audio transcript
Pastor John, last time we gave your old sermon on Wednesday and we talked about healing. God has promised to heal our bodies. If He wants, He may heal us today. But he has a timeline for that healing. And until then, we groan inwardly about most illnesses and wait for the salvation of our bodies. This waiting is what we saw in Romans chapter 8. But you were balanced with faith-filled longing and waiting for God’s healing mercy to be experienced today. And this leads us to consider how much trust we should place in faith healers and healing ministries today. And if we avoid them, is it because those services are fraudulent or because we simply lack faith that God will heal today?
This pointed question comes from a woman listening to the podcast, Dana. “Hello Pastor John, and thank you for this podcast! I do consider myself a skeptic when it comes to healing ministries. But the question remains, is this a lack of faith in me? Jesus said to his followers, “He who believes in me will do the same works as I do.”and bigger works I am going to the Father, and he will do these things rather than these things” (John 14:12). You said in APJ 63 that after the ascension, this amazing promise will be passed on to “all believers.” It is wonderful! But how does this promise of Christ relate to today’s healing ministry? I was able to attend a healing meeting at a church in my area. I need healing and release. But I can’t do this until my skepticism is resolved. And if these people, faith healers, are really doing God’s work, I don’t want to disobey God with my skeptical unbelief. Pastor John, can you help me? ”
As you can imagine, it’s difficult to give advice to your husband if you don’t know the nature or extent of her doubts or know anything about the healing ministry she’s considering going into. So I’d like to talk about the text of John 14:12 and more generally about the possible legitimacy of healing ministry and the kinds of questions you might want to ask about it.
Greater Works?
In John 14:12 Jesus said: And I will go to his Father, and he will do greater works than these. ” Now, she alluded to the fact that in APJ 63 we had a whole session on this text, so I’m not going to defend my interpretation again. By the way, Desiring God has an entire sermon in my series on the Gospel of John called “Jesus’ Works and Greater Works.”
So, let me give you my summary here. This text is not about people who have the gift of healing. We know this because Jesus said:Anyone Trust me, you’ll do the kind of work I do. ” and do bigger jobs. This applies to all believers. But 1 Corinthians 12 only says: Several He has the gift of healing. “Is everyone a teacher? Does everyone work miracles? Does everyone have the gift of healing? Does everyone speak in tongues?” (1 Corinthians 12:29-30). The answer is no.
Now, what is so puzzling about John 14:12 is that it applies to all believers. All believers do the work of Jesus. That’s scary, isn’t it? Every believer does the work of Jesus, and every believer exceeds the work of Jesus. That’s what the scripture says. It’s not like there’s a select group of people who say, “Oh, finally someone got it.”
The second thing that makes this so puzzling is that there is no one. no one —If the supernatural wonders of miracles are what is meant, there has never been anything in the history of the world that surpassed the work of Jesus. Turn water into wine, be sure to heal everyone who comes to you, feed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, walk on water, raise the dead, and with an inerrant word speak evil words. Casting out spirits – no one has come close to this kind of consistency and miraculous work. So how can every Christian surpass the work of Jesus? That is what is puzzling about this verse.
“By our lives and words, we can achieve the great service of pointing others to the risen and glorified Christ.”
And here is my answer, defended in APJ 63 and that sermon. By living in the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the resurrected and glorified Spirit of Christ, we surpass the works of Jesus and surpass the works of Jesus. Jesus Himself poured out the Holy Spirit, thus showing people the glory of the crucified and risen Christ, so that through faith in the risen Christ, their sins might be forgiven by believing in the crucified and risen Christ. became. That’s my answer.
In other words, what is more important is that Jesus has now died for sinners and risen from the dead, and that He now reigns at the right hand of God, so that by the power of the Spirit we can point others to the risen and glorified Christ. It means you can. , where they can find forgiveness for their sins. Jesus never did that. This is even bigger. He neither died nor rose from the dead. He did not tell people to have any special faith in Him crucified or risen. Through our lives and words, we can achieve the great service of pointing others to the risen and glorified Christ.
5 Questions to Ask a Faith Healer
Therefore, I don’t think Dana should make decisions about the legitimacy of healing ministries based on this verse. I don’t think it’s connected. For her, what better way to evaluate this healing ministry than with the controversial John 14:12. I suggest asking five types of questions about the people she calls faith healers.
1. What do they believe?
First, what do they believe? What is their theology? Are they doing their ministry to serve the truth, or are they serving error? What do they believe? What do they believe about Christ and what He accomplished on the cross? What do they believe about the Holy Spirit and God’s ultimate purpose in the world? mosquito?
“Power without truth will almost certainly undermine the cause of Christ in the end, even if miracles occur.”
And if they’re reluctant to talk about these things or provide documentation in writing, that’s a problem. These days, there are many people who seek spiritual power instead of loving the truth of the Bible, and that is always the case. “Give me power! I don’t care what the truth is. I just want to heal people, raise the dead, and make something great happen.” But without truth. Power, even miracles, will almost certainly ultimately undermine the cause of Christ. And yes, many miracles occur at the hands of unbelievers. And it will happen at the end of the age, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10.
2. What are their goals?
Second, is physical healing the purpose of their ministry, or is healing a means to an end to glorify Christ, sanctify lives, and build up the local church? ? I have attended healing services for some of whom it quickly became clear that the Word of God was subordinated to what they considered a “power encounter.” I thought so.
In fact, wherever the Word of God was used merely as a simple priming of a pump, the term “power pump priming” was even used. “So I’m going to do a little sermon here to set up a pump of power that we can all enjoy at the end.” No matter where it happens, my confidence level in that situation is It has decreased significantly. All the physical miracles of the New Testament serve to confirm the glory of the Word of truth and the saving Word of God. If these were reversed, the long-term effects would be unhealthy.
3. Do they believe that healing is always God’s will?
Third, do faith healers believe that God’s will is for all believers to be healed of all illnesses, and that the reason they are not healed is due to a lack of faith? That is a characteristic of many faith healers. They believe that faith always heals, and that the reason you are not healed is because your faith is flawed.
And I say that this does not fit at all with the apostle Paul’s teaching about the suffering and groaning of this age as we wait for the salvation of the body (Romans 8:23-24). God can and does heal. We should always pray for healing when we are sick or when we love someone who is sick. But he doesn’t teach us that we are God, as if healing is definitively in our hands if only we can muster enough of this so-called faith. yeah.
4. Do they prioritize healing over caring for Christ?
Fourth, are these faith healers prioritizing physical health over caring for Christ through pain? In other words, do they think that the miracle of physical healing is a greater miracle than the miracle of strong, joyful, unwavering faith that overcomes illness and pain? Do they understand that these are both great miracles? Do they understand that the miracle of faith in the face of suffering can be a greater miracle than the removal of suffering? Medicine can take away suffering, but human medicine cannot create faith that lifts Christ in the face of suffering. What do they think about this?
5. Have you asked your elders for prayer?
Finally, my fifth and final question is a personal question for Dana. Have you ever asked the elders of your church to pray for you? James 5:14 says: “Is any of you sick? Let him call the elders of the church and have them pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.” I say this. Not only because that might be a way for God to provide healing to you, but Dana, in my encounters with church leaders, God told them that a healing ministry would be a good idea in your case. It is also because it may give wisdom as to whether there is or is not.
gift of healing
Well then, I’ll wrap this up. In 1 Corinthians 12, when we read that the Holy Spirit gives the gift of healing to some faiths, to others miracles, etc. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11), Don’t think that will give you those gifts. confined to certain people. I didn’t say that. This means that when a person prays for you, you don’t know through whom you can receive healing. Everyone may be given the gift of healing. Words are always plural — “gift He is a God of healing” (1 Corinthians 12:9). They may be given the gift of healing.
So perhaps the question before you is whether or not you should go to a so-called faith healer, but also go to a trusted spiritually minded friend who will lay hands on you and say something like: The question is whether or not you should seriously ask someone to pray. They will receive healing gifts that they can give to you.
