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A CALL TO ARMS

HEALING PROMISE TO CLAIM:

And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. (Exodus 23:25)

In Old Testament times a trumpet was used to summons God's people to battle. Today, a spiritual summons is sounding throughout the nations of the world. It is a summons to the invisible war. It is the call to arms. This teaching is a call for you to move from a life of defeat and bondage to a life of victory and freedom in Jesus Christ.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

There are many different terms used for the word healing:

Psychic healing: This is a term used to describe mind over matter, spiritistic, witchcraft, shamanism, and occult healings which are not biblical.

Supernatural healing: There are sources of supernatural healings which are not of God, so we will not use this term in our study. Satan can perform supernatural works (Exodus 7:8-13).

Medical healing: This type of healing is aided by doctors, nurses, hospitals, and medicines. As we will learn, legitimate medical healing does not conflict with God's Word or divine healing, but is an extension of His goodness.

Natural healing: Healing that occurs through natural body processes is actually God in action. Natural body processes display God's nature and His great handiwork in the human body. "Natural healing" also includes the use of natural methods such as proper diet, natural vitamins and minerals, adequate rest, etc.

Faith healing: This term is often used to mean healing by God. We will not use it, however, because it tends to focus attention on the faith of the one ministering or the recipient of the ministry.

Divine healing: The Word "divine" focuses attention on God, not the responses of faith by man. It also distinguishes it from occult practices of psychic and supernatural healing. "Divine" pertains to the one true God and His nature, as revealed in His Word, the Holy Bible.

"Healing" means to cure or make whole. Healing can include relief from spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, and demonic conditions. It is not immunity from sickness. Our bodies are in the "process of decay" and open to Satanic attacks as long as we are in this world.
In this study we will use the term "divine healing." Divine healing is when the one true God reveals His nature, fulfills His promises, and acts upon His provision in the atonement of Christ by curing a person and making him whole in body, soul, and spirit.

Divine healing can be both instantaneous (miraculous) or gradual (a process). Although instantaneous healings more fully demonstrate the divine presence and power of God, divine healing which occurs as a process is no less a miraculous healing (see Mark 8:22-25). Medical and natural healings are in a sense divine also, because in reality it is God that causes the healing.

HEALING AND DELIVERANCE

We will use the terms "healing" and "deliverance" interchangeably in this course. Healing ministers to physical, emotional, and mental sicknesses while deliverance deals with demonically caused mental and physical conditions.

As you will learn later in this course, because man is body, soul, and spirit, a demonically caused mental condition may result in a physical sickness. A physical sickness may lead to demonic mental oppression. So although healing and deliverance are somewhat different, they are also related because of the triune nature of man.

THE CALL TO ARMS

The early Church viewed their spiritual experience in terms of warfare. Military terminology is used throughout the New Testament. Protection is in the armor of God. The Word of God is
compared to a sword. Satan's attacks are called fiery darts. Faith is the good fight and believers are told to war a good warfare.

The Christian life today is still war. Satan continues to battle for the soul and spirit of man. He still attacks the physical body with sickness, disease, and bondage. God is calling His people to intelligent combat. The call is going out for believers to arm themselves with the Word of God and take healing and deliverance to this generation.


In the New Testament Gospels, Jesus never commissioned anyone to preach the Gospel without also commanding them to minister healing and deliverance. He told them "As you go ...heal the sick, cast out demons..." (Matthew 10:1,7-8).

As the multitudes came for healing and deliverance, the spiritual harvest began to multiply so rapidly that new laborers were required. It was not long until 70 more disciples were needed and were sent out to preach, teach, heal, and deliver.

There are many new methods that can assist in spreading the Gospel. They include things such as printing presses, computers, the Internet, radios, televisions, CDs and DVDs, and satellites. New methods of transportation also help people travel rapidly to spread the Gospel. These new technologies are all useful but the real power of the Gospel is still internal. By this we mean the power is in the Gospel itself. This is what the parable of the leaven illustrates:

And again He said, Whereunto shall I liken the Kingdom of God?  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. (Luke 13:20-21)

This passage reveals that God's work does not proceed with a lot of clamor and publicity. You might expect the Kingdom to spread by external means like subduing armies and conquering continents. The expansion of the Kingdom of God is as leaven in a lump of bread dough. The leaven may be small and hidden, but it has unlimited potential. Like leaven, the power of God's Kingdom is not external but rather internal. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God will multiply to spread throughout the whole "lump" of the world because of the internal power of the Kingdom which is like leaven in bread dough.

Jesus also illustrated the internal power of the Gospel by the growth of a mustard seed:

... Unto what is the Kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden, and it grew and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. (Luke 13:18-19)

Similar to the way leaven spreads, a tiny mustard seed develops into a great tree. This example also illustrates the silent, yet powerfully effective way, that the Kingdom of God advances.

In another parable, Jesus said nothing was impossible with even a small amount of faith the size of a mustard seed. This means that the extension of the Gospel is not limited where people do not have advanced technology. With even a small amount of faith, the Kingdom will advance. The greatest spiritual harvest in the history of the Church remains to be gathered. As in New Testament times, it will be reaped through the demonstration of God's power in healing and deliverance. This is why the Apostle Paul said:

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. (I Corinthians 2:4-5)

When He returned to Heaven, Jesus gave believers a great responsibility to spread the Gospel to the nations of the world:

...Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

You cannot fulfill responsibility without authority. Jesus also gave His followers authority to fulfill the responsibility. That authority includes power over all the power of the enemy:

And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils...they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. (Mark 16:17-18)

Are you ready to answer the spiritual call to arms and move from a life of sickness, disease, and bondage to a life of victory in Jesus Christ? Are you ready to minister in the demonstration of God's power? Are you ready to do battle for the physical body? Do you want to see the sick made well and those bound with demons liberated? This is the ministry of healing and deliverance is for ALL Believers in Jesus Christ. "These signs shall follow them that believe."

Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? If so, you, too, must answer this spiritual call to arms.

WORKING IT OUT

And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils...they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. (Mark 16:17-18)
Are you a believer?
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If so, are signs following you? Are the sick being healed and those affected by demons being liberated?
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If not, pray that as you study and God will open your heart to receive this ministry of healing and deliverance that is rightfully yours.

If you are a pastor, evangelist, or teacher, consider these words of Paul:

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. (I Corinthians 2:4-5)


Powerless preaching and teaching results in speaking "enticing words of man's wisdom" and encourages faith in man rather than God. Can you imagine Paul looking in research scrolls for humorous illustrations for his messages? Can you imagine him spending ministry time telling funny stories of what happened in Athens or Corinth? Can you visualize him planning a dramatic program? Paul knew it was not enticing words, man's wisdom, or entertainment that draws men to God. It is the demonstration of the Spirit and power. How does your ministry measure up?

Do you need healing or deliverance? Study again the definition of healing:

"Divine healing is when the one true God reveals His nature, fulfills His promises, and acts upon His provision in the atonement of Christ by curing a person and making him whole in body, soul, and spirit."

Our prayer for you is that God will have revealed His nature, fulfilled His promise, and through the provision of Christ's atonement you will be whole in body, soul, and spirit.

 

 

 

 

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