(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) - 1Timothy 5:23 (ESV)
The sin of Lucifer plays out over and over again in so many other avenues. This sin is simply the sin of wanting to be God. Lucifer was cast out of heaven and when he tempted Eve, she and Adam were cast out of paradise. Remember the words of the devil - you will be like God! The unspoken reason why people do not accept the free gift of salvation is that they like being their own god and refuse to give up the throne. There is little reason for the enemy to change tactics when the old schemes work so well. Another popular area that sees this sin in action is known as divine healing. This Charismatic belief is that God MUST heal us, always. Now, let me be clear. God always CAN heal. He can still give the gift of healing as the spirit decides. That is not divine healing. The heresy that false teachers are spreading is that God must always heal us. This robs God of His sovereignty and turns us into God, which again, is the sin of Lucifer. Let us reason once more together through the above linked article from renowned false healing teacher, Marilyn Hickey.
"There is grace today for you to be healed! Barry Bennett has been a missionary, a pastor, a teacher and is the author of "He Healed Them All." Barry wrote the book because he wants people to know that, like salvation, healing is available to everyone. Unfortunately, today's Christians have many doubts and religious hang ups about healing. Healing is an expression of God's love. Jesus saw the multitudes, had compassion and healed their sick. It was His compassion and love that instituted the ministry of healing. God loves us and wants us to experience healing." - Marilyn Hickey
The Charismatic movement constantly conflates physical healing with spiritual healing, or salvation. It is true that all who come to Christ will be granted salvation, or spiritual healing. Yes, He did also heal many ailments during His ministry but to focus on that is to miss the big picture. The bible verse that says He saw multitudes and wept was followed up by explaining they were like sheep without a shepherd. Sheep without a shepherd is a direct reference to being saved! The fact that God is willing to save us within our sin is the expression of His love. Note however what Hickey so easily blames when it comes to those who are not saved. It is either their fault through their doubts or the fault of organized religion that insists on biblical truth. If what Hickey was selling was true, then Christians would never die. Bill Johnson is a teacher of divine healing, yet he wears corrective eyeglasses. When his wife sadly was stricken by cancer, she passed away. She did not pass away from a religious hang up. I am sure she had faith, so the issue was not doubt. The issue was clear - she had cancer.
"When Jesus ministered, everyone who came to Him was healed. Those who didn't go to Jesus, were not healed. When Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, He healed only one man because the other people at the pool were not seeking Jesus. They were seeking an angel, not healing from Jesus. Jesus asked the man, "do you want to be well?" That's a legitimate question because so many of us have become accustomed to our physical limitations or a doctor's pronouncement that poor health has become a lifestyle. There are people who pray and don't get healed. Barry believes healing is a conception"something needs to be conceived in the heart, just like when we get born again by the seed of the Word of God. Healing needs to be conceived in the heart. Many times our brains get in the way of what our hearts are truly believing. We think we believe because we have a belief system. We believe in healing, we've been taught healing and we have a mental understanding of healing, but healing has to be conceived and believed in the heart. It must be a revelation to the heart." - Marilyn Hickey
What? Healing is a conception that has to be conceived in the heart? The same heart God has already warned us is the most wickedly deceitful thing ever created? Is there a single scripture that supports this nonsense? The answer is no. While we are at it, let's dispel this fairy tale regarding the healing at the Bethesda Pool:
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids"blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. - John 5:2-9 (ESV)
Did this man seek out Jesus or did Jesus approach this man? Jesus obviously approached this man and yet the scripture gives no indication that anyone else from the MULTITUDES that showed up for healing that day were in fact healed by Christ. One must also keep in mind that the gospel accounts are the highlights of ministry, not a detailed minute by minute recitation of everything Jesus did. For all we know there were plenty of people who did not receive healing. Why would those accounts be in the gospel accounts? Getting back to Hickey, see how dangerous her false teaching is. According to this, we are not to pay attention to medical professionals! Instead of being biblical, Hickey goes the Gnostic-mystical route. Beloved, healing is not this esoteric revelation of the heart. One needs to ask. One needs to pray. We should seek out the elders of the church as scripture commands. We do so with great humility though, understanding that God is sovereign. I lost a good friend from cancer a few years back. We prayed. We all prayed. In the end however, God took him home. We mourn, but he rejoices. God remains sovereign.
"Attitudes are important in receiving healing. Some people complain they haven't been healed when instead they should be changing their attitude. God wants you to live a long, healthy life and to fulfill your purpose. It's your responsibility to keep your eyes focused on the goodness of God and keep positive words and thoughts of your future in mind. If you get negative, grumpy and whiny, that will not help the healing process. Be positive and expect the good things of God. You may have to set boundaries to stay away from the negative. The Word of God is true. Are you going to doubt God's Word or believe it? It's your choice. The more you begin to make those choices, the easier it becomes to believe God has healing for you." - Marilyn Hickey
As we see here the purpose driven, seeker-friendly heresies also impact this false teaching. God does not necessarily want everyone to live a long life. He wants everyone to be reconciled to Him. The value of this carnal world is why so many in the NAR apostate church are so unbiblically focused on physical healing and not so much on eternal healing. This hodge-podge of positive thinking is not scriptural. Word faith is just another heresy. Of course, we should believe God can heal us, but we should not be trying to usurp God's power. The word of God is absolutely true. The key verses show Paul ending his letter to his prote'ge' Timothy. It appears Timothy has frequent ailments, especially with his stomach. Does Paul instruct Timothy to demand God heal him? Does he question his faith or ask if he has "conceived" in his wicked heart the healing he clearly needs? No. He suggests that he start taking a little wine with dinner. Was Paul afflicted with a religious spirit? Was Timothy riddled with doubt about what God could do? Of course not. Beloved, God can heal. He still heals to this day. The answer however is not always yes. Marilyn Hickey's bio indicates that she has been at this grift for over 45 years and that she potentially reaches two billion people. She claims she communicates biblical truths in an understandable and practical way. I am sure that Lucifer thought his reasoning was understandable. I am sure Eve thought what the devil told her sounded practical. God is God all alone beloved. Heaven help the two million people this false teacher reaches. Heaven help them.
Reverend Anthony Wade - May 11, 2023
