Healed of Breast Cancer

OSL

CANADA

The International Order of St Luke the Physician

Testimony



	Healing Miracles
	A Question of Faith
	by John Findeis

	Note of Thanks and Acknowledgement. My grateful thanks to the Rev. Mike Endicott, founder of Jacob’s Well Healing Ministry in Wales http://www.jacobswell.org.uk/ These reflections are inspired by his teachings and books. Any errors, omissions or misinterpretations are entirely mine. We know the miraculous healing of my wife, Joyce, from multiple Stage III breast cancers, came from our Lord. In expectant faith, we prayed the healing prayers of thanksgiving and praise (instead of pleading in supplication), based on suggested outlines from the Order of Jacob’s Well. John Findeis Jesus died on the cross to save us from the consequences of our sins and to heal us of our infirmities. How many Christians understand that there were two great benefits of His crucifixion – one for the life hereafter, and one for this life? Our Saviour demonstrated and taught that He wants us to be healed of all ills in this life! He said, ”I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Why do we have so many instances of healing miracles in the New Testament and so few examples in our lives today? Despite all the evidence in the Gospels of the importance which Jesus placed on His healing ministry as well as His preaching, modern Christians are exposed to much preaching but very little healing. Our Lord’s own testimony about His earthly ministry (Luke 7:19-22, Matt. 11:2-5) stressed what He did - He healed and He preached the Good News to the poor. Mark 3:14-15 states Christ’s intentions so clearly: “And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.” Not only did He command His twelve apostles to go throughout the country and heal the sick and proclaim the coming of the kingdom of heaven, but - in case we missed it - He repeated this instruction to an additional 70 disciples (Luke10:1-9)! Why do we see so little emphasis placed on miraculous healing through prayer, within the Christian community? If such healings were prevalent in our faith communities it would surely reduce the current level of suffering in body, mind or spirit among our fellow believers. How great would be their encouragement, and how strong would be their faith, and how much more joy- filled would be the lives of those healed! As for non-believers, if Christians proclaimed the Good News to them and watched the Holy Spirit confirm this through miraculous signs and wonders, especially of healing, souls would be saved and lives transformed. If only we had the necessary faith in Jesus! Most of us will agree that our Lord Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. If He healed all that came to Him in faith then, would He not still heal all faith-filled supplicants today? We have the prophesy of Isaiah saying, over 700 years before Christ’s crucifixion, that “With His stripes we are healed”(Is.53:5). In addition, Peter confirms this fact by stating “ by His wounds you have been healed” (1Peter 2:24). If we are going to follow Christ’s purpose, as He instructed His disciples in Matthew’s Great Commission, why are we not obeying His command and doing what He told us to do? In the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus clearly tells His disciples: “ …go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.“ The part of His instruction which we seem to have missed is that we are to teach all nations, to obey everything which Jesus had commanded His apostles to do. One of those commandments is quoted in the earlier passage from Luke. He did not suggest or plead with His 12 apostles to go into the countryside to heal the sick and proclaim the good news. He commanded them to do it! If faith in Jesus is defined as belief in Him and all that He accomplished on the cross for us and acting on that belief, even before we see any results, then is the lack of healing miracles experienced nowadays due to our lack of faith in Him? The only prerequisite for healing in New Testament times was expectant faith in Jesus – faith by the supplicant or his representative that Jesus was willing and able to heal him. Jesus never said ‘No’ or ‘Not now’ or ‘Get your life in order first’ or ‘This illness will bring you closer to me’ or ‘It is not my sovereign will to heal you’. He healed everyone who came to Him. At times, healing is gradual rather than instantaneous, so persistence is required, along with the expectant faith. Repeatedly, Jesus mentions that people were healed because of their faith in Him. Matt. 9:27-30 is just one such example. Jesus said that He did only what He saw the Father do. God said in the Old Testament, “I am the Lord who heals you “(Ex.15:26d), and “I will take away sickness from among you” (Ex. 23:25b) Would He say that if He only did it occasionally? So many of us believers, including some of those praying for healing and laying hands on the sick, will say that sometimes God miraculously heals the sick or He may give them the grace to deal with their sickness. Where did that second option come from? Did Jesus ever say “I won’t heal you, but I will give you the strength to deal with your infirmity?” If He took all our sicknesses and infirmities to the cross with Him, and if we are healed by His wounds, then this second option has no basis in Holy Scriptures. It is contrary to the Bible. It is, tragically, what we see or hear so much of the time. How do we reconcile what we hear today with what we read in the Gospels? The only explanation that comes to mind is that we, like the people of Nazareth, do not have the necessary expectant faith in Jesus for us to receive healing miracles from Him. Why is this? Why do we have so little faith or no faith in our Lord’s ability and willingness to heal us today? Very few people give time to Bible reading and study in these busy days, so the actual truth of Scriptures is unfamiliar to them. Many things have changed in the last two thousand years. Medical science has made such great strides, that some of the results appear miraculous. We have also reaped so many benefits from the amazing advances in the other physical sciences, that we often accept the opinions of these researchers on matters outside their fields of expertise. Scientists cannot explain miraculous healings. Instead, many of them reject or cast doubt on anything which they cannot explain or duplicate in their own laboratories. Theologians also, starting more than two centuries years ago, tried to explain away the miracles of the Gospels through scientific reasoning which they termed ‘Higher Criticism’. We are still feeling the effects of these theories in our universities and seminaries today. Many clergy have no experience of healing. They were not taught it. They have not seen it and few know of anyone who has been healed miraculously. Some may try to protect their flocks from losing their faith by not risking public failure and disappointment, if supplicants are prayed over and not healed. Such visible disappointments could readily lead to loss of faith, they may reason, and understandably they do not want to go down that road. Lastly and most importantly of all, our personal experiences as laymen, are also devoid of all but an occasional healing miracles, experienced either first or second-hand. Based on my own experience, several of the earlier miracles in my life, I tended to forget or ascribe to amazing coincidences. We lack the faith to believe whole-heartedly in Jesus, and to act on that belief (that He can and will heal us), by praising and thanking Him for the healing before it has become apparent to us! Instead, we try to explain away the results of our lack of faith, by coming up with statements based on our experience, not on Holy Scriptures. If our experience is in contradiction to the biblical accounts of Christ’s words and His many healing miracles, we stop believing that Jesus is still willing to heal us, instead of understanding that it is our lack of faith in Him and what He accomplished on the cross for us, that prevents the healing. Jesus wants to heal us always. He paid the price for it, but we need that expectant faith in Him, that He can and will do it! We express this, our faith, (instead of asking and pleading for healing), by thanking Him and praising Him for what He accomplished on the Cross for us. We praise and thank the Father for sending us His only Son. We continue to give such thanks and praise to Jesus for having healed us, before we see the evidence. Since only some healings are instantaneous, we must also persist in continuing the praise and thanksgiving in confident faith, until the results do become apparent. With such perseverance in praise and thanksgiving prayers of what Jesus accomplished on the cross for us, we can still experience miraculous healing today. Our Lord showed us how He wants us to be healed – in body, mind and spirit. It is time to leave the Nazareth of our minds and embrace Jesus, not only as our Saviour, but also as our Healer! Bible References (New King James and NIV translations) Old Testament Exodus 15:25b-26 – There the Lord made a decree and law for them, and He tested them. He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 23:25-26 - 25Worship the Lord your God, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,26 and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. New Testament 1. Jesus did not merely preach. He attracted large crowds by healing them, and then preached the Good News of the kingdom of God. Matthew 15:29-31 -- 29 And Jesus went from there and passed along the Sea of Galilee. And He went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the dumb and many others, and they put them at His feet, and He healed them, 31 so that the throng wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. 2. He empowered His 12 apostles, and sent them out 2 by 2, to heal the crowds and to bring them the Good News. Luke 9:1-2,6 -- 1And He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,2 and He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 6And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. 3. After He had sent out the 12, He then demonstrated that praying for healing was not to be limited only to the apostles but to every believer willing to be a follower of Jesus. Jesus reinforced His method of preaching the Good News and healing the sick by sending out the 72 disciples. Luke 10:1,8-9 -- 1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He was about to go. 8 When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ 4. The testimony of Jesus Himself speaking to the two disciples of John the Baptist, about His own ministry. In Luke’s Gospel (also Matthew 11:2-5) He testified to what He did and summarized His own ministry on earth in the following words: Luke 7:19-22 --19 And John calling to him two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord, saying “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20And when the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another? ’21 In that hour He cured many of diseases and plagues and of evil spirits, and on many that were blind He bestowed sight. 22And He answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk , lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the good news preached to them.” Jesus first mentions healing and then preaching, in the same sentence. He lists 5 types of healing miracles that He performed and then states that He also preaches the Good News. In this, His testimony about His work, healing appears to be as important to Him, as the preaching. 5. Repeatedly, Jesus states that specific people were healed because of their faith in Him. Matthew 9:27–30 -- 27And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”28 When He entered the house, the blind men came to Him; and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him,” Yes, Lord”. 29Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.”30 And their eyes were opened... 6. What many Christians do not seem to realize is that Jesus not only took all our sins to the cross with Him but also all our sicknesses, infirmities and diseases. For “by His wounds we are healed.” Isaiah. 53:5 -- 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our infirmities. Upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, And by His wounds we are healed. 7. The biblical definition of “faith” is both challenging and comforting. Hebrews 11:1 -- 1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

	John and Joyce Findeis live in South Western Ontario. They may be contacted at jjfindeis@yahoo.com