There are heresies in the church today, such as the dispensational teaching that miracles and divine healing came to an end in the first century. Multitudes have come under the influence of “deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” as Paul prophesied (1 Tim 4:1). The prince of darkness Satan has beguiled entire denominations to believe healing is not part of the gospel of the kingdom preached by Jesus, despite the fact that pardon of sins and healing are united in the teachings of Christ and apostles. But unclean spirits of doubt and unbelief have deceived many that health of the body is not a fruit of salvation.
Jesus never suggested a sick person should resign himself to illness. Misguided doctrines have strayed from the fullness of the gospel, neglecting to emphasize that “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 Jn 3:8). Even a casual reading of the gospels and book of Acts in absence of false indoctrination will leave readers clear as to the charge given the church Jesus left behind regarding divine healing. If these lessons do not clarify the matter, I’d simply ask you to be good Bereans and search the Scriptures for yourself instead of reading commentaries written by others.
Jesus taught that sin in the soul and sickness in the body both bore witness to works of the devil. Satan is identified by Jesus as the prince of this world, directing a kingdom of darkness with sickness being a consequence of sin. So it is Jesus healed everyone who came for healing. Yet as the Church has become less committed to the truth of Scripture, faith in divine healing has diminished and healings have all but disappeared from the regular experience of most who make up the body of Christ on earth, especially in highly industrialized nations like the United States, England and France.
As the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16), our bodies do not bring glory to our Creator when afflicted with either sin or sickness. And if we look for healing by a natural means, our attention is directed toward the body and symptoms of disease. But if looking for divine healing, attention becomes directed toward repentance of sins and the yielding of oneself to the tender care of Christ. The focus then becomes that of recognizing and renouncing those issues which separate us from intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus. And should symptoms at first seem more severe than before, one stresses continuing on a faith walk and keeping the focus on righteousness.
This series of lessons is intended as a brief introduction to the reality of spiritual healing as it takes place throughout the world today, despite the disclaimers of naysayers to the contrary. The author of these lessons has witnessed a considerable number of divine healings as described in books available for reading on this website. No doubt many more healings might have been witnessed had the author been more sensitive toward the need to deal with spiritual issues prior to anointing with oil and laying on of hands to pray in the name of Jesus for those with sickness. Nonetheless, I remain so deeply grateful for having been permitted to see the power of the Holy Spirit powerfully at work through my life, even to the raising of a dead man back to life.
