Determining Your Healing Style

I received an e-mail note one-day from a pastor. I had just recently preached at his church. He told me the following story. Fran (not her real name) came forward for prayer in our meeting and had only one of two lungs that functioned. As we prayed God opened her lung and she could breathe. The next day, her doctor confirmed that this was a miracle. This was not the only healing that occurred in that meeting, but it excited the pastor the most. The reason was that this was only Fran's second time at his church. She was a non-believer. She did not respond to the call for salvation that morning, however she did respond to the call for healing. After this healing the pastor was able to lead her into a relationship with Christ.

In this lesson we will focus on one specific aspect of healing ministry. This aspect is the aspect of evangelism. There are many purposes for which we should seek to become healers of mankind. It demonstrates the love of the Heavenly Father for His children. It manifests the Kingdom of God through the lives of believers. It is part of the covenant blessings of God in our loves.

In this lesson, I want to focus on the effect of healing ministry on the lives of unbelievers. One of the reasons I want to continue to be used in the gifts of healing and miracles is because of the impact it has when combined with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the Power of God unto Salvation.

The Good News plus God's Power make a strong case for following Christ. The gift of healing when coupled with a clear presentation of the Good News is a powerful combination to win unbelievers to Christ. We could liken this combination to that of a lawyer presenting his case to a jury. The presentation of the gospel is the facts of the case. The healing power of God is the evidence. This has been the pattern throughout the Old and New Testaments. And as we shall see later this was also the pattern in the life of the evangelist Philip.

Every Believer Is An Evangelist

Let me make clear from the outset that I am not talking about some elite group of people here. It is not just those who are called to the office of evangelist who are called to evangelism. Each believer is called to make other believers. Each disciple is called to disciple. Healing is another tool that can be used to confirm the message of the gospel. Jesus died for our sickness in the same manner that He died for our sin. Therefore healing cannot be separated from the gospel. It is an inseparable part of the gospel.

The Power Follows The Preaching

When Jesus sent out His twelve disciples, He gave them the following instructions, recorded in Matt 10:7-8: "As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. (NIV)"

After Jesus was moved with Compassion, He assembled His disciples and sent them out with clear instructions. Preach the Kingdom, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leper and drive our demons.

These were things that all of his disciples were commanded and empowered to do. He did not tell some of them to be the preachers. He did not commission some with special healing ministries. He did not sanction only a few to specialize in raising the dead. He did not ordain a commando team of demon chasers. He told all of them to do all these things.

Preach, heal, raise cleanse, and drive out. These are all commands and actions. They are not some kind of order or level of spiritual power. If you can preach the kingdom, then you can heal the sick. If you can heal the sick, you can raise the dead. If you can raise the dead then you can cleanse the leper. If you can cleanse the leper, then you can drive out demons. If you are a citizen of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom is working through your life then it should be expressing itself not just through words, but through actions. This is exactly what the disciples did. They proclaimed a message and backed it up with power. Luke 9:6 says, "So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere." (NIV)

Thank God we are seeing a restoration of the power of the message of the gospel with signs following. When the church operates fully in this power. We will see cities and nations won to Christ.

Miracles Make Believers Out Of Unbelievers

Throughout history God has used miracles, signs and wonders, including healing to get the attention of unbelievers. He awakens His unbelieving children with miracles as He did with the nation of Israel; He will awaken a slumbering and religious church with His power.

Isaiah 29:13-14, "The Lord says: 'These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish." (NIV)

He will also convince the most unbelieving skeptic that He is real. Reasoning and rationalizing will not do this. This will not be done by scientific proof. It will be through word and deed. A clear presentation of the Gospel, followed by a clear demonstration of the gifts.

Dead Man Walking

The most powerful demonstration of healing and miracles I can imagine is the raising of the dead. This clearly requires the gift of miracles and the gift of healing. Not only does the person have to be brought back to life. They also have to be cured of what caused the death in the first place. In almost every instance of this miracle in the Bible, the result was unbelievers became believers. We see this in the ministry of Elijah, Elisha, Jesus, Peter and Paul. The most notable case is that of Elijah the prophet, who in this case acts a little like an evangelist.

God has sent a famine in the land of Israel through the words of Elijah the prophet. As a result God sent Elijah to a neighboring nation to be sustained miraculously by a widow in the city of Zarephath. Now Zarapheth was not in Israel. In fact Jesus mentions that there were many widows in Israel at the time of the famine but God did not sent Elijah to any of them. Instead He sent Elijah to a pagan nation, to an unbelieving widow. Through this series of events we see God's plan to reach in pagan environments with His miraculous and healing power.

I King 17:17-18, "Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" (NIV)

We see here that this woman had a son, who became ill and eventually died. This woman was so full of unbelief that she blamed Elijah for the death of her son. This doesn't sound like the optimal environment for healing ministry to take place. I can just imagine Elijah saying, "How can I work a miracle with such unbelief?" Can you turn on a worship CD and get the atmosphere in here to be conducive to healing? No! Of course that wasn't his approach. In fact, it seems as if Elijah thrived on opposition. It seems as if his faith swelled when the faith of others failed. And through his faith alone a healing miracle takes place and this unbelieving woman becomes a believer.

I King 17:22-24, "The Lord heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, 'Look, your son is alive!' Then the woman said to Elijah, 'Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.'" (NIV)

After the boy was healed and returned to his mother, she became a believer. She understood that the power of God was working through Elijah. She believed his words because of this power. Remember this concept because we shall see it again.

Healing Knows No Economic Boundaries

The previous example was one of God's healing power causing a poor widow to believe. Some times people with wealth and influence can be more difficult the reach with the gospel. Many times, it is the "down-and-out" that are more open to the change and repentance necessary for salvation. The "up-and-out" may feel more self-sufficient or may feel they have other options. Healing ministry may be a tool in this case.

One day a woman of substance came to Jesus with great desperation and received healing. We see this in Mark 5:25-29. "And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched His cloak, because she thought, 'If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.' Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering." (NIV)

This woman obviously had great wealth and because of it had a great many options. She had seen many doctors. No doubt this had been costly. It was not until her substance ran dry, she had spend all that she had, that she was open to the ministry of Christ. Her need for healing ministry was what caused her to come to Christ.