1. Introduction
1. Six basic characteristics of Evangelicalism:
1. The Supreme authority of the Scripture .
2. The majesty of Jesus Christ.
3. The Lordship of the Holy Spirit.
4. The need for personal conversion .
5. The priority of evangelism .
6. The importance of Christian Community .
2. Difficulties with the Charismatic/Pentecostal view of healing
1. The traditional Charismatic/Pentecostal view of healing:
1. Healing is guaranteed in the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
2. There is a prominence of techniques and formulas in healing prayers.
3. There is usually one individual healer (a great person of faith and power) over and against a healing church .
1. In Kingdom language: An overemphasis on the “already” of the Kingdom to the neglect of the "not yet" of the Kingdom.
3. Is healing guaranteed in the atoning work of Jesus Christ?
1. This means there is a guarantee to each Christian of physical healing in the same way as forgiveness of sins is guaranteed.
1. Is. 53:3-5 ³He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face⁴Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. ⁵But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
2. Matt. 8:14-17 ¹⁴When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. ¹⁵He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. ¹⁶When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. ¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”
3. I Peter 2:21-24 ²¹For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,²²who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;²³and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;²⁴and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
2. Some unfortunate results of believing that healing is guaranteed in the atoning work of Jesus Christ:
1. When someone is not healed, the failure for that must rest on someone's shoulders!
1. The sick person.
2. The ones praying for the sick person.
2. In the Vineyard, we do not believe that healing is guaranteed every time we pray for somebody to get well.
3. Our understanding is that the “not yet” of the Kingdom of God represented by the second coming of Christ means that we will not always experience healing in this world.
4. While healing is part of the Kingdom introduced by the first coming of Christ, it is not a guaranteed part of the Kingdom!
5. Many people in the New Testament continued to be sick even after the apostles prayed for them.
1. II Tim. 4:20
2. Phil. 2:25-27
3. I Tim. 5:23
4. Gal. 4:13-14
6. In the Vineyard, we believe that healing, like every Kingdom benefit, comes in and through the cross of Jesus Christ.
7. Our understanding of the two comings of Christ shapes our perception regarding what is guaranteed now and what is guaranteed only as a result of the second coming of Christ.
8. We believe we can guarantee to all who come to Christ in simple trust and repentance, the forgiveness of sins 100% of the time without fail !
9. We can make no such guarantee regarding physical healing. The benefit of physical healing brought into this age in the Kingdom ministry of Jesus is only partial , not total.
10. Even those who do get healed will surely die if Christ doesn’t return first!
1. Heb. 9:27
11. One day we will all be totally healed (physically, psychologically, relationally, etc.), but that day has not yet happened.
12. In the meantime, our efforts, though essential, will produce partial, imperfect results.
1. But partial, imperfect results are better than none !
4. The problem with techniques and formulas
1. When healing is viewed as “guaranteed,” healing practices easily become formulaic and somewhat technique-oriented.
1. “If you do this (believe, positively confess, have enough faith, rebuke the devil, fast and pray, confess all your sins, etc.) then God must heal you.”
2. Two major problems with this approach:
1. We do not believe that God has promised or guaranteed perfect healing in this life. We also don't believe that God must heal.
1. Ps. 115:3
2. God is free to do whatever He pleases.
3. God will not violate His word, but we must not pin promises to God that He hasn’t made.
4. Rom. 8:28
5. God alone knows what is good and helpful.
2. We see little Biblical support for special techniques in the practice of healing.
1. “For this physical problem we need to do this, and for that physical problem we need to do that.”
2. In the Gospels, there is an amazing lack of predictable order or technique regarding healing!
5. One individual healer vs. a healing church
1. The whole church has been commanded to do everything Jesus commanded the apostles to do.
1. Matt. 28:18-20 ¹⁸And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,²⁰teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
2. John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”
2. Certain people are more gifted in ministering healing to people, just as some people are more gifted in evangelism than others.
1. But all of us are to fill the role!
1. Role, gift, ministry
3. Continual training is vital!
1. Each of us needs to help train others in this if we’re ever going to have a healing church!
6. The “Agony of Defeat”
1. The church that prays for the sick must be trained to deal with failure every bit as much as success.
1. Nothing will stop a person from praying for the sick more readily than having no ability to deal with the regular experience of failure.
2. Keep the “already” of the Kingdom of God in tension with the “not yet” of the Kingdom of God.
3. Rom. 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
1. This “good” is not necessarily our immediate good, nor always our apparent good.
2. As Christians, we can say, “I believe God will use this situation for my good even though I can't currently see how.”
2. Remember, healing is both partial and temporary!
1. One day people will be totally healed, but that day is not now .
2. We may be healed of blindness, but still get the flu .
1. Lazarus eventually succumbed to death.
3. We don’t know all the reasons why some people are healed and some people aren’t.
1. We know that healing is not the result of merit or Holiness or personal worth.
2. Sometimes Jesus does not tell us in this life why somebody remains ill.
1. John 9:1-3
2. Deut. 29:29
3. Is. 55:8-9
4. Faith must be present to receive anything from God.
1. Heb. 11:6
2. To obtain healing or anything else from God, we must believe that God is , that God is good and that God will be good to us if we pray to Him!
   1. Lam. 3:22-25
3. The exact proportions of faith and God’s activity are not always apparent.
1. Sometimes it seems we have great faith and God does not heal.
2. At other times, we pray with seemingly no faith (we just do it out of obedience) and God miraculously heals!
3. We do not know the precise mixture necessary between faith and God’s moving to produce healing.
4. That’s why we prefer the term “divine healing” rather than “faith healing.” It emphasizes God’s activity, not our faith.
4. Always remember, praying for the sick is one of the most loving things we can do for them.
1. As long as they feel loved, by God and you, after you've prayed for their healing, you've been "successful."
7. Conclusion

(Unless otherwise indicated all Scripture verses are in the New American Standard Version.)