Is the day of miracles past? Does the living God heal sickness and disease today upon believing prayer? Or was healing performed only by Christ and the original apostles? Did God raise up medical science for our day? What about modern faith healers and public healing services? 

Chapter One

HEALING IN OUR TIME?

You live in a world that relies primarily on medical doctors to treat illness. Most professing Christians today say: "God raised up medical science for our day. Jesus healed to prove He was the Messiah. But the day of miracles is now past." Some, who think God heals through self-professed faith healers, attend public healing shows. Some believe in healing by one of the forms of "mental science" -- the power of mind over matter. Others say: "Well, I think God can heal -- if it's His will. But how can we know whether it's His will?"

Yes, people say!

But what does GOD say?

Does He reveal whether He still heals, why He heals, how He heals, whether and when it is His will? For the answers we go to the Bible.

Christ's Ministry Was Dual

Let's begin at the beginning. Actually, there are two beginnings, so far as the subject of healing is concerned -- one is in the New Testament, with Christ; the other in the Old Testament, with the people of ancient Israel. We shall begin with the ministry of Jesus. Later, many readers will be surprised to learn how much is recorded on the subject throughout the Old Testament.

More than 1,900 years ago -- in A.D. 27-31 -- Jesus Christ appeared on earth as a messenger bearing history's most important message from God to mankind. His mission was prophesied in Malachi 3:1.

That message actually was a stupendous NEWS Announcement. The news was the most transcendent GOOD NEWS! It was the GOSPEL (which means "good news") of Jesus Christ.

But Jesus' ministry was a dual ministry. And a miraculous ministry.

Jesus came also healing the sick by divine POWER of God. It was not the power of human mind over matter. Few realize the extent to which healing and casting out demons were an integral part of Jesus' ministry. Later, the apostles proclaimed His same message and healed the sick.

Ministry of Healing Ceases

It comes as an astounding shock to learn that long before the end of the first century, the proclamation of Christ's gospel to the world and the ministry of physical healing ceased!

But why?

Christ's gospel was the glorious messianic announcement of the coming world-ruling KINGDOM OF GOD. It was the announcement of the wonderful WORLD Tomorrow! It was not a message of doom! -- except for explaining the causes of the doom of this world's evils, sufferings and unhappiness. It was a joyous announcement of coming world peace, universal happiness and well-being!

But the leaders of the people in Judea misunderstood and resented both that good NEWS and Jesus' MIRACLES.

Jesus' miracles were public, but they weren't healing shows. He simply healed the sick wherever He came to them or they came to Him. But of course the miracles attracted enormous crowds. Many began to believe on Him.

This alarmed the chief priests and the ruling Pharisees. It stirred them to violent persecution. They totally misunderstood Jesus' message! His news announcement was that of the yet-to-come Kingdom of God, not -- as they supposed -- of the overthrow of the Roman government of their day.

The Romans, then ruling the Western world, avoided most of the details of government administration in Judea by allowing the Jews to rule themselves at the lower levels.

The Pharisaic rulers loved their position of authority. They viewed Jesus as an anti-Roman agitator proposing to overthrow the Roman rule. They feared being imprisoned as seditionists if they sided in any way with Jesus. They plotted to kill Him, and at God's set time Jesus was crucified, making possible man's reconciliation with God.

Power of the Holy Spirit Given

God miraculously raised Jesus from the dead, making possible eternal life for humanity. On the 50th day (called Pentecost) after His resurrection, the 120 converts of Jesus, including the apostles, received the POWER of the Holy Spirit of God. In that power they proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom of God. In the same divine power from God by which Christ healed, they healed the sick wherever they went.

But, as with Jesus, so now with the apostles: The miracles drew tremendous crowds. Without any pressured solicitations, thousands were converted and baptized. But soon the persecution against them multiplied.

Two years after Jesus' resurrection, A.D. 33, Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8), the Pater (father or Peter) of the Babylonian mystery religion in Samaria, after being rejected by Peter, appropriated the name of Christ and applied it to his Babylonian mystery religion, calling it "Christianity." Simon and his followers began systematic opposition and persecution against the true Church of God, founded in A.D. 31 by Jesus Christ. (How the Babylonian mystery religion was moved into Samaria in 718 B.C. is explained in II Kings 17:18-24.)

Gentile and Jewish Opposition

The earliest opposition against Christ's Church was Jewish, opposing the acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. Judaizers insisted on observing the temporary rituals of Mosaic law. For this reason the early ministry of the apostles put prime emphasis on the replacement of rituals by the Holy Spirit, and on the resurrection, infallible proof of Christ's messiahship.

The apostles were personally with Jesus for 3 1/2 years before His crucifixion and for 40 days after His resurrection -- so they were eyewitnesses to the resurrection.

After A.D. 33, as the work of this Simon the Sorcerer spread, the opposition to the true Church became Gentile. The writings of Paul, as well as I and II Peter, of James, of I, II and III John and Jude show the Gentile opposition was primarily aimed against the law of God. Simon appropriated the doctrine of grace from the teaching of the apostles, but it was grace turned into license to disobey (Jude 4).

They preached a false Jesus who, they said, did away with the basic spiritual law of God. Simon and his followers preached a totally different gospel than the apostles -- primarily that of their own Babylonian mystery religion with grace and Christ's name added. Of course they got it to the Galatians.

To the Galatians, Paul wrote: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel" (Galatians 1:6).

To the Corinthians, Paul wrote: "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus ... or another gospel ..." (II Corinthians 11:4). Of these Simon Magus-type preachers, Paul wrote: "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness" (verses 13-15).

It was Satan -- the former cherub Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-17) -- who originally rebelled against the GOVERNMENT OF GOD and caused its removal from the earth. Satan is the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4). He has his churches and his ministers. They oppose the law of God. Therefore they oppose the KINGDOM of God, since it is governed by the laws of God. These apostles of Satan offered the world an easier religion. Obedience was unnecessary.

Dark Age Begins

The opposition of Simon's false church finally snuffed out the proclaiming of the MESSAGE of the KINGDOM OF GOD. Before the end of the first century, the curtain was systematically rung down on all records of true Church history.

When the curtain lifts, late in the second century, we behold a "Christianity" utterly unlike that of Christ and His original apostles. Its doctrines, sacraments and customs were those of the Babylonian mystery religion. It persecuted and martyred those true Christians still holding to the teachings and customs of Christ and His apostles. Christ's doctrines and customs were branded as "Jewish." The term "Jewish" became a dirty word -- an epithet.

The message God sent to mankind by Jesus Christ -- the true gospel Christ preached, the announcement of the coming KINGDOM OF GOD was done away by expediently calling THE CHURCH (Simon's) "the kingdom of God." Some, later, reduced the KINGDOM OF GOD to an ethereal indescribable something "set up in men's hearts."

Thus, through manipulations of "the god of this world," Satan, by whom ALL NATIONS HAVE BEEN DECEIVED (Revelation 12:9), the true GOSPEL MESSAGE CHRIST BROUGHT was suppressed and not proclaimed to the world after the first century! And healing the sick as a regular practice had ceased also.

Thus the DUAL ministry of Christ and the apostles was no part of what the world has accepted as traditional Christianity.

But, persecuted over the centuries, mostly unrecognized by the world, the true and original Church of God has continued through all generations to the present.

In the book of Revelation two churches are described. One, in the 12th chapter, the true and original Church of God, small and persecuted, having to endure hardship, persecution and martyrdom for survival; the other, in the 17th chapter, the great politically popular church, ruling over kings and nations of this world, drunk with the blood of saints and martyrs of Jesus.

For 18 1/2 centuries Christ's true gospel -- HIS MESSAGE from God of the coming KINGDOM OF GOD -- had not been proclaimed to the world. It was only taught to the comparative few -- secretly -- who kept the Church of God alive through the centuries.

Gospel Restored

The original one and only true Church of God still lives! And still persecuted, maligned, misrepresented, it is restoring the true gospel of Jesus Christ today! It is sending out that good news worldwide -- as a witness for all nations, in real POWER!

And Christ's doctrine of healing the sick is also being restored. There have been multiple thousands of miraculous healings. But not, in our time, spectacular public displays of sensational miracles to attract both crowds and added persecutions. The REASONS for this and the truth about the whole subject of healing will be made plain in this booklet.

There have been "gospel" programs -- scores of them -- all over the world. But, as Paul described, they have each been another gospel. Christ's MESSAGE was suppressed. Christ has been preached to the world -- but a different Jesus.

But, what about healing the sick today? How is it being restored in God's Church?

Chapter Two

LEARNING TO BELIEVE

We come now to the biblical teaching on the subject of healing. And I can best bring this to the reader by relating my own personal and unusual experience in discovering it.

When I first came among those of the Church of God in 1926 and 1927, they still carried the NAME "Church of God." They knew of the second coming of Christ to reign on earth for a thousand years, though they knew little, or almost nothing, of what would actually take place during that millennial reign.

Back in 1860 the largest number of them had split off, coming to the belief that the millennial reign with Christ would take place in heaven. Leaving the truth they also left the true name.

Although the knowledge of these simple but sincere people regarding the Kingdom of God was very incomplete, they did believe in keeping the commandments of God. They had more biblical truth than any other religious body on earth.

Even though God's Church had endured through the centuries, gradually much of the original truth of the gospel apparently had been lost.

True Knowledge Revealed

Subsequent events have shown that I was being called by the living Christ for a very special end-time commission to raise up the Philadelphia era of God's Church (Revelation 3:7-13), to restore much lost knowledge (Daniel 12:4), to restore the great commission (Matthew 24:14) and publish (Mark 13:10) His true gospel of the Kingdom of God "in all the world for a witness unto all nations" just before the end of this present world.

We had now reached the final generation of this age -- the generation during which Christ will return, setting up the Kingdom of God.

The shock of my life came when I saw in the Bible beginning in the autumn of 1926, that what I had heard as "the gospel" was in most basic respects the very opposite of the plain and clear teaching of the real Jesus and of the Bible!

It was an almost unbelievable shock to see in the Bible the prophecy that ALL NATIONS -- the world as a whole -- would be deceived today! It was a tremendous shock to learn the full truth about the Kingdom of God and that God had inspired the apostle Paul to pronounce a double curse on any who would preach any other gospel! (Galatians 1:8-9.)

My eyes were opened to the true gospel described so clearly and unmistakably in the Bible -- for those willing to see and believe.

The Calling

And so, as I have written before, I say with the apostle Paul (paraphrasing): "I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which is preached by me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ ... But when it pleased God, who ... called me by His grace, to reveal His Son and His gospel in me, that I might preach it among the descendants of the house of Israel, and the Gentile nations, and kings [Acts 9:15], immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went I to any theological seminary or source of religious teaching of this world, but I went to Christ, the living Personal Word of God, who instructed me through the written Word of God, the Holy Bible" (Galatians 1:11-17).

After the first six months' intensive almost night-and-day study of the Bible, my conversion and baptism occurred in the spring of 1927 -- but not the cessation of instruction the living Christ was imparting through His written Word. That has continued all through the over 50 years since.

My family and I were living then in Portland, Oregon. As 1927 wore on, intensive Bible study continued. I was rapidly beginning to grow, as Peter said Christians must, "in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18). Upon baptism, I had received the Holy Spirit of the living God. My mind had undergone a renewing. I was thrilled at this new ability to understand God's revealed knowledge. Still I was having to learn a step at a time, a doctrine at a time. The hardest part was having to Unlearn inherited false teachings.

Mrs. Armstrong Stricken

In early August 1927, my wife suddenly was attacked by a series of physical illnesses. First she was bitten on the left leg by a dog. Then immediately she was driven to bed with tonsillitis. She got up too soon and was stricken with a violent relapse. Meanwhile she had contracted blood poisoning from a rose thorn on the index finger of her right hand.

The next two or three days her sister and I took turns night and day soaking her right arm in almost blistering hot Epsom salts water, covering her wrist and forearm with hot towels, holding her right arm constantly high.

The backset from tonsillitis developed into quinsy. Her throat became swollen shut. Her jaws became locked. Of course we had called a doctor.

For three days and three nights she was not only unable to swallow food or water, but worse, she was unable to sleep a single moment. She was nearing exhaustion. The red line of blood poisoning, despite our efforts, was streaking up her right arm. It had reached her shoulder on the way to her heart. The doctor told me privately she could not last another 24 hours.

The third sleepless, foodless and waterless day was a sweltering hot day in early August. Late that morning a neighbor lady stopped in to see my wife.

"Mr. Armstrong," she asked, "would you object if I ask a man and his wife to come and anoint and pray for Mrs. Armstrong's healing?"

That sounded a bit fanatical to me. Too embarrassed to object, however, I said hesitantly, "Well, I suppose not." In two hours she returned, saying they would come at about 7 that evening.

But I began to have misgivings. What if these people were Holy Rollers or wild, shouting fanatics? What would our neighbors say? I went to the neighbor lady and told her I believed we'd better not have them come after all. She was nice. She would start immediately and tell them not to come. I learned then she would have to walk over a mile each way to contact them. It was now the heat of the day, the hottest day of the year.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't realize you had to walk so far. But I was afraid these people might yell and wail and shout, and cause a neighborhood disturbance."

"Oh, they are very quiet people," she assured me. I backed down. "Well, let them come, then," I concluded.

The Meaning of Faith

They proved to be simple and plain people, not highly educated, yet of good natural intelligence.

"This is all rather new to me," I began, as soon as they were seated at my wife's bedside. "Would you mind if I ask a few questions?"

He welcomed the questions. He had a Bible in his hands. One by one he answered every question by reading his answer from the Bible. I recognized every passage he read, but had not put them together this way before. Now I saw them for the first time as teachings, admonitions, explanations and, most important, PROMISES! I began to understand -- and believe! And I knew well my wife did also.

I knelt with them beside her bed. The man anointed my wife from a vial of oil he carried. Then he uttered a quiet but deeply earnest, positive, believing prayer such as I had never heard before. He actually dared to talk directly to God, quoting what God had said in the Bible, quoting God's conditions and promises and applying those promises to my wife, saying in boldness and confidence that he was claiming and holding God to those promises.

Never had we heard a prayer like that! We knew God in His Word had promised. We believed God. Mrs. Armstrong and I both KNEW she was healed -- as this man had claimed -- from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet.

As they rose to leave, the woman laid a hand on Mrs. Armstrong's shoulder and said quietly, "You'll sleep tonight." I thanked them gratefully.

As they left Mrs. Armstrong asked me to bring her a robe. Without a word, she rose, and arm in arm we walked silently out to the sidewalk and back.

My wife went immediately to sleep and didn't waken until 11 the next morning. She arose and dressed as if nothing had happened. She was completely healed -- OF EVERYTHING!

We had learned a new lesson in FAITH! And that experience has resulted in countless thousands of others learning that lesson! We had learned that we can rely on God's Word! God's FAITHFULNESS is perfect.

A New Subject to Study

That awe-inspiring experience brought before me for study a totally new subject -- HEALING -- and its accompanying subjects of FAITH and PRAYER.

There was one real disappointment in this whole experience with my wife's healing. I felt extremely grateful to the man and wife who had brought this experience to us. I had learned a rather shocking truth in the Bible: The resurrection of Christ was NOT on Sunday, and the crucifixion was not on Friday. I had written in manuscript form an article on the subject. This man's fervent prayer not only saved my wife's life, it also opened my eyes to a new biblical truth. Now I wanted to share with him the eye-opening truth about the resurrection.

I took my typed manuscript along and offered it to him to read, asking his opinion about the truth of it. I left it with him. A few nights later, I called again on this man I looked to as a man of God. I asked if he had read my manuscript.

"Well, yes, Brother," he replied. "I took it to our pastor and we went over it together." He avoided giving an opinion as to its truth.

"But did you find any error in what I wrote?" I persisted.

"Well, no, Brother," he admitted. "We couldn't find anything wrong with it. But, Brother, we feel that studying that kind of subject is likely to be dangerous. It might get you all mixed up. We feel it would be better for you to just forget all about it. We feel there are more important things for you to study. It's best to just keep your mind on Christ."

God's Knowledge Rejected

I walked back home disillusioned, grieved, tremendously disappointed. He admitted I had brought him a new truth. He was unable to find any error in it. It was the pure teaching of the Bible, yet he not only rejected the admitted Word of God, he advised me, a newly converted man who had confidence in him, also to accept tradition and false teaching and reject the Word of the living God!

Arriving home, I happened to turn to Hosea 4:6 where God says that because people have rejected God's knowledge, He will reject them! It weighed heavily on my mind. A week later I walked back down Sandy Boulevard to the old tabernacle formerly used by Billy Sunday where this man and wife were caretakers. I hoped I might even yet rescue this man from the consequences of rejecting truth.

I found him in the big auditorium, looking downcast and dejected. "Brother!" he exclaimed on seeing me. "Brother, something terrible has come over me. God has left me. He doesn't answer my prayers anymore. Before, God used me in a special ministry praying for the sick. He always heard and answered. People were miraculously healed. But not anymore! Not one, anymore. I don't understand it!"

Truth -- or Consequences

Poor man! I understood. I tried to explain, but he wouldn't listen. He had been a trusting and deeply sincere, if simple and uneducated man. God had used him as an instrument in performing miracles, helping people.

I quoted to him from I John 3:22: "And whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." But he could not see that rejecting God's truth and refusing to keep His commandments had any connection with his case.

I had to think of the radio-television show originated by Ralph Edwards, Truth or Consequences. God had required him to accept the TRUTH or receive the consequences. I haven't seen or heard from that man since.

But Christ did continue to reveal His truth, as I diligently continued studying His Word. Not only did He open my mind to reveal His truth about healing, but also to understand the truth about His gospel message -- the Kingdom of God. I saw the great commission to His apostles: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel ..." (Mark 16:15).

I saw that it was a worldwide ministry, not a local one, nor even national to our own nation. It was now revealed to me how, in the ministry of Jesus and His first-century apostles, miraculous HEALING of the sick and diseased went hand in hand with the preaching of the gospel.

What happened through Simon the Sorcerer to stop the worldwide proclaiming of the true gospel and stop the miraculous healings was not revealed to me until years later. But it was at that time revealed to me how healing is for God's Church today (James 5:14-15), and also the prophecy revealing HOW the great commission was to be carried out in this present END TIME of the twentieth century.

Pivotal Chapter

That prophecy is in the pivotal prophecy chapter of the New Testament -- Matthew 24. Before I cover what the Bible teaches about healing in both Old and New Testaments, it is vital that the reader understand how that gospel message is today, after 19 centuries, going out into ALL THE WORLD for a WITNESS to all nations -- not being proclaimed to all the billions of people in every nation, but proclaimed in all the world-worldwide -- so that it becomes a witness to or against every nation.

Jesus had been teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem. Leaving the Temple, His disciples came to Him privately on the Mount of Olives, asking: "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world [age]?" (Verse 3.)

"And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I [Jesus] am Christ; and shall deceive many" (verses 4-5). First, Jesus warned them of the great deception, the false "Christianity" -- preaching CHRIST to the world, preaching ABOUT the messenger, but not proclaiming His message -- His gospel.

He did not give the sign by which we might know when we are at the END of this present world and His coming is near until verse 14: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

The very fact He gave the proclaiming of the true gospel of the Kingdom as the sign we are at the end time shows it was not preached to the world these past 19 centuries otherwise it could not be the sign.

But notice, this prophecy says the great commission will be going out again to the world, yet it says nothing about healing accompanying it. Elsewhere biblical teaching shows healing is for the Church. But it is NOT, today, an integral part of the proclaiming of Christ's gospel to the world!

Why?

Chapter Three

WHAT THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS REVEAL

Many believe, today, that Jesus healed and performed miracles only to demonstrate He was the Christ, but we read of miraculous healings all through the Old Testament.

The Israelites, on their trek out of Egyptian slavery, came to Marah. The water was too bitter to drink. Of course the people griped and blamed Moses. Moses cried out to God, who performed a miracle, making the waters sweet. Then God said: "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Eternal thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Eternal that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26).

The God Who Heals

Those last five words are translated from the Hebrew name Yahweh-Rapha, one of God's names, meaning the "healing God" or the "God who heals."

In Exodus 23:25, God is quoted speaking to the children of Israel: "... I will take sickness away from the midst of thee."

Again, in Deuteronomy 7:15: "And the Eternal will take away from thee all sickness ..." In Deuteronomy 32:39, God is quoted: "... I heal ..."

David prayed: "O Eternal my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me" (Psalms 30:2). Psalm 41:4: "Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul ..."

In Psalm 6:2, David prayed: "Have mercy upon me, O Eternal; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me ..."

Psalm 103:3: "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases." Is it God's will to heal? some ask. Or others say, "I know He could heal me, IF it's His will." Is it His will to forgive? Then, He says, it is also His will to HEAL -- all our diseases.

Psalm 107:17-20: "Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat [food]; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Eternal in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.

"He [sendeth] his word, and [healeth] them, and [delivereth] them from their destructions." (The original Hebrew signifies the present tense.) This is a case of one who has been very foolish, and brought the sickness upon himself. But, on repentance, God forgives and has mercy and heals.

Specific Case History

God had said to ancient Israel, "I am Yahweh-Rapha" -- that is, "I am the Eternal who heals you," or, "I am your healing God," or, "I am your God-healer." He also said in the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Healing is the forgiveness of physical sin. None but God can forgive sin. None but God heals! God is a jealous God. He is not going to allow anyone else to heal. Medicines and drugs do not, cannot HEAL!

Notice, now, the case of King Asa of Judah. He turned to the king of Syria for help and paid him money to become an ally. God had said He would fight Judah's battles for them. This hiring of allies God calls harlotry, in which the harlot pays instead of being paid.

But King Asa forsook God -- like a wife forsaking her husband and hiring lovers -- and this, after having previously relied on God for victories! God sent a prophet to remind Asa of what he was doing. But Asa in hot anger had the prophet imprisoned.

Later Asa was stricken with a serious disease. Notice in 11 Chronicles 16:12-13: "And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Eternal, but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign."

God wants His people to rely on Him, to TRUST Him. He wants to do things for us that we cannot do for ourselves. He wants us to learn the lesson of faith!

Now notice another case history, recorded in II Kings, first chapter. King Ahaziah, king of Israel at Samaria, son of the evil Ahab, "fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.

"But the angel of the Eternal said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the Eternal, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die" (verses 2-4).

Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, was the patron deity of medicine -- the medicine god of Ekron. The manner in which people inquired of this god was through the medical doctors. Is it because some of us do not know and rely on the true God that we rely instead on medical doctors? God has said, "I am the God who heals you."

But now one other case history from the Old Testament. It's the example of King Hezekiah. It is recorded in II Kings, the 20th chapter, the first seven verses.

"In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Eternal, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

"Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Eternal, saying, I beseech thee, O Eternal, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore."

He put his heart into his prayer. He OBEYED God. He had a right attitude. He did not now turn to seek human help, but trusted God alone. Continuing the passage in verse 5: "... Thus saith the Eternal, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Eternal. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years."

New Testament Teaching

Earlier we saw that proclaiming the ANNOUNCEMENT of the Kingdom of God and healing went hand in hand in Jesus' ministry. One passage in Matthew summarizes it:

"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people" (Matthew 4:23).

Jesus' ministry began in Galilee, not in Jerusalem. Matthew's account shows that the so-called "Sermon on the Mount" (actually a teaching to His disciples) followed (chapters 5 through 7).

Beginning in chapter 8: "When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean" (verses 1-2).

Here again comes the answer to the frequently expressed doubt, "Well, I know God could heal me, if it's His will-but how can we know His will?" Here is the answer: "And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed" (verse 3).

Gentiles Not Excluded

Continuing in verse 5: "And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum [where He lived (Matthew 4:13), apparently in His own house], there came unto him a centurion [Gentile captain over 100 Roman soldiers], beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

"And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

"When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel ....And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the self same hour" (Matthew 8:5-13).

How God Heals

Next we need to UNDERSTAND how God heals. And we need to see, further, how both the gospel and healing tie together. Both operate on the same principle -- one being spiritual, the other physical.

God is the CREATOR. But also He is the Great Designer, Educator and Lawgiver. Whatever God does He does with purpose and with order, according to the principles of His law. There can be no law without a penalty for its transgression.

And God never compromises with His laws or their penalties. Once a law is transgressed a penalty is incurred. Once a penalty is incurred it must be paid. God never suspends the penalty.

The biblical definition of SIN is the transgression of LAW (I John 3:4). In the spiritual sense, in connection with the gospel, the basic law of the Kingdom of God is the spiritual law (Romans 7:14) set in inexorable, relentless motion -- the law of LOVE, the "GIVE" way of life -- the principle of the Ten Commandments. The penalty for transgression is DEATH (Romans 6:23) -- eternal death, the absence of eternal life.

All have sinned. And sin sets up an impassable barrier between the sinner and God. The penalty -- death -- must be paid! God will not compromise a thousandth of an inch on that!

Then how do we get FREE from that penalty? How may we avoid paying it? By the fact that Christ paid it for us. Christ never committed sin. He never brought that penalty on Himself. But, being the actual Maker of all mankind (Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:13-16), His life was greater than the sum total of ALL other human lives. And when He died on the cross, He took our penalty on Himself. He paid the death penalty for all mankind -- conditioned on our repentance and faith; He paid the penalty FOR US, in our stead.

We may be healed by the same principle.

God made man of the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). We are composed of matter. He designed our bodies so that they function according to definite physical laws.

In the human body are a number of systems -- for example, the digestive system, the respiratory system, the circulatory system, the reproductive system, etc. Each functions separately, yet all work in perfect harmony with each other. They function according to definite physical LAWS. Those laws, when transgressed, exact a PENALTY.

When a person is sick or has contracted a disease, he is simply paying the PENALTY of transgressed physical law in his body.

One may not himself have broken a physical law. It could have been an accident. It could have been from a contagious disease contracted without his knowledge. In the case of Job (Job 2:6-7), Satan was the cause of Job's ailments for a special purpose, by God's permission. Nevertheless, sickness and disease are the penalty being paid for broken physical law.

God, the great Lawgiver, demands that the penalty must be paid! God never compromises that principle! No HEALING without the penalty having been PAID!

Jesus Paid the Penalty

So now let's continue in the eighth chapter of Matthew: "When the even was come [sunset, ending that Sabbath day], they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils [demons]: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias [Isaiah] the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Matthew 8:16-17).

Jesus paid the penalty in our stead.

Like the forgiveness of spiritual sin, God has paid the penalty for us by sending His Son Jesus to suffer the penalty in our stead. The penalty for physical transgression is physical punishment -- sickness or disease, physical impairment, pain and suffering or physical death.

Healing does not mean that God suspends the penalty so that no penalty is paid. Instead, Jesus has already paid it for us. Therefore God may legally remove the penalty from the human sufferer. But it is nonetheless a MIRACLE!

The scripture above quoted says Jesus Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses -- but NOT ON THE CROSS. They scourged Jesus, beat Him, breaking open the flesh of His body, before taking Him to Golgotha to be nailed to the cross.

The Scourging

Matthew 27:24-26: "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude ... Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified."

Mark 15:15: "And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified."

John 19:1: "Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him." This was prior to turning Jesus over to be crucified, which is not recorded until verse 16 of the same chapter: "Then delivered he [Pilate] him [Jesus] therefore unto them to be crucified."

I think it vitally important that we realize, at this point, two things:

1) What a TREMENDOUS price God Himself, through Christ, paid in order that He might perform for us this MIRACLE OF HEALING. This shows God's will. He is so willing, indeed so anxious, to relieve us from the pain, suffering or affliction that He gave His only begotten Son -- the One who is our very Maker -- to be beaten, to suffer in our stead, so that, without violating any principle of His LAW, we may be healed.

"The Eternal is merciful and gracious ... For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him ... Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Eternal pitieth them that fear him" (Psalm 103:8-13).

We need to realize God's LOVE and compassion. Healing must not be taken for granted or treated cheaply. THINK of Him who is the Maker of all mankind -- One so GREAT -- submitting Himself to be beaten as no man ever was so that He might perform this MIRACLE for us!

2) HOW IMPORTANT it is to God NEVER to compromise His law. We might reason that it would be easier for God, in each case of healing, to simply prevent the penalty from taking effect. But that would VIOLATE HIS LAW! That is what Satan is trying to do -- make God's laws inoperable; abolish the penalty; deal with the EFFECT, ignoring the CAUSE.

Medical "science" operates primarily on that method -- trying, with medicines, to prevent God's law from exacting its penalty.

That theory says, in effect, we can transgress God's law and then prevent God's law from exacting its penalty. The theory is: The sufferer has in his body one poison, so we add another poison in the form of medicine. And one poison plus one more poison equals NO poison!

God has gone to great lengths a) to bestow upon us His love and mercy, and b) to be consistent with His law. God's arithmetic is: One poison minus that one poison equals NO poison.

Now notice just how severely Jesus was beaten.

In Isaiah 52 and 53 it was foretold. Speaking of Christ in Isaiah 52: "As many were astound at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle [margin, "startle"] many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider" (verses 14-15).

In the Revised Standard Version this passage reads: "As many were astonished at him his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men -- so shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they shall see, and that which they have not heard they shall understand." Notice the tenses. Many were (when He was beaten with stripes) astonished -- His body beaten and marred more than any man. So shall (at His coming in supreme POWER and GLORY) many nations be startled at Him.

Then, in Isaiah 53 (RSV): "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief ... Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities [transgressions of the law]; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray [How?]; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Eternal has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (verses 3-6).

This is affirmed in the New Testament: "Who did no sin ... by whose stripes ye were healed" (I Peter 2:22, 24).

At the Passover Service

There is a very clear teaching in regard to Christ having paid the physical penalty, as well as the spiritual penalty of death, in connection with Passover service instruction.

It is in the apostle Paul's instruction to the Corinthians: "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is [represents] my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me [a memorial].

"After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come [the annual memorial of His death, on the actual anniversary of His crucifixion].

"Wherefore," the instruction continues, "whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily [that is, in an unworthy manner], shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [that is, are dead]" (I Corinthians 11:23-30).

The Revised Standard Version translates that last sentence: "That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died" -- not realizing Jesus Himself paid the penalty for physical transgressions of the laws of the human body, by allowing His body to be broken open by many stripes, and not relying on the living Christ for their HEALING!

Is it His WILL to heal us? This passage, especially as emphasized in the RSV, says we shall be judged if we NEGLECT (see Hebrews 2:3) so great a price paid so that we might be kept whale!

Forgiveness of Physical Sin

Now back to Matthew's account of Jesus' ministry. We had last covered the eighth chapter and 17th verse. We come now to the ninth chapter.

Jesus came again to His own city, where He then resided- -Capernaum. "And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed ...."

Notice Mark's account of the same incident: "And again he entered into Capernaum, after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house" (Mark 2:1).

I pause here for a slight digression. Today many represent Jesus as a vagabond -- a hippie with long hair and no place to live, having to sleep outdoors. In I Corinthians 11:14, it is plainly stated it is a shame for a man to have long hair. Jesus was no hippie.

And the evidence is clear that Jesus had a home. In Matthew 4 we have seen that Jesus, leaving Nazareth, came and dwelt in Capernaum. That assuredly implies a "dwelling place." He dwelt in a house. In Matthew 9:1, Capernaum is called "his own city," a term certainly implying His place of residence.

In Mark 2:1, quoted above, Jesus returned to Capernaum, His own city, where He dwelt, and it was noised around that He was "in-the house," certainly implying His own house. If He had entered the house of any other person, it would have named the person into whose house He came.

Now to continue, this time in Luke's account of this same incident, because Luke gives more details: "And ... as he was teaching ... men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him [Jesus]. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

"And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

"But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.

"And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day" (Luke 5:17-26).

This incident, reported in all three books of Matthew, Mark and Luke, confirms, in the words of Jesus Christ Himself, that physical healing is indeed "the forgiveness of sin." Sin is defined (I John 3:4) as "the transgression of LAW," as correctly translated. Physical sin is the transgression of physical law operating in the human body. To pay this penalty in our stead, Jesus was scourged, chastised, beaten with stripes.

On the other hand, spiritual sin, which imposes the penalty of the second death -- eternal death -- is the transgression of the spiritual law (Romans 7:13-14), the law summed up by the Ten Commandments. Jesus paid the penalty for both. Doctors, medicines, and drugs can no more forgive physical sins than spiritual sins. They cannot heal!

Chapter Four

WHAT IS FAITH?

You can be healed! Jesus said so! But also He said, "According to your faith be it unto you" (Matthew 9:29).

First, are you sure you know what faith is? Very few know. Yet without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6): "... For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

Looking down into our latter half of the twentieth century, Jesus said, "... When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8.) Yet you must have faith for salvation! How, then, may you have it? You can't work it up. Yet if you can't have the faith to be healed, how can you have the faith to be saved? God said, "For by grace are ye saved through faith ..." (Ephesians 2:8).

Jesus foresaw the near total absence of faith in our time. Few today know what faith is or why they do not have it!

Certainly the world has almost lost sight of real FAITH. No wonder so few have any -- no wonder so many say, "My faith isn't very strong," or "I just can't seem to work up the faith." People today do not know what faith is or why they do not possess it. Yet without FAITH none can ever be saved!

Jesus Had Faith

When Jesus walked the earth in human flesh, He possessed faith!

Yet He said plainly, "I can of mine own self DO NOTHING" (John 5:30).

Few realize that what He did -- the miracles He performed -- He did not do by any supernatural power of His own. Everything He did, every miracle He performed, was done literally through FAITH, setting us a beautiful example.

But how, then, did He perform His miracles, accomplish His mighty works?

"... The FATHER that dwelleth in me," explained Jesus, "he doeth the works" (John 14:10).

Yes, even as you and I may be, Jesus was filled with God's Holy Spirit -- God's dynamic supernatural POWER! This power of God Almighty, the Creator, was literally in Jesus; and the same identical power of the same identical living God may be within you today!

All the apostles and evangelists of the first century true Church of God did perform miracles, and even greater miracles than Jesus had performed, until even Peter's shadow passing over the sick and afflicted caused them to be healed!

Peter, Stephen, Philip, Paul -- common, humble, ordinary men themselves -- all had that power, the SAME identical power Jesus had, because they lived and walked CLOSE TO GOD and were filled with the Holy Spirit!

And we seem to LACK that power today, NOT because God denies us that power, but because we are so close to a modern, materialistic world -- our minds are so filled with the material interests of this life; our minds and our hearts are so far from God; we are so out of touch with Him through lack of enough time spent in the study of His Word and lack of enough of the right kind of surrendered, submissive, earnest and heartrending PRAYER -- and, consequently, we are not filled with the Holy Spirit which affords us the power of God!

So now let's ask two questions:

First, what is faith?

And, second, how may we have it, and how may it be increased?

What Faith Is

Now notice, faith is the substance -- the marginal rendering says ASSURANCE of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). So FAITH comes before possession.

Once you have received the possession, you no longer hope for it. But even before you receive it, you have it in SUBSTANCE; and that ASSURANCE that you shall possess it is faith.

Then again, faith is an EVIDENCE -- the "evidence of things not seen." Faith precedes the actual receiving of what you ask for. And faith is the EVIDENCE you shall have it before you even SEE it. It is the EVIDENCE of things not yet seen. You do not have it. You do not see it or feel it -- yet faith is your EVIDENCE that you have, or shall have, it. Faith is the assurance of receiving that which you still HOPE for.

Proof of Healing

So I want you to notice that when you hope for things or ask God for things, there is an EVIDENCE -- a proof, because where God is involved, His evidence is proof -- that you shall receive what you have asked. And what is that proof, that evidence? Is it the actual receiving of the answer, so you see or feel or hear that you have it? No!

Suppose, for instance, you were ill -- taken with a disease. Now Jesus healed the sick continually. And He said the works that He did -- and this was one of them -- we should do also. Now suppose you ask God to heal you. Naturally, you want some evidence that you are going to be healed.

So what is that evidence, that proof? Is it the evidence of the pain ceasing -- or the swelling going down -- something you can feel and see? I know a man who said, "When I can see anyone healed by direct prayer, then I'll believe in it." This man said he wanted to BELIEVE in it -- he wanted to have FAITH in it! He was looking for an EVIDENCE that he could SEE, and he died without ever seeing it!

Because what we SEE -- what we FEEL -- is not the true EVIDENCE. Having the thing -- SEEING it -- is not faith. Faith precedes possession because FAITH is confidence, ASSURANCE, you shall possess it.

The human mind, naturally, can receive KNOWLEDGE only through five senses. These are five sole channels capable of transmitting knowledge, by natural processes, to the human brain: the senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling.

Faith Is Spiritual

But that is not FAITH! Faith is a spiritual matter, and it has nothing to do with the five senses, which are physical.

Prayer is a spiritual matter. God is a SPIRIT! And when we ask, for instance, for healing, we do have an evidence -- proof positive -- that the healing will be done. But that evidence is not something seen or felt or heard -- it is not a physical evidence of FAITH. FAITH is our evidence.

Let's understand plainly where your human nature has clouded the issue and deceived you. God has told you in Exodus 15 that He is your healer -- your God-healer -- that is one of His names, and God is named what He is. God sent His Son into the world to be beaten with stripes, to suffer the penalty of your transgressions of nature's laws (which God set in motion) in your stead. His body was broken for you, and by His stripes you are healed! God gave you His word that it is His will to heal you. He commanded you to call the elders of the Church, which you did. He promised to heal you. But God has also made it a part of this contract, in His Word, that "according to your faith be it unto you" -- in the very words of Christ!

Now FAITH is your evidence that God will do what He promised. You can't see faith -- you can't feel it. What you see or feel has nothing to do with faith. But the point your human nature -- under the influence of Satan -- wants you to overlook is that God did not promise WHEN or HOW He would heal you!

Learning Patience

God's purpose in your life is to transform you from what you've been into the very image of His Son -- into the very character of God Himself. Part of this character is the learning of PATIENCE! And God instructs you in James 1:3 that the trying of your faith works PATIENCE into your character. God has revealed to you in this and other scriptures that He will sometimes delay healing you in order to TRY your faith and to teach you to be patient! Your healing, God has promised, shall be according to your faith.

Faith is trusting God to do that which He has not yet done. After the healing is completed you no longer need to exercise faith. Faith is the ingredient you must exercise until God heals you -- until you can see and feel that you are healed. It's the same with spiritual salvation. You are not yet in the Kingdom of God, but those of you in Christ have the ASSURANCE -- the faith -- that you shall be. After God has healed you then you won't need FAITH in it any longer. But your faith must remain firm and steadfast and patient, regardless of what you see or feel, until God actually heals you as He has promised to do.

Your human nature -- swayed by Satan -- wants you to believe that faith is something you exercise in about 30 seconds, while you are still praying, and then if God has not done what He promised as soon as you expect, you are to find God guilty of lying. The instant you yield to the devil's influence over your human nature and render a verdict that God will not do what He promised just because He has not done it yet, that moment you make God out a liar -- you lose all FAITH in God. You thereupon break your part of the agreement, which is to have faith and keep on having faith and trusting God and relying upon Him UNTIL He performs what He promised.

Simple Reliance on God

Faith is simple reliance upon God's Word. It is the evidence of what you do not see or feel. Therefore Christ calls upon you to have patience -- to keep on TRUSTING God until He heals you, and then He will heal you!

You must render your verdict based upon the evidence.

Which, now, is the evidence you believe? That which you see and filthy physical evidences that often are deceptive -- or your faith that God's Word is true, that His promises are sure, that it is impossible for God to lie?

If you BELIEVE this latter spiritual evidence and reject the physical evidences of sight and of feeling, you pronounce sentence that His Word has been VINDICATED by your verdict. You shall be RELEASED from the disease and what He promised shall be carried out.

But, if you decide that the physical evidences of sight or feeling are to be trusted over and above the Word of ALMIGHTY God, and you reject His Word and His promise and refuse to believe in it -- refuse, in other words, to accept and trust in the evidence of FAITH until God completes it, then you yourself must render your verdict, "NOT HEALED," and you will not be healed!

You see, God does not promise healing or anything else unless we BELIEVE. According to your FAITH be it unto you, said Jesus. And remember the FAITH must precede and, therefore, is a condition to the possession.

One man expressed it very well: "Faith is the assurance that the things which God said in His Word are true and that God will act according to what He has said in His Word. This assurance, this reliance on God's Word, this confidence, is FAITH!" And it is a true Bible definition. This Work of God has been built by putting it into actual practice.