Big Healing Book - About Opponents of Divine Healing

About Opponents of Divine Healing

Plenty of people fight vigorously for their right to stay sick. Who are these people, and why do they do it?

In general, you will find that opponents of healing love God just as much as you do. They are just as consecrated to God as you are. They want the will of God to be done just as much as you do. They are as zealous for truth as you are. They honestly believe that they are doing God a service by attacking the teaching of divine healing. They think that they are saving you from some hideous, harmful doctrine that will hurt you and others, possibly leading you to an early grave. They think that by lowering your expectations concerning healing, they are saving you disappointment and possible apostasy in the future when you (supposedly!) find out that it doesn’t really work and then get sour on God.

Those who have lost loved ones and friends to illnesses may have an ego stake in believing that nothing could have been done. Unfortunately, they set the stage for others to die prematurely and perpetuate the cycle by embracing unscriptural ideas about God’s sovereignty and will in the matter. They don’t mean to do this. If these people really knew the truth about divine healing, they surely would be proclaiming it themselves. Hardly anyone would knowingly be used by the devil to promote his works on the earth.

Unfortunately, some opponents of healing make baseless accusations against those of us who believe in it, accusing us of saying things we have never even heard anyone say. This is the basic “build a straw man and knock it down” approach. The kind of church they describe I would never want to attend either! After describing a nonexistent “church from hell,” they go to ranting and raving. The more reputable authors don’t do these things, but the more sensational books seem to sell more copies. Here is the sort of thing I mean:

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BEWARE OF DISGUSTING WORD OF FAITH CHURCHES
by Lou Zirrh

Pity the poor sick person who attends a “faith church.” First, he will be told that his sickness is due to some sin in his life. Then he will be told to deny that the sickness or the “symptoms” even exist, and that they are lies of Satan. Then he will be made to feel personally guilty about anyone he knows who has died of an illness. He will be told, “You just didn’t have enough faith!” He will be made to feel responsible for his own sickness. He will be told that Jesus took his sicknesses, so therefore there is something wrong with him if he can’t believe that and be healed. He will hear dozens of Scriptures quoted out of context without any balance, all based on personal visions and supposedly divine revelations of a Word of Faith Prophet. He will be told to put such a Prophet’s words before Scripture itself, which is the basis for all cults.

Now, besides being sick, the man now carries a burden of guilt and self-condemnation for “being in the devil’s unbelief.” If anything, this will make him sicker. He loses the joy of his salvation and subscribes to a gospel of works based on his ability to “believe and receive.” Eventually, he becomes so disappointed that he leaves the church and mostly gives up on his walk with God. He thought he could trust God, but to him God is now unreliable because He did not keep an artificial and man-made promise of universal healing. He ends up on the scrap heap, spiritually bankrupt and shipwrecked – all because of an ear-tickling but unscriptural doctrine.

Can you see, dear reader, why we must oppose this disgusting, Christ-insulting message of “divine healing” for all? It wreaks havoc in the church. It is “another gospel” from the one delivered to the saints. Why do these churches preach it? Because they are big moneymaking operations, and the “faith preachers” would stand to lose big if the truth were known. They don’t care about the sheep; they just want to profit at the expense of the torn lives they leave behind.

Church, we must speak up against this damaging doctrine of devils, this hedonistic heresy, which is being promoted by spiritual con men around the world. These scam artists are destroying the very lives of their victims, twisting Scripture to line their own greedy pockets. Let us boldly contend for the faith as it was once delivered and expose these apostles of apostasy for what they are.

[“Ad hominem” attacks against selected prominent faith preachers follow here.]

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If you’ve ever read some of the popular anti-healing books, you will probably agree that this fictitious article is no exaggeration. Mr. Zirrh has probably never set foot in a “faith church,” but he thinks he knows all about their practices. Thus, he misrepresents the real doctrines taught by reputable ministers. His heart may be right toward God, but his approach is unscholarly.

No one in his right mind would want to attend the church that Mr. Zirrh described in his article. If such a church exists, I haven’t been there. Real healing preachers will not tell you to deny your sickness, and they present the message as good news, not a guilt trip. They realize that sickness is a result of sin in the earth, and you are not necessarily morally responsible for your illness. (Of course, some illnesses are a direct result of sin, but we don’t need to belabor that.) Contrary to what Mr. Zirrh says, people can and do get healed as a direct result of hearing the Word concerning healing. Of course, we all hate the idea of Scripture being taken out of context, so this article’s accusations should stir up your righteous indignation against it. It is easy to line up people behind you with such a generality, but notice that this article does not even attempt to refute any arguments for divine healing on a Scriptural basis! As far as taking some man’s word or vision over the Bible, you have to be stupid to do that. Any reputable healing minister preaches healing from the Bible and does not ask you to believe any doctrinal point because he had some vision or visitation. The gospel of healing is clear enough from Scripture that there is no need to reinforce it with unusual personal experiences!

I have nothing against someone sharing an encounter with the Lord that doesn’t contradict Scripture. If you want to share the details of how He equipped you for this particular ministry and it involved a vision or visitation, that’s fine with me. It may encourage people to receive from the particular gift you flow in.

The author imputes false motives where none exist. Face it, any author would lose financially if his teachings started to be considered false. This is a simple fact and does not prove that the author just wrote it for the money. There may be some pro-healing authors well as anti-healing authors who are in it for the money, but I don’t believe that most of them are. How could you prove such an accusation anyway? Given that I’m giving away this book, you’d have trouble proving that I am in this just for the money!

While it is annoying to see healing ministers’ motives ridiculed and their characters assassinated, bear in mind that it is not fair to do the same to those who object to healing. You cannot assume that an anti-healing preacher loves tradition more than God, is not really walking with God, or never listens to the Holy Spirit. You should never speak of an anti-healing preacher in those terms. He may live a more morally pure life before God than you do! Some outspoken opponents of healing have powerful ministries along unrelated lines and are genuinely, obviously anointed by God. They just got into an area other than the one they are called to minister in, and they lack insight in that area. That does not make them bad Christians. It just means you shouldn’t listen to what they say about divine healing.

If most anti-healing preachers would take the time to study everything the Bible says about healing and sickness, and not just Job’s trial, Timothy’s stomach and Trophimus who was left at Miletum sick, I am convinced that many of them would change their minds. Others, being bound by traditions such as “Paul’s thorn was sickness,” will never see it because they will believe the tradition more than the Word. Please understand that they never consciously decided to believe tradition instead of the Word of God. Do you know anyone who would knowingly choose an unsupported tradition over Scripture? I don’t.

Some of these preachers would truly rejoice with you if you got healed. They are in favor of healing in that sense. They would love to see as many people healed as possible. Unfortunately, they stand against the very doctrine that you must believe to be assured of receiving healing, that is, that Jesus Christ bore your sicknesses in your place.

Whether you believe me or not, the Lord really put compassion in me for those who speak and write against divine healing while I was writing this book. I have no personal animosity toward any of them and I sincerely hope that they find out the truth and enjoy more abundant lives as a result. I have no interest in trying to showcase them by name and tear down their ministries. I wish all the opponents of divine healing in the atonement would be as gracious in the other direction.

Finally, if people insist on contending for the right to stay sick, let them stay sick and find someone who is open to divine healing. You can waste a lot of time arguing with people whose minds are already made up. Your time would be better spent actually furthering the gospel on the earth. Arguing about divine healing, as opposed to preaching it, can become just another trap and diversion of the enemy to stop real progress. Let’s take a hypothetical conversation between you and Smart Alex, who graduated at the top of his class at a prestigious school – and won’t let you forget it:

You: We just saw a woman get healed of stage 4 lung cancer in a service last week! Jesus is continuing to prove that He is alive!

Smart Alex: How do you know that she really had lung cancer to begin with?

You: She said she had been treated for it for the last year.

Smart Alex: Do you know this woman personally?

You: No.

Smart Alex: Then you don’t really know that she was treated for lung cancer for the last year, and you have no way of knowing that she was really at stage 4.

You: Well, her hair was gone, and that happens a lot when people take chemo.

Smart Alex: She could have just shaved her head to invent a nice testimony to get gullible people like you to believe her story. You don’t really know.

You: She named her doctor who had been treating her – Dr. Jones in Smalltown. That same doctor certified that she is now cancer-free even though she was at stage 4.

Smart Alex: Sometimes cancer just goes into remission, you know. She may still have it but it’s just in remission. That even happens to people who aren’t Christians sometimes! Being in remission doesn’t mean that she is cured!

You: Well, it so happens that there was a story in the newspaper about her healing yesterday, and Dr. Jones is quoted as saying that this was the first time in his life that he’s ever seen a miracle. If a lot of people go into remission, he would know that, but obviously something convinced him that this case was a miracle.

Smart Alex: There is so much fake news out there! The reporter may have misquoted the doctor. Were you actually there when the reporter interviewed the doctor?

You: No…

Smart Alex: So you weren’t there, so you don’t know for sure that he wasn’t just misquoted. That happens all the time. Now, can you tell me where Dr. Jones got his medical degree? Maybe he got it at some third-rate med school and he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about.

You: No, but I suppose I could find out if you really want to know.

Smart Alex: Has he ever been sued for malpractice? Have you checked out his past? Have you checked out what people have to say about this doctor on social media, or are you just taking his word for everything? He might not even be any good. Some doctors are quacks.

You: No, I haven’t looked…

Smart Alex: So you don’t even know if this doctor is a reliable source of information. Does he have an advanced degree in oncology?

You: In what?

Smart Alex: Oh, I forgot, you don’t know a whole lot. Let’s put it this way. Is he a certified CANCER specialist?

You: No, he is a general practitioner.

Smart Alex: So his opinion doesn’t matter. He isn’t qualified to give an opinion.

You: Well, he says that the cancer specialist to whom he referred the woman assured him that the cancer was gone.

Smart Alex: Were you there when that conversation took place? Are you an eyewitness of any of this?

You: No, but why would Dr. Jones risk his reputation by making this up?

Smart Alex: Have you seen the “before and after” X-rays yourself?

You: Hah! YES I HAVE because she brought them to the service and showed everyone! If you had been there, you would have seen them! She was full of cancer and now there is no trace of it!

Smart Alex: Are you professionally trained to evaluate X-rays? Are YOU a certified oncologist?

You: No, but…

Smart Alex: In this case, you’re not qualified to evaluate X-rays, so your take on them is meaningless.

You: It’s just obvious how different the X-rays were to anyone with a working set of eyes.

Smart Alex: Sometimes doctors switch X-rays by accident, so the one she claims is the “after” X-ray could be someone else’s and she could still be as sick as ever. You don’t know for sure! That does happen, you know.

You get the idea. You could probably talk to Smart Alex for the next decade and he would keep coming up with more reasons why he won’t believe your story. I’ve been in that position and this is how things go. Perhaps you think that after a few years, her healing will be more convincing:

You: That woman is still alive and has no sign of being sick when you see her. So that proves that it wasn’t just remission. She was really healed of stage 4 cancer!

Smart Alex: No, that means that her initial diagnosis was probably incorrect. How do you know that she really had cancer to begin with? Some tests yield false positives, you know.

You: I saw the X-rays that the doctor provided, remember?

Smart Alex: Remember, those X-rays could have been switched inadvertently. So in this case, it wasn’t the “cancer-free” X-ray that would have been switched, but rather the one that supposedly showed the cancer in the first place. She might never have had it at all!

You: If the doctor were really making mistakes like that, he would have lost his accreditation a long time ago!

Smart Alex: Who accredited that doctor? What is the track record of other doctors accredited by the same organization? Can you prove that this doctor isn’t part of an organization that has other doctors noted for making bad diagnoses who are just a bunch of quacks who endorse each other?

So how do you win an argument with Smart Alex? You don’t! Smart Alex is determined not to believe in miracles, no matter what evidence you bring to him. At some point, you just walk away rather than continuing to waste both your time and his time trying to cast your pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). Some people are just determined not to believe, so they wouldn’t believe even if they saw someone raised from the dead (Luke 16:31).