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As I explain in articles such as "Are the Gifts of the Spirit for Today?" and "Why Doesn't God Heal Me?", if God wishes to heal someone, He does not require any assistance whatsoever from man, or from his modern inventions. He is the Omnipotent God who created all things out of nothing; and He knows and fully understands the interior workings of His own creations far better than any doctor upon the face of this planet. In the Book of Psalms, we find the following interesting verses which demonstrate how the Lord carefully planned and designed each one of our bodies, even before we were created in the physical realm:

"For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."


Surely then, if there is something wrong with our bodies, He is quite capable of repairing it; if we will only trust fully in Him. Of course, whether or not healing will actually occur also depends on God's Will for that particular individual. As I point out in the aforementioned articles, sometimes, while we may not understand it at the time, God has other plans for our lives which, in the end, may glorify Him even more than an actual Miracle of Healing. So we must pray that God's Will will be done, and not just our own selfish desires. I will be discussing this particular point in more detail later on in this series.

Sometimes people will write to me and inform me how they have experienced a certain medical emergency in their lives. While sharing their ordeal with me, they will often go into detail explaining the precise nature of their affliction, as well as describe the medical procedures which were taken in order to improve their condition. These people are usually my brethren in the Lord; and they will quite often mention how everyone was praying for their recovery. Afterwards, they proceed to give thanks to the Lord for healing them, once the medical crisis has passed.

When I hear such stories, I am of course happy to know that the person involved has been restored to health; yet at the same time, I must confess that I feel a bit troubled in my heart. Why? Because I believe that there is a certain degree of personal deception involved in these kinds of situations which many Christians are simply not willing to recognize. I also know that if I were to be honest with these people, and expose this deception to them, some of them would most likely be offended by the truth.

I suspect that one of the reasons why people sometimes refuse to acknowledge this deception, is because it causes them some level of embarrassment. Exactly what is this deception? As I point out in "Are the Gifts of the Spirit for Today?", it is simply this: An honest study of the Bible reveals that all of the Miracles which were performed by Jesus and His Disciples were immediate, on-the-spot occurrences. Nowhere do we find any significant time delay factor mentioned. Jesus spoke the word, or a person in the crowd touched Him, or the Disciples laid their hands on somebody, and immediately a Miracle of healing occurred. There is a preponderance of verses which fully support this view. Please consider the following:

"And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."


"And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour."


"So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him."


"And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them."


"And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed."


"And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion."


"And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment."


"And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain."


"And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way."


"Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched . . . And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately."


"And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength."


"And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately."


"And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand."


Over and over again we see the same thing occurring. Even though the Lord is no longer with us in the flesh today, it is my strong belief that Divine Healing should still be an instantaneous act. After all, as we are told in the Epistle to the Hebrews:

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."


If the Lord healed people instantaneously two thousand years ago, then He is quite capable of doing the very same thing in our modern day. He does not require hours, or days, or weeks, or months, or several years to heal someone. Nowhere in the Bible do we find such prolonged processes of healing, where a person is told to go home and wait for a few days or a week for their healing to occur. Neither do we find any place in the Bible where the Lord or His Disciples instruct people to submit themselves to a doctor's medical regimen, in order that the Lord might heal them. In fact, as I noted in part one, the woman who had an issue of blood "had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any". It was only when she touched the border of the Lord's garment, as a last resort, that she was healed of her affliction.

In my view, a slow medical recovery could easily be used to refute the mighty Healing Power of God; because unbelievers could then attribute the person's restoration to health to the medicine they took, or perhaps to weeks of chemotherapy, or maybe to a certain operation which was performed on them, or perhaps to the time factor, or even to the body's natural healing processes. In other words, there are all kinds of medical loopholes which hard-hearted people would be able to use in order to try to prove that a person's Divine Healing had absolutely nothing to do with the Power of God, and some people will be foolish enough to believe them.

In contrast, when God truly does work through His children to heal others, or when He heals directly without using someone as His conduit, as we've seen by the previous verses, it will be an immediate, on-the-spot deliverance from the affliction. In this way, no one, except perhaps the most hard-hearted of individuals, will continue to deny the Healing Power of God. The healing Miracle happens so quickly, and so unexpectedly, that there is simply no other plausible reason, be it medical or otherwise, to explain it; and therefore, God must be given the credit, to His own glory.

In such cases where genuine Divine Healing Miracles do occur, even the doctors themselves remain baffled by the patient's sudden and unexplainable recovery from their life-threatening illness. In their hearts, the honest ones will know that they had absolutely nothing to do with the person's recovery. In fact, they might have already given up on the patient, and were simply doing what they could to make the person's life comfortable -- by providing palliative care -- until it came to an end.

Sadly, it seems that in our modern, technological world of science and medicine, many people -- including quite a few Christians -- have been deceived either by Satan, or perhaps by their own pride. Rather than be honest with themselves, and humbly admit their own lack of faith in expecting true on-the-spot Miracles from the Lord, they have invented the lie that, somewhere during the past two thousand years, El Shaddai -- the Almighty God -- suddenly changed His tactics. In other words, for some unexplainable reason, they would have us to believe that God has decided to be more subtle in His approach to healing people. The Lord seems to have been overcome with shyness, and so now He uses doctors and nurses to heal people, instead of doing it directly Himself, as He did for thousands of years in the Bible.

If you are a member of the medical profession, I hope that you understand that my intention is not to dis doctors and nurses, or any other medical practitioners for that matter. In fact, as I have mentioned before, I have great respect for, and admire, anyone who chooses to dedicate their life to unselfishly helping to improve the lives, and ease the suffering, of their fellow human beings, whether they are a doctor, nurse, paramedic, social worker or engage in any other humanitarian field. My point in making these comments is simply to show the contrast between what God is capable of doing, what medical professionals can do, and to expose the lack of faith of my fellow Christian brethren.

So as I was saying, because of the deception which has crept into our faith, certain Christians have embraced the belief that instead of performing outright, unquestionable Miracles, in our modern day, God appears to have decided to share His Glory with doctors and other medical professionals. Whereas in ages past He performed Miracles on His own, He now works through their hands by giving them the wisdom to know what to do, and how to do it. It is not for me to judge or determine whether or not any of these professionals receive help from the Lord. Perhaps they do, particularly if they are members of our Christian faith; but do you honestly believe that God, the Creator of the Universe, requires their help in order to perform a Miracle of Divine Healing? I don't.

As we have already seen, when the Scriptures speak of Divine Healing, this isn't what they are talking about, because true Divine Healing is an Act of God which does not require human intervention of any kind. In other words, Divine Healing does not require learned human knowledge, or learned human skills, such as medical professionals possess.

Allow me to ask you a simple question. If God prefers to work through doctors and nurses -- as certain Christians claim -- and if He really does not mind sharing His Glory with human beings, then why do the Gospels contain a very specific story where we are told that the woman who had an issue of blood spent her entire living on physicians, but was still none the better? Why didn't God use those physicians to heal that poor woman? The answer seems rather obvious to me: God shares His Glory with no one. It was only the Virtue which flowed from His own dear Son which instantaneously removed the affliction from her.

While God does not need or require human-acquired knowledge or skills in order to perform Miracles of Divine Healing, this does not mean that He always bypasses humans entirely. The Scriptures reveal that God sometimes works through one of His servants who acts as His conduit -- or "reservoir of power" -- or simply as a "faith inspirer"; at least this was the case during the First Century.

Two thousand years ago, the Lord transferred the Power to heal people, and perform other Miracles, to some of His most trusted Disciples. They merely spoke the word, or laid their hands on someone, or else their shadow fell across someone, and they were healed. The Bible informs us that these were for the most part common, unlearned men who did not possess any special knowledge or skills in the area of medicine, Luke obviously being one exception to this. This Power was given to them to use as a tool, and as a testimony of the awesome Power of the Almighty God which resided with them, and which accompanied them as they travelled the dusty roads of Israel and beyond. God's primary purpose in bestowing His Power on the Disciples was to win others to Christ, and thus to the Kingdom of Heaven. Consider the following verses:

"And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."


"Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."


"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."


Please notice that in the previous verses, Jesus emphasizes that their primary mission is to preach the Kingdom of God; and that the reason why these signs will follow them, is to authenticate their position as messengers of the Kingdom of God. As I mentioned a moment ago, the Bible clearly reveals that the Disciples were common men who did not possess any theological degrees from the Sanhedrin, or a license from the Jerusalem Association of Medical Doctors. God purposely chose these kinds of men so that He would receive all of the Glory for anything good which might happen through them. In this way, the Kingdom was preached, thousands of souls were won, and everyone praised God for it. Consider the following verses where we are repeatedly told that God chooses weak, human vessels, in order that His Glory and Power might be revealed through them:

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."


"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."


"But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth . . . Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."


"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."


"But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."


"Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me."


"Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another."


"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."


"Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ."


So to reiterate, this Power to instantaneously heal others of their afflictions does not originate from learned human knowledge or skills, such as medical professionals possess. As the Apostles James and Paul inform us in the verses that follow, it is a Gift which comes "down from the Father of lights", and is deposited in these, our "earthen vessels", so "that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us":

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."


"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."


If you would like to better understand the previous verses, and how and why the Lord chooses to operate through certain people, please consider reading articles such as "A Treasure in Earthen Vessels: God's Promise of the Spirit", "The Only Credentials You Need", "So You Really Think You Are So Humble?" and "The Wisdom of God Versus the Philosophy of Men".

If there is one thing of which we can be certain, it is that the Power of God did indeed rest upon these Disciples once their pride had been broken, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost. God's Spirit worked mightily through Peter, Paul and many other of the First Century Christians. Consider the following inspiring examples of the instantaneous on-the-spot Miracles which were performed through some of these men:

"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner . . . And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? . . . And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all . . ."


"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 which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one."


"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."


Considering the preponderance of Scriptural evidence which I have now shared with you, I hope that you can understand why I personally believe that it is unwarranted to suggest that in our modern today, the Lord has decided to humble Himself and work through the hands of worldly medical professionals, some of whom don't even believe in God. As we have seen, the purpose of Miracles -- such as Divine Healing -- is both to win souls to the Kingdom of God, and to glorify God as well. It is obvious that this is not the primary objective of the majority of people who enter the medical profession.

As I mentioned earlier, some people choose to become doctors, nurses, dentists, etc., because they really do want to help people in a physical way; they want to be a blessing to their fellow man; and we should indeed appreciate and admire them for their lifelong dedication to easing the pain of others. Of course, there are also those who are simply motivated by the desire to earn a lot of money; but I dare say that very few people enter the medical profession because it is their desire that God will work through their hands so that they can win souls to Jesus Christ. God doesn't want to share His Glory with them, and most of them do not want to share the glory with Him either. It is only when an undeniable Miracle has occurred, that some of them are even willing to admit or acknowledge that God may exist.

This being the case, then why do some people foolishly make the claim that God now performs subtle Miracles through the hands of medical professionals? Why is He hiding behind such people? Why is He not performing His Miracles openly as in years gone by? How are we supposed to differentiate between when science and medicine cure a person, from when the Lord actually heals a person? How are we supposed to know when to praise man for his accomplishments, and when to praise God for His true Miracles? Why is the Lord allowing them to take the credit for His handiwork? Obviously, there is absolutely no Scriptural soundness to this idea. The Scriptures clearly reveal that He is a jealous God, and that He will have no other gods before Him. Consider the following verses:

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;"


"For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:"


"For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God."


"Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,"


"(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth."


Do you now understand the deception which lurks behind this erroneous mentality? It is a flimsy excuse that many people have embraced because, perhaps in their pride, they are just not willing to admit that they don't have the faith that they know they should have. This is particularly true if they know the Lord, and possess a firm foundation in His Word. In His Epistle to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul clearly tells us:

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."


You see, as Christians, we all know in our hearts that when we do not have the faith that the Lord expects us to have, we are displeasing to Him. Therefore, to cover our own sin, to hide our own embarrassment, and to lessen our feelings of guilt, we've invented this lie that God now does His healing through the medical profession. The Lord is now some kind of an undercover Healing Agent. He has modernized His approach. He no longer wants all of the praise and the glory like He used to want it.

The simple truth of the matter is that our faith is not truly in God; it is in the doctors, in the nurses, and in other professionals who assist us during our times of medical need. Instead of seeking God in desperate prayer, we either reach for a bottle of our favorite little white pill gods in the medicine cabinet, or else we run to see the doctor. Let's be honest with ourselves. Isn't this really the truth? Who are we deceiving here? Certainly not the Lord. He knows the true score.

To prove how accurate this statement really is, consider that in most cases, if we had not chosen to go to the hospital for the operation, or for the chemotherapy, or for whatever the treatment may have been, in all likelihood, we probably would have grown worse and died. Why? Because we really place our faith in the false gods of modern science and medicine, and not in the Omnipotent God of the Bible. To really emphasize this point, let's examine a few New Testament examples.

Imagine if you will, if when Peter's mother-in-law came down with a fever, Peter would have said to the Lord, "Excuse me Jesus, but I need to go out and fetch the village physician. I'm sorry, but I just don't think you are able to handle this illness". That is basically what we are saying today when we immediately bypass God, and straightway put our trust in the medical profession. Or imagine if you will, if when the viper came out of the fire and bit Paul, he had immediately called for the local witch doctor. What poor testimonies these would have been. The following verses tell us what really happened during these two incidents:

"And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them."


"And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god."


Please go to part three for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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