FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE GIFTS
OF THE SPIRIT – XV
THE GIFTS
OF HEALING - II
1 Corinthians 12:9 …to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit...
To
recap last week’s introduction to the gifts of healing:
1.
Healing
the sick is an intrinsic part of proclaiming the gospel. If evangelism is a “show
and tell” experience, then the message (Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at
hand.) is
the “tell;” and healing the sick and casting out demons is the “show.” Preaching without healing or casting out
demons is to expect man to place their confidence in the wisdom of man’s
words and not in the demonstration of the Spirit and power of the Kingdom we
are presenting to them. It reduces the
gospel to just one more worldly philosophy…a religious belief-system or
religious culture (which pretty much defines contemporary Christianity). Healing the sick is absolutely expected to be present
whenever the gospel is proclaimed. IAUE
invests in every believer the authority to heal the sick in
conjunction with declaring the gospel.
It confirms the gospel message through a personal demonstration of both IAUE’s
authority to demand their repentance, and the benevolence of His nature toward
man.
2.
Healing
is effected by the transfer of power. The power to heal is resident within the anointing of the Holy Spirit. By the anointing oil, which is the Holy
Spirit, we are separated unto the Body of Messiah; but we must obtain “fresh
oil” each day for the “fullness of the Holy Spirit” to empower our lives for
ministry. That anointing wanes like a
battery when its charge is tapped; and like the wicks of the candlestick in the
Tabernacle of Moses, we must be regularly trimmed in order to remove hindrances
within us that impede the flow of the oil of the Spirit from reaching the fire
of IAUE. A disciple who would be used of
IAUE, especially in the power gifts of the Holy Spirit, must earnestly seek to
maintain the anointing of the Spirit upon his/her life. That is not a casual
occupation. It does not come to us
simply because we want it to come. The
anointing comes upon the one whose heart has been proven to desire singularly the
fulfilment of the will of IAUE in the earth.
3.
The
authority
to heal the sick in conjunction with preaching the gospel is not the same thing
as the power to heal the sick when or where the gospel has not been
presented. Healing is an intrinsic
element of the gospel. It cannot be
severed from the message (where it has been severed from the message, the gospel
has been presented only in part). All believers have the authority to heal the
sick when presenting the gospel. Those who experience the enabling grace (the
gift) to manifest the Holy Spirit through healing the sick, have the power
to administer healing in circumstances where it does not follow or is not in
conjunction with the presentation of the gospel
Let’s
look, now, at the methodologies of healing in the Scripture. There are four principle ways in which healing
was administered or received? These
different methods could possibly represent the different “gifts” of healing.
1.
Healing by the laying on of hands:
Luke 4:40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him;
and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
Mark 8:22 And he
cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
25 After that he put his
hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was
restored, and saw every man clearly.
Mark
16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall
they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 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.
Acts 28:8 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.
2. Healing
by prayer and anointing with oil: Despite the historic prevalence of anointing people
with oil to heal the sick, this practice is found in the New Testament only
twice.
Mark 6:13 And
they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
James
5: 14 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 IAUE:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and IAUE shall
raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
3. Healing through the faith of the sick accessing the anointing.
Matthew 9:20 And, behold, a woman,
which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched
the hem of his garment:
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be
whole.
22 But Yahushua turned him
about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.
And the woman was made whole from that hour.
This woman with the issue of blood attempted to quietly
and without notice come up behind Yahushua and touch the hem of his
garment. She had no intention of
distracting or otherwise occupying the attention of the Master; but when she
touched him, the Scripture said that “virtue” (dunamis – power) had gone out of
his body, making him aware that someone had, in faith, touched him. Had this event gone the way the woman had
intended, no one would have known that just touching Messiah’s clothes was enough
to access the healing anointing in him.
However, because the Master stopped his movement in the crowd and
publicly addressed the issue, the entire nation learned of the event and
literally transformed the healing ministry of Yahushua. From this time on, the peoples did not seek
to have him lay his hands on them. They
sought to touch him to receive the healing they needed.
Matthew 14:36 And
besought him that they might only touch the
hem of his garment: and as many as touched
were made perfectly whole.
Mark 6:56 And
whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the
sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the
border of his garment: and as many as touched
him were made whole.
Luke 6:19 And the
whole multitude sought to touch him:
for there went virtue out of him, and
healed them all.
Matthew 8:5 And when Yahushua was
entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
6 And saying, Master, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy,
grievously tormented.
7 And Yahushua saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8 The centurion answered and said, Master, I am not worthy that
thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak
the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
13 And Yahushua 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.
The common denominator in these experiences is the faith of
the recipient of the healing. They declared
the basis of their faith; then they acted upon their faith with corresponding
actions (See Mark 11:23). The
woman with the issue of blood, and the multitudes afterwards believed (and said
to themselves) that if they touched his clothes, they would be healed. The Centurion believed (and said) that
Messiah needed only to speak the word and his servant would be healed. These all defined the parameters by which they
could access the healing anointing. Just
the opposite occurred in Nazareth. They
could NOT believe that this man who grew up from childhood among them could do
the things that were reported of him; and they were both unwilling and incapable of connecting with the anointing
within Yahushua.
Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the
son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses and of Juda and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
5 And he
could there do not mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick
folk, and healed them.
6 And he marvelled
because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages,
teaching.
4. Healing by casting out demons. This is ministering healing without speaking
to or dealing directly with a demonic spirit; but the healing results from a
demon leaving the person.
Mark 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down
to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
41 And Yahushua, moved with
compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will;
be thou clean.
42 And as soon as he had
spoken, immediately the leprosy
departed from him, and he was cleansed.
Luke
13:11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of
infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift
up herself.
12 And when Yahushua saw
her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight,
and glorified IAUE.
Matthew 8:14 And when Yahushua was come into
Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her:
and she arose, and ministered unto them.
(Note:
Sicknesses do not depart. Only personalities “depart” or “leave.” Sickness merely ceases to exist. Demons “leave.” In like manner, when one is “loosed” from an
infirmity, they are being freed from bondage.
Sickness does not bind man,
Demons do.)
We
have noted that many of the gifts of the Spirit have “triggers” (conditions
which enhance the operation and power of the gift). The gifts of healing are powered by
compassion.
Matthew 14:14 And Yahushua went forth, and
saw a great multitude, and was moved
with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
Matthew 20:34 So Yahushua had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and
immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
Mark 1:41 And Yahushua, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and
touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
Compassion
(splagchnizomai
– moved in one’s bowels) is a deep inner feeling that comes from seeing men the
way IAUE sees men. It identifies with
their helplessness, their suffering, their oppression, their directionless and
their need to be made whole…all of the things that interfere with their ability
to do the will of IAUE (which is what would bring joy both to man and to IAUE.) The gifts of healing will find difficulty
manifesting in the one whose focus is self or who does not feel the pain of the
hurting one.
Many
years ago, a good friend called me to say his daughter was very ill and asked
me if I would pray for her. I told him I
would. Later in the day I realized I had
not “discharged my obligation” to my friend; so I prayed a very brief one or
two sentence prayer then thought nothing else of the matter. My friend’s daughter remained sick for days
until the malady ran its course and she recovered. Days later, I received a phone call from the
elementary school saying my daughter was doubled over in pain, and could I come
and get her. I dropped what I was doing
and immediately drove to the school. My daughter
was outside with a teacher. She was
literally doubled over at the waist and crying from great pain. I drove her home and carried her from the car
and placed her in my bed, then knelt beside her and laid my hands on her and
prayed like my own life depended upon it.
My daughter quickly fell asleep.
When she awoke an hour or two later, she got up and went out to play
with her friends, totally recovered.
The
difference in the two experiences was compassion. It is crucial to healing the sick.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
