Sick Christian Teachings about Sickness

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Sick Christian Teachings about Sickness
HOST/GUESTBernie DehlerDr. Steve Van Horn
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OUTLINE

• Is healing from God possible?
• On what basis can supernatural healing occur?
• Opinion 1 Theology textbook teaching
• Data points 1 2 Real life stories of
  Christian healing
• Scripture passages
• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness

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Is healing from God possible? James 514-16 Is
any one of you sick? He should call the elders of
the church to pray over him and anoint him with
oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer
offered in faith will make the sick person well
the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he
will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to
each other and pray for each other so that you
may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is
powerful and effective.
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• On what basis can supernatural healing occur?
  Four options (mix and match)
• In the atonement by his stripes we are healed
  (available to all, just like forgiveness) Isaiah
  535 1 Peter 224. Foursquare and Assemblies
  of God churches claim this? What does the data
  say for these churches?
• By faith (get healing if enough faith) (James 5).
  Copeland claims this?
• By Gods mercy (Plead for it may or may not get
  it) (2 Corinthians 12). Bernies view.
• 4. Healing from spiritually gifted healers
  (those with the spiritual gift of healing).  (1
  Corinthians 12)(If basis 1 were true, then this
  one is superfluous).  Benny Hinn claims this?

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Isaiah 53 Meaning Page 857

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Two healing stories. 1) Pages 82-84 2) Pages
204-205

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2 Corinthians 127-9   7To keep me from becoming
conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my
flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it
away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect
in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more
gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's
power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 1210 That
is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in
persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am
weak, then I am strong.
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1 Corinthians 1228And in the church God has
appointed first of all apostles, second prophets,
third teachers, then workers of miracles, also
those having gifts of healing, those able to help
others, those with gifts of administration, and
those speaking in different kinds of
tongues. Acts 429-31  29Now, Lord, consider
their threats and enable your servants to speak
your word with great boldness. 30Stretch out your
hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and
wonders through the name of your holy servant
Jesus."  31After they prayed, the place where
they were meeting was shaken. And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of
God boldly.
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Isaiah 535But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities the punishment that brought us peace
was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.1
Peter 224He himself bore our sins in his body
on the tree, so that we might die to sins and
live for righteousness by his wounds you have
been healed.

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (1 of 13)
• Esoteric sense knowledge vs. biblical knowledge
• Faith in faith, rather than God. What is the
  object of faith?
• Power of spoken word Faith as positive
  confession
• Know ones identity and rights in Christ

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (2 of 13)
• Is God sovereign or is certain laws? Faith
  teachers teach that God must obey these laws and
  cannot do otherwise. But this destroys His
  sovereignty, his right of self-determination and
  self-rule in the universe.
• Faith teachers imply - God will answer any
  selfish prayer if the one praying uses Jesus
  name. Why not be blessed?

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (3 of 13)
• Do miracles prove truth? If YES, then Christian
  Science and other cults teach truth because
  apparent healings occur within Christian Science.
• Matthew 721-23 "Not everyone who says to me,
  'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven,
  but only he who does the will of my Father who is
  in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,
  'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,
  and in your name drive out demons and perform
  many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I
  never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (4 of 13)
• Faith movement teaches the atonement is provides
  forgiveness and healing of disease
• Disease is spiritual, not physical
• A sick believer is abnormal (Joni Eareckson Tada
  vs. Benny Hinn)
• Believers should deny symptoms

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (5 of 13)
• Fred Price often depicts medicine as a crutch
  upon which the immature believer relies
• Believers should never die before age 70. Fred
  Price The only reason people die before their
  time is because they do not understand how to
  exercise their faith according to the Word to
  prevent death, or they choose to die before their
  time. (Form of suicide?)

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (6 of 13)
• They also teach that the believer has only
  himself to blame for sickness.

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (7 of 13)
• Were believers always healed in the Bible?
• Tim. 420 Trophimus left sick at Miletus
• Epaphroditus was deathly ill (Phil. 325-27)
• 1 Tim. 523 Timothy was to take wine for his
  stomach
• Paul had a doctor as a traveling companion (Col.
  414)
• Paul went to Galatia the first time to recover
  from illness (Gal. 413)
• The sickness and suffering of Paul (Gal.
  413-15-illness 2 Cor. 117-thorn in flesh)

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (8 of 13)
• The Faith Movement teaching about Job

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (9 of 13)
• Some concluding, non-theological points
• One of the most dangerous practices encouraged
  by the Faith teachers is denial of physical
  symptoms of illness. In diseases like cancer,
  where early detection is proportional to cure
  rates, it is dangerous and deadly to deny the
  symptoms.

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (10 of 13)
• Another practice common in the Faith movement is
  the refusal to seek medical care for illness.

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• Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
  (11 of 13)
• Those in the Faith movement and the metaphysical
  cults have three general similarities
• They rarely seek medical care and when they do
  they wait as long as possible.
• (2) They feel a strong sense of guilt and failure
  when their faith fails and they are forced to
  go to the doctor.

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Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
(12 of 13) (3) When they finally do go to the
doctor, they are often reluctant and
uncooperative patients.
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Common sick Christian teachings about sickness
(13 of 13) (4) The most consistent reports of
abuse of the Faith doctrine of healing comes in
the area of chronic and/or terminal illness.
Because of the belief that listening to a
negative confession can inflict ones faith,
not many in the Faith movement are willing even
to be around, much less listen to, those who are
seriously ill in their own churches. Basically,
the Faith churches have little or no concept of
pastoral care for the chronically and terminally
ill believer.
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SUMMARY Health Jesus Death Matthew 188-9
(Jesus talking) If your hand or your foot causes
you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is
better for you to enter life maimed or crippled
than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown
into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to
sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better
for you to enter life with one eye than to have
two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

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• Practice Daily our Premiere Christian Spiritual
  Exercise
• Moving from self-centeredness to
  Christ-centeredness (becoming more Christ-like).
  Doing this in the power of the Holy Spirit, and
  not the flesh. (Luke 923 and Gal. 220)

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• SUGGESTIONS FOR CHRISTIAN PARTICIPATION1.
  Sponsor a Child(such as Compassion or World
  Vision)2. Sponsor a Missionary (such as
  Gospel for Asia)

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• Is following Christ easy?Luke 1425-35
• Jesus said to count the cost
• We must give up EVERYTHING to follow him
• Verse 33In the same way, any of you who does
  not give up everything he has cannot be my
  disciple.

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• Free Book, fromGospel for Asia
• KPs life is a great role-model for every
  Christian Luke 923 role-model

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