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Does faith Healers really heal people?
Here is my take on it, what is your opinion?
First an examples about faith Healers"
A South Carolina, U.S.A., faith-healing session called a “healing explosion” has resulted in a lawsuit against two Texas faith healers. A North Carolina woman claims that they are responsible for multiple fractures in her neck and back. Why? According to The Greenville News, her lawsuit “describes a procedure in which a minister lays his hand on a person who then is ‘slain in the spirit’ and falls backward into the arms of a ‘catcher.’” The problem in this case, the woman charged, was that there was no catcher—and thus her injuries.
Taken from court doc in South Carolina
Faith healers of today are fond of citing Jesus’ statement to a woman suffering 12 years from a flow of blood who came to him for cure: “Your faith has made you well.” Luke 8:43-48 Did Jesus’ statement indicate that her cure was dependent on her faith? Was that an example of “faith healing” as it is practiced today?
When we read the Bible record carefully, we see that on most occasions Jesus and his disciples did not require that the sick declare their faith before being cured. The woman cited above came and, without having said anything to Jesus, quietly touched his garment from behind and “instantly her flow of blood stopped.” On another occasion, Jesus healed a man who was among those who had come to arrest him. He even healed a man who had no idea who Jesus was.
Luke 22:50-51 A certain one of them even did strike the slave of the high priest and took off his right ear. 51 But in reply Jesus said: “LET it go as far as this.” And he touched the ear and healed him.
John 5:5-9 But a certain man was there who had been in his sickness for thirty-eight years. 6 Seeing this man lying down, and being aware that he had already been [sick] a long time, Jesus said to him: “Do you want to become sound in health?” 7 The sick man answered him: “Sir, I do not have a man to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; but while I am coming another steps down ahead of me.” 8 Jesus said to him: “Get up, pick up your cot and walk.” 9 With that the man immediately became sound in health, and he picked up his cot and began to walk. Now on that day it was a sabbath.
What role, then, did faith play? When Jesus and his disciples were in the district of Tyre and Sidon, a Phoenician woman came and cried out: “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David. My daughter is badly demonized.” Imagine her despair as she pleaded: “Lord, help me!” Filled with pity, Jesus replied: “O woman, great is your faith; let it happen to you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed “from that hour on.” Matthew 15:21-28 Clearly, faith was involved, but whose faith? Notice that it was the mother’s faith, not the sick child’s, that Jesus praised. And faith in what? By addressing Jesus as “Lord, Son of David,” the woman was publicly acknowledging that Jesus was the promised Messiah. It was not a simple expression of faith in God or faith in the power of the healer. When Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well,” he meant that without faith in him as the Messiah, the afflicted ones would not have come to him to be healed.
From these Scriptural examples, we can see that the healing performed by Jesus was far different from what is commonly seen or claimed today. There was no strong emotional display—shouting, chanting, wailing, swooning, no catcher of those that fell backwards, and so on, from the crowds and no dramatic frenzy on the part of Jesus. In addition, Jesus never failed to heal the infirm on the pretext that they lacked faith or that their offering had not been generous enough.
Where does the danger lurk in exploitative magic? Palm readers, fortune-tellers, and faith healers, to mention a few, apply exploitative magic to advance their own interests. Are they not living a lie by their profession? God’s Word says: “You must not deceive, and you must not deal falsely anyone with his associate.”—Leviticus 19:11.
Therefore, when it comes to magic that is clearly connected with spiritism, true Christians wisely avoid practicing it. Beyond that, in all aspects of a Christian’s life—whether involving employment, recreation, or entertainment—he would want to “hold a good conscience,” a conscience that permits no offense against God or man.—1 Peter 3:16
(Acts 24:16) In this respect, indeed, I am exercising myself continually to have a consciousness of committing no offense against God and men.
I personally feel that faith healing to be part of spiritistic practices condemned by God. What is your personal opinion?
In general I agree with you. Jesus could heal the sick at will because he was and is God. Human "faith healers", on the other hand, are just that ; human. They do not have the divine power that Christ posessed. They are merely play-acting and constitute an example of false teachers that the scriptures warn us about.
Yes, we have good reason to be skeptical of the term "faith healer", but I am confident that we have no reason to believe that Healing is no longer a Spiritual Gift.
yes christ performed miracles, so did the apostles. remember, the apostles did it AFTER Christ called them to do so. Even now, their are miracles performed as a result of the Faith of man, but it was the will of God. I also would say that the adversary can mimic Godly things. Christ said that many would come before him and say they cast out devils in his name, healed the sick, etc. and Christ's reply was depart hence! Obviously there is a difference. One was wrought through the power of God, whereas the other was through the power of the adversary. So i do partially agree with all of you on the matter.
In general I agree with you. Jesus could heal the sick at will because he was and is God. Human "faith healers", on the other hand, are just that ; human. They do not have the divine power that Christ posessed. They are merely play-acting and constitute an example of false teachers that the scriptures warn us about.
Jesus sent out his disciples an gave them power and authority to do many things that he had done.
Matthew 10:7-8
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Similar power or authority was vested in the presbyters and elders.
James 5:14-15
Is any sick among you? let him 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 have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
One other thing that provides comfort and ther assurance of healing through faith
James 5:16
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Jesus had established his ministry as one not confined to teaching how to ensure spiritual salvation, but also one of the improvement of lives through temporal blessings, even miraculous blessings.
Beginning with the healing of the nobleman's son, he went about healing the sick for the full term of his mission, sometimes one only of a group, as the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, or one only when importuned thereto, as Peter's wife's mother; and at times, but rarely, he healed all the sick brought to him: in Gennesaret, at Decapolis, on a plain of Galilee, at Capernaum after healing Peter's wife's mother.
He healed those sick with palsy, and at another time he healed a man with dropsy.
He healed lepers and the man with the withered hand in Galilee.
He healed of unspecified illness, the centurion's servant, and the woman stricken for eighteen years.
He healed the woman with the issue of blood; restored the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest.
He healed the deaf, and the blind and dumb in Capernaum, again in Capernaum two blind men, another in Bethsaida, in Judea a man born blind, and Bartimmus near Jericho.
He raised people from the dead: the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of Jairus, and Lazarus.
Are we to suppose that these blessing would vanish as quickly as they had come? Did God withdraw these blessings from the earth after the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ, or was this power to bless and heal transmitted to his chosen ministers?
Matthew 10:1
AND when he had called unto [him] his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
Acts 3:6-8
Then Peter said [to the crippled man], Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
And he took him by the right hand, and lifted [him] up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
Peter answered those who had seen the lame man healed, who asked among themselves, "How did this come about?"
Acts 3:12
And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
The same power to bless was exercised by Paul, a late-comer to the ministry.
Acts 28:8-9
And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.
So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed:
The healing performed by Jesus, his apostles, and his ministers, were not done in the glare of publicity to attract notoriety or fame, nor were they done to raise vast amounts of money so thay could live in luxury.
There are certain well-known people who do not as Jesus did, but make merchandise of the sick, and these cast doubts in the minds of many who might otherwise believe.
To one Simon who had seen the mighty miracles and wanted to have that power himself and offered to buy it, Peter said, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee!
The true ministers of God do not minister for wealth or fame, but to be obedient to God, to emulate as far as possible the life of Jesus Christ, and to bless others freely.
I have no wish to be unjust or hard on the televangelists, nor to question their sincerity or effectiveness, but the Bible contains many warning to the faithful not to be deceived by false ministers, that we do well to remember.
Isaiah describes wicked ministers as "greedy dogs which can never have enough" and "shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain" (Isaiah 56:11).
Micah spoke of "prophets that make my people err. . . . The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us?"
(Micah 3:5, 11).
"Blessed is everyone," says the Psalmist, "that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be" (Psalm 128:2).
"The desire of the slothful killeth him for his hands refuse to labour. He coveteth greedily all the day long; but the righteous giveth and spareth not"
(Proverbs 21:25).
No wiser advice can be given than that of the Apostle James, who said simply,
Is any sick among you? let him 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 have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
The faithful have a righteous claim to the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
First of all, no one but God can heal! So there are no "faith healers." People are healed by faith and THE POWER OF GOD
Jesus said, "And YEshallLAY HANDS on the sick and they shall recover!"
The problem with the incident cited was the manner in which the "laying on of hands" was conducted. DON'T FAULT JESUS, THE HEALER! He is still in the miracle-healing business today. If someone dropped the collection plate as it was being passed, would you fault God? Would you stop passing the collection plate? Of course not!
The minister who was praying for the person should have seen that someone was standing behind the person for whom he was praying.
The same Jesus who preached Kingdom living "went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil." Then he instructed us to "lay hands on the sick and "they shall recover." This is referred to as "the doctrine of the laying on of hands." The Apostle Paul referred to these doctrines. JESUS MADE A "DOCTRINE" OF THE LAYING ON OF HANDS! WHY SHOULD WE NOT LAY HANDS ON THE SICK, PRAY FOR THEM, AND EXPECT GOD TO HEAL?
- Scripture confirms the gift of Healing.
- A gift is something that is given - from one party to another.
- Yes, Jesus said, "And YE shall LAY HANDS on the sick and they shall recover". He did not say "And Ye shall lay hands on them and I will heal them".
The performance of powerful works is not necessarily a sign that the power for those powerful works comes from God. Jesus himself said that there would be some who claimed to be his followers and who would perform powerful works. Yet he would reject them as his true servants. In fact, he called them workers of lawlessness. So the Bible itself provides a very good reason to be careful in what we consider as evidence of God's power. Notice also that these were doing these things in the name of Jesus!
(Matthew 7:22)
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Another example is that of the priests of Egypt who were able to duplicate many of the powerful works that God did via Moses. Obviously the power t do so was coming from a sinister place.
Exodus 8
6And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.
7And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
Exodus 7
10And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
11Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
Exodus 7
20And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
21And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said.
These examples are provided in the scriptures for a reason. Of course we can choose to ignore them as irrelevant. But doing so makes us gullible and vulnerable. Something that is entirely unnecessary since we are clearly warned that Satan and his cohorts practice a masquerade.
2 Corinthians 11:
13For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Denying that there is such a masquerade going on and rewriting our own version of the Bible is what causes us to become prey.
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