“Faith Healing” is the practice of curing diseases by nothing more than faith. Medicines, Doctors, Therapy, and other medical practices play no role in faith healing. A “Faith Healer” is an individual who allegedly possesses a great gift of healing from God Almighty. Whether the “healer” or the “healee” must possess faith differs on demand. If a “healer” processes a sick person through the “healing line” and no cure is effected, the “healee” lacked faith. If the individual is “cured” then the “healer” had great faith. One of the most often parroted lines in the “healers” spiel is, “I believe, in Jesus Name, be healed!” Now quite honestly, dear friends — I believe all of it is fakery. Want to know why — please read on.
“Faith Healing” is a fascinating industry. With the trappings of a carnival, the allurement of a magical demonstration, and the mystique of the unknown, millions of otherwise sensible people are attracted to the “Healing Revivals” every year. The trophies of “victory over sin and sickness” are displayed as a menagerie of crutches, braces, and wheel chairs outside the “big tent.” Most of this type “healing revival” is limited to the “Pentecostal” or “Holiness” groups around the world.
The “Pentecostals” have no monopoly on this imaginary healing gift from God. The infamous Grottos of Catholicism offer the very same healing to the very same sort of diseases. Even the disciples of the late “Prophet” Joseph Smith, Jr. offer the lame, sick, and malformed the panacea of “faith healing.” Joseph Smith, Jr., as you may or may not know, is the founder of the Mormon religion, better known as Latter Day Saints. As late as 1830, Jesus, allegedly still using the Shakespearean English of 1600 spoke to Smith and Sidney Rigdon, who was one of his cohorts in the production of The Book of Mormon. This “revelation” promised the following.
“Behold, verily, verily, I say unto my servant Sidney, I have looked upon thee and thy works. I have heard thy prayers, and prepared thee for a greater work. Thou art blessed, for thou shalt do great things. (One of which was to later deny Smith as a prophet) Behold thou wast sent forth, even as John, to prepare the way before me, and before Elijah which should come, and thou knewest it not. Thou didst baptize by water unto repentance, but they received not the Holy Ghost; But now I give unto thee a commandment, that thou shalt baptize by water, and they shall receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands even as the apostles of old. And it shall come to pass that there shall be a great work in the land, even among the Gentiles, for those who believe on my name. And whoso shall ask it in my name in faith, they shall cast out devils; they shall heal the sick; they shall cause the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk.” Doctrine and Covenants 35:3-9. Doctrine and Covenants is a collection of the alleged “prophecies” of the alleged prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr. They are accepted in Mormonism above any of the prophecies in the Bible. Mormonism, Pentecostalism, and Catholicism (and others) offer the ill and crippled healing through faith and the power of God.
American people should know better than to believe such offers. After all, what people in this world are bombarded with all sorts of offers from all sorts of sources? One is made to wonder, if the government can crack down on people who promise to remove wrinkles from the skin by pills and grease, why not do the same with the iniquitous, manipulative, and mercenary practices of “faith healing?” Claims are no more believable than the claimant. Whose claim would you really believe if you were sick? Would it be a Pentecostal “faith healer,” a Catholic Priest, a Mormon “healer,” a Christian Science practitioner, or a good Doctor? The best advice you will ever take is to believe a reputable Doctor–if you are sick and want to recover.
The “faith healing” chicanery is fraudulent. The only verification offered is human testimony, nothing more. The best test of the pudding is the eating, and the best test to prove whether people can be healed physically by faith is to demonstrate it. The offer has been repeated over and again that if just one verifiable case of genuine cancer, blindness, dumbness, leprosy, or death is altered without any medical help, the claims would be more credible. But the advocates of this unscrupulous practice cry, “We are not to give signs to unbelievers.”
One recently reminded this writer of the Lord’s statement, “an adulterous and sinful generation seeketh a sign and no sign shall be given” (Matthew 12:39, 40). Sure enough, that is what Jesus Christ said, but it is not all He said. Right after those words fell from His wonderful lips, He added, “but the sign of Jonah.” The sign of Jonah was His own resurrection from the dead. So Jesus did give a sign to the people to verify His claims to being God’s only begotten Son. Besides, modern day “faith healers” are not being asked to perform tricks for amusement, but are asked simply to show that what they claim God has given them is real. But they cannot, therefore they will not. This is one reason for claiming it is all a fake. Most of the difficulties on this question would be removed if the purpose of healing is understood.
In the time of Christ and His apostles, healing physical diseases was not primarily designed to help the poor victim. Take a look at Matthew 9:6. It reads, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,’ — then He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your own house’.” And the man was cured. Question. Where was the faith here? There is no evidence anyone had faith. The purpose of the healing was to create faith in the one healed and the witnesses present. Will any of those who offer healing today on the same basis do the same thing? My guess is they won’t — therefore again — it all a fake.
The purpose of all miracles, including healing, is summed up at the conclusion of John’s Gospel record of Christ. “Many other signs truly Jesus did in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and that believing ye might have life through His name” (John 20:30- 31). You see, dear friend, if people claim God has given them a divine grant to perform signs, the purpose can only be to verify their claims–else they are lying, misleading, and deceiving — and are engaged in religious fakery.
The obvious purpose of “faith healing” today is not to offer credentials for faith, but as a lucrative and rewarding financial enterprise. Have any of you who are listening to all this ever known of a single modern day “faith healing revival” where money was not collected (repeatedly)? If so, it needs to be publicized and entered into Guinness Book of World Records, for it is one of a kind, unique, phenomenal, and unparalleled.
The Word says miracles served the intended purposed and ceased. During the formative days of Gospel preaching, the message was in the men Jesus personally selected and called “disciples” and “apostles.” The unknown author of Hebrews wrote of the “great salvation” and said, “which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those that heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His will” (Hebrews 2:3-4).
Now very carefully observe, dear listening friend: The great salvation began — It began to be spoken. It did not begin in written form. It was later reduced to that. The great salvation was heard by the Hebrew author and his companions. The great salvation was confirmed to the hearers. Confirmed means that it was authenticated, tested, tried, proved, verified and demonstrated. The great salvation was confirmed by the witness of God. The great salvation was witnessed by God with signs, wonders, miracles, and other gifts of the Holy Spirit. The great salvation was confirmed. Not twice, three times, nor millions of times, but once was it fully and finally confirmed. When the purpose something serves has been fully served there is no more need for it.
Miracles served not as a means to raise money, or benefit the sick and diseased. They served to confirm a message of truth. If people really believe that message (the fully revealed Gospel of Christ) they have no need for further confirmation. But what “faith healers” do today confirms something opposite from Bible miracles. Today, when some well dressed, fancy talking, “healer” grasps a poor victim and shouts, “In the name of JEEEEEEESUS — be HEEEEEEALED!” you will find ample confirmation of fake healing, not much different from their prototype, the man with the traveling medicine show. These things are presented today on this broadcast solely in the interest of truth. I am firmly convinced that I have shown, and can show that modern day so-called “faith healing” is pure religious fakery.
No man or group of men today have any God given powers to cast out demons, heal the sick, or raise the dead. If they did, they would not be so reluctant to demonstrate it to people who know they are false to the core. I seriously doubt that there is any representative of any religious group within the sound of this radio station who is willing, much less able, to take up what I have said today and show it to be wrong. Do you want to know the sure fire proof? You know that the Lord not only healed physical ailments — He raised the dead — so did some of His apostles. If these so-called “healers” have the same gift Jesus and the apostles had, surely they could raise the dead. Here’s a sensible proposition. Let any one of them name the time and the cemetery and we will meet there and after they actually raise just one dead person — I personally will empty the cemetery by raising all the rest who are buried there. Fair enough? If it is not a fake practice it would seem that those who believe it is genuine would be lining up saying, “I’ll take that fellow’s offer up right now and show the world how wrong he is.” I am waiting.
Bible Miracles
Complete Results
Undeniable Results
Done on various conditions
Not Conditioned on Faith
Always successful
Modern Day “Miracles”
Incomplete results
Sick told they will improve.
Very questionable results
Conditioned on faith
Many failures
The honest student of the Bible must conclude that there is not one Bible miracle that can be performed today. There is no reason why one should even seek to perform miracles. Their purpose was well served. God once made man miraculously but now has set in motion His natural law of procreation. Once Jesus fed people miraculously with loaves of bread, but now has set a natural law in motion whereby man still eats bread from the hand of the Lord — but not miraculously.