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The World to Come. The Restored Church of God presents David C. Pack. Answering life’s
greatest questions straight from the Bible, and announcing the wonderful good news of
the World to Come.
We continue examining the subject of God as our Healer. This is Part 3. We have learned
how the true gospel is tied to healing, as well as how forgiveness of sins is involved.
We also saw that Christ's sacrifice has much to do with healing. Finally, we learned that
real, believing faith is a vital requirement for any seeking to be healed. Are there other
requirements? Part 3 answers this, and much more!
Jesus taught His disciples how to pray: "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Your
name…" At a point, the phrase "Your Will be done" appears. Even tho Jesus admonished
His disciples, just before this, not to use vain repetition, millions recite this prayer
verbatim, and often. Yet how many pause to reflect on the meaning of "Your Will be done"?
Few! Christians are instructed to seek God's Will
in all matters. God wants you to know His will. He does not want you to sit in confusion,
fear or ignorance of exactly what He intends, in either His Plan for humanity, or for you.
Romans 12 exhorted, "Prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, Will of God."
Does this sound like God wants you to be content not knowing His Will? We saw Paul also wrote,
"Be you not unwise, but understanding what the Will of the Lord is." That's plain. But
some seem willing to remain unwise regarding God's promise to heal.
Why? Why would one want to disbelieve God regarding such a wonderful promise? Why would
one be unwilling to know God's Will in a matter that could involve life and death?
Let's read how you can learn the Will of God---exactly. Understanding His Will comes neither from
the 5 physical senses nor natural instinct. How then does one understand the Will of God
regarding healing---or any other matter? God's answer?: "Study to show yourself approved
unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
God's Word will tell you the truth of every matter necessary for salvation. But you must
study it! One chapter later, Paul told Timothy: "Continue you in the things which you have
learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned them; and that from
a child you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation
thru faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God [it continues],
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
After studying God's Word, one must believe it---he must exhibit faith. You saw what faith
is. You also know that God often states He is our Healer. We do not have to wonder if
it is His Will to heal us. Many who do not study God's Word remain ignorant. This is
sad---and so unnecessary. Many view healing as the agnostic does God's existence. They
are not sure. Yet they are without excuse! At this point, I will relate 2 personal examples
of how God dramatically intervened and healed me---in one case, from almost certain death,
and in the other, from a crippling foot disease. In late 1967, when I was age 18 and attending
Ambassador College (training for the ministry), I was suddenly stricken with a severe Staph
infection in my nose. This was about 16 months after God had begun to call me. I was not
yet baptized and converted---but what happened spurred me to seek God as never before.
Almost overnight, a deadly infection developed. Because the pain and inflammation was so intense---with
my nose swollen to 3 times its normal size---I was advised to seek a medical opinion of my
condition. The doctor who saw me was immediately alarmed. He told me I needed massive doses
of antibiotics, and that cerebral meningitis was imminent---that the infection was already
one inch from my brain. I remember this occurred on a Wednesday. The
doctor urged me to take the drugs and, when I resisted, stated what no one could ever
forget, "Young man, he said, this is Wednesday, and if you do not take the drugs I am prescribing---YOU
WILL NOT SEE NEXT WEDNESDAY!" This was shocking. I had not yet realized the gravity of my condition.
But I remembered God's promise of healing and decided to put my faith in Him.
This time, the doctor was shocked. He asked 2 nurses to join us in his office to witness
what he had told me. He even refused to let me leave until I signed a prepared statement
of release so he would not be liable when I died. (Not long ago I came across this signed
statement among my papers in storage, dated November 21, 1967.)
Almost immediately after I left his office---and was anointed according to James 5:14---the
infection in my nose began to clear up. Within 3 days, it was entirely gone. While God did
not heal me instantly in this case, He kept His promise---and did heal me!
The 2nd instance occurred 15 years later, in 1982. By this time, I had been in the ministry
for almost 11 years and was pastoring about 700 brethren.
Over a period of 2 years, starting with an injury, I developed a severe nerve disease
in my feet. The pain was so severe---and there was some loss of use in my left foot---that
I had reached a point where I could no longer serve in the ministry. Doctors told me they
thought surgery to release certain nerves from a condition of entrapment was my only
hope. Though I had been anointed according to His Word, God had not yet healed me. I
determined not to have the surgery and to await God's answer. Unbeknownst to me, the
associate pastor had asked the whole congregation to pray and fast on my behalf. By the time
this occurred, I had been working from a wheelchair for 3 1/2 months, having used crutches for
7 months before that, and a cane for 13 months before that. My left leg had withered to no
more than half its size. After the fast ended, I knew I had to try
to stand up and walk. This was a Saturday morning. I slowly arose without pain, and
briefly walked around the house. The pain was gone and my feet functioned normally.
I had been healed, perhaps instantly, and once again was reminded that God keeps His
promise to heal. The pain has never returned!
In one case, God moved swiftly, yet healed me over several days. In the other, He chose
to wait a long time---allowing me to learn many lessons in patience and longsuffering---but
then healed me immediately, all at once. In both cases, God's promise was the same.
I had to learn that God heals. While it took faith to believe He would, my faith was also
greatly increased, in each case, after the healing. I was inspired and excited about
what I saw God would do for me. I have certainly not always had perfect faith, but I did learn
that when God plainly says He will do something---HE DOES IT!
I have seen God heal many people in clear, powerful, and sometimes dramatic ways. What
I witnessed could not be explained as other than miraculous. I have anointed people who
were racked with arthritis thruout their body---and watched them healed instantly. I have seen
and anointed others afflicted with cancer---and watched it disappear with all symptoms. I
have anointed women with barren wombs---and then seen two or three children come in quick
succession. In another case, a man fell 55 feet from a
telephone repair truck cherry picker, suffering a broken spine and a complete break of his
femur at the top of his leg. The x-rays clearly showed both. He was placed in a body cast
that reached from chin to toes. After his anointing, done shortly after the accident,
he literally tore off the cast. He had it on display in his dining room when I returned
several days later to visit him. He left the doctors truly astonished, because, of course,
they still had the x-rays to prove that broken bones had been instantly fused back together
by the power of God! Now recall that Paul explained how some had
"not discerned the Lord's body"---that it was beaten and broken thru scourging---stripes---in
order for Him to pay our penalty for sickness and disease. Because some lacked faith, many
were, it says, "weak and sickly…and many [died]."
Also recall Paul taught to follow Christ's example to take unleavened bread annually
at the Passover, as a type of Christ's broken body for us. This means we are accepting Jesus'
suffering that we can be healed. We are accepting His stripes on our behalf. But how exactly
does this work? I John 3:4 explains, "Sin is the transgression
of the law." While some assert that there is no such thing as physical law---and therefore
physical sin---this verse is not specific. It does not limit itself to just the 10 Commandments,
God's spiritual law. It is obviously referring to all laws imposed or instituted by God.
I have explained in detail in other broadcasts that perhaps the greatest overarching law
that governs everything in life is that of cause and effect. This law applies to all
aspects of how a human body functions. When right causes are violated, wrong effects appear.
We call them disease. When people continually overeat, digestive and other problems occur.
If people overindulge in alcohol, a variety of bad effects result. If people smoke, a
host of problems---lung and throat cancer, foul breath, yellow teeth, shortness of breath
and diminished circulation appear. The One who wrote the Bible states that His
great Law, the 10 Commandments, is "holy, just, good and spiritual." When God's laws
are obeyed, they bring blessings, benefits and good things to the lives of those who
obey them. Yet man has rejected the Instruction Book that would reveal to him the cause of
all his problems and misery. Time does not permit that this series cover
every law of God, and how it relates to cause and effect. However, thruout the Bible, God
promises blessings, benefits and good results to those who take each particular promise
at its word. God promises to heal all those who keep His
laws and exercise faith in His power to perform the healing. (Review these verses.) He promises
to greatly bless those who obey His Sabbath. (Read the verses on this list.) He promises
good health to those who obey His many health laws. Each promise involves employing a right
cause (obedience) to achieve a right effect (blessing or benefit).
In each case, God describes a cause-and-effect relationship that proves the inspiration behind
His instructions. But it will only work for those willing to take Him at His Word---who
have faith, who believe His promises! While the determined skeptic will reject this
reasoning---and to his own hurt---thinking he can defy the law of cause and effect---the
one who is willing to take God at face value receives answers. But this series is not for,
and cannot help, the closed-minded skeptic. It certainly can help you---if you remain
open to God's wonderful promises. Billions of people routinely break physical
laws---then wonder why they are sick. Ignorant of God's promise to heal, thru Christ's stripes,
they rush to doctors, seeking cures---quick fixes. The goal is to cover up bad effects
without eliminating the cause. Yet only Christ can completely remove all the bad effects---the
penalty for broken physical laws. Some will not believe there are physical laws---and
that they must be kept. They want the freedom---the license---to break laws without reaping penalties.
Paul speaks bluntly of "unreasonable and wicked men" who "have not faith." These do not want
to obey any of the laws of God. Such people will never be healed, and will likely be just
as unwilling to believe the evidence when God heals others.
God instructs Christians to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ." Growing,
overcoming and learning take a lifetime. The Parable of the Pounds (in Luke 19) carefully
explains how the reward of every Christian is determined by how much he develops and
grows the talents God gave him. Some will be given 10 cities, others 5, and so on. This
life is a training ground for God's people to develop His holy, righteous perfect character---His
divine nature (II Pet. 1:4)---so they can rule in the kingdom of God. When Jesus called
His servants into account in this parable, He was showing that all people will one day
stand and give account before the judgment seat of Christ. Like the reward of the 12
apostles, who will be put over the 12 tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28), some will be given
great authority to rule cities with Christ, as it says, "in the throne of His glory."
Some do not want the true Christ of the Bible telling them what to do. They do not want
Him to rule their lives and conduct. But they do want salvation---with no strings!
Ancient Israel had a long history of poor obedience to God's Law. From the time they
left Egypt, all the way until the prophet Samuel's time, God directly ruled the nation
of Israel. He was its King. Eventually they wanted a human king to be like the nations
around them. They did not want God directly ruling them. Here is what God told Samuel,
when Israel sought a human king: "They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me,
that I should not reign over them." The world is still the same. It does not want God ruling
it, even if it means humanity is cut off from His promise of healing---and all His other
benefits and blessings. No one will be given rulership before he has
proven that he can be ruled! No one can be part of God's world-ruling government unless
he has learned to submit to the government of God and to be ruled by God and Jesus Christ
in this life. This is the message in the Parable of the Pounds!
Gal 5:22-23 describes the "fruit of the Spirit": Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness and self-control, or temperance as it is listed. In John 15,
Christians are told to grow and develop these fruits. Some may grow more in love, yet lack
an abundance of joy. Others are the opposite. Some grow in peace, yet have not developed
much longsuffering. Others are the opposite. Some develop great gentleness, but have little
self-control. Others are the opposite. Some may be strong in several fruits, while being
weak in several others. The point? Some may have well-developed faith,
but are weak in other fruits. Others may be strong in several fruits---but weak in faith.
These may not have sufficient faith to properly trust God for healing. How should those who
may be stronger in faith view them? Paul told the Romans: "Him that is weak in
the faith receive you, but not to doubtful disputations [arguments]." The Bible says
some are "weak in faith." Though all should be growing in faith, some have not reached
spiritual maturity in this area. We are told to "receive" such, not "condemn" them. We
assist, encourage and help those weak in faith. The ministry must continually work with all
kinds of weaknesses in God's people. If some are not fully able to believe that
by Christ's "stripes you are healed," we should actively encourage them to grow in faith!
And to remind them of basic scriptures about healing, and about God's promises as Yahweh-Rapha.
We must continually remind ourselves that this is not God's world! It is cut off from
Him (Isa. 59:1-2). He is not the author of its governments, religions, cultures, educational
systems, family values, alternative lifestyles---or its medical schools and the medical profession.
These are all humanly-devised institutions, created and developed by men. While not totally
evil, they are a mixture derived from the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil,"
which Adam and Eve chose. God did not raise up the medical profession
for the modern age! Rejecting God's rule, men developed their own system, apart from
God, of "treating" disease. And the medical profession has not only become powerful in
the United States, it also has the most powerful government in the world behind it. Together,
they enact and enforce laws. Of course, many are for the general good of civil society.
Consider. People are conditioned to automatically revere those in the medical field. Most have
much more respect for doctors and hospitals than God. The medical field has its place
and does fill a need. However, many stand in awe of each new medical breakthrough. They
place their trust and hope in the false gods of modern medicine and scientific research
to deliver them from disease. Again, not all medical breakthroughs and scientific research
are bad, but it is a mistake to put hope and trust there in place of God. As one draws
closer to God, he comes to realize that far better, more perfect and complete results
are possible by looking to Him for healing. It is important that parents be wise in how
they practice their faith in God's healing, particularly when it comes to children. My
grandfather's parents (my great-grandparents) made the decision to withhold medical intervention
from one of their sons. They supposed that they were trusting in God. Their 14-year-old
(who would have been my great uncle) died. Having lost his two-year-older brother, my
mother's father was driven away from God and "organized religion" until the day of his
death. He had watched his parents practice a form of "mind science," and witnessed his
brother's death as a result! God will certainly heal children, but remember
that it is "according to your faith." Parents need to recognize that God may not heal---IF
there is insufficient faith---and they could face criminal prosecution by the authorities
if they neglect to consult a doctor. Also, parents, and all others, must be extremely
careful about going off medications cold turkey without professional advice. This can be dangerous.
Be most careful when considering such a step. The Bible was written a long time ago. Nothing
has been added in nearly 2,000 years. God's Plan and purpose, described thruout its pages,
never change. His promises are sure---They are certain. His power to heal in the 21st
century is just as certain as in the 1st century. Here is how you know this.
In Malachi, God states directly, "For I am the Lord, I change not." I Cor 10:4 identifies
Christ as the God---the "Rock"---of the Old Tes. This is why Heb 13:8 states, "Jesus Christ
the same yesterday, and today, and forever." Rev 1:8 adds this about Christ: "I am Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which
is to come, the Almighty." Jesus Christ is permanent and unchanging!
The only difference in the way God heals today is that He is not accompanying---as did Christ
and His disciples---the preaching of the kingdom of God with public healings in large numbers.
But we saw that the kingdom is still being preached by God's Church, and this is why
healing still takes place---but now within the Church.
Recall James wrote, "Is any sick among you?"---this means brethren, who are part of the Church
of God. The instruction is, "Let him [that member of the Church] call for the elders
of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and
if he [the member of the Church] committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."
This is God's promise---HIS WILL!---regarding all who call upon Him in faith for healing!
It is vital to recognize that Jesus' ministry was dual: (1) Preaching the gospel of the
kingdom, and (2) healing the sick and casting out demons.
The original apostles continued this same pattern.
Modern pseudo-healers have made a mockery of healing, thru circus sideshow fakery. Repulsed
by this sham, many turn to modern medicine. Again, though medical science may help treat
the effects of disease, only God can heal. Some brief history is in order. God began
to give His Holy Spirit---the same Spirit by which Jesus and the disciples did miracles---to
His Church on Pentecost in AD 31. This is when the New Testament Church was created.
Peter gave a powerful sermon that was so convicting 3,000 were baptized. Many had asked, "Men
and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter's answer, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of
the Holy [Spirit]." This verse is God's plain command to "be baptized"!
The Bible also says baptism must be preceded by repentance or one will not be given God's
Spirit. But God must first call all who are brought into the Church. Jesus said, "No man
can come to Me, except the Father which has sent Me draw him." People do not choose God.
God chooses them---and then Christ puts them into the Church (read Acts 2:47).
The early New Testa Church initially grew by leaps and bounds. God was calling great
numbers. The apostles performed signs and wonders from the outset, fulfilling Christ's
promise to them on the night before His crucifixion. Notice: "The Father that dwells in Me, He
does the works…He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father."
As a result, thousands were converted in the beginning months of the Church. Also, the
Church was in unity of doctrine and fellowship. Its only opposition during this early stage
was in the form of threats from the religious establishment. They felt threatened by such
powerful signs and wonders by the apostles, and called Peter and John before their council.
They asked them, in Acts 4:7, by what power they had healed the lame man of Acts 3.
With boldness, Peter told them the miracle was done in the name of Jesus Christ, whom
they had crucified and God had resurrected. The council then held a private conference,
and acknowledged the miracle, saying, "What shall we do to these men? For that indeed
a notable miracle has been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem;
and we cannot deny it." The apostles were then threatened before release, but continued
boldly preaching and healing in the name of Christ.
This account is incredible. The resistance and deceit of those who felt personally threatened
by God's power at work thru His true servants exposes human nature for what it is. Today
is no different! But there is still more to learn. Watch the
final part of this series on healing. Until next time, this is David C. Pack saying,
"Goodbye, friends."
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