Lesson 13
FAITH and HEALING
AMBASSADOR CHRISTIAN COLLEGE‐ Dr. Keith Slough
INTRODUCTION The "Faith of God” can be used to walk in the mighty Power that God expects us to use in healing the sick and performing other miracles in Jesus' Name! In Mark 11:22 Jesus commands us to "Have the Faith of God"! Yet few people understand what this faith is or how to get it. In this Bible lesson you will be given the scriptures to look up and study in your own Bible so that you can learn how to do the works of Jesus! Yes, YOU can do the same works Jesus did! Those of you studying these Bible lessons who wish to enter into the ordained Ministry of Jesus Christ must learn to walk in faith and power in order to be in Christ's own Ministry! Remember, the ministers of Christ also healed the sick and even cast out demons! (Mark 6:12‐13). Where are the true ministers of Christ today? Where is the power of God today being manifested? Does God no longer have truly anointed ministers of Christ who will do the works of Jesus? Has God changed? Does His power to heal the sick and perform other miracles no longer exist? No, for God is the same as He has always been from eternity (Malachi 3:6). It is up to us to find where God is working today. He is not working with a dry and dead church where the power of His Holy Spirit is not in evidence. God still has today truly ordained and anointed ministers who still preach the same true Gospel that Paul preached (1 Corinthians 15:1‐4). God is still healing the sick through His true ministers and is revealing through them the deeper truths that others do not understand! It is up to you to find where God is working today and to get connected with God's End Time Work. There are converted saints in churches today that are a part of this world's system of religion pictured by a fallen woman. Jesus commands us to come out of her (Revelation 17:5 and 18:4). God's people must obey Jesus Christ and find where His truth is being preached, taught, and practiced. True prosperity and blessing comes from being connected to Jesus Christ and His true Religion. Ask yourself this question: Why do all the churches of this world disagree, and argue and fight over doctrine? Can they all be right? In this Babylon of confusion how can you find the Truth? There is only one way: you must come to God in true humility and pray for guidance and direction from His Holy Word (Psalm 119:9,33‐40) and then PROVE all things you have been taught by the Word of God (1Thessalonians 5:21) rejecting the words of men when they contradict what you have found in God's Word (Isaiah 8:20). James 1:22 commands us to be doers of the Word (which is God's truth ‐ John 17: 17) and not hearers only. Have you begun obeying the truths you have learned in past lessons? Remember, to truly understand the TRUTH of God (His Word) you must begin obeying it (John 7:17). You then must continue in His truth to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ (John 8:31). Are you taking these lessons to heart to allow them to change your life? Or are you just reading them? Take heed how you hear for you will be judged by what you are learning from the Word of God! (Luke 8:18, John 12:48). If you will obey God's Truth you will have the greatest understanding of the Bible you have ever had.
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What is
The Faith of God? What is the Bible definition of "Faith"? Why do you need it? Can you expect to see miracles and healings without it? And do you have to have faith to please God? Many church goers do not understand what faith is nor how to have "the Faith of God" that Jesus commands us to have! Now learn the truth about this important doctrine!
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ITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to please God! Therefore if we are to truly please God we must have faith! But how do we get it? How does it come to us? Imagine having the faith to lay hands on the sick and see them healed before you instantly! Imagine commanding the wind and see it obey you! Jesus told us that we can do the same works He did! Believe it or not! Read it yourself in John 14:12! We must know how to receive this kind of faith if we are to walk in this kind of power! In the last days Christians will have a ''form of godliness" but will deny its POWER! From such churches we are told to "turn away" (2 Timothy 3:5). It is time for you to learn how to walk in this mighty POWER! What Is Faith and How Do We Get It? Hebrews 11:1 states ''Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith gives substance to the things we are hoping for. Faith is evidence that we have received the answer even when we do not see it! But how do we get faith? One minister told me that when we have a serious need that God will simply supply the faith we need for that moment. But does the Bible teach this? How does the Bible say faith comes? Some say we should pray for faith. But the Bible also does not say we should pray for faith. So how then does faith come? The Bible gives the answer! "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God"! (Romans 10:17). There is the Bible's own answer! Jesus has commanded us to live by "every Word of God" (Luke 4:4). We cannot successfully live by the traditions of men or by our own imaginations as to how we think faith comes. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God! Any other way is simply not scriptural.
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And you will never have the "faith of God" which Jesus commands us to use, using your own method. We must hear the Word of God to have the "faith of God." What is the Faith of God? Jesus used "the faith of God" when putting a curse on a fig tree to illustrate this dynamic faith. Seeing a fig tree, He began looking for fruit on the tree, but finding ''nothing but leaves" He then said to the tree, "No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever" (Mark 11:12‐14). In so doing He "cursed" the tree (by putting a "curse on it). “And in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto Him, Master, behold the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God" (Mark 11:20‐22). It is important to check the margin of your King James Bible to see the literal meaning and literal translation of verse 22. The Greek literally reads "Have the faith OF God" (see margin). What Jesus was saying was that when He put a curse on the fig tree causing it to die by merely speaking to it, He was exercising something called "The Faith of God." This kind of faith is the faith God uses. It is not shoddy faith or weak faith. It is dynamic assurance ‐total confidence ‐that whatever He says will indeed come to pass! Therefore Jesus commands us to use the same kind of faith God uses! That is, we are to have as much assurance as He had when He cursed the fig tree. Jesus did not doubt. He knew that the fig tree would never again bear fruit and it died the very minute He spoke to it. Jesus tells us to use that same kind of faith ‐ where we can speak to things to bring about results and walk in the miracle working power of God. Read Mark 11, verses 23‐24 carefully. In verse 23 we learn the first way we can use this dynamic and powerful miracle working faith. We merely speak to things and believe that what we say actually comes to pass! The second way we can use the "faith of God" is to believe that we receive ‐not when we see the manifestation ‐ but that we receive when we pray! (verse 24). So many people believe that God has answered their prayer when they see the answer manifested. This is not faith. And without faith they cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6). No, Jesus told us in verse 24 that we must believe we receive when we pray. Next, notice an example of speaking in the "faith of God." In Mark 5:25‐34 we read of a woman who said something in faith. She said "If I may touch but His [Jesus'] clothes, I shall be whole" [or healed]. The second thing she did was to act on her faith. She did what she said. She touched His clothes. The next thing she did was to receive by faith. She had confidence. She KNEW she was healed when she touched Him! That is the faith of God! Immediately she was healed! (verses 28‐29). What is Strong Faith? Notice God calls "those things which be not as though they were"! Read this in Romans
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4:17. God told Abraham that he was indeed a father of many nations before Isaac was even born! Was Abraham strong in faith? Notice: "And being not weak in faith, he [Abraham] considered not his own body now dead [reproductively speaking], when he was about an hundred years old ... he staggered not at the promise of God, through unbelief; but was STRONG IN FAITH, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform" (Romans 4:19‐21). We see from the Bible that being strong in faith is to not consider our own body ‐don't consider the pain or the disease, or even what the doctor has told you ‐but be "fully persuaded" that what God has promised, He is also able to perform. God has promised healing! It is an irrevocable PROMISE from Almighty God and the Scripture cannot be broken! (John 10:35). If we don't "consider" our own physical bodies, what are we to consider to or look at? Hebrews 12:2‐3 tells us to look to Jesus and to "consider Him"! Confess God's Word Since Jesus is our High Priest we are told that we can therefore "hold fast our profession" (Hebrews 4:14). This word "profession" is better translated "confession" (see margin). The Greek definition of this word etymologically means to "say the same thing.” We are therefore told to hold fast to saying the same thing. We are to say the same thing God says about us ‐ not quote God one minute and our doctor's poor prognosis the next. We are to say the same thing ‐ and therefore to confess ‐what God says about us. And the Bible says that by Jesus' stripes you were healed! (2 Peter 2:24). The healing is assured. Therefore we can confess what God has said and believe ‐have faith that His Word is more true than the doctor's word or what our own body is telling us (John 17:17). We are told to hold fast our confession without wavering (or doubting) for God is faithful who promised (Hebrews 10:23). Notice that God commands us to consider His Words (see Proverbs 4:20‐24). And we are to say His Words ‐not our own! ‐"for He hath said... so that we may boldly say..." (Hebrews 13:5‐ 6). God has said something so that we can say what He has said! We are to put away our own imaginations (the Greek says reasoning’s) and even bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). God's Words are to be in our mouth (Isaiah 59:21). How do His Words get into our mouth? Obviously, when we speak His Words. When we speak words that contradict the Words of the Holy Spirit (found in Scripture) we then grieve the Holy Spirit. The Bible calls such words "corrupt communication" (Ephesians 4:29‐30). God tells us we are not to speak our own words (Isaiah 58: 13) any more than we are to do our own ways. God commands that "This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate [Hebrew: "mutter or speak"] therein day and night ... and then thou shalt have good success"! (Joshua 1:8). As we hear the Words of God even coming out of our own mouth our faith begins to grow. For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Speak God's Words. Confess what God has said about your situation.
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Faith is Believing What God Has Said Faith simply believes that what God has said is true. His Word is truth (John 17:17). And while the doctor's word may also be true, God's Word is a higher truth anytime there is a contradiction in what man has said and what God has said. We must believe God's Word even over what our own eyes tell us. Years ago in Texas I asked a young lady if God was to speak to her and to tell her that the sky was green and yet her eyes told her it was bright blue, then what color would the sky actually be. She said "Blue." I asked, "How do you know?" And she said, "Because I can see that it is blue!" I quoted John 17: 17 which says that God's Word is Truth. She agreed that God's Word is indeed true and that God cannot lie. Yet if God told her something that she could not verify with her own eyes she said she could not believe it. To the natural mind "seeing is believing." But faith is the evidence "of things not seen." Do you understand? Faith believes God's Word over our own eyes. It is trusting that whatever God says is really true, even when our natural minds cannot understand it. We should learn all we can about growing in faith as we cannot ever please God without it (Hebrews 11:6). May God help you to grow in faith!
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How to Have Faith for
HEALING! How did Jesus heal the sick? What principles did He use to achieve the great works of His Ministry? Jesus said we can do the works He did (John 14:12). Now learn how Jesus used "the faith of God" for healing the sick. YOU can now have this same kind of faith and walk in the power of God!
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OU CAN HAVE THE FAITH to receive your healing! Jesus not only had faith to pray for the sick but told them that their healing would be "according to" their own faith! (Matthew 9:27‐29). Therefore it is necessary we learn how to operate in the right kind of faith if we are to receive. Many have been healed of incurable diseases when they have believed God's Word! Why then are some not healed? One of the main reasons is that they do not know it is God's WILL to heal them. They say, “Well I know God could heal me if He wanted to. Of that I have no doubt. But I don't know if He wants to. I can only hope He heals me. I sure hope so.” But believing God can do something is not the same as knowing that He will do it! Knowing God has the power to heal us causes us to have hope. But knowing that He has promised to heal us and that it is indeed His will gives us FAITH! All of us who believe in God know His "can" ‐ that is to say, His ability. But now we need to learn His "will." Remember First John 5:14‐15 which tells us that if we ask anything according to His will, then we KNOW we have the petitions we desired of Him! When we are ignorant of His will we are therefore unwise (Ephesians 5:17) and that dis‐ pleases God. The Bible tells us that it is God's desire that we KNOW His will (See Colossians 1:9). How can we always know God's will in a given situation? As has already been explained in past lessons the Bible definition of the "will of God" is the Word of God (Compare Mark 3:35 and Luke 8:21). Therefore if His Word tells us we can have it, then we pray according to that "will" –the Word of God provided for that particular need ‐ and we are promised we will "have" it (1 John 5:15). Is it God's will to heal us when we are sick? Yes! For the Word of God tells us it is in Psalm 103:2‐3. But this was the Old Testament. Has God changed in the New Testament? No! We read in Malachi 3:6, where God tells us, "I am the Eternal, I change not"! Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). What was His will where healing was concerned?
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Read Jesus' own words in Matthew 8:2. "And behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth His hand and touched Him, saying, I WILL; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." What is His will regarding healing? The leper didn't know. He asked Jesus concerning His will regarding healing and Jesus said "I WILL”!! He hasn't changed and therefore His will hasn't changed and never will! (Hebrews 13:8). And since God is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11), it is God's will to heal you! The Bible teaches, "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" (James 5:1‐15). This is a promise from God. The promise is that anyone who prays the prayer of faith will be guaranteed the healing. So many times we think someone has faith when they really do not. Remember, don't confuse "wishful thinking" or "hope" with faith. Faith is "evidence" (Hebrews 11:1). It is KNOWING – not wishful thinking. You cannot really know the heart of another person. They may seem to say the right words. They may seem to believe for their healing, yet at the same time have fear that they may not receive! Faith works by love (Galatians 5:4). And perfect love casts out fear! (1 John 4:18). God has made us a promise of healing that we must believe and embrace. Healing is a promise!!! Healing Comes the Same Way Salvation comes! How does Salvation come? The apostle Paul tells us, "…that if thou shalt CONFESS with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, [the margin says, "Jesus as Lord"] and shalt BELIEVE in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9). There are two things we need to do to receive salvation: believe and confess something. Remember Paul told us to "hold fast" to our confession (Hebrews 4:14). This works for salvation but it also works for whatever we receive from God. Regarding salvation Paul adds, "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10: 10). But now examine the scriptures in the four Gospel accounts of how Jesus healed the sick. He believed in His heart and confessed with His mouth. This same principle which Paul applied to salvation can be applied to healing as well as other miracles we need! Jesus told the leper, “be thou clean." He believed it in His heart and confessed it with His mouth and the healing was manifested. But Jesus told us in Matthew 18:19 that two of us needed to agree on something to receive. Jesus had faith, but in this case so did the leper. And the two of them in faith together, got his healing! Do you see that? We need to get into agreement with the Word of God and start confessing what HE says about us, not what other people say about us! The Bible teaches that we can be snared with our words (proverbs 6:2). Therefore we must choose our words carefully and confess only those things which God says about us.
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The psychologists are teaching people to have self‐esteem but real Bible believing Christians do not need to go to psychologists to increase their self esteem or personal worth. Rather we should "live by every Word of God" (Luke 4:4) and we will never suffer from poor self image and depression. Understand! We have the right to believe the Bible! And the Bible has some wonderful things to say about God's children. Christ is our example that we should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). We should imitate Him and do what He did, and say the things He said. What do you and I have the right to say about ourselves? We Should Confess What God Says
We can confess and have the right to say whatever God says about us. If we are Christians we can confess that we have overcome the world (1 John 4:4). We can confess, "If God be for us, who' can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). We can confess that we are resisting the devil and he is fleeing from us (James 4:7). We can confess that God has made us "righteousness" even the righteousness of God! (II Corinthians 5:21)... We can confess that we are the sons of God! (1 John 3:2). We can confess that we have eternal life! (1 John 5:11‐12). We can confess that we are casting all our care (or worry) over on God because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). We can confess that by Jesus' stripes (His wounds and bruises) that we have re‐ ceived our healing! (1 Peter 2:24). In fact we have the right to confess over ourselves anything that God has confessed over us, thereby imitating God (Ephesians 5:1, see margin). One cannot receive any greater self esteem than that. Notice that it is through Jesus' sacrifice for us, paying the penalty for our sins and our own confession that we overcome the devil! In referring to Satan we read in Revelation 12:11: "And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony"! We overcome the devil by our own words! Or we can be snared by our own words. It depends on what words we are saying. "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned"! (Matthew 12:37). Why Our Words are Important Our words are important because they are connected to the works we are to do for God. Jesus did what He saw the Father do (John 5:19). He said, "As the Father hath taught me, I speak these things" (John 8:28). "I speak to the world those things which I have heard of [from] Him" (John 8:26). Jesus said that the Father commanded Him what to speak. "Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak (John 12:49‐50). Then He tells us that whoever believes on Him can do the same works He did! This is an
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incredible promise found in John 14:12! Read it in your own Bible. Notice how words are connected to the works: Jesus said, "The WORDS that I speak unto you I speak not of [from] myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the WORKS"! (John 14:10). Jesus did what He saw the Father do; he spoke the Words He heard the Father speak. We have God's Words in the Bible. When we start confessing God's Words we will start seeing God's Works! Imagine works of healings and miracles being manifested! Yet what do we hear most people say about their sick loved ones? They are speaking words of defeat, of how bad the disease is, and sometimes about how they know they are going to die. They truly believe this, with their heart and therefore confess it with their mouth! Remember Paul said that "for with the heart man believeth unto ... and with the mouth confession is made unto... “(Romans 10:10). Unto what? Jesus said "whatsoever"! Notice! "For verily I say unto you [this word "verily" means truly ‐He is telling us the Truth!]. That whosoever shall SAY... and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall BELIEVE that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have WHATSOEVER he saith"! (Mark 11:23). You can even command a mountain to be removed and cast into the sea! Jesus said "WHATSOEVER" you say (confess with your mouth) you can have if you will confess what you believe in your heart! It applies to salvation in Romans 10. But it also applies to healing or any other need you have! God confessed things which be not as though they were (Romans 4:17). And they came to pass as He said! This is the "faith of God" ‐ the same kind of faith God Himself uses. And Jesus commands us to use that same kind of faith (Mark 11: 22 margin). Jesus expects believers to do the same works He does. Notice the account of Jesus calming a storm! In Matthew 8:23‐27 we read how the disciples were of "little faith" due to the fact they had to call on Him to save them. Jesus actually denounced them for their "little faith." Why? What did He expect them to do? Remember, Jesus said that those who believe on Him can do the works He did! (John 14:12). "Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm" (verse 26). How did He do this miracle? Obviously He believed in His heart that this could be done. Secondly, He confessed what He believed. He rebuked the wind! Mark's account reads, “And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, ‘Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?’” (Mark 4:39‐40). Luke's account reads, “And He said unto them, ‘Where is your faith?’” (Luke 8:25). Notice that Jesus rebuked the disciples for not exercising their faith to rebuke the wind and the waves. They could have done it themselves if they had believed and not doubted in their heart and then confessed with their mouth. It would have then occurred for them just as it did for Jesus (Mark 11:23).
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YOU Can Walk in Power! In May 1983 I was studying these principles for the first time. I was astounded at how much was in the Bible that I had never found before. On a certain Friday evening that month near sunset and the beginning of twilight, having studied these things diligently, I was walking up the road slowly in prayer and fellowship with God and just enjoying the fresh country air. There wasn't a "breath of air" as the old saying goes ‐ no air was moving. It was peaceful and calm. Sometimes these are the most worshipful and spiritual moments a person can have, walking alone on a country road with God. But sud‐ denly at the top of the road I saw a cloud of blue smoke trailing behind a car just less than half a mile away but coming toward me. I thought, "Oh no I hope he doesn't come this way with those smelly exhaust fumes!" But he did. In less than a minute the entire front yard was covered in a haze of putrid, stinking blue exhaust from the driver's car. Naturally now the won‐ derful fresh country air stank and I was forced to go back inside the house. As I walked up the driveway it occurred to me that Satan the devil did not want me fellowshipping with God in praise and worship. And that made me angry at the devil. But why had God allowed this awful thing to happen, to interrupt my time with Him? And then I remembered the words of Jesus and the miracles which He had done and how He said we could do the works He did. Had He not spoken to the wind? True, He spoke to the wind and made it calm. But I also remembered John 14:12 where we are told we can even do greater works (which certainly includes different works) than He did. All of these thoughts came to me in just a few seconds of time. By this time I was walking up the sidewalk and as I was looking at the tree ahead of me, almost without thinking I shouted to the wind, "In the Name of Jesus I command the wind to BLOW!!” Before I finished the word "blow" out of my lips the tree I was looking at was INSTANTLY hit with a fierce force of wind that shook the tree. I stood still in my tracks, looking around at all the trees in the yard and the woods behind me. Out of nowhere a strong wind was shaking violently all the trees I could see as if just before a soon coming storm! I looked at my watch and timed it to see how long the wind would blow. In five minutes all the ugly blue haze was gone and the wind blew yet another five minutes until not a trace of exhaust fumes could be smelled. This sudden and fierce wind lasted just 10 minutes. And then, once again, after it had done its job, all was calm! I then resumed my time of worship and fellowship with God outside in the perfectly fresh country air. Do you understand? Jesus expected His disciples who were believers, to take charge of their circumstances and not be victim to them as those in the world are victims. He rebuked His disciples for doing nothing about the wind. Today He expects us to walk in that same power He exercised when He was on the Earth (John 14:12). IT IS AVAILABLE TO ALL TRUE BELIEVERS!! ! Would you like to be a true Believer and walk in this power available to those who truly have faith? You can. Continue to study your Bible with these lessons and learn everything you
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can about the "Faith of God." Get connected to this Ministry and stay with it. You can have the true anointing of God in your life!
Study to Show Yourself Approved unto God
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bviously in these Bible lessons we cannot cover anyone subject exhaustively. These Bible lessons should be considered introductions to the subjects covered. For deeper study look up all the scriptures given and continue to study the Word of God praying for further knowledge and understanding. They are life changing if put into practice! You can learn to walk in the power of God to lay hands on the sick and expect them to be healed. You can perform miracles and do the works Jesus did (John 14:12). While most churches do not teach these things we see them plainly taught in the New Testament. Why then do most denominations not teach it? For the same reason they do not possess this power, which was prophesied in 2 Timothy 3:5. But you don't have to be a Christian without power. You can walk in power! You can walk in the mighty Holy Spirit of Christ. You can have the gifts of the Spirit operating in your Life! But you must be willing to change from what you have always thought you understood if you were raised up in a church that teaches that "all these things passed away with the apostles.’
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