1 Corinthians 12:9, 28, 30

INTRODUCTION

It is important for Christians to be discerning, especially in the area of spiritual gifts. Today, we hear that all of the miracles and all of the apostolic gifts are still occurring. Oral Roberts promises that if you invest in his ministry, he will give you the promise of God for a miracle a day. There is a book entitled A Miracle a Day Keeps the Devil Away. I received in the mail a special miracle prayer cloth, which says: "Take this special miracle prayer cloth and put under your pillow and sleep on it tonight. Or you may want to place it on your body or on a loved one. Use it as a release point wherever you hurt. First thing in the morning send it back to me in the green envelope. Do not keep this prayer cloth; return it to me. I'll take it, pray over it all night. Miracle power will flow like a river. God has something better for you, a special miracle to meet your needs." This is just one in a long line of claims that are being made.

Television is being inundated by the Christian programming that is, in many ways, a misrepresentation of biblical Christianity. That is a sad thing. People are claiming miracles and healings all the time. It makes you wonder just how much people perceive. In every city and every Christian group I address, people ask me questions regarding this whole subject of healing: "Is God restoring this marvelous gift? What do you think of Kathryn Kuhlman? What do you think of Oral Roberts?" The result is that the people across America who aren't saved are confused, to say nothing of the poor Christians who are untaught in Scripture. In our studies we have been endeavoring to clear up many of the misconceptions surrounding spiritual gifts.Review

In our study of the temporary sign gifts, we mentioned that there are four: miracles, healings, languages, and the interpretation of languages. They are the four miraculous sign gifts given by the Spirit to authenticate the new revelation that constituted the New Testament. Once the New Testament was finished, these sign gifts ceased to have a function. They do not belong to the continuing life of the church.

The people today who claim to have these abilities to conduct and experience healing after healing need to be carefully brought to the test of Scripture. The question is not, "Well, I had this experience, what's your experience?" The question is: What does the Bible say? I have nothing against these people, I simply want to deal with what the Word of God has to say about their claims, and leave the results to God.

The temporary sign gifts do not exist today. We have seen that this is true from Scripture in our past studies. We have studied the gift of...

I. MIRACLES (1 Cor. 12:10)

Now, we are studying the gift of...

II. HEALING (1 Cor. 12:9, 28, 30)

A. The Problem of Disease

B. The Pretense of Healers

C. The Pattern of Christ's Healing

1. Jesus Healed with a Word or Touch

2. Jesus Healed Instantaneously

3. Jesus Healed Totally

4. Jesus Healed Everybody

5. Jesus Healed Organic Disease

6. Jesus Raised the Dead

You say, "But that was Christ's pattern." Yes, and it is exactly what He passed on to His Apostles.

D. The Power Of The Apostles

1. The Progression

a. To the Twelve

In Luke 9:1 our Lord passes on to His Apostles this power:

1) Miracles

"Then He called His twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all demons...." That is the gift of miracles (or powers). This gift was never the ability given to the Apostles and their associates to work natural miracles (i.e., making food, walking on water, feeding a multitude, making a tree fall over dead, building an instant house, or similar miracles). The miracle gift was simply the gift of dunamis -- power over Satan, the ability to cast out demons.

2) Healing

The end of verse 1 says, "...and to cure diseases." He gave them the power over disease, with an unqualified ability to cure diseases. The Twelve had that power.

b. The Seventy

In Luke 10:1 Jesus extended these abilities to another group: "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two by two...." In verse 9 He said to them, "And heal the sick that are there, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come near unto you." He gave to the Seventy the ability to heal the sick. You say, "Does anyone else in the New Testament have the ability to heal?"

c. The Associates

A few of the associates of the Apostles, used of God, were given the gift.

So, the gift belonged to Christ, His Apostles, the Seventy, and some of the associates of the Apostles. We never see the gift used at random in the churches. It was always associated with Christ, the Twelve, the Seventy, and the associates of the Twelve (such as Philip). It was never extended beyond those men. It was a very limited gift in terms of the people who possessed, it as was the gift of miracles (or powers).

2. The Purpose

a. The Confirmation of the Message

As this early band went out preaching, proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom (this phenomenal, unbelievable new message), God gave them the ability to heal diseases instantaneously and totally in order to convince people that they were from God and that their message was believable. So, these gifts were given in order to authenticate and confirm the proclamation of these particular individuals. This is seen throughout the book of Acts. For example:

1) Acts 3:1-15 -- In verse 1 Peter and John are going into the Temple. Then verse 2 says, "And a certain man, lame from his birth...." We know from Acts 4:22 that he was over forty years old. He was congenitally deformed. Verse 2 continues: "...whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him, with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but, such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up; and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he, leaping up, stood and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they knew that it was he who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man who was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering" (vv. 2b-11). The healing drew the crowd. Here was a man they knew had been crippled for forty years, and now he was instantaneously walking and leaping. Incredible!

The key to this healing starts at verse 12: "And when Peter saw it, he answered the people...." The point is, the healing simply generated the amazement that could make the message believable. Then Peter launched into a great sermon: "The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son, Jesus, whom ye delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses" (vv. 13-15). The point is, these miracles were signs and wonders pointing to the message they were preaching.

This pattern occurs throughout the book of Acts. Paul would go into a city, perform a miracle, and then preach a sermon. Peter would go into a city, perform a miracle (raise somebody from the dead), and people would believe the Word. The gift was given to those who were the proclaimers of the message in order for them to attend the message with divine confirmation, so people would know that it wasn't just their own opinion.

2) Acts 19:10-12 -- "And this continued for the space of two years; so that all they who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them." The word for "handkerchiefs" in the Greek means "sweat bands." And the word for "aprons" had reference to the type of apron Paul wore when he was making tents. In other words, Paul didn't do this. They actually came to where Paul was working, took his sweatbands and aprons, and put them on sick people. So tremendous were the miracles that they knew this man had power. In Acts 5:15 Peter would walk along the street and people would try to get under his shadow in order to be healed because so much power attended his preaching.

b. The Controversy of the Message

The new message delivered by the Apostles was confirmed by these signs. Once the message was written down, the signs ceased to be the confirming agent and the Bible confirms itself. To the Jews, the new message was shocking. Here came these men saying, "You have executed your Messiah. You have been set aside by God, and He is calling out the church from among the Gentiles." You cannot imagine the drama of that message. This was so shocking, so dramatic, and so transforming, that their responses were absolutely amazing.

1) Acceptance

In Acts 2:37 is one response: "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said...what shall we do?" In other words, "This is incredible! We've killed our Messiah! What do we do now?" They heard Peter's sermon with spiritual ears.

2) Rejection

The others were furious. They threw the Apostles in jail and said, "...ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine..." (Ac. 5:28b).

The jolt that was involved in this message was so tremendous that God had to attest to the truth of it by miracles and healings, or they never would have believed. But as it was accompanied with these tremendous signs and wonders, they believed it, and three thousand were saved the first day (Ac. 2:41). In Acts 4:4 five thousand more men believed. Just for them to hear that they had killed their Messiah was enough to shock them. A new age had come, and so God gave His men miraculous ability so the people would understand the truth of the message.

3. The Pattern

Now, in giving these men this power of healing, God allowed them to heal in the exact manner in which Jesus healed.

a. They Healed with a Word or Touch

1) A Word

Acts 9:32-35 says, "And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints who dwelt at Lydda. And there he found a certain man, named Aeneas, who had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy. And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole; arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately. And all that dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and turned to the Lord." Why? The healing was attended by the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom.

2) A Touch

The Apostles could also heal with a touch. In Acts 28, Paul is on the island of Melita after the shipwreck. Verse 8 says, "And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux; to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him." Here the Apostle Paul healed with his hands. Jesus also healed with a word or a touch. They had the same power.

b. They Healed Instantaneously

Acts 3:4 says, "And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him, with John, said, Look on us.... Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but, such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up; and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he, leaping up, stood and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God" (vv. 4, 6-8). There was no rehabilitation. The man had never walked in his entire life. There was no therapy, just instantaneous wholeness.

c. They Healed Totally

The Apostles, like Jesus, healed totally. In Acts 9:34 Peter said, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole...." There is no progression in any apostolic healing. There is nothing like, "I've been healed and I am steadily getting better." No. There is instantaneous, total healing.

d. They Healed Everybody

1) Acts 5:12, 14-16 -- "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people (.... And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women), insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them who were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed every one." The Apostle Peter healed every single one.

This is not the same as when a person went to a Kathryn Kuhlman meeting and went away sick. She said, "Well, I don't do it, only God can do it." Anyone who had been given the gift operated it strictly on the basis of volition. The leper came to Jesus in Matthew 8:2 and said, "...Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." And Jesus said, "...I will..." (v. 3b). It is the will of the one with the gift that makes it operational. That is why Romans 12:6-8 says that if you have the gift of giving, give; if you have the gift of prophecy, prophesy; if you have the gift of showing mercy, do it, and so on. Any time there is a command to use your gift, there is the assumption that you have the will to control it. This is true of the gift of healing like every other gift. The people of today say that they are not the ones who heal because they don't heal. They have to say this because if they claim the gift, then they are forced to answer this question: "Well, why don't you heal this person?" Their cop-out is: "It's not me, it's the Lord." That proves they don't have the gift because it was exercised at the will of the one who possessed it...like any spiritual gift.

2) Acts 28:9 -- "So when this was done, others also in the island, who had diseases, came and were healed." Who was healed? Everybody who came with a disease.

Jesus and His Apostles healed the same way -- with a word or a touch, instantaneously, totally, everybody, and...

e. They Healed Organic Disease

They did not deal with functional, symptomatic, psychosomatic things, but with actual organic diseases. The man in Acts 3 had been crippled for forty years. They didn't heal low back pain, migraine headaches, palpitations of the heart, or anything else that was not visible and not organic.

f. They Raised the Dead

This was part of the gift of healing. Acts 9:36 says, "Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple, named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas...." When she died, Peter came to see her (vv. 37-39). Verse 40 says, "But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord" (vv. 40-42). Here, again, is another connection of healing with proclamation and salvation. Next time someone claims to have the gift of healing, take them out to the cemetery and have them raise someone from the dead.

Jesus and the Apostles healed with a word or a touch, instantaneously, totally, everybody, organic diseases, and raised the dead. I have yet to see anyone today who can do any of those things. That is the continuity of the apostolic gift of healing. They were confirming signs connected with the preaching of the gospel.

4. The Period

Once the Word was complete, the signs ceased.

a. The Reality of the Word

Joshua 5:11-12 says, "And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the very same day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." The miracle of the manna was no longer needed when they entered the Promised Land, so the miracle stopped. In the same manner, once we have the Bible (the land of Canaan in this little allegory), the miraculous sign gift (the manna) is no longer needed. We have the living Word. The gift was never intended to be used to keep Christians healthy; it was to be used as a sign to unbelievers to motivate them to hear the gospel.

b. The Restraint of Paul

We know that Paul had the gift of healing. Paul shows us the purpose of this gift because he never used it outside of its purpose. For example:

1) Towards Epaphroditus

Philippians 2:25-27 says, "Yet I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor, and fellow soldier.... For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because ye had heard that he had been sick. For, indeed, he was sick near unto death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow." Now, here is Paul's friend sick to the point of death. But the Lord didn't let him die.

You say, "Well, what's the big deal, Paul? Why don't you heal him? The gift of healing is something you can use at will." Paul didn't heal him because he would not pervert the purpose of the gift to his own personal ends. The purpose of the gift was not to keep Christians healthy, it was given as a sign to unbelievers. The gift was used only at the point when God revealed that the purpose was clear, the time was right, and it was necessary for proclamation.

2) Towards Trophimus

In 2 Timothy 4:20 Paul says, "...Trophimus have I left at Miletus sick." You say, "You have the gift of healing. Why did you leave him sick?" The purpose of the gift was not to keep the Christians healthy, it was a sign to unbelievers to hear the gospel of the Kingdom.

3) Towards Timothy

According to 1 Timothy 5:23, Timothy was sick, and Paul didn't say, "Find someone with the gift of healing." He said, "...use a little wine for thy stomach's sake...."

4) Towards Himself

Paul himself was racked with a thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7-9), yet he never healed himself, and he never went to someone for healing. Why? That was never the purpose.

E. The Perspective on Illness

1. The Heart of Salvation

a. Is Not Physical Wholeness

I am tired of hearing people say that God wants every Christian to be well. There is a book titled God Wants You Well. I would like to write a sequel, God Wants You Sick. God even wants some people dead. God's healing purposes should not be perverted and twisted as they are today. The gift of healing is rampantly being claimed all over as the panacea for everyone's ills. The Charismatic Movement grows because there are so many sick people looking to get well.

Dennis Bennett, in his book The Holy Spirit and You, says, "God has made it perfectly clear in His Word that it is His will to heal the sick -- period!" Then why are people sick? It seems much simpler if they just didn't get sick. Then people say, "Well, Isaiah 53:5 says that by His stripes we are healed." Please don't associate that verse with physical healing. That is a corruption of the message of Isaiah 53. Jesus didn't die on a cross so you won't get a cold. Jesus died on the cross to heal your soul of its diseases. Many of the cults promise healing because there is a tremendous market for it.

b. Is Spiritual Wholeness

In a world where sin is not excluded from the permissive will of God, why should we assume that suffering is? Paul had no such exemption. He prayed three different times for God to remove the thorn in his flesh, and He never removed it because He wanted him to have it. Paul had so many revelations that he could have easily become proud, so God kept him humble by his illness (2 Cor. 12:7-9).

If every Christian were well, and health was a part of the atonement, then all people would be running to get saved for the wrong reason. God's picture of salvation would become cloudy. God wants people to come to Him in repentance of sin and because of His glory, not so they can be healthy physically. What nonsense would be made of such virtues as long-suffering, patience, and endurance -- so highly prized in the New Testament -- if we were always well. How dumb it would be for salvation to provide physical wholeness on earth but spiritual wholeness only in heaven. How foolish for God to decree that all of us must die but none of us can ever get sick. Paul was sick, and he left a lot of other people sick, but that is the way it is because God wants some people sick.

1) Hebrews 12:6 -- "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." Part of that scourging is illness.

2) Exodus 4:11 -- "And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?" God makes people deaf and dumb and blind because it fits His purpose.

3) John 9:2b-3 -- "...who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." God has His own purposes.

Jesus, Peter, Paul, and all the rest could heal by saying, "I will." They could use that gift anytime, and it was true of any of the sign gifts. First Corinthians 14 was written to regulate the control of the gift of tongues. If the gift was of the type that required waiting on God, regulations would not be needed. God wouldn't use a gift out of its purpose. These gifts were used at the volition of the one who possessed them. Peter possessed it: "...such as I have, give I thee..." (Ac. 3:6). So, when people say, "I don't heal, it's God," that is strictly a cop-out when a healing doesn't occur. It is true, they don't heal.

2. The Hypocrisy of Modern Healers

The question I hear all the time is: "Well, how do you explain what goes on?" All right, let me ask you a question. Since none of the healers can heal with a word or a touch, instantaneously, totally, everybody, organic diseases, and raise the dead; since none of them have received the gift of healing from Jesus or the Apostles; since the Bible is complete, the revelation has ceased, and more signs are no longer necessary; since the Word needs no confirmation -- it is sufficient that the man of God might be perfect; since their healings are based on faulty theology of the atonement and salvation; since they disallow God His own purposes in having some people remain sick; since their personal lives are not known to manifest the fruit of the Spirit; since so many tricks, gimmicks, and special effects are often used; since the evidence is weak, unsupported, and so-called testimonies exaggerated; since they do not go to where the sick are, as Jesus did; since they cannot heal all who come to them; and since their healings can have other possible explanations rather than that God has acted supernaturally; let me ask you this question: "How do you explain it?" You can't explain it biblically -- it is fraud, they are deceived. Maybe they don't know they are deceived; maybe they are honestly deceived, but they are deceived.

3. The Healing of God

You say, "Are you saying God doesn't heal?" No. God answers prayer. Second, God heals in answer to prayer. God heals miraculously in answer to prayer. God heals miraculously in answer to prayer where there is faith. God heals miraculously in answer to prayer where there is faith to manifest His own glory. Don't say I don't believe God heals. I've seen Him heal. I've seen Him heal miraculously. I've seen Him heal miraculously to manifest His glory. I've seen Him heal miraculously to manifest His glory in response to faithful prayer. God heals. But, God does not heal everybody and God no longer heals through the apostolic gift of healing. That gift has ceased.

4. The Health of the Soul

In looking at this from another angle, why are Christians sick? There are several possibilities:

a. God Makes You Sick

God has made the deaf and the dumb and the blind. God allowed the man in John 9 to be born blind. God wanted Lazarus dead. Jesus wanted him dead -- He stayed away (Jn. 11:1-11). Some people are sick because God wants them sick. You may have a little baby who is sick. That is God's plan, and the baby is a gift of God's love, so He will reveal His purpose to you as you seek Him. Some of you may have a congenital deformity. There is a great book titled Grace Grows Best in Winter that gives beautiful insights into why God allows these things to happen. The author, Margaret Clarkson, has lived all of her life with a congenital problem.

b. Satan Makes You Sick

Luke 13:11 says, "And, behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no way lift herself up. And when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God" (vv. 11-13). She had a spirit from Satan. God may choose to cast out those demons and heal people of infirmities.

c. God Allows Satan to Make You Sick for Special Reasons

God had a purpose for Job. God said to Satan, "I want you to see that I have a man who can handle you. He can handle any test you give him" (Job 1:8). God may allow Satan to buffet you. In 2 Corinthians 12:7 Paul said that his thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan sent to buffet him. So, it could be God, it could be a demon, or it could be God letting it happen -- letting Satan do it to perfect you.

d. God Makes You Sick to Perfect You

God might allow you to catch a certain disease because He has a purpose. David pours out his heart in Psalm 119:67: "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept Thy word." Then verse 71 says, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn Thy statutes." Sometimes illness, affliction, infirmity, and trouble drive us to His side. That is His intention. It is better for you to be sick and godly than well and ungodly.

e. God Chastens You for Sin

1) The Sin

God could be allowing you to be sick because of your sin.

a) Numbers 12:9-10 -- "And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and He departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow...." God got angry with Miriam and gave her leprosy. Then they prayed and the Lord healed her. If illness comes as a result of chastening, if you will just eliminate the cause for the chastening, the chances are you will eliminate the illness.

b) Deuteronomy 28:21-22 -- "The LORD shall make the pestilence cling unto thee, until He have consumed thee from off the land, to which thou goest to possess it. The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew...." God uses illness as a chastening.

c) 2 Kings 5:15-27 -- Gehazi sinned and got leprosy.

d) 2 Chronicles 26:5, 21 -- "And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.... And Uzziah, the king, was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD...." As long as he sought God, he was healthy; as soon as he didn't, he got leprosy.

e) Exodus 15:26 -- "If thou wilt...keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee...."

f) 1 Corinthians 11:30 -- When God chastened the Corinthians because of their desecration of the Lord's Table, Paul said, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."

2) The Confession

Now, if God makes you sick for His own intents and purposes, that is His choice. If it is Satan, then when you become a Christian I believe God will deliver you from the demon. I believe salvation cleans you. If it is God letting Satan do it, or God allowing it to be done to perfect you, then it will have to run its course until you are perfected in the way He wants. Peter said, "After you have suffered for awhile, God will make you perfect" (1 Pet. 5:10b). If it is chastening for sin, then as soon as you deal with the sin I believe that God begins to withdraw the chastening. James 5:14-16 says, "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

Here is sickness related to chastening. There are two things to do when you are sick: First, call for the elders and pray; and second, confess your sins. That is the reason the elders are brought in. Every time you are sick, it isn't necessarily an issue for the elders, because "the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." But when it is a sickness that is a result of sinfulness, then it is a matter of purity for the church. The elders are the overseers of church purity and they need to be involved in hearing that confession and joining with the person in seeking God for the removal of that illness.

So, there is the promise that when confession is made believing in God's power and will to heal in regard to chastening, God will respond. God heals when you pray believing and confessing your sin, if the disease is the result of chastening. The first thing I tell people when they are sick is: "Have you checked out every area of your life for sin? Have you confessed it openly? If there's a sin in your life and you know it, meet with the elders, we will pray about it, and believe God." If your life is pure and the sickness is still there, then it is God's choice for your perfection.

5. The Heaven of Healing

It is ridiculous to say God always wants everyone well. The Bible doesn't teach that, yet you have the right to look to heaven in every illness because God may want to remove the illness for His glory. There are three reasons that you have the right to look to heaven:

a. God's Person

In Exodus 15:26 God says: "...for I am the LORD that healeth thee [Jehovah Ropheca]." He is a healer. You have a right to look to Him in every illness.

b. God's Promise

God says, "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jer. 33:3). He promised to hear every prayer (1 Jn. 5:14). He promised that whatever we asked in His name He would do (Mt. 21:22). The promise of God is that if it is His will, He will heal.

c. God's Pattern

God's pattern was established in Jesus. If you want to know how God feels about disease, look at Jesus. How did He feel about disease? He went everywhere healing. I believe He gave us a pattern of God's attitude: "When the evening was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with demons; and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah, the prophet, saying, He Himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses" (Mt. 8:16-17).

Here is the promise that God heals because of His person, His promise, and His pattern.

6. The Honor Due Medicine

Did you know that Christians believe in doctors?

a. Isaiah 38:1-5, 21 -- "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz, came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, and said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David, thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years." Now that is answered prayer! Then verse 21 says, "For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover." If you are healed of God, why do you need the remedy? I think God is laying down a principle. Do two things when you get sick: Pray, and go to the doctor.

b. Matthew 9:12 -- "...They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Jesus assumed that sick people needed a doctor.

c. Acts 28:8-10 -- On the island of Melita, verse 8 says that Paul "laid his hands on him [the father of Publius], and healed him." The Greek word iaomai means "healing." It is also used as a spiritual term for healing. Then verse 9 says that many were healed. Here it is inferred that Luke practiced medicine (Gk. therapeuo) on them. So, if you get sick, find a Paul to pray for you and a Luke to help you get better. Just let God do His will.

Remember, sometimes it is in God's will for people to die. May everyone face death like Peter. Jesus said to him that by his death he would glorify God. I hope that in your illnesses, and everything else, you keep your biblical perspective and glorify God in His purpose. Remember, you do have the promise to seek heaven because Jehovah Ropheca is there -- the Lord that heals.

Focusing on the Facts

1. Whom did the Lord pass on the power of healing to? 

2. Why were the gifts of miracles and healings given to the Apostles and their associates? 

3. What was the key aspect in the healing of the lame man in Acts 3? 

4. According to Acts 19:10-12, what did the people do that showed their belief in Paul's power? 

5. Why was the message that the Apostles gave so shocking to the Jews? What were the responses to the message? How did God confirm the truth of this shocking message? 

6. In what ways did the Apostles heal? In what ways were they similar to the ways Jesus healed? 

7. On what basis is a spiritual gift operated? What then is wrong when someone who claims to have the gift of healing says that they don't control who is healed and who isn't, but the Holy Spirit does? 

8. What happened to the miraculous signs after the Word was complete? Why? 

9. How does Paul reveal the true purpose of the gift of healing? Give examples. 

10. What disease did Jesus die on the cross for? Does God heal all who are sick? How do you know? 

11. Why didn't God remove Paul's thorn in the flesh? 

12. Why would it be dangerous if health was part of the atonement? For what reason does God want people to co