Part 1- Factors that Affect Healing

SIN AND SICKNESS GO TOGETHER

1 Peter 2:24 (NASB)

²⁴ and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

When Jesus bore our sins in His body, He also bore our sicknesses at the same time. When Jesus provided the solution to sin, He also provided the solution to sickness. Both sin and sickness are mentioned together in the above scripture and both were paid for at the same time by the atoning work of Christ.

Galatians 3:13-14 (NASB)

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”—

¹⁴ in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Christ redeemed mankind from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. Jesus bore all of the punishment for sinful mankind so that they would not have to bear it. The death of Jesus on the cross was a substitutionary death because Jesus willingly offered Himself as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of mankind. He paid for the curse of sin, sickness, poverty and all the curses listed for breaking God’s laws.

Throughout the Old Testament God provided types and shadows of substitutionary sacrifices as innocent animals shed their blood to pay for the sins of guilty mankind. Even when the first man Adam and his wife Eve sinned against God there was blood sacrifice evident because God made garments of animal skins for Adam and his wife.

Genesis 3:21 (NIV)

²¹ The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

Skin of animals cannot be removed without killing the animal and this speaks of blood sacrifice of innocent animals shedding their blood to make atonement for the sinful mankind.

Genesis 4:3-5 (NASB)

³ So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.

⁴ Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;

⁵ but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

Abel brought an offering to the Lord of his firstlings of his flock and their fat portions indicating that he butchered these animals and shed their blood. God was pleased with the offering of Abel but Cain attempted to offer some produce of the ground. Cain offered a bloodless sacrifice to the Lord and his offering was rejected because it did not have blood to make atonement for sin.

Leviticus 17:11 (CJB)

¹¹ For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for yourselves; for it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life.’

The life of a creature is in its blood because when the blood is drained out of any creature then that creature will die. God gave blood to make atonement for sinful mankind because it is the blood that makes atonement by giving the life of the blood in exchange for sin. This is a biblical principle that was evident from the beginning with the first man Adam when God shed blood of animals to pay for their sins and this principle of blood atonement continues all the way to the time of Christ.

Exodus 12:21-23 (NASB)

²¹ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb.

²² “You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.

²³ “For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you.

The Passover lamb was instituted for the nation of Israel in the time of Moses just prior to their Exodus from Egypt. A lamb was killed and the blood of this lamb was applied to the two door posts and lintel of the homes where the Passover lamb was killed. This caused the death angel (or destroyer) to pass-over the homes that had blood on their doorposts and this resulted in the salvation from death of those who resided under that roof. This is a type and a shadow that speaks of sacrifice of the innocent in place of the guilty so that the guilty would not die!

1 Corinthians 5:7 (NASB)

⁷ Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.

Jesus is referred to as the Passover Lamb who was sacrificed on behalf of sinful mankind.

1 Peter 3:18 (CJB)

¹⁸ For the Messiah himself died for sins, once and for all, a righteous person on behalf of unrighteous people, so that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but brought to life by the Spirit;

Jesus the Jewish Messiah died for the sins of the ungodly and He became a righteous sacrifice who died on behalf of the unrighteous people so that He could bring them to God.

1 Peter 1:18-19 (CJB)

¹⁸ You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold;

¹⁹ on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot.

Jesus did not pay for the sins of mankind using gold or silver but He paid for their sins by offering His own blood as a sacrifice for sins just as a sacrificial lamb that is without defect or spot.

(See the “Atonement Series” and the section called [Jesus Our Lamb] for more details.

Hebrews 10:4 (NIV)

⁴ because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

It was not possible that animal sacrifice can take away sins of mankind because these things were only a type or shadow that speaks of Christ.

John 1:29 (NASB)

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Jesus was called the Lamb of God because He was sacrificed just as a Passover Lamb and His blood was shed to pay for the sins of all mankind that ever lived upon the earth! The Passover lambs that were slaughtered since the time of Moses were types and shadows that spoke of the sacrificial death of the Messiah and the atonement that is made by His blood.

Galatians 3:13 (NASB)

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”—

Jesus bore the curse of sin for sinful mankind and took their punishment on their behalf.

Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Jesus bore the punishment for the sins of all mankind. He was pierced for our transgressions and he was crushed for our iniquities and the punishment for our sins was upon Him.

Isaiah 53:4 (CJB)

⁴ In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God.

Jesus bore all of the diseases of mankind and all of their pain and He was punished and stricken and afflicted by God to make atonement for the sins of mankind.

Isaiah 53:5 (CJB)

⁵ But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed.

Jesus was wounded for the crimes of mankind and He was crushed by God because of the sins of mankind and by His punishment mankind is made whole and by His bruises humans have been healed. This is part of the atoning work of the Messiah that He paid for our sins and our sicknesses at the same time. His blood provides atonement for sin and healing for the body because Jesus paid for both sin and sickness at the same time by the sacrifice of Himself on the cross.

1 Peter 2:24 (NASB)

²⁴ and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Jesus bore the sins of mankind in His body on the cross and he also paid for the sickness so that mankind could receive healing from all physical ailments. Sin and sickness have always gone together because sin brings death and sickness is the operation of death working in a human body.

Romans 5:12 (NASB)

¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—

Sin entered the world by one-man Adam and death entered the world because of sin. It was after the fall of mankind into sin that sickness was introduced into the world. And death spread to all mankind and sickness became common on the earth as death worked in the bodies of sinful humans and made them sick and diseased.

Romans 5:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

Death and sickness reigned from Adam until Moses because sin was imputed to all generations of humans after Adam. But in the time of Moses God instituted the sacrifice of the Passover lamb and this speaks of the atonement of the Messiah who was to come.

Psalm 105:37 (AMP)

³⁷ He brought [Israel] forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

In the time of the Exodus from Egypt the people left immediately after partaking of the first Passover instituted by God under Moses. When all of the families left Egypt there were 600,000 men (family heads) besides the women and children (who were under their authority). There was 600,000 family units and out of all of these 600,000 families there was not one feeble person among them. This means that there was not one sick or infirm or weak person who was suffering with any disease among all of the 600,000 Jewish families who all partook of the first Passover lamb!

This is an indication that the sacrificial Passover lamb speaks of making atonement for both sin and sickness with the same sacrifice. This is a type and shadow of Christ the Messiah who is our sacrificial Lamb who offered His precious blood as a sacrifice for all mankind of all generations that ever lived on earth! This sacrificial blood makes atonement for both sin and sickness at the same time!

Hebrews 9:11-12 (NASB)

¹¹ But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;

¹² and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

The Messiah served both as the high priest-to offer the sacrificial blood and also He served as the sacrifice Himself because He offered His own blood for the atonement. Jesus did not enter into the tabernacle made by men on earth (which is a type of the real one in heaven). Jesus ascended into heaven and offered His own blood as an offering for the sin of all mankind and paid for the sins of humans of all generations that every lived upon planet earth! When Jesus paid the price for sin, He automatically paid for the sickness and disease as well. Sin causes sickness and when sin is paid for it also brings healing for human bodies!

(See the “Atonement Series” and the section called [Jesus our High Priest] for more details)

Romans 6:23 (NASB)

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The wages of sin is death and death is sickness because all sickness is the operation of death in the human body. When Jesus made atonement for sin, He also paid for sicknesses at the same time! It is for this reason that when the 600,000 Jewish families ate of the first Passover lamb in Egypt under Moses, that no one was feeble or sick or weak because the blood atonement of the sacrificial lamb paid for their sins and when sin is dealt with, then sickness will be relieved at the same time!

There was not one feeble (or sick) person among them because they were all healed when they partook of the Passover lamb immediately before the Exodus. The apostle Paul also spoke of not rightly discerning the body of Christ and in fact Christ is also called the Lamb of God.

Revelation 5:5-6 (NIV)

⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Jesus is that Passover Lamb who was slain and by the sacrifice of Himself He purchased both forgiveness for sins and healing for the human body. The Passover lamb sacrifice that was first instituted by God through Moses-is a type and shadow to help people understand the reason why Jesus is called the Lamb of God! The Passover lamb sacrifice is an illustration of the spiritual principle that the innocent shall die for the guilty. This principle was fulfilled in Jesus (the Jewish Messiah) who was sacrificed for the sins of all humanity. Jesus died for the whole world and that means His sacrifice paid for the sins of all generations of mankind that have ever lived on the earth (past, present, and future). (See my atonement series and the section called “Types and Shadows” for more details)

1 Corinthians 11:24-25 (NKJV)

²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

²⁵ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Jesus body was broken or abused by the scourging of a whip! The stripes or wounds that He received in His body paid for the sicknesses and diseases that inflict all humanity.

1 Peter 2:24 (NASB)

²⁴ and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Jesus offered Himself willingly as a sacrificial lamb to shed His blood to pay for the sins of all humanity. The punishment that He received from the scourging paid the price (or penalty) for all sicknesses and diseases. The body of Jesus was broken by punishment and His body was made and offering for sin on the cross and thus He made atonement for sin and redemption of the human body from sickness.

Ephesians 2:14-19 (NIV)

¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,

¹⁵ by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,

¹⁶ and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,

Jesus made peace between God and sinful mankind by making atonement for sins by the sacrifice of Himself to God. Mankind was separated from God by their sin but Jesus paid for the penalty of the sin of mankind by the sacrifice of Himself. Sinful mankind was not able to keep God’s laws so God sent His Son Jesus to fulfill the law on behalf of sinful mankind. Those who are far away-speaks of the Gentiles who were outside of the covenant that God made with Abraham and the Jewish race. The phrase “Those who are near to God” speaks of the Jewish race which has a covenant with God. Jesus preached to both the Jews and the Gentiles because salvation is made available by faith to both parties. Through Jesus both the Jews and the Gentiles can have access to the heavenly father because Jesus paid the price for their sins that separated all mankind from God. So those who come to Jesus by faith are no longer strangers to God or aliens but they become fellow citizens of heaven by faith in Jesus the Jewish Messiah. Both Jews and Gentiles become members of God’s family and are of God’s household through faith in Jesus.

Isaiah 59:2 (NASB)

² But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

The sins of mankind separate them from God and so Jesus came to offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice because He was without spot or blemish. This means that Jesus walked on the earth as a man but He never sinned one time and He fulfilled every detail of the law of God perfectly. Jesus was without sin so He qualified as the perfect sacrifice to pay for the penalty of sin.

1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV)

⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

There is one Mediator between God and humanity and this is Jesus the Jewish Messiah.

Acts 20:28 (NASB)

²⁸ “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

The body of believers (those who believe in Jesus-both Jews and Gentiles) are called the church of God. These are those who were purchased for God by the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus.

Psalm 49:6-8 (NASB)

⁶ Even those who trust in their wealth And boast in the abundance of their riches?

⁷ No man can by any means redeem his brother Or give to God a ransom for him—

⁸ For the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever—

No rich man on earth can pay God for their sins because sins cannot be atoned for with silver or gold. The redemption of a man’s soul is costly and all of the silver and gold on earth could not pay for it. The price for sin could only be paid for by the perfect blood of Jesus which is sinless.

1 Peter 1:18-19 (NASB)

¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,

¹⁹ but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

Humans are not redeemed from sin by silver or gold but they can only be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ who was as a sacrificial Lamb to pay for the sins of all mankind.

Luke 1:35 (NASB)

³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

Jesus was conceived within the virgin Mary’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. The blood type of a child is determined by the father and so this natural principle reveals that the blood of Jesus was in fact precious and holy and untainted by the original sin of Adam. All humans ever born on earth all inherit the tainted blood of Adam because he is the father of all humans on earth. But Jesus did not receive His blood from the bloodline of Adam but His blood was precious and holy and was received directly from God. This is why only the blood of Jesus is holy and only the blood of Jesus is able to make atonement for the sins of all humanity!

1 Corinthians 15:22 (NASB)

²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

All humans ever born on earth have come from the first man Adam and therefore all humans have inherited the sin nature of Adam. All mankind are spiritually dead because of the original sin that they have inherited from their father Adam. In the same way that all humans are dead in sin so Christ made salvation available to all mankind for whoever will believe!

Romans 5:12 (NASB)

¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned

Death spread to all humanity on earth in all generations after Adam and this death came through sin because all men have sinned and fallen short of God’s standards of holiness.

Romans 3:23 (NASB)

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

All humans that have ever been born on earth (except Jesus) are all sinful and all of them have fallen short of God’s holy standards. Jesus therefore came to fulfill the holy standards of God and walk perfectly as a man and do what no human was able to do. Jesus walked perfectly as a man and purchased redemption for sinful mankind on their behalf. Jesus then offers salvation as a free gift to whoever will call upon the Name of the Lord and receive it by faith.

Romans 3:9 (CJB)

⁹ So are we Jews better off? Not entirely; for I have already made the charge that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are controlled by sin.

All humans including both Jews and Gentiles are controlled by sin and have inherited the sin nature of Adam the first man who fell into transgression.

Romans 3:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;

There is not one human that has ever been born on earth (except Jesus) who can say that they are righteous and without sin. All mankind of all generations need to have the salvation that is found only in Jesus.

Acts 4:12 (NIV)

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

There is no other name under heaven by which mankind can be saved except the Name of Jesus. Only Jesus is qualified to pay for the sins of all humanity by the sacrifice of His own precious blood (that is sinless and pure and holy)!

TRI-FOLD REDEMPTION OF CHRIST

When Jesus paid for the sins of mankind, the sacrifice of His blood also paid for all aspects of the curse which includes sin and sickness and poverty!

Psalm 105:37 (AMP)

³⁷ He brought [Israel] forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

When God brought His people Israel out of Egypt on the night of the Passover, they were brought out with silver and gold. This is an indication of financial prosperity and blessing and there was not one feeble or sick person among them. They came out of Egypt both healthy and wealthy and this is a part of the redemptive work of Christ!

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (NIV)

¹ If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

² All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:

³ You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

⁴ The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock–the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

⁵ Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

⁶ You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

⁷ The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

⁸ The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

⁹ The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.

¹⁰ Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you.

¹¹ The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity–in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground–in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

¹² The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

¹³ The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

¹⁴ Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

The first fourteen verses of Deuteronomy chapter 28 speak of the blessings of obedience that come to God’s people when they do not sin and break God’s laws. These blessings have a wide application toward financial prosperity and material blessings.

Deuteronomy 28:15-68 (NIV)

¹⁵ However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

¹⁶ You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

¹⁷ Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

¹⁸ The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

¹⁹ You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

²⁰ The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.

²¹ The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.

²² The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.

²³ The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.

²⁴ The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

²⁵ The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.

²⁶ Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

²⁷ The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.

²⁸ The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.

²⁹ At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

³⁰ You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.

³¹ Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them.

³² Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand.

³³ A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days.

³⁴ The sights you see will drive you mad.

³⁵ The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

³⁶ The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.

³⁷ You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.

³⁸ You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it.

³⁹ You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

⁴⁰ You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.

⁴¹ You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.

⁴² Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

⁴³ The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.

⁴⁴ He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.

⁴⁵ All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.

⁴⁶ They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.

⁴⁷ Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,

⁴⁸ therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

⁴⁹ The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,

⁵⁰ a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young.

⁵¹ They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.

⁵² They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.

⁵³ Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you.

⁵⁴ Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children,

⁵⁵ and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.

⁵⁶ The most gentle and sensitive woman among you–so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot–will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter

⁵⁷ the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.

⁵⁸ If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name–the LORD your God–

⁵⁹ the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.

⁶⁰ He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you.

⁶¹ The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.

⁶² You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God.

⁶³ Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

⁶⁴ Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods–gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.

⁶⁵ Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.

⁶⁶ You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life.

⁶⁷ In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”–because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.

⁶⁸ The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

The verses of 15-68 of Deuteronomy chapter 28 speak of the curses of the law and these have a wide application to financial and material lack and poverty.

Deuteronomy 28:59-61 (NIV)

⁵⁹ the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.

⁶⁰ He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you.

⁶¹ The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.

Verses 59-61 of Deuteronomy chapter 28, specifically mentions “lingering illnesses” and “all diseases” and “every kind of sickness” as a part of the curse of the law! All of these curses listed in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 are those curses that Christ has redeemed His people from by His atonement!

Galatians 3:13 (NIV)

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Christ redeemed mankind from the curse of the law that is recorded in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Jesus became a curse for mankind and He bore their curse on their behalf! Every aspect of the curse of the law (as recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 28) has been paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross!

Galatians 3:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Christ redeemed humanity from the curse in order that the blessings given to Abraham might be made available to all humans (including the Gentiles). It is by faith that the free gift of redemption from the curse is made available to all mankind.

Those who come to Christ by faith and are saved receive redemption from every aspect of the curse of the law as listed in Deuteronomy chapter 28! This includes redemption from sin, and sickness as well as redemption from the curse of poverty and lack!

2 Corinthians 8:9 (NASB)

⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

Jesus bore the curse of poverty upon Himself on the cross so that He could deliver mankind from all aspects of the curse (including the curse of poverty). He bore the curse of poverty on the cross so that His people could be rich! To be rich means to have no lack of anything that is necessary for life. To have prosperity means that the people have all of their needs met and have more than enough!

This is all part of the redemption of Jesus which redeemed mankind from sin, sickness and poverty so that the blessing of Abraham would come upon all those who receive the free gift of salvation by faith.

Genesis 13:2 (KJV)

² And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

Part of the blessings of Abraham is financial prosperity because Abraham was not cursed with poverty and lack but he was blessed by God because of his obedience.

Genesis 14:22-23 (NASB)

²² Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,

²³ that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

Abraham gave all the glory to God for his financial prosperity and did not want it to be said of him that any human made Abraham rich because his riches came from God. The blessing of Abraham most certainly includes financial prosperity because God delivers His people from lack and poverty as part of the redemptive work of Christ.

Galatians 3:13 (NASB)

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”—

Christ redeemed mankind from sin, and sickness and poverty and this these things are clearly a curse that result when people break God’s laws! But through faith in Jesus, mankind can be redeemed from every aspect of the curse that comes from breaking God’s laws. This redemption includes tri-fold blessings of redemption from sin and redemption from sickness and redemption from poverty but it also covers so much more!

Part 2- Factors that Affect Healing

HUMAN FREEWILL INVOLVED WITH APPROPRIATING GOD’S BLESSINGS

One may ask, “If Jesus redeemed all mankind from sickness then why is there sick people on earth?” Or they could say, “If Jesus redeemed all mankind from poverty then why is there poor people on earth?” The same thing could be said of salvation; “If Jesus died for all mankind then why are there so many people who are not saved?” The answer is that all of the things involving redemption must be appropriated by faith! Jesus died for all but only those who call upon Him by faith will be saved. Jesus paid the price for sickness for all but only those who appropriate their healing by faith will be healed. Jesus paid the price to redeem mankind from poverty but only those who appropriate their provision by faith will have their needs met!

God has given mankind a human freewill and God will not supersede that human freewill. God will not save anyone against their freewill and He will not heal anyone against their freewill and He will not prosper anyone against their freewill.

It might seem insane that someone would resist being healed especially if they are suffering greatly but I have in fact met such people who got angry when I suggested that they could be healed! They had grown proud of their sickness and many people in their denominational church praised them for their good attitude in suffering. When anyone would suggest prayer for healing such people would become enraged and say, “God gave me this sickness in order to glorify Him!” This is an example of someone who cannot be healed against their own human freewill! They most certainly do not want to be healed and it is against their human freewill to be healed and they in fact love all of the human attention and sympathy and pity that they receive by suffering sickness and affliction in their bodies! Human sympathy and pity can be a great enemy to healing for this reason.

In countries that are idolatrous and pagan, there are religious people who will whip their own bodies bloody and crawl over rocks and concrete with bare knees, nail themselves on crosses and perform many other forms of self-punishment for their sins. This in fact is a great insult against the atonement of Christ because it implies that the work of Jesus was incomplete. These people are trying to pay for their own sins by their own self-inflicted suffering rather than receiving by faith the completed work done by Christ!

As ignorant and foolish as these pagan people are in trying to pay for their own sins, this exact same thing is accomplished by people who call themselves Christians. Such people often are victims of false denominational teaching that teaches them that God afflicted them to bring glory to His Name!

Those ignorant Christians who embrace sickness (as if came from God rather than the devil) are doing the exact same thing as the ignorant pagans who suppose that suffering misery is a way to pay for their own sins! This is a pagan ideology and it is in fact blasphemy against the atoning work of Christ because no man can pay for his own sins. Salvation is only received by faith in the atoning work of Christ. Anyone who presumes to pay for their own sins with suffering are involved in presumption and great arrogance!

It would seem insane if a poor beggar would refuse to receive a large amount of money to make him prosperous. But it is just as insane if Christians refuse to be healed when Jesus in fact has paid for their healing as part of the redemption paid for on the cross! This is an illustration of the fact that God will not supersede the human freewill of people and He cannot heal them if they refuse to receive the healing that has already been purchased for them.

Isaiah 53:11 (NIV)

¹¹ After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

This scripture says that “by His knowledge” the righteous servant (speaking of Jesus) will justify many because He bore their iniquities. It is “by His knowledge” or by people having knowledge of what Jesus did for them that makes them candidates to receive the provisions of the atonement. If people have no knowledge of what Jesus did then there is no way that they can receive any benefit from it. This is the same thing as if a poor beggar had inherited a great fortune but because he had no knowledge of this inheritance he would continue to live as a beggar on the street and never appropriate what belongs to him. If someone has no knowledge of what is theirs in Christ, they will never be able to appropriate anything that belongs to them! It is by knowledge of what Jesus did-that many become justified as they hear the preaching of the gospel (the good news) and then pray and receive Jesus as their Savior. It is by knowledge that people learn that they have been redeemed from poverty and can receive their prosperity in Christ. It is by knowledge that people learn they are redeemed from all sickness and they receive their healing. If they have no knowledge of these things then they will receive no benefit from what has been purchased for them by Jesus.

Satan has long tried to keep Christians ignorant about what belongs to them. In the dark ages (in Europe) it was actually made illegal to read the bible and the scriptures were kept hidden away in a dead-language that common people could not understand. But in 1611 the King James Version of the bible was translated into common language. After this the printing press was invented and this enabled the bible to be published in large numbers in a language that the ordinary people could understand. Satan’s plan to hide the scriptures was broken when the bible was printed and that caused the end of the dark ages in Europe! People were able to read the scriptures in a commonly understood language at this time and the darkness of ignorance of God’s word was broken!

Many men sacrificed their lives and they were burned at the stake for trying to provide the bible in a commonly known language and that is an indication of the wrath of the devil trying to stop God’s word from being published. Many men sacrificed their lives in order to provide the scriptures for all to read. It has always been the plan of the devil to keep God’s people ignorant of what belongs to them. As long as they are ignorant they will never partake of any benefit that was purchased for them in Christ!

When the people were kept in ignorance and could not read the bible for themselves, then they were deprived from all of the benefits of the atonement. Without a bible in their language, these people could not read God’s word to discover the truths of salvation, healing or prosperity. Without knowledge these ignorant people remained in an unsaved condition and suffered terribly with sickness and suffered destitute poverty and every type of misery inflicted upon them by the devil! It is by knowledge that people come to discover what belongs to them in Christ. Knowledge is the first step toward appropriating all of the blessings that belong to the believer in Christ.

Isaiah 53:11 (NKJV)

¹¹ He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.

This scripture is speaking of Jesus who saw the fruit of His labor in redemption and the satisfaction of seeing that His work was not in vain but that it produced great fruit. By His Knowledge (or having knowledge of what Jesus provided in the atonement) God’s righteous Servant Jesus will justify many because He will bear their iniquities. It does not say He will justify all (even though Jesus paid the price for sin that all might be saved). He will only justify “many” not “all” because only those who call upon Him will be saved. Many will call upon the Lord for salvation but not all of the people who have ever been born on earth will be saved. Only those who called upon him will be saved.

Romans 10:12-13 (NASB)

¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;

¹³ for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

Whoever will call upon the Lord (either Jew or Gentile) will be saved. The human freewill is involved here and people cannot appropriate the benefits of salvation purchased for them unless they humble themselves and use their human freewill to call upon the Lord for salvation.

Romans 10:14-17 (NKJV)

¹⁴ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”

¹⁷ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

How can people call upon someone that they have never heard of? How can they believe in Jesus if they have never heard of Him? Faith comes by hearing the message preached to them and when they hear this message of salvation they can have faith and believe and accept Jesus and become saved. The preaching of the gospel is the disseminating of knowledge of Jesus. When the people hear God’s word about what has been made available to them then faith rises up in their hearts and they can receive what has been promised to them. It is for this reason that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Faith comes into the hearts of the people when they hear God’s word being preached to them!

When the people hear the gospel, they will receive knowledge and this knowledge is something which they can base their faith upon. People who hear the gospel can receive all of the benefits of the atonement including salvation, healing and prosperity. But people cannot receive any more than what they have knowledge of. If a preacher only teaches the people about salvation then they will have only salvation in that church. If the preacher teaches about healing they will have healing manifest in that church. If the preacher teaches about prosperity then they will manifest prosperity in the lives of the congregation who receives this knowledge. A church that teaches the full-gospel will include not only salvation but also healing and prosperity. Those who stop at salvation only are not appropriating all that was purchased for them through the atonement of Christ. Not preaching a full-gospel message means that the preacher is giving a partial-gospel that does not include all of the benefits purchased for mankind by Jesus.

If an evangelist preaches on salvation, the people listening to his preaching can receive knowledge that it is God’s will to save them. Hearing God’s word concerning salvation causes the people to have faith enter their hearts to be saved. This is a basic principle which is involved with producing faith in the hearts of mankind to receive what God has provided for them.

The same thing also works for all of the benefits provided for mankind through redemption.

Psalms 103:2-5 (NIV)

² Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–

³ who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

A full-gospel message will include all of the benefits of the atonement that were provided for mankind. This is more than just “salvation-only” but also includes healing and prosperity.

All of the benefits provided by redemption are:

1. Forgiving all of mankind’s iniquities! Forgiveness of sin is part of the redemption in Christ!

2. Healing all of mankind’s diseases! Healing of sickness is part of the redemption in Christ!

3. Redemption from hell and eternal destruction is part of the redemption in Christ!

4. Crowning mankind with lovingkindness and mercy is part of the redemption in Christ.

5. Satisfying mankind with good things speaks of prosperity and abundance and is part of the redemption found in Christ.

A church that teaches on salvation will have people in the congregation get saved. When the people receive knowledge of what was provided for them in Christ for salvation-then faith will rise in their hearts to receive salvation.

The same is also true of all of the benefits found in Christ because if a church will teach on these benefits then the congregation will have faith to receive them.

When a church is teaching on healing there will always be an increase of people who receive healing because the revelation of healing causes faith for healing to manifest in the hearts of people. The people cannot go beyond their knowledge to receive something if they do not know what has been made available to them. If they have no knowledge of it they will not be able to receive it. Those congregations who are taught about healing will most certainly see an increase of healing as people learn that healing was made available to them and they reach out for it by faith.

The opposite is also true because when a church does not teach on healing then this lack of teaching will result in the members of that church not seeing healing manifest among them. Some denominational churches even go so far as to preach against healing and teach the people that it has passed away and healing is no longer available to them. This type of negative teaching is in fact is a “doctrine-of-demons” because the devil always seeks to keep people from receiving what God has provided for them. This can be accomplished by falsely teaching people that healing has passed away. If people believe this demonic lie then they will not have any faith to be healed and Satan can keep them in sickness and misery all of their lives!

This principle of the devil trying to get God’s people to settle for less can be seen in the case of Pharaoh trying to limit the children of Israel and keep them from escaping from his slavery and attempting to keep them under his continued bondage and torment!

Exodus 8:25 (NIV)

²⁵ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.”

Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron that the Israelites could sacrifice to their God but they had to stay within the borders of Egypt and not leave the land of slavery! This is just how the devil operates as he works to keep mankind from being saved. Satan tries to keep people from escaping from the bondage of being children of the devil!

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (NASB)

³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,

⁴ in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Satan is the god of this world and all those who are not born again are children of the devil and they are on bondage to sin and in slavery to Satan just as the children of Israel were in bondage as slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. Satan works to keep unbelievers busy and distracted by sin and self-indulgence and wickedness and false religions so that they will not hear or pay attention to the gospel and be saved. He distracts the minds of unbelievers with noise and distractions and worldly music and entertainment and vices and sin and false religions so that they will spend their lives in slavery and end up in hell with their father the devil! Satan works to blind the minds of the unbelievers so that they will not see the light of the glorious gospel and be saved!

Satan does the same thing that Pharaoh did in Egypt to the children of Israel. The devil does not care of people go to church or become religious as long as they do not get saved and escape his control over them. So, Pharaoh said that the Israelites could go and sacrifice to God but only stay in the land of Egypt and not leave from Egyptian slavery. Satan is content with unbelievers attending church or being nominal Christians as long as they do not get saved and free from the slavery of sin and bondage to the devil. The events that transpired in Egypt with Pharaoh and God’s people are a type and shadow of Satan and those people who are in slavery to sin.

1 Corinthians 10:11 (NASB)

¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

The things recorded in the Old Testament concerning the Israelites are examples to those who are believers in this present day and age. They are written to give instruction to believers of this present time. The Old Testament is full of God’s revelation and instruction for those who are believers.

The principle here is that Pharaoh is a picture or “type of” Satan who is always endeavoring to get God’s people to compromise and live at a level lower than what belongs to them in Christ. Satan will try to keep people from being saved but he does not mind if they join a dead religious church because they will still go to hell with their father the devil when they die.

Exodus 8:28 (NASB)

²⁸ Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Make supplication for me.”

The next compromise that Pharaoh offered is that if they go and sacrifice to their God, then they are not to go very far away. Having some religion is OK with the devil as long as they do not go all of the way with God and partake of the full blessings of the atonement and all those things provided for them in Christ! Pharaoh was seeking to keep God’s people under his bondage in any way possible that he could!

Satan does the same thing with mankind in this present day and age. If the devil cannot keep them from being saved then he will work to keep them sick and inflicted with pain and suffering. If the devil cannot keep God’s people from salvation and healing then he will work to keep them poor and miserable and cold and hungry and poorly dressed. The devil always tries to get God’s people to settle for less and wants to keep them from being saved and keep them from being healed and keep them from being prospered. Satan wants to keep God’s people ignorant of what belongs to them because if they are ignorant of God’s covenant blessings they will never be able to appropriate these blessings by faith for themselves. Often Satan uses religion and demonically inspired doctrines to teach things like “healing has passed away” and as such healing no longer belongs to the body of Christ! Such doctrines will keep people in sickness and misery during their lives on earth!

Exodus 10:8-11 (NIV)

⁸ Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the LORD your God,” he said. “But just who will be going?”

⁹ Moses answered, “We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the LORD.”

¹⁰ Pharaoh said, “The LORD be with you–if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil.

¹¹ No! Have only the men go; and worship the LORD, since that’s what you have been asking for.” Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence.

Pharaoh tried to force a compromise and have the Israelites leave their woman and children behind in slavery in Egypt. The devil will seek to destroy marriages and cause children to be swept away into the world and into bondage to sin and vices. If a man loses his family to the devil and his children fall away from God, that man will be most miserable and his life will not be worth living on earth! The devil always seeks to get God’s people to compromise with him and keep some area of their lives under his bondage and slavery!

Exodus 10:24 (NIV)

²⁴ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the LORD. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.”

Then Pharaoh (a type of Satan) tried to get Moses to compromise and if the women and children could not be held back then Pharaoh tried to get them to leave all of their flocks and herds behind. This is a clear depiction of Satan trying to get God’s people to leave their prosperity behind! The flocks and herds provided meat and milk and wool and leather so this speaks of food and clothing and prosperity and having their needs met! If Satan cannot keep people from being saved, he will seek to keep them sick. If Satan cannot keep them sick then he will seek to keep them poor. The devil is always trying to insert some sort of affliction or misery into the lives of God’s people or compromise to settle for less!

John 10:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Jesus said that the thief (Satan) only comes to steal and to kill and to destroy. That is the devil’s job description and that is all that the devil spends his time doing. The devil seeks to steal health and prosperity from God’s people. Satan seeks to kill the human body with disease and destroy lives by bondage to sin. Satan seeks to introduce disorder and turmoil and misery to the lives of God’s people in every way possible!

Jesus came to do the exact opposite of the devil and provide abundant life for all those who believe in Him! Jesus sets people free from the slavery of sin and removes them from the devil’s kingdom and brings them into the kingdom of God. Jesus heals sick and suffering bodies and forgives sins and prospers those who are suffering in poverty and misery and lack. All of these benefits are provided for by the redemption of Jesus and these benefits are not to be forgotten by the believers! God’s word says, “Do not forget any of God’s benefits!” If believers forget about these benefits, they will not be able to appropriate them by faith and the devil will keep them in bondage and misery all of their lives!

1 Peter 5:8-9 (NASB)

⁸ Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

⁹ But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

The devil seeks for those that he can devour and those who are in danger of being devoured are those believers who are ignorant of what belongs to them. Satan can keep them sick and poor and miserable if they do not know what has been purchased for them in Christ!

The believer is to resist the devil firmly in their faith and refuse to make any compromises with the devil. The believer is to resist Satan whenever the devil tries to insert sickness in their body or bring them poverty or any other evil thing that comes from the devil!

2 Corinthians 2:11 (NASB)

¹¹ so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

The believer is not to be ignorant of the devil’s schemes because he is a deceiver and he works continually to keep God’s people sick or poor or miserable in any way possible. Whatever evil things that the believer will accept and tolerate are the very things that the devil will put on them!

Moses refused to compromise with the devil (Pharaoh) and he said that they would take everything with them.

Exodus 10:26 (NASB)

²⁶ “Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the LORD our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the LORD.”

This is an example of resisting the devil when the devil tries to get God’s people to compromise. Moses did not compromise when the devil told him to leave his prosperity behind! Moses said that not one hoof of any of their livestock would be left behind. Moses said that God’s people would take what belongs to them and not compromise with the devil to leave behind anything of theirs.

Exodus 10:9 (NASB)

⁹ Moses said, “We shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we shall go, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”

Moses told the devil (Pharaoh) that he would not leave their children or their young or old or their flocks and herds or anything else behind! This is an example of resisting the devil and telling the devil that no compromise will be made! Nothing should be given to the devil of any of the good things that were granted to the believer by redemption! A believer is to stand on his or her rights and receive all that belongs to them in God! They are to keep their health and healing they are to keep their prosperity and provision they are to keep all of the members of their family! The believer is to give nothing at all to the devil and they should accept no afflictions or misery from the adversary Satan! The devil only comes to kill and steal and destroy and anything negative that causes misery and pain and suffering and lack comes from the devil. Believers must resist the devil firm in their faith and refuse to compromise on any point of God’s provision for them. They are to take everything that belongs to them in Christ!

Exodus 11:2 (NASB)

² “Speak now in the hearing of the people that each man ask from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold.”

Moses was directed by God to tell the Israelites to ask the Egyptian neighbors for articles of silver and articles of gold. The terrorized Egyptians did not want any more trouble after the firstborn in all the land of Egypt were all killed, so they eagerly gave the Israelites anything that they asked for! This is a picture of God’s people taking back what belongs to them from the devil!

Exodus 12:35-36 (NASB)

³⁵ Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing;

³⁶ and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

When God’s people asked for articles of silver and articles of gold, the terrorized Egyptians gave them everything that they had! In this manner they plundered the Egyptians but in fact these things belonged to God’s people. The Israelites had been working as slaves without wages for over 400 years and this was now a time of payback when God’s people received the wages that were due to them! This is a type and shadow that illustrates that when people become saved they are entitled to receive financial prosperity as part of the atonement of Christ. Believers can take back from the devil all that was stolen from them! When believers are ignorant about their covenant rights, they will be robbed by the devil just like the Israelites who served as slaves in Egypt.

Psalms 103:2-5 (NIV)

² Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–

³ who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Again, the believers are reminded that they are never to forget all of God’s benefits for them. If they forget these things then the devil will rob them of what belongs to them! All of the benefits of redemption include forgiveness of all sins, healing of all diseases, salvation from hell, love and compassion, and being satisfied with good things so their youth is renewed. The atoning work of Christ includes salvation and healing and prosperity and God’s children should not compromise with the devil and leave behind even one of these great blessings that have been provided for them in Christ!

Satan has many schemes that he uses to keep God’s people from enjoying all of the benefits that have been provided for them in Christ. All of the devil’s schemes involve lies and deception.

John 8:44 (NIV)

⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Jesus told the religious leaders that they were of their father the devil. The devil is a murderer and he seeks to kill and steal and destroy and keep God’s people in misery and bondage. When the devil speaks lies, he is in fact speaking his native language because he is a liar and the father of all lies!

It is a satanic lie to say that any of God’s benefits have been passed away and are no longer available. When fake preachers teach that healing has been passed away then this is a satanic lie and such preachers are actually “children of the devil” and they are speaking the lies of their father the devil!

The devil uses religious men to teach satanic lies to keep people from believing in the gospel message that healing has been purchased for them by Christ. If the people believe in the lie that healing is passed away then there is no way they will be able to receive healing for their bodies. This is a deception that Satan uses to keep God’s people living with sickness, pain, and misery! Sickness also causes poverty because of the endless doctor bills that sickness can bring!

Mark 5:24-26 (NIV)

²⁴ So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.

²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.

²⁶ She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.

This woman was afflicted by a satanic disease that caused her much suffering and misery for twelve long years! She suffered a great deal and had went to many doctors and spent all of the money she had on doctors but instead of getting better she only grew worse. This poor afflicted woman was being tormented by Satan and she was made to live in poverty because she lost all that she had paying medical bills! This is an example of the devil coming to kill and steal and to destroy as Satan made her poor and sick and miserable with his disease that he inflicted upon her.

Luke 13:10-17 (NIV)

¹⁰ On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,

¹¹ and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”

¹³ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

¹⁴ Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

¹⁵ The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?

¹⁶ Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

There was a Jewish woman who was bound by the devil for 18-years and lived in great misery and pain and could not even stand up straight but was bent over with her chin low to the ground! Jesus used His God-given authority to put a stop to the work of the devil in her life! It was a demonic spirit that caused this affliction and when this evil spirit was cast out, the woman was able to stand up freely again! She immediately stood up and was set free and rejoiced in God because of her freedom from the devil’s bondage.

But this healing occurred on the Sabbath day so the religious leaders found fault with Jesus for healing on the Sabbath! In fact, religious people are children of the devil and they will always fight and resist those who preach the gospel and heal the sick and bring freedom to those who are bound by the devil’s torment and afflictions! Jesus made it clear that this woman had suffered under the devil’s bondage for 18 years and it was God’s will to set her free from satanic afflictions.

Acts 10:38 (NKJV)

³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Jesus was doing good for the people when He went around healing all who were oppressed by the devil. He set people free from all forms of misery afflicted on them by the enemy Satan! Those who resist healing are in fact ministers of the devil and they serve to keep people under the devil’s bondage and oppression by teaching them satanic lies (such as healing has passed away). If people believe the satanic lie (that healing is passed away) then there is no hope for them to receive their healing! This is an example of how Satan uses religious people to teach his deception so that he can continue to hold people bondage (just like the woman who was bleeding for 12 years or like the woman who was bent over for 18 years). Sickness produces nothing but misery and affliction and bondage! Sickness makes the lives of humans miserable upon the earth! Sickness is of the devil and that is why Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.

Sickness and disease are in fact an affliction and oppression from Satan designed to keep God’s people from enjoying the health and healing provided for them in the atonement. Sickness must be resisted by God’s people the same as they should resist poverty! If God’s people believe the satanic lie that sickness is coming from God then they will never receive their healing. Satan uses deception and lies in order to keep God’s people in bondage to his afflictions and torment!

Psalm 105:37 (AMP)

³⁷ He brought [Israel] forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

This is a type and shadow that speaks of the atonement and the benefits of God’s atonement. The Israelites left the slavery of Egypt and they went out with silver and gold and there was not one feeble or sick person among them. This speaks of freedom of the slavery of sin and it speaks of prosperity and it also speaks of healing. Salvation from sin and sickness and poverty are all benefits of the redemption provided for by Christ for the believers.

This scripture provides a picture of the full-gospel message because they had salvation from the slavery of sin, the healing of their bodies and prosperity and financial blessing. This is a full-gospel message meaning that they received all of God’s benefits and left nothing behind. This is in a great contrast to a partial-gospel that leaves things like healing and prosperity behind and compromises with the devil. A full-gospel message does not compromise or settle for less but the full-gospel preaches about all of the benefits of the gospel.

Psalm 103:2 (NIV)

² Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–

The believer is not to forget all of the benefits that were purchased for them by Jesus! If they leave out anything it would be the same as if Moses compromised with Pharaoh and let the devil have what belonged to God’s people!

I know of a man of God who began his ministry in the slums of a nation that had been torn by war. The people he worked with were living in great poverty and misery. War is truly the work of Satan because the devil comes to kill and steal and destroy and that is what war is all about! The nation was left in shambles after the war and people were in misery and sickness and starvation! When this man of God tried to witness to a lady and tell her that she could be saved from hell, this woman got upset! She said that she was living in a shack made of cardboard and plastic bags, they did not have food to eat, her children were pickpockets trying to get money for food, and their husband was an alcoholic! She said that she was already living in hell on earth and was not interested in hearing any preaching! It was at this point that this man of God began to adopt the full-gospel message because he could see that people had needs on earth and salvation from sin is only part of the benefits of the gospel. This man of God began to preach the full-gospel message that God could heal their sick bodies and God could prosper them and save them out of poverty and lack and starvation! People started to attend his church-which he held in a discarded army tent. The people began to learn about God’s benefits and by faith they were able to partake of these blessings. The woman who said she was living in hell on earth saw her alcoholic husband get saved. This man was able to use his faith and found a job and their family had income again. The children were able to stop being pickpockets and thieves and were able to go to school. They were able to build a nice house that kept out the cold weather and did not leak when it rained and was comfortable in all seasons. All of this change came to their family as they believed in the full-gospel message and used their faith to appropriate the blessings of God for their family. This type of thing began to occur with all of his church members who learned how to live by faith and appropriate the blessings of God provided for them in the redemption. Today his man has one of the largest churches in the world and his congregation has many people who had risen up out of poverty and there are even many members who became millionaire businessmen. The congregation grew so large and so prosperous that in fact they caused the economy of their nation to increase! He teaches the full-gospel message and he does not leave out anything. He preaches that God can save the people from sin, God can heal their sick bodies and God can prosper them financially. He has people being healed in his church in every service because he teaches on healing. He has people constantly rising up to new levels of prosperity because he teaches on prosperity. He has people saved because he teaches on salvation. He does not compromise with the devil and leave behind any of the benefits of redemption. He teaches a full-gospel message and this has had a big effect on his congregation and it even brought blessing to his entire nation! A nation is made up of families and when the families prosper then their nation will prosper as well!

Any type of gospel that is compromised to leave out some of God’s benefits of redemption is a gospel that is in league with Satan! Pharaoh tried to get Moses to compromise and leave behind what belonged to God’s people but Moses refused. Moses declared that they would take all that belonged to them and leave nothing behind! This is the same spirit as the full-gospel message that tells the devil that they will leave nothing of God’s benefits behind but they will take all that belongs to them!

This same full-gospel preacher was often attacked and persecuted by religious people who do not believe in the full-gospel message. This is because these religious people are children of the devil and they teach Satan’s lies! The religious people were furious when people are healed and people were made to prosper by learning about what belongs to them in the redemption of Christ. Satan does not want people to be healed and set free from sin and enjoy prosperity. The devil wants to keep people unsaved, and poor and sick and miserable and suffering on earth! All of these satanic things are cancelled when people get saved and learn about what belongs to them through redemption! Those who fight and resist the full-gospel message indicate that they are in fact children of the devil and they carry out the desires of their father the devil. The devil wants to keep people poor and sick and miserable but the truth of the full-gospel message will set them free from satanic bondage! This is the reason for satanic resistance toward the full-gospel message. The truth of God’s word dispels the devil’s lies and destroys the devil’s kingdom!

John 8:32 (NIV)

³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus said that when a believer knows the truth then that truth will set them free. These people were once sick and poor and miserable in a war-torn country! But now they are set free because they heard the truth of the full-gospel message! They learned that God wanted them to be saved and healed and prospered! When they learned the truth, they were able to appropriate this truth by faith and they received the benefits of redemption and were saved and healed and prospered! This totally dispelled the devil’s lies that held them in bondage for many years of misery. They were set free from the devil’s work of sin and sickness and poverty because they heard the truth. A real man of God will teach the full-gospel message and he will not compromise with the devil and leave behind any of the benefits of redemption that were purchased by Jesus for God’s people.

2 Peter 3:5 (KJV)

⁵ For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

This scripture in the KJV says that these people were willingly-ignorant. This means that someone uses their human freewill to choose to remain ignorant about what God has said.

I know of a denominational evangelist who was preaching in the Philippines and one time when he was on a remote island-the healing anointing came upon him. He said that everyone that he laid his hands on was totally healed and that healing anointing remained upon him for a period of about 72 hours before it lifted from him. But the thing that is shocking is that this man was resisting this healing anointing and he kept saying that he did not understand why God kept healing these people! His denomination taught against healing and taught that healing had passed away! This man therefore could not flow with the healing anointing because of his denominational bondage! He in fact expected that God should adjust Himself to his denominational views! He acted as if God must not be aware that his denomination had taught that healing had passed away!

Acts 17:11 (NASB)

¹¹ Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

The people of Berea were more noble-minded because they received the word of God with eagerness and they examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were true! Those who do not have a noble mind will close their minds to God’s truth! If they are taught by their denomination that healing is passed away then these denominational people will close their minds to the subject of healing and never permit it to enter their minds!

This denominational evangelist (who saw the healing anointing come down upon him in the Philippines) was not noble-minded! If he had a noble-mind then he would have said, “Oh, look at all of these people who were healed!” “I must have received false teaching from my denominational seminary because I can see with my own two eyes that God still heals people today!” But this man was willfully-ignorant about healing and he refused to consider it! Even when God healed numerous sick people through his own hands, this man willfully chose to remain ignorant about healing!

The fact of the matter is that his man made an idol out of his denominational doctrines and he would let go of this false teaching even when he saw with his own eyes that this teaching was a demonic lie!

Those who are noble-minded will examine the scriptures eagerly for themselves and they will see that the truth of God’s word is still applicable to their lives today! Those who are noble-minded will make the truth “their-own” rather than letting some unsaved seminary professor try to tell them their satanic point of view of God’s word!

A believer cannot go beyond their knowledge! If the believer has faulty knowledge (which is twisted and satanic) then they will be deprived from having possession of the complete list of benefits made available to them by the gospel! The word “gospel” means good-news and the good news for the unsaved is that they can be saved from hell! The good-news for the sick is that they can be healed. The good-news for the poor is that they can prosper and have their needs met!

Part 3- Factors that Affect Healing

It is obvious that the teaching a believer receives will have great affect upon their lives. If they attend a false church that teaches against healing then there is little chance of them overcoming sickness and physical affliction. If a believer attends a church that teaches against any of the benefits of redemption it is not likely they will ever partake of those benefits! They simply cannot go beyond their knowledge of what is made available to them in Christ. It is the “truth” that sets them free and the truth of God’s word about healing will produce healing for them. It is the truth of God’s word for prosperity will cause them to prosper. But if any of these benefits are left out of the preaching that they hear then they cannot receive them! This is the curse of a partial-gospel message because it brings satanic deficiency to the lives of those who are deprived of the full-knowledge of God’s benefits!

A partial-gospel message is a message that has been compromised by the devil! The devil says if they get saved then they should not believe in healing. If they get healed then they should not believe in prosperity. So, if the devil cannot keep them from being saved then he will work to keep them sick. If he cannot keep them sick the he will try to keep them poor and miserable. The devil always tries to get believers to live on some standard that is lower than what belongs to them in Christ! All partial-gospel messages teach the devil’s compromise because the truth will set people free from sin and sickness and poverty! So, the devil uses religious men to preach a false gospel with demonic doctrines that healing has passed away and poverty is holy! These false doctrines will keep people poor and sick and miserable all of their lives! The devil comes only to steal and kill and destroy and he wants people to be poor and sick and miserable and tormented! He will steal their health and kill their bodies and destroy all of their happiness in life! Anyone who teaches a partial-gospel is in league with the devil even if they are unaware of it! Satan uses their religious false teaching to deprive millions of believers from health and prosperity and all of the benefits that belong to them through redemption in Christ!

I know of a full-gospel preacher who had a paralyzed woman come to him for prayer. She was paralyzed from the neck down and there was no medical help for her condition. But when she was prayed for, she was instantly healed and came off of the hospital bed and rejoiced in God’s goodness for her life. This was a sensational and big healing and the news got around fast! Soon another paralyzed woman was brought to be prayed for because she had the exact same condition as the first woman who was healed. The pastor prayed for this second paralyzed woman but nothing happened and this woman was not healed. She then got angry at the pastor and accused him of loving the other woman (who was healed) more than her! She however had a number of things evident that were holding her back from healing!

First of all, this second paralyzed woman was spiritually proud. She could rattle off every healing scripture in the bible like a parrot! But this scripture memory was not for the purpose of meditation of God’s word. She in fact memorized all of these scriptures so that no one could tell her that she did not do her part! If anyone spoke to her about scripture memory, she would immediately rattle off every healing scripture in the bible as if to say, “See there, I did my part and no one can tell me otherwise!” She was arrogant and proud and had a “know-it-all” attitude about the bible and was not willing to hear anything from anyone else! She was in fact unteachable because of her arrogant attitude!

James 4:6 (NASB)

⁶ But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

God is opposed to those who are proud and the sin of pride can be another factor that can hinder a person from receiving their healing!

Another problem with this second paralyzed Christian woman was that she belonged to a dead denominational church where they did not teach about healing! This was a dignified social club type of church that was led by an activity director who has a doctor degree in divinity. Although this dignified-doctor-of-divinity degree could give pleasant sermons, he was not even saved and had no spiritual revelation at all! Most of the people who attended this church were secular businessmen and there were also some celebrities that were members of this dignified social club! This woman loved this church and felt important to be a fellow member together with these respectable businessmen and even bragged that she was a fellow member together with these celebrities. The problem however was that this fake church was not involved with preaching the full-gospel message! Even though this church had a beautiful building with stained-glass windows, it was not involved with meeting the spiritual needs of the people! The sermons were based on current events and sermons illustrations and even success motivation talks that appealed to the secular businessman that attended there. There was nothing taught about healing and as a matter of fact this subject was never once mentioned in the pulpit!

This second paralyzed woman who came to the full-gospel pastor to be prayed for was not a member of his church. Even if she was healed, she would most certainly return to her dignified social club church immediately because she loved the thrill of being a fellow member together with such dignified people! This shows that her motives for attending church were not pure! She was not going to church to learn about God’s word but only went to church to socialize with worldly people!

Another problem with this second paralyzed woman was her giving. All of her donations went to this dignified social club church because they would put a plaque on the wall to honor her for her donation and show everyone how generous she was! She loved this attention and praise of having her name on a donation plaque on the wall! Those who gave really big donations even received special seating in a pew with their name engraved on a plate indicating they are someone important! The hireling fake pastor of this church was able to earn a comfortable living for himself and his church building was beautiful with carpeting, cushion seats, a high steeple and stained-glass windows! All of this money came by flattering the secular businessmen who attended there and these men would compete with each other in trying to give the biggest donations in order to buy a place of honor in this fake church! I call this a “fake church” because it does not exist to meet the spiritual needs of the people but only serves as a place for men to flatter each other and to compete for praises of mankind!

This second paralyzed woman was in fact spiritually bankrupt because she attended this worthless church for years! When she was afflicted with this terrible physical condition she had no legs to stand on-as far as faith was concerned! She was full of the sands of sermon illustrations, current events, and success motivation talks and none of these things helped her when she was faced with incurable paralysis! Rather than building her house upon the rock of God’s word she was building her spiritual house upon the useless sands of dead theology that provide no help for anyone!

When the time of her crisis came upon her, then where did she go for help? She had to find a full-gospel preacher who teaches the full-gospel message! It was this full-gospel preacher whom she heard was able to heal a paralyzed woman just like herself!

The fact of the matter is that her useless doctor-of-divinity-degree preacher could not help her so she ran for help to the full-gospel preacher! But again, it must be emphasized that this second paralyzed woman was not a member of this full-gospel church and she never gave a dime to this church. All of her giving was done at the dignified social club church where they honor her for her giving by flattering her and giving her a plaque on the wall with her name engraved for her donation!

This second paralyzed woman did not have any word of God sown in her heart for healing to give her a basis of faith for her healing! She had not sown any seed financially to a full-gospel church which teaches the truth! This woman in fact had no basis for faith to stand on as far as her healing was concerned! She did nothing to support a real man of God and she did nothing to honor his gift and she did nothing to learn what he was teaching. The full-gospel message has helped millions of people to get free from sin and sickness and poverty but this woman was not healed when the full-gospel preacher prayed for her. She in fact never even bothered to have her dignified-doctor-degree pray for her because he does not believe in healing and certainly would never pray for anyone to be healed! Doctor degrees will typically visit a sick member in the hospital and pat their hand with sympathy and say, “It will soon be all over!”(when that person dies of their terminal disease!) But human sympathy and pity will not help anyone or save their life from a terminal disease! Human sympathy and pity will in fact pull all of the faith out of them and seal their destruction (by disease)!

Matthew 7:24-27 (NASB)

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

²⁵ “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

²⁶ “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

²⁷ “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Jesus compared the teaching of the word to building a house. Those who were hearers and doers of God’s word were those who built their house upon a solid rock foundation. When the storms of life came against their houses they did not fall because they were founded upon the immovable rock of God’s word!

But those who do not hear the words of Jesus and those who do not apply His words to their lives are like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. The storms came and the rain fell and the floods rose and the winds blew and these things slammed against this house and it fell and the destruction was great! This house did not stand in time of crisis and when the storm came it revealed that this house had no foundation of God’s word to stand on!

This same thing is true of this second paralyzed woman because she was spending all of her time attending a dead-social-club-church that did not teach the full-gospel message. She gave all of her donations to this church to gain the flattery of man and praise of mankind but she had no reward from heaven for her giving. Jesus said if a man gives only to gain praise of men then that is their only reward because no reward will be given to them by God! So this woman had no seed given to God to stand upon either. She was in fact supporting a dead church and keeping a fake pastor (and a worthless hireling) in business!

The fact of the matter is that the storms of life are going to come to everyone on earth and if they do not get saved and get founded on God’s word then they will be wiped out and destroyed during their time of calamity!

This second paralyzed woman did not care about her future and did not care about preparing for the coming storms! She was not attending a full-gospel church and in fact the type of church a person attends is an indication if they are building their spiritual house on sand or on the solid rock of God’s word. Only those churches where they teach a full-gospel message (that has not been compromised by the devil) are those churches that lay a foundation of solid rock in the lives of their congregations! When the storms of life strike those people who are founded on God’s word they will be ready for it and they will know how to stand on the word of God and gain the victory!

But if people waste their time by attending and supporting a dead-social-club church they will not have a thing to stand on when their storm comes to strike them!

Acts 10:4 (NIV)

⁴ Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.

Giving also has an effect upon the salvation of mankind and giving can also have an effect upon how a believer will survive their coming storm. Cornelius was a Gentile soldier but he was a giver and an angel of the Lord said that his gifts came up as a memorial offering before God. As a result of this man’s giving God sent an angel and told him how to find Peter who would preach the gospel to him. Cornelius and his entire household were saved because this man gave to God!

If a person attends a dead-social-club-church and all of their donations go to this church, then they are in fact sowing nothing into God’s kingdom at all!

Matthew 6:1-2 (NIV)

¹ “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

² “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

Jesus said that when someone does their acts of righteousness before men to be seen of mankind then they have no reward from God. If they give only to receive the praise of man in the church or to be honored by men (with a plaque on the wall) then they have received their reward in full. Such people will have no reward from God because their only reward is the honor and praise which they receive from mankind.

Acts 5:1-5 (NIV)

¹ Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

The reason that Ananias dropped dead in the church was that this man was trying to gain the praise of mankind for his giving. He wanted to appear to be more sacrificial than he really was. Ananias pretended to have given all of the proceeds of his land sale but in fact he kept back part of the sum for himself! He wanted the praise of mankind in the church and he lied by leading them to believe he was more sacrificial than he really was. His deception was exposed by an apostle who operated by Word of Knowledge for things present. (See my teaching lesson called “Fivefold Ministry Gifts” for more details).

God gave the death penalty for this liar because this event of deception did not occur in a dead-social-club-church but this event transpired in a real church which was led by apostles who operated by the Revelation Gifts! (See my teaching lesson called “Spiritual Gifts” for more details)

This man dropped dead and even his wife also died later when she agreed to lie together with her husband about their donation to the church! God judged both of these people for trying to gain the praise of men by their giving!

The bible makes it clear that those who give with impure motives (just to have praise of mankind) will not receive any reward from God! Cornelius is a great contrast to this because he gave without any evil motives of trying to be honored by mankind. God therefore received the donations of Cornelius and they came up before God as a memorial in heaven and this resulted in the salvation of Cornelius and his entire household!

The sincere giving of donations to God actually carries a lot of weight and influence in the heavenly realm. Giving can be one more contributing factor toward a person receiving their healing if that giving is done with pure motives.

Matthew 6:3-4 (NASB)

³ “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

⁴ so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Jesus spoke of giving with sincerity rather than giving to receive praise or honor of mankind. Those who give with sincerity (like Cornelius) will receive rewards from God in heaven. One reward was the benefit of salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit that Cornelius and his household received. No doubt they also received healing and prosperity if they continued under the teaching of the full-gospel message given by the apostle Peter who lead them to the Lord!

A believer who attends and supports a full-gospel church is in fact building a foundation for their own survival in their future. Their giving has effect with God because they are giving to a real man of God (called into the Fivefold ministry) rather than a hireling! This giving to a real church will carry weight in the spirit realm and will provide a memorial before God by supporting those whom God has called into the ministry! This can help them in time of crisis when God remembers their pure-motive giving before His throne! If they give to hirelings who are not called to the Fivefold ministry, they are in fact supporting those who are not endorsed by God. Giving to such people will not produce any rewards in heaven for the giver. In fact, giving to a fake church is a waste of money that will produce no eternal rewards for them at all! This can also have effect on the answering of their prayers for things like healing. If they sow into cursed soil, they will harvest a curse! Sowing into a fake church and supporting a hireling is in fact cursed soil and it will produce nothing but cursing for them.

This second paralyzed woman was bankrupt spiritually because she never gave to God’s work and never supported a real man of God but all of her donations were all wasted trying to buy the praise of man! She had nothing before God’s throne to help her when her storm of paralysis came upon her!

The second paralyzed woman was filling herself with the sands of entertainment, sermons illustrations, current events, and success-motivation-speaking but none of this helped her when her time of crisis came upon her. When her storm came-it revealed that she was totally bankrupt spiritually and she was standing on the shifting sands of a worthless theology! None of what was taught in her fake church was able to help her in the least during her time of crisis!

Attending a good church is no joke or laughing matter! The church that the believer attends reflects if they are serious about the things of God or not! If they are just playing games they will typically attend a fake church only to socialize. But if they do this then they will have nothing to stand on when the storms of life strike them!

Only those who build their house upon the solid rock of God’s word will be immovable when the storms of life come. They will have been prepared in advance knowing that such a crisis would come sooner or later.

A believer’s giving also can affect the outcome of their storm. Giving should be done only in sincerity and it should be given to a real man of God who is called into the Fivefold ministry. Supporting a hireling and his social club will not help them or provide any rewards from God in heaven!

Standing on God’s word is the greatest factor that affects the outcome of a storm! Whether they will collapse (and be destroyed) or survive to be made stronger depends on the foundation of the word of God in them or the lack thereof! Attending a church that teaches the full-gospel message will enable them to weather the storm. In fact, believers would be better off not to attend any church at all than to attend a fake church that will remove faith out of them. Hearing satanic teaching (like healing has passed away) can result in their spiritual house collapsing when the storms of life strike them!

Some people are just not teachable and most often this unteachable attitude is evident in those who are proud of their denominational doctrines!

1 Corinthians 14:38 (NKJV)

³⁸ But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

This scripture speaks of those who are willfully-ignorant! If someone is willfully-ignorant then nothing can be done to help them. If a person lacks knowledge (but they are teachable) then knowledge can be imparted to them and they can learn and improve their situation. But this is not the case with those who are willfully-ignorant. To be willfully-ignorant means that they have used their human freewill to decide that they know better than anyone else and as a result they are not teachable. These are the people who are beyond help because they will not receive any teaching or correction from anyone! Paul says that if anyone is “willfully” ignorant then let them be ignorant! This means that no one can teach them and it is in fact a waste of time to try to teach them because they have no ears to hear. They should be left alone for this reason!

Matthew 11:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

When Jesus taught parables to the people, He often concluded with the statement, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” This means that Jesus just released some revelation in the form of a parable and if anyone had spiritual ears to hear they would be able to receive the revelation that He just imparted through a parable.

Matthew 13:10-15 (NIV)

¹⁰ The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

¹¹ He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

¹² Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

¹⁴ In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

¹⁵ For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

A parable is something that teaches biblical truth in the form of a code. This spiritual wisdom is hidden for those who have ears to hear it. Those who are dull spiritually will not see the revelation that is contained in a parable. Those who are dull of hearing will never have understanding and they will never perceive because their hearts are calloused and their eyes are closed to spiritual truths. The wisdom of God is hidden within the parables for those whose are spiritually enlightened but the rest who are dull spiritually will not see these things.

Luke 8:10-15 (NASB)

¹⁰ And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.

¹¹ “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.

¹² “Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

¹³ “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.

¹⁴ “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

¹⁵ “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

The parable of the sower speaks of God’s word that is like a seed. The seed that fell on hard ground is like seed fallen upon a beaten path and the birds come and snatched it away. Satan works to steal the word of God from people. Those people whose heart is hardened will not receive revelation of God’s word and the devil will take God’s word out of their hearts.

There are some people who receive the word with joy but they have no firm root so in time of temptation they fall away. Satan will often persecute someone who is standing on God’s word and he may increase the symptoms until that person gives up and determines that God’s word does not work. Satan has many tricks to get people to back off of the word of God and cause them to give up before they see their harvest.

There are some who receive the word on thorny ground and the thorns represent the worries of life, the desire for riches and pursuit of pleasures that can choke the word of God and make it unfruitful. Those who are full of entertainment and worldly things will not be able to produce any fruit of God’s word in their lives!

Those who have a good heart condition or good heart soil are those who hear God’s word and they have an honest and good heart. They are not playing games or trying to get God to comply with their own standards. They adopt themselves to God’s way and adopt themselves to what God has said. These people hold fast to God’s word and nothing can move them off of the word no matter how many circumstances may come to test them. They bear fruit with perseverance because they are determined to stand on the word of God and not be moved by what they see.

Another quality that distinguishes the good soil type people is that they have a reverence for God’s word. They do not play games or make jokes about God’s word. Sometimes hireling preachers will make bible jokes and think it is funny! But the truth of the matter is that when they are in a struggle for their life, and when they need God’s word to save them, all that will come out of them is bible-jokes! Believers alive on earth are in fact engaged in a struggle of life and death and it is no joking matter and those who make light of God’s word will have nothing to stand on when their storm of life comes against them!

Proverbs 1:24-29 (NASB)

²⁴ “Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

²⁵ And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof;

²⁶ I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes,

²⁷ When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸ “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,

²⁹ Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD.

This is a picture of those who were not serious about spiritual things! They were busy entertaining themselves in a fake church and they did not listen to a full-gospel message and they did not build themselves on the word of God and they neglected all of God’s counsel and would not have any of His reproof! So, in their day of trouble God will mock them when their dread comes upon them! They paid no attention to the counsel of God’s word. God will laugh at them in their day of calamity when their greatest fears come upon them like a storm! They will then cry out to God but He will not hear them because they hated His knowledge and would not choose the fear of the Lord!

Those who do not get busy in God’s word and do not prepare for the coming storms will not be ready when their time of calamity comes! Spiritual things are no joke and there is no time to be wasting on attending a dead social club church that provides them with no spiritual resources in the least!

2 Timothy 2:24 (NKJV)

²⁴ And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,

The servant of the Lord is not to quarrel and this has an application for the full-gospel preacher in that he is not to debate with those who oppose the truth. If someone opposes the truth then there is no hope of teaching them. The man of God is to let those who are ignorant be ignorant still. They are not to quarrel or debate with them but just leave them alone because they are a waste of time to try to help!

2 Timothy 3:8 (NKJV)

⁸ Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;

The magicians of Egypt resisted Moses because they were making a livelihood off of the Egyptian court that paid them to interpret omens and tell fortunes and other such nonsense. But Moses revealed that God was greater than their magic tricks and so these men opposed Moses. It seems that those who are involved with false religion are always opposing those who walk with God. Real men of God who preach the full-gospel message will typically be persecuted a great deal by those hirelings who do not teach the full-gospel. This is because these hirelings feel threatened that they will lose their religious livelihood if another preacher is speaking the truth.

They fear their followers will discover that they are useless to help them and then they risk not having any more people following them and giving to them. Jesus was highly persecuted by the religious-establishment of His day because these religious leaders felt threatened that the people would follow Jesus and then these religious leaders would lose their control over the people! Those who resist the truth typically do so because they are making their livelihood off of religion and fear that the truth would spell an end to their occupation-after the people stop following them.

Isaiah 42:1-3 (NASB)

¹ “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.

² “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street.

³ “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

These scriptures speak of Jesus and this scripture says that He will not cry out or raise His voice in the streets! This means that Jesus did not clamor for attention or yell and shout trying to get people to listen to Him. Jesus most often left the city and went out into remote desert places and those who wanted to follow Him would have to find Him. Jesus did not demand attention or shout and yell to be heard! If people had ears to hear, then they could see the revelation that Jesus taught. But Jesus did not try to force anyone to listen to Him. If they resisted Him, Jesus would not debate or argue but would just move on and look for others who had ears to hear. This is the correct response for those men of God who teach the truth. If people have ears to hear then teach them but if not, then just leave them alone and let the ignorant be ignorant still! Jesus never tried to force Himself upon anyone! He just taught the truth and the people sorted themselves out according to how they either accepted or rejected that truth.

A man of God should not quarrel or debate or try to prove what he is saying is true. If someone opposes them, then let them be ignorant and go and find those who are of a good and noble heart who are eager to hear God’s word and apply it to their lives. These are the type of people who are a great treasure because only those who are teachable can be changed by the word of God.

In summary of the problems of healing faced by the second paralyzed women:

1. She was not his sheep! This woman did not attend the church of the full-gospel pastor. She did not support God’s work through him financially. She did not receive any teaching from the full-gospel pastor and frankly she did not have a leg to stand on concerning her healing.

Judges 10:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ “Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.”

God could say the same thing to this second paralyzed woman and tell her to go cry out to the doctor-of-divinity-degree that she had chosen as her pastor! Let the doctor-of-divinity-degree save her from her time of distress and incurable disease! She chose a bankrupt church and a bankrupt fake pastor to lead her and then she only ran to the full-gospel pastor when she needed help!

2. This second paralyzed woman was not teachable and she did not have ears to hear! She wanted to live her own life and attend the church of her own choice rather than going to a church that could have done her some good spiritually!

Proverbs 1:25-26 (NASB)

²⁵ And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof;

²⁶ I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes,

God will also mock those who did not make the word of God first priority in their lives and the choice of a church that someone attends is an indication if they are serious about God’s word or not! If they attend a fake social-club-church it is an indication that they do not care about spiritual things because nothing spiritual is taught in a dead church!

3. This second paralyzed woman was involved in mental assent. Mental assent agrees that God’s word is true but it does nothing to appropriate those promises for themselves personally. She could rattle off healing scriptures like a parrot but this was not in her heart but only in her mind. She was in fact not sincere about God’s word at all and her heart condition was not good soil. She was distracted by many things and the word of God was choked out of her life. She was occupied with being worldly and attending social functions and entertainment and all of these things made God’s word void and of none affect in her life!

4. She was not taking God’s word seriously and even in the manner in which she requested prayer was as if she was pulling up to a fast-food-take-out-counter and demanding what she wanted. God will not be pushed around by anyone and this woman had a number of heart-factors that were not pleasing in the sight of God! Pride will stop someone from being healed and if they do not humble themselves and repent, they will not see any healing!

5. This woman lived like a stray sheep that has no master and then when the wolf-Satan came to devour her, that is when she came to ask for help from a full-gospel pastor! If she was sincere about God’s word then why didn’t she come to the full-gospel church before she had trouble? If she attended a good church that teaches the full-gospel message then she might have had a foundation of God’s word that would enable to stand the storms that came upon her later. The fact of the matter is that a person cannot go out and try to lay a foundation in their lives when they are in a middle of storm and the floods and winds are beating their house! They should have been serious about applying God’s word when the weather was fair (before the storm came) so that they could have been ready for the time of crisis.

6. Another factor that stops a believer from receiving their healing is that if they are mature believers (who have been saved for decades) they cannot receive their healing by the laying on of hands anymore. The laying on of hands for healing is like breast feeding for babies! After a believer is mature in the Lord they are required to stand on their own faith. It is for this reason they need to attend a full-gospel church and learn how to appropriate all of the benefits of the redemption by using their own faith. They cannot be healed by the faith of others after they have been a believer for decades. A time comes when God expects them to put away the baby bottle and the diapers and stand on their own two-feet! Typically, those who are healed by the laying on of hands are those who are baby Christians or unbelievers (whom God is showing Himself real to). After they have been believers for a long time, this type of healing (by laying on of hands) is not going to work for them anymore!

7. This second paralyzed woman in fact did not take the word of God seriously and she was distracted by many things and so there are multiple reasons why she did not get healed when she was prayed for.

There are many factors that affect healing and it is the purpose of this teaching lesson to discuss some of the factors that are related to this subject. If people will have an understanding of how spiritual things work, they will have a much greater chance of being healed. Many mature believers attend the crusades of healing-evangelists but they go back home again with the same aliments that they came to the crusade with. They do not get healed by the laying on of hands because God expects more out of them. This is an example of learning about spiritual things and learning about what God expects out of the mature believer. If mature believers understand these factors, they can easily receive the healing for themselves by their own faith in God’s word!

The number one Factor that affects healing is unconfessed sin!

Sin is related to sickness and when Jesus dealt with sin in the atonement then He automatically dealt with sickness that was caused by sin.

1 Peter 2:24 (NASB)

²⁴ and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

This one verse of scripture shows the dual effects of bearing human sin and healing human sickness at the same time! Jesus body was abused or broken and nailed on the cross. The sacrifice of the body of Jesus paid for both sins and sickness of mankind. Jesus bore the curse of the law which also includes the curse of sickness and poverty.

Galatians 3:13 (NASB)

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”—

Jesus bore all aspects of the curse including sin and sickness and poverty when He hung on the cross as an offering to pay God’s punishment on behalf of all mankind.

2 Corinthians 8:9 (NASB)

⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

Jesus bore the curse of the Law on the cross and by doing do Jesus paid the price for sin, and sickness and poverty at the same time by one sacrifice of Himself on the cross!

It is evident that Jesus paid the price for sin, and sin always brings a curse of both sickness and poverty. People who engage in unrepentant sin will typically be suffering from the curse of sickness and poverty because sin opens the door to the adversary Satan to devour them.

Job 1:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.

It is also evident that God can put a hedge of protection around the believer so that Satan cannot have access to them. In some African nations the native people will build an enclosure called a Boma that is made of thorns. They make this hedge of thorns high and thick so that a lion cannot get through it to destroy their livestock. But sometimes people will sleep outside of this hedge of protection and quite often such people will be snatched and eaten by a lion! It would be foolish to blame God for this because the one who slept outside the hedge was in fact endangering his own life by this foolishness! But religious people will often blame God when they are devoured by sickness when in fact there are often things that they have done which placed themselves outside of God’s protection

1 Peter 5:8 (NASB)

⁸ Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

This scripture speaks of Satan as the adversary of the believer and this means that Satan is their enemy! Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour! This means that Satan cannot just devour every believer but only those believers who give him an opportunity or an open door. If a believer is outside of the hedge of protection then the adversary Satan can have opportunity to snatch him up and devour him!

Isaiah 59:1-2 (NASB)

¹ Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.

² But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

Unconfessed sin is a doorway to the devil because sin will separate a believer from God. A believer who lives in unrepentant sin is like a foolish man who is sleeping outside the hedge of protection and such a person is in danger of being devoured! God does not hear the prayers of someone who is harboring unconfessed sins and sin cuts them off from God and gives the devil license to devour them with sicknesses!

1 John 1:9 (NASB)

⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If the believer will confess his sins then God is faithful and just to forgive him of his sin and cleanse the believer from all unrighteousness! But if the believer does not confess his sins then that sin remains as a factor of separation between them and God! When a believer is sick, the first place that they should search is in their heart to see if they have any unconfessed sin!

1 Chronicles 28:9 (NASB)

⁹ “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

The Lord searches all hearts of mankind and God judges every intent and motive of the heart. It is important that the believer examine his own heart and his own motives because if he does not judge himself and repent then he will face God’s judgment for his sin!

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SIN

All sin can open the door to the devil but there are many different types of sin. There are sins of the flesh, sins of omission, presumptuous sins, sins of passivity, sins of idolatry in the heart which is self-serving, sin of unbelief, sin of pride, and sins related to breaking God’s commands. All disobedience to God is sin and this disobedience can come in many forms.

STANDING ON GOD’S WORD

Another important aspect of receiving physical healing is standing on God’s word. Jesus actually used God’s word to fight the devil.

Matthew 4:3-4 (NASB)

³ And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'”

Jesus counteracted every deception of the devil with the word of God. Jesus did not let the devil’s lies go unchallenged but He instead corrected every lie with the truth.

The believer is to boldly exercise their authority in Christ and rebuke the devil and not let any challenge go unanswered. Every lie made by the devil should be counteracted with truth!

In the same way the believer should also deal with the satanic lies that the devil inserts into their minds. If the devil speaks to their mind and says something like, “You are going to die young!” Then the believer is not to let that challenge go unanswered and they are to rebuke it in Jesus Name and speak God’s word.

Psalm 91:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

The believer can quote the Word of God at the devil to counteract the devil’s lies and say, “With long life God will satisfy me and He will show me salvation!” Quoting the scripture against the devil’s lies is a means to dispel the darkness of evil thoughts in the mind.

Part 4- Factors that Affect Healing

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NASB)

⁵ We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

The battleground of the devil is the human mind because whoever controls the human mind can control the entire person. A believer has to be aware of this because Satan does have access to their minds to insert his wicked thoughts into their minds. This is the source of evil thoughts that arise in the minds of believers and they have to use their authority in Christ to cast down these thoughts. Every evil satanic thought that enters their mind is not to go unchallenged but the believer is to speak God’s word to counteract the devil’s lies. God’s word is like light that can dispel all darkness from the human mind. Any demonic speculation or any lofty thing in the human mind that rises up against the knowledge of God should be cast down. Every thought should be taken captive to the obedience of Christ. This means that the believer is to do warfare against demonic thoughts and refuse to listen to the thoughts of the devil. The believer fights demonic thoughts by speaking God’s word to them just as Jesus did when He rebuked the devil’s lies by quoting the scriptures!

The mind of the believer is to be like a guarded fortress where the guard at the gate refuses to allow anyone unauthorized to enter. The believer is to guard their mind in the same way and refuse to allow any demonic thought or lie to enter their mind. This is a great contrast to the way that Eve was open-minded to the devil in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:1-5 (NASB)

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

³ but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'”

⁴ The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

⁵ “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Satan is represented by the serpent because he is sneaky and deceptive like a snake in the grass! He started to insert thoughts into the mind of Eve and Eve was open-minded to the thoughts and opinions of the devil and she did not cast down his lies that were inserted into her thoughts! The devil spoke a lie and told her that she would not die if she ate the forbidden fruit. Then the devil appealed to the feminine sense of equality of Eve as a woman and told her that it was not fair that God is on a higher level than she and if she will eat the forbidden fruit she will become equal with God (or be like God)! This however was all deception and lies and as a result of Eve meditating on the thoughts inserted into her mind by the devil, she was deceived and ate the forbidden fruit!

1 Timothy 2:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

It was the woman Eve who was deceived because of her open-mindedness and her feminine sense of equality. The devil was able to insert his lies into her mind because she was open-minded to his thoughts and suggestions and opinions. A person who has an open-mind is like a vineyard that has its walls broken down and any wild boar of the forest can enter that vineyard and uproot whatever is planted there and destroy it and bring defilement! In the same way those who are open-minded are those who do not cast down the thoughts of the devil but mediate on satanic deception. Eve brought a curse to the entire earth because she was open-minded and did not cast down the thoughts of the devil from her mind.

The way to fight the devil’s lies is to use the Word of God as a weapon.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (NIV)

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

The weapons of the believer are not natural weapons because the enemy Satan is a spirit being and natural weapons have no effect upon him. The believer does not fight with natural weapons of the world but they use divine weapons to demolish demonic strongholds. A demonic stronghold is like a bird nest that is made of sticks and grass and leaves and twigs and mud and all kinds of debris. But a demonic stronghold is not made of natural material like grass and mud but it is created out of deception. All of the lies of the devil that can accumulate into the mind of a human can become a large stronghold of deception in their minds. This stronghold is not easy to remove because it is assembled out of layers of lies like a big bird nest of deception. This deception can even alter the behavior of a person and cause them to do things that are not rational. Humans can develop satanic strongholds in their minds whenever they are open-minded and do not cast down the thoughts of the devil.

Ephesians 6:13-17 (NIV)

¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

These scriptures speak of the full armor of God but this armor is spiritual rather than natural. Faith is compared to a shield and the sword of the Spirit is called the Word of God. Jesus used this sword of the Spirit when He fought the devil by saying, “It is written!”

Luke 4:1-13 (NASB)

¹ Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness

² for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.

³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.'”

⁵ And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

⁶ And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

⁷ “Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”

⁸ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'”

⁹ And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here;

¹⁰ for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,’

¹¹ and, ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'”

¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'”

¹³ When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

When the devil would speak lies to Jesus during the temptation then Jesus would counteract the devil’s lies with truth. Jesus would speak God’s Word and say, “It is written!” The word of God was used by Jesus like a soldier would use a sword in combat. Jesus would speak the truth to counteract the devil’s lies or whenever the devil tried to twist God’s word in deceptive manner! This is an example of how the believer is to deal with the devil’s lies. The believer is not to be open-minded to the thoughts and opinions of the devil but rather stand guard at the doorway of their mind using their human freewill to cast down any thought that is contrary to the Word of God! God’s Word is truth and anything that opposes that truth must be cast down in Jesus Name! If satanic thoughts are not cast out of the human mind then they will accumulate and become a stronghold like a great bird nest of deception that is not easy to get rid of.

Thoughts of the devil can also be compared to a bird in that they may fly through but the owner of the human mind does not have to allow the birds to land and build a nest! This means that all believers will have satanic thoughts come to their minds on a daily basis but they do not have to permit these thoughts to remain but they can cast down all deception by rebuking the lies and saying, “It is written!” and then quote the scripture that counteracts the devil’s lies!

This is part of the process that the believer must engage in when they are doing battle against satanic deception.

Joshua 1:8 (NASB)

⁸ “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Joshua was commanded by God to meditate on the Word of God day and night because God’s Word is like light that dispels darkness. The darkness of demonic deception cannot remain in the human mind at the same time that God’s Word is in the human mind. Meditation of God’s Word will cause all darkness of satanic deception to be dispelled from the human mind.

David meditated on the greatness of God and he knew that no giant could stand before a man who had faith in God!

1 Samuel 17:10-11 (NASB)

¹⁰ Again the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together.”

¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Saul and the Israeli army were meditating on the size of the giant and they were dismayed and greatly afraid because of him!

1 Samuel 17:44-47 (NASB)

⁴⁴ The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.”

⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.

⁴⁶ “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”

David did not let the words of the devil go unchallenged and when the Philistine tried to intimidate David then David spoke his confession of faith! David said he would strike down the Philistine and remove his head and leave his carcass to the scavengers! David declared that God does not deliver by sword or spear or natural weapons but the battle was the Lords! David meditated on how great God was and because of this David had no fear to face the giant!

Those who mediate on the devil’s thoughts of failure will be paralyzed by fear just like Saul and the Israeli army who meditated on the size of the giant and forgot about how great and powerful God is!

The believer is to cast down all of the imaginations of fear that the devil inserts into their mind and they are to meditate on how great and powerful God is and they are to say, “It is written!” and quote God’s Word!

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

¹³ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

When the devil brings fear to the mind of the believer, they should use their spiritual weapons and draw their sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God)! They can counteract the lies of the devil by saying, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” This will dispel the darkness of demonic lies that puts fear of failure into them. If the devil can intimidate the believer they will just give up without a fight and the devil will win by default! The way that the devil has victory is primarily to intimidate the believer with lies and vain imaginations in their minds and get them to fear to try and this will cause them to give up without a fight! God commands the believer to use their spiritual weapons to resist the devil and this includes the Word of God that can dispel all demonic darkness from their minds in the form of thoughts.

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH

Ephesians 6:13 (AMP)

¹³ Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].

This scripture speaks of a believer standing their ground when they are engaged in a battle of faith. After they have done everything that is available for them to do then they are to stand their ground and not be moved by circumstances.

This battle of faith includes putting on the full armor of God because there is a battle being waged and if they do not use their armor and weapons they will be defeated by the enemy Satan and his demonic forces.

Ephesians 6:11-12 (NASB)

¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

There is spiritual armor that God supplies to the believer that enables the believer to overcome the devil in their lives.

Ephesians 6:14-17 (NASB)

¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,

¹⁵ and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;

¹⁶ in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹⁷ And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

This speaks of having the loins of the believer girded with truth. The loins represent the center or core of a man where their vital organs exist. If the enemy makes a lethal blow in the vitals it will kill them because they cannot live with wounded vital organs. In a spiritual sense this applies to a believer living in utmost truth. If there is any area of deception in their lives they will not be able to stand against the devil because they are not standing in truth. Believers who have idols in their hearts are those who promise to give up anything for God except one thing. That one thing that they refuse to give up is an idol. Some believers may harbor idols for decades as God patiently deals with them to surrender these areas of their hearts. For some women it might be something as simple as obeying God’s command to submit to their husbands and to allow their husbands to be head of the home. But if they insist on having control and being the head over their husbands this is sin in God’s sight.

Some believers may be passive in leadership like men who allow their wives to rule because they do not want to accept responsibility in the home.

Some believers can make an idol out of outlandish things like having a lust for human sympathy and pity. Such things become the focus of everything that they do and it involves all relationships as they try to gain sympathy and pity from all those around them. That causes all kinds of chaos and confusion in their lives and turmoil in all relationships with people around them.

Those who harbor idols like this are not living in reality but they are justifying things in their own minds. This is self-deception and there is no truth involved with self-deception. Such people are not sincere about repentance and they will typically play all kinds of games and tricks to retain their idols. They will even promise God they will be ten times more zealous in all other good deeds if they can just retain this one idol in their hearts. Some believers will become ten times more zealous in witnessing to unbelievers or giving money to the church or doing good deeds for the poor or any number of activities that people will busy themselves with at church.

Some women do not want to stay home and care for the family so they invent all kinds of outlandish ministries in order to escape the boredom of housework. They are not sincere because they are looking for an escape from being faithful so they invent their own ministry while their family duties are neglected. They may even be praised at church as the most dedicated Christians at church while there is great disorder and unmet family needs in their own homes.

This type of thing is not being sincere with God to disobey God’s basic commands to submit to the husband and to manage the home. This is not living in truth but self-deception. This is a case of a person not having their loins gird about with truth. In the deep inner workings of that person where their human “will” resides they have not made Jesus their Lord over all of these areas. They did not surrender these things to God and did not want to give up their own independence for fear of losing their freedom. That is not the way to walk in truth because they are in fact walking in the darkness of self-deception. When a great trial of faith comes against such a person, they have no legs to stand on as far as faith is concerned. That is because they have not been honest before God. They are still playing games and tricks and trying to bargain with God to pay God off for their unrepentant sin! They in fact do not have their loins gird about with truth and they do not desire truth in their innermost being.

Psalm 51:3-6 (NASB)

³ For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.

⁴ Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.

⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.

Psalm 51 is an entire Psalm written by David as he repented for his sin he committed with Bathsheba (after he was exposed and rebuked by the prophet Nathan.) David acknowledged his sins and stopped trying to hide his sin. He admitted and confessed his sins before the Lord. David said that God desires truth in the innermost being of a man. This speaks of the place where a man’s human “will” resides in the place where his motives exist. This is where a believer must be truthful with themselves and truthful before God and stop playing games and tricks designed at keeping and retaining unrepentant sin within them.

Ephesians 6:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,

When this scripture speaks of having your loins girded with truth it represents having truth in the innermost being of the believer. There cannot be any self-deception residing in the place where the human motives reside otherwise it will pollute everything that they do. They have to be honest with God and repent of their sin and stop playing games. Sometimes a physical affliction will come upon people that will not be healed by anyone laying on hands on them for prayer. The reason that no prayers are going to work to heal them is because their heart condition is not right in the sight of God. They are harboring unrepentant sin within and until they get honest with themselves before God then their affliction will remain.

Psalm 32:2-5 (NASB)

² How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

³ When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long.

⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.

⁵ I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.

This Psalm speaks of David coming to a place of repentance for unconfessed sin. David spoke of having a spirit where there is no deceit. Deceit comes from the word deception and those who refuse to acknowledge secret sins are living in self-deception. They most certainly cannot deceive God by playing tricks or being ten times more zealous in religious activity trying to buy God off from their sin. Often God has to permit them to be afflicted with aliments and this can work the benefit of causing them to examine their hearts and repent. David said in this Psalm that when he kept silent about his sin then his body wasted away with disease. He was groaning in pain all day long as he harbored unrepentant sin. Day and night the Lord’s hand of conviction was upon him and his vitality drained away like the fever of heat of summer that dries everything out. Finally, the torment brought David to a place of heart examination and he overcome his self-deception of pretending he did nothing wrong. David confessed his transgressions to the Lord and God forgave his guilt of his unconfessed sin. It was after this occurred that David received the relief he desired for his body and his healing manifested.

Oftentimes believers who live in self-deception will deny that they are guilty and make all kinds of excuses and justifications for their sin or compare themselves to others who are worse than they. But none of these tricks will help them when their time of judgment comes upon them. The believer must have truth in their innermost being where their secret heart motives reside. If the believer does not have their loins grid with truth, they will not be able to stand against the attack of the devil. They are not sincere and they are harboring unconfessed sin and in fact they have opened the door to the devil for affliction.

1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

⁸ Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The devil is like a roaring lion seeking for someone that he can devour. He cannot devour every believer but only those who step outside of the hedge of God’s protection by sin. Harboring self-deception in the innermost being means that self-deceived believers are not in touch with reality and are living in denial. There are even people like this who were “caught in the act” by humans and still they continue to deny it because they are living in self-deception. All that is in them is polluted by deception and that affects all of their relationships with all humans around them. It affects their actions and everything that they do because they have darkness within them.

Matthew 6:22-23 (NASB)

²² “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

²³ “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

The eye speaks of the motives of the heart because with the eye a person can see what they want and covet for it. If they have covetousness and greed in their hearts it will poison everything that they do. The phrase, “If their eye is bad” speaks of if a person’s heart motivation is bad then it will pollute all of their motives. A person with an idol like lust for human sympathy and pity will have that evil motive govern all of their actions and they will in fact cause turmoil with human relationships with everyone that they come in contact with. If their motives are evil then they are full of darkness. Truth is often compared to light because it drives out darkness so that a person can see where they are walking. But if they are living in darkness they are stumbling around in the dark and cannot see where they are going. This is a picture of a person who is living in self-deception and they have polluted their motives of their own heart and do not have any truth in their innermost being. The light within them is actually darkness and that darkness is great because they are not even aware of it.

Oftentimes God will permit them to have some great affliction that will not respond to any type of treatment. This affliction can be a friend to them if it will cause them to repent and start to search and examine their own hearts. Often people will get really honest with themselves when faced with death and that can bring them to repentance.

I have seen a case where an insecure man was promoted to a place of authority and wealth but he did not do anything to earn this wealth and had no character that caused him to gain this exalted position. He was like a servant who seized a throne and ruled over the people harshly because he had no character or dignity to be in a place of leadership or wealth. This insecure man became greatly puffed up with pride and arrogance and he hurt and wounded many people in the body of Christ. Later he was struck down with a terminal disease that caused the fat to just melt off of his huge obese body! He was brought down to the gates of death and become like a skeleton in form with a wasting disease! This disease was actually an act of love from God because he was slowly wasted away and this gave him time to examine his heart and repent of his pride. He never was healed but died as a humble and broken man and was able to save himself from hell. That is all that is important because all humans will die eventually anyway but if they can save themselves from an eternal hell by repentance then that is all that matters!

It was this disease that caused this arrogant man to examine his heart and acknowledge his pride and to humble himself. The same thing also happened to King Hezekiah.

2 Kings 20:1-3 (NIV)

¹ In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

² Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,

³ “Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Hezekiah at one time served God and God made him to be greatly prospered and exalted as a king. But after he was exalted and prospered then he became proud and arrogant as if he had made himself rich by his own wisdom. He failed to give God the glory for this prosperity and as a result he was open to the adversary Satan and was afflicted with a terminal disease. The Prophet Isaiah told him to put his house in order because he most certainly would die of this affliction! But Hezekiah turned himself toward the wall and got serious in his repentance and he wept bitter tears of repentance sincerely before God!

2 Kings 20:4-7 (NIV)

⁴ Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him:

⁵ “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD.

⁶ I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'”

⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.

Hezekiah was brought back from death and was healed because he was sincere in his repentance. God said that He saw his tears of repentance and heard his prayer so God healed this king and added another 15-years to his life. He was brought down to the gates of death but he repented and was restored.

This illustrates this process of repentance and being sincere in the innermost parts. The King Hezekiah did not try to impress the Prophet Isaiah but instead he turned toward the wall and got serious with God personally! He examined his own heart and humbled himself of his pride and wept tears of repentance. So, this saved his life and this is part of what it means to have truth in the innermost being.

Ephesians 6:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,

This is also related to the believer having their loins gird with truth. This deals with the innermost being where human motives reside. If a believer is not honest with God and refuses to repent then this can open the door to the devil to devour them. If they receive a wasting disease that takes them down to the gates of death and they still refuse to get honest with themselves and repent then they can lose their lives. But if they get serious with God and examine their innermost heart motives and repent of sin then they can be healed as King Hezekiah was restored after he repented.

This whole issue of the lions girded about with truth speaks of innermost honesty and sincerity before God and refusing to hide sin anymore in their hearts. It involves acknowledging their sin as David did before God and this opens the door for their healing.

Part of the spiritual armor of God speaks of girding the lions with truth and this has nothing to do with natural armor. Metal shields or Kevlar bullet proof armor will not stop the devil’s attacks because he is a spirit being. It is spiritual weapons that will defeat Satan and girding the lions with truth speaks of having the heart motives pure and honest before God with no unconfessed sin. This will close the door on the afflictions of the devil like closing a hedge of protection against a roaring lion that seeks to enter and devour.

Ephesians 6:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,

The second piece of spiritual armor is the breastplate of righteousness and this is also related to girding the loins with truth. Truth and righteousness go hand in hand together. If a believer has truth in their innermost being, they will be walking in righteousness. Righteousness means to be in right standing with God. This means to have no unconfessed sin within their heart so they are righteous in God’s sight. Being righteous in fact closes the door on the devil because he has nothing in those who are righteous.

John 14:30 (NASB)

³⁰ “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;

Jesus referred to Satan as the ruler of the world because the devil gained access to the world when Adam sold out to the devil by his treason in the Garden of Eden. But Jesus said that the devil had nothing in Him because Jesus was without sin and therefore the devil could not find anything against Him. There was no way or path of access to Jesus because Jesus had no sin.

Matthew 4:8-11 (NASB)

⁸ Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;

⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'”

¹¹ Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

One of the temptations that the devil offered to Jesus was to offer all of the kingdoms of the world and their glory. All of this was at the devil’s disposal because it was first given to Adam but the man Adam sold out to the devil by obeying him and the devil became god of this world.

2 Corinthians 4:4 (NASB)

⁴ in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Apostle Paul referred to Satan as being the god of this world who blinds the minds of unbelievers to keep them from being saved. Satan is the god of this world until such time as the earth lease he obtained from Adam runs out. Satan seeks to send humanity to hell and he does not stop these endeavors after they are saved. He still tempts believers to sin and if he can get them to live in self-deception and retain unrepentant sin that will eventually land them in hell.

But Jesus had nothing that the devil could grasp because there was no sin in Jesus and He resisted the devil by quoting God’s word saying, “It is written!” Jesus is an example of a man having the full armor of God upon Him! Jesus had truth in his innermost being and there was nothing evil or perverse in His heart motives. Jesus had the breastplate of righteousness because He was walking in a sinless condition and the devil had no access to him because of this.

Ephesians 6:11-17 (NASB)

¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

¹³ Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,

¹⁵ and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;

¹⁶ in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹⁷ And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The bible teaches the believers to put on the full armor of God and that includes girding their loins with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness. They were also to have their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The word “gospel” means good news and the good news is that Jesus redeemed humanity from sin and sickness and poverty and death.

Five of these redemptive blessings can be seen in Psalm 103.

Psalm 103:2-5 (NIV)

² Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–

³ who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Five of the redemptive blessings include forgiveness of all sin, the healing of all disease, redemption from hell, love and compassion from God and the prosperity of having good things on earth to meet human needs and renew their youth at the eagle! Knowing what belongs to the believer is important otherwise they will not be able to appropriate these things by faith. The devil is always trying to get believers to settle for less. If he cannot stop them from being saved then he will try to stop them from being healed. If he cannot keep them from being healed then he will try to keep them in poverty. This is often accomplished by religious false doctrines that teach believers that healing has passed away and prosperity is not for the believer and they have nothing left but basic salvation. When the devil comes to steal and kill and destroy such ignorant Christians do not resist him because they are ignorant of what belongs to them in Christ.

Faith is established upon the promises of God’s word and if a believer does not stand on God’s word, they will not be able to appropriate the promises that belong to them. The devil is free to steal away everything that belongs to such believers because of their ignorance.

Ephesians 6:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;

Having the believer’s feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace speaks of their spiritual armor that are like combat boots that enable them to run right over the top of the devil and his deception and trample him under foot.

Luke 10:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

Jesus defeated Satan and stripped him of all authority and then Jesus gave this authority to those who believe in Him. The believers have been given authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all of the power of the enemy. The serpents and scorpions speak of the devil and his demons and all of their deception. The believer defeats the lies of the devil by speaking truth. Jesus always quoted the scriptures against the devil by saying “It is written!” and then the devil had to leave. The combat boots of the believer are to know their inheritance and what was given to them by the redemption. This is the gospel and they can stand on the promises of God’s word and tread on the devil and all his lies. The devil cannot steal from the believers who know what is theirs in the Lord and who use their authority to rebuke the devil in their lives!

Ephesians 6:16 (NASB)

¹⁶ in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

The next piece of spiritual armor is the shield of faith which is able to extinguish all of the flaming arrows of the evil one. The devil’s chief weapon is deception and he will use this to paint negative imaginations in the minds of believers. He will say things like, “You will get a terminal disease and you are going to die young!” or “You are going to fail and come to financial ruin and starve to death!” The believer has to cast down such satanic thoughts because if they meditate on them, they will produce fear which is the opposite of faith.

Job 3:25 (NKJV)

²⁵ For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me.

Job feared the very things that came upon him and this can be one factor in causing those things to manifest. Fear is believing what the devil says will happen and that fear can make those evil things manifest. The believer is not to have an open-mind to the thoughts and imaginations of the devil but resist him instead. They are to use the word of God and quote opposite of the devil’s lies. If the devil tells the believer that they will die young then they are to quote God’s word that says, “I will live and not die!” If the devil tells the believer that they will come to poverty then they are to quote the word of God that God supplies all of their needs according to His riches in glory. The shield of faith is standing against lies with the truth and this extinguishes the flaming arrows of the devil. If they do not extinguish lying thoughts it will catch them on fire from hell and produce fear and cause those evil things to happen!

Ephesians 6:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

The armor of God includes the helmet of salvation and that speaks of protecting the mind from the lies of the devil. The human mind is the battleground of Satan because if He can defeat a believer in their thinking then he can win the battle.

Numbers 14:3-4 (NASB)

³ “Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

⁴ So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

The children of Israel heard a bad report from the ten evil spies who spied out the Promised Land. They did not see even one giant but they only heard a bad report of them and that was enough to receive satanic imaginations in their minds. They did not cast down these imaginations of the devil but meditated on them and spoke about them. They forgot how powerful God was and only focused on their imaginations of defeat. They imagined themselves being defeated by giants and their wives and children taken as plunder of war. So they in fact gave up without a fight and did not even try to fight but wanted to return to being slaves in Egypt again. These people were only defeated by their imaginations and they gave up and quit without trying because of their evil imaginations.

This is what believers do when they do not cast down the imaginations of the devil but meditate on them instead. Many believers have lost their healing or their prosperity and all of their blessings to the devil only because they gave up without trying. Those who give up without trying are those who believed in lying imaginations and do not take action.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NASB)

⁴ for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

⁵ We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

The scripture teaches the believer to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. This means they are not to be open-minded to the thoughts and imaginations of the devil but cast them down and rebuke them by quoting the word of God!

This is what the scripture is speaking of when it refers to putting on the helmet of salvation.

Ephesians 6:17 (NASB)

¹⁷ And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The scripture also says that the believer is to be armed with the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. The devil cannot be harmed with natural weapons like a sword made out of steel but the word of God can defeat Satan and all of his lies that will rob the believer of what belongs to them.

Matthew 4:1-11 (NASB)

¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

² And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

³ And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'”

⁵ Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,

⁶ and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'”

⁸ Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;

⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'”

¹¹ Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

In the account of the temptation of Jesus it is obvious that Jesus was using the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God to defeat Satan and his lies. The devil even misquoted scripture in a twisted manner but Jesus did not let any of the devil’s lies go unanswered. Whenever the devil spoke a lie then Jesus would quote the right scripture together with the correct application. Jesus repeatedly said, “It is written!” and then He quoted the right scripture to contradict the lies of the devil. This is an example of how the believer is to use their Sword of the Spirit to combat the lies of the devil. The believer is to memorize scriptures that pertain to their specific need and use those scriptures like a sword against the devil who would try to steal from them.

James 4:7 (NASB)

⁷ Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

The believer is to submit themselves to God and then resist the devil and he will flee from them. The devil flees when they use the word of God like a sword to fight his lies and deception. The only weapons the devil has are lies and deception and these are easily defeated by the Word of God-which is truth!

The armor of God and weapons of God speak of the spiritual resources given to the believer in Christ to overcome all of the lies and deceptions of the devil so that they will be able to enjoy all that belongs to them in Christ. The devil is like a bully who steals what belongs to others but if the believer will stand up to him the believer can keep all those things that belong to him. These benefits of the gospel include not only salvation but also healing and prosperity and those believers who use their spiritual armor and weapons can wage a successful war against Satan who is the enemy of their souls.

The believer is engaged in a war and after they have done all that they know how to do then sometimes all that remains is for them to stand their ground and resist and not be moved until they receive their victory.

Hebrews 10:23 (NASB)

²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;

Holding fast to something means that a person grabs onto it and will not let it go. That is the way that the believer must be concerning all that belongs to them in Christ. They are not to let go of it but hold onto all that belongs to them. If they are determined not to let go then the devil will be forced to flee and leave them alone. Holding fast to the confession of our hope speaks of the words that we speak.

The children of Israel just gave up on the border of the Promise Land and said it was hopeless and that they are already defeated so they surrendered without a fight. The devil defeated them only with some evil imaginations and that was enough to cause them to quit. Holding fast means that someone is like a bulldog that will not let go!

Part 5- Factors that Affect Healing

A believer cannot waver from fear to faith because they will not receive anything from the Lord if they are swayed back and forth. They must be steadfast and unmovable until they receive their answer!

James 1:6-8 (NASB)

⁶ But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

⁷ For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

⁸ being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Those who are not in faith are those who are full of doubt and they are like the surf of the sea that is tossed back and forth by the wind. Such people will not receive anything from the Lord because they are double-minded and unstable in all of their ways.

A believer has to be determined never to be moved from their faith and use their spiritual armor and weapons and not be moved by any circumstances. They have to stand their ground and never give up until what they desire has been manifest as theirs!

The word of God has thousands of promises that are available to the believer in Christ. So God is faithful to fulfill what He has promised but the believer must be stable and not be moved from their faith until what they believe for is manifest. If they drop their faith every time a circumstance appears then they will receive nothing from the Lord because they are unstable in all of their ways.

This is what is involved in fighting the good fight of faith and doing all that the believer knows to do and then just stand after they had done everything. They stand their ground and refuse to be moved until what they desire is manifest in the physical realm.

Fighting the good fight of faith involves putting on the full armor of God and using the spiritual weapons that are provided for the believer in Christ. This speaks of the fact that the believer is involved in a battle and there is satanic resistance to them which seeks to hinder them from receiving what belongs to them. This is the exact same thing that happened to the children of Israel who came out of Egypt under Moses. The land was promised to Abraham by oath from God and this land was to be given to Abraham and his descendants forever. But the children of Israel were away from their land for 400 years as they were multiplied in Egypt (in separation) in the land of Goshen. So, during those 400 years of absence from the Promised Land the devil was at work preparing resistance. The land was filled with large numbers of giant races as well as Canaanite heathen tribes that populated the land. If the children of Israel wanted to inherit what belonged to them, they would have to fight for it! The entire story of Joshua leading the Israelites into the Promised Land is a story of overcoming resistance and defeating great armies that intended to block the children of Israel from entering the land already given to them by God!

This is a clear picture of the believer who has been given great promises from God through the gospel. But these promises are not going to be made manifest without a fight. The devil will fight the believer every inch of the way endeavoring to keep them out of their Promised Land of healing, prosperity, and all of the blessings that belong to the believer in Christ.

David killed a giant with a sling and a stone but the believer does not use natural weapons against the devil but spiritual ones. These include faith and the word of God and after they have done all that can be done then they are to stand their ground.

Ephesians 6:13 (NIV)

¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

This scripture speaks of having done everything that a believer knows to do and when this is all accomplished then the believer is to stand their ground and not be moved. The believer will have to fight and resist the devil until the devil gives up and leaves.

I know of a man who was a pastor of a large church. He was diagnosed with a terminal disease but he chose not to tell anyone about it except his wife who knew how to stand in faith together with him. He took a sabbatical time off from church and had his responsibilities turned over to others and then he went home and got serious with God. He did all that he knew how to do and he exercised his faith and he then stood and would not be moved from his position of healing. He resisted this disease and after a long struggle he was delivered and was completely healed. When asked why he did not tell anyone in the church, his response was that he did not need anyone to help him die! This man had plenty of experience with sick church members in the hospital who had friends and relatives come for a visit and they would actually remove all of the faith out of the hearts of those struggling for their lives! A typical response of a carnal Christian is to come to a hospital room and say something like, “Oh, Pastor I just heard the bad news that you have a terminal disease and you are going to die!” “What will your wife and children do without you?” “We just do not know what we will do at church after you die and are gone from us!” This is the type of so-called “edification” that comes out of the mouths of so-called comforters that come from the church with their carnal minds! Such talk can pull the faith right out of the hearts of those who are struggling against disease! This is something that does not help people who are standing in faith and are engaged in a spiritual battle for their lives!

Romans 8:7 (NKJV)

⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

The carnal mind is enmity against God or is in hostility against God and the carnal mind is in fact in league with the devil. Often carnal Christians are the most useful tools that the devil has at his disposal because they have not renewed their minds to the word of God. They believe the devil’s work more than they believe in what God has promised. These are the type of people that this wise pastor was referring to when he said that he does not need anyone to help him die! He did not tell anyone about his condition (except his wife who was a woman of faith) and they remained in faith and fought the good fight of faith and endured until they saw the physical healing manifest. Of course, the devil was constantly trying to move him by circumstances and say, “See you are feeling pain!” “You are going to die because healing is not working!” But this man of God understood how the fight of faith works and he did not let the devil’s challenge go unanswered. He would speak the opposite and when the devil said he was sick then he confessed God’s word that said “By the wounds of Jesus I am healed!” When the devil said he was going to die then he would say, “I will live and not die and tell of the works of the Lord!” It was a real battle and it was a long time of fighting and standing but this man came through to the victory because he would not be moved from his stand upon God’s Promises! He was wise when he made his decision to separate himself from all doubt and unbelief and he did this by keeping the situation secret so that no one could come and try to pull the faith out of his heart by their carnal minds and their negative mouths.

I also know of a young man who was doing daredevil stunts on water skis and he was injured and severed his spine and was paralyzed from the neck down. He however had faith in his heart that he would recover. He was put in a hospital ward where other young men of similar condition were kept who also broke their necks in daredevil stunts. None of them had ever recovered because medical science is not yet able to restore a severed spine. He however remained happy and positive because he believed that God was going to heal him. One of the nurses however rebuked him for his cheerful attitude and told him that he was living in denial and that he would never walk again and he should resign himself to accept this fact and stop living in a fantasy world of false hope! This young man was noble in character however in that he would not allow anyone to damper his faith and he refused to follow the advice of this wicked nurse that tried to remove faith from his heart. Under the circumstances this was really commendable when he was lying in a ward surrounded by paralyzed patients who never recovered. He was also being served by a nurse who rebuked him for being positive and told him he was not accepting his fate of being stuck in a hospital bed for the rest of his life being paralyzed from the neck down! This young man overcame however and he was completely healed and today travels around testifying of God’s goodness for his life. I met him personally and his life is a testimony that God indeed heals today!

The operation of faith is largely a personal thing because it takes place within the heart of man where the human will resides. This place of faith can be a place that is retained within a believer and they can resist the outside influences that would seek to harm that faith. In the case of this paralyzed young man he was not able to separate himself away from doubt and unbelief and he was in fact in the middle of the most dismal circumstances that could be imagined. The nurse in charge of him was militant against his faith as if it angered her to see him positive and cheerful and acting as if he expected to be healed! But even in that terrible negative environment he was able to keep and maintain the faith that was in his heart and he received his healing!

The pastor who was able to keep the affair private was just closing the door to as many variables as possible that could pose resistance to his faith. It was much easier to fight a battle when the only one you are in contact with is a woman of faith who speaks out the word of God to encourage you every day! But the point is that even if a believer is stuck in a dark environment full of doubt and unbelief, they can focus within themselves in that private place of their heart where faith resides.

Even King Hezekiah received a death sentence that he would die and not live. But he turned his face toward the wall and got serious with God in the inner part within himself where his human will and motives reside. He repented with sincerity and he was healed.

Isaiah 38:2 (KJV)

² Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,

Hezekiah got serious with God and focused inwardly in that place where his human will resides and he repented and he received his healing. Turning toward the wall speaks of getting serious within because such an action is not seeking to get outside sympathy or pity from humans but is involved in doing something in private between a man and his God when he gets serious with God.

This brings up another factor that human sympathy and pity are enemies of healing. If a person wants human sympathy and pity, they will most often forfeit their healing.

I know of a woman who was also diagnosed with a terminal disease. Her own son was a medical doctor and when he heard her diagnosis, he began wailing out loud in the hallway at the hospital in grief because there was nothing medically that could be done to save her! But she had to correct her son and tell him that he had to be strong for her and get control of himself. So, she went home after the diagnoses and she determined to believe God for healing and did not return to the hospital for any treatment. Her husband was a man of faith and understood how faith works. They instructed their entire family about the protocol of faith and what was required of them in the home. So, her children did not pamper her and if she asked them to do something for her, they often said, “Mother you can do that for yourself because if you are healed you can do this thing!” This may sound cruel to treat a woman who was weak and struggling with sickness in this manner but it was actually true love. If this woman was to yield to what she felt like she would end up dead! Her husband prayed in faith for her and she believed that from that moment forward she was healed. She had a long struggle with great pain and physical symptoms but she remained at home and meditated on the word of God and quoted scriptures against the devil. No matter how bad she felt she continued to speak according to God’s word. She did all of the things that she knew how to do and then she just stood her ground and refused to be moved from her position. The devil was constantly trying to get her to give up but she refused to do so. She battled the negative thoughts of the enemy and she overcame after many months of painful struggle. Her testimony is a case study of how the believer is to fight the good fight of faith and stand their ground until they receive the victory. She overcame this disease and was healed and has lived a long life for many decades after she won this great battle against the terminal disease which was brought against her by the devil.

There exists a human weakness to want to yield toward receiving human sympathy and pity and even men will often want their wives to know they are suffering because they want some comfort and attention. But in fact, human sympathy and pity are enemies of faith and if they want human attention in fact that is the only reward they are going to receive. It is OK however to ask your spouse to pray for you in faith because where two or more agree together it will be done for them.

Matthew 18:19-20 (NASB)

¹⁹ “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.

²⁰ “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

This is called a prayer of agreement where two people join together in faith and agree for the thing that they believe God for. This is most beneficial with a married couple because the husband and wife can agree together in prayer and receive the petition that they ask of God. This is called a prayer of agreement for this reason because they agree in prayer and come into unity for what they request from God.

A spouse with a symptom can ask their partner to agree together in prayer but at the same time they must avoid seeking sympathy or pity or using the prayer request as a means of advertising their aliment. A wrong heart motive can turn a prayer of agreement in faith into a solicitation for sympathy and pity. This can cancel out the faith and make it void and non-effective. They have to be serious about their faith and understand how faith works and stay in faith without wavering.

I once heard of a man who had special healing gifts operated in his ministry because he was called to be an evangelist and the evangelist will typically have such spiritual gifts in manifestation. He however also had an understanding of how faith works and how sympathy and pity are enemies of faith. He was bold in his actions and he understood spiritual principles and because of this he got results.

One time at his healing crusade a woman on crutches came up to be prayed for on the platform where he had been speaking. He perceived immediately that this woman was longing for human sympathy and pity and this was in fact a blockage to her healing. What he did next should never be done by anyone else in presumptuous manner but this man knew God and he knew what God told him to do. So, he yanked the crutches from this woman and let her fall on her face to the floor! People were aghast with shock because they had never seen any preacher do such a thing! But this evangelist heard God tell him to do this! He picked her up and repeated this again and the women seated on the front row started shouting at him and calling him a mean brute! He rebuked them and told them that he knew his business and they should keep their mouths shut! This evangelist got this woman healed however and she was able to run around without crutches! It was by the Spirit of God that he knew she had to first overcome her desire for human sympathy and pity. He heard God and obeyed God and he got this woman to overcome her lust for human sympathy and this blockage to her healing was then removed.

This was a real man of God who had the healing gifts in operation and he also knew how to hear the voice of God’s Spirit and he obeyed and he got results. He had hundreds of people healed in his meetings so the fact of the matter is that people cannot argue with success. But those who do not have the same gifts and calling should not try to imitate him in the flesh because nothing will happen and they could injure someone worse! Typically, unless the patient is a new believer or an unbeliever then God will not heal them in a crusade. Mature believers who have been saved for decades will have to learn to use their faith for themselves because they will not be able to receive healing by the laying on of hands.

But one aspect of fighting the good fight of faith is to resist the human tendency to seek sympathy and pity. If they seek these things then they will not be healed because sympathy and pity will shut down their faith. They have to be sober and resist the desire to have sympathy and pity. Lusting for sympathy and pity is actually a form of pride as people lust for attention.

Matthew 6:2 (NASB)

² “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

Jesus said that the motives of the heart play a big factor in the actions of mankind. If a man wants to give to the poor but he sounds a trumpet to call attention to himself before he gives his money then he is giving with the wrong motives. He is not giving out of compassion for the poor but only to receive the praise and attention of mankind. Jesus said that if a man has evil motives in his heart and is giving for the wrong reason then he will have no reward from God. His only reward will be the praise that he receives from mankind on earth.

In the time of Christ men were literally sounding trumpets before dropping their offerings into the donation box at the temple to call attention to themselves. But today people still do things like this by attending a fake church where they will be flattered publicly for their donations. Fake churches may post a plague on the wall for their giving or honor donors with a reserved pew at church. Some rich men will make monuments with their names on them to honor themselves. Some may put up buildings (like a performing arts center) with their name on it to honor themselves for their donation. All of these things are sounding the trumpet to call attention to their good deeds! Jesus said that they have received their reward in full because they will receive nothing from God for what they have done on earth!

Matthew 6:5 (NASB)

⁵ “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

Jesus said the same thing about those who stood in public places to pray out loud where everyone could see them! They received their reward in full because the only reward that they will receive is the praise and attention of mankind.

Matthew 6:1 (NASB)

¹ “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus said that men are not to practice their righteousness before mankind to be noticed by them otherwise they will have no reward from their Father who is in heaven!

This same principle can also be applied to those who love to receive sympathy and pity of mankind for their suffering. This is actually pride and if someone asked them if they would like agreement in prayer for healing that person will become furious with rage and declare that they are suffering for the glory of God and that people are blessed by their good attitude in suffering! The words spoken by these people reveal that they like their aliments because of the human sympathy and pity that they receive from all of the people. They never had so much attention before and in fact they do not want to be healed because they enjoy human sympathy and pity! They have their reward in full because the only thing they will receive is this attention from humans but they will not receive their healing!

Wanting to have human sympathy and pity is the same sin as rich men sounding trumpets to call attention to themselves and their donations! This is the same sin as praying out loud on the street corner to call attention to themselves and their false piety! Any time that people want attention of mankind they are forfeiting any blessing from God and they in fact have received their reward in full. The only reward they have is this human attention that they are lusting for! Such people care more about what people think of them than they do about being sincere before God and doing honest transaction in their heart (where their secret motives reside.) These people have not gird their loins with truth and do not desire truth in their innermost being. They are insincere with God because in fact they love the praise and attention of mankind more than they want things like healing!

It is for this reason that human sympathy and pity are enemies of faith and enemies of healing. If a person wants to be healed, they have to be honest with God in the innermost being where their heart motives reside! They cannot be lusting for human attention and be healed at the same time! They will have to make a choice between receiving their healing or receiving sympathy and pity of mankind.

There are people who attend healing crusades repeatedly and always go home in the same condition. There are a number of reasons for them not being healed. One is that they have been saved for decades and God requires them to stand on their own two feet so this is the reason that they will not receive healing by the laying on of hands. Another factor can be if they love human attention and they lust for sympathy and pity! Such people do not come to the crusade to be healed but rather came to receive attention from people! These and other factors will stop them from receiving their healing!

One of the factors that affect healing is the lust for human sympathy and pity and those who are serious about being healed must resist these things or they will become a hindrance that will block them from receiving healing.

Romans 4:20-21 (NASB)

²⁰ yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,

²¹ and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

In the case of Abraham, he did not waver in unbelief but he grew strong in faith giving glory to God. Abraham was fully assured that what God had promised him that God was able to perform. God promised Abraham that he would have a son even through his wife Sarah was barren all of her life. This promise was given to Abraham when he was a hundred years old and his barren wife Sarah was ninety years old and had already passed the time when a woman is physically able to conceive a child in her womb! This promise was against the natural circumstances that they faced because naturally speaking it is impossible for them to conceive a child. But Abraham believed that the Promises of God were greater than the natural circumstances that he faced. He believed that nothing was impossible for God so Abraham did not waver in unbelief but rather grew strong in faith.

To waver in unbelief is to be tossed back and forth like the waves of the sea! At one moment they will focus on God’s promises and believe but then they will waver and look at the natural circumstances and say it is impossible. That is being double-minded and wavering in faith!

James 1:6-8 (NIV)

⁶ But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

⁷ That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;

⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

When a person makes a request to God, they should not doubt but they should follow the example of Abraham who did not waver in unbelief. A person who doubts is like the waves of the sea that are blown and tossed in the wind. A double-minded man will be in and out of faith repeatedly and such a man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.

In order to overcome and receive healing a person has to stay in faith like Abraham and be fully convinced that what God has promised that God is able to perform. This means they will memorize and meditate on scriptures that pertain to their need. If they need healing they must memorize and meditate on healing scriptures. This is their sword of the Spirit by which they will fight against the doubts of the devil. They will speak, “It is written!” every time a lying thought comes to their minds!

The faith battle can be compared to the time that Peter walked on the water.

Matthew 14:28-31 (NASB)

²⁸ Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Jesus spoke the word to Peter and said, “Come!” and Peter was able to stand on this word given personally to him. Peter got out of the boat and he was actually walking on the water going toward Jesus! This is a picture of faith because faith can transcend all-natural circumstances. Normally it is impossible for anyone to walk on water but faith can transcend all-natural circumstances because nothing is impossible with the Lord. But after Peter was walking on the water, he saw the wind and the waves and he began to look at the natural circumstances. He took his eyes off of the Lord and began to look at the natural circumstances around him instead. When he did this, that is when he began to sink and he cried out, “Lord save me!” Jesus caught him and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Peter only began to doubt after he began to focus on circumstances rather than focusing on the Lord. This is key and essential when fighting the good fight of faith!

The pastor who separated himself from doubt and unbelief (by not telling the congregation of his struggle with terminal disease)-did so because he did not need distractions as he fought to keep his eyes on Jesus. The woman who struggled with terminal disease at home instructed her children not to pamper her or speak negative words in the home during her struggle. She did not need others distracting her from looking to Jesus for her healing. In fact, there were many times she woke up in the middle of the night with the devil’s thoughts assailing her mind. The devil said she would die but she quoted the scripture that with a long-life God would satisfy her and show her His salvation. She retained the faith within her heart even when there was a battle against doubt raging in her mind with the devil! She did cast away her confidence and she received her healing after she refused to give up.

Hebrews 10:35 (NASB)

³⁵ Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

God’s word says that the believer should not throw away their confidence because it has great reward. If they will not give up and cast away their faith they will in fact win. This is much like Peter walking on the water and the battle is to keep your focus on Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith!

Hebrews 12:2 (NASB)

² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Peter was walking on the water as long as he was looking at Jesus. It was only when he got his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the natural circumstances that he began to sink in doubt and unbelief. In the same way the believer has to fix their eyes upon Jesus who is both the author and the perfecter of their faith! Jesus gave them their faith and He will not let that faith fail as long as they do not cast it aside and give up!

Luke 22:32 (NASB)

³² but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail! The Lord expects the believer to overcome and learn to stand on their faith and not be moved by circumstances. If they do not cast away their confidence and give up, they will overcome and win the battle. The battle is with the devil who tries to get them to give up and cast away their confidence in God. The only weapons that the devil has are deception and lies and he uses these tools to get believers to give up without a fight. This is what happened at the border of the Promised Land when the devil painted lying imaginations in the minds of the people. They imagined themselves being defeated by the giants and they gave up without a fight. The devil won only because they cast away their confidence. The only thing that can defeat a believer is themselves-if they listen to and meditate on the devil’s lying imaginations and then give up and cast off their confidence. When they give up then they have lost and forfeited their victory the devil! The devil cannot defeat the believer because they have been given all authority by Jesus. But the devil can cause the believer to give up and quit and defeat themselves when they will listen to his lies!

Luke 10:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

Jesus gives the believer all authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all of the power of the enemy! This speaks of the spiritual authority given to the believer over all satanic power. No demonic being can defeat the believer so the only way left to defeat them is to get them to quit and defeat themselves and give the victory to the devil by default! This is why the battle takes place in the mind as the devil tries to convince the believer that it is not working and they may as well just curse God and die and give up!

Hebrews 10:23 (NASB)

²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;

Holding fast to the confession of our hope without wavering means that a believer will continue to speak God’s word knowing that God is faithful to fulfill what He has promised. There are over seven thousand promises in the bible for the believer to stand upon. The believer can hold fast to these promises and speak them out in face of disaster. God is faithful who gave these promises and that means God is faithful to perform what He has said.

Jeremiah 1:12 (NASB)

¹² Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.”

God is watching over His word to perform what He has said and this includes all of the promises found in the bible concerning healing!

2 Peter 1:4 (NKJV)

⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The exceedingly great and precious promises are all of those things God has promised the believer in the Bible. The believer can stand on these precious promises because these promises are more sure than the earth that we stand upon. The natural things will pass away but God’s word will never pass away.

Mark 13:31 (NASB)

³¹ “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

Jesus said that His words will never pass away and if He healed the sick in the past the He will also heal the sick in the present because Jesus is never changing.

Hebrews 13:8 (NASB)

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. If He healed the sick in the past then the believers can have faith that He will heal them in the present as well because Jesus is unchanging!

Matthew 8:16-17 (NASB)

¹⁶ When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.

¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”

Jesus healed all kinds of sickness and disease and healed all those who were ill. This was a fulfillment of the scripture spoken by Isaiah the prophet that Jesus would take the infirmities or sickness of mankind and carry away all of their diseases. This is part of the atoning work of Christ because He bore sickness of mankind at the same time that He bore their sins. Sickness and sin have always gone together and Jesus bore both of them by His sacrifice of Himself upon the cross.

1 Peter 2:24 (NASB)

²⁴ and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

This scripture speaks of the dual work of Christ on the cross because He bore the sins of humanity in His body on the cross at the same time that He also bore their sicknesses. The devil wants to keep the believers in ignorance of this redemptive promise because if the believers discover that they were already healed then they will cast off the sickness that the devil has brought upon them.

Acts 10:38 (NKJV)

³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil! It is the devil who tries to afflict humanity and it is Jesus who destroys the works of the devil by healing those who are sick.

1 John 3:8 (NKJV)

⁸ He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

The purpose that Jesus came to earth was to destroy the works of the devil and those evil works include sickness and disease that cause pain and suffering and poverty to those who are afflicted by them.

Mark 5:25-26 (NASB)

²⁵ A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years,

²⁶ and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse—

This woman was afflicted with a hemorrhage that caused her to bleed for twelve long years. She endured much suffering at the hands of many physicians but only grew worse. She spent all that she had on doctors and was not helped but came to poverty. Sickness causes misery and poverty and great suffering to those afflicted by it. Sickness is most certainly curse from the devil!

Luke 13:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

This Jewish woman was bent over with her chin to the ground and had suffered this terrible affliction for over 18 years! Jesus healed her and set her free from her affliction. Jesus made it clear that sickness is from Satan and Satan was the one who bound this woman and made her life miserable!

Jesus is still the same yesterday and today and forever. Jesus rose from the dead and He is still alive and He still heals people today. If the believer wants to be healed, they will have to use their faith and step out and receive their healing. They must learn not to look at circumstances but keep their eyes focused only on the promises of God’s word.

Hebrews 11:11 (NASB)

¹¹ By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.

Sarah was ninety years old when she received the promise of God that she would bear a son. She was already beyond the proper time of life when a woman is physically able to conceive. But she did not stagger in unbelief but she considered that God was faithful and that nothing was impossible for God. Sarah conceived and she gave birth to the promised child Isaac! This was impossible according to natural circumstances for a woman who was barren all of her life and who was already beyond the time of being able to conceive a child. But nothing is impossible for God and she was able to conceive and bare her promised son Isaac!

Jeremiah 32:27 (NASB)

²⁷ “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”

The believer can apply this scripture to the healing of the physical body and say that God is the God of their flesh and there is nothing that is too difficult for the Lord! God can heal a barren woman like Sarah and God can heal any type of sickness that is known to mankind. Nothing is too difficult for the Lord.

Psalm 103:3 (NIV)

³ who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

This scripture says that the Lord heals all of your diseases. This means that there is no disease that He does not heal and the sicknesses and diseases of humanity have been healed 2000 years ago by Jesus and His sacrifice of Himself upon the cross!

If Jesus healed all of the diseases known to mankind over 2,000 years ago then why are not everyone healed? This is because these promises must be appropriated by faith. The Promised Land was already given to Abraham and his descendants by oath from God but the children of Israel had to appropriate what belonged to them by faith. They were away from their land for 400 years while they multiplied in Goshen into 600,000 family units. These 600,000 Jewish families came out of Egypt under Moses and they were led toward the land that was promised by God on oath to Abraham! But Satan did not sit idle while God’s people just entered and enjoyed the good land God gave to them! Satan prepared resistance and filled the Promised Land with giant races and pagan people who all resisted God’s people from entering. If they wanted to enjoy what belonged to them then they would have to fight for it!

It is the same today because Jesus redeemed mankind from sin and sickness and poverty but if they do not appropriate what has been given to them then they will not receive it. They have to fight for it because Satan is an adversary that resists the believer from having what God has already given to them. The believer has to use their spiritual weapons and spiritual armor and the authority given to them in Christ and fight for and keep what belongs to them! If they do not fight for it, they will not receive it. If they give up and quit then the devil will keep them out of their Promised Land of healing and prosperity and all of the good things that belong to them in Christ!

POINT OF FAITH

A point of faith is a determination that someone has made within them that when they do a certain thing, then that is the moment that they will receive their healing. This point of faith can be seen in the account of the women who had an issue of blood for twelve years.

Matthew 9:19-22 (NASB)

¹⁹ Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples.

²⁰ And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak;

²¹ for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.”

²² But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.

This woman set her faith that when she would touch the hem of the garment of Jesus that this would be the moment that she would be healed. Jesus told her that it was her faith that made her well because in fact she had set her faith to receive her healing at the moment when she touched the garment of Jesus.

Mark 5:28-34 (NASB)

²⁸ For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”

²⁹ Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

³⁰ Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?”

³¹ And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?'”

³² And He looked around to see the woman who had done this.

³³ But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

³⁴ And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

The gospel of Mark gives more details to the healing of the woman who touched the garments of Jesus. She set her faith to be healed when she touched the garments and Jesus perceive that power went out of Him at the moment when this woman touched his garments. Jesus asked who had touched Him! But the disciples said to the Lord that there is a great crowd of people all pressing against Jesus to touch him. But the power of God did not go out and heal any of these people. It was only the woman who set her faith to be healed when she touched His garments who received her healing. Jesus told her it was her faith that healed her (not the touching of the garments) because many others were touching His garments and were not healed.

Jesus made it clear that the woman who touched his garments was not healed by the garments themselves. Jesus said that she was healed by her faith. But a point of faith is simply a determination that a person will receive their healing at a certain moment in time.

When I was doing missionary work in the Philippines, I once prayed for the father of my interpreter who requested prayer for healing. The doctors had sent him home to die because there was nothing that they could do for his terminal disease. But this man set his faith on when I laid hands on him, he would be healed. I know it was not because of my own faith that he was healed because he was in such a bad condition and looked so bad that I frankly thought he was going to die. But out of respect for his request I prayed for him anyway. He did not make any noticeable improvement when I prayed for him. But after I prayed for him, he began to recover and today he is strong and healthy and serving the Lord. The point here is that a person can set their faith as a “point of faith” to receive their healing when they have someone lay hands upon them for prayer. This is what happened to this man and he began to recover from that moment on and was restored to health!

All of this deals with the inner working of a human and what is in their heart and what they have determined within them will occur when they set their point of faith on something. It is dependent upon the person who set their heart on something to be healed just as the woman with the issue of blood set her heart that she would receive her healing the moment she touched the garments of Jesus!

Even medical doctors know that human will plays a major role in healing. If a person has determined they will be healed they can resist a disease and stand a much better chance of recovery than a person who gives up all hope.

Even in a POW camp those who gave up hope would soon perish but those who fought and resisted and used their will to survive did not die under the same circumstances as those who perished around them.

Faith in fact is heavily related to the will of mankind and they can use their will to determine to survive and overcome and to be healed. They can use their human will to determine to receive their healing just as the woman with the issue of blood determined by her own human will that she would receive her healing the moment she touched the garments of Jesus. Others were touching the garments of Jesus also but nothing happened because they had not set their faith for healing.

Sometimes a person may not be able to have a complete healing but are able to use their faith to maintain the level where they are at. I know of a person who used their faith for their eyesight and in fact they did not have to get stronger prescriptions for their glasses for decades. They were able to hold and maintain their present eyesight condition for a long time without stronger glasses! While this may not be a complete healing, they can however thank God that they were able to keep and maintain the vision that they had for a long time. Healing in any form is good even if a person is only able to keep and maintain the level that they are at without getting any worse.

Part 6- Factors that Affect Healing

SHARING TESTIMONIES OF HEALING

A word should be shared about giving testimonies about healing. I have witnesses this myself that when some people have shared their testimonies of being healed, then they lost their healing. Sometimes this will occur in a denominational church were a hireling type of pastor will try to use testimonies as a form of entertainment or a pass-time as part of his church activities. I have witnessed a hireling pastor stand up and scold the congregation from the pulpit and say that they would not proceed further until someone would stand up and testify. He then pointed out a member that he knew was healed and commanded him to stand up and tell the congregation how God had healed him and glorify God! But what happened was that the man who was forced to testify then lost his healing after he did so. I have seen this happen on numerous occasions when someone testified that they were healed then they lost their healing. I know by firsthand experience by working with many people in many nations (as a traveling missionary) that this in fact is something that is a real phenomenon.

2 Kings 20:12-17 (NIV2011)

¹² At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness.

¹³ Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?” “From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”

¹⁵ The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?” “They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord:

¹⁷ The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord.

In the case of King Hezekiah, he showed all of the treasures and good things that the Lord had abundantly blessed him with. He revealed his treasures to the envoys that were sent from Babylon and as a result these envoys returned to Babylon and reported what they had seen. It was not long after that that the nation of Israel was invaded by Babylon and they plundered every treasure that Hezekiah had shown to the envoys of Babylon. They lost everything as a result of Hezekiah revealing what God had blessed him with.

This can have a personal application to the believer in a number of ways. If God blesses me with something nice or expensive, I purposely try to avoid telling people about it and if they ask me how much it costs then I will only speak in general terms that it is really nice and God blessed me with it. If the person is bold enough to insist to know the price then I escalate up in boldness myself and rebuke them and them it is none of their business! I will not purposely expose those things that God has blessed me with because I know and understand this principle that was taught to bible believers in the affair of King Hezekiah exposing his treasures to the envoys of Babylon.

If a person goes around bragging about what God blessed them with or brags about how much it costs then they are in real danger of losing that blessing! God can remove it from them if they go around bragging about it! Maybe they might fall on hard times and be forced to salvage it for a bit of cash at a pawn shop or have it stolen or destroyed in a fire or a flood or other accident. It is better for a believer to keep their mouth shut and just enjoy what God has given to them and keep it between themselves and God.

If a person is forced to stand up and testify what God has done for them, this can actually make others feel bad in the congregation. They may think God plays favorites because God did not do the same thing for them. But they do not know the whole story behind the blessing and how the person may have stood in faith for years before they received their blessing. So, testimonies can sometimes do more harm than good if they are forced in the flesh and the Holy Spirit did not direct them to give such a testimony.

The same thing can also occur with a testimony of healing. Someone who is struggling with healing and has not seen the results of healing manifest can feel bad when they hear the testimony of others who were healed. Rather than encourage them it can also have the opposite effect upon them making them feel that God loves others more than He loves them. But there are many factors that affect healing and it does not mean that God does not love someone who is not able to receive their healing. That is a misinterpretation of hearing that someone else was healed when they were not!

So, unless God specifically tells someone to testify of their healing then as a general rule, believers should keep their healing to themselves and rejoice in in privately before God.

I know of a woman who was healed of a terminal disease by faith and God told her to write a book about it because her testimony is a case-study of how to stand in faith for healing. But it was God to specifically told her to testify and her story teaches others how to stand in faith until they receive.

But generally, if God has not told you to testify then you should not do so because you are in danger of losing the healing if you testify. This is the principle that we learn from King Hezekiah who revealed what God had blessed him with and because of this all of those things were stolen by the devil’s bunch. We so do not want to give any opportunity to the devil to take anything that God has blessed us with including our healing.

Also, sympathy and pity are an enemy of healing and even men have to beware of seeking sympathy and pity and comfort from their wives. They can pray together in agreement for a healing but they should not use prayer as an excuse to air their suffering. A man might say, “Will you pray for me because I feel like such and such!” but then he is speaking out that aliment and he must understand that there is power of life and death in the words that he speaks.

Proverbs 18:21 (CJB)

²¹ The tongue has power over life and death; those who indulge it must eat its fruit.

These scriptures say that the tongue has power over life and death. This means that a person can use their tongue to speak life or they can use it to speak death. It is the words that person speaks that has the most power over them. The devil will typically try to get people to speak out with their own mouths and confess a sickness or aliment because when they do then the devil has power of their own words to use against them. Believers much guard their mouth diligently for this reason and not speak out the devil’s thoughts when they are being squeezed by symptoms or afflictions. Those who indulge their tongue must eat the fruit that their tongue produces. If they say they are sick and have such and such disease then their words that they spoke is as if they just signed for a package from the devil and received it.

When I was in college I one time got a virus and I was terribly sick. I was resisting it for a while and my roommate told the guys on the floor that I was really sick. I was struggling with these symptoms but it really got me when I opened my mouth and spoke out the words, “Yes, I am really sick!” When I said that it seemed like a dump truck just unloaded a pile of sickness on me and I immediately got so bad I had to go home for a week while my mother nursed me to health again! But I learned something about the power of the tongue from that experience because I most certainly signed for the goods when I spoke them out with my mouth and that is when I really received that sickness in full force!

So, the following year the same thing tried to come upon me again but this time I was wiser from experience. This time I determined to fight and resist it and refused to speak out words that would embrace what the devil was trying to put on me. Instead of using my tongue to speak the negative words, “I am very sick!” I instead spoke opposite and spoke God’s word and said, “By the stripes of Jesus I am healed!” I felt terrible in the morning but it was time to go to class and I continued to say, “By His stripes I am healed!” I was determined this time that I was not going to give the devil the power of my own words to make me sick. I walked across campus and stopped to vomit in the bushes. But I again said, “By his stripes I am healed!” I struggled all during class but I determined that if I was healed, I would not be skipping class and laying in the bed!” I determined to act as if I was healed! I made it through the class without vomiting but then I vomited again in the bushes as I walked back toward my dormitory. I was constantly speaking out God’s word saying, “By His stripes I am healed!” I remember right where I was when the healing came upon me. I had just started to cross the street near the dormitory and in the middle of that street suddenly the sickness left me. The nauseous feeling and aching and fever instantly left me. I turned around in the middle of the street and went to the cafeteria at the Student Union building and had a big meal and never vomited again. I had to fight the good fight of faith and resist the symptoms that the devil tried to place upon me. But this time I had the victory because I refused to speak out negative words and say that I am sick. Instead I spoke God’s word and said that I was healed by the stripes of Jesus!

There most certainly are power in words and the believer can use his words for life or death. They can speak words of life by speaking God’s word or they can speak words of death by speaking according to the symptoms that are afflicting their bodies. Life and death are in the power of the tongue and those who indulge their tongue will eat the fruit that it produces. They can produce the fruit of sickness and disease or they can produce the fruit of healing by the words that they speak.

Possibly the only time that a testimony of healing is permitted is when it is given in the form of teaching like I just did when I was teaching about the use of the tongue and my own experience in resisting disease. But one has to be careful what they say because it can also produce problems if they brag about things.

One time I was teaching in our bible school that I started in Mankayan Philippines and I happened to mention that I never had a common cold in many decades. When we were children, we would all typically come down with colds during the Easter holiday when we received a lot of Easter candy in that time of year. We would all overdose ourselves with sweets and all five-children would be blowing their noses for days with a cold and runny nose! So, I mentioned that since about 1978 when I got saved and learned about faith then I never had a cold again since that time. But right after I said this publicly in the bible school, I went home and got the biggest cold I had for many years! I was blowing my nose for days until it become sore! I believe what happened was that I had slipped into pride when I had bragged that I did not have a cold or running nose for decades and that pride is sin and it opened the door to the devil to give me the worse cold of my whole life!

I am convinced that if one shares about their healing it should be done only under strict guidelines. I believe that only if it is involved in instructing others (like the book of the woman healed of terminal disease) then it is OK. She was sincerely sharing how she battled the symptoms and overcame and used confession of God’s word and scripture memory. When I shared the testimony of not having any more colds, it must have slipped into pride because it opened the door to the devil to give me a bad cold after I never had any for decades before that.

I have learned by experience that if God gives me any blessing then I just rejoice in before God and keep it to myself. This includes both material possessions and also healing. I do not typically tell about my healing to anyone else unless it should serve some purpose of instruction as in a teaching about healing so as to help others. The biblical principle that we can learn from King Hezekiah that is when he revealed what God blessed him with to others then those blessings were lost. Any type of pride is a sin and sin can open the door to the devil to steal the blessings God has given to us. It is for this reason it is best to keep your healing to yourself and thank God for it in your heart rather than sharing it publicly in a testimony.

I heard a testimony of a woman who enjoyed a blessing that her nylon stockings would last for months without getting a run in them. This saved her a lot of money in having to replace stockings that were easily destroyed. But one day she told this to another woman that she never has to replace her nylon stockings even after wearing them for months. But as soon as she said this then the blessing vanished and her stockings were getting runs in them frequently and she had to replace them as often as other women who use nylons. Again, I believe that when someone has any blessing from God (even if it is only a small thing like not having any runs in nylons) then they should keep it to themselves and thank God for it. As soon as they tell others this can slip into pride and it can give a false impression that God loves them more than others who do not have the same blessing. If God blesses a believer in any manner, it is best to keep that private and not tell others. The only exception may be if that testimony serves as illustration for instruction but even then, if given with a wrong heart attitude of pride it can result in losing that blessing. Pride opens the door to the devil and the devil is a destroyer.

John 10:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

The devil is called a thief because he comes to steal prosperity and blessing and healing and happiness and anything else that the believer will permit him to steal by their passivity. The devil’s job description on earth is to steal and to kill and to destroy. He will steal a person’s health and kill their bodies and destroy everything in their lives. He is also like a lion who is just looking for the opportunity to devour someone.

1 Peter 5:8 (NASB)

⁸ Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

The devil is seeking for someone to devour. This means that he cannot just devour everyone in general but only those who open the door to him. This is like the native people in Africa who keep their livestock inside a fence made of high thorns called a boma. If the livestock is inside of this barrier, they will be safe from lions. But occasionally someone will sleep outside of the boma and these careless people are the ones who will typically be snatched and devoured by a lion! In the same way the devil will snatch and devour any believer who opens the door to him. He will devour them if they speak negative words and use their own words against them. Saying, “I am sick” is like giving license to the devil to give them sickness. It is the same as signing for the devil’s goods because the words of one’s mouth will bring life or death depending on what they speak. Sin opens the door to the devil as well and just speaking out something in pride can license the devil to snatch it from the people and they can lose their blessings just as King Hezekiah did when he told others of his blessings!

In the case of carnal minded hirelings who force congregation members to testify, they most often get this erroneous idea from the following scripture:

Revelation 12:11 (NASB)

¹¹ “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

This scripture speaks of overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. But this scripture has often been used as justification to force Christians to testify of their healing in church services. But this scripture is not referring to testifying of a healing (or other blessings of God). The testimony referred to in this scripture speaks of a believer who has refused to compromise their commitment to Christ even to save their own lives.

Revelation 6:9 (NASB)

⁹ When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;

Here there were many people who would not give up their testimony of faith in Jesus Christ. They maintained this testimony even when faced with death. There were many who were slain and became martyrs simply because they refused to give up their testimony that they were believers in Jesus. This is the context of how the word “testimony” is used in these scriptures. It means that these people overcame going to hell because they would not deny Christ and they did not count their lives on earth dear to them. The word “testimony” here cannot be twisted to justify forcing people to give a testimony about healing in a church service! The testimony referred to here is about people who maintained their faith in Jesus Christ even when faced with death!

Luke 5:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Notice that Jesus ordered the man who was healed not to tell anyone but he was to show himself to the priest and make an offering for his cleansing. Jesus often ordered people not to tell others about their healing.

Luke 8:56 (NASB)

⁵⁶ Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

Here Jesus raised a child from the dead and instructed the parents not to tell anyone what had happened.

Mark 5:18-20 (NASB)

¹⁸ As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him.

¹⁹ And He did not let him, but He *said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”

²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

In this case a demon-possessed man was delivered and he wanted to accompany Jesus but Jesus would not let him do so but told him to go home to his people and report to them what great things the Lord had done for him. While this may be used as a justification for giving testimonies in church, it does not necessarily mean that everyone should be doing this. The same Jesus who told others not to tell anyone of their healing, only spoke one time to a demon-possessed man and told him he should tell others. This should not become a biblical precedent for giving a testimony about healing just because one man was told to tell others of his deliverance. Possibly this man was living a wicked and immoral lifestyle prior to becoming demon-possessed. His testimony was not for the purpose of bragging that God did something for him that God did not do for others. His purpose could have been to warn others that if they choose a lifestyle of wickedness and sin and immorality, they could become hopelessly demon-possessed as he was. Jesus told him to go back to his hometown and report to his own people. His own people would be familiar with this boy and know of his lifestyle and vices and wickedness prior to his demon-possession. They would get the message clear that self-defilement can open the door toward demon-possession.

Mark 7:36 (NASB)

³⁶ And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.

Jesus often gave orders to people not to tell anyone about their healing. But many of these people were stubborn and refused to obey what Jesus commanded them. The more He ordered them not to make it known, the more they would proclaim it. It is not a good policy to go around disobeying what the Lord tells you to do. Some people may have even thought they were doing Jesus a big favor by providing Him with some publicity but He did not need their help.

John 5:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ Afterward Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”

Jesus clearly told a man that was healed that he should not sin anymore so that nothing worse happens to him. Breaking God’s laws can open the door to the devil and willful sinning can cause a person to lose their healing and even have a worse thing come upon them. If Jesus tells a person not to tell anyone of their healing that would be a sin to do so. Sin can also include such things as pride because all pride is sin. Sharing a testimony of what God did can easily slip into pride when they share this publicly. This can lead to a person becoming sick again and losing his healing and even having something worse come upon them. It is best to stay humble and quiet and rejoice in your healing before God yourself.

Mark 8:26 (KJV)

²⁶ And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

Again, and again Jesus told those who were healed not to tell it to anyone. This should be taken as a warning to believers that they should be careful about what they give as a testimony. They can only share something if God has specifically told them to do so (like the demon-possessed man). But most often Jesus told those who were healed to not tell anyone of their healing but only to give glory to God for it in their hearts.

Religious traditions are often started by hireling type of fake pastors and this includes forcing people to testify in church. It is one of the activities that a director of a social club will do trying to keep things interesting. They will have the potluck dinners and other entertainment for members and giving testimonies is just one more tradition started to flow with entertainment.

Losing a healing trying to please a hireling activity director of a social club is not worth the great price the afflicted will have to pay. They will be the one to endure the suffering and pain and trouble involved with satanic afflictions-not the hireling pastor who pushed them to testify. If a hireling is forcing people to testify it is a good sign that people should leave that church and find somewhere else to attend. If there is no place else, they would be better off not going to any church at all than going to a social club church that pushes them to testify and causes them to lose their healing. Healing can be lost as well as financial blessings and many other good things from God because of the sin of pride in testifying of this publicly.

2 Chronicles 32:31 (NASB)

³¹ Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

This scripture says that God left King Hezekiah alone only to test his heart. When the envoys inquired about his wealth and blessing from God then it was the pride of his heart that could not keep a secret. Hezekiah showed them everything of the vast riches that God has blessed him with.

The same thing can happen with believers who give a testimony in church and brag about what God did for them to others. The end result can be like that of King Hezekiah and they can end up losing all of the blessings they once had received from God. This can include both blessings in healing for their bodies or financial blessings or nice possessions. Whatever is of pride is sin and that will open the door to the devil to take away all of the blessings of the Lord for the believer who has a big mouth!

Possibly you can share only with your spouse about your financial blessings since they are one person together with you but when it comes to healing even that should be kept quiet because it is possible to lose the healing unless it is given for a specific purpose of instruction to others. The general rule of thumb is to keep your blessings (like healing) private and just rejoice in God over it. If you have some success in any area do not brag about it or give it out in a testimony. Jesus always told people to keep it quiet when they were healed and only one time told a demon-possessed man who was delivered to share his story. But that was only with the people of his own town who knew of his evil lifestyle in the past. Jesus did not tell others to go around and tell their story to others. The rule of thumb is that if the Lord does not specifically instruct a believer to share a testimony of their blessing then they better keep it quiet or they may lose that blessing after they have received it!

ITES IN THE LAND

The term “ITES” can be used to describe any of those tribal people who were left in the land to test Israel.

Judges 3:5 (NASB)

⁵ The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites;

The ITES can include the Canaanites, Hittites and Amorites, and Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. They all have the same thing in common that their descriptions are their tribal names plus the letters “ites” after these names. Therefore, I have coined the term “ites” to describe all of these people in general.

Judges 1:27-35 (NASB)

²⁷ But Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; so the Canaanites persisted in living in that land.

²⁸ It came about when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.

²⁹ Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.

³⁰ Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.

³¹ Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob.

³² So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

³³ Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.

³⁴ Then the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley;

³⁵ yet the Amorites persisted in living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon and in Shaalbim; but when the power of the house of Joseph grew strong, they became forced labor.

The Canaanites were those pagan tribes who lived in the land before Joshua brought the children of Israel into the Promised Land. These were the devil’s squatters who were in the land that God had given to Abraham for an everlasting covenant and to all his descendants, the sons of Israel. So, Joshua and his army defeated most of the giants and the largest of the pagan armies but yet there still remained small pockets of various pagan tribes. In general, all of the pagan tribal people living in Canaan were called Canaanites. So “ites” in the land speaks of those remaining Canaanites that the sons of Israel could not drive out.

Manasseh did not take full possession of his inheritance but the Canaanites persisted in living in his territory. Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites from his territory so they persisted in living in his borders. Zebulon did not drive out the Canaanites in his territory so they persisted in living in his territory. The pagan Amorites drove Dan into the hill country and would not let him take possession of his own land. The house of Joseph also had Canaanites living in their territory but they could not drive them out completely. All of the twelve tribes had some sort of “ites” living in their territory and they were not able to drive them out completely.

We have coined our own term here to refer to persistent physical afflictions as “ites” because these persistent afflictions are much like these pockets of persistent Canaanites who resist the children of Israel from fully possessing what belonged to them.

Believers often experience healing in some big areas but then there are some “ites” that persist to remain in their body. These afflictions are small things that believers often have learned to live with. Possibly it could be something like foot fungus and no one told them to wear shower thongs in a public shower or locker room so they got foot fungus when they were a teenager at high school when they were required to shower in the high school locker room. But that remained with them all of their lives and decades later they are still using foot fungus ointment trying to kill this foot fungus. If they do not use the ointment then their skin will peel and the fungus will eat a hole through the skin down to the raw flesh. It is something that they learned to live with and is a persistent disease that determined to stay with them.

This is an example of the types of afflictions that we call “ites” because they seek to dwell with the believer and cause them some misery. But because they are not life threatening the believer will typically learn to just live with these things.

If the same person however is faced with a terminal disease, they will do all in their power to fight it because they will die if they are passive with such a thing. So, this is why there are people who have been healed of big or terminal things and yet may live with things that are not life-threatening that they allow to remain.

The biblical account of the “ites” in the Promised Land can be an illustration of those physical afflictions or “ites” that persist in remaining in the human body. If the believer does not learn to resist these things, they may end up just living with them for their entire lifetime. Ites can be anything that is not life threatening and may not be too painful but nevertheless lowers the quality of life for a person by forcing them to dwell with something that is less than 100% health. Believers have to stir themselves up to resist such things the same as if they were resisting a terminal disease. If they do not resist, they may end up living with these small afflictions all of their lives like the children of Israel ended up living with the Canaanites that they did not expel from their land.

HELPFUL HEALING BOOK

F.F. Bosworth wrote a book called “Christ the Healer” and this book covers many of the factors that affect healing. Many thousands of people have been healed while reading this book. F.F. Bosworth lived to a ripe old age and went home to be with the Lord without any sickness or disease in his body. He just fell asleep and went over to glory but his body was without any type of sickness at all. Those who want to further their study of the subject of healing should read this book-which is a compilation of sermons about healing. Below is a link that I found for a free download of this PDF file book:

http://hopefaithprayer.com/books/Christ_the_Healer_FFBosworth.pdf

General Biblical Topics

Three Parts of Man

Abraham Bosom

Spiritual Restraints

New Creation Born of God

Led by the Spirit

Origin and Operation of Demons

Doctrines of Demons

Factors that Affect Healing

Atonement Series

Giving and Kingdom Finances

Gift of Businessman “Giver”

Thornbush Leaders and Freeloaders

Salvation’s Race

Escape from Christendom

Overcoming Christian

Fear of the Lord

Christians in Hell

Button Hole Principle

Forsake Not Grace

Temperament Types

Faking-it-in-the-Flesh

Cutting Stones of Fit

Social Work Failure

Sin Nature Crucifixion

Remain in Ordained Place

Principle of Separation