the lack of power and faith in Christian elders Jn.17v24. 2Cor.5v6-10. Phil.1v20-25. This brings us to our next point.

Because a person's allotted span of life is reached.
We read in 2Kings.13v14,20,21., that Elisha fell sick and died, even though he was so full of the power of God, that a dead man could be raised to life by touching his bones, Elisha was not healed, his time had come to die. We read in Ps.90v10,12., that we can normally expect to live 70 years, it also states that the infirmity and weakness of old age can be a burden; few have had the experience of Caleb and Moses of physical vigour and strength in old age. Deut.34v7. Joshua.14v7-15. N.B. v10,11. Doubtless this was due to their deep communion with God and their obedience to His law. Exod.23v24-26. 15v26. Even a youthful healthy body is frail and liable to problems, and can cause us to groan and long for a heavenly glorified body, like that of our Lord Jesus. Is.40v29-31. Phil.3v20,21. Prayer can, and does, stop people dying in agony, who would normally suffer greatly because of the nature of their disease. Sickness is primarily due to the loss of the tree of life through Adam's sin, sickness and death will not finally cease until the tree of life is again restored. Gen.2v9. 3v22-24. Ezek.47v6-12. Rev.22v2,14,15. We read in Is.57v1,2., that God allows the young to die to save them from evil to come. 1Kings.14v11-13.

Because God desires us to be healed by natural or medical means.
We read in Ps.103v3,5., that healing can come through correct diet as well as by Divine miracle. Those who neglect rest and a good food will certainly suffer for it, as even godly Epaphroditus found out. Phil.2v25-30. Ps.107v17-19. 127v2. Those who despise doctors and medicine, and say that they are trusting the Lord for healing, will find that will have need of both doctors and medicine, to cure them of their spiritual pride, as well as their sickness. Let us remember that a medicine, like a happy disposition, promotes healing, and medicines are even used in the heavenly kingdom. Prov.17v22. Ezek.47v12. Rev.22v2.

A DEFINITION OF GIFTS OF HEALINGS.
Gifts of healings are the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit, by which the sick are healed of ailments of every kind, from reasonably mild general and occasional sickness, “malakian,” to severe, dangerous and chronic disease, “nosos.” God longs to heal all bad cases, “tous kakos echontas,” and those compressed and straightened by severe sickness or tormenting malady, “poikilais nosois basanois sunechomenous,” and mental and physical disorder. See Mt.4v23,24., where these words occur. Creative healings take place through this gift, e.g., the maimed, “kullos,” Mt.15v30,31.; the blind from birth. Jn.9v1-41.

THE SCRIPTURES REVEAL GOD'S DESIRE FOR OUR HEALING AND GOOD HEALTH.
Sickness may be due to heredity, Satan, sin, neglect, overwork, natural ageing of the body, worry, the pressures of life, emotional stress, infection and disease, industrial poisoning, injury, accident or war, etc. The Scriptures reveal.

The original creation shows God's desire for mankind to enjoy perfect health,
The fall and sin of Adam made creation subject to sickness, death and unreality, “mataiotes.” Gen.2v9. 3v22-24. Rom.5v12. 8v19-22. God not only made the human body self-healing, He also gave the tree of life to preserve perfect health. Adam's sin deprived mankind of the tree of life and physical well being, and by breaking God's moral and health laws, mankind has suffered further physical deterioration. Deut.28v15-29,45-48,58-68. Prov.13v2,15. Gal.6v7. Jesus came to redeem us from the curse of a broken law, and by accepting Him as our Saviour; we can be saved and healed. Gal.3v13,14. When God's kingdom of love comes to earth, all God's redeemed creation will enjoy perfect health forever. Rev.21v3-5. 22v2.

God looks upon sickness and death as enemies of mankind and His perfect will.
Sickness, like any other trial, may produce spiritual strength in us, when we overcome it by God's grace, but it is still an evil thing. 1Cor.15v26. 1Thes.5v23. 3Jn.v2. God speaks of sickness as an oppression of Satan, a curse, and a bondage and captivity, from which Jesus has come to deliver us. Lk.4v17-21. 13v10-17. Acts.10v38. 1Jn.3v8. Job.2v7-13. 42v10.

God gave the Israelites sound medical advice to preserve their health.
God desired the Israelites to enjoy good health, so as well as the moral Law; He gave them laws containing sound medical advice on rest, food, hygiene, sanitation and quarantine, to preserve their health. Prov.4v20-22. Lev.23v1-44. 25v1-24. Mk.2v23-28.; Lev.11v32,39,40. 15v1-33. Deut.23v12,13. Lev.13v1-59. Numb.5v1-4. Lev.11v1-47. God also promised them Divine healing. Ex.15v26. Ps.103v3. 105v37.

If physical neglect or overwork has made you ill, then you need to observe the practical medical advice given in God’s Law, and give your body the correct food, rest, and sleep it needs. Ps.103v3,5. 127v2. 107v4-6,8,17-21. Phil.2v25-30. The Old Testament prophets were told that one of the outstanding activities of the promised Messiah was going to be His ministry of healing. Is.53v4. with Mt.8v16,17. Is.35v5,6., and His manifestation of God's healing and saving power. Is.61v1,2. with Lk.4v14-21,40,41. Deut.18v15-19. Ps.45v6,7. Heb.1v8,9.

The character and love of God assure us that God earnestly desires to heal us.
It is the healing of sickness, not sickness, that glorifies God and shows His perfectly loving desires, will and character. Sickness is Satan's will for God's creation. Ps.103v1-22. 146v5-10. Mt.6v25-34. Jn.1v14. Acts.10v38. Divine healing causes people to love and glorify God, it makes them realise God's sacrificial love and care for His creation. Mk.2v12. Lk.13v10-17. Mt.15v31. Jn.11v4,40,45. 1Jn.4v8. Rev.4v8.

The cross of Christ shows how earnestly God desires to save and heal us.
We can claim healing for soul and body through Christ's atonement. Exod.15v26. Is.53v4. Mt.8v16,17. Numb.21v5-9. Jn.3v14-16. 1Pet.2v24. God desires to deliver us from sin and sickness and to give us His good gifts. Mt.7v11. Lk.11v9-13.

Christ spent a large part of His time ministering to those who were ill.
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil; for God was with Him.” Jesus gave the same commission to His early Church. Acts.10v38. Mt.10v8. Mk.16v15-20. He revealed His Father's willingness to heal, by healing all that came to Him and His apostles did the same. Mt.8v16,17. 14v13,14. Acts.5v12-16. Christ is alive and He desires to do the same miracles today, through His Church, that He did while He was on earth. Heb.13v8.

THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE CAN RECEIVE A GIFT OF HEALING FROM GOD.
Through personal prayer. Is.38v1-22. Jn.14v11-15. 15v4-14.

Through any believer who is full of faith and power. Mk.16v18. Acts.9v17,18.
Any believer who really believes, and is full of the Holy Ghost, can lay hands on the sick and see them recover. Acts.6v8. However, if we try to bring healing to people when we are spiritually powerless, and have nothing to give, we shall badly discourage both the sick person and ourselves as well. To know ourselves is a very necessary task, when we are dealing with the sick. We need God's power to deliver the sick, a formulae or form will not do. 2.Cor.13v5. James.1v22. The greater miracles come through the greater ministries. Acts.5v12.

Through church elders praying a prayer for the sick. James.5v13-16.
One of the essential qualifications for a Church elder, is the ability to pray for the sick and see them healed. Elders should manifest faith and spiritual power as well as godly character. Acts.20v17,28. 1Tim.3v1-7. Titus.1v5-9. 1Pet.5v1-8. James tells us that pastor-elders should be full of the Holy Ghost like Elijah, and pray through with great patience and faith, for those who are sick. The word for “sick” in James.5v15., is “kamno,” it is translated as “wearied” in Heb.12v3., and “fainted” in Rev.2v3., the only other two places where it occurs in the New Testament, it speaks of a person being “worn out” by sickness, and does not necessarily mean that they are confined to bed.

Some say that Mk.6v13. gives us no warrant to anoint unbelievers as this was for Israel, who could claim “the children's bread” of healing. Mt.15v26. However, we need to remember that these same Israelites were looked upon in Mt.10v6., as “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” who needed Christ's salvation, so I see no reason why we should not anoint unbelievers with oil. The anointing with oil signifies the healing power of the Holy Spirit, who comes upon both unbelievers and believers to heal them. The important thing is to have the power of God, not just the type of that power. If there is failure to bring healing to the sick in a church, the whole church should seek God until this defect is put right, and the sick are healed. Leaders should see the sick healed or question their ministry, an empty claim to the ministry of pastor-elder, will have to be answered for before the great throne of God. 1Pet.5v1-4. Eph.4v8-11. Jer.23v1-6. Ezek.34v1-34. Mt.23v13-39.

Through the other greater ministries of the Church. 1Cor.12v28. Eph.4v8-11.
All the New Testament ministries were usually entrusted with the great manifestations of gifts of healings. Mk.16v15-20. Lk.9v1,2. 10v1-9. Rom.15v18-20. 2Cor.12v12. These ministries had a continual rather than an occasional ministry to the sick. Each gift of healing is a separate gift, if ten people are healed; ten gifts of healings have been ministered. A gift of healing can be ministered by the laying on of hands, Mk.6v5,6.; by a touch, Mt.8v13-17. 9v24,25,29,30.; by a word of commanding faith, Mt.8v8. Acts.3v6.; by someone praying for someone even a great distance away, Mt.8v5-13. Jn.4v46-54.; by a “prayer cloth” sent to the sick, Acts.19v11,12. Mt.14v35,36. 2Kings.13v20.; by reconsecration and obedience to God. Mk.7v32-37. Lk.17v12-19. Jn.9v1-15. Numb.21v5-9. Is.38v1-8.

THE SCRIPTURAL ADVICE FOR THOSE SEEKING HEALING FROM GOD.
Call for those with a proven ministry of healing to pray for you. James.5v13-18.
Do not be prayed for by Christians whose ministry is a proven failure, they will only depress your faith. Go to Christians who have positive faith, and if possible to those elders, or other ministries, who have a proven ministry of healing.

Repent of all known sin and come in sincere repentance to Christ.
Accept Christ as your Saviour, if you do not know Him as Saviour. Mk.1v15. Acts.3v19. 13v38,39. Jn.1v12. 3v16. 6v37. Heb.7v25. Jesus emphasised the supreme importance of getting right with God and being “born again,” He told us that there is a vital connection between repentance, forgiveness, and healing. Mk.2v5,9,10. Jn.5v1-9,14. Rom.12v1,2. 1Jn.3v21-24. 1Cor.11v27-32. If you have any bitterness or enmity against other people, you must put it right; otherwise it could hinder or stop you receiving your healing. Mt.6v12,14,15. 18v35. Mk.11v22-26. Lk.17v1-17. Get right with God and man, and come to God in full assurance of faith for healing, through Christ's shed blood, your sin can be forgiven and your body healed. Mt.5v22-24. Lk.24v47. Rom.8v32. 1Pet.2v24. 1Jn.1v9. Heb.10v19-22.

Be absolutely positive in your faith in Christ and the Father.
See Heb.11v5,6. Mk.5v25-34. 6v56. Praise and thank God for His promise to heal you. Mk.11v20-24. 2Cor.1v19,20. Don't go to God with doubting hope; go to Him with positive faith. Don't wait for thrills, feelings and sight, before you will believe; trust God's word and resist Satan's lies, and God will meet with you. God wants you to be well, so reject false teaching that says that God likes you to be sick. 1Pet.5v6-11. James.4v7. 3Jn.v2. Let your confession of faith be as positive as the Word of God. Jn.20v27-29. 2Cor.4v18. 5v7. Rom.4v20. God is faithful, and is able and willing to heal all those who truly repent and come to Him in full assurance of faith; no matter what Satan, church tradition, or circumstances may say. 1Jn.5v9-15. Mk.9v22,23.

Continue to trust Christ for a miracle even when healing is not immediate.
Expect an instant miracle of healing, Mk.1v31,41. 2v12. 5v29,42. 7v35. 10v32. Acts.3v7. 9v34., but do not limit healing to an instant miracle; sometimes healing is delayed or is gradual. Jn.4v52. Remember that Jesus promised that real faith never goes unrewarded. Mk.11v20-25. Imitate the persistent faith and prayer of the woman of Mt.15v21-28.; the Shunammite woman of Kings.4v18-37.; The sick woman of Mk.5v25-34.; the blind men of Lk.18v35-43.; the friends of the palsied man of Mk.2v1-12.. Remember, even God's servant Job experienced a delay in healing, and that Paul's friend Epaphroditus was not healed immediately, even though Paul prayed for him. Job.42v10. Phil.2v25-30. Lk.17v11-19. Even Jesus prayed for one person twice, and other people received their healings some time after they were prayed for. Mk.8v22-26. Lk.17v12-19. Jn.9v1-15. Remember to direct your faith to God, and not to the person who prays for you, and give God ALL the glory. Acts.3v11-13. 14v7-21. Realise that God is trying to make a change in you as well as your body. Remember the Lord Jesus never refused either salvation or healing to those who came to Him, and a delay in healing never means denial.

The major hindrances in our churches that stop God from fulfilling His Word to heal us.
(This section is a quote from Chapter 8 of my study, By His Stripes We Are Healed) In Ps.90v10., Moses informs us that natural aging of the body cannot be avoided. Old age can be a burden to the godliest soul, however, God can heal us in our old age; God healed me of a tumour on the brain and blindness when I was 71. God can, and does, heal every kind of sickness, including simple sickness. Ps.103v3. But God often allows minor sickness, to be healed by the natural healing processes of the body. Simple sickness can be cured by common sense, simple remedy, correct diet and sufficient sleep. Ps.103v5. 127v2. However, severe sickness is another matter altogether, and this is what I am considering here.

The lack of full New Testament apostolic, prophetic and evangelistic ministry.
We read in Mt.9v35,36. that in His third tour of Galilee, Jesus was moved with compassion, when He saw the pitiable state of the multitudes. “Moved with compassion,” is “esplangchnisthe,” the aorist passive indicative of “splagchnizomai” 4697, to have the bowels yearn, so, to be moved with compassion, sympathy and pity. Jesus was, and is, deeply moved with compassion. Mt.14v14. 15v32. 20v34. Mk.1v41. 6v34. 8v2. Lk.7v13. 15v20. Jesus was deeply moved and grieved over the totally deprived and wretched state of the multitudes. They were “distressed,” “eskulmenoi,” the perfect passive participle of “skullo” 4660, to flay, to lacerate; they were flayed, rent and mangled as if by wild animals. “Scattered” is “errimmenoi,” the perfect passive participle of “rhipto” 4496, to throw or cast down. The perfect tenses show this was their normal state and abiding condition, the multitudes were in a permanent state of mental and spiritual dejection. They were cast down, dejected, bewildered, harassed, wounded and prostrated by their religious teachers, who laid heavy burdens on them, and hindered them from entering into an experience of truth, and God’s kingdom. Mt.23v3,13. Lk.11v45-54. N.B. 52. They were sheep without a caring shepherd, until Jesus came. Jesus asked the apostles to pray for apostolic labourers, as the answer to this great need, and this is how we should pray, for when these ministries exist, the Church is revitalised, great needs are met, and great miracles occur.

Lack of healings in a church is often due to lack of spiritual power or faith in the elders.
However, even if the poor spiritual condition of the elders stops them from being a channel of salvation and healing and blessing, it is still God's will to heal, as we can clearly see from the healing of the demoniac in Mk.9v14-29. Sin in the elders will also hinder and stop people from being healed. The list of sins can be long and range from immorality to prayerlessness.

James, in James.5v13-20., makes it quite clear that elders have the responsibility to pray the sick through, in the same manner that Elijah prayed for rain. This is not a two-minute prayer, but prolonged compassionate and dedicated praying. When the famous missionary William Burton was staying in our home, I asked him how they prayed for the severe sick in Congo. Willie told me, that if the sick were not healed on the first and second day, they would pray for a third day, until the person was healed, or they had a word from God. This is James 5v13-20., praying, you pray until you have a positive answer from God.

Lack of healing is very often due to the fact that the church is too spiritually lazy, or too worldly to defeat Satan.
The prayerlessness of the elders can often infect the rest of the church, and the church expects no miracles. When people are prayed for week after week, and nothing happens, the faith of everybody almost completely disappears; the people expect defeat, not victory. Their faith in the power of the Name of Jesus is badly affected.

Serious unrepentant sin, or a sin like Achan’s can stop people being healed. Josh.7v1-26. 8v1
Until Achan’s sin was dealt with all the people of God were in defeat. In the Corinthian Church many were sick and many had died because they failed to examine their lives, and clean them up before they partook of the Lord’s Supper. 1Cor.11v27-32. Paul told them in v30. “For this reason many “polus” 4183, are weak (“astheneis” 772) and sick (“arrostoi” 732), among you, and many (“hikanos” 2425) sleep. NKJ) Many Corinthians lost their health and lives by divine judgement through sickness.

Christians can be at sixes and sevens and have a bitter spirit towards one another.
Wrongs should not be allowed to fester. Christ commanded us to put right any things that were wrong. If we want to move mountains we have to walk in forgiveness. N.B. Mt.18v15-35. Mk.11v22-26. Jn.13v34,35. 15v12-14. 1Cor.3v1-3. Very often the premature death of a Christian through sickness is not “God's will” at all, it is often due to the sin and spiritual poverty of Christ's Church. The phrase, “If it be thy will”, is often quoted in direct contradiction to the clearly revealed will of God in the Scriptures. “If it be thy will”, is very often used as a declaration of unbelief, and as a God limiting and faith destroying statement, instead of the positive affirmation and testimony that it is God's will to heal us if we will put our lives right with God. The phrase, “If it be thy will” has its place in prayer, but let us make sure that we use it within the confines of the Word of God. Doubtless, when a Christian dies because of the spiritual failure of the elders, or their own lack of faith, it is always “gain” for them, when they go to be with the Saviour they love. Jn.17v24. 2Cor.5v6-10. Phil.1v20-25. Thank God for His wonderful grace, power, love and wisdom, and for the immortality brought to us by our dear Lord Jesus. 2Tim.1v10. God is forever the same, and His promises are Yea and Amen in Christ. See my book, "God Our Healer," on The Secret Of Eternal Life

PAUL'S "THORN IN THE FLESH."
Paul tells us that when he was in danger of getting over-elated through the abundance of spiritual revelations that he received, God's cure for this was “a thorn in the flesh, a messenger, “angelos,” of Satan to buffet me.” One cannot see how Paul could have accomplished his missionary journeys if he had been continually sick and ill as some say he was. Paul certainly knew what it was to suffer physically, for no one could suffer eight beatings and a stoning, without suffering some physical pain and after effects. Paul said, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus,” and a thousand scars on his body testified to the truth of that statement. Gal.6v17. with 2 Cor.11v23 to 12v12. Thorns in the flesh in the Old Testament, were personalities or people that were used by God to discipline His children. Numb.33v55. Joshua.23v12,13. I believe Paul's thorn in the flesh was persecution, not sickness. An angel of Satan certainly stirred up tremendous persecution against Paul; he suffered weariness and painfulness, perils of various kinds, necessities, persecutions, distresses, imprisonment, beatings, a stoning, and many other trials as a result of the hatred of Satan-inspired men. God uses various means to test and discipline His children, and sickness was certainly used by God to discipline the wayward Christians at Corinth. If Paul's thorn was sickness the Christians at Corinth had every right to ask Paul if he had been examining himself at the Lord's Table. 1Cor.11v30. The idea that Paul was continually sick from one disease after another, is quite without any scriptural foundation, Paul preached and experienced healing. Acts.9v17-19. 28v3-6. Rom.8v11. 15v18-20. 2Cor.4v11.

Paul tells us that people are blinded by Satan and need signs and wonders to see what God is like. 2Cor.4v3-7. The healing of disease and infirmity make a powerful appeal to people to return to such a wonderful and loving God. Mk.3v3-12. Acts.4v21. Paul states that gifts of healings compel unbelievers, not only to listen to the Gospel message, but also to believe it. Rom.15v17-20. They show that Jesus is alive and that the tremendous truths that He told us about Heaven and Hell, and sin and judgement are true. Acts.3v13-26. The gifts of healings certainly turn people to God and really inspire the people of God with a holy boldness to preach the Gospel. Acts.8v5-13. 9v32v35. 4v29-31. Paul did not go around saying that we should patiently bear sickness, he went around preaching deliverance from it, and he looked upon this as one of the proofs of his apostolic ministry. 2Cor.12v12. It made all the difference between defeat and victory in his ministry. We need gifts of healings today, for they meet the needs of suffering humanity, and display the wonderful compassion, character and grace of God, and confirm the Gospel message and bring many souls to Christ.

Albert Hibbert, on pages 42 to 44, of his book, “Smith Wigglesworth; The Secret of His Power;” relates how God instantly replaced the two artificial legs of an Anglican Curate with two normal legs. The curate, at Wigglesworth's direction, went to buy some shoes, and requested a pair of size 8 black shoes. When the Curate put one stump of his artificial leg into one of the shoes, a foot and leg instantly formed. Then the same thing happened with the other artificial leg. The Curate walked out of the shop with a new pair of shoes on a new pair of legs. Wigglesworth was not at all surprised at this result; it was what he had expected to happen; he had often said that as far as God is concerned, there is no difference between forming a new limb, and healing a broken bone. We need more of this kind of miracle today.

THIS IS A VERY SPIRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY DEMANDING MINISTRY.
We read in Lk.6v18,19. of power going out of Jesus to heal the multitudes. This meant that the Lord Jesus had to restore His vital spiritual and nervous energies through communion with God the Father. This is one reason for His tremendous prayer-life. Lk.3v21. 5v16. 9v18,28,29. 11v1. 22v40-46. Christians who pray for people in deep need understand what Jesus meant when He said in Lk.8v46., “I perceived that power had gone forth out of me.” This kind of spiritual loss has to be experienced to be appreciated. In manifesting the gift of faith in casting out of demons, or healing wounded spirits, etc., and gifts of healings for the body, we have very definitely got to know our limitations. If we do not draw near to God and other mature Christians, we can experience both physical and spiritual breakdown. To maintain a ministry to the sick demands real consecration, and deep communion with God. We should not be satisfied until we see this lovely gift of healing manifested continuously and powerfully in our churches, so let us earnestly desire this precious manifestation of God's forgiving and compassionate love.

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