Divine healing

348 Pages·2011·2 MB·English

by  Mom & Dad

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DIVINE HEALING
LIFE, DEATH, ILLNESS
&

HEALING

Lars Wilhelmsson
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CONTENTS

PREFACE 5-9

INTRODUCTION 10-13

1. PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF HEALING 14-23

2. ARE “SUPERNATURAL” GIFTS FOR TODAY? 24-50

3. JESUS’ WHOLISTIC APPROACH 51-69

4. THE APOSTLES’ HEALING MINISTRY 70-75

5. LOSTNESS, FORGIVENESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS & HEALING 76-100

6. THE LORD FOR THE BODY AND THE BODY FOR THE LORD 101-106

7. IS IT ALWAYS GOD’S WILL TO HEAL? 107-112

8. REASONS FOR SICKNESS 113-118

9. SICKNESS & SIN 119-128

10. HEALTH, MEDICINE & HEALING 129-137

11. MENTAL HEALTH & HEALING 140-152

12. FAITH & HEALING 153-164

13. WORDS & HEALING 165-176

14. PRAYER, MEDITATION & HEALING 177-196

15. GOD’S WILL & HEALING 197-208

16. IS HEALING IN THE ATONEMENT? 209-215

17. HEALING: IS IT PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL OR SPIRITUAL? 216-220

18. THE PURPOSE OF MIRACLES 221-224
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19. REASONS WHY PEOPLE ARE NOT HEALED 225-243

20. GOD MUST BE GOD! 244-251

21. THE GIFTS OF HEALINGS 252-272

22. DEMONIZATION & EXORCISM 273-305

23. SCRIPTURES RELATED TO HEALING 306-318

NOTES 319-342

BIBLIOGRAPHY 343-346
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I dedicate this book to my mother whose miraculous healing
gave me confidence that God is a Healer now as He has
always been. Such confidence helped me trust and experience
God’s supernatural healing for others and for myself .
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PREFACE

Good health and a long life is the hope of virtually everyone. Paul quotes from the fourth
commandment (Ex. 20:12; Dt. 5:16) and makes a general application of this promise to Israel in
praying for the Christians at the region of Ephesus. He prays:

“. . . that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
(Eph. 6:3)
The psalmist spoke of bearing fruit in old age:

“They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green . . .” (Ps. 92:14).

Eliphaz, Job’s friend assured Job with the words:

“You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season” (Job 5:26).

That is the assurance we all want. Death at the end of a long and full life.

John’s prayer for his friend Gaius shows the close relation between the state of the soul
and the body. John prays that Gaius

“. . . may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul
is getting along well” (3 Jn. 2).

Whereas a cloud of sin in our heart will leave a shadow upon the brain, the nervous system
and negatively affect the whole physical body, a clear, calm and confident spirit will bring vigor to
our physical wellbeing.

It is no wonder then that man’s quest for healing and health is as old as man himself.
Billions of dollars are spent each year in United States alone on health.

Thirty-five years ago many, including Christians, were skeptical of supernatural healing.
Many Christians took a naturalistic view of healing with the belief that with the advances in
science, especially medical science, supernatural healing simply was not necessary any more. This
“God helps those who help themselves” attitude limits the present Christian ministry of healing to
whatever the medical profession can achieve. And healing by prayer then was meant for a more
primitive age when reality was not understood with any sophistication and ignorant people were
open to the powers of suggestion.
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Even though miracles, usually, healing miracles, is still used by the Roman Catholic
Church as a test for the canonization of saints, the average Roman Catholic viewed such
miraculous manifestations as belonging to a select group of super-saints. While there was still a
belief in the miraculous, what was difficult to believe was that healing was available to the laity
and could be an ordinary, common activity in the Christian life.

Thus little had been written on the subject of healing. This has completely changed. Today
there are numerous works on the issue. While many of these are sensational and outlandish, there
are also very solid treatments on the subject. Both the Roman Catholic and Protestant Church have
embraced healing as a reality. Even people who have little, if any, religious affiliation believe in
the power of prayer and healing. The reasons for this are:

● As we have come into the latter part of the 20th and now 21st century, we
recognize that there are questions of meaning and purpose to which science just doesn’t have very
good answers.

● People have become very dissatisfied with being treated like bodies, just physical bodies.

● Older adults in America today are a very religious population.1

According to the November 10, 2003 issue of Newsweek in an article entitled “Faith &
Healing” the consensus is clear in the community at large and in the medical community that
religion can improve health. Even though there is much debate in medical journals and medical
schools, more Americans ask for doctors’ prayers:

● 84% of Americans think that praying for the sick improves their chances of recovery.

● 28% think religion and medicine should be separate.

● 70% say they pray often for the health of a family member.

● 52% say they pray for world peace.

● 27% say they pray for financial or career success.2

More surprising is the acceptance of the medical and scientific communities of healing.
More than half of the medical schools in the country now offer courses in “Spirituality and
Medicine” which teaches students how to talk to patients about faith and illness.3 This surging
interest in the role of religion in health and healing in the medical community is due to several
reasons. One is that patients have stubbornly insisted on being treated as persons, not just bodies,
and thus want to be talked to. As Dr. Jeffrey Bishop, an M.D. and an Episcopal priest who teaches
a class on “Spirituality & Medicine” at the University of Texas put it, “Patients really do want
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their physicians to connect with them on a deeper level than just their cholesterol.”4 Another
reason is that the medical community has discovered the great benefit that healthy spirituality can
bring to physical health.

Numerous studies have verified this as people who attend church regularly have shown to
enjoy better health. They

● Have lower blood pressure

● Have lower cancer rates

● Are less likely to be addicted to alcohol or drugs

● Are more likely to survive major surgery

● Are less likely to experience depression

● Are less likely to commit suicide

● Are better able to cope with chronic disease

● Live longer5

Studies also show that meditation helps reduce stress-related diseases and that loving
support groups contribute to people living longer, happier and more productive lives.

In the medical establishment, therefore, scientists are seeking the most ethical, effective
ways to combine patients’ spiritual and religious beliefs with high-tech treatment.6

Faith healers are a dime a dozen. Many spectacular claims have been made that simply
have not passed the test of authenticity. But for the numerous claims that are not credible, there are
numerous other claims that are. To disparage supernatural healing because of fake healers and
spurious healings makes no more sense than to discard all money because there is counterfeit
money.

Paul exhorted us to “Test all things!” Healing is part of “all things.”

There is nothing like personal experience to make a believer out of us: “Go back and tell
John [the Baptist] what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk . . . and
happy is the man who does not lose faith in Me” (Lk. 7:22-23). The poor people followed Jesus
because they saw what happened while the religious leaders were threatened and tried to
understand what Jesus’ healing meant.
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After the healing of the cripple at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, the high priests, rulers,
elders and scribes arrested Peter and John:

“They were astonished at the assurance shown by Peter and John, considering
they were uneducated laymen; and they recognized them as associates of Jesus;
but when they saw the man who had been cured standing by their side, they
could find no answer. So they ordered them to stand outside while the Sanhedrin
had a private discussion. ‘What are we going to do with these men?’ they asked.

‘It is obvious to everybody in Jerusalem that a miracle has been worked
through them in public, and we cannot deny it. But to stop the whole thing
spreading any further among the people, let us caution them never to speak to
anyone in this name again’” (Acts 4:13-17).

The occasion for the first persecution of the early church was not only the apostle’s
preaching of the bodily resurrection of Jesus, but also the power of healing in the name of Jesus.

Although these leaders were convinced that the healing was real, they decided to forbid it
because it would undermine their authority. This was especially true since extraordinary healings
were done by people who were “uneducated laymen.”

Uneducated laymen as well as educated laymen have been used of God to bring healing to
thousands ever since. Dr. Ramsey MacMullen, professor of classics at Yale University, in his
book Christianizing the Roman Empire, A.D. 100-400 writes as an historian to show that the
primary reason for the explosive growth of Christianity in the first three centuries was because
pagans were impressed by God’s power as they witnessed Christians healing the sick and casting
out evil spirits.7 Chapter 2 of this book goes into great detail to show that healing did not stop
shortly after the death of the last apostle.

In his early writings St. Augustine claimed that healing had ceased with the Early Church
and was no longer necessary. Then in his own diocese nearly seventy attested miracles took place
in two years’ time. This led St. Augustine to write his book, Retractions, written in A. D. 427,
three years before he died, in which he took back what he had said in his early writings (De Vera
Religione) concerning the age of miracles being past and instead described cures he had witnessed.
These miracles provided a dramatic rebuke to his faulty theology and limited experience.

The title of the book is important. It emphasizes that healing is primarily the result of
God’s power and sovereign will, not man’s power and faith. The psalmist recognized the true
Source of all blessings:

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love
and faithfulness” (Ps. 115:1).
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Although faith plays a very crucial role in healing, God’s will is the bottom line. “Divine”
healing puts the stress where it ought to be. “Faith” healing too often makes man--either the one
being healed or the healer—the center of attraction. As a result healing is reduced from a divine
process to a spectacular event that focuses attention on man—his faith and power.

It is no wonder then that so many “faith healers” have gone astray. Any time we promote
ourselves in the name of Christ we are setting ourselves up for disaster. And the history of the
healing movement is littered with men and women who have been disgraced in the process.

Why another book on the subject? This book is a testimony to my witnessing the amazing
healing of my mother and my own healing on two occasions. Furthermore, I have ministered in a
denomination (The Christian and Missionary Alliance) whose founder, A. B. Simpson, taught that
Jesus can be trusted as our Healer, as well as our Savior, Sanctifier and Coming King. As a pastor
for almost forty years, I have regularly prayed for healing which has included healing for the body.

Therefore this is written with a strong conviction that God is a Healer, not only of souls,
but also of psyches and bodies. The book is thus an attempt to provide a theological foundation,
based on historical and scientific understanding, for a serious ministry of healing today.

This book is soaked in Scripture. This is vital since miraculous divine healing has been
such a controversial subject. Only in the light of God’s authoritative Word can we find balance to
a subject that entices us toward extremes. Some people have no belief in the supernatural, at least
since apostolic times, while others give skeptical intellectual assent which believes God can but
probably won’t. Still others take a “name-it-claim-it” position which holds that if a person is not
healed it is his fault—he lacked faith.

In spite of the numerous doctors, nurses, hospitals, medicines, etc. that serve the healing
profession, millions continue to suffer from illnesses. Thus the sick need healing, just as much as
they did in Christ’s day. Those needs and desires are basic to our humanity.

It is crucial that we recapture Jesus’ message to a suffering world!

There is no reason why a healing ministry should not be a normal part of our Christian
lives and of the life of the church.
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INTRODUCTION